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Sunday, July 24, 2011

Arts and Crafts Examiner: Weekly Wrap-up July 24, 2011

This week at the Arlington Heights Arts and Crafts Examiner, I focused more on what events where happening in the area rather than making crafts.

Here is the week in review:

Lake County Discovery Museum: Quilt Treasures



CraftFancy: July 2011 Classes and Events




Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio



Snickerdoodle Dreams Design Team Call



CHA Summer 2011 Highlights



Hope you enjoyed a look at this week’s articles and will check again next week for more arts, crafts, and events!

Creativity Bug ~ Sue

Friday, July 22, 2011

Recipe Friday: Flank Steak Beef with Vegetable Kebobs

I love making dinners that are easy to put together, taste delicious, and looks great on your plate. Today’s recipe is for flank steak marinated in a spice rub that has been skewered with summertime vegetables and grilled to perfection. Serve it with BBQ sauce for an added kick to your palate.

Flank Steak and Vegetable Kebobs


Ingredients:

2 lb beef flank steak, cut into 1 ½ inch pieces
8 button mushrooms
8 cherry tomatoes
1 small zucchini or yellow squash, cut into ¾ inch pieces
1 small sweet red onion, cut into wedges
1 small green, orange, or red sweet pepper, cut into 1 inch pieces
2 Tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper
Spice Rub (see recipe below)
BBQ Sauce (from the bottle or see recipe below)

Directions:
  • In a large bowl, combine Spice Rub and steak pieces. Stir to coat steak.
  • Brush mushrooms and vegetables with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
  • On eight long metal skewers, alternately thread steak, mushrooms, tomatoes, zucchini, onion, and sweet pepper.
  • For a charcoal grill, grill skewers on the rack of an uncovered grill directly over medium coals for 8 to 12 minutes or until desired doneness, turning occasionally.
  • For a gas grill, preheat grill. Reduce heat to medium. Place skewers on grill rack over heat. Cover; grill as above.
  • Serve meat and vegetables with BBQ Sauce. Makes 8 servings.

Spice Rub:
In a small bowl, stir together 4 teaspoons garlic powder; 1 teaspoon dried oregano, crushed; 1/2 teaspoon sea salt; 1/2 teaspoon sugar; 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed; 1/2 teaspoon paprika; and 1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper.
BBQ Sauce:
In a 2-quart saucepan, stir together 5 cloves roasted garlic or 2 teaspoons bottled minced roasted garlic, 1 cup ketchup, 1/2 cup finely chopped celery, 1/2 cup finely chopped red onion, 1/2 cup water, 1/4 cup packed brown sugar, 1/4 cup butter, 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce, 1/4 cup cider vinegar, 1 tablespoon chili powder, 1 teaspoon instant espresso powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves, 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, and 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, about 25 minutes or until thickened, stirring occasionally. Cool slightly. Transfer to a blender or food processor. Cover and blend or process until smooth. Makes about 1-3/4 cups.
This dish is great served with rice and a garden fresh salad.
Enjoy this simply easy and tasty meal!
Creativity Bug ~ Sue

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

BESTeam Weekly Feature - Ancient Oils

This week’s BESTeam Etsy featured shop is Ancient Oils.

Ancient Oils is an aromatherapy and essential oil business run by Lilly DelValle from Cincinnati Ohio. Lilly holds a degree in Metaphysics and various certifications in Holistic Energy Healing. She has studied and practiced various modalities of Holistic & Spiritual Healing.

Lilly enjoys working with essential oil due to their healing and spiritual properties. The practice of using essential oils is commonly referred to as aromatherapy, and is used for physical and psychological well-being. In ancient times, sweet smelling oils were more respected for both medicinal and their healing properties than scent. Essential oils are often referred to as "Mankind's First Medicine"
.
The Goddess blends from Ancient Oils are uniquely design to enhance the Goddess principals within you, remove blockages in energy centers, and lift your spirits.



An empowering blend for balancing the Solar Plexus chakra.  Athena was a very tender and loving goddess viewing everyone as a sister and is said to protect and oversee those who call upon her.  The Solar plexus is the seat of Emotions. When we are experiencing an imbalance we can be overly stubborn, critical and quick to anger. When we are in balance, we regain a sense of confidence, well being and happiness.



This metallic atomizer with silver diamond design is the right compliment to your purse, glove box, or home vanity. Slightly larger than a tube of lipstick, this convenient spray bottle contains 5 mls of pure essential oil perfume and can be refilled time and time again with new fragrances or with your favorite fragrance.



Hestia, therapeutic foot Scrub is soothing and relaxing, this pedicure soap scrub brings the spa experience right into your very home! This wonderful 2 layer soap has an embedded luffa scrub that slough away dead skin cells as it massages, soothes then washes away the stresses of the day. The bottom layer is enriched with oatmeal to moisturize the skin and relieve itching. 

These are just a few of the wonderful items in this shop’s collection, so make sure you stop by the Etsy shop for more. Don’t forget to check out the Living Vibrations blog for great features, product reviews, and testimonials.

The Creativity Bugs love the opportunity to promote other artisans including the fellow Estians but especially the BESTeam group. These friendly, talented, and very hardworking individuals work together to promote their shops and help others with marketing, advertising, and tips and tricks for running an online business. If you are a seller on Etsy, have a blog, and either FB or twitter, then you might be interested in joinging the BESTeam. You can find information about the team, as well as apply for membership HERE!

Happy Shopping!
Creativity Bug ~ Sue 

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Summer CHA 2011 Sneak Peaks


The Summer CHA 2011 is now underway here in Chicago. Here are a few sneak peaks of products to be hitting local crafting stores soon.

Nikki Sivils

Gingerbread Land Collection


Get Well Collection


School is Cool Collection


SEI

Promise Me Collection


Silver Valley Collection


My Little Shoebox

Pretty Little Things Collection


Destination Collection


Audrey Collection


Anyone else getting excited about all the new products?!

Happy Crafting!
Creativity Bug ~ Sue

Monday, July 18, 2011

Featured Freebies for the Week of July 18th

Here are this week’s links to fabulous freebie images, printables, and digital stamps that we found on the web, on blogs, or were sent to us from our friends and followers.

Beccy from Beccy’s Place shares with us a bunch of great digital printables including: apple basket, bumble bee, ice cream cone, and berry branch

Bugaboo Stamps is kicking off its Christmas in July event with a free Christmas digital stamp

Pink Gem Designs is also in the Christmas in July spirit and shares her Reindeer in Boxers digital stamp

Sew Many Cards shares a link to a love tree digital image

Melonheadz Illustrating has been busy this week sharing a new collection of printables including: little family, tennis boy, gymnast, squirrel, and broken arm Kella

That’s all for this week we have for you this week.

Happy Crafting!
Creativity Bug ~ Sue

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Arts and Crafts Examiner: Weekly Wrap-up July 17, 2011

Today starts the third week of my new adventure as a freelance writer for the Arlington Heights Arts and Crafts Examiner.  It has been fun creating projects, interviewing local businesses, and attending many local arts and craft events.

Here are a few of last week’s articles that may be of interest:












Hope you enjoyed a look at this week’s articles and will check again next week for more arts, crafts, and events!
Creativity Bug ~ Sue

Friday, July 15, 2011

Recipe Friday: Pasta Bolognese

I never met a bowl of pasta that I didn’t love and my hips can prove that. Today’s recipe is from Prevention magazine and is for a healthy version of pasta Bolognese. It is a delicious alternative to the heavy fat content of the original, substituting turkey and lean sirloin for the veal and beef of the traditional version. Trust me when I say this dish is phenomenal and you won’t notice that it is lower in calories and fat.


Ingredients:

Directions:

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
Add the garlic, carrot, celery, and onion and saute until the vegetables are cooked through, about 5 minutes.
Add the turkey, pork, and ground sirloin and stir with a wooden spoon until the meat is no longer pink.
Drain any accumulated fat from the bottom of the pan and add the tomatoes, tomato paste, broth, milk, and bay leaves.
Turn the heat down and simmer for at least 30 minutes (and up to 2 hours), until the sauce has thickened. Season to taste with salt and pepper and keep warm.
Cook the pasta in a large pot of salted boiling water according to the package instructions. Drain the pasta and toss with hot sauce. Serve sprinkled with Parmesan.

Nutritional Facts:


CALORIES
  507.6 CAL
FAT
  11.9 G
SATURATED FAT
  4.3 G
SODIUM
  463.9 MG
CARBOHYDRATES
  67.7 G
TOTAL SUGARS
  10.6 G
DIETARY FIBER
  4.5 G
PROTEIN
  32 G

Happy Eating!
Creativity Bug ~ Sue