The Nifty Foodie

Amy

Giveaway Winner!

by 2 Comments

I really had fun with this giveaway, but I’ll admit, I was worried no one would want these dish towels I had sewn! Y’all have some awesome hobbies, some of which, I wish I could do myself! ::jealous::

Ok, I know…on to the winner, right? Well, another extra entry won this time! It pays to do that, folks!

Winner (Dish Towel Giveaway)

Congrats to Carrie!! Please email me at niftyfoodie at gmail dot com to redeem your prize! And by the way y’all, her food blog rocks, so if you have a sec, check it out! 🙂

Thanks again for participating! Hope to have another one of these sometime soon!

CoverGirl Blast: Review

by Leave a Comment

As you might already know, I review some products as a BzzAgent from time to time. I received two products from the CoverGirl Blast collection to review: Smoky Shadowblast in Silver Sky and Shineblast (doesn’t say the color).

::pardon the iPhone pictures for this post::

Products

I have pretty oily skin, so I didn’t think this shadow product would work out. I put on some eye primer, used the crayon-like shadow, and well, it barely went on. Fail.

So, I wiped it off, tried again, this time putting a neutral shadow over the primer to give the crayon a more dry surface to grab onto. It worked a good bit better, but still not as pigmented as the powder shadows I use. I will admit, it was VERY blendable though to achieve a good smoky eye look. After I blended, I put some translucent powder to set the look.

Covergirl Eyes

Then, I used the gloss. I will say, I hate the taste of it. It’s supposed to be watermelon flavored, but something is just, well, off about it. It’s an OK gloss…kind of worn off about 30 minutes later.

Covergirl Lips

As a consumer, I wasn’t drawn to either of these products. If BzzAgent didn’t offer them to me to review for free, I honestly would have kept passing them up. Now that I’ve tested them, I would say these products aren’t worth what they cost in stores at all. The eyeshadow sticks aren’t very pigmented (I had to use a heavy hand to get anything “smoky”) and the lipgloss just doesn’t last.

I do thank BzzAgent for giving me the opportunity to test these products out though, and look forward to trying out more products soon!

**These two products were provided  to me for free by BzzAgent.com for review.**

Being Tall Presents a Challenge

by 6 Comments

I am a pretty tall gal (5’11”). Thankfully, most stores have gotten the clue and offer tall inseams in most pants, but unfortunately in my search for some great pajamas or workout pants, I come home empty-handed each time. So, I usually just go for capri styles instead, since those won’t make me look like I’m preparing for a flood. I will admit though, I really was hoping for a pair of pajama pants that make me feel, well, normal.

When I started sewing, I decided to stock up on patterns at Hobby Lobby because they were 99 cents each! Included in that was this plus-sized pajamas pattern. I wanted to wait a while to attempt garments, but Sew Mama Sew gave me a jolt of motivation with their challenge this month: Make it, Wear it!

I was a little intimidated, but there is a big red word on the pattern packaging: EASY. I’m sure that means easy peasy to a pro, but I’m just hoping it means manageable to a newbie like myself.

I went to Hobby Lobby yesterday and bought this pretty dark grey/blue floral pattern for my pants. This is gonna happen folks, and my seam ripper, once again, is at the ready!

Pajama Pants Fabric

Wish me luck!

Have you been intimidated by trying something new in a craft? What motivated you to finally go for it?

Finally Complete

by Leave a Comment

A few months ago, I posted that I was going to Craft It Forward to 5 of my awesome readers.

I had plans to sew something for each person, but my sewing skills aren’t quite amazing enough to make anything impressive. It took me a few project trials before I stopped having massive sewing fails, and here’s what I came up with for each person: dish towels.

I’m really sorry to those who are getting these surprises late. I know I promised them by April 15th, but seriously, if I sent y’all something with the sewing skills I had then, you’d end up with torn scraps. This is a step up, or so I’d like to think.

I figure that everyone uses dish towels, and dishes suck. So, I thought some fun, fresh colors on a towel might make the chore a little less daunting. 🙂

I really enjoyed making these, and I hope you Crafting it Forward-ers love them.

More Dish Towels

Now, from what I can see, I have more than 5 readers on my little ol’ blog. If you aren’t someone who I’m sending these to, don’t despair. I’m hosting a giveaway for two of these bad boys on my food blog, so everyone has a chance to get a pair of these! Go head on over to the food blog and enter! 🙂

Giveaway: Cute Dish Towels

by 69 Comments

I love to cook and bake. It’s instant gratification to have the results of your work in an hour or so, but I’ve been wanting to branch out for a while.

I just started sewing earlier this year, and there are many times that I want to throw projects out of the window. I’m not a very patient person, and some projects take HOURS. However, I really love the results when they come out great, and that kind of keeps me going.

I read sewing blogs and look around for inspiration everywhere for great project ideas, and came across this one.

I’ve become a little kitchen towel decorating machine, and now, I’d like to giveaway a set of 2 towels to one lucky reader!

Cutesy Dish Towels

Do you want to win these cute dish towels for your kitchen? I promise they will make dish-washing a little more fun. 🙂

To win: just tell me about a hobby, other than cooking, that you’ve been giving a try lately.You have until Monday, June 8th to enter. This giveaway is only valid to readers in the continental U.S.

More ways to win (and please comment each time you do one of these)

My Summer Goals

by 2 Comments

I know summer doesn’t officially start until June 21, however, most people identify the beginning of the summer season with Memorial Day.

Since that’s quickly approaching, I have some goals. The biggest one?

This.

The layout

Now, relax folks…don’t freak out. My machine hasn’t touched this yet! This is just fabric laid down on the carpet in the pattern I like. I know, the fabrics are not laid the same way…no worries, they’ll all face the right way when thread goes through the needle. 🙂

I’m going to admit I’m intimdated by this quilt. It’s a level 2 project in my S.E.W book, so I shouldn’t be so intimidated, but the word quilt is intimidating. They are so pretty and just perfect looking. Can I really do this? I surely hope so. My seam ripper is on stand-by.

I found all of these fabrics at Hobby Lobby for about $4.50/yard, which isn’t too shabby.

I have a serious addiction to that store and their remnant bin, by the way.

The fabrics

I can’t wait to see this project done.

No worries, I’ll share my other summer goals with you. I just need to save it for another post. 🙂

Kiwi Pineapple Sorbet

by 7 Comments

Kiwi Pineapple Sorbet

I love summer. The fruit is just so gorgeous, delicious and heck, dirt cheap. Last weekend, I raided the produce stand for fruits. I had some leftover after snacking on a good bit, and thought about a sorbet. I had mango, pineapple and kiwi left, but I was pretty sure the color of that would be unattractive.

So, I asked my friends on Twitter what they thought. Mango/Pineapple or Kiwi/Pineapple? Mango/Pineapple won BIG time. However, upon coming home, I cut into the mango and it wasn’t ripe at all. 🙁 So, I ended up making Kiwi/Pineapple instead. I’m not sad about it, because I think this sorbet is really cute with the little kiwi seeds in it.

This is the first sorbet that I’ve had that is creamy in texture, and really soft to scoop straight out of the freezer. It’s also a delicious flavor combination, so don’t let the neon green highlighter appearance deter you away.

Kiwi Pineapple Sorbet
Source: adapted from Cooking Light

Ingredients:

  • 1 small pineapple, cored and cut in chunks
  • 2 kiwis, peeled
  • 1 cup sugar
  • juice of one lemon

Directions:

  1. Place pineapple, kiwi and lemon juice in a food processor; process until smooth. Add sugar; process 1 minute or until sugar dissolves.
  2. Pour mixture into an ice cream maker and let the machine run for 25-30 minutes. Freeze for 1-2 hours to set the sorbet.

The Winner!

by Leave a Comment

Thanks for all the entries, folks! There were 28 entries in there, and quite a few of you had some great ideas for business cards! 🙂

The winner, according to random.org is lucky #26, who is Jenn! Y’all should totally check out Jenn’s food blog, by the way. She takes awesome pictures and has great gluten-free ideas/recipes!

winner

This goes to show you that extra entries can give you better odds. 🙂 Congrats Jenn! I’ll send your info to UPrinting, and the folks there will get in touch with you to redeem your prize. 🙂

Our First Anniversary: Part 2 – The Dinner

by 1 Comment

The evening of our anniversary, we decided to use up a gift card we had for this Italian place that gets raving reviews from the locals: Little Village.

Since our anniversary was Sunday, the restaurant really wasn’t that crowded at all. Gotta appreciate that. 🙂

The restaurant

We enjoyed some of their cheese bread with an olive tapenade-type dip. I had the chicken marsala and the hubs had shrimp fettucine alfredo. All of it was FANTASTIC!

Afterwards, we went home and rested for a while. Our bellies were full, but we had a cake to eat. It was time to unveil what a year in the freezer does to the cake.

Anniversary Cake (wrapped up)

After 6 layers of saran wrap and two layers of foil, the cake was unwrapped. Not too shabby looking, in my opinion. And no, the green on top isn’t mold. Rather, it was some icing decoration that was holding the flower topper on the cake. 🙂

Anniversary Cake

The only issue with the cake was that it easily separated from the frosting. No big deal. The cake, otherwise, was just  as flavorful and moist as the wedding day. 🙂

Anniversary Cake Cut

We had our cake with some champagne that the reception venue gave us as we were leaving last year. I admit, we had to watch a YouTube video on how to open champagne…classy, right?

As for the anniversary gift that I gave the hubs, I received some comments/tweets requesting some of the little favors that I wrote on paper. There were 26 of them, written twice. These are the ones I can recall. I’m too lazy to open the jar and read them.

  • do all of the extra laundry in the house, like linens, towels, etc. (he prefers to wash his own clothes)
  • bake favorite dessert
  • cook favorite meal
  • bowling night
  • mini golf night
  • date night (he chooses whatever)
  • going out to eat at favorite restaurant
  • house to himself all day (includes taking the puppy with me)
  • wash his car
  • mow the lawn
  • take out the trash all week
  • no nagging pass (use it when I’m arguing something and he just wants me to shut it)
  • dishes for the whole week
  • play video game of choice
  • watch movie of choice
  • remote control for the day
  • no blog reading/writing for a week (blogging is time consuming, so this gives us more “us” time)
  • free favor (you name it)

I have to say, our first anniversary was awesome. 🙂 What did you/are you doing for yours this year?

Rosemary Lemon Chicken with Ravioli

by 3 Comments

Rosemary Lemon Chicken

My husband and I aren’t wine drinkers. There, I said it. My palate is not sophisticated enough to distinguish different wines, nor am I able to just enjoy a good wine event. I’m not at all drawn to the taste of it, but I sort of wish I was. The only time I buy wine is when I have a recipe to cook with, and even then I’m clueless on the wine aisle. I need the exact type spelled out for me or else, I’m calling on one of my wine expert friends.

My friend and her mom came to visit on Saturday night, and we ordered pizza. She offered to bring wine and beer, but all I wanted was Diet Dr. Pepper. I’m fully aware of my drinking immaturity, but I do embrace it. Diet Dr. Pepper, after all, is zero calories. 😉

She brought some Pinot Grigio for her mom, and there was quite a bit leftover. So, her mom offered up a simple way to fix chicken so we could use it up, since she didn’t want to bring it home with her. Wow, was this chicken moist and flavorful and really simple to put together.

Since today’s Foodbuzz Daily Special product is this skillet, I wanted to feature an easy and tasty weeknight meal to make in a skillet. Personally, we just use a non-stick skillet pan, like this one, to make this recipe.

I fixed up a side of Buitoni’s ravioli, which I received complimentary of Foodbuzz’s Tastemaker program. It was absolutely delicious.

Buitoni Ravioli

Rosemary Lemon Chicken
Source: My friend’s Mom

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 bottle Pinot Grigio
  • 3 sprigs of fresh rosemary
  • juice of one lemon
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 boneless chicken breasts
  • salt and pepper

Directions:

  1. Pound chicken breasts to an even thickness.
  2. Add salt and pepper to the chicken on each side and sear on each side on medium-high for a couple of minutes.
  3. Set the heat to low, and add the wine, rosemary sprigs, garlic and lemon juice.
  4. Cover the skillet and cook for 20-25 minutes, until the chicken is cooked all the way through.