Loom Knitting Tutorial - Solid Stripes for Scarves & Afghans

I love loom knitting and am always looking for new patterns and tutorials.  Here is one I found on YouTube.  If you love loom knitting or want to learn, here is one just for you.

 

Maybe someday I will be good enough to do my own tutorial.  Until then, I will shares tutorials from others.

April's Crockpot Roast

 

This is my own recipe.  I used ideas from other recipes I have used. 

I'm looking for a creative name.  What would you name it? 

This is a fall apart, melt in your mouth, full of flavor meal.  By putting the potatoes on the bottom, they soak up the broth and become full of flavor.   

 

April's Crockpot Roast

 

Serves 3-4

 

 

Ingredients:

 

3-4 pounds beef bottom round roast

1 cup brewed coffee

1/3 cup red wine vinegar

3 cups water

2 TBSP tomato paste

5 medium potatoes

1- 2 oz. package of onion soup mix ( I used Lipton)

1/4 cup chopped scallions

1 bay leaf

 

Directions:

 

1.  Pour coffee, red wine, vinegar and water into crockpot.

2.  Add tomato paste, stir to blend.

3.  Add chopped potatoes; lay roast on top.

4.  Sprinkle onion mix on top of roast and into broth.

5.  Add scallions, place bay leaf on top of roast.

6.  Cook on high 6-7 hours.  Time depends on how you like your roast.

7.  Let roast rest 8-10 minutes, slice and serve.

 

*We usually have leftover roast which I then make into soup or stew.

 

 

 

 

Ready to cook!

 

 

 

 

All done!  And oh so delicious!

Slow Cooker Chicken & Herb Dumplings

                            

 

When I was a kid and well into my first couple of years in high school, I used to go to my Grandmother's and spend the weekend with her.  She would call me and ask me what I wanted to eat for the weekend and I would always tell her, "Chicken and Dumplings, cheeseburger pie, and cinnamon cresent rolls."  Of course, she had her own recipes for these.  I never learned to make the cheeseburger pie from her, but I did learn how to make the chicken and dumplings which was quite simple.  All we did was boil the chicken and follow the directions on the Bisquick box.  We never did anything fancy b/c we liked it just the way it was!

 

 The following recipe come to you from Campbell's Kitchen. 

 

Slow Cooker Chicken & Herb DumplingsServings: about 1 3/4 cups each
Cook: 7 hr. 45 min.
Serves: 8

What You'll Need

 

2 1/2 pounds lb. skinless, boneless chicken breasts and/or thighs, cut into 1-inch pieces
5 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces (about 2 1/2 cups)
4 stalks celery, cut into 1-inch pieces (about 2 cups)
2 cups frozen whole kernel corn
3 1/2 cups Swanson® Chicken Brothor Swanson® Chicken Stock
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup water
2 cups biscuit baking mix
2/3 cup milk
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary leaves or 1 teaspoon dried rosemary leaves, crushed

How to Make It

Stir the chicken, carrots, celery, corn, broth and black pepper in a 6-quart slow cooker.                                               

 Cover and cook on LOW for 7 to 8 hours or until the chicken is cooked through.                                                                                                     

Stir the flour and water in a small bowl until the mixture is smooth. Stir the flour mixture in the cooker. Increase the heat to HIGH. Cover and cook for 5 minutes or until the mixture boils and thickens.                                                  
                                                   

Stir the baking mix, milk and rosemary in a medium bowl. Drop the batter by rounded tablespoonfuls over the chicken mixture. Tilt the lid to vent and cook on HIGH for 40 minutes or until the dumplings are cooked in the center.



Update on Health

Well, if I ain't a blonde..... Anyway, I thought they were doing the endoscopy yesterday......NOOOOOO. It was a consultation only. They are doing an ultrasound on March 19 and then a Gastroscopy on the 27th. They will then decide if I need surgery. Then I will have to wait forever for the insurance to approve then wait forever for a surgery to be scheduled. Why does everything have to take so freakin' long?????

 

I have been having problems with one of my teeth since November, problems with my stomach since December and the freakin' insurance takes forever to approve anything! It gets very frustrating knowing that the Dr. can fix you but the insurance co. wants to take forever so they don't have to pay a bunch of money at once. What do they care? They aren't the ones suffering in pain or discomfort!

 

To top it all off, the Digestive Doctor called me to tell me that because my mother had colon cancer, he is scheduling a Colonoscopy at the same time as the Gastroscopy. 

 

I have a consultation on Friday with the Oral Surgeon.  Ugh!!  Can't wait for it all to be over.

 

 



Chicken Riggies Recipe

You may be asking what "What are Chicken Riggies?".  Well, I am going to give you the history and recipe for the New York State dish.  My family and I love these and a lot of people, especially those not living in New York State don't know what they are. 

 

 

 

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

Chicken riggies or Utica riggies is an Italian-American pasta dish native to the Utica-Rome area of New York State. It is a pasta-based dish usually consisting of chicken, rigatoni and hot or sweet peppers in a spicy cream and tomato sauce, although many variations exist.

Beginnings
The origins of "riggies" have been disputed and lost in time. Many of the chefs from the Utica area seem to have a claim to the dish, yet there seems to be no clear idea who was the originator.
In one version of the origin, Bobby Hazelton came up with chicken riggies when he and Richie Scamarto owned the Clinton House restaurant in the strip mall in Clinton. In another version, a chef from Dominique’s Chesterfield Restaurant in Utica invented riggies in the 80s.

Riggiefest
The first annual Riggiefest was held in Utica, NY, in 2005 at the Utica Memorial Auditorium. Riggiefest is a contest which determines what restaurant makes the best riggies in the area. The best riggies will win its creator the prestigious "Riggie Cup". All money made during the fest is donated directly to the YWCA. In 2008, the festival made over $300,000.
Recent Riggie Cup winners include:

• Teddy's Restaurant in Rome, NY (2010)
• Secret Garden Restaurant in Utica, NY (2009)
• Route 69 Steakhouse and Saloon in Whitesboro, NY (2008)
• Teddy's Restaurant in Rome, NY (2007)
• Teddy's Restaurant in Rome, NY (2006)
• Teddy's Restaurant in Rome, NY (2005)

Teddy's was inducted into the Chicken Riggies Hall of Fame in 2008 after winning the competition three years in a row. That year Teddy's stepped aside to allow other restaurants a chance at the title.  Teddy's winning recipe was published in Mohawk Valley Living

 

We have had Riggies from Teddy's but haven't tried the other restaurants yet.

 

And now for the recipe:

 

This is Utica, New York's specialty dish. Rigatoni (riggies) pasta is paired with chicken and spicy peppers in a creamy red/white sauce. Some other popular additions are mushrooms and black olives." — Conde54  

 

 

Original recipe makes 6 servings 

Ingredients

• 1 pound dry ziti pasta
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 2 (26 ounce) jars spaghetti sauce
• 6 ounces provolone cheese, sliced
• 1 1/2 cups sour cream
• 6 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

 

Directions

 

Step-by-step View

Directions

1.  Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add ziti pasta, and cook until al dente, about 8 minutes; drain.

2.  In a large skillet, brown onion and ground beef over medium heat. Add spaghetti sauce, and simmer 15 minutes.

3.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Butter a 9x13 inch baking dish. Layer as follows: 1/2 of the ziti, Provolone cheese, sour cream, 1/2 sauce mixture, remaining ziti, mozzarella cheese and remaining sauce mixture. Top with grated Parmesan cheese.

4.  Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until cheeses are melted.

 

Follow this link for the Nutrition Information  http://allrecipes.com/recipe/chicken-riggies/detail.aspx

 

 

 

Enjoy!  If you try this recipe, I would love to hear your comments!

Treasury Tuesday: PinterestPinners

This treasury features the Etsy Team Pinterest Pinners. 

 

About this team

Open to all people addicted to Pinterest

Who can join?

Anyone with a pinterest account who loves to pin Etsy finds!!

http://www.etsy.com/teams/10425/pinterestpinners

Just An Update

This past Christmas night, I ended up in the E.R. with severe abdominal and lower back pain.  This pain was way worse than labor.  Anyway, they found out that I have gall stones and a possible ulcer.  They gave me hydrocodone for the pain and put me on prescription anti-acids.  They think that it was brought on by too  much ibuprophen because I had a wicked toothache for almost a month (this is a whole other story) and was taking it like candy.  So, they told me no more ibuprophen.  I haven't had an attack like that since, thank God.  Today, I have to go for an endoscopy and after they get the results from that, they will decide what to do.  I don't care what they do as long as they make it go away!

 

 

Today is Treasury Tuesday so watch for that post and if I have time, I will be posting another recipe.  See you all in a little while!