This weeks guest recipe post does not disappoint you guys!! Jessica, from The Simplicity Journal was sweet enough to share with you all her Homemade Granola Recipe. Before I posted it, I had to give it a try, and is amazing!! Make sure you guys jump over to Jessica’s blog and Instagram to check out more amazing recipes, home decor, and posts on motherhood!!
Homemade Granola Recipe
1/2 cup melted butter* (If you’re looking for something healthier I suggest doing an oil such as avocado or olive)
1/2 cup brown sugar* (Again a healthier alternative could be honey or pure maple syrup)
3 cups oats (I used old fashioned oats)
Combine all the ingredients together in a bowl and stir until evenly coated. At this point you can add in dried fruits. I will add chocolate chips to the one for Lizzy but obviously those won’t be added until later. PREHEAT the oven to 375 and bake for 12 minutes. I opened the oven and stirred them around even three minutes so that they didn’t burn. Allow them to cool for about 10ish minutes.
To make into a parfait:
Layer vanilla yogurt, fresh strawberries, and the granola and there you go in less than 20 minutes you have a wonderful homemade breakfast with granola to spare for the next few days.
Make sure you check out Jessica and let her know what you thought of this recipe!! Check out her original post here.
Sharing Our DIY Wall Mounted Art Easel that was the best DIY fix to a need we needed filled yet to date. I did this a few years ago, and it remains a favorite here on my blog as well as in my home, so I can’t wait to help you all create one for your families as well!
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DIY Wall Mounted Easel
I am going to go ahead and update this a bit – I created this DIY wall mounted easel over 3 years ago. ‘Santa’ set it up on Christmas Eve and it has been love ever since. Sometime the kids go weeks without touching it, and sometimes they go weeks fighting over who gets to draw on it.
This easel was created for my oldest who is now 7.5 but he has 3 younger siblings, so it has been so fun to watch each of them use it! If you’re on the fence about this DIY I say go for it and do it.
Our oldest son, Jack is crazy about the art easel at school, so much so that he hated to share it during free time because it was one of the few things he couldn’t also do at home.
I knew we wanted to get him an easel for Christmas, but I also knew that having one sitting out all the time would make me absolutely crazy.
I am super passionate about finding ways to make your house and your kids work together where you are both happy and in love with the design, and they are happy and able to grow and learn in the space. Both can happen cohesively if you work at it.
I wanted to come up with a DIY wall mounted Easel for him, but had to do some thinking on how to make that happen. There are some similar brands that sell Wall mounted paper scrolls, but they are crazy expensive, and I knew there had to be a way to make it happen on a tight budget.
For Jack art seems super therapeutic, and a way for him to really express himself, and we LOVE to support that.
An IKEA Hack Art Easel
I think if you find ways to embrace your kids needs in your home you will find everyone will be so much happier! And when it comes to doing a DIY hack make your way to IKEA and you will also be so much happier…you know, after the trip is over haha!
This DIY IS an IKEA hack, however I have had so many friends and followers use similar items from other stores since that time, so I am editing the post to allow you to find the items at a non IKEA store incase you are not close to one.
When I was researching DIY Wall Mounted Easel project I found a few inspiration posts and kind of just mashed them all together. My whole finished wall aside from the thin strip of black wood and the paper from IKEA
Before you head to IKEA for this project, because if you are like me, you like to knock it all out in one day, check out this post with all of my other IKEA hacks in one place, incase you want to tackle one of those too!
Now that you have your supplies, the actual assembly of this bad boy is so stinking easy. We actually like I said, did this for our oldest son for Christmas, and it was so easy that ‘Santa’ was able to install it all after the kids went to bed, and then sit down and have a glass of wine to enjoy Christmas Eve!
FIRST – if you are painting the wood piece black, paint that and allow it to dry. You will see that in the supplies, I simply used black spray paint.
Hang your curtain rod – hang at whatever height you would like and I hung mine roughly 32 inches across. The paper roll that I ordered (linked above) is 30 inches wide, which is where I came up with that width. One thing to note on the height is that it will stick out from the wall a decent amount, so I would recommend going high enough not to be hitting it with your head.
Put your paper roll on your curtain rod.
Now you just have to hang the wood piece. What I did was unroll the paper then laid the wood piece over it and we screwed into it on both ends NOT ON THE PAPER. So make sure your screws don’t go into where the paper will feed through. You also need to leave some slack in their so that you can kind of pull it out to refeed paper through from time to time.
Hang the bar with buckets if you so choose.
Those instructions are really simple for this project, because it just truly is that simple. I am a sucker for finding super easy, simple ways to solve a decor problem, and for us this hit that right on the money!
I love that this DIY wall mounted easel is such a simple yet good looking aspect to our home, that allows the kids to have fun and not disrupt the flow of the house.
One thing I am asked frequently on social media is ‘how do I keep my kids from coloring on the walls?’ which the short answer is that they just don’t.
My 2 year old who didn’t even exist at the time this was created is a bit more of a wild child than my others, so I don’t currently store markers in the baskets. The kids have to ask for them – so if you are worried about that, don’t store them there.
I have another great post on kids craft bins, and this is where we currently store all the kids crafts and supplies, and they simply grab their bin and if they want to use it at the easel they do!
If Marker or Crayon does get on the wall on accident, One wipe of a magic eraser, or honestly even a baby wipe for marker takes it right off, so I am not overly concerned about it. Make sure they are washable markers and crayons and you will be fine!
There has been so much talk the last couple of weeks about Instagram. About the perception of perfection that is portrayed, and the feelings that is leaving people with. It is a lot to wrap my head around, especially when that area of the Internet serves as a place for me to do work, and put in a lot of time. It also is a place where I have made some of the most genuine connections of my life…because hello 21st century haha.
So I got to thinking about why we post “perfect squares,” and if it is right…or are we really doing harm? I feel like thats a loaded question WITH NO RIGHT ANSWER. But for me, when I post pictures on Instagram, or take photos for my blog I feel good about it. I don’t feel I am doing a disservice, or like I am faking out all of my followers. I feel like I am showing a highlight real with 20 others on the cutting room floor, but also showing what is a pretty accurate depiction of our lives. Wellllll okay the one thing I would say is less than accurate is that my kids normally aren’t wearing pants…but I feel like you can all forgive me for making them suit, er pants up for a photo.
But really, the Pinterest breakfasts, and the homemade crafty mom school snacks, and the perfectly clean rooms really are me. And Im not saying that to brag. I am saying that to be truthful. To tell you that those things I post are the exact aspects of my life that led me to think that sharing our creative life and home would be perfect for a blog. I don’t do those things for the blog, but rather I started blogging because those were things I LOVED to do as a mom. On the flip side there are so many things that I see other people do, and post that AREN’T ME, and I wish they were. I wish I cooked amazing meals for my family every night, and I wish that I dressed super put together everyday, BUT I DONT. That isn’t me, and you know what…I am SO glad that although those aren’t my strengths as a wife and a mom, or a person, that they are the strengths of others.
I am glad that I have friends that I can text and ask medical advice because they are nurses and have the heart (and stomach) to have amazing knowledge and skills I don’t have. So many times they have calmed my nerves and saved my butt! I am so glad that my best friend is a total boss babe who kicks butt all day in the work place, and I can ask her advice about business sides of my blog when they come up. I am SO glad that God gave us all individual strengths and weaknesses and interweaved us to come together to lift one another up and help each other be the best wife, mom, friend, woman we can be!
So I won’t stop posting the things that I am great at, and I hope that they make you smile, knowing that those are aspects of my life that bring myself and our family great joy, and a sense of normal. And I hope you don’t stop posting all of your strengths and you keep kicking butt in what brings you joy, or helps your family!! Our time on Earth is hard enough without being happy for each other, and without lifting each other up. So lets be each others biggest cheerleaders and spend a little more time smiling together!!
This weeks healthy recipe is one for the kids! My friend Jenny from Chocolate and Lace sent over her Healthy Chicken Nugget Recipe and I couldn’t wait to share it with you!! I feel like the only thing harder than coming up with simple, heathy recipes for myself, is coming up with options that are kiddo approved! This recipe will be sure to please the whole family!!
Jenny’s blog is full of amazing recipes, motherhood, travel, fashion and more! She has two beautiful daughters, and is about the most beautiful mom you will ever see!! So make sure you check out her blog to learn a little more about her and get more great recipes!
Healthy Chicken Nugget Recipe
Author: Chocolate and Lace
Recipe type: Dinner
Cuisine: American
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
1 lb chicken tenders, sliced in half
1½ cups bread crumbs
¼ cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
1 clove garlic, grated or finely minced
1 egg
1 cup flour
salt and pepper to taste
EVOO
For the sauces choose your favorite BBQ sauce.
For the Honey Mustard use 2 TBSP of honey mixed with ½ cup of dijon or brown mustard.
Instructions
In a large skillet, heat 1 TBSP of EVOO over medium high heat
In a shallow dish mix together bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, garlic, parsley flakes and salt and pepper to taste.
In a second shallow dish place the one cup flour.
In a third shallow dish beat one egg with a fork.
Please the dishes in a row. Flour dish, egg dish and bread crumbs dish.
Dip each piece of tender in flour on both sides, then the egg on both sides and then cover in bread crumbs.
Place into the hot skillet.
Cook on each side until golden brown.
Serve with sauces + ketchup for the kiddos!
Be sure you check out Jenny’s blog to get more recipes like this one, and I would love to hear what you and your family think of this recipe!!
If you follow me on Instagram you have likely gathered that I LOVE Valentines Day. I mean what is better than a holiday where yo get to decorate with pink and hearts, and share love with everyone around you? I rounded up my Valentines Day Favorites for you guys, so you can jump on my bandwagon and get into the holiday spirit!
* this post contains affiliate links. Read more about that here.
I hope you find some Valentines Day Favorites that you love on this list!! If you’re looking for more Valentines Day goodies, head over to my girl, Navy’s Blog to check out her favorite finds!!
This weeks guest recipe post is from my friend Nadia! I have been following Nadia on Instagram for nearly a year and her recipes make me salivate every time she posts. She has a way of making super healthy meals look elegant and delicious, and such a balance in the way she cooks which I love. Make sure to check her out on Instagram, and her fabulous blog to see more recipes like this. She was sweet enough to share a Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookie Bar Recipe with me today. These babies are gluten, diary, and refined sugar free!
A little note from Nadia
Simply put, I live for food. Now I know that sounds dramatic, but cooking/eating is my biggest passion in life. Growing up multicultural (Mexican mother & Syrian/French father, raised in Mexico, lived in France and finally the US) really developed my love for food and cooking style. I started my blog and Instagram account about a year ago to share my food point of view with the world. I used to be a restaurant chef, who fell in love with healthy living so most of the recipes I create will have a healthy twist to them, but I will share indulgent eats here and there because I am all about living a truly balanced life. Plus, what’s life without good wine and dessert, right?
Now more about these crazy good chocolate chip bars. I have 2 cookie monsters at home, so this was created with them in mind. I am pleased to report that my husband (basically healthy food hater) was a fan, he ate ½ the batch by himself and actually asked for more, Aleluya!
A really good tip here is that if you don’t have oat flour, it is really easy to make. For this recipe, I actually just blended 1 ¾ cup of gluten free oats until it was fine enough to look like flour. Another thing I will add, is that I use the KAL brand of liquid stevia because it is the one that tastes best to me, but feel free to use whichever one you have. You can also use any chocolate chips you want, I use the Lily’s brand because they are sweetened with stevia.
Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookie Bar Recipe
Prep time: 10-12 minutes
Cook time: 15-17 minutes
Total time: 25-29 minutes
Ingredients:
2 cups gluten free oat flour
4 tbsp coconut flour
1 tsp baking powder (aluminum free)
3 eggs
1 tbsp xylitol
¼ cup coconut oil
1 ½ cup unsweetened almond milk
5 tbsp almond butter
¼ tsp cinnamon
Dash of seasalt
Liquid Stevia (to taste but I use 2 droppers for the whole recipe)
1/2 cup Lily’s dark chocolate chips (stevia sweetened)
Directions:
1.- In a bowl, mix together the oat flour, salt, baking powder, xylitol, cinnamon and coconut flour.
2.- Whisk the eggs in a bowl with the almond milk.
3.- Melt the coconut oil and whisk into the egg mixture.
4.- Add almond butter and stevia into the egg and milk mixture.
5.- Add the wet ingredients into the dry and mix well.
6.- Add in the chocolate chips.
7.- Grease an 11 x 7 baking dish.
8.- Pour in the batter.
9.- Bake at 350 for 15-17 min.
10.- Cool before cutting into squares.
I can’t wait for you guys to try this recipe out, and be sure to let Nadia and I know what you think of it!!
I have shared our home goals, and shown my organization goals for this new year, but I also have much more important personal goals this year. When I think about life in the past year, I have taken on a busy life with blogging and added a human to our family, so needless to say – LIFE IS STRESSFUL. I knew that there were no HUGE changes I could make with my family to make things less stressful. That this was the season of life we are in with 3 small children, so rather I realized the change had to be with me. When I sat back and REALLY thought about the things causing me stress I realized how thankful I am to have those stresses. That they are all stemming from immense blessings. So I had my resolution: to be a more grateful mom. And not just a more grateful mom, but a more grateful wife, and person.
I think as moms, or women in general, when we think about the things that cause us the most stress, they are probably the things we would be the most sad to lose. I prayed and hoped for nothing more in life than to be a wife and mom, and when I lay my head down at night, know that I am living my dream. ALL I ever wanted to grow up to be was a mom, and those three small babies upstairs causing me stress are literally fulfilling my dream daily. So if I could be more grateful for their lives and their spirits, then I should be able to be less angry and stressed over the messes and meltdowns.
This is not to say I am not a grateful mom now, but I think knowing you are grateful in your heart, and living and showing that on your outward demeanor is a totally different story. I don’t think that many times I come across grateful for my kids, because I am too busy being stressed and busy with the life we have. I don’t want to look back at these years that are going all too quickly and know that missed it all by being far too stressed!
I am sure for some of you reading this, this seems like a no brainer, but for me I am hoping it is a great change on my life this year. To live my life with gratitude in my heart for Gods blessings. To understand that those blessings don’t come with no work and no messes, but are huge blessings none the less and those messes are very worth it!
Do you set resolutions, or think of the new year as a new start? I would love to hear what your resolutions are, or if you have any tips on being a more grateful mom this year.
Looking for fun Galentines to send to your besties? I am a Valentines Day lover, so feel like spreading that love to my friends and kids is too fun to pass up. I made some fun little Galentines Day Printables for you to attach to some candy, wine, or just send with a note in the mail!! Enjoy!
Don’t forget to check out these fun, Free Valentines Day Printables, and I would love to see how you use the Galentines Day Printables for your besties!!
Another week, another guest blog post with a recipe!! This time one of my favorite moms I meant via Instagram is sharing one of her peanut butter banana smoothie recipe! Tiffany has been super inspiring and is very devoted to getting healthy (while still enjoying life!) to get back in shape after her daughter was born! She has the cutest blog with wonderful recipes, fashion, and other lifestyle topics you have to check out!! I love her recipes, and smoothies are a great option for me, so I am sharing her smoothie recipe, and it is so good!!
Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie Recipe
8 oz unsweetened almond/coconut milk (I find the blend makes it more creamy, you can use plain almond or plain coconut milk if you prefer)
1/2 scoop chocolate whey protein
2 tbs PB2
3/4 frozen banana (tip – cut the banana into quarters before you freeze)
1-2 ice cubes
Throw all of the ingredients in your blender and blend until smooth. Pour into your favorite glass and enjoy!
So easy, right? and I know I have lots of Breastfeeding mom friends who are avoiding dairy, so this is a great one for them too. I am planning to make these for myself and the kids tomorrow morning! I hope you all have an awesome week, and be sure to check back in a few days with more fun posts.
Friday Favorites are back friends!! I figured it was time to do another Favorites post, and in the spirit of the new year, I thought I would post about some of the organization favorites I use around my home to keep us up and running!
Organization Favorites
Cube Organizer – These are seriously my favorite things for kids toys especially, but I have seen some awesome ways to use them in adult spaces too on Pinterest! I prefer this one with the thicker sides that looks a bit less flimsy than others.
Wall Hooks – If you have kids especially you can never have enough wall hooks. I love these accordion style ones that have made a comeback, but use hooks all over the house. They are great for bags, coats, dress up clothes, baby carriers – you name it!
Acrylic Cup Organizers – I use these for everything. You can use them in drawers in any room, on your desk, and I even use them in my kids coloring basket for crayons (see here)
Drawer Organizers – If your things have a place you won’t have to waste time cleaning drawers out all the time. I use a variety of drawer organizers ( this and this in my kitchen and this in my bathroom).
Plastic Storage Baskets – These are seriously my Go- to bins! I use them in my linen closets, Pantry, Laundry room, Coat closet, and Playroom. They are life savers!! (those particular bins are no longer sold but I have since started buying the ones I linked and use them all over, including my garage and car!)
Photo Ledge – These are great for displaying Kids books like this, so they can see what they have to pick from!
Mason Jars – Keep these on hand and you can use them FOR EVERYTHING.
Who is excited for some free Valentines Day Printables? I am obsessed with the color pink, so Valentines Decor gets a longer stay than almost any other holiday. I wanted to fill some frames for our main floor and Avés room, so decided to whip up a few Valentines Day printables, and offer them to you all to use too!
For the month of January, to start the new year off right, I wanted to have some guest blogger hop on and give you guys some great healthy recipes to try! My friend Kara Swanson is up first with an amazing Loaded Sweet Potato Recipe. I met Kara on Instagram and can’t help but love her amazing recipes she shares, but she also has a fantastic blog and even offers a bootcamp that my thighs are begging me to join! Make sure to check her out!!
About the Recipe and Words from Kara
This recipe is for those nights when A) you don’t want to cook B) you don’t have time to cook or C) you don’t know how to cook. Basically, this recipe is fool proof and I’ve got you covered no matter what category you choose.
If you think you don’t have time to cook, you’ve just been cooking the wrong recipes because I’ve got loads of delicious, healthy, easy recipes that are so quick to whip up. Which is why I’m so excited to share this recipe with you. Because I know the struggle of wanting healthy food on the table each night and that your whole family will actually love.
These Loaded Sweet Potatoes are a huge hit in our house and a favorite among my clients. They’re packed with flavor and so easy to whip up. And you don’t even have to know your way around the kitchen. These sweet potatoes have a nice sweet/mildly spicy flavor and it will be hard not to eat the whole pan. Top with ground beef, bell peppers, tomatoes, avocado and green onions and you have yourself an easy + simple + delicious meal.
Something I started doing to save time on prep work right before dinner {aka when kids go crazy} is prepping as much as I can in the morning or when I get a free moment during the day. That way when it’s time for dinner all I have to do is assemble and cook. If you have a few minutes in the morning go ahead and cut the sweet potatoes, chop the veggies, or even cook the meat.
And if you only have time for the sweet potatoes and ground beef…it will still taste amazing. Some days are busy and the last thing you want to do is cook, but this simple and easy recipe will help with that problem.
Enjoy these Loaded Sweet Potatoes on a busy weeknight or on the weekend while you’re spending time with family.
Loaded Sweet Potato Recipe:
Ingredients:
6 small sweet potatoes {about 2 pounds}, diced
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 lb ground beef
Your favorite toppings: avocado, green onions, tomatoes, bell peppers, etc.
Directions:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Mixed diced sweet potatoes with spices and olive oil. Put on a baking sheet in an even layer.
Bake for 10 minutes, take out of oven to stir and then bake for another 10 minutes or until nice and crispy/tender.
While the sweet potatoes are baking, cook ground beef in skillet until cooked through. Feel free to add a little garlic powder and salt to beef.
Chop your toppings while ground beef is cooking.
Top sweet potatoes with ground beef and favorite toppings.
Let me know what you think about this loaded sweet potato recipe, and be sure to check back next week for another healthy option to make that resolution stick! Don’t forget to check out Kara, and hopefully we can convince her of another recipe down the road!!