Blackberry Pancakes

You know that awkward moment when you wake up in the morning and realize that you did not blog before you went to bed because you felt sick and forgot?

Really? You don't? Lucky you.

Last night around 10 I felt so incredibly tired and unable to move that I opted to just go to bed.  Granted an hour later when I was reading news online and facebooking and such, I had completely spaced that I had not blogged.  These were the pancakes meant for yesterday.

You will need: 1 CUP of pancake mix (I like Krusteaz, you might have some homemade or other brand you prefer), 2 TB Cheesecake pudding mix (completely optional, I just refuse to toss mine after using it for ice cream), 1 carton (at least majority full if you have eaten some of them like I did) blackberries, 3/4 to 1 CUP almond milk (or regular), Optional 1/4 c sugar.

I never really put sugar in hardly any of my pancakes, and these are no exception.  You might prefer yours a little sweeter, or your berries may be exceptionally tart, so adjust accordingly. Plop all of this in a bowl and mash with your potato masher to get the berries broken up.  Once they are mushed to your desire you can finish mixing the batter with a fork.  Warm up and butter your griddle and spoon out 1/4 c sized or however big you want pancakes.

I let mine cook a few minutes on the first side, flip, smoosh, and cook a few more minutes.  I don't like to have anything the least bit runny EVER and I like my pancakes flat, so I recommend smooshing upon flipping.

Serve with real syrup, not that pancake syrup fake junk, and enjoy! Pin It Now!

MMMMM (Chicken) NOODLE SOUP!

Any lovers of the show Friends out there?  That ranks pretty high on my list of favorite shows ever.  Along with Boy Meets World, which they are completely bringing back, or so yahoo tells me.  Good choice.  I really hope they keep the integrity of the old show though, and don't make it jive with some of the new teenage shows.  I'd prefer it not be something worthy of a slot on MTV...

Regardless, I really wanted to make me some soup. I was going to put it in to a bread bowl, until that utterly and completely FAILED.  For any of you looking to use the No Knead Recipes that you can find online for bread, allow me to implore you NOT to try baking them on a cookie sheet like some suggest is perfectly acceptable.  It really does not seem to work.  Unless I am just missing something, mine spread out and made crunchy flat disks o' bread.  Still had a good taste...but not really what I was looking for in the texture department.

Sad.  I hate to waste ingredients.

But for now, we soup in a regular bowl:

 -3 Chicken tenderloins (or 1-2 chicken breasts depending on size)
-1-2TB of butter (you know me, I err on the side of two)
-Salt to taste (I like sea salt)
-Handful of noodles, handful of frozen corn (optional)
-TINY SMIDGE of the following: basil, thyme, rosemary, garlic, pepper.  When I say tiny I MEAN IT...but if you just love spices you can add them to taste I suppose.
-Enough water to cover the chicken and go about halfway up the sides of your pot.  I used my normal sized pot with a lid, not the super small one that comes in most sets.  Use the one you usually boil noodles in.

Feel free to adjust all this to the size of your family. This made two bowls, this one pictured and one way more full that I have in the fridge.  In essence, it made two perfectly filled bowls.

So plop your chicken tenders in the pot of water, add the butter and seasoning, and boil for about 40 minutes.  I always put mine in frozen, if yours is thawed you may not have to take this long.

If you are using a frozen chicken breast that is thick, you may have to go longer.

I also broke the TINIEST bit off a piece of onion (I freeze mine in pre-cut rings and pieces) and plopped it in. 

Once your chicken looks done, take out the strips and put them on a cutting board.  Plop in the corn and noodles and then cut your chicken into little pieces. Add the chicken back in and let it all cook until the noodles are done.

I used alphabet noodles.  Aren't they cute?? I instagrammed this shot because I still don't understand the purpose of instagram.  I am trying to like it, and I am trying to keep up with technology and social media, but I literally do not get the point of it.  Everyone posts their pictures on facebook, so I don't see why I need a different social media that really doesn't help the overall quality of my photos...

Instead, it just makes them look old and grainy to me...

Now, if photoshop had been the one to develop a social media picture sharing platform, I might have enjoyed that.  I am really getting to like Photoshop more and more as we learn it in class. I need to get on a major video watching spree, as my college offers many training courses for software that I would like to learn. 

You could put other veggies in this soup, but I see no reason to mess up a good thing ;).  I made my chicken noodle soup heavy on the chicken, because in my opinion THAT is the great failure of Campbell's.  Creepy, tiny chicken cubes.  Although don't get me wrong massive chicken cubes would not be appealing either. 

By my calculations, this soup cannot cost more than a couple dollars to make, and I think that is a high estimate.  It depends on how many chicken tenderloins come in a bag I suppose.  I have never really counted them.  I had three that were completely frozen into each other, though, so this was a perfect use for them. 

If I have said it once I have said it a million times: Just because I am a college kid does NOT mean I have to eat like one.  Ramen? No, thank you.  Alphabet noodles? Y-E-S, please.  Educational AND tasty, how can you argue with that? Pin It Now!

A Mickey Bulbament

I am down to my last bulb, so I wanted to make it good.

Don't get me wrong there are a zillion lightbulbs I can still raid. I bet I even have friends that would save me their bulbs.  And don't think I won't consider CFL ornaments...although that would be unfortunate if they broke.

REGARDLESS.  It is Mickey Time.  This one is for my best friend, who adores Disney probably more even than chocolate covered oreos.  I made her promise to give him a home on her tree :).

In fact, if Disney just served chocolate covered oreos, I don't think she would have a reason to come back to Indiana.  This is every bit as simple as it looks.  Paint the bottom red, paint the top black, put two relatively oval shaped "buttons" on the red.  And presto chango, there you are with a Mickey Bulb.


As a short and sweet blog tonight I leave with this.  No matter what happens with the election, remember that we are the UNITED States.  No matter what we are in this together and we are still a great nation.

We are a country where women can vote.  We are a country where people can voice their opinions.  We are a country where you can start a business, have an opinion about a government, practice your religion of choice or none at all, get a tattoo or any other piercing, where whatever you want, own a gun, hunt, get a degree, and so much more.  We are a country of opportunity.

And I personally think that it is important to carry ourselves with more respect in the next election.  The campaigners have been horrifically rude, people have been horrifically rude, and social media has made it a hundred times worse.  Everyone is entitled to their opinion and I do hope that the next election will focus more on respect for each other and realizing that though our opinions are different, we are still a nation that relies on each other and is only as strong as long as we stick together.

For the next election, focus a little less on being Democrat and Republican.

FOCUS on being AMERICAN.  This is our country.

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Fried Okra Poppers

Ingredients:
-10+ Okra...pods? pieces? What are these things anyway...
-1 oz cream cheese**
-1/2c+ pepperjack cheese
-1 egg
-1 TB milk
-3 TB+ flour
-2 TB+ panko
-Garlic, salt, pepper

I have the plusses because if you use more okra you will need more other stuff.

In hindsight, I would have preferred these to be more spicy, so I would stuff them only with cheese and leave out the cream cheese.  I used reduced fat.  Or I would buy some cayenne and put a little in the breading mix.

 Sadly, I broke my egg and it was a double yolker.  These are my absolute favorite things to discover in the mornings, and it was wasted on frying.  Sigh. 

But this stuff is pretty tasty so I am ok with it.

I cut the end off the okra, I read online that you don't really have to but it just seemed rather necessary to me to remove it.  I cut a slit in the okra and stuffed my cream cheese/pepper jack cheese mix in it.  Like I said, I would either use less cream cheese next time or only pepperjack.

I whipped the egg and milk together with a fork and mixed up my dry batter in another bowl.  I dipped them (egg, dry, egg, dry again) and put them into some hot oil I had on the stove.  I only used a little oil because it is pricey and I think these are just fine shallow fried.

 Here they are frying away.  In another pan I was making spaghetti because I believe it is important to have a backup plan in mind when you are going to do something that is slightly odd.

Speaking of okra and odd, when I was a kid I used to dip fried okra in orange soda.  Or maybe it was Hi-C.  But I am pretty sure I remember carbonation, so I am thinking it was Orange Crush.  I am pretty sure I did it to gross out my sisters, but I must have liked it because it was not an isolated event...

I had sunkist in my vehicle in the garage today.  Don't think I did not consider it.

So it was a pretty weird meal eating these together but overall I thought they were good.  I would have liked them to be just a little spicier because I LOVE LOVE LOVE jalopeno poppers.  But a good start nonetheless.

I have very much been in the mood to start trying some new recipes again, so this was a perfect way to kick it off.

I am back from being home and did manage to do a small bit of straightening up in my apartment.  I also forced myself to wash dishes directly after dinner.  They say it takes 21 days to make something a habit and I am going to do it.  My whole postponing dishes until right before I go to bed or right before the next meal I cook is just getting to be too silly.  I wash things and then directly dirty them up again.  It is depressing! At least this way I will have some time between uses.


I am determined to develop better housekeeping skills.  I really need to do some serious organizational rehab here so that things have more of a place, but that is really just not on the radar for a while.  But throwing away scraps and junk is moving up on the priorities, keeping papers in a bin instead of wherever they land on my futon out of my backpack, and those darn dishes are all going to the front and center. 

I have managed to learn to make homemade bread, homemade ice cream, and a ton of other things, so the next frontiers in the domestic domain that I am after will have to be cleaning and sewing.  They say you really can't expect to be a one woman wonder and do it all yourself, but I say I can give it one heck of a try. 

Plus, let's face it, there is no harm done in some fresh made goods! I personally like the taste of fewer preservatives :).

I would love a homemade Christmas.  If Christmas was a cookie exchange I would be the happiest monkey in the banana tree.  I love cookies, I love homemade things, and I love family time.  I am hopeful that I can figure out some neato handmade gifts to give, although my brain has not been firing well at that just yet.  But I am more of a no sooner than December 1st type of Christmas shopper and crafter, so it is really nothing new.

No matter what happens tomorrow in the election I will love my country.  But I am BEGGING you to pray and VOTE.  As far as I am concerned, we need a new president. Pin It Now!

Incredible Necklace

I really like Sugarland.  They are excellent, different, and FUN.

Plus, Jennifer Nettles makes dancing around in 5+ inch heels look simple, and that in and of itself is impressive.

So I made this necklace that is "Incredible Machine" inspired.  I used my heart shaped mold and encased some gears in resin.  I waited 24 hours for it to dry and popped it out.  I put black paper behind it, which is hard to tell in this picture.  Sometimes, if the back of my pendants are still a little sticky, I attach paper.  There is no sense in wasting a good pendant for a fixable problem. Always mod podge to save them from your skin sweating and messing them up.

I used silver chain and wrapped the smaller bronze chain through it.  I did it in sections that I could connect using nuts and washers.  I hung feather charms off one to signify the wings that are usually included in the incredible machine logo and are always on the Sugarland heart.  I included a key because I thought it went with the overall theme well.

Consider it a deconstructed logo, essentially. 

We started the remodel of mecca this weekend! It is going to happen over the course of the next few weeks, because I really want to be involved in the entire process.  It is my room, and I would feel bad if someone else did all the work.  Plus, I want to learn to wallpaper and similar!

It's going to be dark gray upper walls, white chair rail, and beautiful black on white damask wallpaper below the chair rail.  I plan on having a few red accents throughout the room, including red jewels on my chandelier that I redid a brass one for a few weeks back (http://greenzebra9.blogspot.com/2012/09/creating-mecca-lier.html). I used the wallpaper (bought it on amazon) on the chandelier as well to tie it all in.

I have decided that what used to be my Mecca is now going to be called my Craft Studio.  It fits well with my urban design side, and I think it might look a little too fancy when it is all said and done to still be Mecca.  I have to come up with excellent organization in it as it is small and I am not putting a door on it, but I have some pretty crafty ideas on how to accomplish that. 

We shall see! Pin It Now!

The Fifty Cents or Less Bag

ALWAYS keep plain brown and/or plain white bags on hand.

 I used brown and white medium sized bags, black ink, and a flourish style stamp.


All of it was on sale for 40% off at Hobby Lobby.  I do love sales.


You can see the bottom of the flourish if you look at an angle under the stamp when you go to place it, so that is how I lined it up for the top 3.  I did not figure it out necessarily until after I had put the second one in place.


I tend to just go with the flow starting out.






I did the first row and then flipped the bag around to do the second. 


My best advice is to stamp some solid and make some look a little more faded.  It gives it an interesting look.












If you find that you need a partial stamp, place a piece of paper behind your bag to catch any excess ink.

Now sure, you could dress these up with ribbons and fanciness and more power to you if you do, but sometimes you just need a bag in a matter of minutes.


Other options included actually covering them with paper, stickers, ribbons, and embellishments and make them look like anything you want.


The bags come in packs of about 13 for around $6.  In forty percent off times, WAY CHEAP!

Gift bags are pricey, I am all about a 50 cents or less bag that is adorable. Pin It Now!

Handmade Recipe Gift Tags

 My mom and I were talking and through a joint stroke of genius we decided that gift tags would be so much better if they were recipe cards! One side could have the two/from and a special little note, and the other side could have a recipe!

For everyone doing homemade gifts, this is an even better idea.

The easiest way to do this in my personal opinion is use an index card.  Well, I don't have any.  But the SECOND easiest option is to cut a card in half! I always have cards on hands.


Find yourself some great scrapbook paper and let's go!






I cut my card in half, and then cut my scrapbook paper to be an extra inch wide all the way around.

I used the other card to draw lines on the "recipe card".  I used fancy tools.  I call them pens.

Not even the glitter gel pens, like I used to be obsessed with.

I secured mine down with two sided tape, glue is a great option, mod podging over everything is also an option when it is all said and done.






This particular recipe is for, as I like to call it, my Italian Stallion Cheeseball.  I shorten it to Italian Cheeseball for the uptight types who might not have my unique sense of food humor...

I made it once with some pesto I had left.  I tend to use pesto a spoonful at a time.  It has so much flavor you don't need to use a lot more than that.  I even tone the spoonful down with sour cream sometimes in pasta. 

Regardless this recipe is as follows:

2 TB Pesto
1 Brick Reduced Fat cream Cheese
1 C Mozzarella Cheese
1 C grape tomatoes, roasted
Chopped pistachios, I used a pack of the Wonderful brand ones (snack pack size)

To roast the tomatoes I halve them and season them with basil, garlic, salt, pepper.  Roast at 350 for 30-40 minutes.  I like them squishy but not roasted so far they are dried.  I like to get them to the dryer point in a lot of pasta though.

Let them cool, then mix all the ingredients (except pistachios) together.  Form into a ball and press the nuts into the side.  Wrap in saran wrap and chill for a few hours before serving.

To alter this slightly, mix all those same ingredients, include the nuts, and thin it out with a carton of sour cream or so, and adjust the flavor accordingly if it is not strong enough.  Then, you can serve it as a dip! I haven't specifically done that before, but I have always wanted to.

Another great use for the cheeseball is spreading it on a taco shell and putting a slice of ham on it. I have multiple friends that would vouch for me.  I roll it up and cut it in slices. It went over GREAT on Super Bowl.

If you are really adventurous you can mix craisins into this party.  I have found I adore craisins in many of my pesto recipes.

Punch some holes in that tag and tie it on with a ribbon. Cute and USEFUL!


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