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!!

I have a confession. I am a Pinterest addict. I'm not as addicted today as I was a few weeks ago when I discovered it... but addicted I remain. Something that Pinterest taught me... If you put a wooden spoon on a pot of boiling water it will not boil over. WHAT? How did I not know this? I have been struggling and let's be honest... usually failing... to not boil over. I hate the clean up it entails. So today as I was making pasta I decided to try it because to be honest I was a little bit skeptical. But I turned the stove top max, poured in the pasta and walked away. I came back a few minutes later to this lovely sight. A couple of drops came over the side, but 99.9% stayed in the pot. I turned it down to medium and the boiling instantly went down to a manageable boil. I don't understand the physics behind it all. But for today, this is my new favourite thing. :)

My Love For Kitchen Gadgets - Vita-Mix

Ok. First I'd like to start off by saying I've never been one to avoid buying a kitchen gadget that I really wanted and would REALLY use just because of the price. I hum and I ha about it, I freak out about the cost, I take my time, but in the end I usually buy it and rarely ever regret the purchase. My vita-mix has never fallen into the regret column.

My dad has had this blender for about 5 years and he loves it. I initially balked at the $700 cost and just bought a regular Braun blender. After 2 years 2 blenders and 5-6 blender repairs I decided that buying an expensive blender with a 7 year warranty was probably a good way to go. Luckily by the time I got around to buying my Vita-Mix I only had to pay around $400.

I love smoothies. I am obsessed with them. Right now I have a smoothie daily, and its only 1 per day because I am only allowed 3 fruit servings a day. I would make 2-3 smoothies a day sometimes. The taste of them is just fantastic. I love lots of ice in my smoothies because ice equates to big thick deliciousness. Most blenders that I have had will burn out with this much smoothie making, but not the vita-mix. Its motor, according to the US Vita-Mix web page the motor has approx 2 horsepower and the blades will go around 120 mph. It can take on almost anything. These blenders are industrial quality, Booster Juice uses them, I've even seen them on Iron Chef America :).

I know that they are much much more than just a blender. I know that they knead bread, make ice cream, cook soup, grind wheat, and so much more. I have done many things with my Vita-Mix. But my favorite use is for smoothies. I would love to reccomend this bad boy to everyone I see, but the price is a bit much for most people. So if you aren't using the blender as religiously as I am, or if you have no use for the myriad of other uses, then maybe a cheaper blender is a smarter move. 

A few suggestions on the use of your Vita-Mix. Always make sure you flip the switch from max to low once you are done. This motor is so powerful and goes so fast that going from 0 to 120 instantly can be detrimental. Always insure that it is set to low, turn it on quickly turn the dial to 10 and then flip to maximum power. Then sit back and watch it do what it does best.The blades and container are basically all one piece, so it can be a bit trickier to clean. A quick solution is add a bit of water and soap turn to max and you have a little dishwasher! Let the Vita-Mix clean itself then give it a quick rinse. My last suggestion is if you buy the set that comes with a dry and a wet container then make sure you are using the right container for the right job! They have different blades designed to do different jobs. 

Pros:

Can take on almost anything

comes with a wet and dry container, tamper to help push everything down to the blades and recipe books

7 year warranty

over 3 years of daily use and no issues

Cons:

bit pricy

not the prettiest blender in the world and only comes in 3 colours so far... and the red doesn't look that fantastic. I love me some red appliances and accessories but in this case I'm fairly partial to the black.

Larger base due to the large motor

My Love For Kitchen Gadgets - T-Fal VitaCuisine

I love to cook. I love to bake. I LOVE to shop in kitchen section of stores. I just browse looking for a new gadget. One of my favorite gadgets right now is this steamer. My little sister bought a steamer last year and raved about it. I was perfectly content with my pot and little silicone insert that worked just fine... but was rather difficult to get the veggies out after without dropping them in the water. When I found this steamer on good old kijiji I seriously considered not buying it. It was $40 lightly used. But when I took a trip to Walmart and looked at their steamers, I realized it was a good deal so I snatched it up. Now I am absolutely obsessed with it. You can do almost anything with it and it is perfect for the new healthy lifestyle that I am trying to live. Steaming food is a much healthier alternative. I am able to steam carrots and broccoli, make rice from scratch and even steam a chicken breast all at the same time in under an hour. I originally thought the sound of steamed chicken breast was disgusting, but decided I had to try it. Not as good as a slow cooked or bbq'd chicken breast but it is pretty darn good. As long as I throw a lot of my herbs and spices in the rice and on the chicken I don't miss using soy sauce and other condiments.

My model is a T-Fal VitaCuisine. Its not that cheap to buy brand new but I love mine. I have seen other steamers that include a rice bowl and I would strongly suggest that you buy one. I gave away my rice cooker as I find that steaming works better for me and tastes fantastic. The convenience of making everything in one container is amazing. My one suggestion is that the rice takes longer to cook than the recipe book suggests. They suggested about 30 minutes. I'm guessing that is for white rice. I make 1/4 c brown rice with 1/2 c water and tons of Mrs Dash seasoning and other spices and herbs. Put water in the bottom of the steamer, turn on for 60 minutes and away you go. When there is around 40 minutes left I toss in my carrots, at 20 minutes I will add my thawed chicken breast. If I decide to add broccoli I would add it with about 7-10 minutes. Each time the lid is taken off the steam all escapes. The simple solution is to just push the turbo steam button at the top to get the steam back to full. I love it. Easy no fuss meal that I usually make 4-5 times a week!

Pros: Easy to use, one stop meal, able to steam 3-4 different things at once, convenient, makes delicious healthy foods

Cons: Short cord - make sure you are not steaming directly under your cupboards as the steam the escapes can cause damage to them, price for brand new is high, large steamer and can take up quite a bit of your cupboard space.

A Healthy Twist to a Favorite

Who doesn't love chicken fingers and fries? Too bad they aren't all that good for you. Especially when you are trying to lose weight. So I decided I'd try to make them fit into my healthy diet.



Chicken Fingers:
5 oz Chicken breast, boneless and skinless
1/2 cup corn flakes
1 egg
Mrs Dash seasonings (I LOVE Mrs Dash. no salt insanely amazing flavours! I used the chicken and the southwestern)
rice milk


-preheat the oven to 350*
-cut chicken breast into strips (my 5 oz gave me 5-6 thin strips)
-crush cornflakes as fine as possible, place in a flat container and mix seasoning in
(you are going to be using a few dishes, I find I'm constantly doing dishes now that I'm eating healthy and preparing all my own foods)
-mix more seasoning in with your egg in a separate container
-place all your strips in the rice milk. When I made this for the first time today I used 1/2 c rice milk in a 2 c pyrex liquid measure. when I took them out there was still around 1/2 c so I really don't think much got on the chicken breast, but it helps to soften the chicken and make it moist when cooked. You can use fat free buttermilk or almond milk. My rice milk is low fat vanilla.
-take 1 strip out and dip it in the egg. then transfer to the crushed cornflakes, making sure to coat the entire strip.
-place on a non stick cookie sheet
-continue with the rest of the strips and then bake for 25 minutes. take the strips out and immediately preheat your oven to 450*


Yam Fries:
2 c. yams julliened. I'm in the process of trying to decide what the perfect thickness is for these fries. Its a learning curve as I've never really made fries from scratch before. But I'm starting to get the hang of it as I'm kinda obsessed with these fries right now :)
1 tsp olive oil
Mrs Dash seasonings.

-while the chicken fingers are in the oven begin to prep your yams. I bought an organic vegetable wash from my local natural food mart and I scrubbed my yam. Then I cut the yam into 1/2" circles. from there lay the circles flat and just cut into 1/2 inch strips.

-place them in a measure cup and keep chopping until you reach the 2c mark. Then toss them in a bowl, drizzle a little olive oil on and seasonings. I then just use my bare hands and mix it up making sure that they are all evenly coated with the oil.
-when the fingers are out and the oven is preheating place the yam fries on a cookie sheet and place in the oven*
-12 minutes ( if your oven is already preheated then just 10) flip them over and 10 more minutes.


I used fat free salsa as a dip.


*yam fries are very finicky I've found. Make sure you are not crowding your cookie sheet. I rarely do more than 2 c. at a time as I have found the more you make the less crisp they are. There is too much moisture in the oven if you have too much in. Never make them with another dish in the oven for the same reason.