Finally an organized spice cupboard!!

I hated my spice cupboard. It wasn't quite complete, I had a bunch of stock jars from whatever grocery store I'd bought the spices at. A hodge podge if you will. So I started to hunt for options. None of the spice racks appealed to me, plus they didn't have the right spices for me. I finally found jars that I was in love with, however they were only online at Target and they only shipped to the states. So when I was down in the states I found awesome jars at World Market. They found a couple boxes for me and all but one of my new jars made it home safe and sound. Then next dilemma was how to label the jars. I searched online, but there really wasn't much, all the labels I found to buy were either ugly or didn't match my spices that I had. So I went to Michaels and just walked around. For 2 hours. And I figured out a slightly labour intensive idea.

I bought a roll of chalkboard contact paper, a chalk marker and a punch. The punch didn't work and the marker wasn't very good so I returned them and just cut them out the old fashioned way. ought a roll of chalkboard contact paper, a chalk marker and a punch. The punch didn't work and the marker wasn't very good so I returned them and just cut them out the old fashioned way. For my bigger jars that I bought at Ikea, I used little wooden cutouts as a stencil. I bought better chalk markers from Michaels. They are awesome. They won't smudge and they are erasable with a little bit of water... which is good as I'm sure I will discover some misspelled spices.

It will drive me CRAZY that there is one missing there. Crazy.

I bought two different sizes from World Market. One is a 3 oz bottle which I used for most of the spices. I also bought a few 7 oz bottles which I put my Mrs. Dash Chicken and Southwest Chipotle as I am obsessed with them and use them a ton. I love my new spice cupboard. It matches my glass containers that I've been slowly accumulating over the last couple years from Ikea and Walmart. The great thing is I didn't even use 1/4 of my contact paper! I still have a bunch of glass containers, so I will eventually get around to it... but probably not till after Disneyland next week! Can't wait!!

Materials

spice jars, as many as you need

chalkboard contact paper - regular 19.99 at Michaels, it was on sale for $14

Chalkboard marker $9 on sale for $7 (Useless "Bride" marker, rubbed right off)

Craftsmart Chalk Marker set - regular $19.99 for 4... Thank you 50% off coupon! $10

Craft Punch $34, with a 40% off coupon only $20.99 (also useless, wasn't able to punch through the paper

Scissors!! free! As I have a bunch of random scissors everywhere.

wooden cutouts $1.50 for 3. I only used the 1 shape though.

So it cost me $24 to do the project. I'm not including the cost of the jars... 

Did I mention I LOVE IT?

Out with the Old, In with the New!

My kitchen is tiny and it drives me crazy. Tiny, barely any counter space, and NO DISHWASHER. Oh, did I mention that I only have one sink as well? Yup. That is correct, no dishwasher and only one sink, barely any counter space. It all adds up to aggravation. When I moved in my kitchen was equipped with your average run of the mill faucet. It wasn't tall enough for me to be able to fill up tall jugs or my large Brita Jug. Then one day I was looking through the postings on Kijiji and I found a new faucet for my kitchen. Its beautiful, tall, brushed nickel. I loved it. Best of all? It was only $25. So I bought it, and promptly enlisted my dad to switch it out. When I bought my house I definitely have stepped up my game in the (minor) home renos. (aka... hang my own pictures, move most of my own furniture, put together furniture etc). However, plumbing was not on my list of things I wanted to do. My dad did a great job and I loved it.

Now I was able to do so much more in my sink. And wow, did  this faucet increase my water pressure, a happy bonus. I loved it... for a couple years. Until I realized that a sprayer would make my kitchen life so much easier. So I searched for a couple months for a nice one. Let me let you in on a secret. Faucets are ridiculously over priced. So I opted to wait, and my patience paid off. Canadian Tire is celebrating their 90th anniversary (happy birthday!!!) this weekend and so they had a 3 day sale, where I discovered a gorgeous spray faucet for 50% off. Well, 50% according to the flyer, but somebody forgot to go to math class. It is normally $199, on sale for "50%" off, for $90. So, most certainly NOT 50% off, but their lack of math prowess was my gain! So I quickly snapped up the stainless steel version of the faucet, brought it home and had the idea that maybe, just maybe I would add (simple) plumbing to my list of reno accomplishments. That thought lasted 2.5 seconds and I promptly texted my dad for help. He agreed to come over the next day to help, and I pulled out my faucet to look at it next to my sink. Now, my sink is most definitely not brushed nickel, but it also isn't as shiny as the stainless faucet. I was torn. So I ran back to Canadian Tire and bought the brushed nickel faucet so I could side by side compare and make a decision. Brushed nickel won out. After getting a couple free showers sprayed in the face a few times, my dad got the faucet working and I am in love. In fact, he liked it so  much that he bought the extra one off me and now I don't have to bother returning it!

I. AM. IN. LOVE!!! I was supposed to wash those dishes to return to my dad, but somehow that didn't happen until after he left. Oops! Ha ha. But let me tell you. This faucet makes me happy, so this is my new favourite thing for the day!

Kash came to visit...

Click here to view this photo book larger

Create a gorgeous, high quality wedding photo album at Shutterfly.com.

My nephew Kash and my sister came up to visit us from the states. Kash got to spend a few days alone with his grandparents. My step mom is learning to use her camera, and I think she's a natural. So to showcase her beautiful photography I decided to make a shutterfly book. I'm so excited to see the finished product at the end of the month when we go down to visit Tamara!

Magic Lotion Bars

Last week I had a huge reaction to something I ate, compounded with being at work and using the awful gloves that we have at work. (OK, so they probably aren't AWFUL for the general people, but for me, I react to them on the best of days.) The eczema was just horrible. By far the worst I have ever experienced. I had been doing research on natural remedies, as I am not one for taking medications, especially corticosteroids. One of the things I discovered was coconut oil is amazing for eczema. I started to use that and it cleared up my eczema relatively quickly considering I wasn't using steroids. However, with this reaction that I had, the coconut oil wasn't able to penetrate through the rough disgusting rash. Despite my constant slathering of the oil, it just wasn't doing the trick this time. So it was back to the drawing board. Enter the miracle of Shea Butter! I was at a store where I found a sample of pure shea butter, put it on my hands and wow! It actually penetrated through and softened my hands up a tiny bit, enough for me to start working it out with the coconut oil that I had. Lucky for me a few weeks before this I had ordered shea butter and beeswax to try out lotion bars that I had discovered on One Good Thing By Jillee's Blog. It is the recipe for MadeON's Hard Lotion Bars. I've seen a few different recipe's for lotion bars, however this is the recipe I decided sounded the best. Shea butter and coconut oil are touted to be amazing for eczema and dry sensitive skin. Both of which I am a victim of. On day 6 of dealing with this reaction, I came home from work to find my package from Mountain Rose Herbs sitting on my door step! I was so excited that I immediately made it. OK, that's a lie, I immediately OPENED the box, looked at all my fun purchases, then proceeded to have a nap. AFTER the nap I put the lotion bar ingredients into action!

Ingredients: (equal parts)
-shea butter
-coconut oil
-beeswax
If you want harder bars, add more beeswax, softer add more coconut oil. If they are too greasy you have too much coconut oil, if too sticky you have too much shea butter... Just re melt and adjust!
That's it! Easy right? First I want to talk a tiny bit about what kinds of ingredients you want to use. Most important? UNREFINED! I can't emphasize enough how you need to spend a tiny bit more and buy unrefined cold pressed product. If you buy refined shea butter or coconut oil all the miracle healing elements of the shea and coconut oil is killed. The high heat that they expose it to will decimate any healing properties, meaning your lotion bars will not be as fabulous and miraculous. They will still be chemical free (yay!) however they will just be lotion, not magical lotion. Yes magical. So please please please buy unrefined! I purchased my beeswax and my shea from Mountain Rose Herbs, and the coconut oil is from my fav local health food store Oliver's Health.

First, you need to construct a double boiler. When baking, my double boiler is a pot of water with a Pyrex bowl on top. I was wary of using a baking bowl because I don't trust my ability to clean up the bowl after. So I opted for an extra Pyrex liquid measure, the bonus of this is that i was able to pour the mixture easily into the molds of choice.

I have a flimsy little kitchen scale that I used to measure out all my ingredients. For easy transfer and clean up I placed a piece of parchment paper over the scale before I measured it out.
 I did the melting in three steps, melting first the beeswax, which has a melting point of around 145*F  (about 63*C). When the beeswax is all but melted, I add in the shea butter, which has a melting point of around 90*F (32*C). After the shea is almost completely melted I add in the coconut oil which has a fairly low melting point of 76*F or 24*C. Using a bamboo skewer to stir everything up, it usually melts quite quickly (I made an ounce of each ingredient and it melted within 4-5 minutes).
Then take the Pyrex out of the water and dry the outside off, and pour into molds. (For lip gloss tubes, fill halfway, let harden a bit and then fill up to the top) Toss into the freezer or fridge until it hardens completely (about 30 minutes in the freezer). Once hard, they should easily come out of the mold. Now you have magic. Because of the low melting point of the shea butter and the coconut oil (both well below the body's natural temperature) when you rub the bar over your skin a thin layer of lotion will coat your skin. Just rub it in a tiny bit and the beeswax will seal that moisture into your skin. That's the magic! I put it on my angry red hands a few times that night and when I woke up they were much much happier. When I went to work the next day I took it with me and used it throughout the shift. Instead of coming home with hands that were red, raw and painful, I came home with fabulous hands! Its been 3 blissful days since I made the bars and I have almost perfectly healed hands. I'm sure the steroids would have cleared this up a lot quicker, however I am just not comfortable continuing steroid use now that I've actually researched it a bit! So I will continue to use my magical lotion bars and hopefully I will be able to prevent any flare ups. Lucky for me my manager agreed to order special gloves for me at work as well. I now have fabulous green gloves that are lined with organic aloe. I feel so special :) No more tingly painful hands when I put on gloves.

My original batch made 6 little cubes of lotion, as well as one circular lotion bar. I have given away all my little cubes for people to try and everyone LOVES them. As a nurse you have to wash your hands a million times a day with harsh antimicrobial soap, then sanitize your hands with an alcohol spray a billion times a day. They've formulated these to be as moisturizing as possible but let's face it. It's not enough. With these lotion bars, they protect your hands while you wash over and over and over again!

I made a second batch today,  with 2 oz of each ingredient. I made a few apples, cubes, large circles, a couple lip balms, and i poured some into a 1/2 ounce tin. This is all that's left after my step mom stopped by and I gave her a few tidbits to take home to the family to try out. LOVE!

Spicy Hummus

Falafels and Hummus go well together. They go fantastically together. In fact, every time I make falafels, I have to make hummus.

Normally I make the hummus in my Vita-mix, this time I wanted to test out my new food processors 4 cup mini bowl and blade. It did not work as well I would have liked, so I ended up scooping it into my vitamix and finishing the job. Maybe if I used tahini instead of raw sesame seeds the food processor would work better, but as I have a Vitamix and sesame seeds, I will continue to use the Vitamix for this recipe, which I just so happened to get out of the Vitamix recipe book, and altered just a bit.

4 cup mini bowl

Spicy Hummus

NOT the right consistency

2 cups chickpeas
1/2 cup raw sesame seeds
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup lemon juice
3-4 cloves garlic
Italian seasoning
3 dried red peppers (spicy!) adjust as per your taste in heat

Place all the ingredients in the Vita-mix in order, turn on the vitamix to variable speed 1, then turn the dial to full and flip the switch to High. Run the blender for 1 minute, make sure you use the tamper to push it all into the blades.

Trusty Vitamix 

The RIGHT consistency

Easy with the Vita-mix. I found the food processor didn't grind up the sesame seeds as well as required, and the texture wasn't quite smooth. With the Vitamix, I can get it to the perfect consistency. Can I just say I LOVE HUMMUS? I cut my pita in half, spread on a healthy serving of hummus and threw in a few falafels. Then I cut the rest of the pita into wedges and dipped them in hummus. So good.

Not a fabulous picture, but super delicious

Baked Falafel

A couple of years ago I had never tried a falafel. I tend to avoid deep fried foods, but I had heard nothing  but good things about the falafel. So I set out to find out if it were possible to bake these little balls of deliciousness into something healthy. I still have yet to try an actual fried falafel, however these little cookies are delicious.

The main part of the falafel is the chickpea. You can buy them in dried form or in a can. I am not a huge fan of anything canned, as a lot of cans are lined with BPA. So I buy them dried and soak them over night. By soaking them you are able to fully rinse them and they will be easier to digest.  I started by tossing 1.5 c dried chickpeas into my 8 cup measuring cup, and filled it with water, the next morning they'd more than doubled their size. I've left them in the fridge for a couple days before I remember that I wanted to make hummus or falafels.

Baked Falafels

2 cups chickpeas

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

3 Tbsp parsley

1 Tbsp cilantro

1 tsp coriander

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

2 Tbsp whole wheat flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp lemon juice

1 tsp olive oil

Usually I make my falafels in my Vita-mix, however I just bought a new Kitchenaid 13 cup food processor and I was anxious to try her out. First off, let me tell you. She. Is. HUGE. I believe she will be called Big Bertha. I tossed in the chickpeas, as well as a tablespoon of chia seeds, and away went Big Bertha. Once they were ground up I tossed in the rest of the ingredients. All of them, in no particular order.

 Once it was well mixed I pulled out one of my cookie scoops and scooped onto a baking stone. You don't have to use a baking stone, however I found that I tend to make something more if I can be a little bit lazy. The baking stone allows me to be a little bit lazy because I don't have to flip these little bad boys. Once I'd scooped out all my falafels onto the baking sheet (odd number because I wasn't super vigilant about ensuring they were all the same size). Then I squished them down so they were a bit flat. And baked them for 30 minutes at 375. (flip them at 15 minutes if not using a baking stone)

Et voila! Healthy, fibre rich, delicious falafel cookies!! Did I mention delicious?? I made a small batch of spicy hummus, smeared it on a whole wheat pita, tossed a few in, and was in heaven! 

Repurposed Candle Jars

My challenged attempt at
the freeze method

Once again, a Pinterest post has caught my attention. And as luck would have it I had 2 candles that were almost out. I tend to flip flop between Scentsy and between Bath and Body Works candles. Presently I'm on the candle kick, so I have a few laying around. So I burned the rest of the candle out and then tossed it into my freezer, where I left it for a couple days. When I took it out I was hoping it would be easy to slide out or chisel free... it wasn't. I was actually afraid that I might break the frozen glass, and as my hands have gone through enough at work, I didn't think I needed to add giant gash to the list. So I set out to discover a different way to easily clean out my jar.

Lava Lamp!!

What I discovered was actually pretty cool. I poured boiling water into the candle jar. And voila, I had my very own mini lava lamp! As the boiling water melted the wax, it bubbled up to the surface and in my pictures it actually looks like its glowing! It didn't take too long for it all to melt and float up to the top. I then tossed it in the fridge for it to cool down. Theory behind cooling it down, the water stays below and the wax will harden up top and be easier to get out. True to my lack of patience, I didn't let it harden enough so I just scooped it all up with my finger, and tossed it in a garbage bag. I read somewhere that you could save the wax and use it in your Scentsy warmers... I think that's awesome, if you have the patience to let it harden enough to do that. Clearly I did not.

let it harden!

After the wax was all but out I grabbed the remaining wicks, tossed them and then set out to clean up the jar. First I used paper towel so my cloths didn't get all waxy. I got as much residue off as I could. Then I added a bit of white vinegar to the jar, swooshed it around and then wiped it clean. It got the rest of the waxy film off the glass. Then I washed it in dish soap, dried it and polished it up. To get the big sticker off the bottom I simply soaked it in water and then used a tiny bit of coconut oil and the glue goo was gone.

Sparkling Clean!

Now I have a new glass jar that I can use in my bathroom, or perhaps I'll toss some coffee beans in the jar, and use it as my makeup brush holder... The possibilities...

Spicy Blackened Chicken with Cilantro Lime Quinoa

Rinsing my quinoa

I have recently been reconverted to Quinoa. Despite it tasting just like a starch, it is actually more like a seed. A superfood, packed full of protein and deliciousness. I tried it last year and thought it was ok but a tiny bit bitter. I am determined to eat healthy now, and so I thought I'd give it another go. So research was in order. I discovered that you need to rinse well to remove the bitter husk that may still be surrounding some of the quinoa. Apparently the quinoa is almost free of this husk these days, rinsed well by the manufacturers. However some may remain and why risk a bitter quinoa? I take a fine mesh strainer, rinse my quinoa for a couple minutes, then let it soak for 20-30 minutes in cool water. Afterwards I rinse again until the water coming off is clear... ish. Now that I take this extra step I prefer quinoa to brown rice, which is kinda awesome seeing as how super food beats out whole grain. The other night I decided to search for a new recipe to try, and I came across Sarcastic Cooking's blog, and was immediately intrigued by the recipe for Blackened Chicken and Cilantro Lime Quinoa. So today I decided to try it out, and I wasn't disappointed! I altered the amount of quinoa, because I find that 1/2 cup uncooked quinoa is too much for 1 serving. 1/4 cup is the perfect amount for me.


Ingredients (serves 2)
2 thawed chicken breasts
1/2 tsp paprika

1/4 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/4 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp cumin

1 tsp olive oil

1 cup low sodium chicken stock

1/2 cup quinoa

juice and zest from one lime

dash of pepper

1 Tablespoon chopped cilantro 

Chicken:

First off I started by defrosting my chicken the slow way. As I got rid of my microwave a few years ago I've learned how to defrost chicken in a slow but (in my opinion) far superior method.... hot water. I put my chicken breast in ziplock bags and turned on my faucet to hot hot. It takes around 30 minutes but I like that I no longer accidentally cook part of the chicken that I was trying to simply thaw... no, I am not very good at the intricacies of defrosting in a microwave.

In a small bowl I mixed up my spice rub, using all the dry spices. I am a salt free kinda gal so I do not add salt to anything that I cook or bake, so that was omitted, however Sarcastic Cooking suggested the use of 1/4 tsp salt. Then I used my fingers and rubbed the rub into the chicken breast, flipped them over and repeated. 

In a pan, heat the olive oil for one minute on med-high. Add the chicken breast and cover, cook each side for 7 minutes, then flip to the first side and cook for an additional 2 minutes, keep covered while cooking. Afterwards transfer it to a plate and allow 7-10 minutes before cutting the chicken breast. This allows The juices to keep the chicken moist, if you were to cut before allowing time to properly set it could become dry.

Quinoa:

For my chicken stock, I have found a no salt added, no msg, organic brand called GoBIO that I picked up at my local health food store 'Oliver's'. I cut the cube in half and add to 1 cup of steaming hot water and whisk it together. Set it aside to cool. This is the perfect time to get cracking on the rinsing of the quinoa. 

I have found that my little rice cooker that my sister donated to me makes the perfect quinoa. Easy, no hassle, just add the chicken broth, mix in the quinoa, place the lid and push cook. 15-20 minutes later fluffy delicious quinoa is ready. Fluff with a fork, and transfer to a serving bowl. 

LOVE my Kitchenaid!!

Take your lime, roll it around on the counter a bit with pressure from your hands to allow the juices to release. Zest the lime into a small bowl, then juice the lime into the same bowl. Any excuse to use my KitchenAid Stand Mixer makes me happy. I could have bought an easy citrus hand press, however I spent an extra couple dollars on the citrus juicer for my mixer. I LOVE it, because I LOVE my KitchenAid. Once the juice and zest are combined, whisk them together and set aside.

Grab your fresh cilantro. My Walmart actually sells a generous portion of fresh cilantro for only 77 cents! I don't use it enough, and I'm sure it will wilt in my fridge, but 77 cents? That is a STEAL! Chop it up, and toss a generous tablespoon into the quinoa, then pour the lime over top, add a dash of fresh pepper and mix up your quinoa. 

Place a portion of the quinoa onto a plate and slice up your cooled chicken breast, then place on top of the quinoa. Enjoy! It is fabulous! 

A New Pinterest Inspired Creation

I was in Tucson visiting a friend who just moved into a new house. Our goal for the week I was down there was to make headway on decorating the new place. I have been obsessed with the idea of finding an old shutter and making it into a mail holder for my kitchen since finding this on Pinterest. So naturally we found the PERFECT pair of shutters for $8 when I was thousands of miles away from home with no way of getting one home with me. This didn't stop us from buying them for her house, and she sold the second one to her sister in law for $4... Lucky Sherry!!

We started by removing the hardware off the top and bottom, and cleaning it up a bit. We had debated sanding it down to make it easier to paint after, however we wanted to keep the white underneath to aid in the distressing we planned on doing. Home Depot sells samples of paint for just under $3 so we bought a sample of a teal colour, as well as a cheap dollar store unscented candle. Once washed, we rubbed the candle over parts of the shutter. The wax acts as a buffer to the paint, so it is easier to get back to the white underneath the top colour. To be perfectly honest, for the amount we actually "distressed" I think this step could have been skipped! Then we painted.

Maybe it was the hot Arizona sun but that paint dried fast. We are NOT known for patience, so true to form we waited maybe an hour and then went out to distress it a but. It is recommended you wait the full 24 hours to allow the paint dry. We didn't distress as much as we thought we might, which is good because I think it looked perfect after! All we did was go over a few places with sandpaper, just to reveal a touch of white.

 Now we had to decide how to ensure that the mail stayed in place rather than falling and getting trapped when it was hung in place. One post we read recommended plywood. Since that sounded more difficult than I would have liked to do, measure, find somewhere to CUT the plywood into the right sized rectangle, somehow secure it... and our goal was to be as frugal as possible, we found a cheap knock off version of plywood. My friend had a few extra boxes laying around from the move we decided to cut one up and secure it to the back. Securing it in place was a process of elimination. First we tried to super glue it. Nope... epic fail. The glue did not hold onto the slats in the middle. Then we found a roll of Duct tape. That was great but still left too much room for the envelopes to slide down. So out came the hot glue gun with just enough glue left to finish this project. We glued a couple slats at the top, middle and bottom. Then duct taped the rest up.

 Beautiful from the back eh? But it got the job done. Cheap and effective. Fairly easy too. The envelopes sat in there exactly and didn't slide around.

I didn't actually get to stick around to see the final end product. After I flew home (without a beautiful shutter for my kitchen) my friend ran to Walmart and grabbed a pack of key hooks for a whole dollar and attached them to the bottom. I can't tell you how obsessed I am with this project! I sat there wishing that my colours were teal or turquoise so I could do this exactly!! It was super easy. And could not have been cheaper!

The shutter cost $4, paint $3, hooks $1 and candle $1. The glue, duct tape, sandpaper, paint brush and cardboard were all ready on hand. So for $9 my friend got an awesome pop of functional colour on her wall!! Hopefully I can find shutters for that cheap!!