{Blueberry Waffles with Lemon Icing}

I found this recipe at Vegan Yum Yum. Blueberry and Lemon just may be my favorite combination. With a couple of minor adjustments {for personal prefrence} it's rather yummy. Hubs worried they'd be "no bueno" when he heard the word "vegan" but after assuring him that I made some adjustments, he tried and liked them a lot.
It's a touch of sweet and sour for breakfast. My favorite!

Waffles
What You'll Need:
2 Cups All Purpose Flour
2 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
3 Tbs Sugar
2 cups kefir {can be subbed with 2/3 c plain yogurt and 1 1/3 c milk}
5 Tbs Water
1/3 Cup Oil
1 Cup Fresh Blueberries (*see note about using frozen)
Spray Oil for the waffle iron

What To Do:
Preheat your waffle iron.

Mix all the dry ingredients together well with a whisk. In another bowl, whisk the wet ingredients together. Combine wet and dry, then gently fold in berries.
Spray your waffle iron with a little bit of oil and make a test waffle. In my waffle maker, 1/2 cup of batter is perfect for a single waffle, and they cook for 10 minutes. Follow the instructions or your preferred directions for your waffle maker. This recipe makes 10 waffles if each waffle uses 1/2 cup of batter.

*If using frozen blueberries, keep them in the freezer until the last second. Reserve 1-2 Tbs of your dry mixture. When you’re ready to add the blueberries, take them out of the freezer, measure them and mix them with the reserved dry mixture. Then fold them into your mixed batter in NO MORE than three (3!!) folds. This will prevent your batter from turning a gray-purple color.

Lemon Icing
What You'll Need:
1 c powdered sugar
1 t lemon juice
zest of 1/2 lemon
2-4 T milk

What To Do:
Mix in a blender until smooth. You can do it without a blender if you feel like sifting your powdered sugar to make sure there are no lumps.

Fall Decor

I can't believe it's this time already! September 2nd! It can't be!
Do you remember when you were a kid and your parents would tell you something was going to happen in a week? It seemed like it took forever. Nowadays a whole week goes by and I don't even notice .
It's those darn munchkins, I tell ya! They somehow manage to speed up the clock.

Well anyway, the reality is that autumn is coming and, being a true New Englander, this means that my all-time favorite season is on it's way!
Fellow New Englanders and those of you who seem to experience no seasonal change whatsoever, this is for you.


repeat. repeat. repeat. pick one or two items or "themes" and repeat them. i.e. rather than hunting down 5 different fall items for your mantel, pick 7 different pumpkins {try to stick with one trait to keep your look uniform...same size, same color, same shape} and use just those. the greater the variety of items you use the more likely you are to overwhelm the eye and to look right over something special. 

{good housekeeping}

 {oh brooke}

do one thing and do it well. commit. if you're not careful, you can easily under-do your decorating and it can end up looking cheesy or cheap. this doesn't necessarily mean spendin' the big bucks. take the photo below, for instance... this is commitment! if they had skimped and put only one or two pumpkins at the base of each branch it'd look sparse. notice the branches too... if they had chosen branches that were too small, it would have looked "dinky". if, like most of us, you are working on a tight budget, do what you can but do it well. rather than four branch piles, only do two {one on either side of the door or on either side of the stairs} and cut the pumpkin collection down by half and pile three around one and three or five around the other {remember, odd numbers are more pleasing to the eye}. use this idea all over your house. this will keep your projects from looking cheap or cluttered and may actually save you money by keeping you from buying lots of little things that can add up quickly.

{good housekeeping}

one pumpkin on the shelf? oh no, my friend! commit!

{design mom}

small changes can mean big impact. like the frames below, simply changing out the pictures in your frames to fall landscapes {which can be found in old calendars, post cards, magazines, or you can take pictures and print them out} makes a definite impact and it can be done for pennies. take a look around, do you have any accessories, pillow cases, or blankets that lends themselves to fall color? swap them out and see the change. 

{sweet something designs} 

 

{brassy apple}

go au natural. if you can find it outdoors, it's probably perfect for indoor decorating this season. {apples, acorns, pine cones, leaves, branches, bittersweet...}

{pottery barn}

{good housekeeping}

think color. oranges and greens are a given. consider reds, teals, and purples too.

 {lula belle design}

 {pottery barn}

{the red thread}

{armonia decors}

scrapbook paper can be your friend. find patterns you love that warm you insides and make you smell apple cider. put pages in an empty picture frame for a punch of color. modge podge it wooden frames or blocks.

- spell it out. there's something about the words of the season that makes me all warm and fuzzy inside. find items that use the words "fall", "autumn","apples","pumpkin","leaves"

 

{sugar pie farmhouse}

{pattis primatives}

{320 sycamore}

think "well loved". worn edges, crackling paint, and signs of age all seem to warm up a place. you can buy items at flea markets and tag sales already used or you can use paint techniques on inexpensive items to create the look. (crackling mediums are easy to find at craft supply stores {elmers glue works too}. sand paper and gel stain can work wonders. even wax and soap help chip paint.)

{kennedy klan news and honeybee heaven} 

 {bhldn}

{my sweet savannah}

appeal to all the senses. one of the best ways to get in the spirit of the season is to cover all the senses. sight and touch are easy {table scapes, wall decor, pillows, blankets...} but don't forget smell and taste {candles and fresh baked goods. apples, cinnamon, nutmeg, pears, beef stew, and other hearty dishes} and, for me, the sounds of classical music tends to set the mood.

 {thrifty decor chick}

{sugar and spice}

{pixdaus}

I can smell the cider donuts already!

Chalk Plates

I saw this idea ages ago on an Etsy shop and it was one of those things I looked at and said  "I could totally do that!"
So I did.
I purchased a can of chalkboard spray paint and painter's tape at the hardware store and found 8 plastic plates at a tag sale.
Then I got to work.

 

 

 

And in case you haven't seen this idea yet, Meg from "Whatever..." made chalk paint for her kids and, to her surprise, they loved it. Summer's not over yet... give it a shot!

pardon the interruption

hi there.
sorry i've missed you lately.
small weather complications.
now the power's back and it's time to get picked up.

we survived Irene with flying colors. {even ran around the yard for a while in it.}
our power lines... not so much

ramblings

the following may sound a bit like whining... i won't be offended if you ignore...

let's just say that i'm a little overwhelmed these days.
i don't feel like i can get a grip on anything anymore.
the house is a bit of a jumble.
half filled boxes all over.
laundry i can't motivate myself to fold because "hey, we're moving".
my meals have left a lot to be desired lately because i don't want to spend the money on groceries. i don't want to go to the grocery store. i don't want to cook.
we've had a lot of "breakfasts for dinner".

i feel like i have one foot in the door and one foot out.
limbo.
i've never been a fan of limbo.
the kids are feeling it too.

CJ isn't happy unless he's in constant physical contact with Hubs or me. {his love language is physical touch to the extreme and i think starting school exacerbated that}

Mak isn't happy because, well, she's Mak ...see pictures below {i don't mean to mislead you, Mak is hilarious and SO fun but she's like her mama. when she's unhappy, everybody is}

and Bean isn't happy unless you're making direct eye contact with her.
we had, what i consider to be, my least favorite day of parenting this week.
no one listened well.
no one napped well.
i had a total of one hour of quiet all day. the rest was fussing, whining, yelling.
it was as if aliens took over our home and my attitude about it all certainly didn't help.
i've had to be purposeful about being thankful.
those days are tough.

we went to the new house for our final inspections and everything is great! as in... the inspector wishes he was buying it instead, great! {sneak peak. more to come. closing the 14th!}
i've been finding some great deals on items we've wanted on craigslist.com.

 

the kids, despite having a miserable start to the week, have been so kind to one another. lots of voluntary hugs and kisses.

Mak can only say a few words clearly but today she said "coffee". that makes me smile. maybe it shouldn't.
CJ turned 3 and started preschool this past week.

weird!
very dear friends of ours are getting married tomorrow!
i'm attending a bachelorette party tonight. i get a chance to unwind!

 

Hubs has been so kind and kept the kids on the nights that i've wanted to run errands.
i wasn't able to find fabric that i wanted for the girls' room... instead, i found even better ones!  already made!
see?

they're just what i didn't know i was looking for. 
i borrowed a camera from my friend and fell in love with it...
a canon rebel
maybe if we weren't buying a house.

anyway... God is good.
but as for me... i am tired.
stay safe this weekend, fellow east coasters!

 

 

{Summer Squash on the Grill}

Do you have one of these? 

It's a vegetable grill basket and, if not, you're missing out!

We use this baby for shrimp, veggies, chopped meat, everything. It's by far our favorite grill purchase! 

It makes this recipe super simple...

What You'll Need:
This is a tough one to pinpoint because the opportunities are endless based on what you have on hand.
We almost always start with a base of yellow squash and often mix in zucchini, green peppers, red onions, mushrooms
salt and pepper
olive oil
garlic powder

What To Do:
Place your grill basket on the grill and close'r up for 10 minutes.
While the grill's heating up, slice the squash and/or zucchini into medium thick slices {thickness alters the cooking time}
Give a rough chop to the other ingredients. Careful not to be too small here... the squash takes a while to cook so you don't want the other items to burn.

Place all chopped ingredients into a large bowl or resealable freezer bag.
Pour in about 4 T of olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste.
Stir or shake till everything's nicely coated.
{If using tomatoes, you may want to coat these in a separate bag because you'll want to add those later in the cooking process.}

Lower the grill heat to medium and pour the veggies into the basket. Close the lid and let cook for 5 minutes.
Then open the grill, give it a little shake or stir and close again.
Depending on how thick your slices are you'll want to stir every five minutes until the squash are tender. It usually takes us about 25 minutes. When we're grilling meat with this we usually start the squash about 10 minutes before we put the meat on. That way it's all done at the same time. {If you're adding tomatoes, I suggest adding them for the last 10 minutes of cooking to keep them from overcooking. Unless, of course, you like them crispy.}

That's it!
I love me some grillin'!