Lifestyle, Tips & Tricks

How To Adult

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How To Adult

So you’re twenty-something, you decide to move out of your parents’ house. And now what. 

I don’t know about you, buuuut how do I adult?

Yes I understand that “adulting” is not a verb, but I mean, it really should be. Paying bills, booking yourself appointments, filing taxes. It’s scary stuff man. 

Though it may just come from the fact that I’m introverted and shy, talking to strangers on the phone genuinely stresses me out. Yes it’s silly, but it’s a shitty thing I hate dealing with.

Sad to say it, but you can’t opt out of adulting. It has to happen. So why not try and make it a little easier on ourselves, hmm?

How To Adult: A Life Guide

1. Find Resources

With today’s technology, use those online apps and websites to help you get things done! We’re all tech savvy, right!? Book appointments online if they have a website that allows you to do so. Set up automatic withdrawal to pay your bills. Use TurboTax for your taxes! This saved me tons. Because let’s be real, I have no friggin clue how to do my taxes, and there’s no one here to teach me. 

Writing

2. Practice That Autograph

There’s nothing that makes you feel more dumb than going to sign for something and all that shows up is a bunch of chicken scratch. Practice your signature, come up with a style that works for you, and that way you won’t feel like a third grader who just learned cursive every time you sign the cheque.

3. Take Care of Yourself

Eat nothing but organic, cut out all carbs and sweets and run 10k a day. Hah no thank you. But sadly enough, that metabolism does slow down when you get into your twenties, and when you buy your own food, it’s easy to go for the cheap, quick stuff.

Having the power to buy your own food can be fun. Start to incorporate healthier foods into your meals, and try a workout that involves something you enjoy doing.

Tomato

Well. That’s all I’ve got for you today, because well, I’m still learning to adult myself, hah.

It’s scary moving out on your own, taking full care of yourself for once and dealing with the real world. I just want others to know that they’re not alone. It’s scary to go from mommy and daddy dealing with the big issues, paying for the necessities in life, to taking that all on yourself when you haven’t really learned how yet. 

This part of our lives, our twenties, becomes such a huge learning period in our life. Learning how to truly take care of ourselves, learning who we really are, who we want to be, and what we want to do with our life. Hah, let’s be real, do we ever really figure out what we want to do with our lives?

Ah here’s me just struggling to adult. If I’m alone in this that’ll make me feel mighty pathetic, so please let me know your adulting struggles as well. We can all band together and be adult friends who drink wine and stuff. That part I know I’ve got down pat. 

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Recipes

Homemade Soft Pretzels

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Soft Pretzels

I don’t know about you, but I can’t go to any sports game, festival or theme park without forking over the 5+ bucks for a delicious soft pretzel. Sad thing is, I’m not at those places very often. 

Solution!

pretzel

I give you NO YEAST Homemade Soft Pretzels. 

I absolutely adore these. They don’t come with the grease you get with the commercial ones, they’re super simple, AND they don’t require any yeast. Bonus, right!?

dough

First you gotta throw the first six ingredients in a bowl and mix them all up (DO NOT put the egg in the dough!!) After you have your dough all ready, plop it on the counter. divide it in two and give it a good knead.

Then comes the frustrating part. Letting it sit under your bowl for fifteen minutes. UGGGGH, I hate recipes that make you leave your dough to rest. But! It’s for the best. So we let it sit. This is when I’ll get my pans ready, decide what toppings I want, maybe catch a couple minutes of Friends (my latest obsession). 

dough4

Yay! Time’s up and we can start making stuff! Time to divide each ball into four pieces. (I doubled my recipe here, so your balls may be smaller than these ones appear to be). 

Then you gotta roolllll your balls out into long snake like ropes. I recommend not putting too much flour on your dough, as I find that if the dough sticks to the counter a little bit, it’s easier to roll. Anywho, roll that bad boy out until it’s around a foot, maybe just over a foot long. 

Then comes the tricky part! The ol’ pretzel shape. Basically you grab both ends, twist them around each other, then fold them back down over the loop! Easy explanation right!? Hah. Just google a picture of a pretzel and you’ll figure it out. 

pretzelshape

Next, you plop those wonky pretzel shapes on your pan, give them a good egg wash bath, sprinkle on your favourite toppings (mine is salt, maybe cinnamon sugar sometimes), and pop them in the oven for about ten minutes!

pretzel

And bam! There ya have it. Yummy homemade pretzels that don’t break the bank, or leave you feeling greasy and gross.

pretzel

Homemade Soft Pretzels

The perfect soft pretzel recipe to fulfill that carb craving, without all the greasiness!

Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 30 mins
Total Time 40 mins
Course Appetizer, Snack
Servings 8 pretzels

Ingredients
  

  • 1 1/2 cups flour plus 2 tbsp
  • 2/3 cups milk
  • 2 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 egg
  • toppings salt, cinnamon, oats

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 425°F.

  • Stir together the flour, milk, vegetable oil, baking powder, sugar and salt to make a soft dough.
  • Sprinkle 2 tbsp of flour on the counter. Divide dough into two balls. Knead it.
  • Put bowl upside down over balls for 15 minutes.
  • Divide each ball into four balls, resulting in eight total balls. Roll each ball into a long rope, about a foot in length and form into pretzel shape.
  • Spray cookie sheet and place pretzels on pan.
  • Beat egg and brush over pretzels. Sprinkle on your desired topping.
  • Place in the oven for 9-11 minutes, or until slightly golden brown.
  • Let cool, then dig in!

Notes

You can also create pretzel bites for dipping if you'd prefer. Instead of forming the rope into the pretzel shape, leave the rope straight and cut into eight pieces. Place on the pan, egg wash and sprinkle with salt, and cook for about 8 minutes. Yum!
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Adventures

5 Things You Need For Camping

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Camping Essentials

With this abnormally beautiful weather we’re having, looks like camping season may begin earlier than we expected. And I am not complaining!

Basically every weekend in the summer we’re out camping. Whether it’s just a small campground fifteen minutes from home, a lake hours away, we find a place to pitch the tent and pull out the beer. There’s something so relaxing about camping – I mean, after the hour and half it takes to unload the truck, set up the tent & everything inside.

But still, sitting in a lawn chair, cold drink in hand, absorbing what the outdoors has to offer (preferably sunshine for me please), there’s just something about it.

Though it’d be great just to get out and go, there’s a few necessities you need to pack along with you.

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