Sweet Potato Soup

It's getting chilly here in the North East and that means soup is now a regular meal for our family.  I love broth based veggie soups while my husband likes the creamy "stick to your bones" kind of soups.  My sweet potato soup is a happy medium :)

Ingredients:
1/2 cup onion (yellow or white)
1/4 carrots carrots
1-2 cloves garlic
4 medium to large sweet potatoes
48 oz. of chicken broth
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
2 dashes of cinnamon
Salt
2 tbsp. Olive Oil

Recipe:
Dice onion, carrots, and garlic.  Peel and cube sweet potatoes.

Sauté' onions, carrots, garlic, red pepper flakes, and cinnamon in the Olive Oil.  Add a good pinch of salt.

Add cubed sweet potatoes and broth- bring to a simmer and cook for 30-45 mins.

Use an emerson blender and puree soup.  *If you don't have a hand emerson blender then you use use a blender.

** Add salt to taste
** You may need to add more stock if the soup gets too thick once blended.


I made my croutons with a loaf of organic rosemary sourdough bread- Yummy!

Rain, Rain, Go Away...

Good Morning!  It's been raining like crazy here the past few days...

 I thought I'd share my favorite must have boots for the family.  Thanks to my husband (who is prepared for any situation) I've started to buy appropriate "gear" for our family.  It really does make a difference when you can get into the car and you're not freezing, wet or both!  We wear the following boots ALL of the time, year round.  My son especially loves his little Hunter boots. He now gets to splash in puddles and Mommy loves how adorable they look on his little feet!  I promise these will be your go-to boots!

'Original Refined' Rain Boot (Women)

These are the ones I purchased.  They are similar to the Original Tall ,but are slimmer to fit my tiny calves! 

'Original Tall' Rain Boot (Women)

Top-Sider® 'Avenue' Rain Boot (Men)

Sperry Top-Sider Avenue Duck 3-Eye

'First Classic' Rain Boot (Walker, Toddler & Little Kid)  Nordstrom is currently offering 25% these boots!  I'f you're considering these don't wait because they will sell out! 

Pumpkin Bread

 I love pumpkin!  It's one of my favorite things about the fall.  I consume ungodly amounts and by December I've usually had my fill to last me until the next fall.

This past week I've been playing around with a few recipes I found for pumpkin bread. I wanted to use coconut oil (if you don't have this in your pantry go get it) and I wanted to add more fiber.  My kids love this bread for breakfast or for a quick snack!

Enjoy :)

Pumpkin Bread Recipe

Ingredients

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar (I use dark brown)
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup wheat germ (you could use whole wheat flour)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
*1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
*1/4 nutmeg
*1/4 ginger
*** you could use 2 tsp of pumpkin pie spice- I don't because I use all organic spices.
3/4 cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
2 eggs
1/2 cup melted coconut oil
1/3 cup vanilla almond milk (or water)
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

1. preheat oven to 350F.  Grease a 9x5 loaf pan and spray with oil

2. Whisk together dry ingredients.  Create a well in the center of the bowl and add wet ingredients.  Mix ingredients together until ingredients are combined.  DO NOT OVER MIX.

3. Pour batter into loaf pan.  Bake for 50-65 minutes or until a toothpick is inserted into the center and comes out clean.  Let cool until it reaches room temperate.

Fall Must Haves

Today was the first day I felt like fall was well on its way here in PA.  Suiting since tomorrow is the first day of autumn. As much as I love summer, fall is my next favorite season.  We are lucky to have such beautiful falls in PA.  There's truly nothing like it.

I recently purchased a few new things for MYSELF.   I highlight myself, because my kids and husband always seem to come first.  I think you can all relate.  I'm in love with my new purchases and thought I'd share just incase you would like to treat yourself :)

JCrew Factory Gingham Button Down Shirt- Nothing says fall to me like gingham!   Pair it with white or blue jeans- boots or flats.  

New Balance 620 Sneakers by JCrew-  I was looking for a pair of sneakers that would look OK with jeans.  These are perfect for running around doing errands or going to the playground.  

JCrew Facotry Quilted Puffer Vest  I have multiple colors in this vest and wear them from fall into spring.    

Lands End Tote- I LOVE their totes.  Whether we are doing a weekend away, going to the pool, or headed to the playground I'm using my tote.  They come in a wide range of sizes, colors, and you can get it monogrammed :)   They also make great personalized gifts!

Live Without Plastic

If any of you know my family and I, you know that we try our best to take plastic out of our lives.  It's a personal choice of ours, we try to intake as few chemicals (one being BPA) as possible.  Did you know when heat and multiple washings are applied, the plastic starts to break down and releases into the food or drink?  Yuck!
 Because of our plastic free lifestyle, we have purchased many products that are stainless steal or glass.  Some have failed, but many we have loved and are in use all day and every day.  Below are some of my favorite stainless products.

Pottery Barn Kids Stainless Steal Bento Boxes

Safe Sippy Cup- both boys use/used these as they transitioned from bottles to cups. 

Stainless Steal Straws

YETI Rambler Colster "Koozie"- THIS THING IS AMAZING!  You will never have warm beer again!

Brooks Brother's Friends Sale

I am the proud mother of two little boys.  So when it comes to shopping for them I am always looking for good quality, but at a fair price.  I like to dress my boys preppy and classic.  Personally, I'm not a fan of graphics, fonts, etc. on my kids clothing (monograms are a whole other story!).  So when I found out that Brook's Brothers is having their FRIENDS sale I had to do a little shopping for the boys.  Jack is still too little to fit into their clothing, but Brooks can now wear their 4t.  I shop for my husband here and have always loved their quality.  My boys are SO hard on their clothes, finding good quality at an affordable price is key!

Below I put together two outfits- one for early fall (school picture day?) and the other for the holidays.  I only shopped in the clearance section and with the code FRIENDS you get an additional 25% off your purchase.  Happy shopping!

Navy gingham shirt, Green Chinos, Navy woven belt, Tartan belt, Tartan sport shirt, Santan embroidered corduroys, 

I'm Alive! & Bathroom Update

HELLO out there.....

Quick Update:
Brooks is back in preschool (3yr. old) classroom and LOVES school! He learned how to swim this summer and is currently obsessed with basketball.  Michael Jordan and Space Jam (from 1996!) is his show of choice.

Jack is now 18 months!  I can't believe my baby is now a toddler.  He's SO sweet and loves to do everything his big brother does.  He loves books and is my little helper.


There's been a lot going on in terms of making our house a home, so I thought I'd share what I've been up to.  I'll start with the boys upstairs bathroom.  I LOVE white- white kitchens, white bathrooms, etc. so it was natural for me to choose a classic white hexagonal tile floor and a white double vanity.

Because it's the boy's bathroom I wanted to add a fun art print, "Jorey Hurley, Dog In Grass" and this Jaipur fabric for the roman shades from Serena and Lily. I also love using large baskets for our dirty laundry.  The basket not only hids the dirty clothes, but also gives the room some much needed texture.  

Double Vanity-  Jorey Hurley "Dog In Grass Art"-  Jaipur Fabric- Turkish Hand Towel-  Large Woven Basket 

Bathroom Update

Bathroom update: 
As usual, we are running a little behind but wanted to post an update on what we've accomplished so far.  The tile floor has been laid, the vanity has been delivered and the bathroom linen closet is painted!

I was not looking forward to painting the closet due to the fact that I either had to remove all of the shelving and brackets or try to paint around everything which I knew the outcome wouldn't jive with my type A personality.  Dreading the job, I was racking my brain of how I could create a short cut to get around removing all of those tiny brackets that held up our multiple wire shelving with still receiving an acceptable outcome.  


Then as I was casually browsing the children's section in Ikea- ha, not really I was battling with a toddler and I crying infant when I spotted the "Mala" craft brushes.  I figured that could edge each bracket using one of these tiny but sturdy brushes.  It HAD to work because I REALLY did not want to remove each bracket.  

That night, after the kids went to bed I removed all of the shelving and got to work on edging the brackets.  It worked!  It only took about 10 minutes to edge all of the brackets- a HUGE time saver!  After edging, I took a small roller to paint the rest of the closet.  The color I'm using is Gray Owl by Benjamin Moore, a beautiful bluish gray.  It turned out great! 

Below is the before and after. (We still need to add the white baseboards.)

Happy Friday!

Happy Friday everyone!

   Today the boys and I had a very productive day.  We started the day by making a quick run into Target to pick up a few things and because its Target I always seem to walk out with a little more than I had planned :)  I picked up these adorable little "dip bowls" by Threshold.  I put them on a long plate I already had and placed it next to my stove.  They house my cooking staples- garlic, sea salt, etc.   

Next the boys and I met friends at a trampoline gym.  We LOVE going there- its something to do in the winter, gives them plenty of exercise and wears them out for nap time!

After nap, the boys had sensory play with pasta.  I love sensory play and see so many neat ideas on Pinterest, but I never seem to have all of the materials on hand.  I usually have pasta in the pantry.  Pasta sensory play is so easy and keeps the kids busy for .... 5 mins?    Jack loved pulling the pasta OUT of the bowl while Brooks wanted the pasta to be put back in. 

Then came laundry-I try to include the boys in my chores around the house.  Brooks loves to help me with whatever he can- cooking, cleaning, laundry, etc.  Although it usually creates more work me in the end, I feel as though its important to make your home a team effort.  I want to raise my boys to be able to cook, clean, do their laundry, etc.  Their wives will hopefully thank me one day :)  

Hope you all have had a happy Friday :) 

Bathroom Face Lift

   

Hello!  
   Sorry I've been MIA for the past few weeks.  The following events turned me into a walking zombie just trying to get through my day!

   Both children developed colds- which lasted 2 weeks, my infant cut 6 teeth (yes 6!), had an ear infection and started to crawling, while my oldest son started preschool!  And to top it off, our bathroom face lift started!  Needless to say I haven't had much sleep as I have been stumbling between both boys rooms in the middle of the night.

We are starting to get back to ourselves and I'm SO excited for the boys bathroom to be complete.  I love our home, but it needed a TON of work.  The previous home owners loved yellow, primary blue and red.  Not a single thing (floors, countertops, walls, ceilings, etc.) were neutral colors.  I mean EVERYTHING was yellow, blue and red.  

Below is a picture of the bathroom- white and blue linoleum, white washed cabinets, horrible lighting, etc.  Not to mention the bathroom should have a double vanity in it, but instead it housed only a single.   Lovely huh?

Wanting to keep the bathroom on a modest budget we decided do everything ourselves except for the tile.  My husband is super handy and could do the tile work, but I knew it would be summer before the job was done so I hired a local handyman to keep the job moving :)

Here is my inspiration board- again I always try to keep things classic and timeless.
I'm re-using some mirrors that I already have.

Home Depot: Hampton Bay Chrome Lighting 

Lowes: American Olean White Hexagonal Floor Tile 

Paint: Gray Owl by Benjamin Moore

Vanity:  Bella 60-inch Double Bathroom Vanity