Paula Deen's Meatloaf

I don't get a chance to make meatloaf very often, but over the holidays I had a hungry teen visiting who requested a home-cooked meal rather then dining out. That works for me. Way easier on the pocket book and a much healthier option. Paula's recipes never disappoint and while there was nothing out of the ordinary in this meatloaf, it was really quite delicious, especially with mashed potatoes.

Paula Deen's Meatloaf
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1 egg
1 onion, chopped (you could brown them first)
1 cup milk
1 cup dried bread crumbs
salt and pepper to taste
Topping
2 Tbsp brown sugar
2 Tbsp prepared mustard
1/3 cup ketchup

Preheat oven to 350F.
Mix first ingredients together and press into 5x9 loaf pan.
In a separate bowl, mix topping ingredients and spread on meatloaf.(I found this made quite a bit but definitely added a delicious flavour and baked off quite a bit)
Bake for one hour.
(I find you have to drain the grease off even with light ground beef, probably extra lean or a mixture of turkey/chicken would be an alternative)

Saran Ball Game

I wanted to come up with a game to play on New Year's Eve/14th birthday and I had been eyeing this Pinterest post for some time. When I decided to embark upon it I called my fellow game enthusiast Robin and of course, she was going to play it too for her Christmas gathering.
It was fun bouncing ideas back and forth and getting and giving tips. It could have been a huge expensive flop without some valuable tips that we learned.

Step One - Gather a number of small items to use for the game. I started collecting really small items then realized I could also wrap larger ones like toothbrushes. I used about 3 times the number of items you see in this photo. Anything from candy to gloves, bandages, toonies, gift card, lock de-icer, shampoo samples. You get the idea.

Step Two - Place the most valuable item in the middle (I used a Tim's card) and start wrapping. You can make the strip long or short. The shorter it is the more time it takes. Also IMPORTANT! Wrap all or most of your items in saran wrap first. You can even tape the end to make it a little trickier. This helps it stick to outer wrapping and also slows the game down. Just keep wrapping, after every one or two items, cut the wrap and start again. You could even add the odd piece of tape here.

I put a start so they could see the begining, but you could leave this out. The first person starts to unwrap while the person beside them rolls the dice. It was suggested that the ball gets passed when doubles are rolled but that was taking for ever so we just did first 6. Then the ball is passed and the next person in the circle starts rolling for a 6. You get the idea. The person unwrapping must also unwrap their item before they can continue unrolling the ball.

Step Three- If the items you won weren't suitable you could have a trade off. We had so much fun as the ball got down to the grand prize. It was hilarious. You'd think there was a bar of gold at the centre.

So give this a try at your next family event. It's a little costly with the item purchase but this could replace stockings at Christmas etc. It didn't use as much saran as I thought. I bought 2 club pack sized rolls and only used about half of one.

Ranger Cookies

We are in the deep freeze here in Southern Ontario and it's wearing thin. Hard to get the dogs out or get any fresh air so why not hibernate and bake these delicious cookies? I love pulling out a recipe in my Mom's handwriting. Her instructions are just like mine. Basically mix and bake. I flipped the card over to see if there was a baking time or length and nothing!

She baked a lot and we were always excited to get home from school and see if anything was waiting for us. Sometimes it was "Eat a banana" but often there were freshly baked cookies. These ones are yummy!

Fresh from the oven.

Ranger Cookies

1/2 cup butter or shortening

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 cup flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup oatmeal

1 cup Rice Krispies

1/2 cup coconut

Mix and cream butter and sugars thoroughly. Add eggs and flour. Beat well.

(thought I would keep the instructions basic, if you're a baker, you'll know what to do 😉 )

Happy New Year and a quick wrap up of 2017

Happy New Year everyone! I think last year I forgot to revisit my list so I wanted to give it some attention this year. While, these are not resolutions, they are items that I want to be mindful of as the year progresses. So here's my list from 2017 and how I did...

1. Learn to make a registration page. DONE! I did this for the Loonies for Lindor fundraiser and while it was pretty basic, it got the job done.

2. Complete Disney Album. FAIL! Barely got any scrapbooking done at all.

3.  Enter 4 challenges a month. FAIL! Although Keri and 1 completed our exchange every month so I consider that a victory.

4. Eat meatless once a week. Does fish count?

5.  Travel someplace I've never been. DONE! Several places out East including Truro and Halifax, Nova Scotia and Villages, Florida.

6.Work on Heritage Album. FAIL!
7. Volunteer. DONE!

I did lots of volunteer work and donated over $6000 to ADS.

8.  Make 100 cards to donate. DONE! This was accomplished for the L4L Fundraiser.

9. Make one new recipe and post. DONE! I never counted up but I'm pretty sure I got 12 recipes on the blog.

10.Learn 5 new things on Ipad. FAIL! I DID learn how to view Netflix on my IPAD but that's about it.

11. Drink more water and less Pop. DONE! Although I'm slipping back into my bad habit.

12.  Use the Silhouette to cut and print. FAIL! I took a class and never practised so now I can't remember how to do it.

13. Do 100 blog posts. FAIL! It's really time-consuming and now I've discovered Instagram.

14. Complete Intermediate title in Rally. DONE!

Well, we enjoy the classes and getting out for some new activity. Dog shows are expensive and quite boring and time-consuming plus my girl is turning 10 so this may be the end of the road for us.

15.  Use my GREEN BIN. DONE!  Big success here. My recycling and green binning is excellent these days.

16.  Make one meal a week using items from the freezer. FAIL! But I'm planning on getting a new fridge in 2018 so that may help with knowing what items are in need of being used. I do PUT a lot of stuff in the freezer. LOL.

17. Read 40 books. FAIL! Although I read some really good books(21) and it reminded me to go to the library more regularly. I finished the year with this one which I really liked...

So that's my wrap-up. Stayed tuned for 18 in 18.
Time to get out for a walk in the bitterly cold weather.

Butterscotch Rice Krispie squares

Look at me go. Blogging several times in one month. Nice to have a bit of free time to try some new things like these squares. This was on the Rice Krispie Website. When I first tried them I thought they were brutally sweet but I must admit, they have really grown on me. Crispy with a chocolate layer and a hint of peanut butter. A great combination and no bake.

Butterscotch Rice Krispie squares
1 cup Butterscotch chips
1/2 cup peanut butter
4 cups Rice Krispies
6 oz. Semi-sweet chips (3/4 cup)
1/2 cup icing sugar
2 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp water

Melt butterscotch chips with peanut butter in heavy saucepan until melted. Remove from heat. Add Rice Krispies. Press half the mixture into a 8x8 coated with cooking spray. Combine other ingredients after melting chocolate chips and spread over chilled first layer. Then press gently the remaining mixture. Chill a bit and then cut into squares before they get too hard.

Stocking Stuffers

When I was recently in Florida, I was delighted to learn that the My Favourite Things boutique was about an hour away from where I was staying. So you can be sure that I was going to make THAT drive to check it out. It was great to see all the products in one place and not have to add a big shipping charge onto the purchases.

My friend Corrina asked me to pick up this lip balm die and coordinating stamp set.

And when we last got together for a crafting session, she generously offered to share along with the blister packs that makes for a quick and easy assembly.

What a professional looking item except for the ribbon which required the use of a ribbon iron (private joke). Of course, it's just a couple days before Christmas and I'm just finishing them up.

Annual Card Swap Cont'd

Here are the remainder of the cards...

Janice put together this amazing graphic card with so many details including a die cut, embossing and her beloved washi tape.

Robin used a stencil and I believe texture paste to create this homey card. You can't see the details but there are tiny little paper cutouts on the end of each strand of thread.

I made all my cards using the Doodlebug Pirate 6x6 pad and the Dienamics dinosaurs. I wanted to have more of a male themed birthday card. I have since added a few enamel dots as I thought it needed a little more embellishment.

Anne Marie combined two of my loves.. paper piecing and quilts. She used this beautiful die from Gina Marie and created a lovely Christmas card which of course, I will never mail. 😏 And that's a wrap!