...to Construct an Edible Cornucopia.

So part one of my contribution to Thanksgiving was a wreath made out of an old shirt.  Part two will be a little less lasting, but a lot more delicious!  Nothing says "Thanksgiving!" more than a cornucopia filled with food...except a cornucopia made of food (and also filled with food)!  All you need is a can o' dough, an egg, a lot of foil, and maybe a pizza cutter.  It was supposed to be breadstick dough, but I could only find pizza crust dough.  Not sure if there's much of a difference.

Grab the foil and sculpt a cone, however large you want your cornucopia to be.  I ran out of foil, so instead of using three cans of dough, I only used one.  Now that I finished this, I'm glad I didn't have more foil, because it would have been a giant pain.  Once you've got the shape you want, spray it with cooking spray to keep the bread from sticking.  Now pop that can open!  You know it's the only reason you're trying this recipe.

Unroll the dough and try to resist taking a bite!  (Or am I the only one who likes to eat the dough...)  Cut it into strips.

Use a strip of dough and wrap up the pointed end of the foil.  Then start to add the strips of dough a couple at a time, and weave them like a basket up toward the large end of the foil.  Because we all know how to weave a basket.  Do your best.

Okay so it's not pretty at this point.  It looks rather sloppy, unfinished.  But there's a solution!

Not your best work.

 Braid three strips together and seal off the rim.  This gets rid of all those ugly leftover dough ends.  I used another strip to seal off the bottom edge as well, as my cornucopia was looking very uneven.  Oh yeah, then I built an octopus with chocolate chips for eyes.  Because when you have leftover dough, you gotta make a bread animal!

Now stir up your egg and brush it over the top to give it that shine you so desperately desire in a bread cornucopia!

Now you're talking! 

When it's cool enough to touch, separate the bread from the foil and just let it cool on top of the foil for a little while longer, to make sure it keeps its shape.  You're done!  Now go and fill it with food, and do a better job than I did.  Here are some suggestions:

Nope.

Hmm...too healthy. 

Now we're getting somewhere.

Jackpot!

Okay, so maybe plan on having something to fill your brand new Bread Cornucopia with before you actually make it, or like me, you'll be stuck with Oreos.  And about about the octopus, well...

Just perfect!

...to Decorate for November.

Thanksgiving is almost upon us, and I've contributed approximately zero to the decorating process.  My office is presently bare of oranges and browns, pumpkins and turkeys.  My room is devoid of festivity.  And our big white front door...just big and white.  It was about time I did something.  Well, one thing.  And here is the story of my single contribution to Thanksgiving.  And like most of my stories, this did not involve an extra trip to the store, because I used only things I found around the house.

Remember that foam board storage container?  Well, I had an extra sheet of foam leftover, and I decided to make a wreath.  At that point, I didn't know what else I was going to use, so I went on a hunt.  I knew I wanted it to be orange.

A toilet seat?

I found some batting and raffia in the spare room.  It was a start, but I still couldn't find anything orange.  I put the batting to use by rubber cementing it onto the foam, because who wants a boring old flat wreath.  My wreath, at the very least, would be a squishy one.

A really comfortable toilet seat.

Back to the hunt for my something orange.  I searched the craft closet.  No orange fabric, no orange yarn, no orange orange tissue paper.  Nothing!  So I got desperate and started searching my closet, my drawers.  I wasn't giving up.  How could I not own a single orange article of clothing?  And then, I remembered it.  A single orange shirt, folded and stuffed in a bag for Goodwill, waiting patiently by the door until I had the time to make the trek out there.  Perfect!

It's ugly, but no one has to see the back!

I wasn't sure at first how I wanted to apply fabric, because I figured glue just wouldn't hold it together.  I couldn't find a stapler either, although I'm not sure if that would have worked either.  I settled on tying the shirt in knots around the foam board.  This actually turned out to be much easier than the glue, as there was no drying time, so I didn't have to impatiently wait to complete the next step.

Once I finished wrapping the wreath in fabric.  I used smaller strips of the orange shirt, twisted into ropes, and wrapped them around the wreath to add subtle detail.  At the bottom, I used a braided strip for a little extra pizzazz.

Using the remaining strips of fabric, I made flowers.  I folded the strips in half to get a finished edge, and used the rubber cement to seal them together.  You could add as many as you wanted, really.  I mean, you could even make an entire wreath this way, it would probably look pretty cool.  I ended up with ten or eleven.

And finally, I added the raffia I scrounged up.  It provided the perfect Fall touch to an otherwise very plain and orange wreath.

Add a pumpkin here, a scarecrow there, and you're ready for Thanksgiving!  Easy, quick, and festive!

...Capoeira.

When I started this blog, there were two things I had in mind: food and art.  I wanted to cook and create my way into everyone's Facebook newsfeed and inspire my friends to attempt new recipes and projects.  But here's the thing, that's not for everyone.  So I'm going to branch out a little more, step outside my comfort zone, and start attempting something different every now and then.  

A friend of mine convinced me to try Capoeira.  The beginner class was on Monday nights when I usually play volleyball, but all of a sudden it was Veterans Day, volleyball was canceled, and I didn't have an excuse.  Not gonna lie, I was nervous.  I'm convinced I have some sort of nervous disease where I can create in my head any sort of scenario I need to in order to ruin something that might be fun.  

But as nervous as I made myself, there was no getting out of it.  I was committed.  

She's committed!  

So we made the trek up to Long Beach to BodySport Capoeira for the Total Beginners class.  If you are unfamiliar with capoeira, it is a Brazilian form of martial art that combines fight with dance to create one awesome style of combat.  The origin, as it was explained to me, was from slaves who were forbidden from learning to defend themselves, so they used dance as a way to disguise the combat training.

I cannot recall the reason for the handstands.  This was before the class started.

The class was led by these two ladies, Rebecca and Heather, and wow, did they know their stuff!  Heather (in white) was the primary instructor for this class.  Because we are all facing a wall-to-wall mirror, she knew exactly when you did something wrong, and yes, she calls you on it!  It's a little embarrassing until you realize you're in the Total Beginner class and no one else knows what they're doing either.  You all feel just a little silly together in the beginning, and you all get that sense of accomplishment together when you finally get it right.

After about 10 minutes of warmup, which involved some jogging (forward and backward), some shuffling, and some cartwheels across the room (which made me incredibly dizzy), we began to learn the basics of capoeira.  The first and most used move of the night was the ginga, which is a continuous movement side to side, stepping one foot backward and forward, and then the other.  With the ginga, you're always ready to defend or attack, and with the constant motion, you make a very frustrating target for your opponent.

The ginga.  There were actually other people in the class, I promise.

The next moves we learned were the Meia-lua de Frente (front half moon) and the cocorinha.  Or in common terms, a outside to inside kick and a squat to avoid a kick.  The moves themselves were not that complicated.  If you watch someone do them a couple times, you can do them, too.  But when you consider the fact that the moves are all done in the middle of the continuous ginga movement, it gets a little more complicated.  Eventually, we had to partner up and when one kicked the other had to duck, and back and forth.

The Meia-lua de Frente, front half moon kick.

To finish off the class, we had a roda, which was by far the coolest portion of the class.  Everyone gathers in a circle and a few people keep rhythm using tambourines and an instrument called a berimbau.  They begin to sing and everyone is expected to sing back, and it's all in Portuguese.  Yes, there was some pretend singing going on, but you learn as you go.  The other aspect of the roda is that everyone takes turns in the center of the circle showing their moves for all to see.  This is probably cooler than the singing.  Yes, it's definitely cooler.  But all of it together made for a really great experience.  I'd love to see what it looks like in a non-beginner class.

I did it!  And I was rewarded with a tiny cup of water!

And before I knew it we were done, and I hadn't died of embarrassment, boredom, or exhaustion.  And any night where I haven't died of one of those things is a success in my book!  Give it a try, you'll have fun!

...to Make Protein Snacks.

Last week, as I ate my skinless grilled chicken breast and steamed vegetables from El Pollo Loco, for the third day in a row, I realized I needed more.  I needed something to not only give me a little extra pep in my step, but to break up the monotony of my meals.  And being the sweets-lover that I am, it wouldn't be long before I succumbed to the cravings for the candy dish full of chocolate right outside my office.

So I decided I needed a couple "sweet" treats to mix into the chicken and veggie diet so I didn't go insane.  I have two options for you today - some Peanut Butter Protein Bars and a Protein Cheesecake.  The protein bars are extremely easy and I would recommend them.  The cheesecake used a few ingredients I had to run to the store for, and didn't turn out as hoped.  Less recommended, but read on for details!

Peanut Butter Protein Bars

If you love peanut butter like I do, you'll enjoy these bars.  You don't have to bake them, and you don't even have to chill them (although you could).  The recipe makes 16 bars, and if I did the math right, each bar comes out to 200 calories, 12g protein, 16 carbs, and 8g fat.  Not a ton of protein, but with all the chicken and eggs I'm eating right now, I'm not too worried.

Here's what you need:

-1/2 Cup nonfat milk
-1 Cup reduced fat peanut butter
-2 Cups uncooked oats
-1 Tbsp. honey
-1 1/3 Cups whey protein powder (I used vanilla-flavored)

Mix the peanut butter, honey and milk in a pot on low heat.

This smelled so good I wanted to eat a big spoonful already!

Add the protein powder and mix it up real good.

Finally add the oats and stir.  If it's too thick, add a little more milk.  Once you have it all mixed, press it into a 9x13 baking pan and just let it cool.

It's really that easy!  And I could probably eat a whole pan of these, but I promise I won't.  By the time I turned around from writing this much, two pieces had been devoured by my sneaky grandparents.  They approve!  Once it's all cooled, wrap the bars individually so you (or your grandparents) don't eat them all in one sitting.

Protein Cheesecake

Okay, so my hopes weren't high for this.  How good could it be with basically no sugar and a combination of nonfat cream cheese and greek yogurt.  If it turned out, though, what a beautiful thing it would be.  I had to try it, just in case.

The recipe involved the above pictured ingredients, as well as some Stevia, and was very simple to put together.  If you want to have a go at it, the recipe is over at Built Lean, where the claim is made that you do not have to sacrifice taste with this cheesecake.

Dry and sour.

I beg to differ.  I'm not sure he's ever had real cheesecake, but real cheesecake is heavenly.  Mine was not.  After the incredibly long bake-time, and chilling in the fridge overnight, I tried one bite and tossed it out.

Oh, and did I mention, the cheesecake is a no-crust cheesecake?  Yuck!

...to Lose Ten Pounds (Part I: The Backstory)

I've been thinking about this post for awhile now, trying to figure out how to write about my "journey" (a.k.a struggle) to lose weight without sounding like a total fatty. But I'm over it, so here's my story. I'll start at the beginning. I think the first time I tried to lose weight was sophomore year of high school. I called it the "Wheat Thin" diet, and that was basically all I ate. It was not something I could keep up long, but I did manage to lose a few pounds. Throughout the rest of high school I maintained that same weight pretty well, as I was living at home with no job and no money to waste on junk food.

And then I moved. I moved far away from the land of my parents' barren refrigerator (sorry Mom and Dad) and into the paradise of Grandma's kitchen. Well, I didn't live in her kitchen (sadly), but just up the stairs. As I went to school the next couple years, they graciously allowed me to live with them rent-free, which meant more money to eat like a boss. I always hear people say "I love you like a fat kid loves cake." Well, I loved cake like a fat kid loves cake.  I warned you I would sound like a fatty.

Yes, yes we do.

So I gained weight like I planned to hibernate forever.  And then I was actually forced to hibernate, because who wants to be seen in that state?  I certainly didn't.  From the time I moved to California to the time I decided enough was enough and I wanted to lose the weight (about three years), I had put on a good 50 pounds.  Yes, 5-0, you read that right.  Looking back on it I am amazed my knee caps didn't just explode out of my legs under the weight of me.

2009.  My brother and me.  Not a lot of full body pics or revealing clothing at this weight.  

I got myself a gym membership.  I hit that gym almost every day after work for quite some time.  The elliptical was my pal.  And when I could ellipt no more, I would move to the stationary bike.  The bikes had the little fans for your face to make you feel like you were riding a real bike, which was like the best part of the gym besides the time when The Office was on TV and I got a machine in front of it.  

I cut my meals down to microwaved frozen chicken breasts and veggies.  Sometimes brown rice.  It was plain, but effective.  I was losing weight, for the first time in years.  It felt so good.  I actually got excited about getting on the scale.  And then, when I hit a plateau and stopped dropping the pounds (I had lost about twenty), I took to home exercise instead.  My workout series of choice?  TurboFire.  I followed the schedule and everything, and after about a year of hard work I had lost 40 pounds of that 50 I had gained.

2012.  My sister and me.  Many pounds fewer, arms showing, legs actually fitting into "skinny" jeans.

And you know what, that was good enough for me for a long time.  It was an impressive feat, in my opinion.  Not only had I lost 40 freakin' pounds, but I got strong!  I played volleyball on a regular basis, and even better than I did in high school.  I started to enjoy shopping in a way I hadn't in a very long time.  And most importantly, I was finally healthy again.  It felt good.

And that brings me to my point.  I'm ready to get rid of those extra ten (or more) pounds.  It's time.  My body seems to cling to it for dear life.   And my mind simply cannot handle going back to microwaved chicken.  So I will have to work a little harder as I get closer and closer to my goal weight.  Stay tuned for Part II: The Process!                                       

...to Make a Foam Board Storage Container.

If there's one thing I am always lacking, it is storage space!  If there's two things, it's storage space and enough sleep to get me through the day.  But for now, let's say there's only one and focus on that.  My bookshelves are loaded with two rows of books per shelf.  My closet, stuffed so tight I can barely see what I'm choosing to wear (explains a lot about my wardrobe, right?).  My art supplies are bustin' out of their clear plastic drawers, and my desk is covered with junk.

I can't do much about most of those storage problems, but I came across a fitting solution for my lack of art supply storage.  A container of sorts made entirely out of foam board and the artsy materials it will soon be holding.  I purchased four sheets of Dollar Tree foam board (for four dollars, obviously) for a future blog post, but that project was delayed a little while, so I will be using it up on something more immediate.

I cut my back board to the desired height and width.  You will need to decide how many compartments you want, and what they'll be used for.  It would really help to sketch out your design before you begin to build, but I didn't.  I should have, though.  Once you have a basic plan, cut some notches at the desired shelf heights to fit the thickness of the foam board.  Glue them in place using a hot glue gun.

Gluing is easy.  Getting perfect angles that all fit together is not.

Measure and cut notches on the first shelf, so the two pieces fit together like a puzzle.  Make sure to match up the notches in pencil before you cut them, otherwise you're going to have a crooked, less useful shelf.  Again, hot glue the seams.

I added in a second shelf the same way, and to make it a little less plain, I added in a middle divider on the top shelf and front panels on a few of the openings.  Drawers were a must, as I have a lot of paint, markers, and pencils floating around my room.  I wanted the option to remove a drawer and take it to my desk, instead of trying to empty it out every time I need a pen.

The white just wasn't doing it for me.  It looked sloppy and unfinished.  So, I took to Grandpa's garage and started digging for spray paint.  I could only manage to find "Under the Hood" car spray paint, so of course, that's what I used.  It ate away at the inside of the boards a little, but not enough to stop me.

I must admit, the fumes were getting to me.  I had to sit awhile after this.

It was time for a long break to make sure everything dried.  I moved it in the house, which was a mistake, as it soon filled the whole downstairs with it's odor, but with a rowdy dog and gardeners on the way, I wasn't going to risk leaving it outside.

I heart Mod Podge.  Makes everything fun!

After some hours had passed, I grabbed my leftover half-roll of wrapping paper from two years ago and a bottle of Mod Podge, and I cut the wrapping paper to fit the fronts of each drawer and the top of the container.  I loved this wrapping paper for gifts, and I love it now for projects.  The black part of the pattern is raised and velvety, and it gave this project exactly the texture it needed.  

Apply the Mod Podge, add the paper, and layer another coat of the 'podge on top. 

Like I said, I cut shapes for the drawers and top panel.  Let them extend past the edges, as your shapes may be irregular (or just cut poorly, as mine were).  You can trim the excess later, but make sure the paper has dried before you trim, or it may tear.  The Mod Podge will dry clear, it just takes a little time.

Still needs a little trimming at this point.

I felt like there was just something missing.  I went to the craft closet and found my Grandma's jar o' buttons, which she has been collecting off old shirts and pants for the last 50 years.  It was perfect.  I found six gold buttons of different styles that added the perfect amount of flare.  

This button had a "P" on it.  One had an eagle.

Finito!

And as soon as it dried (actually a little before, I was antsy!), I started filling my new decorative storage unit with my overflowing art supplies.  It just the right size, and there's still a lot more I can fill it with.  

The best part of this project was the price.  I only spent $4.00, and everything else I had at home.  And for a lazy Saturday with nothing else to do but catch up on Netflix shows, I really enjoyed being productive.  At least for a few hours of it.