Cheesy Crunch Balls

 

Yum, delicious, and scrumptious!

A truthful description of these Cheesy Crunch Balls!

Especially if you are a fan of tasty Pringles Chips!

Easy to make.

And as you all know I love easy-to-make recipes.

In fact, at a recent visit to my Mamas in the beautiful South Island of New Zealand she produced an old recipe book full of them.

Watch out for future foodie posts here on Mia Bella Passions.

But let's get back to the Cheesy Crunch Balls...

But I have to be honest - I feel that I did make them a bit too big.

So if you want one bite-size, do make them smaller.

You Need:

250 grams (9 oz) of Cream Cheese

1 cup of grated Gouda cheese

1 Tablespoon of sour cream

1 teaspoon of finely chopped basil 

1/2 teaspoon of finely chopped rosemary

245-gram can of sour cream and onion Pringles chips

(can be substituted for another brand if you wish but make sure they are thin-style chips)  

To Make:

In a bowl place the cream cheese, grated cheese, sour cream and chopped herbs.

Mix together.

Add 1 cup of crushed chips.

Mix again.

With clean hands make them into balls.

Roll in the remaining crushed chips.

This makes 12 large balls.

(though next time I will make smaller bite-sized balls as I think that would be better  :) )

Place on a plate and place a cocktail skewer through the ball.

Chill for half an hour before serving.

Chips and dip in a ball.

What's not to love about these?

Printable recipe HERE.

#appetizers #snacks #Horsdoeuvres

Buddha Quote

A new seascape photographic quote for you.

Featuring the words of Buddha.

You think you have time.

But time seems to fly by.

And once it's gone, those precious moments of time that have passed will never return.

So live now.

Take the job.

Go on the trip.

Do that course.

Learn something new you have always dreamed you would do.

Love like you have never loved.

Don't let time pass you by.

For updates about the latest blog posts,

you can join for free HERE.

#buddha #buddhaquotes #photographicquote #seaquote

#beachquotes

The Beautiful Magnolia - Felix Jury

Felix Jury is an award-winning magnolia bred by New Zealand plantsman Mark Jury.

It truly is the most spectacular Spring small flowering tree.

And once planted will bloom at a young age.

In maturity, Felix Jury magnolia will treat you seasonally with hundreds of flowers on the compact tree.

You can depend on this beauty to perform year after year with very little care from you.

So if we bullet point information here's what you get:

*The flowers are highly fragrant and measure up to 30 centimetres in diameter.

*The foliage is an attractive lighter green colour.

*The flower is a gorgeous hot pink colour.

*You'll only need to prune it in early training.

*Felix Jury magnolia will grow in most climates.

*It's an ideal small tree for the garden as it only grows 4.5 metres high by 2.5 metres wide.

*Deciduous.

*Hardiness: Hardy.

*Planting season: Winter.

*Planting location: Full sun.

*Planting position: Moist

*Feeding: Slow-release fertilizer in Spring.

Felix Jury Magnolia is an excellent landscape tree because of its form and large colourful flowers.

At Mia Bella Homestead my tree often had second flowers appear once the leaves appeared.

Many people visiting the garden commented on its serene beauty.

GRAB A COFFEE AND POP OVER TO MY GIFT STORES AT

FINE ART AMERICA

SAATCHI ART

#magnolias #felixmagnolia #floweringtrees #gardentrees

DIY Dinosaur Treat Jar To Make

I've been playing around with a lot of glass of late and creating homemade gifts to give.

Homemade always offers a special uniqueness, it's personal,

can save money and is a fabulous outlet for your creativity.

The 'Dinosaur Treat Jar' is very simple to make.

All you need is:

A jar with a screw lid.

A plastic dinosaur toy.

Spray paint in the colour of your choice.

Strong glue 

Lolly treats.

I used a square-style preserving jar.

I used the same style jar for the Pretty Pressed Flower Vase

which is also a wonderful homemade gift.

To Make:

Place the jar lid on the newspaper in a well-ventilated area.

Spray the lid with spray paint.

Paint the dinosaur toy too.

Leave to dry.

Glue the dinosaur onto the lid.

The glue I used is called Araldite because it has a super strong hold!

Leave overnight for the glue to set.

Fill the jar with treats.

I used 'The Natural Confectionary Co' lollies which are 25% less sugar with no artificial colours or flavouring.

Quite conveniently they have the cutest little dinosaur treats in their range.

Add a bow to the jar neck if you want to or leave it plain.

And there you have a fabulous homemade gift that kids little or big will love!

#homemadegifts #DIYgifts #dinosaurs #treatjars

Garlicky Roast Mushrooms

 Enjoy them on their own as a meat-free meal with a green salad.

Or present them as a sidekick to your next steak meal.

Super quick to whip up, you'll be devouring them in 15 minutes!

To make it, you will need:

6 portabello medium-size mushrooms.

Trim the stalks.

Place in a non-stick baking dish.

Dice 2 cloves of garlic and finely chop 1 tablespoon of fresh thyme sprigs.

Sprinkle over the tops of the mushrooms.

Mix 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar and 5 Tablespoons of olive oil.

Drizzle over the mushrooms.

Grind seasoning of salt and pepper over top and place in a preheated oven heated to 180 degrees Celcius.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes.

Serve immediately.

I served mine as a main meal with a bacon, chicken and vegetable stir fry.

You can enjoy them on their own with toasted sourdough bread for breakfast.

Or they are delicious with steak and coleslaw.

Printable recipe HERE.

#mushrooms #sidedishes #healthyfood #mushroomrecipes

Pretty Pressed Flower Vase

Homemade gifts are always wonderful to receive, so here is an idea for gifting.

You can place the pressed (not dried)  flowers onto any glass object.

I have used a preserving jar that has a nice shape with square faces.

The first thing you need to do is gather the flowers.

Select various flowers and leaves.

And more than you need in case of any pressing fails.

This does happen!

 This technique is the old-fashioned way where you use a book.

Just like we did when we were kids, before the invention of flower press contraptions.

Just place the flowers and leaves between two pieces of newspaper.

Insert in the book.

Do this with all the flowers and leave a gap of about 10 pages between every insertion.

Make sure you use an old unwanted book as the moisture may ruin the pages.

Put the book in a warm place. 

Add more weight by piling more books on top.

Leave for two weeks.

Then carefully remove it from the newspaper and place them on a white sheet of paper so you can see what you will have to use.

On the side of the clean glass vessel, Spread a layer of Mod Podge glue.

Place your flower design onto that.

Leave to dry.

Then proceed on around the jar or on one face - that is entirely up to you.

Leave to dry once more.

Then place a final coating of modpodge on all the flower areas.

Dry for two days.

Seal with clear spray sealer.

Dry again.

There is quite a bit of drying time involved, but it really is worth it in the end!

You can use dried flowers, but I find pressing for a few weeks is sufficient.

The glue seals any moisture left in the flowers as does the sealer.

To finish I tied a simple thin rope bow at the neck of the jar.

Fill your vessel.

I have placed a bunch of garden flowers into my jar.

But you could display dried flowers in the vase.

And tied a simple twine bow at the neck of the jar.

Fun to create, this is a lovely homemade gift, or keep it for yourself.

.

For TLee's art and photographic prints, visit  https://www.saatchiart.com/tlee

Art and Photographic prints @ https://www.saatchiart.com/tlee

#flowercraft #DIYgifts