Yai!! New Ideas... ^.^

Hi!

I know I have been talking about cooking and food since I started this blog, but I really love to cook. I will start more projects soon, I promise. I really just need to wait until the fall semester starts at school... or at least until August. 

Anyway, I am starting a new project! This is a tad bit different than crafts and cooking, but it is somewhat related! So, let me tell you what its about...

I have been wanting to grow my hair out for about a year now. I had gotten a very horrible hair cut in May of 2010 and I was fed up with short hair! Since then, it has grown out a bit, but it is still not at the stage that I want it to be at. And I haven't been getting routine trims every 6 weeks to get all of my dead stuff off! So, I was recently online researching how to get my hair to grow faster (I know, you'd think its pointless, right?) and I found some information about seaweed. Apparently, it has amazing benefits for your hair, skin, and health.

I was not surprised in the least about this because I have heard it before. This time, however, I am going to try it! As you all know, I love to cook. That means I love to cook ANYTHING! :) I have been cooking Mexican and Japanese food the most lately, and I happen to have Nori seaweed in my pantry! I also have some Miso soup packets that I eat almost daily! And I also happen to drink green and black tea almost daily, as well. So, it seems I am already one step ahead!

OK... So enough of the rambling! Here are the terms of the project:

• Eat seaweed daily! Incorporate it into my diet in any way that I can... (i.e. soups, dried Nori as snack, homemade sushi, rice and seaweed, rice balls. etc.)
• Have at least 3 cups of green tea daily
• Make DIY green tea and olive oil hair masque
• NO USE OF HEAT APPLIANCES ON HAIR (with the exception of bangs)
• Wash hair in LUKE WARM water
• Cut back on sugars
• Try and take Biotin supplements daily
• Try to walk daily

These tips, along with some others, will all contribute to and help hair growth, thickness, and shininess.

I am so excited to start this project that I am starting TONIGHT, and it is going to last until July 31 (when I go to visit family in Las Vegas). Depending on results and what it looks like, I will decide from there whether I want to continue with the project (in which time it will become more of a daily diet) or quit it. 

READY, SET, GO!!!!!!

Here is my before picture... taken only yesterday! 

I will also be adding some close ups of my hair tomorrow and every two weeks, in order to make a better comparison! Well, here it goes! (^w^)

***P.S. - I will be adding photos of my new BENTO BOX next time, as well! n_n***

*~*Until Next Time*~*

A Mishap T_T

Hi guys!

So, I baked a Ooey Gooey cake the other day with every intention of posting the pictures and how to's up. However, I made the cake with a couple of ideas that I'd never tried out before and the cake didn't come out to my liking. It was still very tasty, but it didn't hold together like it should have. Instead, it was an ooey gooey mess! So, I will be making the recipe again with a few minor adjustments and then posting it on here for everyone to see! After I make it correctly, I will post my "ooey gooey mess" on here, too. Remember, a recipe is simply a blueprint. You can make it anything you want!!! ^_^

Also, I am in the middle of a huge project that I will post after I am finished with it (probably within the next couple of days)!!!

Thanks for your patience!

~*Until Next Time*~

Recipe #1: Tofu Dango

Hey guys!

This recipe is the first of all the recipes I will be posting! First, let me tell you a little bit about this recipe. It is a Japanese dish and it is sweet (almost as if it is a dessert). But you have to know what to expect, because this dessert is not what we are used to in America. It is a savory/sweet dessert and it may sound a little funny, but fear not! It is good to be adventurous!
By the way, my favorite (and in my opinion, the best one) is the sweet soy sauce.
So here it goes...

List of Ingredients:

• 100g (3.5 OZ) Glutinous Rice Flour
• 100g (3.5 OZ) Soft Silken Tofu, or firm if you wish
• 2 TBSP Soybean Flour (Kinako)
• 1 TBSP Sugar
• 2 TBSP Black Sesame Seeds
• 1 TBSP Sugar
• 1 TBSP Sugar
• 1 TBSP Soy Sauce
• 1 TBSP Mirin

How to Cook your Tofu Dango:

Make your toppings!

First, add your soy bean flour and sugar to a dish...

 Then, stir them together and mix well...

That is one of your toppings.
Next, put your black sesame seeds into the blender and grind them until they are a soft powder-like consistency...

Then, put them in a dish and mix well with sugar...

This is another one of your toppings!

Now, you have to make your dumpling dough!
First, put your rice flour and tofu in a bowl and knead them together with your hand...

Until it becomes soft and firm.
P.S. - If it becomes too sticky, add a little bit of water.

Then, split the dough into three pieces. Then, split those three pieces into three pieces each. Then split each piece into three smaller pieces.

You should end up with 27 pieces.

Once you are done splitting them into pieces, then start to roll them into balls.

Now its time to cook them!

First, bring a pot of water to a boil. Then, gently put your dumplings into the pot.

Cook them for 1-2 mins. They are done when they float to the top of the water.

Once done, transfer the dumplings directly from the boiling water to a bowl of cold ice water...

Then, drain well...

Once done, take your skewers and skewer three dumplings on the end of one skewer...

Then, roll the skewer in the topping...

Top three skewers with the same topping.

Now, its time for the last topping.
First, take your Mirin and put it into a pot, then add your sugar and soy sauce to the pot.

Second, bring it to a light boil.

Make sure to keep stirring to cook evenly, and lift your pot and move the pot in a circular motion (sorry, no pictures of this). Do this in order to distribute the heat evenly. The sauce should be slightly lighter in color and it should be thick. Be sure not to burn the sauce.

Then, roll your last three skewers into the sweet soy sauce...

They should look like this... 

 You're done!!!!

YUMMY ^-^!!!

I hope you enjoy!!!

*~*Until Next Time*~*

Getting Started... and all it entails

Hello there!

I am Kirby and this is my very new and very unprofessional blog! Getting straight to the point, my husband is away in Korea (for the military), and I am stuck here. So, I decided to start maintaining (or trying to, at least) a blog while he is gone. You know, something to keep me busy when I'm not in school.

So anyway, this blog is basically about all of my endeavors with projects, crafts, cooking, and anything else that fits into the "crafting" or "creativity" categories.
To get started, I have a sort of list of things I am planning on tackling for the next few weeks/months. Here it is:

• Clean and ORGANIZE my closet. (Will post organizing techniques for all of you organization freaks out there, as well as pictures of before and after.) :3
• Crafting hair bows (I will post a complete tutorial plus pictures, of course)
• Arranging bento boxes (everything you need to know about bento boxes, including but not limited to, recipes, art, websites selling bento boxes, etc.)
• I have a list of recipes which will be a whole different blog post (I am obsessed with any kind of cooking)
• Nail deco and art (A complete tutorial plus pictures)
• Many many more... ^.^

All in all, I am very very excited to document some of these things. I hope that these tutorials, pictures, and recipes will inspire and motivate you to get out there and do what you love!!!!!!!

*~*Until Next Time*~*