Olive Herb Bread

This is seriously the best bread I've ever had. I made it to take to our Thanksgiving dinner this year and it was a huge hit.

Here's what you'll need:
3.25 cups flour
1.25 tsp salt
.75 tbsp instant yeast
1/3 cup pitted kalamata olives (chopped)
1.5 tsp Italian herbs and seasoning
1.5 cups warm water

Directions
1. In a large mixing bowl,  combine all the dry ingredients (flour, salt, yeast, Italian herbs and seasoning). Stir well.
2. Add the olives and warm water to the mix a little at a time. Make sure there is no dry flour left along the sides of the bowl. You may need to add a little extra water to get everything mixed in well.
3. Cover the bowl with a hand towel and leave it alone for about 2 hours.
4. Prepare a cookie sheet for baking by spraying with cooking spray and sprinkling cornmeal where the dough will be.
5. After sitting for 2 hours, your dough will have risen quite a bit. You can now remove it from the bowl and place it on your cookie sheet. Once it is on the cookie sheet, let it rise for another hour and half.
6. Preheat your oven to 425.

7. (Optional) With a sharp knife, make 3 shallow slashes across the top of the dough from one side to the other.
8. Bake for 30 minutes.

the finished product... yum

Vegetarian Spicy Meatballs!

As a vegetarian, I made a meatless version of these meatballs. However, you can always use ground beef or the meat of your choice for this recipe. 

Here's what you'll need:

1lb Gimme Lean Meatless Ground Beef

1/2 cup bread crumbs

1 egg (I used 1/4 cup Egg Beaters)

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp red pepper flakes

1 tsp Cajun seasoning

3 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tbsp yellow mustard

Cooking Spray

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400. 

2. Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl. The Gimme Lean ground beef is a little harder to work with than regular ground beef, so I had to use a fork to get everything really mixed in. 

3. Prepare a cookie sheet or cake pan with a thin layer of cooking spray. 

4. Form your meatballs and arrange them in rows. Bake for 30-35 minutes. 

5. Eat up!

These meatballs are great in pasta dishes or just by themselves. Personally, I dip everything in barbecue sauce, and these meatballs are no exception. Yum!

5 Minute Ciabatta Bread

Ok, so maybe 5 minutes is an exaggeration, but the actual assembly of ingredients for this bread really does only take 5 minutes. Not only is it absolutely delicious, but it's also so easy, you'll find yourself making it over and over again.

Here's what you'll need:

1/4 tsp active dry yeast
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 cups warm water
4 cups flour
mixing bowl
cookie sheet
corn meal (to sprinkle on cookie sheet before baking)
Itatlian herbs and seasoning (optional)

Directions:

1. Start by pouring the 2 cups of water in your mixing bowl. Then stir in the yeast and the salt. Add the flour one cup at a time while stirring constantly. If you have any flower stuck to the sides of the bowl, add a little extra water to help mix it in.

Sometimes, it's easier to just use your hands to mix it all up. :)





2. Once all the ingredients are mixed together, cover your bowl with towel or plastic wrap, and let it sit for at least 8 hours.

 8 hours later.... your bread mix will look like this:

3. Preheat your oven to 425

4. To prepare your cookie sheet for baking, cover it with a thin layer of corn meal. This will prevent the bread from sticking to the sheet while it bakes. If you prefer, you can use baking paper or a pizza stone instead.

5. Your dough will be thick and sticky. Pour it on to the cookie sheet. You can use a spoon to guide it, if needed.

6. This step is optional. For a little added flavor, sprinkle herbs or spices on top of your bread before you stick it in the oven. I put Italian Herbs and Seasonings on my bread. SO yummy!

7. Bake for 25 minutes.

And now for the finished product:

Best. Bread. Ever.

Love You Frame

Another Pinterest find- the "Love You" frame with Scrabble letters. As an avid Scrabble player, I fell in love with this frame and decided I had to make one for myself.

Here's what you'll need:

Scrabble letters
1 shadowbox frame
hot glue gun
flat-head screwdriver
paint (optional)
hammer and tiny nails

I bought my shadow box frame at the Dollar Store for $2. It looked like this when I bought it:

I used a flat-head screwdriver to pry of the back of the frame and peeled off the bathtub paper that was originally in the frame.

I used turquoise paint (3 coats) for my background color, but you can always leave the background plain, or paint it whatever color you prefer.

I bought a complete set of Scrabble letters off of Ebay for $7. There were also sellers that sold individual letters, but I opted for a whole set in case I ever need random letters in the future. :)

After the paint was dry, I arranged the letters and used a pencil to lightly trace the outline of where they needed to be glued.

Finally it was glue time.

Once the letters were glued on, I put the board back in the frame and hammered it back in place with some tiny nails. 

I have to admit, the finished product isn't perfect. Luckily, I have an extra frame and the extra letters. Nonetheless, I'm pretty happy with outcome and I definitely plan on making another!

Painted Vases

A lot of my ideas come from my FAVORITE website: Pinterest. I recently came across these painted vases on Pinterest and decided to give them a try. I'm so glad I did!

This is a fun, easy way to add a little color to any room.

Here's what you'll need:

glass vases or bottles (I bought 3 vases at Goodwill for $3)

acrylic craft paint (I used Americana Gloss Enamels Paint- you'll need 1 bottle of paint per vase)

Directions:

1. Start out by making sure your vase is nice and clean (wash out with soap and hot water)

2. Pour a little of the paint into the bottom of the vase and tilt it back and forth until all of the sides are coated, continuing to add more paint as needed.

Covering the sides can take a little time. You can speed up the coating process by tilting the vase on each side and lightly bumping the base on the palm of your hand. This will help the paint spread a little quicker. You can also use a long handled paint brush here to spread the paint around the inside of the jar.

3. Once all sides are of the vase are covered, place them upside down to dry.

The finished product looks amazing! I painted one vase bright blue and the other turquoise- I still have a third vase that I plan on painting white. I put the finished vases on top of the cabinets in my kitchen and I love love love how bright and colorful they are. I can't wait to make more and add them to my collection!

Pumpkin Pie Shake

Pumpkin is absolutely THE flavor of Fall. Here's a low cal, low fat shake that I am absolutely obsessed with. I got the idea for this from a good friend and it's so easy to make, I find myself whipping them up as often as possible!

Here's what you'll need:

2/3 cups Libby's Easy Pumpkin Pie Mix
1/2 cup skim milk
1 cup ice (the smaller the ice the better- it'll be easier for the blender to break down)
3 packets Splenda (or sugar of your choice)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
   *VERY IMPORTANT: make sure you get the pumpkin pie mix and not the pumpkin puree.

Directions:

1. Add all ingredients to the blender.
2. Blend until all the ice is broken down and your shake is smooth and frothy.
3. Poor into your favorite mug and enjoy.

Pretty straightforward, right? The results are amazing, and the best part is, you can have an amazing pumpkin shake without the guilt of the 34g of fat you'd get from a Sonic pumpkin pie shake.


Extras
You may be asking yourself, "What about the pie crust? What about the whipped cream?" Don't worry you can easily add these without increasing the fat and calorie content too much. Here's how::



For the whipped cream, add a dollop of fat free Cool Whip.



For the pie crust, break open a 100 calorie pack of Lorna Doone Shortbread Cookies, crush them into smaller pieces, then sprinkle the cookie crumbles on top 

Spicy Black Bean Soup

Here's an amazing recipe for soup that you can make in under 15 minutes. Best eaten on a chilly night- it's my new Fall Favorite.

Here's what you'll need:
1 can of black beans (drained)
1 can of Rotel
1 can of creamed corn
0.5 tsp of ground cumin
2-3 tsp of chili powder
salt to taste

Options Options Options!!

When it comes to this soup, the spicier the better. I use a minimum of 1 tbs of chili powder, but again- it's all about personal preference. Start out with 2 tsp and then add a little as you go along until you get it just right.

While I love (love love) black beans, I have to say, I'm not a fan of beans in my soup. I like soup that I can sip on from a coffee mug, so I start out by putting everything in the blender: the beans, the Rotel, the corn, and even the spices.
The blender is completely optional and if you prefer a chunkier soup, simply start by adding everything to a nonstick pan, and skip to step 2 below.

Directions:

1. Pour all ingredients into the blender and mix or blend for about 30 seconds
2. Pour ingredients from the blender into a non-stick pan and simmer on medium high for about 10 minutes.
Stir occasionally.
3. Add extra chili powder and/or salt to taste

yuuuum

This is some seriously satisfying soup. 

Once your soup has cooked for about 10 minutes, put some in a bowl, add your favorite topping and enjoy! I love a few croutons on my soup but I think a little shredded cheese would work really well here too.