. . . Crock Pot Beef Stroganoff . . .

This recipe is one of our favorites to have on a chilly day, although it's good any time you are craving it.  It is so simple and the best part is that you just dump everything in the crock pot and when you are ready to eat dinner it is ready.  I really don't have a recipe for this dish I just simply dump to the flavor I think we will all like.

My sister makes this quite often but never can remember the recipe so this is for you Claudia...

 You Will Need:

1 to 2 pounds Stew Beef or you can cut your own meat into chunks

Cream of Mushroom soup--size depends on the amount of meat. 

1 Pouch of Onion Soup Mix

Beef broth

 • Gather your ingredients

• Place the meat and other ingredients in the crock pot

• Let it cook all day.  My crock pot only has a high setting or auto so I do it all day long on high so that is why there is so much liquid in mine.  I also like my beef tips to really fall apart.

• Place dollops of sour cream in the broth about 10 minutes before you eat.  Keep stirring it in and adding more until you get the thickness you desire.

The color will lighten up when you add the sour cream but it will still be fantastic.

I always serve mine with homemade mashed potatoes, noodles and a veggie of your choice.

I hope you enjoy this simple dinner with your family.

. . . Fun Friday Finds-Pin Cushions . . .

This is going to seem weird to many people but I love pin cushions.  I own one ugly magnetic one but I like to Pin cute pin cushions or bookmark them every time I see one I like.  I have never made them for some reason despite the fact that there are lots of them that are super easy to create--I have a feeling you'll be seeing a blog post from me relatively soon on how to make one.

I have found some really cute ones that I hope you will enjoy. 

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 • Turtle Pin Cushion @ Hello My Name Is Heather

• Cupcake Pin Cushion @ Dollar Store Crafts

• Ring Pin Cushion @ Jennifer Jangles

• Flower Pin Cushion @ BHG

 • Tea Cup Pin Cushion @ Punk Projects

• Picture Frame Pin Cushion @ The Scrap Shoppe

• Desktop Pin Cushion @ Merriment Design

• Pillow Pin Cushion @ Janet of All Trades

•  Pear Pin Cushion @ Heather Bailey

• Truck Pin Cushion @ Just Something I Made

• Sewing Machine Pin Cushion @ I Can't Find The Time

• Jewelry Box Pin Cushion @  Cat on a Limb

Aren't these so much fun?  These sure aren't your grandma's pin cushions!
(Just kidding)

. . . Knotted Knit Scarf . . .

Can you believe it's almost time to start wearing scarves again?  I can't either, but I'm excited about it.

I have a ton of scarves because I love how they dress up an outfit and there are so many out there to choose from.  What is even better is being able to make them on your own!  I love jersey knit fabric for just this reason...so easy.  If you thought the only way to make a scarf was to grab yarn and knitting needles then you will be happy to see this post.

 

Start with a piece of jersey knit fabric in the color, length and width, and weight that suits you

Lay the fabric out and fold it in half.  Cut into the fabric about 1 to 1.5 inches creating "strips" of fabric

Then tie each strip into a knot--you aren't tying them together just knotting each strip

There you have it--a pretty knotted scarf that is fun to throw on with any outfit.  You could also tie a bead onto each "strip" to make it a little more interesting.

Linking Here:

Transformation Thursdays
Yesterday on Tuesday

Somewhat simple

Fireflies and Jellybeans

HOH

Thrifty Thursday

Under 100

Stuff for little boys

Life as Lori
Thrilling Thursday

. . . Mini Taco Salad Shells . . .

I love having a taco night for dinner because it's so easy and everyone always loves it.  I don't even remember where I saw this idea to do mini taco salad shells in a muffin tin but they are awesome and so simple.  You just take a soft tortilla shell and fold it into a muffin tin "cup".  I baked mine at 350 degrees for about 8 to 10 minutes checking often.  They toast up and stay nice and crispy.  You just fill them up with the toppings of your choice and they are super yummy.

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Take a soft tortilla shell and "fold" it up to fit in a muffin tin "cup".  Bake for about 8 to 10 minutes at 350 degrees or until crispy.  

Fill them with your taco salad "fixings".  These disappeared very quickly in our house! 

Thanks to Pinterest I have seen another great way to make these taco cups as shown below:

See, this just proves that Pinterest is NOT a waste of time
Image from Emily Bites

Enjoy!

Linking Here:
Pinching Penny Party

Blue Cricket Design

Somedays Crafts 
Trendy Treehouse

Elements Interiors 
This Chic Cooks
Passionately Artistic
Lil Luna
What I Whipped Up Wednesday
Cherished Bliss 

. . . Cookie Time Tuesday-Espresso Chocolate Toffee Chip Shortbread . . .

I love a good shorbread cookie but will be honest and say that I've never made them.  This recipe is so easy and turns out great.  The cookie is soft but crunchy which is a winning combination in my opinion.

The orginal recipe came from Use Real Butter (she got it from Smitten Kitchen which is another amazing blog) but I adapted it a little bit.  I added in the Toffee Chips versus just doing the plain chocolate chips.  The toffee added a nice flavor and helps to bring out the espresso flavoring as well.  The toffee would certainly be optional and not a must.

I hope you enjoy these!  I am for sure adding this to my list of "Gift" cookies because I think everyone would enjoy them.

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Print Recipe HERE

You Will Need:

1 tbsp instant espresso powder

1 tbsp boiling water

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

2/3 cup confectioners’ sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup mini chocolate chips and toffee chips 

 • Gather ingredients

• Mix espresso powder and boiling water together and set aside

• Beat butter and confectioners sugar together until smooth (about 3 minutes)

 • Add vanilla and espresso to the creamed mixture and mix well

• Add in flour just until combined--don't over beat it

• With a spatula mix in your chips

• Place dough in a gallon size ziploc bag

• Use a rolling pin to roll out the dough inside the bag

• The dough will fill the entire bag.  I had some "spillage" so it didn't seal.  Place dough in the refrigerator for 2 hours or up to 2 days

• Remove chilled dough from ziploc bag and use a ruler to cut the dough at 1 1/2 inch intervals

• Place on a silpat or parchment paper lined baking sheet

 

• Gently poke each cookie with a fork (I did one batch like this and one batch without and either way is just fine but the batch without the fork punctures looked prettier)

• Bake for 18 to 20 minutes

YUMMY in the TUMMY!

. . . Oil Rubbed Bronze Drawer Pulls . . .

As you know, I am a bit obsessed with ORB spray paint--it's a sickness really. 

I am working on updating a bedroom in our house and decided to take my son's old dresser with brightly colored drawer pulls and make it a bit more grown up looking by spraying the wooden drawer pulls with some ORB spray paint.  It was just enough to dress it up a bit.  

 • • • • • • • • • • • • •

 

 The one thing I have learned with spray paint is how important it is to make sure you use a primer.  The third photo shows the gray primer I use prior to spraying the ORB.  The flat primer really helps eliminate bubbles when you paint the color you are using for your project.  I know that if you don't have a true spray primer you can use any color matte spray paint.

 An improvement for sure...

. . . Funny from Pinterest . . .

I have seen so many things on Pinterest that have made me actually LOL so I thought I'd share a few here.  I also created a printable of a line in a movie that really made me laugh.  I can think of a few occasions recently when I could have said this one liner.

I hope these things all make you laugh and no one gets offended about any of it as that is not my intention--I just needed some good comic relief.

All of the images below can be found on my "Funny" Board on Pinterest.

Which is your favorite?
Do you Pin?  If so leave your link in the comment section so I can follow your boards.  Thanks!