Tangy Lemon Cream Cheese Pie

Lemony cheesecakey creaminess right here!

1 - 9" baked pie shell
1/2 cup cream cheese
Juice and zest of 1 large lemon (1/4 cup juice)
2 vanilla pudding cups (about 7-8 oz)
2 cups Cool Whip

Whisk cream cheese, lemon juice and zest together, then blend in the pudding until smooth.

Fold in the Cool Whip...

and pour into the cooled pie shell. (I may have over baked the crust a bit, oops!)

Chill several hours before serving.

Happy Pi Day! 3.14

Whole Orange Banana Walnut Muffins and Loaf

If you love oranges you'll love this banana loaf  : ) 

1 whole orange with peel
1 ripe banana
3/4 cup soft butter or marg
3 eggs
1/2 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp nutmeg
1  3/4 cups flour
2  1/2 tsps baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp chia seeds, optional
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Wash the orange and cut it into 6 or 8 pieces, remove seeds and purée in a food process.

Add the ripe banana and pulse together.
Pour into a large bowl and add the butter, eggs, honey and vanilla. 

Combine the dry ingredients up to and including the chia seeds and add to the wet ingredients.

When blended together fold in the walnuts. If you find the batter too thick add 1-2 tbsps milk. Depending on the size of both the orange and the banana you use you may need a bit more liquid. I should have measured the puréed orange and banana...oops! Anyways you can wing it, right?

Put papers in 6 muffin tins. Grease and flour a 9 X 5" loaf pan. You can cut a piece of parchment paper to fit the bottom but not necessary. Pour the batter in.

Bake muffins at 350F for 20 minutes and 50-60 minutes for the loaf.

Cool 10 minutes before removing loaf from pan to cool completely on  rack.

Go make a cup of tea and enjoy! 

Cocoa Oatmeal Pie

Old fashioned oatmeal pie with a little added chocolate just because...you definitely need a sweet tooth for this one!

2 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup soften butter
2/3 cup golden corn syrup
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbsps cocoa powder
2/3 cup oats
1 - 9" unbaked pie shell, homemade or frozen

Start by mixing eggs, brown sugar, butter, corn syrup, vanilla and cocoa powder together. Then stir in the oats.

No need to mess with the mixer, this one blends together easily by hand.

Pour into an unbaked 9" pie shell and bake at 350F for 45 minutes. There will be very little jiggle to it when done.

Cool on rack before slicing. If warm when sliced you might get a runnier piece than this, but warm is super tasty so your choice to cool or not : )

And well....ice cream or no ice cream?  No brainer!

Spaghetti Squash and Meatballs

For Meatball Day (March 9th), or any day, Spaghetti Squash and Meatballs is a great alternative to pasta. Easy to make and good for you!

1 medium sized (3-4lbs) spaghetti squash, cut in half and remove seeds

1 lb lean ground beef
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 egg
1 tbsp wheat germ
2 tbsps Italian bread crumbs
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

650 ml or about 3 cups tomato sauce

Spread the tomato sauce in the bottom of a large baking dish and place the squash in cut side down. I didn't have a non-reactive pan large enough so I used 2 instead and divided everything in each.

Mix the beef, garlic, egg, wheat germ, bread crumbs, oregano, thyme, salt and pepper together. Form into 1 1/2 -2" balls.
Place the meatballs in the sauce around the squash.

Bake at 375F for 45 minutes. Pierce squash with a fork to see if it's tender, but it should be by then.

Carefully turn the squash over and using 2 forks loosen the "spaghetti" from the skin. Spoon the sauce in and mix together topping with meatballs.

You can serve it in the skin or on a plate with a salad.

This recipe serves 4, but it's so light and tasty you'll want seconds!

Doggie Neck Warmer

Your dog will be stylin' in this doggie neck warmer!

To make it I used ivory worsted wool with a size 6 crochet hook. The pink heart is also in worsted.

No pattern for the neck warmer really, I just made the base chain as wide as I wanted the warmer to be from under the ears to down over the collar. Worked one row in double crochet and one row in single crochet to the length I needed. It needs to be tight around the largest part of the dogs head, to slip over and wear at the neck.

So once I had the length I needed I crocheted the two ends together leaving a space in the middle opened for the leash to attach to the collar.

Then I found this heart pattern, worked it in pink and sewed it on the warmer

1. Chain 4.
2. In the very first chain you made, Triple Crochet 3 stitches. (all stitches will be made in this chain)
3. Chain 1.
4. Double Crochet 3 stitches.
5. Chain 1.
6. Triple Crochet 1.
7. Chain 1.
8. Double Crochet 3 stitches.
9. Chain 1.
10. Triple Crochet 3 stitches.
11. Chain 3.
12. Slip stitch into the center. Cut your yarn, tie off, and weave in your ends.

Cute eh?  Karma might end up with more of these neck warmers with different little appliqués.  They're so easy to make!

Rad Roasted Radishes

Why don't you ever think of roasting radishes? I mean, you roast every other root vegetable, right? 

These roasted radishes are easy to make and you'll be surprised at how they transform into a side dish that you'll want to make over and over! 

1 lb radishes, trimmed and halved
2 tbsps olive oil
1/2 tsp rosemary
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper
3 green onions, white and green slices divided

Toss everything together except the green slices of green onion.

Dump out onto a parchment lined baking sheet, placing the radish halves cut side down.

Bake at 350F for 30 minutes, then turn them over and continue cooking about 15 minutes.

Those pungent little red radishes turn beautifully pink and mellow after roasting!

Top with green slices and serve.

Give them a try for your next family dinner

adapted from
http://www.lordbyronskitchen.com/rosemary-roasted-radishes/

DIY Recycled Towel Mat

Once the new bathroom was finished I went out and got some new towels (finally!) And the old ones got a new life...as a bathmat!

This project used 24 long strips of towel cut 3 1/2" wide.
About 4 or 5 bath towels.

Just trim off the sewn ends and start cutting.

Once cut I sewed 3 ends together and started braiding. If you want you could first fold and sew each strip to secure the cut edges, but as long as you fold the edges in as you braid it works out fine.

When you get near the end of the first 3 pieces sew 3 more onto the ends and keep braiding. NOTE: Don't try to sew all 24 strips together to make 8 long ones....impossible to braid with, trust me 😕. Just attach the next ones as you go.

When you reach the end of your strips sew the ends together. You can lay the braid on the floor to get an idea of the size the finished mat will be. Feel free to add more strips for a larger mat.

Now even though you've been neatly folding in the edges the mat will probably have a good side and a not-so-good side. Starting in the middle with bad side facing you begin stitching (yes, by hand) the braid together. Remember this mat will probably be thrown in the wash alot so if you have heavy duty thread use it.

I wanted a round mat so I started with a tight turn in the middle. But if you want an oblong mat just start by laying the braid about 6-8" out and coming back up beside it and continue from there.

Sew the last ends together and tuck in to sew.

Soft and absorbent...and FREE!

For the full Beach Bathroom Makeover:
http://hotandcoldrunningmom.blogspot.ca/2018/02/beach-bathroom-makeover.html