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.

~~~

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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Made By You Monday

Chef In Training

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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A Little Inspiration

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!

Dollar Store Gift Tag Makeover

  A couple of weeks ago, I shared some creative Christmas wrapping ideas. Since then, I've been wrapping up a storm around here & the space under our tree is looking all shimmery with prettily wrapped gifts.

  While I was doing all this wrapping, I came up with a neat little idea to share.

  I bought these gift tags from Michaels in the dollar bins a few months ago.

  I bought these Christmas decorations at the dollar store awhile ago.

  I put them together & they look like this!

I love how they look expensive when really they were so cheap! 

Enjoy your day!

An Easy Christmas Centrepiece

 Today, before I share what I've prepared, I would like to take a minute to focus on the real meaning of Christmas. If you're not familiar with the real reason for Christmas, let me tell you very kindly that it's not about Santa, stockings, or snow (although I'm not opposed to those things). It's about one gift that was so generously given to all of us... Jesus. I know that December 25th isn't necessarily the day that Jesus was born. I know that many of the traditions we've adopted as "Christmas" traditions have pagan roots. 

  The point I'm trying to make is this: December 25th & the days leading up to it is to be a celebration of the coming of the Messiah - The Saviour of the world!

  I like to think of this season as the biggest birthday party of the year! I believe we should put up decorations, sing Christmas songs, & make tasty things to eat. But let us (me included) not forget that it's all about & for Christ.

  As my favourite carol, Joy to the World, says, "Let every heart prepare Him room..." 

  So, let us not just prepare our homes. Let us open our hearts & give room to Jesus... the real reason for the season.

  To read the story of Jesus' birth, click here. 

~~~

  I'm off to a great start this Christmas season. We finished our Christmas shopping this weekend, I've done most of the gift wrapping (more on that tomorrow - stay tuned!), I've got a good start on the Christmas baking (to see what I've made so far, click here, here, & here.), & the decorating is all done! 

  I'll still enjoy creating Christmas crafts as well as doing some more baking throughout the season. But now I can focus on enjoying it all with family & friends as well as helping out some friends along the way (more on that coming soon too!). 

  In my Christmas decorating this year, I wanted to do something different on my dining room table than I've done for Christmases past. When I was pulling out my decorations, I came across this 3-tiered dish that I inherited from my grandma. I had almost forgotten about it.

All I had to do was add some Christmas ornaments & it was done! 

How fast is that?!

During the day

You could do it with pinecones, candies, or whatever you wanted. So easy!

In the evening with the glowing lights

I hope your Christmas preparations are going well too. 

Enjoy your day!

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Sumo's Sweet Stuff

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Today's Creative Blog

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It's Overflowing

Let Them Eat Cake!

  Today, I'm dreaming of birthday cakes. Why, you ask? Well, today is my 35th birthday. Each year, my mom & I share a birthday celebration since our birthdays are only a week apart. Some years we order a cake from a bakery. Some years my mom will bake one & some years I bake one. The celebration will be later this week, but this year I've offered to bring the cake, so I've been hunting around for some yummy inspiration.

  Here are some beauties I've found. As usual, Pinterest took the cake (so to speak)!

Blueberry Cheesecake

Red Velvet Cheesecake

Lemon Curd Layer Cake

Neapolitan Cake

And now for the chocolatey options...

Mint Chocolate Ice Cream Cake

Heaven & Hell Cake (Layers of angel food cake, devil's food cake, & peanut butter mousse)

Cappuccino Fudge Cheesecake

Godiva Dream Cheesecake

Chocolate Peanut Butter Torte

And now for the pièce de résistance...

Isn't this gorgeous?! I will not attempt to make this, but I wanted to share this beauty with you. 

(For those of you who don't know, I'm a huge fan of Paris, France & all things Eiffel Tower-ish.)

All these cakes look so delicious, I'm having a hard time choosing which one to make. 

What say you? What would be your first choice?

I'm feeling very blessed today. I am surrounded by wonderful friends & my precious family. 

I have so much to be thankful for.

Life is good.

Enjoy your day!

Some Recipes To Try

  Again today I'm veering away from the Christmas theme that I've been in for the past several weeks. (Which makes no sense since it's actually December now, but hey, I'll go with it.)

  How many of you eat supper together with you family? I hope most of you do. It's such a precious time to spend together. It's often the time that we laugh the most, the kids open up & talk about their day, we tell stories from our lives, & teach lessons. Just last night, I got to tell my kids a Bible story that they had never heard before. I don't think I'm that great of a story teller, but they were transfixed. In telling the story, I also was able to teach the moral of the story: trusting in God's leading. It's amazing what happens at the dinner table. May I suggest that you try to make it a regular occurrence in your home? You won't be sorry.

  On the subject of supper, I have some recipes that I've tried recently that I would like to share with you. They are all simple & delicious. You may want to add one of these to your meal plan soon.

Pepperoni Pizza Pasta

Via Taste Of Home

 Slow Cooker French Dip Sandwich

Via Time To Cook!

 Parmesan-Crusted Tilapia

Via Rachael Ray

 Couscous with Kalamata Olives, Pine Nuts, & Feta Cheese

Via For The Love Of Cooking

  I give all of these recipes 2 thumbs up! Go ahead, give 'em a try!

Enjoy your weekend!

Baby Cards

  Well, today I'm taking a break from my Christmas posts to share some baby cards I made recently. 

If you've been reading my blog for awhile, you know that I love cute owls. 

Because of that, this first one is my favourite.

Do you have a favourite?

Enjoy your day!

Light Bulb Snowmen

  Today, I'm sharing another craft of Christmas past. I cannot take credit for this idea, but I did help make these. Several years ago, my sister-in-love & mom-in-love saw or heard about this idea & decided to give it a try. Well, I would say that they very successfully pulled the idea off.

  The idea is to up-cycle used lightbulbs & make them into cute ornaments for your Christmas tree.

Here are the supplies used:

• Light bulbs
• FolkArt Clearcote Acrylic Sealer *See note below*
• White paint
• Felt
• Pom-poms in different sizes
• Googly eyes
• Twine
• Pipe cleaners
• Mini teddy bears
• Letter beads
• Thread
• Hot Glue

**Update: To view my step-by-step tutorial with step-by-step photos, click HERE.**

They started by painting the light bulbs ahead of time. ** Update: my sister in law told me I missed a step. "You need to add that we sprayed the lightbulbs before painting them...with FolkArt Clearcote Acrylic Sealer otherwise the paint just peels off." Thanks so much, Jodi!! **

Then, the fun began. This is where I came to help.

• Cut strips of felt for the hats (or toques as we call them here in Canada) as well as the mittens. 
• Attach twine to the hats & make a loop to hang the ornament
• Add eyes
• Add pom-poms for earmuffs, noses, & buttons. (You can also add them to the tips of the hat, as I did in the second picture on the blue hat)
• Add a pipe cleaner around the base of the hat as in the second picture, if desired.
• Attach mittens to twine & glue in place (leave some room loose at the front of the mitten for the next step)
• Make them personal by adding a name or sentiment with the letter beads. String them onto some thread & glue the ends under the ends of the mittens.

Here's our little snowman/woman family:

  If you'd be interested in a more in-depth tutorial, leave me a comment & let me know. If there's interest, I can certainly whip up another one of these with some photo directions. Pictures would certainly help with the hat portion of the instructions as that can be hard to explain. 

  We bought a mini white Christmas tree for our family room this year. The kid's decorations (including these) & my nutcracker decorations grace its branches. We're lovin' it!

Enjoy your day!

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The Artsy Girl