Falling for Fabrics one pack at a time

There was a post on design mom about charm packs that I investigated and what I found, I loved. They are pre-cut pack of matching assorted fabrics.

Here are some of the fabrics I'm lovin'.
This is Daisy Chain from Amy Butler.


There are a bunch of great packs by Moda. Here are some fun ones.



And then there's other great pieces from noted printers like Michael Miller:




and Alexander Henry.

I adore this owl print. I'm thinking Owl for the next nursery decor. Wouldn't this be a fantastic base?

I'm loving this new-found world.

Mini Greek Meatballs

The cookbook calls these Mini Greek Meatballs, but I think mine are not-quite-mini Greek Meatballs. I use a plastic tablespoon to scoop up just enough meat to make each meatball, and I get 24 meatballs from a pound of ground beef, not 40 like the recipe says. I'm also cooking mine quite a lot longer. If you like Greek flavors, be open minded about the cooking mess, and give the meatballs a try.

Looks are a bit deceiving in this photo, but each of my meatballs is about 1 1/2 tablespoons of meat. If you'd like them a bit smaller, the recipe says to make each meatball about a tablespoon.

Mini Greek Meatballs
(Makes about 24 small meatballs, recipe adapted slightly from The South Beach Diet Quick and Easy Cookbook.)

1 pound lean ground beef (I use ground beef with less than 10% fat)
1/2 small onion, minced
1/2 cup very finely crumbled feta cheese (measure after crumbling finely with a fork)
2 cloves garlic, minced (I used 2 tsp. minced garlic from a jar)
1 large egg
1 T extra virgin olive oil, plus more for baking dish
1 T dried Greek oregano
4 tsp. red wine vinegar
1/4 tsp. salt (optional, I used a tiny bit of Vege-Sal)
1/4 tsp. fresh ground black pepper
1 tsp. Greek seasoning (optional, I used Penzeys)

Preheat oven to 400. Use a food processor to chop the onion very finely, then drain if it seems like there is a lot of liquid. (In the photo I used red onion, but any onion will work.)

Combine all ingredients in a bowl, then use your hands to mix ingredients.

Lightly oil a 9 X 13 baking dish. Shape meat into 1 tablespoon size meatballs and place on baking sheet. Bake 20 minutes, after which time you will see some liquid oozing out. Turn meatballs and bake 10 more minutes. Turn again, and bakd 5-10 more minutes, until meatballs are well-browned and cooked through.

I do want to warn you that the meatballs look like a mess for about 2/3 of the time they're cooking because some of the cheese and vinegar oozes out during the cooking process. If you're patient and keep browning them, all those things nicely carmelize and the finished meatballs are delicious.

Meatballs are delicious served with tzatziki sauce.

Easy Ravioli Bake

This is a great, easy dinner for a weeknight off of the Kraft website.

Ravioli Bake

1 jar Spaghetti sauce (any flavor)

1 can diced tomatoes undrained

1 10 oz can beef broth

1/4 C zesty Italian dressing

2 9oz pkgs fresh ravioli (in refrigerator section)

1 C shredded mozzarella

1-Preheat the oven to 375

2-combine sauce, tomatoes, broth and dressing in a 9x13 baking dish

3-add ravioli and mix lightly

4-Cover with foil and bake 50 minutes

5-Remove foil, sprinkle with cheese, let stand 5 minutes

Serve and enjoy!

Easy White Chicken Enchiladas

Easy White Chicken Enchiladas from Allrecipes

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 pound cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 cup green salsa
• 4 (6 ounce) packages seasoned cooked chicken cubes
• 2 cups shredded Mexican-style cheese blend
• 3 cups white cheese sauce, or queso dip
• 12 (8 inch) flour tortillas

DIRECTIONS

This recipe's Ingredients were scaled to yield a new amount. The directions below still refer to the original recipe yield of 6 enchiladas.

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly spray an 9x13-inch glass baking dish with cooking spray.
2. Stir together the softened cream cheese, sour cream, and salsa until blended. Fold in chicken and shredded cheese. Spread a small amount of white cheese sauce onto the bottom of the baking dish. Evenly divide the filling among the tortillas, and roll into firm cylinders. Place into prepared baking dish and cover with remaining sauce.
3. Bake in preheated oven until golden and bubbly, about 30 minutes. Allow to rest 5 minutes before serving.

Some quick notes: a jar of Tostitos Monterey Jack Queso dip (in the chip aisle) works great for the sauce. Also, depending on the size of your tortillas, sometimes a larger baking dish works better. Enjoy!

White Bread

White Bread by Christie Mabey

½ C warm water
2 T yeast
1 T sugar
In a small bowl, soften yeast by sprinkling yeast into half cup warm water intermingled with sugar sprinkles. Stir and set aside to grow (5 minutes).

2 C flour 3 ½ C hot tap water
½ C dry milk (optional) ¼ C oil
1 T salt ¼ C honey
½ C brown sugar 6-7 C flour

In a mixing bowl stir together 2 C flour, dry milk, salt, and brown sugar. Mix in hot water, oil and honey. Add in yeast. Mix in 5 C of flour one cup at a time, then add additional flour by the ½ of a cup until dough leaves sides of bowl and comes to a ball. Remove dough from bowl and put in a teaspoon of oil in bottom of bowl. Roll dough ball in oil and cover with a cloth, let rise for about 1 hour, or until double in bulk. Punch down and form into loaves (4 standard loaves, 36 large cinnamon rolls). Rise a second time for 30 min. and bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Turn out of pans, cool.

Whole Wheat Bread

Whole Wheat Bread by Christie Mabey

This bread requires an electric mixer that has a dough hook.

In a mixing bowl jog together:
4 C warm water
3 C whole-wheat flour
1 T salt

Add and mix until smooth:
1/3 C oil
1/3 C honey
2 T SAF yeast
2 T dough enhancer

Add remaining flour one cup at a time until dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl and forms a ball (from 6-7 C whole wheat flour). Knead for 12 minutes. Form into loaves (3-4 standard loaf pans). Let rise until double in bulk (about 30 minutes). Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes. Turn out of pan to cool. Enjoy!

Bean Soups

Huber Bean Soup

2 Qt cold water
1 Qt chicken broth
½ t pepper
1 meaty ham hock
6 oz. diced ham
2 t. salt
1-28 oz. can whole peeled tomatoes
2 C. onion
2 C. celery
2 garlic cloves, minced
Dash of Tabasco (optional)
1.5 lb. bean mix (beans, lentils, barley and rice)



Glend’s Bean Soup

1 Lb. dry beans (black)
1 ¾ lb Ham hock
1 onion, sliced
1carrot, quartered
2 stalks celery, quartered
1 Bay leaf
2 whole cloves
1 clove garlic, minced
couple drops Tabasco
1 ½ t salt
1 T vinegar
lemon, thinly sliced
sour cream
chopped parsley

Soak beans overnight in 2 qt. water.
Add more water, ham hock, onion, carrot, celery, bay leaf, cloves, garlic and tobasco.
Simmer until beans are tender (couple of hours).
Take out ham and cut off meat.
Puree beans and veggies in blender.
Put meat, salt and vinegar back into soup blend and heat until boiling.
Serve hot.