Birgit's Daily Bytes

Homemade Bread - Swabian Potato Bread

2013-05-18T13:00:00.001-07:00

This is what came out of the oven a mere 30 minutes ago!

I will write about the recipe and method of this particular bread at a later date, since it requires a post all on it’s own! But until then, I wanted to share a picture with you!

Have a happy weekend everyone!

Of Faces, Textures And “Terrible” Art

2013-05-18T11:36:00.001-07:00

So, I haven’t shared much of my art recently. It’s not because there hasn’t been any. It’s more that I am at that awkward stage (again,) where I’m learning something new, where I can’t match what’s in my head with what I put on paper/canvas, where I have so many different projects going, where I practice more than I finish ...

You know that stage? Yes, not exactly the kind of thing you feel inspired to share with the world at large.

There has been a lot of frustration, but also a lot of joy as I seem to be “getting” something, even just the smallest thing. For me, faces (or any other detailed extremities/body parts) are such a challenge! The proportions, the shading - it just doesn’t come naturally to me - at all!

Every once in a while I think “By George, she’s got it!” only to find that it was an isolated incident!

For example, remember this face?

Yes, I was so pleased with this one, I didn’t even bother to finish that canvas for quite some time, going straight to the next face and everything that just simply flowed in the last canvas, just went nowhere. *sigh*

So, I went back to finish that one and I just realized this morning that I never shared the finished product with you! Once again it is hard to photograph because of all the reflective shimmer paints on the canvas as well as the wire flowers.

So, for the last few weeks, I’ve been doing faces. Big ones, small ones, sketched ones, scribbled ones, with pretty much every medium I have. And I’m still working on faces! They are all works in progress! Here are a few of them:

And the journey continues!

Kari, an Artist friend of mine, wrote a pretty great blog post on “The Value Of Terrible Art” the other day. And the quote by Ira Glass bears repeating and remembering!

“Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.”

So, I guess that’s where I am. And it seems that it’s not just once that you hit that stage. It seems you hit it in an overall fashion, AND every time you learn something new and leave your comfort zone!

Having said all that though, I have also really enjoyed myself with art in the last few weeks! I am still slightly obsessed with textured canvases, following the Gesso Stenciling method. And those pale, shimmering, shabby-chic kind of colors!

I haven’t decided what to do with them yet, but something will set off that spark of inspiration at some point!

What have you been inspired by, obsessed with, frustrated or amazed by in your art?

Homemade Bread - 100% Sprouted Spelt Sandwich Loaf

2013-05-17T14:42:00.001-07:00

This loaf was another experiment with sprouted spelt. The loaf is made with 100% sprouted spelt, but in 3 different forms. I used freshly sprouted organic spelt berries (whole), organic whole sprouted spelt flour and organic sifted, sprouted spelt flour.

This is also the first time I used liquid Levian (which is a form of quite runny sourdough) as a flavor, rather than a method of leavening the bread. No overnight rising for this bread either, the added granulated yeast did all the rising. It was done in a total of 4 hours!

Incidentally, this bread dough came together surprisingly easy and hardly needed any kneading. I gave it a couple of rounds of folding, but that’s about it.

I have to say that the flavor of this bread is amazing! Most fresh bread is pretty good, but the aroma that was filling the house when this was baking was very different and very enticing!

The flavor of the bread is a little on the sweet side, the crumb is moist and a little dense (in a good way.) Next time I want to get a much lighter crust, as this one got a little too dark and I might increase the proofing time to even longer than the two hours it got today. The burst crust on top would indicate, that it wasn’t quite done with the final proofing.

And I think I might use a loaf pan next time around, rather than this small, but long free-form loaf, so it will be more of a sandwich slice shape!

Other than that however, I think this could be a very good, fully sprouted sandwich bread and a regular go-to for us!

Homemade Coconut Milk Shampoo And Clarifying Rinse

2013-05-16T09:15:00.001-07:00

In my effort to go all natural and mostly organic in terms of food, the next logical step for me seemed to be to go back to making my own beauty products. Prior to getting married and having children, I was making my own soap and many other beauty products.

All that came to a screeching halt when the twins arrived and somehow I never quite got back into it. Don’t get me wrong, we were using the natural and organic stuff, but even those still have many undesirable ingredients.

Since the pregnancy, or since my move to Phoenix, I have had increasingly worse trouble with eczema on my scalp. Oddly enough, my hair remained strong and thick and healthy, but my scalp has been terrible. Itchy, raw, open, and forever flaking.

I’ve tried so many things, even the medicated shampoos which made matters worse really.

Then I went shampoo-less for many years, only using tea tree conditioners to wash my hair. This made things a tad better, but not all that much.

Three weeks ago I decided I had enough and I was going to give my homemade shampoo/hair treatments another go.

I don’t even know why it took me so long to go back to this!

Within just a few washes, my scalp felt significantly more healed of the sores!

Within a week, the flakes were practically gone.

In the two weeks since then, the itching has gone from I-want-to-tear-my-scalp-off-it-itches-so-much-bad to barely moderate!

I still have some residual issues, but it has only been such a short time and I am hopeful that over time, those issues may disappear too!

And my hair has acquired that certain shine and extra luster that I had been missing for a while!

However, having said all of the above, often there will be an adjustment period of two to four weeks when switching from commercial shampoos. Your hair may become frizzy or oily as it adjusts to the no-sulfate and other nasties routine, but eventually everything will level out and you will reap the benefits of the new hair routine!

Coconut Milk Shampoo

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of Dr. Bronners Organic Castile Liquid Soap, Peppermint (or Tea Tree, Lavender or Unscented)

1/3 cup organic coconut milk

2 tsp. Burdock oil (or organic virgin Coconut Oil, or Hemp Seed Oil)

1 tbsp. organic Apple Cider Vinegar

10 drops rosemary essential oil

8 drops lavender essential oil

6 drops sage essential oil (or chamomile essential oil)

Preparation:

Mix all the ingredients well and decant into a shower save bottle. If the coconut oil isn’t runny by itself, warm it a little to get it to a liquid state before mixing.

I have not had an issue with the shampoo separating, but if it does, just shake it up before use!

Less is more with this shampoo. I have medium short hair, but it’s thick and I have a lot of it and I have never needed more than about 2 tsp.

This shampoo works best if you follow it up with a clarifying rinse.

Clarifying Hair Rinse

Ingredients:

1/4 cup of organic apple cider vinegar

3 cups or so of water

5-8 drops of essential oil (rosemary, peppermint, chamomile (will lighten blond hair), lavender, sage, lemon balm are all good options) - optional

You can also use fresh herbs in place of the essential oils, but steep them in water with a splash of the organic cider vinegar for a few days prior to use.

As you can see above, I currently have a bottle of rosemary and mint from my herb garden sitting on my shower shelf and I decant from that and refill right there in the shower. The herbs stay good in there for about a week, imparting their goodness!

To Use:

After you rinsed off all shampoo and/or conditioners, pour the vinegar rinse all over your hair. Cold water is best as it allows the cuticles to close, which will decrease frizz and add shine, but warm is ok too.

I use it cold straight out of the bottle, but it’s hot around here, so cold feels quite good!

Wring out your hair out as much as you can.

That’s it, you don’t rinse it out!

Then towel dry and proceed as normal.

There will be a faint odor of vinegar, don’t worry about that, it dissipates once your hair is dry! And your hair will be so soft and shiny!

Homemade Bread

2013-05-14T05:59:00.000-07:00

Today’s loaf is gluten-free. I wanted to experiment with a gluten free loaf that is rich in fiber but not gummy, or sawdust, for that matter! And I wanted a crispy crust!

It turned out pretty well, even though I do want to tweak the recipe further just a little bit!

I baked it in the Romertopf as a free-form loaf. The flavor was very good, and I even got a nice little oven spring out of it! Especially for a gluten free loaf, which is a bit of a beast when it comes to bread baking! Nice crust too, and the bread isn’t too dense either. Much like a 100% whole wheat loaf, really!

But I would like to work on the texture a little more. I think the dough could have stood being even wetter than it was to maybe get even more of a rise out of it, which would make it just a tad lighter!

Experiments will continue!

For now I’m enjoying a toasted slice with some ghee slathered on it!

Quick Peach Upside-Down Cake (Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free)

2013-05-14T00:17:00.000-07:00

I don’t tend to use commercial bake mixes much. But there are some crazy busy days, when I really appreciate the quick and easy factor and that’s when the occasional bake mix gets used around here.

For this recipe I use a cake mix that only contains the flours, sugar and the baking soda and everything else can be added, which was perfect, as it allows me to doctor it to my liking!

Since I had a lot of peaches and some not-perfectly-ripe ones made it into the pile, I thought they would lend themselves perfectly to this quick and delicious dessert!

You can, of course, use other fruit too to make this cake. I have used this recipe with other fruits successfully, especially pineapple upside down cake (minus the almond extract) and it never disappoints!

Ingredients:

4-5 fresh medium sized, organic peaches (Not quite at the peak of their ripeness is ideal for this!)

1/2 cup of grass-fed ghee, divided (I make my own)

1/2 cup dark brown sugar (or raw cane sugar)

1/4 cup organic palm shortening or Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil

1 cup almond creamer (recipe here)

2 large, organic eggs

1 tsp Butter Vanilla Bakery Emulsion

1 tsp Buttery Sweet Dough Bakery Emulsion

1/2 tsp Almond Bakery Emulsion

1 pack of Hodgson Mill Gluten Free Yellow Cake Mix

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Melt 1/4 cup of ghee in a pie plate. Use some of the melted ghee to grease the sides of the pie plate.

Sprinkle the brown sugar evenly over the melted ghee on the bottom of the pie plate.

Slice the peaches over the ghee/sugar layer. About 12 slices per peach or so. Since our peaches were organic, I didn’t even peel them. You can arrange the peaches in a pretty pattern. As you can see, I didn’t bother and just added them randomly by slicing out a segment from the whole peach, then just slicing around the stone, dropping the slices into the pie plate as I go.

Set aside.

In a bowl, mix the remaining ghee, the palm shortening, the eggs, emulsions/extracts and almond creamer with the cake mix. Incorporate well with a whisk.

Pour the cake batter over the peaches and place pie plate on a cookie sheet (to catch any bubbles and drips.)

Bake for 40-45 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Let the cake rest in the pie plate for about 10 minutes, then run a knife around the edges to loosen them. Next, invert the cake onto a large plate or serving platter!

Enjoy!

It turned out delicious and moist. The peaches were definitely the star, with an intensely fruity fresh flavor, beautifully supported by the crunchy, slightly caramelized edges and the soft, moist cake center! Definitely a favorite around here!

Hello Monday - hello Abundance!

2013-05-13T10:47:00.001-07:00

Good morning everyone!

I hope all you Mothers out there had a fantastic day with your loved ones!

I sure did! We set out really early (6.20 AM) to Schnepf Farms in Queen Creek, an organic u-pick farm. They opened the peach orchards just the day before for picking, and lovely sweet smelling (and tasting) organic peaches were a-plenty!

We also got some wonderful apricots. There’s just nothing like freshly picked organic! So good! So juicy! So bursting with real flavor!

Unfortunately, there wasn’t anything much in terms of vegetables, which was a bit of a disappointment for me!Luckily, we are not too far away from our own garden-fresh zucchinis and tomatoes! I just harvested the first zucchini this morning and there are more to come!

But it was a lovely trip and the kids sure enjoyed themselves, not only at the picking, but on the train ride around the farm, watching some very obliging peacocks up close, the petting zoo and the general play area.

I just thought it was so funny, that in an orchard full of about one thousand or so peach trees, that were loaded with peaches, my boy would, excitedly, yell “I found one!” whenever he picked a ripe one. So cute!

And I love that even though my boy in particular, isn’t much of a fruit eater ( he still has some residual texture issues with juicy fruit, but he drinks it just fine in the veggie and fruit smoothies I make though,) his enthusiasm for picking the fruit was in no way dampened!

My girl, who could live on fruit and veggies alone, could hardly wait to lay into all that we were picking!

Since we were so early, we didn’t have to fight any crowds, or the blistering heat, so it was great!

Of course today, I’m busy with my abundance of peaches and apricots!

The apricots we’ll keep for eating, since we didn’t get too many, but most of the peaches will need freezing or canning within the next couple of days. I’m not much of a canned peaches fan, so I will mostly quarter and freeze them for morning smoothies, blender ice creams and peach cobblers/pies at a later date!

And when I went into my little backyard garden this morning, it became clear that I really needed to make a move (yet again) on my abundance of herbs.

I plant a lot of herbs every year, because I just LOVE fresh herbs for cooking. And every year, they go totally nuts in the yard and produce like crazy! Which means that about every three weeks or so, I process the bunches of herbs, that I haven’t either used in the kitchen on a daily basis, or given away, for freezing or drying.

This morning I started again, as this weekend seems to have brought a LOT of growth for the herbs! So, my countertops are loaded with bunches of Lovage, Dill, Winter Savory, Thyme, Lemon Thyme, Chives, Cinnamon Basil, regular Basil, Tarragon, Parsley, Rosemary, Mint and Lemon Verbena, waiting to be prepared for the months to come, when our little garden will succumb to the blistering heat - until “Winter” finally brings some relief and with it a new opportunity to plant and grow!

But for now, I am thoroughly enjoying the abundance of great family time, good food and the amazing smells mingling in my kitchen! And I am so grateful for the abundance that is in my life!

Homemade Bread - Spelt Sourdough

2013-05-11T12:10:00.001-07:00

Today’s bread was a bit of an experiment for me!

I used half freshly ground organic spelt (in the vitamix) and half sprouted (then dried, then ground to flour) spelt.

I used my usual no knead ratio, which usually produces a relatively easy to handle, even though very soft, dough.

Not in this case however. I suspect that the sprouted flour reacts somewhat differently to moisture!

It produced an amazingly sour flavor (in a good way) but the dough stayed VERY soft and sticky, even after the addition of some more flour.This made it very hard to handle the dough, hence the somewhat odd shape and crust. It didn’t even hold it’s basic shape while I was lifting it from the proofing basket to the Clouche on a parchment paper!

The flavor and texture of the bread is, however, very good. As I said, amazing sourdough flavor, nice open holes in the crumb and a lovely crunchy crust!

I will experiment further and will post a recipe once I have devised a more manageable dough!

Natural, Homemade Goo Remover (that really works!)

2013-05-09T15:28:00.001-07:00

I love bottles, and jars and all manners of appealing vessels for lotions and potions and food and, well sometimes just to look at.

I’ve been decanting stuff into pretty bottles ever since I can remember. I have also been known to choose one product over another because one was in a pretty re-usable jar/bottle/vessel. Yes, that’s me!

Somehow my bottle/jar/vessel love took a bit of a back seat while the twins were toddlers. Maybe for obvious reasons, like most of my pretty bottles/jars/vessels are quite fragile. Some more than others, but none of them are exactly toddler proof.

But in the last year or two, it has returned to me and many a plastic containers has once again made way for mason jars, glass bottles and pretty pottery.

Another thing that returned, is my love for “making it myself” all the way. Before I was married and had kids, I would make my soap, lotions, potions, toiletries, etc. myself too. Well, I am going back there!

Not only have I recently switched the family to natural and organic in almost all things food, I am also going organic and homemade on the toiletries and cleaning front again! The benefits, even though it has only been a few months, have been tremendous to me personally already. I can’t wait to see what health benefits we reap in the long term!

But I digress! Back to the jars and bottles and things! If you love containers as much as I do and love to reuse them and give them new life in so many different ways, you also know the pain that is the removal of labels and sticky, won’t-ever-budge adhesive residue!

Be it on glass or plastic, the easier the label comes off, the more impossible it seems to remove the adhesive they use for labels these days!

I seem to remember that you could just soak something and the label would come clean off, or at most you had to give a couple of spots a quick scrub. But not anymore!

These days it seems that there are adhesives that don’t respond to anything much. Especially when you have a clear label. It peels off easy enough, but then your left with the almost invisible sticky residue that won’t respond to heat, soap, scrubbing or anything! And every time you think you got it and your vessel dries, there it is again, sticking to your hand and collecting every particle of dust, fluff or hair in sight! You know the one I mean, right?

Yes, that stuff! Ugh!

Turns out there is a way to get that stuff off. Easily even!

Which brings me to my recipe of a different kind today! So if you already tried soaking and scrubbing and dish soap and the stuff just won’t come off, try this!

The natural, and oh-so-effective “Goo-Be-Gone” you can whip up in your kitchen!

It only has two ingredients:

Baking Soda

Coconut oil

Yep, oh and you might want a jar, so you can make up a batch and have it handy.

Basically, all you do is to make a paste of some room temperature coconut oil and baking soda. Mix it all up in a jar and keep it handy for when you need it!

I can’t even believe how well this stuff works!

To use, you just scoop a little out of your jar, put in on the “goo” you want to remove and scrub it with a damp scouring pad or a magic eraser.

Now, back to that impossible-to-remove adhesive!

It takes a couple more steps, but nothing too wild. I did several bottles today and it didn’t take me long at all.

First fill the vessel that has the goo on with hot water. Close the lid, so the hot water stays in.

Spread your coconut oil/baking soda paste on the goo.

Let it sit there for a couple of minutes.

Then take a scrubbing sponge or scourer and lightly scrub it. I tend to use a Magic eraser on plastic so I don’t make any scratch marks.

Once your done, rinse with a little washing up liquid or pure castile soap (that’s what I use) and voila - you have no more sticky residue!

If you should have a particularly stubborn adhesive, just get a little more of the coconut goop on and repeat. In 10 something bottles I only encountered one spot that I had to do twice!

As an added bonus your hands smell yummy!

Try it sometime! It really works well!

Note: Before you use it on different kind of plastic, acrylics or wood (like removing a kid’s sticker from your wooden floor,) please test in an inconspicuous spot and make sure your scrubber isn’t too abrasive!

Project Life Share - January 2013

2013-05-07T11:48:00.001-07:00

I just realized that I shared February with you before I shared January!

So, without further ado, here is some of our January!

I chose to stay pretty neutral for the cover page this year, just depicting a few things about our family.

As you can see, this month I have a lot of journaling going on and I chose many different forms of it. Predominantly, for the more wordy posts, I tend to use the computer however and print either directly on the journaling cards themselves, or on a separate sheet of paper, which I then trim to size and adhere on the journaling card.

I used Cathy Zielske’s templates for the “conversation with” pages. It’s such a fun way to make a snapshot of where the kiddos are at that point in time!

Excuse the blur please, my DSLR seems to be on it’s last leg and it goes through fits where it just won’t do any photos quite right. Hopefully you get the idea though!

The blank spot is where the invitation to a party is kept. Rather than blurring it all out, I just took it out before photographing this page!

More weird blur - sorry!

And that was January! Now I just need to catch up and fill in the gaps on March and April and then I can share that with you too!

Have a wonderful day everyone!

Homemade Bread

2013-05-05T11:46:00.001-07:00

This week’s bread was quite the surprise.

Just lately my sourdough has really been taking off and has become quite volatile within 20-30 minutes of feeding it! It might have something to do with using structured water to feed it!

So, yesterday I thought I would try it on a much heavier dough. Normally it takes around 18 hours for the sourdough to rise (first rising), double in volume and develop that yummy sour dough flavor throughout the whole dough. Since I was making a double batch, I would have imagined it taking even a bit longer.

Well, only 7 hours into it, the dough had more than doubled, the familiar sour smell was well developed and I really didn’t want to leave it for another 11 hrs. in case it would wear itself out and not rise again.

I went ahead and shaped the loaves, put them down for their second rising and low and behold - they turned out beautifully!

This was a medium hydration, no-knead dough and it ended up with a beautifully soft crumb and a rustic crust.

The whole family loved it!

Homemade Almond Milk / Almond Milk Creamer (Dairy-, Gluten-, Soy -Free, Low-Carb, Raw, Vegan)

2013-05-05T11:36:00.001-07:00

As you know, I’ve been making my own nut milks, but for some reason it hadn’t occurred to me to make my own almond milk. I have had the almond milk in the cartons and even though I don’t dislike it, it doesn’t blow me away either. So, almond milk wasn’t really on my to do list.

Since another Azure Standard delivery is coming in a few day’s time, I was in “use up the last little bits here and there and make room” mode and found some almonds in the freezer. So, just because I was in the mood for a change, I thought I would make some almond milk!

Oh my goodness!! Homemade Almond Milk is N.O.T.H.I.N.G like the stuff in the cartons! It’s not even in the same flavor category!

The homemade stuff is rich and creamy (not slightly watery like the bought stuff) with a full round flavor, slightly sweet and very satisfying!

And with the addition of just a couple of healthy ingredients you have a delicious non-dairy creamer that won’t separate or curdle in hot or iced drinks!

And it’s so easy to make! If you have never tried homemade Almond Milk, you are so in for a treat!

Basically I went about it much like I did with my cashew milk.

Homemade Almond Milk

Soak 1 cup of whole almonds (I use organic) in water for 4 hrs. or as long as over night. Drain the almonds and rinse.

Place almonds in a blender with about 4 cups of filtered water. If you have a Vitamix, just fill it to the “max” line of the 32 oz. container with water. Blend on high until it’s all well incorporated. It takes less than a minute in the Vitamix, but will probably take longer in a regular blender.

Place a Nut-Milk Bag in a large bowl and pour your almond milk through the nut milk bag. Then squeeze, squeeze, squeeze until there’s no more milk coming out.

Discard the pulp (unless you want to reuse it, but I haven't found anything that yields a tasty result so far) and decant the Almond Milk into a jar or bottle.

Personally, I like to add a pinch of Himalayan Sea Salt , 2 tsp of Maple Syrup and 1/2 tsp of Butter Vanilla Bakery Emulsion (or extract) to mine to round out the flavor some more, but that is optional. Shake it up and refrigerate!

Give it a quick shake before use. It doesn’t separate, but the milk can settle a little. A quick shake takes care of that though!

Note:

1.) Any kind of sweetener of preference can be used in this.

2.) We are soaking the almonds to remove the enzyme inhibitors from the nuts, so please DO discard the soaking water, as we don’t want them in the milk.

3.) For an even (naturally) sweeter Almond Milk, peel the skins off the almonds (or use blanched almonds) to make the milk.

4.) I have read that the 1 gallon pain strainer bags at Home Depot work just as well as nut milk bags and are much more inexpensive. They don’t last as long, but apparently they do the job. I haven’t tried them myself however.

5.) Four or more layers of fine cheese cloth also works for straining and squeezing the Almond Milk.

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Almond Milk Creamer

Make almond milk as above, then after squeezing the milk, return the milk to the blender and add

1.5 tbsp. Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil

2 tbsp. Maple Syrup (or sweetener of choice)

pinch of Himalayan Sea Salt

2 tsp of Vanilla (or any other kind of flavor you like your creamer to have) extract

Blend to incorporate fully.

You can use this straight away, especially the foamy head it makes in the blender for a Cappuccino or Café au lait, or refrigerate for later use.

Shake before use.

Notes:

1.) This creamer doesn’t seem to separate or curdle like almond milk does in hot or iced drinks. At least not for several hours! However, if preparing an iced late, I would recommend adding the creamer last, so the coconut oil doesn’t harden around the ice cubes.

2.) You can just make a little at a time too by using about 1/2 cup of homemade almond milk, 1/4 tsp Coconut Oil, 1/8 tsp flavor extract of choice and sweetener to taste.

3.) Use up to 2.5 tbsp. of Coconut Oil for a richer, creamier result. Personally, I like it best at 1.5 tbsp., but experiment and find your own happy place!

4.) Use 2 dates in place of sweetener and blend until it is thoroughly incorporated.

Homemade Bread

2013-05-02T12:34:00.001-07:00

I make a lot of our bread myself and I thought it might be time to occasionally share pictures of those breads.

Today’s is a sourdough bread, German Style (meaning a low hydration dough, longer kneading to produce a dense crumb with just a hint of fennel seed to round out the flavor) fresh out of the oven! Baked in the Romertopf .

Our Favorite Guacamole

2013-05-02T10:16:00.001-07:00

Ingredients:

4 ripe avocadoes

1/3 cup cherry tomatoes, deseeded and chopped (grape or regular variety) - I love to use the yellow ones

1/4 cup red onion (finely chopped)

1 jalapeño pepper (seeds removed and finely chopped) - Optional - I omit this one as the kids like to eat “whackamole” too, but not if it’s too “hot”!

2 tbsp. finely chopped fresh cilantro

2 cloves of garlic (minced) - I omit this too when we’re all eating it, as my husband is allergic. I replace it with 1/8 tsp onion powder. It rounds out the flavor a bit!

1/4 tsp ground cumin (slightly heaping)

1/4 tsp Chipotle chili powder

Juice of 1 grilled lemon (sliced in half, placed cut sides down in a hot dry skillet, until the underside turns dark brown, but not burnt)

1/4 tsp Himalayan Sea Salt (or to taste)

Freshly ground pepper to taste

Preparation:

Cube the avocados and place in a bowl. Pour the grilled lemon juice over the avocados and mash all of it roughly with a potato masher (or a fork.)

Add all the other ingredients to the bowl.

Mix well, so everything is nicely incorporated, then taste and adjust seasoning.

Once you’re satisfied, add the avocado stones back into the bowl (it stops it from browning too fast) cover and let the guacamole sit for a while so all the flavors can marry.

Refrigerate left-overs.

Enjoy!

Mexican Queso Dip/Sauce #2 (Dairy-Free, Gluten-Free, Soy-Free)

2013-04-27T10:00:00.001-07:00

This is the dairy-free version of my favorite Mexican cheese dip (original recipe is here) and I have to say that it comes out really close to the original flavor and texture!

This was quite amazing to me, considering that the original Queso Dip is really one big dairy feast, and this one has no dairy whatsoever in it!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of diary-free sour cream (cultured for about 18 hrs. and then briefly drained to thicken)

1/4 cup Rejuvelac

1/2 cup of cashew milk or Mimic Cream

1/3 cup raw macadamia nuts (or macadamia flower/butter if not using a high powered blender)

3 tbsp. sliced jalapeno juice

2 tsp jalapeno slices (chopped if not using a high powered blender) - or more if you like it spicier

2 tsp chicken or vegetable stock bouillon powder (I use chicken)

1 large egg

3/4 cup of meltable vegan/dairy-free cheeses (I used half Daya cheddar and half cheddar flavor rice shreds in my latest batch, but any meltable dairy-free cheeses will work. I have also used my homemade meltable nut cheeses successfully in this!)

Sea Salt to taste

Vitamix Instructions:

Add everything to the Vitamix, go to variable 1, then up to 7 quickly, then process on high for 7 minutes. The mix should resemble the consistency of hot cheese sauce.

If it doesn’t thicken (somewhat depends on how much thickening agent your cheeses have,) add 2 tsp of corn starch (or tapioca starch, or potato starch, or agar powder) and process for a further 2 minutes or until thickened.

You can now use this sauce as a cheese sauce (over enchiladas or such) or cool down to room temperature and then cover and chill overnight for a thick Queso dip (it will thicken as it chills!)

Stovetop Instructions:

First off, you will likely not get as smooth of an end result as you do with a commercial blender, as the macadamias add a lot of the creaminess and the high speed processing adds a little “fluffiness”. However, you still get a pretty decent tasting cheese sauce!

Let’s get started!

Add the dairy-free sour cream, Rejuvelac, the cashew milk, the macadamia flour/butter , the jalapeno juice, jalapeno pieces, stock powder and egg to a saucepan. Whisk to combine and heat under constant stirring on medium heat until slightly thickened.

Once it has thickened a little, add the cheese shreds and continue to stir until all the cheese is melted into the sauce.

Taste the mix and add salt if needed.

You can now use this sauce as a cheese sauce (over enchiladas or such) or cool down to room temperature and then cover and chill overnight for a thick Queso dip (it will thicken as it chills!)

Recipe and substitution notes:

1.) If you prefer, you can omit the chopped jalapeno slices at the beginning of the recipe and add them once your sauce is thick at the very end. It gives your Queso dip a tad more texture, especially if you are making the dip in the Vitamix.

2.) I have not tried making it with other nuts, so I don’t know if it works. Chances are that you will get a completely different result, so experiment at your own risk.

3.) Macadamias are an important addition here. They provide a lot of the creaminess, so if you substitute with something else, chances are the result will just not be the same!

Plant Based Dairy Basics

2013-04-25T09:02:00.001-07:00

As I am developing non-dairy recipes, I seem to come back to the same base products again and again. I thought it would be easiest, if I just had those base products/recipes all in one place, so I can just link to it in future recipes.

Dairy-Free Yogurt

When I first started experimenting with Dairy-Free Yogurt, I started with the recipes by Kelly of http://www.thespunkycoconut.com.

I have since developed my own preferences in how I make my yogurt, both texture and flavor wise, but they are based on Kelly’s base recipe. Thank you, Kelly!

Add to a pot:

3 cups cashew milk
3 cups canned coconut milk
1 tbsp. Raw Coconut Nectar (or honey, or palm sugar - we just want something to help feed the bacteria, rather than sweeten the yogurt)

Bring to simmer. Watch carefully so it doesn’t boil over.

Once it begins to simmer turn off the heat.

While the milk is warming, let

1 tbsp. of gelatin

bloom in

1/4 cup of water.

(OR 1.5 tsp agar powder, dissolved in 1/2 cup of boiling water)

Blooming simply means that you sprinkle it on top of the water and leave it undisturbed until it has absorbed the water. Then you heat the mix until it bubbles and turns into a clear liquid.

Whisk your gelatin mixture (or your agar mixture) into the hot milk.

Take your pan off the heat and place it in a basin full of cold water. You can add some ice cubes to your water bath, to hasten things along. We want to cool the mixture down to about 95F. An instant read thermometer really helps here. If you don’t have one, place a little of the hot milk on the inside of your wrist. If it no longer has the slightest “heat” to it but is still warm, your ready to whisk in the

contents of about 9 probiotic capsules (make sure they are dairy free.)

You just need to pull the capsules apart and use the dried powder inside.

When all the probiotic powder is whisked in, ladle into jars and keep warm for about 10 hours.

I use my yogurt maker, but I have also successfully made this yogurt many other ways.

One of the easiest is to use mason jars, placed in the oven (lids off) and wrapped/draped with a thick bath towel) with only the oven light on for 10 hrs.

If there is a clear pool at the bottom after 10 hours, don’t worry about it. Just secure the lids tightly and shake the yogurt to mix it in before refrigerating.

Refrigerate for 8 hours. It does actually take this long and it is possible that your yogurt looks very thin and runny for quite some time before that. But don’t worry, it will set up fine - just wait for the required 8 hours!

Keep refrigerated.

Note:

This dairy-free yogurt works really nicely as a sour cream replacement too!

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Rejuvelac

Instead of reinventing the wheel, I will just post a few links to videos/articles of people making rejuvelac. You will find that ever recipe is ever so slightly different, but all of them have the same end result, which does show how forgiving the process is, once you got it down!

I started making Rejuvelac after I got Miyoko Shinner’s book Artisan Vegan Cheese. Many of her cheese recipes require Rejuvelac and even though I was initially a bit weary about it all, once I got it right, I really saw/tasted, why it was so much the culturing agent of her choice!

http://www.rawmazing.com/rejuvelac/ (they also answer all sorts of trouble shooting in the comment section.)

http://www.sproutpeople.com/cookery/rejuvelac.html

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Rejuvelac-231401

http://www.growyouthful.com/recipes/rejuvelac.php

http://www.karynraw.com/blog/2012/10/18/rejuvenate-replenish-and-restore-with-rejuvelac/

A few personal notes on the process:

1.) My first batch went horribly wrong and smelled extremely putrid. Way worse than “old socks”. This was not a good batch and in retrospect I know what went wrong. I sprouted the grains in a mason jar and neglected to drain them COMPLETELY during the sprouting process.

My batches since then have all been a success, mostly because I used my sprouting jar and made sure it all drained really well.

2.) I still don’t drink the stuff, but I do use it in all sorts of plant based dairy. It is awesome in culturing plant based dairy and gives that unique cheesy flavor - much more so than many other ways I’ve tried. To me it isn’t so much the smell of “old socks” but more that of a slightly pungent/very ripe cheese. It’s not all that unpleasant and I tend to drain and refrigerate the liquid as soon as I smell that cheesy smell!

3.) If you are living gluten-free, you can sprout brown rice and or gluten-free oats. I have tried wheat, rye, brown rice and oats so far and all have worked great, even though each and ever one had a slightly different smell/flavor to them.

4.) Rejuvelac keeps for up to a month in the refrigerator.

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Cashew Sour Cream/Cream Cheese

Soak 1 cup of RAW Cashew Pieces (NOT roasted or salted!) in water overnight. I leave it covered out on the counter over night.

Drain and rinse the cashew pieces in the morning and add to a blender.

Add just enough Rejuvelac to process into a thick and creamy puree.

Blend on high until smooth and incorporated, about 2 minutes in the Vitamix.

Transfer into a container with a lid and leave it out at room temperature to culture. I prefer mine cultured for around 24-30 hrs., but tastes vary. It can culture anywhere from 12 - 48 hrs.

Then refrigerate. I find that it continues to culture a little in the refrigerator when left for a few days, but at a much slower rate.

If you were processing your sour cream with a regular blender, chances are that you needed to use much more liquid than you would with a high powered blender.

If your sour cream or cream cheese isn’t really thick, line a colander or sieve with a double layer of a cheese cloth and drain the cultured mix for a few hours until you achieve the desired thickness. Discard the liquid that dripped off. Refrigerate the sour cream/cream cheese.

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“Instant” Sour Cream (Uncultured)

This sour cream does requires much less waiting time than the cultured variety. You do need to soak the cashews, but once that step is done, you can have your sour cream in minutes!

1 cups raw cashews
2 tsp. apple cider vinegar,
2 tsp. fresh lemon juice
additional fresh lemon juice or vinegar for adjusting the flavor
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 cup water (if using Vitamix) plus 2-3 tbsp. more water (if using food processor)

Soak 1 cup of RAW Cashew Pieces (NOT roasted or salted!) in water overnight. I leave them in a covered bowl on the counter over night.

Into a food processor or a very powerful blender, combine the cashews, vinegar, lemon juice, and salt. Puree for 1-2 minutes, until you have a thick paste. Scrape the sides of your processor as needed during this process, to make sure everything is well blended.
Slowly, while the processor/blender is running, stream in the water. Let the water incorporate before adding more. It’s the best way to see how much you really need. Use as little water as possible.

Taste test and adjust the flavor with more vinegar, lemon juice and/or salt.

Refrigerate. It will thicken up a bit while it refrigerates too.

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Cashew Milk

Makes about 5 cups.

Soak 1 cup of RAW Cashew Pieces (NOT roasted or salted!) in water overnight. I leave it covered out on the counter over night.

Drain and rinse the cashew pieces in the morning and add to a blender with 3 1/2 cups of water.

Blend on high until smooth and incorporated, about 2 minutes in the Vitamix.

If you are using a regular blender, it tends to work better to make it in several smaller batches. Process for as long as you can without overheating your blender! Then combine the batches. If you still have bits floating in your milk, you may want to drain your milk through a nut bag or very fine mesh sieve.

I also like to add a pinch of Real Salt and 2 drops of Liquid Stevia to give it some depth of flavor. I store my cashew milk in a glass jug in the refrigerator. So, whenever I refer to Cashew Milk in a recipe, this is what I use!

Keep refrigerated.

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Rice Milk #1

This variety of rice milk is great for using up leftover rice and tends to work really well in baking and cooking applications. However, as a “over your cereal” or “drink straight from the glass” milk substitute it is not my preference. For that I would recommend Rice Milk #2.

1/2 cup cooked organic, brown rice

2 cups of water

2 tsp. sweetener of choice

pinch of salt

Add all ingredients to your blender and blend on high (about 1 minute or so for a high powered blender) until you have a smooth and creamy milk.

If you’re not using a high powered blender, you may have some rice bits left. Simply strain the milk through a fine mesh sieve.

Keep refrigerated.

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Rice Milk #2

This milk has a tendency to separate after a while. Just give it a quick shake before use.
Makes about two cups

1/2 cup brown rice
2 cups filtered water
1-2 tsp Organic evaporated Cane Sugar - or stevia, raw coconut nectar, honey, maple syrup, or other sweetener to taste (optional)
pinch salt

1/4 tsp vanilla extract (optional)

In a dry skillet over medium heat, toast rice grains until fragrant and coloring, stirring regularly, about four minutes. Transfer to a bowl or jar and add 2 cups water. Cover and set aside to soak for 10-12 hours.

When soaking in complete, pour rice and water into blender pitcher, add any additional sweeteners and flavorings, and blend on high until rice grains are no longer visible, about 2 minutes.

Use a nut milk bag or similarly fine strainer to drip milk into a clean glass storage jar or bottle. Chill rice milk thoroughly before serving. Shake well before each use.

Notes:

Toasting the rice is optional. I would recommend you try it both ways though, and with white and brown rice to find your own flavor preference.

Personally, I prefer a light toasting and the brown rice as it gives a little more depth of flavor to the milk and a less “raw” flavor, for lack of a better description.

Chocolate Mousse (Dairy-Free, Soy-Free, Gluten-Free, Reduced Sugar) - with Vitamix Instructions

2013-04-24T09:46:00.001-07:00

On of the other new things in my life is a later model Vitamix 5200. Seldom has an appliance been so long wished for, eagerly awaited and then put to use repeatedly over days and weeks as this machine!

It.is.fantastic! Especially for the making of nut anything. The texture it produces just can’t be beat.

When I first went dairy free, I was using an ordinary blender and a Personal Blender and even though it produced pretty passable results that certainly worked for me, they were nothing compared to the texture the Vitamix 5200 was able to give me. Incidentally, the personal blender did much better than any full size blender, in case you're wondering!

Just as an example:

I was able to make perfectly fine cashew milk in my personal blender. It took a lot longer and I had to do it over and over to incorporate most of the soaked cashews, but I got there. The cashew milk would separate in the refrigerator rather quickly, but it didn’t matter that much - shake it up before use and go!

When I got my new Vitamix 5200, the first thing I did was cashew milk. The difference was amazing! All of the cashews just sort of incorporated into the water and made this smooth, creamy milk. And I have yet to see any separation in the refrigerator from that milk. And all of it was done in about a couple of minutes or so!

Diary-Free Cream Cheese:

I made pretty good tasting cream cheese before, but there were texture issues. Not terrible, but enough to give away that it wasn’t dairy. With the Vitamix 5200, that is no longer the case. Depending on what nut combination I use, it comes out smooth and creamy - almost akin to whipped cream cheese! Especially when I put a few macadamias in it!

The other thing that I have discovered with the Vitamix 5200, is cooking in it! SO easy, especially for puddings, sauces and soups! Just dump everything in it and go! So, quite a few of my future recipes will be with Vitamix 5200 instructions, especially the non-dairy ones!

As you can see I am totally in love with my Vitamix, as are my kids. I haven’t even told you about all our morning smoothies, our healthy and nutritious after school “ice creams” and such! We’ve had green juices, smoothies and shakes for breakfast for years, but I always had to be careful what to use, since both my kids and my husband are quite sensitive to texture problems. Unless it’s completely smooth, they have issues! Now, with the Vitamix 5200, it doesn’t matter what I use anymore, since everything ends up completely smooth and incorporated! It even makes chia seeds disappear right into the shake without grit or anything! Amazing!

Ok, I stop gushing about my little machine! By the way, I am in no way affiliated with Vitamix 5200 , they don’t know I exist. I just love, love, love this machine!

Speaking of my kids. My kids are dairy lovers through and through. My girl in particular is also a dairy “snob”. She won’t just accept any ole thing as dairy and has refused nut milks of any kind. Good thing they don’t have to be dairy-free! However, having said that, it was my girl who declared the following chocolate mousse “the best chocolate pudding ever!”

So, here comes the recipe. Note that I will give you instructions both for the Vitamix 5200 and a stove top method, but that due to the lack of air incorporation in the stovetop method, it will be more of a pudding than an airy mousse.

Chocolate Mousse (Dairy-Free, Soy-Free, Gluten-Free, Reduced Sugar)

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups Nut milk of choice (I like it best with Cashew Milk, it makes it creamer. Cashew milk method is in “additional notes”)

1/4 cup of full fat coconut milk (I use Native Forest Organic Classic Coconut Milk)

2 tbsp. cornstarch (or tapioca starch, or potato starch, or dairy-free, unsweetened vanilla custard powder)

1/3 cup of sweetener of choice (I use liquid stevia equivalent)

2 whole eggs

2 egg yolks

1 tsp Lorann’s buttery vanilla emulsion (or vanilla extract, but add after the mousse is cooked)

1 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder

1 cup Enjoy Life Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips, Gluten, Dairy, nut & Soy Free, Mini Chips

Vitamix Instructions:

Add all ingredients, except for the chocolate chips to the Vitamix and process for 6 minutes on high. The mixture will be hot and have thickened. Turn the blender off, add the chocolate chips and process for another minute on high. Add the vanilla extract (if using) and incorporate.

Pour into ramekins, small mason jars or custard forms, let it cool down to room temperature and chill overnight.

Stove Top Instructions:

Please note that this will be more like a thick custard if made on the stovetop, rather than a lighter mousse as the stovetop method doesn’t incorporate the air into the mixture as the Vitamix does. It is nevertheless delicious!

Add 1 cup of the nut milk, the coconut milk, the sweetener, vanilla emulsion and cocoa powder to a pan and whisk well.

In a bowl, mix 1/2 cup of nut milk, the eggs, the egg yolk and the corn starch.

Warm the mixture in the pan, taking care not to let it boil over! Once the milk is hot, add the egg and cornstarch mix under constant whisking until it thickens.

Add the chocolate chips and let them melt into the custard under constant stirring.

Add the vanilla extract if using, stir it in well, then pour into ramekins, small mason jars or custard forms, let it cool down to room temperature and chill overnight.

Additional recipe and substitution notes:

1. Please do chill these overnight! They take a little longer to set up than their dairy counterparts and won’t get to the right texture for several hours. But when they do, they are so worth the wait!

2. I make my cashew milk the following way:

Soak 1 cup of cashew pieces in water overnight. Rinse in the morning, add the drained cashew pieces to a blender with 3 1/2 cups of water. Blend on high until smooth and incorporated, about 2 minutes in the Vitamix. If you are using a regular blender, it tends to work better to make it in several smaller batches. Process for as long as you can without overheating your blender! Then combine the batches. If you still have bits floating in your milk, you may want to drain your milk through a nut bag or very fine mesh sieve.

I also like to add a pinch of real salt and a couple of drops of liquid stevia to give it some depth of flavor. I store my cashew milk in a glass jug in the refrigerator. So, whenever I refer to Cashew Milk, this is what I use!

3. If you are using the Lorann’s Baking Emulsion, you can use it right at the beginning and cook with it, as the flavor won’t dissipate. If you are using regular vanilla extract, you will need to wait until the end to add it, as it has a tendency to evaporate and take most of the yummy vanilla flavor with it.

4. The dairy-free, unsweetened vanilla custard powder I speak of in the recipe refers to the Cook & Serve kind, NOT instant!

5. You can use unsweetened MimicCreme instead of the home made cashew milk.

6. It does work without the coconut milk, but you will get a slightly different texture and consistency.

7. You could use all coconut milk, for an even thicker and creamer option (it will however impart some of the coconut flavor!)

In a Nutshell

2013-04-14T13:50:00.001-07:00

Oh, my dear blog friends, it seems I have been absent for a while again!

Life happens and takes over and before I know it, I have so much to catch up on!

So much has happened this last month or so and I want to catch you up on most of it. It may have to be in the “in a nutshell” kind of summary fashion, just so this post won’t be endlessly long!

In Sickness and in health

First of all - we were sick again! Yes, just after getting the family and myself over the flu earlier this year and still dealing with the hanging on coughs and minor relapses, we caught another bug. Somehow the viruses this year have been particularly nasty!

Anyway, this time it was vomiting and diarrhea, with many a changed bed and midnight bath for the kiddos. Then it hit the adults.

And we just got over it all, when we all suffered a relapse the following weekend! *sigh*

Break a leg

All of this took place during tech and performance week of my daughter Anna’s first small singing and acting role in the local youth theatre (translates into many late nights and some high strung emotions, as well as being on stage even though she wasn’t feeling very well!) But like a pro she worked through it all! And the performances were wonderful! And Anna is definitely in her element on stage!

Even though, she is only seven years old, and prolonged late nights, hours of rehearsals and performances, not a weekend to ourselves since February - it all takes it’s toll!

Needless to say, I am also behind on Project Life - not only showing you my latest pages, but I’m also about a month behind now on even making them! I have kept up with notes and photos however, so I am confident that once things calm down a little bit again, I can catch up relatively quickly!

Dairy, Weight and Eating

The other major thing that happened in my life relates to food and eating. In the last 6 months or so I have really changed my approach to food, eating, weight loss, body image and all that.

All of the above is a huge issue for me that stems from ways back in my childhood and beyond (generational issues.) I have been letting got of a lot of beliefs and judgments, about myself, my body, food and eating and it has aided me greatly. It however didn’t really bring about the desired changes for me and I felt very much that it had to do with me being incapable of “hearing” my body.

I was still making decisions about my body in my head first, not actually hearing and honoring my body. This is a really hard one for me. I didn’t even know what it “felt” like to hear the body ... what that even was, and even less so when it came to food and eating. When it comes to nutrition, foods, specialty foods and anything surrounding it, there isn’t much I don’t know. All the years of obsessing over it have taught me a lot.

Let’s face it, I got that with the mother’s milk, and I never knew any different. The only thing my childhood or anything since hasn’t taught me is how to listen and trust - myself, my intuition, my knowing ... and my body.

I don’t think I was an overweight child to begin with. But I had a mother who was VERY afraid that I might become an overweight child. It was a great concern of hers and as she yo-yo-dieted and closet-food-addicted herself through her own life, she took me along for her ride from a VERY young age.

I was on my first no-food fasting diet before I was even 5 years old, complete with salt induced cleanses and other madnesses. But that and many other things in regards to my childhood, are a whole different story and a different post.

The main focus of my eating these days is 1.) what my body requires/wants, 2.) my health rather than the weight (which means clean, wholesome, organic-when-possible and unprocessed eating), and 3.) pleasure, utter yumminess and the sheer enjoyment of food.

Saying the above, as somebody who is very overweight, the first and the last statement may raise some eyebrows.

But that is just it! How many of us that have fought the weight battle or have been at outright war with our bodies over the weight (man, that already sounds so not happy and terribly heavy!!) can remember the last time we have enjoyed the food we wanted? I mean, really enjoyed? Not the guilty pleasure kind of enjoyment! Or the between diets kind of enjoyment. No, the pure, unadulterated, just because it is such a pleasure kind of enjoyment of food?

Yeah, I know. Up until fairly recently when I changed my attitude to food and to myself, I couldn’t remember either! In fact, I’m pretty sure that I’ve never really had that!

In the same stroke, when was the last time you actually let your body decide what it wanted or needed?

Anyway, the last few weeks I have really been focusing on allowing and receiving - not controlling, especially when it comes to myself and my body. And systematically letting go of anything and everything that might be getting in my way, which were mostly judgments, beliefs and decisions that came from habit, other people or my mind.

As a result, I have been able to hear my body a little more and am able to go with the flow. And I’ve been allowing my body to make the decisions about the food it needs and wants.

Surprisingly, to me, my body led me in directions I might have never guessed. One of them is to let go of all dairy.

DIARY! People, dairy was the only thing I was SURE I had no issue with. Not even a potential issue! Dairy was my crack, my comfort, my one and only food group I could always rely on ...

Or was it? The above alone should have given me a clue, probably.

Anyway, so yes, one of the major changes I have made recently is cutting out ALL dairy.

This last Thursday was my 1 month “anniversary” of being dairy-free (other than a couple of accidental exposures, which had some terrible reactions!) and upon reflection, the list of things that have changed for me and my body in this last month is surprisingly long!

My detox was not pleasant and it is somewhat ongoing, but the benefits seem to outweigh everything else at the moment!

Since I’m only a month into it, it is early days on what will be a long-term benefit, but I am excited to see what happens!

So, somebody as obsessed with dairy as me, I must be missing it terribly, right? Oh the restrictions! It’s got to be really hard giving up most of your favorite foods.

Actually, surprisingly, NO. That is the benefit of being in tune with your body, I think. I haven’t been tempted at all. I haven’t bemoaned all I’m “giving up” - not even a little bit and haven’t been temped even once. To be honest, the rational, intellectual and “based-on-experience” part of me would have never thought this possible, even 5 weeks ago, but there it is!

I have found though, that when you go with what your body is really asking for, everything tastes amazingly delicious and beyond satisfying! How cool is that!? I’ll have more of that, please!

Of course, me being me, I also instantly went into experimentation mode and tried to play with many a thing to create some dairy substitutes. So be prepared to find some diary-free recipes spring up on here!

Faces

And now to the other thing that I’ve been focusing on the last little while: Faces. Yes, drawing, painting, shadowing faces. Faces have always been a dreaded thing in my art and it’s a lucky thing that the kind of mixed media art I do rarely needs a “proper” face (or hands for that matter, another area I struggle with!) However, for some reason I’ve been obsessed with getting faces right recently and I’ve been working my way through many a YouTube video, online course, book, online examples and downright copies, as well as other instructions.

I wish I could say I know how to do faces now, but I still don’t. But I’m getting better. And every once in a while I have a lucky hit and turn out a pretty good, real looking face while at other times it’s just not going right, but I take any improvement. The interesting thing about faces, for me, is that I never quite know how they turn out, especially the kind of faces I do in my art journal. It’s an interesting journey though!

I will collect some of my practice runs and share them with you in a separate post!

So, what major changes have you made in your life recently and how is it going?

Saturday Blog Hop

2013-03-30T09:12:00.001-07:00

Happy Saturday everyone!

I just wanted to pop in and mention that I have been featured on Michelle's Saturday Blog Hop.

If you are here on my blog for the first time, Welcome! I appreciate you coming and for any and all comments left. I love to read them all. If you are specifically looking for Project Life posts only, just click the link on top of the side bar.

I was very excited to be asked. I invite you all to go check out her site and all of the other very talented ladies featured today.

Here is the link :

CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE BLOG HOP

Work in Progress

2013-03-12T15:32:00.001-07:00

I’ve been itching to do a mixed media canvas for some time now, especially since I’ve been so focused on Project Life the last few months. So, yesterday I finally got to it, with no idea as to what I wanted to do.

It’s was the first time for me using a canvas board. Definitely a different experience to regular canvas and paper! I loved the coarse texture for the texturing part, but it was a lot harder to draw and paint on! Initially I missed the “give” of the canvas or paper that I am used to.

Since I am using a lot of pearl mists and iridescent paint, it’s hard to photograph the board and get in undistorted impression, but many different angles will eventually give you a full picture!

I am only vaguely clear as to where this one is going at this point, but I’m having so much fun with it right now and I peeled mod podge, paint and gesso off my fingers with relish last night!

I think I feel some wire elements coming on for the free spaces. Interestingly enough I only realized later, that I’ve been gravitating toward very similar colors as this little canvas I made quite a while ago, that also had wire art in it. Hmmm, guess I wasn’t done with that phase just yet!

This is how far I got last night - I am curious to see where this is going next!

What are you working on right now?

2013 Album Title Page

2013-03-10T20:29:00.001-07:00

This is the title page for my 2013 Project Life album.

I wanted to stay very neutral on this title page. The browns look a little off in this photo, but they are all of the same family and look quite cohesive in the original.

I gave the Silhouette and some Wood veneers a good workout on this one! I designed the “Kerr” and the state shape with the “az” inside it in Silhouette studio, and then cut it. The design striped flourish cut-out is by Loni Stevens.

Most of ther products used on this page (papers, borders, embellishments) are by Studio Calico. The “2013” and the heart are from a grab bag of die cut letters and numbers I got on ebay!

The photos were, as always, processed with Paint the Moon actions.

My favorite Project Life ingredients

2013-03-07T12:12:00.001-07:00

In yesterday’s post I covered the tools that I love first and foremost because they ensure a smooth work flow for Project Life.

Today I want to continue that theme with some of my other favorite Project Life “ingredients” that I love, but that don’t necessarily stand out because of their practicality!

1. 6x6 Paper Pads.

I almost exclusively use these smaller paper pads for my Project Life.

Not only is the pattern smaller, which works much better for the smaller “layouts” and cards, but cutting those papers is quick and easy. I tend to go about it in much the same way every time.

Line up my 6x6 paper at the 4 inch mark of my Fiskars paper cutter to cut a 6x4. Then I have a 2” strip of that paper left to make a border on another card. If I need 3x4 cards, I cut the 6x4 in half.

If I look through my stash of papers, I find that I mostly have My Mind’s eye papers, closely followed by Studio Calico and some Teresa Collins pads. I find that most of the My Mind’s eye papers coordinate throughout collections and it helps with the cohesiveness throughout the album! AND I love their colors and patterns!

2. Mini Alpha Stickers.

I love to use a variety of chipboard stickers and alphas on my Project Life inserts, but my current favorites are the Basic Grey Micro Mono Alpha Stickers. I only just found them recently and I have since gotten them in every color I can find available. They are the perfect size for the smaller size cards!

3. Wood Veneer Embellishments.

Uhm, yes, well I have confessed to an ever so slight (ha!) obsession with Wood Veneer Embellishments before. I just love, love, love them! I could put one or more of those on pretty much every photo or card I put in my album (I do restrain myself from doing that though!) But yes, I have a LOT of those and I love them. Have I mentioned that I love them?!

4. Office products.

Yes, I like to use office products too. They are easily accessible, usually inexpensive and they are a great thing to use in Project Life.

For example, Return Address Labels.

Love them for adding one sentence journaling to photos! Sometimes I use them plain, in the typewriter, or I first run them through my printer and print a faint grid pattern on them and then type or write on them! It’s also fairly easy to print other thing on the labels, like borders, icons etc. by using the corresponding template (I use Avery) that is available on the web. Easy customization, for not a lot of money considering that those labels go a LONG way!

Large Shipping Labels work really well too for the strip journaling that I love to do! I bought a pack of these many years ago for shipping purposes for my business and I’m still using them now!

Parcel tags.

Love using parcel tags, as you can see! They are quick and easy and add little (or larger depending on what size you use) areas for photos, journaling, stamping or embellishments. I tend to use the this size and this size the most.

Index cards.

Another quick and easy card for journaling can be made out of index cards, be they gridded or lined. They are inexpensive, easily available and also tend to go a long way! The only draw back that I have found for index cards is that the line or grid pattern is usually a lot stronger than I would like, which works for some things, but not as well for others. But I do have both on hand and use them regularly!

5. A few assorted punches.

As many of you are well aware, I have a Silhouette Craft Cutter, so why would I need punches?

Well, as awesome as the Craft Cutter is, sometimes I’m left with a little square of something and it’s just a LOT easier to punch a quick circle out of it, rather than design it in the software, align everything just right (which can be tricky) and then have the machine cut it. So, I have an assortment of circle, label and corner punches to make things easier!

5. Silhouette Craft Cutter.

Ah yes, I love that little machine . It’s great to be able to cut just about anything I might want or need for my project Life! What can I say - it’s an awesome machine and not just for project life, for all sorts of arts and crafts projects!

6. Sewing Machine.

A lot of my journaling cards have machine sewing on them. It is usually very simple, just a straight line here and there. That’s how I like it best. Sometimes I like to branch out a little with some more involved decorative stitching, but I like simple the best. Not only does it finish off the cards in my opinion, it also helps with adhering things, so it’s a dual benefit!

7. Various Shapes and Sizes of Photo Pocket Pages.

Last, but by no means least, I LOVE to mix up different shapes and sizes of Photo Pocket Pages in my album. It makes the whole thing a little bit more interactive and fun, AND it gives you more possibilities of fitting your cards and photos in just the right size and orientation slots that you need!

I also love the big envelope pages in the back of my album to collect special kid’s drawings, report cards, assorted school stuff, rewards and all the other things that I want to keep in the original and that are too large or too many to fit into the album itself!

Falling Behind - Catching Up On Project Life

2013-03-06T13:16:00.001-07:00

That is how I started Project Life - yep, by catching up!

Sometime in the middle of last year, I decided that I would like to do Project Life! I had two choices. Either I would just start and let the 2012 album start wherever it may, or I would start the album AND catch up the rest of the year.

I decided on the latter. So my initial experience of Project Life was staying on top of the current month, as well as trying to catch up on, or in some ways, recreating the earlier months of that year.

It’s a good thing I like to challenge myself, otherwise this may have seemed a little overwhelming!

Then later in the year, my Project Life got behind again as the “crazy months” hit (from October through to January usually around here) and I really wasn’t staying all that current for October and November. However, that time around I was a little more seasoned on the whole catching-up thing and I had a few things in place that would make it easier for me.

So, today I’d like to share a few tips and tools with you that will make catching-up a lot easier!

First of all, I think we probably need to define what stage of “behind” we are talking about:

1.) There is the stage that is the quickest and easiest to remedy - the moderately behind.

You have most of your slots filled, you have all the photos off your camera and mostly printed, you just need to catch up on some journaling (which you have a note of somewhere) and stick a few more embellishments on and then you can call it done! There are some unfinished parts, but you are keeping up with it and you are interested and motivated in finishing it!

This is the kind of stage that happens to even the most dedicated Project Lifer at some point. Life gets busy, you or the kids get sick, the holidays take over, etc. Life happens and things fall behind!

Much like the above. There were several pages that had slots, journaling and photos missing at that stage.

The remedy here is to just finally, carve out some time, sit down and get it done! Plain and simple!

2.) The Mega Behind!

That is pretty much the stage where you find yourself sort of doing Project Life, but there is just SO much to catch up on!

Those are the weeks and month that I started with initially. I think I started in June with Project Life, and I found I was really liking it and then decided to catch up on the rest of the year too! There were January, February, March, April and May where I had NOTHING! But I was motivated and I knew I wanted to do it!

This is not the happiest place to be in terms of feeling done and accomplished as a Project Lifer, for sure, but don’t panic. You can do it!

The most important part is probably not to get overwhelmed and take it step by step! More on that a little later!

3.) The “I haven’t even started” kind of behind.

Not to worry - it’s never to late and we can get you started! Read on!

With being majorly behind, or with just getting started, I think, the most important thing is to figure out a few things. First of all - do you really want to do Project Life? It may seem a bit of a “duh” kind of question, but really. Do YOU want to do it? Or did you get swept up in a trend, or did your mother think it might be nice for you to do it?

If the answer is yes, you do want to do it, then read on.

How much time can you realistically carve out to do this? Be very clear that even though this is quicker than traditional scrapbooking and there are various levels of how involved you get in it, it is still something you do have to set some time aside for. It’s likely not something you can fit in an already overfull time table. If this kind of memory keeping is a priority to you, then you need to find the time somewhere!

{You may also want to decide if you want to do Project Life with the folders and the protectors and cards and all that, or if you prefer to go the digital way. You definitely have options here!! All have their advantages and disadvantages. My album is definitely hybrid. }

For this post, I’ll be mostly talking about the paper kind of Project Life, with physical product and printing and cards and albums to put it all into.

Of course there are also many different ways to approach this Project Life memory keeping.

The way that I do it is probably a little more elaborate and involved than many others, but I’m a scrapper and I enjoy this part of the process very much. If you are looking for quick and easy, the Core kits are definitely the way to go!

They are designed to make this whole process easy to manage and if you have little time, are a total beginner at all this or a lot to get through, the core kits are awesome.

You can see an example of how to set up an album with a core kit here.

And here’s a story of somebody who managed to do 9 years worth of photos and memories in just 5 months with the Core Kits! Amazing, right?

Oh, by the way, I am in no way affiliated with Project Life or Becky Higgins - they don’t even know I exist. I am just sharing my opinions, tips, tricks, experiences and recommendations here in regards to Project Life!

Anyway, I have been toying with the idea of maybe do a core kit version of the kids earlier years myself, while I still remember all the little things! Hmmm, I have more thinking to do on that!

So, let’s get to the tips to keep you organized, even if you are falling behind.

1.) Keep your photos organized.

I generally download my photos fairly regularly and put them in monthly folders. I do this even when things are VERY busy. Partly because I’m paranoid that I might accidently delete them or that the card will give up the ghost, but one way or another, I do it regularly. This habit has served me well while doing Project Life too.

Many people doing project life are doing them by weeks rather than months. I haven’t. I go by month and that is how I have my photos. However, you also always have the option of organizing your photos my weeks too!

Now, in addition to that, I also work my way through the photos I want to use, edit them and then save them in a folder within that month, so when I do get to printing and doing that week/month/ day, I can just pull it out of there and go.

I use Paint The Moon Actions for ALL of my photos and it not only takes my photos quite often from “oh dear I’m really not much of a photographer” to “Oh, that is a lovely shot” but it makes the work flow quick and easy! My most used actions are “The Essentials”, “Miracle Makeover” and my latest obsession/fav, the Luminosity set. Totally amazing! I don’t think there’s been a single photo of mine that hasn’t benefited from several of Annie’s actions in the last several years!

If you are in the market for Photoshop/Photoshop Elements actions at all, do give Annie’s a try - they totally rock! She often has free actions and templates on her site or on Facebook too, so you can try her out! And no, I’m not affiliated - just LOVE the product!

Now, you might think that printing all your photos is the next step in catching up and you may very well end up doing that. Personally, I print my photos as I work on the event/week/month. I am not planning my layouts/cards very much, so I tend to decide what photo in what size and what orientation I need at the time and I don’t really like reprinting everything, just because I changed my mind! So, in the interest of saving time and money, I have all my photos ready to go in the edited folder, but I only print when I’m ready to use them!

2.) Keep notes!

There are of course many different ways to keep notes. You can either have a physical little calendar, where you note all the things that later end up in your PL album, or your can have a voice recorder, a dairy kind of app on your computer or phone, post it notes all over the place - whatever way works for you!

For me, what has worked best the last few months, is a free app/website called Evernote. It works great!

I have it synced with my computer and my tablet and basically I can make notes as I go. I have a Project Life folder in Evernote, also organized by month.

It takes a few minute here and there to make sure I record something, but it’s time well spent, as it becomes my main reference when catching up on Project Life. If you have a smartphone, the Evernote app even let’s you record your voice, so you can literally just talk to it while you drive and save it, or have it transcribe it to text. Totally cool, right? Oh and you can snap/add photos to your Evernote content too.

Anyway, it’s free and it’s a cool little app - and useful for so much more than just Project Life!

And, when it comes to retracing events, don’t forget your calendar or appointment books, be they online or offline!

So, even if you fall behind, do make sure you keep up with the photos and the notes. It doesn’t have to be much, just little reminder notes on your calendar, or in evernote, or whichever method you decide on. And the odd snapshot of daily life!

3.) Use Social Media as source and reminders!

If you are active on Facebook and Twitter, go back there too when you are catching up. I often post funny little things my kids say, and even though I try and also make a note of them in Evernote, I sometimes forget. But my Facebook timeline provides me with a dated record! Also good if you’re just starting and trying to backtrack what you did when, etc. Every once in a while I also include a little print out of a post or conversation I had on facebook and add it to my Project Life.

Blog posts are a great way to remember what you were doing too, and something you may on occasion include in your Project Life album as well!

4.) Enlist your kids/spouse/friends/pets to contribute to your project life album.

Not only does it help you, it provides a real snapshot of your life! I often give my kids a 6x4 piece of paper/card stock and ask them to write or draw something they would like to go in the album. Sometimes they even come and ask now! I love their contributions!

5.) Don’t fall behind while catching up!

It is so easy to get swept up in “catch-up” mode and filling those gaps, that you might fall behind on the current stuff!

So, my objective has always been, do something for the current period of Project Life, then fill a gap or three. That way you are not playing catch-up the entire year!

Work quickly and efficiently on the catch-up pages, you want to get them done, but you also want to have fun and get back to the present as quickly as possible.

5.) Keep it simple!

When you are behind or you are just starting out, keep it simple. You will develop your style and preferences over time, but for now it’s just important to get going (again.) So, go with as quick as possible and as simple as possible! As I have mentioned before, the Core Kits are a great way to not only get you started, but also prompted and on your way in a very efficient and pretty looking way!

So, get some premade cards/inserts, do your journaling in the, for you, simplest way possible. You can always add more to embellish things at a later date, if you really want to, but for now you are getting it done and that is the objective!

Keeping it simple also means, having a few tools, that keep your life and workflow uncomplicated. Those will be different things for everyone. For me they are the following:

1. Fiskars 12-inch Paper Trimmer .

I use this thing all the time! It’s precise and I can trim my cards, photos, paper strips and whatever else I need neatly and most of all ... it’s straight! From very small stuff to 12x12 papers, I can do it all on this!

2. The Glue Glider and the Micro Glue Dots .

I can’t even tell you through how many adhesive applicators I’ve gone in my crafting years. Most of them left me from somewhat wanting to downright furious and frustrated.

About a year ago I found the Glue Glider and I haven’t looked back. I LOVE that thing!!! Such easy and precise application, bi-directional gliding and it has never let me down on the gluing front!

And, the easiest of all - the refill is a cartridge. No threading, no winding, no nothing when it is time to refill the glider. Just pull it out and insert the new one. Done!

The refills are easily available online and if you are an ebayer, keep an eye out there, as you can often get deals on 2 or 3 pack refills for much less than in the stores!

And then there are the Micro Glue Dots .

They are my go to for adhering embellishments and anything else small. They are quick, easy and reliable!

3. I already mentioned the Paint The Moon Photoshop Actions! Definitely a favorite tool of mine.

4. My vintage typewriter.

Ok, I still can’t get over that a smith corona typewriter from the 80s is “vintage”. That makes me feel somewhat vintage too! But I digress. I got this machine on ebay. It’s not particularly pretty to look at, not like some other vintage type writers, but it was affordable, it works pretty well and the typewriter ribbon it uses, is still available for purchase!

I do a lot of my journaling on that machine. I love the typewriter look, mistakes, white-out and all!

I also do journaling on my computer and then print it on cards, particularly when I need the writing to be small and there is a lot of it!

Of course you can always just hand write it all! I am not all that fond of my handwriting, and even though I include it, I tend to use the computer and the typewriter the most when it comes to journaling. Not least of all because they are a lot faster and much less strenuous on my hands!

5. Grid Cards.

Even though I don’t use core kit cards in my ongoing Project Life album, I do use the 3x4 and the 4 x 6 grid cards. A LOT! I just love them.

Not only are they a great base for both journaling and embellishment, I love that I can slide them right in as they are. Oh and yes, I am just ever so slightly obsessed with the grid pattern! You may have noticed.

Oh and just a heads up - these sell out fairly frequently, so if you are into them too, stock up!

6. A good roller date stamp!

I got this one when I first started with Project Life and it’s still my most frequently used date stamp, even though I have accumulated a few more since, I like this simple one the best!

So, what do you think? Can you get caught up? Or just get started? I hope some of the above proofs helpful to you! Just make a start and then keep going! You can do it!

And don’t forget - enjoy the process!!

I’ll be back tomorrow with a few more of my favorite things when it comes to the Project Life kind of scrapbooking! Until then, have fun!

Current Project Life - February 2013

2013-03-04T14:25:00.001-07:00

Since I now have my Project Life friendly, organized space, I am much more able to do a little bit every other day or so, which keeps me pretty current with my Project Life album! Yay! It’s a brand new feeling and I like it!

Since I have things also more accessible and out in the open, I find myself using a lot more of my embellishments and many an PL insert ended up as a simple mini layout! I like that too!

I’ve been having a lot of fun with it this month and want to share! There will be a lot of photos, so bear with me!

As you will see, I also used lots of different sized inserts again this month! To make it easier to see which is which, I took the album pages apart this time!

We start out with this 4x6 one. I love those!

First the month title card, which I always make, even though I also have monthly dividers in my album. It just gets me into the mood of the month a bit! You may also notice that I’ve gone a lot more “flowery” this month. It was initially meant to be a Valentine thing, but now I’m really starting to like it, so I think I might weave in more flowery papers here and there as I go!

In the middle card I have the journaling behind the photo. I secured the photo with some washi tape and then some machine stitching. When you flip the photo open, the journaling is revealed underneath.

Moving on to the back of that first plastic insert. I have a photo of the family watching the super bowl. I put the embellishments straight on the photo as there was a) room, and b) most of the superbowl journaling was already on the previous insert.

I also did a layout on our usual bedtime routine at the moment. I really love writing a little about our daily routines and how they change through the years as the kids grow!

Lastly, there is a layout about the first signs of life in our garden!

Next I have a larger card insert, just to keep things interesting!

The back is pretty much all dedicated to Valentine’s day and it even spilled over into the next page a little. I also have an big envelope in the back of the folder where I collect drawings, cards and such I get from the kids for special occasions, so they don’t all need to be in the slots here.

Here’s another smaller insert again. I really liked those this month! I don’t really tend to plan out my layouts in advance, I go with what I need to write about and make it fit somehow!

Love those little month/date pockets for stashing various things. This month I put the February Lottery ticket and some other little misc. bits and pieces in there!

Moving on to the next insert now, with more “hidden” journaling. Incidently, this is definitely my most used and favorite Pocket Pages (Design G) !

The card with the “this” arrow actually flips open to reveal a vellum pocket I sewed onto the card underneath. In it I have accordion folded a little printout of my blog post, describing my Project Life organization around the office!

I might still want to add a few notes or embellishments to that empty space under that flip card. Looks a little bare now that I took a picture of it!

It might look quite work intensive, but really it isn’t. For example, with this blog post, I went and saved the blog entry as a pdf, which I then opened in Photoshop. With the “print” feature I have on my blog, you can even specify which pictures you want included and which you don’t. So once saved, I right click the PDF file and choose “open with Photoshop”. Before it opens in Photoshop, I can then specify what size I would like the finished documents to open as. I had measured my vellum pocket and determined that 2.5 inches in width would do it. After they all opened in Photoshop, I just stuck them together and printed it out on regular printing paper. In this case the post was longer than a regular sheet of printing paper, so I had to stick a few together to make a continuous sheet, but that is optional. You could also just add the pages loosely or stapled together.

I love doing this kind of thing for long journaling or for incorporating some of my blog posts!

And then we move on to the next page! Somehow I ended up doing a lot of journaling this month. I don’t always have the time to do it, but I do enjoy it when it does happen as it’s so nice to look back on the stories and descriptions later on!

Which brings me to another journaling insert. I did it much the same way as the blog post insert, only this one isn’t so long. Since the journaling is a bit more of a personal nature, I didn’t want it to show straight away, so I folded this one the other way around, with one of Ali Edwards words I cut in the Silhouette stuck on the front. All of it pulls out from the sewn vellum pocket and slides back in.

This brings us to the last insert for this month. These are new inserts for me at a new size and I’m really enjoying doing some 4x4 cards! Just for a change! These are Photo Pocket Pages - Design I.

And the last page of inserts before March starts!

And that is February! I have to admit, I spent a lot more effort on the individual cards and layouts this month, but I really enjoyed it. And going by the increase in embellishments, having things organized, easily accessible and the small stuff out in the open is really benefiting my Project Life work flow! Yay!

Project Life - Catching Up! (December)

2013-02-27T13:05:00.001-07:00

And here I am with the December Spread. Since I was very much behind on Project Life throughout the 3 months or so prior, I thought it might be fun to make an effort to do something every day for December.

Since I love Advent anyway and there is actually a lot to record around this time of year it seemed the perfect month to do it! Hence the December Daily.

On this spread I seemed to have a pretty good balance of pictures and journaling - wish that would always work out that well. The only thing that is maybe different, is the journaling behind the doily. It folds open when you pull out the card to reveal all the journaling.

As you can see I finally used up the rest of the journaling cards I made way back when. I wrote about them here.

Love it when the kiddos contribute drawings or their stories!

A cutout filler card I cut with the Silhouette.

On this next spread I have actually a lot of journaling going on, but it’s mostly hidden behind the photos. All of them pull out and either have a card type layout that folds open or have a long piece of paper taped to the back to reveal the journaling, which is then folded up accordion style.

At the bottom left I sewed a vellum pocket on the card with some silver thread. The folded up paper that tucks inside the vellum pocket, lists the gifts each of us got for Christmas!

As you can see, I’m still missing the journaling to summarize Christmas Day events. I have written a fair bit about it already in other places of the album, but I wanted this as a quick summary.

And I’m also still missing some journaling here, as well as a photograph.

And this is pretty much December, once I caught up on the two missing items and journaling the New Year’s Eve photos.

Why am I showing you unfinished spreads? Because one of my next posts will be about catching up with Project Life. From mildly behind to totally, overwhelmingly behind!