MoMo Monday Week #2

So here's the thing about MoMo....whenever she is laying anywhere in the house and you merely walk past her she makes this sort of "burrrughp" sound  (that's the best I could do at trying to type it out) It's like her way of saying  "huh?"

The point being she makes plenty of noise when she's out in the open....but when I'm looking for her she doesn't make a damn peep!

She has sent me into mass hysteria many times.  One time for example, I was looking for her for over 45 minutes when I got home from work.  Walking from room to room calling her name over and over....not a sound.  This was at a time when she was mostly indoor but I left the doggy door open so she could get out if she really wanted to (doggy door is now covered) 

I had visions of her laying dead in the road. I even got a flashlight and walked up and down my street looking for her.....no sign of her anywhere.

Turns out she was laying in our hamper....and I had checked our closet at least 3 times.  I  swear she does it on purpose....she would normally barely have to move for her collar to jingle and I would hear it.  I'm convinced she does it on purpose to mess with me.  She can sense when I'm in a panic and all of the sudden she becomes a mute who sits like a stone.

Anyway....we had another one of these little incidents.  The Boy and I tore the house apart looking for her.  I had checked under the bed multiple times when I finally noticed this lump....

Apparently, she found a gap where the fabric was stapled to the box spring and crawled in creating her own little kitty hammock

It became her favorite spot for quite some time.  To coax her out I would bring food and her little sniffer would get going and slowly she would crawl out...typical right?  Well not this time....and I'm SOOOO glad we got this one on tape

I hope you find this as hilarious as I do.  She got too smart for our shenanigans.  She got her sour cream and she got to stay in her spot...MoMo for the win!

And there's something about the way she gets it too.  She doesn't simply dip her paw....there's sort of a fancy flick of the wrist (paw?)

Oh MoMo....she never fails to make me laugh

Low Carb Zucchini Chips 2 Ways

IF there is anything I thought would KILL me about cutting out starches and sugars in my life I thought for sure it would be chips

I never had a huge sweet tooth. Granted I do get a hankering now and again like any normal person but I don't crave sweets on a regular basis....but chips on the other hand...oooh lawwdy!

I could devour an entire bag of potato chips myself.  Heck I'll even hoover a bag of tortilla chips...don't matter to me as long as it was crunchy and salty

But surprisingly I have handled a chipless life quite well.  Once you don't have them in your house you realize you can do it.  Parties can still be rough on me....because what's a party without 4 different flavors of chip? (at least in my family)  I have my strong days and my weak days at those events....but over all I do ok.

I did however think it was time to branch out and start trying a LC chip alternative besides my go to pork rind that I could possibly pack with lunches or bring to those gatherings for myself to lessen the temptation

This first recipe is not my recipe at all.  It is straight from http://yourlighterside.com/.  This site is simply amazing.  It is all about adapting your old favorites to your new lifestyle of eating and she does an AMAZING job at it!  She is the original creator of the cauliflower pizza crust! 

Here is a link to her original recipe and post for these chips http://yourlighterside.com/2009/05/zucchini-nacho-chip-recipe-2/

But I added a few steps when I made that I wanted to share

2 cups grated zucchini

2 eggs beaten

2 cups cheese

She doesn't state this in the original recipe, but whenever I make anything with zucchini that I intend to get crispy I take the extra step in trying to remove as much water as possible.  You do this by sprinkling the shredded zucchini with salt and letting it sit for about 10-15 minutes.  This will draw out all the water and then you wring out as much as you can either in a dish towel or ricer

Add your zucchini to the egg and cheese.  Scoop your mix onto a well greased piece of parchment (I used a silpat) into 6-8 inch circles

Bake in a 450 degree oven for 12 minutes, then flip and cook another 5 minutes or so or until brown

Take them out of the oven and let cool slightly before cutting into chips

Her recipe states to put them back in a cool oven to dry out and crisp for 6-8 hours, but I decided to go another route.  I have a dehydrator so I just loaded them up in there over night.  In the morning I had perfectly crisp chips!

I made them into nachos that day at work

Here is the instagramed version of the pics. Come follow me! TheBusyBroad

One thing I did notice was some were the perfect chip thickness and some were a little thick and crackery...so next time I will be sure to spread the mixure a little more thin and even.  Otherwise they made a good hearty nacho chip

And since I had a leftover zucchini and the dehydrater was already out, I made another version of chips

Just thinly sliced zucchini, tossed with a smidge of oil and some cajun spice

Ended up with some darn tasty and spicy chips.  I think I could go wild making all sorts of flavors of these babies!

I think the first recipe is better suited for nacho or cracker type applications, where as the second one is more similar to a potato chip.  Now I have all my chip bases covered

Low Carb Herb Flatbread (Good Low carb panini bread)

A few weeks ago The Boy and I celebrated our 4 year dating anniversary.  And by celebrated I mean we got to hurriedly eat lunch together....on the couch.....while doing our taxes on the laptop..... before he had to run off to work.

Pure romance ehh?  We do what we can.  Oh the joyful life of being young and poor with crappy work schedules.  Not that I'm complaining or anything.  Ok.....I kinda am.

Anywho....I wanted to work up a little nostalgia factor so I decided to recreate the meal we had on our first date.  The restaurant has sadly closed down since then, but I remembered exactly what we had.  Genoa Salami paninis with caesar salad.

I didn't exactly feel like blowing my eating for a meal that would be eaten on the couch in our pajamas while I gasped for air in fear of the outcome of our tax situation (I forget to breathe when I'm anxious so I end up gasping every few minutes...I'm a real treat to be around in stressful situations ;))  

The caesar salad was a green light...inherently low carb with the right dressing and minus the croutons.  It's the panini that posed the problem....I wasn't in the mood for cheating and getting a serious case of wheat belly so I knew I would need to make the bread

I wanted to try what looked like an awesome panini bread recipe I found on Pinterest, but had no luck finding oat fiber.  No, not oat flour, not oat bran, oat FIBER.  So I had to scrap that idea  

That left me to figure out something on my own the night before.  I ended up making the same batter I always make to make my Oopsie bread.  (<Go there for the recipe and step by step picture tutorial)

The only thing I did different was I added about a 1/2 cup of shredded Parm, 2 tsp italian seasoning, and 1 tsp dried basil to the mix.  Then, instead of putting the mix into little pie pans, I spread it out evenly onto a heavily greased piece of parchment paper that lined a baking sheet

I really wish I had taken pictures but I was in such a last minute rush I forgot all about it

Bake as normal and then let rest until cooled completely.  Cut into squares


The next day I just built my sandwiches and slathered them in butter as I would any regular panini and put them in the press

They cooked up surprisingly more golden brown and crispy than I expected

And it stayed crispier FAR better than I had imagined considering it's sort of a a more spongy bread to begin with....but it held up awesome!  This was a last minute trial that turned out so good I can't wait to make this flatbread again soon

And in case you were wondering....this panini has Genoa Salami, provolone cheese, shaved onion. roasted red peppers, tomato, and basil. 

It made for a delicious lunch....and our taxes weren't quite as bad as we though they would be....so I was able to keep the sandwich down...even better!

Easy DIY Fleece Tie Blanket

These blankets have been around for years....I've been making them since I was at least 14....so I have 10 years of experience with these babies.  They were go-to gifts in our family for many years...actually they still are.  

Who doesn't like a soft cuddly blankie?  I mean really now....

You're feeling comfy just looking at this picture....admit it. 

Anywho....I have made a few for gifts just this past year alone.  I took pictures of the process but never got around to making the tutorial until now.  

Here's what you do.   First off you will need to buy your fleece.  I usually like to do one side patterned and the other side a solid coordinating color....but you can do whatever you want of course

I usually buy 2 yards of each fabric...that is my go to size.  The blanket I am making in this tutorial was for a new born baby so I made it only using 1 yard of each fabric

One thing to take into consideration though....the first Christmas me and The Boy were dating I made him a 2 yard blanket since it was my usual.  He LOVES that thing to death (in fact it's so ratty now I owe him a new one) but it's a little too small for him.  My husband is 6'2 and a big guy....his feet stick out the bottom.  So lesson learned....if it's for a giant like my boy..try going  3 yards

Ok, so you have your two fabrics....lay them down sandwiched together so that the good sides are both facing "out"  You'll especially notice with the printed fabric, one side will be sort of blurry and one side more crisp.  Obviously the side with the clearer picture faces outward

Trim the fabrics to get rid of any printed words that sometimes shows as well as to get them to match up as closely as possible

Next, cut a 6 inch square out of each corner

Then cut one inch strips that create a sort of "fringe" that are about 1 inch wide and go up the 6 inches in to meet the cut from the corner.  You could use a ruler or yardstick if you would like, but I just eyeball it and move across and it has always worked well enough for me

Repeat this around all 4 sides

Then begin tying the fringe

 

These aren't tied like shoes....it's the kind of knot where you take both fringes together and wrap them around your finger,then pull the ends through the hole

I'm sure you could knot them together however you like...this is just what I've always done

Just keep working all the way around.  It isn't hard....just time consuming, so put on a movie or something while you work.  One side will be very easy to tie because it's the stretchy side of the fabric.  The other will be much harder because it doesn't have any "give" so the knot is much harder to tie.  

Forewarning:  Your fingers WILL hurt by the end of the project.  But at least you'll have a super cute blanket to show for it

And just because I think they're cute and funny....here is MoMo supervising as we worked on a different blanket.  She was all up in it the entire time

Man she's tough.....she was workin me like I was in a sweat shop!

 

Creative Wedding Gift Wrap

So my dream finally came true.....well....at least one dream

I FINALLY got to go to a damn wedding!  Not that I had never been to one before or anything cuz I have....let me explain

I have been married now for a year and a half and all I have been wanting since my wedding was to go to somebody-else's.  Not in a feed me, let me drink booze on your dime, give me cool party favors kind of way (although those are awesome wedding guest perks...no denying that!)  But more so in a way that I just wanted to sit back and watch another couples big day

You put SOOOO much time, effort, and money into your own that you come out with such an appreciation for the entire process....down to every little detail that you never would have noticed in your PB (pre-bride) days. 

Well....my sister Kinsey went to 7 weddings in the year after mine.  Yes.... SEVEN!!  Meanwhile I'm over here with a buncha invitations to NOTHING.  So needless to say when our friends got engaged last November I was pretty freakin excited

So combine the fact that I was practically peeing myself over attending this wedding already and my deep, deeeeeeep love for themes and bad ass gift wrap I had to come up with something cool.

I thought it would be funny to make the gift look like a wedding cake since people are always making wedding cakes look like stacked gifts.....see what I did there?

I think the sad part is that I then picked out their gift based off of what would lend itself best to a cake like size and shape.  So the gift wrap came before the actual gift....but hey....whatever works right?

We ended up getting them an enamel dutch oven that they registered for (it made a fabulous bottom tier)  And the top tier was a DIY Photo Coaster set I made.

I wanted the boxes to look like they had frosting piped on them.  So I used my hot glue gun to simulate frosting designs.  Here is the box for the top tier where I just did a simple dot pattern

I didn't take pictures of the bottom box, but I did the same technique making dots and scrolls

As I "piped" all around I had the box laying on its side...of course MoMo had to crawl in and make a house out of it.  (You can see the coasters I made)

The I spray painted both boxes white, glued on ribbon trim, stacked them in place, and glued on some fake flowers

We used bride and groom Pez dispensers as the toppers because our friend Morgan is a Pez collector and he went in on the gift with is.  It was his bright idea to add them on top...kudos to Morgie!

Came out pretty good......except......

I took these boxes from work and in  BIG, BLACK, lettering it said "Heavy walled elbow noodles"  No matter what I did....no matter how many coats of primer I used...I could NOT get that shit to cover

I cropped it out in the above photo.....but this is how it looked

Drove me effin crazy!  Luckily, the groom is a fellow food industry worker (me, groomy, and The Boy all met in culinary school) so he found it pretty amusing

I was one of the first ones there, but I kept my eye on the gift table and as soon as it started to fill up I swooped in and used one of the little boxes to cover it up

Problem solved!


It was a great night.  Two amazing people got hitched, there was good food and good company, and lots and lots laughs

I guess the wait was worth it =)

 

DIY Photo Coasters

Our friends Tanya and Dale just got married and I thought I would share with you part of their Wedding gift...DIY Photo Coasters.....even if it is alllllllllll over Pinterest

I wanted to give them something they wanted so of course that means a gift off their registry....easy peasy.  But I also couldn't let a big event like a wedding pass by without getting a little DIY action in

I figured coasters were something they could actually use in their house....but still sort of off the grid.  I don't think many people wake up and think "Hey....we need coasters with our faces on it!"   

That's where I come in.......

You need

Mod Podge, Plain tiles, Pictures, & Acrylic Sealer spray

 I already had the Mod Podge and sealer so all I had to buy was the picures ($1.05) and the tiles for .15 each.  Gotta love a gift where you get to empty out your change pocket.  My purse is much lighter now thanks to this project. 

Now I gotta confess.....I felt like a total creeper acquiring these pictures.  They hadn''t gotten back all their engagement photos yet so they only had 5 "sneak peek" pictures on their Facebook pages from the photographer.  And in total stalker/creeper status I saved them to my computer.

Is it just me or is that totally weird when you stop and think about it? Like I'm pretty confident they won't think anything of it (until they read this....awesome.) but it is kinda of weird that anyone can just right click and save your face.   But I guess that's a risk we all take right? haha

Anywho....clean your tiles well and cut your pictures to size.  I decided I wanted a border so I cut them into 3 inch squares

Apply Mod Podge to the back of the picture with a foam brush and position onto the tile.  Apply 4 coats of Mod Podge or more letting dry completely between each coat.  I would brush side to side for one coat, let dry, then up and down and repeat.   Unfortunately there is no getting around the fact that there will be brush strokes....so just got over it now.  I had to.

After you've done enough Mod Podge coats, spray 4-5 coats of acrylic sealer. 

I do these over the course of 3 days (start to finish) to ensure that each coat was completely dry and I didn't end up with globs

Once they were completely dry I added feet by cutting out squares of stiffened felt and hot gluing them to the bottom

Here they are all done

Wrapped them up in some ribbon that coordinated with the wedding colors

And that's all it took!  I really love how they turned out and hope they like them too.  Even with the whole stalker aspect.....

Introducing.....MoMo Mondays!

Anybody who knows me in real life or merely follows me on Facebook or Instagram could tell you that I am obsessed with my cat.  Yes.....obsessed.  

It occurred to me just this past weekend that it almost seems wrong how I haven't incorporated Mo into the blogging portion of my life.  She's a part of every other aspect of my life so I decided it was time to dedicate some posts all to her.  To give the blogging world a glimpse into the love that is MoMo  

I will be calling these posts "MoMo Mondays" (if somehow you hadn't already figured that our from the title.)

They will be short stories, pictures, and perhaps maybe a video or two that I hope will make you chuckle or smile.....and give me another social media outlet to brag about how dang cute she is.  

First Up....MoMo versus the Real Housewives

A few months ago I spent my entire day watching a Real Housewives of Beverly Hills marathon.  I only moved to pee.  Basically I was a large sack of useless.  At one point I noticed I couldn't hear anything and as I looked up at the TV I saw the volume bar working its way down

I looked at the other end of the couch where the remote was and there she was standing on the remote turning down the volume.   MoMo had spoken.  As I fumbled around looking for my phone to take a picture she sat down....but she never took her paw off the remote

She means business man.  You can see it in her face....Mo was pissed!  She was like "Damn it Mama pay attention to me!  Enough with these "catty" broads!" 

I love how her paw is perfectly positioned....almost as if she is threatening to hit the power button

Needless to say I turned off the TV and gave her an intense chin scratching session.  I also gained a little more respect for her that day.....she gets what she wants.