Sweet & Spicy

I needed to get out of the house today, so I made a trip to Central Market. Every time I'm there I look at the beer selection for new GF beers. I'm usually disappointed after scanning the GF beer section. (I really just need to be honest with myself. There aren't going to be new GF beers every month.) Then I check out the cider section, since most ciders are naturally gluten free. I don't ever recall seeing this brand before: Angry Orchard; maybe they are just new to Texas since it is made in Ohio.

There were three different flavors being sold at Central Market. I decided to pick the one that sounded the most unique. I chose Apple Ginger, but the other flavors were Traditional Dry and Crisp Apple. I'm interested to try the other flavors too. At my first sip, I really wasn't sure I was going to like the Apple Ginger. The ginger seemed strong and I second-guessed picking this flavor to try first. With each sip, I enjoyed the cider more and more. It was definitely different from other cider flavors that I've drank before. Overall I liked the Angry Orchard Apple Ginger Cider.

Justin must have been on my mind today! Yesterday we were talking about brewing our own hard cider and I bought some today. And then I decided to make some jalapeno poppers! Justin and I love to enjoy finger food/appetizers. I think I needed some comfort food today.

Of course my inspiration for the recipe came from Pinterest. I actually followed this recipe for easy baked jalapeno poppers step by step. (I omitted bread crumbs which are only a suggestion.) I halved the recipe of course because I'm only making for one! But I still ended up with a ton of left overs. First I washed 5 enormous jalapenos. Seriously I need to use jalapenos more in recipes because these only cost 51 cents.

I cut them in half.

Then I deseeded the jalapenos.

I whipped up the filling by combining the cream cheese, mozzarella cheese, and cilantro. I was lazy and didn't really measure any of it. I eyeballed it and may have used more cilantro than the recipe called for, but regardless they came out delicious and tasty.

The amount of cheese mixture I made was the perfect amount. I didn't have any left over, but had enough for each half to be filled to the top.

I baked for 15 minutes at 425.

They came out golden brown and ready to eat.

I paired the poppers with the Angry Orchard and it made a sweet and spicy combination. I was proud of the pairing that I created on my own. These poppers were simple and easy to make. The filling was light and airy. The cilantro is a nice touch to freshen the taste. I can't wait to make them for my hubby when he comes home. I see these as a great game day treat.

Miss and love you hubby.

GF Glazed Doughnut Muffins

I am a procrastinator. I always have been, but I always manage to get what I need done. With that said, I have a final paper due for class. However, it's not due for a week, but my initial intention was to have it done and turned it at class tomorrow. I'll tell you this: that is definitely not happening. Oh well, I still have plenty of time.

So what did I do to avoid my paper? I haven't baked in a while and pinned a new recipe yesterday that intrigued me, but I would have to make it gluten free. I followed this Glazed Doughnut Muffins recipe. Of course, I subbed the flour with Cup 4 Cup gluten free flour. But other than that I followed everything just as the recipe said. It was fairly simple! 

I was also excited because I had the opportunity to use my new owl measuring cups from West Elm. I found the West Elm site through Pinterest because there are no stores in the area here. I actually ordered them back in early March but haven't had the chance to try them out until now!

The batter was very elastic-y.

The recipe said to fill 12 muffin cups. Mine were overflowing with my sticky batter. I even had an extra glob that probably would have made one more cup. If I make these again I will use more cups and put less in each one.

As you can see, my doughnut-muffins were out of control!

I dipped them in the glaze twice. Look at those glistening doughnut-muffins!

I have 12 of these massive creations. I should probably take some to my gluten free friend at work so I can share my hard work.

Unfortunately I don't have my hubby taste tester to tell me if he thinks they are comparable to gluten filled foods. So my review is that these are moist, fluffy, and so doughnut-like. Making them in the muffin tin makes the process a breeze but still gives the sweet flavor. These are almost a cross between muffins, doughnuts, and cake! I'm not a huge frosting person but this glaze is on point! The glaze pairs perfectly with the cinnamon & nutmeg spice. I am also joyful that the Cup 4 Cup flour was an equal substitute and that these turned out.

Chamomile & Carrot

Love, love, love my new day cream! I finally ditched my Aveeno face lotion that contains oats. Oats are prone to cross contaminate with wheat, so I am happy to know my daily moisturizer is completely gluten free. Acure is the same brand as the shampoo I recently started using. One squirt is the perfect amount for my whole face and the instant chamomile and carrot aroma brightens my morning. (And you know I'm not a morning person!) This moisturizer is made for normal to dry skin; I use is every morning and think my skin is loving it. My face not dry nor greasy. 

And now, my trouble maker doggie caught in action when she squeezed behind the futon and the wall. She some how managed to get in there but was a little uncertain how to escape out.

Pumpkin Pancakes

I like to try different products, despite having my favorites. For pancakes, some of my top picks are Bisquick and Pamela's pancake mix. I know there is always room to add GF products to my go-to list and Allie's Awesome Buckwheat Pancake mix was an item I purchased with my Living Social deal. I recently noticed it sold at Whole Foods too.

For some reason, even though it is April I instantly craved pumpkin pancakes when I saw this recipe on the back of the box. I had can of pumpkin in my pantry that I had purchased in fall when I was going pumpkin crazy. When I made pumpkin waffles before all I did was add pumpkin. There's something about this recipe that seemed to produce magic in my mouth. It must have been the hint of sugar to sweeten them 'cakes.

Since it is just me, I halved the recipe.

At first the batter was pretty thick, so I gradually added some milk to thin the batter until it was a consistency that I was happy with.

It made 6 thick, fluffy pancakes.

There was so much flavor in the pancakes that I only needed a hint of maple syrup. I would definitely recommend this recipe and mix. But I'll have to try to make regular pancakes with Allie's mix too.

Felt Flowers

Yesterday I went to the craft store to pick up some more adhesive to finish up my curtains to add to the dining area. While I was there I got the idea to create my own flowers for Iivana's collar. She used to have one but it recently saw it's last day and fell off.

This was her old flower.

I made her a double combo of two different flowers. I followed tutorials that I found on Pinterest to make each flower. The pink flower tutorial was from here. The red one won't open the link. I basically cut a swirl and cut half circles. I wound it together tightly. I used regular cheap felt that I bought for 29 cents a sheet. The one blog recommends wool felt, which I think I'll try next time. The wool felt looks nicer. I was just playing around to see if they really were easy to make and both flowers were! 

Then I cut a piece of elastic and hot glued it to the other side. I covered it with a small flap of felt and glued that as well. I didn't take pictures of this process because to best honest I wasn't sure if it would work or hold.

Then I hot glued both flowers to each other. Once I let them dry, I checked to see if they would fit her collar. They fit beautifully.

I'll see how long these last, but I figured it would be a less expensive option that buying her a new one. I can make her different ones and switch them out on her collar. I'm excited to try some different flower types and with better felt.

1 Year Later

Being a first time dog owner, Iivana instantly captured my heart. I finally understand "dog people" that I couldn't quite connect with all my life. What happened a year ago will always stick with me and make my heart wrench when I think of that day. My princess was playing at the dog park when a pit bull turned on her. She was pretty beat up and had a long recovery. 

My Vana is resilient though, even the night we took her to pet ER when she was bleeding out of a quarter size hole in her chest, she continued to examine every inch of the room we were in. Her attitude and loving personality never changed which we are very thankful for.

We were ecstatic that her stitches were coming out, but the wound wasn't completely healed so we started over again with the recovery process.

But we eventually arrived at the day when she could bid goodbye to her e-collar.

Through out the whole thing Iivana was a champ. Justin and I were the ones who took it the hardest. Of course we stopped going to the dog park. We were hesitant about how she would play with other dogs. I can't speak for Justin, but I became protective of my baby. But time goes by and you slowly start to let go of the worry and live life...

Iivana enjoyed her second birthday during the summer!

Iivana was Minnie Mouse for Halloween.

She made a new best friend, Bruiser, at grandma and grandpa's in Wimberley. 

We also decided to install a fence, so that Iivana would have more space to run freely in our backyard since we don't take her to the dog park anymore. Today I played frisbee with her in our backyard. I also decided to take a little photo shoot of her playing and enjoying our backyard.

I think she's missing most of the frisbees I threw in the following photos because I attempted to toss them quick and then snap a picture.

I just had to include these so you could really appreciate my attempts of action shots.

   

 She almost looks like she's walking.

I tried to get a picture of her chest scars, but she wasn't having it.

I love this pic.

Although my opinionated dog can sometimes be a pain, she's a sweetheart and has been there for me.  She gives me kisses, hugs, and keeps me company. Justin jokes because she's always at the top of my blog labels; just look at the right and click on the label "Iivana" to find more of her musings. (Okay, I am officially a crazy dog lady.)

GF Food on the Wall

I'm a picky pinner. When I see things on Pinterest, I only pin it if I think it is something I will really do. When I saw this idea, I knew the perfect place for it and instantly pinned it for home decorating inspiration.

I ordered the 12 x 16 colored mats for $16, however the shipping cost practically just as much! I figured it would be easier and save me time by ordering them from the place that was suggested. I'm glad I did too because I love the colors! I bought eight 12 x 16 in frames from Michael's when they were running a buy one get one free sale on frames. They're poster frames so they are probably not as nice as the Pottery Barn ones that were suggested to use. However, I saved some money buying ones that were cheaper; each frame was about $6 for me. 

Justin offered the suggestion to use food themed pictures since this project was going in the eat-in kitchen area. I loved the idea since I'm constantly taking pictures of our gluten free foods. I picked several different food pictures and decided which ones looked best in black and white. Getting the photos printed, buying the frames, and ordering the colored mats was easy. My biggest nemesis became hanging the frames. Justin's not here to do it for me either so it was either let the frames sit for six months or try to figure out how to hang them evenly on my own. Before I began to hang them, I measured the space I had to work with and realized the configuration I saw on Pinterest would not work in the space I had. If I hung them in 3 rows, they would be too high or go below the table, so I decided to hang them in two rows of four.

I laid the colors out on the table and started to hang. But then I was quickly stalled...it looked like this for a few days. I wasn't sure how to make sure they would be evenly spaced and level.

I made a trip to Lowe's to purchase a laser level. I took this picture with the directions, because despite being a teacher I hate reading directions. Ugh, I had to figure out how to use the laser level. (Also in the background you see a paint stick, I tried to make a picture hanging contraption that I also saw on Pinterest. It didn't work though because the one paint stirrer wasn't strong enough to hold the picture.)

I was happy to invest about 20 bucks in the laser level. It made the process so much easier. The red laser made a level line that I could follow. Then I measured with a ruler to make the spacing between each.

My first row looked even and pretty darn good, if I do say!

I moved the level down and left 2 inches between each picture.

Even with a glare, the pictures look amazing! (My photo taking abilities make it appear a little crooked.) Can you place each picture with a blog entry? They all have made an appearance before.

Viola, the only bad part is the glare in every picture. I'm not a master photographer and the sun shines through the doors near this area.

After hanging the pictures I was inspired to do a little more decorating in the room. I ordered a black and white rug. I'm trying to do black and white with the pops of color. Currently I'm working on some curtains to add too. Hopefully those will be done soon. I also want to add a bright colored buffet, but will need to wait until Justin returns because I want to buy a cheap one on Craig's list or from a flea market to redo.