Bringing the blog back to life. 

Hey Friends! 

I know it has been a super long time since I've been here, and I'm hoping that you will join me again in the space for some at home fun. I'm hoping to get back into a routine and be blogging at least once a week, so that I can bring you more cooking ideas, knit crochet and other crafts. 

Life has been a bit crazy lately with a hip injury and dealing with insurance to get it repaired, so I've been on the couch a lot, let me just say the heating pad is my best friend and has been since May 19th. So I have been doing lots and lots of knitting while I spend time on the couch. 

I just got done with the Autumn Doodle by Jamie Lomax, You can find her patterns HERE, and she's having a big 50% off sale which is a super awesome time to stock up.

I was also picked to test knit her Seattle Doodle which was super fun! I made two versions, the Seahawks version for my mother in law, and the Seattle version with the space needle, gum wall and Starbucks mugs for me. I got to meet Jamie at Flock Fiber Festival in Seattle and showed off my doodle with other friends, it was such fun. Look for another post soon all about Flock Fiber!

Heather, Me, Jessica, Emily (Fangirl Fibers), Jamie & Nicole.

When we were at Flock I bought the yarn to make my Tessellated Vest by Andrea Mowery. It's taking me a really long time to to finish because of all the other things I want to knit right now. I finally separated for the front and back above the arm holes. The Seattle Progress keeper I made for my friends in Seattle, and hopefully when I am able to open my shop back up they will be for sale, more on that later. I love the Spincycle and Moondrake yarns they both helped me pick, It's so fun to watch it come to life! Here are all my notes for this project on my Ravelry page.

Thanks everyone for coming back and checking things out. This was just a quick little update, there will be more to come and will definitely be longer. 

Hugs!

Julie

 The 8th Annual Desert Vista Dyeworks KAL

A few years ago I decided to participate in the 2nd annual desert vista dyeworks KAL. I don't know why I quit participating because it was so much fun to knit a pair a striped socks every month! So this year I decided to participate again! So I decided to post my first four pairs of socks, and from this point on I'll post each month the socks I was able to get done. 

January 2022

                              January scooby Dooby zombody doo

You can find all of my notes on Ravelry

February 2022

                              February milk and cookies DVD socks

You can find all of my notes on Ravelry

March DVD Socks!

                     March 2022 DVD Socks Zombody go braugh

These are DK weight socks and You can find all of my notes on Ravelry

April 2022 dvd socks

                    April Solid Chocolate Zombunny DVD socks

This is another pair of DK socks and You can find all of my notes on Ravelry

If you want to join in, you can at any time! Look at Desert Vista Dyeworks on Ravelry and Instagram on how to join the fun. And if you want to shop for some awesome striped sock yarn please go to Desert Vista Dyeworks

Come back soon for some more knit projects and some other fun crafty projects I'm working on. Plus some great recipes and homemaking adventures.

Finally back to blogging!

Birdie the bunny by Lauren Slagle

Hey guys, it's been a long time!! I am finally back to blogging and really exited about where I want my blog to go. Now that our son has left the nest there has been a lot of things on my heart and mind. As I search for blogs about empty nest housewife I find that there aren't any, so I've decided to fill that void and make this a place for all of us, and I know there are a lot of us! 

So let me know what you want to hear about, what you struggle with, and how we can help each other grow in this new fabulous stage of our lives!

I'll still be posting what I have in the past, with some added things that have to do with empty nest living and being ok with being a housewife! So be on the lookout for some new posts about what I've gone through and how I am combating people thinking they need to help me through these times, which actually I am perfectly happy being a housewife. 

I bet you are wondering about the little bunny at the top! This is an amazing pattern by Lauren Slagle! I was lucky enough to be a test knitter for this little one, and plan to knit a few more for my nephews. All the info for her pattern is here https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/birdie-the-bunny. Also all of my notes and what I used for yarn is here https://www.ravelry.com/projects/juliepoolie71/birdie-the-bunny. You can also find all of Lauren's amazing yarn an patterns at www.lolodidit.com 

I hope you are all doing wonderful and I can't wait to get back to blogging, sharing life and helping each other! 

 

Zombodys eating cotton candy?

So I fell down the Desert Vista Dyeworks second annual sock KAL this year. I am so glad that I did! This KAL is so much fun, and her yarn is amazing. For the month of March I used her Zombodys eating cotton candy colorway. I made a plain vanilla sock top down and used the hat top heel & round toe from the book Sock Architecture. I love the hat top heel, it fits so great and the rounded toe is also my favorite. I am not a kitchner kinda girl, I always drop stitches and mess it up, so an alternative afterthought heel and toe really make me happy! Hope your all having a wonderful week!

Coconut Granola with 

THRIVE!

Lately I have been searching for an alternative to foods that are full of added preservatives. You know, those things that most of the time you can't pronounce that are in our foods. Well my friends introduced me to Thrive! I love the fact that there are so many foods that I can keep on hand that will not go bad within a couple days and also are good for you. 

I am so excited to make this particular recipe for our next ride in the mountains, it will be a great and healthy snack for us to share.

On the go gluten free breakfast muffins.

I was in need of a fast to grab breakfast from tomorrow on our way to look at college for our son. I found this recipe on Pinterest and thought I would try to make it gluten free. It worked, and the kid and hubby have already tried them and loved them.

I am so excited to share this converted to gluten free recipe!

Sausage and Cheese Muffins
Ingredients:
2 cups Mama's Almond Blend (you could use whatever gluten free flour mix you like, I love Mama's for all my baking.)
2 tsps xanthan gum
1 Tbls. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 cup milk (I used flax milk, could also use rice milk)
1/3 cup oil
2 eggs
1 cup cooked and crumbled sausage (use your favorite gluten free sausage).
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (you could totally switch this up if you feel the need)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 and spray 12 muffin cups with coconut cooking spray.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, xanthan gum, and pepper. I also used salt free organic seasoning from costco. Stir until blended and make a well in the center.

In a smaller bowl, combine the milk and oil. Add the eggs and beat well with a whisk. Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir with a fork just until mixed. Use a spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl and gently fold in the sausage and cheese. Do not over mix.

Divide batter among the prepared muffin cups.

Bake muffins 20-22 minutes, or until lightly browned on top. Cool muffins in pan about 5 minutes and then finish cooling on a wire rack.

Let me know how yours turn out! And come back for more recipes converted to gluten free and also a little decorating and crochet :)

Posted with Blogsy

Snowman wreath...Easy & Cute

So simple, low in cost, and fun to make. This wreath I plan on leaving up all winter with the rest of my snowman decorations.

What you need:
Garland
Wood wreath
Woodland/snowman type ornaments (found at wal-mart)
Cinnamon pine cones
Hair clips (found in wal-mart jewlery making supplies)
Hot glue gun.

Wrap wreath with garland, make sure to leave a little of the wood showing to give it a little character.

Hot glue your clips to the cinnamon pine cones. They do have these already done at wal-mart for $1.49, but I like mine better at .20, and the pine ones already done do not smell like cinnamon, yum!

Put your wreath together and hang!
Very fast and simple! I saw a similar wreath online selling for $25, mine cost less than $10. Makes a girl very happy :)

Gluten Free Lemon Zucchini Bread!

Gluten Free Lemon Zucchini Bread

Since the kiddo and I have a gluten intolerance I am always adapting recipes to make them gluten free for us. This recipe I found on Pinterest. Being that we are starting to get TONS of veggies from my little garden my loving hubby built for me, especially zucchini, I decided to start my hunt for some different zucchini goodie recipes!

Here it is... Tomatoes on the left, lettuce, carrots, snap peas, zucchini and cucumbers... OH MY!

My zucchini plant has gone nuts! I guess it's from all the rain and then hot hot weather we have had. But I'm loving it, baking with zucchini is a great way to get my hubby and kiddo to eat their veggies ;)

So here is the recipe, courtesy of Nancy Creative. I just changed out the flour for gluten free, and added xanthan gum :) Thanks Nancy for this totally yummy recipe that's been a BIG HIT with our family and our neighbors!

LEMON-ZUCCHINI LOAF WITH LEMON GLAZE by NancyCreative
Makes one 9×5″ loaf

• 2 cups Mama's almond blend gluten free flour (I use Mama's almond blend for all my gluten free baking!)
• 1 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• Juice of 1 lemon (or 2 Tablespoons lemon juice)
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 1 cup grated zucchini (you don’t need to peel the zucchini before grating it)

Preheat oven to 350. Grease  loaf pan; set aside.
In large bowl, blend flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
In medium bowl, beat 2 eggs well, then add canola oil and sugar, and blend well. Then add the buttermilk, lemon juice, and lemon zest and blend everything well. Fold in zucchini and stir until evenly distributed in mixture.
Add this mixture to the dry ingredients in the large bowl and blend everything together, but don’t overmix.
Pour batter into prepared 9×5″ loaf pan and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean (if your oven tends to run hot, check the loaf after 40 minutes). Cool in pan 10 minutes, then remove to a wire rack and cool completely. While loaf is cooling, you can make the glaze…

LEMON GLAZE

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• Juice of 1 lemon (or 2 Tablespoons lemon juice)

In small bowl, mix powdered sugar and lemon juice until well blended. Spoon glaze over cooled loaf. Let glaze set, then serve.

Hard Boiled Eggs In The Oven. Pinterest Pass!

While pinning a few days ago, I came across a pin about baking your eggs to hard boil them. I decided to give it a try today and see if it is a pinterest pass or fail.

PASS, with flying colors! The pinner said that the eggs peeled easier and also tasted better, and I have to agree with both! For those of you that follow my pinterest, you can find my pin in on my For the Menu board.

Here is a breakdown of what to do if you aren't on pinterest.

Preheat oven to 325. Place eggs in muffin tin so that they stay in place (I used a jumbo 6 space muffin tin). Bake for 25 to 30 mins and remove (I baked them for 30, just to make sure they were done.).

Let me know what you think, I only made 6 just in case it happened to be a pinterest fail, I didn't want to waste a whole bunch of eggs!

The Nutshell Principles

The Nutshell Principles

So what are the principles that changed my life, repeatedly?

If you read the brief stories above, you already know:

1. Start very small.
2. Do only one change at a time.
3. Be present and enjoy the activity (don’t focus on results).
4. Be grateful for every step you take.

In programming, this is called an algorithm. It’s a series of steps that you can apply to make any change, no matter what your situation.

It works. This is the Zen Habits method, the Change Your Life App, in four lines. I hope it helps.

Crocheted Spring Bunting

It sure doesn't look like Spring around here.....

So I've been kinda starting to think about spring decor, and I've been looking at different ideas on what to make to bring spring to north Idaho, if only inside.
One of my new favorite books is Cute & Easy Crochet by Nicki Trench...

I found this book at JoAnn's around Christmastime and loved all the different projects it had to offer, my 50% off a book also helped me along with the decision to by it. So the book came home with me, along with some yummy, new yarn.

The other day I finally settled on a new project out of the book. I don't know about you, but I have the worst time making up my mind on the next thing I want to make. I usually only have one project going at a time, and actually asked my friends on Ravelry about what they do to pick a new project. Most of them said they have at least 3 projects going at a time, and I'm thinking I might start doing that. Sometimes working on just one project at a time gets very boring.

So, I decided to make the cute & easy bunting in cute and easy crochet ;)

It was a longer process then I usually do. I'm such an instant gratification girl, I have a hard time with being patient!

I used Hobby Lobby's I love this cotton. I made 7 bunting flags total, 4 in the multi colored and 3 in purple.

They worked out perfect, using the opposing color for the edging.
In the book she has you crochet them together, but instead I used a pretty purple ribbon I found at the dollar store to attach them.

So check out the book Cute and Easy Crochet at Amazon.com. Lots of fun projects that I'm sure you will like. I am already making plans for more, and even thou it's totally out of my element, I think I will start 3 different projects to work on, YIKES!