Healthy Recipes- No Knead Whole Wheat Bread

No Knead Whole Wheat Bread
3 cups Whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cup uncooked oats
2 pkg. active dry yeast
1 Tablespoon Salt
2 1/2 cups buttermilk
1/2 cup molasses
1/3 cup margarine
2 eggs
2 1/2 cup All purpose flour

Measure whole wheat flour into large bowl, add oats and undissolved yeast and salt. In a saucepan, heat buttermilk, molasses and margarine together until warm to the touch. Don't overheat, if you do just let it cool down to room temp before adding it. add warm liquid and eggs to the ingredients in the bowl. Blend on low speed until well mixed for 3 minutes. Stir in flour. Cover and let rise 1 hour or until doubled. Pnch down and put in pans brushed with oil. cook at 350 for 35-40 minutes or until hollow when tapped.
Only 17g carbs per slice

Hairsticks

Okay so last spring I chopped all my hair off in an attempt to grow it down to my knees. Confused? Well, I want to have healthy long hair and my hair had a bunch of dead ends, plus I was in the start of pregnancy. Anyone that has been pregnant knows how that goes. So in my quest for beautiful hair, I have discover the fascinating world of hair sticks. They do less damage to your hair than pony ties and are a fun way to express yourself. Here is a picture of me with one of my new hair sticks. So my two favorites places to purchase them are as follows

Hairgems.etsy.com (the lady that makes these is super nice and they are very affordable)
and
Longlocks.com
Long Locks also offers so great tips on growing healthy hair to any lengths. Have fun looking. In case you were wondering this is a four strand french braid tucked under.

Recipes Pot of Gold Porkchops

Okay so this recipe is super fast for prep time and yummy!
All you do is take
1/2 cup of Honey
1/4 cup of. prepared mustard
Mix together and spread over your pork chops and bake at 350 for about 45 mins.
Now depending on if you like mustard you can use more or less. Also great with wild rice.
And there you have it 2 mins prep time and dinner is in the oven.

Sewing- bean bags

The other night my kids were restless and wanting to do a sewing project. So we broke out some scrap fabric and headed to town.

Tic tac toe bean bags
These are great for a starter project and little hands love to help out.

Cut out two square of the same size I do around 4 in by 4in two different colors.
Take one piece of fabric with the right side facing, using a stitch of your choice sew and x or and o  on it. Then match the to pieces of fabric together with right sides of fabric facing each other and sew around the edges leaving a small opening at the end to turn the fabric right side out. Now let the little hands fill about 3/4 of the way full with dried beans. Tuck open ends under and sew shut.
Make a set of 3 x's and 3 o's.
All you need is an empty laundry basket and let the kids take turns throwing them in. And all it took was about 20 mins to make but gave a nightful of fun.

Enjoying those simple things

Enjoying the simple things in life is something we have all heard before but yet as hectic as life gets sometimes, it can be challenging to find time to do so. As I type this my little three year old woke up this morning and came to lay her head right on my lap. Hence right on top of my hands and laptop. Instead of feeling frustrated or ready to rush off to get my day started, I am enjoying the moment. (hey this is only taking me two minutes to type). As I gaze at her perfect little face I find a sense of peace, a stillness among a spinning world. A brief moment to stop and just breathe. To know that all is right in the world for at least this moment. So this holiday season as things get busy and chances are they already are, take a moment and enjoy some simple things in your life.

Honoring Your Husband- Welcome Home Daddy

Our husband are pretty amazing guys, After all they go out in the world to provide for our families so that we as Woman can fulfill our roles as mothers. So in reguards to honoring your husband, Welcome Home Daddy.

Welcoming your husband home after a long day of work is a simple and quick way to let him know how grateful you are for him. My husband has a fairly set schedule so we generally know his arrival time. When we see Daddy arrive home I gather all the kids to the front door making it a thing of excitement. Sometimes I even have kids jumping up and down at the door due to their excitement.

The best part is watching my husband's face light up when he sees us. I also think it helps set the mood for the night in the house. Welcoming your husband home will help in making him want to be there.

Homemaking Tip Mornings

Homemaking Tip- Mornings. In the morning while kids are getting ready or still asleep, I do three things before anything else gets done. I start a load of dishes (If I am lucky there are none), a load of laundry (I always have at least one) and making beds. As I wake each child up and hand them their clothes, while they get dressed I make their beds. It only takes a minute and somehow makes the rest of the chores for the day seem easier to do.

Healthy Cooking- Candied sweet potato and yam

I love this recipe. A great alternative to the traditional Thanksgiving Yams.

Ingredients

1 Medium Yam (1 cup cooked)
1 Medium Sweet Potato (1 Cup cooked)
2 Tbsp. Olive Oil
2 Tbsp. Butter (I use Smart Balance)
3 Tbsp. Brown Sugar (I use 1 1/2 Tbsp.  Splenda Brown Sugar Mix)
1 pinch cinnamon
1 pinch allspice
1 pinch nutmeg
1 pinch black pepper

Bring water to boil in large stock pot. Add sweet potato and yam with their skin on. Cook until tender. Let cool, then peel and dice. You should have about 1 cup.

In a pan, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add butter and melt. Add yam, sweet potato, brown sugar and spices. Reduce heat to a simmer until sugar is melted and yam and sweet potato is glazed.

Enjoy!

Healthy Cooking- Banana Fruit Salad

This is a quick and easy recipe!

Banana Fruit Salad
1 Cup green grapes, sliced in half
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 Cup Orange Juice

Toss together all the ingredients in a bowl and let sit for at least 15 minutes. Don't worry about the Bananas going brown the acid in the orange juice keeps them fresh.

Enjoy!

Cleaning Tip- Lysol

I love Lysol! It is great tool for fast cleaning germs. So some quicks tips are as follows; When empty your laundry baskets spray some lysol in them to kill all those nasty germs hidden in there. It's rather gross when you think about it. Yikes! And don't forget to clean those baskets that carry the clean laundry. No need to get the clean clothes covered in germs.

Also spray out your garbage cans in between cleaning, if you like you can also sprinkle some baking soda in the bottom of your cans to keep down on smell. I find that Lysol does the trick generally so baking soda is not needed. Also if you have a mainly paper trash can you can place extra trash sacks at the bottom of your garbage can so that you don't have to run to the cleaning closet every time.

With all the wet boots coming in the house, it can be a wonderful help in keeping those boots from becoming smelly.

Last Lysol tip is when making the beds in the morning in between changing sheets, quickly spray some Lysol on the sheets and blankets.

Now if you have allergies or want a more chemical free cleaning, I recommend using a steam cleaner to quickly do these functions.

Sewing- Pajama Bottoms

So yesterday I got a little nuts trying to clean out my extra fabric and decided to make my kids some Pajama Bottoms. It is super simple and easy to do without a pattern. Great for a beginning project.  I use Flannel for our pjs. All you need is a pair of Pjs, some wrapping paper ( I like this the best, better for adult sizes) or paper grocery sack, fabric, crayon, scissors, 1/2 in wide elastic band and thread. I have included a link to a tutorial  that is great. http://www.ehow.com/how_5894250_sew-pajama-pants.html I will post some of my pictures later.

Just fold your pants in half making sure that you pull the crotch out flat. Lay on wrapping paper, trace with crayon or marker giving about 1/2 seam allowance except at top and bottom of pants. for this add 2 inches extra. For me I found that my kids had outgrown the pants so I needed to add around 3 to 4 inches on the bottom. Cut your pattern out. Simple so far!

Then lay your pattern on your fabric with the crotch away from the fold of the fabric. Cut out twice. Sew the inside leg up to the crotch. Make sure that you are sewing with the right side of the fabric together so that the seam is on the inside.  Once both pieces are sewed, match the waist and crotch together and sew. For the waist fold down inside leaving enough room for the elastic. Sew around making sure to leave a opening for the elastic to fit inside.  Measure your waist size pulling a little tight and then add a inch. I use a safety pin at the end of the elastic to make it easy to push through the waist band. Sew the edges of the elastic together. and finish up the waist. A neat tip is you can use a Serger to finish the waist by grabbing the edge of the elastic so it can not twist inside. You can also modify to add a drawstring.

Now all you have left to do is hem the legs. And there you have a cute pair of Pj bottoms.

Organizing Tip- Clothes Clothes and More Clothes

Organizing Tip- Well if you are anything like me, clothes seem to be EVERYWHERE in my house. Laundry is my biggest source of frustration. So first tip in the Laundry is to get rid of what you don't need. Rules to live by, If it is too small, wore out or just plain doesn't look good on you. Get Rid of it! If you haven't worn it within a year or two, Get Rid of It! With the exception of when you are pregnant, it can be at least a year before you look at your pre-pregnant clothes again. Also formal wear or little black dresses don't count either unless it doesn't fit you. If you have other kids that you are saving clothes for, only save the ones in mint condition. Store them in bins downstairs and with a simple piece of tape you can label them by size. A simple way I have found of going through clothes is when I fold laundry. I simply pick out the ones that it is time for them to move on. Or you can just hit those closets and go nuts!

Hair Bows

So I have been making tons of hairbows and having a blast at it.It is a great way to let your creative side take over.  I went to my local store (Walmart) and picked out some satin ribbons that I thought were cute. I bought alligator clips at Sallys for around six dollars for 80.  Now I know that most people use grosgrain ribbon but I wanted mine to be a little bit fancier. I taught myself how to make hairbows by searching online for intructions. I love YouTube! So I have listed a few websites for you to try your hand at it. I figured it costs about two dollars a hair bow to make.

www.girlythingsbows.com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjDOfMoRvEY

Good luck and have fun crafting!

Organizing tip- Everything has a home

In my house the rule is that everything has a home, if it doesn't, find it a home and if you can't find it a home it belongs in someone else's home. We have taught this to all our kids, our three year old is so cute. She always puts her toys away saying they missed their mom and dad. :)

Making Homemaking Joyful

I struggled trying to figure out where to start since I have so many thoughts running around in my head. I have been a stay at home mom for over nine years. It certainly has had it's moments, happy, sad, hair pulling, frustrated and blessed. Sometimes all within the same day. I created this blog to share ideas to all the other moms out there that have had their "moments".
    
        I don't have all the answers to share with you but I do have some thoughts to share of lessons I have learned along the way. The Lord has blessed me with four wonderful amazing spirits to raise, cherish and nurture. Being a homemaker, I have learned a great deal about creating priorities. Learning about what is most important for me to spend my time on at that moment in time. When my house is a disaster and things seem to be piling up, frustration starts to mount and I find myself wondering, why can't I have just a few minutes alone to get this done. Well, the Lord had to teach me that my number one priorities is my children. These special beings that the Lord sent to this earth, to be placed in my care need to be number one. Now this doesn't mean that I let the house go to shambles or that bills don't get paid because those are part of taking care of my little ones.

          What I mean is that, making time for your children actually creates more time for other things and creates a spirit of love in your home. I remember many days where it seemed like my children make messes faster than I could clean them and I thought to myself what am I doing wrong. I realized I had not been focusing on them rather the messes. So I took my little one, two at the time and set her down at the table to do some play dough. While she was busy playing and having fun, I was able to run around cleaning up the messes she had made with no new ones popping up. Thank heavens for little miracles.

           Now I won't be able to share everything in this one post, I just like to say that homemaking is less about how clean your house is or if your meals are perfect but more about how you make the people in your home feel.

Today is a new day!

Okay I have to totally laugh at myself. It has been almost a year since I posted anything on this blog. I have been horrible about keeping it up and I am going to change that right now. So to anyone that actually reads this, hopefully you have stuck with me and will get back to reading my posts. As a side note, I didn't finish the 100 days of healthy cooking. But I will be adding new recipes shortly. Happy Holidays and Enjoy!

100 Days of Healthy Recipes

Guilt free Whole wheat Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients
3/4 cup granulated sugar (I used 3/4 cup Splenda)
3/4 cup packed brown sugar "( I used 1/4 cup plus 2 TBSP Splenda brown sugar)
1 cup stick butter "(used smart balance")
1 large egg
1 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup wheat germ "(flax seed)
1/3 cup oatmeal
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
2 cup chocolate chips
Heat oven to 375. Cream sugars, butter and egg in large bowl. Stir in dry ingredients. "(Dough will be stiff") Stir in chocolate chips. Drop in TBSP on ungreased cookie sheet bake for 8to 10 minutes middles will be soft.