Etsy Finds

May 15, 2013 by Gina Mueller

I am thinking about adding a new section to the blog called Monthly Etsy Finds.  I love, love love everything about Etsy.  Especially finding one of a kind goods- its similar to the craigslist and thrift shopping high!  And i love supporting people that are doing and selling what they love.  Maybe one day ill acquire a skill that allows me to open an Etsy shop.  Do you have any favorite Etsy shops or products? I’d love to hear about them!

Crushing hard for this amazing bag right now!  I might need to give this to myself. Extremely versatile bag and the quality looks amazing.  This is just one out of the hundreds of beautiful bags Natasha Durham makes at her Etsy show MimsMaine.

Remembers those kilim floor cushions I was drooling over the other week?  So no wonder I am smitten for this pillow shop- sofArt.  The name they picked for their store is unfortunate (sof art easily confused with so fart) but their pillows are gorgeous.

Abby Berkson knows cute pottery.  Enough said- How could you not fall in love with her shop?

Found this fun National Parks Checklist at ElloThere and it reminded me of my dream to one day take my kids (future kidos) to several national parks in the States.  My parents did something similar with us and they are some of my best childhood memories.

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Mom’s Banana Bread

Jan 4, 2012 by Gina Mueller

I am revisiting my quest to find the best banana bread recipe .  Here is my mother’s recipe and currently my favorite banana bread.  A very simple and delicious recipe!

Ingredients

• 2 cups flour
• ½ tsp salt
• 1/2tsp baking soda
• 1 cup brown sugar
• ½ cup melted butter
• 2 eggs
• 2-3 banana, mashed
• ½ cup chopped walnuts

**Can add chocolate chips

Directions

Sift flour, salt and baking soda into larger mixer bowl.  Add sugar, melted butter, eggs, bananas and walnuts, mix thoroughly.  Pour into a well greased  bread pan (9”x 5” x 3”).  Let stand 20 minutes.  Bake in a 350 degree oven for 70 minutes. Remove from pan and let cool.

Wait till bananas are nice and ripe.Mash Bananas.

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Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake

Oct 24, 2011 by Gina Mueller

shhhhh-  dont tell too many people.  But this is the best chocolate cake.  ever.

What makes the perfect chocolate cake?

#1 It is delicious

#2 Ridiculously easy to make

#3 No need for icing

#4 Easy to freeze and reheat

#5 Even more delicious after microwaved + ice cream

 

If you ask me, this cake is right around perfection and great to have on hand in the freezer to eat as needed.

Ingredients

• 1 pk Betty Crocker Chocolate Fudge Super Moist Cake Mix
• 1 small Instant Chocolate Pudding mix
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup milk
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl mix together cake mix, pudding mix, vegetable oil, milk, eggs and sour cream, in no particular order.  The batter will be rather thick.  Stir in chocolate chips and pour batter into a greased bundt pan.  Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

Mix all ingredients together, no particular order.  The batter will be rather thick.

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#1 Best Lasagna Recipe

Jul 17, 2011 by Gina Mueller

As I start my first city job one of my goals is to make meals on the weekend that I can freeze to reheat for the week. The first freeze friendly meal I tackled was lasagna. Now I was a child raised on Stoffers lasagna so take my next few words as you will..  It was FANTASTIC!  I must confess when searching for a recipe this one stood out because… drum roll… it was called #1 Best Lasagna Recipe.  Trust me you will enjoy it as much as I did.

Sadly I was missing one ingredient, nutmeg.  This was the first time my new spice rack has failed me.  I have so much faith in it I didn’t even double-check the spices before I was off to the grocery store.  Honestly I couldn’t taste a difference without the nutmeg, once again this may be because I am not a lasagna expert.

If you don’t own a spice rack and you are still digging in the back of your cupboard (like my mother) you don’t know what you are missing.  Please for me go purchase one (please mother so I can stop digging when cooking at your house).  For some reason I was a little obsessed with finding the perfect spice rack and when I say a little obsessed I mean a lot.  Come to think of it im not sure why I was so concerned about this purchase, purchasing a TV was much easier.  I ended up purchasing the Olde Thompson 20 jar Flower Spice Rack and I love it!

Ingredients

–Serves 12 people

• 1 pound of sweet Italian sausage
• 1 pound of ground beef
• 1/2 cup of chopped onions
• 2 cloves of garlic chopped
• 1 (28 ounce) can of crushed tomatoes
• 2 (8 ounce) cans of tomato sauce
• 2 (6 ounce) cans of tomato paste
• 1/2 Cup of Water
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 1 teaspoon fennel seed
• 2 teaspoons fresh Basil leaves chopped
• 4 tablespoons fresh Italian parsley chopped
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
• 23 ounces of ricotta cheese.
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg
• 1 egg
• 1 pound shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 12 Lasagna Noodles Directions

Directions Start with the following in a pot.

• 1 pound of sweet Italian sausage
• 1 pound of ground beef
• 1/2 cup of chopped onions
• 2 cloves of garlic chopped

Brown the ground beef, Italian sausage, onions and garlic in a pot .  It takes about 6 to 9 minutes to brown the meat.   I use a medium low temperature.  Remove the grease.

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