Life With The Crew

Reconnecting With Nature - Chasing The Sunrise

I am joining Chrisy at Living A Good North Coast Life for her "Reconnecting With Nature" series.  As we bloggers sit around connected to our computers, it is a great way to force us to step outside and maybe notice something new in the natural world or just appreciate something that we see every day.  Read more about the Reconnect with Nature - one photograph at a time idea here.   

Last Monday morning I went for an early morning run by myself and saw a beautiful sunrise and I wished I had my camera with me.  There are several hills in my neighborhood and I have a lot of vantage points to enjoy the view of the sun rising over the mountains (we call them mountains, but they are Pennsylvania mountains, meaning not very big).  On Wednesday I went out at 7am and it was still dark.  I made one big lap around the neighborhood and when I came around a corner, saw  an awesome sight.  Just cresting the horizon was this deep orange glow.  In the still black sky, it was fantastic.  I changed directions and headed home to grab my cell phone.  I thought if I ran fast all the way to Hell Hill I could get a great shot.  When my husband and I are torturing ourselves on that hill, we have seen many beautiful sunrises but have never stopped to take a photo.  

So I ran inside, grabbed the cell phone, and then busted my butt to get to Hell Hill, less than 10 minutes away.  As I was running, I was thinking that I should be seeing a bit more color in the sky by now, but thought that by the time I came around the top of the hill, the sky would be aglow.  

Ran around the top, watching the icy spots, but I didn't want to slow down too much because I was afraid I'd miss the awesome light.  Ran down the road facing southeast, getting ready to see it any minute.  Yeah, no glow.  Just gray clouds with a touch of pink, barely enough to notice.  So I continued running, trying to keep my eye on the sunrise peeking between the houses.  I decided to run to the park, where I would have an open view of the sky.  There, finally I saw something worth photographing, but definitely not what I had expected.  Why did it fizzle out?  There was such potential in that first fiery orange glow beyond the horizon!  Oh well, that is Mother Nature.  I can't press a button and have the sky change to the colors I want to see NOW.  And when my little babe is old enough to comprehend and ponder the question I asked my husband, "Why is the sunrise so colorful and beautiful some days, but not others?", it will be a good learning experience for her to research and find out.

(At least my running outfit was colorful, even if the sky wasn't.)

I had a request from a fellow blogger and runner to help her win a trip for her and one of her readers to the ZOOMA Women's Half Marathon in Napa.  Since I was writing a post about running, I thought this would be a good place to spread the word.  Laura Pyne of Take Two blog is a mother to two young boys who attend my mom's daycare.  As a mother and runner myself, I know how hard it is to carve out time for yourself.  Even though your children are your top priority, I believe that woman need to continue to have a life and goals of their own.  It sets a good example for children to see their mom working hard for something, especially if that something is good health and fitness.  

In order for Laura to win the trip, she needs to get as many votes on the ZOOMA Facebook page featured below.  If you want to help out another mother, please stop by and cast a vote for Laura.  You can vote once a day.  Here is the link:

https://www.facebook.com/ZOOMARun?sk=app_451684954848385&brandloc=DISABLE&app_data=view-vote%2Cfor-1849077

 

Thankful Tuesday - 1.21.14

Today I am thankful for...

A great weekend at home with my crazy family.  I was thinking of writing a post called "Crazy Before Eight" because our Sunday morning was anything but relaxing.  My little babe woke up at 5:53am, which means that I had to get up at 5:53am on a Sunday morning.  I wanted to bake some banana bread for my Recipe for the Weekend post.  My husband wanted to bake his sourdough bread because he thought he had to run out for an appointment later in the day.  My brother was coming at 9am for breakfast and then to work on the stone wall that they were installing behind our woodstove.  The dogs were pacing and begging for their breakfast way too early.  We had cooking supplies all over the kitchen from the day before and construction supplies all over the living room.  I wanted to go for a walk in the woods before breakfast and take my little babe on the sled for the first time.  I just wanted a nice relaxing morning!

As hectic as it started, it actually turned into a really good day.  We accomplished a lot and had a fun time.  I am thankful for that.  

He didn't kill the starter!

A fresh dusting of snow.

 

A house project almost completed - I've been so patient.

My new little project - I'll share later this week.

Our first sledding adventure - an awesome success!

A beautiful winter day.  So thankful that we have access to this kind of place within 5 minutes from our home.

 I welcome any bloggers to leave a link to their Thankful Tuesday post in the comments section below.

Saving The Life Of A Chair

Back in October I shared the picture of a chair that we found on the curb during Bulk Waste Day.  You can read the full story here and see the original picture.  Since then, the chair has been sitting outside in front of our garage, exposed to the elements.  I knew that if I wanted to save it, I had to do it now.  It wouldn't make it through the winter.  So I pulled it into the front hall where I looked at it for two days.  On Friday, I decided to do something about it.

It is a solid wood chair frame with a removable seat cushion that was screwed on.  The cushion was in bad shape, so I pulled that off.  I had some paint leftover from my daughter's bedroom (all of the white paint in our home is the same color, Olympic's "Delicate White"), so after washing the chair, I put two coats of paint on it.

There was a foam cushion on the bottom and then some other type of batting.

I decided to keep the foam cushion because I didn't want to spend the money for a new one.  But I bought some new cotton batting.

I turned the cushion over and then laid the new batting on top.  I traced the outline of the chair and cut the batting.  I wasn't sure if I should wrap the batting around the edges.  I thought I should, but my husband thought it might be to thick to staple through.  After the fact, we decided that I probably should have wrapped it around the front edge of the chair.

I had previously washed and ironed the cotton fabric.  Since I was trying to do this on the cheap, I did not buy upholstery fabric.  My husband and I both like this pattern and it looks great with the yellow walls in our eating area.  I made sure it was smooth and laid it on top of the batting, leaving about 4 inches extra on each side.  Starting at one corner, I wrapped it like I was wrapping a present and made my husband put in the first staple.  We used a regular staple gun that we use for construction projects.

I worked my way around the edge, pulling the fabric taut as I went and making sure there were no wrinkles on the front.

Then my husband used his screwdriver to fasten the seat back onto the frame.  My daughter did not like the sound of the stapler, but enjoyed watching the drill.

And that was it!  I am super excited about my "new" chair.  It is sturdy, cheerful, and I love the unique design of the frame.  All of the chairs in our kitchen are different styles, but painted the same color.  This makes a great addition to the collection.  One new skill that I can add to my stay-at-home mom's resume!  Best of all, I saved a perfectly good chair from being crushed in the back of a garbage truck.  The batting cost $10 and the fabric was $3, so for $13 I have a brand new chair.  Eco-friendly and thrifty!

 

 

 I shared this post on Living Well, Spending Less for Thrifty Thursday.

Recipe for the Weekend - Mom's Banana Bread

Mom - this blog post is going to make you famous!  This recipe is for my mom's banana bread.  I don't know where the original recipe came from, but my mom has been using it for years, so I'm giving her the credit.  It is a simple one-bowl recipe that can easily be adapted to make so many different types of quick bread or muffins.  It makes one 9x5 loaf pan or 12 muffins.  Here is a little story just to prove how good it is:  My mom is an in-home day care provider.  One of the kids that my mom cared for had such fond memories of this bread that when she went to college, she asked my mom for this recipe so she could make it herself.  It is moist with good flavor and it hasn't done me wrong yet!

The original recipe is for a regular Plain Jane banana bread, but I have tried the following variations with success.

-Add chocolate chips - that is a no brainer!

-Substitute grated zucchini for the banana to make it a local food friendly bread in the summer.

-Add ground flaxseed to the batter and sprinkle on top to boost the health factor.

-Lately I have been substituting maple syrup for the 1/2 cup of white sugar.

-Top with grated coconut and replace some of the veggie oil with melted coconut oil.

-Last week I had about 3/4 cup of leftover pumpkin puree in the fridge.   During the summer, I pureed and froze peaches in ice cube trays.  I thought the combination of those two would work well together so I omitted the bananas completely and used the pumpkin along with 6 thawed peach cubes.  I added some fresh grated nutmeg and the muffins were awesome!  

Today I used the recipe to make a traditional banana bread with some healthy additions and I made it into 9 mini loaves.  I topped it with flaxseed, coconut, and brown sugar.  They turned out moist, soft, and yummy.

Here is the recipe that I used today:

1.  Combine 1 cup flour, 3/4 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon.  In the same bowl add 1/2 cup veggie oil, 2 eggs, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup white sugar, 1/4 cup maple syrup.  Mix until smooth.

2.  Add 2 mashed bananas.  Mix until smooth.

3.  Grease bread, muffin, or mini loaf pan with oil.  Divide batter evenly.  

4.  In a small bowl combine 2 tablespoons of ground flaxseed, 2 tablespoons of shredded coconut, and 1 tablespoon of brown sugar.  Mix and sprinkle on top of the batter.

5.  Bake at 350 F.  The length of time will vary depending on what you bake it in.  For these mini loaves, it took 15 minutes.  If you bake it in a bread pan, it may take 50 minutes or so.  If the top is browning, but the middle is not cooked yet, top with a piece of aluminum foil and continue baking until done.

Here is the original Mom's Banana Bread recipe.

1.  Combine 1 cup flour, 3/4 teaspoon of baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon.

2.  In the same bowl, add 1/2 cup of veggie oil, 1/2 cup of white sugar, 1/2 cup of brown sugar, and 2 eggs.  Mix until smooth.  

3.  Stir in 3 mashed bananas.  Add 1/2 chopped walnuts (optional).

4.  Bake at 350 F for about 50 minutes if baking in a 9x5 loaf pan or about 15 minutes if making muffins.

 I shared this post on Living Well, Spending Less for Thrifty Thursday.

Old Room, Fresh Look, On A Budget

Our office is a corner room on our main living floor.  It is small on space, but big on character.  It has a sloped ceiling, some rustic shelving, simple painted wood floors, and the original farmhouse windows.  We think that it was a porch that was enclosed to make a room.  I painted the walls a pretty grayish blue a couple of years ago that I really like and the ceiling and trim are a "delicate white".  There is no heat in the room and because of the inefficient windows, it is really cold in winter.  However, it gets great afternoon sunlight and I really enjoy the room.  As a lot of offices tend to be, it is the dumping ground for mail, stuff that I don't have time to put away at the moment, old cell phones and chargers that we haven't taken the time to dispose of in an environmentally friendly manner, and now craft items that I don't have a place for yet.

I have been wanting to give it a face lift for a while now and so figured that the week after Christmas when my husband was home was a good time to start.  We started by clearing out the room and painting the floor a pretty light green color.  My wonderful husband painted three coats, one of which he did by headlamp at 8pm.  

(Before.)

(After.)

We needed more filing space and can't afford anything fancy.  We had one ugly filing cabinet and then happened to see one perfectly good one during bulk waste day this year.  It is just ridiculous what people throw away as junk.  We saw it on our morning run and by the time we got home and my husband drove back, the scrap metal man had it in the back of his truck already.  My husband had to chase him down and ask if we could have it instead.  When we got it in the office, we realized that it was not as high as the other one.  Oh well, doesn't matter, it works just the same.  My husband had this awesome piece of live edge cherry that we had been saving for "something".  I thought it would work nice as a shelf, so he put a clear finish on it and we laid it on top of the filing cabinets.

I wanted to make some curtains (my first attempt) to add some bright color to the room.  Since we are trying our best to be more frugal, I didn't want to buy curtain rods.  So we just bought some cheap wood dowels at the hardware store for $1 each and I cut them so they just fit between the window frame.  Might not win any home decorating awards, but it works fine.

The room stayed clean and clutter free for about one week, then my husband's paperwork started piling up.  I really enjoy sitting there in the afternoon while my little babe is napping.  With the sun shining, a warm blanket on my lap, and a cup of tea (and perhaps something sweet), life is good.

I already have another project lined up for my husband.  I need a cabinet to store my growing stash of fabric and craft supplies.  Do you have any creative ways of organizing your office or craft supplies?  

 

Easy Peasy Tunic

I had bought this fun flannel fabric several weeks ago with the intention of making  a skirt.  But I have been loving the sweater tunics that my little babe has been wearing and so I decided to make a simple tunic.  I was inspired by the gathered neckline on this dress.  Because I don't do patterns (haven't taken the time to learn how), I used one of my little babe's tunics as an example and free hand drew right on the fabric.  I drew one side of the tunic then folded it in half so the other side was exactly the same.  Then I traced that piece for the back of the dress.  

I sewed the sides first, then the four arms edges.  The I folded the top over the elastic.  Once the little babe finally fell asleep and I could work on it without interruptions, it went really fast.  

I'm really happy with how it turned out - much cleaner stitching than my last tunic, which has lots of pieces.  No sleeves really makes a difference!  I was so excited to try it on my little babe I didn't bother to put on another shirt underneath.  The neck is a little big, but with the other shirt to sort of hold it in place, it will be fine.

My little babe knew something with the neck was a little funny - she discovered the elastic.

Hope your weekend is "sew" much fun! 

Reconnecting With Nature - 1.15.14

I am joining Chrisy at Living A Good North Coast Life for her "Reconnecting With Nature" series.  As we bloggers sit around connected to our computers, it is a great way to force us to step outside and maybe notice something new in the natural world or just appreciate something that we see every day.  Read more about the Reconnect with Nature - one photograph at a time idea here.   

 

For Christmas, we received a trio of gingerbread man shaped bird seed ornaments to hang outside for the birds and squirrels to eat.  I posted a picture of my little babe watching the squirrels here.  She enjoyed it so much that I thought I would make my own bird seed ornaments to hang outside.  I remembered WAY back in my childhood making pinecones rolled in peanut butter and then bird seed.  I thought that would be the most frugal and natural way to do it.  Since we are vegetarians, making suet cakes is a no-go.  It was really simple to do, a little messy, and it brought nature to our viewing window within 2 hours!  Here are some tips for doing it yourself.

 

1.  Spread out newspaper - peanut butter and bird seed are messy!

 

2.  Put as much peanut butter as you think you are going to use in a separate container so that you are not dipping your dirty knife into your clean pb jar.

 

3.  Tie the string on first!

 

Here are some pictures of the first crafting session with my little babe.  It took about 20 minutes and that was perfect timing.

 

(Gather all of your supplies before you begin.)

 

 

(If possible, use pinecones that have the scales open - more nooks to cram the peanut butter.)

 

 

(Smear the peanut butter into the cracks, but don't get too serious about it.)

 

 

(Ta-dah!  Sticky, seedy, and sure to attract a squirrel!)

 

 

(Hung in the trees and then we waited.)

 

 

(Can you see it?!  My little babe does!)

 

 

(So does Chickpea the cat!)

 

 

(There is the squirrel!)

 

 

(The cardinals, blue jays, and chickadees found it also!  It was very noisy outside my window today!)

 

 

 

It was definitely a good experience reconnecting with nature.  

 

*Sorry for the poor quality indoor pictures - a rainy morning in a dark kitchen - and the blurry pictures through my horribly dirty windows.  When I started blogging, I didn't realize I was going to have to keep the entire house clean all the time!

Thankful Tuesday - 1.14.14

Today I am thankful for...

-the ability to find beauty even in the "dead" of winter.  I just read a magazine article that claimed that January is the most depressing month of the year - there is no happy holiday, the credit card bills are due, people have to face their resolutions, and the weather is cold and dreary with another cold and dreary month following it.  However, I have quite been enjoying January.  Yes, it has been cold - but it IS January in the Northeast.  We received some great gifts for Christmas that we are putting to good use, we have been cooking and baking lots of good food (trying to stay warm in these cold temps requires more calories - right?), and I am feeling good about our budget plans for this year.

-my little babe who is amazing me and making me laugh every day.  

-my husband who is working very hard to secure our plans for the future, who encourages me with my blogging, and who entertains the little babe so that I can slip out for some early morning pictures.

-the ability and time to make our own food from scratch, including these Raspberry Cream Cheese brownies, this hummus, and cottage cheese on homemade flatbreads.

 

What are you doing to prevent the January blues?

 I welcome any bloggers to leave a link to their Thankful Tuesday post in the comments section below.

 

 

We Like To Read - 1.13.14

This past weekend we were at Tractor Supply picking up some supplies and I was perusing the book display.  I found this children's book with really cool graphics - not something I expected to find at Tractor Supply.  There were two copies and they were both wrinkled on the bottom, not so much to ruin the book, but enough that I didn't want to pay full price.  We had just been listening to a story on the radio about not paying full price for things and asking if you can get discounts.  I thought I would try it, so I went up to the counter and asked if I could get a couple of dollars off, since the book was damaged.  The clerk checked with her manager and gave me $2 off of a $7 book!  Awesome!  Moral of the story, it never hurts to ask.  So here is the book that we have been enjoying this weekend.

On The Farm by David Elliott, illustrated by Holly Meade

I just love the woodcut prints - they are so bright, bold, and fun.  Perfect for a children's book.  I love this style.

The rhyming verses are definitely a little funny - not the normal storybook rhymes.

My daughter loves her farm animal noises, so this book is a big hit!

 Here is the link for the story that we were listening to.  Choose the Prologue about the "good guy discount".  It is a funny story! 

 

Recipe For The Weekend - Easy and Super Easy Hummus

My husband makes our own hummus because it is much cheaper than buying packaged hummus.  My family did not eat hummus while I was growing up, but now it seems that everybody eats it and it is not an exotic food anymore.  It is even one of my little babe's favorite foods, which is fantastic because it is a great source of protein for vegetarians.  I love adding beets to my hummus to make it even more yummy and nutritious.  I also tried adding sweet potatoes to one batch and it was great also.

(One Basic Recipe - 3 Types of Hummus - Sweet Potato, Garlic, and Beet)

The main ingredient in hummus is chickpeas, which are also known as garbanzo beans.  You can buy them in a can pre-cooked or you can buy them dry and cook them yourself.  Buying them dry is cheaper, but it takes longer to make the hummus.  So the Super Easy Hummus recipe starts with a can of cooked chickpeas.  All you have to do is add the ingredients below and puree in the blender.  Since we use dried chickpeas, I can't tell you how much hummus you would get out of one can.  The recipe that follows is for Easy Hummus:

1.  Start with 1 1/4 cups of dried chickpeas.  Soak them overnight in a bowl of cold water.  The amount doesn't matter, just cover the chickpeas.

2.  After at least 8 hours, drain the chickpeas.

3.  In a medium sized stainless steel or enamelware pot, put 2 teaspoons of baking soda and all of the chickpeas.  Cook that on medium for one minute.  Add water so that the chickpeas are covered by at least one inch.

4.  Bring the water to a boil and continue boiling until the chickpeas are soft, which can be anywhere from 30-60 minutes.  Some gross looking scum will appear on the top; you can just lift it off with a spoon.

5.  When the chickpeas are soft, let them cool slightly and then put in the blender.

6.  Add 1 tablespoon each of minced garlic, cumin and paprika.  Add 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt.  Add 1 cup of tahini.  Add 2 to 4 tablespoons of lemon juice.  Puree until smooth.  As the hummus is pureeing, add cold water until the hummus is smooth and looks almost runny.  Don't worry, it will become much less runny once it cools down.

And that is it!  Grab some bagel chips or homemade flatbread and dig in!

This recipe made 2 1/2 pint jars.

To make the beet and sweet potato hummus, simply wash and roast the beets and/or sweets until soft.  When cooled, remove the skins and add to the mixture in the blender and puree until smooth.

 I shared this post on Living Well, Spending Less for Thrifty Thursday.