Crockpot Teriyaki Chicken

Oh, I love Teriyaki Chicken!  And this recipe from www.sixsistersstuff.com is amazing!  Easy too!  Here's the recipe:

1 cup soy sauce
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. garlic
1/2 onion, chopped

Cook all ingredients over medium heat until boiling.  Place 4 - 6 frozen chicken breasts in a crock pot.  Pour sauce mixture over chicken.  Cook on low 6 - 8 hours.  Serve with rice.

Scrumptious!!!

Crocheted Hearts

These crocheted hearts are super easy to make and they only take about 2 minutes!  I downloaded the pattern from the internet (sorry, but I can't remember which website).  I made a bunch of these in different colors for my Valentine tree.

Crocheted Heart Pattern

Size D crochet hook
Yarn of your choice - I used Red Heart
(Use any size hook or yarn to change the size of the heart)

All stitches are worked in the first chain.

Chain 4.  Work 3 triple crochet (tr) into the first chain, 3 double crochet (dc), chain 1, 1 tr, chain 1, 3 dc, 3 tr.  Chain 3, slip stitch into center and fasten off.  The slip stitch helps to create the "v" at the top of the valentine.

These hearts are very versatile.  You could make a garland or use them to set off a gift.  Happy Crocheting!

Recycled "Valentine" Tree

My neighbor gave me a small pink table top Christmas tree a couple of weeks ago that she didn't want.  When she gave it to me I thought, "this is the ugliest tree I've ever seen."  I thought to myself, "maybe I can put it in the church yard sale."

After a couple of days though, I thought, "this might make a really cute Valentine's tree.  I took off all the Christmas bulbs, the tree topper, and straightened out the branches.

Over the next few days, after work, I made some valentine's ornaments and re-decorated the tree.  Here is my new and improved Valentine's tree.

Most of the ornaments I made from scraps of fun foam and scrapbook paper that I had lying around the house.  I crocheted some little hearts from scraps of yarn I had.  I'll post directions for the crocheted hearts on another day.

Here are some close-up photos of the tree ornaments -

This ornament was made by gluing a smaller heart made out of fun felt to a larger heart, then adding a button.

The tree topper was made from two different colors of card stock.  This is a danish woven heart.

This is a pink heart made of card stock with different buttons glued on.

Super Bowl Snacks

I can hardly believe that January is almost over.  Before you know it, Superbowl weekend will be here and then all I have to look forward to is months and months of basketball and baseball.  I love football - college and professional.  Last weekend, I was seriously in the doldrums when both the Ravens and the Forty-Niners lost; and, as if that wasn't bad enough, Joe Paterno died.  I admired Joe Paterno and I believe that there are very few men like him left.

So, on to this year's Superbowl.  I plan on doing some serious munching out while I'm watching the game.  I'm tired of the same old chips and dips, but at the same time, I want something that's easy to make and tastes great.  Here are two recipes I'm going to try.

Garlic Parmesan Popcorn (all you magazine 01/12)

3 tbs. unsalted butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbs. vegetable oil
1 cup unpopped popcorn
1/2 cup finely grated parmesan
1/2 tsp. cayenne
salt

In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt butter.  Add garlic and cook for 1 minute, stirring, then remove saucepan from heat and set aside.

In a large, deep pot heat oil.  When oil is hot, add popcorn, and cover tightly.  Cook for 1 minute.  Slide pot back and forth until popcorn begins to pop.  Continue cooking and shaking pot until popping subsides, about 5 minutes.  Remove pot from heat and empty popcorn into a large bowl.

Pour butter-garlic mixture over popcorn, sprinkle with parmesan and cayenne, and toss to coat.  Season with salt and serve.

Pimento Cheese Balls*

2 - 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, room temperature
1 1/2 cups shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese (5 oz)
1 1/2 cups shredded pepper jack cheese (5 oz)
1/4 cup mayo
1 jar sliced pimentos, drained and pressed to remove liquid (7 oz)
1/4 cup sliced scallions
salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper to taste

combine cream cheese, cheddar, pepper jack, mayo, pimentos, and scallions in a bowl with a mixer on medium speed.

transfer half of the mixture to a food processor; puree until nearly smooth.  Stir back into other half of mixture until combined.  Season with salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper.  Chill 1 hour.

divide cheese mixture into 3 even portions; form each into a ball.  Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 4 hours.  Roll cheese balls in topping of choice (nuts, bacon crumbles, etc.) and serve with crackers.

* I don't have a source for this recipe.  I cut it out of a magazine, but I don't remember which one.

These sound good, don't they?  Go Giants!

My Dog is Fat

This is my dog, Chopper.  He'll be 4 years old this month.  When I first brought him home two years ago, he weighed 36 pounds.  I weighed him this morning and he weighs 51 pounds!  You know what they say about fat dogs; it's true.  I need to lose weight myself.

Today after work I took him for a walk.  We walked down to the end of the street and back.  Honestly, I wasn't sure that he was going to make it.  But he needs more exercise and so do I.  I've decided that he can't have any more dog biscuits or cream cheese until he loses weight; oh, and no more chex mix or captain crunch.

Now I have to decide what I'm going to cut back on.  A couple of days ago, I was talking to my friend, Mike, about fasting.  He describes fasting as giving up anything that you really like for a given period of time.  Where do I start?  I really like diet soda and popcorn and ice cream.  Actually, I just like to eat and one of my biggest problems is mindless eating while I'm watching TV or doing something on my computer.  I am not disciplined (that's a whole nother blog).  Maybe, I can approach it the same way as my dog Chopper.  I only have to make it to the end of the street and back.  I only have to make one conscious decision not to put something in my mouth.  Then tomorrow, I can make the same decision and before I know it, who knows?  I'm gonna try it and see what happens.

More Free Fun in Florida

Like a lot of people, I had last Monday off.  So did my sister.  It's rare that my sister and I have the same days off; she usually works weekends and I work Monday through Friday.  One of the things that we enjoy doing is hiking.  The great thing is that there are so many places to hike in Florida and they're free and open to the public.  We generally try to find places to hike that we haven't been before.

So I told my sister on Sunday that we were going on an adventure.  I didn't tell her where we were going, only that she needed to dress comfortably and bring water.  Our destination was the Pumpkin Hill Preserve and Yellow Bluff Fort located on the northside of Jacksonville.  On our way, we discovered another park just north of Pumpkin Hill Preserve, Betz-Tiger Point Preserve.  Pumpkin Hill Preserve was one of the fifty things that I wanted to do for my birthday in September.

Betz-Tiger Point Preserve, http://www.coj.net/Departments/Recreation-and-Community-Services/Waterfront-Management-and-Programming/Preservation-Project/Betz-Tiger-Point-Preserve.aspx, is located at 12100 Pumpkin Hill Road.  It's a 548 acre park with 3 miles of hiking trails, surrounded by salt marshes.

When you're there, you can forget that you're in a metropolitan area, because it's so quiet and peaceful.

Pumpkin Hill Preserve, http://www.floridastateparks.org/pumpkinhill/default.cfm is one of the largest contiguous areas of coastal uplands in Duval County, encompassing 4,000 acres.  The park borders tidal marshlands.  There are five trails, ranging in length from 0.75 miles to 3.7 miles.

Yellow Bluff Fort, http://www.floridastateparks.org/yellowbluff/default.cfm, is located on New Berlin Road.  It was never actually a fort.  It was an earthen fortification built by the Confederacy in 1862 to prevent the Union gun boats from attacking Jacksonville.  The park is 1.3 acres. 

It was a beautiful day and we had a really great time, exploring and hiking.  I can't wait until the next time!  What's a favorite free activity that you enjoy?

Coffee Cup Toilet Paper Cover

When I saw this cute toilet paper cover, I just had to make it - http://www.allfreecrochet.com/Bath-Crochet-Patterns/Cup-O-Coffee-TP-Roll-Cover.

Here's how mine looks:

roll of toilet paper and toilet paper cover

side view of toilet paper cover

I slightly modified the way I put mine together, so that's why it looks different, but I'm still happy with the way that it turned out.  My sister loves it and it now sits proudly in her bathroom.