Crafting and Snacking on Cinco de Mayo

Snacking is something I do often...crafting, not so much.  But, I'm doing both today, so everything's just great!  I had turned the page down of a craft in a magazine about two years ago and kept saying I was going to try it, but never did. So, this week, I pulled it out of the drawer and thought, there's no time like the present since Mother's Day is this weekend!  As usual, mine has not turned out how things look in the magazine pictures, so I will have to add a few accents to try and make them look better.  I'll wait to debut them until after Mother's Day since they are little gifts! :-)

So, while I was crafting, I was snacking on these AMAZING cookies I found.  And, let me just say, I have a major sweet tooth and am pretty judgmental when it comes to cookies and sweets! These are even organic, of course, since I'm trying to eat that way as much as possible now.  But, they are so great and I just have to share.


Back to Nature Peanut Butter Creme Cookies - they have no artificial preservatives, flavors or colors and no hydrogenated oils.  How great is that?! And they are really good...which means they don't taste healthy at all! :-)

Now, I'm off to try and make a bit of a festive meal for Cinco de Mayo...including some organic black beans, of course!

Have a festive night!

Peyton

Eating Organic?

I have never been a very "green" person, by my own admission, but lately I have heard of so many people in their 30s (ahh, my age group) coming down with a variety of cancers.  Maybe it's just we're more aware, hearing about them more and so many are being detected at earlier ages now?  Whatever it is, I am scared!  I know we can not control how long we are here on this earth, but if there is anything small I can do to try and keep my body healthy as long as possible, I really want to start (hoping it's not way too late). 

Our generation has grown up on so many fast, processed and preserved foods and most of them taste oh so good.  But, in realizing all these individuals at younger ages having cancer, I am apt to change my diet (laden with many preservative-rich foods, fast foods, diet sodas...).

I am researching to find what's best and what's not, because step in to a "health food" or "organic" store and your grocery bill can literally triple if you're not careful.  I'm determined to figure out the most important things to buy organic and local (when possible - like fruits, vegetables, eggs, milk, meats) and then change the extracurricular food choices, too, all the while not budging on my grocery budget.

We have a great store nearby, Native Sun, which houses wonderful items and has a great selection, so I'm looking to spend more time familiarizing myself with items and brands to really get the best things for the money.

I know I am way behind the eight ball on some of this stuff, so if you have any insights, recommendations or other information, please share it!

Cake Pops Make Me Crazy

So, quite a few months ago, my friend Cindy clued me in to someone called "Bakerella."  I immediately fell in love and awe.  So, skip to the past two days when I have been trying to perfect the making of cake pops.  I like to try and perfect things within somewhere around two times of doing them.  Realistic? No. Does that stop me from wanting that?  No.  Well, cake pops are no different. 

I am probably one of the last people to get on the cake pops bandwagon, but nevertheless, I have jumped on and luckily many people are driving the wagon so there is plenty of advice to be found.  But, instead of reading all of that first (why would I take the time to do that if I didn't know if I would need it?!), I just dove in to making them.  Guess what I found?  I should've read the advice first.

Anyway, after one batch going in the trash because they all fell off the lollipop sticks and the chocolate was awful, I spent at least an hour after reading Bakerella's advice, watching videos and reading comment after comment from others about what worked for them and what didn't.  And, I learned a lot. 

So, today I tried again.  I went on a mission for better chocolate, used less icing in the cake, made the balls smaller, cooled them for a longer time, added Crisco shortening to the melted chocolate and, voila!  The cake stayed on the sticks, the chocolate was pretty close to perfect and they don't look all that bad. And, as usual, they are really delicious.  But, right now, this is all about the looks! 



Some of the cake balls after being refrigerated.



My make-shift double boiler to melt the chocolate.

A cake pop

I have a long way to go and will never, ever expect to come close to doing what Bakerella is able to do, but I guess if I could, I would have a wonderfully selling book, hugely followed web site, etc., so that is why she is Bakerella and I am crazy in the kitchen.

Oh my goodness!

These little things are so good.  Pies in a Jar are my new favorites!  So easy, so delicious and perfect for gifts!!!  My friend Kristin (Our Life Beyond the Game) highlighted the idea on her blog one day and I thought, "now that does look like something I could do!"  Anyone can!

All you need are Mason or glass jars, pie crust and a pie filling.

Roll out your homemade pie crust (or you can use a refrigerated one from the grocery store), take enough to fit in the jar and tuck it in almost all the way to the top.

Fill it with your choice of pie filling (I used cherry).

Then top with more crust (I used the jar lid to cut the circle and then tiny little heart and candy cane cookie cutters to add a little embellishment) and tuck around the top.

Line your jars up on a cookie sheet and bake at 375 degrees for about 25-30 mins. Mine exploded just a bit, but hopefully, no one will mind.

These are so yummy and you can eat them right out of the jar...I find that comforting!  Add a bow, attach a label or tag and you're set with the perfect little gift.

Weaning off desserts...

...after having them about six times a day is not easy.  Having "just a little something sweet" after breakfast, lunch and dinner, and some times in between, too, has been my schedule since last Wednesday.  See, some of my family members came in then for Thanksgiving and didn't leave until Sunday, so not only was I freely feasting on all my favorites (pecan pie, pecan pie, pecan pie) Thanksgiving Day, but also at least one day before and several days after.  To add to that, I have not done any exercise since my knee has been injured, so I am eating more than usual and doing pretty much nothing to work it off, so I absolutely have to stop this gluttony.  All weekend I said I would start disciplining myself again Monday. 

Well, it's Monday and I haven't had anything sweet (after my Apple Jacks this morning)...but I will in about 30 minutes when my brownies come out of the oven.  Baby steps.


I literally scraped the Karo syrup-filled inside of the pecan pie off the pie plate.