A Little Walk

After supper we went for a walk at our local state park, talking, exploring new paths and taking one that was much longer than we expected. It reminded us so much of our Frisco beach walk last Summer. :) We walked and walked and walked. Some in silence and some in talk. Sprinkled with random hugs and kisses and hand holding. We walked through camp grounds and remembered old family camping trips - what they looked like and what we cooked over the fire. I see smore's in our near future. The sun slowly lowered into light shades of pink and orange and colorful bowls of freshly diced pineapple welcomed us home. So glad we have much fun together, Tony!! 

February Sprinkles

HAPPY MARCH!!

This sixty-first day of the year is bringin' it - bradford pear trees loaded with flower buds and a sunny sky sprinkled with clouds that's going to warm our area to near 80 degrees today. Can someone say picnic and book reading in the backyard? Dandelions sunny faces are opened wide and the bees are busy at work. The house is clean and a load of laundry is flapping in the wind. I must say, I am so stinkin' excited about the new clothesline that Tony built for me last week!!! Our days are filled with countless little details that beckon us to soak them up like a sponge, extend gratitude to the Creator of all, and experience overflowing joy in all the apparent small things.

Now for some joy-filled beckoning's in February (aka the draft).

Selah "God is the unfolder of great surprises. What He continually does is invite us to take a step back, and use the zoom out feature. Now, see? We thought the task of the godly was to keep our candle lit in a blustery night. The candle was all the purposes of God, and the overarching night was the inexorable power of worldliness. But zoom out. The sun is rising. The night is done, gone, over. Christ has risen, and He will never set. The time of night is long past, and so Christians ought to quit seeking out dark corners of basements in order be able to play their pessimistic game of “night time.” The first great move was from Jew to Jew and Gentile together. The next was Christian and unbeliever. Just as Gentiles came into Israel through Christ, so also unbelievers will come into Christ . . . through Christ." -- Doug Wilson


Room by Room beauty products and vitamin cabinet have been purged. :) 


In the Kitchen A messy kitchen is a happy kitchen!! :) Some new favorites were chocolate oatmeal cookies, pumpkin bread, moroccan couscous with carmelized onions and raisins, and loaves of pretty bread. 

Reading Room This month I completed the following and started others: Forgotten God, Organized Simplicity, and For Women Only. 

Gentle Domesticity I crocheted a little striped blanket and knitted 2 scarves for the little girls that live next door. :)

Hospitality & Relationships We opened our house up for a little Mary Kay session and for dinner with friends a couple times. Brittany even stayed the night over here one Wednesday night. :)

And many other moments to be grateful for!!!

marshmallows for two 

nature walks with my Tony

afternoon fires

a bar of soap turned into nearly a gallon of liquid soap :) 

wood gathering and special notes from Tony

family dinners

surprise visit from Pepere' and Memere' :) 

"To live nobly, energetically, up to one’s best, and yet without worry, is one of the highest attainments possible. It is the ideal life. It is the life whose vision of beauty is pictured for us in the peace which our Lord promises his people, the peace that passeth all understanding that keeps the heart and mind in Christ Jesus, — the perfect peace that comes to him whose mind is stayed on God." J.R. Miller

All the Little Things

My valentines day was sprinkled with kitchen time preparing empanadas with chimichurri sauce and a homemade snickers treat (recipes below). A labor of love, for my one and only prince charming! :) In the evening we cuddled on the couch and watched Mr. Popper's Penguins (we loved it and are going to watch it 1 more time before we send it back to Netflix). I played a new favorite song for Tony -- "All the Little Things" by Ben Cocks. Then snuggled in our high thread count sheets where we talked, listened to some quiet music, and read The Lesson of Gladness by J.R. Miller. He's by far our favorite author!

"Another helper of gladness is a happy home. Many of us would never be able, day after day, to face life with its struggles, its duties, its antagonisms, were it not for the renewal of strength which we get in our home. A true home is a little fragment of heaven let down on earth to inspire us with patience and strength for the way." - Miller

I used this recipe for the empanadas. I did grind my own garbanzo flour, but regular flour will serve just fine. I doubled the dough recipe as there was much more filling to be used. Yay! They turned out great and the leftovers are yummy (I snacked on one earlier today). I would just make one change next time, adding a little salt to the dough recipe. Other than that, they were perfect!! :)

The homemade snickers were a lot of fun to make! I was inspired by two recipes (here and here), but also tweaked it a lot, as I just wanted to make a small one for the two of us that was somewhat healthified, as one of my facebook friends said. :) My process went a little something like this.

Nougat
1/4 cup almond milk
1 tablespoon earth balance (or you could use butter)
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp cornstarch
1/2 tbsp smuckers natural peanut butter

Combine the milk, butter, and sugar into a small saucepan and heat, without stirring, on low until it bubbles. Let it bubble for a few minutes. Remove from the heat and whisk in the vanilla, cornstarch, and peanut butter. Pour this into a small dish with parchment paper in it (I used a 5 inch round bowl). Place this in the freezer.

Caramely Peanuts
1/8 cup sugar
1/4 cup coconut milk
1 tbsp earth balance (or butter)
1/3 cup roasted salted peanuts
dash of vanilla extract

Combine the sugar, coconut milk, and butter into a small saucepan and place over medium heat. Stir mixture until sugar dissolves. Boil mixture, swirling pan occasionally (but not stirring) for about 8 minutes. This will become a carmel substance. Remove from heat; stir in peanuts and vanilla. Use a spatula to pour this on top of the nougat layer. Return to freezer.

Chocolate
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 tbsp smuckers natural peanut butter

Nestle a small bowl over a pot of simmering water. Pour the chocolate chips and peanut butter in the bowl and stir until melted and well combined. Remove the nougat/caramel from the parchment paper and set on a plate in the freezer. Now in your bowl with parchment paper, pour half of your melted chocolate. Place this in the freezer until solid (about 15 minutes). Then put a thin layer of melted chocolate on top of that (to act as glue), replace the nougat/caramel layers, and pour the rest of the chocolate on top. Return to freezer for about 20-30 minutes and it will be all ready for you to eat! Enjoy!! :)

Baking Bread

Goodbye January - The Draft

It is a beeeautiful sun shiney day - high near 70 degrees!! Already spent some time outside reading and journaling. :) January's draft looked a little something like this:

Selah - I've started reading through the Bible again using Professor Horner's reading plan. I love that it combines 10 different parts of scripture each day and it helps me to see cross references that I may not have otherwise picked up on.

Room by Room - I was able to go through all of our clothes. Some have already been given away and others are in piles just waiting for a day at the flea market.

In the Kitchen - Some of our favorite new recipes this month was lima bean hummus, spinach pesto pizza, awesome veggie burgers, lentil falafels, and peanut butter cookies. You can view lots of yummy recipes on my pinterest board by clicking the picture below. :)

Reading Room - I completed One Thousand Gifts, How to Win Friends & Influence People, No Excuses: The Power of Self-Discipline, and Christian Encounters - Saint Francis. I started a few others and hope to finish them this month.

Gentle Domesticity - I was able to crochet a super soft scarf for my dear friend Belinda, a mini camouflage blanket for Oscar the dog, and 5 crochet covered rocks for the Pay It Forward 2012 facebook challenge. I also practiced my knitting skills more while watching Dark Knight with my Tony.

Hospitality & Relationships - We were able to open our home and prepare meal for family and friends alike. One of our new favorite hospitable meals was a greek fiesta pile up - think olives, spinach, tomatoes, onions, basil, greek dressing, chick peas, all piled into a sun dried tomato tortilla. Mmmm!!