edible dough

More than cookies I love cookie dough!

Random tidbit/theory from Heather Cookie can be spelled Cooky spellcheck doesn't like it though, we use ie because when plural like they normally are it would change from a y to ies. Nick and I have cookbooks with several cooky recipes but most are plural cookies since they do make more than one cooky!
Onto the edible dough! I know I am not the only cookie dough fan in the world but we all have to worry about that nasty thing raw eggs can give us called salmonella! I read a few years back that you can make an egg replacer out of flax seed(and that stuff is so good for you why not!) So the first time I tried it I mixed the water and flax meal and set it aside for a bit like the directions I found at the time said...I think it worked but not so well I was thrilled about the outcome and wanted to try it again soon.
The other day I was making some "Milk Maker Cookies" (I said that when I couldn't think of the word lactation and like it better than Lactation Cookies) and didn't have enough eggs. Remembering I could use flax seed but didn't remember the water to flax meal ratio or how much for one egg, I looked it up and "hey!" there is a trick to it!
Flax seed meal egg replacer is a 1:3 ratio so one egg it 1Tbsp flax seed meal and 2-3Tbsp water and simmer it on the stove till it reaches an egg like consistency!
You can use flax seeds, 1:4 ratio but you need to blend the seeds in a blender(make your own flax meal) and then mix in the water.
You can make a large batch of either and store it in the fridge for a short time to use when needed
Important: Flax seed needs to be stored in an airtight container or in the fridge in order to keep the beneficial oil from drying out

So after successfully using this vegan friendly egg replacer I thought "Well what else would I need to eliminate to make cookies entirely vegan friendly?" Butter! that's not hard people have been using applesauce in place of butter for years.
If I hadn't fed my little star all the applesauce I would be attempting Vegan Milk Maker cookies right now!

When I do get some apple sauce I will be trying this recipe. She has already substituted the butter out.

Amber & Hazel

Baltic amber and hazelwood, I had heard a bit about both and that they were good for teething babies. Since Estrella is teething I looked into them and decided to get her a necklace with both. I also got myself one to see if I could tell if it works and because I love the look of them. I ordered them from Hazelaid because I wanted to be sure I was getting the right kind of amber on the necklace.

Baltic amber I read someplace and now am not too sure where is supposed to leak a natural painkilling oils into the skin

Hazelwood is supposed to absorb excess acids from the body and I know I got that from info on there site or info that came with the necklaces. Since it absorbing it can only absorb so much, this page on there site answers questions about when and how to tell and includes a photo

So Do they work?
I have read online people who notice a difference in a short period and people who say they don't do anything or make things worse.
For Estrella I can't really tell if her teething is bothering her any more or less. She seems to fuss about the same maybe a bit less, but maybe her pain tolerance has increased since she has had to deal with the teething pain for a while now. One thing I have noticed a big change in is how often she does #2(I read somewhere the hazelwood could help with constipation but now can't find it) she had been going about once every 5 days, but now is going every other day that also could be associated with the teething itself but I truly think its the necklace that I bought too big so is worn on her wrist.
I don't have any consistent pains that I can put on the necklace and know for sure it helped or if it went away on its own, I suffer from headaches and heartburn on occasion, I do think it helps with both but can't be too sure.
I wouldn't say they are magical and you notice a difference right away like some people claim, but I would recommend them because I do think they work!

recycled plastic bag fabric

While on my quest for cheap reusable shopping bags, I stumbled across bag fabric. I watched a tutorial and read up on it a little but knew it wasn't what I was looking for so moved on. In the back of my mind I kept thinking of the cool it looked and the things you could do with it...plus you gotta blog about something cool!

1)In a well ventilated area (I did it outside) Cover your ironing board with paper.
2) Turn bag inside out(especially if it has printing on it, the outside fuses to things easily)
3) Do step #6 then fold bag into quarters
4) Cover with another sheet of paper
5)I thought I read set iron to rayon, but polyester worked better for me
6) Should be much earlier, its a double oops. I realized at this point maybe it would iron better without the handles(and it did) then loaded pictures pretty much in the order I took them and am too lazy to go in and re-edit
7) Trim so you have straighter edges
8) Lay them out in a pattern or design you like
9) Flip it over and tape the edges to keep the design you liked
10) Sew together using long stitches, the closer the holes are the easier it will be to tear since you are giving it a perforated line to tear on

Have fun and be creative

• I took a plastic lei apart to use the flowers and played with putting them inside the bag or laying them on top
  


• I had a bag I didn't want the design folded and ruined so I folded another bag around it
  


• I cut around the petals of a flower so I could pull that layer on top while the layer of plastic it was fused to was really on the bottom
  

Things you don't want

• Air bubbles and holes in the bag (I think air bubbles are from not enough pressure or not hot enough and holes are from too much) I was ending up with a bit of both till I got the right temp
  


• Too much heat or forgetting to turn a bag inside out can cause fusing to the paper(good thing about paper and plastic, get it wet and the paper rubs off easily leaving the plastic undamaged)
  


• Run out of thread while sewing, puts unused holes in the fabric leaving the fabric weakened

Reusable Shopping Bags

The #1 reason I hadn't converted to all reusable bags is because I can't stand the material most of them are made of! They look flimsy like they will rip to shreds as soon as a small tear starts. So last month they had USO bags at the store...I am a huge fan of the USO (probably helps that I have been on the receiving end) so I bought one to support them. It was very cheap and I got used to having it and I regret only buying one and now they don't have them anymore. I finally decided I needed more and if they weren't USO bags I wasn't going to pay more than a dollar for a bag made of the material I don't like. I looked and looked online at at stores around and none (including the ones made of material I don't like) are that cheap. So I decide I can sew what is stopping me? So I decide to look for a tutorial for the simplest bag since I seem to give up on things that take too long, embarrassing to admit but true! I found a tutorial on Martha Stewart to make a bag out of a t-shirt.
Super simple

1.) Turn the shirt inside out or so the side you want on the outside is inside.
2.) Sew a seam or two across the bottom.
3.) Place a fairly large bowl on the neck, mark it and cut it(to provide a larger hole to place thins into the bag
4.) Cut the sleeves off.
5.) Optional hem around the edges of the sleeve and neck holes.
6.) Turn it back right side out!

I have chosen to embroider mine...not finished since my hoop broke

Weight Ugh!

I wanted a nice easy lazy topic since I was up all last night tossing cookies, but I am too lazy to find my list of stuff for when I can't think of a topic.
Weight Loss or Maintaining Weight becomes harder as you get older and even more so after you have kids. Love 'em to death but man they make loosing that extra you put on to carry them around and protect them hard...especially when they get older and picky and only want macaroni and cheese. I tried Weight Watchers before getting pregnant with Estrella, and after about a week I was stressed and gave up...yeah pathetic I know! I went back to calorie counting it can be stressful too but its so much easier to figure out, especially in California where calories are posted EVERYWHERE! After she was born I managed to get back down to pre-pregnancy weight, but that didn't last I gained some more back...ugh! I have been counting calories most days but in the back of my mind I know Weight Watchers is healthier its not about not eating too many calories its about eating healthier and making healthier food and lifestyle choices. So I tried for a few days and was stressed again. I was told I should look into the New Weight Watchers you get more points but I couldn't wrap my head around that more points and still loosing...How would/could that work? I finally looked into it today and again its one of those things (like the making healthier choices) that just makes so much since the calculating points is totally different, so of course the number of points you get will change...since I just looked into this today I can't say one way or another if it is any less stressful for me but stress while trying to provide food for a picky eater, a nursling and myself and husband is not what I want on my plate, I am hoping that since it makes so much since it is going to be a little more stress free...wish me luck as I try yet again something new that I might give up on

So Much Stuff!

The last few weeks have been BUSY! July 1st we dined in our "downtown" area, the first Friday of the month they close the street and put tables in the middle and gourmet food trucks come in. It was our first time going and we all had a blast!
A few days later my sister and nephew flew in for a week!(Why I didn't blog last week) On Monday, the fourth, of course we went to a local Independence Day Parade, my nephew is VERY into music and enjoyed dancing in the street whenever he heard music and had the chance. Then of course you have to keep guests occupied so I took them around town a bit. I also had 2 meet ups with moms in the area (a fairly local group that just started up and had planned two meet ups while they were here) I was thrilled to drag my sister along to those since I get paranoid about going out and meeting people....pretty sure I have more than one form of social anxiety.

Its nice that in a city as big as Los Angeles there can be a true since of community, both the First Fridays and the Independence Day Parade were within walking distance and full of people who are local and know each other, or are willing to sit and be a friend. I look forward to more meet ups with the moms group, and making friends(been here 2yrs its about time LOL) I was a bit worried meeting them since most of them are first time moms. I have noticed the longer your a mom the more your parenting style changes and that we wouldn't see eye to eye on a lot of things, but a lot of them are a bit older(not teen or early 20's moms) and are very open to hearing how other parents view things and why and are not all crazy saying this is the best because I read this....<---sorry I got really off on ranting a bit

Oh yeah and this Friday...this day I blog....it is Nick and my 6th anniversary!

No post!

Today is blog day. As I have mentioned before, I have a list of stuff to blog about for when I can't come up with anything, but today I just didn't feel like doing any of them and was not sure what I was going to blog about. Come to find out I really don't have to, someone else did it for me :D
Last week on a diaper board I frequent someone came up with a challenge to come up with diapers out of non-diaper items...maybe what you would use in an emergency ran out of diapers or didn't do diaper laundry situation. She sent me a message asking if she could use the photos of Estrella in her blog! Estrella is #4-7 in 17photos of babies in non-diaper diapers thought up by other cloth diapering moms and dads. She of course is the star in my humble opinion :D

Kinda bummed I had a nice post written up and it didn't publish and hadn't saved so this is only bare bones since I have no idea how I creatively worded it the first time