Individual Seven-Layer Dips | The Girl Who Ate Everything

Individual Seven-Layer Dips | The Girl Who Ate Everything

Menu Board (Awesome!)

What I love about this particular design---
1) It’s weekly. I shop weekly and plan my calendar weekly. I can adjust for company, evenings out, leftovers, etc.
2) Meal cards have ingredients listed on the back, so I just gather my cards for the week, flip them over, and jot down the ingredients I need on my shopping list.
3) Using the two pockets I can store all of my meal cards right on the board. With a rotating system, I start with all the cards in the lower box and then after we have that meal, I place the card into the upper box until we go through the majority of the cards. Then, I start over choosing from all of them again.
4) It uses clothespins so no slipping and no holes. I was afraid that after I laminated my meal cards that they would get too thick/heavy for magnets.
5) The base is a picture frame—easy to hang and by using two nails I can keep it from tilting under the lopsided weight.


HOW TO MAKE THE ULTIMATE MENU BOARD

You will need-
11x14 picture frame
2 sheets of decorative 12 x 12 scrapbook paper
2-3 additional coordinating decorative papers
several sheets of solid colored card stock (for meal cards and pockets)
7 clothespins
the boxes from two 16 ct crayon packs
Elmers glue
Hot glue gun and glue
letter stickers (for title)

Meal cards---
Preparatory to using your board, gather several meal ideas (I have about 35) and their recipes. Make a 2 column word document- typing your menu on one side of the page and the ingredients in the column next to it. You should have room to print about 5 menus/ingredients per piece of printer paper. After printing, cut the meals/ingredients out into strips and fold each strip in half, giving you a front and back. Laminate the cards. I used self-laminating paper which worked okay but not perfectly. (Because I didn’t leave much empty space around each card, some of my cards did not seal well all the way around. If I did it again, I would have them done professionally or with the use of a heated laminator.) My cards measure 1 ½ inches tall and then half of the width of an average size paper (4.25 inches) across.


Frame Background
Trim the decorative scrapbook paper to fill your frame. You will use one full sheet and just need a couple of inches of a second piece of paper in order to fill the entire frame. Where the two sheets overlap, place a thin piece of coordinating paper across the width to hide the seams. Put the title above that line using scrapbooking letter stickers. Place in the frame. Secure the background into the frame. Everything else will be done on top of the glass.

Clothespins
Trim strips of paper to fit on top of your clothespins. Using a mixture of 1 part elmers glue to one part water (homemade mod podge,) brush the glue onto the clothespin, place the paper on top and add more of the glue mixture. I think I did about 3 layers of the glue. When the clothespins are dry, you may add the days of the week to each pin if you choose. I punched out little circles and just used the letters m, t, w, etc to designate the day of the week. Space your clothespins evenly along the left hand border of your frame and hot glue them into place.

Pockets-
I used 16 count crayon boxes as the base for my pockets. Turning the box horizontally, cut out one long side- this will be the opening of your pocket. Lay the box out flat onto a piece of card stock and trace it. Cut the card stock out and glue it on top of the crayon box—making folds to match the boxes folds as you go. Reassemble the box, gluing or taping together the open sides. I left just about a half inch extra along the long sides so I could wrap my paper over the top edges of the box for a smoother look. After assembling your boxes, cut a strip of coordinating paper to use as an accent and glue around the pocket. Hot glue the pockets directly onto the glass of your frame.
And that does it!

Quinoa Pilaf

Quinoa Pilaf

Zucchini Bread

Ingredients:

3 Cups Flour                               3 eggs
1 tsp. salt                                    1 Cup oil
1 tsp. baking powder                  2 tsp. vanilla
3 tsp. cinnamon                          2 Cups of grated zucchini
2 Cups sugar
1 Cup chopped walnuts


Preheat oven for 350 degrees
Mix all ingredients and pour into 2 loaf pans
Cook for 45 min- 1hour  depending on your oven
*  I use the pampered chef*  mini loaf stone (it has 4 mini loafs)

Italian Bread using a bread machine

Ingredients

• 4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon light brown sugar
• 1 1/3 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
•  
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon water
• 2 tablespoons cornmeal

Directions

1. Place flour, brown sugar, warm water, salt, olive oil and yeast in the pan of the bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Select dough cycle; press Start.                        If you don't have a bread machine.  Knead dough for 10min by hand or in mixer.  Let rise for 1 hour and proceed to the rest of the directions.    
2. Deflate the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Form dough into two loaves. Place the loaves seam side down on a cutting board generously sprinkled with cornmeal. Cover the loaves with a damp cloth and let rise, until doubled in volume about 40 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
3. In a small bowl, beat together egg and 1 tablespoon water. Brush the risen loaves with egg mixture. Make a single long, quick cut down the center of the loaves with a sharp knife. Gently shake the cutting board to make sure that the loaves are not sticking. If they stick, use a spatula or pastry knife to loosen. Slide the loaves onto a baking sheet with one quick but careful motion.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until loaves sound hollow when tapped on the bottom.

Choco-Zucchini Cupcake

Choco-Zucchini Cupcakes
INGREDIENTSNonstick cooking spray (optional)
2 cups shredded zucchini (about 8 oz.)
3 eggs
2 cups granulated sugar
3/4 cup cooking oil
2 tsp. vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 cup milk chocolate pieces (optional)
1 recipe Peanut Butter Frosting
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line twenty-four 2-1/2-inch muffin cups with double or single layer of paper bake cups or lightly coat with nonstick cooking spray; set aside.
In a large bowl stir together zucchini, eggs, granulated sugar, oil, and vanilla. Add flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt, baking powder, and, if desired, chocolate pieces; stir until combined. Spoon batter into prepared pans, filling cups about half full. Bake about 25 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted near centers comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire racks for 5 minutes. Remove from cups. Cool completely on racks. Frost with Peanut Butter Frosting.
Makes: 24 cupcakes
Peanut Butter Frosting: In a medium mixing bowl beat 1/2 cup peanut butter, 1/3 cup softened butter, 1 tablespoon milk, and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Gradually add 1-1/2 cups powdered sugar, beating until combined. If necessary, stir in 1 to 2 teaspoons additional milk until frosting reaches desired consistency. Makes about 1-1/2cups.
Test Kitchen Tip: If you only have 12 muffin cups, cover and refrigerate half of the batter while the first batch bakes.

Banana Bread

1 Cup mashed bananas                         2 1/2 Cup flour                          Optional:  1 Cup chopped nuts
3/4 Cup milk                                         1 Cup sugar                               Variation:  1/2 wheat flour-1/2 flour
3 Tbl. oil                                               1 Tbl. baking powder
1 egg                                                    1 tsp. salt


Preheat oven for 350 degrees
Combine all dry ingredients and then add the wet ingredients. 
Pour mixture into a loaf pan and cook for 45 minutes.