Projects, projects...

Once again my blog has been neglected.  Life is good but very busy right now as we wind down from the summer (hoping to get a post up about our summer) and gear up for the new school year which begins next week. 

One of my goals for this fall is to get our home organized.  Our house was built in 1923 and while I absolutely love the character of older homes some things are just lacking...namely storage.  We are fortunate to have a walk up attic and a full basement but there is very little storage space in the actual living area.  I have started to plan, measure and make a shopping list for this task.  In the mean time I decided to tackle some smaller places first.

In the dining room we have a built in hutch (which again, I love!)  I use one drawer as an "art drawer" for the kids.  It provides easy access to crayons, playdoh, etc.  The other day I opened the drawer to see this:

Oh my!  Things were everywhere and what you can't see in this picture is all of the bits of dried playdoh, crayons, paper, etc at the bottom of the drawer.  Thankfully we have a dollar store just around the corner so off we went.  One quick trip and an hour or so later and now the drawer looks like this:

Much better!  Yes, it's a small space but it felt good to accomplish.  The kids had a great time today using the items now that they can get to them.  The bins seemed to work really well for them only taking one thing out at a time.   The bins are divided by activity: paints in the red basket, playdoh toys in one bin, pencils (regular & colored) scissors, glue sticks and hole punch in another bin and crayons in their own container.  The pink bag at the back contains small note pads and stickers, underneath the pink bag are their coloring books and construction paper.

Another fun project that I accomplished was a sewing project with my girls.  The other day Hailey asked if they could have some paper to make purses.  I suggested we use fabric and sew them new bags since they would last longer.  I let both Hailey & Keira go thru my fabric stash and design their own purse.  They helped some with cutting and pinning and then I sewed them up on my machine.  It felt good to use my sewing machine since I haven't had a chance to use it in several months.  I'm certainly not an accomplished seamstress but these were fun, easy projects and the girls love them.

Keira with her new "Peter Rabbit" themed bag:

Hailey with her fleece bag:

Health(ier) Whoopie pies/ Ice cream sandwiches

A few weeks ago I posted the following as my facebook status:

lesson learned: Someone (who shall remain nameless) was kind and bought my kids a "treat" today of some whoopie pies from Steves Snacks. I made the mistake of not checking the package before they were purchased and on the way home the kids asked if they could have them. They each split one said treat..I get home to find out that each "treat" has 800 calories (400 from fat) and they contain propylene glycol & hydrachloric acid !?!?!?!? Thankfully they each only had half, the rest went into the trash. I tried e-mailing the laboratory AKA bakery but surprise surprise their link doesn't work.

After being rather frustrated/disappointed by this I decided to set out to make a healthier version of whoopie pies.  These are by no means low fat or low calorie (they each have 350 calories) but they are much better than the 800 calories in store bought pies and also contain only real ingredients.  No hydrogenated oils, corn syrup, artificial flavors/colors or other weird ingredients/chemicals.

The filling for these was quite soft so I decided to freeze them into "ice cream" sandwiches.  I'm going to work on the filling some in the future to see if I can get one that's a bit thicker.  

Whoopie Pies/Ice cream sandwiches:
4 C all purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 C cocoa powder
1 C butter, softened
2 eggs
2 C brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla
1 C thick sour milk
1 C cold water 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Sift together flour, baking soda and cocoa; set aside.  Mix sour milk and water; set aside.  Cream together butter, eggs, brown sugar, salt and vanilla.  Add dry ingredients & milk alternating until both are used up.  Chill dough for 15 minutes. Drop by 2TB onto greased cookie sheets (I used the medium Pampered chef cookie scoop which worked well).   Bake for 8-10 minutes rotating pans half way thru cooking time.  Carefully remove to cooling rack (they will be delicate) and cool completely. **It is important to keep the batter very cold between batches so it doesn't spread too much when cooking.  

After cookies are cooled make filling:
1/2 C plain greek yogurt
1 C powdered sugar
2 tsp unflavored gelatin
8 tsp cold water
2 C heavy whipping cream
1 tsp vanilla

Chill bowl and whisk attachment.  Mix together yogurt and sugar; set aside.  Dissolve gelatin in cold water and set aside to thicken.  In cold mixer mix cream and vanilla until slightly thickened.  Heat gelatin and water over low heat until liquid.  With mixer running slowly drizzle pectin into cream.  Turn mixer to high and whip  until stiff.  Fold in yogurt mixture.  

Place one cookie, bottom side up, on piece of plastic wrap top with ~ 1/4 C filling and gently top with another cookie.  Wrap in plastic and place in freezer.  Continue until all filling & cookies have been used.  I got 22 sandwiches with a couple extra cookies that broke. Enjoy!

Book list

I have so many posts floating around in my head but not nearly enough time to get them all down.  I did want to post a list of books that I've read recently that have truly blessed and challenged me.  These are in no particular order.

- Kisses From Katie - a wonderful testimony of how one girl "lost her life" and gained the world.
- One Thousand Gifts - great teachings on how we are to be grateful for everything that God allows to enter our lives; even what seem to be the ugliest things.
- The Mission of Motherhood - Seeing our children as our mission field.
- Heaven at Home - how to truly have a peaceful haven for your family
- Crazy Love - (reading this now) what does it really mean to love Jesus and how we as a church & individuals have lost sight of this.
- How to worship Jesus Christ - a wonderful short book on what true worship looks like.

I also have a small pamphlet titled "My heart, Christ's home" which I'm reading thru again. In doing some searching I found that there is this devotional book which expands on this pamphlet.  I'll probably be ordering this soon.

So, what are you reading?  What has challenged, blessed, encouraged you lately?

Chicken chili for Nachos

While on vacation this summer by brother-in-law made us nachos for dinner.  My kids really don't care for beans so I was shocked when they ate large helpings of the chili topping and even requested it for lunch the next day.  Once we were home I attempted to recreate this chicken chili.  I guessed at some things but the kids really liked it and once again ate it right up.  It's a bit sweet due to the brown sugar.

Chicken Chili:
 2 chicken breasts, cooked and chopped or shredded
 1 TB olive oil
10oz frozen (or fresh) corn thawed and drained
1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
2 jars spaghetti sauce (I used Newman's Own Organic tomato & basil)
1 large onion chopped
Chili Powder
Garlic powder
Cayenne pepper
*all spices are to taste
1-2 TB brown sugar (divided use)

Heat oil in large pan over medium high heat.  Add onion and saute for a minute, then add 1/2 of the brown sugar and continue to cook onion until lightly caramelized.  Add in all other ingredients and cook until hot and bubbly, checking to make sure spice level is right.  Serve in bowls topped with cheese or over cheesy nacho chips.

Vegetable goat cheese quiche

A few weeks ago I was looking for a recipe to use up some goat cheese I had purchased.  I had already made a beet & peach salad to use up some of the cheese but had about 4oz left.  After looking at a few recipes on the internet I decided to make a goat cheese quiche by combining two separate recipes.  I have made this quiche twice; once using asparagus and once using two large bunches of swiss chard (leaves & stalks). Both quiche variations were well liked.  Here is what I did (links to the original recipes are at the bottom).

Vegetable goat cheese quiche:

For the Crust:
2 tablespoons butter, softened, plus more for pan
1 package (1 pound) frozen hash brown potatoes, thawed
1 large eggs

For the filling:

2 tablespoons butter
12 ounces asparagus, chopped**
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
1 cup sliced green onions
4 ounces soft goat cheese, crumbled
4 large eggs

3/4 cup milk

To prepare crust, Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Brush a 9-by-2 1/2-inch springform pan with butter. Line the sides of the pan with strips of waxed paper (the same height as pan); brush paper with butter.Squeeze excess moisture from hash browns. Mix in a bowl with butter, 1 egg, 1 teaspoon coarse salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Pat into bottom and up sides of prepared pan, using a moistened dry measuring cup. Place on a rimmed baking sheet; bake until set, 15 to 20 minutes.

Lower oven temperature to 350 degrees.


To prepare filling, melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add asparagus to pan. Sprinkle 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper over asparagus; sauté 8 minutes or until crisp-tender, stirring frequently. Add onions; sauté 2 minutes or until asparagus just begin to brown. Remove from heat. Spoon asparagus mixture into prepared shell in an even layer. Arrange goat cheese in an even layer over asparagus mixture.

Combine eggs, and milk. Stir in remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, and remaining 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Pour custard into pie plate. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until quiche is almost set in the center. Remove from heat, and cool 5 minutes on a wire rack before slicing.

**If using swiss chard; rinse well. separate leaves and stems.  Chop stems and cook in butter for 8 minutes.  Add chopped leaves with green onions and saute until wilted. 

Crust Recipe
Original filling recipe