Saturday, August 31, 2013

. . . Labor Day Weekend Sale . . .

Itsy Bitsy Paper is having a Labor Day Weekend SALE!!  30% OFF all purchases Saturday, August 31to to September 2nd.  This is a great time to start buying little gifts for all the special people in your life...neighbors, teachers, babysitters, friends, relatives and so on.   Also some great new designs have been added to the shop this week so be one of the first people to order the new designs.



 


Wednesday, August 28, 2013

. . . Oven Baked Cheeseburger Sliders . . .

In our house we are big burger lovers but when burger sliders come on the scene we were obsessed!  I have bought slider presses and have been happy with the results other than the fact that they shrink so much when cooked so it isn't quite the right size burger for the bun and so on.  Burger Slider Problems!  Until now...I was cruising Pinterest one day and saw a post on these super simple sliders.  The photo didn't link to any website so I just used the idea and came up with my own recipe.  Today while I was writing this post I Googled the idea and sure enough I found the website that the original idea came from here!  Her recipe is super simple as well but mine uses a bit of a different technique. 

You are going to love these for serving just a few or a big crowd!  

My husband walked in as I was pulling them out of the oven and he said "Oh man these are just like White Castle Burgers!".  Then he and my son proceeded to eat most the tray of them.  I will for sure be making these at my son's next sleepover because they are a great snack for middle of the night cravings that kids always seem to get when they are staying up most the night.
You will need:
Ground Beef-I used 1 pound of 93% lean and 1 pound of 85% lean
1 or 2 slices of bread
1 egg beaten 
1/4 Cup to 1/2 cup of milk depending on how much your bread takes to absorb it all.
Hamburger Seasoning or just salt and pepper
Slider buns of your choice
Cheese of your choice--I used Kraft Singles but these would be good with any flavor
My mom always talks about my great grandpa making burgers on the grill using this technique and it will make your burgers great every time!  Shred up a slice or two of bread depending on how much meat you are using.  I used 2 slices for the amount I made.  Then pour your beaten egg over it and slowly pour your milk over until the bread absorbs most of the moisture.  
Combine the meat in a bowl and then flavor with McCormick's Hamburger Seasoning.  Mix meat and seasoning until combined.
Add your milk, egg and bread "slop" to the meat and mix into the meat mixture until well combined.
 Spray a shallow baking pan with cooking spray then press meat mixture into the pan and poke some "breathing" holes in it with a fork.  I used a small cookie sheet because of using 2 pounds of meat but if you wanted to use a smaller amount of meat just use a smaller pan.  Bake in the oven at 400 degrees for 30 to 45 minutes or until done to your liking.  

 Pull burger out of the oven and drain all the grease off.  I used a paper towel across the top of mine as well.  Then place slices of cheese over the whole pan of meat so you will have cheeseburgers when you are done.  Place back in the oven just until cheese is melted.  Remove and cut into small square to place on your slider buns.

Serve how your family likes their burgers.  At our house that means ketchup, pickles, mayo and lettuce.  We all love baked beans and cole slaw as our sides when we have burgers too.  Yummy!

I gave you this recipe just in time for the Labor Day weekend because I know many of you will be feeding a crowd and these would be perfect for that.  You're welcome.

Thursday, August 22, 2013

. . . Golden School Year Printable . . .

 Every year I look forward to spoiling our teachers with cute treats and that includes sending something on the first day of school.  This year I went through my list of ideas and decided to create a cute tag for a "Golden" school year and attach the tag to a package of Golden Oreo Cookies.  Couldn't be cuter or easier and lucky you I've shared the tags as a printable!  I hope your teacher loves getting this sweet treat.

 Hoping you have a GOLDEN school year!


 Print your tags from the link at the bottom of this post.  
Cut them down to size then punch a hole in the corner and tie them to a package of Golden Oreos.  If you wanted to layer your tag like I show here just cut another layer a bit larger than your tag and then use washi tape around each corner to "seal" it.  Easy Peasy!

 Tie a couple strands of baker's twine or ribbon around the package of cookies then attach your cute tag and you are ready to give your gift!

A Sweet Treat for you teacher!
 

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

. . . Write Teacher For Me 2013 . . .

This post is one of my most popular for both Teacher Appreciation and Back to School treats for the new teacher so I'm sharing it again.  I used Pens and Pencils from the $1 bins at Target and made another cute treat for our 5th Grade Teacher.

Updated 2013
• • •
It's almost time for the kiddos to go back to school, (yay )how sad!  Back to school means thinking about a small treat for the new teacher and this is the perfect little "something"!  Every classroom needs a pile of pencils or pens so this is an all purpose gift for any teacher in any grade.

You may remember I did this the last  2 years but I've updated the tag download for you and changed up the style of my finished product thanks to washi tape.  Both download links are at the bottom of the post.

To make tags like I did you will need:
A sheet of 8.5 x 11 inch card stock
A small hole punch
Package of pencils (I bought 4 packages of pencils from the Dollar Store--2 packs for girls and 2 packs for boys so no one was left out when the teacher puts them out)
Washi Tape
Card stock for layering
Twine or Ribbon 
*To do a super fast treat just cut out the label color you want and tape it directly to the package of pencils

Teacher Gift
• Print out your tags from the download link below and gather your supplies
• I did two packs of pencils in boy colors and two packs in girl colors
• Cut out the label in the color selection that works for you
• Cut small strips of washi tape for the corners of each square tag

• I added a small piece of washi to each corner of my square tag
• I then folded the excess around the back of the square tag and trimmed it.  Using the washi tape is strictly optional but I liked the added pop of color

• I attached my finished tags to a black piece of card stock and cut it out and punched a small hole in the corner to thread my twine through
• I bagged the pencils in clear cello bags and tied them with a piece of twine

• I attached my tags to each bag by tying them on with a piece of baker's twine
• I taped a few pieces of washi on the bottom of the bags for another pop of color 
• You are all set!


Write Teacher

FUN!

Back to school
Write Teacher Download Update Write Teacher For Me