Family Time

See you all Monday...I'm still on relaxation-family-time :)

Hope you all got to spend lots of time enjoying the company of good friends and family.

Till next time,
Catherine

Continued Thanks

Today I finally got to go visit my friend Blair in the hospital and she gets to go home tomorrow!! I am so thrilled and excited that she's doing well enough to go home! She is still weak and on a few medications but she fought with the doctors to be able to go home. She will be on a restricted diet for a while and it is going to take time for her to get back to her old self but we are all thanking God that she's improving so quickly! Her heart still isn't functioning at regular capacity but again, we are so thankful for every tiny improvement.

It was SO good to see her today and know that she's on the mend. She was pretty much her normal self except a little slower and more tired but overall she seemed normal.

So a big thank you to everyone who was praying for her!!! Your continued prayers are still welcome, though! It'll still take some time before she can be back to where she was but again, thankful for every improvement!!!

Till next time,
Catherine

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

I hope you all had a fantastic Thanksgiving!!! See you at the gym on Monday, right? Haha.

Till next time,
Catherine

Pre-Thanksgiving Madness!

Today, I'm thankful for only living 2 hours from my hometown! There are plenty of days where I wish we still lived in the same area as our parents but at least we're only 2 hours away! We love being able to come back whenever we are able and the drive isn't too bad at all!

Blair update: She is still slowly but surely improving. She is still weak but she started physical rehabilitation today so definitely she's on the mend!

My husband and I both had half days at work today so right when we got home we headed back to my parent's house to get going with the craziness. It always feels so good to be back! Along with trying to relax and catch up with my family, my mom and I got going on some cooking. Last night, I got a head start and made four dozen soft honey wheat dinner rolls. (Psst...click that link, try the recipe, enjoy...you won't be disappointed!) I did everything except bake them. I let them rise for the second time then put them in the freezer. As for tonight, my mom made her seven-layer salad and I got started on a classic sweet potato casserole recipe that I found. I also cut up a ton of veggies for a veggie tray. Like we really needed more food! At least it's healthy food! I whipped up a veggie dill dip to go with them as well.

So as for me, it's off to bed for me! We've got lots more to get going on in the morning!

Little tidbit of advice for my readers: Don't stress! Breathe! Remember to keep the focus on spending time with your close friends and family and being thankful for everything you have. Don't let yourself get overwhelmed with the things that really aren't that important.

Give thanks. Be happy. Smile. Enjoy. Eat good food. Have good times.

Till next time,
Catherine

Bake: Soft Honey Wheat Dinner Rolls

Today, I'm thankful for my pets. I've always been an animal person and I just don't see how some people aren't! I currently have two dogs (an old beagle and an even older dachshund), a cat (gray tabby), two goldfish and three hermit crabs. Obviously the fish and crabs aren't any source for snuggling but they're cute and they can be entertaining. I swear I felt like I rescued the crabs when I bought them in the Outer Banks, NC! They're neat little creatures and are fun to have. As far as my furry pets, I'm so thankful for the warmth and love they give unconditionally. They're always keeping us laughing and rarely turn away from a cuddle on the couch (only the cat chooses to turn those down sometimes!). I also occasionally volunteer with a local animal rescue and seeing those poor, neglected animals just breaks my heart. All they want is a warm home with lots of love. Moral of the story...don't shop, adopt and spay/neuter your pets! If you don't have a pet...go get one! They'll be a great addition to your life! 

Blair update: She's finally getting out of the ICU and is moving to the Progressive Care Unit instead. She will be starting physical therapy soon to get her muscles working again. She's ready to be out but she will likely stay another week or two. They still want to keep her visitors very limited to keep germs at bay. I'm really hoping I can go see her, or at least drop off her care package I made, when we're in town for Thanksgiving. Unfortunately I caught a mild version of whatever my husband had, so visiting may not be possible at all. I've barely got a stuffy/runny nose anymore so I doubt I'm contagious, or won't be in a few days...but at the same time, why risk it. On the down side, she's been diagnosed with cardiomyopathy which can become very serious. So if you've been praying...keep praying! 

Mmm...just the thought of these on the side of any dinner is just mouth watering! I know, I know...it's so much easier to grab the frozen ones from the store and just toss them in the oven. Trust me, these are better! And who doesn't love the satisfaction of watching people enjoy and devour something they just made by hand, from scratch?! 

I found this recipe on Pinterest, of course. The pin directed me to the blog, An Oregon Cottage. The author listed this delicious recipe for the softest, yummiest dinner rolls you've ever had...AND they're made with healthy, 100% whole wheat! I originally thought they would be a great addition to the mounds of food we'll be making for Thanksgiving but these rolls are perfect for anytime! The first time I made them my husband and I ate them with just regular spaghetti. It was a match made in Heaven! Not to mention they're not any more difficult to make than a loaf of bread. Same basic concept, just a bit of variation in ingredients and technique. 

Oh you want me to hurry up and get on to the recipe? Ok, ok! 

Ingredients: 

• 2  tablespoons of active dry yeast
• 1/2 cup of warm water
• 1/2 cup of butter, softened
• 1/2 cup of honey
• 1/4 cup of sugar (raw, unbleached is best!)
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup of milk
• 4 1/2-5 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoon of salt

Directions: 

Proof your yeast by putting the sugar, yeast, warm water (remember, you want it to be warm, not hot to the touch) in a medium/large mixing bowl. You'll want to let it proof for about 10 minutes. In the original recipe, the writer uses a stand mixer but I don't have one. My rolls turned out great just using a little elbow grease! You could add the sugar with the next step but I feel like the yeast proofs better when it feeds on sugar. 

While the yeast is proofing, go ahead and whisk your butter, honey, and eggs. Also, warm up your milk in the microwave. You can also use buttermilk if you have it and prefer it.

Once the yeast is done proofing, mix in the butter/honey/eggs and the warm milk. You can also add the salt as well. Whisk everything real quick so it's mixed well. 

Now start adding your flour. Add in about a cup at a time and keep mixing. Once a dough forms, drop it onto a floured surface and knead till the stickiness is mostly gone. Try not to use too much flour because you want these to be light and fluffy!

 Once you've kneaded enough, grease the inside of your mixing bowl (I just toss a little EVOO [Extra Virgin Olive Oil] in the bowl and spread it with my hand) and put the dough back. Lay a towel or saran wrap on top and let it sit and rise for about an hour. You'll want it to be about double the original size.

Meanwhile, give your 9x13 pan a good rub down with some butter. I always buy butter made with olive oil and sea salt so I don't feel as guilty about using a little extra here and there ;) 

After it's done rising, drop it back onto a floured surface again. Remember, go easy on the flour here. Just enough to reduce the stickiness. 

Now here's the trickiest part. This is the best method I've found to get evenly sized rolls. Press the dough into a rectangular shape and then cut the dough into about 24 even pieces. Maybe I'm not that great at estimating but it still took me a few minutes before I was able to get it to work right! 

In order to make them all round with no seams showing, take each piece and press it over your thumb like this. 

Then just pinch the seams together. 

Place them in your 9x13 pan so that they're all touching, seems facing down. Rows of 4x6 fit nicely if you end up with 24 rolls. Now cover it back up with a towel and let it rise for another hour or so. 

I actually only let mine rise for about 45 minutes...I got impatient! They were plenty big enough, though. Be sure to set a timer for 45 minutes so you can preheat the oven to 350...that way the oven will be ready when the rolls are! Now, pop 'em into the oven for about 20-25 minutes!

I set a timer for 10 minutes and then rotated the rolls so that they baked evenly. I could have left them in there for a few more minutes and let them get a little more golden brown but again...impatient!

C'mon...you know that looks delicious!

As soon as you pull them out of the oven, brush them with melted butter. You could also brush a little honey on there too! 

You know this is the best part...pull them apart and enjoy! These rolls are so soft and delicious. My husband devoured them with his spaghetti!

Soft, delicious, yummy, healthy made-from-scratch dinner rolls! Wasn't that easy? You can imagine one of the items I'm making for Thanksgiving!

Do you have a family recipe for the best dinner rolls? Do you have any kind of secret ingredient? Care to share?

Till next time,

Catherine

DIY: Ribbon/Tape Hanger

Today, I'm thankful for prayerful friends and family. Without the hundreds, or even thousands of prayers sent up this past week, my friend Blair might not even be with us anymore. She is now fully out of her medically induced coma and is on the road to recovery. Once she's recovered more and her heart and lungs are stronger she will need to do physical rehabilitation in order to strengthen her muscles back. She was in the coma for an entire week so her muscles atrophied quite a bit. But I am so thankful she has improved so much since last Sunday (it's now two Mondays later) when she first went in to the hospital. She had people all over the place praying for her and I am so thankful for that chain of prayer that lifted her up so much. People that knew her well and plenty of people who didn't know her at all. I'm so grateful for each and every one of them for taking the time to lift her up. 

After taking most of last week off from normal blogging, I feel like I can get back to it. I'm still praying desperately for Blair's full recovery (sooner, rather than later) but I'm not constantly worried and stressed like I had been. I know she's on the road to getting better and will continue to do so.

With all that being said, let's get back to it with an easy-as-pie tutorial!

Tired of your ribbons and tape being all unorganized and having no easy way to store them? No more! Follow this easy tutorial on how to turn an old wire hanger (ew, who likes to use those on their clothes anyways?) into a simple storage solution! I originally found this idea on Silly Old Suitcase. The original blog instructions are here.

This project is just about as easy as they come! It required a couple of tools so I went ahead and let my husband do the work. It literally only took a few minutes and it was all done!

You'll need:

• A metal wire clothes hanger
• Pliers
• Wire Snips
• Or you could use a pair of pliers with wire snips on the inside!
• Your ribbon and tape

Directions:

Cut one side of the hanger  in the middle of the short side. Then, bend one end into a loop and the other end into a hook so that they fit together.

Unhook the corner, slip on your spools of ribbon, re-hook the corner and voila! Done! 

The majority of those ribbons are in spools of 4 and they're ones I got at Joann Fabrics when the store was closing so I got them for a great price! 

Sorry for not including more pictures but it really is just that easy! Oh, and sorry for not including a picture of it actually hanging...the spools of 4 ribbons have one small hole and one giant hole the size of the spool so it actually doesn't look too cute when it's hung up. But who cares, it's functional! Now all my ribbon is in one place and it's easy to get to! Now if I get anymore ribbon or fancy tape I'll have to make another hanger to store them! 

Do you use fancy tape? What do you use it for? What's your favorite method for storing ribbons and such?

Till next time,

Catherine

I've linked up with Just Us Four for their Pinworthy Projects Link Party #76!

Time

Today, I'm thankful for time. The time we have here on earth is so precious. We never know how long we have. Some of us are blessed to live long, healthy lives and others lives are cut short. We should always be grateful for the time that we have, no matter how long or short. I'm thankful for a long weekend to spend time with my husband, despite him being sick. I'm thankful for time with good friends. Thankful for time with family. All of my grandparents have passed away and I desperately wish I could have spent more time with each of them. I always encourage others to spend as much time as possible with their grandparents. In short, spend your time wisely, don't waste it. 


They took out Blair's respirator today!  According to her doctors she's still not "out of the woods" but we are all praising God for her improvements and we are still believing she will make a full recovery. They are very slowly beginning to stop the medications that are keeping her sedated in the medically induced coma. Hopefully within a few days she will be fully awake and completely breathing on her own. My husband and I will be back in the Richmond area on Wednesday evening for Thanksgiving with our families. I'm hoping we'll be able to go visit her then. Keep praying for further improvements! I don't anticipate she'll be able to be home for Thanksgiving but we can always hope!

Till next time,
Catherine