the white tree

so I've still been crafting, and I just wanted to prove it to you with actual proof.

here's a canvas (my first!). it looks like a painting of nothing so I'll explain what its supposed to look like. I painted the canvas with the same color pink as my room and spray painted a stencil of the white tree of gondor (don't hate on my love for lord of the rings). I figured making lotr fit in my super cute pink room would be easy if I painted it the same super cute pink as my room. in real life, the tree is only really visible after your eyes have adjusted to the soft lighting in my room.

(this is what it looks like on my wall.
I had to move things around a bit to get my room how I want it.)

I also made a shirt of the tree which makes the stencil actually visible. its a gift, so don't spill the beans!
the spray paint didn't seem to show up well on the shirt, so with the stencil still on, I painted it again with a thin coat of fabric paint.

-jasmine

Vegan Snickerdoodles

Okay another vegan recipe!
This comes from when I was in high school and I have recently rediscovered it.
I got it from Janae who, i believe got it from Becca so I can't exactly source this recipe but I can definitely share it with you!!!

These are for sure the moistest cookies ever. I thought they would taste like my vegan apple cinnamon cookies, but they are a completely different texture and not as sweet but equally as lovable.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup oil
1 tbsp. vanilla
1 tbsp. maple syrup
egg replacer equivalent of 1 egg- i use about a half cup of applesauce or half a banana
cinnamon and sugar (to coat)

Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl. Mix the wet ingredients and stir wet into dry. Using your hands form the dough into a big ball. (if it sticks together well, then its the right consistency, if not, add a bit of water and mix it well.) Form the dough into cookie-sized balls and roll them into the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten each ball a little bit (I didn't do this, but my dough was soft enough that it flatten itself a little). Bake at 375 degrees for about 6-7 minutes.

I used a little less oil and a little less than a half cup applesauce and they were still gooey when i tried to form the balls. I couldn't count them because everyone at them as soon as they came out of the oven, but I think its like 2 dozen.

-jmg

Gourmet dinner, my treat

my mom was working today, so my dad had the good idea to cook dinner for my mom, but somehow this turned into me cooking dinner. it was a lot of hard work.



this recipe was VERY poorly written so i don't really recommend using it. and i don't recommend grilling artichoke, it became inedible and i had to throw it out.

-jmg

todays adventures in domesticity (includes two recipes)

the gals came over today for some homemaking fun!
first we whipped up some Mediterranean-style mac 'n cheese

(sorry its blurry, but it was delicious i promise)

then we made gingerbread cupcakes (with cinnamon homemade royal icing/frosting because i don't really know what vegetable shortening is) (and not vegan because i ran out of vegan stuff but the recipe is animal-free!)

cupcakes pre-frosting

cupcakes post-frosting

the gals (lei, karla, and stephanie)

we also punked out some clothes with studs, but those are for another post once i get some pics of the clothes.

-Jasmine

cranberry oatmeal cookies: another great vegan recipe

this has to be one of my favourite recipes from the internet (thanks for sharing this one Holly!).
it makes fantastic oatmeal cookies.... srsly the best i've ever eaten or made and, believe me, i've made some mean oatmeal cookies. I followed the recipe exactly except i threw in a bunch of dried cranberries and i shortened the bake time to about 10-11 minutes, but you'll know when they're done because they turn a bit brown on the top and bottom.

here's the recipe: Best Oat Cookies that Ever Existed
vegweb is a GREAT vegan recipe resource. use it and love it.

and, of course, here are some pics(getting supplies, check out my pants from the last post!)

(kristy being my wonderful assistant)

in conclusion, these are worth your while.

-jmg

sailor pants to awesome pants

i swear i've been sewing a lot more lately, but it feels like most of it is changing buttons and hemming pants (boring stuff!) so i'm going to pretend thats why i haven't been posting but today i share the fruits of my labor: sailor pants turned to tight ankle pants!

of course i don't have any before pics... just picture high waisted, wide legged, really long pants. they were cute but i hate pants enough as it is, i don't need them to be long and wide.
here is what they look like now:
and, of course, they are cute rolled up with heels:
(hat is from charlotte, and heels are TUK)

-jmg

Dreams do come true: a recipe

you may or may not know this about me but breakfast is by far my favourite meal of the day. i try to have at least 3 breakfasts by noon. my brothers share my love for breakfast and breakfast foods so when we get hungry at around 10pm, breakfast foods are what we reach for in the kitchen.
pancakes are our fav, but as much as we love pancakes, our current pancake mix is awful, bland, and dumb so our options were to make some from scratch (not likely) or make our pancake mix better. i decided to mix it with instant oatmeal to make a supreme breakfast food. the result was amazing. here's the recipe:

1/2 cup pancake mix (its okay if it sux)
1 packet instant oatmeal (we just used the flavored quaker ones)

(action shot)

on a side note, the pancake mix is a 'just add water' mix but these pancakes weren't as good cooked with water.

-jmg

Septum

Here you kinda see it. Finally have one.

vegan peanut butter choc chip cookies

by popular demand, here is my vegan version of the last recipe.

ingredients:
1/2 cup applesauce (i use unsweetened)
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter (i use the natural one again)
1/2 cup margarine
1 1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
3 tbsp soymilk
1 tbsp vanilla
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup soy flour
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 baking soda
optional vegan chocolate chips

preheat oven to 350 degrees

1. combine peanut butter, margarine, brown sugar, soymilk, vanilla, and applesauce in a large bowl and blend well.
2. combine flours, salt, and baking soda in another bowl. add to creamed mixture slowly until blended. mix in chocolate chips.
3. lightly flour baking pans. form dough into small balls (~1.5 inches) place on floured pan and flatten a little with fingers/fork. bake for 5 minutes.

makes about 3 dozen cookies

-jmg

food post part 2: a recipe

this is my own recipe for peanut butter cookies (with optional chocolate chips)


ingredients:
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter (i use all natural; just peanuts and veg oil)
1/2 cup margarine/butter
1 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
3 tbsp milk
1 tbsp vanilla
1 egg
1 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup soy flour
3/4 cup whey protein powder (i use choc. protein powder, like the kind you use for shakes)
3/4 tspn salt
3/4 tspn baking soda
optional chocolate chips (i used white choc.)

preheat oven to 350'F

1. combine peanut butter, margarine, brown sugar, milk, and vanilla in a large bowl. blend well. add egg and beat until blended.
2. combine flours, whey, salt, and baking soda in another bowl. add to creamed mixture slowly until blended. mix in chocolate chips.
3. lightly flour baking pans. form dough into small balls (~1.5 inches) place on floured pan and flatten a little with fingers/fork. bake for 6 minutes.


makes about 3 dozen cookies.

i also have a great vegan version of these if anyone is interested.

-jmg

also, expect some sewing pics soon, i've been tackling my sewing pile this weekend (with a little success).

more baked goodies

so obviously, my family can't keep me out of the kitchen. here are some stuff from recently.

these were from a box/kit, so obviously they weren't amazing. the frosting tasted like preserved egg whites.

flan (again from a box/mix). this wasn't too bad, but i hate caramel, so i didn't eat much of it.

and last, but not least, BISCOTTI! they're more like shortbread texture, but taste better. i made 3 different flavors: cocoa/cinnamon, pecan, and white chocolate chip with white choc. drizzle. i think its safe to say i won points for presentation and taste.


-jmg

i obviously photographed my recent doodle. it reads "things charlotte needs to make her happy." i drew it on one of my buses home the other day (approx. 40 minutes). you can't see it that clearly so i'll just list all the good stuff:

• charlotte + manatee
• matching berets
• manatee is smoking a cigarette
• charlotte is holding a cupcake
• charlotte is wearing a perfect striped shirt, tight jeans, braces, and boots

(they were supposed to be holding hands but i couldn't make that happen due to poor planning on my part.)

-jmg

i'll post my hourly comic here soon too! its a good one.