Debunking Roasted Marshmallow Kahlua Shots

Maybe you've seen this photo pimpin' around Facebook, Pinterest, and other social media sites:

It looks amazing, right? Roasted marshmallows with Kahlua - why didn't anyone think of this earlier?

I'll tell you why.

a.) They are thoroughly disgusting. Seriously, they taste bad. Really bad. Have you ever had a cold roasted marshmallow? Of course not! They're not meant to be eaten cold!
b.) They're not that easy to make - you'll probably poke a hole in the side or bottom of the marshmallow so you won't be about to pour in the Kahlua.
c.) If you're roasting marshmallows over a fire, there's no way you're going to be able to see what you're doing well enough not to screw this up.

Let me explain...

If you roast marshmallows too quickly, the insides won't be gooey enough. You really need the insides to be thoroughly done, otherwise when you try to scoop it out, it'll either clump up and you won't be able to get any out, no matter how hard you try...

...or you'll result in having to stick your finger inside the marshmallow, which will be very sticky.

So here's what I recommend: get your marshmallows thoroughly cooked on the inside and don't wait for them to cool before making your hole with whatever the marshmallow was cooking on (your stick, knife, etc.). If you wait until the  middle has cooled, it'll be harder to scoop out the insides.

Be very careful when scooping out the inside, as you can easily poke a hole in the side or the bottom of the marshmallow. I accidentally made a hole 3 out of 4 times.

If you're lucky enough to have your marshmallow intact, you can pour in your Kahlua but I'm warning you, it'll taste pretty bad...

...and there will be a hole in the bottom. Probably.

So are they feasible? Yes. Are they worth making on a camping trip? Well, you're probably better off roasting your marshmallow in one hand and drinking your Kahlua in the other. Combining the two just isn't worth it.

TOTAL COSTS: About $20

$1.67 for a bag of marshmallows from Vons

$16.50 for Kahlua from Bevmo

TOTAL AMOUNT OF TIME: Less than 5 minutes

This is assuming you roast the marshmallow in a minute and don't wait for it to cool before scooping out the middle.

EASY-PEASY SCALE (1 super easy - 5 very difficult): 4 out of 5 

This is extremely difficult to do without making a mistake but I was able to get 1 out of 4 to work so at least there's a 25% chance of doing it correctly! The question is: is it worth it?

DIY Electrolyte Energy Drinks!

I'm not really a health-conscious person. I should be, but I'm not. Honestly, I'm too lazy. They say high fructose corn syrup is bad for you, but I consume it anyway because I don't read labels. Sugar is getting thrown out the door for Stevia and Splenda. And what the heck is agave? Is that just a fancy word for honey? Needless to say, nutrition is not my forte so when I saw you could make your own energy drinks from these two posts, one from MommyPotamus and one from EverydayRoots, I figured, "Eh... why not?" I'm no stranger to Gatorade or Powerade, so I thought I would try three drinks to see if they can measure up.

Spoiler alert: I only liked one. 

These are the three different drinks I tried:

The Orange and Lemon Zest

* 3-4 cups of water
* 3/4 cup of freshly squeezed orange juice (about 2 oranges)
* 1/4 cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
* 1/4 teaspoon of sea salt
* 2 Tablespoons of honey or maple syrup (feel free to add more)












Lemon-Lime Coconut Fizz
* 1/4 cup of freshly squeezed lime juice (about 3 limes)
* 1/4 cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
* 1 1/2 cups of fresh water
* 2 Tablespoons of honey
* 1/8 teaspoon of sea salt
* (optional) 2 cups of coconut water









Strawberry Coconut Foam

 * Original recipe calls for 3 cups of coconut water but I only used 1/4 cup
* 1 cup of strawberries
* 1 cup of water
* 1 cup of ice
* 2 Tablespoons of honey
* 1/8 teaspoon of sea salt






My least favorite was the one I thought I'd like the most - the orange and lemon zest drink. While oranges are a good source of electrolytes, I didn't use the blender, which resulted in all the honey sticking to the bottom. Big mistake. It tastes good at first but starts to sour in the aftertaste. My husband, on the other hand, said it wasn't half bad. So use a blender, add some ice, and play around with the ingredients and measurements. If you come up with a better recipe with oranges, I'm all ears!

The one I thought was ok was the lemon-lime coconut fizz. Coconut water contains 13x more potassium than Gatorade, so this is a great alternative to the sports drink. However, if you don't like the taste of coconut water, you can always water it down and it'll be more of a limeade/lemonade.

My favorite? The strawberry coconut foam! Strawberries are a good source of Vitamin C and potassium and adding the honey and ice made it a delicious smoothie for a summer afternoon. This is the only one I'd make again but of course with any food or drink, it's all up to personal tastes. In the end, they're all good for you so you can't go wrong!

TOTAL COSTS: Depends on the drink
$.99/lb. for oranges
$2.00 for four lemons
$.99 for sea salt
$4.69 for honey
$1 for two limes
$1.99 for coconut water
$ 2.50 for strawberries

TOTAL AMOUNT OF TIME: 15 minutes/drink
Most of my time was spent squeezing juices out by hand so if you have an appliance to speed up the process, definitely use it!

EASY-PEASY SCALE (1 super easy - 5 very difficult): 1 out of 5
They're not difficult to make so you can't use that as an excuse not to give these a try. They don't take too long either, so there goes that excuse as well. And if you have picky taste buds, just pick the ingredients you like the most and mix those together! You really can't do wrong (well, maybe lime and strawberry... hmmm...)

DIY Headphones

I don't think I've ever said, "My headphones look boring", however the thought has crossed my mind that the while Apple earbuds they give you do get grimy quickly. Two ways to fix it: a.) clean them off (boooring) or b.) cover them up! Today's post comes to us from Refinery29 and using embroidery thread, you can decorate your earbuds to show off your school pride, your fraternity or sorority colors, or even for gay pride!

All you need are:

* A pair of scissors
* A pair of headphones
* Some embroidery thread
* A ruler (if you want all the pieces the same length)

Tip #1: Cut out all of your pieces first. If you only cut out one of each color, you're stuck trying to cut more pieces while holding onto your work. It ain't easy and it's easily avoidable!

Tip #2: If you cut a string 12", it will end up being 1 1/2-1 3/4" long on the headphones, just to give you a frame of reference. However, the longer the thread, the more likely it will get tangled in the headphones while you're working.

Once your string has been cut out, start by tying the first string at the top of the wire and make a secure knot. After that, it's just a matter of wrapping the string around and around and around the cord.

Tip #3: Wrap around the excess string you have sticking out, so it's flat against the wire. That way you won't have a bunch of different colored string ends sticking out!

Once you're ready to change colors, tie the next string tightly above the end of the first color, and start wrapping around the wire again. Just like before, wrap the excess string ends in so they aren't sticking out.

If you come to a point where you want to stop, simply make a strong knot and cut off the excess.

Tip #4: If you find your string wasn't long enough and you tried to tie two strings together to no avail...

Just tie and wrap a new piece of string on top and wrap over them! Think of it as a colorful Band-Aid for your headphones.

Tip #5: This takes a while so if you can't get through it all in one sitting, I hear ya (see what I did there?). If you want to take a break but you're not at a stopping point, just grab some tape and tape it down to your table. It won't unravel, I promise.

Final tip: I found it went the fastest when I could hold the cord in my left thumb and index finger and and the string in my right and I could twist the cord around and around in my fingers.

And there you have it! Now go show the world your exciting "new" headphones and make the world a more colorful place!

TOTAL COSTS: $2.34 for 6 colors
$.39/color of embroidery floss at Michael's
Headphones, scissors, and ruler already on hand

TOTAL AMOUNT OF TIME: About 3 hours

EASY-PEASY SCALE (1 super easy - 5 very difficult): 2 out of 5
It's not difficult at all, however if you have arthritis or carpal tunnel, this is not the project for you. I don't have either and my hands were definitely starting to cramp up after an hour and a half. So take breaks, have fun, and enjoy your DIY project!

Yarn Dryer Balls - No More Dryer Sheets!

Want a way to save money, be eco-friendly, and also chemical-free when drying your clothes? If you don't have a clothing line handy, this is the next best thing: dryer balls. Now you could buy your own for around $15-$20 (Woolzies or West Elm, for example) but chances are, they're pricey AND they're made of plastic, which isn't good for the environment or for you because plastic releases chemicals when heated. If you make your own from wool yarn versus using dryer sheets, you'll decrease the drying time of your load because unlike dryer sheets, the dryer balls pull the moisture from the clothes while beating the laundry to make it softer. And if you're saying, "But dryer balls won't make my clothes smell fresh!"... well, add a couple drops of essential oil to the balls and voila! Problem solved!

Seriously, do you really need more reasons to make these? If you do, DIY Natural has a lengthy post on the benefits of making dryer balls. If I've persuaded you enough, you just need:

*100% wool yarn (one skein makes two balls, two skeins make four balls)
*One leg of a pantyhose (you know, that pair you've kept in your drawer because there's a run in the thigh but you can't bring yourself to throw it away because if you wear long skirts maybe no one will notice)
*Some string (I used embroidery thread)
*Scissors

Start by taking the yarn and wrapping it around your index and middle finger 10 times (give or take).

By grabbing the middle, slide the yarn off your fingers and wrap the yarn 10 more times around the middle.

Keep turning and wrapping until it starts to form a ball. The size of the ball is completely up to you.

Once it's the size you like, either using a needle or your fingers, tuck in the end inside the ball.

Take your grandmother's pantyhose and slice off one leg. She'll never notice.

Stick a ball of yarn all the way down to the toes and tie a piece of string at the end, to separate it from the next ball of yarn. Do this for each ball, and then play with your yarn caterpillar. I was able to spin mine like a lasso. Freaked the cat out but it was fun.

Now the original post says to put these in with a hot wash and a cold rise cycle. That's way too fancy for my 1985 washing machine so I just put my caterpillar in on the "whites" load. When it comes to drying, put it on the hottest setting (again, depending on your dryer, it might just say "whites"). The original post says you might have to go through the washing/drying process 3-5 times but for me, the first time did it. I put it in another wash/dry, just to be safe, but the yarn strands weren't separating one bit.

Here what it looked like after the first wash/dry:

And here's the second wash/dry it went through. Not much of a difference, as you can see, just made it smaller:

Now they do shrink a bit. Before I put them in the washer/dryer, my balls of yarn ranged from baseball to softball size. Here are some before and after shot of the yarn balls next to a baseball and tennis ball to give you some frame of reference.

Before

After

So grab your mom's yarn (sorry Mom), grab your laundry, and go on with your eco-friendly self!

TOTAL COSTS: $14.37
$6.99/skein of yarn from Michael's (I used two skeins)
$.39 for embroidery thread from Michael's (but you could use string)
Old pantyhose and scissors already on hand

TOTAL AMOUNT OF TIME: About 2 hours
20 minutes to make four balls
5 minutes to make the pantyhose caterpillar
1 hour, 30 minutes to wash and dry the balls

EASY-PEASY SCALE (1 super easy - 5 very difficult): 1 out of 5
It's super easy, you could even have your kids help by holding onto the skein while you roll it into a ball!

Rainbow Cookies

rain·bow

ˈrānˌbō

noun

1. an arch of colors formed in the sky in certain circumstances, caused by the refraction and dispersion of the sun's light by rain or other water droplets in the atmosphere.

I like my definition better: freakin' awesome.

You know what's even better than a rainbow? Rainbow + cakes, rainbow + cupcakes, rainbow + cookies... you see what I'm saying? I decided to make rainbow cookies for a birthday party, based on this post by GoodLifeEats. They look almost too perfect, don't they? That's because they are. Your cookies will not come out like this. If they do, you should start your own business called, "Magic Rainbow Delight" and I will be your first customer. However, if you're like me and NOT an expert baker, I guarantee you'll come up with a cookie that doesn't look anything like the original but will still be to your liking.

To start, make some sugar cookies. I made mine from scratch, because in the comments she says they're delicious but really, they're just meh. The Betty Crocker sugar cookie mix will probably produce the same result and will taste better. But, if you're insistent on making these from scratch, here's what you'll need:

1 1/2 cups of unsalted butter (3 sticks)

2 cups of sugar

2 whole eggs AND

2 whole egg yolks

4 teaspoons of vanilla extract

2 teaspoons of almond extra

4 cups of flour

1 teaspoon of salt

1 teaspoon of baking powder

Food coloring

Start by combining the butter and sugar and beat well for a good two minutes. It should be very light and fluffy. After two minutes, add the eggs and egg yolks. Once those are mixed in, add the vanilla and almond extract.

Note the paddle attachment, not the whisk

In a separate medium to large bowl (since it is a lot of flour), combine the flour, salt, and baking powder and whisk together. Slowly add to the wet ingredients until just combined.

Now if you have a kitchen scale, you can use that to evenly divide the dough six ways. If you don't, like me, just eyeball it. Wilton food gel is awesome for vibrant colors - these are the six I used:

So the dough went from this...

To this...

Put the dough in individual saran wrap or plastic bags and stick on the fridge. The original post says "until firm, about an hour or two." I had mine in the fridge for 7 hours and it still wasn't firm but I wasn't waiting any longer.

Use flour to roll out the dough (so it doesn't stick to the table or the rolling pin) approximately 6"x9".

Layer the dough in rainbow order and I recommend having a piece of saran wrap underneath the layers so it'll be easier to wrap up once you're done.

Now you're supposed to cut off the edges so they're clean cuts but my dough was so greasy and soft (even after 7 hours!) that it was a little sloppy but eh, oh well.

Wrap in saran wrap and they say "freeze for several hours." Well, I was going to bed and didn't want it to be rock hard when I woke up, so I put it in the fridge for 10 hours. I should have put it in the freezer, though, because it was still pretty soft.

When you take it out, you should be able to slice 1/4" thick pieces and cut them in half to create rectangles. 

I found this to work only half the time. As the dough got softer, it wasn't as easy to slice so I decided to make some rectangles, some with a cookie cutter (which I don't recommend), some as rainbows, and with the leftovers? Combine them to make rainbow-colored cookies! Let them set one more time = in the freezer = until you're ready to bake.

Once you're ready, bake them at 350 for as long as it takes (the original post says 6-10 minutes but mine took 15 minutes) and let them cool before devouring. But here's the thing: the point of keeping them in the freezer is so they won't expand as much... but you can't tell me that rainbow isn't bloated. So the whole freezing thing? Seems like a waste of time.

But there you have it folks! Rainbow cookies for a birthday party, a St. Patrick's day get-together, or gay pride this month! Sure they don't look anything like the original post, but that's ok. No two rainbows are ever the same!

TOTAL COSTS: Less than $20 to make over 2 dozen (prices from Vons)

$.99 for butter 

$2.69 for sugar

$2.49 for eggs

$4.99 for almond extra

$3.29 for flour

$.99 for salt

$1.99 for baking powder

Food coloring on hand and vanilla extract homemade

TOTAL AMOUNT OF TIME: 21 hours
15 minutes to make the dough
20 minutes to color the dough
7 hours to let set
40 minutes to roll out and layer
10 hours to set
30 minutes to cut out pieces
2 hours to let freeze
15 minutes to bake

EASY-PEASY SCALE (1 super easy - 5 very difficult): 3 out of 5
I suppose if I had put the dough in the freezer when slicing the pieces instead of the fridge, it would have been easier to slice. I was just afraid the dough would have been rock hard. Nonetheless, I'm happy with the outcome. They're not the best tasting cookies I've ever had, but they're definitely the most colorful!