JuiceFusion Juicer

Homemade Beef Jerky

So we've been on a beef jerky kick lately and on a whim bought a food dehydrator. So I went to Wal Mart and bought some already thin steaks and cut them into slices. I made a marinade, let the meat sit for two hours, and then dehydrated away!

I might just say it was so delicious we ate it all and I am currently dehydrating batch number two!

Vanilla Lavender Cupcakes

Vanilla cupcakes are great!
Lavender smells perfect and is super relaxing.
So why not Vanilla Lavender Cupcakes!

I used a homemade from scratch Vanilla Cupcake recipe.
My recipe is only for 6 cupcakes since it's just SFO and myself.
You could easily use a store bought cake mix and add some lavender, but I like the fluffiness of this particular recipe.

*I used REAL dried Lavender that I bought HERE and got four satchels for $7.  
*I mixed the lavender in with my cupcake mix the first batch and it came out quite strong.
*For the redos, I soaked the lavender in the milk and strained out the lavender when it was time to mix in the milk.  PERFECT!

Ingredients for the cupcakes

1/2 cup all-purpose flour, sifted

6 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons butter, softened

1 large egg, beaten

2 tablespoons milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Ingredients for the buttercream frosting

4 tablespoons butter, softened

3/4 cup powdered sugar

2 – 3 teaspoons of cream or milk

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat your oven to 350°.  Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl.  Measure the milk into a small bowl.  Beat the butter and a teaspoon or so of the measured milk into the dry mix with an electric mixer.  The mixture will come together to form pebble sized pieces of batter when it is completely mixed together.  Add the egg and vanilla to the bowl with the milk and whisk them together with a fork so they are just combined.  Add the egg mixture to the flour and butter mixture and beat together for 30 seconds or so, incorporating some air into the batter.

Spoon the batter into your paper-lined cupcake pan, filling about 2/3 of each cup with the mix.  Bake them in the center of your oven for 18 – 20 minutes, taking them out as soon as they are just starting to turn golden, but well before they have browned.  A toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake should come out dry.  When they are done let them cool for at least 10 – 15 minutes before removing them from the pan.  Don’t frost them until they are completely cooled, which usually takes another 30 minutes or more, set in a cool place.

To make the frosting, beat the softened butter, powdered sugar, milk and flavorings together with a hand-held mixer until it is smooth and slightly fluffy.  Add as much or as little food coloring as you want, and either more milk or more powdered sugar to get a consistency that is soft enough to spread, but firm enough that it stays in one place.  Decorate with sprinkles, if you have them.  I use an icing bag to frost mine, but they don’t taste any different if you just spread the frosting on with a knife or spatula.

Would You Let Your Boyfriend/Husband/Etc. Dress You For A Week?

Hello,
So browsing the interwebs, I happened across this interesting article about a blogger who lets her boyfriend dress her for a week.  Looking through the photos, I realized he didn't do half bad for an average guy.

This leads me to my second thought.  SFO has GREAT taste!  Thank goodness he grew up with three older sisters in Venezuela!  For example, this super cute Michael Kors dress I got for my birthday or my coveted Christian Louboutin Very Prive Pumps.

So I decided to engage in the Would You Let Your Boyfriend Dress You Challenge?

Step 1:  Organize the closet
Step 2:  Let him pick out my clothes
Step 3:  Remind him I'm a middle school teacher, so double check skirt shortness and pants tightness and keep the heel length under 4.5 inches :)

So ladies, would you let your man dress you?

Shoepocalypse and DIY Shoe Rack

I know it's been waaaaaayyyy too long and I blame work and running a business for that :(

Sooooo....my favorite vice is shoes, more specifically heels. Even with separate walk in closets, there still wasn't enough room. I bought a fifty pair shoe rack from Amazon and it held up well for about six months!

Then one day CRASH! Shoepocalypse had happened!


I pondered purchasing another shoe rack but I'd need at least two to hold all my heels. Soooo after a brainstorming session with my best friend, I decided to use curtain rods! They are cheap and I can use as many as I need! I used 48 inch long ones for less than $2 from Wal Mart.

Voila
DIY shoe rack! Install like you normally would. I reinforced in the center with a curtain rod support (6 for $1). I have 10 rows and am holding about 88 pairs of heels. My tennis shoes and flats are on the otherwise of the closet. I used curtain clips to hang my most used boots. The other thirty pairs are stored flat under the bed. I think I have a problem with shoes!

12 Craft Days of Christmas :)

On the first day of Christmas, crafting gave to me.....A super easy DIY Advent Calendar!
How else were we going to keep track of our days?

I enjoy paper crafting so I have a Die Cut machine and a Cricut machine at the house.  I am going to show you the advent calendar I made using one of my die cuts, but also one that you can make from paper lunch bags that is super easy and super cute!

For the second type, I used plain white lunch bags to be decorated with stickers, stamps. etc.  Very easy to place in a bowl or hang from ribbon on the mantle.

For more ideas, please check out 24 Advent Calendars to Create

DIY Photography Box No. 2

Since my fluffy friend destroyed my first box, I created a second but different version.

You will need:
3 pieces of white foam board = $3.00 at dollar tree
2 pieces of white poster board = $1.00 at dollar tree
1 box cutter = $1.00 at dollar tree
clear tape = $1.00 at dollar tree
Total:  $6.00


Step 1:  Cut all three pieces of foam board in half.

Step 2:

Using your clear packaging tape, attach the three sides to a bottom. I used several layers of tape to stabilize the sides and back to the bottom.

As I'm working on this, mr. fluffy friend is rolling all over my poster board >:(

Step 3:

Attach the top of the cube to the bottom and three sides.  You should now have a cube minus the front.

Fluffy friend could not wait to crawl inside, so I took his photo in the photo box :)

Step 4:

Use a piece of white glossy poster board and cut to width of cube.  You want it to cover the back and slope to the front.  I taped mine in place.  This creates a seamless photo background.

Step 5:

I cute a flap in the top of mine to shine my light into.

This is a video of me using a wrapping paper roll to try and shoo my fluffy friend from my box :(