Frozen Chicken and Rice Burritos

I have a teenage son. He hasn't stopped eating for six months! No lie. This child has eaten a whole box of cereal for breakfast, the whole box...by himself! I started buying packages of frozen burritos specifically for him to eat when he needs a snack or for after he's eaten all the rest of the food in the house. Those pre-made frozen burritos aren't terribly expensive but he was going through the 8 ct. packages pretty fast and lets face it, they can't be that healthy. I'm not even sure exactly what's in there. I figured I should make my own. I can do a large batch, it has to be cheaper than buying and best of all, I know what's inside it.

I'm not the first to blog about frozen burritos, I've seen them on Pinterest. We all do them a little differently though, so I figured I'd share mine too. This recipe is for chicken but you could use any other meat. The first batch I ever made was with leftover roast pork. They turned out amazing and finding new ways to use leftovers is always great. The best thing about making these burritos is that this recipe is very flexible, use it as a guideline. You like peppers, potatoes? throw 'em in there!

Ingredients: 

• 3 chicken breasts(cooked and diced)
• 1/2 onion diced
• 1 can refried beans
• 1-2 servings cooked rice(instant Minute Rice is perfect for this)
• 1 envelope taco seasoning
• 1 1/4 cup water
• grated cheddar cheese
• 2 packages tortillas

OK, here I'm talking about knowing what my kids are eating and I put in taco seasoning from an envelope! Gasp! I know, I know...if you make your own taco seasoning, you're awesome, use it! 

First, cook and dice/shred up your meat. Prepare your rice. If you don't regularly eat rice, instant Minute Rice is fast, and works great for this recipe. In a large pot place chicken, onions, refried beans, taco seasoning and water*. Warm up and stir all indredients just until combined over medium heat. Stir in the rice.

*Depending on your taste, you might not want to add the entire package of taco seasoning. Start with half and see how it tastes. If you cut back on taco seasoning, you might also want to cut back a little on the water as well. 

Remove from heat. I warm up tortillas a few at a time in microwave before I start wrapping because I think it makes them easier to work with and less likely to rip. Spoon your filling in center of tortilla, add some cheese and wrap. Place finished burritos in ziploc bags and freeze! To heat, microwave for 2 minutes, flipping over after 1 minute.

How many burritos you get will depend on how much filling you use in each. I end up using a little more than the one package of tortillas, which is why I say get two. You can always place your leftover tortillas in the freezer and save for the next time you make burritos.

See all my recipes

I will be sharing with these great blogs!

Follow me here:

Pinterest / Facebook / Bloglovin' / Google+

Follow Over The Apple Tree's board Just Eat! on Pinterest.

Matryoshka Plaque

I have been slightly obsessed with Matryoshka Dolls for a couple weeks now and this paper pieced wooden plaque is the first of many projects I've been planning. I've had so many ideas for Matryoshka projects, I had to start writing them down so I wouldn't forget! These pretty plaques are made up of images cut from magazines! Yup, I'm recycling again. I have so many magazines which I do try to read, but there just aren't enough hours in the day!

Supplies:

• piece of wood(scrap section in home improvement store is perfect for this)
• old magazines
• Mod Podge
• glue stick

I started out by drawing the doll shape on a piece of paper and cutting out. I use this as a template so I can piece the cut out paper into the right shape I want. I chose to stain my wood but it's up to you what look you want.  Now just flip through your magazines and look for pretty pictures/patterns that will work with your design! If you don't have any magazines you could always use scrapbook paper too. My faces are circles cut from large faces in the magazine and then I use pen to draw on the eyes and mouth.

I glued my paper pieces together with a glue stick first to make sure everything stayed together the way it was supposed to. Now, just Mod Podge the pieces onto the prepared wood. Magazine paper is pretty thin and will rip when it gets wet so be careful! Follow with a few layers of Mod Podge to seal it really well.

Thank you so much for visiting my blog!
Project Gallery

I will be sharing with these great blogs!

Visit Over The Apple Tree's profile on Pinterest.

Follow me here:

Pinterest » Facebook » Bloglovin' » Etsy
Google+ » StumbleUpon » Instagram

Picnic Basket Tutorial

Upcycle those old Easter baskets into fun picnic baskets for summer!

It's almost Easter and you can't walk into a thrift store without tripping over some baskets. My daughter has a little quilt that she insists is for picnics, obviously she needs a picnic basket for a picnic, duh! I got this little basket at the thrift store for $.50...awesome! So I remember my mom doing this once a long time ago, simple project that looks super fancy when you're done. We're just cutting the lid out of cardboard and covering with fabric, easy right?

Here's what you need:

• basket
• fabric
• batting
• cardboard
• ribbon
• lace
• glue gun

My basket, like most, is not exactly the same size/shape on one side as the other. You can just flip the basket upside down and trace around the edge to get the lid exactly the size/shape you need. If your sides are different like mine, be sure to keep track of the top and bottom of lids as well as which lid goes to which side. 

You will need two pieces of cardboard for each side, a top and bottom. I used some thick, heavy duty cardboard for the top piece, so for my bottom piece of cardboard, I used a very thin cardboard(cereal box) If your cardboard is thinner than mine you could just use two of the same.

Now just cover the top of the lid with batting and fabric and attach with hot glue. Then cover the underside of the bottom piece with just fabric. For the bottom piece I used spray adhesive to attach but you could just use the hot glue too. 

You are going to use a piece of fabric in the center to connect the two sides together. Measure the center of basket between the two handles to figure out how long to make it, I folded mine over, so there would be no rough edges.

Glue the fabric piece to the bottom pieces of cardboard. You should place the cardboard on the basket before so you can line it up and position correctly. Now attach the lace and the ribbon. To finish, you glue the tops with the batting onto the bottom pieces.

Now just position on top of basket and tie ribbons to secure. You might also want to add a fabric lining to the inside of the basket!

Check my Gallery for more tutorials.

I will be sharing with these great blogs!

Follow me here:

Pinterest / Facebook / Bloglovin' / Google+

Follow Over The Apple Tree's board Repurpose/Upcycle on Pinterest.

Liebster Awards

Thank you so much to Julie's Lifestyle Blog and Southern Distinctions for nominating me for a Liebster Award! (Insert my unused Oscar speech here) 

The Liebster Award is given to up and coming bloggers who have less than 200 followers.  The meaning of Liebster in German means sweetest, kindest, nicest, dearest, beloved, lovely, kind, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing, and welcome.  Blogging is about building a community and it's a great way to connect with other bloggers and help spread the word about new bloggers/blogs.

Here is a list of the rules that I need to follow as well as the 11 bloggers that I choose:

1. Post 11 random facts about yourself
2. Answer 11 questions the awarding blogger has posted for you
3. Nominate 11 bloggers (with less than 200 followers) for the award and link them in your post
4. Create 11 questions the nominated bloggers have to answer
5. Let the nominated bloggers know they were nominated

11 Random facts about me:

1. I have lived in five different states for some period of time. For a while there, my husband and I felt like nomads, but we now live in Colorado and have been here for nine years! 

2. I love to read. I read everyday and go to library at least once a week...sometimes more!

3. I always order the same food in restaurants. It's not that I don't want to try new things, it's just that when I do, it seems like I always get burned and I end up wishing I had stuck with what I knew was good.

4. Cleaning of course sucks, but for some reason, I have no problem cleaning other people's houses.

5. I collect Barbies. I've always loved Barbies, always will. At last count I had 35 and they are still in their boxes, stored in huge Rubbermaid bins in my basement. I receive Barbie Collectors magazine so my daughter and I can pick out our favorites every season. Right now I really want the Wizard Of Oz Fantasy Glamour Dorthy and The Wicked Witch dolls.

6. I spent two years researching my family history. I am totally fascinated to find out who they were,where they came from and how they had the courage to pack up their life and come to America. Genealogy is a never ending journey which I will pick back up one day when I have more time.

7. I'm a total sci-fi nerd. I grew up with Star Wars, Star Trek, Lord of the Rings, and The Hobbit. Now as an adult I'm a Harry Potter geek. 

8. If I could go back in time I would either be a doctor or an architect. 

9. I have no desire whatsoever to go on a cruise. I'm terrified. It will never happen.

10. My husband and I watch so many survival reality shows that I'm pretty confident we could survive anywhere at this point.

11. I'm almost positive that I lived in 1800's England in a past life.

11 Questions I have been asked
Why did you start blogging?

I started this blog because I planned to open an Etsy Store and I wanted to create a larger online presence. Turns out blogging all my crafty stuff is actually more fun!

How did you pick your blog name?

Hmmm, not an easy answer...I was throwing around names forever before I came to this one. I guess apple trees make me feel nostalgic because my grandma had one in her yard. You could see it out the dinning room window and when I would spend weekends there, her and my grandpa would point out different kinds of birds that would land on the bird feeders. I also remember when I was little, drawing picture after picture of houses with apple trees next to them.

What is your favorite hobby?

I'm a crafter. I sew, crochet, do projects to fix up my home, scrapbook...pretty much anything that's sold in a craft store, I've had my hands on it. 

What is your favorite travel destination?

I love to go home to see my family in NY. I can't go as often I used to, so it's pretty special to me when I can.

Do you cook?

Everyday. I know so many people who just don't know what to do in a kitchen. I'm baffled, how do they eat?

Makeup or no makeup?

I put on makeup everyday. Even if I don't leave the house I like to feel somewhat put together.

What is your favorite season of the year?

My favorite season is the fall. It's a welcome change after the hot summer. There is a chill in the air and you get to wear cozy sweaters and best of all...I like to buy school supplies!

Who is your favorite celebrity?

I don't know, I really love Mindy Kaling right now. I'm pretty sure if I ever met her we would for sure become best friends.

What is your favorite food?

Spaghetti. I think I could eat it everyday.

What is your favorite movie?

Who has one favorite movie? I love, love, love Pride And Prejudice though.

What is one word your friends would use to describe you?

Most people describe me as quiet until they know me better.

Blogs I have chosen(some of you may have more than 200 followers, just go with it!)
Thrift For Today
Queen St. Artisan
She's Crafty
Three Kids And A Fish
Label Me Organized
At The Corner Of Happy And Harried
Lip Gloss And Lumber
Eat. See. Home.

11 questions for chosen blogs

1. Why did you start blogging?
2. What is your favorite post from your own blog?
3.  Do you have any goals this year?
4. If you could stay the same age forever what would it be?
5. What is your favorite holiday?
6. Do you have a pet peeve?
7. If you could live anywhere outside the US, where?
8. Do you collect anything?
9. Do you have a favorite author?
10. What is your favorite thing about spring?
11. What is the most memorable gift you have ever received?

Check my Gallery for projects I've been working on.

I will be sharing with these great blogs!

Follow me here:

Pinterest / Facebook / Bloglovin' / Google+

DIY Wedding Favors - Melt and Pour Soap & Crochet River Rocks

It's wedding planning season, and I happen to have a family wedding to attend this spring! After seeing some cute ideas on Etsy and then coming across a blog post about melt and pour soaps...light bulb! My future sister-in-law has been kind enough to put up with me bombarding her with pins and ideas for her upcoming wedding and has agreed to let me make her wedding favors. Since the wedding will have an intimate, vintage garden feel, I decided on soaps and crochet rocks.

Melt and pour soap is crazy easy. The soap base and fragrances are available at any major craft store and you can also use stuff you probably have already in your kitchen to mix in as well. You can make one bar at a time or a large batch like I did. Mixed soaps can be poured into individual molds or in my case, a large rectangle and then cut into bars with a knife. 

Honey Almond Chamomile Goat's Milk Soap

3 lbs goat's milk soap base

2 tbsp ground up oatmeal

2 tbsp honey

3 chamomile tea bags

1 tsp honey almond fragrance

*I also created a Honey Almond Chai Soap by substituting the chamomile tea with chai tea*

Directions:

For my mold I used a 9 oz cereal box lined with wax paper. I've had some questions about the cereal box. I used a box instead of something like a cake pan because it has 90 degree angles on sides and corners. I tipped it sideways and cut off one big side then taped the end back together. Prepare mold and set aside. I wanted to add a little oatmeal just because it's so good for skin. Grind oatmeal in a food processor, measure amount you need and place in small bowl. Cut open tea bags and pour out tea leaves into the bowl. 

Cut soap base into small pieces and place in a large microwave safe dish. Since this is a large batch, you can microwave for 1 minute, stir and repeat a couple times. When you see that it's getting more melted reduce microwave time to 30 second intervals, stirring in between until soap is completely melted. 

Add oatmeal, tea and honey to melted soap base and gently mix. Add fragrance and mix. Now pour into mold. If you don't want any bubbles on top you can lightly spray alcohol across top. 

Let the soap remain in the mold until it is completely cooled, should take a few hours. I let mine sit overnight.

When soap is cooled, you can cut into bars. With my size mold I got 12 bars for each 3 lb soap batch.

To fancy these up for wedding favors, I cut scrapbook paper into 2x9 inch strips(a paper trimmer will get this done quickly and accurately!) then trimmed the edges with fancy scissors. I wrapped bars in plastic wrap then secured the paper strips around with tape. To make the personalized labels, I used PicMonkey to create the image I liked and then imported the image into a word document. After you figure out the size you'll need, just copy the image to fill up the page and print on card stock. Now cut out labels and attach with glue stick.

Learn from my mistakes:

I had never done this before and here are some things I messed up so you don't have to.

• The soap base comes already scored into easy to cut cubes. In the first batch, I left soap in the large cubes and it took a long time to melt and it ended up not heating evenly since I was working with such a large batch. Cutting the soap into smaller slices as shown in the picture above allowed it to melt more evenly and faster. 
• Fragrance directions said 5 drops per 1 oz soap. I didn't feel like counting out 240 drops so I looked all over the internet for a tsp measurement. The info I got wasn't accurate and I ended up using 2 times the fragrance I needed in my first batch! I had to melt it back down and add more unscented soap to fix it. I did end up counting out the 240 drops and it came out to about 1 tsp. 
• I read that you should wait till the soap is getting cooled down and thick before adding fragrance so the heat doesn't evaporate it. I waited too long and when I went to pour the melted soap into the mold it actually started to harden mid pour! This resulted in very lumpy soap. I think just adding the fragrance after you add the first ingredients will allow it to cool enough so that there won't be evaporation problems.
• You shouldn't use bowls, utensils, etc that you intend to use for food again. You can always pick up some supplies from the thrift store for this purpose. After my over fragrance fiasco, I had to use my favorite metal bowl to make a double boiler since I didn't think I should use the microwave to melt the overly perfumed soap. I rinsed and washed out the bowl and later my husband decided to eat salad out of it...not good! This is also why I used a large piece of cardboard to cut on instead of my cutting boards.

 Crochet River Rocks

Yes these are crocheted rocks. Why would anyone waste time crocheting rocks? Ummm, because it looks cool! I saw these on Pinterest and thought they were so pretty and would go great with the theme of the wedding. You can pretty much use any small crochet doily pattern and just work it until it's the size you need for the rock. A few of the sites I found with patterns for rocks are The Purl B and Number One Churchill's Green. Don't forget to check Ravelry for doily patterns as well. After you've done a few you'll be able to make up your own patterns as you go. 

This post was featured on Huffington Post, 26 Wedding Favor Ideas!

Thank you so much for visiting my blog!
Project Gallery

I will be sharing with these great blogs!

Visit Over The Apple Tree's profile on Pinterest.

Follow me here:

Pinterest » Facebook » Bloglovin' » Etsy
Instagram