Breakfast smoothies

It's a smoothie kind of morning.

 

Do you ever wake up full of hope, looking forward to the future,  having feelings of child like excitement?  Well, that was my morning.  And after yesterday, *sigh* it is a much needed and welcome feeling.

 

So to celebrate,  we made smoothies! :)  We meaning me and my sweet five year old sweetheart Abby-girl.  She climbed in bed with me in the middle of the night and slept in (how would that be?!) and woke up with rosey cheeks so I thought smoothies were just what the doctor ordered!

 

 

granola girl-homemade (simple easy) granola

I have a child that would eat granola for every meal if I let her.  And let's be honest, sometimes I could too...

Yesterday I was feeling domestic,  but tired so I made a batch of granola.  Simple granola.  The most very basic recipe I could find. Nothing fancy schmancy...

showin' some leg -- chair slipcover

We have a new member of the family.

She has beautiful arms and gorgeous curvy legs.

I made her a white linen top and a skirt.

A mini skirt.

To show off her legs...

Bottled Beans DIY

I've been on a BIY (Bottle It Yourself) binge today. But since I made bread today too, I guess maybe it should be MIY?  I dunno.  I just know that today I had the energy to make bread, bottle jelly and jam and bottle dry beans.  It all started with not having jam or jelly, but having all the ingredients to make it and having this renewed desire to be more self sufficient and self reliant.

Homemade Muffins

I like a simple recipe. A recipe that doesn't make me think too much in the morning.  A recipe where the instructions don't require too much brain power before I've had anything to eat.  If you are like me, this muffin recipe is for you.  It's a recipe for the Domestic goddesses or gods whichever the case might be. 

 

DIY Bench

I made a bench.

This is quite possibly the easiest project I've ever done.

This bench is for our beloved homemade kitchen table.  We've been talking about making a bench for about as long as we've had the table. The pro of a bench is that is makes for more effective clean up. So instead of sweeping around 12 legs you sweep around four.  Con is that two or three people sit on one stationary bench and can't adjust it to their likes.

We had some lumber in our back yard from a project that my step son deconstructed for me and I just went for it.  Now I can get rid of three chairs.  It's part of my minimalist movement. *snort*

Homemade Butter

So before the hubby left for AK we were going to make butter, for fun, but the cream got lost and forgotten about in the fridge.

I saw the cream and got it out and started making butter and then realized that the expiration date was today's date.  Phew!  Nick of time baby!  Nick. Of. Time.

I have a Tupperware thingy that I've used before to make butter and it was working just fine...

cream, Tupperware thingy, salt

kid powering the Tupperware thingy

the beginnings of butter

... but then I got an idea...

vintage camping

We bought a camp trailer!

It's vintage!

You've heard of Glamping?  Glamour camping?  

Well this is our Vamper.  Vintage camping...

cherry tart

I didn't have time, (or didn't make time) to get any baking done before Christmas so during Christmas break I am doing some Valentines baking...

...the easy way.

First, you buy store bought crust, and store bought pie filling.

Yes, sigh, you've got me, this isn't all exactly homemade, but the pie filling said that it's a new formula--it doesn't use High Fructose Corn Syrup and it is now and always has been gluten free so it's gotta be wholesome.

Right?

So today we baked a wholesome and homemade treat.

Cherry Tarts.  That's what I'm calling them.

These little treats can be for Christmas, Thanksgiving, Valentines  (balemtimes as my four year old calls it) or when ever you just want a delicious treat.


Let me show you...

Nativity Scene Up Cycle

Rescue Scene

 I don't usually actually get holiday decorating finished on time, let alone early.  Usually, it is either put off until the last minute, or not done at all.

Halloween?  Nothing. (except last minute costumes) (that were pretty great if I do say so myself) (I think I work better under pressure..)

Thanksgiving?  Nothing.

But, for Christmas, we already have our tree up (undecorated, but up).  I have the cinnamon scented pine cones out, and I have finished re-doing a wonderful Nativity Scene that I picked up at a thrift store last spring.  I'm thinking it's a pre-Christmas miracle that it lasted through a move and sat in my garage until now and didn't get broken.  Yep, it's a miracle.

Here are the before and afters...