Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

Ever since I posted my Biscuits and Gravy recipe and gave a shout out to Homemade Fresh Cinnamon Rolls, I’ve been CRAVING the PioneerWomen’s rolls! So last weekend I decided I wanted to get up early Saturday morning … this may or may not been initiated due to the fact our breakfast options could have possibly been very limited only because somebody (cough … me … ehhem) decided we potentially could last a few more days before desperately needing to go grocery shopping. Either way I was up early enough with the great intention to make some fresh cinnamon rolls, only to find out after already starting to mix up the first few ingredients that we were almost out of all-purpose flour as well (Like I mentioned … we were SLIM pickins!)

Well, at this point I had only a few options left 1) run to the store and buy more flour, 2) or something else for breakfast, or 3) substitute the remaining flour needed for whole wheat flour. Some days I would have gone with option #2 hands down but today I had already done the hardest part about making fresh cinnamon rolls on a Saturday morning by forcing myself to get up in enough time for these to be eaten for breakfast AND I really didn’t want to leave the house, SO whole wheat cinnamon rolls it is.

Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

Dough-

4 cups whole milk

1 cup vegetable oil

1 cup sugar

4 ½ teaspoons active dry yeast

4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

5 cups whole wheat flour

1 ½ teaspoon baking powder

¾ teaspoon baking soda

1 tablespoon salt

the milk, oil, and sugar mixture

In a large stockpot, heat milk, oil, and sugar to almost boiling. Allow to cool until warm. Sprinkle yeast a top the warm milk and let stand for 1 min. Stir in 5 cups of whole wheat flour and 3 cups of all-purpose flour until combined. Cover with stockpot with dishtowel and set in a warm place to rise for 1 hour. Add baking powder, baking soda, salt, and remaining 1 cup all-purpose flour. Stirring until thoroughly combined. Divide the dough in half. On a floured surface, push the dough flat with your fingers to form a rough rectangle. Use a rolling pin to roll out the dough into about a 10” x 30” rectangle with the long edge facing you.

the dough before rising

Filling-

1 cup butter (2 sticks)

¼ cup cinnamon

2 cups sugar

Melt ½ cup butter (1 stick) and spread out onto the dough. Sprinkle with half (2 tablespoons) of cinnamon and ½ (1 cup) of sugar evenly onto the buttered dough. Starting with the long side farthest from you, roll the dough towards you. Once all rolled up, pinch the edge closest to you into the roll to close. Slice using a sharp knife into about 2 dozen 1 ½ inch wide slices. **At this point you could freeze the rolls, place them on cookie sheets covered with saran wrap and place in the freeze until frozen, then place in freeze container of your choice.** Prepare pan(s) by coating the bottom with butter, place rolls 1 inch apart. Cover with dishtowel and allow to rest for 20 minutes. Bake at 375 degrees for about 15 minutes until golden, do not overcook. Repeat with second half of dough.

While the rolls are baking it’s onto the frosting, which I offer to options. A maple frosting from the Pioneer Woman’s recipe or a cream cheese frosting of my own.

Maple Espresso Frosting (Pioneer Woman’s)-

2 pounds (about 8 cups) powdered sugar

½ cup whole milk

6 tablespoons butter

¼ cup strong brewed coffee

Dash of salt

1 tablespoon maple flavoring

Whisk together until very smooth. Frosting should be thick but pourable. Generously drizzle over warm rolls.

Cream Cheese Frosting-

6 cups of powdered sugar

½ cup milk

½ cup (1 stick) butter melted

4 ounces cream cheese softened

Whisk milk, butter and cream cheese together. Gradually add powdered sugar until the thickness you desire. Top warm rolls.

Although, I would have preferred using only all-purpose flour, these turned out really well. I was a little worried at first since more often things turnout much denser when using whole wheat flour, and this recipe was not that way.  So good and what makes this even better I was able to make enough rolls to enjoy over the entire weekend AND save the other half of the rolls for the freeze to enjoy these deliciousness later without all the time and effort!

the second half before going into the freezer, froze them like this
then put them in a freezer bag

I’ll have to share an update once we eat up the second half of the recipe from the freezer. 

Homemade Granola

Tonight's going to be a short, sweet, and to the point post! While I realize should have waited until the kiddos were in bed so I could hear myself think, I decided to just sit down quick and push through all the noise while they are entertaining themselves with basketballs, spoons and garbage cans, let's just say loud doesn't describe it!

Granola is not a staple grocery list item or one that I'd consider as 'needed' but this is something I really need to make more of! The process takes a little time but is extremely easy and really the options are endless with what you want to put in it as well as how you could use it.

Natalie at Super Health Kids offers a great list of ways to use your granola. My recipe was inspired by Alton Brown but that was only the start!

Homemade Granola Recipe

4 cups rolled oats (not quick oats)

1 cup slice almonds

1 cup pecans

1 cup shredded sweetened coconut

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup honey

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Mix oats, nuts, coconut, and sugar in a large bowl. In a separate bowl mix honey, oil and salt. Pour honey mixture onto of oats mixture. Stir until well coated and combined (use your hands if needed). Spread granola onto a cookie sheet with edges. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until evenly toasted and to your desired crunchiness (keep in mind it will get crunchier as it cools). Stir every 15 minutes. 

This would be great with any kind of dried fruit or your favorite nuts or seeds added to the mix! Ultimately all you need is your base (rolled oats), something sticky to hold it all together (honey or syrup), an oil (I'm sure any kind would do) to thin out your sticky to make it coat everything easier, your favorite extras (fruit, nuts, seeds, coconut, etc.), and a little sweet and salty to your liking. 

Now I just need to make some more yogurt! J

Homemade Washing Soda

A common laundry detergent ingredient :)

Well Mother Nature, you sure had your own plan for today and I really didn't appreciate our electricity going out because of you just as I went to go start typing my post for today!

The other day I went to go make another batch of laundry soap and found I was out of washing soda. I am about 50/50 between my homemade laundry detergent and Norwex laundry detergent ... I love the no fillers for some of the sensitive skinned family members but I LOVE the price of my homemade detergent. But since I was completely out of laundry detergent altogether and I couldn't wait for a new bag of Norwex to arrive, I made a point to run out over my lunch break the next day to pick some washing soda up.

However, to my disappointment our Target didn't carry washing soda, WHAT?!? Now most of you would have just grabbed some other laundry detergent but of course that would be way too easy for this girl! Instead, the crazy thought "I wonder if I could make it" entered my mind (oh ... Homemade Day by Day you have really created an addition here, heehee) and sure enough while standing in the laundry detergent aisle at Target I did a quick internet search and BINGO.

The initial recipe I found was from One Good Thing by Jillee but I really enjoyed Penniless Parenting's chemistry explanation! Now I am no chemist and I would like to do more research on this, but I did give it a try! This would for sure be a great alternative for when washing soda isn't available.

I'm sure there was a much more graceful way to do this :)

Homemade Washing Soda

2 cups of baking soda (1 - 16 ounce box)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spread baking soda onto cookie sheet (preferably one with an edge). Bake for 1 or more hours until all the baking soda has turned into washing soda. 

I baked mine for 2 hours after dinner one evening and I am thinking I could have gone longer according to Penniless Parenting's comparison, but for now I am pleased! 

Cost comparison - $0.50 for 2 cups homemade washing soda vs. $1.39 store bought

Homemade Biscuits and Gravy

the biscuits, melt in your mouth inside with a little crunch on the out

Hoping I've shared this early enough in the week for any of you out there that would like to give this a try come Saturday (or Sunday) morning this weekend! It’s not as quick as a bowl of cereal BUT it is much more time efficient than let’s say, oh … homemade cinnamon rolls … which I always have great intentions the night before, but when it comes down to it, my sleep is much more enjoyable! One of these days, I will find a recipe and process that works for us AND when I do, I won’t forget to share because everybody needs to enjoy a piping hot fresh homemade cinnamon roll every once in while! But until that post, these biscuits and gravy will definitely satisfy those taste buds :)

... and the finished gravy

A Saturday morning favorite around here for sure … even #3, this generation’s “Kara you need to stop talking and eat” girl (just a little inside fun from growing up at ‘the farm’ with a dear friend), loves gobbling this deliciousness up and almost always asks for seconds!

The first recipe feeds a family of 6 generously with seconds and leftovers … which is how I usually cook on Saturday mornings so it covers breakfast plans for Sunday morning also! If you don’t need this large of a recipe, check out the half recipe version at the bottom of the post (I know you all could do your own math, but I also know myself well enough that if there’s an additional step I would need to do in order to try something, its very slow to making it to the top of my priority list … and these biscuits and gravy just might make it to the top of that list once you have tried them!)

From start to finish, the kids can be eating these in about a half hour. To speed the process up, I always make my homemade buttermilk first and start preheating a large skillet for the sausage. The biscuit recipe is one from Foodie Friend on Food.com and the gravy recipe is a from a family recipe book “Breads of a Feather Cook Together”. I’ve shared about this great recipe book before that was inspired by my great-grandparents.

what it looks like before kneading

Homemade Biscuits 

4 cups flour

5 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ salt

2 tablespoon sugar

1 cup butter (2 sticks)

1 ½ cup buttermilk

Make sure you have already started your buttermilk if you are using my homemade version. Shred butter (yes, with a cheese grater J, SO much easier than cutting it into small cubes!) into a large bowl. Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar to the bowl with the shredded butter. Using your hands, lightly toss the butter and dry ingredients together until the butter pieces are well coated. Pour the buttermilk over the coated butter. Using a wooden spoon (I like to use this because it makes me feel pioneery ... any spoon will do), stir for about a minute… it may not be completely combined. Pour dough out onto flour counter and knead for about 6-8 times until you have the dough forms a sloppy ball. Move the dough to a cookie sheet (one with edges is preferred). Work the dough to form a 1 ½ inch thick rectangle that is approximately 9”x15”. Cut dough into 2” squares (like you would bars) and do not separate. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes.

before the baking

While the biscuits are baking, it’s onto the gravy. 

Gravy

the roux and milk ... love a good-ole cast-iron pot!

1 pound breakfast sausage

½ cup butter (1 stick)

½ cup flour

4 cups milk

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

In large preheated skillet, brown sausage until fully cooked and the delish crusties form on the bottom of the skillet. While the sausage is cooking, melt butter in a separate saucepan. Whisk flour into melted butter. Cook butter and flour (also known as a roux) for about 1 minute. Add milk to roux and whisk occasionally until sausage is ready. Once sausage is cooked and drained, add the milk mixture to the large skillet. Continue to cook gravy to desired thickness, being sure to scrap the bottom of the pan to incorporate the deliciousness left on the bottom of the pan from the sausage.

the finished product ... we love a little maple syrup to top things off :) 

½ Biscuits Recipe

2 cups flour

2 ½ teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

¼ salt

1 tablespoon sugar

½ cup butter (1 stick)

¾ cup buttermilk

½ Gravy Recipe

½ pound breakfast sausage

4 tablespoons butter

¼ cup flour

2 cups milk

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon pepper

Cost for the meal: under $7 for full recipe. I'd love to hear from you if you give these a try!

Homemade Antacid Remedy

DISCLAIMER – There are a wide variety of essential oils on the market. Please be sure to check the labels on your oils so you are using them safely and according to their directions. Some are for external use only.

My intent was this will be a quick post … easy-peasy! And then there was a need to explain about the different oils available, so if you already have oils that are safe to be used internally feel free to skip to the recipe. If not, let me share some insight.

I’ve been using essential oils since early 2005 after receiving an ‘off-the-list’ Christmas gift from my sister. She had my name for the Christmas exchange and came across this book (be sure to check this link out for the free book sample); it sounded like something I would enjoy trying and BOY AM I GLAD she went outside the box! Now just so you know, I have not read this book word for word, but it has been in active circulation in our home ever since I received it … the worn edges and AMAZING smell that covers its pages from the variety of essential oils that have accidentally splattered them are a true sign of how well it’s been used!

The book sparked my curiosity and I started looking into finding the oils, but I was caught off guard by how expensive they were! I had NO background knowledge and at the time didn’t know anybody else that used them so I was treading through ALL of the endless information about essential oils on my own. I was an amateur essential oil user and found a reliable site that offered a wide variety of oils for a reasonable price (you know me … always trying to get a better product for the cheapest price); however, these could only be used externally which I thought was normal for all essential oils … little did I know at that time there was something out there that COULD be used internally also.

A few of the ones I started with were eucalyptus, lavender, chamomile, tea tree, thyme, lemon, vetiver, rosemary, rose geranium, and bergamot. Why those you ask? These were the ones that weren’t outrageous expensive and seemed to give me the most options when following some of the recipes from the book my sister gave me. Later I added: grapefruit, palmarosa, peppermint, spearmint, coriander, fennel, juniper berry, cypress, cinnamon bark, hyssop, and frankincense.

Fast-forward five years after I had started making bath salts with blends I had created for a variety of purposes and was completely satisfied with the essential oils I was using. One day my cousin shared she had started using Young Living oils, she liked the idea they were okay to be used internally since she would be using them on her children and it made her feel better to know if they would get a little of the oils in their mouth it would be safe. Truth be told - my first response was WOW, these sound great and then I looked at their price and my tuned went from I want to use Young Living oils to my oils have served their purpose well for the past five years just fine, I REALLY don’t want to spend that amount of money.

Fast-forward five more years, I just recently used some of my Christmas cash and bought a starter kit from Young Living … at this point I wished it hadn’t taken me 10 years to get my hands on essential oils that are safe for internal use. Before Young Living I would state, “I really don’t have any desire to use them internally, so what’s the big deal?” Well, now that I have them, I have changed my tune yet again and have been trying out the many ways to use my Young Living essential oils to support a healthier lifestyle.

In some sense I feel like I am starting all over with my essential oils because there are so many more uses for Young Livings oils than what I was used to, so to help with my learning curve I attended a Young Living class about the chemistry behind essential oils and the instructor mentioned how peppermint essential was great as a dietary supplement and helped support the digestive system. LIGHTBULB! The Mr. struggles with heartburn on a regular basis, so my wheels started turning and it was worth a try. I am not opposed to over-the-counter and prescription medicine by any means, but if a simple natural solution would bring health benefits then I am open to giving it a try and if it works for us I am willing to make that lifestyle change if not then as least we tried and no harm was done. As we all know, everybody is different so may have different results, but we will be trading in our antacids for some Young Living peppermint oils. If you are would like to see how you can benefit from these oils ask me for a free sample, how you can get them at wholesale price, or how you can get your own starter kit.

Homemade Antacid Remedy

1 cup water

1 drop Young Living peppermint essential oil

Bottle with lid

Add water and peppermint oil to bottle. Shake well. Drink.

Cost comparison: $0.07 for one dose of peppermint water vs. $0.04 for two tums

The Deep Dish on Life

It's really much more simple than it is deep, but it's always so interesting to me that the simplest things are sometimes the hardest. So often I get caught up in all the distractions of life ... the pile of coats and shoes that often greets me at the door when I arrive home from work, the mile long to-do-list that only seems to get longer, and of course the unlimited access to all sorts of social media ... through all of these I often forget to focus on all the things that are much more important than any of these. The things that soothe my soul and make me happy. Now, as most of you could figure out one of my happy places is when I am creating anything from scratch; however I am fully aware this could have the complete opposite effect on some of you (!$#&...hair pulling...%@*!%...tears). Simply put, just because I find joy in doing something does not mean everybody else will also, but we can find joy in helping one another find our happy places and encourage each other go to those happy places when we need a break! :)

My Happy Places
my morning devotion
a cup of hot tea and honey
Jamie Grace on Pandora
essential oils in my diffuser
the corner of the couch with a good book
creating pretty much anything
a nature walk
snuggling with the kids and the Mr. to watch a movie
getting others to smile
crossing something off of my to-do list
date nights
sharing on my blog

Some of my happy places are visited daily and others are less frequent, but no matter when I visit any of these it brings me joy, happiness, and peace SO why shouldn't I visit them more often instead of allowing all of life's distractions to keep me from them!

Which is why I am going to commit myself to sharing a new post every Wednesday. So be on the lookout for Item No. 79 coming next Wednesday!

What makes you happy? I encourage you to make your own list and see if there is anything you would like to make more time for!

Kitchen Chalkboard Project

To be a plate rack or not to be ... 

Yet another project from start to finish that took should have taken well less than an hour of active participation. This void used to be a plate rack that rarely was dusted which meant the plates never were used since it would have required washing them before AND after eating off of them. Uhh ... double the work or use different plates ... bingo, the second choice :)

the BEFORE

I had a quart of chalkboard paint leftover from another project and thought it would be fun to have place to use all those cute chalkboard ideas off of pinterest. I love the the idea of chalkboard decor and being able to change it with the seasons or holidays ... although I know this will never happen as often as I intend it to. :)  Jess at 'Mom 4 Real' shares a simple way to make chalkboard paint in any color, can't wait to find an excuse to try this!

wet paint ... do not touch

Since the space was small, the painting itself didn't take long, but with three coats needed and the dry time in between, the start to finish time was a couple hours.

The chalkboard paint needed 2 to 3 days to cure before drawing on it, so it needed a few days before the finishing touch ... which actually turned into at least a month for me... oh life, why must I let you distract me from these fun projects.

the finished project

I'm loving the cute little nook for my cookbook stand, our 'garage-sale-find' change jar, and the much needed napkin holder for our family of six. However, the picture above is very deceiving since I so conveniently cropped out the extremely messy counter. This, my friends, is real life around here more often than I would like to think ... the mess I had to push through (mentally and physically) to get my kitchen chalkboard project completed!

 I would prefer to work in a clean and organized environment which when you have kids usually means - clean first ... then create ... then clean again, ugh! Through a life with kids I have come to realize life will always bring with it distractions, sometimes those distractions need our attention and we need to be interruptible ... other times we need to put on the binders and keep pushing through. 

Homemade Mascara

How to Make Your Own Homemade Mascara

Not everything can be a success, I guess! But that won't stop me from trying again :) ... which I did and found a recipe I that works! Be sure to see the update at the end of this post.

I've been very unmotivated to try this recipe between needing additional ingredients; reusing or not reusing my mascara container, it is it going to hurt my eyes, and will it even work?!?!? 

A few weeks back I finally purchased the final ingredient, step one done ... but then I was torn between whether or not I should reuse my current mascara container. I've heard horror stories about bacteria growing in makeup but since part of my challenge has been to also minimize waste, I decided I would try to clean out my old container before buying new containers. However, I didn't think all the way through this plan before cleaning out my almost gone mascara that could have last me another week or so before making sure my homemades mascara was going to meet my expectations. Let's just say I have a few options now: go without mascara (this is definitely the most extreme choice), find a new recipe that works, or buy a new tube of mascara. Decisions, decisions!

I'm sure some of you are like "I knew it! There's no way she could make mascara that works like the real stuff." I haven't given up but this is going to be a challenge for sure!

Right away I wasn't pleased with the consistency of the mascara and it definitely didn't coat my lashes like I was hoping, but I figured I needed to test out the stay-power. So today I gave it a shot to see  how it would withstand a typical day and I'm sad to admit it lasted only still about 9:30. After a few smudges, I realized the stay-power of this homemade mascara isn't going to suffice. :(

So enough with the let downs of my first homemade mascara attempt and onto the recipe that will need to be tweaked. The original recipe came from Robin at Thank Your Body and was a great starting point.

notice the stopper, if reusing your mascara container be sure to remove the
stopper and use a small bottle brush to clean out all the old mascara.
Dr. Brown's Natural Cleaning Brush from my baby bottle days worked wonders!

Homemade Mascara

empty mascara container (a new one or a cleaned reused one)

4 tsp aloe vera gel

2 tsp coconut oil

1 tsp grated beeswax

1 to 2 capsules of activated charcoal (1/4-1/2 tsp cocoa powder can be substituted for brown mascara)

Combine aloe vera gel, coconut oil, and beeswax in a small saucepan and heat over low until melted. Add activated charcoal. Whisk until thickened. Place mascara into a small plastic baggie and seal. Push all the mascara to one corner (like a frosting piping bag). Cut the tip to form a small opening. Squeeze mascara in to mascara tube that has had the stopper removed. Replace the stopper. Insert wand and use as desired. 

For the next batch I will be trying one (or both) of these recipes from 'Simple Life Mom'.

UPDATED 1/27/16
'Simple Life Mom' had a recipe that worked great!

Homemade (Egg Yolk) Mascara

1 egg yolk

1 to 2 capsules of activated charcoal (1/4-1/2 tsp cocoa powder can be substituted for brown mascara)

Whisk together until a smooth consistency is formed. Place in a small container with a lid. Apply using a clean mascara wand. Refrigerate between uses. 

I used 1 capsule of activated charcoal and 1/4 tsp of cocoa powder

When my first attempt was far from a success, I did a little more searching and came across this recipe and believe me my first thoughts were ... "What egg yolk on my eyelashes ALL day?!?!?" After a few days of no mascara and being too lazy to leave me cozy office over my lunch break to run to the store and buy any, I decided what do I have to lose. So I glad I got past the idea of wearing egg yolk on my lashes, not only did it cover great, but it last all day with the added bonus of all the extra nutrients from the egg yolk. 

Additional cost: $5.93 for activated charcoal or possibly no additional cost if you use all cocoa powder 

Cost Comparison: $3 to $30 depending on brand for store bought vs. less than $0.25 for homemade per batch

Homemade Mantle Decor

I should have added home decor to my 2016 To-Do List especially since we have been in our current home for three and a half years and there is definitely a lack of wall decor and miscellaneous accessories throughout most of our home. BUT I am so excited to finally have one home decor project almost completed. The vision of this project has been on my brain for almost 2 years now and we are one step closer to the finished product!

My home decor style has really evolved over the years and I have come to the point I would love for my home to be decorated like a picture in Home and Garden Magazine but I have no desire to spend the money to get it that way. So instead I'm always on the hunt for free projects, sentimental family pieces that can be incorporated, AND the time to do it. 

I love versatile pieces that also hold sentimental value. Our mantle piece was constructed from outdated wood valances from the first house we bought, one side portrays our hands and fingerprints, and the other a tree (with hopefully soon, the silhouette of a pair of lovebirds and their four little hatchlings with a fun saying).

birch tree - with soon to be family of 6 lovebirds and cute saying :)
painted January 2016

Really wishing I had taken a few more pictures of the kiddos helping, as well as the proof that you can create artwork with almost anything you have on hand! The white 'paint' was actually shoe polish similar to this (not even sure where it came from or how long we've had it, but it's worked just fine with a few extra coats) and the black paint was from a box of crafty stuff from one of my grandmas. I wouldn't consider myself a hoarder by any means; however, if it's a crafty item I will find a place out of sight (or in the basement) for it until it can find it's purpose again!  :)

The birch tree effect was really easy to do  thanks to pinterest ... of course! A white background leaving behind horizontal brush strokes. Then using a flat scraper dipped in black paint, start on the the edge of the tree and drag to the center.

kiddos helping

The thing I love most of this homemade piece (besides the sentiment of course), is that it now has two sides. The trees are more fall-inspired and at Christmas I would just turn it around to hang a wreath on the bare wood. I am thinking I will still hang a wreath on the birch tree at Christmas, but will strategically place the additions so it'll still look cute.

the trunks are each of our arms, the branches our hands, the leaves our fingerprints
Completed October 2013

Cost for two-side, sentimental artwork - $0 ... cha-ching :)

What's in Store

As we are recovering from life comatose from this last week and a half of holiday fun and family time and dwelling in the moment of New Year's Resolutions (which I truly enjoy the opportunity each year to make a change, but I don't limit myself to only make a change at the start of a new year), it's relaxing to think back over the past year and get excited about what is to come.

Life is the perfect balance of learning from the past, living in the moment, and being open to opportunities of the future ALL at the same time. I try not to dwell on the past, but I do appreciate that each new day we are given is a great opportunity to make it better than than the day before. I realize I need to slow down sometimes to enjoy the moment we are currently in. AND I need not to worry about tomorrow but I do need to listen to God's whispers because His plans for my tomorrow starts with how I obey Him today.

2015 holds things that actually happened and 2016 will bring dates of specific happenings we can plan for but there will also be so many unknowns along the way. As I reflect and ponder at the start of this new year, I can only get excited about what's in store.

Highlights of 2015 - started a blog + started a new job + #4 began pre-school + welcome another niece AND nephew into this world + everything in between

Looking forward to in 2016 - turning 35 ... it's just another number in my mind, but some may see this as a milestone :) + #3 will start kindergarten + hopes to finish my Homemade Day by Day challenge + LOVING GOD + loving people + keeping life simple

For the Blog: To Do - Make - Replace - Share

mascara

mozzarella

ciabatta bread

butter

blush

almond extract

more freezer meals

Young Living distributor
italian seasoning

pumpkin pie spice

chai latte

cream cheese

bearawicka (a family favorite of the Mr.'s dad's side ... have a recipe ... need to try this out)

cough drops

concealer

blush

sunscreen

bug spray

donate hair

dryer balls

velveeta

lipstick

eye shadow

Bar Keepers Friend (kitchen sink cleaner)

bar soap

shampoo (not no-poo)

conditioner

bacon

taco sauce

apple butter

enchilada sauce

queso

ice cream
make and take classes

liquid hand soap

dish soap

chicken bouillon

cheese (any variety)

fruit snacks

crockpot meals

coconut milk

granola

granola bars

sourdough bread

wine

sauerkraut (I love this stuff, but never buy it since I'm the only one that'll eat it!)

marshmallows

hard candy

biscuits

gravy

farm fresh eggs
uses for shea butter
uses for beeswax
uses for aloe vera gel
uses for coconut oil
uses for activated charcoal

... and the list goes on but I need to make myself stop :) 

What's something you would add to the list?