Marshmallow Milkshake

This recipe came from here. I'm not going to tell you how to do it because I want you to read the blog. Emmalee and Rachel happen to be two of my very best friends. 


We didn't have straws. And we didn't watch There Will be Blood. We watched Just Wright. There wasn't much at the Redbox that we haven't already seen. The milkshakes were great though! The only thing I did differently was make twice as much. 

And I shared with my cat. Totally unsanitary, I know. 

English Muffins

They're just like the store bought ones. Look at the insides!

I got this recipe from this book. It's really been worth the $6.00 I spent on it. 


Ingredients:
Vegetable oil for greasing and cooking
3 1/4 cups white bread flour (I used all purpose and it worked fine)
plus extra for dusting pans
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tsp superfine sugar (granulated worked too)
1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 cup lukewarm water
1/2 cup plain yogurt (I used vanilla)
1/4 cup semolina


1. Grease a bowl and dust a baking sheet with flour. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl, sift the flour and salt together and stir in the sugar and yeast. Make a well in the center and add the water and yogurt. Stir until it becomes dough-like. Knead until it comes away from the side of the bowl. Place on a floured surface and knead 5-10 minutes, or until smooth and elastic.


2. Shape the dough into a ball and place in the greased bowl. Cover with a damp dish towel and let rise in a warm place 30-40 minutes.


3. Knead the dough on a floured surface, 2-3 minutes, the roll it out until it's about 3/4 inch thick. Cut out rounds with a 3-inch cookie cutter. Sprinkle both sides of each round with semolina. Place the rounds on the baking sheet, cover, and leave in a warm place for 30 minutes. (Don't buy cheap generic plastic wrap. Stretch-Tite really is worth the money.)


4. Heat griddle or large skillet over medium heat and brush with oil. Add half the muffins and cook for 7-8 minutes on each side, until golden brown. (Mine actually only took about 5 minutes. Check them every few minutes to make sure they're not too brown.) Cook the remaining muffins the same way.


The book says this makes 12 but I actually made 16 and they were a pretty good size. We ate some for breakfast and we made pizzas with the rest. 

The Most Unhealthy Mashed Potatoes

This is a combination of the way my mom makes mashed potatoes and the way Martha Stewart and Snoop Dogg make mashed potatoes. They're really horrible for you. 


Ingredients:
1 5 lb. bag russet potatoes
approx. 3 cups milk
Water
5 or 6 cloves of garlic
1 stick of butter, cut into several pieces
1 8 oz. package cream cheese
Salt and pepper to taste


1. Cut potatoes into 1 inch chunks. I don't peel them unless the outsides look gross. Put the cut up potatoes into a crock pot and add about 1 cup of milk. Add enough water to just cover them. Add the garlic cloves. Leave alone for 4 hours on high or 6 hours on low. 


2. Drain the potatoes and put them into a large mixing bowl. Start mashing with a potato masher or an electric mixer. I use my Kitchenaid and I have to start out with just half of the potatoes or it throws them at me. Add the butter and cream cheese and keep mashing. Add milk slowly until your potatoes are the consistency you like them. Add salt and pepper and you're done. 

Braided T-shirt Headband

After my last post, my friend Cierra said that she made headbands that were similar to the braided necklaces. This is my attempt. It's really the same idea but on a smaller scale. I thought it would be more practical to have the part that goes behind your head flat so it doesn't make your hair stick up. I just tucked the ends of the braids into a little tube of fabric and sewed them in place. Thanks Cierra :)

Braided T-shirt Necklace

These are for people. They do look very handsome on cats though. Each one takes about 15 minutes. 

Materials:
1 Cotton t-shirt (The larger the shirt, the longer the necklace will be)
Scissors
Needle
Thread
Cat (optional)

1. Fold the shirt in half. Cut off the bottom hem. Cut the rest of the shirt into 9 strips horizontally. Each should be about 2 inches wide. It doesn't need to be exact and you don't need to worry about cutting straight. You should end up with 9 loops of fabric. 

2. Cut each loop so you have 9 long strips.

3. Stretch each strip so the edges curl. 

4. Group the strips into 3 sets of 3. Sew the ends of each set together. This won't show so don't worry about how it looks. 

5. Braid each set of strips. This is your cat's job while you braid. 

6. Sew the ends of each braid together to secure them. For the necklace in this post, I braided all the braids together loosely and then I sewed the ends together. The other option (pictured at the end of this post) is to sew the ends of each braid together so you have 3 separate loops.  

7. Cut a rectangle out of the remaining fabric. Wrap it around the seams of your braids and sew the edges together. Turn it inside out so the seam is hidden. 

This is how it will look if you braid the 3 braids together. I wasn't especially happy with this one. I braided it too tight but you can learn from my mistakes.  

This is how it will look if you keep the loops separate. I also wrapped one loop around my neck twice so there are different lengths.  

Peanut Butter Button Cookies

Look how cute! And mini!

The instructions for these mini cuties can be found here. Mine weren't as perfect but I'm pretty happy with them. Most of them turned out too big. I almost always make desserts bigger than recommended. I don't really see that as a problem though. 

Black Bean Salsa

Ingredients:
1 can black beans
1 small tomato, diced
1 jalapeño, chopped, with seeds and insides removed
1/2 red onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup chopped, fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt


1. Pulse half of the black beans in a food processor until coarsely chopped. Transfer to bowl. Mix in all other ingredients.


2. Serve with baked tortilla chips or put in burritos.

Decorated Shoe Boxes

I don't have a real craft desk. All I have is a table. My mess was starting to get a little out of control but I remembered these boxes that I used to make in high school. I used to cut pictures and words out of magazines. This time I just used scraps of paper left-over from other projects. 


Materials:
Shoe box (any box, really)
Paper
Mod Podge
Paintbrush

Glue paper onto box in any pattern. I didn't bother to cut my paper, I just overlapped it. 

Once the box is covered, paint mod podge over the entire surface. Repeat on the rest of the box. 

This is another one I made.

I still don't have a desk, but at least I'm a little more organized. It's cuter than just plain shoe boxes.

And it looks a lot better than this crap. 

Easy Baked Macaroni and Cheese

Ingredients:
4 cups your choice pasta
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons garlic powder
1 cup sour cream
1 cup cheddar cheese
1 cup pepper jack cheese (you can substitute any cheese you like)
1/2-1 onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup bread crumbs
cooking spray


1. Pre-heat oven to 350. Cook pasta according to package directions. While pasta is cooking, cook onion in olive oil until softened but not browned. 


2. While pasta is still hot, mix in all the other ingredients except bread crumbs and cooking spray. Stir until butter and cheese begin to melt. 


3. Spray 4 ramekins or a 9 x 9 baking pan with cooking spray. Pour pasta into ramekins or pan and top with bread crumbs. Bake for 20 minutes or until hot and bubbly. Let stand for 10-15 minutes before eating. 

Origami Lilies

I have no idea how to explain these. Here's the link. And, as an added bonus, here's a picture of my cat playing with my lilies.