Recipes Gallore + Raw Ingredients

Considering I had the whole week off, I didn't spend much time trying new recipes. I haven't, actually, been as consistent in my recipe experimentation as in the past. But I made up for it this weekend- baking style! Peanut butter oatmeal cookies, cinnamon bun muffins and "monkey poop." Plus, I made a  jar of almond butter and a bottle of vanilla. I can't tell you how good my kitchen smelled... or how messy it got.

The cookies are super tasty and super moist. I halved the recipe, but still used a whole egg. 

These gluten-free cinnamon bun muffins are seriously the best muffins I've ever had. It makes me want to host a brunch just so I can make them for other people. Topped with a sprinkling of maple sugar- mmmmmm.

About two cups of almonds go right into the food processor. Let it spin for about twenty minutes. I ended up adding a tablespoon of coconut oil because it kept sticking. Once the oil was in, it turned liquidy real soon. I needed this for a recipe today and decided to just make a whole batch, because my food processor does a better job when it's fuller and because it's a messy and time consuming process. I wouldn't eat this plain because there's no sugar added, so it tastes quite different from store-bought peanut butter. However, added to recipes that have either honey or maple sugar in them and this butter is delish!

I'm almost out of my last batch of homemade vanilla extract, so I made more today while the almond butter was spinning in the food processor. The package the vanilla beans came in (bought at my public market) says to use one bean cut up with one pint of vodka. I decided to use a cup of vodka instead of a pint because the last batch I made following those directions still had a smell of vodka. The package also says the vanilla is ready in 3 weeks, but it's one of those things that gets better with time. My previous batch is from September and I'm happy to let the vanilla simmer in there. 

Recess Productivity

My brother laughed at me today when I described my week off for February recess as "productive." Well, Ryan and I got so much done around the house that my brother can laugh all he wants! :p 

We found this mirror at a thrift store at the beginning of the week, but it just made the rest of the mantle look so bland. On one of our many shopping trips this week we picked up some items to enhance the decor. They're staying for now, but we're keeping the receipt in case we find something better.

I also made a reed diffuser using the orange essential oil that Ryan got me for Christmas. The reeds are from Amazon. Just Google how to do it using the ingredients you may have around the house (I used mineral oil as the carrier oil and some vodka).  

My breakfasts have been very fickle over the past several months. For a while, I was making a slow-cooker oatmeal, then ditched the oats to go full-fledge, grain-free paleo and was eating eggs and sausage. Recently, for a box or two, I was even eating gluten-free Chex. But I'm going back to the oatmeal. Yes, it's grains, but it's homemade, nothing processed and all the ingredients except the salt and cinnamon I used are organic. It's a new recipe and I like it so much better than my old slow-cooker one. 

We finally made it back to the public market! It's our first time since probably October. The weather lightened up enough that we decided to see what the market had to offer in winter. These berries are almost sinful because they're not in season, but goodness gracious it's been months since I've had berries and I couldn't resist. 

Rewarding Work

We've been doing various random things around the house. Bigger projects, smaller projects, and some shopping around to find items we've been looking for since we moved in!

Ryan started this project last weekend and has it nearly finished. This bedroom's door used to swing out into the hallway and was very inconvenient. He switched the door around. A cool tip he came up with- when filling in the old gaps left from the door hinges, use a paint stirrer instead of cutting a piece of wood down. It's the right thickness according to him. 

 Perfect fit.

We spent the day yesterday visiting antique stores and thrift shops. Out of the five we went to, three were new to us. We had been looking for the perfect mirror for above our mantle for at least a year now. As of last week, I was ready to order one from Pottery Barn for over $200. We found this beauty at a second-hand store for $24! Now to think about the rest of the mantle decor. 

 I haven't made a handmade card in months. This is for my cousin's sweet baby girl Brynn, whose baptism we're celebrating today. 

Another project I've been working on is compiling all of my magazine cutouts of inspiration, putting them in plastic jackets and categorizing them based on theme. So far I have: hostessing, decorating and holidays. I need to make dividers, still, but this is a peek at how it's coming along. Much easier to sort through than in the pockets of a folder. 

While winter keeps on raging, it feels so rewarding to accomplish things inside.