Because... It's Homemade!

Hello everyone!

I was sitting at home a few nights ago and was craving taco salad. I had all the ingredients except the usual taco seasoning that I use. So, I ended up Googling for a homemade recipe version. This is what I found...

Taco Seasoning Mix

Ingredients

    1 tbsp Chili Powder

    1 tsp ground cumin

    1 tsp salt

    1/2 tsp paprika

    1/4 tsp garlic powder

    1/4 tsp onion powder

    1/4 tsp dried oregano

    1/4 tsp black pepper

    pinch of red pepper flakes

Instructions

    Combine all the spices in a bowl and keep in an airtight container in a cool dry place until ready to use.

To Make Taco Meat:

    Brown 1 pound ground beef with 1/2 of a white onion, diced until crumbled and no longer pink. Drain any fat and return skillet to stove top. Add in 2 1/2 tbsp of seasoning mix (one recipe) along with 1/4 cup of water. Stir until combined and water has reduced. 

 Homemade Ketchup with Honey

Ingredients

1. 12 oz. tomato paste*
2. 1/2 c. honey.
3. 1 c. vinegar.
4. 1/2 c. water (or more, for a thinner consistency)
5. 2 tsp. salt.
6. 1/2 tsp. onion powder.
7. 1/4 tsp. garlic powder.

Homemade sloppy joes recipe link ... 

 

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 pounds ground beef
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1/4 green bell pepper, chopped
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed chicken gumbo soup
• 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 4 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 1/2 tablespoons yellow mustard

• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 1/2 cup barbecue sauce
• 6 tablespoons white vinegar
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon liquid smoke flavoring
• 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. In a large heavy skillet, cook ground beef until evenly brown; drain well.
2. In a slow cooker, combine onion, bell pepper, celery, condensed gumbo soup, tomato paste and brown sugar. Stir in lemon juice, mustard, ketchup, barbeque sauce and vinegar. season with Worcestershire sauce, liquid smoke, parsley, black pepper and salt. Stir in browned beef.
3. Cover, and cook on low for 4 to 6 hours, stirring occasionally. Skim off excess fat.

This sparked the theme for this post.

There is a Digital Scrapbooking freebie for March from the We Believe Blog Train as well. Enjoy!

 Downloads:
Links fixed. Sorry about that!

Patterned Papers
Solid and Worn Papers
Elements 

Don't forget to pick up the rest of the freebies from our WBBT group this month!

Rush Ranch
Songbird Scraps Designs
A-M Designs
Crystal'z Colorz
Nellie Bell
Dreamn4ever Designs
Moore Blessings Digital Designs
Lori Imel Designs

New Life Event... I'm a budding Author!

Hi everyone,

Since I tore up my knee it was too uncomfortable to sit with my feet on the floor. I did not have the same software on my slow laptop as my i5 desktop. well...


I started a book about life's journeys and recovery from mental health and depression issues and perseverance on my birthday 1.5 years ago. I looked into publishing it then but decided not to pursuit it at the time.

I wrote a couple more chapters the week that I was on crutches. I Googled it and found a few new publishers that actually looked more suitable. I sent in an outline and a couple of chapters. WELL....

Wait for it...

I signed a book contract!!!

I'm going to have a published book this time next year!!! woohoo!

It's called "Shattered Crystal" and fiction but inspired by life events.

well... back to why you are here lol.

Week 3 continues on Mello Moments!

Direct Download HERE wk 3

For week 1 & week 2

please see Older Posts below

Labor Day Weekend ... Lil' Lady Finale!

This is the last zip section for the Lil' Lady scrap kit download and I am removing the He's Got Game links. Also, there is a BONUS greeting card for you from the elements and papers from the Lil' Lady kit too! Woohoo! How great is that?

RECIPES- Felling fallish?? Here is a yummy salad offering: Autumn Pear Salad from Cooking Classy .com. This looks AMAZING!!! I love fruits and veggies! It has candied walnuts and dried cranberries. wooooo!

Another amazing salad for you... for those warm evenings as summer winds down.

 

This one is Grilled Steak Salad from the Food Network .com. YUM!

I love a refreshing dessert with a light meal. I hardly ever bother with dessert for other types of meals but this one looks too good to pass up...

 

This is a pairing of my favorite tropical flavors. woooo. looks and sounds amazing! 

Pina Colada Key Lime Pie from the Food Network .com 

Now for the digital scrap-booking freebie... the last segment to the Lil' Lady kit.

Direct Download HERE.

And a bonus greeting card for you!

Download HERE.

This prints out as a portrait image. Then you fold it into a greeting card :)

I print on card stock 8.5 x 11 paper from Wal-Mart or matt photo paper works well too.

Enjoy!

 

It's So Hot and Cold

Temperatures have been rising lately. We have had the hottest day on record for our summer so far today. 89 (F) degrees but really, really muggy. The heat index today was in the mid nineties (F). But, temps next week will be a lot cooler because of another arctic vortex.

So, I finally had some time today to get to the Lil' Lady kit section for you. Everything is OK here. Just extremely busy. I sometimes work 16 hr days a few in a row toward the end of the week and that happened this week. Oy! This weekend just seemed to come and go as well. phew... Here comes Monday...do it again! LOL!

ENTERTAINMENT: I've even been too busy to watch my soap opera program. I am a die-hard General Hospital Soap fan. I really miss the other soaps that were on ABC as well. Jason is alive! woot. And Nathan is a sweetie (hottie) hee hee. And Dante and Lulu are so cute together. I am sure Nathan and Maxie will be a great storyline too. I am disappointed that Sonny and Olivia did not work out as a couple. I also would like to see Sabrina come back on the scene. 

ELECTRONICS:  Anyone excited for the fall technology show debuts??? I am! hee hee... lol.

SOCIAL/ RECIPE: I met up with my good friend Lorinda and her family this weekend and had the most awesome mouth watering mixed berry-peach cobbler...mmmmm...from Betty-Crocker, of course!

Now here is the section 7 piece of Lil' Lady digital scrap kit.

Sorry for the delay.

direct download: Part 7 HERE

Very Veggie Summer!

**** Last week for "He's Got Game" kit links ****

I usually leave up my kit links for about 6 weeks after I have finished with a kit. It's about that time for "He's Got Game"links. So... next Friday, they will be removed. :)

RECIPES - I was given several humongous overly large zucchini squash this week. So I had to go research for some good recipes to share with you. Here are a few links to get you started...

Mom's zucchini bread- "A moist and delicious zucchini bread flavored with walnuts and cinnamon. Easy to bake and freeze, this recipe makes two loaves." from All-recipes.

Lemon Cake - "Looks really yummy" I love citus flavored desserts. I am going to give this a try." By Ina Garten on the Food Network site.

And finally...

Summer grilled salad side dishes. - this is several short video segments highlighting salads made grill side with veggies and whole grains instead of pasta salads for your side dishes this summer. I am definitely going to give several of them a try! especially the quinoa one, again, on the Food Network site.

Digital Kits -  Here is this week's portion of the Little Lady kit...

Direct download HERE

Enjoy! Have a great week!

Wow! amazing technology forecast for fall.

Hello,

yes, I was very busy these last two weeks working hard 16 hr day 10 days in a row at both stores so I got the kit out a bit late last week. lol. Sorry abut that. Things get a bit quiet on the social side of things so a bit lonely around the edges here. :)

Work- Well our good old store at 19th street McDonald's is closing up on Sunday. The franchise corporation is building us a new restaurant down several blocks from it near a movie theater and a Costco. It's really exciting!!!

OLD one...

And the new one will be similar to this! Wow! it will be quite a big change. A good thing for me is a live in the middle to both of them so I am not any more further away than before. :)

Technology - Here is an illustration of a new smart watch coming out by HP collaborating with designer = Michael Bastian this fall, a good designer, indeed! NICE!

So if you have a device capable of Bluetooth wireless, you can add a wireless speaker or wireless headphones. S-weet! Samsung Level series. And their new just out Gear Live smart watch too!! Awesomeness!

And finally...  here is this week's portion of the Lil' Lady kit.

Direct download HERE

Have a good week!

Lil' Lady continues...

Here is the next piece to the Lil' Lady Kit.

Here is the direct download link:

More for the "Lil' Lady" Scrapbooking Kit.

Hi all!

It's been a wonderful sunshine filled week here. The temps have been a bit cold and chilly in the 60's degrees F and about 16 degrees C . They say we had a polar vortex. It is strange to see such cool temps in mid July. But it is much more comfortable than the very hot hot July summers that we usually get. and now for a recipe...

Recipe- Strawberry Cheesecake Supreme

 Strawberries stand as sentinels around a colorful cloud of coconut-citrus cheesecake topped with more fruit and tufts of whipped cream.This recipe is found on the American website for Kraft Foods. And I pinned it on my Pinterest board as well...

Technology- Another one for my flash drive and stylus collections :)

LEGO's... Yay! This one is so much fun...

You can find this one online at BestBuy.com and in BestBuy stores in the computing section!

Now...

For This week's post on

 

 Digital Scrapbooking-Simple Scrapper has a nice way of saying it too!

 

 And...I have another piece, part 3 of my Lil Lady collection kit freebie, 

 

here you are...

Completed kit with all pieces collected and...

 

Part three

 

 Download Part 3, HERE.

Enjoy, my friends.

Another Week for the Ladies

Well goodness another week has went by already. My how the summer time flies. Between the two day jobs that keep me busy. I love to have the laptop out and off my feet for a while designing goodies for all of my scrap-booking friends. :)

Technology- I have a Chomecast already for streaming Netflix to my TV. I enjoy Netflix and Hulu+ on that device. Netflix is a movie streaming service. Hulu+ is a television service. Both can be watched with a Chromecast.

It is available at BestBuy stores here in the united States for $35. It has an HDMI connection on the end of the dongle device. You just plug this in to an HDMI port on your TV. You have to download the Chromecast software to your phone, tablet, laptop, or desktop computer. You can even then use your phone or tablet to control your TV. (example... Samsung Galaxy phone or tablet).

I have one and love it.I even cancelled my cable television account and bought a digital tuner antennae for local broadcasts and now just enjoy streamed TV and movies using my connected DVD player or my Chromecast device.

Now... For the weekly freebie portion of the Lil' Lady kit.

Direct Download Part 2 Here

Crack BOOM Bang!

Well happy Independence America!

I had a very busy week. I worked three 16 hour days in a row. Life seems to fly by that way. mrhahahaha!

Technology- I found a lovely flash drive for my collection. a DUAL USB flash drive it's a 32 GB drive in the middle with a micro 2.0 USB on one end and a standard 2.0 USB on the other end. FINALLY a flash drive for Android tablets. :) So I used it to transfer some music files that I had to my tablet. Awesome!

I suppose you are wondering what the freebie is this week? Well do I have a lovely for you!!!

I have "Lil' Lady" up for grabs. Here is part 1 of 8.

The kit when complete...

and...

for this week's installment, here is part one! 

Direct download part-1 HERE!

Color Splash -May: Part Two -Elements

Well things are much better here. I started a new med to decrease the extra beats in my heart. I get PVC's which are usually harmless unless you have a lot of them... I have a lot of them. Oh, goodness!

So I start this new med and feel like a 4 hr hot flash going on with it. Oh, my! I was so hot and my cheeks and fingers were so so rosy! Apparently, I had developed flushing as a side effect. So... I will be switching that one to my night med routine, absolutely! lol.

Well my kiddo is home from college for summer break... I missed him something terrible! What a grown man he is turning out to be! I am so proud!

So... about the Color Splash kit... Here are the elements. The papers link is still available. The links will be up yet until the end of May. ENJOY!

Direct download Elements (links removed)

Papers (links removed)

I would love if you leave links to images of scrap pages or projects made with this kit!!! Just leave a comment here. Thank you so so much!