Lamp Revamp

Our free lamp (actually we have 2) that David didn't want me to take home because it was "ugly" It took me less than an hour to revamp it into a completely new lamp.

Free Dresser+ left over can of spray paint from dresser + knobs from Hobby Lobby= $7 dresser

Free lamp+ random scraps of lace + left over can of spray paint from dresser+ flower I made from old t-shirt scraps= basically free.
Found antique milk bottles from goodwill and filled them with big gum balls and stuck a long orange candle in it. Antique crochet table runner from goodwill or garage sale...can't remember now. Plus the amazing bird quilt in the background that my wonderful mother made me for Christmas!

Moved!

I have been MIA from the blogging & Facebook world for a bit because we finally MOVED! Yey!! I am so happy to not be right next to the noisy freeway anymore, and we are in our own little blue vintage house. I have been busy as a bee sewing curtains and painting our new free furniture (I love the Airmans Attic) We picked up these two dressers....

David built an extra closet because ours was so small, I am working on sewing curtains to go around it. SIMPLE!

So excited to have our OWN place not connected to anyone in any way. We have a huge backyard and our first garage! Now I am just waiting for it to warm up so I can plant and enjoy our big yard =)

Pinwheel Appetizers

3 cups cooked wild rice

1 pack (8oz) cream cheese

2 T fresh or dried Parsley

1/2 T garlic powder

1/2 T Dijon mustard

2 to 3 drops hot pepper sauce

tortillas

thinly sliced turkey

fresh spinach

Mix ingredients together, the hot rice will help melt the cream cheese making it very easy to stir. Spread the mixture out on the tortilla and roll as tightly as possible, then cut. Tooth pick them together, or allow to chill over night and they will probably hold together better.

Corn-Mango Salsa

1 cup of frozen corn, thawed

1 ripe mango

2 inch chunk cucumber

6 grape tomatoes

1/4 cup red or yellow bell pepper

1/4 cup red onion

juice and zest of one lemon

1 T olive oil

1 T rice vinegar

1/4 t garlic powder

1/4 t red pepper

1/4 t salt

1/4 t black pepper

1/4 cup cilantro

Chop everything up and throw in a bowl and toss.

Valentines Day was wonderful yesterday, David surprised me by taking the day off work and planning fun things for us to do all day. I had a really good day and made me forget about the stress of packing and moving.

This is Janky, he passed last summer but I still think of him often and remember how much joy he brought into our life. This is Janky last year at Valentines Day.

Headbands

A few months ago when I was home in California I sold a few of my crocheted headbands to my friends. I just recently got some more orders and will possibly be selling in a few local stores there. These are the headbands I just sent to my sweet hometown in CA today =) Safe travels, wish I was going too!

Valentines

Carob Peppermint Bark

I am a fan of peppermint any time of the year, not just Christmas. I stocked up on candy canes this year when all the Christmas sales hit. Here is a easy way to make peppermint bark.

Melt your chocolate, or carob, in a double boiler and pour into whatever molds you might have.
Then pour in the white chocolate, or what I used was a coconut based chocolate. Sounds like too many strange flavors that shouldn't go together but it was surprisingly amazing.

Crush up your candy canes and sprinkle on top before the chocolate hardens. And your done, super simple. Don't spend a bunch of money buying peppermint bark in a cute little tin when you can make it yourself for way cheaper!

Black Bean Burgers

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

2 T mayonnaise

1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves

1 T bread crumbs

1/2 t ground cumin

1/2 t hot pepper sauce

1 cup sliced lettuce

whole wheat pita's

cooking spray

salsa

Mash all the ingredients together with a potato masher. Shape into patties, spray both sides with non stick cooking spray. Heat skillet when hot, drop the patties on to them and cook till lightly browned, about 3 min per side.

Arrange lettuce on pitas, top with burger, then salsa if you would like also.

Dairy Free Ice Cream

My sister-in-law made the best ice cream when we were over at her house and I have been meaning to try it for a while now. I finally did and ~wow~ super good. I can't wait for summer to experiment with more flavors!

1 frozen bananas

2 cups of frozen strawberries

15 drops of liquid stevia

1/4 cup non dairy milk

(I used almond, next time will try coconut with some frozen pineapple...*excited*)

Throw everything in your vita mixer and mix until creamy. Add more milk if your mixer can't blend it all.

Here is chocolate ice cream

2 frozen bananas

1 T cocoa or carob powder

20 drops of liquid stevia
1/4 cup non dairy milk

Recipe Came From: http://ranch-wife.blogspot.com/2012/01/dairy-free-chocolate-banana-puddingice.html

Spinach Quiche

3 eggs
1 cup milk
1 cup flour
1 t baking powder
1 t salt
1 T garlic powder
4 cups Monterey Jack cheese
1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
Handful of spinach

1. Preheat 350, grease your pie dish or pan
2. Beat eggs in medium bowl. Add milk, flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir in spinach, cheese and bell pepper, mix well. Spread mixture over pan.
3. Bake 40-45 minutes.

Blonde Chili

1 T oil
3 lbs cooked chicken, cubed
1 cup onion
2 cups chicken broth
2 (4oz) cans chopped green chili peppers
5 (14.5 oz) cans great northern beans, undrained
1 T garlic powder
1 T ground cumin
1 T dried oregano
2 T chopped fresh cilantro
1 t crushed red peppers

In large sauce pan bring broth and green chili peppers to a boil. Stir in 3 cans of beans, garlic powder, cumin, oregano, cilantro and red peppers. Stir in the chicken and onions, reduce heat. Simmer 30 min or longer adding additional beans for thicker consistency as desired.

~or~

Just throw everything in the pot and let simmer till it's tasty. That's what I do.

No Yeast Pizza Crust

If your in a jam and want to mix up a quick pizza crust, here you go:

2 cups flour

1T baking powder

1/4 t salt

2/3 cup water

1 T oil

Mix wet ingredients into dry ingredients, work until becomes one ball of dough. Spread your dough out, add toppings and bake at 400 degrees for 18-20 minutes.

Crackers

2 cups whole wheat flour

1/2 t salt

1/2 t baking soda

1/4 cup oil (I used coconut, next time will try olive oil)

1/2 cup water

2 T your choice of seasonings

I've tried garlic powder, ranch dressing mix, Mrs. Dash, fresh herbs, anything goes

Mix flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder. Stir in oil and water until ball of dough has formed. Roll dough very thin on cookie sheet. It might be easier to roll between two pieces of parchment paper. Use pizza roller to cut out the squares. Bake at 350 for 12 minutes. Turn off oven but allow crackers to sit inside while it cools. This will dry out the crackers so they become crispy.

Homemade Chewy Granola Bars

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/3 cup honey

1/4 cup coconut oil

1 cup oats

1 cup of random*

*coconut flakes, sunflower seeds, dried fruit, chocolate chips, nuts

In medium saucepan melt together peanut butter, honey and coconut oil.

Remove from heat and add oats and your cup of "random" stir well

Spread your mixture into a pan. Chill for 2 hours, then flip the pan upside down on a cutting board so the mixture stays together. Then cut into bars and plastic wrap them individually for a quick snack.

Fruit Roll-ups

Fruit Roll-up are one of our favorite snacks, now I can make them and eat them with out feeling guilty of consuming more unneeded sugar.

Costco sells BIG bags of frozen strawberries and I always get a bag or two so we can throw strawberries in our smoothies, but here is another great way to use them.

Put your strawberries in a pot, medium heat, and start defrosting them.

Once they boil down I throw them in the vita-mixer or a food processor to get a smooth consistency. Once you have pureed the mixture continue heating and add arrowroot or something to make the mixture thicken up.

This "jam" can be stored in your fridge for the pop-tarts I showed you how to make in previous post.

Spread the strawberry jam out on parchment paper and put in your dehydrator

and wait until desired "doneness".

Here is an example of blueberry fruit roll-ups!

Make sure you are able to check your fruit roll-ups throughout the day because you don't want to over cook them. I did that the first time and we ended up with strawberry chips, which were actually really good but not quite what I was going for.

Carrot Pulp Crust

I always have so much left over pulp after I am done juicing I decided to give this a whirl...

2 cups of carrot pulp

2 cups of sunflower seeds

1/2 cup lemon juice

1 T chopped onion

pinch of salt

Add your ingredients to your vita-mixer and begin on low variable speed, my vita-mixer wasn't thrilled about this so I had to add more lemon juice. But do what you can to get it a smooth mixture. Then spread it out on a dehydrator sheet and allow it to dehydrate overnight. (105 to 110 F) Then remove it, flip it over on the other side and go another couple hours.

Okay. I thought it tasted a little odd....the lemon made it very sweet. BUT if you filled this crust with stuff you may not notice. I was thinking of making some hummus and grilling up bell peppers to put on top. You could add fresh veggies to the top....it taste more like a cracker than a crust so you could put anything on it you would normally put on a cracker. I will have to get back to you on more ideas. Here is a topping I found at http://www.rawgenesis.com

1 cup pinenuts

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

1 small piece of ginger

1 clove garlic

1 ripe avocado

and salt

Haven't tried this yet, but it sounds good.

Gluten Free Cheddar Biscuits

1/4 cup coconut oil

1/3 cup sifted coconut flour

4 eggs

1/4t salt

1/4t onion powder

1/4t baking powder

1/2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

Blend together eggs, oil, salt, onion powder. Combine coconut flour with baking powder and whisk into batter until there are no lumps. Fold in cheese. Drop batter by the spoonful onto a greased cookie sheet.

Bake at 400 degrees for 15 min.

(these kinda tasted like french toast to me)