Raw Lemon Balls

So my mom and dad are doing this crazy thing where the whole family can't have any refined sugar for a month, or, in other words, the bleached, crystalized stuff. I wanted to scream because it meant no more baking for a month, and that was not an option. But then Mom revealed that refined sugar just meant brown sugar, powder sugar, white sugar, really just the processed stuff. I'm still allowed to use honey, syrup, unprocessed cane sugar, or basically anything that hasn't been through the machines. I've kind of adapted to these restrictions and this is one recipe my mom asked me to make, which calls for syrup or honey instead of sugar:

Ingredients:

Dry Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup almond flour

1/3 cup coconut flour

A couple sprinkles from the salt shaker

Wet Ingredients:

1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp. sweetener (honey, syrup, coconut sugar, cane sugar, of, if you don't happen to be going off sugar, normal sugar)

1/4 cup lemon juice (it's definitely better with juice from real lemons, not the stuff you buy from the store)

2 tsp. vanilla

1/4 cup + 1 tsp. melted coconut oil

Instructions:

1. Add all the dry ingredients to a bowl and mix it together.

2. Add all the wet ingredients to a different bowl and mix that together.

3. Pour the dry ingredients into a food processor. Then turn it on and slowly add the wet ingredients through the opening in the lid. You have to let it go until it's completely combined, but stop it every once in a while to scrape the sides with a spatula.

4. After the wet ingredients are completely applied, do the same with the melted coconut oil, feeding it through the top until it's combined.

5. Roll little balls with your hands and roll tem around in anything: coconut, powdered sugar, or just leave them plain. I prefer coconut flakes.

6. Place the balls on a plate and put them in the freezer to harden. When you think they're done, put them in a container, like the picture above. Store them in the fridge, and make sure to put the lid on the container so they don't start tasting like refrigerator. 

So, I know that I already put a recipe on for lemon squares, but this is just a different kind of lemon, with no oven included. They're always cold because you keep them in the fridge, and I think they're a bit more refreshing.

Brownies

I am really specific when it comes to brownies. Brownies aren't called cake for a reason, and that reason is: They're not supposed to be cake. They're not supposed to be thick, squishy, or puffy. Though we like this in cake, brownies are different. They're supposed to be flaky, crusty, thin, and most definitely, certainly, without excption, unfrosted!
So many people with their brownie recipes also add on the recipe to the frosting. Every time I see it, it's like, what the heck?!, because frosting is for cake, and brownies aren't cake! I especially hate when people make perfectly good brownies and then ruin it all by putting an inch and a 1/2 more frosting on top then there is brownie. I don't know how many people are with me on this one, but seriously, try it without frosting for once! It's good, I promise.
I love this recipe because there is no frosting included and it's the best brownie I've found in a long time:



Ingredients:


1/2 cup butter


1 cup sugar


2 eggs


1 tsp. vanilla


1/3 cup cocoa powder


1/2 cup flour


1/4 tsp. salt


1/4 tsp. baking powder



Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Then grease (Pan cooking spray or something like that) an 8 by 8 pan. (I doubled in this example, so it's a bigger pan.)

2. Melt the butter in a large saucepan, not one of those tiny pots. Remove it from heat and stir the sugar eggs, and vanilla into the saucepan.


3. Add in all the dry ingredients and beat the mixture with a whisk.


4. Once it's fully combined, pout the batter into the greased pan and tip it around till it's spread evenly.


5. This step is my personal step. It's what I do instead of frosting. Take a bag of chocolate chips and sprinkle them all over the top of the batter, as much or little as you like. Then put it in the oven.

This is what it looks like after half your family digs in:

The Flower Nail

So I know how frustrating nails can be. I started attempting to do my own nails at age 10 on Christmas day, still wearing my new Christmas Eve jammies. I had found a bottle of sparkly red nail polish in my stocking, and after I opened all my other presents, I decided to try it out. My left hand went okay. It was gloppy and drippy, but that was because it was my first time. But when it got to painting my right hand, I slathered it all over the place with my unusable left hand. Of course  a shiny red droplet dripped right onto my pajamas. I still have a pink stain there on my pants.

My point is, nail polish is tricky. It took me forever to master painting with my left hand, and that was just the normal, boring, one color thing. I learned a few tricks that can make nails more interesting if you can't do anything fancy or swirly. Ella and I were doing the one below. I painted hers, but you can do it to yourself too. This one is the flower.

First step: File or cut your nails into a nice round edge. We used the filer this time, but you could use both. Try to file off any snagging edges on the sides, just to make it look neat. I only do this once in a while. If you don't have any need of it, don't bother.

Choose two colors that look good together. We chose the light green below and a purpley sparkle. Paint the more dominant one on all of your fingers. (If there's one thing I've learned about painting nails is if the color's light, then don't lay it on thick in one coat, just do two thin coats. It looks loads better.) Then, get a knitting needle or pin with a round head and dip it into the second color:

                                                 

Choose a finger to put the flower on and a corner on that finger to paint it. Make one dot in the middle, which will be the center of the flower. Put 5 all around the sides of the middle dot.

                                      

                                 This is what it will look like:                                     

So, the flower's really easy to master because all you do is make dots. 1 dot in the middle, and 5 around the edges. One thing you can do to make it look more flowerlike is to make the center dot a different color than the petal dots. You can do it either way. As you can see, we didn't do it on Ella's nails. Also, you don't have to do the flower in a corner. You can just do it in the very middle of your nail, or on the top right, top left, bottom right, or bottom left. You can do it o any finger, but I think it looks best on the ring finger or the thumb. Maybe the pointer too.

Vah lah! The flower nail!