Bread Recipes

The bread I made the other day tastes great! I chose a recipe I found somewhere while looking up breadmakers. It uses honey instead of sugar, so it didn't give off the good smell while baking that I usually relate to homemade bread. I don't care, though, because it turned out good!

1 1/8 cups of water
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp of honey
2 tsp salt
3 cups of flour (I did 2 cups wheat, 1 cup white)
2 tsp yeast

makes about 1 1/2 lb loaf

Tonight I made zucchini bread. I was so excited to find them in the stores, I've been looking and waiting for them for months. Let me just say- YUM! Here's the recipe I used:

3 eggs, beaten
1 1/3 cup sugar
½ cup vegetable oil
½ tsp vanilla
2 cups of grated or finely shredded zucchini
2 ½ cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp ginger
½ tsp nutmeg
½ tsp salt

Beat eggs, sugar, & oil
Add vanilla, spices, & zucchini- mix
Put in dry ingredients & mix

Bake at 350 until toothpick comes out clean

You can add nuts if you like them, I don't. I've also had zucchini muffins with chocolate chips in them. Those are good. I made the mini loaves this time because they make it easier to give bread away.

Random

First of all- thanks for the recipe and website. I'm going to make wheat bread tonight, so I need to choose a recipe to use. I'll probably post it tomorrow.

I know I never blogged about it, but I was stressing all last week because last night was the NHS banquet for the new inductees. All the current members had to plan the ceremony and pot luck dinner. I was basically put in charge of the dinner, because they all know that I plan to become a restaurant manager and thought it would be good practice. It was! And it went perfectly. I am so glad it's done and over with, though. Now I can focus on my finals and graduation- which are quickly approaching. Finals begin on the 11th, and the graduation date is the 20th.

For anyone wondering about the banana bread recipe I talked about before, it can be found here.

I've been wicked busy with tons of different things lately. I'm going to be busy until the end of June! I still plan on participating in The Next Chapter's Wreck This Journal fun, starting on Friday! I did start wrecking my book a while ago, so I can simply post old pictures on my busy days.

And finally I'm going to end with this cool, fun, quiz Cynthia took and posted about on her blog.

You Are a Red Crayon

Your world is colored with bright, vivid, wild colors. You have a deep, complex personality - and you are always expressing something about yourself. Bold and dominant, you are a natural leader. You have an energy that is intense... and sometimes overwhelming. Your reaction to everything tends to be strong. You are the master of love-hate relationships. Your color wheel opposite is green. Green people are way too mellow to understand what drives your energy.

What Color Crayon Are You?

I took it twice because I thought it had it wrong, but I ended up with the same answer. It kind of makes me want to find that coloring book I have somewhere!

Breadmaker Bread

Friday night we were hanging out at my Aunt Jen's. I made banana bread and my mom mentioned how I wanted a breadmaker. Aunt Jen says "Really? Look in that cabinet there." I pull out a breadmaker, along with a pound of dust. xP I wiped it down and took it home. SO, now I've got this bread maker to use!


I tried it out last night. What I got was a good looking, great smelling, perfectly square loaf of bread. I cut off a piece and ate it. It might look and smell good, but it's not like the homemade bread of my childhood that was so good I could eat it with nothing on it. There's nothing wrong with this bread, I just didn't like the taste very much.

I am going to experiment with different recipes, and hopefully find one I like! Plus I am going to get some wheat flour. All the times I've made bread I've never been able to make homemade wheat bread because my mom hates it. It won't be 100% wheat bread, only about half so it isn't so heavy.

If anyone has a good recipe I'd love to hear them!

8 Things I Need Less Of

It's *8Things Thursday again! This week it is 8 things I need less of. It ties in with the Do Less Revolution going on.
Here are my 8 things...

1. Stress
2. Commitments
3. Homework
4. Headaches
5. Self Doubt
6. Cold Weather & Rain
7. Worry
8. Sickness

Can you tell that all of these are connected? I am stressed because I have too many commitments and too much homework. The stress causes the headaches. I'm still sick from when I woke up with that cold on Sunday, and it won't go away because of the cold & rain! The self doubt... well that's normal, and so is the worry. I mean, I am graduating in 3 weeks!

I'm just not having a very good day. I don't mean to sound like a pessimist, but the next few days don't look like they'll be any better either.

Some Of My Favorite Things

Guess what? This is my 200th post! I didn't know I'd done that many! I've been thinking about what some of my favorite things are lately... I guess now is as good a time as any to post them. Some are odd, but oh well.

Mac-n-Cheese
Yup, it's probably my all-time favorite food. I don't think I could ever get sick of eating it. I'm picky, though. I don't like homemade mac-n-cheese. I've grown up with the boxed stuff, and I just like it better than any homemade kind I've tried.

Disney Movies
I am such a little kid... I've grown up with Disney movies and I still love watching them. The other day when I said I wanted to just sit and watch a movie? I watched The Rescuers. My favorite Disney movie of all time is Pete's Dragon, though. When we were little my cousin and I used to ask to watch "Pizza Dragon!" And we always fell asleep watching it. I still end up falling asleep half way through it.

The Sound of Peepers
It's just one of those comforting sounds... I love falling asleep listening to them.

The Smell of Cigarette Smoke
This is my comfort smell. Weird, right? Most people hate this smell! All the adults I've grown up around smoke, though. It brings back memories and makes me feel relaxed. I know how bad it is; but there's no stopping them from smoking, and I like being around my family.

These are just a few of my favorite things. I could list more... but I've got blondies to bake!

Prom Pics!

I finally have prom pics to post!

I actually had a minor freak out right before my mom tried to take pictures of me. I started crying because my hair would not do what I wanted it to! So, there aren't many of just me. Honestly- I don't really like how I look in any of these pics. xD I hated all the picture taking before prom, I had fun once we got there at least!


Me getting my hair done by my Aunt Taunya.

Me.

My cousin Sam and her boyfriend Collin.

A big group of us at prom, notice that I ended up pulling my hair into a ponytail? I couldn't deal with that frizzy mess!

Another group pic, before prom though.

Sam & Me

Emeline & Amy!

Updates

Wow, I'm worn out! We had a long three-day weekend, but I didn't get to catch up on much. Honestly I'm not sure what I would have wanted to catch up on! My weekend was busy but I don't think I could have had more fun than I did unless we had gone to a parade today and I had bought that little Buddha statue at the flea market for $1.

Saturday I was babysitting all day. No matter how much I adore Keagan (and I do!) he knows how to tire me out. What 2 1/2 year-old doesn't, though? We went to the fish ladder and played in this wicked awesome park that had an old school merry-go-round. We had so much fun!

Sunday I woke up with a cold! Not just a little "oh my nose if stuffy" cold, but a knock me on my butt "I wanna go back to bed, I feel like sh*t!" cold. I took a bunch of cold meds, went to visit Grandpa Ben's grave, went to the flea market, and had a nice nap in the afternoon. Then I managed to stay up until 11 last night going fishing with a small chunk of my family, and then playing a Disney trivia game at my Aunt Jen's (I won! xD)

When we came home last night the light on our phone was blinking. A message from Keagan's mom! I ended up babysitting him again from about 9 this morning into the early afternoon. He's so much fun that I can't complain! I really am ready to just sit and watch a movie or something, though.

6 Things That Make Me Happy

The wonderful Nydia tagged me for this cool meme on Monday and I'm finally getting around to it!

Here are the rules:

"The rules are simple: Tag and link back to the person who tagged you.List six (un) important things that make you happy. Tag six bloggers and let them know they’re “it”. We all feel this blogging community to be one of inclusion and friendship."

1- Cooking & having people truly like it

2- Babysitting Keagan (which I'm doing today in about 2 hrs!)

3- Reading good books

4- Writing good stories

5- Truly connecting with someone

6- Laughing & Smiling (Wondering if these cause happiness, or if they're byproducts of it... I'm thinking both)

Now for the tagging! I tag- Cynthia, Brandi, Genie Sea, Jamie ,

and now I'm being rushed off to do stuff- so 4 will have to do! Grab this cool meme if you want, though. If you don't want to play, no worries!

8 Things I Promise Myself

So, one of the blogs I've recently found is Magpie Girl. I highly suggest checking out her blog if you haven't- she seems like a lot of fun! She does this meme every Thursday called *8Things. This Thursday the list is 8 Things you promise yourself. I'm playing along because it sounds like fun.


1. Pay attention to what shoes I try to walk across town in
(Ow, my feet are killing me right now! Flip flops suuuck!)

2. Accept change with open arms

3. Ask for help when I need it

4. Not be swayed by other people

5. Make time to read & relax

6. Give myself time to find out who I am

7. Embrace the magic surrounding me

8. Express myself creatively

Receiving Compliments

I heard something today that I truly appreciate hearing. It reaffirms what I've been thinking the last few days which is "I really like who I am." 7th period I have a study hall, so I go and sit in my English teacher's room and do homework while he prepares for the next day. We talked for a little bit, and then I sit and do my French homework. Out of no where he just says "Tori, I hope you know that you're really neat." I have a confused look on my face, so he goes on to say "Not neat as in organized, you're a really cool person." He keeps explaining it to me. He tells me that I'm "unique and smart and creative. Kind and caring. Above and beyond most of my classmates." That I "might not have a better GPA than all of them, but they don't have the inquisitive mind that I have." He tells me that he was surprised when I chose to go into restaurant management, because I'd be a good scholar. I explained to him why I chose management. I would love a liberal arts college. I'd flourish and have fun. But I would never want to declare a major or leave.

We talked for a while. He told me he wanted me to know those things, not so I can brag, but so I can be more confident about myself. Well it worked. It makes you feel good to hear someone you respect tell you all the good they see in you.

I just realized that this goes right along with this weeks Joy Rebel Mission, which is about receiving. I've never been a very good compliment receiver, but I'm glad I could accept these ones today. It feels pretty good.

By the way, I had a lot of fun at prom on Saturday! I haven't posted anything about it because I'm still trying to hunt down decent pictures to share. When you're the one with a camera you don't get many of yourself. I think my mom has some of me before we left for prom, and there's always friends on facebook with pictures. I'll get them soon.