If I Dream It...

I don't know why - but the other day I started craving pudding. It's a sweet treat that I have always enjoyed but rarely have any more. One, I never want much of it and two, while I do enjoy my sweets - I am trying to eat more healthy sweets and less processed sugars. I have gotten better with this at breakfast - I've been having fruit smoothies every day for breakfast with about a tablespoon of agave nectar for sweetener upon occasion and have loved every one (though I do wish I had a better blender that actually blended in the seeds). The simplest, and one of the best is frozen pineapple chunks with coconut milk and a little agave. This reminds me of a pina colada and is just totally yummy :) I have no measurements as I blend in the cup I drink from. It's about 1 1/2 cups of fruit though and usually enough liquid to cover it. Milks make it thicker and juices/water thinner. Upon occasion I add chia seeds as well. Yes, I know it looks odd - but it's good! I...

I finished this project awhile ago - but it actually took two attempts and I'm finally sitting down to write out the successful one. When I got married we did an hourglass with colored sand. Thing was - we had a LOT of extra sand... what would we do with it? I decided to make a monogramed frame. My first attempt was an epic fail (sand is surprisingly heavy). So pouring it from the old one to the new one was a little tricky and the pattern wasn't as pretty. But the point was to use our extra and actual wedding sand... not buy more. So I worked with what I had. My original was a thin box frame with plastic sealing the back and then the back on top of that. I didn't get any pictures of the back - but you can see the plastic in the back in this photo. Sadly the sand started to leak from the bottom left corner pretty good. Each time I cleaned it up - more came out, the 'leak' got bigger, and I couldn't fix it without taking it apart and potentially ruining ...

So it has been a long time since I posted last. I have not been very good at taking the time to write things out. I've been side tracked with health, dogs, vacations, work, and baking -- basically life... and well, just haven't stopped to sit and type. However, I've decided I should start to get back to it... I have a few things that I should take time to write out and take pictures again... so give me some time and I'll work on being back more regularly. For now, I just figured I'd show you a little bit of my baking craziness. It all started with a request from a friend's mom. She found a photo in a magazine and asked if I could make it for her. It seemed simple enough - so I said sure. What would result from that - was shocking. I did a practice one, hers, a new practice one with an idea I had to make it look more real... and from there it was order after order. It was a potted cupcake bouquet - pretty and fun. A pot of cupcakes, iced like roses... y...

The holidays are nearing and I don't know about you - but with all the gift giving, I like to be able to  give and still make at least a little difference in the world. There are a ton of charities out there and a lot of neat sites that allow you to "donate a chicken" or "buy seeds" or something like that. But if you're feeling the need to buy something tangible for a person other than a donation in their name, there also are lots of sites that offer gifts that give back. This is what I chose to do for the daughter of a few friends of mine. You see, she's a very mature and thoughtful little girl - for her birthday this year, she asked everyone to make donations to a certain charity instead of getting her gifts. So what unique gift could I find for such a thoughtful little girl? Find something neat that also gives back :)   So I searched and searched and am happy to report I think I found a few things that she'll love. However, I figured it...

What do I do when I want dessert but don't want to take a lot of time? I grab a box of cake mix and make cookies :) Simple and sweet... and usually prepped and baked in less than 30 minutes. Not to mention - the endless flavor possibilities... the flexibility allows me to take care of any craving I may have. I usually always have cake mix in the pantry - not usually for cakes (surprisingly I prefer those from scratch), but things like cookies and other yummy sweets. I buy random flavors when they're on sale for $1 a box and then when I've got a craving I pick a box and figure out what I want to do with it. Last time I talked about cake mix cookies , I shared a few different types of cake mix cookies... today, I'm sharing a few different flavor profiles. They're simple and quick cookie creations. And they all use the basic ingredients to make the cake mix into cookies, so there is a bit of repetition for each... White Chocolate Coconut Lemon Cookies 1 ...

So for the longest time I've been admiring all the amazing jello shots online - they get so creative, so pretty, and look soooooo good!! And I finally broke and decided it was time to try making some of my own :) They're not gorgeous or amazing - simply my first attempt... some day I will try them again. See if I can make the fancy ones... but these were still good. A few surprisingly strong. However, I must admit I got a little over zealous this time around. Made way too many... But they were still pretty good :) So here were my fun jello shot creations... In the order I made them... Strawberry Pineapple Jello Shots 3          oz      Strawberry Jello 1 1/4    tsp     Unflavored Gelatine 1          Cup   Boiling Water 1 1/4    Cup   Chilled Coconut Rum (divided) 1 1/4    Cup   Pineapple Juice (divided) In medium bowl mix strawberry jello with boili...

A stuffed pepper?  I've never eaten a stuffed pepper in my life... so why I had the urge to make them the other day, I honestly couldn't tell you. However, I couldn't be happier with the choice :) I started by making some brown rice. I didn't add as much water as I usually do (just a few tablespoons short) figuring it might be a little too mushy for a filling. I'm not sure if it really would've made a difference, but I was very happy with the way the rice came out. Then I prepped the peppers by making a slice down the side and removing the seeds. I popped them in the oven for about 20 minutes to soften and started on the filling while they cooked. For the filling I cooked the onions for almost 10 minutes so that they became soft. Added in the garlic and simmered for just about a minute more before adding the beans, water, and spices. Then I mixed in the rice and before stuffing I decided to add a little more than I had originally planned an...