DELICIOUS HOT HOMEMADE BUNS BREAD RECIPE

DELICIOUS HOT HOMEMADE BUNS

I love making homemade bread and after experimenting over and over with many different types of bread recipes, I was glad to have finally find the perfect recipe. Since I've found my perfect homemade bread recipe, this time I decided to try to make homemade buns instead of bread, since we all like the yummy crust and there never seems to be enough. This way everyone gets their own bun. Oh my, did they came out delicious or what? And you know what my kids said? "Mommy when are you making more? These are so yummy!" That's it... from now on I'm making these hot homemade buns every chance I get instead of bread. They're way too good not to.

Here's my recipe that I have come to love. It's simple and easy and fast.

5 cups of flour
2 cups warm water
2 1/2 tablespoons lard
2 tablespoons yeast
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt

I cheat a little and use my bread maker for mixing the dough. In the bread maker, I add the flour, salt, lard and 1 tablespoon of sugar. Aside in a measuring cup I warm up half a cup of water and add the yeast and 1 tablespoon of sugar and let it grow. Once the yeast grows to about 1 cup line of the measuring cup, I add it to the flour mixture in the bread maker. Then I add the remaining 1 1/2 cup of warm water and put the bread maker on the "dough" setting. Once the dough is formed into a ball I let it rise inside the bread maker or take out and put into a bowl and cover with a kitchen towel to let rise while I make another batch. In the mean time I prepare my baking pan/sheet and line it with aluminum foil and grease it with oil. Once the dough rises, I punch it down and mix it up a bit. Then I break small amounts of dough and form it into small buns. At this point I make an egg wash mixture and brush the buns with it. Then I add sesame and poppy seeds and throw it in a hot oven and let it bake at 375 F until golden brown (20-30 min).

Truly the BEST homemade buns ever! You can eat them hot, with butter, as a sandwich or burger, or whatever suits your taste! Yummy!

EASY FAST VEGETABLE AND DUMPLINGS SOUP

EASY  FAST VEGETABLE AND DUMPLINGS SOUP

After a busy day running around doing errands, I pick up the kids from school only to hear them say "Mommy I'm hungry." What to make, what to make? Something fast, good and yet nutritious and healthy at the same time. I thought why not make some vegetable soup? Yep, a quick vegetable soup sounded delicious. The older girls helped peel the carrots and parsnips, then prep the veggies (cutting celery, carrots, parsnips and tomatoes) while I chopped the onions and garlic. I started off with sauteing the vegetables adding salt, pepper and vegeta and then adding water letting the water come to a boil. I wasn't sure whether to add some homemade pasta noodles or to make dumplings. As the soup was cooking on the stove, I decided to finally go with the dumplings. Besides I haven't made those in a while. So, I cracked a couple of eggs and started beating/scrambling them with a fork, seasoned with salt, then slowly incorporated cream of wheat (farina) to the egg mixture. When the vegetables in the soup were nice and tender like, with a spoon I scooped and dropped the cream of wheat egg mixture to the hot boiling soup. Within minutes the soup was done. I added some freshly chopped parsley and woala lunch was served! A simple fresh vegetable soup with dumplings. My kids loved it so much they had seconds.

Since my kids love soups and I'm a soup lover myself, I tend to make all sorts of different soups often. One ingredient that I love using in most of my soups is Vegeta. Vegeta is an awesome condiment which is of a mixture of different spices and vegetables that's used in many European kitchens. A must have in your kitchen! 

Favorite Fabric Store SAS

FABRIC SHOPPING AT FAVORITE FABRIC STORE SAS

Ohhh not again....well yes again...I stopped by my fabric store today and I wanted to get everything...of course I didn't, but I did grab these cute stuff...

 Aren't those polka dot elastic cute?

This aqua sweater knit for some reason was too pretty not to get.

Can 't wait to make something cute out of it yet simple.

And of course this dark chocolate brown sweater knit...still thinking what I want to make though...

I also got some stretch denim dark navy and silvery gray to make leggings.

Will post what I make soon :)

SPAGHETTI SQUASH

EASY HEALTHY SPAGHETTI SQUASH LUNCH

So today, hubby went to church with all the kids and then to my in-laws house for lunch, while I stayed home finishing my studies. Well, lunch came along and I got hungry but didn't feel like making a huge meal since it was only me at home. I decided to finally bake the spaghetti squash I bought out of curiosity that's been sitting on my counter for like over two weeks. I heard that spaghetti squash is a healthier alternative to pasta, so I decided to buy it with the intention of wanting to try it one day. Well this was the day I decided to finally attempt to make spaghetti squash. And it was much easier than I thought it would be. I washed and cut the spaghetti squash in half, seasoned with salt, pepper and a little Vegeta, put it on a parchment lined baking sheet and baked at 375 degrees in the oven for about an hour and 45 minutes. I let it bake in the oven while I continued with my studies. When it was done, I took it out of the oven. Mmmm it smelled good!

With a fork, I carefully pulled the top of the squash part with the seeds off. This part you don't eat. I gave this part to my chickens and boy did they enjoy eating it :)

 Once the top of the squash with the seeds is removed, with a fork you can start pulling the spaghetti away from the inside of the squash shell. I was amazed how easy it was and so cute oh and of course healthy!

I seasoned with a little more salt and pepper, added some fresh dill and sprinkled some goat cheese on top. Yummy! It was so good and because it is so healthy, I didn't feel guilty having another serving. I added some hummus to the second serving and I gotta say it was delicious. 

I will be making spaghetti squash more often from now on and experience with some sauces and other toppings to create different healthy meals. Hubby and I love eating freshly made homemade food and I'm thankful that my children are unlike other kids, and that they love their vegetables, fruits, and prefer homemade meals over junk food or take out.

EASY BOYS T-SHIRT APPLIQUE TIE

EASY BOYS T-SHIRT APPLIQUE TIE

Another super easy project I made today in like 5 minutes was this Boys T-shirt Applique Tie for my son Johnathan. He loves his new shirt so much and wants me to make him more to wear to school. I've seen these shirts in stores but never really liked the fabric or style, plus I thought they were also too pricey, so I decided to make my own. I got some remnant fabric I had in my stash, my pencil and ruler and started designing the tie. Once the tie pattern was drawn and cut, I used HeatnBond Ultrabond applique and applied it to the tie, ironed it and then transferred it onto the t-shirt. After that I decided to top stitch the tie to make it look cuter. And that's it! There you have it super easy, super fast and super cute shirt for your little boy!

Now to make a couple more...oh and for my older son Colin...he likes the way it turned out.

CUTE OWL SEWING BUDDY

MY VERY OWN OWL SEWING BUDDY

I love checking out other blogs and seeing everyone's great ideas, and today I ran across the OWL SEWING BUDDY. Totally cute and great way to keep my things near by. I decided to make one out of the remnants I had and I must say it came out cute, although next time I'll make this I'll be using cotton like fabric...this upholstery type fabric was way too thick and hard to work with but in the end my owl pin cushion sewing buddy turned out okay...at least way better than a boring tomato pin cushion lol.

If you'd like to make your very own Owl Sewing Buddy like I did, you can find a great tutorial and FREE pattern here. The directions are very simple and easy to follow too. Hope you enjoy! Would love to see your Owl Sewing Buddy too :)  Thanks and Happy Sewing.