more christmas

in theme with my frugal christmas, i baked and made some more christmas gifts! i made mini chocolate balls which were a serious task; they took me two days to make! what they consist of is a box of chocolate cake mix baked then crumbled and mixed with cream cheese icing, rolled into balls, then dipped in chocolate. yummy right? yes. yummy

i also did a few crafty gifts; my sisters got hand made guide books. i handed down my old dslr camera to my younger sister so i made her a pocket guide book covering all the need-to-knows about the camera. my older sister is moving to australia in january (im hoping to get a chance to visit her!) so i researched all to hot spots in australia and put together a guide book for sydney. they're a little sloppy but i think they look really cute!

ps thank you Seung-Mi and Ozen for helping me with the chocolate balls!

my sister also got some australian money from my mom; it's plastic!! aren't the bills beautiful?

failure

this evening i was invited out to replace a sibling at my friend's family dinner so i thought i would return the nice gesture by baking her family a gift. i was running out of time and needed something quick, i remembered my mom had bought mini bunt cake molds and thought i could make mini cakes. every recipe i came across for cake called for a cake mix, i didn't have any and i was feeling ambitious and felt that i could make the cake mix myself. wrong. the cakes were a disaster. they came out of the often rock hard, glossy and deformed. i thought i'd share since i started taking pictures of what looked like delicious treats. 

ps thanks dad for eating the hard cakes and pretending they tasted to make me feel better. love you

i did succeed in making a royal mess though

they looked so pretty!

ew

frugal bake

a friend and i decided to be creative with holiday gifts this season in order to take it easy on our pocket books; we custom decorated cookies in order for them to resemble their receiver. to quote my dad, "These are the ugliest cookies I have ever seen. That's some creativity you have." i can't wait to give them out!

jenna

kai

katie

kyra

sara

the gang

quick fix

super quick meal made for impatient stomachs
Gnocchi with marinara and chicken.
Spinach and Feta salad with mushroom, broccoli, sunflower seeds, cucumber, balsamic vinegar and olive oil.

recipe reinvented

I got this recipe from my mom for curry shrimp, and I decided to take it to a different level.

Curry Shrimp with sweet potatoes, snow peas, bell peppers, carrots and coconut milk.

Naan Bread.

My favorite meal so far.

beer budget, champagne taste

this is how students eat! especially when parents pay a visit and buy us groceries
Steak marinated in rosemary, thyme and garlic.
Vegetables baked with garlic and roasted red pepper and chilis.
Brown & Wild rice.
Spinach, feta and strawberry salad with balsamic vinegar and olive oil.