Honey Wheat Bread

I first got this recipe from my sister a couple of years ago. It makes two huge loaves. We usually eat one and freeze one for later. It makes great French toast if it's a couple of days old as well. And it only has to rise one time.

Honey Wheat Bread

Use Whisk hook on mixer to mix:

1/2 cup hot water

1 TBL sugar

1 1/2 TBL yeast


Let sit for 5-10 minutes, then add:

2 1/4 Cups hot water

1/3 cup honey

3 TBL canola oil

1 TBL salt

1/2 Cup powdered milk

1 TBL wheat gluten

4 C. wheat flour


Mix for 2-3 minutes on low speed.

Change to dough hook on mixer and add:

2 1/2 cups white flour (or until dough ball cleans the sides of the bowl).

Turn speed up - let mixed knead dough for about 10 minutes. Watch your mixer--this is a dense bread and I'm pretty sure it's what ended up killing my Kitchenaid. Don't run your motor ragged like I did!

Separate into loaves.  Let dough rise about 1 hour (or until dough is above the rim of pan)

Preheat oven to 450'.

Turn down to 350', put bread in oven.

Bake about 30-35 minutes.

Bread Sticks

It turns out that I am fresh out of ideas for blog posts for these last two days of November. Since I can't give up this close to the finish line, you are going to get recipes for today and tomorrow unless something monumental and blog-worthy happens between now and the end of the month (like Davis learning to crawl--he is so close...yet so far away...). Today's recipe is one that I make at least once a week because it goes with so many different meals. Hope you like it as much as I do! The recipe is adapted from My Kitchen Cafe, in case you had any doubt.

Photo from My Kitchen Cafe

Bread Sticks

1 ½ cups warm water
1 tablespoon instant yeast
3 tablespoons sugar
Approximately 3 ½ cups flour (any combination you want--I use half white, half wheat most of the time)
½ teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons butter, melted 

Mix water, yeast, and sugar in electric mixer until yeast is activated. Add salt and flour and knead for 5 minutes. Let the dough rest for 10 minutes. Roll out the breadstick dough about 1/4 to 1/2-inch thick and cut into strips with a pizza cutter. Twist slightly if desired and roll in melted butter. Place about 1/2-inch apart on 11x17 inch baking sheet. Sprinkle with garlic salt, parmesan cheese, or whatever spices your heart desires. We have made cinnamon sticks by sprinkling with cinnamon sugar. Cover and let rise 30 minutes. Bake 15-20 minutes at 375 degrees until golden brown.

The Latest Favorite Photo

This photo was obviously taken before the blizzard hit.

The best part about this picture for me is that Ike is grinning from ear to ear even though Fischer is in the driver's seat of his tricycle. I love that these two get along so well.

Corey Ellen

My little sister jokingly told me the other day that she is hoping one of my 30 posts this month is all about her. Hope no more, baby, 'cause this one's for you!

The best way to describe Corey is that she has a heart of gold. She would do anything for you and she is the kind of person who befriends everyone around her.  Being Corey's sister has many perks. First of all she is a wonderful aunt. Not having any children of her own, she thinks her nieces and nephews are the greatest kids ever and gives them tons of love and attention. My children in turn adore her and look forward to her visits.

She is caring, funny, beautiful, and kind. Whenever she comes to visit from Logan she brings me stashes of clothes to borrow or keep (some that are brand new) and she is always willing to share anything and everything with me, even though I don't have a great selection to share with her in return (she's got way more fashion sense than I do). She just does it because she loves me! I am thankful for the chance that we have had to spend more time together while we are living with my parents. I love you, Corey!

Home for Good!

Ryan was able to make it home a day earlier than scheduled, just in time for Thanksgiving dinner yesterday. 

Today I am thankful for no more long separations.

Something to be Grateful for

Allie, Corey, Sara, and Mom. Brookie was there in spirit :)
Erinne wasn't there because she isn't much for baking...

I was able to bake Thanksgiving pies yesterday morning with my mom and sisters. It was the first time in 4 years that I have been in Utah to participate in this annual tradition and it might be awhile before it happens again. It was just like old times, with Christmas tunes playing in the background while we worked. The only thing missing was my Louisiana sis, Brookie!

We were able to whip up 8 pies in all: Two caramel pecan, two pumpkin, two sour cream lemon, and two baked apple. Allie is hosting her in-laws tomorrow so she will take half of the pies with her. My aunt Shelly isn't pictured but she was there as well, helping entertain the babies while the older kids destroyed the basement by making forts out of couch cushions.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Let it Snow!

We've just been hit with what they are calling "The Blizzard of 2010" here in Utah. As inconvenient as the snow can be, all I keep thinking is how mild this weather seems compared to winter in the Midwest.

I miss Iowa dearly and the people in it even more, but I could do without their ice storms and subzero temperatures. 

The kids are giddy with excitement and Isaac just told me that his new favorite food is snow. Here he is feeding a chunk of it to Davis:

Bring on the hot chocolate!

{Modified} Mississippi Mud Pie

While living in Colorado, Becky and I would rotate cooking meals. It was fun because I was able to get some new dinner ideas from her, I learned a ton, and I only had to cook half the time. Totally win/win. Hands down my favorite dessert was when Becky made Annie's Eats version of the  Mississippi Mud Pie. She modified Annie's version by using chocolate ice cream instead of coffee flavored. We celebrated my dad's birthday on Sunday with two different mud pies and I made a few modifications of my own.

With this pie I followed Annie's recipe, but replaced the toffee chips with cookie dough chunks and the coffee ice cream with cookie dough ice cream. This pie was the most popular among my family members. 

And with this pie, I used crushed Heath Bar in place of the toffee bits and replaced the coffee ice cream with Ben and Jerry's "Everything but the..." This was my personal favorite of the two. 

The possibilities are really endless here...peppermint, peanut butter cup, orange chocolate, caramel...and the ganache is  heavenly, I tell ya. My one piece of advice when making this pie would be to use higher quality ice cream. As Gavin would say, "No froo-froo ice cream will do." Steer clear of the fluffy stuff. This dessert is time consuming because you have to freeze the pie between layers, but it isn't difficult at all. I was nervous about the ganache because I'd never made it before and it ended up being very simple. 

So if you are looking for a nontraditional pie for Thanksgiving, I would highly recommend this one. 

A picture of the old man celebrating 59 big ones. 

Advent Calendar Ideas

A couple of years ago we started the Christmas tradition of buying the kids those cheap chocolate advent calendars. They loved getting to open a door each day and they loved eating the chocolate even more. I still plan on buying them each a calendar this year, but I found a few ideas online that focused on doing activities together instead of just eating candy. I thought I would share them for any of you who are interested in doing something similar:

§  make paper snowflakes

§  drink cocoa from our Christmas mugs

§  decorate the Christmas tree

§  bake cookies and deliver them to loved ones

§  call Grandma and sing Silent Night

§  Visit Temple Square or Christmas Village

§  go for a drive to look at holiday lights

§  take silly pictures in our Santa hats 

§  Drink eggnog.

§  Color a picture using only red and green crayons

§  Watch a Christmas movie

§  Make chocolate-dipped pretzels

§  Make our own stockings to hang over the mantel

§  Make ornaments 

§  Make a count down chain

§  Make homemade snow globes

§  Make homemade red and green glitter play dough 

§  Make gingerbread men with our cousins

§  Make wrapping paper

§  Check out Christmas books from the library

§  Write letters to family members or friends who live far away

Some are simple and some will take a little bit more prep, but I think each of them is reasonable. Now I need your ideas so that I can have at least 25 different activities. Do you have any simple traditions that center around the holidays? 

Spending the Day with Grandma Ruth

We have been wanting to head south to spend some time with Great Grandma Ruth for awhile now, so today  Shannon (Ryan's sis) and I made the trek with our kids (we were both husbandless today--mine in Wisconsin and hers at work). Here are some pictures from our afternoon.

D was a little bit cranky until he warmed up to Grandma.

Who knew Grandma played the piano?

Davis, Natalee, Grandma Ruth

Shannon cuddling with our Tank.

Grandma won Maddie over right away. Here she's feeding her all the bananas her heart desires.

On our to-do list while visiting: Help Grandma figure out how to navigate her new iPad (Is she cool or what? Does your Grandma have an iPad?...didn't think so). We were able to get her linked up to all of the family blogs. As we showed her how to access all the different posts she said, "Wow! There are so many! You could spend hours reading people's blogs!" Tell me about it, Grandma...

Cheeeeeeeeeeese! Maddie with her namesake.

Shannon, Grandma, Carson, and Natalee

Isaac loved playing with all of her toys...minus her treadmill, of course. As soon as he saw it he said, "'member those things, mama? I'm not going to touch that or I'll get a big big owie!"

Here Isaac is learning about a Swedish cookie-breaking tradition. If your cookie breaks in three pieces, your wish will come true. Lucky for me, mine did! Ryan should be pulling up to the house any minute... :-)

Thanks so much for letting us come and visit! We're already planning to visit again after Ryan comes home.

Well Worth $8

After a couple of friends recommended this dvd to help children learn letters and the sounds they make, I purchased it to help entertain the kids on the drive from Colorado to Utah. Both Isaac and Maddie love it. I catch them singing the songs all the time, and it has been hands-down the best tool I have found to help them learn their letters. Totally worth $8. I haven't heard much about the companion dvd, Talking Words Factory, but if it is anything like this one it will definitely be a part of our collection before too long.

Our Day in Pictures

A friend of mine recently wrote a blog post documenting a normal day in the life of her daughter. I decided I wanted to do the same. This post is mostly for me--so that I can remember what every day life was like at this stage. Hopefully my kids will one day enjoy looking at these pictures as well. 

8:00 AM

When D wakes up a little bit early (like he did today), I usually lob him a bottle of milk and it buys me 10 extra minutes or so to jump in the shower or finish getting ready. If there is one thing I've learned while being alone with 3 small children, it's this: If I don't get a shower before they get out of bed, I usually don't get a shower at all. He doesn't seem to mind having breakfast in bed once in awhile.

 "Is it time for wake up?" is usually the first question out of her mouth when I walk into her room each morning.

He sleeps with Lightning every night. This "Big Lightning" is his current McQueen of choice.

9:00 AM

 After finishing breakfast it's time to get everyone ready for the day. Davis entertains himself in the mirror while I work on giving him rock star hair.

Maddie did not appreciate Davis pulling her hair while I helped her get dressed. I don't blame her, he has quite the death grip these days.

I finally convince Ike to put his clothes on after asking him quite possibly a gazillion times.

10:00 AM

 I promised the kids we could play with play dough today. After realizing that Grandma got rid of all the old play dough while we were in Colorado, we looked up a recipe for the homemade stuff.
1 box Funfetti cake mix, 1 square of softened butter, and 2 TBL water later we had the edible variety. Maddie could hardly contain herself.

Watching the mixing dough.

Cookie cutters and butter knives keep them busy for over and hour while I clean up the kitchen and decide what to make for dinner.

Much more eating than cutting happening with this little girl.

Davis missed out on the fun and took his morning nap instead.

11:00 AM

Davis plays with the ice chips in his teething toy.

 Isaac and Maddie are really into books on tape lately. I love them too, until they start fighting over who gets to hold the book, of course...

 Maddie's new favorite game is to come up to me and say, "Mama, make a sad face!" When I do, she proceeds to ask me in a very concerned voice, "Mommy, why you so sad?" I then rattle off some reason for being sad and then she demands I make a happy face, to which she questions, "Mama, why you so happy?" We go around and around with this little game.
It was also at about this time that she came to me and declared, "Mama, I tink I poopy!" She was right.

12:00 PM

 The kids play outside on the deck while I get lunch ready. You can't see Maddie's face but she is having a minor meltdown here because she spilled her water on the way outside.

The gigantic leaf Ike found on the deck.

They stay outside for a total of 2 minutes (it took me longer than that to get them bundled up...) before coming in to tell me that Isaac's trike wasn't working. Today was Grandpa's day off so the three of them work on fixing his beloved toy.

 Meanwhile I pull out the Puffs to entertain D and hold him off until I can feed him something more substantial. He has recently figured out how to get them from the tray into his mouth.

Chicken nuggets for lunch per Maddie and Isaac's request.

1:00 PM

Isaac loves to put his head in D's lap and then wait for Davis to slobber, kiss, hit, or pull his hair. This ritual happens at least a dozen times a day.
 I'm sure it's about this time of day that Isaac starts composing a mental list of all the stall tactics he is going to use on me to ward off the inevitable nap/quiet time.

 This is quite possibly one of those many stall tactics, but I love that they insist on giving hugs before nap/bed time. I will enjoy this while it lasts.

Ike and I read an "I Spy" book before nap time. It's a current favorite.

2:00 PM

Check out that drool. Teething much? D goes down for his afternoon nap.

 Ike is on-again, off-again with naps. This week he is more off-again, so quiet time it is.

 Sleeping Maddie. So sweet I could eat her...

3:00 PM

The only picture of the hour because I didn't want to risk waking the sleeping kids up and Isaac was actually playing quietly so I thought better than to mess with that magic. This is where I check emails, browse the web, make phone calls, and sometimes clean or start dinner prep. Today it was mostly email-checking and browsing because taking pictures of my three crazies all morning was surprisingly exhausting. 

4:00 PM 

 Flushed cheeks from just waking up. Practicing his pre-crawl moves.

 About once a day I catch her trying to sneak her beloved blanket out of her crib. Here I am making her put it back. My mom thinks it's cruel and unusual punishment to prohibit her from dragging that thing everywhere. I think it's cruel and unusual punishment to make me wash it every day because she gets it into everything. So we compromise: whenever Grammie babysits them, the blanket goes everywhere. When I'm in charge, it stays in the crib (where I believe it belongs).

I snap the ends off of the beans for dinner. Ike and Maddie break them into pieces and pop them open. They discover they don't really like the taste of raw beans. 

 In a moment of sheer stupidity I give Davis a raw bean to entertain him, thinking there was no way he could break it in two without any teeth. Two minutes after this photo was taken, I was frantically fishing chunks of raw bean out of his mouth. Sorry, no picture of that.

5:00 PM

 The older kids head outside to help Grandpa rake leaves and watch him put up the Christmas lights. I finish getting dinner ready while simultaneously entertaining Davis.

 Watching Grandpa on the roof.

 Aunt Shelly comes to dinner and Maddie is thrilled as usual to see her. Here she is showing off her "pretty shoes" as she calls them.

6:00 PM 

 Davis eats a cracker while the rest of us eat dinner.

 Sante Fe chicken with quinoa, guacamole, salsa, and green beans.

 Ryan is the dinner police. He always makes sure the kids at least eat part of their food. By this time of day, that is a battle I usually choose not to wage, so I give the kids two choices: Take It, or Leave It. Tonight both Ike and Maddie left it. 

Grandpa sneakily sprays water at Maddie through his two front teeth while she tries to figure out why her shirt is all wet.

Grammie and Maddie check out the Christmas lights. My dad surprised my mom by putting up new ones this year. 

6:30 PM

 Bath time. Davis never lasts very long when they are all in there together. Just too crazy. Especially while I'm trying to take pictures and keep him from drowning at the same time.

 Ike and Maddie pretending to be fish. Without fail Isaac complains about taking a bath, but then once he's in, he never wants to get out. Crazy kid.

7:00 PM 

I braid Maddie's hair while the kids watch cartoons. I have been asked how I get a 2 year-old to sit still long enough to braid her hair. Two words: Little Einsteins. 

 Watching cartoons on Grandma's bed. 

Davis wakes up from his late afternoon power nap, which (if he takes one) usually isn't much longer than 30 minutes.

8:00 PM

Brush teeth, books, prayer, bed.

Grammie and D watch The O'Reilly Factor while I get the two older kids to bed before I feed him one last time.

After all the kids are in bed, my mom and I watch Modern Family. My dad says that I sound (not to be confused with look-now that would be a compliment) just like Gloria when I get snippy in Spanish with my kids. He's probably right.

My favorite line of the entire show was when Luke was trying to convince his mother that he did, in fact, like to be with her: "You are a fun parent. You put that chip inside my sandwich. That was a crunchy surprise." 

As exhausted as I am at the end of most days, I am so thankful for the opportunity to stay at home with my children.