Applesauce Cinnamon Oatmeal Muffins

About a week ago I made some yummy apple muffins. I honestly can't remember what recipe I used, but I'm pretty sure it was this one.

They ended up being so tasty that we ate them in just a few days!

Green Smoothie

I LOVE smoothies in the summer, and I really miss them in the winter, so the other day I decided to make a "green smoothie." I have no idea how much I put of each ingredient I put in this thing, but it ended up being delicious, even though it has spinach in it.

There was:

Banana

Handful of spinach

Fresh blueberries and strawberries

Strawberry Yogurt

Orange juice

Ice

It looked really gross but tasted soooo good.

Advent

I really love the idea of celebrating Advent, and someday I will buy a book and read all about it, what it means and where it came from. But this year, we did the best we could, what with moving and packing and finishing school. So here's our little Advent plate. I made the little wreath from our Christmas tree and hot glued the little branches together. This took forever and I will definitely not be doing it that way again, but I didn't have any wire. So here you go, our Advent wreath!

The weather here has been chilly and we woke up to a full frost this morning. So pretty.

I Graduated!

This last Sunday I officially graduated from Nursing School! Woo, all this hard work better be worth it! :)

Niall spoiled me with 2 dozen roses! They are beautiful!

Snow-globe in a Jar!

I keep seeing snow-globes on Pinterest and I knew it would be a super quick project! So I headed to the craft store and bought some glitter and a little tree. I did this project this morning and it only took about 15 minutes!

Here's what you need:

-A few Tbsp white glitter (I also used a little silver)

-Jar with lid (I used a pickle jar)

-Hot-glue gun

-Little tree (I found mine at JoAnn's)

-Honey and water

 

First I hot-glued the tree to the inside of the lid and let it dry completely.

 While the lid was drying, I diluted about a tablespoon of honey into the water. I've seen people use glycerin (so the glitter won't fall too fast) but I figured a little honey would work because I don't have any glycerin. Then I filled the rest of the jar with water and added the glitter.

 Then just screw the top onto the jar and shake it up a little! So fun and wintery!

Chalkboard Window

I FINALLY finished painting my big antique window! I bought two windows at a craft show last summer. Here is what the big window looked like before:

Here is the other side:

The backside of the window had parts of the molding worn away, and I didn't want the glass falling out, so I put some calking to help keep the window sturdy.

(I have not painted the backside, but I don't think it's necessary!) 

So the first thing I did was tape up the glass. And yes, those nursing school books came in handy for something! Ha. :)

Then I painted the frame in a beautiful shade of red.

Once the red was dry completely, I put another coat on. Then I let the 2nd coat dry completely (this whole project took me about 4 days). 

I wanted the frame to look a bit rustic, so I bought some Antique Glazing from Valspar at Lowe's. I thought it turned out pretty cool looking. This stuff is a bit tricky because you apply it (and it's black) then wipe some of it off lightly with a rag. Here is how the glazing turned out:

When the glazing was completely dry I taped the edges and finally put a coat of chalkboard paint on the window!

Here it is drying!!!

And here it is finished! I thought it was finished, but I realized that in the sun you can see through parts of the chalkboard paint, which means I'll have to put another coat of chalkboard paint on before I write on it.

But for now, this is what it looks like! :)

I just had to use it for Thanksgiving when all of our friends and family came over. The chalk tore part of the chalkboard paint, so I will have to give it at least one more coat of chalkboard paint.

But I still think it's cool!

Salted Caramel Butter Bars

I made these back in October, so I'm catch-up blogging right now. :) I made these for a dinner party we went to. They turned out pretty well, but they were super sweet. I couldn't eat very many of them. Here is where I got the recipe from.

This was all that was left after the dinner party!

They were fun to make, but I don't think I would make them again.

Our Fall Puzzle

I said awhile ago that I would post about our puzzle when we were finished with it. Well, we've been done with it for a few weeks now. Sorry I haven't been updating lately, 12-hour night shifts for my Practicum are messing up my schedule! All I do is sleep. Anyhow, here's the puzzle! :)

In progress...

And finished!

We decided we really like puzzles, and we plan on doing more of them. They are super addicting. 

Happy Puzzling!

Mom's Turkey Neck Soup

I made this tonight, mmm mmm!!!

I only took one picture of this, sorry! This is another recipe I learned from my Mom. It's great for Thanksgiving leftovers. Here's how to do it!

-Fill a big pot almost 1/2 way with water, stick of celery, pepper

-Bring to boil, then simmer no more than 1 hr with turkey neck (from Thanksgiving turkey)

-Strain broth through colander/cheese cloth into another pot

-Pour the broth back into the big pot

-Add can of chicken broth

-Add leftover gravy

-Add chopped celery (can add frozen green beans)

-Add chopped carrots

-Bring to a boil

-Add spices- onion/garlic powder (or real garlic), parsley

-Might need to add one teaspoon chicken bouillon

-Season with salt

-When carrots are tender, add noodles (not too many, they expand)

-After noodles have cooked, add already cooked left-over turkey

It is soooooo yummy!!!

Homemade Applesauce!

Here is Niall snug as a bug while it snowed for the first time this year. I thought it was a nice day to heat up the apartment while cooking, so I made some applesauce!

My Mom taught me how to make applesauce a few years ago, and now it's a tradition of mine every Fall! Here is how you do it:

Go pick some apples! We picked these at Greenbluff awhile ago. You will need a lot of apples if you are going to make a lot of applesauce, I think I used about 30-35 apples this year. And it is good to have a variety of different types of apples because it makes it more flavorful.

Core and peel the apples. Then cut the skin off.

Fill a large pot with the cut apples and add about 1/3 of a pot of water. Turn on the heat and bring to a boil.

Boil until soft, then mash. Add lots of cinnamon and sugar.

All those apples only made two large jars worth of applesauce, but it sure does taste good. And it's so easy! Yummmmmmm!