Coupon Holder

Would also make a cute coin purse

I love coupons, but most times I cut them out and forget them on the dining table. I will go shopping andrealize I forgot them at home. I have the best of intentions, but I forget. Or, I'll put them in my bag and they will get torn or ripped (like the larger one in the pic) before I can use them. I have been known not to buy an item (unless I really need it) because I know I have a coupon at home (kinda silly, but that's me).

I decided to make a coupon holder, most of the ones you see are really big, this one is about 4" x 3" - not too big to slip into my bag and I won't be tearing up any coupons. It's just a basic zippered pouch that's very simple to make. I made this with a solid fabric and added some machine stitching for added interest. These are simple and cute, and would make great coin purses as well.



Comments are appreciated. It helps me to know whether I’m on the right blogging track or not.

Spinach Fandango Recipe

**I am sorry - the pics for this post was accidentally deleted and cannot be retrieved**


Before we got married Jim used to live with this older lady and her 2 adult daughters. The lady’s name was Ivy Valle, but we called her “Ma Valle”. She used to make this dish and it was very yummy and easy to make. I have since modified it by changing the soup from cream of celery to cream of chicken - I think the chicken soup tastes better. I now make my own my own cream of chicken soup - I’ve eliminated a lot of salt and unecessary junk. This casserole is great with a green salad and garlic bread. Really easy if you’re having company or for a pot luck. This recipe is a 2fer (2 recipes in one) as I give you the fandago recipe as well as the cream of chicken recipe.

Easy Cream of Chicken Soup

6 Tb. butter or oil
1/3 c. gluten free flour or arrowroot
1/2 c. dairy free milk 
1/2 c. canned coconut milk
3 c. chicken broth/stock
1 c. finely chopped cooked chicken (roughly 2 chicken thighs)
Pepper

Melt butter in pan, add chicken and blend in flour. Add milk, cream, broth and pepper. Cook & stir until it comes to a boil and thickens. Take off the burner and process soup with an immersion (stick) blender - take it as far as you want, chunky or smooth. If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can put the soup in a regular blender. Just be careful if soup is hot - put a kitchen towel on top of the blender and hold down while blending, the heat could cause the soup to explode. Cool and set aside.

This soup will make more than you will need for the fandango recipe. You will have enough to make another dinner. Just add more chicken if you like with the veggies of your choice and make some grilled cheese sandwiches for an easy dinner.

Spinach Fandango

1 lb. ground beef or turkey (could use Italian sausage - would give a different flavor)
2 pkg. frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained real well
1 pkg. mushrooms
10 ¾ oz. cream of chicken soup (the original recipe uses 1 can of Campbell’s Cream of Celery Soup)
1 c. dairy free sour cream
2 c. dairy free cheese or any desired cheese
Oregano (optional)

Brown meat. Remove from heat let cool, then place in large bowl with the other ingredients and some of the cheese. Mix well and pour into a 13 x 9 pan that’s been covered in foil and sprayed with oil to prevent sticking. Cover with the rest of the cheese. Bake at 350 degrees until cheese is bubbly. Can place under broiler for 3 minutes to brown the cheese.

Enjoy!

Comments or questions are always welcomed. I would love to hear what you think of this recipe or any of my other posts. Thanks!

Easy Strawberry Sauce Recipe

Yummy!

Yesterday was Father's Day and in honor of that, I made this cheesecake (using gf ginger snaps for crust). In the past, I've made the NY style cheesecake & it was so dense that my daughter & I could only eat 1 piece of it. While at our favorite restaurant T's, in Port Townsend, WA recently, we had this cheesecake that was so light and creamy. While this cheesecake isn't as light, it was not as dense as the NY one I used to make. I decided that this needed a sauce, so I decided to make a strawberry sauce for it. I always have frozen strawberries in my freezer to make a quick frozen dessert and made this very simple sauce.

1 c. of frozen chopped strawberries
1 tb. plus 1/2 of 1 tb. of sugar

I sprayed some oil in a small sauce pan and placed both ingredients in. I cooked the strawberries down till they were soft. I removed the pan from the heat and used an immersion blender to blend the strawberries till the consistency I liked. I chopped 1 fresh strawberry and mixed it in. Lemon juice can be added for extra flavor. This can be served cold or warm.

The amount of sugar made this sauce not too sweet. This recipe could be doubled and can be used on ice cream or chocolate cake as well.

Enjoy!

How to Prevent Knots and Tangles When Prewashing Fabric

**I am sorry - the pics for this post was accidentally deleted and cannot be retrieved**

For anyone who sews, quilts or works with fabric, prewashing is a must unless you’re making something small and it doesn’t matter. I can’t tell you now many times I’ve prewashed a bunch of fabric together only to have the edges frayed and tangled up in knots in the washing machine. Lately, I've been dreading prewashing because I know things will end up in a tangled mess. I have tried to zig zag the edges. It works, but it takes time to zig zag a large piece of fabric. Serging would work too, but that too takes time. I'm kind of impatient when it comes to stuff like that.

Yesterday, I bought a bunch of fabric - I had a mix, about 3 fat quarters, some ½ yards and 4 full yards. I was thinking, “How can I avoid the dreaded tangled mess that I always get with prewashing.” So I Googled on how to prevent fraying while prewashing and I kinda put several findings together and it worked. Here’s what I did:

• Cut about ½” off each corner, I used my pinking shears - helps to prevent fraying.
• Put very little laundry detergent into your washer and turn on the cold water.
• Open up your fabric and place in washer evenly.
• Stop the water when all fabrics are thoroughly submerged (what frays the fabric is the agitation of   the washer).
• You want to gently swish the water - because I’m short, I use a dowel to help with clothes in the washer and I use that to gently poke and move the fabric around. You can use your hand.
• Let everything soak for about 20 minutes (set a timer so you don’t forget!).
• After 20 minutes, turn your washer dial to rinse - letting the machine rinse and spin your fabric.
• When complete, throw your fabric in the dryer and dry as usual.

I had a good amount of fabric, like I said - of different cuts, and I only had 1 tangle and some fraying - nothing knotted up. I was pleasantly surprised. The only deal with my method is that you will have to be present to do the steps I did - you can't turn it on and go shopping. So, next time you have to prewash fabric, give this a try and see if it works for you.

**Note: This post was originally written several months ago. The above pic was taken today.**

Warm Asian Chicken Coleslaw

**I am sorry - the pics for this post was accidentally deleted and cannot be retrieved**


I made a real easy dinner tonight. I used this salad dressing, boneless chicken, bag of coleslaw mix, and some scallions. It came out pretty good.

First you make the dressing and set it aside - a good tip is to make it in a small container with a lid so you can shake it to combine all the ingredients easily. This salad dressing tastes almost like the kind you would get from a Japanese restaurant, it's pretty good - I couldn't find my sesame seeds tho, so there's none it this salad. Then I took some boneless, skinless chicken thighs and breasts, cut them up into bite sized pieces and sauteed them till no longer pink. I added the bag of coleslaw mix and using tongs, I mixed until the coleslaw was starting to get soft. I poured all the dressing and mix thoroughly until the coleslaw was nice and wilted. I also added some scallions or green onions for interest. Serve hot or at room temp.

Enjoy!

Comments or questions are always welcomed. I would love to hear what you think of this recipe or any of my other posts. Thanks!