Saturday, September 27, 2014

Cooking in a Crockpot once, getting multiple (5+) meals!!

I LOVE the ease of cooking once for the whole week.

A few weeks ago, on a Sunday, I cooked some Kahlua pork in the crock pot and had it with some Roasted Brussel Sprouts and white rice.  YUM! Sorry, no picture of that delicious dinner!  
Here's the original oven recipe.
KAHLUA PORK:
4 lb pork shoulder/butt pork
2 Tbsp sea or kosher salt
2 Tbsp liquid smoke
1 Tbsp grated ginger
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 Tbsp soy sauce

Preheat oven to 350.  Rub meat with salt, liquid smoke, ginger, garlic and soy sauce.  Wrap securely in foil.  Roast 3 hours or until very tender.  Remove from oven, let stand about 15 minutes.  Shred, removing slabs of fat and serve.

All I did is put the prepared pork in the crock pot, then Googled "Crockpot Conversions", and cook it on HIGH for 6 hours instead of using the oven. I got the same results and your house will smell AWESOME!!
UPDATE!!!  Instant Pot directions: 90 minutes on high pressure, 10 minutes Natural Release, save the broth.

So, the next night, I had some nice leftovers, same meal (MEAL #2).  Then, on the next night, I made some open faced pulled pork type sandwiches with a little BBQ sauce on top of toasted bread.  (MEAL #3, unfortunately I didn't have any buns!)  Then, I microwaved a whole cob of corn and cut off the end and it all came out clean without any silks! Courtesy of Pinterest!

Then, the next day, I was inspired to make some quesadillas (MEAL #4), so I heated up my pan and oiled up the tortillas until one side was crispy, flipped it over and filled it with some more of the pork,and added some cheese and green onions,  folded it in half, and browned both sides until it was crispy.

I still had more pork leftover!  Next, I'll make some Posole. (MEAL #5) 
2Tbsp vegetable oil
1 large onion, chopped
5 anaheim or jalapeno peppers, seeded and chopped
7 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp cumin
10 cups chicken broth
2 cups shredded Kahlua pork
2 (15-1/2 oz.) cans hominy
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Garnishes:  chopped avocado, red onion, baked corn tortillas, crumbled Queso Blanco (Mexican) chees or shredded Monterey Jack, and limes
Heat oil over medium heat until hot, add onions, peppers, and garlic, saute 10 minutes.  Add oregano and cumin; saute 5 minutes.
Add chicken broth, Kahlua pork, hominy and cilantro and cook until thoroughly heated. Ladle into soup bowls; serve with avocado, corn tortillas, chees and a squeeze of lime juice.
Thank you for checking in!
Sharon Lim
Stampin' Up! Independent Demonstrator #54149
Rubber Stamps and Accessories including Scrapbooking 

email: sharonitwithyou@gmail.com
cell: (707)486-3500

Saturday, September 20, 2014

My latest Clean Sweep!! I love to organize other people's things!!

I had a great "CLEAN SWEEP" day today with Teri!! She needed some help with her loft.  Here are the "before" pictures where five years of baby clothes and toys have migrated to.  
The goal is to make the loft into her daughter's playroom/entertainment room.
Teri is such a generous soul, she had us pack most of her stuff and donated it to Vacaville Storehouse, Savers, and Opportunity House.  She is setting some items aside to give to her cousin who is expecting a baby boy.  We had about 30 bags of things to donate plus a second carload of mostly toys.
And once we got the loft cleared out, we worked on moving her daughter's play things from the family room to the loft.  
These are some of the items that we needed to move, first a play kitchen,
a toy chest, a stroller, and some stuffies,
and some Barbie houses and castles,
also this IKEA bookcase to hold all her other play things.
Here is the "after" shots of the loft now. Teri had the assignment of getting the room organized after we got it cleaned out. 
What a LOVELY playroom/entertainment room for her daughter!
How do you like it?

Thank you for checking in!
Sharon Lim
Stampin' Up! Independent Demonstrator #54149
Rubber Stamps and Accessories including Scrapbooking

email: sharonitwithyou@gmail.com
cell: (707)486-3500

Saturday, September 13, 2014

My latest invitation creations!! Cowgirl theme!

My co-worker Jenn asked for some invitations for her daughter Gracie's 5th birthday.
Here is the invitation she found that she wanted to inspire me:

I didn't have any cowgirl stamps, so I searched the internet for cowgirl clipart.
This is what I came up with, here is the front:

Here is the back:
And, since I had a lot of scraps leftover, I offered to also do Thank You cards.  Here is what I came up with:
And then, to deliver the invitations and Thank You cards, I decided to package them.  Together with the envelopes, I tied the invitations with some twine.
And to hold the Thank You cards, I reversed the box the envelopes came in and decorated it with more of the scraps I had created. I like to use what I have, so I was inspired by my previous post where I reversed a box I had to hold some Christmas crafts.
Thank you for checking in!
Sharon Lim
Stampin' Up! Independent Demonstrator #54149
Rubber Stamps and Accessories including Scrapbooking

email: sharonitwithyou@gmail.com
cell: (707)486-3500

Saturday, September 6, 2014

Holding my Blendabilities!!!

I just had a GREAT card class today and made these cards.
I introduced the Blendabilities at my class so they could color the Blended Bloom stamp and mount it on an embossed Whisper White cardstock on top of a matching cardstock.  I LOVE how they turned out!
I can't remember where I saw this for holding my Blendabilities, but I was intrigued by the design and using things I already had, a Wood Mount Stamp case and some elastic.
 I used the Paper Piercer to make the holes, I was really trying hard not to go through the plastic covering that holds the paper.  I made 2 holes on each side of the holder for a total of 8 holes.
Then, I strung the elastic in from the outside and then out through the spine and back in and then out to the other side.
 Then, I knotted the ends of the elastic to secure them.  Next time, I think I'll use a punch or a Crop-a-dile to make the holes if possible.
I always use these items with the Blendabilities, especially when I am demonstrating them for the first time, the Blended Bloom stamp set, Color Lifter, and the Memento ink pad.
Because the case doesn't close all the way, I use a rubberband to hold it together and then  It travels well all together like this:
What do you think?

Thank you for checking in!
Sharon Lim
Stampin' Up! Independent Demonstrator #54149
Rubber Stamps and Accessories including Scrapbooking

email: sharonitwithyou@gmail.com
cell: (707)486-3500