Wednesday, March 23, 2011

going {{GREEN}}

In my efforts to surround my home with more natural products ( ....a little bit at a time...)  I decided to begin a quest of adding more green to my home decor by using live plants.  I took a little trip to Lowes the other day and this is what I mustered up.



It is almost like plants bring a breath of fresh air to the room. And not to mention the texture that they add. 



I have also fallen in love with this beautiful moss that I picked up a while ago at HL. The possibilities with this stuff are endless. I love the subtle pop of color it gives. 


On another note I purchased this awesome Hymnal the other day, and I am having a little problem!!! ....I originally bought this little beauty because I have seen some pretty cute ideas out there using the pages from a hymn book........BUT I can not bring myself to tear the pages out.  So here it sits. 




And for my favorite type of green .....who can resist these precious little wild onion flowers ( weeds )  picked by a certain sweet little three year old.

Thursday, March 10, 2011

amazing {bread}





I mentioned HERE that I finally found a delicious and easy bread recipe!

You must try this. It is super duper easy and so yummy! I honestly have not bought a loaf of bread in the last few months because we are addicted to this bread. It makes the BEST sandwiches, and it gives a whole other meaning to the grilled cheese!

{amazing} and {easy} bread:

In mixing bowl pour:
2.5 Cups hot tap water
1 T. salt
1/3Cup of oil ( i use coconut oil)
1/3 cup of honey
The 2 T. dry yeast ( 2 packets of active dry yeast)
Then add the 2 eggs
Mix in your flour...( I use either King Arthur unbleached flour or the King Arthur bread flour)  usually it takes about 6 cups of flour. I have learned that it depends on the weather and such...basically add the flour until the dough leaves the sides of the bowl.
After the flour is all mixed in, leave the machine to knead it for..10 minutes... ( i use my kitchen aid stand mixer and just let it run on speed 2 for 10 minutes)

Pour a pool of oil on your counter top,
Pull the dough out, with oiled hands, push all the dough into a big ball.
Cut that ball into 2 pieces...shape each piece into a loaf, place in Pam-sprayed pans.

Set the 2 pans of dough on top of the stove, cover with thin kitchen towel...
Turn oven on to 350*....Let bread raise for about 35 minutes, until it's about 1 1/2 inches above side of pan.
Place them in the oven..set the timer for 35 minutes.
When done, take them out, place each loaf on the cooling rack, slightly butter the tops..let cool.

You can also make this into a Whole Wheat bread:
for "all" wheat bread use about 5 3/4 cups of whole wheat flour
for a 1/2 white 1/2 whole wheat bread use 4 3/4 cups whole wheat flour and 1 3/4 cups white flour.

Enjoy!!!!!

Friday, March 4, 2011

~Printed Book Pages~

I have been seeing some pretty cute things out there in blogland using book pages. So today while I had a little "free time," I decided to give it a whirl,and start tearing some pages out of the old books that I have been collecting.

The hardest part of this project for me, was deciding what cute graphic I wanted to print on my book page. {There are some pretty cute images out there!} ......Thanks to the graphic fairy I found what I wanted. Go HERE if you what to try your hand at printing some of these awesome graphics.


I started with this:


I picked up a set of four of these at an Estate Sale and since sea shells just aren't my thang'........

I ended up with this:




I distressed my frame a bit using some good ol' sand paper and just placed my book page in the frame. Super easy! ........I am all about that!


It is a perfect little accessory to my kitchen.....that is still not complete but coming right along.

Have a lovely weekend!