DIY Peeps Easter Bouquet

An Ode to Peeps

Oh Peeps, dear Peeps, tempting, tender, tasty Peeps, how do I love thee?

Let me count the ways...

I love you for your soft-ish marshmallow inside.

I love you for your crunch-ish sugary outside.

I love you fresh-ish from the package and after a few days when you've gotten a little stale-ish.

Oh Peeps. 

I love you every which way and especially when you're in my tummy.

How to Make Bunny Nest Coconut Carrot Cupcakes

Bunny Nest Coconut Carrot Cupcakes

Easter is just around the corner and these Bunny Nest Coconut Carrot Cupcakes are as yummy as they are adorable.  Miss Avalon made the fondant carrots. How cute are they? I love my smart, funny, creative kid!

Yummy Apple Recipes for Fall!

I was recently on WBIR's Live at Five at Four with the fabulous Miss Cheryl Burchett and our DIY on the FLY segment and I shared some yummy apple recipes for fall!  Here are the recipes and instructions to make your own apple-licious comestibles and libations!

Madge's Fall Comfort Homemade Spicy Chicken Soup

Madge's Fall Comfort Homemade Spicy Chicken Soup
Margot Potter 
Serves 8-12

I bought a whole chicken and  a new pot and I was determined to make some home cooked chicken soup.  Then I went searching for a recipe.  Nothing seemed quite...right.  So I decided to forge ahead using several basic recipes as my guide adding my own spices and flavors.  This turned out to be so fabulous, I am sharing the recipe!  You can opt to add rice, potatoes or pasta or not, change up the veggies, use pre-made stock and add just chicken breast, totally up to you.  Use organic ingredients and whole grain pasta if you prefer.  We like it spicy here at Casa de Potter, but you can surely leave the cayenne and cajun spices out if spicy isn't your thing!

South Beach Friendly Recipe: Roasted Veggie Whole Grain Pizza

Taking asthma medications has resulted in my gaining about 15 extra pounds over the past couple of years.  I eat well, lots of whole grains, veggies and fruits.  I don't eat sweets or fatty snacks, I eat low fat cheese and meats.  I do drink a cup or two of coffee with sugar every morning and a half of a small glass of OJ and I like to drink wine.  I recently stopped drinking lemonade and went to water.  No matter how much I cut back the weight remains.  Steroids create belly fat, I think it has to do with cortisol production because they are corticosteroids. They're not the same steroids that body builders take...or I'd be buff instead of puffy!  It's also hard to do cardio when you can't breathe...so I'll be doing resistance training again.

The weight gain has made me increasingly frustrated and I decided to suck it up and try the South Beach Diet.  Many of the meals I make are already South Beach friendly because my husband was on South Beach for two years before going to Burn the Fat.  He doesn't like me to discuss his diet...so I'll leave it at that.  Let's just say he's living proof that it works.

For the first two weeks I can't eat any whole grains or drink coffee or wine. I'm not really excited about the next two weeks to be honest, but it's two weeks. I can do it.  After those two weeks I can add in whole grain rice, pasta and bread and enjoy wine again and I'm thinking I'll just give up coffee because I don't like it without sugar and I'm having to bid sugar goodbye and I refuse to eat fake chemical sugar.  I'm blogging this so I'm accountable to someone besides myself and my family.  I'll keep you posted!  I just want to lose 15 pounds, which seems like not very much but when you're small boned like I am, it makes a big difference in the way your body looks.  I like curves, I just don't like cellulite and muffin tops.  Well I like muffin tops, but not the ones at the top of my pants.

This is a Phase 2 recipe that I made on Saturday which I'll be able to enjoy again in two weeks.  We have pizza once a week and this is a way to do that and not be totally indulgent.  Use a whole wheat flat bread of some kind (naan, pita, whole wheat thin pizza crust) and load it up with roasted veggies and a smattering of low fat or fat free cheese. (Make sure you check the ingredients on your breads and crackers, it's important to avoid processed and enriched flours.  You want 100% whole grains.) 

Roasted Veggie Whole Grain Pizza
South Beach Phase 2 Friendly
Margot Potter
Serves 2-3 People


Ingredients
2 Whole wheat or whole grain flat bread (I used a Wegman's naan)
1 Red, green or yellow bell pepper
1/2 medium sweet onion
3 cloves garlic
5-6 campari or other slicing tomatoes
Fresh basil
Lo Fat or Fat Free Shredded Mozzarella
1oz. Lo Fat Goat Cheese (if you can't find lo fat, full fat is okay since it's such a small amount)
1 tbs. Extra Virgin or Light Olive Oil

1. Slice onions and bell pepper into thin strips.  Mince garlic.  Toss veggies and garlic into a mixing bowl, add olive oil and toss.  Place veggies in a thin layer on a baking sheet.  Roast in a 450 degree oven until they begin to brown, turning once.

2. Use about 1 cup of mozzarella and spread on top of the flat breads.

3.  Thinly slice tomatoes and arrange on top of cheese.

4. Liberally sprinkle roasted veggies on top. Dice or cut strips of basil and scatter across top of veggies.

5.  Break goat cheese into small clumps and dot across top of veggies on pizzas.

6.  Place pizzas on a baking tray in a 450 degree oven and cook for approximately 10-12 minutes or until crust begins to brown.

To Mom, with Love: Free Mother's Day Card, Recipe and Jewelry Project!

Mother's Day is right around the corner and if you're struggling with what to do to make mom feel special, I've got some ideas for you!  Here is a card I made using the fabulous Blue Hills Studio Magnetic Multi-Shaper punch, a recipe for a healthy and delicious chicken dinner and a jewelry design that's sure to set her heart a flutter.

Wings Mother's Day Card


Materials
Turquoise medium weight cardstock
K&Company Que Sera Sera Designer Paper
K&Company Layered Accents Butterflies
Wired tinsel
Printed elements: "Soar, dare, dream..." "Thank you for giving me wings." turquoise Freestyle Script font 36pt.
Scrapbook Adhesives EZ Dots repositionable glue runner
Wonder double sided tape

Tools
Paper cutter
Bone folder
Ruler
Blue Hills Studio Magnetic Multi-Shaper Punch 'Tweet, tweet'

1.  Select area of paper you want to feature.  Using the square template on the punch, create a small square.

2. Cut cardstock on paper cutter to 5.5"x7.75".

3.  Fold card in center and crease edge with bone folder.

4. Measure center of card and use edge punch to create decorative edge, repeat on both sides of center punch.

5. Create the text and print.

6. Use paper cutter to cut out text leaving a small border.

7.  Adhere square to center of card front using glue runner.

8.  Adhere 'Soar, dare, dream...' across square using glue runner and 'Thank you for giving me wings.' to center inside of card with glue runner.

9.  Adhere butterfly to top left edge of square.

10.  Cut tinsel to fit width of card.  Cut tape to fit the width of the tinsel.  Adhere tinsel above punched edge.

Almond Parmesan Crusted Chicken with Campari Tomato Salad

Ingredients
1 cup almonds
1/4 cup shredded parmesan
2-3 cloves garlic
1 cup whole wheat bread crumbs
1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into strips
1/2 cup Light olive oil

Pour olive oil into a bowl.

Use food processor to crush almonds and garlic.  Place in a second bowl.

Add parmesan cheese and whole wheat bread crumbs and blend with fork.

Dip chicken strips into olive oil and coat with crust mix.

Bake on a cookie sheet at 400 degrees for about 15-20 minutes until brown and crispy, turning midway to crisp both sides.

Serve on a bed of Spring Greens with a side of sliced Campari tomatoes sprinkled with feta cheese and basil and a light olive oil and balsamic vinagrette.  Add a side of asparagus with lemon and butter substitute spray.

Blackbird Fly Necklace
Copyright 2009 Margot Potter

Materials
Blue Moon Beads ceramic bird pendant
12mm jet Crystallized-Swarovski Elements pearls
2 vintage plastic striped beads from Beadin' Path
2 12mm chalkwhite Lucite filigree beads
20 gauge silver plated Artistic Wire
Black and white satin cording
36 silver plated 6mm jump rings
.018 49 strand Beadalon wire
2 Scrimp cable ends
1.5" thick black and white polka dot wired ribbon


Tools
Scrimp tool
Wire cutters
Round nose pliers
Chain nose pliers
Scissors

1.  (If you can't find this specific pendant at a local craft chain, substitute a different bird themed pendant and suspend it from the center of the beaded segment on a jump ring and tie ribbon to front of ring.) This pendant has two holes drilled in the front.  Thread a 5" segment of wire into the right hole, leaving a little more than 1" exposed on one end.  Thread the wire into the left front of pendant.  Thread wire across front of pendant and into the right hole.  Bend wires flush to back of pendant.  Use round nose pliers to create loops at the top of the wires, the wire ends with loops should each measure 1" in length, cut off excess wire.

2.  Attach a Scrimp end to a 6" strand of 49 strand wire.  Thread the beads on in the following order: pearl, 2 jump rings, pearl, 3 jump rings, striped bead, 3 jump rings, filigree bead, 3 jump rings, loop at top left of pendant, pearl, 3JR, pearl, 3JR, pearl, loop at top right of pendant, 3JR, striped bead, 3JR, pearl, 3JR, pearl, 3JR, filigree, 3JR, pearl.  Thread wire end into Scrimp and attach.

3.  Tie 3" ribbon bow at front of pendant around wired section.

4.  Attach a jump ring to the Scrimp on each side of the beaded segments.

5.  Tie a 25" black satin cord through Scrimp at the center of the cord, repeat on opposite side with white cord.  Tie a knot in both ends of each satin cord.  Cut off any excess cord with scissors.

Note: Several of the products featured in the craft projects in this post were donated to the designer by the manufacturers.

Lo Fat Whole Grain Classic Macaroni and Cheese

(Image Copyright Rick's Photostream on FlickR Creative Commons Attribution)

Big Crafty Congrats to NesieJean for winning the Friendly Plastic Prize Package! Email me your mailing address to margot@margotpotter.com and I'll have that shipped right out to you!

Here's a deliciously decadent recipe that's big on delicious and surprisingly low on decadent!

I have a confession to make...I'm not a fan of cold weather. However I do like wearing sweaters and fleece pjs...and I love comfort food. Unfortunately comfort food tends to be packed with carbs and fat and we're trying to be healthier around these parts. So what's a gal to do? I took my favorite recipe for "Zippy Cheese Sauce" from the classic Moosewood Cookbook and I tweaked it until I got a low-fat version that still tasted yummy. The first round wasn't so yummy...but I persevered!

A little dash of this and a sprinkling of that and some whole grain pasta...comfort food here we come

I had to keep the roux traditional, making it with butter substitutes and wheat flour proved disastrous, so there are two tablespoons of butter and two tablespoons of white flour, but spread that out over an entire pan of Mac and Cheese, and you're still doing might fine.

My family has already devoured the first batch since I served it last night for dinner. So that's a very good sign.

Here's my recipe:

Lo-Fat Whole Grain Classic Mac and Cheese
Copyright Margot Potter

Ingredients

Roux:
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon dry mustard

Sauce:
1 cup fat free 1/2 and 1/2
1 cup fat free milk
16 oz. 50% reduced fat cheddar

1 lb. Whole Wheat Pasta (read the packages and be sure you get a 100% wheat and not a blend.)

1. Boil pasta until it is past the al dente stage.

2. Create a roux by whisking butter and slowly integrating flour and mustard.

3. Warm the milk and 1/2 & 1/2 and whisk into roux mixture. Allow to thicken for several minutes.

4. Grate cheese and slowly stir into liquid, allowing cheese to melt.

5. Pour noodles into a 9x13 pan.

6. Pour cheese over noodles, allowing it to settle a bit and adding more until you've filled the cheese up to the edge of the pan.

7. Pour breadcrumbs over top of mac and cheese.

8. Place on a tray and bake in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes, or until breadcrumbs and cheese begin to brown.

Variations: add lo fat goat cheese, feta or ricotta, chopped garlic, hot sauce, broccoli...

This sauce is delicious in omelettes or over steamed veggies!

Free Recipes for Best. Salsa. Ever and Citrus Chicken Nachos!

If you make this meal...you'll feel just like these cats on this album cover. No, really.

Best. Salsa. Ever.
Madge’s Garden Fresh Cherry Tomato Salsa
Margot Potter

We love salsa around here and we wait all summer for the day we can finally make up a batch filled with fresh ingredients from our garden and our local farms. This past weekend my sister-in-law gave us a gallon bag of cherry tomatoes and that combined with the fresh haul from our garden made me wonder what might happen if I turned them into salsa? Well...I’ll tell you what...those sturdy and flavor packed little tomatoes make one heckuva flavorful salsa! Here’s my recipe! I’m not joking when I tell you this is without doubt the BEST salsa I’ve ever had. Yum.

Ingredients
1 gallon size bag of cherry tomatoes
Large bunch of fresh cilantro
Juice from 2 limes
1 large sweet onion
Three medium sized jalapenos (or any peppers you like in any amount you prefer)
Dash freshly ground pepper
Dash salt

1. Halve the cherry tomatoes and place in a large mixing bowl.
2. Dice the onions into large pieces. Place in bowl with tomatoes.
3. Use a large knife to dice up the top two thirds of a large bunch of cilantro. Add to tomatoes and onions.
4. Squeeze limes into mixture. (I like tart salsa. You can opt for only one lime or use white vinegar if you don’t love it tart and tangy!)
5. Dice jalapenos (remove the seeds first!) Add to mix.
6. Put entire mix into a food processor for about three pulses. You want to mix everything up but not turn it into soup!
7. Allow salsa to sit for several hours for full flavor.
8. Grab a bag of tortilla chips and get to dippin’!

I served this salsa with a South Beach friendly version of nachos topped with black beans, lo fat cheddar and shredded cilantro citrus chicken. We ate all of this up so quickly that I’m afraid I was remiss in taking photos. I think you know what nachos and salsa look like though!
Madge’s Cilantro Citrus Chicken Nachos
Margot Potter
Ingredients
2 large chicken breasts
Juice of 2 lemons
1/3 of a large bunch of cilantro
1/3 cup not from concentrate orange juice (or freshly squeeze orange juice)
2 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/3 cup water
8 oz. package of 75% fat free white cheddar cheese
1 large bag of fat free Tostitos or other lo fat tortilla chips
1 16 oz. can of black beans (rinsed)
Lo fat or fat free sour cream

1. Dice cilantro.
2. Combine with OJ, lemon juice, EVO, water.
3. Liquify marinade in food processor.
4. Marinate chicken for at least 1 hour.
5. Grill chicken.
6. Shred chicken with fork.
7. Rinse beans and drain.
8. Shred cheese.
9. Sprinkle chicken over fat free tortilla chips with black beans and cheese.
10. Bake in a 450 degree oven on a cookie tray until cheese melts.
11. Serve with lo fat or fat free sour cream and Madge’s Garden Fresh Cherry Tomato Salsa!

Madge's Spicy Cajsian Shrimp

Madge’s Spicy Cajsian Shrimp
These spicy grilled shrimp have both a Thai and a Cajun flair. Enjoy with a loaf of warm crusty bread or cook up some brown rice. Try them with a side of mango salsa for a hot and sweet combo. Highly recommended with a glass of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc.

Ingredients
1lb. medium frozen or fresh shrimp
2 large cloves garlic
2 limes juiced
½ lemon juiced
1/3 cup chopped cilantro
1 tbsp. red pepper flakes (to taste)
½ tsp. Franks Red Hot sauce (or other red pepper sauce)

Side salad/garnish
3 large leaves Romaine lettuce
3 thickly sliced Campari tomatoes
Paper thin sliced Vidalia onions
Diced bell pepper
Lemon wedge



1. Peel and devein shrimp leaving tails on.
2. Squeeze two limes and ½ lemon into a large bowl.
3. Chop two large cloves of garlic and place in bowl.
4. Chop 1/3 cup cilantro and place in bowl.
5. Add pepper flakes and hot sauce to taste. (We like it really hot around these parts.)
6. Marinate shrimp for an hour.
7. Skewer and cook on grill.
8. Prepare garnish.
9. Bon appetit!

A Peeps Bouquet

I’m so not Martha...so sue me.
Here’s my Easter week project...the day AFTER Easter! You'll recall I had planned to create a Peeps bouquet. I managed to eek this out an hour before we left for family dinner. I had to reconfigure the ribbon attachment after a small glue gun mishap, so it's a little lumpy but I fixed it after I took the pic. There wasn't really time to take a fabulous picture; we had to scoot! The car was really hot and the chocolate started melting and I had an asthma attack and was trying to take my coat off and get my inhaler and not cough into the bouquet...and I accidentally leaned over into a melty chocolate covered Peep that was lovingly arranged in the flower pot on my lap and I got a big glob of chocolate on my sweater. So we had to turn around, go back home, reboot...and we were late for dinner. Actually dinner was supposed to start at 3 and we were there at 3:03, but I guess folks got hungry because the Easter ham was down to a few slivers by the time we started filling our plates. So on the way home we stopped at Taco Bell.

That’s our story and we’re sticking to it.

Okay so about the Peeps bouquet...

One small tweak...next time I’ll work on the more even distribution of chocolate and lay the peeps on their bottoms instead of sides to cool. That and I'd start with the tape runner for attaching the ribbon and not the glue gun. Other than that I love this and it elicited a lot of 'oos and ahs'!

Everyone was also really impressed and with the ‘I’m a little black sheep™” t-shirts we created for our new video using our awesome new YuDu. That is until Avalon’s 9-year old cousin showed off the Easter dress she made herself. Sheesh. Thanks a lot, kid. Way to steal my crafty thunder.

Yeah...well...I get paid to make stuff. So there.

Ha ha.

Tune in tomorrow...we’ve got a brand new The Impatient Crafter™ video that shows you how to use the ProvoCraft YuDu machine! It’s a hoot in a handbasket, I swear!
Peeps Bouquet
Copyright 2009
Margot Potter
4 packages various colors Peeps
6 packages egg shaped gum or one large package jelly beans
1 small package Nestle’s semi-sweet morsels
1 large ceramic pot
1 ceramic dish for under pot
Thick grosgrain ribbon in festive colors
1 large silk flower
Hot glue
Fiskars tape runner
Wooden skewers
Styrofoam cut to fit bottom of pot
Aluminum foil

Tools
Scissors
Silicone spatula
Aluminum or wax paper lined cookie sheets
Hot glue gun

1. Run two lines of tape along rim of pot and adhere ribbon smoothing out any wrinkles as you work.
2. Remove flower from stem and use hot glue to attach to place where ribbon ends meet on pot.
3. Cut Styrofoam to fit into pot, leaving about 2” from top for candy.
4. Place a layer of tin foil on top of Styrofoam, sealing any gaps.
5. Pour gum or jelly beans on tin foil covering it completely.
6. Insert skewers into pot, leaving space for Peeps to fan out and not touch.
7. Melt chocolate chips on stove using a double boiler method.
8. Cover two large cookie sheets with foil.
9. Holding Peeps by their heads; swirl their bottoms into the chocolate. Use a silicone spatula to coat sides. Place Peeps on tray standing up.
10. Place trays of Peeps in fridge to cool.
11. Gently slide a cooled Peep on each skewer. Place extra Peeps on ceramic dish.
12. Eat them with gleeful abandon after soaking in the generous compliments of friends and family.