Thursday, November 15, 2012

No Knead Honey Wheat Bread

This is a simple bread recipe that is easy to make and very good. Give it a try! The link to the original recipe posting is below. Thanks!




No Knead Honey Wheat Bread

Ingredients:
2 1/3 cups whole wheat flour
2 cups bread flour or all purpose
1 3/4 cups water, warmed (100-110 F)
5 tsp active dry yeast (2 packets/ .5 ounces)
2 tbsp honey (I added more honey to increase the honey flavor)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 tsp salt

Directions:
In a large, microwave safe bowl, whisk together whole wheat flour and bread flour. Microwave for 30-40 seconds, until flour is very warm to the touch. In a large bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer, combine 1 cup of the water with the yeast and honey. Stir and let stand for 5-10 minutes, until yeast is foamy. Add in the remaining water, vegetable oil, salt and about half of the warm flour mixture and stir well with a wooden spoon to combine.

If using a stand mixer, attach a dough hook and continue adding flour with the mixer on medium. Add flour gradually until dough comes together into a smooth ball and pulls away from the sides. A small amount of flour might be left over. Turn speed up to medium and mix for 1 minute.

If mixing by hand, gradually add in the remaining flour, mixing vigorously with a wooden spoon with each addition. Mix until dough comes together with the wooden spoon for 1 additional minute after dough comes together smoothly.

Lightly grease a 9"x5" loaf pan, turn dough into the loaf pan and cover with a piece of plastic wrap. Allow to rise for 30-35 minutes, until dough rises 1" above the sides of the pan.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Once bread has risen, remove plastic wrap and place loaf pain in the oven. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until bread is dark golden brown, cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Baking Bites No Knead Whole Wheat Honey Sandwich Bread

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Lemony Lemon "Brownies"

These "brownies" are different but very good, with a nice tart lemony flavor. However, nothing can really beat a chocolate brownie but these are worth making. Very tasty and will be a go to recipe when I'm craving lemony treats. The link to the original recipe is listed below.



Lemony Lemon Brownies 

Ingredients:

The "Brownie" Batter: 

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons lemon zest
2 tablespoons lemon juice

Tart Lemon Glaze: 

1 rounded cup powdered sugar
4 tablespoon lemon juice
8 teaspoons lemon zest


Directions:
  • Preheat oven to 350°F. 
  • Grease/Spray an 8-by-8-inch baking dish with butter/cooking spray and set aside.
  • Zest and juice two small/large lemons; set aside. {whatever you have}
  • In the bowl of an electric mixture fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the flour, sugar, salt, and softened butter until combined.
  • In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, lemon zest, and lemon juice until combined. Pour into the flour mixture and beat at medium speed until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes.
  • Pour into baking dish and bake for 23-25 minutes, or until just starting to turn golden around the edges and a toothpick inserted into the center of the brownies comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before glazing. Do not over bake, or the bars will be dry.
  • When brownies are cooled completely, make the glaze...sift the powdered sugar, add lemon zest and juice, and whisk together all three ingredients. Spread 1/2 the glaze over the brownies with a rubber spatula. Let glaze set. Spread the remaining glaze over the bars, and let it set. This glaze does not harden like most. Cut into bars, and serve!





Becky Charms Lemony Lemon Brownies

Sunday, November 11, 2012

Easy Baked Vanilla Cheesecake

This is the first cheesecake I have ever made, and I will say that it was easy and delicious! I will admit that I am addicted to  cheesecake and will need to limit using this recipe (but it's soooo good!). I hope you enjoy this yummy cheesecake! I am not sure where I got this recipe, so I will update with a link when I find it.

Topped with Cherries!

Easy Vanilla Baked Cheesecake

Crust:
(8") Springform Cake Pan
9oz of Graham Crackers
5oz Melted Butter

  1. Prepare your cake pan by lining the base with wax paper.
  2. Use a food processor to make your crackers into crumbs. If you don't  have a food processor, place biscuits in a plastic bag and crush with a rolling pin until you have crumbs.
  3. Place crumbs in a bowl and use your fingers to press the crumbs mixture evenly around the tin and up the sides to form a shell.
  4. Once you have a fairy to form a shell, place it in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Filling:
1.1 lbs Cream Cheese (room temperature)
10.5 oz Sour Cream
3/4 cup Granulated Sugar
3 Eggs
3 tbsp Vanilla Extra

Directions:
  1. Preheat your oven to 320 degrees F.
  2. Place your cream cheese, sour cream and sugar in a clean bowl of an electric mixer and mix until combined and smooth. You can also use a food processor.
  3. Add the vanilla and eggs and mix again until well combined.
  4. Pour mixture into your shell.
  5. Bake for one hour. Turn off oven and open the oven door slightly and allow the cake to cool slowly in the oven (this prevents cracking).




Friday, November 9, 2012

Before & After - Hubby's Dresser

I found an old dresser on Craigslist for $40 I bought it and after, some wood glue, filler, sanding, 5 cans of white spray paint, and some hammered metal paint for the pulls, my husband has a new dresser.

His previous dresser looked weathered, was falling apart, and did not go with my "vision" for our master bedroom. Now this wretched dresser looks clean and bright, I am happy with the way it turned out, and he is pleased to have more room!









Thursday, November 8, 2012

Applesauce Bread





Applesauce bread is a hit at my house, when I make banana bread (for myself) I have to make applesauce bread for my husband. He prefers his applesauce bread with craisins in it (like I needed another reason to buy craisins in bulk). This is an easy recipe that is delicious. Give it a try and tell me what you think. The link to the original recipe from is listed below.




























Applesauce Bread

Ingredients:
Dry - 
1 1/2 cups whole wheat or all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tbsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tbsp ground nutmeg
1/2 cup craisins (optional - my husband MUST have craisins in his personal loaf)

Wet - 
3/4 cup applesauce
2 eggs
1/4 cup butter; melted

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. 
Prepare bread pan with nonstick baking spray, or butter and flour.

In a large bowl combine the dry ingredients. Make a well in the center of combined dry ingredients and add the applesauce, eggs, and butter. Stir well. Pour batter into a buttered bread pan and bake for 45-55 mins (for a full size loaf pan) at 350 degrees F, or until inserted toothpick comes out clean.

New Nostalgia Applesauce Bread

Before & After - Spice Rack

While digging through a barn at an estate sale, I came across a dirty, sad looking spice rack. Upon seeing this icky little spice rack what would come to my mind other than a nail polish holder (because nail polish is awesome and it is strewn all over my dresser and needs to be tamed)!!!

I think I paid 25 cents if that much for the thing. I painted it to match my wondrous, stupefying, marvelous dresser and all my nail polish fits perfectly (I'm going to have to hunt for a bigger spice rack because I will be running out of room VERY soon!!).






Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Banana Banana Bread

This banana bread is so good, this is my go to recipe when I am craving banana bread. I hope you enjoy it. The link to the original recipe without my personal modifications is located at the bottom.


























Banana Banana Bread

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp cinnamon
1/2 cup coconut oil
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs, beaten
2 1/3 cups mashed overripe bananas

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan.
In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients. In a separate bowl cream together butter and brown sugar. Stir in eggs and mashed bananas until well blended. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture; stir just to moisten. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan.
Bake in preheated oven for 60 to 65 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean. Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack.

AllRecipes.com Banana Banana Bread

Before & After - Old Mirror

I found an old mirror on an auction website in our area and decided to bid on it. I have been searching for a low cost ornate mirror for a while but those that I like ended up costing way too much like $150 too much. I won the bid at $25! A partial can of white spray paint later and this is what I now have; an awesome mirror! Once we finish painting I can hang this in my "sitting room". 















Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Healthy Dish - Egg White Omelete


If you are looking for a healthy quick breakfast then try this out. The measurements and amounts are entirely up to you, this is just what I did.

Egg White Omelet:

Egg Whites
1 Plum Tomato
1/2 Medium Avocado
3 tablespoons Pico
1/2 oz Grated Cheese
Salt & Pepper to Taste

Poor Egg Whites (desired amount) into a HOT lightly greased frying pan.
When the eggs are nearly completely cooked add pico, grated cheese, salt and pepper to down the center of the eggs.
Flip half of the egg mixture over on itself to form an omelet.
Slice tomato and avocado. 
Make your food look pretty on the plate, then EAT!

Before & After - Icky little cute chair


There is nothing a little burlap, staples, and lime green spray paint cannot fix.... right? I found this chair for $10 at an estate sale, the same estate sale where I found my spice rack (aka stunning nail polish holder), this was in the house attached to the barn. It was dirty and had nasty stains on the seat, nothing a little cleaning, and refinishing could not fix. I'm loving my new lime green chair!









Monday, November 5, 2012

It's about to be holiday time again; time for baking yummy treats!

This pumpkin bread turned out absolutely perfect!! I made some modifications to the original recipe which worked out beautifully. I will be making this for our Thanksgiving potluck at work, and Thanksgiving dinner at my parent's house. The link to the original recipe is located at the bottom. Try it out and let me know what you think.



“STARBUCKS” PUMPKIN BREAD
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup coconut oil
1 cup applesauce
3 large eggs
1 (15 ounce) can solid pack pumpkin
3 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons dark corn syrup
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°F
Butter and flour two 9x5x3 loaf pans or 3 muffin tins
Beat sugar and oil in a large bowl to blend.
Mix in eggs, pumpkin, ginger and apple sauce.
Sift flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, salt, baking powder into another large bowl.
Stir into pumpkin mixture.
Divide batter equally among prepared pans (muffin tins).
Bake until tester comes out clean, about 1 hour for loaves, 30 min for muffins.
Transfer to cooling racks and cool for 10 minutes.
Turn out onto racks and cool completely.






Sorry!! I know I've Been Missing...


... Life caught up with me!




Going to school full time and working full time while dealing with life in general got a little overwhelming. However, I'm baaaack! New recipes and before and afters to come!

Hope everyone is doing well!


Monday, January 16, 2012

Flea Market Footstool - Before and After

I have finished the footstool I bought this weekend (yes... that quickly). I love it; now I need to finish the wing back chair that will go along with it.






Sunday, January 15, 2012

Wingback Chair Progress

I have been working on my Wingback Chair for a couple weeks, doing a little bit at a time. The hardest part has been taking out the millions and millions of staples! I mean seriously! I get it, the material needs to stay on but millions of staples really?!?!? My poor abused hands... okay enough complaining.

I have gotten all the material stripped off and the chair is in such great condition that I can reuse all of the padding and batting. I ordered my material from fabric.com, and supplies from diyupholsterysupply.com.

So, tomorrow I plan on painting the legs and starting the reupholstering process. When I complete the chair I will do a post on my process, before and after photos etc.

Here is what I have done so far:

Before


During; material stripped off




Craigslist Find - Milk Cans!!

I have been searching Craigslist everyday for cheap milk cans. Finally, I found exactly what I was looking for! Two milk cans in good condition; one is blue and rusted and the other one was painted. I am going to repaint the burgundy and gold one and probably leave the blue rusted one the way it is (treating it to prevent further rust).



ReStore Table, Before and After

I bought this table at the Habitat for Humanity Restore for $20, Silver Spray Paint and Primer $6 for a grand total of $26.00.

Before

After



Craigslist Chair - Before and After

I have completed my first chair!!! YAY me!

The chair cost me $0, the fabric was on clearance at Hobby Lobby for $5, plus a can of black satin spray paint, and primer $6 for a grand total of $11.00.
Here are the pictures:




Flea Market Haul

I have been driving by a flea market off of Highway 380 for months, and I kept saying that I need to go and take a look around as I drove by. So finally after a few months I finally made a trip over there.

Here is what I found!

$8 stool in good condition, perfect for my Wingback chair.

$1 Ball Jar in Blueish Green/Teal color 

$10 Old Trivet and Iron


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