Lactation brownies

I wanted an easy and quick recipe for lactation cookies, but I didn't want to take the time to spoon out individual cookies. I bought brownie bars with oats at Trader Joes, but they did not taste as good as real brownies.  I don't understand how and why they put so much sugar into something and then make it taste healthy. I wanted something I could eat when I get a chocolate craving that tastes good.

These are my experiments with boxed brownie mix.

The Internet research pointed me to a babycenter group (The Exclusive Pumpers) who had tried this back in 2013. One poster suggested adding 3 Tbsp flax meal and 2 Tbsp Brewers yeast straight to a boxed mix. That sounded easy.  I wanted oatmeal too though so I added half a cup, that didn't seem like quite enough so I added another 1/4th cup for a total of 3/4 cup.

I pick up brownie mixes when I see them on sale and keep them for when I need a quick dessert.  The first mix I had in my cupboard was Duncan Hines Dark Chocolate Brownie Mix.  I hoped to find a recipe that would work with any mix.

The brownies were delicious, they tasted like fudgey brownies.  They did not rise at all though, I probably could have used the 2 eggs for cakey brownies.

Here is my suggested recipe:

1 box brownie mix and ingredients listed on the box (usually eggs, water, and oil)

2 Tablespoons Brewers Yeast

3 Tablespoons Flax Meal

3\4 cup rolled oats.

1-2 Tablespoons extra water.

Mix all dry ingredients in a large bowl (brownie mix, oatmeal, flax, brewer's yeast)

Add egg(s), oil, water, per box instructions. Mix the batter together with a mixing spoon.  The batter should be easy to stir but not runny, if it is too stiff then add an extra Tablespoon or two of water.

Spread into a greased pan and bake per the box instructions.

Some tips for the novice baker:

-Set your timer for the shortest time in the baking directions, check if they are done, if not close the oven for another minute or two.  Repeat at the end of that minute.

-instructions usually say to insert a fork and if it comes out clean they are done.  You are looking for drippy or gooey batter on the fork, that means it needs more time. A crumb or two on the fork means they are done.

-set the pan on a cooling rack or hot pad or trivit on the counter to cool.  The heat from the oven will continue to cook the brownies if you set the pan on the stove.

Here is an Amazon shopping list of what I used, if you just want to click.

There are also many other options at different price points on Amazon

The DisneyBound Birthday Party: The Ocean

Screenshot from Disney's Moana, image found on http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/File:Moana_ocean_high_five.jpg

I was recently invited to a friend's 50th birthday party, held in Downtown Disney, the invitation suggested we all wear something Disney, or try out DisneyBounding.

DisneyBounding is when you choose your outfit to mimic a character, but you are not actually dressing in costume.  DisneyBounding got started on a Tumbler blog a few years back, and is becoming more popular with even Disney getting into it.  I tried out a couple of outfits at Disneyland on our last trip, but I have wanted to really get into it.

A store I have liked for a few years is Fresh Produce.  They used to have a store nearby, but now I have to buy online.  I did recently find that they have some of their clothing on Amazon, which is nice, but potentially expensive as the regular website has a spending threshold for free shipping, which usually keeps me from buying things on a whim, when they are "Prime" it is easy to just add something to the cart.  

Affiliate link to one of their tops:

This is the print that caught my attention a few months back when it first came out.  I have a better picture of it here (from the pin I had saved to Pinterest, from their website).

When I saw this top my first thought was that it looked like the ocean, which led to thinking that it would be great for DisneyBounding as the ocean in a Moana theme.  Then I was invited to this party.  I decided to splurge and get a dress in this print.  

That covered the base of the costume.  Then I started getting creative.

First I wanted a fascinator to wear in my hair.  I thought about starting with a teardrop-style base and adding a Moana's boat.  I wasn't able to find a small toy boat, and wasn't quite up for making one myself.  So I changed my plan to make a "sail" as an embroidery necklace, and making a "Heart of Te Fiti" hair pin.

Picture of the Dress and necklace:

The nice part about this dress is that I can wear it to work as well, part of DisneyBounding is finding pieces that speak to you that you can wear in normal life as well.  So this will give me a work dress or party dress for the future as well.

Work Option:

Next up will be posts on the tiny embroidery and the light up hair clip.

P.S. Another Fresh Produce print that caught my DisneyBounding eye is this one (affiliate link if they still have it)

This would make for a great "MoanaBounding" top.  I'm not sure that the style and cut will work for me though, I usually need longer tops.

DIY Mickey Mouse Ears: Merida

My 3 year old likes princesses.  I'm sure most people with 3 year old girls say the same thing.  So, we decided it was time to go to Disneyland and meet some princesses.  When we stopped by the gift shop after dinner I saw all the new styles of ears.  When I was a kid they were just the felt and plastic beanie like Mickey Mouse ears, now you can get headbands and hats in sequin and plush with some different themes.

You can check out the official Disney ears at Shop Disney.  And if you want a fancy bow for your Minnie Mouse hat I recommend choosing one from there, if they have your princess or character.

I think you really need a sun hat in the park, it is hot and sunny here in Southern California, and I like a hat that keeps the sun out of my eyes and a little shade on my face.  I liked the baseball caps, but, I needed an adult sized cap and I wanted a Merida themed hat.*

There are a few DIY blogs and YouTube videos out already on making Mickey ear hats, so I won't go into a detailed procedure again here, just google for instructions.  There are downloadable patterns (circles), but I just found a cup that was about the same size as my daughter's store-bought (or OTS, Off The Shelf) ears and traced it on the fabric.

I used plaid fleece from Joann's craft store.  I went into the small brick and mortar store so I could just buy 8 inches from the bolt.  (The website usually has a minimum order of 1 or 2 yards for each fabric.) I also picked up a plain, black baseball cap and gold perle cotton for the embroidery.

I would have liked to get plaid felt, but I couldn't find any and I really wanted plaid.  The advantage of fleece and felt are that they don't fray and don't need hemming and won't fall apart while you are working on them.

I found a printable "coloring page" bow and arrow that would work for hand embroidery and copied it into MS powerpoint**.  I used the image sizing with copy and paste to get a couple of different sized on the sheet, and then copy-flip to get a mirror pair of each size.  I decided what size I wanted after I printed it out and compared it to my circles. You can find it on my Merida DisneyBounding Pinterest Board.

Transferring the pattern to the dark plaid fleece was a challenge.  I finally ended up using the tissue paper transfer method. You can read about it over at one of my favorite blogs, "Needle 'n Thread".

I later learned about an interesting, iron-on paper that will wash away after you embroider.  I have ordered it from Amazon but I haven't tried it yet.

This has rave reviews all over the internet, now I have to think of a new project to try it with.

The gold thread is not easy to work with, especially on fleece which is not really a woven fabric.  I think if I was to do this again I would use a cotton weave plaid fabric, with an inside hem instead of the blanket stitch to hold it together.  I thought it would save time to skip hems and fraying, but I lost that time in struggling with the embroidery.

Here is the finished embroidery on 1 ear.

I used the gold perle cotton again to blanket stitch the back and front circles together. I like this stitch for fabrics like fleece as I don't have to worry about fraying and it looks pretty.

Here is the blanket stitch after stuffing the ear.

I stuffed the ears with "Doll and Toy" stuffing left over from some other project.  Some of the tutorials suggest that you cover a stiff circle with the fabric, and you can do that if you want, but this seemed like the easiest way for me to make ears that are durable and can get wet.

I sewed the ears onto the hat.  I had left a section of the blanket stitch open for the stuffing and I just folded out the part of the circle and sewed it down.  I had to tear out the blanket stitch and start over leaving a new place open a couple of times. I'm still not sure I have the ears oriented to the hat perfectly, but it works.

I added a plain bow made from 1 inch orange gross-grain ribbon.  I couldn't see a good way to sew on the bow neatly. So I gave up and hot glued it down.  If you are more confident about your ear placement you might want to hot glue them and then tack down the flaps for neatness.

In the end I wore this hat around the Disneyland Resort for 2 days.  It was comfortable and fun. I liked the simplicity of it highlighting the embroidery.  I am considering an addition to the front, maybe a horse or bear silhouette. Or maybe I will add that to my Disney bounding Merida dress.   If the official Mars tartan wasn't ~$100 per yard I would consider using it. Merida on Mars would be awesome.

This is the Mars Tartan, you thought I was joking didn't you?

Stay tuned for my husband's Stitch themed ears and some Disney bounding posts.

* Remember Merida from Brave?  Liked to gallop through the woods on her horse?  She is my Spirit

Princess.

**If you don't have Microsoft Office you can use Google Slides in Google Drive.  You need a
Google/Gmail account but it is free to sign up and you get some storage space on Drive to keep
your stuff.