Thursday, February 10, 2011

$18 Sideboard

I just received this little side board for free,
it was the perfect size for the nook in my entryway.
Only problem... it looked like this:

rustic, pine, cabin-ish sideboard... not my style!
So with some painting..

and some new knobs, it now looks like this!

I already had the paint on hand,
and I bought these knobs on sale at Anthropologie
for $2.95 a piece
(I'm a sucker for their hardware)

so for $18 I have a beachy, pretty, much more me
sideboard! I love it, and I love the extra storage!
It's amazing what a little update can do for
a piece of furniture!

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Bread Recipes

Making your own bread saves so much money, is better for you, and is so much better than store bought. I spent a lot of time trying and retrying and tweaking bread recipes to find one I loved.

I made honey whole wheat bread for quite some time until I was diagnosed with celiac disease. Then I set out on a year quest to discover the best gluten free recipes. After trying tons of recipes and tweaking everything to my liking, I have come up with some phenomenal bread.



Honey Whole Wheat Bread


Ingredients
3 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
2 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast
1/3 cup honey
5 cups bread flour
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1/3 cup honey
1 tablespoon salt
3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons butter, melted

Directions
1.In a large bowl, mix warm water, yeast, and 1/3 cup honey. Add 5 cups white bread flour, and stir to combine. Let set for 30 minutes, or until big and bubbly.

2.Mix in 3 tablespoons melted butter, 1/3 cup honey, and salt. Stir in 2 cups whole wheat flour. Flour a flat surface and knead with whole wheat flour until not real sticky - just pulling away from the counter, but still sticky to touch. This may take an additional 2 to 4 cups of whole wheat flour. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to coat the surface of the dough. Cover with a dishtowel. Let rise in a warm place until doubled.

3.Punch down, and divide into 3 loaves. Place in greased 9 x 5 inch loaf pans, and allow to rise until dough has topped the pans by one inch.

4.Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 25 to 30 minutes; do not overbake. Lightly brush the tops of loaves with 2 tablespoons melted butter or margarine when done to prevent crust from getting hard. Cool completely

Gluten Free French Bread

1 cup rice flour (white)
1 cup rice flour (brown)
1 cup tapioca flour
3 teaspoons xanthan gum
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 egg
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 cups lukewarm water
2 tablespoons fast rise yeast
2 tablespoons butter or 2 tablespoons margarine, melted
3 egg whites, beaten slightly
1 teaspoon vinegar
melted butter, for brushing (optional)

In the bowl of a heavy-duty mixer, place flours, xanthan gum, salt, and egg.Blend with mixer on low.

In a small bowl dissolve the sugar in the water, and add yeast.

Wait until the mixture foams slightly, then blend into the dry ingredients.

Add the butter, egg whites, and vinegar.Beat on high for 3 minutes.

To form loaves, spoon dough onto greased and cornmeal-dusted cookie sheets in two long French-loaf shapes or spoon into special French-bread pans.

Slash diagonally every few inches.If desired, brush with melted butter.

Cover the dough and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, 20 to 25 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes.

Remove from pan to cool.

Gluten Free Sandwich Bread



1 Tbsp. bread machine yeast
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 ½ c. water (105 degrees or a little less than hot)

2 ½ cups of my gluten free flour mix*
2 tsp. xanthan gum
1tsp. salt

3 eggs (or 9 Tbsp. water and 3 Tbsp. ground flax seed)
1 ½ Tbsp. oil
1 tsp. cider vinegar

1. Start by combining the yeast and sugar in a small bowl (I use the smallest in my set of three nested mixing bowls). Add the water while gently stirring the yeast and sugar. Let this mixture sit while you mix the rest of the ingredients – bubbles and foam should form if the yeast is happy.

2. Combine the flour mix, xanthan gum and salt in the largest mixing bowl and stir well.

3. In a third bowl, whisk the eggs, oil and vinegar until the eggs are a bit frothy.

4. By this point the yeast mixture should be foamy, so you can pour the two liquid mixtures into the flour mixture. Blend the dough with a mixer for 4 minutes.

Bread Machine Directions:

Scoop your dough into the bread machine and smooth the top of the dough. I bake my bread using an 80 minute setting that allows for 20 minutes of kneading, 18 minutes of rise, and 42 minutes of baking. However, since I don’t use the paddle in by bread machine, I’m effectively doing a 38 minute rise and a 42 minute bake. (The advantage of not using the paddle is that you don’t end up with a hole in the bottom of your bread.)

Conventional Oven Directions:

Scoop the dough into a greased loaf pan. Allow the dough to rise in a warm area until is is about 1 inch from the top of the pan. Then bake at 375 degrees for 50 – 60 minutes.


Gluten Free Cinnamon Rolls
This is my go-to recipe for all sweet bread recipes. I just make cinnamon rolls most often.

Ingredients

Dough

2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup white sugar
2/3 cup skim milk, warmed
1 tablespoon yeast
1 large egg
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup potato starch
3/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup brown rice flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 1/2 teaspoons xanthan gum
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla


Filling
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons cinnamon
1/3 cup butter, softened


Icing
8 tablespoons butter, softened
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup cream cheese, softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1 Dough:.

2 Dissolve the yeast in large mixing bowl with warmed milk. Let bubble for a few minutes.

3 Add sugar, butter, oil, and vanilla to milk/yeast mixture. Stir to combine.

4 Add egg and combine thoroughly.

5 Sift together salt, potato starch, cornstarch, millet flour, baking soda, baking powder, and xanthan gum.

6 Slowly add flour mixture to mixing bowl. Stir until well combined.

7 Remove dough from mixing bowl and place in a greased container and put in a warm place to rise for 45-60 minutes. The dough will be extremely sticky, do not worry, this is normal.

8 Preheat oven to 400°F.

9 Roll dough to 1/4" thick 13 x 13 square between 2 pieces of well floured parchment paper.

10 Remove top sheet of paper from rolled dough and spread softened butter on top of dough.

11 Combine brown sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over buttered dough surface. Leave a 2" strip of dough uncovered at one end of square.

12 Using bottom sheet of parchment paper has an aid, roll the dough into a log. Start at the end opposite of that which you left uncovered.

13 Carefully cut into 8 equal pieces using a serrated knife. Place rolls in a greased baking dish, leaving about half an inch between rolls to allow for expansion. Put any remaining cinnamon/sugar mixture in the bottom of the dish.

14 At this point you can either bake them or allow them to rise a bit longer.

15 Bake in oven for ~18-22 minutes until tops are golden brown and delicious. Check for doneness by running a knife between rolls in the center of the dish. Dough should not easily stick to the knife.

16 While the rolls are baking, whip together frosting ingredients until soft and creamy. Try not to eat it all before the rolls are done!

*Gluten Free Flour Mix
2 parts brown rice flour
2/3 part potato starch (not potato flour! Must be starch)
1/3 part tapioca starch


Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Baby Boots

My little niece was just born this last week (she is adorable by the way), and I wanted to make her something different. I have been still making these baby shoes for a lot of my friends that are expecting, but I wanted to put a twist on it. 

I found these adorable ChickPea Kid little boots at Extraordinique and knew that I wanted to make something similar.
 
I had no pattern to go by, so with trial and error I made my own pattern and ended up with this! I lined them with a furry inside so they would be super soft--perfect for a little baby.

I am working on making the pattern that I made available as a PDF with instructions. If enough people are interested, I'll make it available for download. So let me know! :)








Photobucket


Monday, February 7, 2011

Guest Post: Dressing Heidi Sage

I can't believe we are starting month 2 of blanket tutorials!! WOW! The gals from Dressing Heidi Sage are just adorable.  It's a whole family event - - which I love.  And wait til you see their little blanket.  I love the pocket.  Well...can I even call it a pocket?  It's the cutest pocket ever.  Read on!  You'll see!  Thanks gals for sharing!! :)

Hey, this is Courtney from Dressing Heidi Sage.  We're a blog of all things cute for kids.  With my kids as inspiration, Deborah (my mom), Chelsea (my sister) and I, find ourselves busy crafting for and with kids...while all being hundreds of miles apart.  This particular tutorial is for a blanket Deborah made for Heidi Sage.  Not only is it adorable and cozy, it's also a blanket any skill level can make!  We hope you find the tutorial easy to follow and we would love to see you make one for Gabe's Gift.  As you read through the tutorial, remember this could very easily be changed into a blanket for a boy or even gender neutral.  It's all in the details.  So without further ado, I'll hand it over to Deborah...


Heidi Sage has already started to pre-school, and her school requires a blanket for nap time. I received a phone call from her mother this summer with an order for one blanket with Heidi Sage's name, dimensions of the blanket needed to be 3 foot by 4 foot, and it should be double sided for warmth....oh, and she wanted it red to match her school bag and bedroom. (Her mother is only slightly particular!)


So, I started thinking of different ways to make Heidi Sage's blanket. I decided it would need some flowers to make sure it was girly and later in the project I decided to add a purse and high heel to make sure it was REALLY girly. The purse was also to serve a purpose, but I'll get to that in a bit.


I used fleece for the blanket and also for the appliques. Little ones tend to love how soft and cozy fleece is. I first made some simple paper flower patterns and cut my flowers from different colors of fleece.




















All the appliques were sewed on by hand. I used embroidery thread to sew on my appliques. I used the six strand thread and divided it into three strands. I used a blanket stitch for attaching each of the appliques. I sewed on the flower centers first before attaching the flowers to the blanket.  Click here for a quick video on how to do a blanket stitch!


















I monogrammed Heidi Sage's name in one corner and added some flowers around her name. If you don't have a monogramming machine and you want it personalized, you can always just leave space and then take it to a local sewing store, boutique, or other shop that has a machine. Make sure to shop around. You can find people who will do it out of their house for as cheap as $5/piece...and others who are really proud of their ability to push buttons and center things!
















On the opposite corner I decided to add THE purse. Our Heidi Sage doesn't go more than five minutes without a pacie in her mouth, and she sure never takes a nap without one. So, in order to make sure she always had one for nap time, the blanket was made to hold extra pacies. And I added a shoe just for fun. A girl can never have to many shoes in our family! I found a simple purse pattern online and attached the flap onto the purse so it could open and close.

























After all the appliques were finished I added the back piece of fabric and used the sewing machine to sew the two pieces together.

















Courtney has reported the blanket gets softer and cozier with every washing!
NOTE: This could also easily be for a boy just by finding some simple dinosaur or truck patterns. The possibilities are many....the cuteness is endless!


Stay warm!
--
The Girls at Dressing Heidi Sage
dressingheidisage.blogspot.com

Friday, February 4, 2011

Valentine's Day Meal Part I


This year, I decided that instead of going out to eat on Valentine's Day, I would make my husband a fun dinner.  I planned my menu (way back in January) to consist of Cheesey Bacon Fondue, Bacon Feta Salad, and Chocolate Covered Strawberries!  YUM.  I'm pretty stoked to eat it, not gonna lie.  I'll be sharing the salad and strawberries next week, but here's the recipe I plan to use for the fondue:




Servings:
 12 
Skills: Beginning 
Prep Time: 25 min (not including thaw time) 
Bake Time: min

Ingredients

1 Loaf Rhodes™ Bread, baked and cubed
5 slices bacon, chopped
1 cup chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1 10 3/4 oz can cream of mushroom soup
1 cup milk
5 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon dry mustard

Instructions

Fry bacon until crisp. Add onion and garlic. Saute until tender. Stir in soup and milk. Blend until smooth. Add cheese, Worcestershire sauce and mustard. Blend thorourghly. Serve warm with bread cubes.



I found the recipe and image HERE.  I'll also be serving mine with cut veggies (like asparagus, squash, bell pepper, etc.)!

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails