Crab Stuffed Pita Pockets

This is a super easy recipe I've modified from one I found. It's super easy and great on a night where everything seems rushed because it doesn't take much time to prepare at all.

Crab Stuffed Pitas

1 can crabmeat
4 oz. Neufchatel cheese, softened
1 Cup frozen or canned corn (just make sure if you're using frozen it's mostly thawed)
cayenne pepper (to your liking)
1/2 t or less black pepper
1/4 t salt
1 T dried parsley or 1 t basil
pita bread
butter

In a bowl, mix together cream cheese and corn. Add in the spices keeping in mind how spicy you would like the dish with the cayenne pepper.

Drain the crab meat making sure to remove any shell flecks. Add the crab meat to the mixture and stir well.

If your pita bread isn't sliced, carefully cut a slit in the side to create your pocket. This can be tricky, so be careful and go slow at first. Once you have your slit, spoon in your crab mixture.

Butter both sides of the pita bread and place in a skillet or on a griddle to brown. Cook on each side about five minutes until browned and inside mixture is warm.

 Serve with sour cream and/or salsa.

You can always adjust the seasonings to give this dish a new flavor. It might taste good with a cajun or a classic seafood seasonings; use your imagination and you might end up with a new family favorite!

The hardest part about this dish is finding a side that goes with it. Generally we stick with chips and salsa. Let me know if you have any other ideas!

Love for a Purpose

I've been doing some soul searching lately, and with recent events, I've really felt that God is trying to teach me something. I'm not exactly sure yet what that is, but I think a big part is really looking at my idea of God's love.

walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Ephesians 5:2 

We've been going through Ephesians at the new small group we started attending and love is definitely front and center in this book. I've felt God tugging on my heart, wanting me to be reminded just how much he loves me. Not the me that I think I should be or the me I used to be, but he loves the me I am right now. That's awesome! And it's something I've needed to remember lately.

It doesn't matter what our circumstance is; we don't have to just be biding our time and waiting for something better to come along, we have His love now. We are important to Him; we have a purpose for which He created us. Probably one of my favorite verses that brings me comfort:

"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Jeremiah 29:11

I love this verse because it shows us that we are loved now, and we can have dreams. He wants us to have those God-given dreams, why else would He give them to us! Knowing He loves us can certainly make the waiting time in between much easier.

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Romans 8:28

That means even the waiting you're doing now is worth it in the end! Patience in the meantime is certainly a virtue I know I need help with learning.

The other things I love in this verse: purpose. We all have a purpose, just like in the verse from Jeremiah tells us. We are all a big deal in God's eyes!

12 Days of Christmas

I saw a few different blog posts about doing a 12 days of Christmas gift giving for your husband. I thought this would be a fun idea and that I could do it instead of stocking stuffers.

I gave him his first present this morning, and I'm pretty sure this idea is a hit! He's super excited about getting to open a present every day for the next twelve days. I'm so happy I could bring him joy, especially before he heads off to work in the morning. I know he works so hard, and I hope he knows just how grateful I am for him and all he does.

Here is my twelve day list if you're looking for ideas:


Day 1: plastic cereal bowl (for the days he goes into work early and eats there; and so he stops taking my nice Tupperware)

Day 2: pair of thin gloves (for the mornings the steering wheel is cold; being from up north all the gloves we had before are heavy-duty insulated types that are too much here)

Day 3: three pack of chapsticks (he's always using mine)

Day 4: set of pens (this is my least favorite of the group, but it's a useful item)

Day 5: five rolls of mints (the kind he knows I don't like, but he loves)

Day 6: six packs of gum (he goes through gum like crazy!)

Day 7: individual packets of nut/trail mix

Day 8: granola bars (I won't make him share)

Day 9: homemade coupons (I might share the tutorial in a later post)

Day 10: Scooby-Doo fruit snacks (a fun treat and his favorite cartoon)

Day 11: fishing stickers (these are kind of silly, but he can put them on something or I'll make a scrapbook page of him fishing and use them)

Day 12: candy canes (since this is Christmas Eve, I figure we can place them on the tree to decorate and eat during the REAL 12 days of Christmas leading up to the Epiphany.)

I can't find my file with the gift tags to share, but will be sure to add them if I can locate them on the computer!

Easy Homemade Candy

I don't normally make candy. My mother-in-law and her mother make lots of different kinds. Last year when we were visiting, there was a new kind that I really enjoyed.

So, this year when we were visiting for Thanksgiving, my husband's grandmother had bought me the candies used to make the candy since it was evident I was a fan. She likes these candies she got in Michigan, but I'm sure any white chocolate candy used for melting will do.

This is absolutely the easiest homemade candy ever, so I have to share. I'm not even sure what's it's called, so we'll call it:

White Candy

white chocolate melting candies
Golden Grahams cereal

That's it!

Here's how you make this ridiciously easy goodness:

1. Melt the white chocolate candies in a double boiler. If you don't have a double boiler, improvise like I did:

2. Stir in the cereal until it is evenly coated. You can add a small batch of cereal at a time to make sure you don't run out of the chocolate.

3. Spoon out bite-size portions of the chocolate covered cereal onto wax paper (or aluminum foil since I didn't have any).

4. Let the chocolate set and harden. Once it has, place on a plate or in an airtight container.

5. Enjoy!

Beware, these candies go fast! I made a batch using about half a bag of the candies for six people and it was gone in about three hours!

Make your own Christmas wreath with tree trimmings

We got our first real tree as a married couple this year. We've been wanting to get one since we both grew up going to the Christmas tree farms, picking one out and cutting it down. But, for one reason or another, it hasn't worked out for us to have a real tree until this year. We didn't go to a farm, just went to our local hardware store, but I am still beyond thrilled to have a real tree and the smell filling my home!

We brought the extra tree trimmings home with us, not sure what we would use them for. Since I used my wreath indoors this year, we were lacking one on our front door. I thought I'd take my try at making a wreath from the trimmings.

It was SO easy! and ABSOLUTELY FREE! (I had all the materials, you may have to buy a few things)

I can't help but share!

Here's what you'll need:

• one or two wire coat hangers
• pliers/snips to unbend the hangers and cut the wire
• wire (anything you can twist and bend. I had picture hanging wire we weren't using)
• tree trimmings
• pruning sheers
• pinecones, berries, ribbons, etc for adorning

1. Start by cutting off the top part of the hanger.

2. You'll then want to untwist the hanger. Bend the hanger into a circular wreath shape to get an idea of the size. This is where you might need to attach a second hanger depending on how large you want your wreath to be.

3. Attach the two hangers, or the two hanger ends, together by twisting the ends so they are secure.

4. You should then have a complete and enclosed the circle.

5. Find a few good branches from the trimmings that you can start with. I had a few that had a natural curve to them to use as my base.

6. Attach the tree trimmings to the circle frame using the wire. You may want to attach it in a few places to make sure it is secure.

7. Continue around the frame with branches until you have a good base.

8. Start adding more branches to fill in the holes. You don't necessarily have to attach each piece with the wire, or you'll get a very flat look. Instead, weave the branches in between secure ones and use the wire only when necessary.

9. Hold your wreath up to make sure you're happy with the fullness.

10. Add any embellishments you'd like. (My husband found me these while he was out running. He even carried them all the way back for me!)

Show off your wreath to all your friends!

Christmas mantle decor

We live in a townhouse. Growing up, both of us lived in old Victorian homes. So, a lot of things bug me about our place. The one thing I do love is having a mantle to decorate! (Even if the fireplace is an electric fake)

I struggled a long time trying to figure out how I wanted to decorate it, for everyday use and especially for the holidays. I tried collecting a few pins to get some ideas on how I wanted to decorate. Last year I put our nativity set up, but I knew I wanted to do something different. After all, I bought lights and lots of other decor the day after Christmas last year for just this reason!

After I placed the garland and lights, I put up our stockings. I still don't have stocking holders, mostly because I'm too cheap and who knows if we'll have a fireplace at our next place. I hid command hooks in the garland and was able to hang the stockings without them looking out of place.

I added a piece with pinecones and berries to add a little color to the garland and hid the hook.

I decided I wanted to focus on candles to keep it simple and clean but classy also. I had four small candleholders my mom had given me that are probably from the late 80s or early 90s that ended up looking great.

I next wanted to do something different on the wall. I usually don't like to take down all of my normal decor for Christmas because that just gets to be a time consuming task. I took my small wreath and hung it where our clock normally does. It looked great and I only had to move the clock!

But, I still had my blue, yellow and brown sconces that just didn't match. I decided to cover them in some old checked fabric I have in my Christmas decor box. I used to use it as a tree skirt for my own tree when I was a kid. So I began wrapping the sconces with the fabric rather than remove them. This also allowed me to keep my decor the same and still match my theme.

Cut a slit at the corner to make sure it folds over evenly

Don't forget to cut a hole for the sconce to hang like I did!

My wreath is adorned with a burgandy poinsettia so I set out to find burgandy tapers to match to place in my vintage candleholders. I was able to find them for 47 cents apiece at Wal-Mart!

If you look at the pins I picked out, most have something drapped under the mantle. I definitely wanted to recreate something like this because it looked quite bare with just our two stockings. I was hoping I could find something like a burgandy star or anything in that shade with a sort of rustic feel. It was so difficult to find something in burgandy! All the Christmas decorations are bright, hot colors! I love the warmth of the deeper tones. I finally found these three snowflakes at Target. They were a little more than I wanted to spend, but it's pretty much exactly what I was looking for.

Tying them up became a little more challenging. I knew I wanted to hang them with fishing line, but attaching them was a different story. I thought command hooks would work, but when placed horizontal, everything just slips off. I tried tape, and it held for almost an hour, until one by one they came crashing down.

Thankfully, my husband came to my rescue and placed very small eyehooks that will be easy to patch the tiny hole when we're done.

Overall, I'm quite thrilled with how the mantle turned out! It didn't cost me much to decorate it since I've collected most of the items the past two years after Christmas. I even added some of the trimmings from our tree to give the garland some height and a more natural feel. I wonder what I'll be able to find this year to incorporate it in!

My Santa Isabel Bloom, a favorite reminder of where we grew up

Heavenly Deviled Eggs

It's been awhile since I've been at my parent's house for Thanksgiving. While in college I was usually stuck doing homework, or my mom had everything prepared by the time I made it home. So, I really haven't had a chance to help prepare the meal since I've been old enough to really be of any assistance.

Being back for a week, and spending most of the time driving back and forth to the hospital 30 minutes away, mom actually consented to letting me assist her in the kitchen (she usually gets up before dawn the few days before and takes on everything herself). I was delighted.

I was put in charge of making the deviled eggs. I've never made deviled eggs before. I've never watched her make them (remember, up before crack of dawn so they were always done). So, I needed instruction.

I don't like any deviled eggs besides my mom's. They usually taste way too mustardy for my liking. But, as most of her recipes go, we don't have any actual measurements to go by, just taste. But I like cooking this way; it makes me feel imaginative and capable.

Sorry no pictures for this one; I was set to work before I had time to think to grab a few shots!

Mom's Deviled eggs

dozen hardboiled eggs with yokes removed
two or so dollops of mayonaise (REAL)
squirt or two of mustard, probably about 2 teaspoons
3 or so Tablespoons of sweet relish
pinch or two of sugar
dash of paprika plus more for top

Mash the yokes in a small bowl using a fork until almost smooth. Add in your mayo, mustard, relish and sugar. Mix well. Sprinkle in a little paprika. Taste and add to more of ingredients to your liking. Fill each egg with the mixture. Sprinkle all the tops with paprika so they have a nice speckled dusting.


My youngest nephew is a big fan of grandma's deviled eggs. He ate quite a few before my mom told him that I made them. My compliment from him, "I couldn't even tell."

Thankfulness

I know I'm quite late for a Thanksgiving thankful post, but I'm going to go on anyway.

We spent almost two weeks out of town visiting family back in Illinois for Thanksgiving, and hunting season for my husband. While we were back, we got a real reminder of how precious and short life can be. My dad had a heart attack halfway through our visit. He is recovering, but gave us all a big scare, including himself.


So, this Thanksgiving and holiday season I am extremely thankful for family, and the opportunity to be able to travel to see everyone. We generally only make it back to Illinois once a year, and I am beyond thankful it was during this time.

As I sit here looking at thankful verses over and over I need to remember every single thing in my life is a gift from God. Most importantly, my salvation through Jesus; even more poignant as we near the Christmas season and remember His birth.

"Give thanks to the LORD for he is good, His love endures forever"

Psalm 136:1

Upcyle boxes, to custom boxes!

Since we are traveling north for Thanksgiving and not for Christmas, I've had to do some early Christmas shopping. I can't see spending all that extra money on shipping packages, so I'm doing what I can to have everything packed in our suitcase. We'll drop off our gifts during our visit so they can be opened on Christmas. Sounds fine, right?

Well, I've discovered Christmas shopping early means many stores aren't stocked with the holiday boxes, at least where I did my Christmas shopping, so I had to get creative. I know I could have bought the ready-made boxes, but again, I don't like spending unnecessary money.

I had all these other boxes around from other things we've ordered as of late, so I decided to undertake making my own boxes. It wasn't pretty, and I wasn't sure if it was going to turn out alright, so I don't have step-by-step pictures.

I started by unfolding all the cardboard boxes to see what kind of shape I had to work with.

As I was measuring out for my boxes, I realized it is much easier to make the kind of box where the sides slip into the main part of the box. (Think pizza box) This required less taping and notching, and more just folding the boxes together.


A few tips I learned during this endeavor:

• When using corrugated cardboard, use a ruler with a sharp edge, like this one:

I'd put the sharp edge down on the cardboard and use this to form my new crease. This made it immensely easier to create the new folds where I wanted them to be!

• Clear packaging tape works best, but in a pinch, masking tape will work.
• If possible, make use of the existing folds. This will give you a starting point when you're unsure.
• If you start making a wrong cut, just tape it together tightly and make the correct one. If you're unsure about a cut, start small, never cutting all the way through.
• Allow extra space in the inside of your box for tissue paper and for the outside folds of the box
• Use good scissors! Cardboard can be tiresome to continually cut through!

Here are the three I finished in this particular session. The picture of the cardboard above is not all I used!

For one of our large gifts, I didn't make a full box because I did not have enough cardboard to go around the edges. Instead, I made more of a sleeve, but this should work out fine since I still have a solid surface to attach my wrapping paper.

It makes my heart happy to have all these wrapped up and ready to go!

Perfection is in the icing

Yum....

Pumpkin cookies are one of my favorite fall treats, and the best part is the icing! I make mine with my aunt's penuche frosting recipe, and it can get quite messy.

When I made this batch of cookies last week, I remembered how much trouble I had spreading the icing on the cookies when I made them last, so I thought ahead this time and achieved great success!

Here is the original frosting recipe:

Penuche Frosting

3 T melted butter (remember to melt it, otherwise you get butter chunks, not appealing!)
1/2 C brown sugar
1/4 milk
Powdered confectioner's sugar to make it spreadable (about 2 cups)

Combine butter and sugar. Whisk in milk. Add powdered sugar until you achieve spreadable consistency.


My big change isn't really big at all, I simply don't put as much powdered sugar to make it "spreadable." I leave the frosting a little runny so I can dip my cookies, rather than struggle with spreading the icing.

You simply dunk the cookies in your icing as seen in the photos:

Here is what the cookie looks like if you do the old-fashioned spread with a knife. You can see the icing doesn't spread to the edges and isn't uniform:

And here is the cookie completely covered in ooey frosting goodness! With the dunking method, frosting covers all sides of the cookie much more evenly.

My icing has remained a little gooey rather than being slightly hardened like I remember. That might be because I'm in the humid south now rather than the Midwest, or it might be from less powdered sugar. I've remedied that by placing the cookies in the fridge.

Here is another before and after shot. The lighting is a little off, I apologize.

Now all my cookies are frosted and ready to eat. Don't they look so pretty!