Hospitality Part 1: Planning to Eat

Deciding to move into our new house came with the desire to be able to have more people over more often.

Adam and I LOVE hospitality (providing for the physical, emotional, spiritual needs of another even at our own expense) and feel a strong urge to share the kind of hospitality God has shown us.

Well the hope to share our home has certainly been a reality. 

We've been "home" for a little over three weeks and have already had the pleasure of loving on and being loved on by so many people under this new roof.  

We've even had a few over-nighters. 

What a blessing from the Lord. 

As I put together my shopping list for the week I was struck by how many more people we'll be feeding just this week!

Three out of seven nights we'll have extra people eating with us.

This is why I meal plan!

We would go broke and I would waste so much time and patience running back and forth to the store.

And the meals that I did throw together would probably be pretty junky and meager.  

source

I thought I would share my meal plan that helps provide the peace I need for the week. 

This plan includes feeding my family every meal + snacks, dinner with a couple coming over to discuss wedding details with Adam, dinner with a spiritual daughter, and all the meat for our small group gathering. 

Monday 

Breakfast: cereal, fruit, milk

Lunch: turkey sandwich and pears 

Snack: yogurt

Dinner: pasta with homemade tomato sauce, buttered bread, salad

Tuesday

B: muffins, milk

L: hard boiled egg, fruit, cheese stick, chips

S: a pear

D: guests: slow cooked pulled pork, sweet rolls, slaw, chips

Wednesday

B: cereal, fruit, milk

L: leftover pork + rice, fruit

S: poptart and milk

D: fast food 

Thursday  

B: cereal, fruit, milk

L: pb+ j, fruit, chips

S: yogurt

D:hots dogs, baked beans, tator tots

Friday

B: oatmeal, milk

L: leftover hot dogs + chips

S: apple + peanut butter

D: Fish, greens beans, mac 'n cheese

Saturday

B: waffles, fruit, milk

L: pb + j, fruit. chips

S: treat

D: guest: pulled pork + rice, green beans, buttered bread (might be homemade)

Sunday 

B: oatmeal, milk

L: out

S: popcorn

D: small group: we will provide burgers, hot dogs, buns, + paper products

I tend to stick exactly to what I've got planned for dinners but the rest is just a suggestion. Often one dinner will roll into another. For instance, I have a large amount of pork so we'll be able to use that for two substantial meals that will easily feed guests and my family. I'll know to cook it all at once and set half aside for another dinner down the line. 

As far as breakfast, lunch, and snack go I'll do something different if I know the kids aren't up for what I have planned. Or sometimes I just need to do an easier option if it's been a rough day or if I *ahem* overslept. 

Another perk of having a plan is the peace I can have when I know someone is coming over and I know exactly what to make and when to start making it. 

I don't end up so distracted and feeling like I need to be apologetic for a rushed together meal. 

If you want to be hospitable whether it be to guests our your own family, a little planning goes a long way to making hospitality more manageable, sustainable, and peaceful for you. Though there's also something to be said for being able to meet the needs for a meal or companionship for someone at a moment's notice.

Believe it or not, you can also do some things to set everyone up for success in that case to. 

I'll share some things I do to help me be ready to help someone else with little notice. 

What We Did This Winter

I made a wanna-do list for us back in January.
This winter (as all the other seasons so far) has flown by!
I really can't believe we're already on to spring.
Believe me, I'm not complaining, but goodness!
Time DOES fly when you're having fun.

We didn't do as much in the snow as I thought we might.
Turns out babies and snow don't mix well.
Alright by me :)

We did get square donuts and they were delicious!

Adam and I went away with friends for a weekend back in February.
We made a stop at IKEA (love that place) and went to Cedarville, Oh for a worship leaders conference.
It was so fun to be just a couple together.
Definitely a nice breather from family/foster life.

Then in early March we were able to go to a concert with another couple.

When Valentine's day came, though we didn't make a garland, we hung a few up and decorated.
Plus there were pink chocolate chip pancakes the morning of :)

One night we had breakfast for dinner, biscuits and gravy to be exact.

This recipe was yummy and simple. 

Just a few weeks ago, we made it to the children's museum.

It was a blast and we will definitely be returning soon. 

Last but certainly not least, these people slept in!

I could say that that is a skill Adam and I have worked to develop in our girls.

We are late night/late morning people and proud of it :)

Making a family work is hard work but it is so fun.
Seriously.
This year so far has been one of the most extraordinary, pleasurable, challenging years of my life.
I hope it never ends.

My Go-To Sweet Snack (Lately)

I've been making a really simple trail mix that just hits the spot.
Usually after I eat a meal, I want something sweet.
Not a lot, just something smallish and sweet-ish.

So here's what I've been throwing together...

Almonds, craisins, and semi-sweet chocolate.

Actually I would prefer dark chocolate but semi-sweet was on sale so.... yea. 

That's what we've got to work with for this batch :)

I have no system. 

Usually I'll dump half of the almonds into another container to be eaten on their own. 

Then I dump a good amount of craisins and chocolate into the almond bag. 

I know. 

Really sophisticated. 

Then.....

.... I shake it. 

Watch out. 

And bam.

A yummy, healthy snack. 

Actually healthy might be a bit of a stretch. 

But it's better than a bag of oreos. 

All kidding aside, it really is a good choice. 

Sure I'm eating sugar laden, processed chocolate. 

But I'm also getting some fruit and a good amount of protein in. 

Also I've read that eating protein alongside a sugary treat can help keep your blood sugar levels from spiking and then plummeting. 

Plus, it travels well :)

Baking

Thursday afternoon, once naps were out of the way, we got down to some cookie making.

I used this recipe.....

link

.... and to be honest, I think it really is the best sugar cookie recipe, at least of any I've tried.

My helper was game so we just kind of jumped into it. 

She rolled and cut cookies and pulled up the extra dough. 

But mostly she just played with the flour on the counter top and on her hands. 

I know. Nothing to do with cookies but she's just so cute. 

These are the actual baked cookies.

They really are perfect. 

They kept their shape, they didn't turn super brown, and they're really tasty.

Also I don't have any cookie cutters. 

(I know right? How do I not have any cookie cutters)

I just used a top from a jar with a hole punched in so it would release the dough. 

I need to run to the store to get stuff for icing so decorating will have to wait for another afternoon.
I guess we can cross making Christmas cookies off our Christmas Wanna-Do List.... well, almost. :)

A Whale of a Post

Hi blog!
You ready for a major download?

Life seems to flow on with a haze around it.
But some things lately.....
...................................................................................................................................................................
- for Thanksgiving (nearly 2 weeks ago already!) we drove to Adam's Aunt's house near Indianapolis. Since we were first married we decided that we would alternate which side we visited on Thanksgiving every year.
We do Christmas with all (or as many as possible).
It's worked out pretty well for us and limits the crazy.
..................................................................................................................................................................
- I always love having leftover turkey for sandwiches and whatnot and usually just try to bum some off our host that year :) This year though I just bought our own and roasted it at home. It was so easy! I just rubbed it with some salt, stuck it in one of those roasting bags, layed it in a disposable roasting pan, and cooked it for about 4 hours. It was perfect. And we had "leftover" turkey for a week.

Left over turkey recipies-

this turkey chili sounds really good 

...................................................................................................................................................................
- Our church is in the middle of its advent series.
All three pastors are rotating giving each message.
Adam gave the message the Sunday of Thanksgiving week and is giving it again this week.
I love hearing him preach/ teach. Whether it's to a group of high school students or a whole congregation, his heart is all in and he simply seeks to let God speak through him.
Love that man. :)
No doubt though it takes him a decent chunk of time and energy in the week(s) before to prepare and seek God's will.
Its hard work and I appreciate all that not only he but the other leaders put into their task.

...................................................................................................................................................................
- As far as babyland goes, things are good.
Both girls had to get vaccines last Friday.
Sweetums does fine with them and never seems to suffer much discomfort afterwards.
This was the first time I had been with Peanut as she had hers though and it's been a different story.
Both her sleeping and eating habits have been off, especially eating. Poor baby.

- Also in babyland, Peanut has been staying in our room in a pack 'n play since we got her 2 months ago.
Well things have been mounting and all of a sudden, I decided it was time to move her on to her sister's room and out of ours.
Her eviction was cold turkey.
Last night was the first night with the new arrangement and I was prepared for the worst: waking each other up, non stop crying, a super early morning......
But it went surprisingly well.
Peanut slept til 3 am. I heard her through the monitor and went to feed her.
Sweetums did wake up and did cry but Peanut went right back to sleep when she finished her bottle. Sweetums eventually calmed herself down and fell back to sleep.
Even though I had a hard time settling back down I didn't hear anything else from them until 7 am. That is a solid win in my book. Hopefully we can maintain that amount of peace. :)
Ha, we'll see.
...................................................................................................................................................................
- Last Thursday I went over to a friend's house and we watch the live production of Peter Pan on NBC.....

I thought it was ok. 

The whole styling of it was just too glossy and perfect.

They needed some dirt rubbed in.  

And I know that in original productions of the play like a hundred years ago a girl would usually play Pan but it was just kind of weird for today's world with the prominence of homosexuality. :/

Also (sorry!) none of the lost boys were actual boys!

There were only 2 children in the whole thing!

What's with that?

...................................................................................................................................................................

But my friend made this awesome yummy popcorn and shared the recipe with me:

“Dorito” or Taco Popcorn (I know right? yum)

★★★★★

Mixes & Spices, Snacks
Makes Makes 6-8 cups ∙ Source Wholenewmom.com

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup unpopped popcorn kernels (organic preferred)
• 2 -3 Tbsp coconut oil for popping (I love Tropical Traditions oil)
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder or granules
• 1 teaspoon onion powder or granules
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/8 – 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
• 2 teaspoons salt (I recommend Real Salt)

Directions

1.  Prepare popcorn using oil with preferred method.  My Basic Popcorn post has simple instructions and information about my favorite stovetop popcorn popper.  Air popped popcorn won’t work without additional oil since the seasoning needs moisture from the oil in order to adhere to the popcorn.
2.  Combine all spices, and salt in a small bowl.
3.  Blend seasonings in a spice or coffee grinder, or blend in blender to make a fine powder.
4.  Sprinkle seasoning over popcorn and toss to coat

   
Yup. Super yummy, super easy, super not-at-all-terrible-for-you
...................................................................................................................................................................
Otherwise Christmas is in full swing around here.
The tree is up, lots of presents are bought (but not all), cards are in the mail, and the calendar is filling up.
I've got several little projects weighing on my mind that I plan to jump on this week.
One are some photo ornaments for the girls as keepsakes,

link

wrapping gifts for our family Christmas party this weekend, and making a gift for my sister-in-law.

Good stuff.
I like it :)

Taking Care

I've noticed during times of transition, my eating habits go WAAAAAY down on the quality scale.
I go into some sort of eat to live mode and whatever is easy and quick goes in.
When I'm in some sort of big transition the stress of it---whether it be moving, a big trip, new babies, or whatever--- makes me almost completely loose my appetite.
Not much sounds good.
Except of course things like pizza, pasta, cookies, prepackaged foods.......
So I mostly either don't eat anything or I really badly.

Oy.

It doesn't help that I have a super caring, wonderful husband who shows his care by buying me all the oreos and A&W Rootbeer I want.
:)

So these last couple of weeks have been a prime example of this phenomenon.
This time around though I've actually been pretty aware of it and have kind of just let it be because.... just because.
There have been other things to worry about.
But as I start to feel my feet coming back to earth, I'm just as conscious about wanting to get back to better (maybe still not the best) habits.
I'm also noticing the effects of eating so crappy, those especially being bad skin and bad moods.

So this morning I ate breakfast!
Woot.
That's a win right there.

Not only did I eat, but instead of the syrupy pancakes and coffee w/ flavored creamer that really sounded good, I had some yogurt w/ cinnamon + honey, a really good apple, and a big glass of water.

One thing I do think I do pretty well is drinking a lot of water. 

But I didn't until I started filling up this gallon pitcher and chilling it in the fridge. 

I'm much more likely to drink water when it's really cold and 

this way I don't have to deal with the ice. 

So here's to not letting myself eat only completely crappy 100% of the time.
Maybe only like 25% 30% of the time.

Fun Graphic

I came across this sweet map (you like what I did there?) of the United States and each state's dessert.

Click here to see the whole article....

No state was assigned apple pie or chocolate chip cookies because of course those are just too universal..... or national? whatever.

Apparently the state dessert of Indiana is sugar cream pie or Hoosier cream pie.
I guess I'm familiar with cream pie but I've never heard it called sugar cream pie.....is it the same thing?
Also I don't think I've ever had it.

After questioning Google on this matter, turns out that a sugar cream pie truly is just a cream pie with the flavor of...... you guessed it: sugar. :)

Click here to see a complete Hoosier Sugar Cream Pie recipe.
I think something more like apple crisp or some sort of cobbler would suit Indiana better

I tried to read through the list of all 50 states and their desserts but it made my mouth water insanely.
What's your state's dessert and do you agree?
. 

Checking In

Wow.
I did not mean to go this long without a post.

Life's busy-ness strikes again I guess.
And that's just what has been going on.
A whirlwind of the same ol', same ol': naptimes, laundry, youth group, movie nights, make a meal, eat a meal, clean up a meal, church, visits,....

Some things I've been focused on lately....:

The Duggars

After dealing with some mommy-ing frustrations, I thought who lives out better how to be loving, patient, intentional parents than the ones who have nearly 2 dozen kids?!
So I checked out their books from the library.
They're just so cool.
They're real people who just live out their convictions.
I love their parenting style.
It's simple, humble, loving, consistent, and honors God.
I just want some of that :)

Also, yogurt. Not just any yogurt, HOMEMADE, so super simple, yogurt.
Here's the link to the recipe I've been using....

http://www.earlybirdmom.com/blog/2014/02/homemade-yogurt-tutorial/#_a5y_p=1243231

I've made 3 batches.
The first one I didn't heat to a high enough temperature so it never really became very firm.
The last two have been spot on!
So good.
I usually add some honey or agave and vanilla.
A simple, yummy, CHEAP snack

Lastly, I've been shopping for some new sheets!
One of those things that I just love is bedding: duvets, sheets, blankets, pillows......
It just feels so good to have really nice, clean bedding.

I found my newest set at Target....

$30 for a queen size set. 

Not bad :)

Haitian Beans + Rice

I've had the privilege of being able to go on 2 short term mission trips to Haiti.

The first time I went I was 13 years old and then I got to go again 5 years later when I was 18. 

Maybe sometime I'll go into more on what that was like but right now I want to note my two favorite foods from Haiti: the plantains and the beans + rice.

Plantains (smallish bananas) are so sweet and yummy its like eating candy. 

The beans and rice though are what I wanted to recreate so badly though I could taste it. ;)

Everyone everywhere there eats this classic combo. 

The school where I served fed this to their students (and us) every day for lunch. 

It's cheap, nutritous, and delicious!

Especially the when you get some of the crispy burnt bits. 

I came across this recipe on My Haitian Kitchen and made it for dinner last night.

To make it more husband satisfying, I added some cooked shredded chicken. 

 Ahh! I was SO happy to find and make this dish. 

It really did taste like my memory of the simple dish I had in Haiti.

So go make it and tell me what you think!

Is there an ingredient that surprises you?

Clean Eating.... reluctantly

Clean eating.
It's been hitting me from all sides recently.
In a good way.... of course.

I have a fellow blogger/ friend who has just begun (like in the last couple of months) to eat clean.
Another of the same has had 2 kids in 2 years and started to eat clean (and work out) and has regained a body that I think is BETTER than what it was before she had kids.
I have another friend who was brought up on clean eating and has actually begun to give classes on eating clean.
I have a mother-in-law who went to that class.
And yet another friend who is beginning to go so far as to raise some of her own animals for their products.
 I have a family with a history of being over weight and dealing with health issues that come from not eating well.

The clean eating movement is alive and well in my neck of the woods.

Honestly, my first reaction is skepticism.
Because I'm a butt.
And I tend towards being crappy like that.

I am also overwhelmed........ because I want to take care of Adam's body and mine as much as I can too.
And I would like to get a handle on it before I've got kids thrown in the mix.

I am married to a man who likes bowls of sugary cereal, Dr. P, lunch meat sandwiches, bread, chicken (nearly every night of the week).etc.
Plus I really like LOVE sugar, peanut butter, pasta, pre-made/convenience products, and getting as much for my $$ as I can when it comes to groceries.
Mr. Conner is a big eater and funds are limited.
And though I know we should eat to live, not live to eat..... I would still like to enjoy my food.

How on EARTH! do you get in on the goodness of clean eating without hating every meal, going bankrupt, and not spending hours making from scratch meals 3X a day?

So I googled it..... of course.

"How to begin eating clean?"

I found:
Article 1

Article 2

Article 3

These articles pretty much repeat each other but they all just listed the same simple (albeit not always easy) steps.
I think, at least for the next month for us I'll focus on:

• reading packaged goods labels for ingredients: if you can't pronounce it, it's not clean
• Making a meal plan including all my meals (I make a loose one for dinner options already but not for it all)
• eating less refined sugar and grains (keyword: less)
• eating more protein (I think I would eat less sugar and grain if I ate more protein.)

I think I can manage that. 

Do you have any experience or tips in this arena?

Grace? Tracey? I'm talking especially to you here :)

Kale Powder

The other day, I was putting together my grocery shopping list and scrolling through my pinned recipes for some ideas. 

I came across a long lost pin on how to make kale powder and thought I would give it a try. 

It seemed simple enough, especially for how beneficial it could be. 

I'm really *really* bad at making sure I eat enough vegetables so hopefully this'll give my health a boost. 

This powder can be added to all sorts of things like smoothies, soups, sauces, pasta, scrambles eggs, etc.

(Click here for the source of this recipe)

Rinse and pat dry your kale leaves. 

You're also supposed to remove the leafy parts from the stalk.

.....I however read over this step. 

Oops.

So yea do that so your leaves will dry better. 

 You can use a dehydrator to dry out your leaves, or if like me you don't have one, you can just use your oven.

Arrange 'em all on a cookie sheet.

Make sure they don't overlap- this also helps them dry better. 

Turn oven on to it's lowest setting and bake leaves for 20-40 minutes. 

This is where a dehydrator would be nice because in an oven the leaves can 

burn easily if you don't keep checking on them after those first 20 minutes. 

Pull them out when the kale is nice and crispy all over....

....

.... then sweep it all into a food processor.  

Process for about 3 minutes or until it's all a nice powder.

Store in an air tight container. 

Obviously one bunch of kale doesn't make a whole lot. 

I'm considering it a sample size

:)

Cheesy Buffalo Chicken Pasta

With all this snow here in the Midwest, a hot dinner every night is almost essential.
I tried this recipe last night, cheesy buffalo chicken pasta.
It was a HOT meal and then some. :)

Super yummy though.

I made some guacamole and we ate it with some chips on the side.

Pie!

I had a hankering for something decadent and I came across this lightened Chocolate Cream Pie recipe. 
I had never made a pie before but this looked too good to pass up.

Ingredients

• 
  Crust:
• 40 graham crackers (10 full cracker sheets) (I used chocolate grams)
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons butter or stick margarine, melted
• 1 large egg white
• Cooking spray
• Filling:
• 2 cups fat-free milk, divided
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 large egg
• 2 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups frozen reduced-calorie whipped topping, thawed
• 3/4 teaspoon grated semisweet chocolate

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. To prepare crust, place crackers in a food processor; process until crumbly. Add 2 tablespoons sugar, butter, and egg white; pulse 6 times or just until moist. Press crumb mixture into a 9-inch pie plate coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 8 minutes; cool on a wire rack 15 minutes.
3. To prepare filling, combine 1/2 cup milk, 2/3 cup sugar, and next 4 ingredients (2/3 cup sugar through egg) in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk.
4. Heat 1 1/2 cups milk in a heavy saucepan over medium-high heat to 180° or until tiny bubbles form around edge (do not boil). Remove from heat. Gradually add hot milk to sugar mixture, stirring constantly with a whisk. Return milk mixture to pan. Add chopped chocolate; cook over medium heat until thick and bubbly (about 5 minutes), stirring constantly. Reduce heat to low; cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla. Pour into prepared crust; cover surface of filling with plastic wrap. Chill 3 hours or until cold. Remove plastic wrap; spread whipped topping evenly over filling. Sprinkle with grated chocolate.

This pie was so easy because it used stuff that I (and most people probably) already had on hand.

The only things I had to buy were the graham crackers and whipped topping costing me $3.

So yummy and definitely worth the tiny bit of effort. 

Mashed Butternut Squash

So far this week has been pretty uneventful.....
and I'm totally cool with that.

I've just been working, puttering around at home, and doing some projects for the soonly finished nursery at our church (again, pics to come, I promise!)

The temperature has plummeted around here so I've been craving tons of hot drinks and comforting food.
Something I've been wanting to try is roasted and mashed butternut squash.
I don't think I've even eaten any kind of squash/gourd other than pumpkin pie..... and I'm not sure that counts.

After picking one up at the store I finally got around to making some with roasted chicken, spicy spinach, and freshly baked bread.

Wow.

That was probably one of the best meals I've made in a while.
So YUMMY!
And the squash was probably my favorite part.
Adam was in heaven.

I kept my mashed butternut squash pretty simple so I could recreate it easily with things I usually have on hand.

Here's my made up recipe:

You'll need

• 1 whole butternut squash
• 3 TBSP butter
• 1/4 C. brown sugar
• 2 tsp. pumpkin spice

- Set oven too 400 degrees. Cut squash in half and scoop out seeds. 

-Place flat side down on a cookie sheet and roast for 1 hour

- When it's done, scoop out the insides into an oven-safe dish. Mix in butter, half of the sugar, and spices.

- Make sure it's all mashed and well combined. Smooth out the top.

- Sprinkle on the rest of the brown sugar and put dish in oven for another 15-20 at 400 degrees. 

That's it!

I was expecting the dish to taste a lot like sweet potato, and it did. But it was also very unique. 

I think this will be my go-to holiday dish this year. 

Can't wait to make it again! 

:)

Baking Mood

Yes, the baking mood has struck here.
In the last 3 days I've made rice krispy treats (not sure that really counts), 2 ingredient pumpkin cookies (they were gross, I threw them out), and finally the recipe I'm going to share with you here today:
Pumpkin Yogurt Banana Bread (spoiler alert: it's delicious).

Ingredients

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup whole wheat flour (or all-purpose flour)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon cloves
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup pumpkin puree (homemade or store bought)
• 2 large over-ripe bananas
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup Greek yogurt
• 1 cup pecans, toasted and coarsely chopped (optional)

Directions

1. Mix the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves in a large bowl.
2. Mix brown sugar, pumpkin puree, bananas, eggs and yogurt in another large bowl.
3. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients followed by the pecans.
4. Pour the mixture into a greased 9x5 inch loaf pan. (I used a muffin pan)
5. Bake in a preheated 350F oven until golden brown and a toothpick poked into the center comes out clean, about 60 minutes. (for muffins: 350 degrees for 20 minutes)

Source: http://www.yummly.com/recipe/external/Pumpkin-greek-yogurt-banana-bread-351504

This recipe makes really yummy, moist muffins that aren't too sweet. 

And of course they're season appropriate.

End of the Summer Smoothie

This morning I went out on a branch as far as smoothie recipies go.
The last time I was at the grocery store, they had mangoes and peaches SUPER cheap.
So I bought a couple peaches and one mango to make a smoothie with.

(Ina disneyland cup, of course :). They happen to be the perfect size)

Here's my recipe.

You'll need:

• 1/2 mango
• 1 peach
• 1/2 C frozen pineapple
• 1/2 C chilled green tea (I used some that had a honey ginseng flavor)
• handful of ice

Directions: put it all in a blender. Hit the button. Pour into a glass. Mmmmmm....

If you like it a bit sweeter, add some honey.... or sugar.... whatever floats your boat

Getting that Fall Feeling

I always look forward to the change of seasons.

I especially love fall.
We were talking for awhile about making a big move and I've always said living in a place that has a fall season is important to me.
It's just such a sensory season.
All the new textures, scents, tastes, lowering temperatures, and even sounds are refreshing once summer ends.
And it doesn't hurt that I'm not starting school anymore in the fall either :)

Pinterest has come through again in giving me a taste of what's to come.

Some recent finds......

Some inspiration for natural decor.

Wonderful colors

After such bright, warm summer days it's 

wonderful to make things cozier around home. 

I love the dark rustic feel of this table setting 

with the bright soup and whites for contrast. 

A wreath made using wheat- I guess wheat can be updated :)

Dark and cozy with comforting brights and whites

You can click on the picture for the recipe to make crock pot apple butter. 

And the wardrobe changes of course!

Soon it'll be time to switch out my 

shorts and swimsuits for boots and sweaters. 

Yay!

I love the richly colored dress with short boots. 

Also Parenthood returns on September 26! 

I love Parenthood!

Until it really starts to feel like fall and I feel like I can really start doing something about it, I'll be doing some extra cleaning projects around the house to get it ready for cooler weather. 

On my list:

• wash windows in and out
• wash window curtains
• clean out closets especially the coat closet

What do you do to get ready for fall?