Pumpkin Bread Recipe

Pumpkin Bread

Yum!

3 c. sugar

4 eggs

2/3 c. water

1 tsp. cinnamon

3 1/3 c. flour

1 c. oil

1 can (15 oz.) pumpkin

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. nutmeg

2 tsp. baking soda

Mix well & bake at 325 for an hour & a half or until done (ovens vary so time will as well)

This recipe is good, but I like mine a little more spicy so next time I will add some pumpkin pie spice just to give it a kick & vanilla {I add vanilla to EVERYTHING I bake}

This is great warm with cream cheese on it!!! YuM!

Enjoy!

Sushi anyone???

SUSHI!

By the end of this blog post you can be making your own sushi at home!

exciting huh?

I'm not gonna lie at all, when I first made this at home for my Hubby I felt like a RoCk*StAr*

hahaha I know I'm a nerd and it doesn't take much to get me excited.

So Lets do this!!!

I bought all my goodies to make sushi at HEB, you could easily go to a hong kong market and get everything {and I'm sure for half the cost} But I was intimidated to go to one by myself!

Anyways, this is what you need:

a sushi mat

cling wrap {to cover your mat and tap together on the other side, so your rice doesn't stick to the mat}

sushi paper

sushi rice

rice vinegar

all the goodies you want in your sushi

We used the following:

avocado

cucumber {julienned}

crab {stick shaped, not lump}

smoked salmon

fried shrimp

jalapeno

cream cheese

soy sauce

wasabi

You could put a hot dog in it if you wanted (don't tell me cause I will gag but whatever floats your boat)

be creative! I just got the things we usually look for when we are at a sushi restaurant

First: cook the sushi rise the way it says on the package. I found out that 2 cups of UNCOOKED rice would cook up to be about 5 sushi rolls, just an FYI

Have everything you want to use in your rolls out and ready to go

Like this!

{P.S check out that belly!}

Now lets make some sushi!

Put the shiny side of the paper down on the mat

Keep a bowl of cold water close by

get your fingers wet before grabbing the rice (it's STICKY!)

See, Sticky!

Spread your rice out to make a thin layer of rice all over the sushi paper

It should look like this!

My first roll is a California roll so I want the rice on the outside of the roll, so I will need to FLIP this

Watch...

Gently pick it up & flip!

TaDa

Rice is now on the bottom which will mean it will be on the OUTSIDE

I am now realizing I missed taking a picture here Oops..

Now is when you would put your filling it. Put it on the bottom third of the roll closest to you. Since I was making a cali roll I put cucumber, crab & avocado

Now roll up the first roll to cover all of the filling and give it a good Squeeze!

Like this:

See the first roll

Now just keep on rollin'

The very last roll you want to roll backwards and give a good squeeze

TaDa

A cali roll!

Cut

Looks just like the real deal huh?

and taste just as YuMmY!

Now make another

Repeat the first few steps:

shiny side of paper down

wet fingers

spread rice

This roll the rice will be on the inside

See how I am putting all the goodies on the bottom third closest to me?

[This is what I was talking about earlier]

First roll and squeeze

keep rollin

Last roll, roll back towards you and squeeze

then cut

Enjoy!!!

Some of the rolls we made:

Cali roll: cucumber, crab, avocado

Jessie roll: smoked salmon, cucumber, jalapeno, avocado

Ashley roll: fried shrimp, cream cheese, avocado

Everything roll (not featured in the above picture) : smoked salmon, crab, avocado, cream cheese, jalapeno, cucumber

Use anything you want! Have FuN! and Enjoy!!!

Leave me comments when you do yours!

YAY SUSHI!

*and a special thanks to my mommy friend Florence for teaching me the day before*

Fall wreath

*Fall Wreath*

This is what ya need:

a straw wreath

1/2 yard of brown burlap

1/2 yard of orange burlap

long needle (longer the better!)

crochet thread

ribbon

glue gun

Leave the plastic on the wreath

First cut strips of burlap into 2" strips

{sorry I have no picture}

Then make a large stitch about 1/2 an inch into the strip

Next: Make the ruffle by pulling the thread through and carefully knotting the ends

Then start gluing. Alternate colors of course. It is best to start at one of the forty five degree angles. Does that make sense? Glue one strip at a time. If  you have excess burlap once you have glued the strip completely around then just cut it off, no biggy.

It will start to look like this

When you are gluing on the strips make sure to color the thread of the strip that you just did. Your goal is to not see any thread when you are done. Make sense?

Then keep on keepin on...

From this position you can see my thread but when I hold it up as if it were going to hang, you can't see it.

When you finish gluing on all the strips then cut a long piece of ribbon to hang your wreath with.

The first piece I cut was WAY too long so I had to shorten it. It is best if you cut longer than you need, make the perfect bow then cut the excess.

TADA!

Happy Fall Y'all

P.S This will also make a super cute Christmas wreath! With white and red burlap & green ribbon!!!

CUTE! So You may see this again in a couple months

Go make one! You will be happy you did!

Every time I walk past the door I smile

{Now all I need is a Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks}

Something I would like to share

This Book is AMAZING beyond words

I have read many parenting books and this is by far my favorite. I have learned so much from this book and I am only half way threw it! I have learned so much, not only from a mothers perspective but personally.

I wanted to share part of a page with you. When I read it my mouth opened wide and I literally said

"WOW that's good stuff!"

On the front side of every life is a boy or girl in a fragile state of flux

As adults, we know that those who follow the well-worn path to the base of the cross find ample room for heavy hearts and hurts that can't seem to heal. It's amazing grace that doesn't trivialize the fickle nature of our personalities. There's no condescension waiting to counter our tendencies to become easily embarrassed. There are no lectures longing to straighten out the folly of our thinking. There's no mocking of our self-conscious thoughts- just a generous Savior with a gentle heart who knows how unsure we often are about ourselves.    God doesn't "card" those who come searching for His grace. You won't find any age restriction for those wanting to travel down His path.

..... One of the great things about God's grace is the safe haven it offers to a transparent heart. He doesn't require masks in His throne room. Jesus makes people feel comfortable even when He catches them without their makeup on. When circumstances scrub off the layers of their self-confidence, their shortcomings wash away the foundation of their self-righteousness, Jesus isn't appalled by the blemishes He finds underneath. There's no sin too bad, no doubt too big, no question too hard, and no heart too broken for His grace to deal with.

Did you know that? Isn't it refreshing? Is there someone you know that could find freedom in knowing this too?

This Book is amazing in so many different ways. Please get it, read it and tell someone about it.

Grace Based Parenting by Tim Kimmel



MIA

Sorry I have been MIA for a while...Ya see one of my best friends got hitched & I was a bridesmaid!!!

Needless to say the whole month of July I was busy busy busy with all the wedding festivities.

It was a BLAST and the wedding was absolutely PERFECT!

I am so happy for the New Mr. & Mrs. Walker and so thankful I was apart of their special day.

{The above picture is My hubby & I in the photo booth at the wedding, Fun huh?}



Dresser Redo

Jessie hauled this puppy home with the headboard he found. {remember the in our master bedroom? The white one} Well since we don't have a garage or any sort of storage it sat in our entry room for a couple months. To my defense I am pregnant and we do live in Texas and it is HOT outside!!! hahaha I know excuses excuses right?

Well, I finally got around to it & this is what it looks like NOW! YAY huh?

I was inspired by a super duper awesome site....  Younghouselove.com

Here is what I did...

(& just so ya know this was my first staining project EVER...which means anyone can totally do it if I can!)

After we got started I realized we didn't take a real before picture. Boo... I wish I would have remembered cause it was UGLY! But you could still tell there was lots of potential.

We took all the drawers out & sanded. We had to use 60 grit sand paper on this bad boy!

After sanding I wiped it down with a damp rag. (totally clean the whole thing) You want to make sure you get all the dust from sanding and all the cob webs.....

After I got it all cleaned up I stained it using a dark red/mahogany stain using a brush. I put a coat on the bottom on the dresser and all of the drawers. I let it set for about 20 minutes and repeated a two more times. (so a total of 3 times) Using a small roll brush I primed the top and painted (also with a small roll brush) a nice even coat of white paint. After everything was dry I put a clear coat on all of it!

Let it dry for about 48 hours, I know sounds like a long time but ya wanna make sure it's REALLY dry!

Here it is once I bought knobs. (and yes knobs were on sale 50% off @ HL) I kinda refuse to buy knobs full price anymore so I had to wait a couple days for the sale. My husband gave me the go ahead to spend the money and buy them at full price....He said Honey, it's kinda hard to open the drawer to get my socks, why don't you just go get those knobs today!  hahahaha

I LOVE this dresser!

doesn't it look great? & it was pretty easy! I really wish I had a picture of the before to compare how yuckie it looked before so you could get the total effect. Oh well you will just have to take my word.

You might be thinkin' something is missin.... Well You're Right! It came with a mirror but I didn't want to use it. I thought it looked too amazing by itself and the huge square mirror would kill the look/idea I wanted for this piece. So I am going to buy/find a good size (when I say good size I mean BIG) oval mirror with a great decorative frame. I have a great idea in my head now it's just searching to find it! I will, I know I will.

So stay tuned to see what will appear over this Yummy dresser!

So go on, get out of here & redo something! Stretch yourself! Staining is pretty easy!

GO!

Best Baked Potatoe soup EVER!

The BEST baked potato soup EVER!!! (If you could hear me say this I would be singing the word EVER) YuM! YuM! YuM! My tummy is SO happy*

I totally made this up so I don't have exact measurements mmmkay?
Bacon
grn onions
shredded cheddar cheese
white onion
potatoes
chicken stock
butter
flour
milk
Cube bacon and fry in the pot, once bacon is crispy remove with a slotted spoon onto a napkin to drain. Save enough of your bacon grease to fry your onion in. Once onion is cooked through, add your potatoes and enough chicken stock to cover the potatoes. Bring to a boil for about 20 minutes, until potatoes are mushy. Turn your burner off or on simmer cause things are gonna start thickenin up. Mash your potatoes with a masher. in a sauce pan melt some butter ( 1/2 stick ) and add 1 tbl spoon of flour, mix together and add to the soup. Add some milk for desired consistency.  Garnish with chopped green onions, shredded cheddar cheese, and bacon  :)  Enjoy!    {If you have left overs when you heat them up just add a  little milk if they have thickened}
I made a small pot (usually when I make soup I make a Huge pot cause I like to eat on it for days!) So I used 12 oz. of bacon, 1 small white onion, 7 potatoes, 1 cup milk, 1/2 stick of butter, 1 Tb spoon of flour, 3-4 cups of chicken stock (enough to cover the potatoes) Around about...
You can't really mess this up. If you don't like onion, don't add it at all. If you like yours thinner add more milk  ect. Like I said it's pretty hard to mess this up  :)
*EnJoY*

Ruffle duvet cover

Isn't it AWESOME???

I think so too! I am so glad to finally be done with it,  I was kinda intimidated by this project so I put it off...for months...  haha I know Loser right? I only took me 3 nights to do it. (Nights meaning, after a put my kiddos to bed, spent some time with my hubby and worked on it) You could easily make this in one day, so don't be intimidated (like I was)

My bed is a King size so it got a lil tricky towards the end with more and more ruffles. BUT totally worth it.

I had a love hate relationship with this duvet. Now I'm totally in LOVE but there were times when I hated it.

another view with my crappy camera (don't be thinkin' it's the photographer!)

Here is a tutorial: By my friend Steph (and she has great pics cause she is amazingly talented)

                                                                         
                                                                              HERE -->you might have to scroll down her page a bit

Go make one for your bed! You will be happy you did!!!