Recipe: Oatmeal Whole Wheat Buttermilk Bread

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My husband is currently training to run the St George marathon. We nearing the finish line of training (only about 4 more weeks) and each week he seems to get hungrier and hungrier with all of the calories he’s burning running! So he asked if I could make some whole wheat bread. In my searches I came across Tracey’s Culinary Adventures: Whole Wheat Oatmeal Buttermilk Bread.

I loved that it had a combo of white and whole wheat flour as well as oatmeal. It was easy to put together and turned out to be a wonderful bread. Here is my take on the recipe!

Oatmeal Whole Wheat Buttermilk Bread

1 1/2 cups rolled oats
1 cup boiling water
1/4 cup room temperature water
2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon honey
2 teaspoons instant yeast
1 1/2 cups buttermilk, at room temperature (or 1 TBSP lemon juice + milk to = 1 1/2 C)
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt

Place 1 C water in a heat glass bowl and microwave 2 minutes or until boiling. Then add 1 1/2 C oats. Stir together and let soak for 5 minutes stirring occasionally. Meanwhile make “buttermilk” by pouring 1 TBSP lemon juice + milk to equal 1 1/2 C and let sit for 2 minutes or until milk begins to curdle. Add everything into mixer with paddle attachment and knead for 10 minutes. Dough should be smooth and not sticky.

Put into a well oiled bowl and let rise in a warm place (a warm oven works well) for 30 to 45 minutes.

Once doubled in size punch down and split in half and form loaves.

Place each loaf in a prepared loaf pan. Let rise for 20 to 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375. Mix 1 TBSP warm water with 1 TBSP honey. Brush tops of loaves and sprinkle with oats. Bake at 375 for 50 minutes. YUM!!

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Quick and easy picnic blanket (from jeans)

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I’ve had this big box of tired, worn out, or ill fitting jeans for a few years. Shameful I know, but they were in the garage and-out of sight, out of mind. Well 2 of our kids just started soccer season which means 2 practices a week and 2 games a week. We needed a new blanket to take with us!

I’ve made jean quilts before and they areĀ  along and tedious process getting all of your pieces cut to the same size and organized. Then pieces the squares, putting a backing on and then tying it.

For this blanket I took the jeans and cut the leg off as close to the crotch as possible. Then I cut down one seam (or tore) to the bottom of the leg and cut off the bottom seam. This left me with large pieces of jean. I squared them off and set off to sew them together. I matched up right sides together and sewed together until I had a length I was happy with. Then did several more strips. With the large jean pieces it only took 3 or 4 lengths to get it long enough. Once my strips were done I sewed them together.

All done! In all it took me less than an hour and I have a free, durable picnic quilt.

Many times we get pizza and a movie on the weekends. The kids like to eat it picnic style while watching the movie (We got The Lorax this weekend). This was another great use for the jean quilt and it can easily be thrown in the wash if there are any spills!

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Double sided 2×8

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I have high hopes that Fall will be hitting my part of the country soon. We’re still hitting triple digits each day, but our evenings are just barely making it to bearable.

So on the thoughts of Fall I decided to make a new Halloween craft. I had some scrap 2×8 that I white washed with watered down craft paint and made a festive Halloween design. Who doesn’t like a cute skeleton!

But there is a backside to the wood that is just a great as the front. Why leave it blank when I can just as easily make it a Christmas decoration? I love the Hymn “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day” and decided to put part of that hymn on the back.


Happy Fall decorating!

Somewhat Simple Photobucket

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Laminate Cabinet Redo

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I’ve been looking for a shoe storage solution for right next to our door leading out the the garage. Everything I was seeing was more than I was willing to spend. On a local “For Sale” facebook page last week I saw this cabinet and decided this might fit the bill. It was in poor condition, but I thought I could get it new life:

I started by lightly standing it all (except for the spots that had stickers, those I sanded a lot to get the sticker residue off).

Then it was a coat of primer and someĀ  paint. I had the primer and I bought 2 sample jars of paint and that covered it. I had a little help!

After it was all painted I did a coat of poly on the top and sides (where I figured it would get the more wear and tear).


So far it’s working great and I’m the only one that doesn’t put my shoes in it. Strange I know, but I’m in and out of my flip flops all day they stay in a corner!

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Recipe: Slushy Root beer Float

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Did you know that Aug 6th was National Root beer Float day? Well you’re too late to celebrate on that day, but really any day can warrant a root beer float! My kids love them and I love slushies and decided to combine the two.

You need:

  • Root beer
  • Vanilla Ice Cream
  • Ice cream maker
  • Cups, spoons, straws

It’s pretty simple, pour your already chilled root beer into your already frozen ice cream maker and let it go. I could have let mine go longer, but my kids were very impatient and wanted their root beer floats!

Put some ice cream in the bottom of the cup and then pour some slushy on to and top with another scoop.



I love the shushy with ice cream, yum!

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