THM, Bible Studies and Wreaths

Hello everybody! It's been ages since I last blogged anything! I've been feeling totally disconnected and it's been hard to find my "blogging groove again" ... It doesn't mean I haven't had anything to blog about... You might not see me around as much but I am still on Trim Healthy Mama... It's still kind of a "my own THM plan" ... just because of some of my own thyroid needs but usually I adhere to the rules most of the time...  I do get some crossovers in... and I've had some low (very low moments, just this very last week) but I've also had great highs too! I just recently introduced weight lifting into my exercise routine and it's been great! I can actually see/feel changes starting to happen... and while those changes are NOTHING to some for me they've been huge given my thyroid issues. I do Trim Healthy Mama the 'easiest/cheapest' possible way my meals are easy and with "everyday" ingredients...  here are some pics of some of the things I've been eating to give you an idea:

As you can see I've been eating meals made with common ingredients:

• Spicy Roasted almonds ( THM -S-)
• Fried eggs with pan roasted veggies and avocado (S)
• Lightly breaded Chicken with buttered zoodles -used coconut flour for the breading- (S)
• Chicken Salad over romaine hearts, avocado, jalapeño peppers and strawberries on the side (S)
• Low fat cottage cheese with strawberries (FP)
• Chicken breast with veggies (FP) (or add a side of brown rice and make it an "E").

See? It doesn't have to be too fancy or complicated to be yummy and perfectly on plan.

... I have no budget for special ingredients,  But if you do go ahead and enjoy them! Trim Healthy mama has some special ingredients and others that are more common in their store... all of them at great prices here: Trim Healthy Mama Store

Now... what else has been going on with my life?

Well... This Summer I volunteered to translate a book from English to Spanish for our Bible Study... I highly recommend this study for you! You can suggest it in your church if they do studies like this, but if you don't have a Bible Study group you can still do it on your own... I highly recommend it:

  Nehemiah: A Heart That Can Break by Kelly Minter

This Study is really amazing... I don't want to give much away but trust me... God can use it to change your life.

 

 

Another thing I've been busy with... interestingly have been crafts! I have been feeling crafty lately and I've been checking out the "wreath making" world, these are two wreaths I've made:

 

 

Burlap Wreath with Fall Foliage

Straw Wreath covered with Yarn, decorated with felt flowers, pine cones and ribbon



And last but not least... We've had a great response to hubby's First Book...

 

  Suffering Well: Job’'s Stubborn Faith  

 

 

I mentioned it before that it was finally published and we are so blessed to have great friends who have been praying with and for us! Our church family has been just as excited as we are and our Pastor and his wife hosted a beautiful celebration to dedicate the book, have a beautiful prayer time and some book signing of course.

 

Our Pastor's wife besides being a great support for her husband and all of us in church, she is also a great blogger, amazing hostess and a very creative homemaker... You have to check out her blog and you can see how she decorated for our Book Dedication Celebration here in her beautiful blog: Quite Simply - Gay Jeffries Blog.

Of course there's a lot more I could share but not without making this the longest blog post... So I will end it here.

I hope I can bring you some new recipes soon!

 



© Paloma K.

Picture Post!

ooh! Lots of catching up to do replying and commenting on other blogs! I hope once January starts everything goes back to normal and I can blog more... I just want to say I'm here, we're enjoying the feeling of Christmas all around us and ... well... here are some pics of how we're enjoying!

Paper Snowflakes

More Crafts

Nutcracker!

Love!

My princesses

Of course!

© Paloma K.

Christmas Cookies - Christmas Wreaths

Hello everybody! I have a very easy (and fun) recipe to make Christmas wreaths... These are not exactly my favorite cookie in flavor.... You know? but I always feel like they are a MUST HAVE for how festive and "Christmassy" they are!

Before I share the recipe let me give you a quick update on our Coffee Friday... I will be re-taking it in January! I already have some great bloggers that will be featured! So... don't think that we're done with our Coffee Party! Keep posting and mentioning "coffee" in your posts so you will be able to link up with us! Our Next Coffee Friday will be on the 4th of January 2013! Do not miss it! Here is our Coffee Friday button if you want to add it to your blog as a reminder!

<center> <a href="http://www.love4coffee.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img alt="The Coffee Shop" src="http://goo.gl/XfoA6" /></a></center>

Now... Our Recipe:

Christmas Wreaths:

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter 30 large marshmallows 1 1/2 teaspoons green food coloring

1 teaspoon vanilla extract 4 cups cornflakes cereal cinnamon red hot candies to decorate

Directions:

1.	Line baking sheets with waxed paper. Set aside. Melt the butter in a large saucepan over low heat. Add marshmallows, cook until melted while stirring constantly. Remove from heat, add food coloring, vanilla, and cornflakes.
2.	Quickly drop heaping tablespoonfuls (I use a small ice cream scoop) of the mixture onto waxed paper, and form into a wreath shape with lightly greased fingers. Immediately decorate with red hot candies. Place them in the fridge to chill before removing from waxed paper, and storing in an airtight container.

Note: it really helps if someone - a little one even - helps you add the hot candies as you shape the wreaths so they stick better.

Have fun!

© Paloma K.

My Thanksgiving Tree

I finally got the chance to make this! I've been wanting to make it from the very beginning of November but my girls have been sick and I just couldn't gather the inspiration to make it! Last night I decided this couldn't wait any longer, once the girls went to bed and regardless of being tired, I made it. It was easy because I already had what I needed and hubby helped me put the branch in the pot while I traced, cut and "prepared" the leaves. The branch is in a pot and inside the pot there's cardboard to make it steady, the cardboard is cut round to have a tight fit inside the pot, with a hole in the middle for the branch to go through it... so... there's rocks, cardboard, rocks, cardboard and more rocks on top. Those rocks you can buy in the gardening section of any big store. I bought a bag of them last year in Home-Depot.

The leaves are made with brown and yellow cardstock, The shape of the leaves I got it from some artificial leaves I have, you can find great leaf shapes from clip-art or even looking for leaf images online.Once I traced and cut the leaves I just colored their edges with crayon to give them a more "real" look. (used brown crayon for the yellow leaves, dark orange crayon for the brown leaves).

Then I just wrote the things we are thankful for, used some yellow sewing thread to hang them (passed the thread throw the leaf stem with a needle) and hung all the leaves on my branch (you need a dry, "nice looking" branch) the size of it will depend on the size of your pot.

Voila! You have a cute, earthy looking, Thanksgiving Tree!
 
© Paloma K.

Fall decorations - Apartment Appropriate!

Hello friends! I just finished my first cup of coffee of the day... and I am excited to start a new week here with all of you!

I hope you had a great and refreshing weekend! I sure enjoyed it... and last night was great because we had friends over for coffee and cake... It sure is awesome to enjoy the company of great friends! So blessed!

Today, and continuing with the "Fall Theme" I thought I would share the small decorations I JUST placed here in our home... We live in an apartment for now, so our decor needs to stay simple to not overcrowd the place... Just a few touches that show "It is Fall" in here!  (plus lots of baking in the kitchen) to create a great atmosphere!

 So... here are the few things I made, with very inexpensive materials and some other items I already had here at home!

1. For the table: I just bought a single, pumpkin scented candle, for 1.00 USD and a small candle holder for the same price! I also bought a bouquet of artificial fall leaves to use for all the little decorations I made and glued them to the candle holder. Ideal for a smaller table!

For our table, a candle in a candle holder with some "Fall leaves" glued for the "Fall effect"

2. On the kitchen counter: I bought a bag with assorted, natural, miniature pumpkins  ($2.98), used some of the leaves of the same bouquet I bought and also used the net where the pumpkins were packaged for a more "country/farm" style... I placed it all on this tray that I already had (which originally held bigger rectangular candles)

For the kitchen counter dividing the kitchen from the dining room

 3. I don't know where this one will end up but I basically just added the rest of the assorted miniature pumpkin thingies in this vase which I love it because it is just a smooth, simple cilinder, which can also be filled with walnuts, pecans, etc... or cinnamon sticks, or wheat... whatever you'd like to give a "fall" look... I use it for flowers during spring and summer! and taped some leaves on the bottom of the vase.

I don't know if this one will stay on the counter, but we'll see

I probably should've cleared the counter from everything else before taking the pic

 So there you have it... just very simple and very, very inexpensive ideas to make your own fall decorations... Especially if you have an apartment or a smaller house where you don't feel like big decorations would go well!

I hope you like it!

© Paloma K.

First Thanksgiving Menu - Let's begin!

Hello everybody, sorry I didn't post yesterday! It's been hectic here, but I do NOT forget about you! I totally remember I mentioned I would share with you ideas, tips, recipes and my whole Thanksgiving Menu to hopefully inspire you with your own Thanksgiving dinner! It might seem like it's early now but I am getting all geared up for it! Thanksgiving last year was the first time for me to host it ... I prepared everything! I was super nervous in the beginning but I had amazing "online" help from Joshua's aunts (his mom's sisters) Sadly, Joshua's mom is no longer among us... but I know she would be proud of me if she could see how far I've come! You have to remember I am a Mexican and we do not celebrate Thanksgiving in Mexico... I had "heard about it" and I had even been to a friend's house who celebrated it across the Border (in Texas), I had also read about the reasons why it is celebrated when I learned how to speak English... in those years I studied about it and loved it all and love it that it's one of the main Holidays in the USA but beyond that I knew nothing about how to put it together...

I had no clue I would one day be married to a "gringo" and live in the USA... I am very blessed to be now part of his family and to be still learning so much from his aunts! Especially Auntie Sally who even shared some of her very special secrets with me (and... due to her trust... those very secrets will remain safe with me... Sorry... I am not in liberty to share!) But don't worry... I will still share awesome and simple recipes that will make your Thanksgiving Dinner a total success!

So... last year... with hubby's aunts help (by e-mail because we moved to Texas and they are all in Wisconsin) I tried to "replicate" their Thanksgiving dinner and keep it as traditional and authentic as if it was them making it... Of course had to adapt some things to our taste and likings (I am sorry... this will sound unforgivable but we don't include sweet potatoes in our Thanksgiving Dinner... we are just not into them!) so today... I will just share the Menu that I used on everybody's places -right on top of their plate- last year!

You will see it's nothing too fancy and hopefully nothing will sound too complicated, I am mostly trying to encourage those who are going to be in charge of hosting their first Thanksgiving and let them know it's ok!!! It's not as hard as it seems... Especially when you just focus on keeping a Thanksgiving attitude and enjoying instead of looking for perfection which might only stress you out!

So... Here is the Menu I used...

Click on the image to enlarge

You can make your own in Word and add some Free Cliparts! Make it your own! For me... This was very meaningful because I was trying to honor Hubby's Aunts... that's why the clipart is about those 3 ladies bringing dinner to our very table!

What do you think? Do you like the idea? Everybody here loved it! Hopefully it will inspire you to make your very own and have everybody drooling over "what's to come"

 By the way... are you ready for tomorrow's Coffee Friday? Don't forget to link up with us... you just need to have mentioned "coffee" or "cafe" in any of your posts of the week and make sure you link back to us!

BTW... I am linking this up to The Sits Girls for their "Fall Back into Blogging" Challenge... I think of this as a "craft" ... kind of... right? So... there it is!

© Paloma K.

Beautiful Fall Cookies - Children friendly!

 Hello friends, as I mentioned yesterday I'll be sharing some great fall recipes and also some Thanksgiving tips and my very own Thanksgiving menu with you!

Yesterday, inspired by the whole "fall theme" I made some cookies, I wasn't going to share them with you just yet because I have an idea of the "order" I want to give to my posts... starting with appetizers and ending with desserts but I thought they turned out so great that I can't wait any longer!

These are some "rolled out sugar cookies" the recipe is very simple and trust me... it is a lot of fun to decorate them and let your kids "paint them" too once the cookies are out of the oven and completely cooled off!

So... Here is what I made:

To make these you'll need:

Leaf/Pumpkin Shaped Cookie Cutters
Pastry Brush (and a clean regular small painting brush)
food coloring (I use gel for brighter colors) - orange, yellow, green and brown
Parchment Paper/metal cooling rack 
Plus the cookies ... here is the recipe to make them:

Ingredients:

3/4 cups butter, softened 1 cups white sugar 2 eggs 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract   For the frosting you will need powdered sugar (about 1 1/2 cups) and milk (about 1/2 cup) plus your food coloring.

2.5 cups all-purpose flour (plus more for rolling) 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1.	In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. In a separate bowl mix the dry ingredients and stir them in the butter/sugar mix once they are ready. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour (or overnight).
2.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Roll out dough on floured surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into shapes with your cookie cutters. Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
3.	Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven (or until edges look slightly golden). Cool completely.

To decorate:

In your mixer (using your whisk attachment) mix powdered sugar and milk at high speed, add more sugar or milk as needed to form a thick liquid or "thin, runny paste" that you will be able to brush on the cookies, it should be thin enough to "paint" the cookies, and thick enough to "stay on the cookie", separate your mix into 4 different bowls (or as many as you need for the colors that you have) and add some food coloring to each bowl, I used orange, yellow, brown and green. Have fun painting your leaves using your pastry brush for the larger areas and the small brush for the stems of the pumpkins. Make sure to have some parchment paper under your cooling racks where you'll place the "painted cookies" to dry so you can have an "easy clean up".

So... I hope you like this fall recipe, which is also a great fall activity to have fun with your little ones... My 4 yr. old (who I am homeschooling right now) and I had a fun time talking about the wind, how it works and how even when we cannot see it we know it's there because it moves things, like LEAVES, we talked about other uses for the air, that it carries oxygen which we need to breath and how we can use it to dry things too! ... I am sure you'll find something cool to talk about too!

Don't forget our Coffee Friday! It's going to be fun!!! I hope you can mention "coffee" somewhere in any of your posts of the week and don't forget to link back to us so more can know about it and join us too!

Happy Baking!

© Paloma K.

Build your own Caillou Rocketship

So my oldest (she'll be 4 tomorrow) asked daddy to build her a "Caillou Rocketship" ... that was on Thursday so daddy sat and watched Caillou with her to know what she was talking about... well... he promised her he would get the "ingredients" LOL! (used to talking about recipes) ok... so the materials to build it and they both got to the task yesterday! and now I am going to share with you the "step by step" with pictures from Caillou and the great results!

You'll need:
1 big cardboard box (like those where disposable cups come in)
Scissors or a blade to thick cardboard
Masking Tape
Paint/markers/crayons or stickers to decorate

Cut an opening on the top (middle) of the box for the kids to get in

It will look like this

Cut on the side and towards the bottom to make a door
(You will use the top lids to make the front of the ship)

With some of the leftover cardboard pieces make the "tail fin" and wings

Make some cuts for the fins/wings to go in

Hubby secured them inside with other pieces of carboard and tape

Let your kids have fun decorating with anything they want

Now it just needs all the creativity to make it extra spacial, I mean special!

As you can see the top lids are used to make the triangle in the front

Your cat might want to play too!

Have fun!

Linking up with: JDaniel4's Mom
Simple Lives Thursday - Spain in Iowa
Weekend Bloggy Reading Serenity Now

© Paloma K.

Coffee Friday ... just add some SALSA!

 Today's Coffee Friday is super special! I have a very busy and successful friend, who is just an amazing blogger and she accepted to do this "Coffee Friday" post just for the fun and for the memories of our beginnings as bloggers! We both started blogging around the same time a few years ago... We immediately connected and her blog took off... Life and stuff kept me away from blogging but she was someone I looked for as soon as I came back! I found her blog very changed but at the same time the same... Her personality has always been clear and defined... she is a kind and very creative person, someone you really want to get to know better! She is someone I really wish I could get to have a cup of coffee with in real life! Her name is Caroline, well... I guess I'll let her tell you a bit more about herself... but please make sure you visit her blog: Salsa Pie , read her ABOUT page and hopefully stick around and visit her often!

Today... she is serving coffee right her at the Coffee Shop! I am just thankful she found time in her busy calendar to spend some time with us today! Thank you Caroline! We appreciate it!

Hi, my name is Caroline. I'm a designer of creative family projects, a crafter, tinkering painter and mother of 4 children. I started my blog called Salsa Pie in 2009 to help foster an innovative spirit in my own children. There, I write about project ideas for the whole family and how to encourage creativity in kids! 

My family is Italian and my husband is Venezuelan so I think it's safe to say we take our coffee (and biscotti for that matter) pretty seriously! But, I really do try to limit the caffeine so I often substitute decaf for regular. 

Two great ways we enjoy our coffee at my house? With steamed milk or iced. 

A fun and easy coffee-related DIY idea for you today? Decorate a glass mug (or wine glass) with a glass marker. You can doodle a fun and sketchy-looking chevron pattern or modern dots. Serve iced coffee on a hot summer day in your newly decorated glass and make something as simple as a cup of coffee seem like a vacation! 

Thanks so much for having me Paloma!  

 Isn't she neat? I told you she was creative! She even shared a little project with us! (and talking about that... you really want to follow her on Pinterest . Thank you for sharing your coffee Caroline! We love international blends! ;)


© Paloma K.

POW, CRASH, WHOOSH!

Happy Saturday everybody! Short post just to share the sound signs I made to decorate some birthday cupcakes:

As you can see the "theme" is "Comic Super-hero" ... and it's very cool! The party will be on the 23rd. and I will be making the cupcakes and the birthday cake for the birthday boy who will be turning 5! ... These signs will go "randomly" on some of the cupcakes (the cupcakes will be arranged on a black cupcake cardboard stand) and I'll share the finished "set up" once it's all done... :) I am having fun making it all!

POW!

Happy Saturday Everyone!!!

© Paloma K

Coffee Friday!!! Want a cute cup? DIY!

 Hello everyone! I am so happy to say that our featured blogger for today's Coffee Friday is a great friend from the blogosphere! She is really something else! Great, dynamic girl, whose guilty pleasure is pretending to be a tourist in her own city! She loves going downtown "Las Vegas" with her camera and looking at everything like if it was her very first time there and she shares all about her adventures on her blog Stef Arochi  .  Don't forget to give her a visit to thank her for "Today's Coffee" ;)

This is what she says about herself: Hi everyone! My name is Stef from esthefanyarochi.blogspot.com. My blog has become a place for me to ramble about my many experiences and adventures dealing with cooking, crafting, roaming around Las Vegas, my faith, and everyday life. I want to show people that life is amazing, especially when you immerse yourself in the things you love. Stop by sometime!

Well...I hope you got interested to get to know her better... Stef  is serving coffee today here at "The Coffee Shop" and she is using her very designed cups!! ...

Want to make your own? Just read what she has to say about it:

DIY Sharpie Mugs! 

by: Stef Arochi
 

Hello everyone! Do you ever find yourself in the coffee mug aisle (if there is such thing) not really satisfied with what you see? So what if I told you that creating your own mugs only took 3 things? Yup! That's all you need! Here's what you do:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grab a blank mug that you might already have (or grab some at your local dollar store) and draw on your design with a black regular Sharpie. It can be your name, a doodle, your favorite quote, whatever! All that matters is that you LOVE it. When you're done, place your amazing mugs in the oven for 30 minutes. This will ensure that your design doesn't fade when you wash them. When done, make sure they are completely cooled before you use or wash them. Taadaa! That is all you need! They make great gifts when wrapped with pretty cellophane paper, and is also a wonderful activity to make with loved ones (make your own mug party anyone?!) If you decide to make one, leave a link to a picture so we can admire your creativity! :)

 

Stef

Thanks for sharing such a cool (or hot) project Stef!!! ... So.... you can join this Coffee Party by linking up any of your post (from this week) that somehow mentions coffee... (it doesn't even have to be the main topic) you have to link back to us within that post too! (use this button if you find it simpler)

<center><a href="http://www.love4coffee.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img alt="The Coffee Shop" src=" http://tinyurl.com/84v43fd "/></a></center>

  
Link up! (if you didn't include "coffee" on any of your posts this week you can still leave a comment! We love comments! And you can join the party next week!)


© Paloma K.

If your dad (or hubby) likes chocolate....

Most people are still wondering what they'll give the "fathers" in their lives this Father's Day... So I thought I would post a recipe that... if those "dads" in your life like chocolate... then... this will make the perfect gift!

 

I will share with you an amazing "Fudge Recipe" that will make their special day that much more special... and it's a great way to show your love because it's something YOU MADE!

 
Last year I made this for my hubby on his birthday and he absolutely loved it... I found it as an idea to give on Father's Day on the Martha Stewart "LIVING" magazine and it was really delicious and easy to make:

I'll just share the recipe again:

Chocolate Almond Fudge Bars

Ingredients  (Yield: Makes 3 dozen)

• Vegetable oil cooking spray
• 27 store-bought chocolate wafer cookies (6 ounces)
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
• Table salt
• 1 stick plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 pound bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
• 1/4 cup whole milk
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup toasted and sliced almonds (or finely chopped walnuts if you prefer)
• Coarse salt, preferably fleur de sel (I used Kosher Salt)

Directions

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Coat a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with cooking spray, and line with parchment, leaving a 2-inch overhang on long sides. Spray parchment.
• Pulse wafers in a food processor until finely ground, and transfer to a bowl. Add sugar and a pinch of table salt. Melt 6 tablespoons butter, and stir into crumbs. Press into bottom of dish. Bake for 10 minutes.
• Heat chocolate, condensed milk, whole milk, remaining 4 tablespoons butter, and a pinch of table salt in a double boiler or a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, stirring, until melted. Stir in vanilla.
•  Pour chocolate mixture over baked cookie layer, smoothing top with an offset spatula. Sprinkle almonds and coarse salt over top, pressing slightly to adhere. Refrigerate until firm, about 2 hours.
• Remove fudge from dish using parchment to lift, and transfer to a cutting board; remove parchment. Trim edges of fudge with a sharp knife, and cut crosswise into six 2-inch-wide strips. Cut each strip crosswise into 3 equal bars, then cut each bar in half on the diagonal to form 36 triangles.

 You can also be creative with the presentation... The "original presentation" of the gift called for a clear plastic or glass container (4" square by 5" high) decorated with a paper made shirt collar and tie or bow... You can use any box and just add the collar and tie ... if you would like to download the ties and "shirt collars" go here: Martha Stewart Packaging Ideas

I hope you like it... I thought it was very cute!

Enjoy!

 © Paloma King