DIY at Home Sticker Remover

In our home we try to recycle everything. I have collecting all empty spice glass jars and the tops for upcoming projects. Rainy days are the perfect days to start a craft project. Today I have plans to start making my Chinese Five Spice jars for Christmas gifts.

I pulled my glass jars out and I soaked them in hot soapy water to loosen up the whole sticker labels for removal. I used a paring knife to scrape off the label. Most off the sticker came off but there was still a sticky film left stuck to the jar. So I grabbed a paper towel and some olive oil and began rubbing the glass jar......wallah....the glass jar is sprinkling clean and all debris has been completely removed.

Happy Crafting!

Kristina McGinnis-Murphy

5 Spiced Chicken Salad

5 Spiced Chicken Salad
by: Kristina McGinnis-Murphy

Cook Time: 45 minutes
Yield: 4-5 servings

Ingredients:
3 Large breasts of chicken or 4 small breasts of chicken
2 Tbs of 5 Spice (Murphy's 5 Spice)
1 tsp of garlic powder
Dash of salt and pepper
2 Tbs rice wine vinegar
2 Tbs of sweet chili sauce
4 cups of romaine lettuce
1 cup of slice carrots
1/2 cup of peanuts or almonds
2 cups of sliced onions
1 Hand full of dried rice noodles

Directions:
Place the chicken in a ziplock plastic bag and add the 5 spice, place in the refrigerator to marinate for 1 hour. Set oven for 350 degrees and bake the chicken for 45 minutes until brown. Set chicken aside to cool down. Boil water in a medium sauce pan and add rice noodles. Boil rice noodles for 10 minutes and turn off heat, strain noodles under cold water and place noodles in refrigerator to cool down.
Clean and chop romaine lettuce and carrots and set a side. Grill sliced onions on a grill or a small pan on medium heat. Set grilled aside to cool down.
Dressing: combine sweet chili sauce and rice wine vinegar in a small bowl and add a dash of garlic powder, salt and pepper. Stir all items together and set a side
Grab a large serving bowl and combine chopped lettuce, carrots, grilled onions and dressing together. Chop chicken into small to medium size cubes and add them and cold rice noodles to the salad bowl and toss.

Notes:
Dinner is served! Add cilantro for a kick or Sriracha for some heat

Easy Homemade Hummus

Hummus is one our favorite healthy snacks. We used to purchase hummus weekly from the grocery store…which costs anywhere from $3 bucks to $6 bucks for a small container. We were delighted to discover how easy it was to make our own hummus at home and it only costs $1-$2 bucks to make. We love to spice up our hummus and it makes a great party dip. 

Easy Homemade Hummus

1 can of organic chickpeas or garbanzo beans

2 tablespoons of toasted sesame seeds

1 small lemon

Extra virgin olive oil

Dashes of paprika

Salt

Pepper

1 Clove of garlic or garlic powder

1 jalapeno or serrano chili pepper (jalapeno for mild heat or a serrano to kick up the heat), remove seeds

Drain chickpeas/garbanzo beans but keep all the juice from the can and set aside to use. Use a small or large food processor and pour olive oil and sesame seeds until they cover the top of the blades and blend. If the seeds do not break up, then add some chickpeas/garbanzo beans and juice from the can and blend until the seeds are completely broken up. Add all chickpeas/garbanzo beans and pour olive oil and juice little by little to loosen up the thickness. Add all other ingredients, squeeze the lemon and blend away. 

Hummus tips: Add a half of avocado to give it some flare…so yummy. Try roasting the peppers and garlic for a fire roasted favorite. 

Pair up with: fresh vegetables, pita chips (Murphy Pita Bread recipe soon to follow), potato chips, or add to a chicken salad and can be used to make your favorite vinaigrette creamy…..the use is endless, please share your fantastic hummus ideas.

Candied Orange, Grapefruit and Lemon Peels

Great use for the discarded fruit peels when juicing

This fun recipe will be featured in the cookbook coming soon.....

Jumpstart Juice

Why buy overly sugared juices from the grocery store, when you can make your own healthier juices at home. My husband and I just started juicing last year and we are in love with our juicer. Juicing has been a fun tool to have in the kitchen….we actually fight over who gets to make the juice for the next day. Since we have juicing we both have noticed a major energy boost to our day. We enjoy all vegetables and fruits which makes it easy to play with different recipes.

Here is one of our favorite easy juicing recipes…Enjoy!

Jumpstart Juice

2 small oranges or 1 large orange

1 large grapefruit

half an apple

1 small/medium nugget of a peeled ginger root

1 cup of kale/spinach

2 small/medium carrots

1 dash of turmeric

1 splash of apple cider vinegar 

Tips: I place an orange first and the ginger in the middle and another orange on top when sending it down the juicer-If you place the ginger first down, the juicer will try to discard the ginger quickly instead of grinding it up. Make sure you core the apple and remove the seeds before sending it down the juicer. I add the dash of turmeric and  splash apple cider vinegar in the juice pitcher and stir it around so that it is an equal mix of all items.

Re-purpose Tips: There are so many wonderful recipes and ideas for the discarded veggies and fruits. I like to use them as compost for my tiny garden and to cook with. Try using the discarded items in a soup or for a bread recipe.