One Word for 2014

I can't believe another year has come and gone. I feel like 2013 flew by in the blink of an eye. This whole "parent of 2 small children" gig really makes you realize how quickly time passes. I'm not one for grand New Year's resolutions, simply for the fact that I never stick to them. This is what has intrigued me about OneWord365. It's about living intentionally and focusing on the kind of person you want to be not just a singular goal like losing weight or saving money. 

POSITIVE is going to be my word for 2014. I'll admit it - I can be a pessimist. It is hard for me to find the silver lining in my day to day life. So for the next 365 days I want to see things on the bright side, be kinder, happier and more engaged. I want to parent with love and encouragement. I want to believe in the strength of my body and my mind. I want to be a supportive, loving wife. I want to be a positive person. 

2014 the year of Positivity!

My Favorite Etsy Sellers - Part 1

Etsy is such a great place to find anything and everything unique, handmade, upcycled, creative and fun. I love supporting artists and small businesses. I can (and have) spent hours just going through listings and adding things to my wish list that I didn't even know I wanted or needed.

I've compiled a list of my favorite Etsy sellers. These are all shops that I have personally purchased from and loved their products.

Custom House Portraits by Patty Fleckenstein 

Patty creates amazing pen and ink watercolor portraits of your home. I purchased a gift card for one of her paintings for my in-laws for Christmas and Patty was great about answering questions and sending out the gift card so it made it in time for Christmas. I am so excited to see what the finished product will look like.

Bonjour Poupette

Sofie hand crafts amazing one of kind sculptures of creatures and animals out of polymer clay. Her attention to detail is amazing. She created a custom cake topper of 2 ferrets for my best friend's wedding and it was beautiful. The bride loved it! 

How adorable are these Siamese cats? I love that they even have individual little whiskers.

I've been seeing Foxes pop up in home decor, clothing and prints everywhere. This pair would be perfect as a cake topper or displayed in a collection. 

Belle Announcements

I worked with Liv from Belle announcements to create invitations for Rini's 2nd Birthday Party. She was super helpful and had a quick turnaround time. She has a ton of options for invitations, announcements and more. 

These wedding or rehearsal invitations have a trendy look and are customizable with your wedding colors. 

I love the idea of hosting a football themed gender reveal party! So many possibilities for decor, favors, games, etc. If I was ever to have another baby (which is NOT happening) I would totally do this! 

All opinions are my own. I was not paid to write these reviews, these are just sellers that I have worked with and loved. I hope you do too!

Aislinn Irene

Things have been a little crazy the past few months here on Colgate. We’ve seen a job promotion, potty training, two weddings, a camping trip, multiple house projects, the loss of one of our dogs and most importantly we have a brand new addition to our family.

Introducing Aislinn Irene

Born May 13th at 12:46 pm

7lbs 6oz and 19.75 inches of pure joy

We are all crazy in love especially big sister

Photos by Howson Wright Photography 

Banana Coconut Muffins

I make a batch of muffins about once a month. I usually freeze half of the batch so we have some quick grab and go breakfasts in the freezer. These muffins have a delicate coconut banana flavor and they are not overly sweet. The whole wheat flour and coconut oil make them a healthy alternative to sugary cereal or pastries. 

Banana Coconut Muffins
(Adapted from How Sweet Eats)

Ingredients

• 1 2/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 large eggs
• 1/4 cup organic cane sugar
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/3 cup canned coconut milk
• 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
• 4 bananas, mashed
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon coconut extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray muffin tins with nonstick spray. In a small bowl combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl whisk together eggs, sugar and honey until smooth. Add in coconut milk and coconut oil, mixing until combined. Stir in bananas and extracts. Slowly stir in dry ingredients until just combined. Divide batter between muffins tins - the recipe made 12 large muffins for me but will vary depending on the size of your tins. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick insterted in center comes out clean and the tops are lightly browned. Cool and enjoy!

Whole Wheat Pizza Dough in the Bread Machine

Our family loves to eat pizza. It is such a versatile food that it seems we never run out of combinations for toppings, sauce and cheese. We eat it at least once per week. Having a recipe for a good, easy pizza dough is essential for any home cook. I'm not a big fan of having to knead dough by hand so I use my bread machine to mix this up and it comes out great!


Whole Wheat Pizza Dough in The Bread Machine

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup warm water
• 2 1/4 teaspoons of yeast
• 2 1/4 cups of whole wheat flour
• 2 tablespoons of vital gluten
• 1 teaspoon of honey
• 3/4 teaspoon of salt
• 3 tablespoons of olive oil

Combine all ingredients in pan of bread machine in order listed by manufacturer - my bread machine calls for wet ingredients followed by dry ingredients with the yeast added last. Run machine on dough cycle. When cycle is complete use dough to make your favorite pizza recipe! 

What Rini Wore

I've been trying to take more pictures of Rini, it seems I do well for a few months and then I inevitably slack off and will find that I have only taken a hand full of photos over the course of the month. It really helps that she loves having her picture taken now. She is such a ham and will say "Cheeeese!" over and over for me. It's much nicer than the months of camera hating that we went through starting with her birthday over the summer and ending right after we had our family photos done in November. She would put her hand up and yell "NO pictures" every time the camera was brought out. 

Cardigan - Baby Gap

Dress - Hand me down

Tights - Babies R US

Converse - Kohls

I found these frog rain boots at a local thrift store last week and she has been in love with them ever since. She will even wear them with her pajamas.

Cardigan - The Children's Place

Dress - Old Navy (hand me down)

Boots - Target (thrifted)

Rini loves to play dress up. On this particular day we went through 4 different "princess" dresses over the course of the afternoon. This is her "Cinda-yella" dress.

Dress - Costco (gift)

Arm Warmers - Baby Legs

We attended a Valentine's Day party with our local mom's group last week and I forgot my camera but I did get a quick picture of her with my phone. 

Cardigan - The Children's Place

Shirt, Skirt and Tights - Kohls

Shoes - Payless

What Rini Wore

These are a few of the outfits Rini has worn over the last couple weeks. Now that she is a little older (2.5 yesterday!) she has started having more of an opinion on what she wears and what she likes and doesn't like. Her new favorite shoes are her rainboots and she loves anything pink. I love to dress her in cute clothes but I don't like to spend a lot of money. Thrift stores, Ebay, Kohls and Old Navy are our go to stores for her clothes. 

Sweater - The Children's Place

Dress - Hand me down that was dyed black

Tights - Ebay

Boots - Kohls

Rini loves to play dress up and her favorite character is Belle from Beauty and the Beast. She wears this dress at least a few times a month. She is also loving purses and accessories. I gave her a few of my old purses and some bracelets I don't wear anymore and she was in heaven!

Dress - Belle Halloween Costume

Cape - Bayou Princess

Adidas Track Suit - Costco (gift)

Chucks - Converse Outlet

Shirt and tights - Kohls

Skirt - Old Navy (thrifted)

Rain Boots - Baby Gap (thrifted)

Shirt - Wal-Mart

Skirt - Old Navy (thrifted)

Tights - Ebay

Rain Boots - Baby Gap (thrifted)

Homemade Yellow Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting

I have a big sweet tooth. I LOVE dessert. Cakes, pies, cookies, brownies. You name it, I love it. Combine my love of dessert with being pregnant and you get intense "I NEED IT NOW!" cravings for something sweet. Last week I really wanted a cupcake but it was Monday. The two "good" bakeries near my house are both closed on Mondays so I decided to take matters into my own hands and make cupcakes. These cupcakes were moist and the addition of the homemade chocolate frosting made them rich and decadent. I was a very happy pregnant woman! 

Yellow Cupcakes

Ingredients

2 cups cake flour (I didn't have cake flour so I subbed AP flour and they still came out great)
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
3 eggs, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla
3/4 cup whole milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. Using a mixer cream butter and sugar on high speed until fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each one. Add the vanilla and mix to combine. Now alternate adding dry ingredients and milk in three batches, mixing well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix one final time. Fill paper lined muffin tins 3/4 full with batter. Bake for 20-22 minutes or until cake is done but not brown. Cool before frosting. 

Chocolate Frosting
Adapted from Allrecipes

Ingredients

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup whole milk
2 1/2 cups confectioners sugar

In a large bowl beat butter and cocoa together until combined. Add milk and vanilla, beat until smooth. Gradually beat in confectioners sugar until desired consistency is reached. Adjust with more milk or confectioners sugar if necessary. Frost cupcakes. 

Crock Pot Lemon Chicken and Brown Rice Soup

We are admittedly not big soup lovers but when the weather gets frigid like it has been lately a nice bowl of soup is the perfect thing to warm you up. I saw this recipe on Sweet Anna's and I was intrigued by the addition of lemon to chicken soup. My husband loved the flavor of this and has actually requested that I make it again. This is big. He claims to hate soup so I am glad that I have at least one cheap, easy and delicious soup recipe that he enjoys. 

Ingredients:
1 small onion, diced
2 large carrots, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups leftover cooked chicken (or raw boneless breast or thighs!)
8 cups chicken stock
salt & pepper, to taste
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4-1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons fresh parsley
2 cups cooked brown rice
juice of two large lemons

Directions:
Dump everything but the rice into the slow cooker.  Cook on low for 6 hours or until veggies are tender. To serve place cooked rice in bowl and ladle soup over. Enjoy!

Super Easy French Bread In the Bread Machine

I love my bread machine. I use it multiple times a week. I'm all about saving money and cooking from scratch and my bread machine helps me achieve that quickly and easily. I actually bought mine used at the thrift store for $7 or $8 and it has been going strong for over a year. Most of the time I use it to make dough and then bake the final product in the oven. I like having more control over the cooking process and find my bread comes out fluffier and it rises better vs when I cook it in the bread machine.

This recipe for French Bread is super easy (hence the title) and it is really tasty. Rini and Charlie love eating it hot out of the oven slathered with butter. I like to use it to make French Bread Pizza or sandwiches.

Ingredients 
Recipe from Food.com

• 1 1/2 cups warm water
• 4 Cups Bread Flour (I use half unbleached AP flour and half whole wheat)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Salt
• 2 1/2 teaspoons Yeast

Directions

Add Ingredients to the pan in the order listed by the manufacturer of your bread machine (mine calls for wet ingredients first followed by the dry ingredients). Run machine on the dough cycle. Shape dough into 2 long skinny loaves and place on a greased baking sheet. Cut slits in the top of dough and allow to rise, covered, in a warm place for about 30 minutes. Brush the top of each loaf with egg white and bake at 350 degrees for 25-35 minutes (loaf is done when light golden brown)