Recycled Pie Tin Art (Metalworking)

 Spring Break is upon us and in full force. We've been making some memories and some fun projects. So I thought I'd share with all the folks here. First up "metalworking". If I call it metalworking then my boys think it's macho.  You know.  Boys are funny-cool that way.  I can't call it "fairy princess recycles" or somehow I'd find myself alone in the kitchen...with my bling and this...

 Our metal crafting starts with a huge disclaimer...DUDE. Supervision is 100% necessary here. Hot glue gun, scissors and aluminum pie tins being cut up...there are sometimes sharp edges. This is one I did with my kids who are 8 and 11 years old. Something to think about.

 We cut shapes out of the pans. Flowers etc.

 I stacked a few.

To get color, we used permanent colored marker. Okay yah again with supervision...especially if you have walls in your house. Most people do have walls.

Feel free to add any bling-age you want. I used the "peel and stick" variety. Craft section of Wal-mart my friends...2$. I already had them here left over from another project, so they were free to me this time.

Mom helped supervise the application of hot glue, for obvious reasons.

For the mirror, I used an old wallet mirror. 

For textured leaves, I went with the already exsisting patterns in the casserole dishes.

For an added decorative touch, I let my son use a screwdriver...again...supervision. I have a lot of screws loose already.

For the vine I used a twisted piece of foil.  I punched a hole in the top with a paper puncher of  and was able to hang it on a nail.  Finished project looked like this...

After we did our project I was ready for a lot more recycling projects!

Be creative here...and have fun making some memories.
There you go.

Today's Fox 10 Segment: Spring Break Craft Ideas for Kids

Spring Break Cooking Projects: MyFoxPHOENIX.com

Here I am in today's segment. It was so much fun, as always! 

Small and Simple Things...Service

When I got home from my segment on NBC Valley Dish this week I rushed my son to his first cub scout event.  Upon my return, I ended up taking a trip to the hospital with sweet Cussing Granny.  By 2 AM we knew she needed to stay.  Well, That's about all the detail I'm giving...except that it has been an eventful week.  Granny if finally home.  Ace has been home ill as well...and now add the boys.   Blah, blah, blah. I'm still okay--tired but okay. I'm beefing up on essential oils and herbals supplements. However, by yesterday night, coming home from the doctor with Face and finding myself a little spent...it was a joy to find someone had thought of us.  A dear lady from church had delivered a meal, unannounced and unsolicited to our family.  Waiting when I got home was a hot chicken and rice casserole, large fluffy rolls and a lemon ice cream pie. It's few and far between that someone cooks for us. I think folks get a little afraid to bring me a meal. This woman will perhaps never know how much I truly needed that act of service on our behalf.


The words from the 25th chapter of Matthew come to mind:

“For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:

“Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.

“Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?

“When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?

“Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?

“And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”12

"we are surrounded by those in need of our attention, our encouragement, our support, our comfort, 
our kindness—be they family members, friends, acquaintances, or strangers. 
We are the Lord’s hands here upon the earth, with the mandate to serve and to lift His children. 
He is dependent upon each of us." Thomas S. Monson.


There you go. Do something.

Chef Tess Shares Fun Kid's Spring Break Cooking Projects On Fox 10

Are the kids making you crazy this week?! Join Me on Fox 10 AZAM this Monday morning at 9:45 for some crazy cool kitchen crafts to make some memories over Spring Break...and beyond!

In the past on Fox we've made a lot of things to keep the kids busy during the breaks. Our first kids segment was all about homemade play dough and since then I've tried to often include a lot of  Kids cooking . 

Monday we'll be making some fridge pickles.  You can also explore the science of pickle making here. We'll be making freezer jam on the segment. I used the Ball instant freezer jam pectin from here.  For full cooked jam instructions, join me in the kitchen when I had a  A Jam Session with the Girls.   It will give you step by step instructions on how to make it at home.   We'll explore how to make a Solar Oven too!  I'll be bringing My First Solar Oven!   It was made of cardboard and one that I used for a few years!

For more information on building one of your own from cardboard boxes look here:

 How I built a Solar Oven or you can also find other Plans for Solar Cookers.

Homemade yogurt  would be a fun project to do with the kids to learn some kitchen chemistry!  

 Treasure Rocks are a great project for your young paleontologist.

Homemade bubbles are cool for any kid.

This week I'll be featuring some great kids cooking and craft ideas all week! 
It will be a great way to build some fun memories with the kids while still having a semblance of sanity. 

Here we go!

Chef Stephanie 's Amazing Vegetarian Meal

Today On Valley Dish

Today at 3:30 on NBC 12 in Phoenix, I'll be the guest chef on Valley Dish ! I'm soooo excited!


It's Ash Wednesday, a special day to a lot of my dear friends who are of the Catholic faith. It will be a meatless meal to commemorate that day.  I'll be using my recipe for "London Broiled" Portabella Mushrooms with a grilled pineapple avocado salad . As soon as video is available, I'll be sure to post it here.  


Smooches and hugs to you all who make me smile. God has blessed me so much to be able to do these Valley Dish segments!

Using Your Sun Oven as a Slow Cooker 101

Today I used my Global Sun Oven just like a "crock pot".  Most often that is how I use it but today felt especially cool after the seminar I attended on Saturday.  A lot of people are surprised to find that the Global Sun Oven can be used as a slow cooker using the insert from their crock-pots! At the Solar Cooking Seminar with Paul Munsen, (President of Sun Ovens International, Inc.)he  told us a few things that are less known about using the solar oven. I realized I had already been using it for my slow cooker, but when Paul said it...I just felt so cool. Like, "hey...I thought of that too..."  The cooking times with the slow cooker recipes are exactly the same as the "low" setting. So, any recipe you have for the slow cooker...can be done solar. 

You will need to remove the metal shelf within the unit and just put the pot right on the bottom of your cooker.

This is a six quart insert that fits just perfectly in the Solar oven.  I keep it on a rolling Craftsman Tool cart that has been a perfect perch for my oven out in the sun.

Chili cooked perfectly in the solar oven instead of using the electricity and heating up the kitchen! How cool is that?! In Arizona, the cost of cooling my house goes way down if I don't use the regular oven and the slow cooker on the kitchen counter. The solar oven has offered a great alternative method for cooking that my family loves.

Free Sun Oven Cooking Essentials Seminar

I have to share this event because there are so many solar cooking enthusiasts who read my little ol' blog here. Many of you know that I started using the Global Sun Oven several years ago after getting absolutely addicted to cooking with a solar oven I made from a few cardboard boxes. Ace decided it wasn't a phase I was going through, but a passion for using sustainable resources for cooking. He bought me the Global oven as a suprise. After I stopped crying tears of joy...I took it to my patio and cooked with it. Now, years later I can report it is my favorite cooking appliance ever...bar none.   Here's the kicker...   I'm not teaching this upcoming seminar. I've never been more excited to attend something as a student! Why?!  Well, because it's actually being taught by the President of Sun Ovens International! These are the guys who make the Global Sun Oven.  I'm going to be taking the class in spite of my experience, because I think there's never a time to stop learning...especially when it's something one is passionate about! Free Sun Oven Cooking Essentials Seminar - Saturday, March 5th at 10:00 AM.  (At Fitch Park - 1 East 8th Street, Mesa, AZ) Paul Munsen, the President of Sun Ovens International, will be teaching an instructive course on how to use the Global Sun Oven.  This class is great for Beginners and Advanced sun oven users alike.  Paul has a great teaching style and always provides wonderful pointers and techniques for getting the best out of your Sun Oven.  Come and get inspired to use your sun oven more on an everyday basis. SUN OVENS International has been innovative in developing methods of placement, training, and marketing to assist in the positioning of over 34,000 family sized GLOBAL SUN OVENS in  the U.S. and more than 100 developing countries, and 250 large VILLAGER SUN OVENS in deforested developing countries. --http://www.sunoven.com/ I'm happy to say that you can get Global Sun Oven at Preparing Wisely for 250.$  I'll see you at the seminar my friends! I'm so excited!!

Addiction Recovery Programs-- Confession of a Food Addict

This is it.

True confessions.  Tonight I attended my first meeting (again).  It's actually hard for me to come out and publicly admit I'm insane...but I think most of you know I'm a little nuts anyway. Admitting I need help outside myself and that I'm completely unable to deal with something on my own...is well...almost impossible for me to do. Almost. Yet how can I confess to love God and be a Christian without such a confession?  I have this extreme sickness called "perfectionism" where I want to be perfect at everything. I want to give God this "perfect" life. Then He'll love me. Duh. There was only one perfect being...and I'm not Him. I know...I don't have to qualify for His love. I just have to accept it. Admitting weakness doesn't mean I'm imperfect...it means I'm human. Having humility doesn't mean one hates themselves...it means one acknowledges total reliance on God. I realize now that by doing this, I may loose a few friends.  I may gain a few friends.  I may, along the way, lose a few pounds. Honestly, it's not about the "appearance" of sanity and the appearance of peace...it's about the real deal.  
I've joked in the past about being a food addict...and a dealer. You know, being a chef. However...I finally am willing to admit that I need a 12 step program. Six years ago I attended the meetings, did all the steps...and then for some reason I stopped going. I thought I could do it on my own.  Well...enough said.  Back to step one. Admitting I have a problem. Now I'm not sure if I should have another food addicts blog...because seeing all this food here might send someone on a binge-fest. However...I'm also willing to admit that unlike a crack addiction...food is necessary for living. I know I'm not the only one who suffers from emotional eating issues. I'm willing to go forward with healthy sane solutions to this problem...right here.   Right now.  I'm telling you all..."Hello, my name is Stephanie. I'm a food addict."  
The final motivational quote that sent me to this step was this:
“The suffering you endure from resisting or from leaving a life-style of addiction or perversion is not a hundredth part of that suffered by your parents, your spouse or your children, if you give up. Theirs is an innocent suffering because they love you. To keep resisting or to withdraw from such a life-style is an act of genuine unselfishness, a sacrifice you place on the altar of obedience. It will bring enormous spiritual rewards."--Boyde K. Packer

The Church I love has an Addiction Recovery Program (ARP), sponsored by LDS Family Services, to help Church members who desire to recover from addiction as well as to help family members and friends. For more information, visit www.ldsfamilyservices.org or contact the LDS Family Services office nearest you. The manual Addiction Recovery Program: A Guide to Addiction Recovery and Healing (36764) is available at Church distribution centers or at www.ldscatalog.com.  Thankfully we actually have a local branch here that deals with food issues.  

Here I go.

Green Chile Chicken-bacon and Macaroni Skillet Meal

It's Wednesday...a crazy day wedged right in the middle of a busy week. If your days are anything like mine, you need fast meals in the middle of the week.  Well...this is one that never fails to make my family happy.  It's fast, hearty and satisfying.  Ace will even eat it if I don't mention the chicken too much.  It has a short enough list of ingredients, you might already have everything in your cupboard too!  So...speed walk over to your kitchen, throw open your cupboard doors with reckless abandon and swoon dramatically so your family thinks you are actually thinking about dinner.  I've got you covered.

Green Chile Chicken-bacon and Macaroni Skillet Meal

14 oz cooked macaroni noodles (well seasoned with Chef Tess All purpose Seasoning)
15 oz prepared alfredo sauce (use my condensed soup mix--prepared or store purchased of your choice)
16 oz chicken breast, cut in cubes (seasoned with salt and pepper)
2T butter or olive oil
1 onion
7 oz can diced green chile (or fresh peeled and chopped)
1/2 cup cooked crumbled bacon

2 cups shredded sharp white cheddar (or regular sharp cheddar)

Directions:
Saute the oil, chicken, and onions until onion is clear and chicken is cooked through.  Add the alfredo sauce, green chile and bacon.   Mix until smooth. Fold in the noodles.  Top with cheese.

Serve hot.

There you go.  Have a fast middle of the week skillet dinner. Smooches!

Homemade Gourmet Instant Oatmeal Packets

Sugar and spice and everything...amazing! You won't, however, find these flavors in the pre-made packets from the store.

I try to do a post on how to cook with food storage and or whole grain, and turn those foods into convenient foods we can use everyday. Ironically, this oatmeal question came at a great time! Ace has been on an instant oatmeal kick for the last few weeks. My dear sister in law gave us a variety pack of 50 from a local Costco and ironically, we blew threw it in about a week and a half. Ace would eat 3 at a time. In an effort to not have all that extra stuff in the packets and to save money, I wanted to make some at home. These homemade packets we do are about double the size of the packets from the store...since that's about the portion Ace needs. Using the rolled oats, quick oats, sugar or powdered honey, and freeze dried fruits we had on hand, we made 20 double sized packets in about 20 minutes. The kids like to make the packets almost as much as they like to eat the contents! You can make the regular sized ones by simply cutting the recipes in half per packet. I use the regular zip sandwich bags for our double size packets. Snack size bags would work wonderfully for the regular single serving packets. Or...if you don't want to use baggies...you can use whatever recycle-style containment system you want. I'm not checking any cupboards.

This is a spiced peaches and cream cobbler oatmeal mix...homemade. Doesn't it look awesome? Well...the taste is exactly like a warm peach cobbler.

I start by making 3 different varieties of flavored sugars since I do a variety of oatmeal flavors. I used vanilla bean paste, but you can also use any of the flavored oils or bakers emulsions. I prefer LorAnn. That being said, the flavor concentrates will work, but you will need to use more...and let the sugar dry completely before making your oatmeal packets.
For Spiced-Vanilla Sugar you will need:

1 1/2 cup sugar, 2 tsp vanilla bean paste, and 1 T Chef Tess Wise Woman of the East Spice Blend, and 1/2 tsp dry lemon or orange zest.

Combine the vanilla bean paste with the sugar until well incorporated. Add the spices.
The second sugar I make is the base for my fruit and cream oatmeal mixes. I call it Bavarian Cream Sugar. You will need:

1 1/2 cup sugar, 1 tsp princess cake and cookie emulsion, and 1/2 tsp Bavarian cream flavored LorAnn oil.
Combine the flavoring well with the sugar.

The last sugar I make or use is maple sugar. It can either be real maple sugar (available at most maple syrup retailers) or you can make the fake stuff using this...
Use 1 cup sugar, 1/2 tsp maple flavor and 1/2 tsp butter-vanilla baker's emulsion.
Once I had all three sugars made, I allowed them to dry completely for 2-3 hours. Then I made sure they were nice and spoonable for the packets.
Again, I make the larger packets because I have men around here who refer to the paper packets as "shot glass" portions of oatmeal. These make the equivalent of TWO regular instant packets. If you want to make the smaller portions, simple cut divide in half portions, and use half as much fruit, flavors, and liquid to prepare the oatmeal.

To make one plain packet you need:

2/3 cup organic quick oats

2T of oat bran or rolled oats run through a dry meat grinder

To prepare: Add 1 Cup boiling water and allow to sit for 3 minutes. Use more or less water depending on how thick or thin you like you oatmeal. The secret to super thick oatmeal...using the meat grinder "treated" oats.

Oh...and a pinch of salt. I use Redmond Real Salt. It's my favorite.

I usually make about 20 packets of plain oatmeal and then add my different flavor varieties to make it more interesting in the mornings. We keep a large variety of freeze dried fruit on hand in our pantry. It's very convenient...and crazy awesome in oatmeal. I love it a lot more than dehydrated fruit because it is 100% free of moisture, so the packets don't get lumpy and odd. The only thing that should be lumpy and odd...is an old lady's patootie. Did I just type that out loud? Okay...so here's a few of the fruits I keep around:

Freeze Dried Blueberries

Freeze Dried Apples

Freeze Dried Peaches

Freeze Dried Raspberries

Freeze Dried Strawberries

Berries and Bavarian-lemon cream oatmeal packets:

add 3T freeze dried berries (I crush them up a bit before I measure them) to a packet along with 2T of the Bavarian Cream sugar and 1T Sour Cream Powder" , and 1/2 tsp dry lemon zest

Don't let the sound of the sour cream freak you out. It's amazing! Now if you don't want to use the powdered sour cream you can use non-dairy coffee creamer (any flavor). It works too...but it's not nearly as natural. Auntie Em used to use flavored instant pudding powder. Just remember that it won't be as sweet as the flavored sugar so you may need to add a little more sweetness.

To prepare the berries and cream oatmeal, add 1 1/3 cup boiling water and allow to sit for 3 minutes.

One of my all time favorite oatmeal packet flavors is my Spiced Peaches and Cream Cobbler. It reminds me so much of those Sunday night peach cobblers my mom would make when I was a kid.
To each plain packet you will need to add:

1/3 cup freeze dried peaches (diced rather than the sliced ones)

2T Bavarian Cream Sugar

2 tsp spiced vanilla sugar

1T Sour Cream Powder"
Just to tease you a little...this is what it looks like before you add the boiling water. I add 1 1/2 cups boiling water and let it sit for 3 minutes.

Maple Pecan Oatmeal Packet:

One plain packet

3T maple sugar

3T chopped toasted pecans

Add 1 cup boiling water and allow to sit 3 minutes.

Cinnamon vanilla-orange roll Oatmeal Packet:

One plain packet

2T spiced vanilla sugar

1 tsp dry orange zest (or 1/4 tsp dry orange crystal light)

Add 1 Cup boiling water and allow to sit 3 minutes

There you go. Make some oatmeal packets.