How to: Make Homemade Vanilla Extract

August 16, 2023 By Nadia Fuad in Baking and Cooking, Recipes, Uncategorized Tags: bakery, baking, beans, bourbon, cakes, cookies, cooking, Extract, gift basket idea, gift idea, gifts, holiday, holiday cheer, homemade, homemade gift, homemade vanilla, homemade vanilla extract, kitchen, madagascar, mama's kitchen, recipe, rum, tahitian, Vanilla, vanilla beans, vanilla extract, vodka, vodka vanilla extract, yarnutopia, yarnutopia and more Leave a comment

Do you like to bake?

When you bake as much as I do, it is very easy to go through baking ingredients on a regular basis. I purchased very good vanilla extract for a pretty penny and I am always running out! It’s too much money when I can make my own!

Let’s get started!

Homemade Vanilla Extract

2 ingredients.

6-8 Madagascar Vanilla beans per 8 oz. bottle. Find Vanilla Beans HERE. Find the bottles HERE.

Vodka (You can also use Bourbon or Rum each one having a slightly different flavor).
**the alcohol draws out the best flavor in your vanilla bean but you can make your recipe without
by substituting vegetable glycerin for the alcohol.

Directions:

For 6 to 8 beans per 8 oz. bottle.

I slice my beans down the center the long way to release fragrance and flavor of the vanilla bean paste see photos below). Place the vanilla beans into clean 8 oz. bottles. I found my bottles on Amazon HERE. You must cover the beans completely with Vodka so they are submerged-approximately 8 oz. of vodka per bottle. Keep in mind, the vodka has to be 70 proof or more. (I found 80 proof on sale 😂).

Cap bottles tightly. Shake gently to infuse flavors. Store away and let sit for at least 8 weeks.

Try to shake bottles as often as possible to insure that the flavors continue to blend-at least once a week. After 8 weeks the vanilla will be ready to use. The longer you wait the better the flavor- 4 to 6 months is actually optimal. Use in all your baking recipes that call for vanilla extract! Enjoy!

How to: Make Cowboy Candy – Candied Jalapeños

July 30, 2023 By Nadia Fuad in Baking and Cooking, Recipes, Uncategorized Tags: candied, candy, canning, canning peppers, condiment, cook, cooked, cooking, cowboy, cowboy candy, cream cheese, dip, eat, farm to table, Fuad and Shannon, gardening, hot pepper, hot peppers, how to, how to make, Jalapenos, kitchen, make, moms home cooking, old school, party, peppers, pioneer, recipe, shannon's kitchen, teach, yarnutopia, yarnutopia and more, yarnutopia fam Leave a comment

Each summer, I love to visit the Farmer’s Market and purchase local produce. Two years ago, we visited a booth where the vendor had jars of “cowboy candy”. Curious, I bought a jar. Fuad ate it all in one sitting! I vowed to try to make my own version when I had a chance.

Fast forward to today and I decided to finally give it a try. Here is my recipe and tips for making, AND canning, jars of Cowboy Candy.

Let’s get started:

To start, this recipe is based upon 2lbs of jalapeños. You can adjust your recipe to make it more or less as desired.
Before you begin, please be sure to have your canning jars clean and ready. Wash your jars thoroughly and COMPLETELY rinse. Submerge them onto a rack in boiling water for 10 minutes as your last step of sanitization.

Recipe:

Ingredients:
Jalapeno Peppers (I used approx. 2lbs or 1kg) I had around 40-50 jalapenos from the farmer’s market
4 cups of white granulated sugar
2 cups of Apple Cider Vineagar
2 tsps of tumeric powder
2 tsps of ginger powder
3 teaspoons of chili powder
Dash of kosher salt

Instructions:
~Remove stems and cut your jalapenos into thin slices. I didn’t measure but approx. 1/4 inch coin slices worked well.
~Combine all your sugar, vineagar, and spices in a pan. Bring this to a rolling boil and cut the heat to simmer.
~Stir until your sugar dissolves and makes a syrup. Add your pepper slices to the syrup and coat thoroughly.
~Mix them completely and bring to a rolling boil once again.
~Once boiling, reduce heat to simmer and cook for about 5 minutes or until your jalapenos soften and begin to darken in color.
~With a slotted spoon, remove jalapenos from your syrup and place into clean, prepared jars. filling up to 1/2 inch from top. Shake and wiggle jar so peppers settle leaving more room to add as needed.
~Once each jar has been filled, pour the syrup over peppers in each jar. Leave about 1/4 inch from top, being sure all are covered.
~Cover and secure lid. Wipe the outside of jar and lid clean because syrup is STICKY!
~Place your secured jars of peppers into a boiling water bath for 10 minutes. Jars should pop to insure they have sealed correctly. If your jar lid does not pop, don’t worry! The peppers are still good but storage is best in the fridge and eaten within a few weeks.
~Properly canned jars can be stored in cool dry place for up to a year.

This Cowboy Candy can be served over cream cheese and spread on crackers, over burgers, nachos and more! They are sweet with a punch of heat!

Thank you so much for giving our recipe a try! We hope our Cowboy Candy is a hit at your home as much as it is at ours!

Happy Hooking and Cooking!
~Shannon and Fuad

How to Make: Pretzel Bites

April 11, 2023 By Nadia Fuad in Baking and Cooking, Recipes, Uncategorized, Video Tutorial Tags: bake, baking, biscuits, bites, cheesy, cook, cooking, easy, eat, eating, fuad, Fuad and Shannon, how to, learn, make, moms home cooking, pretzel, recipe, salty, shannon, snack, step by step, teach, tutorial, video, yarnutopia 2 Comments

Welcome to our family kitchen! Today’s recipe is going to be Pretzel Bites!

We are going to show you how to make these bites using only a few ingredients.
Now let’s get started!

Recipe for Pretzel Bites:
Ingredients:
1-Canned Bisquits such as Jumbo Grands or similar
1/4 c. Baking SODA
3-4 Tblsp of Butter Coarse salt – sea or kosher
Water for boiling

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400* F Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper set aside Open your canned bisquits and be ready to get a jump scare like I did! Cut each bisquit into 4-6 equal parts- I quartered mine to make 32 bites Once cut into pieces, lightly shape into round or cubed pieces (optional)
Fill a sauce pan half full of water and bring water to a boil Slowly add baking soda to water in increments as to not overflow Once your baking SODA is added, add your dough pieces into the boiling baking soda water Turn the pieces in the boiling water and remove.

DO NOT KEEP them in the water too long or they will turn mushy. Once removed, set the dough pieces on your parchment lined cookie sheets. Place cookie sheets with your dough pieces into your preheated 400*F oven and bake for 15-20 minutes depending on your oven. Mine went for 18 minutes and they were perfect!

When done, they should have a beautiful dark brown coloring like pretzels! Melt butter Remove sheets from your oven and brush bites with melted butter while still warm Sprinkle Pretzel Bites with salt and ENJOY!

Dip them in melted cheese or enjoy on their own!

Optional: Instead of sprinkling with salt, you can roll your warm buttered bites in a cinnamon sugar mixture for a sweeter version! Dip them in some frosting! Delicious! Join us each week for more fun and easy recipes! Be sure to like, comment, and subscribe to our channel!

Happy Hooking and Cooking!
~Fuad, Shannon, & Nadia!

How to Make: Rice Crispy Peep Treats

March 19, 2023 By Nadia Fuad in Baking and Cooking, Recipes, Uncategorized Tags: bake, bird, birdie, cook, cooking, crispie, crispy, easter, easy, eat, eating, foodie, foods, how to, hungry, krispie, marshmello, marshmellow, moms home cooking, peep, peeps, photo tutorial, recipe, rice, rice crispy, rice krispie, simple, step by step, sweet, sweet tooth, teach, treats, tutorial, video, video tutorial, yarnutopia Leave a comment

It’s that time of year when those Peep Treats appear on the store shelves. They brightly shine among the Easter candy. Yes, they are festive. Yes, they remind us of a certain holiday. Yes, they are almost an Easter Basket staple. But, ARE THEY a fan favorite? Peeps get a bit of a bad rap. Here is a great way to use them in a fun and festive sweet treat! They never will go to waste again!

Recipe:

Approximately 20-24 Peeps of any color
6 -7 cups of Crispy Rice Cereal
6-8 tblsps of butter

Preheat oven to 400*F

Butter a 9×13 cake pan
Line up your Peeps Marshmello treats in rows

Completely cover Peeps with your Crispy Rice Cereal. Let those Peep heads slightly peek out! LOL

Add pats of butter across the top of the cereal

Place pan in the oven for 8-10 minutes. Check after 6 minutes since each oven is differnt. Peeps will begin to puff up and the tops will appear toasted.

Butter should be melted. Remove from oven and stir all ingredients together.

Press firmly into pan and cool. Cut into squares and serve! SO oooey goooey and delicious!

Optional: Sprinkle topping – sugars, confetti treats, m&ms, etc…

This is perfect for satisfying your sweet tooth!
Guaranteed Delicious!! Enjoy and be sure to share your treats on facebook and/or instagram and tag YARNutopia! Be sure to LIKE, SUBSCRIBE, AND SHARE OUR OTHER CHANNEL HERE!

Happy Hooking and Cooking!

~Fuad, Shannon, & Nadia

This post contains affiliate links, which I may be compensated for when you make a purchase. That means if you click on any link and buy from the linked websites, I will receive a small percentage of the value of your order. The amount you pay is not changed. Thank you for all your support in clicking the links in my blog!! You all are so amazing!! ~Nadia

How to: Cook Crockpot Creamy Chicken Spaghetti

February 9, 2023 By Nadia Fuad in Recipes, Uncategorized Tags: basic, budget, casserole, chicken, cook, cooking, creamy, crockpot, easy, family, fast, feed, feeds 8, hot, how to, hungry, idea, ideas, learn, meal, meal plan, meals, planning, shoestring, simple, spaghetti, step by step, stretch, teach, tutorial, under $10, video, video tutorial, yarnutopia 1 Comment

I prepared a family favorite that is not only easy to make, but is a meal that can stretch the dollar! I love making meals on a shoestring and this one cost just around $10USD and can feed the ENTIRE family! With a family our size, recipes like these come in handy!

Creamy Chicken Spaghetti

Tips; You can substitue low fat, low sodium ingredients (soup, sour cream, cheese) without compromising flavor. You can also substitute a variety of cheeses and still get rich creamy/cheesy results. Use what you like. You can also substitute 2-3 chicken breasts with 4-6 boneless skinless thighs. The beauty of a recipe like this is, it is very versatile and still produces GREAT results.

Crockpot Creamy Chicken Spaghetti Recipe:
Serves 8

2 10.75 oz. cans of cream of chicken soup
1 10 oz. can of diced tomato w/ green chili (Rotel)-you do not need to drain
2-3 chicken breasts
1/4 c. sour cream
1 c. of shredded cheese (I used mild white cheddar but you can your preference)
1 lb. of spaghetti noodles (cooked)
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp. paprika(optional)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Start by placing your chicken breasts in the crockpot. No prep necessary. Add both cans of cream of chicken soup and can of tomatoes with chilis. “Frost” the tops of your chicken breast and cover crockpot. Set on high for 3-4 hours or low for 6-7 hours.

Once your chicken has been cooked, remove from crockpot and cut into bite size pieces. Add your seasonings-salt, pepper, garlic powder and paprika to your crockpot. Add your cheese and sour cream. Mix well. Add your chicken bites back into sauce. Mix well and put back on high for 3o minutes.

While your chicken finishes the last stage in the crockpot, prepare your spaghetti noodles as per direction on package. Cook al dente.

Once your noodles are cooked, add them to your crockpot chicken and mix in well. The noodles will blend with your rich creamy sauce making a mouth-watering dinner guaranteed to please some of the most picky eaters! Let sit until sauce thickens.

Serve alone, with a side dish, or garlic toast and Enjoy!

Ready to eat!

Happy hooking…and cooking!

Fuad, Shannon, and Nadia

How to make: 4-ingredient no-knead artisan bread in cast iron Dutch oven

January 24, 2023 By Nadia Fuad in Baking and Cooking, kitchen, Recipes, Uncategorized, Video Tutorial Tags: 4, artisan, bake, bake bread, bake with me, baked, baking, basic, beginner, bread, breadmaker, breadmaking, breads, cast, cast iron, chef, cook, cooking, delicious, dutch, dutch oven, easy, economical, family, fancy, four, fuad, Fuad Azmat, homemade, how to, ingredient, ingredients, iron, let's make bread, loaf, mom, moms home cooking, nadia, old school, our family, oven, pioneer, round, simple, step by step, tutorial, video tutorial, yarnutopia, yeast Leave a comment

Here is a simple step-by-step recipe that is sure to wow your guests at any dinner party or satisfy the most insatiable craving for homemade bread you have EVER had! Trust me when I say, when you make your very own loaf, you won’t want to stop at just one! You will be a bread making aficianado before you know it! Follow my recipe below and watch my step by step video to guide you through this easy process! By this afternoon, your house will smell like rich homemade bread and your meals will be next level with this fantastic recipe!

finished loaf of artisan bread

Recipe AND Video Below:

We made a quick artisan bread loaf using only four (4) ingredients! No kneading! No mess! Easy step by step tutorial to help you achieve the greatest results proving that you don’t need to exhaust yourself to make fancy, delicious bread!!

Easy to Bake 4-ingredient, no-knead artisan bread

3 cups all purpose flour

2 tsp quick rise instant yeast

2 tsp kosher or cooking salt

1 1/2 cups warm water (Not hot! Luke warm 130*F or 55*C)

(You will need parchment paper)

Mix all ingredients in one bowl. Dough will be sticky. Let sit for 1-3 hours until dough doubles in size. (A perfect time to work on your crochet projects!) Preheat oven to 450*F (232*C) and set empty cast iron Dutch oven inside with lid on while oven preheats. Heat empty Dutch oven for 30 minutes. NOTE: This bread dough can be kept in refrigerator for up to three days and made later. The time in the fridge can even enhance flavor!

While oven/Dutch oven preheats, sprinkle a little flour on clean surface. Roll your dough onto floured surface and fold each ‘side’ into itself. I do 6-8 folds until dough forms nice round ball. Place dough on parchment paper and transfer dough ball into clean bowl. Using sifter, sprinkle a small amount of flour onto dough ball top surface. Using a lame or sharp knife cut design onto top. Let sit for duration of time it takes to preheat oven and heat up Dutch oven.

a slice down the middle, fresh from the oven!

AFTER 20-30 minutes, using oven mitts, remove HOT Dutch oven from preheated oven and carefully remove lid. Your cast iron pot is going to be EXTREMELY hot!! Use caution. Place parchment with dough ball into the hot pan and replace lid. Place back in oven and bake with LID ON for 30 minutes. AFTER 30 MINUTES, Remove the lid from your Dutch oven pot and bake bread uncovered for an additional 15 minutes or until you have a nice and toasty brown crust! Guaranteed your house will smell amazing! Carefully remove bread from pan and let cool for 10-15 minutes on cooling rack. Slice and serve! It tastes incredible with fresh butter melting on warm bread!! Mmm mmm mmm!!! Be sure to share with us how your finished loaves turn out!!!

a beautiful slice of warm, fresh made bread slathered in butter!

If you like easy to follow recipes and a variety of more fantastic videos, be sure to follow our SECOND channel Fuad Azmat/Ambient Sounds WE HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE!!

“The more you know, the more you can create. There’s no end to imagination in the kitchen.” ~Julia Child

Happy Hooking…and Baking!
~Fuad, Shannon, & Nadia

How To Bake Zucchini Banana Bread

September 26, 2022 By Nadia Fuad in Uncategorized Tags: autumn, bake, bake bread, baking, banana, banana zucchini bread, basic, beginner, bread, breads, cook, cooking, diy, easy to follow, fall, food, foodie, how to, learn, oven, recipe, recipes, step by step, veggie bread, yarnutopia, zucchini Leave a comment

Is your garden bursting with produce? Do you love a great farmers market? Do you love finding ways to disguise fruits and vegetables in your meals? If you have answered yes to any of these questions, you have come to the right site! We have the perfect recipe for you!! Come bake with us!

Follow this easy to make recipe and you will be delighted in the end with an absolutely tasty treat!

Zucchini Banana Bread:

1 3/4 c. all purpose flour

2 eggs

1c. mashed banana

2c. grated zucchini (mine was frozen and moisture removed)

3/4 c. white sugar

3/4 tsp. salt

3/4 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tbsp. vanilla

1/2 c. light oil

optional:

chocolate chips or walnuts (I did not use in my recipe)

Preheat oven to 350F degrees.

Mix all dry ingredients together.

Add in wet ingredients and stir.

Add in mashed bananas and zucchini and fold in completely.

Grease and lightly flour your loaf pan.

I used my beautiful le crueset loaf pan that bakes everything perfectly! Fill loaf pan half way.

Put into oven and bake at 350F for 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes depending on your oven and altitude. My loaf took the entire 75 minutes. Do a poke check and see if your bread is baked inside.

Remove from oven and let cool.

Loosen cool bread from loaf pan and transfer to a flat surface.

Slice and serve!

Everyone will rave about it!

Enjoy!!

Make yours today and share with us how you loaf turned out! Find us on Facebook and Instagram and be sure to tag us in your posts!

Happy Cooking & More!

Fuad, Shannon and Nadia

Our Introduction!

September 22, 2022 By Nadia Fuad in Blog Posts Tags: cooking, crochet, crocheting, Decorating, diy, experience, family, fashion, fashion blogger, foster care, fostering, fuad, Fuad and Shannon, get to know us, handmade, how to, introduction, nadia, our family, parents, teach, trauma informed, treatment, video, yarnutopia 14 Comments

Hello YARNutopians,

Since everyone here knows Nadia so well, and is familiar with her and her craft, Fuad and I wanted to introduce ourselves to this audience. We hope to get to know you more, as well as opening our home and hearts to you, as we take some new direction with YARNutopia.

We are Nadia’s parents, Fuad and Shannon. We are the behind-the-scenes operation team of YARNutopia. As we prepare to take this platform to new places, we thought it would be a great time to share more about ourselves beyond what has popped up from time to time.

Getting To Know Us

Fuad and I have been married for 35 years. We have three wonderful adult children; two of whom are married. We have three grandchildren. We are also foster parents to three teen girls. Fuad and I have been licensed foster parents for just over two years and are trained in Level 4 Trauma-Informed Foster Care.

Outside of family, we love to explore nature, travel across the globe, and even find adventure right in our own back yard. We live in a rural community in North Central Wisconsin and love this area tremendously. It is full of an abundance of nature and wildlife; much of which we hope to explore more with you here.

Our hobbies include photography, videography, woodworking (visit our Etsy shop HERE), jewelry making, cooking, baking, home projects, DIY, decorating, and so much more! We ARE BUSY and hope to show some of these activities to you. In our spare time, Fuad loves to tinker on cars, film and photograph wildlife(you can find our other YouTube channel HERE), and I love to read and write – when life quiets down enough to pull out a good book. Be on the lookout for some book reviews as well! When I read a fantastic novel, I want to tell the world!

Not so long ago, I used to work in leasing and together we ran a portrait studio, Image By Fuad. Now we are busy with home and family, as well as running our small businesses. We also stay VERY active as a treatment foster home to teens. We have a lot of experiences to bring to the table. We are so glad you are along for the ride!

So join us as we begin this new adventure here on YARNutopia. Keep coming back each week to see what we have going on in our world and we guarantee that you will love what we have in store!

Happy Hooking & More,
~Shannon & Fuad

Taking A New Direction

September 21, 2022 By Nadia Fuad in Blog Posts Tags: changes, cooking, crochet, Decorating, diy, family, fashion blogger, Fuad and Shannon, Fuad Azmat, Fun Stuff, how to, how to do, lifestyle, more, Nadia Fuad, new direction, teach, tutorial, video, yarnutopia 19 Comments

Hello Yarnutopians!

It has been no surprise that Nadia has had her hands full with Nasir and motherhood. She is extremely busy and has scaled back considerably on her crochet. She is still busy creating and sharing her work, just not at the level you have grown accustomed to. Understandably so. Nasir keeps her on her toes!!

We have a fantastic audience of creative individuals that check in daily to see what is new in our neck-of-the-woods. For that reason, our family has decided to take YARNutopia in a new direction. Crochet has, and always will be, the foundation for this platform. Nadia will continue to create and share her creations as often as time allows. Fuad will continue to film some of those creations as well. We know you have grown to love this combination of easy-to-follow patterns and clear, precise videos that allow the viewer to see everything in detail. That will still remain. However, we hope to grow this platform in new directions. It is for that reason, we have decided to add a few more elements to our website for you to enjoy.

What to expect

Many of you know Fuad as our cameraman. You have seen him on camera from time to time. He is also busy behind-the-scenes with us doing much more than working the camera. We hope to use YARNutopia to share some of those interests and make this more of a family/lifestyle blog. As Nadia’s parents, you may not see us as often in front of the camera but we stay quite busy in other contributing ways to this platform. We enjoy much more creative outlets in our spare time and together with Nadia, we want to share some of those with you. Things such as cooking, woodworking, DIY projects, and so much more. We will be changing our name to YARNutopia & More to encompass all that we hope to share with you!

We look forward to you staying around to see some of the new changes, as well as enjoying Nadia’s newest patterns. Keep those crochet hooks handy! You will need those! Her hands may be full but she still keeps them busy with crochet projects every day! We just plan to add some fun family and lifestyle blogs alongside her crochet projects! Don’t go anywhere, because there’s a lot of exciting content about to come your way. Stay Tuned!!

Happy Hooking & More!

Fuad, Shannon, & Nadia

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