The Adventures and Mishaps of DIY

Gluten Mishap!

2009-08-30T16:06:00.000-07:00

I have been playing around with these cookies.

Chocolate Heart Shaped Cookies by The Spunky Coconut

I've tried adding protein powder and whole wheat flour. Even tried them as is (still working on perfecting the right variables).

Anyway, one night I followed the recipe accordingly, until it dawned on me that I had not thoroughly washed my tools after making cottage cheese pancakes that contained gluten ingredients.

I told my GF friend about the cookies, told her she could try one, but thoroughly warned her of the cross contamination (I was praying that by the hand of God there would be no traces of gluten -I was wrong).

I felt really bad about the incident - so here I am posting a cross contamination prevention link.

Gluten Cross Contaminate Prevention

Shaken, not Stirred

2009-08-30T15:52:00.000-07:00

Project Proposition:
Make Strawberry Jello for boyfriend.

Boyfriend has suggestions. Add vodka and martini glasses. Maybe some whip cream, and if you have whip cream - why not some shaven dark chocolate.

Because I am high maintenance, I take the time to make it happen.

My thinking:
Not to make this a straight jello shot, but throw use half cold water and half vodka (if you follow the instructions on the side of the jello box you can't go wrong).

Solution:
A fun Adult Dessert.

Sugar Hype

2009-08-18T20:40:00.000-07:00

Have to post these pictures!

Boyfriend's parents came into to town to help move the boyfriend's brother to Texas, officially making Mom and Dad "Empty Nesters"! I used an easy Easter cookie recipe,

1 bag chocolate chips
1 cup peanut butter
1 bag chow mein noodles
1 bag peanut M&Ms

Melt chocolate, mix in peanut butter, mix chocolate and pb with chow mein noodles. Spoon drop the noodles and make sure to make a divet to hold the "eggs". Place M&Ms in nest, or leave empty to make a play off the term "Empty Nesters". Alternative eggs could be sugar coated almonds.

I had left over sugar cookie dough, a little bit of white bark, handful of sliced almonds, and a friend that could use a smile.

These came out so pretty I just had to post a picture. I was informed they were thoroughly enjoyed!

Milk and Cookies

2009-08-18T20:37:00.000-07:00

Project Proposition:

Make homemade almond milk.

My Thinking:

I want to decrease the amount of preservatives and hidden sugar in my diet. I have been on a recent pre-workout protein shake 2-3 hours before my evening workout. Typically I’ll throw in some yogurt or soymilk, but have been looking for an alternative.

Bingo, almond milk (homemade)! I figure the almonds will give an extra punch of protein in my shake while keep the sugar and preservative at bay.

Solution:

After referencing the website I tried my hand at it.

http://www.noveleats.com/drinks/raw-homemade-almond-milk/

I didn’t use as much water as the recipe called for in fear of over diluting the milk – I only used 4 to 5 cups of water max.

Success or Mishap?

My almond milk came out rather boring, but was perfect for my Spiru-tein Unsweeten Shake. So mission accomplished.

However….

I had a friend that also attempted to make the almond milk this weekend and had to play around with some agave/ vanilla to make the milk sweeter and better tasting for cereal, etc.

Depending of what you’re going to use your homemade almond milk for, I would suggest taking some time to experiment personal preferences. Regardless of however you alter the almond milk, you will have a fabulous by-product – almond meal! Almond meal is great for a variety of uses such as cookies (see below), crackers, bread, and so on.

Hmmm…cookies….

Project Proposition:

Create power cookies out of left over almond meal.

My Thinking:

Not only will I make use of my almond meal, I will also throw in some whey protein shake mix to make these cookies super cookies. Only kicker is I am looking for a recipe either low in sugar or no sugar at all.

Solution:

After much surfing, I found the perfect recipe (hooray for chocolate!) http://kecirohomeschool.com/foodforrestoration.htm

I started by beating the egg in the blender (I was being lazy and crunched for time), I threw in the rest of the ingredients, about 3 tablespoons of chocolate whey protein powder mix, and to thicken things up about ½ cup to ¾ cup of whole wheat flour.

Success:

Sadly, I did not make these cookies in the shape of hearts, just circular. However they came out tasting more amazing than anticipated AND protein packed because of the almond meal, whey, and the egg. Also, I felt better about these cookies being made with honey as opposed to refined sugar.

The recipe only made about 11 cookies, but that was the perfect amount for the boyfriend, boyfriend’s brother, and me to guiltlessly gobble.

Health Nut

2009-08-18T20:33:00.000-07:00

Projection Proposition:

Going full force health nutty by making homemade peanut butter to spare myself from hidden sugar and preservatives.

Side note- United Market Street sells their own homemade peanut butter and almond butter, but I wanted to try making it on my own before succumbing to buying it.

My Thinking:

All it should take is a handful of peanuts (unsalted, etc) and a little drop of peanut oil.

Solution:

After blowing the dust off my “As Seen on TV” purchase – the Magic Bullet – I threw in the peanuts, drop of peanut oil, and a sprinkle of cinnamon. It was that simple.

Success:

My homemade peanut butter paired with a Gala apple made my lunch fantastic!

Yes I am going a little hippy in the kitchen. I am now feeling the itch to make homemade applesauce…

Just Hangin...

2009-08-18T20:25:00.000-07:00

I promise I will post pictures for "Just Hangin..." and "Word." soon!

Project Proposition:

After a recent move from a large vast space to the confine of a 10x10 oddly shaped room back home, I was submersed into an organizational hell of clothes. I needed a sturdy hanging rack, and nothing store bought was going to suffice.

My Thinking:

This should be easy, there surely is something online a solve my dilemma – Google me away.

http://www.designspongeonline.com/2009/06/diy-project-kates-rolling-coat-rack.html

Solution:

I made a trip to Home Depot and bought black piping (it was cheaper than the aluminum piping). I bought 3 long pipes (72 inches?), 4 short pipes (18 inches?), 6 90 degree angle connectors, and two T connectors.

I didn’t bother with the wheels or anything (didn’t have the patience).

I made sure to clean off the pipes before putting them all together, but it was a fairly easy process to construct.

Success:

After putting everything together, the ultimate test was to see if the clothing rack would hold all my clothes. I felt like an accomplished engineer, the rack held the weight!

Word.

2009-08-18T20:19:00.000-07:00

Project Proposition:

Create a cheap piece of modern art work for my room.

My Thinking:

After getting a little bit of inspiration from Ikea (how I love their big urban art images…) and stumbling upon this cute blog, it came to me. Words of wisdom would be perfect art to hang on the wall. http://imnotreallyadiva.blogspot.com/2009/04/my-molly-sims-inspired-artworkdiy.html

Solution:

I took an old Hobby Lobby canvas and painted it white. While waiting for the white paint to dry my next task was to figure out what words to paint. No song lyrics could hit the right spot, so I turned to Mark Twain and found the following quote,

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

Word.

I picked up some stencils from Hobby Lobby (about 2 inches) and began hammering out word for word the quote. I came to the realization that my stencils were too large for such a long quote so I had to cut the quote down (sorry MT).

What’s great about art is it doesn’t have to be perfect, I intentionally and unintentionally smudged some of the letters, this is what I like to call character building.

Success:

I need to post a picture, but this was a super easy art project if you are looking for a cheap, fun project.

Some Like It Hot!

2009-07-31T06:58:00.000-07:00

Project Proposition:
One night I invited my parents over to the boyfriend's and I made my famous Tilapia Fish Tacos with Fresh Kroger White Tortillas (its a staple, brand loyal item in the pantry).

My mom brought over Pink Chili Mayo that she found the recipe for on Food Network.

My boyfriend proceeded to savor the left over Mayo by putting it on everything. After much nagging, I agreed to make it for him with the promise it would be significantly spicy. Here's the original recipe:

Pink Chili Mayo:

1 1/2 cups mayonnaise
1 1/2 cups sour cream
2 canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (I found these at Kroger in the Tex Mex section)
Juice 1/2 lime
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Put the mayonnaise, sour cream, peppers, and lime juice in a blender and process to a puree. Refrigerate the mayo for 1/2 hour to let the flavors to blend; taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.

Yield: 8 servings

My Thinking:

To make this thing spicy, I'll drop in lots of jalapenos. Lots was not enough fire. I used to secret ingredient, I put a dab of Red Roster Sauce and a dab of tubed cilantro. My mom loves cilantro and usually customizes her mayo with fresh cilantro and garlic.

Both my Mother and I used light Sour Cream and Light Kraft Mayo.

Success:

This recipe is all about making it your version of "spicy". The chipotle peppers in adobe sauce give the mayo great taste and can be used for sandwiches, tacos, salads and so on.

Mishap and Consequent Success

2009-07-28T12:07:00.000-07:00

Project Proposition:
Set up my Mac Time Machine software with my Western Digital HD.

My Thinking:
Piece of cake! Apple makes these things so easy.

Warning:
I am following the setup instructions when my MacBP asks if it's okay to swipe my whole HD to back up its business. Not thinking of the potential outcome (or wanting to use my external HD other backup) I decide that's okay and give my Apple the permission to wipe clean my HD. This included wiping out the windows component to pick up my external HD.

So My PC no longer picks up the external drive....great.

Solution aka Success:
Fix it via Apple
Fix it via Windows

Much thanks to my G.F.F. who provided the links!

Oranges to Apples

2009-07-26T14:25:00.000-07:00

Project Proposition:

Transfer my iTunes library on my Dell to my new MacBook Pro (belated to do by 1 month).

My Thinking:

Surely it can't be very difficult to accomplish this task - will back up all my music on an external drive and try to network my Dell and MacBP.

3-4 hours later....and settings screwed up on my external hd.....don't ask...

I found this link, and of course it was on the Apple Support Website.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1329

Success or Mishap?:

Networking my computer with Samba failed because it was not very user friendly (aka let me skip through reading the instructions and hope for the best). I will give myself a "mishap" for over-thinking the situation and a "success" for finally accomplishing my end goal.

End Note:

Yes, I feel silly for having to post this, but I am sure that I am not the only person in the world that has encountered the epic battle of Windows vs Apple.

Do you want fries with that?

2009-07-24T08:44:00.000-07:00

Project Proposition:
After being inspired by Bakerella (and by fate having all the materials necessary to take on such a task) I decided to do something fun for Father's Day.
Here is the Bakerella link Fast Food Fun.

My Thinking:
I made some gluten free vanilla cupcakes from a box mix for my G.F.F. (gluten free friend). I set aside 4 or 5 cupcakes after realizing there was brownie mix in the pantry. Also, I manage to find some nutella (to be the "glue") and left over Gingerbread Men decor. Furthermore, I had some sugar cookie dough in the freezer. So why not put all these great treats to use?!

Buns of Gluten Free Goodness - I cut the cupcakes in half horizontally.

Burger Brownie - I just dropped the brownie mix in a cupcake liners and cut the brownies down to size accordingly - think smarter not harder.

Nutty for Nutella - I used the nutella to hold the brownie burger patty to the cupcake bun, and to stick on my green Xmas dollops for lettuce and red sprinkles for ketchup.

Sweet Fries - I rolled out the sugar cookie dough flat and cut up in long skinny rectangles to bake on a cookie sheet. I added some sugar to look like salt and did a bit of fry trimming after baking and cooling.

Success:
The mini sliders came out great - Dad was impressed! Below are some pictures. Also, I got a lot of positive feedback via FB. Thanks Bakerella for the idea (and making me hungry every time I check out your blog...)

Near Future Topics...

2009-07-24T08:34:00.001-07:00

As I stated yesterday, I have been a little too busy to update my blog. However, I have still been busy doing projects, here is what to come....

External Hard Drive Excursion
Hang Man Hanging Clothes Rack
A Picture Worth a 1000 [Minus 955] Words
My Mint Julep
Do You Want Fries With That?
Empty Nesters
Sister Sister

Now if only there were more hours in the day.

....Determined

2009-07-24T08:29:00.001-07:00

Success:
As promised for an update - my defrag worked (no clue how long it took because I let it run throughout the whole day). I successfully defragged my hard drive by approximately 40%, did a little more cleaning up of uncessary files and ran it again with less than 15% space available (took about 30 minutes).

Thank goodness this was not a mishap...

To be determined....

2009-07-23T08:17:00.000-07:00

Sorry for being MIA, have been busy - but lots to come!

DEFRAGMENTATION.

Talk about a scary word.

Projection Proposition:
Clean up my old Dell - restore to better working condition by getting rid of some old pictures and backing up photos to an external hard drive. (External Hard Drives for Dummies....there's potential for a new post....)

My Thinking:
Go through and uninstall old/unused programs, clean up registry files, etc. This article gives suggestions of places to clean up before defragging your computer.

I went to go analyze my c drive this morning. I got an error saying I didn't have enough space to defrag (apparently you need at least 15% free space perform defragmentation, however you can choose to override this error, I only had 7% space available).

Success or Mishap?
TBA

Because of the space error I believe a couple things may happen.
1) It will take forever for my defrag to complete
2) My defrag will not complete
3) My computer will crash

Will keep you posted....(keep your fingers crossed)

Cooking without failing....

2009-04-28T12:23:00.000-07:00

Project Proposition:
Successfully cook seafood without burning down the kitchen or giving anyone food poisoning.

Please note I have set a kitchen on aflame with a grease fire that resulted in a half melted microwave handle (so I try to keep baking soda in reach). The following recipes are by all means fool proof- if I can do it, so can you!

Lobster Tails:
I bought frozen lobster tails from Central Market the day before I cooked them. As soon as I got them home I threw the lobster tails in some Tupperware (no ice) and put them in the fridge.

When I was ready to cook them I followed the instructions on this link to butterfly the tails. I will admit when I started separating the meat from the shell I was questioning what I kind of mess I had gotten myself into.

I then followed this very simple recipe I found on food network. I believe I only had 12oz of lobster, but I pulled off the lobster in about 6-7 minutes instead of 8 minutes (you could tell the lobster tails were starting to look done).

I nuked some butter and the tails were perfect.

Mussels:
After eating some pretty tasty mussels at an Italian restaurant, I decided to try making them myself. I also bought my mussels from Central Market.

The guy behind the seafood counter told me to rinse and boil the mussels for 3 - 4 minutes (you can tell the mussels are fully cooked when they open their shells). I boiled the mussels for a full 4 minutes because I was not planning on getting sick from consuming anything questionably raw. I then drained the mussels from the pot.

I also created a white wine - butter sauce. I heated up a third to a half of a bottle of white table wine, then I added half a stick of butter and a little garlic powder. (You have to make sure the wine is hot enough otherwise it will not mix well with the butter). I poured this wine sauce over the mussels and served them.

And no....6-12 hours later I was not sick, my mussels were a success!

Fish Tacos:
Tilapia can be cheap to come by, but also can be used for awesome fish tacos. Here is the recipe I use for the fish.

I like to put out lettuce, onions, tomatoes, grate fresh Monterrey jack (it makes all the difference), and Trappy's pinto beans with jalapenos. Kroger sells fresh flour tortillas that are to die for and make the fish tacos stellar.

Enjoy and best of luck!

Carwashin'

2009-02-13T11:38:00.000-08:00

Fun Fact:
If you don't have any car-washing soap, dish washing soap (not the actually soap for the dishwasher, but the soap you use to hand wash dishes) is gentle enough to use if you need to wash your car (or in my case, wash off the smudge marks from the roommate pressing her face against the outside of my window).

Black is Back

2009-02-05T10:44:00.000-08:00

Project Proposition:
Dyeing my faded corporate, cotton-blend pants back to black.

My Thinking:
Google dying clothes, see how much effort and how big of a mess I can make. I find that clothing dye is actually easy to find at many different grocery stores, pharmacies, etc. I stumble upon a brand of clothing dye called Rit (it comes in either powder form or liquid and I opted for the liquid).

Dyeing without Dying [threat of an angry roommate]:
In order to avoid a mess and turning the rest of my apartment black, I bought rubber gloves and set up my handy-dandy plastic car washing bucket in the kitchen sink. I also grabbed a plastic hanger from my closet.

I let my pants soak in the a rinse cycle in the washer and proceed to throw them in the plastic bucket. I put on my rubber gloves and followed the instructions on the back of the liquid Rit bottle (I used about half a bottle). The directions call for constant movement of the clothing sitting in the dye, this is why I grabbed a hanger- to stir things up- and so I wouldn't have to put my rubber gloved hand at the bottom of the bucket (potential for spattering or dripping, and so on).

After about 30-45 minutes, I took the bucket outside to dump the dye solution because I was apprehensive about putting it down the drain. I threw my pants back in the washer and washed them on a delicate cycle in cold water.

Success...sort of:
The pants came out very dark and looked great even after a good iron. However, the pants were not back to their original black color, but they looked better than before.

For Future References:
You'd be better off buying a pair of pants that don't have a high cotton content if they are made out of blended material. My pants are from express, they fit perfect, however I was a little disappointed with the color quality.

Easy, Gluten Free

2009-01-14T08:02:00.000-08:00

Project Proposition:
Create an easy snack with items already in pantry for my weekly Avid and Addicted Meeting: Nip Tuck.

My Thinking:
Searched yahoo answers, found recipe for easiest peanut butter cookies.

1 cup peanut butter (crunchy or smooth)
1 egg
1 cup sugar

Mix all together. Roll into walnut sized balls, gently press them down, typical fork action decor for peanut butter cookies, sprinkle a little bit of sugar, and pop in the oven 10 minutes on 350.

Success:
Tasted great, made about a dozen and half, and were a hit!

Gluten Free:
Best part is I discovered the recipe was GLUTEN FREE! (One of my best friends is gluten intolerant, so I was very excited to confirm this information with her).

She typically uses the recipe I have linked below that is also gluten free and ironically compliments of Paula Dean:

Magical Peanut Butter Cookies

***Gluten Free Friend (my GFF) substitutes an egg white, doesn't grease the baking sheet, and uses natural crunchy peanut butter (pours off the oil from the jar before mixing).

Lesson Learned:
Super easy cookies! And no need to run to the store!

The Ultimate Gingerbread Men Challenge

2009-01-14T07:23:00.000-08:00

Yes, this was a complete DIY project!

Project Proposition:
Boyfriend wanted 2 dozen gingerbread men for work due Wednesday.

My Thinking:
Okay, simple enough, will buy a dry mix so I don't have to worry about the combination of spices, etc. And I'll knock the cookies out of the way and get them done Sunday night, prior to due date.

We took a trip to central market, found a great dry box mix (can't remember the brand, box was in shape of a house, white background, green and red pin stripes, seasonal item with special display). I got icing and all the decorations, cutter from Walmart. Successfully made 2 dozen cookies.

Surprise!
Boyfriend tells me I need to make 2 more dozen on Tuesday night, but due date is pushed back to Friday.

Mistake:
Asking him to pick up extra mix because I had to make an additional trip to the store to grab molasses since the dry mix called for more than butter and eggs. He picked up Arrowhead Mills Gingerbread Cookie Mix Organic, it was not good, and not as easy to roll out and cut the dough, and the final baked cookie was super crumbly. I baked the rest of the 2 dozen cookies on Tuesday, Wednesday turned into decorating night, Thursday was packaging, and Friday I was happy like most other men to see them completely gone from my life. (Please Note: The second picture shows about 75%, not all 50 men)

Boredom Calls:
Saturday night, boyfriend and I are not doing anything adventurous, I notice he has flour and all the rest of the ingredients to make gingerbread men from scratch (I really just wanted to know if I could do it or not). I found an AWESOME recipe from King Aurthur Flour. I will use this recipe next year for my endeavours!

Gingerbread Cookies

Lesson Learned:

Men are time consuming, especially if they are made out of gingerbread
Have 3 or 4 designs (unless your kidos are decorating) but you do run out of ideas if you try to make each cookie an individual, unless you are Martha
I would suggest using the super easy recipe from King Aruthur, best dough, best taste, and cost efficent