Baked Garlic Potato Wedges

I had to make a quick meal this week, but it had to be filling since I knew my hubby would be starving after his long day. I decided to add these crispy, garlicky delights as a side dish since I know how much he loves them. They are easy to throw together, and then you can finish up the rest of your meal while they are baking. Super simple and delicious!

Grab your potatoes, wash them, and cut out any bad spots.

Lay a couple layers of paper towels down on the counter and begin slicing your unpeeled potatoes. I cut mine in half length-wise and then in about 1/4 inch wedges.

Lay them in a single layer on the paper towel.

Cover them with an additional paper towel and press down to absorb as much moisture as you can.

 While the towels are absorbing the moisture, go ahead and pour a couple tablespoons of oil on a baking sheet. (I used my own garlic infused olive oil. I need to post that soon!)

In a small bowl, combine the 3 tablespoons corn starch and your seasonings. I used salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion salt, cumin, Cayenne pepper, Cajun, & Italian seasoning. We really like flavorful food so I used a good amount of the spicier seasonings. If you don't like a lot of spices, you could easily just use garlic powder, salt, and pepper, too.

You can now take the potatoes and put them in a med-large bowl (with a lid) and coat them well with a tablespoon or two of oil and a couple cloves of garlic, minced.

Dump corn starch mixture on potatoes.

 Cover....

...shake well until evenly coated.

Spread on prepared baking sheet in a single layer. Bake at 400 degrees until bottom is crispy and golden brown. Once bottom is browned, flip each wedge with a spatula and let the other side brown. (I turned them to broil for a couple minutes before I took them out to really brown them up.)

 **While waiting for the wedges to brown I finished up some sauteed green beans I was making for dinner, too. I had to post a picture of these too because they were super yummy. :)**

When they're done, try not to eat them all at once! :)

 Ingredients

3-4 medium potatoes
3-5 Tbsp. Olive Oil
1-2 garlic cloves, minced
3 Tbsp. corn starch
Seasonings, to taste (I used salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion salt, cumin, Cayenne pepper, Cajun, & Italian seasoning)

Directions

Grab your potatoes, wash them, and cut out any bad spots.

Lay a couple layers of paper towels down on the counter and begin slicing your unpeeled potatoes. (I cut mine in half length-wise and then in about 1/4 inch wedges.)

Lay them in a single layer on the paper towel.

Cover them with an additional paper towel and press down to absorb as much moisture as you can.

While the towels are absorbing the moisture, go ahead and pour a couple tablespoons of oil on a baking sheet. (I used my own garlic infused olive oil. I need to post that soon!)

In a small bowl, combine the 3 tablespoons corn starch and your seasonings. I used salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion salt, cumin, Cayenne pepper, Cajun, & Italian seasoning. We really like flavorful food so I used a good amount of the spicier seasonings. If you don't like a lot of spices, you could easily just use salt and pepper as well.

You can now take the potatoes and put them in a med-large bowl (with a lid) and coat them well with a tablespoon or two of oil and a couple cloves of garlic, minced.

Dump corn starch mixture on potatoes.

Cover and shake well until evenly coated.

Spread on prepared baking sheet in a single layer. Bake at 400 degrees until bottom is crispy and golden brown. Once bottom is browned, flip each wedge with a spatula and let the other side brown. (I turned them to broil for a couple minutes before I took them out to really brown them up.)

Zucchini and Squash Sauté

My husband and I were sitting around the table last night.  Once again, my poor man had to listen to me complain that I wanted to lose weight.  With summer fast approaching, swimsuit season will be here before we know it.  With that in mind, I asked Mikey if he would help motivate me. He's on board. :) Well, I had a hotdish prepared for dinner but I decided it was "now or never".  Setting the previous dish aside, I pulled out a few veggies from the fridge.  This is what I came up with!  I wasn't expecting to enjoy this as much as I did.  DELICIOUS!!! Hope you enjoy it, too!!

Gather your ingredients:

1/2 small zucchini

1/2 small squash

Small onion

Tomatoes (I used diced tomatoes last night.  Today I used cherry tomatoes, cut in half.  I used a total of 10 cherry tomatoes.)

Minced garlic

Sea Salt

Pepper

Butter

1.  Slice zucchini and squash in thin slices.  Cut onion in big chunks. (personal preference :)

              2.  Saute onion in 1 T. butter.  When they start to get a little soft, add zucchini and squash.

3.  Once the above mixture is further along, add approximately 2 tsp. minced garlic and pepper.  Stir.  Add tomatoes.  Cook until it reaches the texture you enjoy.  I really like this dish because it only takes a few minutes to cook. :)

**I did not add salt at this time because the feta cheese is high in sodium.  You can add salt if you want. **

Place the deliciousness on a plate.  Sprinkle with 1 T. Tomato and Basil Feta Cheese!!

 ENJOY!!!

(I also think this would be great on a grilled chicken breast!  Excited to try!)

DIY Matte Nailpolish

After seeing some tips on Pinterest about making your own matte nail polish with cornstarch, there was no link on how to do it, so I had to go ahead and experiment on my own.

I started with some clear nail polish and some cornstarch.

Add cornstarch, a little at a time, and shake it up to mix well until the polish is nice and white.

I quickly painted a couple nails with this purple polish that is always very glossy. 

This is how the polish looks when it is dry.

After topping it with a coat of the cornstarch polish, this is how it looked. Definitely toned down! I think the more corn starch you add to the polish, the more matte it will appear.

Gooey Goop

Do you need a fun science project for your kids? Or just a fun way for them to pass the time? Or you? I don't have kids, but I'm still having fun with this! It's like a combination of silly putty and slime. 

It's GOOEY GOOP!

Plus, you only need 3 ingredients (and water)!

 In a glass bowl, mix glue and 1/2 c. water.

Add food coloring. 

(If you use more than 2 drops, you may transfer color to your hands when playing with the goop.)

Mix well.

In a separate bowl, mix remaining 1/2 c. water and borax.

Pour into glue mixture.

Mix well. It will begin to form and clump together, but try to stir in as much of the water as you can. 

Once you can't stir anymore, begin kneading and "smushing" goop around to soak up remaining water.

I moved it to a baking dish at this point to help shape it a little more. 

Squish, smash, and mold!

 Store in a Ziploc bag or airtight container.

Ingredients

1 c. hot water (divided in half)

1/2 c. Elmer's school glue

1 tsp. Borax

2 drops food coloring

Directions

In a glass bowl, mix glue and 1/2 c. water.

Add food coloring. (If you use more than 2 drops, you may transfer color to your hands when playing with the goop.)

In a separate bowl, mix remaining 1/2 c. water and borax.

Pour into glue mixture.

Mix well. It will begin to form and clump together, but try to stir in as much of the water as you can. 

Once you can't stir anymore, begin kneading and "smushing" goop around to soak up remaining water.

I moved it to a baking dish at this point to help shape it a little more. 

Squish, smash, and mold!

Store in a Ziploc bag or airtight container.

Homemade Frappe

On our way downtown, Tony wanted to stop and grab a mocha before he had to go to class. It got me thinking about all the money that is spent on frequenting coffee shops. I LOVE going to coffee shops, but I don't very often because of the high cost. It really adds up! Since my husband works at one, he has a few tips on getting your coffee at home to taste similar to the gourmet coffee they serve. One of the tips he had: when making iced coffee, use frozen coffee as your ice cubes so that it doesn't get watered down.

If you're going to freeze coffee, you might as well throw some in your blender and and make this homemade frappe, too! I love the snow, and I'm not wishing it away yet, but this frothy beverage really makes me anxious for warm summer days!

TIP: Once your coffee cubes are frozen, pop them out and store them in the freezer in a large Ziploc bag. That way you can continue to freeze coffee and get a good "stash" for when you would like to make more than one frappe. (Or just so you don't keep dumping perfectly good coffee down the drain.)

I made a very basic french vanilla frappe, but you can switch it up to satisfy your taste buds! Add a different flavored creamer, throw in a little chocolate or caramel syrup and maybe even add a dollop of whipped cream on top as well!

Freeze a tray of leftover coffee.

 Toss your frozen cubes in a blender along with the creamer and milk.

Check the consistency.

If you're using syrup or whipped cream, add and garnish to your liking. 

Ingredients

8-10 frozen coffee cubes

1/2 c. milk

1/2 c. flavored coffee creamer (your choice)

chocolate or caramel syrup, optional

whipped cream, optional

Directions

First of all, freeze a tray of leftover coffee. (I used Caribou coffee and I think it helped to have good quality beans for this drink. Make sure you like the taste of the coffee you will be using.)

Toss your frozen cubes in a blender along with the creamer and milk. Blend well. If it's too liquidy, add a few more cubes. If it's too thick, taste it and add a little more milk or creamer. If it's too sweet, use milk. If it's not sweet enough, add more creamer.

If you're using syrup or whipped cream, add and garnish to your liking. 

That's it! Enjoy!

Pasta Beads

Would you believe me if I told you that these are noodles? Crazy, huh?!

Over the weekend, I stayed at my parents for a night and we made these for my little sisters. They love beads, but most beads aren't very cheap. Especially when most of the time they spill all over, leaving half of them to get swept up and thrown in the garbage anyway. Using this site as inspiration, we turned a whole box of pasta rings into colored "beads". That's a super cheap and fun craft! 

And, like my mom said, it's nice that these beads are made from pasta just in case you have little ones that like to slip things into their mouths. (Obviously, we wouldn't recommend that since they do contain rubbing alcohol, but it's probably better than chunks of plastic sitting in your baby's belly.)

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Directions

Start by lining large pans with aluminum foil. Gather your pasta (we used rings, but you can use whatever you'd like), baggies, food coloring, and rubbing alcohol.

Pour 1 Tbsp rubbing alcohol and a few drops food coloring to each bag. I probably squirted about 5-10 drops per bag. 

(Our rubbing alcohol was also pre-colored green so our colors are a little more muted. Some comments I've read say that coloring gels give the most vibrant colors, but we were happy with ours!)

Pour about 1/2 cup uncooked pasta into each bag. 

(If the ratios aren't exact, that's okay. Just make sure you have enough liquid to coat the pasta evenly.)

Seal the bag and shake it up until the color is evenly distributed.

Snip a small corner of the bag and drain out the excess liquid.

Dump pasta onto prepared pans and spread into one layer. (Try not to let them touch each other too much.) Let dry at least one hour or overnight.

Once dry, you will be able to make pasta pictures, jewelry, or whatever else tickles your fancy. 

Have fun!

Homemade Pancakes

                                               
                                                                     Homemade Pancakes

Coming from a large family, it was not uncommon to have a big pancake breakfast.  It is a fast breakfast that is cheap and delicious.  Although I ate my fair share of the pancakes, I was never the one that made them.  When I was younger, it was my Mom that stood at the pancake post.  Later, my little sister Lucy stepped in her spot.  Sure, I watched those two lovely ladies make them, but I was never the one to put the mix together.  Last night I had a real craving for pancakes so I decided to give it try.  My family normally makes their own syrup as well.  For now, I am just starting with the pancakes and having Mrs. Butterworth help me with the rest.  Next time I may try all of it. :)

The great thing about pancakes is they are made with such common ingredients.  You don't have to make a special trip to the store when they sound good.

I decreased the ingredients by half because it is only my husband and myself.  This was the perfect amount for us.  It makes 5-6 pancakes.

1 cup all purpose flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 T sugar

Blend dry ingredients.

Add:
1 egg
1 cup milk
5 T & 1 tsp. oil

                                           

         1.Gather all the ingredients!

                                   

                       2. Make batter according to above directions.  Whisk until there are no lumps.

3. Pour batter in greased pan.  Wait until bubbles form on top of the pancake.  Turn over and finish cooking the other side.   (Because I don't have a griddle, I used a frying pan.  Although it worked, I wouldn't suggest using it if you have other options.  It's a little difficult to get the correct temperature.)

4.  Top with butter and syrup!  ENJOY!!!