Paleo Comfort Foods

Yay! I have been eagerly waiting for my cookbook to be here and it finally arrived this week! I have been checking out the Paleo Comfort Foods blog for a few months now and have absolutely loved their flavorful recipes and easy going spirit. I also like all of the giveaways they have had lately (even though I have yet to win)! Either way I am super excited to have my cookbook in my hands now and have been looking through the book and can't decide what recipe to experiment with first! All of them seem pretty simple to make and most of the ingredients are things I try to keep around anyway. So keep looking for my Paleo Comfort Food cooking adventures in the upcoming weeks :)

Paleo Chocolate Chip Orange Scones

I have been spending way too much time on Pinterest. It is an easy way to distract myself from all of the other work that I should be doing. It has been a stressful start to the new school year. However, I have been thoroughly enjoying the weekends to experiment with different arts and crafts projects and recipe adventures I have found from Pinterest. This weekend I made two delicious recipes from Elana's Pantry. If you haven't checked her out, she has some amazing gluten free recipes. I stumbled upon her blog earlier this summer, but didn't make anything until this weekend. I don't know why it took me so long because both recipes I made this weekend were super easy and amazing, I even had all of the ingredients at home already. I made the Paleo Bread yesterday (I will be experimenting on different variations soon and most likely sharing those later) and this morning I made these scones.

Paleo Orange Chocolate Chip Scones

from Elana's Pantry

Ingredients:

• 2 cups almond flour/meal (the recipe called for blanched almond flour, however I mixed  it half and half with regular almond meal and blanched almond flour)
• ¾ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ cup dark chocolate chips 
• 1 tablespoon orange zest
• 1 egg
• 3 tablespoons agave nectar

Directions:
1. Mix dry ingredients (almond flour,  baking soda, chocolate chips, orange zest) in large bowl.
2. Mix egg and agave together and combine with dry ingredients.
3. Knead the dough with your hands to create a ball (My dough was very sticky). Flatten the dough to about ½ inch thick circle.
4. Cut the dough into mini pizza slices and transfer to a parchment lined baking sheet.
5. Bake for 10-15 minutes in a 350 degree oven.

Step 3

Step 4

Enjoy :)

Chocalate Peanut Butter Cupcakes

Do you love chocolate and peanut butter? If so...these cupcakes are amazing and I can almost guarantee that you will love this "sweet treat"! I found this recipe on Pinterest and knew that I needed to try them out ASAP. Of course when my sisters birthday came around, I jumped on the chance to make them. I love being able to use a packaged cake mix and doctor it to make it better. I was rushed to make the cupcakes that I didn't have a chance to take my step by step tutorials. I also hope I can start making more time to share all of my craft adventures :)

Cupcakes

1 package devil’s food cake mix
1 (3.4 oz) package instant chocolate pudding mix
3/4 cup sour cream
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
Reese’s Miniatures peanut butter cups, frozen (you will need one for each cupcake)

Peanut Butter Buttercream Icing
3 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 cup creamy peanut butter
2 Tbsp pure vanilla extract
2 lbs powdered sugar
3-4 Tbsp milk (I used Almond Milk because that is what I had on hand but you can use regular milk too)
Reese's peanut butter cups miniatures
 

Directions:

Cupcakes

Fresh out of the oven :)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line cupcake pan with liners and set aside.
2. Mix all ingredients except for peanut butter cups until well mixed.
3. Spoon 3 to 4 tablespoons batter in the cupcakes liners Place a frozen peanut butter cup in the batter.
4. Bake for 18-22 minutes until toothpick comes out clean. 
5. Allow to cupcakes to cool completely before frosting.  

Peanut Butter Buttercream Frosting
1. Mix butter and peanut butter in a stand mixer.
2. Add the powdered sugar carefully (in small amounts) until well mixed. 
3. Add the milk and vanilla. Be sure that all of the frosting is being mixed. Keep mixing for 5 to 7 minutes until desired frosting consistency. 
4. Use a round tip or star tip in a decorator bag to pip frosting onto cooled cupcakes. Top each cupcake with a mini peanut butter cup. 


Enjoy :)

MIA

So yeah....I've been super busy these last couple weeks with school starting so my extra time has been occupied by sleeping, planning, reading, and Pinteresting :) I am hopefully going to be able to relax a little once I get into the groove of school! So needless to see there really hasn't been much cooking around here or crafting....that is until tonight! Tomorrow is my sisters birthday (WOOT WOOT) and I was given the task of making SWEET TREATS! I have been looking on Pinterest all week trying to figure out what kind of cupcakes to make! I will give you a little sneak peak and share more about them tomorrow when they are finished. I have also been working on a few crafts that I will share as well :)

Mod Podge Letter

I have discovered Mod Podge!!!! I have spent way too much time on Pinterest lately looking at all sorts of crafts and recipes. I kept seeing projects with Mod Podge and I had never used or really heard of it before! The more I looked into everything you can make with it...I knew I had to get some ASAP! I decided to make a "Mod Podged S" for my first project. I forgot to take pictures along the way but have no fear, I am pretty sure there will be more Mod Podge tutorials because this stuff is amazing! I love it!

I bought a plain, unfinished wooden "S" and painted the sides and back a pretty green color so it would match the colors in my house and because I didn't want the unfinished wood to show. After letting it dry, I traced the "S" onto a piece of scrapbook paper and cut out the letter. After putting on a layer of Mod Podge on the wood, I carefully placed the paper to it and then applied another layer of Mod Podge over the paper. I did another layer on top after it dried because I think I missed a few spots the first time :) I am super excited to experiment with more projects in the very near future! I put my Mod Podged S in my kitchen above my key hooks!

Homemade Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

As I have said before...ice cream is my weakness! I love it! One of my favorite flavors has to be Mint Chocolate Chip (especially the Breyer's Mint Chocolate Chip...mmm)! When I discovered the super easy homemade-no machine ice cream recipe last month, I knew that I absolutely needed to make a mint ice cream. I knew that if I made it on my own, I would most likely end up eating the entire batch by myself! I had the perfect excuse to make it for a little get together last weekend! I also made another batch of my Chocolate, Coffee, Toffee Ice Cream too! I just love how simple the ingredients are and that you don't need any fancy machines!

Homemade Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

Whip up Pint of Heavy Cream until stiff peaks. Mix 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and 1 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract with the can of Sweetened Condensed Milk. Combine the whipped heavy cream and milk mixture together. Add 1 cup mini chocolate chips to the ice cream (you can use more or less chocolate chips/mint depending on how minty or chippy you want your ice cream). Pour the ice cream into a freezer safe bowl and freeze for at least 4 hours or until hardened. 

Enjoy every bite of this delicious ice cream!!!!

Melted Crayon Art

School starts soon so I have been trying to cram in all of the projects I wanted to do this summer into the last few days left. I have been busy organizing, cleaning, and catching up on all of my TV watching :) I also discovered Pinterest! If you haven't heard of it, you need to check it out! It is pretty much an online bookmarking site that you can share anything you stumble up on the internet with others. I have spent lots of time looking at all of the wonderful things that everyone has to offer online. It is amazing how much is out there! One of the things in my house that I need is more artwork on the walls....so I have been on the lookout for more DIY art! I found this project on there yesterday and I couldn't wait to get to the store and buy canvas and crayons!
    
Materials: 

 

     11 X 14 Canvas
    2 Boxes of 24 Crayons
    Hot Glue Gun
    Hair Dryer









Directions : 
 1. Lay out the crayons in any order you want. I took out the white, gray, peach, brown, and black. With the remainder of the crayons I was able to fit all of them across the canvas in a rainbow effect.

2. Glue crayons next to each other towards the top of the canvas. I glued each crayon individually to be sure they were as straight as possible.

 3. Once all of the crayons are glued down, take the canvas outside and lean against a wall with newspaper down to protect the ground. I just love the look of all of the crayons lined up

4. Use a blow dryer on HIGH heat and melt the crayon wax and let the wax drip and blend the colors together. I did have to change the angle of the canvas to help control the drips.

 I just love the look of the final product! I can't wait put the canvas in a frame to put in my arts and crafts room/office. The colors look amazing together and you can't help but smile when you look at it :) This is definitely a project a recommend if you are looking for a fun way to brighten a room!