Spring?

I know that the start of Spring is still a few weeks away, but Melissa over at the Inspired Room is encouraging us to get into the Spring season with some early decorating. So, I spent a little bit of time doing some Spring cleaning, and getting out some of my decorations.



One thing that I have found with decorating is just to "switch" some simple things out, depending upon the season. For instance, I change my candles around, but use the same holders. I will replace my wreath over my window with something that looks a little more "Springy". I also have a number of glass containers that can be filled with different items. You will notice that most of them are empty, not sure what to put in them?! Candy is always a good thing, such as jelly beans, but I don't need to have that around this early. So for now, they will remain empty until I come up with a better idea.





Most of the time I try to use the items that I already for decorating. I'm all about shopping in your own home, first. However, I did splurge on two items, some new dish towels and a floor mat for my kitchen. The floor mat isn't necessarily for Spring, but I found it at Costco for $9 and I knew it would fit in our kitchen.




Here is one more pictures of my Spring change to my fireplace mantle. In this look, I'm going with simplicity. Remember you don't need to do a lot to change up your decorating style. A few simple changes can go a long way!!



I did have to show you one non-decorating picture, the cute rubber boots that my girls are wearing! Such a change, from their winter boots.

Pizza Tonight!

On my last post I mentioned that I would be sharing some "healthy" recipes that have whole grains in them. So, I'm posting a recipe for whole wheat pizza dough.

Here it is:

1 package dry yeast
1 cup warm water
2 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 cup wheat germ
1 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon honey

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water and honey. Let stand until creamy about 10 minutes.

In a large bowl combine flour, wheat germ and salt. Make a well in the middle and add honey and yeast mixture. Stir well to combine. Cover and set in warm place to rise for a few minutes.

Roll dough on a floured pizza pan poke a few hols in it with a fork.
Bake for 5 to 10 minutes, then add toppings and bake an additional 10 to minutes.

Notice how this recipe uses both whole wheat flour and wheat germ! Also,I want to point out that you don't need to let this dough rise. This pizza can be ready as quickly as most pizza delivery places can prepare it and bring it to your door!

One area that I am looking for advice is this. What type of pizza sauce and or seasonings do you use, when you make homemade pizza? I'm on the lookout for a great sauce!

Little Changes!

Little changes in your diet can yield big results! First of all, I am not talking about weight loss, however, that might be a positive result! What I am talking about is being healthier! This entry is meant to be an encouragement, to all of us, as we try and live healthier lives. I truly believe that our bodies are a gift and we are to take care of them! With this said, I also need to tell you, that as an adult I have struggled with my weight and this is always a challenge of mine! My desire is "to be healthier" and not to see a certain number on the scale.

Keeping these things in mind, I'm going to share some small changes that our family has made in regards to eating.

First, being a coffee drinker, I have switched from putting half & half in my coffee to whole milk! Secondly, we are adding more fiber to our diet. Switching to whole wheat pasta, whole wheat bread and brown rice. Did you notice the use of the word, "whole"? Read your labels carefully, some things that sound healthy aren't as healthy as they sound. Other simple changes include switching to canola oil, using ground turkey in place of ground beef and serving spinach leaves for our salad. I also try to purchase the lite or low fat ingredients when I need such items like sour cream, buttermilk and cheese. Note, be careful when cooking with fat free ingredients. These products can really change how your recipe turns out. Yet, sometimes fat free works just fine. This morning I made an omelet and used Kraft fat free cheddar cheese and it melted perfectly!

This summer I made a lot of jam! So, I started making English Muffin Bread to go along with it. In my quest to be healthier, I found this recipe from Allrecipes for Multi-Grain English Muffin Bread



1 package active dry yeast
1 1/4 cup warm water (110 to 115)
2/3 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup quick cooking oats
1/3 cup wheat germ
1 Tablespoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 to 1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
Cornmeal for pan

Directions: In a mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in water. Add whole wheat flour, oats, wheat germ, sugar, salt and 1 cup flour; beat until smooth. Add enough all purpose flour to form a soft dough. Place in greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour. Punch dough down (do no knead). Shape into a loaf. Coat a 9" x 5" x 3" loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray and sprinkle with cornmeal. Place dough in pan. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pan and cool on a wire rack.

Now if you are wondering what else you can do with whole wheat flour and wheat germ I will be sharing with you a couple of additional recipes in the near future.

My question for you is, what little changes have you made to your diet to live a healthier lifestyle?

Kids in the Kitchen

Tomorrow my oldest daughter will celebrate her half birthday at school. For the past two years she has wanted to make frosted, heart shaped, sugar cookies. This just fits her personality right down to the pink frosting!



I think part of the reason that she likes the cookies so much, is because she gets to help make them. My girls are in the kitchen a lot and for the most part I welcome their involvement. Growing up I loved being in the kitchen with my Mom and sister, and now I get to pass that love on to my girls!

Every time you have kids in the kitchen there are some important things to consider.

#1 is Safety! Accidents do happen, but we need to be on the lookout for potential dangers. Especially around the stove.

#2 is Age appropriate! What can kids do? What equipment can they use? Can you modify the instructions, or add a step, to involve kids? It is amazing, with a little help, what kids can do.

#3 is Practice patience! This is the thing that I need to remind myself to do when cooking with children! Things don't need to be done perfectly! It is okay if the heart shaped cookies are a "little out of shape", or if flour gets on the floor, from an over zealous mixer! Note to self - Don't clean your kitchen floors before cooking with kids, you will have to do it again when you are finished. Realize that things might take a "little longer", compared to how long it normally takes you to complete a task.

#4 is Look for teachable moments! Cooking can lead to great quality time with your kids and great opportunities to teach them many "life lessons" like sharing, healthy eating habits, and cleanliness to just name a few.



As you are in the kitchen with kids, you are in the process of transforming your house into a home!

Warming Up

When it is like this outside



I warm up with this inside!




Thanks to Vanessa at V & /CO! You can find her tutorial here to make your own foot warmer. Or you can use it on your lap, back, neck, etc. I will warn you, I'm addicted to mine! My husband does say our home is starting to smell like rice krispies!

The Learning Curve

Last night I took advantage of a great opportunity to further my learning in the area of organization. I attended a seminar, hosted by a local church, that featured a professional organizer. Since the topic of organizing is of interest to me, I was very excited to attend this event, and continue my learning in this area.

Andrea, owner of Organization Made Simple, is young, enthusiastic and passionate about what she does! It was evident that she took to heart the advice of "do what you love" and made a career out of it. I came away with a few new tips on the area of organizing and I'm also planning on having her do an in house presentation with some of my friends. So, if you are interested just let me know! Her website is here and it has a number of resources on the topic of organizing. In the future I hope to post some of my before and after organizing pictures. Stating that I'm going to post about this topic helps keep me accountable to actually doing it! Feel free to ask me, how my organizing projects are coming along!

I just want to share two "tips" that Andrea pointed out last night.

#1 Set a timer!! Even if it is for 15 minutes, see how much organizing you can get done in a short period of time.

#2 Take small bites! You can't expect to organize your house all at once! Start small, even if it is a kitchew drawer.

Are You Friends?

Let me introduce you to one of my favorite friends in the kitchen

my crock pot!

I actually have two crock pots and I use them both. Recently I have started physical therapy,for my knee. This means that I am out of the house from 4:15 until almost 6:00 PM, two nights a week! This schedule is right in the middle of dinner preparation and eating for our family. So, I am using my crock pot as much as possible!

With this winter weather one of my favorite meals in the crock pot is chili! I have been experimenting with a couple of different recipes for a red chili. I have found the best recipes to have a number of different types of beans, some cumin and chocolate in the recipe.


My friend, Brenda, was wondering if I'm going to be putting all of my recipes on my new blog. I can't promise that I will post all of them, but here is one that goes great with any chili.

CORN BREAD
2 pkg. Jiffy corn muffin mix
3 eggs
1/2 cup oil (I use Canola)
1 cup sour cream (light)
1 15 ounce can creamed corn.
Mix all ingredients together and bake in a greased 9 x 13 pan @350 for 25-30 minutes. This is a very moist corn bread!

If you are looking for more crock pot recipes be sure to check out Stephanie's blog at A Year of CrockPotting!

Love is in the Air

Love is in the air or should I say the aroma of love is in the air! Maybe it is the smell of sauteing onions and celery.



Maybe it is the smell of a roasting turkey.


Or maybe it is the smell of melting chocolate. That turns into chocolate covered strawberries!

=



For Valentine's Day I made my husband, and girls, a turkey dinner! This speaks my husband's love language! I have probably cooked a dozen turkeys in my life and each one of them is different.First of all I want to make one thing clear, "I am NOT an expert when it comes to turkeys!!" Once I brined a turkey, one other time (or two) I used a bag, and all the other times I basically put it in my roasting pan.

This time I made sure the turkey was completely thawed and resting peacefully in the fridge. Once it was rinsed and patted dry I coated it lightly with olive oil, followed by salt & pepper. I used a navel orange to stuff the cavity, (first time I did this). Then, I used some vegetables to act as my roasting rack.


One thing I have noticed is that my turkey's usually take a little less baking time in the roaster, compared to the posted baking time. Here is one secret that my Mom told me, and maybe it is no secret at all, but once you take the turkey out of the oven, pour the juices over the turkey and then cover for 20 minutes! The turkey seems to absorb some of the juices that help make it tender. It worked for me. I would love to hear some of your turkey tips!

Here is a picture of my three favorite Valentine's!! I was so excited that my girls are finally old enough to handle tableclothes and candles! My sweet husband asked if I wanted to remove the girls' Disney cups for the picture. My response was, "NO, this is reality!! I want people to realize that picture perfect, doesn't always fit with reality!"

Happy Valentine's Day

I wasn't going to post today! I had so much to do, in preparation for our family Valentine's meal (which I will share in a later post), that I thought I just don't have time to post. However, that all changed, once I saw this.....


You see, last night, my husband and I went out to dinner to celebrate an early Valentine's meal, just the two of us!! When we came home, we went up to our girls' rooms to check on them and I noticed that my oldest daughter made this cute Valentine's banner. It is hard to see from the pictures, but it says "Happy Valentines Day!" I just loved it and I couldn't wait to ask her about it this morning. She said it was her idea and that her baby sitter helped her make it. I love the fact that she wanted to decorate on her own room and that she used her own creativity!!

This also made me think that I have never posted pictures of my daughters' bedrooms. I finished them (if you are ever finished), almost three years ago. I found their quilts at Pottery Barn Kids. I decided to use some garage sale money for this purchase, and it has been a great investment! Thankfully, I was able to make their own valances and bed skirts on my own. I also saved money by purchasing their sheets at a discount store.

Currently the girls don't share a room, but I wanted the rooms to be complimentary and I also chose the same bedding and headboard in case they ever share a room. I purchased the headboards from the Cottage Corner, a store in which they paint old furniture. I love the cottage style so this seemed to fit perfectly with the look that I was going for.

In both rooms I used Benjamin Moore paint. Both girls had pale sea mist as their main color. My one daughter had her entire room painted with pale sea mist, and then I hired a college girl to paint falling flowers all over her entire room. We got the idea of flowers out of the fabric from the valance and the flowers in the quilt. For my youngest daughter's room. I painted three different colors. Weston Flax was painted on the top part, and then the bottom was either pale sea mist or cotton candy. The border made a great break between the colors. (And it also breaks up any painting flaws).

Here is a picture of the falling flowers.



Next is the picture of the three different colors together.



Hope you have a great Valentine's Day!!! I will be sharing our family highlights in the next couple of days!

A Little Valentine Decor

A couple weeks ago my oldest daughter had a friend over and we decided it would be fun to make a craft. Since I didn't have many Valentine Decorations, it seemed like the logical choice for our craft time. I had seen a number of heart banners being displayed and then I saw some heart ornaments at the local Hobby Lobby store. I purchased the wooden heart ornaments, but you could easily make them out of a heavy cardboard.

So, with a little mod podge glue and scrapbooking paper, we made our patterns and then started covering the hearts. I found that with a little help, this was a fairly easy project for six year old girls to make. They had a lot of fun choosing their individual paper.





The heart ornaments were also a great idea because they could be used anywhere in the home, or easily slipped into a special Valentine's card. I hung a couple of the hearts from the doors of the kitchen pantry.

It Is Finished

Over the summer I had a little extra time, since I wasn't teaching, so I started some new hobbies. One of those hobbies was quilting. I have always sewn, from the time I was a little girl, so quilting has always held an interest to me. After pouring over some blogs, like Camille and Heather's, I picked up the book "Turning Quarters" and I picked out 20 fun fabrics that I wanted to work with.

I had many learning experiences as I put the quilt together and I also found out that the next time it might be easier to have someone else do the quilting after I piece it together. For anyone who is interested, I pieced and quilted the entire quilt on my home sewing machine. The only hand sewing that I did was the finishing of the binding (outer edge).

After working on the quilt "here and there" over the fall and winter I finally finished it on Superbowl Sunday (before the game). It is far from perfect, but I love it! I love the fact that it has multiple functions. First of all I have it on display in our living room. It brightens up our living space with all the fun fabrics. However, most importantly, it is warm and cuddly. This quilt is meant to be used!




Here is my youngest daughter, modeling how comfy the quilt can be.




The verdict is still out if this will be my last quilt or the first of many.

New Beginnings

I have been blogging for two years at My Cup Overflowing. At times it has been a challenge to keep up with my blogging and there are many days that I find myself thinking, "I should really blog about this," but then the thought quickly passes. So, lately I have been asking myself in what areas do I really want to focus on? I keep coming back to my "domestic ideas" and the things of the home that I love to do and have a passion to do.

So, this blog is about making a house a home! Whether you live in a 500 square foot apartment or a 5,000 square foot home. My goal is to share with you the things that I'm learning whether that deals with cooking, decorating, saving money, crafting or taking care of your family.

Comments are great and I have found other bloggers to be some of the greatest resources when it comes to "making a house a home". I also want to point out that it doesn't matter if you are single, married, with or without children, working full time or staying at home, male or female for that matter, we can all make our living environment one that is enjoyable and a safe haven for all who enter it.

So, come along for the ride as I start this new chapter, or should I say new blog!