22

Saturday was my 22nd birthday, and yes, Taylor Swift's song "22" was on repeat until I couldn't possibly listen to it anymore. :)

 

The morning started off with a new tea blend called Paris (how perfect!!) that my sister brought back from her Indiana trip, and the best crepes I have ever tasted.

 



 

One of the hardest parts about being gluten intolerant is finding substitutes for old favorite recipes.  Crepes were always a favorite of mine but I never could find an *edible* gluten free recipe (they mostly tasted like cardboard).  That all changed when I made the Blackbird Bakery's recipe for the first time earlier this year - Best. Crepes. EVAH!  They are better than any crepe that I have have ever had.... seriously amazing.

 



My sister and I still kept up our old "sleep over" tradition.  Each of our birthdays we watch a favorite movie, eat a whole package of oreos (my all time favorite cookie), snack on extra birthday cake, and then paint our nails a "new crazy color" if we haven't fallen asleep yet.  This year we changed a few things up and had even more fun!

 

After throwing away several bottles of hideous nail polish from past sleepovers I decided to buy colors that I wouldn't mind using all throughout the year.  My whole world stopped when I found "my blue" color.  Scotch brand is tricky to put on, but you can't be picky with "natural" nail polish - it's just a little bit harder to work with.  Their colors are amazing though!

 



 

I have a confession to make - my cake didn't make it to my birthday.  The mistake was that I made it a week in advance.  Homemade coffee ice cream, gluten free chocolate cake and mocha frosting doesn't last long around here.  At all.



 

We ended up getting out an old exercise dance game, giving ourselves facials, painting our nails and totally pampering each other until about 2am.  Oh, and we couldn't stop laughing the whole time. :)



 

I have some AWESOME news that I can't wait to share later on this week!!

 

Happy Tuesday

~~ le

How To Make Solid Perfume

Last month I posted about how much I love making new things - especially with herbs and essential oils.  I thought that I would share how I made the solid perfume.  It was actually pretty easy, but timing was everything.  I literally had 3 seconds to pour the perfume into the containers before it started to cool down and harden.

First you blend together your base oils and beeswax.... then slowly heat until everything is melted together.

I mixed together my essential oils while the beeswax was melting.  For this batch I made an amazing cinnamon and sweet orange scent.

 

Let the beeswax mixture cool every-so-slightly before adding the fragrance.  If you mix them together too soon, the heat will "kill" a lot of the fragrance.

After mixing *very* thoroughly, pour mixture into containers.  I like using both tins and "chapstick" tubes.  It's that simple!

I wasn't able to get photos of the rest of the steps because as I said above, I had about 3 seconds :)

I can't wait to try some new fragrance blends.  I'm going to be experimenting with vanilla and lime!

Scrumptiously Sweet || Quickest Dessert Ever

Desserts don't always have to take an hour to make - sometimes I just can't wait that long :)  I came back after a trip to TX and found out that this dessert was already a big hit with the family.  My sister has made it for us several times since, and it really does give me my *chocolate fix*.

Pour some frozen cherries, melted chocolate chips, and homemade caramel in a bowl - it's that simple.  The chocolate and caramel mix together and just ooze over the cherries.... you really have to try this!!

Here is my sister's homemade caramel recipe.

Combine 1 cup coconut sugar, ½ cup full fat coconut milk and 1/4 teaspoon sea salt in a saucepan over medium heat.  Simmer for about 10 minutes or until it gets really dark and thick.  Remove from heat and add 1 teaspoon vanilla extract.  That's it!

I pour my chocolate on the very top after the caramel so it doesn't harden too fast over the frozen cherries :)

Scrumptiously Sweet || Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

There are only a few things that I crave more than chocolate chip cookies.  Pinkberry, Mexican Food, Homemade Ice Cream and Cupcakes to be exact.  I used to bake the most amazing triple chocolate chip cookies ever - really..... but then I had to get rid of all gluten from my diet and I can't ever have any again.  This recipe from the Urban Poser is very close to the "real" thing!  They are gluten free, egg free, vegan, and paleo (aka, the worlds healthiest cookies).  I'm glad that they don't *taste* like the healthiest cookies ever :)

**Click Here For The Recipe**

These are the best when they first come out of the oven.  I'm not really sure how long they will last because we never have any leftovers :)

~~Happy Saturday

Saying Goodbye To Winter

The best part of Winter is being able to try out new tea and coffee creations.  I came up with a delicious creamy cinnamon spice tea recipe and made it in bulk so I would have plenty during the cold months.  I blended Red Rooibos tea with Cinnamon and Cloves and absolutely loved how it turned out.

 



 

All it needed was a homemade coconut milk creamer and it tasted like pumpkin pie in a cup.  Even though I love this tea, I can't wait until Summer when I can make my favorite sweet fresh mint iced tea - YUMMO and so refreshing!

 

Happy Thursday!

A Day At The Spa - Almost

I just love making new things - knitting, sewing, candle dipping, cooking, and baking are just a few of my favorites.  It's a great way for me to de-stress and relax - really, i love it.  One of my absolute favorite things to do is work with different herbs and essential oils.  This weekend I decided to try a *couple* of new spa recipes - I ended up making about 9 or 10 different things. :)  After I made some solid perfume  I wanted to try out a lotion bar in the same scent (it was ahhhmazing).... then it snowballed into body scrubs and facial products.  I was having way too much fun to stop!  I still can't decide if the Lime and Ylang- Ylang Facial Scrub or the Lemongrass Body Scrub smells the best :)

 

My cat decided to join in on the photo... can you see her?  She *loved* checking everything out - Bingley had to chase her off for me.  Thanks B!

 

 

Here are just a few of the finished products.... can't wait to try them all out!

 



 

What did you do for fun this weekend?

Scrumptiously Real || Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

This has to be my favorite homemade ice cream ever.  I think I've made it over 7 times this year!

There's just something so refreshing about mint and chocolate...

Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream:

Gather up your ingredients...

Combine all ingredients except for the chocolate in a blender until smooth.....

Then.....

In the morning pour the ice cream base into your maker (following the makers instructions) and add the finely minced chocolate.  When the ice cream is finished, transfer into another container and freeze for at least 8 hours so the ice cream sets up.  

Writing this post made me hungry!  I think I'll go grab the whole container and a spoon a scoop or two.

Happy Thursday
~~laura elizabeth

Scrumptiously Real || Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

This has to be my favorite homemade ice cream ever.  I think I've made it over 7 times this year!

There's just something so refreshing about mint and chocolate...

Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream:

Gather up your ingredients...

Combine all ingredients except for the chocolate in a blender until smooth.....

Then.....

In the morning pour the ice cream base into your maker (following the makers instructions) and add the finely minced chocolate.  When the ice cream is finished, transfer into another container and freeze for at least 8 hours so the ice cream sets up.  

Writing this post made me hungry!  I think I'll go grab the whole container and a spoon a scoop or two.

Happy Thursday
~~laura elizabeth