Tasty Tuesday: Lasagna "Cupcakes"

Here comes another recipe, first found on pinterest, of course! I saw someone's pin and thought it sounded like something fun, and a little different. I love lasagna, but it's just so filling, so these bite-ish sized pieces seemed perfect! I thought they'd be a hit with the boyfriend too.

This is the original recipe that I followed, for the most part.

Lasagna Cupcakes

One cup of your favorite pasta sauce

1 lb hamburger meat

18 wonton wrappers

(note- I couldn't find wonton wrappers. I bought rice paper wrappers.

They DID NOT work. In the end, I used tortillas that I ripped into pieces).

8 ounces mozzarella cheese , grated

(note- I bought a tub of mozz balls and used one in each cupcake!)

3 ounces parmesan cheese , grated

4 ounces ricotta cheese

Preheat oven to 375* and spray 6 serving muffin tin with Pam (I did all 12, haha)

Cook hamburger meat, season to taste, drain.

Assemble the lasagnas by lining the muffin tins with pieces of torn tortilla. I started with a dab of ricotta first, and then a mozzarella cheese ball and then a scoop of meat and spoonful of sauce. Then, a sprinkle of parmesan cheese on top of it all. I didn't follow this rule each time...I got a little wild and mixed up the order of some of the layers each time ;)

Bake until the lasagnas are nicely browned, about 20 minutes.

Let cool in the pan for about 5 minutes, then run a knife around the edges and remove from pan.

Ready to bake!

Baked!!!

READY!!!

All in all, these were really delicious, and easy to make. You could certainly add other things if you wanted, like peppers or black olives or something else. Next time I make them, I may use a bit more sauce, as I like my pasta extra saucy. Also, maybe other kinds of cheese? More spices? Who knows! The possibilities are endless!

What's cooking in your kitchen this week???

Coupon for Last Minute Gifts!

You've lost track of time and here it is the 20th of December. You can't believe it, you're aghast. The malls are completely packed and you aren't the type of person who can just buy a random present anyway. Am I right?

I may just be projecting my own feelings. At this point, I've shopped for one person in my family. One. That leaves four more without gifts on Christmas morning. Don't worry I have thoughts for meaningful things under the tree!

For those of you in my same predicament, you can use the code "lastminute" in our shop for 35% off! :) It's my way of easing the burden and sending a not so subtle reminder that Christmas is coming!!!!

In truth, presents are fun at Christmas. But a gift from Scarlet Threads provides pathway out of poverty for a woman a world away and forges a permanent connection between the recipient, the giver, and the artisan producer. Wow.

Another quick way to give and save this Christmas! Have you seen our posts about Wendy? We are seeking to raise $5,000 to cover her medical expenses at New Day Foster Home. At five years old, the poor darling was abandoned a few weeks ago, with a heart problem requiring immediate attention. Two shops (Delicate Fortress Creations and Seven Hopes United) joined with us to provide $30.00 in gift coupons ($10 to each shop) to each donor who contributes $25.00 or more. We also received generous offers from three sponsors to match the funds we raise! So, when we raise $5,000, we will receive $10,000 in matching funds and a total of $15,000 will be sent to New Day!

Have a joyous Christmas season! Thank you so much for letting us be a part of your lives this year. We are so lucky to have the ST community who can share in our passion for women in need of work and special needs orphans in rural China. We are grateful for your continued support and understanding!

Blessings.

A Joyful Gift: Wendy's Story

Last night was a big night for sweet little Wendy.

She had a very risky heart surgery... and she survived.  Which is a miracle in and of itself.  The surgeons gave many warnings as they began the operation:

1. Wendy was just abandoned in August 2011 at four years old. The surgeons told NDFH the optimum time to have done her surgery was when she was 3 or 4 months old.
2. 30% of children with this condition die following surgery.
3. They will try to complete the repair in one surgery.
4. Without surgery she had NO chance of survival. Even with surgery the chance of survival is small.
5. Post surgery she will need to be on medication to try and reduce the hypertension. This medication is quite expensive and she will need to be on it at least a year.
6. She will need frequent checkups and close monitoring to monitor the hypertension.
7. She will be on limited activity. She might have no symptoms, but even slight activity could cause her heart to fail.

We're all so thankful she survived the surgery, but now she's begun another journey, just as dangerous... a journey of recovery.  We're still working to raise the funds to cover the cost of Wendy's medical treatment, and we ask that each of you will consider giving to help NDFH as they work to save Wendy's life.  But even more than that, we ask that you will keep sweet Wendy in your thoughts and prayers.  She needs us now more than ever.  Of course, the funds are needed to pay for her surgery.  But more importantly, Wendy needs our love and care and prayers and encouragement.

She has such a sad story.  We may never know the real reason behind her abandonment, but generally it seems that when a child is abandoned with a serious medical problem at a late age, it is because the family knows medical care is needed that they cannot provide.  It is a bit like putting Moses in the basket... you know you can't give what is needed to save her life, so you pray someone else might.

Her basket led her, thankfully, to New Day Foster Home.  A place just as concerned with her emotional health as they are with repairing her broken heart.  But can you imagine a little four year old experiencing abandonment, an orphanage, a new home, and a major surgery all in the course of four months?  And experiencing the surgery without her mama and daddy by her side? She has experienced much trauma and sadness these last few months... we can be a small part of changing her story to one of hope and love.  Just think, when she's ten and her adoptive family tells her that her life-saving surgery was provided by a group of strangers who gave for the pure joy of sharing life and love with a little girl they'll never know...

That, my friends, is the power of redemption... turning pain and brokenness and tragedy - something this world is far too full of - to hope and new life and restoration.  We can be a part of this redemption.  Won't you join us?

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And remember, in this holiday gift-giving season when if you're like me, you are scrambling for last-minute gifts, a $25 contribution to the Joyful Gift fundraising drive gets you three $10-off coupons valid with Delicate Fortress, 7 Hopes United, and Scarlet Threads.  That's $30 worth of coupons for a $25 donation!  Need last-minute gift ideas?  All of these retailers offer great gifts that give back to the artisans who created them.  Just e-mail carrie@scarletthreads.org for your coupon codes after you make your $25 or more donation!  (All donations go directly to NDFH, a registered 501c3 nonprofit, are matched by a fund established by NDFH-adoptive families, and are tax-deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law!)

Announcement! Rewarding Joyful Gifts

Friends!

Please don't forget our Joyful Gift matching funds drive going on, now! We are seeking to sponsor two special needs orphans' surgeries at New Day Foster Home in our village in rural China. Please click here for more details! To date, we've already raised $960 - I am totally impressed and awestruck by the generosity of our ST community. Thank you!

News!
I am excited to announce that two of our very dear friends (and retailers) who share our heart for the forgotten ones, are joining us to raise $5,000 for Wendy's heart surgery.

Seven Hopes United
and
Delicate Fortress Creations

When you contribute $25.00 (or more!) via the chip-in at the top right, you will be eligible for a $10.00 gift card in our Scarlet Threads shop. Here's the fun part, Seven Hopes will match that $10.00 gift card with another gift card for use in their shop! AND, Delicate Fortress will match it AGAIN with a $10.00 gift card in their shop!

(Donors: please send an email to Carrie@ScarletThreads.org to receive the gift certificate codes.)

That is $30.00 in gift cards for a $25.00 donation. Can it get any better? Oh yes, yes it can!

This is Wendy!

One other huge blessing is that two very generous anonymous sponsors have pledged matching funds up to $2,500! That means when we reach our $5,000 goal, we will have raised $10,000 total for Wendy's life-saving heart surgery. Carrie will be putting up a profile on this sweet little one who is in desperate need in coming days. We will also be sponsoring Asa's surgery - look for her profile coming soon!

In the mean time, please visit New Day Foster Home to find out more about their worthy mission to care for special needs orphans in China.

This just in, we have another very generous anonymous sponsor who has pledged additional matching funds up to $5,000! That means it isn't $10,000, but $15,000 total that will be raised for Wendy's heart surgery!

If you are a retailer interested in matching the $10.00 gift card offer, please contact Carrie@ScarletThreads.org!

New Day Foster Home is a non-profit organization and all donations are tax deductible.

{Almost} Wordless Wednesday: A Joyful Gift

The Joyful Gift fund will be paying for Wendy's much-needed heart surgery when we reach our goal.

A Joyful Gift

We had our first snow today.  And I sat outside with my daughter, watching her experience for the first time the way snowflakes feel when they catch on your eyelashes.  The snow took me back to the last time I felt the crunch of winter's whiteness under my feet... 

I was walking to one of my last days of work at New Day Foster Home, a few days before we were to move back to the USA.  Nearly four years had passed since we had moved to a little village outside of Beijing, and our lives had changed so much in China.  We came a family of two, and we were leaving a family of three - four if you counted the dog!  (Which I do.)  And in those four years, we saw so much pain and brokenness... sick babies, abandoned little ones, broken hearts.  But what stands out the most is the LIFE... children coming into the foster home who were barely surviving, leaving a few short months later with their adoptive families, so full of life!

Scarlet Threads was birthed in this same village... the same village where we loved on those little orphans and prayed them back to health.  The same village where we learned that so many families are fractured and splintered because of simple economics.  There is no money, so mama must move to another place to find work.  There is no money for a baby's life-saving surgery, so the tiny one is left in a hospital's back hallway with the hope that someone can give what they cannot.  Scarlet Threads was born out of a desire to provide economic development opportunities for women so that they could preserve their families and protect their children.

But there are still orphans.  And thankfully, there are organizations like NDFH providing hope and a future for them.  This Christmas season, Scarlet Threads is partnering with NDFH and some generous donors to sponsor a matching-fund drive.  Two anonymous donor families have each offered $2,500 to be matched.  That means if we're able to raise $5,000 in the next month, NDFH will receive $10,000.  Ten thousand dollars goes a long ways in that little Chinese village... it can provide a heart surgery!

So here's what we're doing.  We want to raise $5,000 in the next month.  If we reach the goal, it will be matched to $10,000.  You can make a contribution using the ChipIn box at the top right of this blog.  All funds go directly to NDFH, which is a 501c3 non-profit, so your contribution is tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law.

And to make it a little sweeter, for every $25 contribution you make, you will receive a coupon worth $10 off in the Scarlet Threads shop.  If you would like to be issued a coupon, please e-mail carrie@scarletthreads.org with your name, email address, and the amount you contributed.  We will not be sending all donors a coupon - only those who request one - so be sure to let us know if it is something you want to receive!

It is a busy time of year - with many things pulling for our resources and our attention.  But when we spend a morning playing in the snow with our little ones, remembering just how richly we have been blessed, we will find that giving life and hope and love to others is really the most joyful gift of all.

Tasty Tuesday: a fun appetizer

Several weeks ago, I was home in NH for the weekend. My best friend had a baby in July, and I hadn't met him yet (gasp!). She and her husband planned his baptism for a Sunday, and I wasn't going to be home for Thanksgiving, so it seemed like a good reason to go. Plus, it was Veterans Day weekend, and she and her husband are both Vets, and I had Friday off. Also, their older son is my godson Jackson. Winning all around!

My family is big on cocktail hour. We have cocktails and snacks, and have for as long as I can remember. I do think that this is a big reason why I like cheese and crackers so much! My grandmother drinks a Manhattan, my mother, vodka on the rocks and my father, likely Scotch. Me? I don't seem to have a signature cocktail these days. Should I? Do you?

Anyway, I digress.

Are you familiar with the food company called Schwanns? It is an online food and grocery delivery service, mostly frozen foods, and my parents have used them for a long time. They have some great products and all sorts of fun things. With each delivery, they leave a catalogue and a date they will return, a couple of weeks later. I was flipping through the catalogue and saw a recipe that I thought looked fun. My grandmother was coming over for dinner that night, and I thought this would be a great snack to make, and I thought she'd get a kick out of it. It was Schwanns Meatball Roll-up with Queso Dip!

Meatball Roll-Up with Queso Dip

Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes
Number of Servings: 14-16

Ingredients-

1 Starter Crust, slightly thawed
1 cup roasted peppers, drained and chopped
16 Italian Style Meatballs, frozen
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp
seasoning (coarse salt, pepper, garlic, parsley, chives)
1 tray Roasted Pepper Queso Dip, prepared

Steps-

1. Preheat oven to 425°F.

2. Cut crust into 16 slices starting from the center and leaving edges uncut.

3. Drizzle peppers over raw crust.

4. Place meatballs in center of cut crust and roll to outer edges. Push down slightly to secure.

5. Brush olive oil over crust and sprinkle with seasoning.

6. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

7. Pour prepared queso into a round serving dish and place in center for dipping sauce.

My notes-

We didn't used the red peppers.

I forgot the drizzle olive oil and sprinkle with seasonings until about halfway through.

It was still delicious!

We used marinara sauce for dipping too!

Before...

After!


I will say that the pieces are a bit clumsy, as the part with the meatball tends to break off the crust part, since it's heavier, but it really is a two or three bite snack anyway!

Snacks!



This was definitely a fun thing to make, and my grandmother loved it. It would be a great snack for one of your holiday parties!

What is your favorite appetizer?