Thursday's Giveaway!

Here we go! Another fun giveaway.

You will get four printables in your choice of 5X7 or 8x10.

AND a fun target gift card!

This is a collage of the four printables, but can be printed as four separate items.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

New Fall Pumpkin Recipe: Tikvenik

Hi! May name is Katie R.! My husband and I are adopting from Bulgaria. I have a Bulgarian cook book I have been trying out! Since it is fall and I was in the mood for pumpkin, I recently tried my hand at Tikvenik, a Bulgarian pumpkin desert. The recipe calls for making phyllo dough by hand and getting a pie pumpkin and preparing it from scratch. Are you kidding me?! I am sure it would be delicious that way, and maybe someday I will try it! But, I went to the store and bought ready made phyllo and a can of pure pumpkin! This recipe was so delicious, I thought I would share it with you! Below is my time-saver version! But if you have time and are in the mood, feel free to make your own dough and go for it with the pumpkin!

Ingredients:

• 1 Can of Pure Pumpkin
• 1 Cup Brown Sugar 
• 1 Tbsp. Cinnamon
• 1 1/2 Cup Walnuts, Coarsely Chopped
• 1/2 lb Phyllo Dough (the box I bought had 2 half pound packages inside. Save 1 package for next time!)
• 1 Stick Butter, Melted
• Sifted Powdered Sugar for Garnish

Serves: 12

Step 1
Spread the walnuts out on a cookie sheet and toast them in the oven on 350 for 12- 15 minutes. Turning every 5 minutes. Don't skip this step! Toasting them brings out their flavor! Cool the walnuts. Set out your frozen phyllo to thaw while the nuts toast and cool.

Step 2
Blend the pumpkin, cinnamon, and brown sugar together. Stir in toasted, cooled walnuts.

Step 3
Unfold the Phyllo. Take 2 sheets and spread with melted butter. At the end closest to you, spread 1/2 cup of the pumpkin mix.

Fold the side edges over to seal and roll the up the pumpkin.

Don't worry if you get dough cracks a little. Just keep rolling!

Coil the roll in a spiral pattern on a greased cookie sheet to begin a spiral. Repeat Step 3, adding each roll to the spiral  until all your pumpkin mixture and phyllo are used up!

Step 4
Brush the whole Tikvenik with the remaining melted butter. Bake in preheated oven at 425 until slightly brown. Reduce heat to 350 and continue to bake about 40 more minutes until the Tikvenik is golden brown (and a delicious aroma fills your home!)

Step 5
Cool to room temperature. Sprinkle with powdered sugar right before serving. Enjoy!

PS. We ate the leftovers cold, straight from the refrigerator for breakfast. It was delicious that way too!

Time For The Wednesday Giveaway!!

Are you having fun yet?   Let's do it again!  Enter to win this awesome bracelet set from She Does Justice!   (made by MudLove)  You need to check out her site.  She has cool handmade items and loves to support different projects.  Thank you, Megan, for donating these beauties!

Since I love Rafflecopter so much, we're using it again! Enter away!!a Rafflecopter giveaway

 Be sure and check back with us tomorrow to see who won and enter the next giveaway. 

Don't forget to tell your friends about us and if you're adopting, we want you to be on our blog!

Thanks for stopping by today! 

Tuesday and A Giveaway!

Hey there! Happy Tuesday! Thanks for stopping by the new place.  Do you love it?  We do!
I really want you to win something this week.  Today's prize is a tee shirt (from yours truly) and I'll throw in a Starbucks card for good measure.

 We're using Rafflecopter  because it's awesome.  Here ya go..... a Rafflecopter giveaway

Be sure to sign up for emails.....you don't want to miss anything!
We're glad you're here.  Thanks for following along.  See you tomorrow!!

Let's Roll

I had planned on being calm and collected while  introducing you to this, our awesome blog merge.

 But, who am I kidding?!?

This is ridiculously AWESOME!

We are having a good old fashioned party all week long.

P.A.R.T.Y.

See, we have merged. All the continents, back together at last.

We have updated our look.

We are going to have a larger group to bring our families even more funding.

You will get to hear from more than just me. 

Glory be!!

We are going crazy on all kinds of social media sites.

We've got Pinterest, twitter, google plus, and facebook covered.

P.A.R.T.Y.

We have a super cool store now! 

http://give1save1store.storenvy.com/

We have worked ridiculously hard to bring

you some items to help you in your own fundraising.

We also have some Give1Save1 gear coming soon!

P.A.R.T.Y.

Oh....and a small little thing called giveaways.

All.Week.Long.

Today's giveaways is brought to us by one of my favorite stores,

Justlove127!

Remember Lisa Maxfield? 

Find her blog at www.justlove127.com. Leave her some love.

She donated one of her awesome necklaces 

for a giveaway today!

I own one. You want this. Heck, I want it.

Wait, I can enter too, right?

I just might.

Go check out her store. You won't regret it. 

                                                             a Rafflecopter giveaway

Dumplings!

I'm trying ya'll. My boy loves his Chinese food, but I'm a little too steeped in American ways and not nearly patient enough. These Chinese cooks spend forever on their food! But every so often I can give it a whirl.

This took an entire two days to make. Two days! But it was worth it when I saw the look on my boy's face as these were steaming away. 

Dumpling Dough

Two cups of flour to 1 1/2 cups of water

(I added a bit more flour as it seemed tacky to me)

So mix it with your hands. Yep your hands.

Let it sit for two hours.

Knead it.

Let it sit for two hours...again.

Knead it...again.

Let it sit overnight.

Dude, I warned you...two whole days.

The next day you roll it out at thin as possible and cut it into round circles about six inches in diameter.

Dumpling Filling

You can add and choose your own fillings but this is what I used.

I cooked the pork a day in advance.

I put the pork into the steamer with green onions on the side for flavor. 

(Forgive me, I was out of leeks)

I then chopped very finely an onion and more green onions.

*You must drain as much water from the onions or vegetables as possible*

Wrap them in cheesecloth and twist until water drips out of the cloth

Mix ginger, soy sauce and sesame oil in with the veggies.

Shred the pork very finely or grind it in a processor.

Now, take those blessed little circles of dough that you currently want to scream at and place a scoop of the meat mixture slightly off center, wet the edges of the circle.
Pinch from both the left side and right side into the middle.
Fold the left and right side to form an "envelope" shape with the dough.

Don't worry, you are almost finished now.

If you would like to steam them then place a paper towel in the bottom of the steamer.

Wait for it to fill with steam and add your precious little dumplings in until they are nearly transparent.

5-10 minutes and DONE.

Phew. You did it.

Now...find a maid to clean up the mess cause, Sister, "Ain't nobody got time for that."

Being Prepared

I'm adopting a toddler! She should be joining our family very soon, so I've been getting our house ready for her.  We have to baby-proof everything, put the finishing touches on her room, we just bought a booster seat for our dining room and I'm in the market for a car seat.  Busy, busy!    But, more importantly, we're trying to prepare for her needs.  I've been reading, trying to gain a better understanding of what she may experience when she leaves the home she knows and joins ours.

"Adoptive parents will want to have at least a rudimentary knowledge of the developmental tasks of toddlers so they can respond appropriately to their child's behaviors and plan activities that stimulate their development. Children need to be parented according to their developmental age, which may not correspond to their chronological age. Many adopted toddlers display acute grief during their first weeks and months at home, seen in crying, withdrawal, poor appetite, seeking behavior, sleep difficulties, fear, or infantile behaviors. Acknowledging and supporting their child's grief is one of the first acts of love adoptive parents can give their new toddler. Grieving toddlers should be supported in their need to grieve the loss of former caregivers. Offering well-known food and maintaining a familiar routine is comforting. Accommodating a grieving toddler's need for being fed or comforted in a manner usually reserved for infants also supports the grief and provides a wonderful opportunity to develop attachment."    Read more at Rainbow Kids,  Toddler Adoption: More Than You May Expect.

Parents who've already brought children home, what did you do to prepare for your child's needs?