Pinterest Recipes

So there are some recipes that I have made recently that I found off of Pinterest, and they are keepers. I have tried many recipes over time, and some just aren't really that fantastic. But the ones that I love, I must share!

I was given a donut pan for Christmas and was so excited! I have been wanting to make baked  donuts for some time, but haven't had the pan. I found a recipe on Table For Two, and love it. It's simple and easy to change up if you need to.

http://www.tablefortwoblog.com/2012/07/09/cinnamon-sugar-donuts/

I have even made this recipe without the egg because I didn't have any and it was still awesome! And, I've even made it with whole wheat flour and they still were amazing. So if you are interested in making donuts that are really easy, yummy and not really bad for you, then here it is. ;) I also substitute the cinnamon in the sugar coating with Pumpkin Pie spice and it is sooo yummy.

Next recipe I have only made once, but I am so excited about. I am not a bread maker. I have tried and tried to make bread, but I can never get it to come out fluffy. It's always so dense and dry. So I came across this recipe on Pinterest and tried it out. It is from Simply So Good, and is so easy. I am really into the easy stuff when it comes to bread. When I heard it was no-knead, I was even more enthused.

http://www.simplysogood.com/2010/03/crusty-bread.html

My first loaf came out pretty good, actually, and we finished it all. Most of my loaves of bread are never finished and end up in the trash! With this recipe, you mix the ingredients and leave it in a bowl on the counter for 18 hours. Then bake. It's that simple.

Anyway, there are a couple of good recipes that I wanted to pass along. With both recipes, there is room to experiment with flavors and such, so eventually I may come up with my own tweak of the recipe and share it someday.

Happy Cooking!

Our Christmas 2012

I have been wanting to post on here for a very long time, but I just haven't had the chance! Even though the holiday busyness is over, it still seems like life has kept a busy pace. Here are a few things from our Christmas this year and what kept me busy the whole month of December!

We started off with an advent calendar that I made for my husband. Each day had a little love note inside and occasionally I would add a special surprise. 

I made these soaps for the ladies of the family. I bought a Shea Butter base and added my own essential oil and coloring (which I swirled for a marble effect). I wrapped them in parchment paper and made my own tags for them. It really was rather easy to make these. Just took a little time!

These here are SUPER easy. I mean, they are so easy I was almost embarrassed to take any credit for making them. Haha. I got the recipe for this sugar scrub off of Pinterest. I'm not sure where the original recipe came from, but all you do is mix together 3 parts sugar, 1 part Olay Dawn Dishsoap. That's seriously it. I bought containers at Michaels and decorated them as shown. The cute boxes came from Christmas Tree Shoppe.

These gift baskets were filled with all homemade goodies. I bought the baskets at Michaels when they were clearanced out the week before Christmas.

The jars are homemade apple butter and grape jam, which I made in the fall. You can sort of see the biscuit mix I put together as well. I basically just put all the dry ingredients into a paper bag and printed out directions for putting them together and baking them.

In the back I tucked in some handmade dishcloths and viola, the basket was complete. I gave these to the parents and grandparents, and they were a hit.

Our Christmas day together, just Kyle and me, was complete with a yummy breakfast and rich, peppermint hot cocoa. Our wonderful aunt bought these adorable mugs for us for Christmas... aren't they awesome?!

There are a lot of recipes I have tried out recently that I have loved and I want to share them. So be on the lookout, because these are some keepers! 

I hope everyone is having a great start to the New Year. We have much to look forward to in the months ahead. :)

Have a great day,