Roasted Vegetables

This is an easy recipe. Trust me anyone can do it.
You'll need vegetables of course!
I used:
eggplant
green pepper
mushroom
tomato
avocado
Other ingredients:
Olive Oil
Hidden Vally Ranch Seasoning packet, in buttermilk ranch
white pepper (to your taste)

Preheat your oven to about 430 degrees farenheit
Cut up all your vegetable.
I used half of an eggplant, 1/4 of a large green pepper, one large tomato, and about 4-5 medium to large white button mushrooms.
To get rid of the bitter taste in eggplant I soaked my chopped eggplant in salt water for about 10 minutes.

When everything is prepped, put into a mixing bowl. Do NOT add the avocado that will not be roasted.
Add olive oil to coat all the veggies nicely. Add white pepper to taste and add the whole packet of ranch mix. Toss to coat well.

On  a pam sprayed baking sheet, spread out the veggies. Pop into the oven for about 20-25 minutes.

When done, serve with the chilled avocado mixed in. It gives a nice contrast : )

Then done, you'll have nice tastey flavor packed roasted veggies. Goes great with a slice of garlic bread (...or two), if you're trying to have a light supper. Or serve with your favorite meat.

Fun part it's a cheap dish : ) CHEAP! the best part!

Honestly did this on spur of the moment. I was hunting for something to make for my lunch ^^; It's also an attempt to try and eat a bit healthy

Kuroshitsuji Muffins

I saw some recipes for tea muffins online and thought why not make some of my own?
In dedication of one of my favorite anime Kuroshitsuji I give you...
The tea muffiin.
It's consistency is sort of dense like a corn muffin. Do not expect these to come out like a blueberry muffin or something like that. These don't rise very well and are dense. The taste is very light.

I suggest giving them a very light drizzle of honey. It makes the muffins taste like a cup of tea with honey ^.^ oooh so tastey. This doesn't use much sugar in my opinion and not much oil so it's not an all that bad muffin to eat compared to other muffins.

Ingredients:

2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
4 tbs sugar
pinch of salt
2 large eggs
3 tbs vegetable oil
1 1/3 cup milk (I prefer whole milk or 2%)
1 tbs of lemon juice (I used fresh)
1 tsp of black tea
(In this one I used Matte Leao a black tea from Brazil,  I would have liked Earl Grey but I was out)
muffin cups

Heat oven to 350 to 360 degrees Farenheit. This batch I tried 360. At about 20 to 25 minutes for bake time.

The leaves of the tea were too large so I used my mortar and pestle to grind it up a bit.

Mix your dry ingredients together.
Add lemon juice to your milk and microwave it for until warm. It'll make it a bit clumpy, will make it sort of the consistency of buttermilk. Which is another suggestion, if you prefer you can replace the lemon and milk with buttermilk. Although I do enjoy the flavor of the lemon adds to the muffins : )
Mix all ingredients together and put about 3 tbs per muffin cup.
Bake for 20-25 minutes.
Done!

FUZZY LINK COMPLETE!

Hi!

Fuzzy Link is now up on youtube yay!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjO5uifsSbw
And here's some pics, some did not make it to the video.

Isn't Sasha cute? I just wanna snuggle her.

The girl in the mask is me, obviously I mean if you ever saw my drawing in a previous post you'd know I don't show my face. Sorta phantom like. My friend Emily who took the picture had made me horns from the comic HomeStuck, I was going to look like Karkat but they sadly broke, so I opted for my FantasmaLua look I know I'm no looker don't need to tell me.

The girl with the horns is my friend Emily. She was cosplaying as Kanaya from MSPaint, HomeStuck. 

Sasha: "Oh I just love being held, no really I love feeling tall!"

Sasha: "....why does she have candy corn horns?"

Sasha: "OH NO! I surrender Aunt Emily I surrender!"

Cake Pop Plans

Ok being the lover of baking and cooking that I am, I have to ask myself something. Looking at cake pops and their prices I can't help but ask, "can I do better?"...answer YES!
There are many stores out there.
One I follow on facebook is cakepoppery
Cake Poppery.com is one of the best places there is for cake pops.

If you want something super fancy and artsy. They're the place to go. Granted in my personal oppinion you pay out the wazoo to get a dozen cake pops. Granted for works of art they're worth it. I wish I could do what they do.
Well why am I talking about this? Well.....

I'm planning my Christmas sweets for the blog and guess what!

I'm going to be doing some recipes on cake pops.

Now I'm not going to say I'm as cool as cakepoppery....I'm NOT, not even close!

But I can tell you from personal experience people tell me that my cake pops are good. Coworkers ate every single one I ever brought in and have kept hinting over the months for more

Granted I think they're ugly when I coat them in chocolate but I personally say it's the taste that matters.
So if you decide to make some for your family trust me they'll joke about the looks but rave about the taste.

Please expect this to come out around Christmas. Along with some other tastey goodies.
I get a whole week of vacation in December. And I'll get to bombard all of you with recipes and videos. You'll be so sick of me ^.^

Also fuzzy zelda video will be aired on youtube tonight (Sunday, November 6, 11)

 There's no actual footage just pictures. Fuzzy Link was just not cooperating. What can I say she wanted to pass out candy instead of film. I did manage like a minute of footage but it's mostly of her butt because when I started filming a trick or treater came to the door and all you hear is Gypsy barking while Sasha runs to the door and my mom telling me to pass out the candy. Which in playing it on my tv was hilarious because the girls didn't recognize their own barking and ran to the tv barking and howling.

Sadly I didn't make Sasha her hat. I finally gave up on it after coming to terms with the fact she wouldn't wear it anyway. So it will be a hatless link...poor hatless link.

Also airing tonight will be my long promised video of bife milanesa : ) I know I promised that ages ago.

SNOW! and Peppermint Sprite!

Oh good Lord! It's COLD! and it snowed today. Blech!

I like snow, I think it's pretty TO LOOK AT, I despise being in it though. I'm half Brazilian, darn it I was born tropical!

Anyhoo, ever go to Denny's during the Holidays and they have this thing called peppermint sprite?

Tastey isn't it?

Easy and cheap to make at home.

First, buy sprite second buy candy canes, either the small tiny ones or the regular sized ones you can hang on a Christmas tree.

Second: Pour cold sprite into your cup, add candy cane. Stir. In a little bit the candy cane will slightly dissolve and give your sprite that nice minty taste ^.^ ohhh minty

Don't want to buy candy canes? Use peppermint extract. Use sparingly, like 1/8 tsp for a large glass even less for an 8oz cup. Remember peppermint extract is very strong.

I'll try to give you their peppermint chocolate shake recipe next. That's really easy too ^.^

And who's up for soup recipes!?!?

Fuzzy Zelda Update!

So in an earlier post I said I would be having my dog cosplay Link from Legend of Zelda.
Well here's how the costume is going:

Tunic: 

Is done. did it mostly by hand with very sloppy stitching (on purpose), seriously did you think Link after being attacked, bombed, and torn to shreds would take his clothes to a tailor in the middle of no where?

Cap:

In the process, trying to find a way that it will stay on her head.

Shield:

Went with a mix of Kokiri shield Ocarina of Time and Traditional 1986 Legend of Zelda.
How? I used the shape of the kokiri wood shield and tried to do the design of the cross from the original Zelda. Sadly not in traditional colors, call it an artist's rendition, what ever you will. I will personally call it Fantasma didn't have the supplies. So shield design was done in glossy white acrylic. I'm still shocked I didn't have any red left : (

Sword:

In an attempt to stick to the 1986 version (hey it's Zelda's 25th anniversary we have to try to be true to the original that made this wonderful game popular!) Is brown and I painted the handle a light green. If you are a gamer and have played this game like I have nonstop til your eyeballs were about to fall out you'll clearly remember the sword is brown with a green handle!

Belt:

What am I using to keep the shield in place? Well yarn of course, I crocheted a belt and attached it to the shield. I didn't use brown. In an attempt to bring some color I used gold...that and I didn't have any brown left...I have so much yarn...yet no brown...it just feels so wrong...

There will be no sheith for the sword just because I have no time and I don't want to overload my twenty pound dog with tons of stuff on her back no matter how light they are.

So sword is just a picture prop : )

Shield and Sword: are made out of model magic that is light as foam. I also found it in brown so less painting ^.^

I'm hoping this turns out well. Sword and shield are currently drying. Show time is monday, trick or treat!

Total Cost?
Remember I'm into being frugal with some things so here's a total of what I spent
Model Magic: Approximately $8
Paint: already owned, but if purchasing about $1.50 a bottle, 1 green 1 white
yarn: already had
Green Fabric: On sale at Joannes, approximately 1 1/2 yards of broadcloth, about $5
Toddler's Dress Patter: $2
Needles&Thread: already had

Total I spent: About $15!

Plus it's a costume I made and not some stupid generic. Seriously I made what I wanted for less than what they charge you for a costume at the petstore. Which if you got to petsmart or petco is a minimum of $20. So if you want to have fun make your little dog be Link, give it a try : )

Pictures coming soon! WITH VIDEO!

Scarf for Etsy

So I'm designing a scarf for my etsy shop. Sadly probably my only one to be sold this season. I have been so busy that I haven't had time to do much shop work although I have so many ideas. I'll post of picture of it once it's done.

The price is yet undecided. Right now I think it will be on sale for $35. With shipping costing $5. I'm going to include insurance on it with the shipping. I have to ask my dad how to do that. He's an ebayer and very smart.

So here's a basic description for you. The scarf body is done in double crochet. The yarn is a wool blend, is a light weight yarn, and is a light chocolate brown color. I plan on doing a border on 3/4's of it. The other side is meant to go around your neck. I thought a border all around would be too irritating. You want to wear a scarf that's pretty and yet not annoying to wear. Plus I am adding beads to the border to add some sparkle to it. ^^ Sparkle oh how I love shiney things.

I'm hoping someone will want to purchase it. I worked so hard on it and I'm very proud of my work. I'm not sure what I want to call it though. I have to admit it was inspired by my love of the Elves from Lord of the Rings. Tolkien is a major influence in some of my works. So please if you are interested please take a look. I'll post a link to the etsy shop once I get the pictures up. I'm hoping it will be finished by sunday.

As a note for anyone interested in purchasing my work.
After I finish my works I always wash them. I will never sell dirty work. I mean I have been handling the yarn for hours I don't want it to have oil from my hands.

I will also package it with care and with a hand written set of care instructions. Plus the scarf will be adorned with a small button. This is just a symbol for my shop. Buttons will vary and are removable since I only lightly sew them on. So easy removal is gauranteed. Hey other stores have symbols why not mine? I like to try and be professional.

Discovery of tastey oatmeal

Ok I've been trying to be a good girl...failing but trying. I'm trying to lose some weight by adjusting my diet. First trying to cut out some fried foods and sugary junk foods. Plus trying to eat breakfast in the morning when I can. I've been an on and off fan of oatmeal. Sometimes loving it then sometimes thinking it's the devil. I would like to say now I have made a recipe for oatmeal that I think anyone would love.

Once I get this perfected with the steel cut oats you cook over the stove I'll repost it with hopefully a video but here's my instant oatmeal rendition:

Ingredients:
1 package of instant oatmeal, I used Weight Control Cinnamon from Quaker Oatmeal
1 medium to large sized banana
honey
milk


Follow the microwave directions. I used milk instead of water, makes it creamier and you get your calcium. I used about 3/4 cup of milk and cooked it for about 2 minutes. It turned out slightly runny. I don't like thick oatmeal. Once that was cooked. I peeled the banana and mashed it up. I mixed it into the oatmeal. I then drizzled honey on top.

This was really tastey.
Note: do NOT mix in the honey, you'll lose the sweet taste.

I'm thinking this would also go well if you mixed a small amount of cocoa powder in instead of the honey. Just to get some flavor.

I want to do a steel cut oatmeal do it yourself version because you know exactly what's in it sort of a healthier version. That and I just like being able to say I can do something from scratch. I'm such a nerd that way.

Hope you find this to be tastey!

Also oatmeal is good for you. Help regulate blood pressure. Oatmeal is a soluble fiber. Meaning it goes through the blood stream and helps from what I understand declog you for a healthy heart. Come on eat oatmeal! Eat fiber! Fiber in either form, solluble and insolluble is very good for your diet.

HALLOWEEN!!!

So it's almost Halloween SQUEE!

Yes as you guessed it this twenty four year old adores this ghoulish holiday. I love to dress up while I pass out candy. Hey why should little kids have all the fun? If I ever have children they'll have the cool mom who dresses up to pass out candy at their house or dress up to take them out trick or treating. No I am so not embarassed to admit that.

Sadly I couldn't get or make a costume this year. One not too much cash to spend and two it's very hard to find a non slutty costume. I mean seriously folks, a fat girl who's highly self conscious about herself like me does NOT want to show off her fat rolls or her giant jiggly butt to the masses. Who ever designed these costumes for the plus girls has never been a chubby girl.

Well any way since I didn't do anything costume wise plus I work after trick or treating starts I'm just wearing a cutesy ghost necklace and I hope I get time to do some neat makeup. But the one thing I got to do is PUPPY COSPLAY!!!

Yes that's right my little puppy, the apple of my eye, the fuzzy joy of my heart will be cosplaying a costume I made for her. Now I admit I'm no sewer. I stink at it. I just don't have that knack for it. That or I just don't practice enough. I'm not sure what but I made my little girl a costume. This Halloween my dog will be Link, from the Legend of Zelda.

Yes that's right, all you geeks out there will see a fuzzy Link! Designed from the Ocarina of Time version. She will have a "green tunic" with sword and shield.

I fashioned the sword and shield from model magic that when dries is hard like clay and is light like foam. So it won't hurt my puppy's back ^^ I'm currently designing the sheath for the sword and a belt to hook the shield to. It'll be awesome! The sword and shield are designed to look like that of the kokiri. Nothing fancy, it'll look wooden. At least I hope it does.

I'm just glad she's willing to model. She loves wearing clothes. She just thinks she's going out when she puts them on.

So expect pictures and a cute short youtube video of my precious in her costume.

Oven Baked Fish

Ok so I was searching the internet for a baked fish recipe. I'm very picky. I'm not a fish fan I admit it, but I do have a weakness for Cod and sometimes Salmon. Well I finally found a recipe for Cod baked in the oven that I actually like and want to eat again. And here it is with my personal touches:

You'll need:

3-4 pieces of cod.
No nothing huge, go by what you'd call a personal serving.
1 cup of bread crumbs (I prefer italian seasoned)
2 tablespoons of melted butter or margarine
2 cloves of garlic, pressed
pepper (a few dashes) use black or white pepper
Juice of one lemon
Lemon slices for garnish

Preheat the oven to about 400 degrees farenheit.
Take your garlic, bread crumbs and pepper and mix together.
Sprinkle on some lemon juice to slightly moisten the bread crumbs.
Place a piece of cod fish into the mixture and lightly coat.
Place the fish on a baking sheet. Repeat : )

Before you place the cod into the oven pour the butter/margarine on top of them.
Bake for about 20 minutes.

When you're done serve immediately. I think this goes very well with wild rice or boiled potatoes.
I like adding a lot more lemon juice to it while I'm eatting to give it extra flavor...then again I just love lemon and I think it tasted great being highly acidic.

Ranch Chicken

Here's a recipe I hope to make a video of : )

RANCH CHICKEN!

This chicken is easy! It has a tastey breading and the chicken gets nice and moist ^___^

While flipping through my very first cook book of all time, Betty Crocker's Cooking Basics. They show this really simple tastey looking breaded chicken, using ranch. Well first off tried this recipes a few times word for word....easy thing to say now is that it failed, MISERABLY.

There was never enough oil to cook all the chicken and things just didn't cut it measurement wise.

So here's my rendition of Ranch Chicken.
The parental approval went through the roof, yay!

Ok so here's how you start:

Ingredients:
4 skinless boneless chicken breasts

Note: If you're like me and shop at Sam's Club (Hey bulk meat is cheap!) and you buy the Sam's Club brand for chicken breasts you will only need two breasts....reason? They're freakin' HUGE! I now believe in growth hormone filled chicken because I seriously want to see the size of the chicken that had that size of a breast!

1 cup of ranch dressing (choose your favorite brand, I used hidden valley and have extra just incase)
1-2 eggs
2 cups of italian seasoned bread crumbs (with extra just incase you are messy like me and run out)
vegetable oil for frying.

First cut your chicken lengthwise into strips, yes we're making them chicken strip style plus it shortens cooking time.

Once that's done, in a frying pan add the oil I'd say until it's about 1-2 inches deeps and let that heat up really well. I usually heat it up on high.

Now take your eggs, crack them open and whisk away. Once they're beaten add your ranch.
On a paper plate spread out the breadcrumbs.
Now dip the chicken strip in the ranch concoction, until it's well coated, then cover it with breadcrumbs.
I personally suggest to prep all the chicken first before frying anything. It makes life easier.

Now once your oil is heated nicely turn it down to about medium to medium low. Add some of your chicken strips. I tend to cook each side for about 5-6 minutes. So when the first five minutes  are up flip them over and cook for another five.

Once it's done you can cut into it a little bit to check for any pink center. There should not be any. Be smart DO NOT eat pink chicken meat!

Dry the chicken off with paper towels or let it drain on a rack.

These go nicely with either mac n' cheese or mashed potatoes.

Let me know what you think!
Hope to make a video of this soon : )
Because if you're like me you do better with visuals

Ginger Garlic Rice + Turkey Rice

Ok I have a weak point for carbs...hell what chubby girl doesn't it's always carbs and chocolate....don't you just wish these food groups were low in calorie and good for you --; I WISH!

I personally love rice, long grain, short grain, sushi/medium grain, basmati, jasmine, yellow, brown, you got rice? and I'll tell you I love it.

Here's a nice way to jazz up your rice and not add a ton of extra calories to it (YAY! woot! no extra empty calories YAY!)

First you'll need a rice cooker, yes as much as I'm all for doing rice like my grandma in Brazil I just prefer the easy way that and while you're cooking rice you can steam veggies : ) it's a win win!

Ingredients:
2 cups of rice
1 clove of garlic
about a thumb nail sized piece of peeled fresh ginger
1 Teaspoon of olive oil

In your rice cooker put in the rice and add double the water, so two cups of rice equals four cups of water.
Then add in your oil. Chop up the garlic and ginger and add to the rice, give a quick stir to make sure it spreads out in the water. And cook like you normally would.

When i'ts done you have tastey fragrant rice.

I also like to steam vegetables to mix in with it.
I tend to use broccoli or green beans.

A fun recipe I experimented with today was something I'm just going to call Turkey Rice.
It was good, I'm thinking of making a few alterations but here's what I did if you want to try my first experiment with this recipe:

First make the rice recipe above.

Then you'll need:

1 turkey breast filet

(no, not that giant breast you see in the freezer that feeds a whole family, I'm talking the kind you see by the chicken and beef by a brand like perdue that you can easily cook up in a frying pan for dinner for one to two people)

5 mushrooms diced into very small pieces
1 onion diced
1-2 Tablespoons of white wine or even mirin (sweetened sake) to coat
1 teaspoon of rubbed sage
white or black pepper (about 1/8th teaspoon)
olive oil
1 teaspoon parsley flakes

Chop up your turkey into tiny pieces, pretty much dice it. Then coat with your wine/mirin and cook in a pan with some olive oil. Once you know it's completely cooked and it's starting to get a nice golden brown color on the outside add your mushrooms and onions and sautee until they're soft. Add about 1 teaspoon of parsley flakes.

Once this is done you can add your cooked rice to it and mix it up nicely.

Then you're done it's a one dish meal for your whole family!

Should feed 3 to four people.

Since I live at home with my parents they're my personal judges. Thankfully they're brutally honest and will tell me when something is just plain terrible.

Their votes were as follows:
Mom: Liked it and will eat again
Dad: It was ok, would eat it again but thinks it needs a little something extra

So he and I think it either needs something spicey such as a bit of red pepper flakes or some sour contrast such as using the juice of a fresh lemon or lime

Try it out and tell me what you think! : )

Shop Plans

I'm trying to think of things to make to start up my shop in Etsy.com

Does anyone have any ideas? What do you the public want?

I do :

Amigurumi
Knitting (Blankets, scarves)
Crochet (Blankets, miscellanious)
Woodburning

Are there any motifs you want?
Do you follow a certain movie, game or book and want something inspired by it?
Lord of the Rings
Phantom of the Opera
Harry Potter
Nightmare Before Christmas
Legend of Zelda
Castlevania
etc??

Please let me know, the more you tell me the more I know how to please you my customers : )

I want to have happy shoppers!

Arroz Doce/Rice Pudding

Ok this is a recipe I got from Dellalo.com Their recipe was for Rice pudding and strawberries but I just used the Rice pudding part Plus made a few alterations because the measurements they gave for the liquids weren't enough and left the rice a bit tough still.

Rice pudding should be creamy, sweet, and soft.
It's also a nice cheap treat for those of us who are watching our cash flow.

You'll need:

3 cups of whole milk
6 tablespoons of sugar
1 cinnamon stick
1/2 cup of arborio rice
Note: You can pretty much use any kind of rice but I think Arborio helps make the pudding creamier.
Pinch of salt
1-1 1/2 cups of water

In a pot bring water and milk to a boil. Add all the other ingredients and cook for about forty minutes. Stir frequently or you'll end up with the milk burnt and stuck to the bottom of the pan....which I might add from experience is NOT fun to clean! Also watch the pudding cook, if it seems the rice is still too tough and there's little liquid left add a tiny bit more of milk to it. Also adjust the taste of the sugar if it seems to not be sweet enough.

To check if it's done just taste a little bit of it, it should be creamy and the rice nice and soft maybe even close to mushy if you prefer it that way.

For fun half way through add some raisins and let them cook with the pudding. It'll add some extra flavor to it.
If serving at a little get together put them in their own small individual serving dishes and sprinkle cinnamon on top : )
Hope you give this a try!

Foamy the Squirrel Plans

Ok I'm planning a crochet project. Which means I'm trying to find various patterns to make something I want, which I might add is a pain in the rear.

Idea: Make a crochet amigurumi of Foamy the Squirrel or Pill-zee

For those of you who don't know what this is it's a comic/cartoon made by Jonathan Ian Mathers.
Foamy is a ranty squirrel who drops f-bombs constantly in his cartoons and yet is capable of pointing out truths and things many people don't have the courage to say. It's a bizarre cartoon but for some reason I can't help but watch.

For those of you who are young or have young children DO NOT watch these or near children. It's highly inappropriate contains highly sexual and profane content. Just a warning. But for those of you who are of age and are going to be curious watch away. Maybe you too will become part of the Foaminian Cult (joke, watch show to understand reference)

So the idea mostly is first to attempt to make Pill-zee the cute pill popping glasses wearing, hypochondriac with so many mental problems it becomes hilarious.

So far I found a nice pattern on etsy for the tail ^___^ progress is looking good!

Once I start this I'll take pictures. And hopefully can get a pattern out for people who want a foamy or pill-zee of their own...and maybe in the future I can do a bedly (don't think is writing his name correctly) which  is the British squirrel : )

Comment let me know what you think

Does anyone have any requests recipes? drinks? Crochet or Knitting Requests??


COMING SOON TO A YOUTUBE NEAR YOU!!!

A Video on Crochet or Knitting symbols. All hail those who can read universal charts!!!

Have a great day/night everyone!

Recycle, make lemonade

So It's summer it's hot what do you need? Lemonade ^___^ Now don't go off and buy some cutesy little pitcher just to make lemonade. Recycle a bottle you have. Whether it's a bottle of Coke or Pepsi to even a Perrier bottle. I personally bought one of those fancy schmancy "artisan" water bottles made out of glass. One drank all the water then washed the bottle and filled it up with tastey home made lemonade. So now I have a nice bottle WITH screw top cap.

Here's how I make lemonade:
Ingredients:
Water
splenda (the little packets)
lemons or limes (1 per two cups of water)

Instructions:
For every 2 measuring cups of water use one lemon or lime either one is good
and I tend to try to avoid sugar for health reasons so I use splenda but if you like the real stuff go ahead and use it : ).
So to every 2 cups I use 2 to 3 packets of splenda.
Mix that all up and put it in your bottle. I made 4 cups of it and filled it up to the top.
Now just put it in the fridge and let it chill  ^___^ see? easy! tastey! try it you'll love it : )

Couve (Collard Greens)

So I'm back and It's the fourth of July! HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!!! ^___^

I'm posting up my recipe for Couve, or Collard Greens in English. This recipe is very popular in Brazil and I always ask my grandma to make it for me when I visit. Because I admit it no matter how hard I try and I feel like it's this way for many people, no matter how hard you try it's just NEVER as good as your grandma's.

So here's the list of ingredients:

1 garlic clove diced
Collard Greens, about 6 leaves (large, more if they're small)
1-2 TBS olive oil
salt to taste



Trust me this is VERY easy and it goes well with white rice, and lets not forget it's CHEAP...good for those like me who are trying to save a buck ^^;

Wash your collard greens and cut the stem off. Even make sure to remove the stem part from the middle part of the leaf because it'll get chewy. Then stack the leaves ontop of each other and roll them as tightly as possible. With a sharp knife slice the rolled collards as thinly as possible.

 Take your garlic clove now and dice : )



When that's all done take a pan and heat it up. Add the olive oil and let the oil heat up a bit. When it's heated add the garlic and sautee for about five seconds, garlic cooks way too fast. With that add the collards and stir. Keep stirring them and watch as they start to wilt. When they're all wilted, mind you not burnt just wilted, they're done : ) Add salt to taste.

Hope you try it out : ) For a more step by step check out my youtube video.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKmouXPWcLk&feature=channel_video_title

More coming soon!

Bife Milanesa

So continuing on with the Birthday celebrations for my mom I made her favorite foods. All Brazilian of course. I made black beans, white rice, couve, sliced tomatoes with olive oil drizzled on top of them, and her favorite Bife Milanesa. Which is basically fried beef steak.

So this is what you'll need to make it:

4 Thin steaks
2 eggs
flour
breadcrumbs
oil for frying (I use vegetable oil, sometimes vegtable and olive oil mixed together)
pepper and salt

Take out the steaks and put them on your cutting board. Using a tenderizing mallet beat them senseless....ya I know that sentence made no sense at all, the steaks are dead I know, but I liked typing it.

Then take the steaks and sprinkle salt and pepper and coat them in the flour.

Take your two eggs, crack them open and beat them with a fork. Dip your steak into the egg mixture then coat it with the bread crumbs.

In a small frying pan, put in the oil and heat it up. When it's ready cook one steak at a time.
To test the readiness of the oil you can drop some breadcrumbs into it. If they float up it's ready to go : )

The steaks will cook really fast, seriously I'd say under 4 minutes, so don't take your eyes off them and turn it once. They'll look nice and golden brown.

Also a note on the breading. My mom is a personal fan of using american style breadcrumbs with italian seasoning. It is really tastey. My personal preference though is using panko. But that's up to you.

Here's the finished plate for my mom's birthday dinner : )

Instructional Youtube video to come soon! I took so many pictures while making this.
Also recipes to come with youtube videos:
1) Bife com cebola, beef with onion
2) Couve, sauteed collard greens, (pictured up top)

Birthday Cake!

So today is my mom's birthday. I decided to make her a cake : )

I used a Duncan Hines instant cake mix, I chose French Vanilla.
To top it I used heavy whipping cream and made obviously whipped cream ; )
In the middle of the two layers of cake is tapioca pudding.
I decorated it with strawberries which I cut to look like little flowers. All in all I think it's pretty cute.

To make the whipped cream all you need is:
2 pints of whipping cream
sugar and vanilla extract to taste
Using a mixer whip the cream into glorious submission adding vanilla and sugar gradually.
You can cheat and put the mixer on high that forms it pretty fast but I tried to do it slowly I think it takes longer to break down that way : )
I didn't over sweeten the whipped cream since I believe whipped cream should be a very light and airy treat not over powering

Obviously after decorating the cake it went straight into the fridge for safety : )
I also had way too much whipped cream left...and of course tons of strawberries so I mixed it all together until the concoction turned a light pink color. It's a nice tastey summer treat if you don't want to have that cake.

We had the cake today after it chilled in the fridge. I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out taste wise. It was light and you didn't get that over powering sugary taste you get with other cakes....I seriously feel like I didn't have cake, which is dangerous because then you could eat way more than you originally planned hehe.

I hope you try it yourself
I sure had fun making it

Here's a link to the youtube video for it :   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-17nenzCzI&feature=channel_video_title

Scary Cute...Not

Hi!

Ok here's my review of scary cute by Annie Obaachan. Well superficial review since I didn't really go in depth and crochet some of the patterns. So please just take this into consideration. I'm personally hoping my mind will change and I will actually come to like this book, i repeat HOPING.

 Well first I was hoping for better monsters. These supposedly cuddly scary but cute creatures are far from what I was hoping. I actually only like two of the patterns. The others look like the author got rather bored and had no actual inspiration to create a creature that resembled a monster. One example is called Special E.T. (photos to come in the future) looks like a deformed dog toy where it's head barely resembed the shape of E.T.'s...then again maybe that's why they called him "special." In my opinion if you want to learn how to make different crochet shapes this is an ok book for a beginner to look off from, but to actually purchase and say "hey look at this monster I made"...well to be polite that's a different story... although I do admit they would be rather child friendly so they won't get scared. Yet I'm still in pain over the fact I paid $20 for this. Once again I remain in hope that I might in time like this book.

But if you do like the funky shaped monsters seriously buy and give it a try. Annie Obaachan actually does give a good description on how to crochet and build these things.

So ya there's my superficial review/rant on the book Scary Cute by Annie Obaachan. I'll see if I can post some pictures from the book later...problem is I just can't seem to find my camera...major problem....

Grelly Bean

Hi!

*singing to self (using the song Lollipop)* Grelly Bean Grelly Bean oh Grelly Grelly Grelly Grelly Bean Grelly Bean buh dum dum dum

I'm proud to post my very first, ever original no copycatting amigurumi EVER! I present to you Grell Sutcliffe from the ever popular Anime and Manga Kuroshitsuji aka Black Butler



I'm very proud of him. I'm planning to make a better quality one to sell on etsy. He'll also have a pal. I'm going to make a kitty Sebastien, that's right a Sebastien Michaelis with cute little cat ears ^^

Once again your thoughts?

Kero

Hi AGAIN!

Here's a picture of one of my first amigurumi attempts. The pattern came from cutoutandkeep.net The creator's name is Saa-Chan here's the link:  http://www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/kerochan_amigurumi

I actually created a Suppi-Chan pattern to match him..sadly I was an idiot and didn't completely write it down, my friend actually has the prototype I gave it to her for her birthday. But I'll try again ^^ Because I know I could have done better.



Let me know what you think!

Sick Tips

So yea I've been sick since saturday, March 19th...bleh. What felt like just a head cold turned out to be a sinus infection trying to turn itself into bronchitis. Sadly missed three days of work...I know it's strange to say sadly over missing work but I like my job so ya it was sad. I did pretty much nothing but hibernate and attempt to do some crochet, ya total fail on the crochet part. But I would like to give people some ideas on how to fix yourself up when you're sick.

One:

Breathe Right strips are awesome in helping you breathe at night when you're all clogged up with mucus.

Two:

Vapor Rub is a God send

Three:

Don't be stupid, rest and sleep as much as you can.

Four:

Drink lots of fluids, although juice and sodas are great and can help make your throat feel better, water is the best way to go. Try keeping like a gallon around you all day, but to keep germs from growing in the bottle I suggest pouring the water into a cup instead of drinking directly from the jug.

Five:

Take your multi-vitamin with an extra vitamin C tablet, gotta help yourself get strong again.

Six:

Chicken soup is cliche but oh so useful, not a chicken fan? Then how about some nice alphabet soup.

Seven:

You're sick but it's no excuse to be dirty. Keep taking your warm (..not scalding hot) showers, it can help lower your temperature and help kill the germs that are on you, hey you know they're there after you blew them all out of your nose or hacked them up, don't fool yourself they're there and you know it.

Eight:

Learn that generic tissues are the same as kleenex or puffs, might as well save a few cents while you're sick right? Although if you like those vicks tissues from puffs get them I've yet to find a generic with that.

Nine:

Try not to pass it on to the other members of the household...granted I always fail at this part, as my dad says "I know you love me but please don't share EVERYTHING"...ya sorry dad ^^;

Ten:

If you have a temperature higher than 100 degrees and are just miserable seriously don't wait it out go to the doctor. Reason is you'll find out what you have, second you'll find out how to treat it, and three it'll also help you catch serious problems quickly. You don't want what seems like the simple flu to turn out to be pneumonia, no one wants hospitalized!

Eleven:

If dealing with sick children it's always safer to get them to the doctor as soon as you can.

I hope this helps some people. I know a lot of people know what to do when they're sick but since I got sick I thought it'd be a good idea to try and share some things : )

Also a few extra tips would be if you have a sore throat I would suggest gargling with warm water and some salt. Warm water and some vinegar is pretty good too, in my family we tend to use red wine vinegar. It helps soothe your throat and kill some of the germs : )

Ok, hope to get a recipe out this week for everyone...does anyone read this thing??
Bye!

Granny Square!

Hi again!

I found a picture of my first granny square where I switched colors. I'm still terrible at it hehe. The pattern came from the crochet magazine: Interweaver Crochet, it was in the 2010 winter edition. I just loved this pattern I had to try it out. My mom is trying to convince me I should make a blanket out of it. I'm not sure yet but i is tempting, maybe after a little extra practice. And yes I know I'm in my pajamas but eh, I was comfy.



Ok so for this pattern it required a size I/9 (5.5mm) crochet hook, I used one that was a bit bigger. I'm afraid to post the pattern due to copyright but I'll see if I can do that in the future. So what do you think?

Chill in the Air a Perfect Time for Soup

Hi!

Fantasma here again.  It's almost spring, I'm so excited! But sadly it's still a bit chilly at night. So lets warm up with a soup recipe ^__^ This is one I tried out the other day, it's actually quite tastey. It's called Zuppa di Ceci, yep that's right an Italian recipe, it translates to chickpea soup. Chickpeas, garbanzo beans whatever you like to call them, these little beans are just packed with fiber approximately six grams a serving (about 1/2 a cup) to be exact and are a good source of protein and zinc.

To make this dish even better is that it's cheap to make too, just gotta love that part.

You'll need:

One pound of chickpeas

One stalk celery, diced

One carrot, diced

3 cloves of garlic, chopped or use garlic powder 1/8 tsp

One onion, diced

Three cups of chicken broth

Salt and Pepper

Now depending on what kind of preparation you want to use, the measure of chickpeas varies. I tend to buy dry chickpeas in bags and one small bag of chickpeas is a pound and after you soak them overnight it yields approximately 5 cups. After I soak the beans I cook them in the pressure cooker with a bit of oil. My pressure cooker takes about 25 minutes for the chickpeas to cook but cooking time varies on the type you have. I know this can take a bit of time but if you want the extra healthy version it's the way to go, you won't have to deal with all the sodium that comes with the canned chickpeas. So the pressure cooker version is best if you have highblood pressure and you're watching your sodium levels. You can also use canned chickpeas though, they're just as tastey.

Now saute your vegetables and garlic until tender with some olive oil and add the 3 cups of broth. I kind of cheat with the vegetables before I saute them to make sure they're nice and soft, I put them in the microwave for a little bit. Bring the broth and vegetable mixture to a boil then add your chickpeas. Let the soup cook for twenty minutes so the flavors come together. Then let it cool for a bit.

After it's cooled down a bit, I'd say close to room temperature you then blend the soup with a blender, food processor or one of those neat immersion blenders. Then bring the soup back into the pot and bring it to the temperature you want.

This soup goes great with bread. And you can sprinkle some parmesan cheese ontop or if you want to be creative some chopped bacon pieces. Also if you want a bit of texture in your soup you can reserve some of the chickpeas to put in at the end.

I have a nice soup recipe similar to this that has black beans instead of chickpeas but that's for another day ^___^

Hope you like it!

Fantasma

Hi! Welcome to my Blog. I'm FantasmaLua, avid crafter, food lover, and searcher of ways to save a buck. In the future I'll be posting pictures of my work. I'm constantly trying out new craft ideas. My main medium is yarn crafting, knitting and crochet. I do dabble occasonally in fabric painting though. Many of my ideas will
make their way to my shop on http://www.etsy.com/  So far nothing is posted though because  I would like to get a
few items made before I actually start posting. I'd love to get people's oppinions on my stuff, maybe you
could give me ideas on how to improve too.

As a foodie I love trying out recipes from different countries, it's absolutely amazing how the fanciest looking
meals can actually be affordable to make at home. My personal favorites are Brazilian, Italian, French, and
Japanese cooking. What's yours?

I'm pretty young, well at least I think so, I'm not sure what others would call young, but to me a twenty-three
year old is young hehe. Well being out of college for about two years, I've come to terms with the fact that
money saving is key and you have to start early as possible, and lets face facts EVERY penny counts. So I'm
hoping I can help save everyone a few measily pennies with some money saving tips.

All in all that's my plans for this blog, I hope someone out there will actually like it  ^^;