Gluten Free Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

These are so, so good. You should make them...

1-3/4 cup gluten free baking mix (Bisquick has one that works great)
1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cups canola oil
1-1/3 cup sugar
2 whole eggs
1 can of pureed pumpkin
1/3 cups water
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 package dark chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. Combine dried ingredients in a large bowl, set aside

3. Cream together oil and sugar until combined - add eggs, pumpkin, water and vanilla. Beat until combined

4. Add flour mixture to wet ingredients and beat until combined. Mix in chocolate chips and nuts

5. Pour into individual muffin liners and bake for 55-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the muffin comes out clean.

YouTube - Stylist Tips

Men's Plaids

Something happens in my brain when I see a collection of men's plaid shirts all lined up together.

Something kind of awful, actually.

 I start smelling wood smoke, and seeing life through a hipster filter.

I get an urge to grab an ax and go chop wood, just kidding. I actually get an urge to watch Brad chop wood.

Anyway...

I start viewing plaids without discrimination, accepting them as they are, not caring that as soon as I take one shirt away from the pack *record scratch* holy old-man-shirt, batman.

I know, for a fact...that I am not the only one who has encountered the weird brain-fog that comes with looking at plaids. So here are some ideas for avoiding the pitfalls of hideous plaids that say "I'm wearing geriatric shoes and Depends" take 'em or leave 'em.

1. Woven vs. Western

Woven plaids incorporate more colors and the squares tend to be larger, as a rule woven plaid is my favorite, that said... Western tends to stick with one or two colors in smaller squares but there are still redeeming qualities if worn right. It just has an easier time jumping the line into mature-plaid territory.

Tiny monochromatic squares look very dated...just keep it in mind.

2. Colors 

Colorful plaid is great...it's the best kind in my opinion, but a lot of times people think "colorful plaid" has to equal this...

Not so... something like this can definitely work, but I firmly believe that you need to be a confident plaid wearer to pull it off... 

This is the alternative:

It's bright but it doesn't exactly punch you in the face.

3. Outfits, or Pairing Plaid... 
I'm pretty sure there's a huge rule-book that says something about not wearing a purple dress with blue buttons, it probably has a chapter on ankle boots and somewhere in there it mentions not pairing plaid with plaid. It's a good rule to stick to... you can, however, pair plaid with solids in complimentary colors. I don't know many men who own red pants, Brad sticks to his blue jeans, but to women trying to work with plaid - don't be afraid of going out on a limb with your pants! This is opposed to going out on a limb without your pants...I mean, you be the judge...

Sorry.

Ok, really though - alternative colors for the bottom half of your outfit can go a long way toward bringing an outfit that might not work together. Be creative and have fun with it.

One last thing, to the guys - keep an eye on your belt line. One sure-fire way to get the mature-plaid look going is to have a plaid shirt smoothed neatly into dark wash jeans with a leather belt cinched up right under the belly button. The only reason I mention it is because I've seen it a lot...

This, even without a belt...

is better than this...

 


xoxo,

Rae

Lampshade *DIY*

This project is extremely easy, cheap and fast.

I also found that it was very necessary in my case, I had two very sad little lampshades on the edge of getting tossed when I decided to give this a whirl.  

Burlap Lampshade *DIY* 

Materials Needed: 

- Scissors 

- 2-inch strips of burlap - the length and number of strips will vary depending on the size of your lamp.

- Hot glue gun 

- Lamp shade needing some love (you need one with a metal frame)  

Step 1: Strip your lampshade 

You want nothing left but the metal frame.

Step 2: Cut your strips 

Get a rough idea of how long your burlap strips need to be, the ends of the strips need to fold over the top and bottom of your lampshade frame with about a half inch to work with on each end.  

The number of strips you'll need depends on how large or small your lampshade is, they need to overlap like this... 

Step 3: Hot glue the strips to the frame, just pick a starting point and get to it - overlapping and gluing the top portion of the burlap strips and then the bottom. 

Here is a picture of the top after I finished gluing...

and the bottom... 

Odd perspective, I had the distinct creepy feeling that I was invading the lamp's privacy. 

The burlap is fairly easy to work with and the measurements are very rough which just adds to the rustic look of the shade. Don't worry about being too precise. 

Finished product... 

This took me about an hour to do, my shade is obviously pretty small and I think it took roughly 7 strips per side to cover the frame and overlap nicely. There you have it! Done and done. 

Next DIY -------> Anthropologie lampshade remake 

 xoxo,

Rachael 

The Eye Doctor

I visited an eye specialist earlier this week, not for me. I'm already fully aware that I can't see.

No, it was for our recently acquired English Setter, Clove.

She's also known as Clover, Clovey-wovey, Chum, Cloverfield (if she's being bad...) or Love Bug.  

I have had a few opportunities to go the vet with previous pets, but those were mostly country doctors who saw cattle half the time, not high end eye specialists who's clientele is comprised mainly of independently wealthy women with 20 year old Shnauzer's or Yorkie's named Buffy or Her Majesty. 

This was new territory for me. Clove has a tendency to run into objects that have been in the same spot since the day she arrived at my house, that and a few other things (she's totally content to sit and stare at white walls for extended periods of time...she's a special puppy, bless her) got me thinking she might have a vision issue so I made an appointment. 

Off to the eye specialist we go, her collar disappeared not long before her appointment so I wasn't able to leash her and her crate is a little cumbersome which landed her a front row seat in my lap. In we go, no leash, no crate, looking like the Clampetts and Girlfriend decides it's time to chow down on her butt. 

I kid you not. My dog has never chewed on her derriere with as much determination and gusto. She decided to wait until we're surrounded my upper crust lapdogs to pull that trick. So here we are, I'm trying to ignore the fact that Clove is treating her rump like it's the greatest thing since bacon when she decides she's had enough and falls asleep. 

This is the part of the story where Clove debuts her lack of bladder control. She had the opportunity to go potty before the trip inside and opted out, apparently she was saving something for me. She was totally dead to the world, and I was thinking about what a sweet puppy she was and thanking the Lord that she had given up on chewing her own tail off when I notice a spot about the size of my hand on my pants. 

Under her. 

Yes.

She peed on me.

In her sleep.

In the doctor's office with all the classy potty trained animals. 

Then I spent the rest of the visit proclaiming far and wide that obviously my puppy had a drooling issue, precious strumpet, and that absolutely was not Clover pee on my pant leg. 

Happy Wednesday, 

Rae 

p.s. Clover has perfectly functioning eyes, thank goodness. Apparently she's just still working on developing the semi-important connection between her eyeballs and her brain. The doctor said not to worry and to give her a little time to develop, in the mean time we'll work on bladder control...er uh, that drooling problem. 

   

Sunday List

1. This is a very brave iguana...

2. This is the water in Jamaica, it's beautiful. 

 

and again.

3.  There is something to be said for home, really.

4. Monokinis are a bad idea. Just...for real, y'all. Not good. 

5. I have a really strong feeling that it would be bad to go to jail in Jamaica. For whatever that's worth.

6. I don't really think it'd be great to go to jail anywhere...not really on my bucket list to be honest. 

7. I love this guy...

8. Someone told me to call a Jamaican a yardy. I felt like maybe she was encouraging me to make a cultural faux pas so I didn't. Proud? 

9. Can you tell I'm hung up on Jamaica? Anyway.. 

10. Random vacation pictures 

That's all for now, I hope you had a glorious weekend. 

xoxo,

Rae 

Monster Cookies

Oh me. These are good... 

A friend of mine introduced me to the concept (hey, Beth!)

My recipe is a conglomeration of about 4 others and what I ended up with was a dense, heavily textured, crunchy, chewy, yummy mother-load cookie. 


Ingredients: 
2 sticks butter, softened 
1 1/2 cups sucanat* 
3 large eggs 
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 cups sunflower butter (almond butter works too)
4 1/2 cups gluten-free rolled oats 
2 cups chocolate chips 
2 cups plain M&Ms 

*A note on the sucanat... You can use normal sugar, you can use raw sugar, you can use whatever makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside. I just like irony and I felt very ironic blending organic sucanat with straight up butter. I have this gut instinct that sucanat should be paired with applesauce and organic cotton and that the butter would make some hempadrille wearing hippie very disappointed in me. 

Ever heard of a hempadrille? Allow me to educate you...

Back to the cookies.  

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugars. Add the eggs, one at a time and mixing between each addition, the vanilla, baking soda, and whatever nut butter you choose to use. Say nut butter 5 times fast. 

Sorry. 

Anyway... mix well until smooth.

3. Add the oats and mix well, scraping the sides of the bowl. Add the chocolate chips and mix until they are evenly distributed throughout the batter. Then add the M&Ms and mix well.

4. Roll the batter into balls about 1 tablespoon each, and place 2 inches apart onto baking sheets, I greased mine but I don't think it's imperative. 

5. Bake until the edges are golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes.

6. Let cool on baking sheets for about 2 minutes before transferring to cooling racks, unless of course - you too are just now realizing that the Keebler Elf isn't the only person allowed to own those. Who knew they were even available to the mortal bakers, not me. 

Cooling rack or plate, whatever teeters your totter, these things are great. 

Makes: 6 dozen cookies

Sorry, it would appear the sugar buzz not only effected my vision but the vision of my cell phone as well. Oopsie. 

Enjoy!

Rachael