recipe: healthy all-natural ice cream

I'm not sure I can call this a recipe because it's so darn easy. And I'm not sure I can call this ice cream because it consists of just one ingredient and is dairy and sugar free. I'll just call it a guide to creating an insanely good frozen treat.

Here's what you'll need:



That's right. Just one ripe banana. Cut it into small pieces and throw it in the freezer for 2-3 hours, or until completely frozen solid.



Once frozen, throw it into a food processor and blend.



It'll look like the above at the beginning (this is after about a minute of pulsing). So keep going and scrape the edges back into the middle along the way.



After another minute or so of blending, add any extra ingredients or flavors that you love. Some additions I've tried have been:

Scoop of unsweetened dark cocoa powder
Spoonful of nut (peanut or almond) butter
Honey
1 Tablespoon instant coffee



Blend until your mixture is creamy and smooth and resembles the image above.



Scoop into a bowl and devour by itself or sprinkle some cacao nibs for a little yummy crunch.

chicago: cooper's junk yard

This is Cooper's Junk Yard in Humboldt Park, a north Chicago neighborhood. It's a maze full of industrial materials, furniture, used appliances and everything in between. It makes my local thrift store feel like Bloomingdale's.



There are rooms upon rooms (and then more rooms) just like the one above. Nothing is marked with a price, so everything is up for negotiation.



I walked away empty-handed, but eyed some cool things like an antique Singer machine, old cash machines and abandoned auditorium-style chairs that could easily be reupholstered to create a unique living room addition.



Try your luck (but first make sure your Tetanis shots are up to date):

Cooper's Junk Yard
814 N. Spaulding Ave
Chicago, IL 60651
Closed Sundays

inspiration

This illustration of Pittsburgh by LA artist Andrew Holder appeared in the April/May 2011 issue of ReadyMade magazine. I love and it makes me miss home.



His work is definite eye candy and worth a glance.

rotofugi

Rotofugi is a cool designer toy store in Lincoln Park/Lakeview that sells toys, art and other unique gifty items. The toy store doubles as an art gallery and this past Friday a new exhibit by Andrew Bell and McBess opened. We swung by on Saturday afternoon.

I wanted to take home the adorable straw-sucking Labbit by Frank Kozik and the 'This Economy Sucks' change purse had my best friend Lindsey's name all over it.



This is us holding a plush creature from the 'Horrible Squishy Pit of Cuddly Despair.'



And here is some sweet work.

A Thrifting Adventure

Carolyn, Kevin and I braved the cold and ventured to our neighborhood thrift store this past weekend. It's usually hit or miss. This time, my friends, was a hit. We left with garbage bags (seriously) of awesome finds.

We're not talking your usual run-of-the-mill flannel t-shirts and moth-ball-smelling tweed blazers either.

But after perusing the racks for hours....



We found Seven, BDG, and Armani jeans for $3 each...



An Inhabit cashmere sweater retailing on ShopStyle for $325... I paid $3.30.



A price-tag-still-attached Frye handbag...$1.50



And adorable little rice bowls with chopstick holders!



Never buying regular-priced anything ever again.

Recipe: Roasted Veggie Flatbread

I'm always on the lookout for new ways to cook with vegetables. I've found the most fulfilling way to eat mindfully is to try new recipes and switch things up on a regular basis. I found this recipe for a whole wheat flat-bread and couldn't be happier with it. It's quick, super easy, and customizable in every way.



After your flat-bread is finished, spread a little under 1/2 cup of pasta sauce on top (I use the Roasted Veggie Whole Foods brand). Saute your hardy vegetables for 5-10 minutes. I used zucchini, red onion, asparagus, garlic, red peppers, and lima beans.

Spread spinach leafs or other greens over top the tomato sauce, layer on your sauteed veggies and then arrange the cherry tomatoes. Bake on 420* for 5-10 minutes, until edges of flatbread start to brown.

DIY chandelier

One of my favorite things in the whole world is thrifting. Our North Chicago neighborhood is filled to the brim with second-hand stores full of abandoned treasures just waiting to be adopted.

Yesterday was rainy and curl-up-inside-with-a-project cold, so I decided to embark on a journey to make a DIY chandelier for our lighting-deprived kitchen. Rich and I hit the local Sal-val to find materials and went to work. The end result was pretty rad.







Materials You'll Need:

Old bike wheel that was sitting in our garage ($0)
Drill (to drill holes in the silverware)
Silverware assortment ($7)
Thin wire (20mm) from local home improvement store ($3)
Lamp Kit ($8)
Twine ($1.50)

There you have it! Less than $20 for an awesome industrial chic chandelier.

DIY feather earrings

I had been eying the very stylish feather earrings at Urban Outfitters for a few weeks. But for $24, the voice in my head kept screaming, 'You can make these.' So I listened and hit my local JoAnn Fabrics Floral department and bought a strand of floral arrangement feathers, gold earring tops and a few sticks of glue for my hot glue gun.

Here is the end result. Next time, I'll record my step-by-step process for a tutorial feel.

from advertising to annuals

I'm excited to share some of my newly acquired floral knowledge.



The beauty above is the hyacinth, one of my favorite fragrant cool weather plants. Especially hardy and able to withstand the cold Chicago temperatures, this spring annual should be kept indoors until the last frost and then can be transplanted outdoors. Life span will run around 6-8 weeks depending on care (lots and lots of light and water every other day).



The maidenhair fern is by far one of my favorite houseplants. Delicate and feminine, it adds just the right amount of green to any room. For all it's glory, this little guy is VERY high maintenance and I've killed my fair share of ferns due to lack of trimming and poor environments. My lessons learned: cut off browning leaves down to the root, water when soil feels dry and keep in the warmest part of your home.

Layer Cake Redemption

Layer cakes and I don't share a great history. My first attempt proved..well...



... I don't want to talk about it.

Anyways, not until Rich's birthday last month did I muster the courage to get back in the layer cake game. And what better way to get back in the saddle than with a Chocolate Sour Cream Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting and Chocolate Peanut Butter Ganache?



The result, taste-wise, was incredible. You can't go wrong with the choc-PB combo. Aesthetically speaking, my frosting was a little messy, but I find it's the hardest thing to master.

february fritters and frost

We froze to the bone much of February in Chicago, but a combination of Richie's birthday, a visit from Mike, and good old fashioned size-of-our-heads fried food warmed our hearts a little.



If you live in Chicago and are in the mood for knock-your-socks-off good donuts and fritters, you must try Old Fashioned Donuts in Roseland. I promise it's worth the trek.