Missing A Major Ingredient: Triumph over a challenge

Normally my recipes are from two sources: Pinterest or my Mother in-law. This morning however, I needed to enter a more specific search since I was lacking a key ingredient in pancakes. I'll give you a hint.

 Yeahhhhh. Milk is kind of an important ingredient in most cases. So I typed in "milkless pancake recipe" and lo and behold it seems many others were also lacking that key component and had to get creative.

Typically, when I don't have an ingredient I'll just scrap the idea for the day and wait until I have everything. But today I had a huge crate of fresh blueberries just begging to be used and they were my inspiration to press on. I followed these directions but I (sort of) halfed the recipe because I could not should not be eating 20 pancakes all my myself.

My mom's old griddle. She used to make me pancakes on this same pan when I was little!

Additional changes: The recipe's comment section had many people saying that the pancakes were rather dense and flat so I followed  their tips and added more sugar, vanilla, and flour. There's no easy way to half 3 eggs so I just opted for 2 instead of one. I also was lacking a wisk (Seriously?! Who doesn't have a wisk in their kitchen?! Me, apparently.) which probably wasn't a big deal but since the directions called for the eggs to be "wisked" till bubbles formed, I decided to be anal about it. I pulled out my hand mixer, set it on low and that did the trick! I don't know how important those bubbles are to making fluffy pancakes, but by golley, I was going to have bubbles in my eggs because that's what the recipe told me to do!

The changes were successful. For whatever reason, my blueberry pancakes turned out so amazingly fluffy and yummy looking that they disappeared before I could take any more pictures. :-) Ooops!

DIY Jewelry Holder

Jen over at IHeart Organizing was my creative inspiration for this DIY project that I've been dying to try for months! It seemed like the perfect gift for my wonderful mother in-law, who recently moved to Alaska into an apartment with a typical lack of storage space!

Gorgeous, right?! I had looked at several similar ideas but they all seemed a little flimsy compared to this... especially if you love those big, chunky, fun earrings! I immediately set out looking for this particular screen at my Home Depot store and found that it cost $25 a sheet!! Youch! The supplies plus shipping set this project wayyyy outside of my crafting budget so it was at that point I had to retire my idea for the time being. It lay festering in the back of my brain until one lovely day a couple months later I came across another blogger's suggestion to use chicken wire! Of course! *face palm* Why didn't I think of that?!

The same week I saw the chicken wire suggestion we were headed up to visit my in-laws in Anchorage! It was  perfect! Shipping was no longer going to be an issue and I had found a new, more economical way of completing my gift! One of the days we were there, the family decided to go salmon fishing with a friend and, having had a full touristy few days already, I opted to stay back at the apartment so our son could have a normal day of playing and napping.....annnnd so I could be crafty without anyone knowing what I was up to.

I'm not going to lie, I was being sneaky and I reveled in it! Ever since I was a kid I loved surprising people whether by doing chores without being asked or by making things for them. My inner child was coming out in full force as I went to the thrift store, picked out a sturdy wooden frame, then hit Home Depot for the rest!

 I found the "chicken wire" which was in a huge roll for $7. It had wider gaps than I had hoped for so I decided to look around a bit. That's when I stumbled onto that section where the decorative metal screens were being sold and they had a new design in a smaller size for only $10!! Hallelujah! I snatched it up, grabbed some teacup hooks, found my way to the spray paint where I took about 15 minutes longer than necessary to pick out a color and then checked out with my goodies!

Unfortunately I didn't have the sense to take pictures of the process but here's the final product! My mother in-law was surprised when she got home and hung it up right away. She's so much fun to buy/make things for! I just love her to pieces!

Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

Mmmm, the house smells marvelous! Who needs a candle when you can just make this super easy recipe from Artsy Fartsy Mama and get to eat its deliciousness 30 minutes later?


This is my second time making this recipe. The first time I followed the directions exactly and it was ah-mazing.... I just knew I would be making it again soon! This time around, I decided to make some slight alterations in order to serve it to my mother who is gluten intolerant. 


There are a plethora of gluten free recipes out there designed to make you feel like you are still getting to eat the food you love but unfortunately most of the desserts end up tasting something like slightly sweetened cardboard. This recipe gave me hope though! The 3-4 bananas it calls for provided a moistness that so many gluten free desserts sorely lack and the results were beyond gratifying! Even with the changes, it remained a simple, easy recipe with great flavor and, even better, perfect banana bread-ey texture!

 Below I've posted the original recipe and then my altered recipe as well. Hope you enjoy!

What You'll Need (Original Recipe):

Yellow Cake Mix

2 Eggs

3-4 Overripe Bananas

1/2-1 cup chocolate chips, nuts, etc.

My alterations

What You'll Need (GF Recipe):

GF Cake Mix (I used Betty Crocker's mix) 

2 Eggs - The GF mix will call for 3 but 2 worked just fine!

3-4 Overripe Bananas

1 tsp Vanilla (I added this because everything tastes better with a little vanilla!)

1 cup chocolate chips, nuts, etc!

Brown Rice Flour to flour the pan(s)

 

Spray two small bread pans with cooking spray and then lightly powder with brown rice flour before adding the batter. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes and then let cool for a few minutes. Use a knife to make sure the edges are separated from the sides of the pan, turn upside down and then pat the bottom of the pan a few times. It should come right out! Enjoy a healthy (ok, fairly healthy) dessert!

Yummm!