Randomness Archives - Page 2 of 2

“Chopped” Cooking Competition Party

May 8, 2016 by Amanda 6 Comments

Looking for ideas for a fun, exciting & not-so-predictable party? How about throwing a “Chopped” Cooking Competition Party!?! This was tons of fun for teens & adults! Read on for inspiration, ideas and ingredients…..

A few months ago a friend approached me for some help organizing a “Chopped” themed party for his youth ministry. I was so excited – I knew this was going to be some serious fun!

I worked hard to not overthink or over complicate this. Nobody was competing for prizes, money or recognition here. This was a day for the girls to get together, hang out and have fun.

There was a big obstacle – one kitchen. One kitchen means one stove. Six plus girls sharing one stove.

The girls were all teenagers with varied levels of cooking skills, so an adult was added to each group to help out where needed. Everyone got split up into two groups.

The girls had no problem sharing the kitchen. This minor set back was compensated by giving the girls a lenient time limit. We decided to skip the entree and did just an appetizer and dessert round.

I tried to come up with a group of ingredients that were challenging to put together but not too far fetched. As in “Chopped”, the main focus here was to transform these ingredients into something – not just pile them all together and call it a dish. Creativity is key – as is taste, of course!

When judging we kept it fair and simple with no room for debate. Each round, each judge picked their favorite dish. At the end, the group with the most picks wins. In the case of a tie there would be debate & discussion.

This was a lot of fun and I was beyond impressed with how creative everyone was in the kitchen. The girls did an awesome job working together to create some fab food!

Appetizer Basket

Sponge/shortcake dessert cups

Spam

Fresh Basil

Pomegranate

Appetizer round (before) thoughts:

I personally cannot stand those dessert shortcake cups. (You usually find them around the strawberries in the produce section) I’d be so disappointed if they were used plain, as is. They have great potential. They could be chopped up, seasoned and fried as croutons or crumbs, made into a toasty garlic bread or a quick bread stuffing or soaked – lots of ideas for them! Spam – ha, who knows!? It’s a fun ingredient that can be cooked or eaten straight from the can – the girls could get very creative with this. Fresh basil is simple, versatile and has such great flavor. Pomegranate – they could use the the seeds or juice the seeds – dealing with them can be tricky if you’re not familiar with them.

I think the obvious direction with these ingredients would be a green salad or a bruschetta style appetizer. The salad should be creative to be successful – a balsamic and oil salad dressing made with pomegranate juice or seeds would be clever. Ideas that come to mind – an Italian style “bread salad”, maybe a tomato salad, a bruschetta or something cheesy and crunchy baked with those shortcakes. If they’re piling ingredients on top of the shortcake, I’d hope they dress up the shortcake in some way.

Appetizer round (after) thoughts:

Both groups took a very dessert approach to the shortcake cups. As for the spam – one group fried it up with bacon and made lettuce wraps with it – it was surprisingly good! The other group fried it up and added it to a salad with pomegranate seeds and a delicious balsamic dressing. I loved the salad! Guess what I learned – Spam can be good 🙂

Dessert Basket

Rolled / Quick Oats (Not the instant packets)

Fresh Cranberries

Queso Fresco Cheese

Orange Marmalade

Dessert round (before) thoughts:

I feel this is a very simple set of ingredients, but involves some thought to make it work. Cranberries should be cooked in some method for best flavor, the rolled oats can be cooked, baked, fried – even used raw. Queso Fresco is wonderful – it’s very mild and versatile. The orange marmalade tastes absolutely awful (imo) and needs to be incorporated carefully.

There’s many directions to go with these ingredients. I would automatically think of a crumble or a crisp style dessert. Cookies, tartlets, pudding, bread pudding – chocolate and cranberry is an insanely delicious flavor combo…a bit of orange in the mix is great too….

Dessert Round (after) thoughts:

One group made a french toast with a topping of chopped cranberries, marmalade, queso fresco, walnuts and syrup. They served it with a side of fried apples sprinkled with brown sugar and oats. Very breakfast but very delicious.

The other group got very creative, but things didn’t turn out so well. They went for a custard type dessert incorporating the cheese in the mixture. The finished result had fabulous flavor – but the texture was off. The cheese didn’t melt as they expected and gave the dessert almost a curdled consistency.

Tools:

These are just some of the basics….

2 cutting boards
2 saute/fry pans
2 saucepans
2 cookie sheets
2 muffin tins
2 square baking dishes
2 knives, spatulas, spoons (etc) utensils & cutlery
plates, bowls, silverware
Mixer, Food Processor

Pantry Ingredients:

Many of these ingredients are pantry staples. The remainder of ingredients were provided/purchased by the attending adults.

Olive Oil
Cooking Spray
romaine or other leafy green lettuce
Butter
balsamic vinegar
white vinegar
onions
fresh garlic
green olives
black olives
fresh tomatoes
avocado
shredded mozzarella cheese or Italian blend
salt & pepper
cinnamon
vanilla extract
baking powder
baking soda
garlic powder
Parmesan cheese
any other herbs/spices
Chocolate Chips
Chocolate Bar (regular Hershey’s or such)
Brown Sugar
White Sugar
Dozen Eggs
loaf bread
milk
flour
apples
oranges
pears
Bacon
Maple Syrup
lemon
Walnuts
almonds

This Chopped party was so much fun for all involved. Maybe next year I can get in on the fun. Or maybe not, I crumble under pressure and am so not competitive 🙂

Thanks so much for stopping by!

-Amanda-

Greek Gyro Dip

December 3, 2015 by Amanda 12 Comments

This is a sponsored post written by me on the behalf of Knauss Foods. All opinions are completely my own.

Who doesn’t love a gyro drenched in tzatziki sauce? I’ve created a simple, yet authentic tasting, Greek Gyro Dip using Knauss Dried Beef!

When I say dried beef, what is the first thing thing that comes to mind? I bet most of you think of Creamed Chipped Beef. Rightfully so, it’s an all American comfort food. Drench that gravy goodness all over fried potatoes and toast and it’s home cooking breakfast heaven.

Let’s forget about Creamed Chipped Beef and talk some more about dried beef. Dried Beef is a slow cured, lean beef which is mildly salty, yet beefy and smoky. These 100% beef slices from Knauss Foods are gluten free, contain no MSG, and are 98% fat free. Loaded with flavor and ready to go. I love the convenience of a quality ingredient that involves no kind of prep work. Pull a pack or two out of your fridge and get creative at meal time! After tasting it straight from the pack, I realized it could be added to a variety of snacks, dips, appetizers and foods.

Still not sure if you’re familiar with dried beef? You’ll find it in your grocers refrigerated section with luncheon meats, hot dogs or maybe even breakfast potatoes.

Let’s talk about snacks. Between the holidays and football we are all doing a lot of entertaining and visiting. Snacks are a definite – dips are a must. Really though, dips are becoming more & more predictable. I enjoy the classics as much as everyone else – but there’s only so much Buffalo Chicken Dip or Spinach Artichoke Dip I can handle. I decided it was time to take my dip game to the next level.

Often my inspiration for creating a recipe is attempting to duplicate or even simplify a dish I love. The instant I nibbled on a piece of dried beef one thought popped straight into my head. Gyros. I absolutely love a gyro. I’ve never attempted to make them at home because I don’t have the set up to make shaved lamb. Knauss Dried Beef made the perfect substitute for the shaved lamb!

The most work you’ll do when making this dip is fussing with the cucumbers. I’m all for keeping things as simple as possible, but cucumbers tossed in this dip “as is” will result in a watery mess of a dip. No one wants that. Seriously – I drained almost 1/4 cup liquid from the cucumbers. To solve the cucumber dilemma, you’ll just salt and drain them. No real work is involved here, just an hour of resting time. After that, stir everything together. Done.

As in any cold dip, the dip is better after sitting for a few hours allowing the flavors to blend. Of course I couldn’t wait to try it. My pitas weren’t ready but I dove right into that dip with a soft flour tortilla. It was the Greek gyro goodness I was after 🙂

I served this dip with fresh pita slices, tomatoes and lettuce. No one bothered with the tomatoes or lettuce, instead the dip and the pita disappeared. Quickly. Everyone loved it – they all said it was like eating a mini gyro. Perfect – that’s exactly what I was going for!

I’m so excited about how delicious and easy to make this Greek Gyro Dip is! If you like gyros, this dip is a must try! If you’re tired of serving the same old snacks and dips to your guests – then this is an exciting new dip to make. There is so much more you can do with dried beef than just Cream Chipped Beef!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

-Amanda-

Visit Knauss Foods for more information, recipes & inspiration!

5.0 from 1 reviews

Greek Gyro Dip

Prep time

70 mins

Total time

1 hour 10 mins

Who doesn't love a gyro drenched in tzatziki sauce? I've created a simple, yet authentic tasting, Greek Gyro Dip using Knauss Foods Dried Beef!

Author: Amanda

Recipe type: dips, appetizers

Cuisine: Greek, American

Serves: 2½ cups

Ingredients

2 medium sized cucumbers
kosher salt
2 cups plain Greek yogurt (I used a 17.6 oz container)
2 package of Knauss dried beef (3 oz. packages)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh dill
2 tablespoon lemon juice
fresh pepper to taste
sliced pitas, flatbread or naan (for dipping)

Instructions

Peel, seed and dice cucumbers. (To seed cucumbers - cut in half lengthwise and use spoon to scoop out seeds)
Sprinkle a generous amount of salt over cucumbers and toss.
Let cucumbers drain for 1-2 hours in a colander over a bowl. Occasionally toss cucumbers around and press with a spatula or spoon to force out liquid. Before using, wrap cucumbers in paper towels and squeeze out any excess liquid.
In a bowl, combine cucumbers, Greek yogurt, dried beef, garlic, dill and lemon juice. Stir.
Add a crack or two of fresh pepper.
Dip can be served immediately, but is best after refrigerating for an hour or two to allow flavors to blend. Serve with fresh pita slices, flatbread or naan.
Dip can be stored for a day or two in the fridge. If liquid starts to form (from those stubborn cucumbers), blot up with a paper towel & stir dip.

Greek Gyro Dip | Use Knauss Dried Beef Instead of Shaved Lamb | Who doesn't love a gyro drenched in tzhaki sauce? A simple & authentic tasting recipe | www.craftycookingmama.com

Want to make your own pitas? Good for you! It’s pretty simple and will save you quite a few bucks! I don’t have my recipe posted quite yet – but I found a recipe super similar to mine. Visit Half Baked Harvest for their fabulous pita recipe!

Old Fashioned Molasses Pie

November 23, 2015 by Amanda 12 Comments

Molasses Pie – a simple PA Dutch pie. Similar to a shoofly pie – but different. Chewy, sweet, unique – delicious! Vegan friendly, too!

Just to prevent any confusion – I will start this off by letting everyone know that this is not a shoofly pie. Though the ingredients are very similar, the process is a bit different.

With this Molasses Pie, you will mix up all the filling ingredients. A shoofly pie is simply- yet cleverly – layered. Doesn’t sound like it would make a big difference but it absolutely does.

Which gets me thinking – how in the world have I not shared my shoofly pie recipe yet? Coming straight outta Lancaster, you’d think it was one of the first recipes I would have shared. Guess I know what’s on my baking to do list.

So I’m on a bit of a molasses kick. I started off by baking this Pumpkin Molasses Bread and got into a feeding frenzy for the stuff. I almost forgot how much I enjoy the flavor of molasses – it’s sweet, complex, almost earthy flavor. The key to achieving the best results with molasses is using it in moderation. Too much molasses is not a good thing – it’s very overpowering and will absolutely ruin your baked goods. Folks in my neck of the woods have a tendency to get a bit heavy handed with it.

Funny enough, this recipe came from a box of junk I bought at a local auction for 50 cents. In the box was a tea pot, a bunch of over used take out containers, a ziploc bag full of yard sale price stickers, a few cool antique bottles and an assortment of random books – mostly romance and 80’s cookbooks. Anyhow, I went thru this box a few weeks ago. Besides the antique bottles – everything was getting trashed or donated. I skimmed thru the horrific 80’s “health food” cookbooks, and out dropped a few handwritten recipe cards. Molasses pie was the gem.

Molasses pie. I couldn’t even member the last time I had a piece of it. 10, maybe 15 years. Wow. This recipe made me remember how much I love Molasses pie, the pie that could have gotten lost forever from me.

This is a ridiculously quick and simple pie to make. Use any butter substitute and it’s vegan. How’s that for impressive!?

This pie turns out a bit fluffy cake like yet chewy. My daughter described it as a chewy cake inside a pie crust. The flavor can be best described as similar to a shoofly pie. If you’ve never had a shoofly pie, then I’ll have to say it’s in a flavor profile all of it’s own. You definitely taste the molasses, but it’s not in your face molasses. Perfect amount of chewy sweet goodness. Consider it a must try. As simple as it is to make, it’s a must try asap.

I hope you enjoy this Old Fashioned Molasses Pie. It’s unique and delicious and very well could become a new family favorite.

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Baking!

-Amanda-

Old Fashioned Molasses Pie

Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

25 mins

Total time

40 mins

Molasses Pie - a not as well known PA Dutch pie. Chewy, sweet, unique - delicious!

Author: Amanda

Recipe type: baked goods

Cuisine: Pennsylvania Dutch

Serves: 6-8 slices

Ingredients

1 prepared 9" pie crust
¾ cup flour, heaping
½ cup granulated sugar
1½ tablespoon butter or butter substitute for vegans
¼ cup molasses (unsulphured)
¼ cup boiling water
¼ teaspoon baking soda

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°
Combine flour and sugar in a mixing bowl.
Using a pastry blender, cut in butter/butter substitute until mixture is fine crumbed.
Pour molasses in a separate mixing bowl.
In a small saucepan, bring water to a boil.
Add ¼ cup boiling water and baking soda to molasses.
Stir until mixture is foamy/frothy and rises.
Pour molasses mixture into pie crust/tin.
Sprinkle the flour mixture over molasses, stirring it in until combined.
Even out top of pie.
Just to prevent a mess - place pie tin on a cookie sheet - this pie can bake/spill over.
Bake for about 25 minutes. Pie will rise and then start to settle.
Cool on wire rack. We enjoy this perfectly plain, but some walnuts or pecans would compliment this nicely. Enjoy 🙂

Molasses Pie - a simple Amish/Mennonite PA Dutch pie | Similar to a shoofly pie | Chewy, sweet, unique - delicious | www.craftycookingmama.com

Monster & Lizard Eye Candy Decorations

October 19, 2015 by Amanda 2 Comments

I’m getting creative here. I have some serious Halloween baking to do. Not just a few dozen of cookies or cupcakes – I’m talking hundreds. I’m going to bake till I drop. Literally. Baking is almost the easy part. Decorating, that’s a little trickier. It always involves some creativity, attention and a touch of finesse – perfect job for my 9 year old 🙂

I went out to price some decorations I needed. I was in ABSOLUTE sticker shock. Topping with store bought candy Halloween decorations would cost almost as much as it would for the baked good itself. $4.50 for 40 – 50 pieces. That would decorate 10 – 20 cupcakes depending on how carried away we get with eyeballs. Oh, no. That’s not gonna work. Project “Halloween Bake Till You Drop” will all be donated to a local fundraising event. Keeping the spending in check is a must.

I have two simple and ridiculously easy decoration tricks. Make your own creepy, cute or crazy candy eyes!

Here’s what you’ll need. Food grade markers, marshmallows (mini or large), candy buttons and some imagination. That’s it.

I used the mini marshmallows for plain white eyes in the pictures – but these will be great to create bloodshot eyeballs also. You can use the marshmallows whole, halved or quartered depending on what size you need. We simply cut them with scissors and squeezed them back into shape.

As for the the candy buttons – it doesn’t get much easier! Make a plain black dot for the pupil and call it done. Or get creative with multi colored eyes. We even made lizard/snake eyes with yellow dots, green iris and a black slit for the pupil. Cool!

That’s it folks. It’s fun, creative, easy and way cheaper then buying the candy eyeballs at the store. Hope you have lots of fun this Halloween! Happy Baking!

-Amanda-

Outer Banks Vacation 2015

August 25, 2015 by Amanda Leave a Comment

I miss you already OBX!

So I’m back from vacation. One glorious week in The Outer Banks with my family and friends. How quickly those days flew by 🙁

I go to the beach to be at the beach. No tourist attractions for me. I like to spend as much time as possible taking in the sights and sounds of the majestic ocean.

This year we stayed on a 4×4 beach in Corolla. It’s a long and bit rugged ride away from everything. Away from dining, shopping and roads. All you’ll find is the beach, houses and 4×4 beach goers. The locals – a herd of Wild Colonial Spanish Mustangs – aren’t too shy and will drop by often for some grazing.

Until next year OBX….xoxo.

-Amanda-

Check Me Out On KimberlyElise.com

August 3, 2015 by Amanda Leave a Comment

I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to collaborate with the lovely Kimberly Elise! Check out her blog for great reads on life, love, natural beauty, healthy living, vegan recipes, some Hollywood Behind The Scenes and more! While you’re there take a look at my recipe contribution 🙂

“KimberlyElise.com aims to inspire readers to love themselves, to feel good about their natural beauty, and to achieve their best quality of life through natural, holistic living. We advocate cruelty-free, mindful living for women who value natural beauty.”

Visit Kimberly at KimberlyElise.com

Liebster Award

May 28, 2015 by Amanda 2 Comments

“It’s a major award!”

I’m sure many have said that before me but how can you not drop that reference!?!

Onto The Liebster. Here I am, just another food blogger on the world wide web. Trying to stand out, get noticed or even be known is no easy task – I’m one of a million. I do what I do, though, because I enjoy it. I love food, I love cooking, I love writing and I love sharing these joys.

One of the great perks of blogging is that you make some friends along the way. People who are in it for the same reasons you are. People who encourage you and support you in this crazy, vast world of blogging. One of these awesome friends is Amy from Accidental Happy Baker, the lovely lady who nominated me for this award. I thank her for thinking of me and I thank her for being her awesome sweet self! Check her out!

What is this Liebster business, you ask? The Liebster Award is an award for bloggers from bloggers. The award is for any blogger, of any genre, who has less than 1k followers. It’s a way you can recognize, support and get to know your fellow blogging buddies.

The Official Rules

You’ve been nominated. Now what…

1. Acknowledge the blogger who nominated you with a thank you & a link to their blog.

2. Display The Liebster Award badge on your blog.

3. Answer 11 questions about yourself, which will be provided by the person who nominated you.

4. Provide 11 random facts about yourself.

5. Nominate 5+ bloggers (with fewer than 1,000 followers) who you feel deserve the award.

6. Create a new list of 11 questions for your nominated bloggers to answer.

7. Make sure you notify your nominees!

Questions from Amy

1. Are you a car dancer or do you try and act normal when you’re driving and your fave song comes on?

I’ll most def bust a move in the car. Love it even more when Athena, my 9 year old, is in the car with me. Lol – she doesn’t think it’s so cool.

2. What was the most trouble you ever got into as a kid?

Ohhh….I was a bad, bad kid and I got into lots of trouble. Let’s just say I was well acquainted with the local police department. Thank god I got over all that.

3. If you could pick a new restaurant to be moved to your neighborhood what would it be?

I live in Amish Country. Everything is PA Dutch style food (salt, pepper & butter), bad Chinese or bad Italian. Sushi would be nice – I’d be real happy if a Minado’s moved into the neighborhood.

4. If you became so famous you had to have an alias to check into hotels, what would your alias be?

Why, Psycho Betty of course.

5. What is the worst illness or injury that you personally have ever went through?

Well, appendicitis was pretty rough – but natural childbirth made that feel like a walk in the park.

6. What is the most frustrating thing for you about blogging?

Time and the lack of it. I wish I had an extra hour or two in the day to work on the blog.

7. City or country?

Country girl.

8. What is the strangest food you’ve ever eaten?

Hmmm….I’ve eaten a lot of crazy stuff. Mett comes to mind first. It’s a German spread made with raw ground pork. It’s actually delicious – but I’m glad they waited to tell me what it was until after I ate it. Can you imagine eating raw pork in The US…?

9. What is the most embarrassing thing to happen to you this month?

My 17 month old daughter, Genevieve is starting to chat it up quite a bit. She loves her dog and is always talking about him. She says “Clutch” and “doggy sit”. How cute, right? Problem is, it sounds like “doggy sh*it ”. People definitely take a double look at us when we’re out. Lol – I totally am not teaching my babygirl to swear : )

10. Do you have any games on your cell phone? Which ones? Casual player or addicted?

Not really. I spend extra time on my phone on BBC News, Local News, Buzzfeed, Social Apps & All The Cooks.

11. Favorite genre of movies to watch?

I used to love horror – now I just get nightmares from it. These days I appreciate anything that can make my tired self laugh.

11 Random Facts About Meeeee

1. I’m tall. 6’ barefooted tall.

2. Speaking of feet – I have big ones. Size 11. Shoe shopping is a total nightmare.

3. I was a vegetarian for many years. If I didn’t cook for my family I’d still be one. I’d probably really miss pork and seafood though.

4. I have a bunch of tattoos.

5. We’re dog people in my house. We have an American Bulldog named Clutch who looks like Petey from The Little Rascals. We’re getting a puppy, same breed and very similar looking, very soon.

6. We’re chicken people too. We have a small flock of hens and absolutely adore those chickie poos.

7. Ha – can you say hoarder!?! I have hundreds and hundreds of cookbooks and still buy an interesting one when I see it. I have shelves in my kitchen and throughout the house filled with them. I have bins filled with cookbooks. I have cookbooks all over the house for casual reading, like one would have magazines. I’ve been “collecting” them for about 10 years now. These days I rarely have time to page thru one. I’m trying to thin out the collection a bit, getting rid of all the standard kind of stuff. One day I’ll be retired and have lots of reading material : )

8. I’m not a total hippie but I try to keep things as green as possible in our home. Recycling, upcycling, reusing, minimal use of household chemicals, buying secondhand whenever possible and donating all our used stuff is just a small part of what we do. We’ve also completely eliminated all food waste thanks to doggies and chickens. Oh, and bee keeping is in our near future.

9. I am a total European mutt. My father is half Ukrainian and half Polish. His father’s family immigrated here during the 20’s and his mother arrived here as a refugee with the Catholic Church after World War 2. My mom came to The US in the late 70’s – she’s half Italian, half German. That ethnic blend has all the influence on my tastes and cooking!

10. There’s no place I’d rather be than home with my family.

11. God is great! I’m beyond thankful for everything, every moment, everyday : )

11 Questions For My Nominees

1. What are your earliest cooking inspirations?

2. Where do you live? What is wonderful about where you call home?

3. You can buy a second home (money is no object here) anywhere in the world. Where would you be?

4. What has your proudest accomplishment been in life so far?

5. Think back to being a kid….What did you want to be when you grew up? How does that compare to what you are doing now?

6. Open up your fridge. What do you see most of in there?

7. What makes you happy?

8. What is your most treasured possession?

9. You could only eat one type of cuisine for the rest of your life. What would it be?

10. 30 years from now – where do you see yourself in life?

11. What inspired you to start blogging and what inspires you to keep blogging?

Last, but not least, in no particular order – are my nominees…..

These are all great bloggers I’ve had the pleasure to get to know or/and awesome blogs I enjoy reading. Check them out!!!

1. Foodie*ish

2. The Links Site

3. Angie’s Appetizers

4. The Chocolate Journalist

5. What’s Cooking With Jim

Let’s start it off : )

July 30, 2014 by Amanda Leave a Comment

Crazy time to start all this – but if not now, then when? Sometimes you just have to go for it…..

So this craziness I speak of. Life has always been busy and will always be busy – family, home, work. I love every hectic moment of it! Add a new baby ( Genevieve my love – she’s 7 months old now ) and a new home with a never ending to-do list of projects – and we’re officially booked in Lancaster County for the next 18 years.

So let me introduce myself…..I’m Amanda. I’m a thirty-something wife and mama. Not a day goes by that I don’t celebrate my family and thank god for the life we share together – they make me the luckiest lady!!! Enzio is my loving, handsome, silly and super smart husband. He’s everything I could have ever hoped for in a husband and more. Then there’s our two brilliant, beautiful, amazing and super sweet daughters – Athena, age 8, and Baby Genevieve – these girls are my reason for everything!

My family and I reside in Amish County – beautiful Lancaster County, PA. I ABSOLUTELY love it here!!!! Life is sweeter, simpler and slower here. I couldn’t dream of a better place to raise a family.

So back to starting it off. I’m pretty sure I’m like most other people who decide to start a cooking blog – I love food, I love cooking and I love sharing my creations. I’ll admit- I have thousands (okay – more like hundreds) of written and printed recipes scattered about in folders, notebooks and boxes and shoved in random books and I’m desperately in need of some system of organization. I’m also really into thrift store shopping, upcycled and DIY projects and saving a dollar anyway I can. So combine all that with my love of writing and CraftyCookingMama was born!

I know there is not a single soul but my own reading this right now – but hopefully one day soon other eyes will stumble upon my blog and enjoy my ideas and adventures as much as I do. I look foward to sharing my creations with you all…XOXO

Baby Genevieve & I

Daddy & Daughter Dance