Works For Me Wednesday -Personal Pasta Sauce

Every week Kristen at We are That Family hosts a blog carnival where everyone links up their blog posts with tips and tricks that work for them.

My tip tonight is a simple one. But it really works for me.

Matt loves pasta, but he loves it with just butter and parmesan cheese. I prefer a little meat sauce on mine. Making a whole jar and a whole pound of meat usually ends up going to waste. Then I got smart.

I make the whole jar (I use jar sauce and add seasonings to it), brown a pound of meat, mix them. Then I put 1 serving worth in a freezer bag then stack them up in the freezer. I typically can get 4 or 5 out of it. Then we want to have pasta I can just defrost my sauce, heat it in a little pot and I have dinner without waste! Score!

This works for me! You can go to over to We are THAT Family and see what else works for others.

Also, check out the confession I made on my other blog (yes, I have another blog, it is a baby, here is why I started it)

The last of the Holiday goodies

The last thing I made was chocolate dipped pretzels. I love these, last year I made chocolate and chocolate/peanut butter, but this year I just made chocolate.

These are super simple.
Chocolate Dipped Pretzel

[Printable Recipe]
Ingredients:
Chocolate Flavored Almond Bark
Pretzel Rods
sprinkles or icing

Directions:
Melt chocolate

 

Dip Pretzels in chocolate

Decorate with sprinkles or icing.

After I made everything I bagged up the goodies and put them in baskets to give as gifts, everything else went in tins to be taken to Christmas.

 

My mixer took a beating and got SUPER dirty - I really think I should rename my blog- Confessions of a MESSY baker :-D

Cocoa Blocks

These chocolate blocks are so yummy and make great gifts. I gave them away with little mugs. If you stir them in hot milk it makes a really good creamy hot chocolate. You can also just nibble on them for a rich fudge taste.

I got this recipe from King Arthur Flour
[Printable Recipe]
Ingredients
1/2 c. heavy cream
14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
3 c. milk chocolate chips
3/4 c semisweet baking chocolate
wooden sticks ( I used Wilton lollipop sticks from Michaels)

Directions:
Line a 8 x 8 pan with parchment or foil

Heat cream and condensed milk over low heat until steaming.

Remove from heat and add chocolate and allow to gently melt.

 

Return to low heat after 10 mins or so and completely melt the chocolate. Whisk until it is thick and shiny. (add flavoring if desired - coffee of hazelnut would be good)

Pour the chocolate mixture unto the pan, shake gently to level. Sprinkle with cocoa. Set aside overnight

 

Lift parchment or foil out of pan and slice unto 1 -1 1/4 inch cubes. Dipping knife into hot water and cleaning off after each cut will help.

Stick a wooden stick into the center and wrap with parchment paper.

I put these in a little decorative baggie, and put them in a basket with a mug. It was a great gift!!

I think I will be making myself some of these soon to get me through the rest of the freezing winter season. 

Say a prayer for Haiti today

We all know what happened in Haiti is so tragic, yet we all may be at a loss for what we can do. I know I am. I can pray and pray for them, but I still feel like that isn't enough. I wish I could help more, but I can't go there, and besides the$10 I added to my next cell phone bill, I really can't afford a grand donation. So I will pray. I will pray everyday. Tonight while I run, I will pray. Tomorrow while I wash baby bottles, I will pray.

Someone is doing something amazing, Ree, the Pioneer Woman is offering a different type of give away. She is donating 2 - $500 donations in the winners name to the charity of their choice to help in Haiti. How absolutely generous. Not only that, but for every comment entry that she receives, she is donating $0.10 (there are over 3000 comments right now.)

What a wonderful woman she is for doing this! Go leave a comment, read some of the prayers and uplifting comments that are being left there, and help give to Haiti. HERE is the link.

Say a prayer for Haiti today.

Works For Me Wednesday

Every week Kristen at We are That Family hosts a blog carnival where everyone links up their blog posts with tips and tricks that work for them. I will occasionally be joining the fun over there.

A lot of recipes call for the pan to be lined with foil or parchment paper. If you have ever tired to do this it can be a pain in the butt. The foil never cooperates and it wastes foil. I found the solution.

Turn the pan that needs lined upside down

Wrap the foil around the bottom of the pan

Remove foil and flip the pan over, place the foil inside.

It should fit perfectly. So super easy! This works for me. Head over to We are That Family and see what else works for people!