Monday, April 23, 2012

Adorable hair clips for kids

Use puffy fabric/felt stickers to make adorable hair clips. Purchase base clips at any craft store (these are from Hobby Lobby), use felt as a backing, and some tacky glue (although some stickers already have decent adhesive). Easy to make and a lot cheaper than children's stores sell them for!

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Rocking the Moroccan Stew

I had a wonderful Moroccan stew at a restaurant a few years ago, and savored every bite.  I couldn't wait to find a recipe to try my hand at making it at home.  After scouring the internet, I tried three different Moroccan stew recipes over the course of a few months... but none were quite right.  They just didn't have the flavor that the restaurant stew had.  After some experimenting, I took what I liked best out of the recipes I tried, threw in some spices, and... I loved it.  I am posting the recipe here, hopefully you'll like it as much as my husband and I do.  I have served it with quinoa and Trader Joe's Harvest Grains Mix (yum) and thought both were excellent with the stew.  A spoonful of plain greek yogurt tops it perfectly.  Enjoy!







Moroccan Stew   
            
Ingredients
1   cup dry lentils
2   cups water
3   tsp extra virgin olive oil
1   sweet potato, chopped
1   large russet potato, chopped
1   medium yellow onion, chopped
2   garlic cloves, chopped
1   turnip
1   can diced tomatoes, with liquid
1   32oz carton of vegetable broth
1   can garbanzo beans, drained

Spices
3   tsp cumin
2   tsp coriander
2 ½ tsp cinnamon
2   tsp garlic salt
½   tsp thyme
1 ½ tsp red pepper flakes

Garnish
Chopped cilantro
Plain Greek yogurt

·        * Bring 2 cups of water to boil in a small sauce pan.  Add 1 cup of lentils, bring to a boil.  Turn down to low/medium heat and simmer about 15 minutes.  Cook until tender, but not soft.  Drain if necessary and set aside.
·        * In a large stock pot, combine olive oil with chopped garlic, onion, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, thyme, red pepper flakes and garlic salt.  Stir together over medium heat for about 5 minutes, or until onions have softened.
·         *Add garbanzo beans and diced tomatoes (with liquid), stir in lentils. Add chopped sweet potato, russet potato and turnip.  Stir.  Pour in vegetable stock.
·       * Allow to simmer for 20-25 minutes or until vegetables are tender. 

·         Serve with quinoa, garnished with cilantro and Greek yogurt.

Notes: I used my food processor to chop the vegetables, so the sizes were consistent and not too thick.





Hello, and thanks for visiting my blog!

I'm in love with fine, beautiful, delicious pastries.  I bake them and experiment with them, and I love to share them with the people I care about.  Nothing says "I care" like cake, frosting and sprinkles!  This blog isn't just about baking...but being thankful for the sweetest things in life.  I enjoy life and all that it has to offer.  I'm lucky to have an amazing husband, great family, and too many blessings to count.  No post on this blog will be the same...but hopefully they'll inspire you to try something new, or see things in a different way.