Buckwheat Waffle Recipe

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Jan 042014
 

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I made these waffles yesterday morning. They were so good, and bonus… they good for you. I used buckwheat flour instead of white flour so they are higher in protein and have a decent dose of antioxidants, iron, and magnesium. Plus contrary to its name, buckwheat is actually a seed and is not related to wheat so it’s naturally gluten free. (However, there can be cross-contamination if it’s not processed on dedicated equipment so if you have a Celiac or a gluten allergy you should look for gluten free.)

Back to the waffles, the recipe is much easier than you think. They taste a little healthy, but the texture is spot on. They are fluffy on the inside and crispy on the outside. If you have leftovers they are great in the toaster the next morning. Serve them topped with fruit and you have yourself a solid breakfast. (modified from Simply Recipes)

What I used:
1 1/2 cups buckwheat flour
1 tablespoon of flax powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
Pinch of cinnamon
2 tablespoons sugar
2 eggs, separated, plus 2 additional egg whites for extra lightness
1 1/2 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup butter, melted and cooled

What I did:
1. Turn on waffle iron to mediumish. I think mine is set to 7 on a scale of 1 to 10).
2. Combine dry ingredients: buckwheat flour, flax, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and sugar.
3. Add egg yolks, buttermilk, and butter to flour mixture and stir until mixed evenly.
4. Beat egg whites to stiff peaks and lightly fold into the batter. (Stir this step until just combined, the key is too keep the air in the batter, this gives the waffles their light airy texture)
5. Put batter into waffle maker and cook to desired toastiness.

Hey? So what’s new with you?

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Dec 072013
 

I know I said wayyyyy back in May that I probably wouldn’t be blogging much over the summer because I got a new job and things were kind of crazy, but I was secretly hoping that wouldn’t be the case and I’d still sneak a project in here and there. Unfortunately for me, life had completely different plans for me this summer. Jam packed with family emergencies and all. This fall really was not much better. I over-zealously took on six classes. (Yup, you read that right SIX.) Anyway, I am happy to announce that we all survived. Everyone in our family is happy and healthy during this holiday season. I have one more final on Monday, and so far I have five A’s. Fingers crossed for number six.

I considered taking down the blog. When it came time to renew I just didn’t think is was worth it, considering how little time I’ve been able to put towards it. Then I logged on one day and realized I was still getting viewers even without me posting. That is so awesome! To top it off, I was re-blogged by Disney!!!! I’m not even kidding. They blogged about my shell pot. Check it out here. So I’m keeping the blog, and I’ll just do the best I can to post as much as possible. I have some ideas in the works, but first I really need to get my Christmas decorations up. In the meantime though I think it would be fun if you followed me on Pinterest. I’m kind of excited because this baby’s first christmas ball has over a hundred repins!

Home is the where the heart is tote

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May 112013
 

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Oh look, I told a little lie.  However, I don’t think its such a bad thing.  So I said I didn’t have any time for projects (I don’t), but I managed to squeeze this one in.  I’m sure you’ve seen those pillows/bags/tees on Pinterest where they have the outline of a state with a teeny heart right were you grew up.  Well, my friend from Texas mentioned in passing that she liked them.  So I found a tote back in AC Moore for $1.99 and made one.  This is a crazy fast project and really cheap.  The pictures aren’t great, but it better than nothing.

Here’s what you need.

  • Plain canvas tote bag (Michael’s/AC Moore or other craft store)
  • Sharpie Paint Pen, Black, oil based, medium tip
  • Friendship bracelet string or other thin yarn
  • Hot glue

Here’s what you’re gonna do:

  1. Print out the outline of the state as big as you can on an 8.5″ x 11″ sheet of paper.

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  2. Flip the paper over and color the outline with a pencil (you can also use carbon paper, but watch the smudging).

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  3. Flip the sheet back over and center it on your back, trace the outline.  Once you remove the paper you should have a nice line to trace.

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  4. Trace over the outline with the paint pen.

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  5. Now you’re going to add the heart.  The first time I did this I used a red paint pen.  I was not happy with the results.  For some reason the red bled through the fabric more and it just didn’t look neat.

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    So instead I got some old string I used to use to make friendship bracelets, remember that stuff?

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    So I crocheted a heart using an ‘F’ hook.  (Pattern below).   Once I was done I glued it on with some hot glue.

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For the heart I followed this pattern from Salt for the Spirit using the friendship string and an ‘F’ hook with one modification.  I did each stitch one down.  So instead of triple crochet, I did double.  Here are the steps:

  1. Magic Ring. Chain 3.
  2. Inside the ring make 2 double crochet, 3 half double crochet, chain 1, double crochet, chain 1, 2 half double crochet, 2 double crochet, chain 2.
  3. Pull the magic ring tight.
  4. Slip stitch to the center of the circle. Pull the thread through and tie off and then push the thread back through to the back of the heart.

After many tries.  This gave me the perfect size heart.

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 Permalink  No Responses »
May 072013
 

I honestly don’t know where the days go.  And things are about to get even crazier.  I imagine my posts will be rare for the next couple months.  I’m sorry.  :-( I just got an awesome internship and with school I have no time to do very many projects let alone post about them.

I do have my eye on this tote bag pattern that I REALLY want to make but I’m not sure it will happen.  I might have to just bite the bullet and buy myself one.  We’ll see, but if any of you are inspired try it out.  Free patter from Fabric.com

I will be in touch soon!!!

Grain-free Granola Recipe

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Apr 232013
 

Grain-free Raw Granola

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup raw almonds
  • 1/2 cup raw cashews
  • 1/2 cup raw pecans
  • 1/2 cup raw walnuts
  • 3/4 cup dried cranberries (or other dried fruit)
  • 1/3 cup raw cacao nibs
  • 3 tbsp honey
  • 1 tbsp coconut oil
  • 1 tsp lemon juice
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla

Method:

  1.  Roughly chop nuts.
  2. Combine nuts, cranberries, and cacao nibs in a bowl.
  3. Heat honey and oil on low for just a few minutes.  You don’t want to it be hot, just warm so that the oil melts and mixes with the honey, and its easy to pour.
  4. Add lemon juice and vanilla.
  5. Pour honey mixture over nuts and mix until nuts are well coated.
  6. Spread out on parchment paper to dry or dry in a food dehydrator.

(NOTE:  You can also dry this in the oven on the lowest temperature with the door cracked, however, I’m not sure it would still be considered “raw”.  I consulted my friend at Sprout & Blossom Wellness and she said that 109 degF is really as hot as you can go stay raw.)

New Projects

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Apr 172013
 

 

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So school has been kicking my butt lately!  I have nothing cool to share with you.  I haven’t had time for any projects.  Other than doing homework I’ve been helping my classmates get a blog going for our Student Nutrition Association.  Click the picture about to check it out.  It’s brand new, but I think we’ll have some cool stuff coming up soon.

Other than that my last project was a knit bunny hat for my niece.  It was my first try with knitting.  I’m not very good at it yet.

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Another Trick of the Day

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Mar 272013
 

couch

So, I had a disaster with my couch.  It had rained, I took the dogs out that day.  Later that night I found little paw prints on my armrest. Ugh!  Soooo, I took the slip cover off and washed it.  Well, after I laid it out to dry I was putting the cover back on when I noticed this little red spot.  I thought it was a fuzz, so I brushed it away.  It smeared!  Oh gosh! It was blood.  Yup, that’s right, I split open a very old cut on my hand and bled on my newly cleaned cream colored couch! Double ugh!

So again, desperate times call for desperate measures.  I turned to the hard stuff.  Shout, Oxyclean, Tide stick, you name it. Nothing was working.  I really didn’t want to have to wash the whole cover again.  So for some reason, in a last ditch effort I reached for the peroxide.  Holy cow, it’s like magic.

So there were three spots.  Two of them I had already treated with stain fighters.  One of them I found later.  Peroxide worked best on the stain that had not been treated already with the chemicals.  I sprayed it on, let it foam, left it a few minutes, dabbed it dry and repeat a couple times.  It was completely gone.  The other two took a little extra work I guess because the fabric had already been saturated with water and other things.  For those I made a paste of cornstarch and peroxide and left it for 20 minutes or so, wiped it clean, and repeated.  They are pretty much gone.

So in the case of blood, skip the stain fighters and go straight for peroxide.

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