Double-Baked-SMASHED! Potatoes

Posted on August 3, 2015 by Sarah

Double-Baked-SMASHED! Potatoes — Prep Time: 60 minutes, Bake Time 20 min

These Double-Baked-Smashed!-Potatoes are probably my most favorite BBQ/dinner side! Not only are these potatoes super yummy, they are also very simple to make…. Just follow the recipe below for detailed instructions, and enjoy! 🙂

All you’ll need is:

8 Potatoes
1 package of Cream Cheese
1 small Onion, chopped
1/8 cup of Ranch Dressing
1 1/2 cups of Cheddar Cheese, shredded
1 Tbsp. of Margarine or Butter
1/4 cup of Milk or Cream
1/4 Tsp. of crushed Garlic
1/2 package of diced, cooked Bacon or Bacon Bits
Dash of Salt & Pepper
Fresh Chives for garnish

Step One: Wash and slice all of the potatoes in half, the long way. Place all potato halves face down on a baking sheet. Cover the bottom of the baking sheet with 1cm of water, and bake in the oven for 45 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Tip: If you are worried about the potatoes sticking, cover the baking sheet with a light coating of vegetable oil or butter.

Step Two: After potatoes have been baked and cooled to touch, use a spoon to carefully scrape out the potato skins into a large bowl.

Step Three: Add the milk and butter to the potatoes, and mash as you would in order to make “regular” mashed potatoes.

Tip: Reheat the mixture in the microwave to help with mashing.

Step Four: Set aside 1 cup of cheese and 1/2 of the bacon. Mix and mash — (or SMASH!), all of the other ingredients into the bowl, (except for the chives).

Step Five: Spoon the mashed potato mixture back into the potato skins and place them back on to the cookie sheet. Next sprinkle the remaining cheese and bacon on top.

Tip: I like to pre-mix the bacon and cheese in a separate bowl before sprinkling it onto the potatoes. This helps to ensure and even-distribution to each potato!

Step Six: Place the potatoes back into the oven bake for about 20 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit, or until the cheese is melted on top.

Step Seven: Sprinkle fresh chives on top, serve with sour cream, and enjoy!

Wreath Decorating for Beginners! (In just 3 EASY steps!)

Posted on August 3, 2015 by Sarah

Ahhh…. Wreath decorating with faux flowers…. what can I say?! It’s really not that hard! (I promise!)…. Check out these 3 EASY steps for applying equal coverage to a wreath of any size!

Tick-Tock…. just pretend it’s a Clock!

Step 1: After selecting your faux flowers or fauna, trim the stems to about 4″. (I find that a small pair of side cutters works best for this!)Step 2: Start by placing one colour of flower at 12, 3, 9 & 6 o’clock. Follow up by placing the other flower colours directly beside those first placed flowers. Continue to do so until all of your flowers have been used!Step 3: To add an extra POP! to your wreath, add large random flowers to about 10/11 and 5 o’clock. See?? Sooooo EASY!!!!

DIY Harvest Wreath

How To Make The Perfect Bow

DIY Harvest Wreath — (In 4 Easy Steps!)

Posted on July 25, 2015 by Sarah

It’s July, and if Harvest Season hasn’t started yet in your area, it will be soon! I am SO in LOVE with the way this Simple, DIY, Harvest Wreath turned out …. and to make it even better, I was able to hand-pick this wheat right off of the family farm where I grew up! If you are harvesting your own wheat out of the fields for crafts, you need to harvest it about 2 weeks prior to harvest season when the wheat is in the doughy stage. To tell if it is in the doughy stage, take a bite into it and if it’s chewy, you are good to go! Don’t worry if you aren’t able to hand-pick your wheat, it is available in most craft stores too! 🙂
Step 1: The first thing that you need to do is trim your wheat to have about a 2″ stem. If you are picking your own wheat out of the field, I highly suggest that you just cut off 2″ stems out there. And yes — I did learn this the hard way…. I had to cut each wheat stem twice! LOLStep 2: Tie your wheat into bundles of 3-5 heads. You could use any type of string that you have on hand, but I found that Florist’s Wire works the best! Just cut it into 1.5″ pieces and wrap around the wheat…. Way easier than tying a million little knots! (Don’t worry — you don’t have to really tie a “million” knots!)Step 3: Use a glue gun to attach the wheat to your macrame ring, or grapevine wreath, (I used a grapevine wreath because it’s what I already had on hand). You will want to start gluing at the top of the wreath and overlay each bundle on top of the previous one. Once you have done a full lap around the whole wreath, go back to the top and fill in any bare spots.Step 4: Use florist’s wire to attach your bow and hang your wreath! SO simple and SO beautiful!

Tip: If you need help making a bow, check out my good friend Courtenay’s simple instructions for making The Perfect Bow, over at The Creek Line House!

De-Leaf a Cabbage – The Proper Way & The Easy Way!

Posted on July 8, 2015 by Sarah

Ahhh, the secret to de-leafing the fabled cabbage! Sounds scary, but really isn’t! 😉

What you’ll need:

– A chopping knife

– A cabbage-sized pot

– 2 forks

– Water

– A cabbage (But, of course!)

Step 1: Chop off the bottom of the cabbage, and try to de-core a little ways in, (kind of like de-coring just the bottom part of an apple).

Step 2: Put the cabbage into the pot, bottom down, and fill with water. Boil for at least 5 minutes.

Step 3: Remove the pot from heat until the water stops boiling and very carefully use the two forks to roll the cabbage so it is bottom-up… yes, bottom’s up!! 😉

Step 4: Use one fork to hold the cabbage in place, and use the second fork to peel the leaves off, one leaf at a time. Only peel leaves that come off easy…. If your leaves aren’t peeling easy, than you need to boil your cabbage for a little longer.

Tip: I can usually peel 4 leaves at a time, and then I stuff them. While I am stuffing the first 4 leaves, the other leaves are having time to soften up in the water…. So try to make sure that you constantly keep your water just under a boil!

Try these Easy, Cheesy, Cabbage Rolls! – Made with Red Cabbage!

Easy, Cheesy, Cabbage Rolls! – Made with Red Cabbage

Posted on July 8, 2015 by Sarah

Mmm……. Try this yummy family sized dinner! (8-10 rolls!) It’s so easy, savoury and delicious, you’ll want to eat another one…. and another one! Trust me — I just ate 4! (Ooops!!!)

What you’ll need:

– 2 cups of rice (I like to use wild long grain mixed with regular)

– 1 package of hamburger

– 1 medium onion (diced)

– 1 package of mushrooms (chopped)

– 2 packets of chicken bullion

– 2 tblsp of Worcestershire sauce

– 4 dashes of hot sauce

– 1/2 tsp of thyme

– 1/4 tsp of salt

– 1/4 tsp of pepper

– 1 can of tomatoes (diced)

– 1 can of tomato soup

– 2 cups of old cheddar cheese (shredded)

– 1 red cabbage (green works just as well!)

Step 1: In a super-big frying pan, add mushrooms, onions, hamburger, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, thyme, salt and pepper. Fry on medium heat.

Step 2: Prepare rice in a separate pot.

Step 3: Once both are ready, combine the rice into the hamburger mixture. Then add the bullion cubes, 3/4 of the chopped tomatoes, and 1/4 of the can of tomato soup. Stir and simmer on low.

Step 4: Boil and peel cabbage.

Step 5: Put about 1/2 cup of the rice mixture onto 1 cabbage leaf, sprinkle with cheese, and roll. Repeat for about 9 more rolls, placing each roll into a rectangular, oven-safe baking dish.

Step 6: Combine the remaining diced tomatoes and tomato soup in a separate bowl, and then pour over the cabbage rolls. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top, and cover with foil.

Step 7: Bake in the oven for 1 hour at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Serving Tip! – If I have any remaining rice leftover, I will make a bed of rice on the plate to lay my cabbage roll on. I then add a dollop of sour cream, and chives to garnish… (Sooooo YUMMY!!!!)

Check out The Proper Way & Easy Way to De-Leaf a Cabbage!

Get More out of your Hamburger Helper

Posted on June 17, 2015 by Sarah

Mmm…. I LOVE Hamburger Helper! It is my super-easy, just got home from work, go-to dinner. The only problem is, that now that we are a family of three, there is just never enough of it! Here is a super-duper-easy way to GET MORE out of your Hamburger Helper! 🙂All you need is 1 extra cup of noodles, 1 can of Tomato Soup, and 1 extra cup of Water…. That’s it! Just three simple ingredients that can almost always be found on-hand!
Follow the original directions on the back of the Hamburger Helper Box, and add in the extra 3 ingredients. Stir and cook as usual. No extra cooking time needed!! 😉Serve into a pretty bowl and add a garnish for fun! 🙂 Or, if nobody is looking…. GO AHEAD — Eat it right out of the pot! 😛