Milk and food coloring!

So I'm sure you've seen the video with the milk and food coloring. Where the person in the video drops different shades of food coloring into a plate of milk and then adds a couple of drops of dish soap and then all of this crazy magic happens. As soon as I saw the video for myself I had this idea in my head that I had to make a video back ground using this method. First let me just let you know that alternative milks do not work. I drink almond, coconut or rice milk mostly due to a mild dairy allergy and I just couldn't get the same effect using my alternatives. When I finally got some good ole fashioned dairy milk it worked like a charm. (I'm assuming it has something to do with the enzymes, but I'm no scientist.) Any way I set up my dish and my light and my camera and before you know it I had action! :D So I thought I would share my results I am still playing with the footage and I can't get enough of it. I have a feeling I will be recreating a lot of shorts and promos with this footage and more footage with this method as well.

etsy.com/shop/TheStubbornBubble

 

Healthy Shroomwich! So much yum!

Scrumptious and nutritious grilled veggie sandwich for under 400 calories.

Here's how.

 

 

Slice a portabella mushroom cap after removing any stem .

Add a tiny bit of oil to a pan and warm up the
 mushroom slices.
(the delicate skin of the mushroom will stick to the
 pan with out a bit of oil or a non stick pan, in this case I used both.)
cook on medium high heat. and while that's happening......

Taking one slice of sourdough bread

 

 

I used this one.

and sliced it in half.

Mushroom slices look like this when flipped.

 

Which was good enough for me so I dumped those onto my cutting sheet to free up some space in the pan for my bread.

 

GET SOME CHEESE!

In my case Trader Joe's soy cheese blend.

But you can use your favorite cheese or cheese alternative.

Put some on top of one of the slice's of the slice of bread.

 Put that in the pan with about this much butter

(maybe around a half a tsp)

on low heat.

I used this kind of butter.

but again choose your favorite.

While that is happening begin prepping the other slice... of the...slice of bread.

I started with this tomato pesto this time.

I've also used this basil pesto and both are really awesome I definitely suggest trying them both.

 

 

 

 

 

I scooped out some using a 1/2 a tbsp.

Buuuut that just wasn't going to be enough for my taste soooo.

I did it again using one tbsp. of tomato pesto.

next add some clover sprouts.

 

 



 

Place those mushroom slices on top of that.

Now replace this cheesy bread

with this bread.

And plop that cheesy bread on top.

YAAAAAAAS! YUM YO!

Estimated at around 343 calories.



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Zugetti!

 

 My husband and I have been battling the bulge for a while now.

We really started putting on weight several years ago and it escalated with in the past few years after moving from small town living to city life. Keeping up and learning the big world can pack on the stress and the pounds. There is really more to it than that but how long do you really want to be reading this?

Anyway we started our lifestyle change last year and did pretty good. We didn't really lose any weight but we learned a lot and incorporated a lot of new foods into our diets.

This year though I decided, for me at least, that it was time to step it up. I am ready to start fitting comfortably in my clothes again and really feeling more energetic and all of the great things about being fit. So one of the things I did was I downloaded an app to my phone for calorie counting. I really did not want to reach this point. I had hoped that once I finally started eating differently that I would feel and see changes with out the calorie game. And I did! just not nearly to the degree that I feel ready for now. So once I started counting calories I really saw what my problems were. I was eating WAY to much! I found that most of what I considered a severing size was actually two or more. I discovered that one package of ramen noodles is almost as many calories as one arbys melt.

I could really go on and on about this journey so far and I might begin a whole blog segment dedicated to this lifestyle make over but for now lets get down to it. Basically I have days where I just need something scrumptious that is super low calorie and also nutritious (at least more so than fast food, meals from boxes or lots of starchy pastas) so I can "pig out" guilt free. I was really hooked on spaghetti at the time and I found that I really didn't have room in my RDI (recommended calorie Intake) for that much pasta.

So I started making these Zucchini noodles I kept seeing on pintrest.  I failed the first few times that I tried it. I was nervous about it not being like real spaghetti when I got done. So I let it cook longer than I was suppose to and it shriveled up into mushy slimy grose yuk instead of noodles. So I eventually came around to following the directions as I should and taking what I got. I finally got zucchini noodles!! No they are not as soft as regular noodles. Yes it will be different. But not bad. A win! For me and my husband at least it is a really great solution to a lot of our healthy eating problems and we both look forward to having zugetti nights! Any way I have posted pictures of my zugetti to instagram and facebook and I thought that I would share how I made my version of zugetti! It's all in the video below. I hope you try it and I hope you enjoy it as much as we have.

    

 

 

Here is the link to the video on youtube if the video above will not play on your device from this page.
The Stubborn Bubble's Zugetti video on Youtube

 

 

Cheap & Easy D.I.Y. Floors

We are re-doing our floors!

Our house is a two bedroom two bath and in those two bedrooms is some very old long expired dirty yuky carpet. In the Bathrooms and kitchen there's this (never looks clean) linoleum.

We have intended on changing the carpet since we bought the house but it's taken us four years to be able to afford it and even now it is very patience trying waiting for the payday to supply the next tool or product for the job so that we can move forward. So while waiting for the funds for the next step I thought I'd share a bit of what we are doing.

Initially we had intended to do wood floors in the bed rooms. Though as we have lived here we have come to despise the linoleum found in most of the rest of the house. Since wood floors can get expensive and tricky for diy newbs like us. I started looking around at other options. Coming across concrete staining. I thought that would look great in this house. Although upon further investigation it looked as though it would turn out to be a little to expensive for us still. And because of all of the cracks and chips and such in the concrete that we discovered that it might not give us the results that we wanted. So back to the drawing board it was. Thank the stars for Pintrest!

I'm sure many of you have seen the "paper bag floor" diy posted and pinned all over the web. Well guess what here comes another.

 Why?

 Because it's awesome and we can't get enough!

We started in the smallest room of the house to be sure we liked the process we chose and to get an Idea of the cost before moving forward. As well as to practice our technique before moving on to the bigger projects. Okay so here is what we did!

1st we had to rip up the horrible linoleum. YAY!

 And then of coarse get the concrete beneath as clean as possible.

Fill in chips and cracks in the concrete that may have occurred over the years. With a concrete filler found at the hardware store.

 

And allow that to dry for the time suggested on the products instructions.

In the mean time. We started prepping the supplies needed for our new floors.

At the same hardware store we found this gallon of Elmer's Glue for I think between $14-$15.

We split that up in two halves between two empty gallon cartons previously used for water.

We filled each one half way. Emptying the Elmer's jug.

We then filled the remainder of the empty space in the carton with water leaving just a bit of space at the top so that there would be room for the two to move around and mix together. Then we shook them up. (while holding the lid so as not to wind up pouring glue water everywhere). It's a lot like the D.I.Y. mod podge post I did a while back for the D.I.Y. skull tables I also posted about for Halloween. Only this mixture is on a larger scale.

After that I improvised a disposable bucket using another gallon carton and cutting it like this.

So that's all ready now it's time to tend to the paper.

Again, Found at the same hardware store we picked up some builders paper.   

We had to rip it up.

                                 So when the time finally came to apply the paper to the floor

  we poured the glue mixture into to improvised bucket.

One by one we crumpled up the paper pieces and dipped them into the glue. Then unraveled them and laid them flat to the floor pressing and smoothing them to the concrete. After every third or fourth piece we smoothed out the glue with a cheap synthetic paint brush.

By the time we covered the entire floor it looked something like this.

But don't worry the glue dries clear.

After the glue was completely dry we  went over the floor with a satin finish clear epoxy sealer. That we found for around $30

We used this particular brand because it was the cheapest thing that we could find that we thought met our needs and preferences. In order to get the clear version we had to order it online and wait. As I have indicated before money is of concern for us and so you might choose a different brand if you can afford it. Although so far I see absolutely nothing wrong with this product. Should that change I will list it in my updates as I continue through my house with this project.

I applied seven coats of this. Following the directions for the epoxy I waited 2 hours between coats and it took a few days after the last coat to be really solid (we had cold weather outside so it took a bit long to cure)

After all was done this is the bathroom floor I am left with.

 Close up of the texture.

 

You can apply a stain (wood stain) between gluing the paper to the floor and sealing it if you want a different color. But again we are trying to save as much as possible on this project and we both liked the look of the raw color of the paper. So we left it as is.

I will likely revisit this subject in future posts as I finish the rest of my house but I was so excited with my new bathroom floor that I just couldn't wait to share.

 

If I wasn't planning on selling this house I might have done things more artistically.... Maybe my next home.

If you try this for yourself please leave me a photo or a link to your own blog post about it in the comments. Also we still have two bedrooms a bathroom and a kitchen to finish so if you have any helpful tips please comment and share them with me. The hubby and I will appreciate all of the help we can get to getting this done faster, cheaper and as beautifully as possible.

 Thank you!

Sweet Coconut cream, A dairy free whipped cream alternative!

I was told by my doctor a few years ago that it would be wise for me to avoid dairy. I was having some sinus issues and he explained that dairy was prone to causing allergies. I reluctantly took his advice and have to admit that since doing so I can see a connection. I don't have to completely eliminate dairy altogether but I have to pay close attention to how much I have and how I am feeling. I love dairy though. Cheese, cream, chocolate etcetera it's all good to me!

So I had to seek alternatives. One of the first dairy free recipes that I tried was this dairy free whip cream. So after checking out multiple blogs that showed how to do this with caned coconut milk. Involving placing the can in the fridge over night so that the cream will gather at the top and then using only the bit of cream from the top and discarding or finding another use for nearly an entire can of coconut milk. I found that the Trader Joes extra thick and rich coconut cream works just fine at room temp and with very little to no waste. Check out the video linked below to see the way that I do  dairy free whip cream!     

 

 Using just these three ingredients!

 

Add the coconut cream to your bowl with around a teaspoon or so of vanilla (or any flavor extract you choose). I start by adding 2-3 tbs of powdered sugar and begin mixing. From there I add the powdered sugar by tasting as I go, according to my preference that day. Then I place the mixture covered in the fridge for 15 minutes to an hour depending mostly on my patience. It will thicken upon cooling.  

 Make dairy free fruit cocktail, desert topping, or a dairy free sweetener for your coffee!

 

*Quick 4 minute video*

Some of the rings I am wearing in the video are available for purchase at my Etsy shop

The Stubborn Bubble  https://www.etsy.com/shop/TheStubbornBubble?ref=hdr_shop_menu

And there is a diy blog right here on how I did the Skull tables in the photos.

http://thestubbornbubble.blogspot.com/2014/10/diy-skull-tables.html

YUM