Tell Me A Story

Tuesday, May 12, 2015

RECIPES: CROCK POT FIESTA CHICKEN and QUESO BLANCO SPINACH DIP

Mary Marcia
America's STORYTELLER
Telling Untold Stories in Photographs, Prose and Public Speaking

http://tellmeastory-marcia.blogspot.com

RECIPES

Crock Pot Fiesta Chicken

and

Queso Blanco Spinach Dip

My daughter, Kristin, posted a recipe for chicken cooked in a crock pot/slow cooker on her facebook page.

I made Kristin's chicken recipe. It's delicious, and I named it Crock Pot Fiesta Chicken. Trust me, it tastes a lot better than it looks in my photographs.

Crock Pot Fiesta Chicken

4 Chicken Breasts
1 Packet Fiesta Ranch Mix
1 Can Black Beans
1 Can Rotel
1 Can Corn (Do not drain)
1 Block Cream Cheese
Cilantro

Sprinkle packet of Fiesta Ranch Mix on raw chicken breasts.
Add all ingredients to crock pot/slow cooker.
Cook for 4 to 6 hours on low.
Eat over rice or with tortillas.
Garnish with cilantro.

Mother's Day, my daughters, Faith and Sarah and I enjoyed a delicious dip made with white cheese and spinach with our meal at Chili's restaurant.

I tried to recreate the white cheese dip to go along with the chicken dish. I named it Queso Blanco Spinach Dip. Don't tell your children it has spinach in it, and they will love it.

P.S. I love cheese, but until today, I never knew there was such a product as Velveeta's Queso Blanco.

Queso Blanco Spinach Dip

1 Pound (16 ounces) Queso Blanco Velveeta (cut in cubes)
2-3 Tablespoons Spinach from a can (drained)
1 Can Rotel (diced tomatoes)
1 Can Corn (drained)
Fresh Cilantro

Mix together in a saucepan until cheese is melted.
Garnish with cilantro.
Serve with tortilla chips

After the girls and I made up our own recipe....I noticed there is a recipe on the side of the Velveeta box for Velveeta Queso Blanco Spinach & Artichoke Dip. (The dip at Chili's restaurant also had artichokes in it, but my girls liked it better without the artichokes.)

Here's the recipe on the side of the box:

Velveeta Queso Blanco Spinach & Artichoke Dip

1 Pound (16 ounces) Queso Blanco Velveeta (cut in 1/2 inch cubes)
1 Package (10 ounce) frozen chopped Spinach (thawed and well drained)
1 Can (14 ounce) artichoke hearts (drained and chopped)
1/4 Teaspoon Onion Powder
1/4 Teaspoon Garlic Powder
Fresh Cilantro

Combine ingredients in microwavable bowl.
Microwave on HIGH 5 minutes (Stir after 3 minutes) or until Velveeta is completely melted and mixture is well blended.
Garnish with cilantro.
Serve with tortilla chips.

GOD gave me Kristin and Benjamin

through the miracle of birth,

and Sarah and Faith

through the miracle of adoption,

and four beautiful grandchildren:

Joshua, Megan, Emily and Caleb.

I am grateful for the each one GOD trusts me with.

Thanks for stopping by!

Come back often, and invite a friend!

Mary Marcia
America's STORYTELLER
Telling Untold Stories in Photographs, Prose and Public Speaking

http://tellmeastory-marcia.blogspot.com

Tuesday, May 5, 2015

DIY (DO IT YOURSELF) PROJECT: HANDMADE HAIR PINS

Mary Marcia
America's STORYTELLER
Telling Untold Stories in Photographs, Prose and Public Speaking

http://tellmeastory-marcia.blospot.com/

DIY

(Do It Yourself)

PROJECT

Handmade Hair Pins

All you need is some E6000 Glue,

available

at hardware and craft/hobby stores)

the right kind of Bobby Pins,

and some cabochons flat

back beads)....

to create beautiful handmade hairpins!

Put a small amount of E600 GLUE

on the round part of the hair pin,

and add the cat eye cabochon bead.

Hold for a few seconds,

and carefully wipe away any glue.

I slide the hair pin on a piece of cardboard

while they dry.

Let them dry for 24 hours.

I LOVE using

glass cat eye cabochon beads.

Cat eye beads are named for their reflective colors.

The backs of these beads are flat,

and perfect for gluing on the flat part of hair pins.

Cat eye beads come in all shapes and sizes:

hearts, squares, circles.

These make great gifts for girls of all ages!

I'm 60-something, and I wear them, too!

Cat eye cabochon beads

are beautiful on all kinds of hair pins,

hair clips, and filigree rings.

All supplies are available at

www.pandahall.com.

Search on their website

for cat eye cabochons,

and bobby pins, and "hair."

Here is a packing list from one of my orders.

Cabochon Square Cate Eye Beads

(Flat Back)

LINK: http://www.pandahall.com/ProductSearch?keyword=cat+eye+cabochon&areaType=NormalArea

The square cabochon cat eye beads

cost $10.14 for one package with 500 pieces.

They are 8 mm wide, and 8 mm long, and 2.5 mm thick.

The iron bobby pin findings are antique bronze,

and cost $5.82 for a package of 150 pieces.

They are 2 mm wide, and 52 mm long.

Usually, the cost of shipping from China to the USA

doubles the price of the order.

Still - it's a great price for so many beautiful hairpins.

It takes from two weeks to four weeks to receive your order.

Browse Panda Hall for other

beautiful hair accessories.

I found these iron filigree butterflies,

and added tiny rhinestones and pearls to them.

Handmade Hair Clips and Adjustable Rings

I created a special gift package

with two hair clips

and one adjustable ring,

and heart-shaped cat eye cabochons.

Can you find the tiny emerald green cat eye

hairpin in my daughter's hair?

It's perfect to hold back bangs

that are growing out.

Handmade With Love!

Search www.pandahall.com

for brass filigree adjustable rings.

There are reasonably priced,

and they look lovely.

The glass cat eye cabochon almost looks like a gemstone.

Thanks for stopping by!

Come back often, and invite a friend!

Mary Marcia
America's STORYTELLER
Telling Untold Stories in Photographs, Prose and Public Speaking

http://tellmeastory-marcia.blospot.com/

Friday, April 24, 2015

Movie Review: THE AGE OF ADALINE

Mary Marcia
America's STORYTELLER
Telling Untold Stories in Photographs, Prose and Public Speaking

http:tellmeastory-marcia.blogspot.com/

My daughters and I went to the movies late last night.

We got home just after midnight, because we just had to see "The Age of Adaline" -- the story of a young woman who has an accident, dies, comes alive again, and doesn't age from that point on.

What would it be like not to age when everyone around you does?

Sarah and Faith really liked the movie.

Blake Lively played Adaline, and she was iridescent. I remember Blake Lively from "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants." She is the current girlfriend of Ryan Reynolds. This movie made her a real movie star to me.

As good as Blake Lively is in this movie - there were no sparks in the romance Adaline had with her love interest, played by Michiel Huisman.

It could have been so good.

It dragged on and on and on and on and on...almost depressing. Would it hurt for something funny to happen in the movie? They took a perfectly good story line, and drained all the romance out of it.

It could have been so good.

I kept wondering when Harrison Ford's character in the movie would show up.

Harrison Ford is one of my favorite actors, but his character (father of Adaline's current boyfriend) was just creepy. He had been Adaline's love interest when he was younger, and their romance was the only believable romance in the movie.

I kept thinking - so - Adaline slept with the father and the son? Yuck.

The narrator in the movie explained "scientifically" why Adaline didn't age - but that drained all the fantasy out of the story. They should have just said it was magic.

My daughters disagree with me. They loved the movie.

Sarah and Faith rated the movie an 8 1/2 out of 10.

I gave it a 4 -- maybe a 3.

Lively's performance is wonderful, and the costumes were beautiful - but frankly - I was bored.

Katherine Heigl was cast as Adaline in 2010, but she withdrew. Heigl said it was because of the adoption of her daughter. Angela Lansbury was originally cast in the role as Adaline's daughter. Ellen Burstyn plays Adaline's daughter in the movie. Natalie Portman was offered the role as Adaline, but declined.