Savory Oatmeal wtih Spinach and Tomatoes

I enjoy traditional sweet oatmeal with cinnamon and honey, but this morning I was craving something a little different. I approached breakfast with half a plan and the rest came together quite nicely. Here is a recipe for savory oatmeal that will give your morning a real boost. 

Ingredients:

• 2 cups broth
• 1/2 cup steel-cut oats
• 1/2 tsp crushed garlic
• 1/4 tsp salt 
• 1 big handful of fresh spinach ( roughly 1 cup)
• 2 tablespoon nutritional yeast
• 1 large roma tomatoes diced
• 1/3 cup ground sausage style-vegetable or soy protein crumbles (optional) ( used 1 chopped Tofurky veggie sausage)
• 1/4 cup sliced onion
• 1/4 sliced mushrooms (baby bellas work nicely here) 

Directions:

1. Boil broth and stir in oats, reducing heat to medium. 
2. Add garlic and salt and cook for about 4 minutes.
3. While oats are cooking, lightly coat a pan with olive oil.
4. Saute the onions, sausage and mushrooms over a medium heat for about 5 minutes
5. Stir in spinach and nutritional yeast into the oatmeal and continue to simmer on medium heat about 3 minutes or until spinach is wilted and oats are at preferred chewiness. 
6. Add the chopped tomatoes, and cooked sausage mixture to the oats and cook an additional minute. 
7. Serve immediately. 

Savory Seasoned Flaxseed Crackers

This summer has been very strange, we didn't have a week of 112 degree temperature, which is quite normal in phoenix and it has been raining. Of course that just means its rained more than twice this summer and the downpours have been pretty significant. A few weeks ago we received more rain in one day than the area had received all year. I am loving it! Rain means cooler temperatures and a break from the desert dry air. The drawback, Phoenix is not equipped to handle rain. The slightest amount of moisture throws this city into a panic. Drivers have no idea how to navigate raindrops and the streets flood almost immediately. Today it came down in buckets and of course I had a near empty cupboard. Rather than venture out into the storm that knocked over all of my outdoor potted plants, I decided to make something out of the mixed-match ingredients I had on hand. I had been craving potato chips but I am not a fan of frying anything. While scouring the cupboards for hope, I came across a huge bag of flax seed I inherited when my cousin gave up her last dieting fad. I knew what I was making: crackers. I could avoid a frying fiasco and still get the savory crunch I was after. Below is a very simple recipe for flax seed crackers I used for a rainy day. 

These crackers just so happen to be grain free and vegan. 

Savory Seasoned Flaxseed Crackers

Here's What You Gotta Have:

• 1 cup ground flax seed
• 1/4 cup roasted and lightly salted sunflower seeds
• 1/2 sesame seeds
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp salt ( optional) ( I used pink himalayan pink salt here)

Here's What You Gotta Do:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. 
2. In a food processor combine all of the dry ingredients and pulse until the sunflower seeds are coarsely ground. about 30-45 seconds.
3. Turn out dry ingredients into a large bowl and add water. Stir the mixture until a loose grain dough is form. 
4. Spoon the mixture onto the lined baking sheet and spread the cracker dough evenly in the pan. 
5. Using a butter knife. score the crackers in the size and shape you'd like your crackers to be.
6. Put the baking sheet in the oven and let the crackers bake for 30 minutes. then turn your oven off and let the crackers remain in the oven for another 30 minutes to dry out a bit more. 
7. Pull the crackers out of the oven and let cool to room temperature before breaking along the score lines.
8. Enjoy with your favorite cracker toppings or alone. 

May be stored in a dry airtight container.

Ground Flax seed. Flax seed is a good source of fiber and Omega 3 fatty acid

Dry Ingredients

Ingredients after a spin in the food processor. 

Dough after the water is added

Using a rubber spatula to smooth the dough into the pan. 

Crackers taking shape

Topped with vegan cream cheese and green onions

Awesome Alternate Add-ins

• For a cheesy take add 1 tsp of nutritional yeast
• Substitute the sunflower seeds for pistachio nuts
• Add 1/4 tsp of cayenne pepper for a spicy version of these crackers. 

Life is Delicious...Go Taste It!

Duct Tape Accent Wall

I was so excited to move into my new office. It is a huge step towards world domination furthering my business goals. I found a great building with a great staff. I decide to forgo the window and save $150 extra a month. No window meant that I had to get creative with the white walls. My office is on the small side so I decided to go with big impact decor that would not overwhelm the place. I scoured decorated website looking for a way to do this. I knew that I did not want to paint. I love the impact changing a wall color can make, but lets face it, painting is a time suck. I had to get settled in. move legal files, do a marketing blitz and be ready to attend to clients. Painting was just out of the question. while browsing the interwebs I came across this...

That wall was painted grey years prior and the homeowners decided it was time for something new. They used white duct tape to create the diamond shapes and created a unique backdrop for there bedroom. I was blown away, here was the wonderfulness I wanted and I didn't have to paint anything. While I loved the diamonds the homeowner remarked at how labor intensive  measuring and lining up the tape just so was, that I decided simple was best. I envisioned pared down horizontal lines in black. 

I set off to my local Target to get the goods.

Here's What You Gotta Have:

• Measuring Tape

• Pencil or crayon to make measurements

• Duct Tape

• Box Cutter or Sharp craft Knife 

This is a "Before" photo of the Wall a decided to jazz up. Pretty boring huh?

Here's What You Gotta Do:

Starting at the ceiling, measure the distance you want your lines to be. I choose ten inches. I planned to hang my diplomas and certificates in this wall and wanted to make sure that the frames would overlap the lines. But experiment ans see what works for you

I used plain black duck tape. But apparently Duck Tape makes a wide variety of decorative and colorful tapes now.

I started taping in the middle to see if I liked the spacing before I got to deep into the project.

Start at the edge of the wall and pull the tape taunt. Be sure to line the top of the tape up with the marks you have made. You can always lift the tape and reposition it if it goes wayward.

At the edge of the wall or where you want the tape to stop, use your box cutter or craft knife to cut the unwanted tape off.
( I used sharp scissors because I lost my box cutter, it definitely would have been easier with a box cutter. 

Here is the wall after all the tape was applied. 

It took less than one roll of duct tape and just under and hour and a half to finish. 

Angle of the wall with the frames hung.

This is likely the first thing you see when you walk into the office space.

Close up angle of my degrees hung on the wall. 

I am really amazed at how simple this project turned out to be.

I was able to do it quickly and it created a bit of dazzle in my office without being overbearing. And if I decide to upgrade to the office with the view the tape will be a lot easier to peel off then having to repaint the wall. 

Life is Delicious...Go Taste It!

Wire Sculptures: DIY Anthropology Hack

I love Anthropologie, but it is one of those stores that will sell you a walrus head made out of craft paper for $1,250.  Often there are times I find items that make me say aloud " I can make that for waaaayyy cheaper!" This tutorial is the product of one of those times. While purusing Anthorpologie.com I came across a series of wire sculptures. They were the perfect mix of whimsy and crafty goodness that I really go for. My issue was they were $48.00 each and reviewers noted they were on the small side and kinda flimsy. I get it, you can't please everyone, but you can DIY sturdier version, and bigger if you have enough wire hangers on hand. The possibilities on this hanger hack are endless. Another plus, is it would use up some of those pesky wire hangers from the dry cleaners that I refuse to use and hate to throw out. 

Here is the original from Anthropologie. Super cute right.
$48.00 on Anthropolgie.com

HERE'S WHAT YOU NEED:

• A wire hanger

• Wire cutters

HERE'S WHAT YOU GOTTA DO:

1) First unwrap the coiled wire at the bottom of the hangers hook

2) Start shaping your wire to make the word you want. I chose a word that was short and sweet. "Love" only has four letters and served as a good trial word. 

3) Clip off any excess wire and  the ends of the wire.

This project, not counting the cost of dry-cleaning ($2.50), cost me $0 dollars to make. Even if we wanted to count dry cleaning, that is still a heck of a lot cheaper than $48.  

  

"No more wire Hangers!"

Notes: These were really tough to bend so be patient, or buy a soft gauge wire from a craft store. It will be a lot easier to bend, but will be a lot more fragile

- My letters are not perfect, as you can see, but I thought they looked crafty and cool for my space. If you want more refined letters, opt for the softer gauge wire. 

Life Is Delicious...Go Taste It!

How To Repair a Broken Makeup Compact

As far as makeup is concerned, there is rarely nothing worse than dropping your favorite eyeshadow and watching it disintegrate into a powdery mess of color. You know from that moment that your makeup bag will carry a light dusting of Disco Gold and your fingers will be gilded every time to reach for the shadow. Fear not there is a way to fix it. And its actually pretty easy. 



Here's What You Gotta Have

• Rubbing alcohol

• The broken makeup and compact case you wanna repair ( duh)

• A broad handled makeup brush 

• A piece of paper

Here's What You Gotta Do:

On top of a piece of paper, use the handle of your makeup brush to crush the broken makeup into a fine powder. 

Fold the paper in half and use it to funnel the powder back into the original makeup case.

Put the filled compact back on top of the pace to keep the repair area clean. 

Add enough alcohol to the powder to create a thick paste. 

Exact measurements are not important here but remember 

the more alcohol you use the longer it will take the makeup to dry.

Use the end of the brush to smooth out the paste and let the makeup air dry.

Depending on the humidity in your home, the dry times will very. 

My powder took about 5 hours to dry completely but I live in Arizona. 

Voila!

Life Is Delicious...Go Taste It!

Honey Baked Sriracha Tofu

Just because I don't like to eat meat doesn't mean I can't appreciate a great meat based dish. After all, rarely is it the meat that makes a dish smell and look amazing. It's the spices, marinades and rubs that make the dish truly special. So I am not afraid to admit that this dish was inspired by an amazing looking meat dish I came across on Pinterest. The Pin lead me to The Recipe Diaries which featured Baked Sriracha Honey Wings. The ingredients list was full of the stuff dreams are made of. Well, it did have sriracha and lime, and that is what my dreams are made of.  I said aloud, "I'm gonna make that with tofu". And I did. And it was amazing!
For the first time in 5 years I actually purchased real butter for another recipe. I have tons of it left over so it seemed like a great time to make use of it. Veganize this dish by simply using a non-dairy butter substitute.
I also used a great product to flavor the tofu called Not Chick'n. It is a chicken-esque flavored bouillon cube that it perfect for flavoring soups, broths, and tofu. It's completely vegan and adds a great complex flavor to dishes. I found mine at the local Frye's in the natural foods section, but it can be ordered online here. 

Here's What You Need:
  

• 15 oz Extra firm tofu

• 2 tablespoons salted butter, melted

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil

• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

• 1 cube of Not Chick'n seasoning cube or a vegetable bouillon cube

• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro leaves

• Sesame seeds, for garnish

Glaze

• 5 tablespoons salted butter

• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

• ¼ cup honey

• ¼ cup Sriracha

• 1 tablespoon soy sauce

• 3 tablespoons of lime juice

 Here's What You Gotta Do:
 

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly coat a large baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray. 

1. Press the block of tofu for 15 to 20 minutes. * 

1. In a small bowl, mix the butter, vegetable oil, garlic powder, and Chick’n bouillon cube together until the bouillon is dissolved. 

1. Cut the pressed tofu into ¼ inch slices. Place the wings in the pan and pour the butter mixture on top. Gently move the tofu pieces around to coat them evenly with the sauce.

1. Arrange the tofu in a single layer in the pan and bake for 25 minutes. Turn the Tofu over and cook for and additional 10 minutes. 

1. While the tofu is baking, melt the butter in a small sauce pan over a low-medium heat. When the butter is melted, whisk in flour. 

1. Whisk in Sriracha, honey, soy sauce and limejuice. Bring to a light boil then remove from heat.

1. When the tofu is finished baking, take it out of the oven and immediately pour the glaze on top, gently turning the tofu pieces over to coat. 

1. Top the tofu with the cilantro and sesame seeds.

Fresh Chopped Cilantro

This sauce is the stuff dreams are made of. 

* The process of pressing tofu is used to get as much of the water the tofu is packaged in out. I press my tofu by taking the tofu out of the plastic container and sitting it on top of several paper towels. I put the package on top of the tofu and put a heavy can inside. I let it sit for 20 minutes to an hour, changing the paper towels out every 15 minutes or so. 

Life Is Delicious....Go Taste It!