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Monday

Mondays With Michelle: DIY Foodie Projects

Happy Monday Foodie Friends!

I don't know about you, but I love a good Do-it-yourself project, especially ones that bring some extra yumminess to your kitchen (and save you some $)! And although it's a little early to be thinking about the holiday season, these two DIY projects also make for wonderful gifts for your foodie friends and family. 

Homemade extracts...


When is the last time you bought any kind of extract? It's expensive! Especially the good stuff. So for the cost of a bottle of vodka and some fruit/coffee/almonds or whatever flavor you like, you can have a ton of homemade flavored extracts for a fraction of the cost. Besides the cost, the possibly of flavors are limitless. The 2 pictured are grapefruit and lime. It is very simple to make, all you need is...
  • Your favorite Vodka
  • Your flavor of choice
  • Mason Jar
When making a citrus extract, let's say grapefruit for example, peel the skin/zest of 2 grapefruits (be sure not to have too much of the white pulp-- it's bitter). Next, drop the peel in a mason jar and cover with vodka. Finally, leave the peels in for 2-3 weeks to develop the flavor then remove them and store in a cool dry area. Your final product is good for 4-6 months and can be used like any extract that you bake with. For vanilla extract, use whole vanilla beans-- first split them open and scrap the bean, then cover with vodka (or rum) in a mason jar.

Infused Olive Oil....


This garlic infused olive oil is super easy to make, just add fresh garlic cloves (the more the merrier) and some of your favorite dried spices (I used parsley and red pepper flakes) to your favorite olive oil and you've got delish homemade garlicy olive oil! The dispenser is decorative and inexpensive, you can find them at Target, Ikea and Wal-Mart. I keep mine on the counter near the stove because I am constantly using it... and it's pretty to look at! Again, infused oil is much more expensive when you purchase it... make it yourself, you control the ingredients and you save some money!

What DIY foodie goodies do you keep on hand? Post your comments below!

Don't forget to visit my Foodie Blog for more recipes, food tips and other foodie fun. 

See you back here on Monday, October 1st... Thanks for reading!

 

Thanks for reading! Follow me on Twitter at @EPayneTheDad.

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