Vanilla Coffee Creamer

In my post yesterday I mentioned a new recipe I tried for coffee creamer.  I found it in Pure Vanilla by: Shauna Sever.  This book is so amazing, I read it like a novel from cover to cover.  I highly recommend checking it out.  If you don't want to go out and buy it, you could probably borrow it from your local library.  That's where I found the copy that I read.  Now this book focuses on vanilla as the central flavor to each recipe.  But, the coffee creamer recipe is very versatile.  If you want a different flavor, just add any extracts or spices your heart desires from cinnamon to almond extract.  You only need 3 ingredients to make this: 1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk, 1 1/2 cups milk, half-and-half, or heavy cream (I used 2% organic milk), and 1 whole vanilla bean, spit lengthwise.  You need to combine all of these simple ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat.  Take the pan off the burner when it starts steaming (don't let it start to simmer!) and then cover and let sit for 15 minutes.  Make sure you strain it, so you don't get vanilla bean chunks, when you put it in your storage container.  I put mine in an old honey jar!  It keeps for up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator and the recipe makes about 2 cups of creamer.

Vanilla coffee creamer.

Now I don't drink coffee, but my husband has at least one cup every day.  I don't think I ever want to go back to buying coffee creamer.  Have you ever read the ingredient labels on one of those fancy flavored creamers?  There are WAYYY too many obscure things in there.  This recipe is short and sweet; it gets right to the point.  Who doesn't love that?

Interested in learning more about vanilla and all of the different varieties produced in the world?  Check out Pure Vanilla by: Shauna Sever.  It's part recipes, part personal experience, and part vanilla history.  It's a great read!

Vanilla biscotti recipe from the same cookbook.

Kale Krazy

So, one of the things I enjoy doing is cooking.  I like to try new recipes and see if I can make something tasty from a pile of assorted ingredients.  I love Pinterest because of this.  I have found probably 80% of the recipes I use on a regular basis on Pinterest.  Don't get me wrong, I have a whole shelf of cookbooks that I flip through and use occasionally as well.  But, Pinterest has my heart when I comes to finding just the perfect recipe.  So, this cooking extravaganza involved kale.  I recently bought a share in a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) and I've been getting kale for weeks.  I know this is horrible to say, but I threw out almost all of the kale the past two weeks.  What can I say?  I tried it once and thought it was too horrendous a vegetable to ever subject myself to that bitterness again.  But, I was determined not to waste any more of my locally grown produce.  Thus began yesterday with a search on Pinterest.  I found 4 recipes and things went haywire from there.  When I cook, I tend to not stop.  For hours.  Until I can't stand any longer.  Yesterday, I cooked for around 5 and a half hours nonstop.  So....this is how I came to make everything pictured as well as a couple of dishes not pictured.  Here is a list of everything I made with my kale and with ingredients I had left over from the kale recipe: sweet potato kale and quinoa fritters, kale and quinoa patties, quinoa and tofu stir fry, quinoa and cucumber salad (with grapes), kale and potato hash, kale one pot pasta, vanilla coffee creamer, and white chocolate chip cookies.  Okay, so the last two had nothing to do with kale.  But, I can only go so many days without cookies and I had to try the coffee creamer recipe (which I actually found in a cookbook!), tutorial to come at a later date if anyone is interested.

Sweet potato kale and quinoa fritters.

Vanilla coffee creamer.

Potato and kale hash.

Sweet potato kale and quinoa fritter mixture.

Kale and quinoa patty mixture.

Cucumber and quinoa salad (with grapes).

Verdict?

All of the dishes turned out as good as I could have hoped for.  I wasn't a huge fan of the hash (it had a lot of horseradish in it), it was a bit too strong for me.  The fritters and patties are my favorites.  The stir fry and salad are good too.  The stir fry is a bit better than the salad, just because I think the salad needed some salt or soy sauce to add a little flavor. The pasta dish is okay, but the kale is a bit too obvious when I eat it, so it's not my favorite.  My husband loves the coffee creamer and according to him this batch of cookies was "the best you've ever made."  So those both turned out great.  If anyone is interested in a link to any of these recipes that I got from Pinterest just leave a comment and I'll make sure to send you the link.  Happy kale cooking everyone! 

Birthday Revelations

It's the weekend!  I hope everyone gets a chance to do something fun.  Yesterday was my 23rd birthday and I have a few photos to share from it.  To start the day I went to an art museum exhibit with my husband and some of his family.  Then, my husband and I walked around town a bit and did some shopping.  While we were out I got a couple more birthday freebies (through store rewards programs).

My Starbucks freebie.                                                                                                                                                    My Panera Bread freebie.

I also got several presents from my family.  Not all of you know this about me, but I'm kind of a Buffy the Vampire Slayer fanatic.  So, almost all of my presents this year were Buffy related.

  

One set of reusable produce bags (also for my birthday).                               My lovely husband cooking my birthday dinner (tofu stir fry).

 A fantastic bookstore I found while walking around town.

 So, now you know that I'm a Buffy fan and I'm also crazy about books.  I also try to be as eco-friendly as I can (which is why I got the reusable produce bags), and I like crafting (which is why I got the laminator and refills).  If anyone is in the Fort Collins area you should totally check out Old Firehouse Books.  Have a great weekend everyone!!

In Loving Memory

This blog post is overdue.  Last Tuesday would have been my mom's 61st birthday.  Some of you out there who've known me for a while might have known my mom.  But, most of you have never met her.  The last time I celebrated her birthday with her was her 49th birthday back in 2003.  My mom passed away 11 years ago from medical complications.  Every year since then I've always mentioned planning some kind of party or way to remember her and bring people together.  And every year it never happened.  I spent nearly every year with my grandparents having a solemn day in their home.  This year was different though.  This was the first year I didn't go to my grandparents' house.  The isolation of spending this birthday in my new home in Colorado spurred me to finally take action.  I bought some plants and made a window herb garden.

The garden.

This was the beginning of a new tradition for me.  Every year from now on I will buy a plant in her memory to celebrate her birthday and her life (that ended too quickly).  My mom is the reason I love flowers, she taught me almost everything I know about them.  They were always her favorite presents.  

An Introduction to Extreme Couponing

Coupons.  This word brings a lot of images to mind, some good and some bad.  Who hasn't been in line behind some crazy person hunting for coupons in their purse?  I know that I have.  I think that coupons have gotten a bad rap.  When I tell people that I'm an extreme couponer, either they think that I'm a hoarder or am just totally crazy.  Well, I'm definitely not a hoarder, and I'm not that crazy.

A freebie from a store rewards program.

Let's be honest, who doesn't like getting things for free?  I can't think of a single person.  I have been extreme couponing for about a year and a half now and I can tell you that I have saved over $2,000 so far this year with couponing.  Last year I saved over $9,000.  I definitely put that money I saved to good use.  

One of my coupon hauls.

There are a few key things to couponing, store rewards programs, sales cycles, and finally the coupons themselves.  An extreme couponer uses all of these things to find the best deals and stock up enough to last until the next sale cycle (usually 3-6 months).

A smaller coupon haul.

Couponing isn't for everyone.  It takes some dedication to get started and you do have to update your coupon binder (folio or file) every week to keep up to date.  It's embarrassing to use an expired coupon, trust me on this.  But, if you like getting the best possible deal and don't mind taking the time to work at it, then maybe couponing is for you.

My husband enjoying a freebie meal.

Another aspect of my bargain-hunting lifestyle is signing up for free samples any way I can.  One way I do this is with a website called Bzzagent.  That's where the above pictured freebie meal came from.  In order to get these freebies I fill out surveys and post reviews of the products that they send me.  Some of you might think that's too much work for too little reward.  But, it doesn't take me much time and I like to get the most bang for my buck.  Who doesn't spend time just mindlessly browsing the internet, why not get a freebie out of it?

If you liked this post and want to hear more specifics about extreme couponing, comment below and I'll work on some more specific posts.  This is just an introduction into the idea of extreme couponing.  

Unpacking and Settling In

It's been a while.  Without further ado, this post has some before and after photos of my apartment.  Before you look below at them here are some things to remember.  I only started unpacking on Saturday afternoon (so 5 days ago).  Also, the overhead lighting in here is just about as fluorescent as it gets, so the picture quality really is not that great.  (Sorry about that).  Finally, we still have just a couple of things to do (put slip covers on furniture as well as hang up 3 more things).  Well I hope you enjoy!

Before:

After:

Yes, I am aware that I have quite a lot of belongings.  But, see how everything already has it's place here?  I have several project ideas started or in the making.  I will keep you posted on what I start next.  I'm thinking I might start my family history project, I'll tell you more about it in a future post.  My next post will detail my adventures with couponing in Colorado.  Stay tuned!

Moving Sale and 1st Anniversary

So, things have been a little crazed in the household lately.  We move out a week from today and start our journey west to Colorado.  Like any other family making a big move we had a moving sale over the weekend.  Here are a couple of pictures from it.

This moving sale has been a work in progress for about 2 months.  That's the time that I started sorting through belongings at my Grandpa's house.  As some of you may already know, my grandma passed away last August.  We've been putting off going through the belongings she had for a while but it was something that we had to do before I left.  So, we finished last week and had the sale over the weekend.  There was quite a large accumulation of stuff (as you can see) from our families.

The house felt a lot more spacious after the sale for about a day and then we filled that space with boxes.  So much packing goes into moving.  It seems like it will never end!  On the bright side, Ethan and I's one year anniversary is this coming Monday (June 1st).  As an early anniversary present my friend made me something to hang on my wall.  Here's a picture:

I'm so excited to hang it in my new apartment! Next week is going to be crazy with all the last minute moving preparation.  My next post will probably have some pictures of my new apartment.  I can't wait!