DIY Happy Birthday Sign

I kind of hate the whole term "crafting" or "crafty" or "crafts." Thanks to the sorority world "crafting" has become a stereotypical pastime. I associate these words with new mommies or middle age women making burlap wreaths or detailed scrapbooks. You know what I mean? Those people who scour the aisles of Hobby Lobby and have a whole room devoted to "crafting." 

This isn't saying I don't like to be creative or making things with my hands, but the word "craft" just makes me squirmy inside. I like creative and well made things not crafty painted canvases with mushy gushy pinteresty quotes. Pardon my rant, moving on.

A couple of weeks ago was one of my roommate's 21st birthday and the house was in need of a little celebratory decorations! I came up with this little birthday sign and it just turned out so cute! 

What You Need:
craft colored paper
paper cutter
scissors
hole punch
tissue paper
twine
printer

To Make:

1. Create a word document with the page format in landscape. Using a bold block font in about a 450 pt. size type out whatever you want your sign to say. (Make the font large enough so two letters fit on each page).

2. Print your saying onto the craft paper. Trim each letter into a rectangle then angle the bottom to crate a pennant like design. Essentially just cutting a triangle out from the bottom.

3. Hole punch the top corners of each letter.

4. Using my instructions on how to make a tassel, create one to go between each letter. I cut my sheets of tissue paper in half to make mini tassels. 

5. Now that you have your letters and tassels string them on to your twine. You can make one long sign or split each word up like I did. See below.

So this isn't a craft, but instead a creative project! You can get even more creative and use this DIY for a holiday, or include someone's name, or for a shower or party! Use green and red for Christmas, orange and black for Halloween, etc. 

Annie

Bedroom Reveal

I have been pinning bedroom images for years just waiting to have the chance to finally decorate a room exactly how I want. I couldn't wait to move into my little campus house and finally bring my ideas to life. 

Patchy walls, a bare bed and hand me down furniture just waiting to be brought to life.

White, white and more white. Oh, and a few touches of navy and gold. Now follow me as I give you a 360 tour of my room. 

Along the wall across from my bed, my clothes and TV are displayed prominently for easy viewing. The clothing rack serves more as a decorative piece being that I actually have plenty of room in my closet. As for my TV, you can expect Food Network to be playing 24/7. 

Moving around the room we come to my dresser and mini gallery wall. This dresser has been in my room since I was born. Gold handles and a coat of shiny white paint have transformed it from the hand painted pink, blue, and green Laura Ashley design that it had when I was 6.

I've never been much of a bedroom person. I would rather be in the middle of the action hanging out with anyone who is around in the central room of the house. Now that I have this perfectly curated space, I can hardly get out of bed. I eat, study, blog and create in my room at all hours of the day.

If I'm not in my bed, I actually sit at my desk. Most people have a desk in their room just as a place to throw junk on, but I actually use my desk on a regular basis. I'm more productive if I'm sitting up with a table space in front of me. Yes, the drawer of my desk is filled with random knick knacks, but I try to keep the top clean of clutter. I have a crush on my room. It's my favorite thing right now and I'm always enveloped with positive vibes when I walk into it. 

"My bedroom is my sanctuary. It's like a refuge, and it's where I do a fair amount of designing - at least conceptually, if not literally." -Vera Wang

You and me both Vera.
Annie

Zucchini, So Hot Right Now

Zucchini bread, zucchini salsa, zucchini cakes and now zucchini fries. I'm on a zucchini kick, but apparently the rest of the world is too.

After having a casual discussion about zucchini with one of my roommates (we are strange like that) and both mentioning how we've always wanted to make zucchini fries, it seemed like the time was of the present. I googled a recipe, adapted it a bit to make them healthier, then found myself sitting down to a whole plate of z-fries for dinner. 

Baked Zucchini Fries
yields 16 fries

Ingredients: 
1 medium zucchini
1/2 cup Panko bread crumbs
whatever seasonings you have in the pantry (I did a combination of salt, pepper, dried rosemary and garlic salt)
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 egg white

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Wash and dry your zucchini and cut the ends off. Cut your zucchini in half. Then slice each half down the middle. Slice into fourths so you end up with about 16 fry shape pieces. 

Mix bread crumbs and seasonings in a shallow dish. Pour flour in a separate dish, and beat your egg white in another dish. Dredge each fry in flour, egg, then bread crumbs and then place on your baking sheet. Once all your fries are coated, bake for 25 minutes until brown and crispy! 

I served mine with a spicy sriracha/ketchup combo! Extra tasty guilt free fries people!

You can serve these as a snack, side dish, or like me, a main dish! I find this totally acceptable considering all the health benefits of these little summer squashes. Low in calories, help prevent cancer and heart disease, have more potassium than a banana and can even help reduce constipation :0. Here are 35 more ways you can use this constipation reducing veggie. TMI? nah.

Annie

Bites of My Life

Settling into school, cooking, baking and more cooking and baking, and winding down from a long weekend. These are the current happenings of my life. 

A long weekend means a short week, but it is especially short for me because I'm ducking out early and heading back to D.C. on Thursday! You can imagine my excitement. More on that trip in next week's bites!

Life is funny, like when you get corn delivered to you from Colorado because a friend knows you "can turn it into something awesome." Life is delicious, like when you get to have a handful of your best friends to your parents house for the yummiest Labor Day feast. Lastly, life is great, like when you are finding peace in the little things and constant happiness in the recent days. 

-Corn cakes with zucchini salsa. The creation I cooked up with my Colorado corn.

-Leftovers on my back deck made reading for Women and Gender Studies much more bearable. 

-I bought a batch of zucchini for zucchini bread and the salsa on my corn cakes, but luckily had some extra for spur of the moment zucchini fries. Check back today for the recipe!

-Friday nights are for girlfriends and platters of sushi. 

-Saturdays in Norman are back, thank goodness!

-Checked CousCous Cafe off my Oklahoma restaurant list with zaalook, falafel and grape leaves.

To avoid overloading your bite intake I split up our Labor Day feast into its own big bite! It's apparent my family loves to cook and eat, but it was even better getting to cook and eat with some of my best gal pals for a little long weekend evening in OKC.

-Chips and dips being attacked by some hungry guhls.

-I give mom and dad almost all the credit for the food, but I did make the amazing brussels sprout coleslaw. 

-Smoked pulled pork, chicken and sausage sided with baked beans, corn casserole, tabouli, cole slaw and fruit salad. 

-Our own version of the name game. 

-Kudos to Pie Junkie for their incredible peach/blueberry and french silk pie paired with our homemade ice cream to send us into the happiest of food comas.

-Worked off our feast with a little laughing ab workout!

Life is good people.

Annie

Cinnamon Veggie Bread

Cinnamon veggie bread--I know that sounds disgusting but ultimately that's what zucchini bread is and I just wanted a way to grab y'alls attention.  Zucchini bread is kind of like carrot cake. What ultimately tastes like a flavorful spice cake actually has vegetables and added nutrients hiding inside! I love my veggies, but love them even more when they are baked up with sugar and flour! 

After having the best zucchini bread of my life this summer from Baked and Wired, it went straight to the top of my baking list.  I raved about this bread so much I was surprised with a platter full of their zucchini bread at my internship going away party. 

I searched around to see if Baked and Wired had their zucchini bread recipe somewhere out in the Internet world, but they seem to have their recipes locked up. I then turned to my trusty food resource, The Kitchn to find an alternate recipe.  If you ever need to find a recipe, a way to cook  certain ingredient or want to know what's new in the food world, check out  The Kitchn. 

Zucchini Bread adapted from The Kitchn
Yields 2 loaves*

Ingredients: 
2 medium sized zucchini, shredded
1 ½ cup all-purpose flour
1 ½ cup whole wheat flour
2 tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. salt
2 egg
1 cup white sugar
½  cup brown sugar, packed
¾ olive or canola oil
2 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:
Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease or line two 8 x 4 loaf pans with parchment paper. Trim the stem and root-end form the zucchinis and shred on a box grater. Gather the zucchini in a dishtowel or a few layers of paper towels, squeeze out as much of the moisture from the zucchini as possible.

Combine the flours, baking powder, baking soda, and spices in a large mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugars, olive oil, and vanilla extract.

Toss the zucchini in the flour mixture. Pour the liquids over top. Gently stir and fold just until no more flour is visible. Divide the batter between the two loaf pans.

Bake 45-50 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. The finished loaves should have a golden-brown crust and feel springy if you give the top a little pat. Let them cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then turn them out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Loaves will keep in an airtight container for several days. They can also be wrapped in foil and frozen for up to three months. Thaw in the fridge overnight or in a warm oven for 20 minutes.

*I halved this recipe and it still turned out great. After my loaf disappeared in a few short hours I wish I hadn’t, but just know that you can half it! 

Annie