The Hitchin' Posts - A Bride's Dream Wedding under $3,000

The Bride and Groom's Wedding with Less - yet so much more...

My last post was in April - for good reason... I had a wedding to plan, arrange, attend, and all the while, adhering to my fabulous life experiment of creating a tasteful yet simple celebration on as little as possible. 

The following series of blog posts will be dedicated to all the beautiful brides who deserve and desire a wonderful wedding day - but want to keep the expense to a minimum. I encourage instead a donation of what you would have spent on your wedding to something near and dear to your heart that REALLY needs the support.

The following series of posts will take you on a journey from creating invitations, handcrafting flowers, dress hunting, gifts, reception ideas, and using the resources and talents of neighbors and friends to make your special day one that is a colloration rather than a costly burden.  

The Bottom Line:  our total wedding output, including invitations, flowers, my dress and all attire, rehearsal un-dinner (I will explain), wedding venue, reception and guest gifts... $2,950  

Stay tuned for How....

Eggceptional Deviled Eggs and the Science of Hard Boiling

I love deviled eggs.  I have tried many variations of recipes.  Following are some ingredients that you can experiment with to put zing into your own.

But first - the important thing is:  How do we properly boil and peel eggs?  I have consulted many on the matter in the past. I still sacrifice a few in my attempts to peel to perfection.  But here is the best bet for a nice smooth outcome.

Place eggs in deep pan.  Cover completely with cold water. Bring to rolling boil and boil for 10 minutes (set a timer to be eggzact). Remove from heat and immediately rinse with cold water until temp of eggs cool down.  Then take cooled egg and knock each end on a hard surface, then roll it completely, breaking up the shell as you roll. HOPEFULLY, it should peel easily as you rinse it under cold water in the process.

Yummy Hard Boiled Egg Recipe Options
After cutting in half, Place yolks in a bowl and add to desired creaminess and consistency the following:
Mayonaise (sometimes I use a little ranch dressing or sour cream)
Yellow Mustard (sometimes I use dijon)
Pickle Juice - just a few tablespoons - (sometimes I use dill relish)
Spices: Pepper, Salt, Parsley (sometimes I top with Dill, Chives, and ALWAYS Paprika)
AND for a little kick - I sometimes add a teaspoon of horse-radish

3-2-1 Swedish Pancake Fabulousness

What do you do when you are looking forward to making a good breakfast for more than just yourself and when you open the carton of eggs, there are only three remaining? Following is the easiest "pancake" recipe I have tweaked, tried, and enjoyed time after time.  But a bit about the joy of pancakes first.....

I don't know what it is about them, but pancakes always cheer me up.  Sometimes having pancakes for dinner is one of the simplest pleasures - gastronomically speaking.



This thin pancake recipe is best when you use a large skillet in hot oil.  Pour batter in the hot skillet so it spreads out and makes one large "flowered-edges" crepe-like cake.  It's so easy... the recipe is:

3-2-1 Swedish Pancakes
THREE eggs
TWO cups of milk (substitute with buttermilk, sourcream, or yogurt, if you are low on milk)
ONE cup flour


Mix all together with whisk until batter is thin and smooth.  Pour into hot oiled skillet - makes about 5 to 6 large pancakes.  Serve with butter and powdered sugar, or maple or pure cane syrup, or strawberry jam! 


SWEET SWEET LIFE when you get an excuse to pour a little syrup on something! Have a beautiful day!



The Most Fabulous Product in My Life

Product Review:  Sweet Blessed Bee Magic         http://www.sweetbeemagic.com/

There is one addition to my life in the past year that has brought the most pleasure, satisfaction, beauty, healing, and luxury than any other product I have experienced; this delightful, organic handcrafted cream called Sweet Blessed Bee Magic has transformed my skin and hair, and healed many boo-boos and bug bites.  I will refer to it often through out my blog as I find new ways to use this "magical" stuff every day. 

Most importantly, it is ALL ORGANIC and ALL PURPOSE.  I use it EVERYWHERE! 

I swear it makes my eyelashes grow, wrinkles disappear, blemishes fade, scars dissipate, and leaves a radiant, supple glow both morning and night when applied.  I use it as day cream and makeup remover and all times in between as lip gloss and hand moisturizer.  Basically, it has replaced so many other products in my life leading to cost savings, space conservation, and overall goodness!

This stuff is truly FABULOUS!

Check out the maker Medicine Mama and the process at themedicinemama.com.  A good thing, story, and person behind it all.  Oh yeah.  And it's my sister! Amazing woman.  Medicine Mama - you go girl!

Comfort Food - in 15 minutes - and under $5 tonight!

I love bacon.  And then someone told me about how pigs are highly advanced, smart and sensitive animals. Then I watched the documentary Fast Food Nation and Food, Incorporated...and I swore off eating grocery meat or any fast food for that matter...until tonight. I craved a good pork chop with mashed potatoes and corn. So I made it - ate it - and enjoyed it and the following recipe keeps it under $5 and fabulous! Tomorrow, I will return to my aspirations and support of free range chicken, local vegies and homegrown goods.

Pork Cutlets in a Rosemary Mushroom Cream Sauce

4 or 5 thin boneless pork cutlets ($2.50)

10 mushrooms - sliced

1/2 onion sliced

clove garlic crushed

2 TBSP butter

1/4 cup dry wine (optional)

1/2 cup sour cream mixed with 1/4 cup heavy cream or half n half
fresh sprig of rosemary and chopped chives

Salt, Pepper and dash paprika on both sides of cutlets and brown in hot skillet in some olive oil.  After 2 minutes on each side, add sliced mushrooms, sliced onion, and garlic.  When mushrooms are soft and onions cooked through, turn heat to low and wine, stirring until nice simmer. Then add sour cream/cream mixture and stir until smooth creamy consistency.  Let simmer on very low for another 5 minutes. Add crushed rosemary.  (If cutlets are really thin - this meal will take no more than 15 minutes to prepare and serve.)  Meanwhile - I stick a whole corn on the cob (in the husk) in the microwave for 8 minutes and the corn turns out great!  (It is the only time I use my microwave!)  I also steam 4-6 red potatoes and serve with butter and fresh chives and any left over sour cream I might have from the cream sauce. 

SWEET GOOD LIFE with a side of cupcakes!

Skip this message. Go right to the recipe and whip up some fabulousness as soon as possible!  Wow - this adapted recipe (I adapt all my recipes based on what is available in the cupboard!) is the best attempt at baking with a successful outcome I have ever had. 

First of all, there are few things better in life than cupcake batter...so often my kids tell me to not bother cooking the batter or the dough because once it hits the oven, a chemical reaction of sorts destroys my effort.  Not this time! This one worked and must be shared! 

Here's to the fabulous aroma that sweet strawberry cupcakes leaves behind long after the cupcakes are gone!

What a sweet life we get to enjoy!

Homemade Buttermilk Cupcakes with Strawberry Jam and

Sweet Cream Frosting

1/2 cup butter softened

3/4 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 3/4 cups flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

little less than 1/4 tsp. salt

1/3 cup strawberry jam

Mix sugar and butter until creamy; add eggs, vanilla, and buttermilk; whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in separate bowl; pour flour mixture into wet ingredients until well blended.  Make sure to take some yummy bites of batter along the way! Spray nonstick pan and pour batter in only 1/4 way up; add a dollup of strawberry jam and then cover with remaining batter until cup is 3/4 full.  (This recipe makes about 8 cupcakes) Bake at 325 degrees for about 20 minutes.  Take out, let cool, and frost with cream cheese frosting - see below.  Top with a sliced fresh strawberry. 

Enjoy and eat while they are still warm!

(Frosting:  Mix 3/4 cup cream cheese, 1 tbsp vanilla, 2 tbsp butter, 1 3/4  cup powdered sugar)

Sweet Sweet Fabulousness

Tonight's Music Recommendation to accompany the making, baking, and eating of cupcakes:
Connie Evingson's Si Tu Savais from her Stockholm Sweetnin' album .... classy jazz and great guitar accompaniment

A "Cool Stuff" Yard Sale and BBQ Chicken

As I write this, I am blanching tomatoes for tonight's sauce for my Mushroom Zucchini Lasgna (I will post it later to share) - it's one of my favorite dishes to make on the weekend as you need a little extra time to devote to it. 

The COOL Stuff Sale

This Fabulous Life Experiment to live well with less motivated and inspired my "Cool Stuff" Yard Sale today... although not much stuff was sold (apparently what I think is cool was overpriced for the patrons who ventured into the yard...)  It's so hard to let go of that really amazing something or other that you may have paid $50 for and then someone comes and offers you 50 cents!  I guess they figure you want to get rid of it anyway - so might as well start the bidding as low as possible. 

Total Made Today:  $7.25

Total Effort:  Several hours of gathering and sorting through "cool stuff" to put in the sale, 1/2 mile round trip of walking to post the "Cool Stuff" Yard Sale signs, 6 hours of standing, sitting, smiling, and trying to sell the "Cool Stuff". 

So to make the best of the experience and set the ambience for a "Cool" Yard Sale, I brought out an old record player and put on some Benny Goodman records...then I made

Homemade Blackberry Smoothies to pass out
(1 cup blackberries, 2 cups strawberries, one banana, cup of ice, cup of cold milk - soy or rice - and lots of honey),

I put a basket of random items out for free to encourage folks to lighten my load... (No one ever wants to put their stuff back into the house once its been placed in the yard for sale....except our old timey ice cream maker and juicer.  That came back in!

Having a yard sale is hard work.  Out in the sun...Greeting and meeting with neighbors and strangers alike... explaining why you want more than they are willing to buy something for... so what to do but cook and have a good time anyway! 

Because we had to keep an eye on all the cool stuff but still eat lunch, we elected to BBQ chicken on the grill and have a simple picnic style lunch.  Following are two really easy recipes (one for a glaze toward the end of grilling, the other for my favorite version of potato salad! Enjoy!

Ginger Honey Citrus Marinade
(apply during the last 5 minutes of grilling)
1 tablespoon diced ginger
2 tablespoons honey
1-2 fresh squeezed oranges
tiny dash of cayenne
(Mix together and pour over chicken while its still on the grill)

Garden Vegetable Potato Salad
6-8 small red potatoes (I steam them until soft) skins on - put a little red wine vinegar and salt on them while they cool down.
2 carrots diced small
1/4 cup red onion
2 celery diced small
diced rosemary, chives, dill and parsley
Cucumber Ranch Dressing (I use Kraft)
Mix all together and serve with fresh chives on top (salt and pepper to taste)

And - whenever I serve melons, I squeeze some lime over the fruit and top off with a touch of honey. 

SWEET.

The Good Life: Celebrating the Style of the Past

Check out this book by Lesley Blume and you will find some fabulous references to an era that celebrated artful living and simple gestures of style and appreciation for the details that we seem too busy to partake in these days.  Like when was the last time you wax sealed a letter - let alone sent a hand written letter? The author states, "there are many delights to be dusted off and enjoyed once again." 

The point of this blog is to share recipes of food, life, style, and perspectives that encourage living fabulously with simple effort; take common items and repurpose them or take a bad situation and see the good through it. 

So in my daily quest, I am on a mission to find pockets of joy, beauty, celebration, enjoyment, intrigue, and entertainment - all for $5 and under - or better yet free. (There are temporary splurges allowed in this experiment from time to time.)

Today, I chose to accessorize and celebrate an era when men and women added flare to their outerwear with either fabulous hats or hair ornaments.  My selection to odorn both my mood and my look was a simple clip with a peacock feather and a flower; it made all the difference in my day. Try this.  Put on something that transports you in time, that decorates the landscape of what others experience in your presence.  Add fabulousness to all the spots you visit through out the day with a tip of a hat to the past.  Tomorrow? Maybe I'll put on a brooch or stockings or I'll try my hand at whipping up some homemade butter. The past is where it's at in my opinion of fabulous, artistic, classic living!

Peacock Feather Clip
Handcrafted by local Austin artist

available at Parts and Labour, Austin, Texas

www.partsandlabour.com

Dinner No. 2 - Italian Stuffed Red Peppers

The Italian says, "You need to make this dish again." And so it is, Dinner No. 2 - ringing in at a whopping $4.50 makes the cut in my daily experiment of $5 and under wonders!

The Italian, by the way, is my sweetheart. To please an Italian's pallet (and one who has a mother that is the most amazing cook ever) well, it is the highest compliment and testament to a meal if he says it's good...and then goes for thirds! This meal is a keeper.

Italian Stuffed Red Peppers

4 red peppers, tops off and de-seeded

1/2 package or 1/2 lb of ground turkey

1 cup of slightly cooked orzo

4-5 cloves garlic - diced

1/2 onion finely chopped

1 egg

1/2 cup italian breadcrumbs (optional)

finely chopped oregano and fresh basil

1 can of tomato sauce

(optional additions:  provolone on top melted at the end... shredded parmesian.... dash of heavy cream mixed into the red sauce last 5 minutes of cooking)

Mix turkey (or hamburger or no meat at all) with all ingredients above (except tomato sauce)..... add salt and pepper, dash of garlic salt and italian seasoning in addition to fresh herbs.... stuff peppers till overflowing in a nice cupcake rounded shape.  Place in deep dish with room to add additional meatballs made from the mixture (you might have 3 or 4 meatballs left over after stuffing the peppers).  Pour red sauce around the peppers, covering the sides and bottom of the pan.  Sprinkle more salt and pepper and italian seasoning on top and bake (I cover for half of the baking time)  at 350 degrees for at least 50 mnutes up to 75 minutes depending on lots of conditions...like your pan...your oven...or the thickness of the stuffed peppers.

Take out, put any italian cheese on top and serve immediately....it's a meal unto itself...no need for salad.  Just savor the hearty goodness! 

Serve up with an Italian Red and a little Frank Sinatra or Dean Martin in the background!



Chicks Instead of Chicken on the Menu of Fabulousness Tonight

Some of the best gifts come in the most unassuming of packages.  Tonight mine was in a cardboard box with $3.75 written across the top in pencil. 

And inside? Two Ameraucana 4 day-old baby chix. Wow. My man knows the way into my heart. Give me something little, with some fur, blinking eyes, and I melt! (We took in a homeless pup and called her our own last month!)

These little furballs will be added to our flock of Maran chicks - giving our urban farm 13 chickens in total, four cats, and one amazing dog.

So tonight - I had planned on posting my recipe for Italian Turkey Meatballs with Orzo in a Tomato Cream Sauce...but after holding my new baby chick - I was not in the mood to cook anything with feathers; we ate Thai takeout instead (Total: $9.25 divided by 2) ...still sticking to the experiment! A day of $5 and under fabulousness!

Cheap Cheap!

Dinner No. 1 - Chicken Basil Coconut Soup

The Fabulous Life Experiment begins here, with a day spent seeing the world a little differently - a little sweeter - a little more colorfully. 

In European countries, sometimes the planning of a meal is the main purpose for the day...to procure needed items not for the whole week but just for that meal. 

So in the pursuit of living well today, I made the procurement process part of the experiment.  Simply stated, I avoided rushing into a busy grocery store to snatch a dozen items off the shelves to then bustle through the checkout's conveyor belt in the 10 items or less line. 

Today, I didn't breeze past the flower bin...I stopped...I enjoyed...and I moved on. 

I knew that for my first blog post recipe - it would be the Chicken Basil Soup with Coconut...a sweet yet hearty and colorful expression of one-pot-wonderment. 

My journey into the market was different today. I have a mission now - to report and share and bring life to what was otherwise a mundane task in my life.

I might have been the only person today in the potato section taking pictures of a bin full of yams (see photo below) but today I let the grocery store's cornucopia of shapes and colors be canvasses of art rather than items on a list. 

So in keeping with my experiment to make a scruptuous dinner for $5 and under, I purchased one yam (.74), fresh spinach (.50), one small yellow squash (.54), one can of coconut milk (1.54)and I used 1/2 a chicken that I had roasted the evening before (2.52).  If you are adding, you will see I went over budget a few cents on this one.  But there will be enough left over for lunch so I will let that slide for the experiment...it will be even more fabulous tomorrow anyway!
Note:  I am starting this experiment in Spring in Austin with a healthy herb garden (basil, thyme, sage, dill, chives, oregano, and rosemary). 

Recommendations for making this a fabulous culinary experience: 
1. Enjoy the hues of the yam juxtaposed to the green basil.  Lay them out on your own pallet before cutting...just because.
2. Music - with this meal - I love Zydeco or Cuban (the Buena Vista Social Club.)
3. Serve with: Brown Rice and a lemon sorbet or fresh berries after the meal...for added color fusion! 
4. The conversation:  keep it light...fresh...hopeful...playful...
5. Afterwards...curl up on a sofa and watch a movie or read a book that has been calling to you - you know the one that is sitting next to your nightstand that you haven't opened in along time - yeah - that one.  (Tonight it was a raining. I heated up left over brownies and drizzled hot fudge on top with a dash of cream.) 

This is a good sweet life. 

Chicken Basil Coconut Soup
4 chicken thighs
1 yam - cut into cubes
1 yellow squash (cut into cubes)
onion optional
garlic - lots (like 4 cloves)
handful of spinach
4-6 sprigs basil
1 can coconut milk
(2 cups rice optional)

Simmer chicken till tender in 4-6 cups of water...with salt and pepper and 1 cube chicken boullion.  (Take chicken out and debone.) Add cut yams and then add squash 5 minutes later. (When yams are soft but not too mushy...add spinach and basil and cook another 5 minutes.  Turn off heat. Add coconut milk and stir in. Serve immediately (over rice optional for thicker consistancy).  Salt and pepper to taste - a little tabasco is good too! (Total cooking time about 40 minutes)

  Life is yummy!

Stop to Smell the Sunflowers

I stopped and smelled the roses today...sunflowers actually.  Just another ingredient down the isle of fabulousness.  Didn't have to buy them....just enjoyed them.

Day One: The experiment

So it starts out as simple as this: when you have lemons, make lemonade. When it rains, jump in the puddles. When you're stuck on a plane for five hours, share your pretzels. 


The good life that we seek is right in front of us most of the time.  The problem? We get in our own way...and make it difficult to see at times the simple things that are more enjoyable than we could have imagined.


I credit a few inspirations to starting this blog and what will become an experiment in living differently than I have ever done before.  


One inspiration is a friend who shared with me recently that she was living a fabulous life.  Curious as to what that could entail, I probed, "What do you mean by that?"...Her answer - "I induldge in what's available to me, like standing at the freezer in my pajamas in the middle of the afternoon and eating chocolate icecream straight from the container." So it wasn't her burgeoning career or her real estate holdings?  Was it fabulous because of the pajamas or the ice cream? Or both?  Either way, I liked how it rolled off her tongue and floated in the air a while and all I thought was..."I want some of that fabulousness too."


The other inspiration comes from a myriad of amazing college students I teach right now in a counseling skills course.  Here I am at the front of the room describing what the pursuit of happiness looks like or the quest for contentment or the "finding yourself" lecture; yet it is through their personal reflections they have shared where I have found in fact discovered MY OWN definition of seeking and living a good life. Thank you guys!


And then last night, as I wrote a detailed email to my dearest penpal Mindy, I got lost in an adventurous description of my evenings spent cooking delicious meals that cost less than $5 to prepare. My fabulous life was unfolding in front of me and for 5 and under! 


I translated this formula into other areas of my life and realized that long gone were my expensive tastes, my unrealistic expenditures on frivilous nothings; gone was my infatuation in the "new and improved" thing.  Rather, my current holdings and interests resemble more of a thrift shop gone wild, a bohemian boutique of other people's forgottens that have become my treasures. 


I recognized in myself that I have been "treasuring" items that are - for lack of a better word - used and abused until I breath new life into them with a creative twist or good intention. 
Wow.. Am I thrifty?  I had never associated this word in my personal vocabulary before.  I had to try it on...see if it fit...and guess what, it did; but I prefer the hybrid term that I have designed CRIFTIVE....a mix of crafty and thifty and creative. I love to make up my own words.


And so begins the experiment...  My attempt to embrace what I already have, make it better, use what exists, change that which I can and accept what I can not. So this will translate into all pockets, closets, and cabinets of my life in the coming months as I embark on a $5 and under quest to integrate snippets of fabulousness into a life I share with my best friend and life partner. He is excited for this experiment because it involves me cooking - a lot - and saving money! 


Join me daily as I post recipes for living well - including delicious and easy to prepare meals, wellness tips, design thoughts, crafts, music, entertainment ideas, date night suggestions, love advice, and other $5 and under ideas for attainable fabulousness.


Here's to the Good Life.