Misc.

Homemade Bath Paint

My 2 year LOVES the water. Swimming, bath time, running through sprinklers, you name it, if he can get wet, he’s in. At bath time, he will stay in there for…ev….er. So I needed something for him to do besides splash water all over the place. I’ve seen homemade bath paints before, mainly Pinterest, and finally decided to give it a try. In this post I will do my best to explain everything I did so you can try it, too!

Oh, and this activity is also good for those kids who hate bath time. Now maybe they will enjoy it…? Always worth a try.

Ok, here we go:

What you will need:

1/4 cup corn starch
1/2 cup baby wash/shampoo
Food coloring
Paint brushes
Some type of bowls/ tin to hold the paint. I used a muffin tin. It worked great to separate the colors.

Feel free to double this recipe, but I found it was enough. I made three colors but could have easily made 4.

In a bowl, mix together the corn starch and soap until smooth. Divide into bowls or tin, however many colors you want to use. Stir in for coloring until you get desired colors. Super easy. Paint away!

I was worried about the food coloring staining my bathtub but it comes right off.

Here are some pictures of my little guy having fun!

      

Will I do this every bath time? Hell no! Too much mess and it uses too much soap. But it was really fun. My guy had a blast! I think he was in there for almost an hour. Pruney hands and feet!

So, try it out and have fun with it 🙂

 

Irish Soda Bread

Happy St. Patrick’s Day tomorrow everyone! Don’t worry, I’ll do another post that will contain booze 😉 For today, I wanted to make something easy that I’ve never made before. This bread is so delicious and will probably be a new family tradition for me to make every St. Patrick’s Day. No special tools required. I loved baking like this! I like to pretend I’m not in this century and go back in time. For some reason, making this bread made my imagination run wild! So, let’s put on our aprons and enter the 1800’s…

What you will need:

Cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or greased

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, salt, baking soda and baking powder. With a fork, your fingers or a pastry blender, cut in the butter. Stir in buttermilk and raisins until dough is moistened. Knead in the bowl for a minute (dough will be sticky).

Turn dough out onto prepared baking sheet. Shape into a ball. With a sharp knife, cut a cross or “X” shape on the top of the dough ball going about 1/2 inch down.

Bake for 30-35 minutes until golden brown. Let cool a few minutes before slicing, buttering and enjoying!

Easy Homemade Play-Doh

Sorry guys, this is an un-edible recipe. Well, I guess you COULD eat this, but it would be nasty :p Liam got Play-Doh for Christmas and at first I was like, “great, now our carpet and floors will be ruined!” But I got over that thought pretty quickly because Play-Doh is so fun! My son will play with it for hours, as he has been while I wrote this post 🙂

We got 3 colors; blue, red and yellow. For some reason I wanted to try to make our own. The days are long. I hate winter. Why not?! Liam wanted green, I wanted purple so away we went. I put half of this recipe in one bowl and the other half in another bowl so I could make both colors and not have a ton. So here we go… Let’s go make some Play-Doh!

What you will need:

3 cups flour
3/4 cups salt
3 tablespoons cream of tartar
2 cups boiling water
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
Food coloring of your choice

In a large, heatproof bowl, mix flour, salt and cream of tartar. In the hot water, add oil and food coloring, stir, then pour into dry ingredients. Tip: I put the water in a big coffee mug and heated it up in the microwave. Then I added the oil and food coloring to that, stirred and poured over the dry ingredients.

Mix until everything is moistened. Knead for a minute or two (careful, it will be hot!) on a lightly floured surface. Store in an airtight container NOT in the fridge.

Pictures of my son, Liam, playing with our Play-Doh!

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Sweet Molasses Bread Rolls

I found this recipe on Pinterest, from http://www.itsalwaysautumn.com. She said these rolls were like the ones you get at Outback Steakhouse, but I haven’t been there in years! So I didn’t want to call them that since I have no idea. I just saw that they were brown, made with molasses and honey and was sold! The dough is very easy to work with and is beautiful. I have a thing for raw dough, whether it be cookie dough or bread dough, I just love how it looks and feels. And cookie dough obviously tastes amazing, too 🙂 So, c’mon! Let’s go bake some bread…

Note: The dough needs to proof twice, so read all the instructions and make sure you have time before starting.

Oh yeah, and I apologize in advance for the different lighting/coloring of the pictures used in this post. I use my iphone 6 and took all the shots on different tables in my kitchen. I am no photographer so for now we just have to deal with it :p

What you will need:

4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 cup warm water
1 egg
2 tablespoons softened butter
1/4 cup honey
3 tablespoons molasses
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups whole wheat flour

In a large bowl (or bowl of your electric mixer), combine yeast and warm water. Let yeast proof for about 10 minutes. Add all other ingredients except the whole wheat flour, and mix for about 1 minute until combined.

Note: I still do not have a stand mixer. I know! So sad 😦 But I was still able to use my hand mixer for this. If you do have a stand mixer, use the paddle attachment and then switch to a bread hook to knead.

Add 1 cup of the whole wheat flour and mix on low. Slowly add the last cup of whole wheat flour and mix for several minutes until a nice dough is formed and it pulls away from the bowl.

Turn dough out into a nice big bowl and form a ball (pictured below). Let rise in a warm place for an hour.

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Punch down dough and form 15 balls or rolls. Tip: Wet fingers to prevent dough from sticking. Place them in a greased 9×13 inch bake pan.

Let rise a second time, about an hour, until nice and puffed like so…

Preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit and bake for about 22 minutes. Serve with butter and enjoy!

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Drunken Pumpkin Seeds

Not for the kids! These bad boys are soaked in whiskey. A perfect, sweet and salty snack for watching a football game. Or, if you’re like me, reading a book. Also, if you do not like the taste of whiskey, don’t worry! It is not overpowering at all and brings out a delicious nutty flavor. So let’s go roast some pumpkin seeds…

What you will need:

Baking sheet lined with parchment paper

1 1/2 cups pumpkin seeds that have been washed and drained
1/2 cup whiskey
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 teaspoons salt, plus more to taste

Preheat oven to 275 degrees fahrenheit. In a saucepan, stir together pumpkin seeds, whiskey, syrup, sugar and salt. Bring to a simmer and cook for about 15 minutes. Drain.

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Spread pumpkin seeds on prepared baking sheet and sprinkle with more salt. Bake until golden brown, about an hour (or more depending on how crunchy you like them). Enjoy!

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Denim and Dough

I didn’t want to just blog about what I was wearing today, so I thought I’d make some quick and easy drop biscuits, too. First, I’ll talk about those. They are made from Hungry Jack Pancake and Waffle Mix. Super easy.

What you will need:

Baking sheet lined with parchment paper

For the dough:

2 cups Hungry Jack Pancake and Waffle Mix
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon butter
1 egg
1/2 cup water

Preheat oven to 400 degrees fahrenheit. Mix all ingredients in a bowl until combined. Drop by spoonfulls onto prepared baking sheet and bake for about 8 minutes. Super easy and super tasty!

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Spread butter or drizzle honey on them bad boys! Enjoy! My little guy surely did 🙂 It made about 9 biscuits.

Ok, so next is what I’m wearing today.

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Shirt: Denim blouse from Old Navy
Jeans: Black Levi 524’s
Shoes: Aldo studded flats that I purchased from zappos.com

Again, super simple and perfect for this dreary, cold and wet weather we’ve been having in Chicago. Later in the day I ended up putting socks on and my Hunter boots. So. Dreading. Winter. But, it’s coming. There’s no way to stop it so… bring it Mother Nature! I’ll just be inside with my 2 year old sipping hot cocoa 😉

 

 

Celebrating 5 Years of Marriage

I can’t believe I’ve been married for 5 years! My husband is awesome, he’s the love of my life, father to our son and provider for our family. Liam spent the night at my parents so we were able to have a night out on the town and not worry about anything! It was long overdue. We had a great time, drank some fantastic cocktails and ate some pretty darn good food. First, I’ll start with what I wore…

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Shirt- Old Navy blouse with little bowties on it!
Jeans- Old Navy black coated Rock Star skinnies
Shoes- BCBG black stiletto booties from DSW
Clutch: LuLu Townsend in gold alligator, also from DSW

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I loved this shirt because it fit me well, was flowy and sexy and the bowties I could not resist! So again, yes, I’m obsessed with Old Navy right now. Go check it out! The clothes are cute, comfy and inexpensive. And no, they are not paying me to promote them 😉

Moving on to food. We had dinner at a place called Gather in Lincoln Square. The picture below is of Whipped Ricotta served with baguette. We ordered this for an appetizer and oh my God! It was so freaking delicious, everytime I took a bite I literally moaned. So, so good.

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For our entrees, I had the Diver Scallops (picture below) and Ferro had the burger which is what they are known for. Everything was so good, I really have no complaints. Their food is all fresh from local farms, which I love. I stuck with wine for dinner and had Pinot Gris which was great, and Ferro had an Old Fashioned and some other drink which I cannot remember. I will definitely return!

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We were really full after dinner so we did not order dessert at Gather. Afterwards, we went to a bar called The Violet Hour. It’s very popular and in the Wicker Park neighborhood. If you are ever in Chicago for the evening, check it out! Great atmosphere and drinks. We did have to wait in line for about 40 minutes, but I’m a chatter box so it didn’t seem like it at all. The picture below is of a Belgium Waffle served with melted Nutella for dipping, sooo good and the perfect dessert! I ordered a Whiskey Smash to drink and Ferro again ordered an Old Fashioned.

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The Violet Hour is somewhat of a speakeasy bar. No sign on the outside, just a mural on the wall with a yellow light above the door that you don’t even know is there. It’s very dark inside, tall ceilings with chandelier lighting and velvet curtains. The mixologists are all well known and are very good at what they do. It is a bit pricey, though, so a good special occasion spot.

Thanks for reading about our night and how we celebrated! I’m sorry if it was boring but I love hearing about good restaurants and new places to try so hopefully you enjoyed 🙂 Peace and love to all! Bye!

 

 

 

Dark, Cold and Wet

That’s right, my friends! Fall has arrived in Chicago. This morning I woke up to run at 6 AM and it was misty, dark and about 51 degrees. I was thrilled! No exaggeration. I LOVE running when it’s cold. It was really difficult for me to continue my workout routine in the summer. Summer is for swimming and going to the beach and drinking ice cold cocktails. 90 degree weather with 99% humidity is not for running, but that’s just me. You workout in the winter to look good in the summer 😉

So out of bed I crawled, excited to get outside. I usually use the Nike + app on my phone, but it has been sucking lately. I decided to just get out there and not worry about how many miles or how fast I ran. I popped 3 Reece’s Pieces in my mouth, opened the door, inhaled some fresh air and pounded pavement.

Not going to lie, it was probably one of my favorite runs. Not too many people were out and when the sun started coming up, everything looked beautiful! Nature has a way of speaking to you (cheesy, I know), when you least expect it. The wet grass and colorful leaves all said “Good morning, Emily! Welcome to autumn.”

Next up, baking something pumpkin!

 

Mini Sweet Corn Bread Muffins Recipe

I love summer, I love barbecues, I love being outside, I love boats, I love drinking! I get all of those things, plus more, at my brother-in-laws lake house today! Yay! I am bringing these corn bread muffins and lemon squares and sangria. Life. Is. Good. These are the perfect thing to bring to a barbecue because everyone loves them, they are easy to make, and they are a perfect finger food. Just grab and go, no utensils required. Here’s how it is done…

What you will need:

Greased mini muffin tin

1 1/4 cups yellow cake mix (about 9 oz.)
1 package (8.5 ounces) corn bread/muffin mix
2 eggs
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup milk
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

To make the batter:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit.

In a large bowl, sift together the mixes. In a small bowl, stir together the eggs, water, milk and oil. Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients until moistened. Fill prepared muffin tin about half full. Bake for about 15 minutes. Cool on wire rack for 5 minutes before taking muffins out. Best served warm. Enjoy!

Yield: 24 mini muffins

One Hour Rolls

Freshly baked bread. The next best thing after freshly baked cookies. I really do not like making bread, it is difficult and time consuming. But this recipe is a little more simple and I think everyone should try making homemade bread at some point in their lives. You do not need a bread maker and no kneading required. Yay! So, let’s begin…

What you will need:

1 cup warm water
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 packet dry active yeast
1 teaspoon salt
1 large egg, beaten
3 1/3 cup flour

To make the dough:

In a large bowl (or bowl of your electric mixer), mix water, sugar, oil and yeast. Let stand for about 15 minutes until mixture is bubbly.

Stir in salt and egg. If you are using an electric mixer, use the paddle attachment. Gradually add flour. The dough should be sticky, but manageable. I found this amount of flour to be perfect. Let the dough rest in bowl for 10 minutes.

Spray a baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray. Also spray your hands. Form dough into balls or as close to balls as you can, and place on baking sheet. I mean, look at mine! Not perfect at all. Once they are baked, they will get a better shape. Let rise for 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees fahrenheit. Bake rolls for 10 minutes, until the tops are lightly browned. Serve warm with butter, jam, honey or plain! Enjoy!