And more party!

So a few people asked me about last year's birthday party which was Adventure Around the World themed, and I decided to post a few pics and tips on how I did it.
First of all I made the invitations, I usually do this since I like something unique and I am all about DIY. For this particular invitation I used my cricut and I cut some cards, I used a rectangular one and it had the open flap already done. I wanted to do a suitcase so I cut little "handles" and I pasted them onto one side of the "suitcase". On one side of the invitation I made a frame out of travel themed paper and I added a photo of the kids on the other side the flap "suitcase" opened and you found the info. I grabbed a travel image and used it as background and printed my info there. So the invitation had a few layers, I also decided to do board passes, I used the same papers and I printed the name of each child on them so they had to bring them to the party in order to board the plane for the adventure. Here are the pics.

 Here are the boarding passes .

 

 

As the kids arrived I gave them explorer hats, plastic binoculars, water cans and passports, all bought at oriental trading. Once they gave me their boarding passes, we "boarded" the plane. I was the pilot and we were ready for an adventure around the world.

We stopped in a few countries. We had China, France, Italy, Australia and Mexico. I enlisted the help of my teen daughter and her friends, my mom and the kids' dad. At each country we had to collect a trinket and they got their passports stamped. I used the stickers that came with the passports as stamps and for the countries I didn't have stickersfor, I bought a stamp online.

 After our trip we were so hungry!!! We even brought the italian chef with us and she made us pizza!

After we collected all the trinkets, we traded them for the big prize, which was a world decorated pinata, I just got a smiley face pinata at Zurchers and then I decorated it myself. We had a blast!

 The costumes I had before hand , and I tried to use the countries I had stuff for, or were easy to shop for.I also had the girls read some fun facts about each country so we learned a bit while we "traveled".

So that's all folks!! I hope you enjoyed and if you have any questions shoot me a message on my facebook page.

Cheers!!

Feeling like supermom on a weekday 2 ( Indian style)

Soooo it has been a long while. Projects are still going here, I just haven't had time to post.
Today though, was the day. And here I am.
I got home from work and I was craving some naan or indian bread. I follow a cool videoblog on youtube called Majulaskitchen and she makes awesome food.
So as I was mixing a batch of naan I thought, why not make some rice and a dish to go with it?
So Manjula has a very yummy yellow rice recipe, so I made that and then I googled a few recipes on one of my favorite Indian dishes, Saag Aloo, which basically means spinach and potatoes.
I always have spinach in my fridge and of course potatoes, I skipped the chilies on these recipes because my body type does not do well with spicy foods.
So here are a few pics and the links to Manjula's videos which are awesome.
Naan
Naan recipe by Manjula
Fried yellow rice
Fried Yello Rice by Manjula

And for the Saag Aloo I used

3 tbsp sunflower oil
1 onion chopped
1 garlic clove chopped
1 tbsp grated ginger
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp turmeric
Salt to taste
2 lbs fresh spinach chopped or baby spinach
4 potatoes cubed and previously boiled for 5 minutes.
2 tbsp cream or plain yogurt
Some people use chilies and lemon but I skipped both.

Fry the onions, garlic and ginger until onions look clear, add spices and cook until fragrant, add a bit of water if spices stick to the pan. Add spinach gradually letting it wilt to add more, cover and cook for 10 minutes, add potatoes and simmer for 10 more minutes. Add cream stir and serve with rice.

Valentina rolling out the naan, she was trying to make funny faces but I made her laugh.

Tadaaaaaaa!
That's all folks!!
Cheers and happy summer.

So much to do, so little time.

So for all of you who did not know, I got a job. My projects scream to me everytime I walk in the garage, but I carry on hoping I have some time to finish them soon.
My latest one, is an old desk I picked up for $5 at some Presbiterian Church. I primed it and gave it 2 coats of paint last week, and it is now waiting for its third coat and glazing.
This particular project is for my daughter Brenna's room.

Hopefully I can be done with it by next week.

I finally received my tack strip on the mail for my couch so I hope to get to it before it gets spiderwebs all over it! I am going to have to just do it one day, since I do not have lots of time now.

Then last week was my birthday, yay!. And my mom got me a Ninja processor! I was so stoked! I have wanted one of these forever.
So now I am on a dip kick, today I made 2 for lunch, cilantro hummus and avocado dip. We devoured them. I love my Ninja!

Here is the Hummus recipe

2 cups garbanzo beans or cans
1 tbs tahini or almond butter
2 or 3 small sweet peppers , red or yellow
1/2 cup cilantro leaves washed
3/4 cups lemon or lime juice ( I like mine pretty lemony you can do less if you like)
2 tbsp olive oil
Salt and garlic powder to taste
Most hummus recipes use raw garlic, I do not eat raw garlic so I use powdered, you can substitute if you like.
Throw all this in yourt Ninja, if you have one, or any other food processor and enjoy!!
I love this!

For the avocado dip I did

4 avocados
3 tbs sour cream
1/2 cup lemon or lime juice
salt

Here is my delicious lunch for today! Did I already say I love my Ninja!
Cheers!

Don't you dare think I've been slacking!

Aha! yes you probably thought I gave up and that I am a slacker, but nope I have been busy.
Yes, yes my couch is still undone, I still need to finish the cushions but I have been taking advantage of this, oh so warm weather we've had!
Last week it was so nice and warm I decided to take up a small project I had laying around for a while.
My mom picked up this bad boy at D.I. for $3, she brought it home and said to me " I don't know what to do with it but hey it was 3 bucks". I was in love with it, but since I am not a big mail saver ( hello online everything) I put it on my pile of furniture to be done in the garage.

Well for those of you who have 4 or more children in school, you know how hard it is to keep track of everyone's homework, OMG the mess of loose papers and "Where is my math paper??" or " I can't find a pencil!!".
So I remembered my little piece of furniture and thought "Hey, that could totally make a cool homework station"
So I dusted it off and primed it about a week ago when it was still too cold to paint, so I did it on my kitchen counter.
The weather did not cooperate the following days so I waited and let the primer dry pretty well.
Besides I was going to spray paint it so I could not do it in the kitchen this time.
Next I went to Walmart and got a can of Cherry Red by Krylon, which was $3.14, best spray paint ever . I followed this girl's advice at All Things Thrifty about what spray paint to use and this brand is one of the best.
Now red, is thin and it takes several coats to make it look nice and even, so I gave it 4 coats which was all the can yielded.
After letting it dry for 24 hours after each coat, I decided to glaze it.
I used Valspar clear mixing glaze and mixed it with black paint, about 5 parts glaze to one part paint.
Then you just paint on the glaze and wipe off with a wet cloth until you get the desired amount of "old" you want. I gave it about 4 coats of glaze and really focused on the crannies.
Then I ordered a decal from a decal site since I have yet to invest on a silhouette cameo.
After the glaze was dry I put the decal on and voila! My homework station was done!
Didn't it turn out super cute!?? I chose red since I have an addiction to chef figurines and they usually have red paint on so this color matched my kitchen. I love it!

I have started another project since the weather has permitted, so stay tunned!


Now for a more culinary project I have going on.
This one has to do with my diet and cooking.
I always wondered why everything ( food) in America is something "free".
Like, "oh fat makes us fat , let's make our food fat free!" Oh wait but they do not tell people most food without it's fat cannot be digested by the body, so oops we are sabotaging our health.
One other that bothers me so, is gluten free. Ok I understand some people are allergic, but there is a solution, first eliminate the gluten of course but instead of going gluten free, try and make bread or any other foods the right way, that is without using yeast, baking powder or baking soda, which are accelerators.
The reason why most people are allergic to gluten is because the gluten does not get broken down properly when we use an accelerator such as yeast. Hence the gluten is hard on our bodies. This is the same as eating beans witout soaking them, they make us extremely gassy.
Here is a good article about this Properly prepare bread to avoid gluten intolerance.
So I decided to make my own starter, mostly known as sourdough starter.
I bought a few books on Sourdough about a month ago and started researching this subject.
After a while I grinded some fresh wheat and let it sit out for about 2 weeks and then I started my experiment. I named her Louise. Yes I do have a weird habit of naming my things with old lady names.
I started Louise, with 1/4 cup whole wheat flour, 1/4 cup or white flour and 1/2 cup pineapple juice.
The second day you do nothing, the 3rd day you dump out half of the mixture and add the same as the first day. Do the same on the 4th day and from the 5th to the 14th day you dump half the stuff and add the same amount of flour but switch the juice to filtered water.
Dumping out half of the mixture should encourage good bacteria on the new mix and it starts to "roar" lol.
Now check her out, this is day 6 and she is looking "healthy" I am so excited to try some pancakes when she is ready to go!
And my kids are stoked to try our new "experiment" on a loaf of bread.
More to come!!!
Cheers!

Ahhh Mondays

Mondays are crazy, at least here. I tried to start on my couch but I didn't get far.
Dallin had spotlight at school for his "half birthday" and Valentina got her new dress in the mail, I cannot believe she is going to a school dance, wow time flies.
Dinner was a "lookinthefridgeandworkit" kind of thing and this is how it went.
I had one head of couliflower and an eggplant and I always have pasta, so vermicelli it was.
I roasted the veggies in the oven with some salt, pepper, onion powder and italian herbs. Cooked the pasta and added some olive oil to it, mixed in the veggies and voila, dinner was served.
Two of my kids even ate it, woot!, the other two had noodles with cheese... oh well, I keep trying.
Here is the result, it was great!

Since we are close to Valentines we had FHE on Love one another, and decorated heart shaped cookies for the activity/treat.
They loved it! I didn't love the mess but oh well...I learned to pick my battles.
Happy kiddos...

Tomorrow hopefully I get to work on my couch, since I do not have to volunteer at the school. Wish me luck.

Veggie tacos

Sooo here goes my veggie tacos recipe for the people who requested them!! I am always trying to come with ideas to feed my family with no meat and well it is not easy!! But even my kids requested these today after I made them a while ago for me. Enjoy!
This recipe feeds my family of 7, so feel free to make the necessary adjusments.


Cilantro rice
I always make a more or less rice recipe based on what I have in my fridge , this one has cilantro, onions and a jalapeno pepper.

1 tbsp oil
1/2 onion chopped in big pieces
2 cups of rice
4 cups water
2 tbsp vegetable broth powder or one cube
handful cilantro leaves chopped
Salt to taste ( remember the broth has salt)
1 fresh jalapeno pepper whole (not the canned or jarred type)


In a pot bring the onion and oil to medium heat, fry the onion a bit and add the rice.
Stir and mix the rice and onions and let it fry a bit while stirring. Add the water with broth, cilantro, salt and the jalapeno pepper whole, do not cut it or it will be spicy, this is just for flavoring, if you like to cut it after it is cooked and add it to your rice than is fine.
Cover and bring to a boil, then bring it down to low and cook for 15 to 20 min, or until  rice is done ( try it ).
If you want your rice to be orange like mine ( not necessary), I used one packet of this.

For the beans I used black. I had cooked a batch the day before and I used about half of it.

1 tbsp oil
2 cups of cooked beans ( black or pinto) with some liquid
2 leeks finelly chopped ( white part only) you can use green onions if you don't like leeks.
Handful of chopped cilantro.
Seasoned salt to taste.
1tsp onion powder.
Feel free to add any spices you like here, I just use what I like .

Add the oil and onions to a pan, fry for a couple minutes then add cilantro, beans and spices and let it simmer on low until liquid is almost gone.

The toasted corn is pretty easy
2 cups cooked corn
Salt, pepper and chili powder to taste.

Place corn and spices in a pan and cook until toasted.

Toppings
Sour cream
Cotija cheese
Avocado ( mashed or in pieces)
Pico de gallo (chopped tomatos, onions and cilantro with some lemon juice)
Flour or corn tortillas.
You can add anything here , maybe lettuce or purple cabagge too!
For the vegan version skip cheese and sour cream.

Assemble tacos with as much of each topping as you like and accompany with rice.
Taddaaaa!

Feeling like super mom on a weekday.

So tonight I decided to make empanadas.
 This is a task I do not take up often, since it takes several dozens to feed my family , so I usually make them once a year for New Year's Eve.
Well I guess I am feeling a bit bored after not working anymore and I thought, what the hell, let's do it .
This last New Year we did not  have them because we spent it with family eating super yummy tamales, so I owed my kids the treat.
I had some hamburguer in the fridge waiting to be put away and I thought well let's use it all so then I have no more meat for the rest of the week and they have to eat what I make ( vegetarian), yay! Killed 2 birds with one stone.
I made my traditional Argentine empanada recipe with hamburguer, and then I thought well what will I eat? So I had to come up with a good mix to fill the dough.
Here is a pic of the dough you can buy at the latin store, maybe one that carries south american stuff.
The brand is La Saltena and buy the oven ( horno) kind unless you want to fry.
There is also a pic of the meat filling, and while I was cooking I noticed Dexter carefully monitoring the kids' activity down stairs. Can't get anything past this guy.

 

Ok, onto the recipe! Here is the meat one.If you like to make your own dough I am sure there are some recipes out there if you google Argentine empanadas. I am just lazy and buy it made.

Meat filling ( makes a dozen)

1 tbsp oil
1 onion, chopped
1 lb ground beef
2 tbsp paprika
1 tsp cumin
1 hard boiled egg, chopped
10 green olives, chopped
1/2 cup raisins ( optional)
2 tbsp cornstarch or flour
Salt and pepper to taste

Place oil and onions in a skillet, over medium heat, cook 3-4 minutes until onions look clear.
Add meat and spices ( except paprika) , brown the meat and before it is done add paprika and let it simmer. Remove from heat. Add cornstarch and mix well until the filling thickens. Mix in the eggs, olives and raisins. For the sweet version, skip the olives and add 2 tbsp of sugar.
Once assembled place them in a lined cookie sheet and bake @ 375 for 20 min or until nicely browned.
Here are pics on how to assemble the empanada. Once you put in the filling, wet the edges a bit and press them together, then close it . If you cannot do this particular closure ( excuse my chipped nail polish here) then you can just press it down with a fork , but if you are using a filling with cheese , this closure is better so the cheese doesn't escape.

 

As for my version, well I wanted to use spinach but I had none in my fridge so I just grabbed what I had and threw it together. Here it goes.

Vegetarian filling

1 tbsp oil
1 onion chopped
1 small zucchini chopped in small pieces
1 summer squash chopped in small pieces
1 cup of mushrooms  chopped( I used white ones)
1 can cream style corn
1 cup mozzarella
1 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp onion powder
Salt and pepper to taste.
Cornstarch until it's a bit thick ( carefull not to put too much because when cornstarch cooks it gets too thick too quick , so add a bit at a time)

If you know your spices by all means improvise and use what you like , I always use cumin in my fillings. This made about 15 empanadas.

In a pan put oil and onions and fry them a bit , add mushrooms and cook for a few minutes , add the squashes and spices, I cooked them until they were a bit brown, then I added the corn and turned it to low and mixed well and let it cook a bit more, 3 to 4 min, turn off the stove and add the cornstarch. Once you have the consistency you want add cheese and let it melt.
I let it sit a bit until it cooled down a little so it wasn't too runny for the dough. It was perfect! Even 2 of my kids ate it . Woot!. For the vegan version skip the cheese.
Now pics

 

And here is the result, tadaaaa! These reminded me a bit of the empanadas my grandma used to make for lent when I was little , maybe for the corn flavor. One more veggie recipe for me .

Now that my super mom moment is over, I'll just have to slack for tomorrow's dinner  to balance it out.

The never ending question

 

What's for dinner??
So, tonight I am making broccoli soup and corn dip to accompany it and to make the meal more "fun".

My kids wanted broccoli soup in bread bowls and HEY, I can never say no, when they ask for a vegetarian meal, right?
So I will add some extra fresh broccoli to the Bear Creek one I got ( I tried the home made one and well they did not like it as much as I did, don't you love kids?) and then I found a good corn dip recipe online and tweaked it to my liking.

This one,  Hot corn dip   I found online and I liked it, I added cilantro to the mix and on top as well after I got it out of the oven, my kids ate it, which is always a plus.
I have always wanted to put my kids on a vegetarian diet, but I hate taking their choice away, so I try to model it and they try everything I make, which is more than I can ask.
Anyways, let's hope everyone is enjoying this freezing temperatures to make more soups and stews, maybe you can share some fun recipes with me!