Knittenthemitten Etsy store

Tags

Charity, Children of Fallen Patriots, Etsy, give back, handmade, Michigan, Mittens for Detroit

Well the day has finally come…my etsy shop is open for business!!

It’s not about the money I make off my products…I really enjoy making every single thing I craft and I will take a portion of my sales and return it back to charities in Michigan. I also will be donating to Veteran organizations as well.

With every purchases from now until December 21st, 2014 I will donate 1 pair of mittens to “Mittens for Detroit.”

I have also chosen to craft several items using Caron United yarn. With every skein they sell Caron donates $0.15 to the college fund for children of fallen patriots. It’s great to see a large company giving back to such a great cause. For more information visit Children of Fallen Patriots Foundation I’m proud to say I’ve contributed $2.25 in the yarn I’ve purchased so far.

To visit my store go to KnitteNtheMittens Etsy Shop

Hope you all are having a wonderful Sunday!!

~Ashley

Sweet and Sour Crockpot Chicken

Tags

chicken, chinese, crockpot, Delicious, easy, Homemade, sweet and sour

So I found several recipes for this online…but I choose to add my own flair. The best part was that I made this before I went to sleep so it was almost ready when I woke up to package up and take to work. (This prevents me from ordering pizza)

Ingredients:

2 boneless chicken breasts cubed
One whole pepper chopped or about 6 mini peppers
1 cup chopped baby carrots (I used carrot chips)
8 oz. can of pineapple chunks
1/8 cup reduced sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup orange juice
1/4 cup raw sugar
2 cloves minced garlic
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1 Tbsp. Cornstarch
1 Tbsp. Water

1. Drain pineapple juice into a small mixing bowl. Store pineapple chunks sealed in the refrigerator until later. Add raw sugar, soy sauce, orange juice, ginger and crushed red pepper flakes to the pineapple juice and mix until sugar is dissolved.

2. In a small crockpot layer the ingredients starting with the peppers and carrots, then the minced garlic. Add the chicken on top of that and then pour the sauce over top.

3. Cook for about 7 hours at a low heat. Add the pineapple chunks and let cook for 20 more minutes.

4. Mix the cornstarch and water and add to the crockpot to thicken the sauce and cook for the remaining 10 minutes.

5. Serve over rice and garnish with Chinese noodles.

*A note about the sauce:

I only used 1 Tablespoon of cornstarch because the more you use to thicken the sauce you can lose some of the flavor. If you feel the sauce isn’t thick enough add more cornstarch and water mix (1 Tbsp of each) until you reach your desired consistency.
I didn’t mind that the sauce was a little runny because it flavored the rice better.

Enjoy!

Stuffed Acorn Squash

Tags

Acorn Squash, Cheddar Fried Onions, Cheese, Cooking, Delicious, Fall Recipe, Homemade, mozzarella Cheese, Parmesan cheese, Stuffed, Winter Recipe

I love Squash! So upon seeing a pretty good selection at the grocery store on my last shopping trip I selected a pretty delicious Acorn Squash to make some stuffed squash.

I looked up a few recipes but ultimately created my own as none of them encompassed everything I wanted to put in it. So these are the ingredients I used. This recipe will yield a lot of stuffing so for more halves just add a few more acorn squash halves.

1 LB Mild Italian Sausage.
1 Acorn Squash cut in two halves
1 cup uncooked wild rice
1 14 oz can of stewed tomatoes
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp. garlic powder
Parmesan cheese
mozzarella Cheese
1/8 Whole wheat panko bread crumbs
French’s Cheddar Fried Onions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Slice the squash and remove seeds from the inside. Place on a baking sheet cut side up and sprinkle with salt and pepper (if desired for seasoning). Pour a little bit of water in the bottom of the pan for moisture while baking and then bake for 35-45 minutes.

2. While the squash is baking cook the wild rice according to the package directions. Also remove the casing from the italian sausage and brown the meat in a pan over medium heat. When meat is done cooking drain the grease and set aside the sausage in a medium-sized bowl.

3. When the rice is done and the moisture is cooked out, add the can of tomatoes. Pour the tomato rice mixture into the medium bowl with the sausage. add the salt, pepper, and garlic. Next, add in the bread crumbs for texture (about 1/8 cup). Then mix in parmesan cheese and mozzarella cheese until mixture is a little sticky when the cheese melts.

4. Spoon stuffing into the Acorn squash. Then sprinkle the Cheddar Fried Onions on top of the stuffing and top with mozzarella cheese. bake in the oven at 350 for approximately 25 minutes or until the cheese is melted and slightly golden brown.

* I had quite a bit of stuffing left over because I only needed to stuff two halves. I plan on using it to make some stuffed peppers or baking as a casserole for leftovers tomorrow.