Fantasy Food Friday: Bag End Apple Bread

Hello, all, and welcome back to Fantasy Food Friday!

This week, we tackled Bag End Apple Bread, found comfy-cozy in the pages of JRR Tolkein's classic Lord of the Rings Trilogy, as well as the Hobbit.

Bilbo's home, Bag End, is in the Shire- rather the midwest of Middle Earth. And, as the midwest edges toward fall, nothing represents us better than apples! (Except possibly pumpkins- but that's soon to come!) And so, this week, I'm pleased to present: Bag End Apple Bread!!

If you're familiar with banana bread, then this is a great recipe for you! It is pretty quick, and very simple.

Ingredients:
chopped, skinned apples
applesauce
flour ( I used half white half whole wheat)
sugar
baking powder
baking soda
salt
cinnamon
vanilla
eggs

I replaced the oil in a normal sweet bread recipe with applesaucs- both to fit the theme and make it a tad healthier!

Start by mixing your dry ingredients together (minus the sugar)

in another bowl, cream sugar, eggs and applesauce:

(excuse the huge shadow)




Add the vanilla, and then mix the wet and dry ingredients together.

Then add in the apple chunks!

Fold them in gently, and pour into greased loaf pans. We made one big loaf and three little ones.

Bake at about 350 for between 45 minutes and an hour.

DELICIOUS- and would be great for Teatime... or Elevenses..or even the fabled Second Breakfast.

Enjoy!










As always- if you make one of my FFF ideas, please let me know, and if you have any suggestions, leave them in the comments!

Weight Loss Wednesdays: 100 (more) reasons I'm getting in shape

Hi guys-

I posted my 100 reasons back in January, and while some of them have stayed the same, others have definitely shifted. Here's my 100 more reasons for continuing my weight loss journey:

101. because people are watching
102. to KEEP this promise to myself
103. to not settle for mediocre104. for a cute halloween costume
105. for more confidence
106.because I am not mediocre, why should my body be?
107.to be able to run a 5k
108. to not feel like a whale in my yoga classes
109. because if others have done it, so can I
110. to keep up with Sherlock!
111. because after everything else, this should be easy
112. because I love my body, now and always
113. because I am a person, not a garbage disposal.
114. to be proud to wear tank tops
115. so that my fitted shirts will become sleeping/work out shirts
116. to be the it girl in the gym
117. because my body is a temple. And a wonderland.
118. because this is living life to the fullest.
119. Because "made in God's image" does NOT mean obese.
120. Because I love ice cream.
121. to pound out the frustrations and fears
122. Because I'm in it for the long haul
123. Because I'm too stubborn to accept any other possibility.
124. Because Winter is coming.
125. for greater flexibility
126. Cause I've got passion in my pants… and I ain't afraid to show it
127. to have enough upper body strength to pull myself up into high places
128. to never, ever feel my fat spilling over the top of my jeans again
129. to show off bare arms
130. for the look on people's faces when I say "I used to be fat"
131. to finally get my headstand
132. because the hard work WILL define me, but my weight won't
133. so that I'll be a good example to any future children
134. to sleep better
135. because if i won't put in the work, someone else will. And they'll be better than me.
136. for better dance calls
137. to beat the disordered eating, forever.
138. so that NOTHING is off limits.
139. to learn to love showers
140. to be able to tie a belt, instead of buckling it
141. to be able to think during a run, and not just about when I'll get to stop.
142. for the feeling of running my hands down my legs… and they don't jiggle
143. to look and feel sexy in my maid of honor dress
144. and bridesmaid dress
145. and every day
146. to find out just what my body is capable of
147. to climb the stairs at Hogwarts
148. so my reaction to my reflection is never negative.
149. to live long and prosper
150. to be able to do ten complete pushups…and not be sore later.
151. to feel better
152. to treat myself the way I deserve to be treated
153. to not feel awkward in the gym, or running down the street
154. to be able to get my yoga teaching liscensure without feeling silly
155. to beat my genetically modified evil twin. ( I know she's out there)
156. so people will ask me how I did it
157. for the cute running clothes
158. to never need a motorized wheelchair/grocery cart
159. to be able to climb trees
160. to never be out of breath at the top of the stairs
161. to feel lime a movie star
162. so I never worry about my skinny jeans fitting
163. to spend less money on snacks!
164. to keep up with my brother
165. to out run the dog
166. to someday finish a 10K
167. to go to bed every night feeling like a champion
168. So Jillian Michaels wouldn't have anything to say
169. for my own personal satisfaction
170. for better games of hide and seek
171. for better head shots
172. and pictures in general
173. no. more. back. fat.
174. to be able to say out loud how much I weigh and not wince afterwards
175. because I can
176. because I can come up with 200 great reasons to do it, and no reasons not to
177. to do what others won't, so I can have what others don't
178. because I want to
179. because I like running
180. so I'll never, ever, EVER walk away from something I love because I'm too fat
181. so that when I start singing, people ask where the sound comes from
182. to be more comfortable on planes and roller coasters
183. to feel more like all my favorite heroines
184. to have those amazing before and afters
185. to say that I got to enroll in the Neville Longbottom school of making puberty work for you
186. to have the self control and discipline to create myself new
187. to want to try new sports and classes
188. to not feel stupid doing it
189. for a smaller fencing target
190. so that when I wear my corset, fat isn't spilling out over the top
191. for cute lingerie
192. for great hikes
193. to NEVER worry at night in a parking garage
194. so I can wear heels without feeling like I might tip over
195. to not need the arm rests at the theatre
196. because I love to swim!
197. to not be jealous of others!
198. for the feeling of accomplishment
199. to see the change in myself
200.because I am worth it


What are YOUR reasons?

Fantasy Food Fridays: Game of Thrones Ginger Beer

Hello, all, and welcome back to Fantasy Food Fridays!

If you're just joining us, every Friday I take on a different edible from a fantasy novel, film or TV show and try to recreate it- and I keep you all up to date via the blog! If you miss my other posts- don't worry, they're coming back! I'm easing into it, but I do promise to post more soon!

Without further ado, this week's endeavor: Ginger beer, featured in A Song of Ice and Fire, by George RR Martin (better known as  Game of Thrones) In Martin's kingdom of Westeros, deceit runs hot and treachery hotter. The rise and fall of kings and clans happen faster than you can keep track, but one thing remains constant. Martin's characters eat some amazing sounding food.

So this week, I attempted my first beverage in the series. I hope you enjoy it!

Game of Thrones Ginger Beer:

Ingredients:

• boiling water
• fresh ginger
• whole lime
• cream of tartar
• sugar
• yeast
• rum (optional. we did the virgin version!)
• bottles or jars that you can make airtight
• a non reactive (ceramic) container with lid

The How to:

roughly chop the ginger (we used a food scale to make sure it was the right amount. About 6 oz. per gallon of water)

Add the ginger to food processor, and turn into mush:

Then, zest and juice the lime (or two!)

(this is messy) Then add the lime juice, zest & ginger to your non-reactive container:

(we used a slowcooker dish)

Pour over the boiling water, and the cream of tartar (about 2 oz.) and be prepared to wait. Cover the container and stir occasionally. You need to wait until the water is lukewarm. At least 3 hours, possibly more.  Once the water is lukewarm, add the yeast to your mixture. I used about two and a half packets. Then recover and let it sit for 6 hours. No need to refrigerate. (note the super cool lamb planter in the back ground. I know, weird fascination with animals.)

Once your 6 hours are up, uncover and add the sugar. A LOT of sugar. I used almost two pounds.

(Again, food scale)

Stir until all the sugar is dissolved. If you want to add alcohol, now is the time!

(doesn't that look tasty??)
 Pour directly into glass bottles, shut tight, and refrigerate. To serve, strain and put in glass.


We found this recipe to be very spicy, but also oddly refreshing. It won't keep for a long time, and do keep it refrigerated!

Enjoy!!

Fantasy Food Friday: Elvish Lembas!

Hello, all!!

Welcome to another addition of Fantasy Food Fridays! If you're just joining us, Fantasy Food Fridays is an ongoing series of posts, hosted on- you guessed it- Fridays. Every week, I make a different food item from a fantasy book, movie or TV show, and then post pictures and how-to's here on the blog. Ready? Great!

This week, I tackled Lembas, from JRR Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. It is described as "very nutritious, stays fresh for months when kept unbroken in its original leaf-wrappings, and is used for sustenance on long journeys."

In Peter Jackson's movies, the hobbits nibbled on a kind of unsweetened shortbread. It is brown on the outside and rather cream colored on the inside.

After doing a little bit of reading on Lembas, I decided to buy and use some flaxseed meal in this recipe. Because Lembas is supposed to be highly nutritious and fibrous, I wanted something that would give it that quality, as well as making it a little chewier.

So, anyway, I used

• white flour (although whole wheat or half and half would be great too)
• flaxseed meal (look for it in your gluten free or organic portion of the Grocery)
• white sugar
• butter

** flaxseed tip: if you do choose to add flaxseed, it needs to make up about a quarter of your total dry ingredients. I used 1 1/2 cups flour and 1/2 cup flaxseed**

I mixed the dry ingredients together and then melted the butter in the microwave before adding it to the dry ingredients.

When that was totally mixed in, I didn't have quite enough moisture in the dough, so I added a tablespoon of water at a time until I had something roughly the consistency of cookie dough. 

I rolled the dough out flat with a rolling pin- make sure you flour whatever surface you work on as it does get sticky!

(doesn't that look nice and healthy? mmmmmm)

And then I cut the dough into rectangles between an inch an three inches big or so.

I scooped the rectangles onto a greased cookie sheet and put them in the oven at 350 for about an hour...

And then disaster struck.

Somehow, I miscalculated the time, and they burned. One whole cookie sheet, black as anything. See?

look at those top ones. Toast, I say, toast.

However, although the others are a little browner than I would have liked, they still taste pretty  good! I especially like them with apple butter on top:

Flaxssed meal apparently browns faster than regular flour, so that might have been part of my problem too.

Things I would change next time:

• less cooking time!
• less sugar
• add a little baking powder or an egg or two so they rise a little bit. These are pretty cracker-y

But that's my Lembas experiment! Enjoy!

Have an idea for Fantasy Foods Friday? Leave it in the comments or email me at charisweible[@]yahoo.com (just remove the brackets!)

Fantasy Foods Friday: Pernese Bubbly Pies!

Hello, all, and welcome to the very first edition of a new series I'm calling Fantasy Foods Fridays.

Every Friday, I will post a new food item that I've made that is featured in a fantasy novel, film or tv show.

We'll talk about the project, and the place it holds in its respective fandom. Ready? Ok, let's begin!


  

Pernese Bubbly Pies

Bubbly Pies come to us from the wonderful words of Anne McCafferey, author of the wonderful Dragonrider's of Pern series. There are a whole list of books, and they are wonderful- some of the first fantasy I ever read. If you haven't read them I recommend you do so soon!

In McCafferey's books, Bubbly Pies are a kind of fair food. Served at special events and "Gathers", which are essentially the modern equivalent of a street fair.  They are served hot, straight from the oven, and are filled with some sort of a sweet berry filling.

Mouth watering yet? Mine is!  So, on to making Bubbly Pies!

The Crust:

If you look, you'll find plenty of recipes for bubbly pies. There was one published in The Dragonlover's Guide to Pern, and plenty of other people have come up with their own. The secret, like any pie, is in the crust.

For Bubbly Pies, we wanted a sweet pie crust. Something that would hold the weight of the filling while it was hot, definitely not something flaky, and something that would taste good on its own if you got a bit or two with no filling.

We ended up making a pie crust that incorporated the ingredients in the picture above for the first batch:
flour
sugar
oil (butter or crisco)
cinnamon
vanilla
baking powder
nutmeg
eggs

 while Momma was mixing the pie dough, I started on the filing. We used three different berries: raspberries, blackberries and blueberries. We had frozen blueberries on hand, but bought fresh raspberries and blackberries.

I mixed the berries with some sugar, a bit of lemon juice and a little cinnamon:

I swear it looked better than this. Note the super cool cow creamer in the corner. Aaaaaaaw right.

Anyway, when I mixed the berries up, it looked a bit like this:

And yeah, I know, the raspberry is a little... gross looking. Tasty though. Really tasty.

At this point, we had to resist sitting down with spoons and just EATING the filling, as it is absolutely DELICIOUS. Mom, meanwhile was rolling out the pie dough and cutting it into circles:

We wanted the pies to be big enough to hold in one hand. These circles are about 7-8 inches across, and the pies were just a little smaller than that when they were done.

We cut the circles out, and put them on Parchment paper on a cookie sheet. You realllllllly don't want to skip this step. Like, really, really. Because the things are going to drip. And the paper will save you a HECK of a lot of mess.

Anyway, next, I put a big spoonful of one of the berry fillings on top of the circle.

Excuse the bad lighting, please!

You want to keep the filling in the center of the pie circle, to minimize drippage. I found that a slotted spoon was VERY helpful for this. Then I took a small spoon to put a couple spoonfuls of the juice on top.

When the filling was on, I put a second circle on top and then crimped the edges with my fingers. Were I to do it again, I would try with a fork or a ravioli crimper-thingy, as I still got major baked good leakage. 

Anyway, then they went in the oven. We pulled them out when they were golden brown on the top and the edges.

These are best served warm- somewhere between too hot to taste due to lava for filling, and dryer-fresh warmth. However, they're excellent at room temperature too.

The blueberry ones were the sweetest, followed by the raspberry and the blackberry, which was the most tart (although still plenty sweet!)

 

Please let me know if you try them in the comments, or, if you have an idea for a Fantasy Food, you can email me at charisweible[@]yahoo.com (just remove the brackets!)


Have a fantastic Friday, and remember to find your own magic!

Until next time~
xoxo

Changes for Fall

Well, here we are, at the end of the Summer.

For the first time in my life, I'm experiencing two things.

1) I'm relieved that Summer is over

2) I'm not going to school

Both are extremely weird feelings, but that's where we are. The second part of my summer got crazy, complicated and irksome quickly. I'll not dwell on it. Instead, here are the highlights.

• I got a job. I'm now a beauty consultant for Elizabeth Arden in a local Macy's store. 
• By some fluke, I got to play Portia from "The Merchant of Venice" for four amazing shows, and it totally reawakened my love of being onstage in live theater.

That's about it.

BUT! Now it is Fall, and time for changes. A new season. A new adventure. And a new blog.

I'm not going anywhere. But I am going to start doing some facelifts here on my blog. Firstly, I'm going to start doing some more serieses. (Yes, I'm aware that's not a word.) I'm really excited about them, and I hope you will be too!

The first to be unveiled is a series called "Fantasy Food Fridays". Friday's post will explain more about this one, but if you like books, cooking and fandoms, you're going to adore Friday's posts. 

Secondly, I'm going to be revamping Weight Loss Wednesdays. I have a new plan for fitness, and I'm really excited to share it with you!

Third, -and you heard it here first!- I'm unveiling a new blog. Well, not blog, exactly. But sometime in September, I hope you'll all check out One Track Yoga Flows- a new way to practice Yoga. It's something I've been working on most of the Summer, and I'm so excited to really get started on it.

Fourth, I'm instituting "Simple Sundays". Here at Adventures in Simplicity, that's what I'm all about- living simple and stress free. Simple Sundays will look at ways to make your whole week more simple, sane and organized.

There's also gonna be a lot of clerical work done around here: tagging, pages added, etc. Not to mention the occasional tutorial, recipe and maybe even some other posts thrown in. All in all, I estimate a busy fall! Good, that's just the way I like it.

Stay tuned!
Until next time~
xo

June goal wrap up

Hello all!

Can you believe it, June is over? It seems like it FLEW to me! It was a good month, over all. I didn't do perfect, but I am far from perfect, so that is alright. Anyhow, here's how I did on my goals.

#1. Play outside everyday, for a minimum of 15 minutes. I did ok on this. It helped immensely that I had rehearsal outside the second half of the month! I'm giving myself an 80% here.

#2. Create 3 beautiful things.  I fell short on this one too, sadly! I did make a case for my kindle (post on its way), and I was well on my way to making a case for my laptop case and an armband for my phone when I run. BUT THEN MY POWER WENT OUT. So that meant no cutting of fabric, no sewing, nothing. So there went that. So, sadly... 33%

#3. Read 3 books. I made this one!! I read Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, Game of Thrones and Clash of Kings, both by George RR Martin. Good Omens was hilarious, and the beginning two books of A Song of Ice and Fire were very exciting and full of intrigue. Those two are definitely not kid friendly, however. Many adult themes. But I get to give myself a 100% on this one!

#4. Continue to do the 30 day shred everyday. I gave up on this one, I must admit. I got bored, and tired of it, and so I tried to move onto other workouts, like running. I still suck at running, but I'm getting there, inch by inch, step by step. Unfortunately, I can really only give it like, a 20%.

#5. Start clearing out my clutter. I also failed on this one. Cleaning stuff out is HARD! MUST do better this month!! 0%


#6. Go to 3 new places. This one I did great on! In fact, I went to at least FIVE new places. One new restaurant, and four new parks, and they were all great! 100%!

#7. Try 5 new recipes. I also did great on this one! I posted two of my new recipes, but I also tried a Black Bean salad/salsa, a new cookie, and Yellow squash boats with veggies, chicken and cheese with breadcrumbs. They were all FABULOUS. Great decisions, all. 100%


wow, overall, I earned a 62%. That's not great, at all. Have to try to do better next month! I'll post July's goals tomorrow!