little owl

we're not that into halloween over here, but it will be nice to spend tomorrow evening at a little halloween get together with some friends. there will be pots of soup, trick or treaters, costumes (on the little ones, not us), and most likely a lot of fun. i was inspired to make a costume for our little one and decided to turn her into a little owl. for the homemade owl costume, i just used materials i had in the house. i think it turned out to be so cute! when i tried it on her yesterday, she walked around saying, "hoot, hoot!"

 

 

isn't she the cutest owl you've ever seen?

on a friday night

we just returned from a beautiful walk in the park. as we walked, leaves fell from the trees all around us and our feet crunched leaves on the ground. little one ate an apple in her stroller and then played on the swings and slide. it was in the seventies today (!), so we even took off her shoes and pants and let her wade for a bit. we threw rocks in the water and chased the ducks. a perfect start to the weekend.

we have been quite busy these days. things at our church are going very well. we are really enjoying the young adult book study we are leading and we enjoy the youth group as well. it is fun for us to be working together to lead those groups and we are seeing how our strengths and weaknesses really go together very well.

in other news, my hubby ran over and killed a squirrel the other day. it was the squirrel's fault because it ran out in front of our car and then stood there trying to figure out which way to go. but, the whole experience was a bit traumatic.

aside from another batch of waffles, i haven't made any sourdough recipes in the past few days.

next week is a bit on the lighter side schedule-wise, so we are planning to take the little one to a pumpkin patch.

i realized i haven't taken any photographs this entire month, so i need to change that.

and that is all for tonight.

muffins, tortillas, and apples too!

yesterday i made a double batch of sourdough english muffins. half plain, and half i added cinnamon and raisins to (those are my favorites!). they turned out wonderfully and we have been enjoying them.

yesterday when my husband looked at the weekly menu i posted on our fridge, he said, "oh good! it doesn't say boiled eggs for breakfast everyday!" oops...maybe i got in a bit of a rut for a while there. this morning we had toasted english muffins for breakfast. the beauty of english muffins is that there are so many ways to eat them - we ate them for lunch yesterday topped with pizza sauce and cheese. what a treat!

for supper, i made my first batch of sourdough tortillas, which we filled with beans, cheese, corn, and tomatoes for "tacos". oh my goodness. the tortillas were so, so, good.

i also made a batch of applesauce, which really made it feel a bit like fall around here.

waffles and apples

i made my first sourdough recipe yesterday! we had sourdough waffles for breakfast - they were so so yummy!

we toasted the leftovers for breakfast this morning. yummy again!

in case anyone is wondering, the sourdough course i am taking online is here. i am really enjoying it and finding it easy to learn from. i was encouraged by the waffles turning out so well. this week i plan to make sourdough tortillas, english muffins, and maybe pizza crust. if anyone lives close-by and wants to start using sourdough, i will happily share some of my starter!

yesterday we went with our youth group to an apple orchard. it was supposed to rain, but thankfully it didn't. we got home almost an hour late, but a good time was had by all. 

this morning my hubby preached in a nearby town. this evening he is preaching in another nearby town. a busy day.

wild rice chicken pilaf

i decided it's time to share the recipe to one of our favorite meals.

wild rice chicken pilaf
(based on a recipe i ripped out of real simple magazine years ago...the original recipe was for wild rice stuffing, but i modified it to make a main dish)

ingredients:
1/2 cup wild rice
1 1/4 cups brown rice
enough chicken broth to cook the rice in (or some chicken broth and some water)
1 stick butter (or less)
1 small onion, chopped
3 stalks celery, finely chopped
1 cup chopped nuts (whatever you have on hand...pecans, walnuts, and cashews are all really good)
1/2 cup dried apricots, chopped
1/2 cup raisins
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
oregano, basil, and thyme to taste
2 cups cooked chicken, shredded
splash of lemon juice

1. soak rice in water with a splash of apple cider vinegar for eight hours (optional)...makes the rice easier to digest/more nutritious
2. preheat stove to 350 F.
3. in a pot, put broth/water needed to equal amount of liquid needed to cook rice. add rice. bring to boil, reduce to low heat, cover. Simmer about 45 minutes or until rice is finished cooking.
4. melt butter in large skillet, add onion and celery and cook for ten minutes. add rice, spices, nuts, fruit, and chicken and mix. add splash of lemon juice.
5. place in buttered casserole dish. cover and bake at 350 F for about 25 minutes.
6. enjoy!

this pilaf tastes great with a simple side salad, or the other night we ate it with cooked peas and that was really yummy! this recipe is very forgiving, and really you can use whatever you have on hand. that's the great thing about a pilaf!

this recipe will serve 6 to 8 people - we always have a lot of leftovers when i make it.

odds and ends

little one had her first cup of tea this morning. i brewed a pot of decaf black tea, added some milk and honey to hers, and told her she could have tea just like mama. it warmed my heart to drink tea with my girl. i look forward to many more tea times together as she grows.

i have found several thrifting and curbside gems lately.

a like new rocking horse for $10 at a thrift store. it wags it's tail! i looked it up when we got home and found that this horse sells for $100 to $120 new!

a {free} spice rack from the curb. i washed it and it's now filled with spices.

a {free} playground from another curb. it is the perfect size for our porch and our girl. we have already spent many hours enjoying this find.

other things i am loving...

i am taking this sourdough ecourse. i really enjoy it. my starter is six days old today and is thriving. i'm going to start cooking with it soon. maybe this weekend!

this salad. yum.

our walk this morning. we went right after breakfast, in the crisp morning air. it was quiet and lovely.

i'm not loving the fruit fly problem we are having right now. but i am loving the solution i found somewhere online. pour some white vinegar in a bowl, add a small amount of dishsoap, and fill the bowl with water (do this quickly so you get a lot of soap suds on top...that's the crucial part of the whole thing, i have learned). they are attracted to it and drown. it really works.

and these little toes.

diy: bath toy holder

in our house in california, our bathroom had a nice little shelf where we stowed our little one's growing collection of bath toys. when we got home, we had nowhere to store them or let them dry out. i checked out the options at a few nearby stores, and found that the cheapest bath toy holder i could find was $8 (the most expensive was $30!). i did not want to spend that kind of money and decided to come up with something on my own. it turned out to be very simple and inexpensive.

(please ignore the dismembered doll...trying to keep her from getting moldy!)

i purchased a lingerie bag for $1.49, found some ribbon in my stash, and sewed it through the top of the lingerie bag to make a hook.

the finished hook...i just used a very large needle and sewed through several times in a few different places.

then i filled it with bath toys and hung it in the shower. we already had two hooks that were in the perfect place for me to hang this, but if you don't, you could just install some 3M hooks, or try suction cups.

i actually love this better than the options i saw in the store. it is simple, it allows the toys to dry, and i can easily throw it in the washing machine if it starts to get dirty. i call this a success!