More Delicious Recipes

I know I know its a design blog but I am persistent that food is an art, many would agree with me! Between being a design assitant, working on my guest blog, and cleaning my house(that is a huge chore!) I always manage to cook or bake something! Mind you I make dinner quite frequently, I suppose my mom is quite happy with me all the time then! Anyways....

Recipe #1 - Stuffed Zuchini

Image Via Moi

This recipe only consists of a few things, first preheat oven to 350 or about 220, then put a bit of oil in the bottom of a pan. Now you can begin to assemble your stuffes zuchinis. First cut the zuchini in half length wise, holllow it out so only dark green skin is left and a bit of the middle, do this to all pieces. Combine the leftover insides-chopped up with a can of tomato pieces adn some crumbled feta cheese add fresh parsley, oregano, sea salt, and pepper. Olivres can be added but dice inyo small pieces. mix it all together and fill hollowed out zuchinis. You should use 3 to 4 zuchinis, add other ingredients as you would like-more cheese for more cheeseyness-if thats a word! This is the result before baked, cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes approzimatley or until zuchini is fork tender! Then enjoy your deliciously fresh side dish!(Thia recipe was inspired by house and Homes recipe but it is tweaked for my liking)Enjoy!

Recipe#2 - Fresh baked from scratch Cinnamon Rolls

This recipe comes from my friends at food network!

Image Via Moi

This recipe is in standard format and take 3 hours to make! The recipe below makes approx 12 I doubled it and made 31 approx - I ate one and some were sampled before the count!

Ingredients

Dough

• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 5 cups flour
• 1 package instant yeast
• 4 eggs

Filling

• 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons cinnamon

Glaze

• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 4 tablespoons cream
• 1 cup powdered sugar

Directions

Filling

1. Mix all ingredients together.

Glaze

1. Stir together the glaze ingredients and drizzle all over the cinnamon rolls after they have cooled.

Assembly

1. In a small pot gently warm the milk along with 1/2 cup butter, 1/2 cup of brown sugar, the vanilla and the salt. Don’t bring to a simmer, warm just enough to melt the butter. Meanwhile measure half the flour into the bowl of a stand mixer along with the yeast. Add the warm melted milk butter mixture to the flour, beat with a paddle attachment until smooth. Add the eggs one at a time, beating until smooth before proceeding. Switch to a dough hook and add the remaining flour. Knead until a soft dough forms that is no longer sticky to the touch, about five minutes. Rest the dough in a warm place, covered in a lightly oiled bowl until it doubles in size, about one to two hours.
2. Knock the dough down and let rest for a few minutes. Meanwhile thoroughly mix together the room temperature butter with 1 cup of brown sugar and the cinnamon. Flour your work surface, the dough, your hands and a rolling pin. Roll out the dough into a long rectangle shape, about 18x12-inches. Evenly spread the cinnamon butter over the top of the dough leaving an inch or two uncovered along one long edge. This will help a seal form. Roll tightly into a long cigar shape from the covered long edge to the uncovered long edge. Brush the outside of the log with oil or melted butter.
3. Slice the dough log into 12 or 16 sections. Turn each on its side and position evenly in an appropriately sized lightly oiled baking pan. Rest, uncovered, until the dough doubles in size again and the rolls swell into each other.
4. Meanwhile preheat your oven to 350 F. When the dough is ready, bake for 30 to 35 minutes.
5. When the cinnamon rolls have cooled enough to handle stir together the glaze ingredients and drizzle all over them. Serve immediately!

 This was my result!

Image Vis Moi

They were delicious, I made them yesterday! Now when doubling the recipe the only cautions I have is that the icing has a bit to much vanilla! Also when baking I baked for approx 25mins so keep an eye out and be ready to turn them constantly as I did! Also the filling came out a bit and melted onto the tray, I scooped it back on though! Still very yummy!!Enjoy!

Please send me your recipes so I can try them out and post here! send @ libertyvisco@hotmail.com or chicinnovativedesign@gmail.com I would love to hear your feedback about how these yummy treats turned out!

Bye for Now,

XoXo

A New Venture

As a design student school has let out for the summer! But fortunately for me the design wheels are still turning! I work alongside a designer for a few days a week and try to volunteer as I can! All the while I am working on my portfolio, I figure artwork and sculptures can only get you so far so I took on my very first design project, well second!(I have been working on my bedroom but since the budget can be found in my pocket I am taking it slow!) None the less I decided to take the project of my tv room/living/den/whatever you want to call it. Although my house is newly renovated- I was a large part in all design decisions, including getting rid of a wall! Anyways my house had just been renovated, with this renovation came a new built in fireplace book shelf, a new fireplace, new hardwood floors. new tile floors, a fresh coat of paint, new windows, and new window treatments! wow that was alolt to say in one breath! With all this - tearing out cabinetry,walls, just about everything on the main floor, there was nothing left for an accessory budget! So as weeks went on a collection began, one that was ecletic but for the most part my parents style. So I decided that the least each room could use was spot decorating/being amped up! Here is the before of the dreadful corner...

Image via Moi!

As you can see the built in could use some styling and the corner has a lot more potential. I entertained several ideas sculptures or statues, boxes, and trunks, finally I found the perfect piece-a beautifully upholstered chair! There were a few to choose from, One was a gorgeous mauve, a turqouise floral, a sheek cow hide. I wanted a print that wasn't to femine but not to masculine, one that matched the room well. Once I decided on the biggest and most expensive piece I moved onto styling the space and accessorizing. The total for the corner was $500! I know it is a lot, some of the stuff could have easily been found at garage sale, antique show, I was very excited and not exactly looking for a bargain! Take a look below...

Image via Photographer,Bianca Ragogna - Contact info can be provided upon request

It was a very big transformation for such a small corner and a big difference - my parents loved it so much they decided they wanted it all but for a lower price - my baragain hunt began for similar but cheaper pieces! It wasnt easy but I managed to re create the space for less than half the original price! (less than 250$) It was a big project for me as my first/second! It was worth all the time and every penny! Stay tuned for future mini redecorations and vignettes of the space above - let me know how I did, share your thoughts on my first project!

Bye for Now,
xoxo

Design in the Form of Food!

Considering that I write about design everything needs to revolve around design. Although design can be found in many places, magazines, artwork, home decor, and even food!

Image Via www.zuzafun.com

Although my passion is home decor I love to cook and bake! So I thought that I wouls share a few recipes of mine with you!

The first recipe: Cream of Mushroom Chicken Pasta - a regular pasta alternative

This recipe is the easiest recipe to make and all you need is stuff you can find in your cabinet! The things you will need is 2 cans of cream of mushroom soup, 4 chicken breast, and 2 to 3 cups of uncooked pasta. Any type of pasta will do, the whole point of this first recipe is to use stuff you have in your cupboard, you can use a variety of pastas - the end of the bag, that is always left over!

Image via www.123RF.com

Everything else you will need are everyday ingredients such as, flour, salt, pepper, etc...

The first thing you are going to want to do is slice the chicken into strips then you are going to want to season it with salt , pepper, and parsley. Dip the strips in and egg whites, and bread it in flour. Once you have done this you can begin to fry the chicken or bake it in the oven. You can then boil water and cook the pasta and heat the cream of mushroom soup in a saucepan. Once the chciken is done cut it into square bits you can then add the chicken to the cream of mushroom soup and add the sauce to the drained pasta. This should take about half an hour to make. It is a quick and easy meal that uses pantry items. As well it is a healthy meal, chicken breast, egg whites, whole wheat flour instead of white, the entire recipe can be made with healthy alternative ingredients. It is a delicious meal that is easy to make and healthy!

The second recipe: Berry Pie

Image Via www.letscookgf.com

This is also an easy recipe, it uses a flour, butter, and sugar base pie crust. The filling is simply 6 cups of berries, 1 cup of sugar, 1 table spoon of lemon juice, and 1 tablespoon of lemon zest. To make the pie crust combine the flour, sugar, and butter. When combining the butter be careful not to play with the dough to much, this will flatten the air pockets the butter makes and make the dough very tough and chewy. Once you have done this lay the crust inside your pan and let it cool in the fridge for 20 minutes to firm the dough. Then you can add the berries mixed with the other filling ingredients. You can then lay the remaining dough on top of the pie, you can fork the edges so no filling will come out. Brush the top with an egg wash and cut a few holes in the top to allow the steam to escape. It can be baked for 45 minutes on medium heat, this may depend on your oven.
These recipes are easy to make and use healthy ingredients! They use pantry items and take no time at all to make! Let me know how it turns out when you try these delicious and healthy recipes!Enjoy!

Image Via www.geninv.net.com

Bye For Now,

XoXo