recommendation: re-use, up-cycle, spray paint!

I have the attention span of a 2 year old. Seriously. We were in the middle of fixing up our garage - this is a big project. Everything peeled away from the walls and in the middle, painting the garage, sweeping. My sister-in-law is spray painting dresser drawers, it was a hot and sweaty day, motivation is not going to last all afternoon... I'm supposed to be painting, or moving things off the wall, or doing something, and then I spot my chalkboard spray paint. So obviously instead of staying on-project and putting it away, I think... what can I spray paint?!

I had saved the plastic containers our plants for the front yard came in (I swear I'm not a hoarder!), knowing that I would find some project with them. They are fairly flimsy as they are meant to be disposable, but here's what I did. I washed them out and let them dry in the sun. Taped down a rectangle on each one and spray painted them with chalkboard spray paint. Waited about 30-45 minutes to be sure, peeled off the tape, and whipped out my galaxy marker and traced the rectangle and polka dotted it up (the world is a happier place because of polka dots). What is a galaxy marker? If you are a crafter, you need this. Its like a paint marker, in that it writes on any dark surface. Its awesome. White is my favorite.

And... TA-DA!

So, I re-used and up-cycled these buckets, therefore justifying my pack-rat habits (in this one instance) and turned them into garage storage containers for all of the other crap I insist on saving...but at least they look pretty & organized! Now I just need to find chalk markers that erase easily... any suggestions? I'd like to purchase them at Michael's (b/c of coupons) or Amazon (because of their great prices). I almost bought some on amazon but reviews said they don't erase well so looking for word of mouth recommendations! On to the next spray paint project... a salvaged chair - will post soon!

recommendation: cake batter muddy buddies

My friend's daughter was having her 3rd birthday party and I volunteered to make the puppy chow (aka muddy buddies) she planned on having (along with scooby snacks, which taste suspiciously like cookie butter....). So cute for a Clifford the big red dog themed party! She mentioned that she had cake batter puppy chow one time so I knew I had to find this recipe. It was just as easy to make as your normal chocolate/peanut butter version but a little more festive with sprinkles in it! I made 1.5 batch of the chocolate and 1 batch of the birthday cake version and 2 boxes of chex was the perfect amount with just enough left over for a bowl of cereal the next morning!

I got my recipe from Chef In Training:

CAKE BATTER MUDDY BUDDIES
recipe adapted from: So Very Blessed

Makes 5 cups

5 cups Chex cereal (I used half rice half corn)
10 oz (5 squares) vanilla flavored Almond Bark
1 1/2 cups yellow cake mix
1/2 cup powdered sugar
vegetable shortening, optional (I skipped)
sprinkles (LOTS OF THEM)

- Pour 5 cups of Chex Cereal into a large bowl.
- In a large bag, put cake mix and powdered sugar and shake to mix evenly. (*Note, I stirred my sprinkles in here so they would stick to the chex too but the recipe calls for them to come in 2 steps... your choice)
- Melt Almond Bark according to the package directions, adding vegetable shortening to thin if desired.
- Pour Almond Bark over cereal, stirring and folding until the cereal is completely covered. Stir in some sprinkles if you would like.
- Pour the Almond Bark covered cereal into the large bag containing cake mix and powdered sugar. Zip up the bag and shake until all the cereal is coated with the powdered mixture.

Sorry no picture of the actual product, they were eaten quickly. I still prefer the chocolate version but they were a hit at the party. Even Murphy the dog got into them...although he is excused, to be fair, we did call it puppy chow and Anne did display it in dog bowls (from the dollar store!). I can see in dog world how this would be confusing.

Pin of Original Recipe (don't you envy people who think up these things in their kitchen??)

Source: soveryblessed.com via Stephanie on Pinterest

recommendation: crockpot Indian dish

Well my quest to make a new Indian dish every two weeks has failed but I'm still trying to fit Indian food in the rotation every now and then. Some Indian food is time consuming (unless you make it THIS way)!

I decided to give this Chicken Tikka Masala crock-pot recipe from Real Simple a go, and it seemed pretty simple. I love crock pot meals on the days I go to visit my Grandma because I'm normally gone the whole day so when I come home, dinner is almost done, whoo hoo! The recipe was pretty good - a little more tomato-y than Indian-y but I think that 1. this is good for people who are new to trying Indian food and 2. It was just so easy that I would make this again based on that. Here are my comments:

Notes:
- I used minced garlic instead of chopped cloves. Remember - 1/2 TSP MINCED garlic = 1 TSP CHOPPED Garlic = 1 WHOLE Clove
- Garam Masala is hard to find, most normal grocery stores don't have it. You'll probably have to visit your local Indian or ethinic foods grocery store (A2 and Chicago, see my store suggestions here) or order it on Amazon (although it will be MUCH cheaper in a grocery store)
- I added "JEERA" which means Cumin to my cucumber salad. I only use ground roasted cumin as I'm not a huge fan of the whole seed. To make it, roast the seeds in a skillet over medium-high heat until they darken, watch carefully so they don't burn. Then grind them in a coffee grinder - I HIGHLY suggest you have a separate spice grinder as this spice has a strong smell and you don not want your coffee beans tasting like cumin!! The seeds should grind into a dark brown powder. I use this when recipes call for cumin but use a little less as its a stronger flavor.

Ingredients
1 15-ounce can crushed tomatoes
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 teaspoons garam masala (Indian spice blend)
kosher salt and black pepper
1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 8)
1/2 cup heavy cream

1/2 English cucumber, halved and thinly sliced
1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves (I left this out, didn't want to spend the money and I don't like cilantro!)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 cup basmati or some other long-grain white rice

Directions
- In a 4- to 6-quart slow cooker, combine the tomatoes, onion, garlic, tomato paste, garam masala, ¾ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Place the chicken on top of the vegetables, cover, and cook until the chicken is tender, on low for 7 to 8 hours or on high for 3 to 4 hours (this will shorten total recipe time).
- In a small bowl, toss the cucumber and cilantro with the lemon juice and ¼ teaspoon each salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate for up to 8 hours.

- Twenty minutes before serving, cook the rice according to the package directions.
- Just before serving, stir the cream into the chicken tikka masala. Serve over the rice with the cucumber relish.

We ate with a lot of veggies and had smaller servings of the actual chicken and rice. I had my beet salad (from Plum Market), a fresh mango, and some roasted cauliflower (chop up, toss with olive oil or spray with Pam, salt, pepper, curry powder and ground roasted cumin (recipe above), roast in oven on 425 for 30 min. p.s. if you are ever wondering how to pronounce this, its Chicken Tikka (TEE-KA) Masala (MAS-ALL-AH).

ENJOY!

Original Pinterest PIN:

Source: realsimple.com via Stephanie on Pinterest

recommendation: grocery store Plum Market

In Chicago I had no strong allegiance to a grocery store - I would go wherever convenient, and rotate between Trader Joe's (best frozen meals, herb prices, pre-marinated meat, and jarred sauces), Jewel (cheapest overall, inexpensive flowers, good cheese section), Dominick's (good produce, bakery and salad bar), and Whole Foods (best produce, hot food & salad bar, ready to eat foods, etc.) and even Sky Grocer our neighborhood store (which prices are SKY HIGH but its a beautiful store and saved me in a few cooking binds).

Here in Michigan, I'm fiercely loyal to Busch's. They are the closest to me but really, it comes down to more. Their store is always clean and stocked, there are samples, everyone (literally everyone in every department) is friendly and helpful. Their prices might be more than Meijer or Kroger, but they are less than Whole Foods and I feel like they sell quality products that make it worth it.

OK but this post is not about my love for Busch's, ha! Its about another fantastic grocery store that is in Ann Arbor and that is coming to Chicago! PLUM MARKET! I'm so excited for my fellow Chicagoans to experience Plum.

They are a high-end grocery store, similar to Whole Foods but much smaller. I've been thinking for the past few days about what makes them different - they too source local products, are heavily organic, offer health options, have premade foods and a great salad & olive bar... and then I learned that they have a reason to be similar:

Matthew Jonna and Marc Jonna are third generation retailers who grew up working for their father’s store, Merchant of Vino Marketplace, a natural, organic, and specialty food and wine store with six locations across the Midwest. The chain attracted significant attention from competitors and in 1998 Whole Foods Market acquired the company. Both Jonna’s continued to work with the Whole Foods Market executive leadership team. Matt and Marc left Whole Foods Market to pursue developing a new grocery concept, later to become Plum Market....

Plum is opening in Chicago in Spring 2013, so sorry to get you prematurely excited, but I need you to all be aware so that when you start seeing signage and construction in Old Town, you know what's coming. It'll be located at 1233 North Wells, Chicago IL 60610.

Another reason I'm excited is because Plum is Zingerman's product-heavy, so I'm hoping this brings more Zingerman's to Chicago!

I debated whether this blog post should be about the store or my favorite dish from Plum, so I'm combining them. Let me tell you about my love for... their BEETS. Beets are a weird vegetable. My only experience of them were as a kid at Easter, seeing hard boiled eggs pickled in beet juice.

As an adult I tried them but didn't get it. They tasted kind of dirty, you know? I have a friend Brianna that loves beets, and since I adore her, it made me want to love beets more. And my friend Anne's 3 year old daughter was eating them when she was 2 so I figure, if she can eat them, why can't I? I tried them at a fancy restaurant and they weren't so bad. So when my mom brought home this beet salad from Plum Market, I was open to trying it. I can't explain to you how UN-BEET this salad is. They taste so...clean! And fresh and pure. They are oven-roasted red beets with thinly sliced red onions in red wine vinaigrette. Its awesome and addictive (and expensive - beets are kind of heavy and its from the salad bar that's charged by weight, so you have been warned). If you like beets or are willing to try, check this dish out.

recommendation: davanti enoteca

Let me tell you about a place that sparkles, day and night. No matter what meal you go to Davanti Enoteca for, the restaurant just has this atmosphere that catches you - this place is a neighborhood gem. Located at 1359 W. Taylor in University Village in Chicago (that's South of West Loop and West of South Loop!), nothing draws you in from the outside, but once your in, the exposed brick, chandeliers and wine racks put out a good vibe.

Hubby and I went here in July of 2011 for Brunch. Ignore the sleepy eyes, their coffee and food woke me right up!

We ordered the special of the day which was a fresh asparagus and swiss fritatta that came with a big pile of lemony arugula on top. Delish!

Like I wasn't making your mouth water enough, we also got a sweet dish. (TIP: if you get this dish, order it first, even before ordering other dishes, it takes a while to make). This Red Eye reviewer wrote it best:

"the calzone di frutta ($10) is a crusty sugar-kissed pocket of dough with steamy cinnamon-y apples and plump cherries inside. A generous dish of mascarpone whipped cream for topping was so simultaneously light and rich that it took all my composure not to lick the leftovers from the bowl."

Can't make brunch? You don't find a lot of places that have breakfast - dinner (and a bar) and each time of day is equally great. Well their dinner is just as amazing. My sister and her boyfriend took my mom and I here while we were visiting. They recommended 8-10 dishes for 4 people but as we had 2 larger items we went with 6. We started off with ricotta cheese presented in a mini mason jar with fresh honeycomb and toast crips to spread it on ($6).

Next up was Craig's recommended dish which we all absolutely loved. Focaccia di Recco ($15) is a baked focaccia bread with fresh soft cow cheese. The focaccia bread was thinner than a traditional one, I think because it was stuffed, but was still filling. This is a must get! The cheese has a strong taste but in a good way.

The pasta we ordered was called Cacio e Pepe ($9), its spaghetti noodles with pecorino and black pepper. This dish was nice and simple which was nice since a lot of our dishes had strong flavors.

I think if the salad we got had a lot more of the dressing (lemon and chili oil) on it, it would have been a bit better. It was beautiful but the shaved hearts of palm ($10) were a bit bland on their own.

Our grilled hanger steak ($17) was delicious but almost didn't taste Italian! It was a nice addition to the meal though. Served on a bed with oyster mushrooms and rhubarb with a salsa verde.

Ok, last but not least we got a pizza! We got the Pizza con Prosciutto e Rucola ($14) minus the Prosciutto for my veggiehead sister. We love arugula and it tasted great on the pizza. Points for cute presentation on a tomato can!

Like its not obvious enough, if you are in the Chicago area, this is a restaurant worth trying! The owner, Scott Harris, is the genius behind the Mia Francesca restaurants AND purple pig! And if you go at night and need a sweet treat after, stop by Mario's Lemonade Stand to get a frozen lemonade (comes in many flavors). ENJOY!

recommendation: actually DO the things you pin, 4th of July wreath

where have I been since my last post on June 12? I have no idea! I have been crafting, cooking, gardening, recommending and traveling but somehow forgot to keep blogging. Oops! Sorry all!

well we're hitting the road again for the holiday but I want to share my fun project before we take off. i love actually DOING the things I pin.

inspiration:since we're going to be out of town, I can't decorate the house too much or have fun party decorations...but a wreath can stay up on the door for all passerbyers to see! I saw the project on Pinterest from Nap Time Crafts and days later found a 50 cent straw wreath at a garage sale so knew I had to move forward with this project. My total cost was $7.27 (not counting glue sticks). Whoo hoo!!

steps:
- find a wreath (foam, straw, anything that is rounded will work): I got mine at a garage sale for 50 cents
- red, white and blue yarn, string, ribbon or fabric strips: I used yarn
- something to use as stars: I used buttons but I saw variations in tutorials as felt stars (hand cut), stickers, buttons or one big star

Since my wreath was straw, I had some interface I got for free at a garage sale and wrapped that around the wreath first to make it easier to wrap with yarn. I'm happy I did this because the straw still poked through a little and the yarn would of really stuck funny if I wrapped it straight. I just cut the interface in strips and hot glued them on. I suppose you could use other fabric or even maybe toilet paper for this? If your wreath is foam, skip this step!

I chose to wrap my wreath in yarn because I love to crochet! I do think something thicker like ribbon may take less time, it took me about an hour and a half total to wrap this. I got all of my ribbon in the sale bin at Michael's for 1.99, .79, and 2.99. I even had leftover to make these cool braided ropes to hang the wreath with and I also made one to wear as a headband or belt on Wednesday!

I eyeballed it and divided the wreath up into sections, doing 3 white, 3 red, and one blue. Doesn't have to be perfect. I have a lot of gaps but didn't have the patience to make it perfect. I hot glued the ends to the wreath and then wrapped each section round and round. It felt so good to finally get to the blue, I was tired of wrapping even though the project was relatively quick and easy. I got buttons at Michael's in the dollar section a while back so glued the white ones on as stars. This would be a great way to use up those buttons that come as extra's on shirts that you save but never really need!

This step is the COOLEST. A pop-top as a hanger. I would never have thought of this myself but the wreath I bought at the garage sale had this on it already. I had to cut theirs off but reattached a new pop-top to hang the wreath on a nail. Just hot glue it on. This is to hang the wreath on a nail. I ended up wrapping mine in a braided rope to hang it from a hook instead.

Last but not least, hang it outside for all to see!

final product: I am happy with the finished product. Its a festive and inexpensive decoration that will only go up for a few days a year, worth doing!

p.s. ONE year I will try these cookies again with Royal Icing.