Apple Pie - A fall favorite!

The photo doesn't do it justice, I should have taken a photo of one slice so you could see the yummy inside, but alas...it's gone! From Betty Crocker's New Cookbook:

2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
dash of salt
8 cups thinly sliced peeled tart apples (about 8 medium)

Heat oven to 425 degrees F.
Mix sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a large bowl. Stir in apples. Turn into pastry lined pie plate.

Sprinkle apple mixture with Crumb Topping: Mix 1 cup all-purpose flour, 1/2 cup packed brown sugar and 1/2 cup firm stick butter until crumbly. Cover topping with aluminum foil during last 10 mins of baking to prevent excessive browning. Bake 50 mins. Enjoy!

The Five Tibetan Rites

Recently I learned about The Five Tibetan Exercises. This is a great way to get going in the morning when you have very little time. This 10 minutes helps you get jump started...get your body functioning like a yoga cup of coffee. I really enjoy a full hour of yoga, but some days it is just not going to happen. Especially this week with this sinus infection. Not healthy. Any exercise seems stressful. So, enter The 5 Tibetans. A quick, less stressful way to stretch, tone, and stimulate the seven key chakras (if you're into that sort of thing). Here's a link to more information, printable pages, and full description of each short exercise: http://www.lifeevents.org/5-tibetans-energy-rejuvenation-exercises.htm

Pinterest

Have you seen Pinterest? I love this site. You can create pin boards that reflect your style, your tastes, your loves, your inspirations. Create your own wish board, gift ideas, home decor ideas, whatever you want. Then look around at other people's boards and revel in the beauty. You can "follow" other pin boards that you like. Come back and check in on your board when you need a pick-me-up or a little creativity boost. Create your own inspiration collection! Check it out at http://pinterest.com. If you want to follow me, I'm soaprehab. Naturally.

Indie Find: Good4You Herbs and Teas

I love my morning cup. I like to vary it up between coffee and tea. What I also love about tea is all the varieties that are caffeine free so I can enjoy them in the evening as well. I have purchased several teas from Good4You on Etsy: http://www.etsy.com/shop/good4you and enjoyed them all. They had a deal on Heartsy last week, so I stocked up. (Not familiar with Heartsy? Super discounts from Etsy shops! http://heartsy.me) You can order either loose teas or bags, whichever you prefer. I use a lot of loose teas but decided to try some bags this time. With great names and super fab artwork, this is a fun shop to browse. And excellent customer service makes it a breeze to purchase as well. Some varieties include: pure bliss chai, simmer down, wake up & live, for spring sniffles (speaking of Spring sniffles, we have some of that around our house right now, should have put that one in my cart!), and dream tea. If you are a tea lover, I highly recommend Good4You teas.

Fun & Easy Fontalicious Gift Bag & Bow

A super cute project to make your gifts even more special! Check this one out:

Fun & Easy Fontalicious Gift Bag & Bow

Fun & Easy Fontalicious Gift Bag & Bow

Wanted to share with you this super simple font gift bag project that you can do in like 10-15 minutes. It can take that plain and boring gift bag into one that steals the spotlight at the party! And it's totally made with random magazine cutouts, a punch, and scissors! Here's how you make it!

Fun & Easy Fontalicious Gift Bag

Materials
– Plain gift bag (you can get them at Target for 99¢ or dollar stores for 2 for a $1)
– Circle paper punch (mine is 1.5" x 1.5")
– old magazines
– Aleene's® Original Tacky Glue®
– Foam Brush
– Scissors

Instructions
1. Punch out interesting type from your magazines using a circle punch. I chose to pick type on backgrounds with different colors.
2. Use a foam brush to brush on Tacky Glue to back of circles. Spread on a thin even coat.
3. Space your circles evenly apart in rows on the front of your bag.
4. Optional: Cut out strips of a headline from the magazine for bow. Follow this simple paper bow tutorial to make a bow using the strips. I added an additional small loop in the center of this to complete the look! Glue it onto your packaging with the Tacky Glue!

Notebook Project

One of my recent projects at the famous Polly's Paper (www.pollyspaper.com) is this cute little notebook. I am always jotting down notes and ideas, things to do and things to remember. So, I decided to make myself a small notebook to keep all my notes together. I started out with a little ringed chipboard book, added some of my favorite new paper from Polly's, and some ribbon, and voila! Sits right here on my desk where a good portion of my note making is done. :)

Rhubarb Vanilla

Rhubarb is one of my favorites in the Spring and Summer. I've posted my rhubarb love a few times in fact! Now, I finally decided to put that rhubarb love into soap form. I think this combo of rhubarb and vanilla is divine!

Tangy, fruity rhubarb adds a burst of excitement and energy to delicious, elegant vanilla. A sophisticated blend, though, not so foody. In fact, I think it's a very classy, feminine scent for Spring.
Here's the listing on Etsy: http://www.etsy.com/listing/72749759/rhubarb-vanilla-soap-bar

Hoppy Easter

Re-Use Challenge #2

More ways I'm finding of using paper to make things new! This was a (ahem) dog food can in its previous life, but I thoroughly washed and then sanitized it. Used some pretty papers and stickers, a bit of glue, and voila! A pen holder for my desk. Loving it!

Spinach Pancakes!

These look fantastic and healthy! By http://spabettie.com:

spinach pancakes

by spabettie on January 21, 2011

in Breakfast,Gluten Free,recipes

Remember my paleo era, when I made that spinach bread?

Now that both Jason and I are gluten free, I am thinking about making my own bread. I made the spinach bread again recently, and I thought, why not make a pancake? I can still make sandwiches…

While not technically paleo with the addition of a rice flour, these are really good!

spinach pancakes

3 cups (handfuls) fresh spinach
3 eggs
2/3 cup rice flour

Pulse spinach and eggs in food processor until blended. Add flour and pulse until completely blended. Spray griddle or pan, heat to medium high.

These will bubble like a normal pancake. Flip!

I ate one of these by itself. It was good!

Back to the original plan, though! I made a sandwich.

Oh, yum. A perfect fried egg warming a slice of colby jack. Spinach sandwiched!

Okay, perhaps not a traditional sandwich, but it was breakfasty and delicious.

More ways to use these pancakes – as a sandwich ‘bread’ – as a soup topping – as a sweet and savory breakfast.

Wordless Wednesday

Orange Crochet Openwork Handwarmers

My husband thinks I'm obsessed because I've made a lot of handwarmers/fingerless gloves this winter. I have made a few for friends and family, and a few for myself. They are just so "handy" and I love wearing them while at the computer. My hands DO stay warmer than his while we are in the home office, so much so that he even reduced himself to trying on one of my pairs. ha! Now he gets it. So, when my sister recently taught me how to crochet in rounds (some things like this are just better learned in person), I decided to try a pattern for a pair of handwarmers worked in rounds. They worked up quickly and easily. I love the way they turned out, and wearing them right now I can attest to their power to keep my hands warm. yay! I might have to make a few more of this pattern....ok maybe I'm a wee bit obsessed. If you are looking for a great handwarmer pattern, here is the one I used this time: http://creativeyarn.blogspot.com/2008/02/crochet-openwork-handwarmers.html

Pumpkin Peanut Butter Doggie Treats

This is a really easy treat recipe courtesy of Betty Crocker. I got the rice flour just for these, which is perfect since my Roxy can't deal with wheat. And she looooves both pumpkin and peanut butter. Today has been one of those cold, dreary winter days that I just felt like baking. I tried one out of curiosity and they are really not bad. A friend came over and ate one before I could explain that they are for the dog (hehe) and thought that with a little sugar or frosting.... :) Now I just need a dog bone cookie cutter so that my homemade treats will be more self explanatory!

3 cups brown rice flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup peanut butter
2 eggs
1 can (15 oz) pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)
Directions
1. Heat oven to 350° F. In large bowl stir all ingredients until soft dough forms.
2. Divide dough in half. Using brown-rice-floured rolling pin, roll each dough half to 1/2 inch thickness on brown-rice-floured surface.
Cut with 3-inch cookie cutter. On ungreased cookie sheet, place cutouts about 1 inch apart.
3. Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until dry and golden brown. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheet to cooling rack. Cool completely,
about 30 minutes.
4. Store in dog treat jar at room temperature up to 1 week. For longer storage keep in refrigerator or freezer.
Prep Time: 15 Minutes Start to Finish: 1 Hour 35 Minutes Makes: 36 puppy treats

New Collaboration with Hearts and Laserbeams

Steph of Hearts and Laserbeams http://heartsandlaserbeams.com worked up some super fab new label designs for me in a Limited Edition series of soaps. I love what she came up with, they are so cute and fun!! I hereby introduce Oatmeal Stout, Bonsai, and You're a Peach, Ginger!