Chocolate Chip Cookie Cups

We've all seen this pin before, right?

 

Flip the muffin tin upside down, place cookie dough on the mound, bake and presto!, cookie bowl to enjoy ice cream out of!

I decided to try it!

It took a lot longer to get everything prepared than I was anticipating.*  So I started the oven, mixed my batter and by that time it was 9 pm and I was getting sleepy.** So I made a decision that I later learned was not a decision at all, it was a mistake.  I threw the entire mixture onto the muffin tin because, "ain't nobody got time for that!"***

Here is what it looked like in the process, the process of dirtying up my oven, that is. 

But all hope was not lost. It is still cookie dough cooking in the oven, and when cookie dough is in the oven, some kind of cookie edibles will be in my stomach by the end of the night.  When my timer rang, I accepted defeat with a sigh and plucked my giant cookie from the fiery pits of... the oven.

Given the amount of laziness that went into the baking of the cookie cups,**** it's surprising that I had a few cups that were in tact. If I had ice cream, I'm sure they would have sufficed. However, given my lack of ice cream or care, all I was left with was a giant cookie with some dips in it.  

My coworkers enjoyed them though!

Splits in 2 weeks?

It's that time again! New Year's Resolutions!!! This year I have a lot! All about being an amazing human! I'm going to begin 2014 with an old Pinterest stretching goal.



7 minutes / session, twice a day. Doesn't seem too difficult.  I'll keep you posted!

Window Sill Garden Update!

Avocado

Remember this little guy? The avocado pit I put in water back in January?

It's taken a little longer to grow than I expected. (Perhaps that is due to the fact that I put it in the water UPSIDE-DOWN!  But once I fixed it, the roots shot out and down into the water.)  It has quickly grown too big for the tiny jar I had it in.

                       

Looks like it's time for an upgrade!

My little avocado plant seems so much happier in its new home. I'm waiting to put it in a pot with dirt until it has a few leaves on it. This might take a while. 

After a few weeks in its new jar, my avocado pit has been growing like crazy. The roots are longer and thicker and there's even a tiny sprout coming out of the top!

Now that I've had a little success with this pit, I've started another.  Here it is after just a few days in water.

Pineapple

The pineapple has been doing well, I think. I've been changing the water every other day which has seemed to help keep the algae growth down.  I don't know when it will be strong enough to plant in a pot, so I'll keep it in it's jar for a while longer.

Celery

I found out that you could regrow celery from stumps, so I thought I'd try my hand at it.

Look at the sprouts after just a few weeks! I was very impressed with the growth here!

Mint

Here is my mint plant in February and again in May.

 




 Watch for another update later this week on my OUTDOOR GARDEN! I'm so excited about these guys!

Plant Updates

Here are my strawberry plants, getting bigger but they're supposed to fruit in early summer and I'm not sure if they will!  Progress has been slow but they're still cute.

Then I have these just add water plants.

 And inspired once again by 17 Apart, I am attempting to regrow a pineapple.  Just a week in water and it's sprouted 2 roots!  

Hopefully all of these plants will make it!

Striped Nail Polish (fail)

A few days ago I came across this pin.  

I used to have painted fingernails all the time.  I only had plain nails for a few days and that was just to ensure that they didn't turn yellow.  Then I moved up to Sacramento and for some reason, I just stopped.  

For the past few days I've been wanting to paint my nails, but couldn't decide on a color, so off to Pinterest-land I went.  High and low, to and fro and scrolling back to the top in search for a nail polish design I could easily pull off.  So here I go!





Step 1:  Apply vaseline to the edges of your fingernails. This is so the nailpolish doesn't stick to the skin on your fingers.  I love this trick.

Step 2:  Apply your base color.  I decided to go with pink!

Step 3:  Cut tape into thin strips. I used regular scotch tape and cut it with scissors into strips.  I didn't care if they were perfectly even, obviously.

Step 4:  Apply tape strips to nails.  I like the "searchlight" look.  

Step 5:  Apply top layer of nail polish.

Step 6:  Peel tape. This is where you will reveal your beautiful works of nail art and impress your friends.

  

...or not.

I know that my tape strips were too thick, but I'm not really sure what else went wrong.  Could it be the fact that I use cheap nail polish?  Perhaps I just need to start with something a little simpler. 

Working Out

Two weeks ago I started the exercise routine Tapout XT.  I am taking pictures and recording my measurements.  I am also keeping a journal for myself to read as encouragement, and as a reminder to make healthy choices.  

I haven't posted anything here because I'm afraid of embarrassing myself by posting "before" pictures and then give up halfway through and never upload any "after" pictures.  

However, it is encouraging when friends and family ask me how my plants are doing and they remind me to blog about it.

So, what do you think?  Should I record my progress publicly and as it happens, or should I wait until the 90 days are over and post my (hopefully) success story all at once?

How to Regrow Romaine Lettuce From Scraps

I love the idea of container gardening, but with my recent failures I've been a little discouraged.  I hadn't been going out of my way to plant or start anything new. Until I fed my rabbit the last leaves from the head of Romaine. Normally I just throw the stump in the bowl with the leaves and she eats it, but I figured, what the heck, I'll give this regrowing thing a try. 

Step 1: Gather materials.  You'll need the stump of your Romaine and a small container. Easy!

Step 2: Place the stump in the container and add water.  I put this stump in its container on 1/30.

Step 4:  Put your plant in a sunny window and wait.  I didn't get my hopes up too high when I started.  I just made sure that there was fresh water in the container every day.  I wasn't even paying attention to any growth.  Then I left for the weekend and when I returned (2/14)....

Look at those cute little leaves! 

Can you spot the itty-bitty baby leaves?

Two more little leaves have sprouted on the other side, too!

 My confidence is restored, and I'm looking forward to watching this little plant grow.  And as always, any tips or tricks are welcome.