Cajun-Spiced Party Mix

  You know those go-to recipes you have that are the best you've ever tasted, no matter how many you try? This is one of those recipes for me. My mom started making this party mix when I was in high school & when I got married & left home, this was one of the recipes I copied out from my mom's recipe collection.

Cajun-Spiced Party Mix
makes approx. 20 cups

1 1/2 cups butter
3 Tbsp. worcestershire sauce
2 1/4 tsp. garlic salt
3/4 tsp. white pepper
3/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
3/4 tsp. black pepper
3/4 tsp. hot pepper sauce, such as Tabasco

5 cups small pretzels
4 cups crispix cereal
4 cups shreddies cereal
4 cups cheerios cereal
3 cups pecan halves

Preheat oven to 300º.

Mix butter, worcestershire, hot sauce, & spices in a saucepan. Over medium heat, stir until butter melts.

In a large roaster, mix remaining ingredients.

Drizzle butter mixture over cereal mixture. Toss.

Bake for 30 minutes stirring after 15 minutes.



Spread on foil to cool.

Pack in airtight containers.

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This makes a great teacher, hostess, neighbour gift as well! A nice jar or tin makes the perfect container. 

Just tie on a bow & add a tag with the recipe name printed on it. Done!

Enjoy your day!

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Cardboard Roll Treat Packets

  Do your kids ever save toilet paper rolls "because we might be able to make something with them"? Mine sure do! Most of the time, I sneak them into the garbage when they aren't looking. For the past couple of months, however, we have all been saving any kind of cardboard tube on purpose.

  My son & I had the idea that we could make some kind of treat packet for his classmates at Christmas time. We finally saved enough tubes & this week we got to work! Here's what we came up with.

  I had thought that I may want to do something a little more fancy with a cut out tag attached or something & then had second thoughts. Realistically, these are 7-9 year old kids who likely will just tear it open to get at the candy inside. :) 

  So, we made it look as special as we could without spending too much time on this project.

  Here's what we used:

1. small bags of candy
2. toilet paper rolls or paper towel rolls cut smaller
3. pretty Christmas paper
4. string, yarn, twine, or heavy thread

  I hope I'm not insulting your intelligence by describing this for you, since it was so simple. 

  We started by stuffing the bags of candy into the rolls.

  Next, cut your paper into strips & adhere around the roll.

  Lastly, loop the string around the tube several times & tie in a knot.

  If your kids are in my son's class, please don't spoil the surprise, k? It was pretty easy & my little guy is excited to have treats that he helped make.

  Are you making something for your kid's friends? What do you have planned? I'd love to know about it. Please leave me a link & I'll come check out your projects.

Enjoy your day!

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Light Bulb Snowmen - A REAL Tutorial

  At the end of November, I posted some pictures of a Christmas craft I had made with my mom & sister-in-law a few years ago - Light Bulb Snowmen.

  My sister-in-law, Jodi, offered to take some pictures of her next batch & she ended up providing me with a very nicely detailed tutorial. A very special thank you to her for that!! Right now, she's not a blogger, otherwise I would totally link you to her blog!

Here are her awesome instructions:

"Use an old shoe box and make holes to put bulbs in.  This makes the spraying and painting process so much easier.  

Spray lightbulbs with Acrylic sealer so paint will stick to glass.  

Paint bulbs with Acrylic paint.  I do 2 coats for best coverage.

The Finished bulbs.  I tried an iridescent paint paint, but realized I needed to do a first coat with white paint and then the iridescent as it didn't cover well on its own.  

This is the paint I use.  

I lay out all my felts and pom poms to coordinate.  The large pom poms are for ear muffs, the little ones for noses.  One colour will be the hat, the other the mitts and trim or whatever you wish!

I roll the bulb onto the felt to make a template for the hat. 

Put hot glue on the metal part of the bulb and wrap the felt around.   

This is the strip for the trim.  Again put a bead of hot glue on the hat felt and wrap the trim around.  

Tie string or yarn around the felt so that it is tight.  I coordinate my string to match my colours.  

Carefully cut the hat felt into strips.  Do not cut into the tie as you will cut it apart. 

It ends up looking like a funky toque!

Take a smaller piece of felt and fold it.  Cut a mitten shape out of the folded felt so that both mittens are the same size and shape.  

Use the large pom poms for ear muffs.  Attach with hot glue.  

  Use googly eyes and the tiny pom poms for noses.  Attach the mittens with hot glue.  You may also want to attach a saying or mini decoration to the front of the bulb.  

  I attach a string to the mittens and wrap it around the back.  This makes it look like the mittens are connected. 

The finished product!!  Enjoy!"

Thank you again to Jodi for putting this tutorial together for me! Aren't these so cute?!

Thanks for reading.

Enjoy your day!

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Skip To My Lou

Lend a Helping Hand this Christmas

  Christmas is all about giving. Or at least it should be. Sadly, with all the commercialism that often surrounds the Christmas season, the real reason for Christmas can get lost in the shuffle.

  That's why I'm encouraging you today to take a break your own preparations to help someone else with theirs. Pick up the phone or send an email & see who could use a hand. Whether it be shopping, baking, wrapping, or decorating, pick something you like doing & offer to help someone else with that task.

  If you don't have a lot of free time, just give a couple of hours. I'm sure the recipient of your kind deed with be forever grateful. 

  If you don't have a friend who needs help, purpose to spread some joy in another way. Buy a Starbucks or another hot drink for your child's teacher. Offer to help in a soup kitchen or at your local food bank. Plug a parking meter that has expired if you're out shopping. Pay for the order of the person behind you in the drive thru.  

  These are just a few ideas of how you can give this Christmas away. So go ahead, spread some extra cheer & do something a little out of the ordinary. Because Christmas isn't Christmas until you give it away.

“For God loved the world so much that He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life."  ~John 3:16

Enjoy your day!

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Turkey & Black Bean Chili

  These colder days call out for cozy recipes. Chillis, soups, & stews are all regulars on our meal plans for the next several months. Imagine coming home from a day out Christmas shopping & preparing a warm, comforting meal for your family. This is just such a meal.

  Today I have a chili recipe that uses ground turkey or perhaps you could even use shredded leftover Christmas turkey! It's something a bit different from the common beef chili. And this is chock full of veggies too! Very healthy but amazingly good!

Turkey & Black Bean Chili

makes 6 servings

1 pound skinless ground turkey

1 cup chopped onion

1 clove garlic, minced

1 cup chopped green pepper

1 cup diced carrots

1 1/2 cups tomato sauce

1 1/2 cups salsa

1 can black beans, drained & rinsed 

1 1/2 tsp. chili powder

1 tsp. ground cumin

1/2 tsp. dried oregano

Dried pasta of your choice

Optional toppings:

Sour cream

Cheddar cheese, shredded

Chopped green onion

1) Spray a large skillet with non-stick spray. Add ground turkey & cook over medium-high heat until no longer pink. Break up any large chunks. 

2) Add onions, garlic, green pepper, & carrots. Cook & stir for 4-5 minutes, until veggies have softened.

3) Stir in tomato sauce, salsa, beans, chili powder, cumin, & oregano. Bring mixture to a boil, then lower heat & simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

4) Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package directions. Drain well. 

5) Serve chili over pasta & serve with optional toppings.

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The perfect meal for a cold, winter night. 

I hope you're keeping warm & enjoying your Christmas season.

Enjoy your day!

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Almost Instant Buckeyes

I'm excited to share this super simple candy recipe with you today! 

Almost-Instant Buckeyes

makes about 5 dozen candies

1 (10-oz.) pkg. peanut butter chips

1 (16-oz.) can vanilla ready-to-spread frosting

1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 Tbsp. butter or margarine

1. Line cookie sheets with waxed paper or parchment paper. 

2. Melt peanut butter chips in medium saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly. OR you can melt them in the microwave for about 2 minutes, stopping it after 1 minute to stir. Remove from heat or microwave. Stir in frosting. Let stand about 10 minutes or until cool enough to handle.

3. Roll mixture into 1-inch balls; place on cookie sheet. Refrigerate for 15 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, melt chocolate chips & buter in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly. OR melt in the microwave as directed above.

5. Pierce each ball with a toothpick; dip into melted chocolate, leaving a small area around the toothpick uncoated. Place dipped ball on cookie sheet, pushing candy off of toothpick with tines of fork (or a clean finger). :)

6. To smooth out the toothpick mark, first make sure your hands are clean. Then, give each hole a little pinch...

...and a little push.

There!

7. Let stand for 5 minutes or until set.

So easy & yummy! These also make a great gift. Maybe a teacher, neighbour, or party hostess you know would enjoy receiving a sampling of these tasty morsels? Just make sure there are no peanut allergies to contend with!

  If you're curious, as I was, where the name Buckeye comes from, these candies are called that because they look similar to the nut that comes from the chestnut or buckeye tree. There you go, you learn something new everyday! :)

Enjoy your weekend!

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Oh Christmas Tree(s)

  I have a question for you. Do you decorate your Christmas tree the same way every year or do you like to switch it up a bit from year to year? In the past, I've done it pretty much the same from year to year... mostly silver & blue, but with the kid's colourful ornaments added in too.

My tree a couple years ago.

  This year, I was able to purchase a small white tree for our family room which my daughter decorated with the kid's ornaments & my nutcracker ornament collection.

  That left my big tree for the living room. It's the first year in a while for me to have an "adult tree". It looks even more sophisticated this year with the addition of some dark navy ornaments. In certain light, they even look black or charcoal. Pretty sophisticated. I like.

It is SO hard to get good photos of a Christmas tree. Have you noticed?

My favourite ornaments are probably the nature inspired ones:

And whooo could resist these sweet owls?

What are your favourite ornaments from your Christmas tree?

Enjoy your day!