Valentine's Day...All Year Long?

Valentines Day is coming quickly! I am not focused on Sunday, but have it perched in the back of my mind. I feel like there has been so much going on in the life of my husband and I that a flowery day in February need not be put on such a pedestal as to take over what is important in our daily lives.

Such as, our working together with grace and love. 

For example, our bathroom "remodel", seems to be all consuming.
It is coming along well, but mistakes have been made. 
Like my being certain that I could make that warped piece of car-siding work. which it did not. and I had already glued it. and partially nailed it. sigh.  
Or my husband accidentally cutting the red wire on the in floor heating mat while cleaning up the floor tiles before grouted. Pulling up tiles were necessary. sigh.
Neither of us got upset at the other when these things happened. We just helped one another with the process of making things right.

That is for us, in part, what real love is. Working together, not getting mad over the small things in life and laughing with each other....a lot.

We do not get upset if each of us is interested in different things. 
For example (again, or would that be redundant?) my hubby likes those detective style TV shows and I do not. We just watch different televisions in our house. No big deal, when the shows are done, we come together to watch what we do like - life is good, and when each of us watch the differing shows, when one falls asleep, the snoring does not interrupt the climactic choice of the perfect wedding dress! (I love you honey!!)

We pray together each night. faithfully. Our love of the Lord and surrender to Him is the biggest part of our love relationship and the most important. 

We hug, a lot.  We hold each other's hand, talk, and have dinner together. 

These small things may not seem like a big deal, but going without them makes such a chasm in a marriage that some cannot bring that breach back together.
We have made it a priority to not allow ourselves to let that chasm even start.

Do we do thing without each other? Yes, yes we do. I do things with my best girlfriends, my hubby plays music with his friends. My hubby does Daddy - Daughter date nights, I have my photography business that takes me away at times.

Life is our Valentine's Day. Will we celebrate the 14th? Yes, but in a small way like a card or candy or something homemade.

Which brings me to this! Some wonderful homemade items that I have found. Here are a couple that are incredibly easy and are without sugar or artificial sweeteners!

Like this Quinoa Bark from Half Baked Harvest (which is in my refrigerator right now) 

Or these No Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Fudge Bars from Chocolate Covered Kate  Oh Yum!!!!!!

What will you be making or giving this Valentine's Day?

p.s. I think these are just the sweetest gifts to give: "Bee" my "Honey" on Valentine's Day. From Joanna Gaines 
 

The Easiest Jar Cake Ever

This is an easy dessert to put together and yet your guest will think you are treating them to something extra special...which you are because they are!

Ingredients:
Cake of your choice from scratch or box mix baked in a large sheet pan
Whipped cream, cool whip, what ever you choose
Frosting of your choice...made from scratch or from a can!

How is that for ingredients!!! Go wild! Get crazy or keep it simple!

Simple is what I did, as I used what I had on hand in the pantry and freezer.

 Once your cake is baked and cooled, get out those jars! Mine are little as I am the "portion control queen" and my hubby can take the little jars in his lunch with ease.

I used two different sized biscuit cutters as the bottom of the jar is a bit smaller than the top.

Cut the circles of cake, lay the smallest in the bottom of the jar, dollop a spoonful of whipped cream on the top.

 

 

Lay the larger circle of cake on top of the whipped cream and press down gently.

 

Top that with a small amount of frosting and you are done!

 

Put the lid on top and store in the fridge until you are ready to eat!

They look adorable and are fun for your family or guests!

 

Smashed, Fried Baby Potatoes

This is a simple side dish that I do not make often but I probably should, as my family loves it!

I bought these beautiful new baby potatoes in Wisconsin and they were just shouting to be made in a special way!

This is the recipe that I use, but you can change it up as you like, the sky is the limit!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup chicken stock (you can use vegetable stock to keep it vegetarian)
1 clove garlic
1 small sprig of fresh rosemary
10-12 small fresh baby potatoes
drizzle of olive oil
Freshly grated Parmesan Cheese (optional)

 

Add all ingredients except the olive oil and cheese if using, to a frying pan that has a tight fitting lid.

Simmer the potatoes until tender (about 20 minutes)

Take off the lid, remove the garlic and rosemary stem, and turn heat to high to allow all the liquid to evaporate.
Once the pan is dry, reduce heat, sprinkle the potatoes with the olive oil and smash the potatoes with a glass, potato masher or anything that has a flat surface....but keep the potato in tact!!

Allow them to fry to a deep golden brown on both sides, flipping only once as they will become fragile the longer they cook.

  Serve piping hot with a fresh sprinkle of salt or freshly grated Parmesan cheese!

A Trip To Wisconsin

Lead me to a small store on the "main drag" through the small quaint town of Monroe. 

This store is really a year around farmer's market that also sells cheese and wine (shocking, I know, in the great state of Wisconsin) ; ) .  

I quickly grabbed up a local farmers acorn squash, some luscious apples, a bit of locally made cheese and 4 stems of sunflowers. 

Oh wait...a bit of sugar free Amish made candy found it's way into my cart also, just keeping it honest here!

I snapped a few photos of the flowers and apples....mmmmmmmmmm. I just finished eating one as a matter of fact, oh man, the BEST! Fall apples, crisp and juicy, nothing better!

And this is what I do with the acorn squash. 

 

 
Simply prepared with a pat of butter in each half, salt and pepper to top it and in the bottom of the parchment lined pan I put 1/2 cup of water, a small clove of garlic and a tsp of dried thyme.

Seal the foil and bake for 45 minutes at 350*

That's all.

I served it along with smashed fried baby potatoes (which I also got at the open air market, recipe tomorrow) and london broil. 

They guys were very happy!

Roasted Peppers

On Saturday I roasted up all my peppers for the freezer.
It is super easy to do and I can use them all winter for things like quesadillas, chilies rellenos, Italian sausage and peppers, etc.  the uses are endless.

This is how I did it.

First, clean off your peppers and place on a baking sheet (mine is REALLY well used).

 

 

 Cut off excess stems or they will burn and smell awful!

Next, pour oil over the peppers (no need to drown them) and rub the oil on all areas of the peppers with your hands.

 

I used canola oil but coconut oil would work well too.

 

Place in a 450* oven for about 20 minutes (times will very according to the number of peppers you have) until black/brown and blistered.

Place the roasted peppers into a bowl (heat proof) and cover with plastic wrap. Allow to cool in the bowl and the skins will release from the peppers. (I had to take the poblanos out of the oven about 10 minutes earlier than the green peppers as the flesh is much thinner on a poblano than the green)

 

Next, clean the peppers by pulling off the skins and cleaning out the seeds and stems.
(Sorry for the picture quality, the sun was glaring off of the plastic wrap I was working on and washed out the picture)

Lay flat in a freezer bag that you have labeled with contents and date. The bags take up very little room once frozen flat since they can be stacked or slid in to a very small area.

Once frozen, simply slice off what you need and return the rest to the freezer!

Your So Sweet!!!

I wanted to end this week with something sweet

and this cookie fits the want quite well!

With a couple of tweeks, you could make this

recipe gluten free or sugar free, what ever your

need is. And they look so very pretty and

they just make you smile.

Link over to "The Kitchen Is My Playground" and

get the recipe for these cutie patootie cookies.

http://www.thekitchenismyplayground.com/2013/01/chocolate-valentine-kiss-cookies.html

LInk To YUMMO!!!!!

Simply sharing a link today to the blog spot called

Glorious Treats.

Such beauty in something so very simple to make!

And I bet it tastes just as amazing as it looks!

A super simple way to make your family feel extra special

on a very ordinary day!!

http://www.glorioustreats.com/2012/07/blackberry-vanilla-cupcakes-in-a-jar.html

Granola Time!!

I make my own granola.

My husband has a special diet as he is type 2 diabetic.

I personally have not had sugar in 6 years.

I do however eat natural sugars like stevia, agave, true maple syrup, etc.

I do try to do things as organically as possible if the cost is doable.

Soooooooooooo, here is the way that I make granola.

(You can use normal supermarket ingredients to keep the cost super low if you are not concerned about organics)

2 cups oats - not instant oats, whole oats are the best.

1 cup nuts & seeds - I use 3/4 cup almonds & 1/4 cup flax seed

(I grind it slightly)

1/2 cup - your choice - chocolate, raisins, dried fruit,

or skip these all together.

1/4 tsp. sea salt (fine grind)

1 tsp ground cinnamon (organic is really the best here, as you will get a stronger, fresher flavor)

1 1/2 tsp real vanilla extract

1/4 tsp TRUE stevia (not the bulk supermarket kind)

1/4 cup agave nectar

And for the binder - if you are not a sugar free person, skip the agave and use 1/4 cup brown sugar (you can get organic)

OR 1 egg white beaten till frothy.

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl. Pour the frothed egg white over and mix well.

Bake at 350* on a lined bake sheet (parchment is best) for 20 - 25 minutes.

Allow to cool and put in air tight container.

This is such a great snack or cereal in the morning. Put on yogurt or over ice cream!

If you would like to make granola bars, up the egg whites to 2 and pack into the bake sheet, increase time to 25 - 30 minutes, cut while hot and then allow to cool. These will not be the strongest bars, but they will stay together!

Enjoy!!