Yummy Healthy Homemade Chocolate

Healthy Chocolates

A while back my neighbor brought over some chocolates to try. They were made out of coconut oil, cocoa powder, and stevia. Once refrigerated in an ice cube tray they made a pretty tasty treat, just enough to satisfy that sweet tooth. I liked them, but I wasn't wowed. They lacked body, melted before you even started chewing. Don't get me wrong, they were good, but I didn't go out of my way to make some of my own.

The other day I made chocolate pudding with banana, avocado, cocoa powder, vanilla, and stevia. As you know, I'm pretty loosey-goosey when it comes to measurements so basically it was 2 avocados, 1 banana, 1/4 cup cocoa powder, and everything else to taste. Blend it all up in the food processor and stick it in the fridge! Yummy, creamy, smooth. Amazing with cinnamon sprinkled on top.

Well, yesterday I whipped up another batch of pudding. But I only had one avocado. To make up for that (and add a protein punch) I added one pack of gelatin. It altered the texture a bit. Like it was grainy but also not. I don't really know how to explain it. Anyway, it was good, but slightly less "puddingy".

Then I got thinking about chocolate. You know. Dove squares. Hershey kisses. Those pop-em-in-your-mouth-whole kind of grab and go chocolates. And I thought back to those that my neighbor had made. And I noticed I still had leftover pudding in the fridge.

I only did 6 to start (just in case they were gross or failed miserably). They were amazing and I devoured them quickly.

Here's my process for the ones I made today:

I put about a 1/4 cup of coconut oil in a glass bowl and softened it in the microwave (not melting it completely). Then I took the pudding and did about an equal amount of that, so 1/4 cup. I added about 1 tsp of xylitol to the mix and stirred it all up.

Kind of gross-looking pudding on there

The container is a cut up egg carton. I spooned the mixture (it's gooey) into the cups, sprinkled them with sea salt, and stuck some strawberry slices on top (last time I sprinkled xylitol and stuck in blueberries--they were so good and pretty!).

Into the fridge they go. It takes about an hour for them to harden fully. When I first made them I only waited half an hour and they were still soft in the middle. Once they are all done chilling they pop right out of the egg carton. (I didn't oil the cups because half the chocolate is oil.) Also, this is a Styrofoam (or something like that) carton, not the paper/cardboard kind.   

This was an experiment that turned out super awesomely. Oh my gosh, they are so good! The coconut oil provides that hardness while the pudding give it that creaminess and body. They have an almost truffle-like texture.   

So there you have it: healthy, delicious chocolates! (Keep refrigerated.)

Fullmetal Alchemist Doll

A fellow fan of Fullmetal Alchemist is having a birthday so I decided to gift them with a Lust doll.

Here is the body:

 

Yeah, one arm is slightly longer than the other. *sheepish* Oops.

 

Hand sewn and hand stuffed. Ugh, jamming stuffing into a tiny thing with the butt of a pen is really annoying. But it turned out well! 

 

I wasn't too concerned about the unsightly bulge on her head because that'll be covered by hair.

 

Who else is a fan of Fullmetal Alchemist? Who's your favorite character?

Sweet Cauliflower Bread

The tantalizing finished product

I am on the second phase of the HCG diet right now and yesterday while rifling through the pantry I came across this amazing-looking jam--sugar free! Instantly I was overwhelmed with the desire to slather it on toast. Unfortunately, ixnay on the bread at this point.

Last week I made cauliflower tortillas and they were amazing. I've also made (not on this phase because cheese is caution) cauliflower pizza crust in the past and that was delicious.

Obviously, cauliflower is basically a bready substitute. But every recipe I've found is savory. Not something I'd want to slather in sweet jam. Yeah, strawberries and garlic? No, thank you.

Today, urged on by my craving, I intend to experiment with making sweet cauliflower rolls/bread. We'll see how it goes.

(Also, does anyone know whether coconut milk is allowed on Phase 2 of the diet? Dried coconut is a yes (unsweetened, obviously) but I can't find anything on coconut milk. My Google searches all came up pretty vague. Comment if you know anything. Thanks!)

So, I gathered my proposed ingredients.

I cut about a 6th of the head off and dropped it into the food processor. (It came out to just under a cup.)

Once processed to about couscous size, I scraped it into a glass bowl and microwaved it for 4 1/2 minutes. Which, in hindsight, was probably too much for the small amount of cauliflower. But all was well. In fact, it worked out perfectly and I cut out a step.

Can you guess which step?

The step everyone hates: squeezing out the excess liquid. I pretty much steamed all that out in the microwave--by happy accident.

I tend, with improvised recipes, to improvise totally. I don't even measure. Pinch of this, sploosh of that, you know?

I put in slightly less than a whole egg. I started out with just the yolk but it wasn't quite moist enough so I added about 2/3 of the separated white, which turned out just right. I like adding flax seed not only because it's a nice binder but because it adds that kind of earthy taste that I feel is inherent to most breads, especially whole grain. I added a tiny bit of vanilla, some cinnamon, salt, and ginger.

Mixed it up.

I preheated the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. I put parchment paper on a small tray (the smallest we had, since I had so little "batter," which is what I was aiming for just in case it ended up tasting disgusting) and scraped the mixture into the center and smushed it around with my fingers. Into the shape of a piece of bread! I was so happy.

I baked it for 10 minutes, and then flipped it over and baked for another 10 minutes. Then, for posterity's sake (and because toast is supposed to be a bit brown and crunchy), I flipped it over again for another 5 minutes.

Coming out of the oven

Once it was cooled enough to eat, I spread on a little bit of butter and a lot of that jam I was telling out about. (By the way, that jam tasted so good I was almost convinced it had to be fake. Seriously. It was amazing. Like poptart filling and fruit-by-the-foot all at once but real, and without that aftertaste, if that even makes sense. Yum!)

The texture was really similar to French toast, but less soggy. The first bite kind of got me. It was weird, but really good at the same time. The next bites were even better and I ended up really enjoying it. It didn't get crunchy, though because of what it's made out of I really didn't hold out much hope for that anyway. It held together amazingly and didn't taste like pizza crust or tortillas. My craving was satisfied!

Overall, this "bread" turned out great. Just what I wanted.
 

Knit Headband Earwarmer

I knit a headband earwarmer, as the title suggests (actually, there is no "suggesting" about it--it says it flat out), with this really luxurious chunky green yarn. I learned the moss stitch (hooray for YouTube) and it looks fabulous! It'll be going up on Etsy tomorrow. Keep an eye out. Chunky knits are all the rage right now. Apparently.

What's your favorite fashion right now? What trends are yay or nay?

On Altering a Button-Down Shirt (Part 2)

So, I ended up just cutting off the sleeves. I know you're not supposed to do that, but I was careful to stick very close to the seam itself. I said I was having problems with the delicacy of the fabric so cutting off the sleeve seemed (haha, seamed!) the best option since I did have some play room.

I had a ton of room at the side seams to bring in and I decided, also because of the delicate fabric, to do French seams. (Sew a seam very close to the edge with wrong sides together, then turn right sides together and sew a seam, which leaves all raw edges enclosed. Super awesome for fray-prone fabrics! Can also be done in arm holes using the same method.)

I pinned in to about the size I wanted. I didn't cut, just to be safe at first. Then I sewed.

 

All the uneven, wavy lines are my size adjustments. Every time I sewed a line I tried the shirt on to make sure everything was hanging right.

 

 

Then I trimmed off the excess.

 

 

Frenched those seams. Then I put on the sleeves and, of course, having taken in the sides left the arm holes smaller so I did a short gathering stitch at the top of each sleeve before I put them back on.

 

French seam: second stage, with right sides together.

All done!!! I'll post a pic of the finished product on so you can see the difference.

 

 

 

 

 

Sewing a Realistic Dragon (Part 2)

Here are some pictures!

For the chest and stomach area, which is that pointed oval piece, I cut another piece exactly the same in a sort of lacey glittery fabric. During the sewing process I treated them as one piece.

So far so good!

I probably won't give this one away. As I said, it's the prototype. I'll figure out what all the kinks are in this one and the next ones I make I can alter to be exactly like I want them.

One thing that I really want is ribbing or something of that sort on the stomach, so I'll have to play around with it. Also, one thing to keep in mind is that satin frays the dickens. I don't know if you can see it but right at the bend of the tail the seam didn't hold. A different fabric would probably be easier to work with, like thin fleece or something.

 

On Altering a Button-down Shirt and Being Passionate

A while ago I bought a skirt and shirt from Goodwill (gotta love the savings!) with the intention of wearing them to my ballroom dance class. I knew right off the bat that the shirt would need some serious work. Bag city. I have fairly broad shoulders so the shoulder seams hit me fine but the body was obviously made for someone quite a bit wider around the middle. (It doesn't help that I just finished dieting--lost 16 pounds, woohoo!--so now it is even baggier.) I couldn't pass up on this shirt though. It just goes so well with the skirt!

Dancing is one of my passions. I am passionate about so many thigns! And one of my problems is that I'm almost afraid to share that with the people around me. What if they can do it better? What if I spazz out? (Which I tend to do when I'm excited.) It all comes back to the fear of people judging me. But what am I showing them by hiding who I really am and how much I love things, and life, and activities? I'm presenting a mouse and that's what they see and how I feel around them. What good is that doing me?

The moral of the story: it's okay to be passionate! It's okay it get jittery when you walk into JoAnn's, like you just took a great bit snort of something less than legal. It's okay to talk a mile a minute about the intracasies of French seams.

And of course there is someone better! There's always someone better at this thing or that but only YOU, only I, have this combination of skills at whatever level of mastery. Maybe your passion isn't going to be everyone's cup of tea--maybe they don't even like tea and are more coffee people--but in the words of whoever said them, "Those who matter don't mind and those who mind don't matter."

Okay. Motivational rant over with. Onward!

I'm going to take off th sleeves with the good ol' seam ripper and bring in the side seam. Just doing a straight line. I'm not worried about it being super fitted. (The way the fabric drapes makes it perfect for just a loose cut but right now the loose is more like a swamp.)

*20 minutes later*

Okay, I've been on the same sleeve for a while now and it is not going very well. This fabric is kind of a loose weave so the threads are all getting caught up in the ripper. Ugh. Any tension I put on it separated the fibers.

Okay. Plan B. Or "Winging It" A, depending on how you look at it.


Stay tuned from the next instalment of "On Altering a Button-down shirt and Being Passionate."

What are you passionate about? Comment below.

Sewing a Realistic Dragon (Part 1)

I have a tea party planned for some time in February. Not only will it be an awesome time for hanging out with some friends and eating delicious muffins and scones, it will also be somewhat promotional. I'm giving each of them something handmade. A dragon! Each one will be personalized to fit them in style and color and be holding a little tea cup.

I love giving things to people. Normally I'd be reticent to promote myself (I'm putting my business card in the gift bags with each dragon) but it is part of my new mindset to be, well, less reticent.

I'll post pictures of my progress of the prototype tomorrow! Making it all by scratch! Fingers crossed.

On Sticking To My Resolutions

I know that people, myself included, are prone to making new years' resolutions that they never stick to. It's like, "Oh, I failed pretty much all of my 2014 resolutions but you can bet that I'll succeed in 2015." Not so much. It's just a constant cycle of failure.

And I get it. Life is insane at best and desolate at worst and there aren't enough hours in a day to fit in all the stuff you want to do and  *insert endless list of literally anything here, including cleaning the litter box* . . .

I've failed a lot. I'm not old by any means so thankfully my experience of failed resolutions has been relatively small. I've had some pretty big things happen to me--of course, what's big to me may be miniscule to you--and have been on a self-esteem roller-coaster for a long time. But I've realized it all comes down to me. I need a new mindset. So I browsed the aisles in my head, carrying a sturdy basket at my side, and picked up a new mindset. It isn't going to be easy to just slap it on and boom, life's grand, but hey, it has to start somewhere. I'll get on this wagon. I'll fall off. Hoist myself back up. Eventually I'll install a good seatbelt to keep me upright. It all comes back to me. Which means, to keep my resolutions, I just have to find the way that works for me. Like in learning, for example: I retain stories, not dates. If I pick up a book on anatomy alone I'll quickly forget, but if I pick up a book on the effects of nutrition (something I'm very interested in) in the human body, I'll glean much more because I'll be making connections in my head to something I'm dealing with every day, e.i. eating. (Does that make sense to anyone else? My explaining skills aren't anything shiny, that's for sure. . .)

One thing that always gets me is I make a resolution for the entire year. That is my downfall because, really, some days I don't know whether it's Wednesday or Friday; so how can I keep something up for a year? It's too BIG to keep track of.

So this year I wrote a list and put it on a clipboard. This list does have some long term goals on it, of course, because life is (hopefully) a rather long term thing in general, but I've broken them down into chunks that I can clearly aim for. That I can check off the list one by one within this year.

Ta-da! I hung it on my shelf so I don't have to put a nail in the wall.



Made the S hook myself with some wire and Duck Tape.



It wouldn't be able to take any serious weight but it holds the clip board just fine.

I don't say exercise for 10 minutes every day for a year. There's no accountability in that. I'll end up missing half of it. So I said do one Blogilates video (my fav!) per day for 2 weeks solid. That will let me form a habit so I can keep it up after the 2 weeks is over but give me a definitive goal that I can reach for and then reward myself.

One of the long term goals is in my writing. I have never finished a story. (You writers out there know how it is, one great idea gets trampled by the next, writing stagnates, you get bored, etc.) One of my life dreams is to be a writer so why not start now? Start meaning it and proving not only to myself but to everyone else that I mean it as well.

While I like the independence of self-publishing I am not too keen on paying the cost of literally everything. Plus, I would seriously like the validation of having some stranger pick up my submission and say, "Let's publish this baby, tie it up in a bow, and send it off to Barns and Noble!" I know that I'll get rejected tons before that moment but still. You get my point.

My plan is to try and write and edit 2 books per year. The submission waiting period can be up to six months so I figure instead of sitting on my hands during that time I can write a new one and ship that off to a publisher, while right about that time the first should be getting either rejected or accepted. If I can keep that steady flow I can be prolific. Now to see if I can really do it.

The goal: one book in 6 months. Draft it in 4. Let it lie for 1. Edit in the final month. Ship it off. Start anew while I wait to hear back, following that same pattern.

So there is an example of a long term goal broken down into chunks I can really aim for. I did the math, not only figuring the total word count I was aiming for, but the monthly AND weekly word count. I am definitely a reward-driven person--I see dark chocolate tidbits in my future!

What are your resolutions for this year? What's your method for achieving your goals? Comment below! (You'd be fulfilling one of my resolutions if you did!)

Here is a picture of my dog Obidiah (Obi for short) and our cat Merlin, just for fun and adorableness:

Home (Mostly Kitchen) Makeover

Today I didn't touch a "craft," per se, but I did quite a lot of house painting.

Our kitchen--cabinets, walls, the works--has been this kind of burnt umber/brick red for years. It has all these chips out of the paint in high-wear places, like around the handles from fingernails, and at sharp corners where people are constantly bashing into it. I am a repeat offender at those corners.

Needless to say (of course, I obviously do actually need to say it), it's beaten up and you get tired of looking a the same color scheme for five years.

My dad is a contractor (specializing is woodworking) so he gets cast-offs from jobs all the time. People give us old dishwashers. They give us old light fixtures. And lots of half empty* cans of paint.
We primed the heck out of the cabinets and cupboards on Sunday and today we broke out a cast-off we thought might look good, even though we wouldn't have chosen it right form the paint store ourselves (waste not, want not . . .).

Oh my gosh, it was ugly. It was this horrible pale booger yellow. None of us like pastel shades in the first place and up against our sort of cherry-stained trim it was twice as awful. Ick. We went and found a different color, a white with a low warmth to it. It had a yellow undertone--undertone is the operative word.

Up went the second color. Zip, zip, zip. Lookin' good.

The primed cabinets

While I did the cabinets, mom repainted the ceiling, which had browned over time from close proximity to a stove pipe. Now everything is pristine white, which isn't really our thing usually, but it is SO nice not to have chipped brick red and smoked ceiling white as far as the eye can see.


*On the issue of whether I am a "glass half full" or "glass half empty" kind of gal: I'm neither. If my glass was empty and someone filled it halfway up then it is half full. If it was full and I guzzled half then it is half empty. And in the case of a can of paint, where it was full and half was splashed all over the walls . . .

Start of Mahogany Tray

Here's my progress on the tray. Didn't get super far today.



Took some sandpaper to it to scuff up the varnish. My vision is to leave the ridges wood and just paint the dips. Bowls? What would I call them?



Coat of primer.



And here's the second coat, but this time I switched over to plain old white acrylic. It'll need some more coats just to get that nice even finish.



I can't believe it's 2016. Anybody else feel like the time just flew?