Bloem and Grow - Review and Discount Code!!

I recently discovered a small business online called Bloem and Grow that offers a variety of different products, most of which can be personalized to your liking! I immediately fell in love with all the cute necklaces!



When Kate, the owner, offered to send me one of her photo scrabble tile necklaces to review, I was so excited! I emailed her a photo of my hubby and this is what she created for me:

(Sorry I tried to get a pic of me with it on, but hubby wasn't around and my large belly wouldn't let me get close enough to the mirror for a nice close up to see the picture!)

I love it and think it is so fun to wear! I also plan to send her another picture of my kiddos after our newest is born to have her make another tile to add to my necklace.

I asked Kate to tell me a little more about herself so we could get to know her better and here is what she had to say:

I have been married to my high school sweetheart for 10 years now and we have 2 energetic kids, Emmah (7) and Jake (5). No pets, but with these two we don't need them! I got started with a love for crafting and a desire to use this skill as part of my job! I started scrapbooking over 15 years ago and it totally snowballed from there. I love making things for people that are unique and special. I love my photo scrabble tile necklaces because they are so great for so many people. And there are just so many options and so many ways to personalize them.

Kate also offers other cute products like word blocks, photo holders, clothes pins, magnet boards, other jewelry and more!

Kate has many more pictures on her site and facebook page, so be sure to head over to them and check them all out!

I think all her prices are very reasonable, especially for being personalized! If you would like to purchase any of her adorable stuff, head over to her site, Bloem and Grow. And Kate has graciously offered a discount code to all my lucky readers! Just mention the code "Michelle" when ordering and she will give you 15% off your order! So what are you waiting for? Head over and take advantage of this great offer to get yourself some cute stuff!

Bloem and Grow sent me this necklace for free to review. I was not paid for this review and I get to keep the necklace. All opinions expressed are mine!

Tasty Tuesday - Sourdough Waffles

We really like waffles around here and I usually make them from scratch with this recipe I've shared before. I recently found a sourdough waffle recipe that I thought I would try out with my starter. They turned out really good and hubby even said he likes them better than the ones I usually make! They taste really good with strawberries, peaches, or syrup and this recipe makes quite a few so you could freeze some for later and then pop them in the toaster when you want to use them! Also, we rarely have buttermilk in our house, so I substituted 2 Tbsp of vinegar with enough milk added to make 2 cups that I let sit for a few minutes. I mixed my flour, starter, and milk the night before and put it in the fridge so I didn't heat up the milk either and it still turned out just fine.

Ingredients:
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sourdough starter, at room temperature
2 cups warm buttermilk (about 100 degrees)
2 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:
In a large bowl, combine whole wheat flour, all purpose flour, starter, and buttermilk. Mix well. Cover and let stand at room temperature for about 45 minutes (or covered and refrigerated overnight).

Beat together eggs, milk, honey, and oil. Add to flour mixture and stir until blended. Combine baking soda and salt. Stir into batter, then let stand for 5 minutes.

Bake in a pre-heated electric waffle iron. Serve immediately or let cool on racks, package airtight and freeze. Makes twelve 4-inch square waffles.

I am linking this up with Raising Homemakers and Raising Olives. Be sure to head over there to read other posts about homemaking and breakfast recipes!

Living Room Re-do

I think I mentioned a while back that I was trying to get some new curtains for our family room before we had a bridal shower here a couple weeks ago. Well, the curtain project turned into more of a room redo project. Once I got my new curtains up, it just made all the other stuff stand out that needed some fixing, mainly the gap between our ceiling and wall paneling.

So we decided it was time to get the trim put up that we've always been meaning to get up. And of course that meant the ceiling needed to be painted so it would match the trim. One thing always leads to another! But we managed to get it done in time for the shower and I think it turned out pretty good! Sorry for the bad picture though, it is hard to get a good picture with windows in that doesn't reflect the flash or have too much sunlight making it hard to see the curtains.

The curtains are actually just drop cloths that I bought at Home Depot. The guy probably thought I was kinda strange going through all their boxes of drop cloths, but I needed 4 that were all the same color. If you ever try to make these, be aware that all drop cloths are not identical! The drop cloths are nice because they are fairly inexpensive and are already hemmed around the edges! Then I just found a trim that I liked at Wal-Mart and used heat and bond hem tape to iron it on the top on the backside. I folded down the tops and used clips to hang them on the rods. Now we finally have a finished and cozy family room!

Tasty Tuesday - Sourdough Crackers

If you tried making the sourdough bread I posted about last week, you will find this recipe much easier. If you haven't tried any sourdough recipes yet, this is a great one to start with because it is so easy! These crackers taste just like Wheat Thins and I think they are so delicious. They usually don't last too long at our house!

Ingredients:
1 cup sourdough starter
1/4 cup softened butter
1 cup white whole wheat flour, or as much as you need to make a stiff dough
1/2 tsp sea salt
Olive oil for brushing
Coarse salt (such as kosher or sea salt) for sprinkling on top

Directions:
In a large bowl, combine the sourdough and the lard and mix thoroughly. Mix the salt in with 1/4 cup flour and add to the sourdough mixture. Knead it all together in the bowl, adding as much flour as necessary to make a stiff dough. Cover the dough with plastic wrap or put a lid on the bowl to prevent it from drying out. Leave the dough at room temperature for at least seven hours.

Seven or more hours later, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Take a small portion of the dough (about 1/4 cup) and roll it out on a nonstick baking mat or parchment paper using a rolling pin, until it is very thin. Sometimes my dough is a little to stick and I have to use a little flour on the rolling pin.

Pour a little bit of olive oil on the rolled out dough and spread it to the edges of the dough with a pastry brush or your hand. Sprinkle with coarse salt.

Cut the dough vertically and horizontally into squares with a pizza cutter. Transfer the baking mat or paper onto your baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes or until just golden brown. Repeat in batches. The crackers shrink a little bit in the oven, so when you pull out your baking sheet, they will already be separated.

I'm not very good at getting my dough rolled our evenly yet, so sometimes the edges are done before the middle. After I am done making all the batches, I go through and pick out all the pieces that aren't as crispy as I like and I put them all on one sheet and put them back in the oven. Then I turn the oven off and let the crackers sit in there until the oven is cool. They all turn out nice and crispy that way!

If you don't want to make all of the crackers in one day, the dough can be frozen in 1/4 cup amounts and then you can just pull out one or more and bake up a fresh batch when you want it!

Tasty Tuesday - Sourdough Bread

Well, here is my first sourdough recipe to use with the starter I posted about last week. I have been making this recipe 1-2 times a week and have been having great success with it. If this is the first time you are using your starter, your bread might not turn out as well as you would like. The first time or two my bread didn't rise very well, but the starter gets better with age and the more you use it, so don't give up!

First you will need to take out 1 1/2 cups of your starter and let it come to room temperature. Don't forget to replace it with flour and warm water and let your starter sit in a warm place again before returning it to the fridge.

After your starter has warmed up, you are ready to begin! First mix 2 cups of bread flour and 1 package (or 2 1/4 tsp) of active dry yeast in the mixer. Then add 1 cup of very warm water (120-130 degrees) and your starter. Mix on medium speed for 2 minutes, scraping the bowl occasionally. Then mix on high speed 2 minutes, scraping the bowl occasionally. Next, add 1 tsp of salt and 1 1/4-2 1/4 more cups of flour, enough to make a soft dough. I have found that my bread turns out better if I leave the dough fairly sticky and should look like this:

If you have a mixer with a dough hook, that is the easiest way to knead your dough. Let it knead for 2 more minutes. If you don't have one, knead on a lightly floured surface for about 8 minutes. Then place in a greased bowl and turn to grease the top. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and place in a warm place 30-60 minutes or until double. Grease 2 loaf pans and sprinkle the bottoms with cornmeal. Punch the dough down, knead it for a minute or two, and divide in half. Roll each piece in to a 18x9 rectangle on a floured surface.Roll tightly beginning on a 9 inch side then pinch the seams and ends to seal. Cover loosely with plastic wrap sprayed with cooking spray and let rise in a warm place 30-45 minutes or until double.

Before rising:

Heat your oven to 400 degrees and carefully cut three or four 1/4 inch diagonal slashed in the top of each loaf with a serrated knife. Bake the loaves for 35-40 minutes or until golden brown. Remove to wire racks to cool.

I hope yours turn out how you like them, but if not, don't give up! Keep trying until you get it, it is worth it! Next up to share with you will hopefully be a sourdough cracker recipe that I tried and loved, and soon I want to try a whole wheat sourdough bread recipe and will share how that goes once I do.