{this moment}
{pretty, happy, funny, real}
Umm… Yeah… I just had to go and have a small, small piece of the baptism cake and a half a cup of coffee with cream at the reception. I’ve been paying for it ever since, which explains my lack of blogging this week. I just can’t believe how very sensitive this little one is to any dairy and caffeine. My husband has been out of town the last couple days as well, which has made for a challenging start to Lent. I think God might be telling me that He wants me to keep it extra simple this year…
For Sarah…
And… If anyone has any great tips for all the paper clutter, that goes along with home educating, I’d love to hear them. I’m hoping to tackle the disaster that is in our school room this weekend!
Simple Homemade Granola {and Giveaway Winner!}
Recently a friend of mine shared a recipe for her delicious Homemade Granola, made with coconut oil and sweetened with honey. Yesterday I made another batch and took a few pictures to share, along with the recipe. (Oh, and the flowers were my St. Valentine’s Day gift from Hubby, along with a couple new skirts!!! I guess he got tired of hearing me say that “nothing fits!”;) He is such a sweetie!)
- 12 cups oats (I used Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Whole Grain Rolled Oats)
- 4 cups unsweetened Coconut Flakes (I used one package of these)
- 6 cups of raw nuts and seeds (I used 3 cups of almonds, 1 cup of walnuts, 1 cup of pecans, and 1 cup of sunflower seeds)
- 1 cup coconut oil
- 1 cup honey
- optional: 3 cups of raisins or other dried fruit, add after baking
Directions:
1. Preheat over to 350°F.
2. In a small saucepan over low heat, mix together the coconut oil and honey.
3. In a large bowl combine oats, coconut, nuts and seeds.
4. Pour coconut oil and honey mixture over dry ingredients and stir very well to coat. Divide onto three baking sheets.
5. Bake for 10 minutes; remove from oven and stir. Place back in oven but remove and stir every 5 minutes or so until the oats are golden brown (approx. 30 minutes).
6. Cool; add raisins or other dried fruit.
Our little Bud
Homemade St. Valentine’s Day Cards
Snuggles liked the idea of making this Love Blossom Tree and from Meet the Dubiens. He had so much fun making these, and ended up acting just a little silly in the process!
I thought they turned out so pretty, and I love that he used his arm, hand and thumbprints to create the painting!
Chiquita had her eyes on some scrapbooking paper in my stash and decided to make her own cards, to pair with some more dipped Oreo cookies, like we have made in the past.
She decided to use Golden Oreos this year, though we almost went with the new “Neapolitan” edition. She packaged them up in bags and attached her cute little cards to each.
Twinkle Toes loved the “I Love You” (in sign language) Valentine Cards that I had pinned from Waltzing Matilda. “Thank you Miss Charlotte!!” She traced the her hand in the shape of the “I Love You” sign, cut them out, and then made a pocket with her hand to hold the St. Valentine card. She wrote the little poem on the back, “Love is Patient, Love is Kind, Happy feast of St. Valentine!” and signed her name on the back of each St. Valentine Card.
To go along with her cards, she decided to dip large pretzels into melted pink candy, and then decorate them with valentine sprinkles.
When Rascal saw these Soda Pop Valentines from Daring Doodles, he immediately decided that those were the ones for him. They were so easy too. We just printed out the free printable image for him to cut out and attached them to some small soda bottles and cans that his dad picked up at the grocery store.
Captain liked the idea of these “Don’t Ever Change” Valentine cards from Jac o’lyn Murphy. I even happened to have a few extra bags of Chocolate Coins leftover from Christmas/Epiphany for him! We created little tags to print and tie on to the packages. It looks like I only got a finished picture of his cards (though I “erased” his name from the picture).
St. Valentine’s Day Cocoa with Sprinkles
When I came in from snapping a few pictures of our children playing in the snow, I decided to whip up a batch of Hot Cocoa to help warm them up when they came back inside, since the baby was still sleeping. I remembered a recipe I had pinned to my St. Valentine’s Day board for this Strawberry Sweethearts Cocoa. I didn’t have the required Strawberry Ice Cream, and honestly I think “Hot Strawberry” anything doesn’t sound nearly as yummy as Hot Chocolate (not that I could actually have any, but still), so I decided to improvise. The thing that had caught my attention in the first place was the chocolate around the rim of the glass. I could still do that, without having to make the recipe! PLUS, I could still include pink and reds, with St. Valentine’s Day coming up tomorrow, by then dipping the chocolate in sprinkles!
I pulled out my Irish Coffee Mugs (very similar to these ones, though mine were handpainted by a friend), some white chocolate chips (candy melts would work great too), and some Valentine sprinkles. It only took me about 5 minutes, while the hot cocoa simmered on the stove, to melt the chocolate, dip the rims of the mugs in the melted chocolate, and then dip again into a bowl of sprinkles. (Let set for a minute to harden.)
I happened to have some heavy whipping cream as well, so I pulled out my iSi Easy Whip and had homemade whipped cream (sweetened with some Chocolate Liquid Stevia) in about two minutes. After filling the mugs with cocoa, I topped them with the whipped cream and added a few hearts to the top of each.
As I said, it was so quick and easy, yet my children all LOVED the extra touches! When my oldest son walked into the kitchen he said “WOW!” walked over to me, started rubbing my shoulders, and continued to say, “Mom, you are AMAZING!” I sure love that boy of ours, he definitely made my day!
Snow-oh-oh-oh-oh!
More Treasures for Lent and Easter {and a Giveaway!}
Back in November I shared a product review for Jesse Tree Treasures O Antiphons and Jesse Tree Ornaments. Now, with Lent beginning a week from Wednesday, I was asked to review their lovely Holy Week and Easter Ornaments, along with their new Stations of the Cross Ornaments and Parable Pouch. Once again I am more than happy to recommend these beautifully decoupaged ornaments!
“The Stations of the Cross Set includes: 14 – 1-1/2″ x 2″ station ornaments, 1 – 4″ Resurrection cross, 1-16” Wooden Dowel Tree, cotton strings and a booklet with 15 devotions. The ornaments come nicely boxed, ready for gift giving. “
Isn’t this set just gorgeous?! I love the simplicity and beauty of each painting. It didn’t take me long to assemble the tree and attach the strings to each ornament. We already have a beautiful set of Stations of the Cross that we will display once again during Lent, but these will be such a nice addition, especially for my younger children. My hope is that we will be able to attend Stations of the Cross each Friday morning after Mass, but since my husband will be out of town for half of Lent, I think we might be praying them at home quite a bit as well. This new set, along with our The Way of the Cross for Children DVD, will be such a nice help!
I especially love this set of Holy Week and Easter Ornaments. The images, created from original folkpainted artwork, make such pretty ornaments. Love them!
This last new product would make another great addition to Easter Baskets! Last year I had an Easter Basket that was filled with gifts based on Easter Symbols for the whole family. I am planning on adding this “Parable Pouch” to that basket this Easter.
Thank you to Jesse Tree Treasures for the sets that were given to us, in exchange for sharing this review. We look forward to adding them to our family traditions for Lent and Easter!
Before you go, I have a little giveaway I’ve been meaning to post. Last year I somehow managed to order a second copy of A Lenten Journey with Jesus Christ & St. Therese of Lisieux. I’d love to send it to one of you to read this Lent! If you’d like to be placed in the drawing just leave a comment on this post by Wednesday night, sharing which of the above three Jesse Tree Treasures sets is your favorite, or your favorite book to read during Lent. I’ll draw a name on Thursday, and announce it here in this post. Please make sure you leave me an email address so I can contact you if you are the winner!
{this moment}
0 Comments