• Showing posts with label Cooking. Show all posts

    Dinning Room

    Tuesday, March 3, 2015


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    For some time now I have been looking forward in a hopeful way to post more pictures of our home (weeks actually) but truly it has been near impossible to have the house clean and a free moment to take pictures, 
    all that wonder occurring at the same time… 
    not here in this home, 
    nope I think not! 
    Honestly I thought you may all have to wait until we send a few of these babies off to college or something… 
    thankful the seas parted and ‘miracle of all miracles’ the house stayed clean for a full ten minutes allowing me to capture a few more pictures of our lovely new home. 

    This room is a pure joy for this large family mama! So many chairs and they all fit around a amply suited harvest table. 
    This room has wonderful french doors that lead to the kitchen and then a second set that lead to the front entrance room. 
    There is beautiful natural light that streams into this room from its many windows. 
    I loved the built in hutch from the moment I set eyes on it! 

    In this room we painted the walls, replaced the wood floors and decorated… 
    with a  slightly (much) larger table then our previous table, that one we thought would fit our family for a lifetime… 
    three babies later and we needed something, ahem… larger! 

    My idea for this room was to keep it neutral in hardware (paint and furniture) so I could change the colour with transitional pieces depending on seasons or celebrations.
     With that in mind I wanted a warm (but very light) gray/beige colour for the wall. 
    So far I have been pleased, it looked nice with the pinks for the girls birthdays, blues for the boys, ambers and oranges through autumn and of course my staple love of white and greens. 

    After the meal we take time to pray together as a family. 
    I wanted a way to remember all those whom we pray for and also a place to write our prayer requests. 
    I hung a large chalkboard on the wall and it is here we list the things we want to cover as a family in prayer. 
    After the meal each of us choose something off the board to pray over, 
    this has been a wonderful method of remembering and encouraging prayer within our family. 
    A constant reminder and beautiful call to prayer.

    Now I wish I could host you, gather and enjoy my kindred.  
    Though I love this space I know true joy would come if I could share it with those I treasure, 
    to whom I miss daily!  

    ~

    {Before} 





    {During} 



    {From the Kitchen}


    { It never looks like this when real life is going on!}












     {From the Front Entrance}



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    The Kitchen: Trim Healthy Mama Pumpkin Muffins (sugar & grain free)

    Thursday, April 3, 2014

     
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    Before we leave the kitchen can I share a little goodness that has been a nice companion to my mid-day coffee oasis.
    I have mentioned here before that I have been sugar free for this whole pregnancy! This has been such a gift, my energy has been stable, my moods even and I have gained only a healthy amount of weight. I believe these benefits have come because I have been sugar free. One of the main recourses that have helped guide this journey is the Trim Healthy Mama approach. I have made many of the desert and baking recipes from this book, I have liked many of them but this one really hit the spot with my cravings... pumpkin... who knew you could crave that?
    These muffins have a lovely yellow colour that leads in the memory of spring,
    yet the aromas of pumpkin and spice fill your home with the warmth still needed in these northern woods.
    I 'mostly' fallowed the Easy Peazy Cinnamon Muffin recipe on pg#262, I made the pumpkin version from pg.# 264. I adapted the sweetener amount from 12 tsp. down to 5 tsp., and I added 1/2 cup crushed walnuts. I also mixed half flax meal with half almond flour.
    Easy Peazy Pumpkin Muffins (S-Snack)
    Wet Directions
    Into blender put 5 eggs.
    3/4 cup and 1 Tbs. water
    3 Tbs. oil (coconut)
    1 tsp. vanilla
    1/3 cup pumpkin puree
    Blend well for 20 seconds.
    Dry Directions
    2 cups golden flax meal ( I used 1 cup flax meal and 1 cup almond flour)
    1 tsp. baking powder and 1 tsp. baking soda
    2 tsp. cinnamon
    1 tsp. each of nutmeg and allspice
    12 tsp. Truvia (I used only 5 tsp.)
    Mix your wet and dry ingredients. Let mixture sit for five minutes on counter top. Place in greased muffin pan and bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.
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    Pumpkin Whipped Topping
    For the topping I combined a few ideas for a icing-whip
    In a mixing bowl place
    8 oz. Light cream cheese
    1/3 cup pumpkin puree
    1/2 tsp. vanilla
    2 tsp truvia (or to personal taste)
    Whip together until fluffy
    add and gently whip in
    1/2 cup non-fat Greek yogurt
    Cover the cooled muffins with this topping, and for a dramatic and tasteful flourish I sprinkled with a little cinnamon sweetener (truvia and cinnamon mixed like cinnamon sugar)
     
    This recipe is clean nutrition, healthy and very satisfying!
    Enjoy
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    The Kitchen: Pantry

    Saturday, March 29, 2014


     
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    With the official start to Spring, I hope each of you are feeling some vim to lighten up and clean out stagnant parts of your home.

     Though spring weather has not arrived in our part of the world, as a family we spent spring break on the west coast of Canada, surrounded by sea and spring blossoms, it was hard coming home to a few feet of snow and ice-icicles hanging from our eves yet a week of west-coast spring did infuse beauty and eagerness for this next season in my heart and home.

    This week I cleaned and brightened up our school room, to help give a fresh start to our last term in school, Roger brought home daffodils to cheer up the school room which helps me look forward to heading back to school and teaching, we have ten weeks of planned schooling left, which is exactly how many weeks until my wee one is due to be born!

    Spring has a way with me, getting me focused to wrap up the projects of winter, like school, pregnancy and extra house work, so as to give way to the few months of beautiful drawn out summer days.

    And for a little show of my own 'spring' in my home my recently updated, cleaned out, organized pantry!

     I have a closet pantry, it is a lovely addition to my kitchen. Because it is on the smaller side I need to use this space intently and keep it organized or else it will not work for my size family!

    I do have extra shelves in our basement to hold the bulk of our food that we purchase in large quantities. I employ my Mothers pantry organization method. I store all the bulk foods down stairs and refill jars on the main floor as needed, this also works for canned goods, I just keep a can/jar or two upstairs and restocking the pantry shelves as needed. The light, bright organized and functional pantry this has become is truly a time saver and blessing to me and my busy household.
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    On the door of the pantry I have wire shelving, this holds all the quart size canning jars, in the jars I have dry goods that are least used in my kitchen. On the bottom shelf I have our families water bottles which is the only 'cups' we use during the day (saves time and dishes) it is at kid level and each child can hydrate as needed.
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    I will explain each shelf of the pantry from top to bottom.
    The top shelf is host to the treats! Candy, cookies, wine...
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    Second to top shelf is the snacks. One bin has the chips and crackers. The other bin has the snacks, we mostly use these for food in the car, granola bars, fruit purees, all other 'snackies'. I also keep my vintage cookie tin on this shelf, I will store any home backed cookies or muffins that I have made for the week.
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    Third shelf, stores my largest jars, they are gallon size pickle jars. In these I store the dry goods we use most frequently. Rice, sugar, oats, flour and my pregnancy tea. On this shelf I have a basket for my special foods.
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    Next shelf down has two-gallon jars, there are fourteen jars, two lines of seven jars each. Each jar has more dried goods, nuts, noodles, and all the in-betweens.
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    Last shelf, has the canned goods, the oils, my protein and any bottles.
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    On the floor of the pantry I have three baskets, one for cereal, another for root vegetables, and another for fruits.
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    This is my pantry!

    The most important things for me is that all my food is visible and accessible.    

    Here is the list of where I bought my pantry organization supplies.

    Large white baskets are from IKEA

    Black wire baskets are bought at Winners

    Large pickle jars have been collected from thrift shops.

    Two-liter jars (Bernard Brand) are from Canadian Tire

    One-liter jars (Bernard Brand) from Canadian Tire

    White canning jar lids (Bernard Brand) Canadian Tire

    Chalk labels and Green Labels (both Martha Stewart Brand) are purchased from Staples

    The little chalk labels I have hanging on the white baskets these were purchased at Michaels.

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    The Kitchen: Warm Drinks

    Thursday, March 6, 2014

     
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    Here I am with another kitchen change. This may be my favorite.
    Something to do with the correlation between a warm cup of something and the quite moments I take during my day to sit, sip and think, preferably all by myself.
    Having a place for the coffee and tea selections, all our mugs, travel mugs, and coffee makers was a bit hard to find in my kitchen until I moved our 'command station' which was located in this cupboard. Now I can not only have all the warm drink supplies in one place it is easy to locate exactly what I'm looking for.
     For me an organized space provides a beauty and calm, it makes me content, when I open this cupboard for my daily coffee it's a space that is enjoyable to use and look at.

    When I am working on organizing a space or spot in my home I approach all projects with the same few steps.
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    One
    Evaluate the space I have to work with.
    Space doesn't usually change, so what I am looking at is what I get. I have only a certain amount of space in my kitchen, this is not going to change.
    The question is how am I going to use my space most wisely?
    When evaluating the area I think of its purpose, work flow, and importance.
    Once I have thought carefully though my space I start to lay out a plan of how I am going to put things away.
    I always keep in mind work flow. Putting my most essential items at easiest reach, working out or up to the least used items.
     
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    Two

     
    I only keep the things that fit.
    This is a hard one. But so worth thinking through each item you own.
    I strongly dislike it when my possessions take over, consuming unnecessary time to keep-up and weighing my spirit down with clutter and making me feel overwhelmed. I prefer to have less so I can be organized and have easy access, it frees up my time and my countenance.
    When I say fit I mean FIT, not tucked behind this and hid behind that and then crammed into an already packed drawer. Let me tell you something, if you do that you will rarely use it any-way. Out-sight-out-of-mind!
     I try to make everything visible at first glance. I like to open a cupboard, scan the shelves or drawer and know what is there. I may group things together in families and put them in a basket, but I should be able to read the label and know what is inside.
    Like the tea in the above picture. My tea is on the top shelf, all the assortments are put together in labeled baskets, herbals and blacks with the specialties on the far right. 
     Making things fit is worth the effort and the pain of getting rid of things. Donating is an ongoing activity in my home. Life changes as do our needs. What was once essential may now be no longer needed, it is time to get rid of it.
    Making space also means keeping margins between items, most of us are blessed with the 'North American' house, much larger than the homes of the past, we have space and ample amounts of it.  Do not cram things!
     Give your homes and cupboards a bit of breathing room, not only does it make things easier to up-keep it makes things look more presentable and organized.
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    Three

    Once everything has a spot and the work flow is making life smoother, touch up your organized space with a little personal style.
     I like beauty, it makes me happy. I even try to make the inside of my cupboards attractive. It feels welcoming and allows for pleasure in the things I have worked hard for hard, it shows respect to my husband who has provided for me and my children and thankfulness to God as I honor him with my home and my possessions.
    I love going to the homes of others and see their character reflected in their home. Every home and every person is different and will gravitate towards different colors, patterns and feel. In that you can display your own style creatively and organized.  
    This is the fun part!
    Make your home your own, reflecting who God made you and what makes you cheerful and comfortable.
    ~

     
     

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