Personalized Jars

My sister made me a couple of these jars for Christmas that have maps on the corks.  This was a really cool gift because I LOVE maps, absolutely love them.  And more importantly, I always have little things lying around that need a home in a jar.

All you need is a jar with a cork like this and something to put on it like a map, a picture, a memento of some sort, fabric would probably even work with the right glue to secure it.

For a lot of things you can use Mod Podge. You will want to also coat the top of whatever you put on here so that it will be protected from spills and similar.

You could also use this same idea to cover over a cork board for prettier notes and reminders displays!

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Good Morning Carrot Muffins

Ingredients:
-4 Large carrots, shredded (I used my food processor)
-1/4 C chopped walnuts
-1/2 C AP flour
-1/2 C wheat flour
-1/3 C Almond flour
-1/3 C honey (locally sourced, preferably a dark one)
-1/4 C sunflower seeds
-2 TB chia seeds
-2 eggs (I use jumbo)
-1/2 C applesauce
-1/2 tsp baking soda
-1 tsp baking powder
-2 tsp cinnamon or more to taste
-2 shakes ginger
-2 shakes nutmeg
-pinch of salt
-dash of vanilla

Wow, right? Quite a list.  Normally I hate things that take a laundry list of ingredients, but I ended up really liking these.  I used an applesauce my mom made that was very low on sugar, and all in all these ended up with just a hint of sweetness instead of being overly done.   If you want to make them sweeter, feel free to add in some brown or white sugar. Maybe this is a sign that I am growing up, but I actually prefer things that are less sweet in the morning.

Anyway, as usual I don't do anything complex in this apartment unless it is French macarons, so all you need to do is toss all this stuff in a bowl and give it a good mix.  Divide it evenly into 12 muffin tin wells that have been greased.

You should not need liners for these.  If you swap out something like the eggs for bananas, you may want to use cupcake liners.  Bananas always give me such a time.

Anyway, bake for 20-25 minutes at 350F.  Let sit in the pan a couple minutes, run a knife around the edges of the muffins if needed, and transfer to a wire rack to cool.

And yes, I do actually measure a lot of my spices in shakes and not actual measurements.

I think this will be a very acceptable substitute for bread in the morning.  I ran out earlier tonight.  Sadly, I cannot make a multigrain bread that I like as well as some of the ones I can buy.  What I can do, however, is make muffins that are not sugar bombs.  And that is just fine by me.

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Sports Cap Jewelry: Game Day Fun

For this you will need:
-Chain/closures or already made bracelets or necklaces in the right sizes
-Bottle caps, silver or team colors
-1 inch round hole punch
-Scrapbook paper, pictures, tickets, maps, etc. with logos and favorite memorabilia
-Jewelry pins or wires and team color beads
-Jump rings
-Resin or epoxy stickers
-nail and hammer or other method of putting a hole in the caps

So this is a simple and fun way to have unique jewelry for the big game.  I am actually sitting here right now wondering if I have blogged about this before but I am way too tired to do anything else, so if this is a repeat I will just have to make it up to you lovely readers sometime with something super cool at a later date.

Anyway, all you need to do is punch the part of the paper or ticket or image that you want to be in the cap and secure it in place with glue.  I like to use E6000 because it does not get things overly wet and it dries quickly.

Next, coat the insert in resin or secure an epoxy sticker on it to keep the elements at bay.  Allow that ample time to dry if using resin.

Use a nail and hammer to punch a small hole in the top of the cap on the rim.  Secure the caps to the bracelet with jump rings.  Add any beads or other charms you may want (football charms, helmets, etc.) and wear your bracelet with pride!

You could also make these for vacations or events like weddings or similar for more of a wearable scrapbook type idea.

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Pulled Pork Corn Muffins

Ingredients:
-1/2 C Corn Flour
-1/2 C AP Flour
-2 TB Butter
-1/2 C Milk
-1 Egg
-1/2 TB baking powder
-1/4 C finely minced onion
-Salt
-Pulled pork and BBQ sauce as desired
-Optional 1/3 C frozen corn

Mix everything together except the pork and BBQ sauce, adding an extra splash of milk if needed.  I always make my corn muffins like this a really stiff batter like my drop biscuits, to give you an idea of the texture you are looking for.

I highly suggest adding corn if you have it, somehow or other I seem to be out of it in my freezer...completely unacceptable.

Squish the center down and make a well in the middle of the corn muffin pile.  If you don't want batter all over you, consider spraying your hands with PAM or similar.

Press some pulled pork into the batter and top with BBQ sauce, allow me to HIGHLY SUGGEST Sweet Baby Ray's Chipotle Honey BBQ.  It added just the right spicy kick.

Bake at 350F for 20 minutes or until muffins are done.  Typically mine start to get a little golden on some of the pointy edges. You could also add a little cheese onto these right as they come out of the oven.

I think these would be a fun game day snack!

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Monkey Cookie Idea for Baby Showers, Birthdays, and More

This is a design idea for cookies that you might want for a birthday or baby shower.

The white ones that are square have little edible images on them.  We have a cake shop nearby that will print them for us, but the availability may vary based on where you live.  It would be worthwhile however to call around to local cake shops and see if anyone prints them for purchase.

If you invest in a monkey cookie cutter, you can make these other adorable monkeys as well.  As always, do the face and head outline first, let that sit a few minutes, and then fill in the brown details.  I would suggest doing this on all the cookies, then coming back and doing the tan.  Once the tan is dry, go back and add the eyes and mouth.

This is just a quick post to get your creative juices flowing.

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Balsamic Asparagus with Bacon

Per serving you will need:
-12 spears of asparagus
-1/2 small white onion, sliced
-2 strips of bacon
-1 tsp balsamic vinegar, more as desired

Start by frying your bacon in a skillet, giving it a minute or two head start before adding in the onion.  Let those two cook, turning the bacon as needed.  Once the bacon is just starting to get done, add in the asparagus.  Remove the bacon when it is just at or below crispy.

Add the balsamic and mix the veggies around to coat.   Add a little water and pop a lid on the pan to let the veggies steam.  While steaming, cut the bacon into pieces.

Steam until the asparagus is at your desired level of doneness and then remove the lid and add the bacon back in.  Give it all a good stir and let it cook a minute or so more.

This would pair well with burgers or steak, and probably a lot of other dishes.  When I was eating it, I was definitely thinking steak.

But something like salmon would be tasty with this as well if you did not want to do beef and bacon...although I cannot imagine why you would not!

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Penguin Sugar Cookie

We got this cute, chubby penguin cookie cutter from Meijer around the holiday season.  I was good, however, and I waited to get it on clearance.  AND I AM SO GLAD!

Look how cute this thing is.  I mean really....just look at it.  I chuckled...and then I DEVOURED IT.

So basically you just need your favorite roll out sugar cookie recipe or mix and some royal icing in squeeze bottles.

As always, do the outline first of your design.  Next, you can fill in the black and then the white.  Let these dry and then go back and add the cute little eyes, beak, and bowtie.

Let every part of the cookie dry completely before attempting to stack or move.

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