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Tuesday, December 30, 2014

No Bake Carob and Coconut Macaroons: Raw, vegan, gluten free--only five ingredients!

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NO BAKE CAROB AND COCONUT MACAROONS

These raw, gluten free, vegan no-bake cookies sprang from a well of desire for one of my favorite candies ever (Mounds!). I wondered if I could make something similar without baking; a quick and easy (plus way healthier) treat. My beta version was a huge hit (even for my fiance, who isn't afraid to express his dislike for carob).  They were a yummy addition to the Christmas Cookies we gave to friends and family this year AND they look like little adorable ice cream scoops!!! So let's get started!

INGREDIENTS AND DIRECTIONS:

1/4 cup cold pressed coconut oil (I used Simply Nature organic brand)
2/3 cup unsweetened shredded coconut (I used organic bulk coconut from my local health food store)
1/2 tsp liquid organic stevia (or any other sweetener to taste)
4 tsp coconut flour (you could easily substitute a finely milled rolled oat or something similar)
3 tsp carob chips

OTHER OPTIONAL ADD-INS (careful not to add too much of anything)
-a drop or two of vanilla, almond flavoring or even peppermint
-a small amount of slivered almonds
-finely chopped maraschino cherrries

DIRECTIONS:

In a glass bowl, melt coconut oil in microwave for 30 seconds and stir until fully melted. Add stevia or preferred sweetener and stir together. Add shredded coconut and stir until coated in oil. Add in final ingredients (coconut flour and carob chips) and incorporate carob chips as evenly as possible. Add any additional flavoring or ingredients. At this point, if you've used stevia, the mixture may taste slightly bitter, but that flavor mellows after the cookie sets!

Using a rounded tablespoon to measure, tightly pack mixture into the spoon and press on the top of one end of the spoon wtih your finger to gently pop the macaroon out. They are very delicate and this part takes some patience! You can also experiment with other tools or simply pack ice cube trays or another small mold with the mixture. The little scoops sure are cute, though!

Once you have the tiny scoops on a plate, pop in to the freezer to set (minimally 10 minutes, though they may be ready before that). These actually keep quite well in the freezer and are yummy cold, but we always eat ours within a day! 

Once the coconut oil has chilled and firmed they are actually quite well set, and do well at room temperature from that point forward.

They are certainly a much healthier version but BOY, do they ever taste like Mounds! If you use stevia to sweeten, they are actually quite low carb considering the coconut is unsweetened and the coconut flour is very low in carbs as well. Don't forget about the awesome health benefits of coconut oil!

This recipe yeilds 8 tbps size cookies. They are petite and adorable!

ENJOY!

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Pumpkin Black Bean Hummus

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PUMPKIN BLACK BEAN HUMMUS

Looking for a light New Year's Eve or New Year's Day snack to serve that will offset some of the heavier things that may have been on the table this past week? Try this dish!

I was looking for some healthy and filling options to add to my Christmas Eve menu, as this year we celebrated with appetizers and cocktails rather than a regular dinner. This hearty and tasty recipe was one of a few that I came up with! Stay tuned for one more recipe: a raw, vegan and gluten free dessert tomorrow!


THE EASY INGREDIENTS
 AND INSTRUCTIONS

--One can (drained) of your preferred brand of cooked black beans (or roughly just under two cups of cooked beans if you prefer to do it yourself). I used SimplyNature organic brand.

--One half of a can of your preferred cooked pumpkin puree (or around 1 cup of cooked pumpkin). I used Libby's!

--Tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil

--Cumin, salt and pepper to taste

--For anyone who likes a little heat, a dash of Sriracha or your favorite hot sauce or powdered spice

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Creates about three cups of hummus and serves 4-6.

Combine all ingredients in your food processor and blend until somewhat smooth (I actually like my hummus a little on the chunky side!). This could also be done in a blender but you would end up needing a little extra liquid for blending, and your hummus would be thinner. With this recipe, you could easily hand mash the black beans and stir in your pumpkin puree, as black beans are quite soft! Your hummus would be a little on the chunkier side.


I served my hummus with carrot, broccoli and cucumber slices, as well as rice crackers. It was delicious and full of protein, fiber and antioxidants (plus the pumpkin gives it a nice vitamin A and C boost!).

Enjoy!

Thursday, December 18, 2014

The Dress with the Radishes & Beauty in Disrobing


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The Dress with the Radishes & 
Beauty in Disrobing  

When I was about thirty years old, my mother called me on the phone to tell me about some clothes that my aunt had given her. “I’ve got a dress that Gail saved for you!” she boasted. “It’s your style, you know--vintage. I think it might be old. I know you’ll love it. It looks like something Marilyn Monroe would wear.”
     “Sounds great!” I responded, but my inner enthusiasm was curbed. Mother was notorious for collecting beaded butterfly blouses with transparent sleeves, chunky high heel mules with clear plastic straps and wedding dresses that were three sizes too large or small. (Forgive me mom, it’s true.)
      Therefore, months later, when she arrived for a routine visit with a crinkled TJ Maxx bag full of goodies, I was pleasantly surprised to find the modest halter dress, which was, as touted months ago, quite darling, though it wasn’t truly vintage. It was made of sky blue cotton, and covered in an adorable ruby radish print that was bold and quirky. It was just the sort of thing I’d wear.
     I scanned it over with my eyes, estimating that it might be snug but would probably fit (that horribly, terribly disappointing thing that girls tend to do when they see a dress that they WANT to fit them so badly).  Naturally, it was sleeveless, and I was already concocting plans of how I could pair it with a cardigan or something else to cover my arms (a body part that I felt terribly insecure about revealing at the time). I hung it in the closet and admired it from afar, daydreaming for a few weeks about how I would style it.
     Until the day I tried it on.
     It almost fit. Almost. The waist and the skirt, though they didn’t fall perfectly on my plump shape, weren’t the biggest problem. No, the real obstacle was that it wouldn’t zip. The dress was definitely NOT going to zip, any time soon. In a maddening mockery, it went halfway; maybe even 3/5 of the way up. And then, the tired little white zipper stuck, threw its hands in the air, and said “Screw this!”
     At that point, I could have squatted, gnashed my teeth, and flexed--splitting the fabric in half, Incredible-Hulk-style.
     Instead of doing that, I held my breath like an Elizabethan housewife. Ignoring the fact that my breasts had found new spaces in the dress to occupy (other than the chest area), I ruminated over how I might get this dress to fit. Embarrassingly, I settled on the idea of adding elastic straps to the back where the zipper wouldn’t close. Why not? I knew that I’d never wear the dress without covering my arms, so no one would be able to tell, anyhow.
     I sewed a few white strips of elastic over the gap and permanently fastened the zipper where it had “given up”. I wore it more than a few handfuls of times.
     Yet, every time I sported the dress , I felt badly about myself. No one could see the ramshackle trick I had used to make the garment wearable, but I could feel it, and it made me uncomfortable, as if I was living a lie.
     “HEY EVERYONE!” I thought I should probably yell from the street. “I’M ACTUALLY TOO FAT TO WEAR THIS RADISH DRESS!”
     I hung it in the back of the closet, with the shameful elastic pieces out of sight. Every now and then, the radish fabric would peek out from the sides of another vintage cocktail dress or pair of dress pants, mocking me. It stayed there for years.
     Then, one afternoon, I took the dress off the hanger, but it wasn’t to wear it. I turned the article over and carefully pulled the elastic and stitching from the back, undoing the seams around the zipper that had held it in place. I zipped it all the way up, for the first and final time, and drove it to corner where a World Mission clothing donation box was located. I hoped that a radish print cocktail dress would be the sort of thing someone in Kenya would wear.
     I thought of this experience this last fall when I visited with my friend April (who is a brilliant dietitian and founder of Choose to Change Nutrition). April has done tremendous work in the field of eating disorders and been absolutely inspirational to me in my own quest for body image acceptance, as well as a beacon of knowledge for feeding myself properly. She also happens to exude energy and is wonderfully comfortable in her own skin.
     It was late afternoon, and I was shooting her professional portraits next to an abandoned school house near the very high school that we had both graduated from, nearly twenty years prior.
     One of April’s outfits was based around a black shift dress, and I showed her a few previews from the LCD screen of my camera. “I don’t like the way this dress is making me feel,” she said. “Let me take this off.”
     She pulled some of her clothes out of my backseat and threw some jeans on, and much to my surprise, ripped off her shirt in broad daylight next to the road, smiling. “You know I have to photograph this, right?” I teased. “Of course!” she laughed, and smiled brilliantly. “I’m serious!” I continued. “I’m going to have to blog about this!”
     Once she was dressed, we began to chat about the wardrobe change. Why, as a society, were we always inclined to blame our bodies for the discomforts or insecurities we felt (in photos or just in general)? Perhaps we should blame the clothes a little more often.
     It made me ruminate over all of the times I had stood in front of the mirror in an impossible pair of stretch pants, fuming at my pooched belly. All of those awful moments I had spent in the dressing room at Target, spitting with anger over my own reflection and the terrible way that a pair of ill-fitting jeans encased my meaty thighs like Jimmy Dean sausages.
     YES—why had I never blamed the clothes? Not once!? I immediately cursed my body—“You horrible, terrible vessel, you! You never look the way I want!”—when I could have easily said, “You wretched little pair of skinny jeans. FOUL, dastardly dungarees. I hate you and I will most definitely send your sinister ass to the return rack.”
     It seems like a hilarious notion, but in all actuality, it’s brilliant. There is NO TIME in life for ill-fitting clothes or outfits that make you feel less than superior. Yet, there is immense energy in the articles of clothing you have that empower you, lift you up, and make you feel beautiful or comfortable. And it only takes a moment to sort between the two.
     Therein lies the challenge: wade through your closets, raid your dressers. Find your radish dresses, and pack them up—throw them out! Disrobe—in the middle of the street, if you have to—but don’t allow the fabric of negativity to dissuade you from your own, true, spectacular self. Your body is the gift. Cover it in only the finest cloth.

What can you clean out of your closet today?

Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Something Creepy This Way Comes: Weird Stuff I Saw at the Thrift Store


SOMETHING CREEPY THIS WAY COMES:
Weird Stuff I Saw at the Thrift Store

The other day I stopped in to one of my favorite thrift store haunts with a few things on my shopping list. 

     This was not one of the things on my list.

     My brain came to a screeching halt. Was this pantyhose covered, Idaho-Russet resembling lump in gathered stonewashed stretchpants a doll baby? Why did it have only a few curly strands of Cabbage Patch kid hair? What would it look like if I were to turn it over?


I never did summon the courage, because I was pretty damn sure I was going to see this:


Creepy dolls seem to be the number one scariest thing I run in to regularly while thrifting. Here's a few examples from the past (click the image to visit):

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What weird stuff have you seen at the thrift store lately?

Monday, December 15, 2014

Winter Berry: A fabulous (gifted) Vintage Coat

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Winter Berry: A fabulous (gifted) Vintage Coat

My friend Jaleen messaged me some time ago to ask if I'd like to have a vintage coat that she had been given. She thought it would suit me. Snapping a cell phone pic, she sent me an image of the red dress coat.
     LOVE. At first sight.
     I adored the cut, and the military style details on the front. Interesting beading on the buttons, loop fastening and plenty of additional snaps were a plus, as well, but the REAL cherry on top was the absolutely perfect way that it fit, and how incredibly comfortable it is.
     It is a fitting wardrobe piece for Christmas, and very appropriate for the chilly (yet balmy and unseasonably warm) weather we are having here in Michigan for December.
     Still, though it fits as though it is made for me, perhaps one of my favorite things about the coat is that it comes from Houseman's of Grand Rapids, Michigan, and the name carries a rich history that was a large part of Grand Rapids and its economic growth--from law firms to tailors. It all began with one man--Julious Houseman--and his immigration from Germany.
     THESE amazing sort of truths behind vintage clothing are precisely what draws me in. I can literally feel the remnants of energy from the past in every fiber of what I'm wearing, and when I find something like this red dress coat that fits me so wonderfully, I have to wonder if it belonged to me in a past life.

Reunited and it feels so good!


What do you wear that connects you to the past? Have you ever felt a strong draw to an item or a piece of clothing simply because of its history?

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Sunday, December 7, 2014

Breathe--Styling a Tshirt and introducing "GlamPunk Clothes"!

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BREATHE
Styling a Tshirt and introducing "GlamPunk Clothes"!

Just breathe. A novel concept for someone (like myself) who is a type A personality and a perfectionist. I've had to force myself to do a little of that with the holiday season (plus full time work and college), but a little reminder is always handy.

That's where GlamPunk Clothes comes in with this great graphic tee! 



The shirt itself (made in the USA) is a soft jersey tee, similar to a tunic style that is extra long. I love layering shirts like these, or tying them into a little bun in the front for a flattering and slimming look!

It is an item that was handpicked by Monica, a dear friend of mine who is an up-and-coming female entrepreneur in Miama, Florida and the owner of the new online clothing store, GlamPunk clothes (find them on Facebook, here!).

Her collections are fun, urban and edgy. I suspect that with her recent success the selections will be growing, and you can order the graphic tee I am wearing as well as other fun items like this Boho inspired fringe tunic and this stretch colorblock knit dress.

I styled this teal t-shirt with a little twist and threw some white up in the mix. Every other element that you see here is thrifted and secondhand: from the white Nine West pumps to the fun vintage shades.

Check out Monica's store and by all means, don't forget to BREATHE!

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