Garlic Black Bean Dip for the Superbowl!

Superbowl Sunday is upon us! Are you doing anything special or having people over to watch? I am not a big football fan, but my family has enough diehard fans to make up for my lack of enthusiasm. Honestly, I just can't take the emotional highs and lows that come with the game, so I choose to avoid it until the very end. Well, the family team is in the Superbowl this year, and Ben is out of town; I'll probably watch since he isn't here to witness my enthusiastic screams.

Now on to the real draw of the Superbowl, the food! There are plenty of unhealthy Superbowl snacks that taste amazing, so there's really no need to add to that department, but I have a fantastic Garlic Black Bean Dip that is healthy, has a robust taste, and a texture great for dipping. The texture is sort of close to guacomole so it's perfect for scooping onto chips, pretzels or veggies. 

Not only does it taste great but it is super fast and easy with a food processor. If you don't have a food processor, I think it could be made in a blender or with an immersion blender. I've never tried those methods but it would be worth a try, you may need to alter the texture by adding more of the liquid ingredients. I would add a little of each and keep tasting as you go to get the balance that you like.

Along the same lines, I've made a similar recipe with canned beans before. This time I used dried because that is what I had around. If you are using canned, just rinse and drain the beans, process and then add the oil and the yogurt in smaller amounts. The canned beans will have more moisture so you'll need less liquid.

Once you make this recipe you'll never need another bean dip, it'll be your go to. It is YUMMY! I've been eating it for more meals than I'd like to admit. If you plan on making it for Sunday, I'd probably wait because if you make it now there won't be any left to bring it to your party!

I hope you all have a great time with your friends and family this weekend, whatever it is you may be doing, Superbowl or no Superbowl!

Ingredients

2 cups cooked black beans (about 3/4 cup dry beans rehydrated and cooked using these instructions)
2 large garlic cloves
1 1/2 TB lemon
1/2 tsp salt plus more to taste
1/2 tsp pepper plus more to taste
1/4 cup olive oil
3/8 cup greek yogurt

Directions

1. In a food processor, process black beans, garlic, lemon, salt and pepper.
2. Add the greek yogurt, run the food processor.
3. While the processor is running, slowly drizzle the oil into the dip.
4. Process to desired consistency, add liquid if you need to, and add salt and pepper to taste.
5. Serve immediately or refrigerate until serving time. 
6. Enjoy with pretzels, chips, veggies or whatever else you can't resist scooping this dip up with!

Making Your Own Tiny Treehouse

I never had a treehouse growing up, but that didn't stop me from dreaming about what my ideal treehouse would include. I even had drawings that included my dream treehouse that doubles as a home for my dream pets, gibbons. Yes, I dreamed of sharing my treehouse with gibbons. I didn't take into account the cleaning up after monkeys part of this but that's what dreams are for.

My treehouse fascination hasn't really subsided, I asked for Treehouses of the World for my 15th birthday. The author, Pete Nelson, has a TV show, Treehouse Masters and I love it! I maintain that I will get my treehouse one day but for now I came up with a substitute that can live amongst my indoor trees, my houseplants.

You can make a mini treehouse for your houseplants and terrariums too!

Supplies

Materials

Template
Iron on Veneer (there are many sizes and colors veneer, I chose this type because it was available at the local hardware store. Project can be adjusted to whatever type you find.)
Cardstock
Acrylic Paint
Gorilla Glue Pen
3/16" Dowel Rod (or similar size)
 

Tools and Household Items

Scissors
Iron
Press Cloth (this is just a scrap rag that goes between your iron and the material you are ironing)
Small Clamps
Utility Knife
Twine
Tape
Metal Ruler
Drill
3/16" Drill bit (same size as your dowel rod)

Directions

The first step is to download the template and cut out the pieces. 

Now, heat up your iron to the cotton setting and cut 4 strips of the veneer that are 1/2" longer than the main piece of the template.

Lay the first piece of veneer on your cardstock, glue side down, cover with your press cloth (protects your iron from any extra glue) and apply heat from your iron until the veneer is stuck to the paper (15-30 seconds). Use a pen or a bone folder to run over the veneer to even out the glue and the seal.

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Add the next strip of veneer, slightly overlapped with the first piece, and apply heat from the iron (use your press cloth!). Repeat with the next two pieces.

Make sure that this creates a surface that is big enough for your template to fit on and not extend beyond the edges of veneer. If it isn't big enough, just add another strip of veneer.

Use double stick tape, or tape loops to fasten your template to the veneer.

The trick here is to go nice and slow. You're going to use your utility knife and ruler to cut around the edge of the template. Line the ruler up with the edge and use it as the guide for your knife.

Some general safety guidelines: When you use the ruler as a guide, make sure the ruler is on the side with the most material, and you cut on the side with less area. This just gives you more material to hold onto and it's safer to cut. See the pictures below.

Incorrect, with ruler only covering the sliver being cut off.

Correct, with ruler on the side with most material and cutting off a small sliver. If you are left handed this is perfect, if you are right handed, rotate so your left hand holds the ruler and your right hand wields the knife.

The second safety consideration is about using the utility knife. You are not going to cut this in one fell swoop. You have much more control if you cut it in many shallow cuts. Each edge could take 5-10 swipes to cut through the veneer and the paper. Just be patient, it's not worth slicing your finger to finish the project. If you start to get frustrated, just walk away for a few minutes and come back to it.

After the shape is cut out you can score the fold lines using the same knife and ruler. Scoring is cutting through the top layers of material to make folding easier. You don't cut all the way through. For comparison, this stage will take about 2-3 swipes with the knife.

Carefully fold along the score marks, apply glue to the wall tab and clamp closed for about 30 minutes. Wipe excess glue off of the edge while it's wet. I chose this glue because it's waterproof and will hold up to the moisture from plants, but it does dry white and it expands, so use it sparingly and wipe off excess while it is still wet.

While the house is drying, cut four short strips for the roof and iron the veneer on the cardstock in the same layered fashion used for the main part of the house. After the drying time, add glue to the roof tabs and lay the roof on top of the house. I couldn't figure out a good way of clamping the roof to the top, so I went with the old school method of wrapping the house in twine to firmly hold the roof in place. Again, wipe excess glue while it is wet.

While the roof is drying, you're going to iron the veneer for the porch. For this application, iron on the veneer side by side. It will look more like decking as opposed the siding of the house. To protect the backing paper from moisture and to add strength, on one side the veneer will lay up and down and on the back the veneer will lay left to right (perpendicular). This will prevent the deck from buckling when we attach the stick, or over time from moisture.

Since the porch veneer is thinner, I used some junky scissors (so the veneer wouldn't dull sharp scissors) to cut the porch out.

Side by side veneer, on the OPPOSITE side the veneer lays perpendicular

Using scissors to cut out porch

Use the glue and twine method to attach the house to the porch.

Once the house is attached after the drying time, use acrylic paint to add details to your house. I added windows with green edging and used some gray paint to represent the reflections on glass. I added a pop of color with a red door and then used green and brown in splotches to add some moss on the roof. You could glue natural materials on to your house to add character, like moss or small twigs; I wanted to wait to see how the house ages in the plant environment before I add too much.

Wait 24 hours to make sure that your house and all the glue has time to completely dry. Use your drill with a drill bit matching the size of your dowel. Drill the hole where it will be hidden by the house and the end of the dowel will be inside the hollow part of your house. Go slow and be careful not to drill through your roof or your hand for that matter.

Next, add some glue to the edges of the drilled hole and fit the dowel rod into the hole. Leave it for a few hours for the glue to dry.

Now add your house to a potted plant or terrarium! Make this project, add your own spin and share your results with us!

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Using the Meyer Lemon Tree Harvest

You know that citrus is a winter fruit, right? For all the press that lemons and lemonade get in the summer, the zesty fare isn't even in season! Take a look around the grocery store at this time of year and you'll see an impressive array of citrus in every size and color.

We have a Meyer lemon tree with a very small harvest, I recently picked my one lemon and had to decide what special way I would use it. A few months ago, Ben and I talked about candied lemon peel and I've had browser windows open on my phone with recipes ever since (because I'm all about the tabs). I supplemented my supply with store bought Meyer lemons and started re reading those recipes. 

I'm going to be honest, the motivation for making the candied lemon peel was purely visual. Ben and I were eating his mom's lemon cake and we somehow started talking about garnishes for the top. I've never eaten candied lemon peel, so I have no reference. Making it was completely experimental; overall I think it's good with a hint of strange. I can certainly still taste the bitterness of the peel but that element has been minimized. Next time I think I would add some salt (like a quarter teaspoon) into the final sugaring because that will balance out the bitter and bring out the sweetness (as taught by Alton Brown. )

Let's get to the process. 52 Kitchen Adventures was my main source for this recipe.

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Ingredients

4-5 Lemons (I used Meyer lemons)
3 cups sugar
Water

Directions

1. First, peel your lemons. I've read instructions that tell you to use a paring knife to separate the flesh from the peel. I tried some like this, and then also used a vegetable peeler with a heavy hand to peel the lemons and include some of the pith. I couldn't tell the difference in the final product so I would use a vegetable peeler when I do this again.
2. Slice the peel into thin strips.
3. Put the peel into a saucepan and cover with water
4. Bring to a boil and simmer for 3 minutes; drain.
5. Repeat two more times.
6. Drain and set peels aside.
7. Fill the saucepan with 2 cups of water and 2 cups of sugar. Place over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved.
8. Place the peel in the pot and simmer for 15-20 minutes until the skin is translucent. 
9. Drain and store the liquid for another use (lemon simple syrup can be used to sweeten and flavor drinks).
10. Dredge the peels through the last cup of sugar and dry overnight.
11. Store in an airtight container packed in sugar.

Uses

I used this as a cupcake topper and you could use it similarly on other baked goods.  You could also cut it up and include inside cookies or muffins. It would also make a good garnish for drinks, or you could just eat it as a candy. We're thinking of using it as a topping on a spicy entree. 

Have an idea for how to use it? Let us know!