Beer Bread

A few months back, my mom went to a Tastefully Simple party and bought two beer bread mixes. One white, and one whole wheat. They were both delicious, and needless to say, were eaten rather quickly.

I wanted to make a "fancy" bread to go with the BBQ pulled pork I made for dinner, and decided to make a beer bread, from scratch. It really isn't difficult at all. Very simple, and quick to prepare (not so quick to bake). So, here it goes!

Ingredients

3 cups white flour 

1 1/2 Tbsp. baking powder

1 1/2 tsp. salt plus some to sprinkle

3 Tbsp. sugar

2 Tbsp. margarine, melted

1 bottle of beer

dried herbs to sprinkle

Instructions

1. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees Farenheit.

2. In a medium to large mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients.

3. Mix in the margarine and beer.

4. Pour into a sprayed bread loaf pan. Sprinkle with kosher salt, and some dried herbs.

5. Bake for 55 minutes, or until the top is light golden brown.

6. Allow to cool before slicing.

That's it. Very simple and tasty! You can get creative with this bread in so many ways:

Flavored Beers - To add a little "punch" to the bread, use a flavored beer. I like using Woodchuck Hard Cider (in fact, I used the Granny Smith for this bread). You could try a flavored Sam Adams (like the Cherry Wheat when in season).

Mix-In Ingredients - Stir in some cheddar cheese and herbs, and put in muffin tins! You'll get muffins with great flavor! Or, try adding bacon bits. 

Change Up Flour - Try using whole-wheat, rye, potato, or a mixture of flours. As long as you have 3 cups total. (Don't use self-rising).

Make it Sweet - Beer bread is generally on the sweet side anyway, but instead of topping it with salt, or stirring in cheese, try stirring in some dried fruit and sprinkling some sugar on top. Talk about a unique breakfast bread! (And you won't feel guilty about having "beer" before 5 o'clock).

At Home Spa Day - Face Masks and Body Scrub

What woman doesn't want to have a day all to herself?!

While watching The Chew the other day, Daphne Oz gave 3 DIY Homemade Masks and a Scrub. I thought I would share the wealth right here with all of you! 

You can watch the video if you go to The Chew - Videos. Look for Daphne's Homemade Skin Savers.

Kiwi Scrub

This moisturizes and tightens your skin.

(This can be used all over the body)

Ingredients

2 Kiwis (peeled) - leave the peel on for extra exfoliating

1 Cup Greek Yogurt

~2 T Olive Oil

~2 T Orange Juice (or Lemon or Lime)

Puree the ingredients in a blender. Massage into skin (on face or all over your body) and wait until it dries. Rinse with warm water.

Egg White Mask

This is a firming mask that also helps prevent whiteheads.

Ingredients

2 egg whites

Juice of 1/2 Lemon (optional)

Whisk the egg whites and juice together until the liquid is frothy. Massage into skin, and wait until it dries. Rinse with warm water.

Soothing Banana Mask

Reduces redness and irritation, and also helps with acne.

Ingredients

1 Banana

Greek Yogurt ( 1/2 - 1 Cup)

Honey (eyeball)

Mash the banana, and stir in the yogurt and honey. Apply the mask, and let sit for 15 minutes. 

Rinse with warm water.

Don't these ideas make you want to host a "girl's night in"? You can make some face scrubs, listen to some great tunes, do mani-pedis and have a few (or a ton of ) laughs :)

I can't wait to try the Kiwi and Banana masks, which ones do you want to try?

Chicken & Dumplings

This meal has been particularly fun to create! A few days ago, I noticed that my new camera (a Nikon L105) has a food close-up setting. I was so excited to try it out, and I have had some fun with it! Now, the pictures are not perfect yet, seeing as how I'm still learning how to use the settings on this particular feature of my camera.

On to the recipe...

Ingredients

Chicken and stock:

2 quarts water

1 3/4 lb. boneless skinless chicken breast

2 celery ribs, chopped

1 medium onion, sliced

5 parsley sprigs

1 bay leaf

garlic powder (or 1 clove, if you have fresh)

0.75 tsp salt (I use kosher)

juice from 1/2 lemon

fresh cracked black pepper, to taste

canned/boxed chicken stock (if needed)*

Dumplings:

2 C flour

1 Tbsp. baking powder

0.75 tsp salt (kosher)

1 C non-fat milk (or whatever you have in your fridge)

Directions:

1. Bring water to a boil in a stock pot.

2. Add the celery, onion, bay, garlic, chicken, parsley and 0.25 tsp salt to the water, and reduce. Simmer uncovered for 2 hours. The liquid will reduce and concentrate.

(Left to Right, Top, then Bottom: ingredients coarsely chopped, ingredients added, chicken added, after 1 hour of simmering)

3. Remove the chicken, and allow to cool.

4. Strain the stock, and throw out the veggies. *You will need 6 cups of stock total, so if you do not have 6 cups after cooking the chicken, add enough canned/boxed stock to bring the amount to 6 cups. 

5. Return the stock to the pot, add black pepper, 0.5 tsp salt, and lemon juice. Allow the stock to simmer.

6. To make the dumplings, combine all ingredients in a bowl, and stir until the dough/batter reaches a smooth consistency. Allow to sit for 5-10 minutes for the batter to rise. 

7. Spoon small amounts of dough into the broth, using all of the dough. Allow this to simmer for 20-30 minutes. Stirring very often (about every 2 minutes). This is the time of the cooking process where you want to baby your food. Give it a lot of TLC. No watching TV!

8. When the chicken is cooled to the touch (during the 20-30 minutes), shred the chicken. Add to the dumplings, and simmer until the chicken is warmed through.

 Serve, and Enjoy!

Merry Christmas... Two Days Late.

Merry Christmas all!

Was good 'ole Saint Nick good to you? He sure was very nice to me, too good in fact. 

My mom bought me a new digital camera, which I absolutely LOVE! (I actually knew about it, because I'm the one who found it and stood in the 45 minute line on Black Friday). She also bought me a pair of boots, which are a beautiful cognac brown color (once again, I knew about them, because I had to try them on to see if they fit). My fiance bought me a lovely pair of smoked quartz earrings, which I have worn every day since I opened the box on Christmas. I also got a very comfy pair of penguin slippers from my future in-laws. They have been keeping my feet nice and warm up here in Georgia. I received many other amazing gifts, that I am very grateful for. 

Here's a few photos from my trip so far :

"Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree..."

Ellis and I at Dave & Busters

Ellis and his friend Justin at Dave & Busters

The earrings Ellis gave me for Christmas - taken with my new
camera :)

Penguin slippers :) SOOO comfy!

He thought he was Paul Bunyan...

Being Paul Bunyan is tiring

Ellis and his best friend Ian at the movies

All decked out for the Falcons MNF game

Lily is so adorable when she sleeps :)

Two kittens chilling out on their condo

My adorable dog Lily actually looking at the camera... this is a rarity

Dave & Busters!

Since we're up in Georgia for Christmas, my fiance and I decided to visit with his friend from high school and his amazing fiancee (I don't know how to add the accents, but pretend there are accents over 'fiance' and 'fiancee'). First, we went to their place and visited with their precious little girl. She is just the cutest little thing, hands down! I love it when she dances to music, and turned on her Daddy's Xbox with the controller.

After we spent time with their baby girl, we went to a Mexican restaurant, called El Charro. The food was pretty good, and the company was great! All in all, it was a nice time at the restaurant. After dinner, we drove to Dave & Busters.

If you have never been to Dave & Busters before, it is Chuck E. Cheese with alcohol (minus the play-place). I had never been to Dave & Busters before. The one in Orlando is fairly new, and right in between Universal  Studios and Disney World, which means it is right in the thick of "tourist country" (also known as International Drive - or I-Drive to us locals). We spent most of our time with this coin casino machine that gives you tickets. The four of us racked up 3 quart-size buckets of tickets (which amounted to 4400 tickets). The guys had fun picking out random stuff in the ticket exchange store. 

I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!!!

xoxo,

Colleen

DIY: Tea Variety Gift Packages

Do you have a friend and/or family member that you need to get a gift for? Whether it is Christmas, a birthday, house-warming, etc. a Variety package is perfect! 

You can make a variety package out of teas, small coffee packages, coffee k-cups (if the person has a Keurig machine, which I love!), or hot cocoa. 

Today, I made a Tea Variety Package. I bought some of my favorite teas, a metal holiday tin, and created my own gift package. 

Here's what you'll need:

40 Individually Packaged Tea Bags (I like Twinings)

Individual Splenda packets (or sugar, Truvia, Stevia, Sweet 'n Low, etc.)

Tea Spoon (optional)

1 Rectangular Metal Tin (or any other packaging device you want to use)

1 sheet of white printer paper

Scotch tape

Scissors

Directions:

1. Cut a thin strip of white printer paper for each group of teas. 

2. Tightly wrap a thin strip around each group of teas. Cut off any excess paper, and Tape the two ends together.

3. Tape each group of teas to the bottom of the tin.

4. Cut 2 more thin strips from the printer paper. Tightly wrap groups of Splenda packets, or whatever you like in your tea. Cut off the excess paper, and tape this down. Tape these groups to the bottom of the tin.

5. Tape a teaspoon to the splenda packets.

This is the finished product! 

I always pick many different flavors of tea. Some of my favorites are:

Twinings Christmas Tea

Twinings Winter Spice

Twinings Pumpkin Spice Chai

Twinings Herbal Unwind (any flavor)

Be creative with the flavors! This will work great with individual coffee packets, k-cups, or individual hot cocoa packets. I personally prefer using teas.

Homemade Bath Salts

Do you have a female friend and/or family member that you still haven't found that perfect gift for? Why not make her scented bath salts? 

Ingredients

3 cups Epsom salt

2 cups sea salt (or kosher salt)

about 20 drops of essential oil(s)

a few drops of food coloring (or liquid soap coloring or a scant amount of mica) - optional

Directions

In a mixing bowl, combine the salts, oils, and color.

*This makes 5 cups of bath salt. You can always divide your basic salts into different portions, and make a separate scent for each person, and do 1 cup packages for each friend! Get 5 gifts in 1!

Get creative with your scent mixes!

Here are a few ideas...

1. Lavender and Tea Tree... adding 10 drops each of lavender oil and tea tree oil will produce a great bath salt for someone to soak their feet. Perfect for that great friend who stands on his/her feet all day! (Even guys will benefit from this!)

2. Jasmine and Rose... adding 15 drops each of jasmine oil and rose oil will make a lovely soothing bath salt. Perfect for someone who needs a break from life.

3. Citrus... find your favorite citrus oils (orange, lemon, grapefruit, etc) and drop some into your salts. This is perfect for summertime. Bright and energizing!

4. Peppermint... adding about 20 drops of peppermint essential oil is a great idea to make a holiday bath salt. Think about dividing the salt mixture into thirds, and color two of the thirds; one red, and one green!

The combinations are endless! Mix and match however you like. Always do a small test first, by taking 2 or 3 spoonfuls, and add 1-2 drops of each oil to the salt, and stir. If you don't like the scent, you didn't ruin your whole batch!

The batch I made today was Peppermint-Peach. I added 14 drops of Peach Oil and 7 drops of Peppermint Oil/Extract. I then divided the salts in half, and added a a drop of blue and a drop of green to one portion, and about 8 drops of yellow to the other portion. 

I always put an ingredient label. This makes it seem a little more "professional", even though it is still a homemade gift. It also allows your recipient to know what exactly you put into their gift.

You can either do layers of color, or swirls of color, or even shake the colors together for a confetti effect. Any way you decide to package it will be lovely.