Tuesday, February 28, 2012

get yourself a Falafel

I have been craving a Falafel.. which is really weird because I think I have only had them once in my life. So I was off to find myself a recipe and make myself a falafel. I had already soaked and cooked a bunch of chickpeas(or garbanzo beans, whichever you like, but when I say garbanzo, I immediately think of Gonzo from the Muppets) anywho... so I found a good video on how to make them...



I ended up not having parsley, and I baked some of them and then fried some. Mine were pretty tasty but I think next time I will use more oil and fry them like the video.








And of course, I liked the little falafel maker like she had. Mine were all over the place!!!

NOW GO MAKE A FALAFEL!!! I really just like saying falafel... I have been saying it all day!! My kids think i have gone nutso!!

Monday, February 27, 2012

More bananas and some crochet

I have another banana treat for you!!! this was one of my favorites when i was a wee one, and I wanted to see if my kids liked it as much as I did.... I am sure its not as healthy as the banana ice cream, but it is good.

Chocolate covered bananas

My kids LOVED it..(well the 3 that will touch a banana, 1 would get near them). hope you all had a nice weekend.. we had a fun and relaxing one.. didn't do any rock climbing but did take the kiddos out to a park and my husband was having the boys run through some soccer drills.. while i tried to show the girls how i could do kart wheels(well i mean how i used to be able to do them)... well let me tell you that i am pretty sore today..( I only did 4 of them). WOW I need to get in shape.

My friend and I are CRAZY!!! we signed up to do a 5K... well she is actually doing a 10K(my husband talked her into it) and I am doing the 5K... be neither of us even like to run. who know what we were thinking. So its called Run for the Mountain.. and its in Flagstaff, which is sitting at about 6000 ft in elevation.. and we are at 3200 ft.. so I think we have some training to do!!!!

I have also been working on some crocheted washcloths to put in my etsy shop... i really need to get some things in there..
Have a great Monday!!!

Friday, February 24, 2012

So I LOVE pizza

I just love pizza... its pretty much my favorite meal.. I mean not just domino's or your local chain... I mean really good gourmet pizza... I recently went to the Mellow Mushroom.. and I learned that it is a chain from the east coast  but it was new to me and I just loved their crust... I asked the waiter if it was a secret recipe or something and if he could let me know what was up?? all he told me was that they put molasses in the dough...OMG... I would have never guessed!!!

Now I DO make my own dough... but I would have never imagined  putting molasses in it... I always put honey!!! well I had to try it out for myself to see if I could get the same results.





My recipe I will share because its not a secret..

For 2 Pizzas( I often double it)

1c. warm water
2 1/4 t yeast
2 or 3T molasses(I don't really measure)

Let sit for 5 min. to proof

then add(I use my Kitchen Aid, but you could do it by hand)
3c. unbleached flour
1t salt
2or 3 T olive oil
 let mix for a couple of minutes

I pour about 1-2 T olive oil over it after mixing. and then let it rise for 1 hour in a warm place.( if its hot outside, like it is here in the summer, I just cover it with a towel and set it outside, otherwise I set my oven to 100 and then turn it off and put it in there)

Then punch it down and separate into 2 pieces and roll one piece out with my rolling pin, cover with tomato sauce or pesto.. and all your favorite toppings and cheese.

I like to set my oven to 425 with my pizza stone already in there and then have my pizza dough on a pizza peel.. with corn meal under the pizza and slide it right on in onto the stone... then cook for about 10-12 min. and enjoy!!! best with some red wine or a beer and some ceasar salad.



Well I will have to tell you that IT Was Good...i just made cheese(boring) because that is all my children like. But it was de-lish. have a great weekend.

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

I have gone bananas!!!

After the banana ice cream that i have made twice in the last 2 days.. I moved on to banana bread... I have the best recipe that my sweet friend who is also my cousin's girlfriend gave me... I hope she does not mind that I share it....
THE BEST BANANA BREAD

5 mashed bananas(which I love, that its mostly bananas)
1 c. sugar
1t. vanilla(i was out so i used almond.. and it was de-lish)
1/4 c water
mix that all up
then sift 2 c. whole wheat flour
1t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1 t. cinnamon
bake at 350 for 1 hr.
 this makes 2 loaves
I greased the pans heavily with olive oil since there is not any oil or butter in the batter and it made it yummy and kinda crispy.. which i loved



of course when I decided to make this delicious bread, I was out of whole wheat flour. so at 7am I had to grind some wheat in my kitchen aid(which is very noisy) and if my kids went to school it would have not been a problem, but since we are homeschoolers and my children are allowed to sleep in... then it was a bit of a problem... I had some sleepy kids staggering out of bed.. wondering what all the racket was about... they quickly changed there tune when they found out what I was making... yum yum!!

I still have loads of bananas, but i put them all in the freezer for future smoothies... I just love the Banana sale!! Have a great day monkeying around.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

soft serve bananas and rock climbing

I just discovered a yummy treat... after our rock climbing adventure(pics to follow) we all needed something yummy. So, I was looking for inspiration on pinterest.. which always inspires me.. and found banana ice cream that I had pinned long ago, and since I had just bought a paper grocery bag full of ripe bananas for 99 cents at my grocery store... it was the perfect treat.

To make... just freeze a bunch of cut up bananas(makes it easier to ninja, if cut up)

Put in food processor or I used my NINJA... then add extras like p-butter cocoa, I added chocolate chips... and my kids loved it...EXCEPT my eldest child.. who despises bananas and if I even touch one he will ask me to wash my hand before touching anything else.... hopefully that will change.

I got the recipe from a pin that came from use real butter and she has all kinds of yummy looking stuff over there.



We also did some rock climbing this weekend... we are learning and having fun exploring...my kids LOVE it and say they want to do it every weekend. I was so sore from the first time, I never realized what a work out it can be..

here is the first weekend


then the kids started getting a little more daring...this is this last weekend





We are having fun with our new family hobby... its a great time to spend together out in nature and exploring( no computers, tvs, phones)...just us spending time together...love it!!

Friday, February 17, 2012

brewing nite

So I decided Friday nights should be brewing night. So tonight, I brewed up a batch of amber bock... I haven't made any beer in quite some time so hope all goes well.




so that should be done in a few weeks and now i really want to learn how to make Mead... that should be and experiment... i need to find some good recipes. With that I have been really wanting to make some honey lip gloss... and some honey cookies... ya know what I'm thinking... i think i really need to just get some bees... that is really something that i have always wanted to do... well definitely some more research... oh.. while i was making the amber bock... i also made some chicken for dinner
It was really good.. this photo is actually after we ate half of it.. we were so hungry.. I forgot to take a picture... and one more V-day photo of our heart pumpkin muffins.. that were de-lish..and turned out so cute...they were for our 2 days after Valentine home school party
Yum-Yum  have a yummy weekend!!

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Cottonwood, Arizona

     Hope you all had a wonderful Valentines Day.. with  lots of love and... chocolate. I thankfully didn't because of course I would eat it all and that's just not good for my waistline...so... I used to live in Cottonwood Arizona, and I had always wished that the old town would be cute... it had so much potential.. and now someone just posted this youtube video and I'm just so excited...

Weekendzona..Verde valley
yeah...for Cottonwood. My good friend used to live right in old town, when it was not that cute,(so, of course, i had to send her a linky to this video, to show her the change, she lives on the east coast now) it was very different then, it was also about 18 years ago... so anyway.... have a looksee... to the new Cottonwood and Verde Valley.

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Be my Valentine


We have been involved in some cool science experiments around here...the kids got some little science kits for Christmas and we are finally getting around to actually doing them... making jelly balls(Which the kids just LOVE playing with)... and crystal trees





And Happy Valentines Day to you all... we have been giving some Valentine LOVE around here as well.. heart pancakes for breakfast... Valentine chocolate and lots of valentine cards given to everyone including Chuck the dog.   Tonight... I am making some yummy chicken alfredo and ceaser salad and garlic bread... and maybe some lava cake for dessert... show the love today!!!

Monday, February 13, 2012

Not so healthy


So the Superbowl food was not so healthy... my sweet neighbor and friend gets bountiful baskets and had gotten a Mexican pack which consists of everything to make salsa and guacamole... which was not so bad... but then she gave me a ginormous bag of red white and blue corn tortillas... to make chips... so I spent and hour frying chips for all our guac and salsa....it was delicious but the chips were probably not so great for me....






We have been quite busy... went to the Arizona Science Center... which was really fun...I think I enjoyed it as much as the kids... lots to learn about weather, your body, leverage, pulleys, wheels... all sorts of fun was had by all.

Friday, February 3, 2012

Healthy Super Bowl Ideas

So I am on the hunt for some healthier football food. I am not a big football fan...but I do enjoy the food drinks and of course the Super Bowl commercials... so this year, since I am trying to eat better and lose some lbs. I don't want to overdo it...so far, i have found a yummy looking taco salad over at theyummylife.com and there is some yummy looking stuff over at forksoverknives and then i saw the yummy stuff of at hellobeautyblog and my mouth was watering... so many delicious food I can't wait for the big day!!

What are you all having for the big game day???? I will leave you, to think about that... and to look at this  beautiful Arizona sunset...

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Salted Carmel Corn

 This Stuff Is Way to GOOD!!! My pickles were wanting a treat... my son wanted me to make doughnuts(takes to long and too oily, i told him), my daughter wanted me to make crumb cake, (takes to long, and didn't have all ingredients, I told her), my other daughter wanted Snickers bars( I said... are you kiddin me?)


So I decided to make some DE-LISH-US Salted Carmel Corn

Here is the recipe:

First I popped about 1/2 cup of popcorn in a pot on the stove with about 1/4 c to 1/2 c oil(i used Canolive)
Then after that in a smaller pot I melted 1/2 c. butter, 1/4 c. corn syrup, and 4 T. of brown sugar after that was boiling for about 1 min. I tossed it all over the popcorn trying to stir and coat the popcorn. Then I sprinkled about 1t. of kosher salt all over it.

There you go easy peasy DE-LISH-US-NESS

Adding some nuts would have been great too... I will do that next time!!