Five for Friday

Hello and welcome to my Five for Friday! I am linking up with Cup of Tea , Della Devoted , and Bright on a Budget!

1. So I ended up at Walmart a little while ago (I really don't like going in there!) But my mom wanted some canning jars so we stopped by because it was closest. And what was right down the same aisle? This cute mug! (I only bought one mug, I couldn't find the listing for the single mug. It was $4 something for just one.) I couldn't help myself. It's pretty huge, but I really liked the pattern and I can definitely use it to put stuff in. I've never been a fan of the Pioneer Woman blog or anything but all of the kitchen stuff is so pretty!

2. I finally started using Instagram Stories! I had been debating about it for a little while, but it's actually kind of fun to use! I've been trying to post more of my DSLR photos to Instagram, but I also like just posting random day-to-day stuff, so Stories works out perfectly so I can do both! You can follow me here!

3. I got last Friday off (I never get Friday's off!) and it was so nice! While it's not going to be so great on my next paycheck, I got so much done! I always plan on doing stuff over the weekend, but never get everything done that I want to do. But I ran errands, finally tried the gluten-free cookbook I've been meaning to use, did some reading, commented on blogs and replied to comments, made a fun dinner (breakfast for dinner is always great!) worked on some blog posts, and watched some TV! It's really good feeling productive! 

And then Saturday I did nothing. Ha!

4. I put myself on the Sephora Play! waiting list several months ago and then forgot about it. I finally got the email that there was an opening so I thought I would give it a try! I'm very interested in seeing what I get in my first bag! Has anyone else tried it? What did you think? I'm curious to see how it stacks up against Ipsy. I don't plan on staying subscribed to both, I'll have to see which one I like better! Ipsy just hasn't been all that great for me. It just seems like they really don't pay any attention to my style profile. I review every product I get on their site, and they still keep sending me things I don't want. I really like being able to try new products, but I hate feeling like I'm wasting my money!

5. In case you missed it, I shared some pictures of our visit to La Push, WA, as well as a review of the Gluten Free For Good cookbook! 

Hope you have a great weekend!

Gluten Free For Good by Samantha Seneviratne Cookbook Review

Check out the book here!

Let me start off by saying that I am certainly not going to be giving up gluten any time soon, but I have family members who eat gluten free for various health reasons. I've experimented with gluten free baking for years, and it's definitely a bit tricky.

This book is not just gluten free baking though, it has a lot of recipes for things that people who are gluten intolerant and people who are not might want to eat. Cooking two different meals can be a hassle sometimes, so it's nice to have recipes that work for all of us! There is a wide range of different types of recipes, I don't think anyone would look at this and probably want to try every recipe in this book, but there is definitely something for everyone as well.

I liked that at the beginning of the book the author has a good, in-depth explanation of different flours and ingredients used in the book. For someone unfamiliar with gluten free baking or new to gluten free baking, that would be very helpful! 

I thought the pictures in this book were really nice and well done. and the directions were clear and informative.

After looking through the table of contents, I was very interested in trying the recipe for a loaf of bread. I've never found any gluten free bread that tasted all that good. I've had some that are okay, but none that were really good.

I did use sorghum instead of oat flour like the book called for because I didn't have oat flour. (Sorghum is a very close substitute in terms of texture and flavor.) And I also used 1 1/2 tsp of xanthan gum instead of psyllium husk because I didn't have that either.

The bread turned out pretty well! I did mix up the directions a bit because that's just what I do. (I always let the yeast proof in the water (the recipe uses milk, but mine was bad and the water worked fine.) with a little sugar first before adding the flours.) I think that really helped the loaf turn out. The dough rose a lot and turned out nice and fluffy. Following their directions would have created a more close textured loaf. Taste wise it was pretty good! It held together really well and even stood up to being put in the toaster. Half the loaf was gone the first night I made it! So it was definitely a win in my house! Most gluten free breads I've tried crumble and fall apart really easily, but this was good.

Overall I would probably rate this book maybe 3 or 4 stars. Just because I think this is more of a book for people who choose not to eat gluten vs. people who a truly gluten intolerant. And probably over half of the recipes are things I know my family wouldn't eat. But there was probably a dozen recipes I would try.

Do you eat gluten free? What are your thoughts on gluten free foods?

I received this book from Blogging For Books in exchange for an honest review.

Visiting La Push, Washington

After stopping at Ruby Beach, we continued up the coast to La Push. None of us had ever been up there before, so we were interested in seeing what was there! I'd always heard it was really pretty up there. 

The weather was pretty warm and the fog hadn't made it up the coastline yet. There wasn't very many people here either, which was really nice! Ruby Beach was so extremely crowded it was nice to be able to just walk around and take pictures without tons of people in the way.

We didn't stay for too long, since we still had a two hour drive back to my grandparents house. But it was fun walking around and checking the place out! 

Five for Friday

Hello and welcome to my Five for Friday! I am linking up with Cup of Tea , Della Devoted , and Bright on a Budget!

1. My sister's birthday was last Friday, and she wanted a funfetti cheesecake. I don't make cheesecake very often (they're kind of a pain and take so long to set!) But since it was her birthday, I made her one!

I used this recipe, but used an Oreo crust because that is what Hannah wanted. I also used half the amount of sugar the recipe called for and didn't add any sugar to the crust since it was an Oreo crust. The recipe seemed like it used a ton of sugar! We didn't notice any difference and it tasted good. Even though I overbaked it slightly (our oven is a piece of crap.) it was still really creamy and good!

Hannah also wanted cinnamon rolls for her birthday breakfast, so I made those too! I always like to add apple to the middle, and it's really good like that!

2. Has anyone watched any new fall shows? Or planning on watching anything? I know some stuff started up this week, but has there been anything good on? We started watching The Voice. I hadn't planned on watching it, but it's been okay so far. 

Hawaii Five-0 and Shark Tank start tonight, so we'll be watching those!

3. I also was at Target earlier this week and picked up these two cute little guys!

Fox | Bird

4. I did the Patronus quiz on Pottermore (I finally made an account! I hated their old website and couldn't bring myself to make an account, but I like the new site.) and my Patronus is a blackbird. I'm not really surprised I got a bird, but not sure how I feel about a blackbird! Not as regal as a stag or interesting like a fox or something, but not bad either I guess!

I also got sorted into Gryffindor, so I'm happy about that. I was a bit surprised at that too. I had done an unofficial sorting hat quiz and it put me in Hufflepuff.

5.  In case you missed it, I shared a review of the August Target beauty box and then on Wednesday I shared a currently post!

Hope you all have a great weekend!