Ch-Ch-Ch-Chia! A Product Review

I live very near a Woodman's.  I know, lucky me, right?!  For those of you who don't know what Woodman's is or have never been to one, Woodman's is the end-all-be-all of grocery stores.  They have it all.  I mean all of it.  Everything.  Everything there is to have, they have it.  All you have to do is want it, and be ambitious enough to look for it.

My favorite part of Woodman's is their clearance carts.  Every time I enter the store, I grab a cart and immediately head toward the area where a myriad of bargain-laden carts wait for me in all their shiny chrome splendor.  Expired items, half-wilted produce, all the stuff nobody else wants...all overripe for the picking.

There are also a couple different locations around the store that hold different clearance items, but I'm not letting that cat out of the bag.  Suffice it to say that yesterday I came across a fancy little bargain bin containing a most bizarre item.

This:

Getting excited?  I am.

Being an enthusiast of the bizarre, and also someone who will try just about anything, I grabbed two and carried on.  I knew this must be an expensive item, considering the plethora of floaties and all the highfalutin key words on the label and the fact that it was still $1.50 on clearance, but also considering its appearance, I stuck with two because I wasn't sure I would like it.  Granted, me not liking a food item is strange, but still.  Look at this stuff up close and tell me that imagining a big swallow doesn't give you a case of the heebee jeebees.

Mmmm chia seeds.

I carried on with my day as usual, and around 8pm I remembered the two bizarre little gems in my fridge and decided to give it a go.  There were only two flavors available, grape and cherry, of which I had gotten one of each.  I grabbed the cherry first and gave it a little shake, opened that baby up and tentatively took a sip.

HOLY CRAP!!!  This is the most fabulous drink EVER!!  It has a weird consistency, but who cares.

What?  You have 'an issue with texture'?

Well buck up little buddy, cause it is so dang good, and really, you can't even tell that you are swallowing a whole bunch of chia seeds with each big slurpy mouthful.

So I guess its all healthy and raw and organic and kombucha (whatever the hell that is) and chia and so much fiber and it'll give you mad energy, but so what.  IT TASTES AWESOME.  I guess Kombucha can be this awesome weight loss thing, it decreases your appetite, improves your digestion, and can be drank? drinked? drunk? before a workout for an energy boost.  It's vegan.  It's raw.  It's organic.  It's kosher.  Heck, it's anti-fungal!  Who doesn't want to drink their anti-fungals?!

From their website:

Serving Suggestions

• Try one in the morning instead of coffee.
• Have one an hour before your workout.
• Sip it throughout the day for sustained energy.
• Drink it with or without a meal to help control your appetite.
• Drink one now! You'll feel better.

That last one is my favorite.  And they're right.  You should get one.

I went back for more today.  There was only one left in the bargain bin so I hit the produce section and grabbed the other two flavors to try.  Now, regular price on this stuff isn't exactly cheap, but each bottle IS two servings.  Of course, I had to restrain myself from drinking the whole two servings in one big weird-consistency gulp.  If I ration myself carefully, I can do this.  I'm gonna drink a lot of this seedy goodness.  And so can you.  It's definitely worth a try, once you get over the sticker shock. 

So next time you see me and I look like this, you'll know why.

Ch-ch-ch-Chia!

Boo!! ...A thing I made.

Here is a Halloween project I've been working on, inspired by my bestie over at Scrap It Girl.  I give her and my sister-in-law all the credit for this project, because I basically just borrowed their ideas. 

Anyway...

 The letters are from Hobby Lobby and come naked like this.  They are really cheap, and if you have a single creative bone in your body, the options of what to do with them are pretty much endless.  The 'O's here are actually zeros...they were out of Os.  

As far as I am concerned, they work out perfectly.

 Spray painting sure is fun, I see why the hoodlums like it so much.  

Anyone have anything they need spray painted?  I'm your gal.

 Spray adhesive is almost as much fun as spray painting.  Maybe even more fun, cause you can stick stuff to other stuff...and stuff.  Like this glitter.  I stuck it to my spray painted letters.  

It took almost the whole two glitter tubes to do 3 letters. 

I will have this glitter stuck on me, somewhere, forever.

 But don't they look pretty? Eh?!

Sparkle sparkle!!

Oops, no purple ribbon in the pic.

I picked up some Halloween-y ribbon for 50% off at HL, to start constructing my 'banner'.  The combination of black, green, purple and orange just says 'Halloween' to me. 

I also picked up this black and orange feather boa from Hobby Lobby, also 50% off.  Kimberly (Scrap It Girl) has been doing all kinds of fantastic things with ribbon on banners, so again, that's where the inspiration comes from.  I fixed the letters to the extra wide, sparkly ric rac with hot glue.  The letters are really light, so their weight isn't a problem.  I thought about using a staple gun, but considering the amount of glitter that would come shooting off, I didn't think about it long. 

 After cutting the boa and laying it between the letters, I wasn't overly pleased with how the fluffiness of the feathers kind of covered the letters a bit, and I was afraid that 'BOO' wouldn't be clear enough.  So, I wrapped each section of boa in the purple and green sparkly ribbon to tame it a little bit, and also add those other two colors into the mix.  It worked out pretty well.

Maybe I should mention here that I originally only bought one 4' roll of green ribbon, and used the whole thing on two of four boa sections.  When I went back for more, of course they were out.  That's where the purple comes in.  I was originally going to use all green ribbon, then add purple in somewhere else.  Again, it worked out pretty well.

It's hard to see the purple ribbon in the pictures, but it's there, swirled around the boa just like the green.  Trust me.  I added in the little accent chochkies for a little extra character.  The purple owl was a floral pick, so all I had to do was yank the stick out.  I had to make a minor repair afterwards, but he's sitting on it, so you can't tell.

This bats green matches the green sparkle ribbon pretty much exactly, even though it doesn't look like it in this wonderful picture.  He was also attached to a stick, but with a wire.  I think he was also a floral pick, but I think he was also slightly broken.  He served my purpose perfectly.  Minus his stick.

Clearly my photography leaves much to be desired.  My new pumpkin friend is a jingle bell.  His purple glitter mask coordinates splendidly.  I just tied his little head right onto the O.

And voila!  One of a kind Halloween decor that makes me look like I really know what I'm doing.  

Gotta love it.

It's the Milky Way

In my blog-before-last, I posted about how I had gone to a couple auctions and made out like a bandit.  My big find of the day was a large box of milk glass items that I said I would post pics of.  Well, here they are!

Group shot

There were a total of 24 pieces, and I got the whole box for $20.  I love a good deal.  I did have to separate out a couple of items I didn't fully approve of, and there are also a couple that I probably won't display - because they are ashtrays.

The bowl (upper left) was not part of this haul.

Matching candlesticks and votives

The 3 biggest pieces are my favorites.

Hobnail is my favorite!

There are a couple of opaque white glass items, two are stamped 'FTD 1976', and I am not super thrilled with them.  I don't know if they are collector's items or not, but I will probably try and ebay them anyway.

Next weekend:  More auctions with my bestie!  So stay tuned for new finds...

Pumpkin Cake, Pintested

Fan of Pinterest?  I am.  I use it A LOT, for everything from sewing projects, to home organization, home decor, and definitely TONS of food!!   

My 7 year old daughter has been asking and asking for cooking lessons, but there really aren't cooking lessons for kids...at least not locally for me.  She is always asking me if she can help cook, and I let her do some small tasks, but when you're working on dinner for an hour, your help tends to wander away...when they're 7 and the t.v. is on in the next room.

So, this particular recipe caught my eye recently, cause it's so dang EASY.  My daughter actually pointed it out...directing my pinning from over my shoulder...she was having me pin every dessert she saw.  This recipe I actually decided to try - unlike many of the food-porn recipes I pin just so I can look at them, knowing I will never actually make them - because it's only 2 ingredients.  I'm figuring that mixing TWO items together is right up her alley.

So, here it is.
One boxed cake mix, chocolate, vanilla, whatever. 
One 15 oz can 100% pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)

Preheat oven to 350°. In a large bowl mix cake mix with pumpkin filling using a hand mixer or a stand mixer. Beat on medium for 2 minutes. Pour batter into a greased 7 x 11 inch baking dish. Bake for 28 minutes or until tooth pick comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.

That's it.  I know, right?!

I had opened a large can of pumpkin last week to make low-fat Chicken Enchilada Soup, and froze the remaining half of the pumpkin.  After finding this recipe, I pulled it out to thaw, and finally got around to making the cake yesterday. 

I started with a vanilla cake mix - I use Dr. Oetker's - and my thawed pumpkin.  It mixed up beautifully!  The batter was smooth and had the most awesome pumpkin color. 

Fizzzzz!!

 

 
I happily handed over the beaters to be licked by both of my kids, who ahem *happily* posed for this pic:

What a bunch of comedians I live with.

After taking a couple licks, my son asked if I had put club soda in the batter.  Um, NO.  Well, the batter was 'fizzy'.  My pumpkin had gone bad.  GREAT.  That's a $4 cake mix down the garbage disposal!

I had friends coming over, so I desperately started the search for replacement ingredients.  I found another cake mix - but it's chocolate.  Oh hell, I like chocolate, what the heck?  I'm trying it.  Got out another can of pumpkin, and mixed up Cake Batter #2.  This batter looked a little dry, (the cake mix was slightly bigger) so I took the liberty of putting in about 1 1/2 T. of apple cider. 

After mixing, my people again oh-so-happily posed again with their lickables:

Oh my Gawd, mom, can we be done?

My husband suggested using a bundt pan, and I thought it was a pretty good idea.  Actually, I think he really just wanted an excuse to say 'bundt', and every variation of the word he could think of.  He's funny like that.  I did have to increase bake time to about 32 minutes.
Unfortunately, I forgot to get a picture of the finished cake after I plated it, but I did get a lovely shot of a piece I subsequently devoured with glee.  The sauce is an apple cider glaze.

The cake turned out denser than I expected, but I think it's in a good way.  It's pretty fudgy, very moist, but not really pumpkin-y.  The glaze is a perfect compliment.  It's good, I'd make it again, though next time I really want to try it with a vanilla cake mix!!

Apple Cider Glaze:

1 C. powdered sugar

2 T. apple cider

1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

Mix and drizzle!

Enjoy!!

Out of Summer Hibernation

Well it sure has been awhile, hasn't it?!  It's amazing how time flies...my last post was in mid-April!  The daily arrival of the school bus has changed things around here quite a bit, and now that I've got a pretty good schedule going again, I'm trying to work blogging back into my routine. 

I've been working on some new things, and I have a new page started up!  It's called Material Girl, and its for my little sewing biz.  I'm teaching classes at my local Hobby Lobby and making and selling some great items...you can see them on my new page (when I get them up), and I'll probably be posting them here also. 
 
Look, it's me!  

I'm also hoping to get into another store and teach there, as I can do quite a different variety of projects outside of Hobby Lobby's 'use our stuff' requirements.  Don't get me wrong, both formats are fine.  I have a zillion sewing projects that use the items that HL sells, but I've also got a bunch of green/reuse/recycle sewing projects that would require things they don't carry, I am really excited about trying them out, too.  I will definitely be posting those here and on my Adventures In Greenness Facebook page.


This past weekend our family got to go 'up north' with our BFFs...that's Best Families Forever, fyi...and hit an auction and quite a few estate/rummage sales.  I picked up a whole big box of milk glass items for $20 (almost 30 pieces!), a McCoy cookie jar, an awesome flame red/orange Fire King tilted ball pitcher, a flower frog, a very old pair of glasses, and a print of good old honest Abe. My friend acquired a projector screen...one of those metal ones that the teacher had to bring out and set up when we were in grade school...it has the stand right on it...you'd know it if you saw it...for A DOLLAR.  My friend's mom got another McCoy piece, a cute mule-pulling-a-cart mini-planter, a covered silver dish with spoon notch, and a couple other great items.  The garage at this house was so packed full of goodies, and there was another whole box full of pressed glass items that I know was feeling neglected, among so many other boxes that were just begging to be explored. 

As we were leaving we saw that there was also A BARN!!! that we didn't even realize was part of the sale (I know, right?!) so we tried to go back to the estate sale the next day, but unfortunately it was over.  You know the nightmare where you're running and running and your legs are dead weights and whatever you're running towards is getting further and further away?  That's how I've been dreaming of that barn. 

And speaking of junk, check out this beauty I curb-shopped from down the street...

This kind of stuff makes me happy.









Next post:  The Dissection of a Box of Milk Glass.  Have an awesome day!!