Homemade Bagels Bites

Yeah, I'm aware it's slightly crazy to make your own friggin bagels... but you know, it was one of those things I just "had" to try. It wasn't even as scary as it seems! It takes about 4 hours of work spaced out over 2 days but they were actually rather simple!

It's  basically just a combination of yeast, water and bread flour. Then after that rises, you add in white or wheat flour and more yeast. Then rise. Get the picture? It's a lot of adding, waiting, and rising.

Once it's risen doubled, you make the dough into golf ball size balls. Then let that rise. Then you make the little hole in the middle. Then you let that rise. :) Then you cover and refrigerate over night to let it rise more.... 

The next morning you put them in a skillet of boiling water and baking soda and cook 1 min on each side. Ignore the lumpiness of my bagels - I wasn't able to find diastic malt powder. Apparently the 1 tbsp of malt powder is what "smoothes and shines" the outside of the bagels. They don't look as pretty but they taste exactly the same. Then you bake all the bagels for 9-10 minutes and let them cool and you hopefully end up with this...

I need to work on my circles ;)

Here's a wheat batch.

Line up and cover with pizza sauce, oregano, parmesean and then a mixture of pepperoni and mozarella cheese (that has been run through the food processor).

I need more natural light in my kitchen....

Then either freeze for up to 3 months or cook and eat! Yummmmmm.....

Oh and for 8 bagel bites at the store it's about $1.50. I made fourty-eight for about $5, with the cheese being the most expensive part. That makes them 10 cents a piece... which is about half the price of the ones in the store. Sweetness.

Five minute free art.

(I just noticed the cat toy hanging from the blinds. Embarrassing... but hey, they play with it!)

I found this print-out on Pinterest. Here's what it says: 

So I figured this would be great to go in the "entry way hallway" (I have that in quotes because my apartment isn't big enough to have anything that could really be considered a hallway haha) So, I printed it out with Windows Photo, and popped it in an old frame I had. I'll probably paint the frame at some point, but for now, it makes me smile to see this great and painfully relevant reminder hanging on my wall. 

Yay for free art.  

Freezer Cooking

That's the name of the game this weekend. Or the PLAN, anyway...

In addition to 15-20 hours of work a week, I start grad school next week.... needless to say, my free time is about to become a precious commodity for me. So, I'm planning on stocking up my freezer with yumminess because A.) school makes me unable to focus on anything other than school so cooking, cleaning, etc always falls behind and B.) because even though it's going to take a full day of my weekend, it will be worth it to me to just go from freezer, to fridge for thawing, and then to oven for the next few weeks.

So here's what's on the list:

Entrees:
Baked Mac-n-Cheese
Mexican Lasagna
Manacotti
Pizza Dough
Mini Meatloaf
Chicken and Cheese Enchiladas
Roasted Maple Chicken with Sweet Potato

Breakfasts:
Individual Smoothies (fruit, PB, etc in snack size ziplocs)
Apple Oatmeal Streusel Muffins

Sides:
Cornbread Muffins
Rosemary Roasties (carrots, sweet potato, potato, parsnips roasted...)
Eggplant Parmesean
Twice Baked Baked Potatoes

Desserts:
Plum Crisp
Chocolate Chip Cookies

That should tide me over for a few weeks or even a month hopefully!

Now to just follow through... lol

My thoughts via the words of people much more wise than I am....

Courage is the power to let go of the familiar. 

Raymond Lindquist 

Letting go doesn’t mean giving up, but rather accepting that there are things that cannot be.
Anonymous 

People have a hard time letting go of their suffering. Out of a fear of the unknown, they prefer suffering that is familiar. 

Thich Nhat Hanh

Think about any attachments that are depleting your emotional reserves. Consider letting them go.

Oprah Winfrey

TV Stand Adventure!

So... this 90 pound box arrived for me today.... (ignore the cat, she's nosy!)

I got some much appreciate help carrying this box up the stairs from Matt (thank you!!!!) but was on my own for assembly.

Over 80 pieces of hardware.... this is where I got *super* excited about putting this together...

About 45 minutes in... 

The finished product!! I already had those 2 little wicker baskets and they fit perfectly on those shelves!

Two hours of my life I'll never get back... BUT the finished project was worth it. I've been watching TV on the floor for almost 3 months. :-)

Planning for Bedroom Design

I think this is the general direction I'm headed.....

The view from here...

Homemade 10-minute Granola Bars

Ok, so if you're anything like me, you have fallen prey to the marketing of granola bar companies such as these:

Or these:

Or even these:

However, the amount of sugar and other junky stuff in them is amazing for something that's supposed to be a "health" food. The ones in stores are more of desserts than healthy food that will fill you up and sustain you without a sugar high.

So, the solution for me, is now.... 10 minute homemade granola bars. 

See? They even look just like the store-bought ones... dont be afraid of some of the 'hippie-ish' ingredients that go in them... nothing to be afraid of. :)

Dry Ingredients: 2 cups brown rice cereal, 2 cups rolled oats, 1/4 cup ground flax seed (can leave out or even sub with wheat germ), 1/2 cup cranberries (can use any dried fruit, and more or less of it depending on your tastes), 1 tsp of salt

Wet Ingredients: 1/2 cup honey, 2-3 tbsp agave nectar (can use lite maple syrup too if you'd like), 1/2  cup nut butter (peanut, almond, hazelnut, etc), 1 tbsp canola oil, 1/4 cup brown sugar, a little vanilla (maybe a tsp or 2), 1 tsp cinnamon. Let everything melt together over medium low heat and stir into dry ingredients. 

Once everything's mixed together, pour into a 9x13 pan and press down reeeeallly hard so that it all gets compacted (it will making cutting into bars easier!) Put in the fridge for 30 minutes to "set"... and then dive in. Cut into bars and wrap individually in plastic cling wrap. 

For storage you can keep them in the fridge for 1-2 weeks, or in the freezer for 2 months!

These are SO YUMMY and easy to make. I'm definitely never going back to store bought ones. 

$4.73 Target Trip

I heart coupons. Especially when they're not for JUNK. 

Got a cute white tank top for 0.74 cents. 

Skippy Natural Peanut Butter for 0.99 cents.

Each bag of Pop Chips was $1 each.

And the Five Star notebooks were 0.50 cents each.

I saved about $25. Works for me....

Project -- Magnetic Make-up Board

I saw this idea on pinterest.com and I was so excited to make one! It makes finding my make-up much easier. No more digging through the bottom of a drawer. Plus it adds some color and texture to my boring beige apartment walls. 

It's easy to make. You need a picture frame (mine was $4.99), and piece of sheet metal (Mine was $5 from Home Depot - it was a 12x18 though so I had to cut it down with metal clippers), a piece of fabric (I had to get 1/3 of a yard and it was about $1.30) and then you need magnets (Got a huge pack for $0.97 at Walmart). So the total cost was about $12. Not too bad!

Directions: Open up the frame and place your piece of metal with the fabric spray glued on into the frame. Put the cardboard backing onto the frame and close it up. (Do not keep the glass part of the frame on because you lose the magnetic quality of the sheet metal).  Then place magnets on the back of your make-up and stick to the board. Easy peasy.

Yay for organization!

Stepping in, then letting go...

I was recently challenged to focus my writing in on the topic of acceptance. Funny how that topic comes up, when I have just started this new blog that is all about contentment or santosha in Sanskrit. When I started to think about this connection I realized that I couldn't pinpoint a definite distinction between acceptance and contentment.

Contentment, for me, is basically the renunciation of the need to acquire... the letting of that attitude that accumulation of wealth, or stuff, or friends, or whatever will be the answer to all my problems.

Contentment is viewing and interacting with the world from a place of abundance, instead of coming from a place of lack or scarcity. Contentment is being ok with my life as it is right at this very moment.... laundry not done, apartment still "airing out" from the homemade dessert pizza we may or may not have let accidentally caught on fire in the oven tonight ;)... contentment... even in moments of imperfection such as those I just listed. Coming from abundance. I have enough. I do enough. I am enough. For me, that is the essence of contentment.

Acceptance, on the other hand, seems to be more of a conscious act of agreement rather than a underlying desire to let go or renounce. Acceptance seems to mirror holding on, contentment feels more like letting go. It's a weird connection and a confusing one at that.

Now that I think about it, acceptance is stepping into ALL that is uncomfortable about contentment. It's facing that scary emptiness that is begging to be filled with material stuff or people and behaviors that aren't good for you and instead of rushing like a mad woman to fill it or numb it or ignore it.... acceptance is stepping into it. Then comes contentment.. or santosha.. the letting go.

Stepping in then letting go.. acceptance then contentment....  I think that's the perfect combination!

Veggie Can Napkin Holder

This is my craft that I made out of a Busch's beans can that I fixed for dinner tonight. It reads "laugh" and I plan to use it on my dining room table to hold napkins or silverware! I couldn't put them in there for the picture because the paint was still drying. I love it! And it was FREE... yes, zero dollars. I had the paper, glue, ribbon, paint and stickers already. :)

August Projects!

Since moving into my new apartment, I've really been on a "project kick". I'm learning the importance of DIY decor... mainly because it's cheaper, and it's cuter (most of the time!) and I get the satisfaction of knowing I am not throwing impersonal, overpriced decor onto my walls just because that's what you're "supposed" to do. I love how my apartment is taking shape these days and I can't wait for all of my projects this month.

Week 1: Tiled Coasters for the dining room table and living room coffee table (4 each)
Week 2: Magnetic Make-up Board
Week 3: No-sew roman shade curtain for small window in dining room
Week 4: Picture clip frame boards

Let the crafting begin!

Patience and Contentment

Patience and contentment are so intricately tied together for me. I have always been in a hurry. In grade school, my grades suffered because I rushed through tests, always the first one to turn in my test. In middle and high school, I spent all day going from school to cheer practice, to gymnastics practice, to [insert other sport here] practice that I never found time to just rest. I graduated college a year early. And now I'm a 21 year old graduate student. Being in a hurry is *clearly* a recurrent theme in my life if I'm being honest. :)

Patience is so tough because it usually requires a delay of gratification. And generally, when I'm rushing on specific things it's because I'm trying to fulfill some need or want... some void that is empty. Emptiness is painful... it's super freakin' uncomfortable, so of course, I'm in a rush to fill it with something or someone.

Patience requires putting off what would fill that void now, and waiting for the better time. Patience requires sacrificing those warm-fuzzies we get when we do pour "Stuff" (clothes, $5 coffees, something you'll never use but you got it because it was on clearance, you get the point....) into that emptiness. Patience requires trusting that there is a better time than now and owning that.

No wonder patience is so hard!

My first post!

Finally! A place to write again...