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THE BEST AND EASIEST SOURDOUGH RECIPE

Favorite Recipes, Home Restoration

If you are anything like me, you get overwhelmed by too many complicated instructions. Here is a great recipe to help you on your sourdough journey. This one also makes an amazing sourdough pizza crust!

THE BEST AND EASIEST SOURDOUGH RECIPE

Just a simple recipe to make your sourdough perfect and yummy

  • Mixer with kneading attachement
  • Dutch oven
  • 1/2 Cup Sourdough starter (It works best after you have fed your sourdough, let rise, and then started to fall again. )
  • 1 1/2 Cup Warm water
  • 4 Cups Flour
  • 1 tsp Olive oil
  • 2 tsp Salt

  1. Pour your sourdough starter into your mixing bowl

  2. Add your warm water to the starter and mix together

  3. Add flour and oil and mix with kneading attachement until just starts to form a ball. If you don't have a mixer, feel free to knead by hand.

  4. Let sit for 10mins

  5. Knead in mixer for about 5-7 mins. It should form a ball easily. If not, add warm water or flour as needed.

  6. Cover and let sit for the day or overnight

  7. It should rise to be at least double in size. Take out of bowl and stretch and fold a few times until it gets tougher. Shape into a ball and cover the ball with a dusting of flour. Place dutch oven or desired pan you want to cook it in

  8. Let sit for one hour to rise slightly

  9. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. While preheating, place pan with sourdough in fridge.

  10. When oven is preheated, take pan out of fridge, score top with buttered sharp knife and place covered in oven.

  11. Set timer for 20min

  12. Uncover and cook an additional 15 mins or until desired browning

To make the pizza, simply roll out or stretch your floured dough after letting it rise for the day or overnight, and then brush with olive oil, Place your desired sauce, toppings, and cheese, and bake in the oven or throw on bbq on low heat for 20mins or so until fluffy and just browned.

Do you have any good sourdough add-ins or techniques you recommend? Like what your reading? Pop your email below to get more posts right to your email!

Angela

Making Freezer Meals in 5 Simple Steps

Favorite Recipes, Home Restoration

Freezer Meals ready to be frozen

Have you ever cooked freezer meals before? It can feel overwhelming to know where to begin to assemble so many meals at once. But having meals ready in the freezer is so nice knowing it was made fresh with natural ingredients and ready to go at any time. Isn’t it the best when you don’t have to think about what to make for dinner?

I hadn’t made freezer meals in a while. Actually, I have only ever done it a couple of times. To be honest, I am terrible at meal planning! So much so, boxed dinner deliveries like Hellofresh are amazing where everything comes ready to cook. Another option that works is to buy pre-made fresh dinners from Costco and throw them in the freezer. Most of the time I have a rough idea of what I want to make and try to have those things on hand. And if I am missing something, a knock on my neighbor’s door for the missing items is a huge blessing. It’s the best when you have a neighbor close by that you can trade food with. But when my young adult daughter wanted some healthy freezer meals ready to go, I was totally excited to put some together with her. Homemade freezer meals help make dinner affordable, healthy, and easy to cook (it’s hard cooking healthy for one person, so batch meals are definitely the way to go!).

Summer can be a great time to make freezer meals as there are so many fresh ingredients you can preserve for later. And if you are like me, I often get overwhelmed by instructions, so I love an easy-to-follow list! Here it is!

How to start your freezer meals

1. Find your recipes

Start with looking at what you have an abundance of in your freezer, pantry, and garden. This is a great way to use up what is needing to get eaten quickly.

Figure out which ingredients you would like to use. Then find inspiration on Pinterest or in your recipe books for the right recipes to use. I had a lot of zucchini from my garden, chicken in my freezer (which is why I decided to precook my chicken this time), and a ton of mushrooms that were all needing to be eaten soon, so I looked up recipes to include these ingredients.

2. Gather your ingredients together

Write out a list of ingredients you need based on your recipes. Then with a list in hand, grab what you need from the grocery store. Then gather all the items from your fridge, pantry, freezer, and you are ready to prep! I had most things already, so I just used what I had on hand and improvised where needed.

Chopped Veggies, Freezer meals

3. Chop, prep and chop some more

Grab a buddy who wants to do this with you, share the cost of the ingredients and divide up the results when you’re done. Start your prep by chopping all the things so they are ready to assemble. Get all your necessary items cooked and set aside. It’s easiest if you have one person chopping and the other one cooking and prepping the sauces. Having everything chopped, cooked, and ready, helps make it really easy to assemble your meals.

Food boiling, Freezer meals

4. Divide your plates

Decide what containers work best for you to freeze. I love these metal throw-away platters but you could use reusable plastic containers to be more environmentally friendly and reuse them for the next time.

When everything is prepped, mix your casseroles in bowls or layered in dishes as needed. Layering your soups and stir frys in baggies is easiest to store in Ziplock baggies.

Freezer Meals ready to be frozen

5. Freeze

Once everything is assembled, label and date your lids and bags so you know what they are and how to cook them when you pull them out of the freezer.

Stack them in the freezer and you’re done! This is a great solution to have meals ready to go for if you have a busy schedule, want to take meals to a friend in need, or just need to preserve some perishables you have too much of.

And because a lot of you were asking for the recipes, here they are!

Here are some of the yummy recipes we used

I chose to precook the meat as I had a bunch I wanted to use up in the freezer. This also helps to make heating up later super quick and simple. Freezer meals are a great way to use up a ton of garden fresh veggies and all the things desperately needing to be eaten.

Beautiful Designs

Country chilcken pasta

Mix together cooked pasta, mixed frozen veggies, some shredded cheese, shredded cooked chicken, 1 can of cream of chicken or mushroom soup, 1/4 milk, salt and pepper, 1 tsp garlic powder. Mix together in a bowl and place into freezer containers.

Honey garlic Stirfry

1. Chop stirfry veggies such as carrots, celery, onions, zucchini, peppers, corn, and any other stirfry favorites.

2. Blanch all your veggies for 1 min in a pot of boiling water.

3. In a separate bowl, mix together equal parts brown sugar and soy sauce (start with 1 cup of each and mix together more if needed. Add salt and pepper, minced ginger and garlic. Mix together to make teriyaki sauce.

4. Place your cooked or cubed raw chicken in a freezer ziplock bag. Add teriyaki sauce. Layer stirfry veggies on top or in a separate bag and place in freezer

Taco meat

While cooking chicken breasts, add salt and pepper, taco seasoning, 1 cup salsa, and place in a large freezer Ziplock bag to get ready for taco night!

Lime chicken fajitas

Cubed raw chicken, cilantro, 2 garlic cloves, 1/2 onion, 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed, 1tsp cumin, salt and pepper, 1 cup corn, 1 lime juiced and zested. Mix all together and place into ziplock baggies. Fry up until fully cooked and place onto tortilla wraps. Sprinkle with cheese if desired and serve!

Hope this helps you get started to create a bunch of yummy meals for you and your family. Let me know how it goes for you! What are some of your favorite freezer meal tips.? What are some of your favorite recipes?

Angela

How to organize your spice cabinet

Home Design DIY, Home Restoration

Ready to update your spice cabinet? When Ryan surprised me with these cute spice jars with labels, I totally got inspired to clean up my messy spice drawer.

These are the cute spice jars from Amazon
The messy spice drawer

How to organize your spice drawer

1. Empty your drawer or cabinet

Take everything out and place on your counter
Give the cabinet a good wipe so you can start fresh

2. Fill and label each jar

This kit that came with a cute foldable funnel

3. Set aside all leftover spices

After filling each jar, set aside all the remaining spices that didn’t fit into the jars for refilling whenever needed.

4. Clean up and throw away all leftover garbage and empty jars

This is a messy process but so worth it! Throw out all the leftover garbage, old spices and stock glass jars to keep everything organized in their new matching jars (Haha I am so messy😆🙈).

5. Fill drawer or cabinet with new jars

We had enough jars for all our spices and some baking needs including sprinkles! Canning jars work as well to label with screw lids.

How satisfying is this??? If you have a cabinet where you store your spices, you could easily just label the fronts of your spices.

In our home we have glass upper cabinets. So I tried placing our spices in a drawer in this home and have definitely preferred it to an upper cabinet. It’s easy to grab and see what is available. I highly recommend this option! The spice jars also came with foam packaging around the jars which make great holders to keep all the spices organized and in position in the drawer.

All leftover spices that didn’t fit into the new jars, can be set aside in the pantry for easy refills later!What is your fav way to store your spices friend? Like what your reading? Pop your email below!

Angela

How to celebrate your country’s birthday!

Entertaining, Home Restoration, Seasonal

How to celebrate Canada Day

Amerian’s can be so patriotic. I love their passion for their country. Being a Canadian, I find we tend to be so passive when it comes to our country. Canada has always been super special to me as it has meant freedom. Our grandparents all fled from Europe to freedom in Canada during ww2 to escape the tyranny happening. Living on the west coast surrounded by mountains and four full seasons is absolutely gorgeous. The rain can be a little overwhelming at times, but our grass is almost always green and we get very little snow in this area typically.

This past year however has been super difficult with all the lockdowns. There is also talk about canceling any Canada Day celebrations due to uthe latest news about indigenous kids being abused by government schools in the past. It’s definitely upsetting to know what our leaders have done to take advantage of innocent lives.

I know there are some good people fighting for justice in this country, but there are a lot of unknowns right now. Even still, our province has just opened up more than we have been in over a year. Now more than ever is a time to come together in prayer. To fight for justice and come alongside little lives that are vulnerable and need extra love. We can move forward together as a country. The best way we can do this is to start with prayer! Then let’s get together and celebrate as a community to bring unity. Find out how to pray for your country here. American friends, there is a download for you too! And totally do a similar celebration as listed below, just add a bit of blue to the mix!

Here are some fun ways to celebrate this special day!

1. Start with praying together as a family or meet at the city gates to pray with some friends

HOW TO PRAY FOR YOUR CITY AND COUNTRY
Click on the pic to download. SIGN UP to gain the access code.

2. Make some fun red and white food

3. Add in some flags to some florals or greens

4. Pop up a banner

5. Red and white napkins, tablecloths and plates

Happy Canada Day friends! Be sure to get up early and head to your city gates or gather together as a family to pray for your country. Then have a yummy celebration together and maybe even a bbq with some friends!

Update: we had such a great celebration! We prayed with some friends for our country and enjoyed all the white and red foods together. Such a special time.

The muffins were amazing! Recipe here

Like what you are reading? Pop your email below for more inspiration right to your inbox!

Angela

Our Bedroom Update Reveal

Home Design DIY, Home Restoration, Project Reveals

Your bedroom should be a sanctuary. I love hanging out in my bedroom. It’s the perfect escape from our busy family life. When we built our home, we painted the walls, BM Collingwood. It was the perfect color to help it feel light and airy while still cozy. While I still enjoyed our bedroom, I was definitely ready for a change after 4 years. Design trends have changed so much lately (check out this post on the latest design trends for 2021),

Before painting our bedroom

this was our white walls before our bedroom update

As a designer, I often see homeowner’s bedrooms being a drop zone for all the things. Our bedrooms should be a sanctuary where you can feel relaxed and cozy after a busy day. At least if the rest of the home is messy, you can hide away in your peaceful bedroom. This is why I have put together my latest Declutter 101 course where I help you know exactly how to clear out all the things and start fresh in your bedroom. Grab access here!

When I fell in love with this color on one of our other projects, I knew our bedroom was the perfect spot for this color.

Check out this new home we built here. I love this color Duxbury Gray by BM

White bedding has been a favorite of mine for many years (if you’re wondering how I keep it clean… yup, I am forever spilling on it, lol. But it’s an easy fix with bleach and or stain remover). White offers the feeling of hotel luxury. Layer it up with lots of texture and add pops of easy-to-change color with big throws and pillows. Neutral bedding makes it easy to paint the walls almost any color! Since paint is one of the most cost-effective ways to update your space (if you can paint it yourself), painting your walls can be a simple update.

More before update photos

This is what our room looked like when we built over 4 years ago. See our home reveal from a few years back here. It has changed a few times since then:)

TOUR OUR NEW MODERN FARMHOUSE
Our mattress and box spring lived on the floor with just a headboard when we first moved in
Our bedroom before our little update. We tried a fan chandelier that didn’t work very well as a fan, so we returned it quickly after trying it out.

The blue-grey bedframe we bought a couple of years ago is so comfy but it can be a difficult color to decorate around. The bedframe was a Costco special. I would have taken the time to choose something else and plan out a more timeless option, but when my husband suggested we buy it, I had to take the opportunity to get a real bed frame! Our mattress and box spring was on the floor with just a headboard, so anything to get our mattress off the floor was a done deal.

If I could change anything, I would go with a lighter more neutral fabric. I am seeing more black metal on-trend lately too. Check out my latest post here for inspiration. What is your fav bedframe style right now?

After

after our bedroom update
Our bedroom after painting the walls, updating the lighting, and a new throw rug

I am loving the update. It’s super cozy. It was easy to paint the walls with the white feature wall staying BM Chantilly lace. We didn’t even have to move the bed!

The one thing that has not changed is our black dresser and end tables. I found them as a set years ago for only $100! They were being sold used at a furniture rental shop. The headboard and mirror were broken and there were a few dents in the dresser and end table. It happened to be a great find and I still love them to this day! I love finding stuff like that much to Ryan’s dismay, lol (We were always on such a tight budget that good finds like this were like gold to this designer)! Because of the timeless black color, simple lines and decent quality, these pieces had to stay.

When choosing furniture for your space, choose timeless options. Pieces you know you will love many years down the road. Even get brave enough to have your end tables, bed frame and dresser all in different finishes. Breaking it up helps it not feel so matchy matchy and creates interest. Also, keep your room down to only one dresser. It helps to keep it from feeling cluttered. Hide the rest in your closet if need be. Thats where my makeup vanity actually lives;)

With a new rug, new light fixture, new lampshades, and one can of new paint, we were done! For around $300, we have a fresh new look. I just love how cozy this color is. Now I am wondering… where else should I paint this color?:)

We both love having a fan on us at night. So in a compromise, we changed out the fan for a new chandelier and replaced the fan for this cute tabletop one.

The one recommendation I wish I had known sooner- always use a flat paint finish when painting a darker color on the walls. In an eggshell finish, it still can be quite reflective, showing off all the imperfections on the wall and leaves a glare in natural light.

What is your favorite wall color, friend? Need help with a room update? Grab a consult here and I can help you find direction for your cozy new space. Pop your email below for more heart and home posts right to your inbox!

Angela