Homemade Yogurt & Granola

I started eating yogurt and museli while living in Ireland.  Once I returned to the U.S. I found American yogurt disgusting.  Way too sweet and not rich and creamy like European yogurt.  I was very saddened by this as yogurt had become a favorite breakfast for both Matt and I.  Recently I found out you could make your own yogurt at home!  My friend Amy, who is like the Proverbs 31 woman, showed me how this past week.  We had a morning of cooking and yogurt and granola was first on the list.  It turned out incredible and was not hard to do.  I will post the directions soon.

Granola

6 cups rolled oats
2/3 cup ground flax seed
1/2 cup wheat germ
3 tablespoons brown sugar
3/4 cup honey
1/2 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon

Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.  In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients.  In a separate bowl, combine wet ingredients. Combine both mixtures together and pour onto 2 sheet pans. Cook for 1 hour and 15 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes to achieve an even color.  Remove from oven and let cool. Makes about 8 cups.

Homemade Corn Tortillas

My Mom gave me a tortilla press for my birthday this year.  I like flour tortillas the best and hope to get good at making them but since corn tortillas seemed easier I thought I would start with those.  My friend Amy mills her own flours and gave me some fresh milled corn to use.  I mixed the corn with water until a dough formed and then divided the dough up into balls which I pressed between parchment paper on my new tortilla press.  It worked like a charm. I fried them up and  here is my first batch.  Not the prettiest but- served up with chorizo, beans, cheese and fresh salsa- delicious!

Dresser Gone Rock N Roll!

Before

After

I bought this solid wood dresser at the thrift store.  It was well made with dovetail drawers but in desperate need of a makeover.  I decided I would paint it for my nephew Jace who needed a bigger dresser.  At first I tried painting it with his favorite colors which are currently orange and gray but it turned out hideous.  So Matt and I put our heads together and came up with this theme for him since he loves music and playing guitar. The guitar tabliture you see on it is a Dire Straits guitar riff.  The best part was sticking it in his room over the weekend while he was away!

DIY Deep Conditioner

I found this recipe for making your own deep conditioner for hair a few weeks ago here and just tried it out today. 

1 ripe avacado

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon honey

Peel and mash up avocado.  Add olive oil and honey and mix thoroughly.  Apply to hair, concentrating mostly on the ends.  Secure hair up with a hair binder.  Leave on for 20 minutes and then rinse out, shampooing and conditioning as usual. 

My hair already feels softer so I hope to use this treatment once a week.  It is a bit messy so I suggest applying the mixture to your hair while standing over the bathroom sink.

Chicken Mandarin Salad

My husband and I both like salads a lot but unfortunately we seem to eat them rarely.  We recently decided- in an effort to shed some pounds and eat healthier- that we would start eating salads regularly.  Here is one of our favorites.

DRESSING
1/2 cup canola oil
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon sesame oil
4 tablespoons rice vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

SALAD
1 large bag baby spring mix or other greens of your choice
1 small bunch scallions, chopped
1 stalk celery, thinly sliced
1 can mandarin oranges, drained
1 cup pecans, roughly chopped
1 handful cilantro, chopped
3 grilled chicken breasts, sliced

INSTRUCTIONS:

For dressing; combine all ingredients in a jar with a tight fitting lid and shake.

For salad; in a large bowl, combine greens, scallions, celery, mandarin oranges, pecans cilantro and chicken.  Pour desired amount of dressing over and toss to combine.  Store the leftover dressing in the fridge for up to a week.

Yield: 2 large main course sized salads or 4 smaller appetizer sized salads.

Suggested Wine Pairing: Cavit Pinot Grigio

Living Room Before & After

Here is the living room of our house before we bought it. 

Here is what we did to it.  Matt sanded down the mantel and re-stained with Kona stain. I then used  the Valspar Virtual Painter program to help me decide my color scheme.  I used Behr's "ultra pure white" on the fireplace wall and Valspar's "delta sandbar" on the surrounding walls.

Night Stand

 This was one of my first projects.  I got this night stand at the thrift store for $5.  It was a dirty, dingey, old white.  I gave it a sand and painted it my favorite color, which is called sapphire but I think of it as periwinkle.  It's hard for me not to paint all my furniture this color!  I finished the edges and new knobs with gold acrylic paint.  Fun!