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Homemade Peppermint Stick Ice Cream & Heavenly Hot Fudge
It is our Christmas Eve tradition to have peppermint ice cream with my Grammie Ellen’s homemade heavenly hot fudge – it wouldn’t feel like the holidays without it. This is a once a year treat and I am so excited to share the recipes with all of you. Homemade Peppermint Stick Ice Cream Makes 10 1/2 cup servings I use the Cuisinart Frozen Yogurt Ice Cream & Sorbet Maker Ingredients: 1 cup of whole milk, well chilled 3/4 cup granulated sugar 2 cups of heavy cream, well chilled 1/2 teaspoon vanilla 1 teaspoon peppermint extract 3/4 cup crushed hard peppermint candies Step One: In a medium bowl, use a hand…
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Christmas Gratitude – 2021
Gratitude is at the very heart of this site and focusing on gratitude has truly allowed me to heal and move forward after my Mom’s passing with grace, hope, and love. When I was little and I wasn’t feeling well or had a bad day my Mom would ask me to make a gratitude list – the goal was to shift my thought towards the good that was actively present instead of focusing on the pain, fear, or negative experience. This practice has stayed with me throughout my adult life and is something I have done with my daughter since she was little- we call it her “happy list”. We…
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Savory Butternut, Caramelized Onion & Thyme Galette
I learned how to make a galette five years ago and since then they have been a staple in our weeknight dinner routine. It’s fun to switch up the ingredients based on seasonal vegetables and they can be savory or sweet. This recipe is one of our favorites and it is perfect to serve up with a salad and roasted new potatoes. This recipe makes two galettes and serves 8. Ingredients: 2 pre-made pie crusts 4 teaspoons Dijon mustard 2 tablespoons butter 1 large onion, thinly sliced 1 butternut squash, peeled, cored, and cubed 8 oz. sharp white cheddar cheese, shredded Fresh thyme Grated parmesan 2 tablespoons milk Step One:…
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One Year: I Am Exercise
Just a few days before my Mom passed away we sat down together in the sunroom at the lake house and did an I Am exercise together. The idea was to each make a list of I Am statements of who we are as spiritual ideas and each time a false claim or belief came forward we would turn to the I Am statements to adjust and correct our thought. After we both made our lists we read them outloud one at a time, alternating back and forth and talking about each one. I then got out a blank piece of paper and lots of colored Sharpies and made the…
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Brown Sugar, Cinnamon & Nutmeg Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
Disclaimer: This is a recipe by Magnolia Journal which I have modified and tweaked to perfection. This is a great fall snack on it’s own or to use as a salad topping. Makes 1 1/2 cups. Ingredients: 1 1/2 cups roasted and lightly salted pumpkin seeds (Trader Joe’s is a great place to get these!) 1/4 cup butter 1/4 cup brown sugar 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg Step One: Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Step Two: Melt 1/4 cup butter in a glass bowl for ~ 30 seconds. Step Three: Add the brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg into the melted butter and stir to combine. Step Four: Add…
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Quick & Easy Chicken Pot Pie
Chicken pot pie is quite simply one of my favorite comfort food meals and was something I enjoyed as a child when my Mom made it. This is a great recipe for a weeknight – super quick and simple. Ingredients: 1 package of ready to roll piecrust (2 crusts total) 2 cups of chicken broth 1/3 cup flour 1 1/2 cups 2% milk 3-4 cups of shredded cooked chicken 1 package (12 oz.) of frozen mixed vegetables 1 tablespoon minced onion 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning 1 teaspoon McCormick garlic/onion/black pepper/sea salt seasoning 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder Cracked black pepper 1 beaten egg Step One: Preheat your oven to 450 degrees.…
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Presenting the Outstanding Community Achievement Award – 2021
My Mom, Kelly Buchanan was the founder and creator of the HER brand (https://her.today) – a program in eastern Iowa that empowers women and gives them the tools and community support to succeed in any career path they choose. After my Mom’s passing her colleagues reached out to me and we met in March 2021 to discuss creating a new award in her honor. The Outstanding Community Leadership award was born and I had the honor to present this award to the recipient in person on June 16, 2021. This event was small and intimate, it was the first event many of us were able to attend in person and…
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Expanded Garden Project 2021
One of our goals for 2021 was to relocate our garden into a bigger space to free up the current garden area for the greenhouse we plan to build later this summer. Below are the steps we took to prepare the area for the new expanded garden – you could follow these same steps if you wanted to do a DIY garden yourself! Step One: Identify the area for your new garden – this should be an area that gets plenty of sunlight. It does not have to be level, although, that is ideal. Step Two: Clear the area of any growth or grass. The grass can be dug out…
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Second Round – Seed Starters 2021
I decided to do a second round of seed starters to add to the variety of plants in the garden and to try out biodegradable pots that can be directly transplanted into the garden when the weather is right. I was able to purchase some seed starting soil from my local hay & feed store along with an organic fish and kelp emulsion (plant food) that can be used after the seedlings sprout. In this round of seed starts I planted: Oregon sugar pod II snap peas Kentucky Blue pole beans Melting Sugar snow peas Microgreens Chives Evergreen white bunching onions Ancho poblano peppers Sugar baby watermelons Black beauty zucchini…
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Seed Starts 2021
This is the first step in our garden expansion dreams for 2021. I decided to start my first round of seed starts this past weekend (February 20th) by planting one tray of seeds and nine pots of wildflowers that will be transplanted outside when the weather warms up. All of the seeds planted are from my beloved mom, Kelly. I look forward to continuing her legacy in the garden and seeing the beauty and bounty it brings. Step One: Gather your seed packets and decide which ones you’d like to plant. I start with seeds that have a longer harvest timeframe – for example, my Kentucky Blue pole beans will…
