Homemade Healthy “Twizzler” Bites

I am so pleased!!  Ok, first of all, I love sweets.   I also love being healthy and having lots of energy.  Candy and long lasting energy don’t mix so I wanted to try to make a healthier version of candy.

“Twizzler” Bites!!!!

Or some other name that sounds good.  Not necessarily a name to describe what they look like though.

I found some recipes online but was always missing an ingredient.  Since today is Sunday and I live in Norway, most shops are closed.  Since I am also too impatient to wait a day, I decided to figure out how to make my own version and I did!!!  I did!!!
The Recipe

One bag or 200 grams of dates

1/3 cup frozen berries (strawberries or raspberries tasted best)

One teaspoon beetroot powder (you could probably skip this but I like the added minerals and taste)

About 1/3 cup water

Put in small food processor and blend until very smooth.

I made the recipe up as I went so feel free to add more berries for taste or water if the food processor begs for it.  Also, choose organic if possible.  Better taste and better for you.

Put into a piping bag with a tip just under 1/2 centimeter.
Put short bites on baking paper.  Smaller seemed easier to store but any size is probably fine.  Just not too thick.  Maybe try a straight line too.  I was too excited to get them on the paper.  Look at the one in the middle on the left, it looks like a sea horse doesn’t it!

I put it in the oven at 60 Celsius or 140 Fahrenheit for 6-8 hours.  Yes, a long time but I was using my oven like a dehydrator.   Use a dehydrator if you have one.

After many taste tests to see if they would hold together, I was finished!

So yummy and I don’t feel so bad about eating them!  It’s like a baked fruit smoothie!  Next time I will make more!  Yay!!!!!!

Pipes breaking = Mitten Sewing Week!

Sunday I was saying to HB that I wished I had more time to prepare my classes.  I quickly took back that wish.

I got a message that a pipe broke in our gym and almost a foot of water covered the floor.  Everything had to be taken up.  The floor was warped, the mats were wet, the foam pit was about to become a swimming pool, a very heart breaking sight to see.  Classes were canceled for the week and we are looking for alternative training for over 3800 members for the next weeks or months.  Being the biggest and oldest gymnastics center in Norway, we are having trouble.  The gym is also the training center for the National team so they also need to find a new facility.  We made the national news!

 

http://tv.nrk.no/serie/dagsrevyen-21/NNFA21022315/23-02-2015

 

This all meant that I did not have to prepare classes.  Instead I looked for new gymnasiums and helped clean the gym.  During the slightly more free time I had (still wishing I never made that wish), I talked with a neighbor about sewing machines.  Well, she happened to have a spare sewing machine lying around and gave it to me!

I have been wanting a sewing machine here since I moved!  Now I have one!!!!  I am freeeeaking out!!!  It is an old Singer, hand crank, no electricity, simple machine.  I love it!  Plus it’s beautiful!

I did some research and based on the style and serial number, this sewing machine was made in 1899.  Say whaaaaat?????  So cool!!!  I wish there was a book to go with it to tell me what they made back in the day!  I thought the hand crank would be hard but I really like it.  I feel like I have much more control.

Next I had to figure out how to get the thing threaded and how to adjust the tension… Hmm… Uh… Nope… Nope… Yeaaa? No.  What’s THAT do?  Nope, no idea.  Nothing.  Ohh shiny!!  GOOGLE!!!!!

Google just showed me pictures and their “old Singer” blogs were for the 1930s machines.  Way to modern to help me.  Eventually, I worked it out and I was sewing!  I messed with all the settings and found out I had one setting.  ONE WHOLE SETTING!   Forward, same tension, one needle.  I’ll take that!

I had lots of things I wanted to make but needed to make one thing first.  When I was visiting my brother in the tundra of Wisconsin, he complained that his hands were so cold.  I let him try my mittens and he loved them!  Mine were knit by a Scottish friend living in Norway and I made woolen inserts for them on the cold days.  I told him I would try to make him some mittens.  Now I wasn’t going to knit them, riiiiight, that would take me years to learn and do, but said I could sew some.  I bought the materials in Minnesota and started on them right away.  Yep, does he have them now?  Nope.  It took way longer to make a pattern and then hand sew them.  Of course I made two left hand mittens to start with.  Let’s not go there.

Once I got my sewing machine (Ahhh I have a sewing machine!!!!), I sat right down and worked on the pattern again.  I wanted a soft muppet skin lining inside, wool in the middle, and a fleece outside to match his colors.

Assembled the mitten… inside out.  Crap.  Stitches out, redo.  Assemble the mitten!  Turn it inside out now to have nice seams, put the muppet skin lining in, and…

I have a mitten!!!!!  I made a mitten!!!!  It fits!  It looks like and works like a mitten!!!

So then as I was finishing the last bit of the first mitten…grrrrrr…mmmbbrrrr… SNAP!!!!  My only needle broke.  Tomorrows chore will be finding a needle to fit in my 1899 sewing machine.  My brother will have to wait a bit longer.

FAVORITE way to keep warm!!! I made it!

Ok, so I was having a moment of coldness.  I wanted to keep my ears warm when skiing but every time I wear a headband, it creeps up and the bottom of my ears get cold.  Every time I wear a hat, my hair doesn’t fit in it and my hair ends up all over my face.

I wanted to find a solution so I bought some wool yarn, learned how to knit (again!) and knit myself a headband wider at the top and narrow at the back.  I was so pleased!!!!  Only, it didn’t work.  It still crept up and the bottom of my ears were cold.

Sigh…

I decided to knit a neck warmer and sew them together, then the headband wouldn’t be able to creep up!  Ta-daa!!!

It works exactly as I wanted it to and it’s warm.  I knit it out of 100% wool.  The only think I might change is to make the neck warmer longer (although it fits in my jacket well) and maybe line it with fleece for extra comfort.  (Although, I wonder if the fleece would take away from the warmth of the wool.)

I am so pleased with it and haven’t found anything as warm and functional in the stores.  I’m thinking of starting an Etsy shop.  It might be a fun way to get some extra income!  Yay!!!!!!

I’m already starting a blue, light green, purple one!!!  It’s my new favorite thing to do on the train!

ECO/DIY – Wool Dryer Balls!

I LOVE THESE!  Easy to make!  Safe and environmentally friendly!  Saves money too!

~ Wool dryer balls cut down on drying time saving energy.

~ They also eliminate the need for fabric softener because they soften the fabric by knocking it around in the dryer.

~ Better than tennis balls and plastics because they don’t release chemicals when they heat.

~ Great for cloth diapers and towels.  Dryer sheets place a film on the fabric that repels water.  Not exactly what I want on my towel.

How To Make Them:

Step 1: Buy 100% wool yarn.  Felting wool is best but as long as it’s thick enough, it will do.

Step 2: Wrap it into a tight ball.  Three to four balls is best.

Step 3: Place them in nylon and secure the ends. (I actually didn’t have nylon so I secured the end tight and put them in cotton socks.)

Step 4: Wash in a hot cycle.  Place in dryer.  Repeat wash and dry cycle 3-4 loads until felted.

Step 5:  Balls should be felted and can be tossed in the dryer each load!

The idea came from my good friend Patricia in Florida.  She is so crafty and has an amazing blog.