Gluten Mishap!

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

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

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

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

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...

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.

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.