House Hunters Rant

Can we just talk about House Hunters for a moment? I'll start with saying that I LOVE the show and have seen way more episodes than I care to mention. But these people drive me crazy. And I know I can't be the only one out there that yells at the tv when the hunter says "Oh, this space would be great for entertaining." Or "No stainless steel? That's a deal breaker." Ugh. STOP. IT. Everyone says that. In fact, everyone says the same thing about everything. Is it scripted? It must be scripted. These people are so obsessed with their "double sinks" and "granite counter tops." Really? That's your deal breaker? My deal breaker would be if the house were roofless or if it was located in the heart of Detroit. Let's get real people. Stop being so bratty! Rant over.

Wheatberry Waldorf Salad

Wheatberry Waldorf Salad 

-2-3 cups wheatberries

-1 lg apple, I used granny smith

-1 cup craisins (or raisins)

-2-3 stalks celery

 -1 cup red grapes, halved

-1 handful chopped parsley (1/2-1 cup)

Dressing

-1/3 c apple juice

-2 Tb ACV

-2 Tb lemon juice

-2 Tb olive oil

-1/2 tsp nutmeg

-1/2 tsp cinnamon

s&p

I used a hand blender for this dressing. The ingredients separate quickly, so try to use it right away.

This recipe yields extra dressing. I like to eat this salad over greens, then I add more dressing to it.

You could add pomegranate seeds, pears, walnuts, cherries, raisins, even blue cheese- whatever you like.

Whole Grain Morning Glory Muffins

 THESE muffins are so gooooood. Even my husband loved these- and that says a lot. (And he even knew the ingredients. I thought the carrots and apples would freak him out. They didn't. Amazing!) The recipe I used is found here.

Starting to meal plan. I'm a big girl now.

Who meal plans anyway? Moms. Moms meal plan. Moms are smart. I love moms. I'm starting to get it. I usually go off what I feel like eating at the moment, but that doesn't always seem to work since I am only half of a duo. So here I am, all grown up, starting to make a meal plan. How nice. I'm not going to post it on the fridge with stickers quite yet since it's just me and my husband (for now at least- and every Wednesday my FIL come to family dinner- which can be a little challenging) but to have some sort of plan seems smart. Really smart. And therefore I am doing it. I figured- I LOVE making my grocery list every week, I might as well make an easy chart of where it's all going and when. Every meal is pretty much up to me. I get no help with suggestions, except "there's gotta be MEAT" according to my husband. (I'd probably be a vegetarian if it weren't for him. Ha. I could take it or leave it, really.) So here's the chart I'm using. It's my first day.

Cranberry lemon muffins

 MORE MUFFINS!!

Yep. I'm obsessed. Here is the recipe I used.

 

Easy Pumpkin (Chocolate Chip) Muffins

Not the cutest picture, but you get the idea...

I got up early and baked muffins. There's a first time for everything. Okay, I didn't get up early intending on baking muffins- I got up early to drive my husband to the airport and I opted not to go back to sleep. But that's still a big step for me. Plus I am starting to really love muffins. But I only love them when they aren't filled with crap and calories like all the store bought brands. And there's no bakery in sight, which is totally weird for the sleepy grandma town that I live in. So I am making them instead. And no one can stop me. 

Easy Pumpkin (Chocolate Chip) Muffins

1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup milk
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp allspice
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup melted butter, cooled
1 egg
chocolate chips (optional)  

Mix all ingredients until batter is just lumpy.

 Sprinkle 1/4 tsp sugar on each muffin just before baking to create a crust (optional).

Bake at 400 degrees for 18-20 mins. Makes 12 muffins.

 

Rudy's interested

Banana bread muffins!!!

 I get really excited when I bake something because it rarely happens. That's my excuse for all the exclamation points. And the fact that these are super good and easy to make! True story.

Muffins:
3 ripe bananas, mashed

1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
  1 cup sour cream
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

 

Topping:
  1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/3 cup melted butter

Preheat oven to 350º. Grease muffin tins.

Cream the butter, vanilla, and sugar in a large mixing bowl with electric hand mixer until fluffy. Beat in the eggs. In a small bowl, combine the mashed bananas and sour cream. In another bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, salt and spices. Blend the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients, then add in the banana mixture. For the topping, use a fork to mix ingredients together. I like to leave it a little lumpy.

Spoon a little more than halfway into prepared muffin tins. Sprinkle topping over the top.

Bake 20-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

I did it! I baked something! And nobody died!

 

Part 1. Done. Finally.

After a ton of errors, a few good yelling spurts, one bandaid and eight million years later... I managed to get Part 1 done. Ta fucking da.

Steotch stitch-along 2014

What do these colors remind me of???

 I'm doing my first stitch-along via Steotch.com that started two days ago. (You can do it too and it's free. Though they do take donations.) Every 5 days they give you new stitches to do, so you need to keep up, otherwise you'll be behind, so set your alarm if you have to. I haven't started yet but I'm going to track my progress because why not?!- I do have a blog after all. I missed the last stitch-along and I keep seeing everyone SUPER excited about this one, so I'm doing it. 

Aaaaaaand GO!

A little Bargello

What's for lunch? A raw beet salad, of course!

And it's salad season folks. I get excited about new salads. This was a good one. Here's what I put in it:

Raw beets (duh!)
Mixed greens
Carrots
Mushrooms
Fresh Basil
Fresh Parsley

For the dressing:
3 T ACV
2 T oo
2 T soy sauce
1 t sesame oil
1t garlic powder
S&P

Song of the week is...

St. Vincent- Digital Witness

I can't get enough.

The end.

Wheatberry Salad aka "Alpha Omega Salad"

 I love this salad. It's my number one go-to. Whenever I'm feeling fat/crappy/not healthy, I make a HUGE batch and it's gone within a day or two. It seems to make feel better. Maybe it's the rainbow of ingredients. Or the fact that there's nothing "bad" in it. I don't know but whatever it is, I recommend it. I based the ingredients from a salad I once bought from my local health food store. It was totally bland, needing more flavor so I switched some ingredients around to make it better my own. Needless to say, I never bought it again.

You can add as much or as little of each item. No rules here.

Copycat Alpha Omega Wheatberry Salad

Wheat berries (or spelt, farro etc)

Carrots

Bell pepper

Red onion

Edamame

Parsley

 Dried Cranberries

Garlic

Lemon Juice

Red Wine Vinegar

Olive Oil

S&P

Get really bad hangovers? Take a shot of B12!

 I get wicked bad hangovers. I always have. They show up when they're not invited and give no real sign as to when they are arriving. And they always overstay their welcome. How rude!

My friend recently told me about B12 in liquid form. Just squirt some under your tongue before a night of drinking (or a few cocktails in my case) and it seems to do away with the hangover.

I'm going to take some miracle juice right now. CHEERS!

I walked over 10,000 steps yesterday. My Nike Fuel band told me so.

I was hungry so I made this: Brussels & kale salad with sauteed sweet potato, asparagus & raw pepitas

This is what I eat when it's a snow day and I'm out of cheese. But if you have a hard Parmesan or an asiago or any hard white cheese- I recommend adding it because it is cheese after all. This is just what I had on hand and I was hungry for a salad. So I ate it. And it worked. And I just had to share it with you. The dressing is a shallot, Dijon mustard and red wine vinaigrette that I always have on hand because I love it so much. In the past I have made a salad of kale, Brussels, sauteed mushroom, pecans & asiago. Sauteed butternut squash (or any type of squash) would go well. Or beets. Any winter vegetable really since it's a winter salad. You can mix it up. Whatever you have in your fridge or pantry.

Super duper easy beef broth from scratch

 When I say "super duper easy" I mean it.

I have never made beef broth from bones before and let me tell ya, there's nothing to it. Really.

Especially if you're using a crock pot. Throw the stuff in, walk away. Done. Here's how I did it:

   

 Rough chop the veg

 Look at that meat!

  Fill with cold water

Boil, boil, boil...

Drain the junk.

Voila!

Yummy, warming Beef Broth

bunch of beef bones

1 onion with skin, roughly chopped

2 carrots, roughly chopped

3 celery stalks with tops, chopped

10 peppercorns

3 bay leaves

8 garlic cloves, smashed

 pinch of salt

herbs of any kind (I used a rosemary sprig, thyme & parsley)

cold water

Put all the ingredients in your crock pot and set on high for (approx) 10 hours. Make sure there is enough water in it at all times. All crock pots are different, so keep an eye on it.

Note: For an extra step you could brown the bones in the oven first- it'll brown the beef and give a richer flavor.

One stitch at a time.

 

 I've started yet another Bargello needlepoint. Exciting stuff, I know. Try not to freak out.

Progress is slow-ish for this one, but it's coming together quite nicely.

Witch's brew

Witch's brew, for when everyone around you seems to be getting a nasty SICKNESS.

Instead of chewing on raw garlic cloves, try this concoction. MUCH tastier.

It's zingy, spicy, lemony, warming. 

It's kinda weird, actually. And some people don't like it *ahem* my husband. But that's cool.

 Like my mug? Thought it was perfect for the occasion.

This is an estimate/reference recipe. You can tweak it however you like.

 Heat up: (about 5 mins on stove top)

6 C water

juice of 1 lemon

3-5 garlic cloves, smashed

5 peppercorns

2-4 T cayenne

4 T honey

a chunk of fresh ginger (or 3 T of powered)

1-2 T turmeric

  

Cat in a box.

Cat in a bag.

Good day.

Bargello Needlepoint

Another Bargello needlepoint in the making. More than half way done. I'm so glad I found this hobby :)

Raspberry tiramisu

 SO good. And simple. I wasn't sure I could do it. But I did. And it was a big hit!

I got the recipe here and I wouldn't change a thing. 

Though, I would suggest to watch your lemon juice--

I used less than called for and I still think I used a tad too much.

I made beef jerky in the dehydrator and so can you.

If I can do it, you can do it.

Trust me.

It's easy.

Marinate the flank steak overnight or at least a few hours. The longer, the better.

But don't use fresh garlic like I did here. Use garlic powder instead- it's WAY better.

Throw it on the dehydrator.

This took 4 hours. Depending on how thin you slice it. I didn't want it super crunchy.

Beef Jerky in the dehydrator

2 lbs Flank steak, sliced thin

1/4 C soy sauce

1 T Worcestershire

2 T Brown sugar

2 t salt

1 t black pepper

1 t garlic powder

1 t paprika

You could add red pepper flakes, cayenne pepper, cloves etc

Let marinate overnight.

Dehydrate 4-6 hours.

Stocking up on Sriracha, the obvious thing to do

 Since the recent Sriracha dilemma that has been going on as of lately, I decided to stock up on the delicious, red stuff. I initially was going to go for 20 bottles of it, but I didn't have enough room in the cart. I know there are other brands and people even make their own but IT IS NOT THE SAME!!! I figured if the plant does shut down for whatever length of time, I will be covered. My love for the fiery juice is very strong. So no, I won't share ;)

Baked balsamic butternut squash

Phew-Lots of Bs in that title!

-Cut the squash in half and use a vegetable peeler to get the skin off.

-Cut into cubes, then toss with balsamic vinegar, olive oil, (fresh) rosemary, S&P.

-Bake at 350º for 30-40 minutes, depending on size. Make sure to check it every 10 minutes-ish so that it doesn't start to burn. If it does, just add more balsamic or olive oil.

Yum. Tastes like fall!