Wine Bottle Crafts

Everyone loves wine, right? Well maybe not everybody, but I know I certainly do! I actually discovered a new favorite the other day, red moscato! If you enjoy sweet wines, it is definitely a must try! I may or may not have finished an entire bottle to myself just because it was so good... oops!

Anyway, after you're finished enjoying that delicious wine of your choice, it's easy to just throw the bottle in the recycle bin and think nothing more of it. But if you're a crafty person like me, there are so many interesting ways to up-cycle using both the wine bottle and the cork! You can use them as house decorations, wedding centerpieces... the ideas are endless! These ideas below are some of my personal favorites!

Wine Cork Drink Coaster

These are super cute, inexpensive to make, and very practical. What better coaster to use when enjoying wine but one made with wine corks and small picture frames? I will definitely be making some of these soon!

Picture credit to and directions available at: http://www.pincookie.com/diy-rustic-cork-coasters-using-small-picture-frames/#

Glittered Wine Bottles

This website calls for smaller bottles, but glittered wine bottles would also make adorable vases for holiday decorations or anything else you would want to use them for! Again, this craft is both simple and inexpensive!

Photo credit to and directions available at: http://organizeyourstuffnow.com/wordpress/glittered-bottles

Decorated Wine Bottles

Wine bottles painted the color of your choice and chalkboard spray paint can be used in many different ways: as a thank you gift, table settings, the possibilities are endless! The chalkboard paint will allow you to write and erase endlessly, making these bottles easily reusable.

Photo credit to and directions available at: http://www.creativejuicesdecor.com/2011/05/wine-bottles-spray-paint-and-chalkoh-my.html

Twine Wrapped Wine Bottle

Unfortunately the directions on this website are in French, but even if you are too lazy to use a translator (like me) this craft still appears simple to make. Use modge podge as you go, and slowly wrap the bottle in twine. This would make a perfect vase or decoration in a rustic themed home, or as a center piece for a rustic themed wedding. This is one of my personal favorites, and I will definitely be making one soon! It's also so simple to add personal touches such as lace or flowers to the bottle.

Picture credits to and directions (in French) available at: http://aur0re.blogspot.fr/2012/09/do-it-yourself1.html

Wine Cork Candle Holder

Even if you are the least crafty person alive, this is one project that I have complete confidence that you can master. As long as you like wine anyway, because you will need a lot of corks. All you need are two glass cylinders, one smaller for the candle in the center, and a larger cylinder to place the corks in surrounding the smaller cylinder. All you have to do is place the candle and corks in their cylinders, and you're done! Super cute and super easy!

Photo credit to and directions available at: http://www.twotwentyone.net/2011/08/wine-cork-candle-holder/

Hope I've helped to inspire some wine bottle crafting. Has anybody tried any of these ideas or have any other awesome wine bottle crafts? Feel free to share, I'd love to hear about it!

Ramen Noodle Stir-Fry

I'm just going to start out by saying this is probably one of the most simple and delicious things that I have ever made.

I've seen multiple recipes for ramen noodle stir-fry, which gave me the idea to try my own. It ended up being a throw together recipe with a few things that were laying around the house, so this recipe could be easily customized to whatever meats and vegetables you prefer. 

I started out by boiling water for the ramen noodles while I began cooking the chicken, green onion, broccoli, and cauliflower tossed with some canola oil.

Once the water has begun to boil, cook the ramen noodles for about three minutes (until cooked thoroughly). Continue frying the vegetables and meat.

Once the noodles are cooked, partially drain the water until about a cup remains. Stir in the seasoning packet from the ramen noodles, and then pour the noodles and seasoned water in with the rest of the stir-fry.

I used beef flavored ramen along with the chicken. This gave the stir-fry a delicious flavoring.

Continue cooking until the liquid is almost absorbed, let cool for a few minutes, and enjoy!

 This dish is perfect for a quick dinner or lunch as it requires little prep and cook time.

This recipe makes two servings.

It's also important to note that I didn't measure out ingredients carefully, this is more of a personal preference recipe! 

Ingredients:

One pack of ramen noodles and seasoning packet(I used beef flavored)

Two cups of water (for boiling noodles)

Approximately four ounces of pre-cooked chicken (I used Perdue carved chicken breast)

One cup cauliflower (raw and chopped)

One cup broccoli (raw and chopped)

Two green onions (chopped)

Approximately three tablespoons of canola oil

Recipe:

Boil two cups of water for the ramen noodles, and place the noodles in once boiling.

Place enough oil in a frying pan to cover the bottom, and place in the pre-cooked chicken, broccoli, cauliflower, and green onion. Cook the mix on medium-high heat.

Continue cooking the stir-fry until the vegetables and chicken are cooked and browned. Be sure to stir the mix frequently. (This should take about as long as it does to boil the water and cook the ramen noodles). 

When the ramen noodles are finished cooking (approximately three minutes in boiling water), drain out half the water. Mix in the seasoning packet, and then pour the seasoned water and noodles into the stir-fry pan.

Continue cooking until the water is almost cooked out. Allow to sit for a few minutes to allow the water to completely absorb.

Enjoy!

UPDATE:

Since this recipe was so delicious the first time, I decided to make it again. It turned out even better than the first time, and I didn't even think that was possible. I had different vegetables available this time, so it was also a little different. 

I fried chicken, broccoli stalks (chopped), green onions, and sliced baby bella mushrooms in the pan over medium heat, using a little canola oil and also Pam cooking spray. This worked out better than just using oil because the spray didn't cook into the vegetables, and allowed them to cook without drying out as easily. So basically, the vegetables were perfectly cooked and moist. I also added a few broccoli florets to cook in with the ramen noodles. I added the broccoli while the water was heating up so that it had enough time to cook through. 

When the water began boiling, I added in the ramen noodles (which I broke up first to allow for easier mixing). I also added the seasoning packet at this time after pouring out some extra water. This allowed the seasoning to cook into the noodles and broccoli florets better.

At this time, I also added spinach to the frying pan. Since spinach doesn't need long to cook, this allowed it to remain moist through the rest of the cooking process. 

Once the ramen noodles finished cooking, I poured the mix over the pan and allowed it to finish cooking until the liquid was absorbed. Delicious!

And the best part? It's filling, low calorie, and healthy! The nutritional information varies slightly based on vegetables used and amount of chicken, but by following the original recipe amounts and just changing the vegetables.. here's the nutritional information per serving (approximately 2 per pan)! Simply amazing!

Motivation

Because sometimes you just need a little daily reminder of positivity in your life! I know I sure do!

Photo from: http://backonpointe.tumblr.com/post/17214234134/dance-more-always

Chocolate Covered Strawberries

Summer is the perfect time to enjoy strawberries. Personally, they are one of my favorites. Especially chocolate covered strawberries. But unfortunately, they can be expensive to buy and difficult to make. So I came up with a simple and fast solution that tastes just as good (if not better!) than regular chocolate covered strawberries.

All you have to do is slice up a bowl of strawberries and cover with chocolate syrup! I'm a huge fan of Hershey's chocolate syrup, so of course that's what I used. Delicious! And the best part is you can use as little or as much chocolate as you want, and you don't have to worry about the chocolate coating falling apart as you take a bite!

I also use whipped cream with mine because it adds that extra little touch of goodness, without adding many calories. If you are looking for a fast, easy, and delicious summer treat, chocolate syrup covered strawberries are definitely the way to go!

Buffalo Chicken Pasta Bake

My newest Pinterest recipe that I've tried out was a delicious buffalo chicken pasta bake. Absolutely delicious. My family and I are quite the buffalo wing fans, so this was a perfect match for us. It was quite simple to throw together as well.

I changed my recipe a little from the one I found on Pinterest, but I will provide a link to the original recipe at the end of this post.

This made approximately 6 servings.

Ingredients:

16 oz. of penne, cooked and drained

4 cups of chicken, cooked and diced

1/2-1 cup of hot sauce (depends on your spiceness preference. I used about 1/2 cup of Longaberger Buffalo Wing Dip instead)

1 cup of ranch dressing

4 green onions, chopped

2 cups of sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

Recipe:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

After cooking and preparing the penne and chicken, mix together in a baking dish along with 1 cup of cheese.

Separately mix together the hot sauce, ranch, and green onions. Once well mixed, pour over the pasta, chicken, and cheese and mix again.

Sprinkle 1 cup of cheese on top of the mix (or more if you wish!) and bake for approximately 20 minutes.

Enjoy the finished results!

 

The original recipe credits go to http://lentzedlife.wordpress.com/2013/02/10/freezer-for-matt-buffalo-chicken-pasta-bake/

Meatballs Stroganoff

This recipe was absolutely delicious. I made it for dinner for my family one night and had absolutely no complaints.. which in my family, almost never happens (aka extremely picky younger siblings).

I pretty much just followed the recipe from Pinterest, using nearly a whole bag of meatballs and a bag of egg noodles (which gave plenty of yummy leftovers). I also added larger amounts of the ingredients from the recipe because of the larger amounts, especially spices. If you like a lot of flavor like me, feel free to go a little overboard with the spices! Since I didn't change the recipe ingredients or process, I'll just provide a link for you to check out for yourself!

http://menumusings.blogspot.com/2011/06/meatballs-stroganoff.html

Picture credits also go to http://menumusings.blogspot.com/2011/06/meatballs-stroganoff.html.

Cheesy Broccoli Quinoa

Another new favorite I've found is Cheesy Broccoli Quinoa. It's very similar to one of my favorite side dishes, broccoli rice au gratin by Uncle Ben's. I had recently bought some quinoa to try for the first time, and this seemed like the perfect recipe to test it out. 

I was very pleasantly surprised by how this recipe turned out. I made a few adjustments to my version of the recipe to add some extra nutrition and flavor. My quinoa didn't turn out nearly as yellow as the picture above, but it was certainly delicious. 

This recipe makes approximately four servings.

Ingredients:

1 cup of quinoa (I used Mediterranean flavored.. delicious!)

1 1/2 cups of water (for cooking)

2 cups of broccoli, well chopped

1 cup of cauliflower, well chopped

1 cup of cheddar or Mexican cheese

Salt and pepper as needed

Recipe:

Bring the quinoa, broccoli, cauliflower, and water to a boil over medium heat.

Once boiling, reduce the heat and simmer about 15 minutes until the water is absorbed and quinoa is tender.

Mix in the cheese until well melted and season as needed.

Enjoy!

Original recipe and photo credits go to: http://www.closetcooking.com/2012/11/cheesy-broccoli-quinoa.html

Chocolate Molten Cakes

Everybody loves lava cakes. But they're much too difficult/ time consuming to make at home, right?

That's what I thought too, until I found an awesome recipe on Pinterest. This recipe is pure genius.

Okay, so I didn't end up making mine as pretty as the picture above, but they were definitely delicious. And even better- they were super easy to make! All you need are a few simple ingredients and a muffin pan, and you can enjoy your own lava cakes at home!


The recipe is easy to follow. The batter is made from butter, chocolate chips, heavy cream, eggs, sugar, and flour. After mixing the ingredients properly and preparing the muffin tins, you'll pour the mixture in the tins and place the tray in the refrigerator for at least an hour. Then you'll put the muffin tray in the oven for 10-20 minutes (depending on the size of the tins) and voila! Delicious chocolate molten cakes are waiting for you!

Now after your lava cakes are done cooking, the recipe calls for you to flip the lava cakes over by inverting the pan using a baking sheet. This didn't work well for me, as the runny middles just ended up leaking over the pan. Maybe I didn't cook them quite long enough, but some were more done than others and I didn't want to the middle through. I would suggest just scooping out the lava cakes individually with a spoon.

I would suggest eating these fresh out of the oven, hot and with ice cream. Absolutely delicious!

Ingredients:

For coating the muffin tins:

2 tablespoons of butter, melted

2 tablespoons of cocoa

For the molten cakes:

3/4 cup of butter
12 ounce of chocolate chips
1/2 cup of heavy cream
5 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
2/3 cup of flour

Recipe:

Prepare cupcake pans by coating the inside of each with melted butter by swirling it around.  Then sprinkle the insides with cocoa, coating completely.

To make the batter, place chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl, then top it with butter and cream.  Microwave for 30 seconds at a time, stirring in between, until the chocolate is smooth.  When chocolate has cooled slightly, stir in eggs, sugar and flour.  Pour into prepared cupcake pans.  Refrigerate for 1 hour (at least) and up to a couple of days.

Bake at 450 degrees for 10 minutes for regular 12/pan size and 15-18 for jumbo 6/pan size, just until the outsides and most of the top have set, and the centers are still slightly runny.  You can insert the tip of a knife to test.   You just want a bit of the very center to be a thick pudding like texture.   Let them cool for 5 minutes, then place a sheet pan on top of the muffin pan and invert them. 

And here's the link to the original recipe as well!

http://jennysteffens.blogspot.com/2013/04/chocolate-molten-cakes-in-cupcake-pan.html

I also credit the first picture to this website, the rest are personal photos. Clearly I'm not the best food photographer, but I was more excited about eating them! Definitely a must try!

All credit for this recipe goes to http://jennysteffens.blogspot.com

Regrowing Green Onions

I read somewhere around Pinterest once upon a time that if you cut off the tops of green onions but save the bulbs and place them in water, the green onions will regrow. Since I had to buy green onions for the Mexican Chicken Stuffed Shells recipe, I decided to give it a try.

And the results about a week and a half later confirm that this does indeed work!

Not all of the green onions regrew well, but many did. And I should probably chop these off again now, but I wante to show the amount of growth that quickly occurs with these onions. And it requires nothing more than the bottoms of green onions with the roots, water, and a cup!

Can you see the short stems in the front? That's where all of these bulbs started a week and a half ago! Such a simple way to save a little money if you enjoy green onions!

Mexican Chicken Stuffed Shells

Personally, I love Mexican food. And pasta. And chicken. So when I came across a recipe for Mexican chicken stuffed shells, I knew it was something I'd have to try for myself. The recipe on Pinterest makes approximately 12-15 servings, so I ended up making this for my family for dinner one night. And boy did it make plenty. 

The recipe turned out to be pretty delicious, and I thought it tasted even better when I had some for leftovers the next day. 

I made a few changes when I made my version of the stuffed shells. I only used green peppers, and a smaller amount than was called for because my family didn't care for them. I also only used two blocks of cream cheese, and personally I think it would've been too much to have three blocks because the shells still tasted very cream cheesy (yes, I just made to up my own phrase for to say that.) I only used plain diced tomatoes as well. This recipe can be easily adapted to put in or take out whatever Mexican ingredients you do or don't like. 

I had some trouble mixing the cream cheese, chicken stock, and tomatoes together. I would definitely suggest using the microwave to heat the cream cheese slightly before putting in the other ingredients, and using a hand mixer to blend the ingredients together.

Just be warned, the recipe as is does make a lot, so if you have a smaller family and don't want leftovers I would cut the ingredients in half. And a regular size box of large shells contains approximately 40 shells, so that does contain enough for the recipe.

My version of the recipe:

Ingredients:

4 cups of chicken, cooked and cubed

1 can of black beans, rinsed and drained

8 green onions, chopped

1 green pepper, chopped

2 (8 oz.) blocks of cream cheese

2 cans of diced tomatoes, undrained

1/2 cup of chicken stock or chicken broth

2 tsp cumin

2 cups of Mexican cheese mix

1 cup of picante sauce

1 (16 oz.) box of large pasta shells, cooked al dente

Recipe:

Cook, drain and dice four cups of chicken (I baked my chicken in the oven at 400 degrees for approximately 35 minutes.) Cook pasta shells in well salted, boiling water until al dente (approximately 10 minutes, consult the box for specific times.) Drain the pasta and set aside while you make the filling. To make the filling, mix diced chicken, drained black beans, green onions, diced peppers, and cumin in a large mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, mix the cream cheese, chicken stock/broth and undrained tomatoes. Once well mixed, pour it over the chicken mixture and mix again. Spread 3/4 c. picante sauce in the bottom of a large baking pan. Fill each of your cooked and cooled pasta shells, setting them into the picante covered pan. Continue until all shells are filled and arranged in the pan. When the pan is full, drizzle the shells with the remaining 1/4 cup of picante and then sprinkle with the shredded cheddar cheese. Feel free to add as much cheese as you like during this step- for my family, the more the merrier! Cover the baking pan tightly with foil and bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minute. Enjoy!

If you are looking for a new Mexican recipe favorite, these Mexican Chicken Stuffed Shells are definitely the way to go!

And here's a link to the original Mexican Chicken Stuffed Shells recipe as well!

http://www.keyingredient.com/recipes/368043905/mexican-chicken-stuffed-shells/

Domestic In Training

I'm currently a college student.

I love to cook, craft, and be organized. Sometimes I even like to clean. But only sometimes.

Fashion. Pinterest. Photography. Scrapbooking. Zebra print. Thirty-One. Flowers. Glitter. Chevron. Love.

I am me, and I have a lot to say. Welcome to my blog, I hope you enjoy!