Review: Fantastic World Foods Falafel Mix

June 27, 2014December 15, 2014 Caitlyn2 Comments

I was wandering through the aisles in my local supermarket when I came across a falafel mix. Although in the past I always have made falafels from scratch, I was interested in how a pre-made mix might taste. (Sometimes after a long day, making falafels from a kit sounds much better than making them from scratch!)Making the falafels with the Fantastic World Foods Mix is easy enough: all you need is the mix, water, and (in my case) your favorite beer to drink while making it.Just upon opening the bag, a delicious smell of cumin and garlic rose up into my kitchen. I added 1 1/4 cups of water and mixed until moist, and then let the mixture sit for 15 minutes as directed. (During this time you could always drink that delicious beer mentioned earlier and watch some of the World Cup action with your husband, but that’s totally up to you.)

Once 15 minutes have passed, you make little balls out of the dough and press them into discs. I think if you follow the serving suggestion, you’ll end up with about 16 discs, but I made mine a little fatter, apparently. (Make sure you don’t make them too fat, though, or they will be dry!) From this point you can choose whether you want to bake them or deep fry them, and I chose the former over the latter. After brushing olive oil on both sides of each disc, I popped them in the oven for about 2 minutes per side.While I waited for the falafels to get golden brown, I prepared tomatoes, lettuce, pitas and a yogurt sauce I whipped up quickly with dill, garlic, a little lemon juice, salt, pepper and plain yogurt. (There is also a recipe suggestion for yogurt sauce on the box for those of you that prefer to follow an exact recipe, but the yield seemed really high for just a few stuffed pitas.)I had wanted cucumber, but I forgot to pick some up at the store in all of my Falafel mix excitement. Nevertheless, the finished falafel-stuffed pitas were awesome. Totally brought me back to the first time I ever tried one in a little diner in Amsterdam. Overall I would say that Fantastic World Foods Falafel Mix makes an inexpensive, fast, easy and delicious meal. As the website proudly declares: “If you have an appetite for discovery, try Fantastic World Foods^TM Our truly original ethnic and regional cuisines are specially crafted to stimulate all your senses. Native spices, vegetables, rice and grains combined in new blends of tastes, textures, colors and aromas. They’re vibrant! They’re creative! And they’re always all natural and organic.”

I’d like to try some of their other mixes in the future!

Projects

Fun with Lyddy: Flower Footprint Craft

June 25, 2014 Caitlyn2 Comments

I saw a super cute flower craft on pinterest the other day that I decided I absolutely had to make with my niece (who I’m sure you remember from a recent post as the most adorable little girl on the planet). I grabbed some finger paint and some construction paper, and we set to work. The first step was to make little flowers with the balls of her feet and her toes. I used my fingers to apply paint to her feet (which of course led to her sweet laugh), and then–at Lydia’s request–we pressed her feet down to make a blue, red, blue pattern.After that, we rinsed her feet off in the tub, and I asked her to use the green to draw half-circles under each “flower.” She did as instructed, filled in the half-circles with more paint, and then added stems and leaves. Next I had her write her name on a little flower pot that I cut out. (You could always add an extra step for fine motor skill practice and have the child cut out the pot if you wanted instead.) I also asked her to write her name on the pot. When I did similar crafts with my preschool kids in the past, I would often have them trace their names, but I thought it would be really cute to preserve the way Lydia writes her name independently for this craft. Once Lydia added her name, she was excited to finger paint freely on the flower pot.She finished decorating the flower pot, so we washed her hands and waited for the paint to dry a bit so we could glue it onto the bottom of her flower stems. Didn’t it turn out cute?

Bookspiration

Bookspiration: The BFG and Frobscottle

June 22, 2014 Caitlyn2 Comments

“‘Yesterday,’ he said, ‘we was not believing in giants, was we? Today we is not believing in snozzcumbers. Just because we happen not to have actually seen something with our own two little winkles, we think it is not existing.'” -The Big Friendly Giant

I wanted a light, quick read, so I decided to reread The BFG, a book I hadn’t read since I was much younger. As with all Roald Dahl books, The BFG is a fun adventure that reminds you to imagine the impossible. There is one chapter in which the BFG tells the little orphan Sophie about a delicious drink called Frobscottle. In this beverage, “the bubbles, instead of travelling upwards and bursting to the surface, were shooting downwards and bursting at the bottom” (64-65). Apparently, Frobscottle is absolutely “delumptious,” so I decided I should try making my own version.

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“Oh gosh, how delicious it was! It was sweet and refreshing. It tasted of vanilla and cream, with just the faintest trace of raspberries on the edge of the flavour” (68).

To me, the description of Frobscottle reminded me of an Italian Cream Soda, so I grabbed a glass and added two pumps of Torani vanilla syrup, and two pumps of Torani Raspberry syrup. Then I poured a bottle of San Pelegrino over the syrup, added ice, and added a little cream. From there, I added a little whipped cream, and my “Frobscottle” was ready to drink! Although the bubbles weren’t floating downward, they were underneath the cream and whipped cream, and the beverage tasted like a cream soda with just a touch of raspberry. I thought this was a great version of Frobscottle!In The BFG, Frobscottle tends to have a rather enormous effect on the body: “Sophie could feel the bubbles travelling lower and lower down her tummy, and then suddenly, inevitably…the explosion came. The trumpets sounded and she too made the walls of the cavern ring with the sound of music and thunder. ‘Bravo!’ shouted the BFG, waving the bottle. ‘You is very good for a beginner! Let’s have some more!’ (68-69). Fortunately, (or unfortunately, depending on your goal, I suppose), my Italian Cream Soda version of Frobscottle did not have the same “whizzpopping” effect, but it was delicious!

While thinking of ideas for some sort of food or drink creation for The BFG, I discovered there is actually a cookbook filled with creations inspired by Roald Dahl called Roald Dahl’s Revolting Recipes. Something to experiment with in the future!

Enjoy your Sunday! xx

Seen/Heard/Tried · Tried

Review: Nail Rock

June 18, 2014 Caitlyn2 Comments

I used to hate painting my finger nails because they always turned out looking like a kindergartener painted them. Not to mention I sort of have sausage fingers, so solid blocks of colors on my nails only tend to make them look stubbier. If I ever had my nails done in the past, it was only some version of French tips for me. But nothing makes a girl want to paint her nails more than being told she can’t, and since my occupation prohibits nail polish, I’ve been DYING to spruce up my fingernails! (And by occupation I mean I’m currently a barista. Yes. A barista that’s not allowed to wear nail polish *cries*)

Source

Fortunately for me, I somehow got four solid days off in a row. I got a stupid cold, but can you guess what else I got? I GOT TO DO MY NAILS. It’s the little things. I decided to try out the Nail Rock I had gotten months ago when I was still a Birchbox subscriber, and I just adored the pretty sparkly pink!

Yes, the Nail Rock was pretty. But I’ve got some important things for you to know before you go out with excitement and get your own.

1. It can be messy. The instructions tell you to put on two coats of the solid foundation before dipping your fingers in the textured topper (aka glitter), and the glitter will get everywhere. It’s like a preschool craft nightmare, so be sure to put some paper underneath your little glitter pot for easy cleanup.

2. Put on your first coat of solid foundation, and then alternate your second coat with dipping your finger in the topper. If you wait until you’ve given each of your nails a second coat, they won’t be wet enough to hold the topper. Dip each one after the second coat, and press on to help the topper stick.

3. After you’ve let your nails dry for the recommended 15-20 minutes, apply a top coat. I didn’t do this because the instructions didn’t say anything about a top coat being necessary, and because I’m not super patient and I didn’t feel like investing more time in what was supposed to be a little treat. In retrospect, I wish I had because 1) I really didn’t like the texture of the topper, 2) the texture of the topper occasionally led to snags on thread or fiber, and 3) by the end of the day, more than half of the topper had come off ALL of my fingernails! It is my hope that a top coat would solve these problems, but ultimately–despite being very pretty initially–I can’t say I recommend this product. A lot of time + short-lasting cover = disappointed girl.

What do you think? Have you tried Nail Rock? What’s your favorite nail polish brand?

Summer Bucket List

Summer 2014 Bucket List

June 17, 2014June 17, 2014 Caitlyn2 Comments

Michigan is a little behind on the whole “summer” thing, but I’m hoping the weather catches up to the season soon! In anticipation of warmer, sunnier days ahead, I’ve started working on my new bucket list for this year. Some of the to-do’s are the same as ones I chose last year, but what summer is complete without some variation of s’mores or jam-making? Sometimes I had trouble remembering to check off things throughout the summer last year, so this year I printed out this cute “How To Summer” printable and organized my list on it before hanging it up on the wall in my craft room. I’m hoping this helps me stay focused on my summer fun!

Image and download available on youaremyfave.com

Below is my list so far. What have you got planned for summer?

Summer Bucket List 2014

1. Drive-In Movie

2. Binder Park Zoo

3. Make S’Mores

4. Go to a Star Party

5. Have a BBQ

6. Go on a picnic

7. Make homemade ice cream

8. Blow bubbles

9. Tie-Dye Shirts

10. Make Bloody Mary’s

11. Make jam

12. Make milk carton boats

13. Make pickles

14. Run at least one 5K race

15. Look at bugs/plants/nature under a magnifying glass

16. Go to a museum

17. Have a fancy night dressed up around town

18. Attend a “pretentious” tea party

19. Have a wine and cheese night

20. Have a chocolate tasting party

21. Dandelion Blowing

22. Make/Decorate pottery

23. Traverse City Trip

24. Make macarons

25. Make bread in flower pots

26. Work on our first garden

27. Make dreamsicle orange punch

28. Do a 30-day drawing challenge

29. Do at least one writing prompt a week from 642 Things to Write About

30. Go fishing and/or eat fresh-caught and battered fish

31. Make a fire pit and have a bonfire

32. Build something with wood, a hammer and nails

33. Make Michigan string art

34. Do another wine and canvas

35. Try Madcap Coffee Company in Grand Rapids

36. Try Drip, Drop, Drink in Muskegon

37. Try Unruly Brewing in Muskegon

38. Try Lemonjellos in Holland

39. Make a fairy garden

40. Buy a cute summer dress

Seen · Seen/Heard/Tried

Gold!

June 15, 2014 Caitlyn1 Comment

It’s been a rather chilly start to summer here in Michigan, and to top it off, Chad and I have both been battered down by an evil, relentless cold. Today when I woke up I decided to look for all of the orange, yellow and gold I could find to help me focus on the bright sunshine instead of our sniffly, mouth-breathing disposition. I took pictures at the Muskegon Farmer’s Market, and at Saugatuck Brewing company where we had a Father’s Day lunch. Unfortunately after lunch we both passed out for several hours at home with exhaustion, and I lost my voice. We even had to cancel our evening plans 😦 Still feeling like crap, but at least I took some fun pictures!

Someone was selling rubber duckies…!

We bought some of this awesome honey.

Totoro Birdhouses made out of gourds!

A sculpture near the market entrance.

Lunch! A yummy portobello burger.

Chad got a French dip. I was happy to find my colors in our lunch!

Chad took this cool picture with my brother in the background.

He also took this one, which I think turned out to look kind of like a painting!

Last, but certainly not least…

Well lovelies, I am off to get some more sleep. I hate being sick *cries*

Bookspiration · Projects

Bookspiration: Owl Postcards

June 11, 2014June 11, 2014 Caitlyn2 Comments

“For to witness majesty, to find yourself literally touched by it, isn’t that what we’ve all been waiting for?”

-David Sedaris

After reading Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls, I decided to make postcards with owls on them. I made four postcards in total, trying to keep them simple with easy watercolor owls saying the above quote.

Click to view larger image

I tried my best not to worry too much about detail, and after free-handing the calligraphy, I also quickly free-handed the cute little owls.

It’s a little bit hard to see the light green-colored wings in the picture, but I liked the way it turned out. I’m thinking I might send the postcards to people via postcrossing. I accidentally changed the quote slightly in the postcard featured above, but I still thought the art was nice. Sedaris writes the phrase I quoted when talking about coming across something beautiful and unexpected in nature, and making a private connection with nature in that moment.

Have you experienced any moments of majesty lately?

Around Town · Bookspiration · Monday Matters · Seen/Heard/Tried · Tried

Around Town/Bookspiration: My Fishy, Muddy Weekend

June 9, 2014June 9, 2014 Caitlyn5 Comments

After a bit of a rough patch there, I decided I should read something uplifting and funny, so I chose to go with Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls by David Sedaris. It was funny in parts, but I wouldn’t go so far as to say uplifting. There were, however, quite a few parts in which I found myself nodding, saying to myself, “YES! EXACTLY!” For example, in the story “Loggerheads,” Sedaris describes a time in which he comes across a monkey in a national forest in Japan. I could relate to his feeling of being in awe of animals and nature, of that feeling like time stops in that rare, surprising moment. Sedaris writes, “…part of the thrill was being accepted, which is to say, not feared. It allowed you to think that you and this creature had a special relationship, a juvenile thought but one that brings with it a definite comfort” (59).

I also loved the story “Standing By,” not only because it described airplane travel in ways I could COMPLETELY relate to, but because it made me laugh out loud a lot. The last story that stood out to me was “Day In, Day Out.” In this story, Sedaris talks about his writing habits, and about rereading old journals. He writes:

“…that’s the terrible power of a diary: it not only calls forth the person you used to be, but rubs your nose in him, reminding you that not all change is evolutionary. More often than not, you didn’t learn from your mistakes. You didn’t get wiser, but simply older, growing from the twenty-five-year-old who got stoned and accidentally peed on his friend Katherine’s kitten to the thirty-five-year-old who got drunk and peed in the sandbox at his old elementary school. ‘The sandbox!’ my sister Amy said at the time. ‘Don’t you realize that children have to pee in there?'” (229).

Sometimes rereading old journals definitely makes you feel that way! Though I like to think I’ve been learning something along the way, journals do sometimes “rub your nose” in some of the less-than-good choices you made or in unfortunate situations you experienced.

In Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls, Sedaris talks a lot about his time living in England, so I convinced Chad we should have Fish and Chips for dinner Friday at Fish X2 in Spring Lake.

Fish X2 is a fish, seafood and chicken restaurant right off of the expressway from Grand Haven to Spring Lake. They have a special Hurricane Sauce, allow you to bring in your own fish to be cooked up in their kitchen, and have won an award for a salmon dish at the Salmon Festival.

We chose to go with their Friday Catfish special, each getting a Mate’s Basket. The baskets come with fries or slaw, homemade sauce and a slice of lemon. You can also substitute sweet potato fries for an additional dollar.

The inside of the restaurant is very open and clean, with no fishy smells at all (always a good sign!). Every time we’ve gone to Fish X2, the staff has always been very friendly and helpful, creating a very inviting atmosphere. Fish X2 also has nice, cozy outdoor seating for the summer time. We decided to bring our meals to a nearby park/boat docking area, but it was nice to sit in the sunshine while we waited for our meals to be prepared.We waited about ten minutes for our Captain’s Baskets, but who minds that when you’re about to get a fresh-cooked meal? Once we had our to-go bag, we headed across the street to Mill Point Park and Boat Launch. There couldn’t be a nicer day for a picnic!

We dove into our meals. Sadly, Fish X2 was out of sweet potato fries (which happened the last time we were there in February, too!), so we both opted for their regular fries. Additionally, only one of our baskets came with sauce and a lemon slice! Fortunately, Fish X2’s normal fries are really yummy, and we were able to split the sauce and lemon out of one basket.The catfish was perfectly salty, while also light and fresh tasting. While it’s very easy to have greasy “fish and chips,” our meal at Fish X2 seemed to be a perfect balance of an airy batter, flaky, fresh fish, and not-too-crunchy, not-too-soft fries. Yum!

Separate from our book-inspired outing was an adventure I had the next day in Kalamazoo!

Some of my fellow baristas and I decided to do the Kalamazoo Mud Run. It was definitely an interesting 5K, with lots of obstacles I never saw myself trying out (and with lots of unintentional mud-tasting!). I had a lot of fun with my Green Apron girls, evidence of which can be seen on Alex’s blog, here! While I was definitely more comfortable with the “fishy” part of my weekend, the “muddy” part was quite an experience, too!

What did you try this weekend?

Bookspiration · Food & Cooking

Bookspiration: Maple Indian Pudding

June 4, 2014June 4, 2014 Caitlyn4 Comments

Oh. my. DELICIOUS. For my next bookspiration, I decided to try out a new recipe related to The Song of Hiawatha, and it turned out amazing! But before I go into the recipe, I’ll explain why I chose it. The stories told throughout The Song of Hiawatha were pulled from Chippewa (or Ojibwe) Indian tales, and much of the Chippewa tribe lived in Northern Michigan. The Chippewa Indians used a lot of birch bark for making teepees, canoes, and baskets (I’m thinking I’d really like to try making a birch bark basket!). And since the Chippewa living in Northern Michigan had a relatively short growing season, a lot of their harvest consisted of wild rice and maple syrup. Ah, sweet, lovely maple syrup.

I have a few American Indian cookbooks and craft books, and so I was searching through them to find the perfect recipe for A Song of Hiawatha. Finally, after much deliberation, I stumbled across recipes for Maple Indian Pudding, not in any of my cookbooks, but online! Without further adieu, here is how this yummy treat is made according to the recipe I chose:

After preheating your oven, you bring milk to a boil over medium heat. Then you add maple syrup and cook for four minutes. I used maple syrup I had leftover from making my Chocolate Maple Roll Cake, and I may or may not have looked at Facebook while stirring the syrup. After the four minutes is up, you add cornmeal, stirring constantly for 6-8 minutes. Since I was busy trying to take a picture while stirring, I ended up with a few lumps of cornmeal, but it didn’t seem to really effect anything. Still, I would recommend not taking a picture and just getting straight to stirring 😉

Once 6-8 minutes have passed, you’re going to add butter, nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, and salt to the mix before letting it cool for 5 minutes.

After the mixture cools, it looks a bit thicker, as shown in the picture above.

Next you add beaten eggs, whisking as you go. I was worried that the mixture would still be too hot to add the eggs, but with immediate whisking I had no problems at all. Once the eggs have been incorporated, it is time to pour the mixture into a baking dish and stick it in the oven.

The recipe said to cook “until the center is set,” but as I had never made a pudding in this sense before, I had to check what that meant. According to several websites and youtube videos, the pudding should be a slight golden brown, and when jiggled, the center should move in relation to the rest of the pudding (just slightly like…well…pudding). Once again, you can see how mine came out of the oven in the picture above.

I was a little nervous about trying my first bite, as I really wanted it to be good. Not sure what I was worried about because Maple Syrup=delicious. And my Maple Indian Pudding? Fantastic!

Maple Indian Pudding

Ingredients

Cooking spray
3 cups milk
3/4 cups maple syrup
1/2 cup cornmeal (I used Quaker Yellow Cornmeal)
1 Tbs butter
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp nutmeg
2 large eggs, beaten
Whipped cream

Directions

Prepare pudding: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly coat a 1-quart casserole dish with cooking spray**. In a large saucepan, bring milk to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to low, stir in maple syrup, and cook 4 minutes. Add cornmeal and cook, stirring constantly, 6 to 8 minutes. Add butter, cinnamon, salt, ginger, and nutmeg while stirring well. Remove from heat and let cool 5 minutes. Whisk eggs into the milk mixture until well combined.
Bake pudding: Pour into prepared casserole dish and bake until the center is set, about 1 hour. Serve warm and top with whipped cream, if desired***.

**I only had a 2-quart baking dish, so I used that instead. The cooking time was still just under an hour.

***Please desire to eat it with whipped cream. It is fabulous.

(recipe adapted from Country Living)

Enjoy! xx

Bookspiration · Projects

Bookspiration: The Song of Hiawatha

June 2, 2014June 2, 2014 Caitlyn3 Comments

Several years ago I received the book The Song of Hiawatha as a Christmas gift, and though I had read bits and pieces of the epic poem , a few weeks ago I finally got the chance to read the entire thing. It was difficult for me to decide what to make after finishing the book, but after much deliberation, I decided to put some of the text from The Song of Hiawatha over a picture from a recent walk at one of my favorite places in Michigan, Rosy Mound.

First, I chose my picture:

Then, I spent what felt like three years trying to put text over it the way I wanted. I still didn’t quite achieve the look I was looking to create, but I decided the text was going to have to be good enough.

It says:

“All your strength is in your union,

All your danger is in discord;

Therefore be at peace henceforward,

And as brothers live together.”

I printed an enlarged copy of the image at Walmart for about $6, and then modge podged it to an art board purchased for around $5 before a 40% off coupon at one of my local craft stores. Below you can sort of see how it turned out, though the lighting isn’t the best:

I am not necessarily in love with how the project turned out, but I do love where the photo was taken, and I really like the passage from The Song of Hiawatha. I often think about the power of human connection when I go on walks through nature, and about how to I can be kinder and more loving to others. A message about unity totally seems fitting for a picture taken at Rosy Mound.

Here are some other pictures I took on the lovely spring day last week: