Nutella Peanut butter zucchini wheat muffins

Nutella.....yes I said it.

ok, so I originally saw this on pinterest....but I altered it so much, I can't hardly call it the same recipe.  Nutella.....yes nutella.  but you can't eat it alllllll the time, right?  but you can if it's in small quantities and in relatively healthy muffins....like these! 

mmmmmmm.....they have been tested (by the locusts I work with) and approved.  I actually would eat them all myself but I'll share......

You'll need:

1 1/2- 2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup shredded zucchini
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup applesauce
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 brown sugar

Nutella
Mini chips for the top (I used peanut butter)

Preheat oven to 350.

mix the wet ingredients by hand until combined.  add the dry and mix until combined.  the mixture will be thick and sticky.  it's ok.  as long as there is no dry clumps of flour.

spray muffin tins with cooking spray.  fill them half way with muffin mixture.  spoon a bit of nutella in the middle but don't let it touch the sides of the cups.  plop more mixture on the top making sure to cover the blob of nutella.  i kinda took a spoonful of muffin mixture with  my hands and pushed it on over the nutella.  top with chocolate or peanut butter chips if you want.  The muffins won't really expand too much while baking so what's in your pan will be about what size you get when they are done.

Bake for about 20 minutes.

Viola.

The original recipe called for an insane amount of oil and sugar.  and bananas....but i think the banana would have taken over the entire muffin.  I think my recreation is a good (and healthier) one!

Upcycle! Old door made into a corner shelf

Saw this on pinterest months ago and have wanted to tackle it.  I had a few old doors from when we remodeled the house.  somehow they got put outside for a few weeks and got rained on.....so they are even more distressed that they originally were!  To do this project you need:

Old door (six panel works best.  tried with a two panel and found out you need a solid panel up and down the middle to cut though or else it doens't sit together at a 90 degree angle)

Table saw

drill
screws
scraper
sandpaper
paint-if desired

Cut the door down the middle using the table saw.  you have to account for the thickness of the door.  so measure the door and then split that on the middle-example if your door is an inch thick, find the center and cut it a half inch bigger than that.  This was when you screw the two sides together, it's the same size.  i think this mithod is easier than cutting it exactly the same then installing hinges on it.

Sand or scrap away old paint.  In the first one I did, i scraped all the peeling paint and left it as is.  The second one I'm working on I painted brown then scuffed up the brown paint with sandpaper.  I'm in the process of adding shelves to that one.

Experiiment and have fun. There is no right or wrong here!

Homemade Pickles!

Homemade pickles.....mmmmmmm.  when your garden is producing massive quantities of pickling cucumbers (or you find a deal at the local farmers market) there is nothing better!  This is a simple recipe given to be by my coworker (thank you!) years ago....and I make them every summer!  I planted one packet of small cucmbers this year.  I only got three actual plants to survive but from that I got about 25 pickling cucmbers....enough to make 6 quart sized jars of delicious pickles!

What you need:
This is for a gallon sized jar or three quart sized jars or a large bowl....whatever container you're using (just needs to be glass and have a lid).  You can double or triple depending on how much you're doing at one time!

Cucumbers-picking, mini (doesn't work well with regular ones).  You need about 12 to start
6 cups water
1 1/2 cups white vinegar
1/2 cup suger
1/3 cup salt
Fresh garlic
Fresh Dill

Boil the water, vinegar, sugar and salt for 5 minutes.  LET COOL.

Wash and cut your cucmbers and put them in the jar.  I've done thick slices and thin slices-both work.  or do spears.  Whatever floats your boat.

Layer the cucmbers, garlic and dill in jars.  How much you use is personal preference.  Play around with it.  You can do just garlic or just dill if you want.  The longer you let the pickles sit, the stronger they are going to get!  I always do mine in quart sized canning jars (you are not canning these, but the jars work well).  in a quart i use about three cloves of garlic and one tall sprig of dill, bent to fit.

Once the liquid is cool, pour in the jars.  Put your lid on and put in the refrigerator.  Let them sit at least 24 hours.  They will last in the fridge for a few weeks....the longer they sit the stronger they get!

Birthdays "suck" gag gift/funny gift

Once again....an idea inspired by Pinterest.  My secretary was turning 30 and I wanted to try to recreate something like the variations of this project I saw on pinterest.  Basically it's a "cake" made out of lollypops with a sign on it that says "30 sucks" or "40 sucks" etc.  you could also get blow pops and have it say "30 blows" lol.....

ok, so I bought the required amount of lollypops (make sure you are buying enough....i was 2 shy when i bought two bags haha) and you'll need some kind of styrofoam base (dollar tree).  I got a ring shaped one but you could be creative with this.  I saw a lot of variations on this from a "cake" to just a box filled with pops.  Then you need some kind of sign.

Here's how mine tuned out....not exactly the picture I had in my head but after this go, I have more and better ideas for next time!

So overall, this cost about $5 to make ($4 for lollypops and $1 for the base.  I had the ribbon and wooden circle used to make the sign).  You could also use paper for the sign.  You can get cheaper/smaller lollypops (dumdums) if you're doing a high number birthday.  But I don't think you can skip on the styrofoam base or else you'll just get frustrated.  Unless your goal is just to thrown them in a small bag or box and not be creative at all ;)

Cleaning Gas Stove Burners

Sorry...before I start, I currently have no pictures but I'm eager to share my findings....

So you know how gas stove spider burners get GROSS....and they are almost impossible to clean?  Yea.....so I tried soaking....tried brillo, even tried oven cleaner to no avail....

So I went to youtube.  I watched too many video thinking they were for gas stoves only to find out they were for gas grills.  No, what I'm talking about it spider burners off a good old gas stove.  Mine were grey but after I had tenants in my house, they were black with cooked on food spillage.  It was gross.  This video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6PqgEsdKvc

showed me a method using ammonia.  Like usual, I was skeptical...until I tried it.  I did it exactly as she did and guess what, it worked like a charm!!!!!

I have no before pictures and the after would just show clean burners.....not too exciting.

But I must venture forth to spread the word.  Ammonia works!

Tshirt bag

So what do you do with old tshirts?  The ones that don't fit, the ones you don't wear, the sentimental ones or the ones that you find at a yard sale but won't for whatever reason wear but you have to have......

That's where the story begins.  My mom loves the Beatles.  I saw this tshirt....but I knew she wouldn't actually wear it.  So I decided I'd make it into something.  After sifting through pinterest, I didn't see anything that I absolutely loved, so I decided to just wing it and try something. 

I decided to make a small, flat, square bag-about the size of a record.  She could put just about anything in there to carry it around. 

The shirt was brown with orange print, so I went to sal val and bought a plain orange tshirt for 50 cents to make a lining in the bag.  I then layed out the Beatles tshirt and cut a 12 inch square (both layers at once) around the logo on the front.  I couldn't make it bigger as the shirt was on the small side.  I had planned on making the strap out of the leftover but didn't have enough, so I had to make the straps out of the orange shirt.  I then layed out the orange shirt and did the same, cut a 12 inch square (two layers).  I then cut two 3 inch strips off the bottom of the shirt (the entire circumfrence of the shirt) and folded them in half for the straps.

Now it was time to sew.  I'm usually pretty fussy with things but this project really had a hippie, bohemian feel to it.  I thought, no need to have crisp lines and hidden seems.  Nope, I decided to use a zigzag stitch and just sew down the sides and the let the seems naturally curl and fray on the outer edges like cotton tshirts do.  It's not like the bag is going to be washed a lot, it's a bag. 

So...  I took the three inch strips I was going to use for the handles and zig zag stitched down both sides near the edge to hold the two layers together. I left about a half inch seam on the outside (I used brown thread on the orange fabric....made it more quirky)  I then took the front of the bag and one of the orange inner panels and sewed them together while inserting the strap on the top edge. This secured the straps in between the front panel and inner liner.  I did this for the back panel as well.  I then sandwiched the front and back together and sewed all four layers (three sides) on the outside with a zig zag stitch around the outside.

Easy peasy....under an hour and you have this cute bag!

Some tips-you need a cutting board and rotary cutter.  tshirts are too stretchy to try to cut by hand and have everything line up.  Also, don't "pull" your fabric through your machine-it'll be all stretched out and misshapen when you're done!

Red, White and Blue Flag Cupcakes

So....Memorial Day, 4th of July, Labor Day.....all holidays that spark parties, bbqs and covered dish affairs.  I'm always stuck on what to bring.....don't want something that's high maintenance, needs an outlet, needs refrigeration, might get ruined on the way there, etc.  So between a bit of inspiration from Pinterest and a bit of creativity on my own, I give you "boxed cupcake flag".

I did this with the itty bitty cupcake wrappers (the kind that a box of cake mix yields 75 cupcakes....but you could do with mini cakes or regular cakes...just adjust your transportation method and batter/frosting amount :)

I used a good old box of white cake mix (and left it white)...i usually have a hankering to dye it with food coloring...and you can...but I didn't this time!  I then just used a jar of white frosting (I did dye this...you have to....it's kinda the focus).  You only need a bit of blue so don't divide it into 1/3's....just eyeball it...you're smart enough to figure it out ;)

I had my handy dandy Wilton jar-o-sprinkles in red, white, and blue so I decide to top off the display with them but you don't neeed to. ( I buy baking decorating things after holidays when they are super cheap and store them.  Sprinkles and cupcake wrappers never go bad and they really set off a plain jane cake.  Plus, most time they include solid colors which work for brithdays, etc.  I have valentine, patriotic,  easter, fall, halloween, and holday wilton caddies and well as a boatload of regular jars....)

If you don't have a large enough tupperware/cake carrier, you could use a box lid and cover it in aluminum foil or wrapping paper (then you don't even have to worry about bringing it home!)

Enjoy! :)