DIY speaker!

Hello, everyone! it's Brooke! for today's DIY, we will be making a speaker out of a toilet paper roll! it's super easy and fun! so the first thing you are going to do it take the toilet paper roll and cover it in a paper. any color of your choice! then measure your phone in the middle and trace it! cut that out and make sure your phone fits in it. the take thumbtacks and put them on the bottom on an angle so the roll still stays up when your phone is in it! thats it! it actually makes a difference in the sound! hope you like your speaker! till next time! -Brooke:)

Roasted Carrots 2

I've posted a simple recipe for roasted carrots in the past (click here for that post), after making the JAR pot roast last weekend though I thought I'd share another easy way to make them. I made 4 pounds of carrots and we have a few left over but not many (and there was only 7 of us!), they are so good everyone loves them.

Wash the carrots (no need to peel), cut off the tops. If they are standard size carrots I cut them in half and then cut the big top half in half, or quarters if they are really big. Cut them so they are similar in size for even roasting. Put them all in a big 13x9 casserole dish, drizzle with olive oil, season with coarse salt and coarse pepper and sprinkle with thyme. Toss all in the dish and then roast at 400' for at least an hour, stirring occasionally.

This is similar to my other recipe post but I like tossing them all in the casserole dish instead of laying out individually - one less step is good! The longer you cook them the better they are!

Granola Cookies

I originally named these "oatmeal chocolate cherry coconut cookies" but whew, that's a mouthful -  and they actually are more like granola so I changed their name! These aren't an overly sweet cookie and I dare say they taste almost healthy haha... perfect with a big glass of milk!

I wore my "baking is cheaper than therapy" t-shirt that my sis got me to tap class the other day and one of the ladies asked if I like to bake....um, indeed I do ;). She wondered what my favorite thing to bake is and I had to think about it because I like to bake most everything - it usually ends up that I get in a phase though and make the same type of thing over and over and right now it's cookies. So I thought I'd make the tap ladies some cookies since Erica showed interest!

I love the show Fixer Upper and the host Joanna Gaines frequently has large thick cookies on her counter - for all I know they are a plastic prop haha but I've been wanting to make some really big ones like that. Normally I make them small - I think it's so having a couple makes me feel less guilty than eating one big one! I based this recipe on a few different ones I saw online, I think it's a fairly standard recipe but I wanted to add chocolate, cranberries, and coconut - and skip the raisins (I'm not a raisin lover).

Click here for where I got the base recipe. My changes: omit the raisins and walnuts, used coarse salt, added 2 teaspoons of cornstarch, and didn't chill the dough. I read that if you add cornstarch you don't have to refrigerate the dough, I've never heard that before so wanted to try it. I added 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips, 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut, and 1/2 cup dried cranberries. Also used my big muffin scoop but had to flatten them down some to get them to bake through. This made 12 big cookies.

ingredients:

1/2 cup (1 stick, 4 oz, or 115 grams) butter, at room temp
2/3 cup (125 grams) light brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup (95 grams) flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp Kosher salt
1 1/2 cups (120 grams) rolled oats
3/4 cup (120 grams) raisins
1/2 cup (65 grams) walnuts, chopped (optional)

directions:

Cream butter, brown sugar, egg, and vanilla in a large bowl. 

In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.

Stir dry ingredients into butte/sugar mixture. Stir in the oats, raisins, and walnuts.

Chill the dough for an hour, up to overnight.

Preheat oven to 350 degF. Using a large muffin scoop, portion dough onto cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or a silpat. Roll dough with your hand and flatten a little bit. 

Bake for 13-15 minutes or until the edges are golden, but the centers look a bit underdone. Overbaking them will result in less chewy cookies.

Recipe from Smitten Kitchen

Freezing Avocados

Did you know you can freeze avocados? I recently read about it and thought I'd give it a try. Not much to it - quarter the avocado, remove the peel and pit, put in the freezer in a single layer until the quarters are frozen thru and then put them all in a baggie or freezer container. I learned by trial and error to freeze the quarters separately before combining them or they'll freeze together in a big ole avocado clump. The texture does change after thawing so use these for avocado toast or a spread - either take out a piece or two and put in the fridge to thaw overnight, or stick in the micro for a couple seconds to thaw it. I especially love this idea when avocados are on sale - I can get excited and buy too many like usual and now I'll freeze them if I don't eat them fast enough!

Paper Umbrellas

Here's another easy craft for spring decorating - cute paper umbrellas. I saw the idea for these here - I followed the directions except she made a clay bead for the end and I just hot glued on a bead instead. These turned out pretty cute!

Cut out 10 circles (I used a 2" circle punch from Stampin' Up), fold each one in half and then half again so they form triangles. Put a piece of double sided tape in the fold, and then tape all of the folded circles together to form the umbrella top. Using a short length of wire, make a small loop in the top and glue it in the center of the umbrella. Bend the wire into the "handle" of the umbrella and to glue on a bead to the end. Done.

Note I hung them from my craft desk using additional pieces of wire -  thread or fishing line would also work.

JAR Pot Roast

I thought I put this recipe on the blog before but when I tried to find it to make for Sunday Supper it doesn't seem to be on here...so if it's a repeat I apologize. It's SO good though that it deserves a repeat post if it is a duplicate!! JAR is a restaurant in Los Angeles - JAR stands for "Just Another Restaurant" - cute, right? It's an easy recipe - sear the meat, add some veggies and broth, stick in the oven for 3 hours. Let it cool and remove the fat, then reheat. I serve with roasted carrots and smashed potatoes in a shallow bowl, then top with a little of the broth. Yum! The original recipe says to serve with caramelized onions and roasted carrots but we like it with potatoes. 

• 3 T canola oil
• 1 ½ t kosher salt
• Freshly ground pepper to taste
• 1 denuded short rib or boneless short ribs* (see note),  3 to 5 lbs
• 3 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
• 3 stalks celery, coarsely chopped
• 1 leek, white and light-green parts coarsely chopped
• ½ bulb of garlic, cloves smashed, but unpeeled
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 c sherry
• 3 to 4 c chicken stock
• 2 T finely chopped parsley

Set rack to the lower third of the oven. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Dry beef with paper towels; season with salt and pepper.

Set a Dutch oven on high heat until it is very hot; add oil and heat until just smoking. Sear beef until it is a deep, rich brown, about 3 to 5 minutes a side.

Remove beef from Dutch oven and set aside. Discard all but a teaspoon of fat from the Dutch oven. Add sherry to Dutch oven and reduce by half, about 4 minutes, while scraping up flavorful brown bits with a wooden spoon. Add all vegetables to the Dutch oven and cook until slightly soft, about 5 minutes.

Add bay leaf. Return beef to Dutch oven with any accumulated juices. Pour in the chicken stock until the beef is above three-quarters covered.  Cover Dutch oven with a tight-fitting lid and place in oven. Check after 15 minutes to make sure liquid is simmering lightly; adjust heat as needed. Continue cooking for a total of three hours.

Allow the meat to cool in the liquid. When cool, degrease (either by using a degreasing pitcher or by chilling in the refrigerator and removing most of the hardened fat from the surface of the liquid).

To serve, place a colander oven a large bowl. Remove meat from liquid. Strain the liquid, pressing down on vegetables to remove all the juice. Discard vegetables. 

Return the meat to the liquid and reheat. Cut meat into portions and place each in a pasta dish; spoon a generous portion of the braising liquid around the beef. Top with a spoonful of roasted carrots. Sprinkle with parsley. Serve with creamy horseradish sauce. 

Yields 6 to 8 servings.

note: you can ask a butcher to denude a short rib explaining it is a single piece without bones or exterior fat. Alternatively, Costco and some other stores sell boneless short ribs. 

updated 3/2023 to include some additional pictures of the process:

sear the ribs a couple at a time depending on the 
size of your dutch oven. don't crowd them or they
won't brown as nicely. 

add sherry to the pot and scrape up flavorful bits. 
note 3/23 I didn't have sherry and substituted
white wine, still delicious!

add veggies to the reduced sherry/wine

I make the dish the day before serving so it has time to 
chill in the fridge and the fat hardens into a thick
layer. The next day I remove as much of the fat as I can.

I'm spooning off the fat and putting it on a piece of 
aluminum foil that I then roll up and discard. 

what's left after removing the meat and hardened fat.

strain the liquids over a big bowl press down
on the cooked vegetables to remove all the juice. 

the pot is a mess after baking the meat, so I like to clean it
before putting the meat and liquid back in and reheating. I serve
the meal from my Dutch oven so I like it to be cleaner than the above pic!

I always buy the boneless short ribs at Costco, 
I don't really know what a 'denuded short rib' is!

Coleslaw Dressing

Tip - when buying groceries maybe don't talk on the phone at the same time. If you do you might not be paying attention and buy yet another head of green cabbage instead of iceberg lettuce as you intended. Just sayin'. Since I now have cabbage I'm changing our side dish tonight from wedge salad to coleslaw.

I have a great recipe for coleslaw dressing that came from Houston's restaurant, have been making it for years and we love it. Not difficult at all...just mix all the ingredients in a small bowl, cover and chill until about 30 minutes before serving - then just mix it into shredded or chopped cabbage and your choice of other veggies/herbs.  Houston's does parsley and green onions but I usually either buy a premade cabbage mix or in this case of having to use up the head of cabbage I shredded it with carrots.

• 1 1/2 cups mayonnaise
• 2 Tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons buttermilk (I usually just use regular milk and add a bit more vinegar to the dressing)
• 1 Tablespoon prepared horseradish
• 1/3 cup dill pickle relish
• 1 Tablespoon brown mustard, such as Gulden's Spicy
• 2 teaspoons cider vinegar
• 2 Tablespoons sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Note this makes quite a bit of dressing, more than you will need for one meals worth of coleslaw so feel free to halve the recipe!

DIY phone case!

Hello, everyone! so for today, we will be making a phone case! I know we have made one before but this one is different and a lot more creative. so for this phone case, you will just need a really cheap clear phone case that I got from amazon and some paper and a pencil. so all I did was trace the phone case onto a piece of paper then cut it out. then with that square, I cut a smaller square with it. then with that piece of paper, I drew a picture. then put it in the back of my phone case, then onto my phone! so for this diy, it doesn't seem very creative but you can use and paper and colors and draw you can make it just like you want it! not very many instructions! I hope you guys like this DIY! I know I love it! my phone case is so awesome! see you guys next time! -Brooke:)

Emergency Kit

I honestly don't know how this emergency kit is going to help if we have an emergency...but you are "supposed" to have one and goodness knows I'm a rule follower so I made one for us. It's in a 32 gallon wheeled covered trash can and stored in the garage - so here's my question: if there is an emergency and we need the items in this container and I can get to this container that means that I am at my house during this said emergency and that means I have access to all of the supplies I have in my house - why do I need to have this giant emergency kit then? Do you see my point? I already have canned goods and candles and tools and all this stuff in my house - why do I need it in a container in the garage? That sounds like a little rant I know, but whatever. I'm told to have the emergency kit and so I have the emergency kit. I suppose if we had to leave the house we could wheel this trash can full of supplies away with us? I can barely lift it so it's going to need to be wheeled away or put in the car and driven out. Whew, anyway...

That was a super long intro wasn't it? Let's start over. I have a list of things that are recommended to have on hand for emergencies - I gathered up all of the supplies and layered them in a large covered trash can. See the list of what's in the kit below. I also have a list of what food and perishables are in the kit and once a year I change them out for fresher ones and use up the older ones if possible.

Starting with the heavy things put them in the bottom and stack your way from there. I bundled up different "categories", i.e., pet supplies in one small tote, tools in a small container, food in 2 plastic crates, etc. and at the top I have the 2 lists in clear page protectors so at a glance I know what is in there and what needs to be changed out once a year. Some of this isn't food we eat on a regular basis like pork and beans, canned green beans, and sausage stick - but they're long lasting good options that keep well to have if there really is an emergency.

Do you guys have an emergency kit? What's in yours? Note that ours contains wine and cookies - (1) we'll be the fun people at the emergency shelter and (2) they say you need some comfort items if you are displaced from your home - chocolate might melt so I have fig newtons for a little sweet treat just in case we need one.

Bunny Bait

Lisa made this with her nieces and I can't wait to try it myself - look how pretty, fun, and easy! Perfect Spring and Easter munchie. Thanks for sharing Lisa!

• 1 bag salted popped popcorn, non buttered
• 2 cups Chex cereal
• 1 cup small pretzel sticks 
• 1 cup peanuts 
• 1 cup Easter Milk Chocolate M&M's 
• 1/4 cup Easter sprinkles 
• 1-16oz bag Bright White Wilton Candy Melts 

1. Line a baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper.
2. Remove any popcorn kernels and spread your popcorn out onto your baking sheet.
3. Add your Chex and pretzels to you popcorn.
4. Heat your candy melts in a microwave safe dish on 50% power for 2-3 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds until melted.
5. Pour your melted white chocolate evenly over your popcorn mixture and mix gently with a spoon.
6. Add your peanuts, sprinkles, and M&M's and gently mix again.
7. Let harden for about 20 minutes & break apart.
8. ENJOY!

http://myincrediblerecipes.com/bunny-bait-easter-crack/