I’ve MOVED!

Switching to Handmade By Mindy

After a long time of praying, thinking, and talking through the future, I have decided to open at Etsy Shop! (Launch is tomorrow! – December 1st!)For those of you that have been following here since the beginning, you know how I love crafting and sewing things. I am going to open this business with the hope of bettering my skills and making some extra income.

I will still be blogging about sweet DIY crafts and good gluten-free food, but I will also be working on my Etsy Shop: Handmade by Mindy.Right now all I have for sale are Aprons. I hope to expand my line to include other handmade gifts. (All in due time).

I am also switching over to a different blog location. www.handmadebymindy.com

Thanks for following me on this blog, and I hope you enjoy the new blog.

Join me over at HandmadebyMindy NOW!

Today I am writing a post about my simple Christmas Tablescape!

Give A Little Thanks

This was my second year hosting thanksgiving. It was even better than last year, with even better food (all gluten free, of course).

We enjoyed the warm weather they week offered and lovely company of family. Our table was simple, yet plentiful (just finished off the leftovers today with turkey soup!).

(And no this isn’t my house, my friends went out of town and offered their home, and their amazing kitchen to us! THANKS! )

I am so thankful for this past year. Its had ups and downs, but in the end I am thankful for all that has happened. This year I decided to start a new tradition,  a Thanks-Garland. I saw this idea on Pinterest, and I loved it. Its great to take the time to write down things that I am thankful for over the year, it helps me see the things that Lord has done over this year. He is oh so faithful.

This is now hanging on our Christmas Tree! I hope to make this a tradition and keep each Garland, and one day be able to look back and see the things that God did over the years.  (You can have your own too here!)

And what is a visit to Chattanooga without a little bit of hiking?

I forgot to get a picture of the whole family, but it was a good time! So thankful for Thanksgiving.

P.S. Come December 1st, my whole blog will be available on www.handmadebymindy.com (more details later!)

A Few of My Favorite Things: Home Decor

Since I am taking this week off and enjoying some time with family and friends, and I have no DIY projects going on, I am going share some of my favorite things! I hope you enjoy and feel inspired. (FOLLOW ME ON PINTEREST!)

I currently rent a nice little duplex, but I have big dreams for my my future home! Pinterest, is doing nothing but fueling these dreams. One day I would love to have these elements in my future home!

1. Big Chalkboard Wall

2. Cool Door Decor

3. Farmhouse style kitchen with lots of light, wood, and brick (or stone)

4. Giraffe Walls

5. Barn Door

And that is all for now! I don’t want to get too out of control with ideas when we don’t even have plans to buy a house yet!

What are some things you can’t wait to have in your home?

 

The Girl and Her Pizza

Once upon a time there was a girl who recently went on a gluten free diet. This girl LOVED all things wheat, especially pizza. She used to make pizza by scratch at least once a week. She was sad to learn that she couldn’t make it as she was used it. So this girl went to the store and found a gluten free pizza crust mix (made by some one who rhymes with Rob’s Bed Hill) – she was beyond excited and couldn’t wait to try it out. So that night she made this crust. She baked it. She put toppings on it, and took the first bite AND… it was awful. Seriously bad. Like had to drink a lot water and put extra cheese on it and use a spoon bad.  She even cried over this pizza, and started to picture her future without pizza. It was very very sad.

Then one day, about two weeks later she read a gluten free cook book that promised good, crispy pizza crust. She was hesitant. Yet, she tried it. She mixed and waited, baked and put toppings on it. Then she took her slice, took a bite… AND IT WAS GOOD! She was exuberant! She cried happy tears. Pizza was back in her life to stay!

And they lived happily ever after….THE END!

Ok that was a little bit dramatic, but very true. 🙂

The thing I love about pizza crust is the the fluffy inside and the crispy outside. Mmmmmh, its amazing. You see, gluten helps make bread stretchy and fluffy – and amazing. Take that out, and you are left with very dense, thin, odd tasting crusts – like the one for “Rob’s Bed Hill”. I just got this cookbook called Cooking For Isaiah. The author, Silvana Nardone, is the Editor of Rachel Ray’s cookbooks and owns a bakery. So she knows what she is doing.

So for my Gluten Free Friday, I am sharing with you this great gluten free pizza dough recipe.

The Perfect Gluten Free Pizza Crust

Ingredients:

• 2 cups Silvana’s All-Purpose Flour (See below)- ((Or if you are eating gluten, use regular flour))
• 1 Package active  dry yeast
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt (or less, I thought it was too salty for my taste)
• 2 large eggs white, slightly beaten
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1. In large bowl whisk together the flour, yeast, sugar and salt. Add the egg whites, olive oil, and water. Using a wooden spoon, beat until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl.

2. Divide the dough into two pizzas. Using floured wax paper or parchment paper roll with a pin or finger tips into 1/4in thick circles. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit for 30 minutes.

3. Using a baking stone (or pizza pan) – slide each piece of dough into a 450 degree oven for 8 minutes. The bottom should be puffy and crisp.

4. Then add your toppings, and bake again for 6 to 8 minutes. ENJOY!

Silvana’s All Purpose Flour (Gluten Free)

• 6 cups white rice flour
• 3 cups tapioca flour
• 1 1/2 cups potato starch
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 2 tablespoons xanthum gum

Mix all ingredient in an air tight container. Shake until well mixed. Makes about 4 pounds of gluten free flour that can be used for anything you are baking (AND ITS AWESOME!).

P.s. I just saw this recipe for a Cauliflower Pizza Crust. Has anyone tried anything like that? It sounds interesting.

It Was A Skirt Kinda Day…

With fall upon us in full force, I am enjoying being able to wear leggings and skirts with some boots. I look forward to this every year. There is something just so comfortable about putting on a pair of leggings underneath a cute skirt.

The other day at Hancock Fabrics I saw this really cute ruffle fabric. I knew that I all I needed to do what put make a pattern, cut it out, and sew it all together with an elastic band. So that is what I did last week. It only took about 2 hours to make this. 

First I measured and cut a pattern out of a paper bag.  (for more instructions on how to do that read here).

Then I cut the fabric to the pattern.

Sewed to all together, and put an elastic band on it for a waist band.  And there you go! All done.

While I was on a roll, I made this too.

It was a beautiful skirt day. Now its time to wear them!

P.s. I am moving by blog next week! So be ready for that! More details coming soon!

Sweet Saying Sunday

Garlic Shrimp & Spinach Pasta

Boy do I have a good one for you all today! This meal was amazing. I used brown rice noodles, and (dare I say it) it was even better then whole wheat noodles, and more filling! So glad I made this twice this week!

All you need is

• Big handful (or 2) of spinach (chopped)
• 6 oz of brown rice pasta
• Half of bell pepper (red looks cooler for this meal), Chopped
• 2 Tablespoons butter
• 1 Tablespoon Garlic (or three cloves chopped)
• 1/2 lb shrimp, pealed (cooked or uncooked)

1. Cook brown rice pasta according to directions. Drain, set aside.

2. Chop up the ingredients

3. Put uncooked shrimp and peppers with butter and garlic in a pan (or if using cooked shrimp, put in once peppers are soft – about 5 minutes) sauté until shrimp is pink and peppers are soft.

4. Add cooked pasta and chopped spinach. Stir until spinach is wilted and soft (less than 2 minutes!).

Then enjoy this meal! It was amazing!! I’ll be making this a staple in our house!

As far as this week goes I have not had any gluten! YAY! I am getting a little bit sick of rice (we have it at almost every meal) – but thankfully rice pasta is really good and potatoes are always an option too. Thanks for all the encouragement throughout the week.

This next week I am attempting Gluten-Free Lasagna…… Oh yeah! Tune in next Friday to check that out.

For more of my favorite recipes (both gluten-free and gluten-full), check out my FOOD page!

DIY Wood Letters : EAT Your Heart Out!

To those of you who know me, you know that I love to eat, cook, and bake. It is a great stress reliever and I love making up recipes and amazing dishes.  And I love sharing these dishes with friends, as well. One day in a friend’s house, I saw on their kitchen wall they had the word EAT. I loved it ever since – I means its not like I need to be reminded to eat when in the kitchen, but I just love how it fits with the theme of a kitchen (some of you are like “Duh, Mindy!”) . So simple, yet so beautiful. ahhhhh 😉

So I set out to make these letters! It was simple.

I printed out large letters on a sheet of paper, traced it on to my piece of luan from Lowes for $4, cut it out with my handy jig saw, and painted!

They are far from perfect, but I love them. And I still have half of sheet of luan left to use for another project! HEY-O!

Here they are up in my kitchen.

I painted it using my Chalk Board paint. One day I might move them over the benches, and I might want to write a shopping list on them or something, too!

What are some other ideas of kitchen decor? I am in need of it, I still have a huge blank wall!

Twine Wrapped Vases

I love fall decorations. I love using oranges, maroons, burlap, twine, and all things that are rustic! I just love the look of it.

One day on Pinterest (how many sentences start like that?) I saw these amazing twine wrapped wine bottles. They looked amazing as decor and as center pieces!

Here are some of my favorites:

via PrairieMod

via FrugaliciousMe

via MoreDesignPlease

So, when I had a couple bottles of hard cider (classic fall drink), I knew I had to use it for this project! It was the easiest project – maybe took me 20 minutes to clean and wrap all three bottles!

{ Plus a glue gun! }

I can’t wait to use these for centerpiece for my Thanksgiving Table-scape! 🙂 Projects like these are so satisfying, they are easy, cheap, and done in under thirty mintues.

What are your go-to projects when you need to accomplish something creative?