Flourless Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies

Serves: 18 

Cooking and Prep Time (approx.): 30 mins

 

Ingredients:

1/3 cup confectionery sugar

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/3 regular white sugar

1 cup peanut butter

1 egg

18 Hershey kisses, unwrapped

Directions:  

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 

-Combine all 3 sugars, peanut butter, and egg in a large mixing bowl 

-Shape into 1 inch balls and place on ungreased cookie sheet. NOTE: If dough is too sticky, refrigerate 1/2 hour or until easy to handle. 

-Bake for 10 minutes. Remove cookies from oven. Press a chocolate kiss into the center of each warm cookie, immediately.

 

These delicious cookies are flourless and melt in your mouth! While saving the cookies, use air tight containers and if possible, line containers with plastic wrap to keep them fresh

 

Note: I take no credit for coming up with this recipe, I only tweaked it to my taste.  Please follow this link for complete details of this recipe on AllRecipes.com.

Halloween Wreath

I created this wreath for Halloween using shabby flowers and some Halloween decor I found at Michaels! It took me 20 mins to make and I love how adorable it looks!

Cost: $15 approx

Time: 20 Mins

You will need (I bought everything at Michaels):

1 Wreath

1 Burlap

Scissors
Shabby Flowers: Black, Orange & Purple (bought these online)
Halloween Decor, I a spider web

approx 50 Skinny metal push pins

Over the door wreath holder

Directions:

Use newspapers or brown bags to cover surface you are working on, burlap shreds a lot and can cause a mess.  Start by wrapping the wreath (i bought a straw one and did not remove the plastic on it) wreath with the burlap using the push pins to keep it down.  I wrapped it around twice to get a nice thickness to the wreath.

Once you are satisfied with the thickness, start attaching the  shabby flowers to the wreath using the pins.  I started with the orange ones and did two rows of them.  I then took all the black ones and started adding them all over the wreath! The silver pins actually gave it a little sparkle.

Lastly, add the decor, I bought a small spider web with a purple spider to it, I also attached it on the orange shabby flowers.  I had a few purple shabbies that I added on the black just to bring in some color, or leave it as is if you choose not to add the purple (i think i liked it without).

I thought it was interesting how the wreath looked different on a brown door compared to a white door! It's the same wreath, Hope you guys enjoy creating this, I thought it came out slick and modern!

Slow Cooker Chicken Marrakesh

Ingredients

• 1/2 onion, sliced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 large potatoes, peeled and diced
• 1/2 (15 ounce) can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
• 4 chicken thighs
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon red chilli powder
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 small can diced tomatoes

Directions

1. Place the onion, garlic, potatoes, garbanzo beans, and chicken thighs into a slow cooker. In a bowl, mix the cumin, cinnamon, red chilli powder, black pepper, parsley, and salt, and sprinkle over the chicken and vegetables. Pour in the tomatoes, and stir to combine.
2. Cover the cooker, set to High, and cook until the potatoes are tender and the sauce has thickened, 4.5 hours
3. Squeeze fresh lemon on top, serve with white or brown rice.  

 Note: I take no credit for coming up with this recipe, I only made variations it to my taste.  Please follow this link for complete details of this recipe.

 

Personalized DIY Wreath

We created this wreath for my daughter's 1st birthday and used pinks and blues to bring in the colors of the theme we were using for the party.  It was easy to make and we got great compliments. 

Cost: $15

Time: 20 Mins

You will need (I bought everything at Michaels):

1 Styrofoam Wreath

1 Burlap

Small Letters

Fabric Flowers

Grosgrain Ribbon

Scissors

Penclil

Ruler

Glue Dots

20-25 Skinny metal push pins

Over the door wreath holder

1 8x11 sheet construction paper, solid or patterned

Directions:

Cut 6 small triangles from the construction paper based on how big you want the banner on to the wreath.  Use glue dots to attach the triangles you cut to the ribbon.  You don't necessarily have to put two rows of banners on like I did.

Use newspapers or brown bags to cover surface you are working on, burlap shreds a lot and can cause a mess.  Start by wrapping the styrofoam wreath with the burlap using the push pins to keep it down.  We wrapped it around 3 times to get a nice thickness to the wreath.

Once you are satisfied with the thickness, attach the fabric flowers to the wreath using the pins.  Next, attach the triangle banners on the ribbon to the wreath leaving enough room on top for the letters, you can use smaller letters if the name you are using is more than 4 letters.  Alternatively you can use just one banner to leave enough room for the letters on top for longer names.

Lastly, cut out a large piece of ribbon to attach the wreath to the holder (blue ribbon in image below).  Attacking the ribbon first will give you a good idea on how to space the letters on top to spell out the name you'd like to use. 

I was inspired to make this by the many DIY wreaths on pinterest and without the help of my friend Meghan, I would not have been able to create this amazing wreath.

Greek Panzanella

Serves: 6  

Cooking Time (approx.): 45 mins

Good olive oil
1 small Italian bread or boule, cut into 1-inch cubes (6 cups)
Kosher salt
1 hothouse cucumber, unpeeled, seeded, and sliced 1/4-inch thick
1 red bell pepper, large diced
1 yellow bell pepper, large diced
1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
1/2 red onion, sliced in half rounds
1/2 pound feta cheese, cut in 1/2-inch cubes

For the vinaigrette:

2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons Basalmic Viniger1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons good olive oil

Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large saute pan. Add the bread cubes and sprinkle with salt; cook over low to medium heat, tossing frequently, for 5 to 10 minutes, until nicely browned. Add more olive oil as needed.

Place the cucumber, red pepper, yellow pepper, tomatoes and red onion in a large bowl.

For the vinaigrette, whisk together the garlic, oregano, mustard, vinegar, 1 teaspoon salt and the pepper in a small bowl. While still whisking, add the olive oil and make an emulsion. Pour the vinaigrette over the vegetables. Add the feta, olives and bread cubes and mix together lightly. Set in refrigerator for 30 minutes for the flavors to blend. Serve at room temperature.

Note: I take no credit for coming up with this recipe, I only tweaked it to my taste.  Please follow this link for complete details of this recipe on Food Network.

Stri Fry Lime Chicken - Healthy and Delicious

 Serves: 2

Cooking Time (approx.): 45 mins

1.5 boneless chicken breast

*spicy lime marinade

6oz. baby spinach

1 yellow pepper (cut in strips)

1 red pepper (cut in strips)

2-3 cherry peppers (hot or mild- seeded and cut up), you can also substitute jalapeno peppers

1 Tbsp EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil)

*marinade: in mixing bowl- 3 T fresh lime juice, 3T EVOO, 1T chili powder, 1/4t kosher salt (I double this!!)

Marinate chicken for 30 minutes or more at room temperature. Drain chicken, reserve liquid. In skillet, heat EVOO over high heat; fry chicken for 4 minutes or until tender. Add reserved marinade (scrape sides of bowl- you'll lose a lot of spices on sides of bowl when you drain chicken) to chicken, add peppers and cook until peppers tender. Add spinach till it wilts. Toss all together and serve alone or with brown rice.

** I always add extra chili powder and salt

I do not take credit for coming up with the recipe, this recipe was shared by one of my dear friends.

Delicious Recipes..Indian Green Chicken Curry

I have been remiss in blogging and I did promise to do this more so here goes. I am going to try and post recipes once a week....I love to cook and bake so I am excited to be doing this!!

As most of you know I am of Indian origin. On one of our visits to Washington DC, we had dinner at this delicious Indian restaurant called Rasika - they make the most delicious Indian Green Chicken Curry I have ever had! Of course my husband has been craving it since and so I went online looking for something similar and found the recipe below which is pretty much dead on to the one at Rasika! Try it out, it's easy to make and most of the ingredients should be available at your local grocery store.  Also PLEASE let me know how it goes once you do make it...I would love to hear your experience and about any variations you made to it.

Serves: 4
Cooking time (approx.): 37 minutes
8  medium sized pieces (about 800  grams) of chicken
2  medium onion(s) chopped
1  cup(s) each of fresh coriander and mint leaves chopped (loosely packed)
4  green chillies
2  teaspoon(s) each of ginger, garlic pastes
1  teaspoon(s) each of cumin and garam masala powders (available at most grocery stores)
4  teaspoons lemon juice
salt to taste

1. Grind the coriander and mint leaves along with the chopped onions, green chillies and lemon juice, ginger-garlic pastes, garam masala and cumin powders to make a green paste.
2. Add the green paste in a pot and fry on medium level for about 5  minutes or till the paste is a pale green.
3. Add the chicken and sprinkle salt to taste. Mix well. Cover and cook on low heat for about 30  minutes or till the chicken is tenderized.

TIP:

• The green paste can be made from any combination of green leafy vegetables like spinach, dill, fenugreek, basil, oregano, parsely along with fresh coriander.

Serve hot with: White rice or Naan (available at most grocery stores).

I have made variations to this recipe but I do not take credit for coming up with the original recipe.  You can find the details on the original recipe here.

Valentines Day

Valentine's Day is less than two weeks away! I thought I would share some links to some amazing blogs about free printables, and delicious recipes.

Below is the link from Skip to my Lou for a really cute "You hold the key to my Heart" printable

Hi! My name is Ashley, and I blog over at Mommy By Day Crafter By Night. I love to craft and sew when my two kids go to bed each night... and then I blog about the things I make. I am so excited to be here at Skip to my Lou to share a fun Valentine gift idea with a free printable to go with it!

I came up with this idea because I was trying to think of something cute my my girls to send for Valentines Day to their aunt who is living in Tennessee right now. I love keys, so when I saw these key necklaces I thought it would be cute to send one with a gift tag that said "You Hold the Key to my Heart" tied onto it. 

I found the gold one with the bangles on it at Forever 21 ($5), the brass looking one at American Eagle ($17), and the silver looking one at American Eagle ($15).

I used some bakers twine (maraschino color) to tie the tag onto the necklace. Super simple- but I love the way it looks. I can't wait to send it to her! 

I am doing the 14 days of Valentines for my husband this year and I was trying to think of a way that I could use this tag for him (since the key necklace obviously doesn't work for him;) so I decided to just tie the tag onto his keys and it will just be a little extra reminder that will hopefully make him smile as he heads out the door in the morning:)

Your gift doesn't necessarily have to be anything "key" related- you could totally just tie this tag onto anything and it would work just fine... I love the way it looks tied with the twine on this cute gift box!

I am sharing this fun printable with you all today!

To print the tags, click on the "Download Here" link.

Download Here

Thanks so much for letting me share this idea with you all! Feel free to stop by and say hi- I have lots of fun tutorials and free printables to share on my blog!!

xoxo, Ashley

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This blog post is credited entirely to Ashley.  Designs by Meghna does not take any credit or liability for the above information.

First birthday Planning

I know I have been MIA recently on my facebook page and it's been forever since I posted on this blog but I figured it was time to update you ladies on what I have been up to.  

I recently traveled to Mumbai, India so my daughter could finally meet with her great grandmothers. They enjoyed interacting with her and loved all the time she was able to spend with both of them.  It was a three week LONG trip in all the heat and craziness of meeting with friends and family I hadn't seen in years!

After India, I went back to work part time for Johns Hopkins.  It has been an interesting time, working as well as balancing it all out with spending time with my little girl! I'm not sure I've found my happy balance just as yet! However, I am excited about planning my daughter's birthday!! 

My daughter, Suri, is turning ONE in March! My husband and I finally decided what we were going to do for her party! Never thought party planning would be this stressful!

We decided to have it at our house and invite all our friends and family to celebrate Suri turning One.  First things first, I knew I needed to nail down a theme for her party! We had planned to have a photo shoot for her prior to her birthday so that we could use the pictures for her invitations.  We met with the very talented Abhishek Pandya from Pandya Photography in NJ and he took some amazing pictures of our little girl.  Below are a few sneak peaks that he shared with us.

Next to have done is invitations! It's already January 10th and I have nothing finalized! Before we could finalize the invitations, I looked online for ideas on themes.  My husband finally found a  great link to a blog where the very talented Stacey Elle-Belle planed her daughter Liv's birthday using the One year old in a flash theme. We loved what she did with the pictures, colors, desert table but our favorites were the photo booth and the time capsule ideas.  I have since been trying to incorporate her ideas, tweaking them some, to plan Suri's first birthday! I would ideally love to follow everything she did, lets see how good I can be with it :)