Breadmachine Sourdough Bread

It has been a long time since my blog was las updated. Recently my soon to be 14 years old (as in 6 days!!!) daughter has expressed some interest in blogging. I reminded her that I already had a blog she thought it would be a good time to resurrect Blessed Beyond Measure!! I am looking forward to her posting here as well!!

So, how do you jump back into a blog in the middle of a pandemic?? How about a recipe for Breadmachine Sourdough bread? While we were in self-isolation and it was impossible to get a Walmart grocery order pick-up schedule I started making bread. My 20+-year-old bread machine was dusted off, my precious jar of yeast dug out of the freezer and I got to work. Within minutes my bread machine was squeaking like a hamster wheel, leaving the kids to ask what that awful sound was and my husband thinking the smoke alarm was chirping in need of a new battery. A quick search on the internet and no luck finding a new breadmaker for under $300 left me more than happy with my old, squeaky machine!! I also soon discovered that yeast was hard to find! It took a few weeks, but I was finally able to purchase some yeast on Amazon.

My user manual for my bread machine has a recipe for "quick" sourdough bread. Instead of using a sourdough starter, it calls for plain yogurt and a little lemon juice. The kids love sourdough bread! I have been recently gifted a starter for Amish Friendship Bread and have been using it in my recipe. Seriously, it makes to best bread!!

Bread machine Sourdough bread

2/3 c Sourdough starter (or you can use 2/3 c plain yogurt and 1 Tbsp lemon juice)

1/2 c water, I have to add slightly more

1 Tbsp butter

3 1/4 c flour

1 Tbsp sugar

1 1/2 tsp salt

3 tsp Yeast

I add ingredients in order listed, then select the French bread,  large, dough cycle. Mine takes about an hour and 20 minutes. I take the dough out of the machine and put it on a cookie sheet to rise, covered for an additional 30 minutes. I then place it in a 350* oven for 30 minutes. Once baked I wait 10-15 minutes before slicing. (It is so hard to keep the kids away from the hot bread!)

This loaf is huge!! My cutting board is 11x16! I may use 2 loaf pans next time, but not sure the kids will eat it if it isn't round. You know how kids are! LOL

I am always looking for new recipes, currently, I need recipes to use my Amish Friendship Bread starter, please share if you have a favorite!! Bread machine recipes are welcome too!

Thanks for stopping by!

2019 Valentine's Day Cards

I decided last minute to make Valentine's Day cards this year. The quickest way to make several cards is assembly line fashion. I needed 5 cards and honestly it would have only taken a couple of hours but life happened and I had to spread my cardmaking out over a couple of days.
I dug out an old (actually ancient!!) card kit, a cute Stamp set (Penny Black's Jumbo Love) and my Prismacolor pencils and got to work. I found it easier to work backwards, starting with my card base, then a layer of cardstock, patterned paper etc to get the proper measurements.


 Here are all five:

 The paper varies on each card, so everyone will know which one belongs to him/her. LOL

 This little guy is waiting to be embellished.

I am pretty sure the family will love them, after all who doesn't love that adorable little elephant?!?!

Thank you for stopping by!!
Until later~

Swap Gift Tags

The days, and weeks and months since my last post have been busy! Actually, busy is a huge understatement! But, some how in all of the busyness I recently took a Saturday and spent time in the studio. I had joined a tag swap with some friends and needed to get them done before the mailing deadline. I can not even begin to tell you how good it felt to get my fingers inky again!!
So, there were 5 of us in the swap and we made 5 tags for each lady. We had exchanged Christmas tags before and I will say they are a very talented group! It is fun seeing each one's style shine through her tags. Here are the ones I made:

 First up we have a monochromatic tag, the base is a stock tag from Hobby Lobby. 

The cardstock and ribbon are Berrylicous from MFT. 

Ink is a retired Stampin Up ink from a couple of years ago.
The stamps are from Hero Arts and the sentiment is from The Angel Company.

The butterfly punch, twine and rhinestones are from my stash.

 This little guy is so cute. The bear, hat, sentiment and heart stamps and dies are from Honey Bee Stamps.

I used another tag from Hobby Lobby, and designer paper and red sequins from my stash.

 I used another Hobby Lobby tag and lots of stash items to create this cute little chick tag. The main image is fussy cut while the sentiment was die cut.

 I chose a scalloped rectangle die cut as the base for my "Congratulations" tag. The sentiment was die cut from the white cardstock, and silver sequins were added to finish this tag.

My purple cupcake tag is a diecut circle, layered with a stamped scalloped circle, and sprinkled with a few gems and some glitter glue.The cupcake was colored with Prisma Color Pencils.

I have not buy much in the way of crafting supplies in the past three years, I am so happy to be using up some of those things again!!
I received some gorgeous tags in exchange for the ones I sent. I am excited to be using all of them!! 

Thank you for stopping by!!

Until later~

Blanket ladder

It was chilly on the prairie this morning! Once the sun was up and the kids were getting ready for school the feels like temperature read 43*! We had turned the furnace before heading to bed last night so in the night I was awakened to the smell of the furnace warming up for the first time of the season. Knowing that cooler weather was rolling in I wanted to geet my latest DIY project finished. We like to use a blanket in the evenings, we can have up to three blankets in use at one time. I have never had our blankets organized but really wanted a ladder to hang them on when not in use.
 Hubby cut the lumber and assembled my ladder and I gave it a coat of dark Walnut stain.

 I wanted the rungs of my ladder attached on top of the side rails, that looks more rustic and reminds me of old ladders going up to the hay loft in old barns. I love the imperfect finish of the deep, dark stain. Natural Oak or Early Americana are my usual go to wood finishs but I am loving the Dark Walnut stain on this piece!

Buffalo plaid blankets are perfect for fall and winter. The 2 red blankets and the printed blanket at the bottom were gifts, I made the black and white blanket. Now we are ready for the crisp nights fall will bring!!
Now that the kids are back in school and baby girls has started Preschool I am hoping to get back into my hobbies!!
Thanks for stopping by~
Until later!

Italian Sausage Sheetpan dinner

We picked up our Zaycon Fresh order last week, boneless, skinless chicken thighs and Italian sausages. We have been using Zaycon for about 5 years now, our first order hubby actually drove to Montana to pick up! We have since bought from them several times, and have tried several different meats. We have been well pleased with everything we have bought from them! The chicken thighs are something we have bought a couple of times before, this was our first time buying the Italian sausage. The chicken thighs were 1.99/lb and Italian Sausage was 2.99/lb which are excellent prices for our area, but they sent a coupon code to myemail which saved us over $21!! 
 If you are not familiar with Zaycon Fresh they are a company that delivers bulk meat (chicken, pork, ground beef, steaks, fish, shrimp lobster...) to your area. You order online and the day of pick up you go to your pickup loacation pull up beside the big truck and they load your order and send you on your way.
Getting back to the Italian sausages- I had recently seen some Sheetpan dinners pop up on my Pinterest feed. I saw several for chicken and veggies but I knew the sausages would work too. Usually when I made Italian sausages I make them like we had them at our county fair back in Ohio, on a bun with cooked onions and green peppers and tomato sauce. This time I wanted to change it up a bit. I surprised hubby when he came home expecting sausage sandwiches (he had even bought the buns LOL) and instead had a lower carb dinner ready for him.
 I lined a large cookie sheet with foil and prepped my vegetables. I peeled and diced 2 sweet potatoes, cored and seeded 2 green peppers and sliced those and a large sweet onion into strips. The sweet potato was placed on my pan first, then the peppers and onions and finally the sausages. I gave everything a light drizzle of Olive oil and sprinkled the veggies with salt and pepper, and added garlic powder to the pepper and onions. Gave things a light toss and put in a 400* oven. At 20 minutes I turned the sausages over and gave the veggies a toss then baked for another 20 minutes, my veggies were tender and the sausages were cooked through. After I pulled the pan from the over I added a little cinnamon to the sweet potatoes. Dinner was a huge hit, I ended up with only about 2 tablespoons of sweet potato left over!

 If you get an opportunity to check out Zaycon Fresh I would highly recommend them!! You can find them here-  https://zayconfresh.com/refer/zf191812 This is my referral link. Become a customer and you can get credit for referrals.
Thanks for stopping by!!
Until later~

Grove Collaborative

 While watching my favorite mommy Youtubber  use cleaning products from Grove Collaborative I knew that was something I needed to check out. Looking through their web site and having a coupon code for free items it didn't take but a minute to load up my shopping cart. Within a few days my cleaning supplies were delivered to my door. GC carries plant based cleaning supplies, personal care and baby/kid items from brands such as Mrs. Meyers, Seventh Generation, Tom's of Maine, Zarbee's and Method as well as Grove Collaborative and many others.
 Since placing that inital order I have purchased products serval times, and I am expecting a shipment today! I find the fresh scents of the products actually make it FUN to clean!! I know, hard to believe but true! Not only do the products smell amazing but they work so well, and no chemical smells! 
 The prices are on pare with what I have found online from other retailers.And did I mention they are delivered?!?!
If you haven't tried Grove Collaborative you can follow this link and get $10 off of your first purchace!!-------> Grove Collaborative
If you are a GC customer let me know what your favorite scent/product is.
#grovecollaborative
#cleaningcanbefun
#naturalcleaners
Thanks for stopping by!
Until later~

March Painted Door Hanger

I love the start of a new month! I get to change out my door hangers! I know, I am silly, but it is fun! For March I chose a 4 leaf clover for good luck.  This was my first time painting a chevron patteren. I decided to use a fancy border and add a huge intial. I added a jute rope for hanging and called it done. I am loving the green in the midst of all the white we have every where, it reminds me that spring will come.....eventually!! Maybe. (The weathermen are predicting up to 19" of snow in the next couple of days!!) I hope you are having sunny, warm days!
Thanks for stopping by!
Until later~