Lavender Pouches

A while ago (and by a while ago, I mean, years and years ago) my sweet mother gave me a lavender scented pouch to put in my underwear/sock drawer.  Using scented pouches in clothing drawers had been a family tradition for her.  Her grandmother and mother put sashes (the technical term for what I am calling "pouches") in their drawers all the time while my mom was growing up and my mom just liked the idea of carrying this onto her girls.  I mean, it makes sense, right?  Who wouldn't want the sweet light scent of lavender to float of your drawers when opening them up?  For me, the idea of scented pouches is just wonderful.  It is calming, a form of self-care (my therapist side is coming out right now), and a memory-maker.  I am so glad my mom shared this family tradition with us.

So with my mother's tradition in mind, I set out to make some lavender pouches as small thank-you gifts.  I have documented below the process of making these simple gifts.  I literally made six pouches (two per gift) in almost exactly one hour.  Once you have the supplies on hand, this is a simple and fast project.

I kind of guessed at what size of pouches I wanted.  I decided the size of a CD case would probably be good for what I was trying to make.  I traced and cut out twelve squares.

After cutting out all of my squares, I ironed them and placed the right-sides together.  I then sewed along three of the sides of my square.  I left approximately 1/4 inch of fabric on each side. I made sure to leave one side open so that I could still flip the material inside out with ease.

This is what the material looked like once I flipped it inside out.  I ironed the open side of the pouch so that it would be nice and flat.

I then started filling my pouches with the lavender.  Each pouch held about 2/3-3/4 cup.

After they were all filled, I pined down the open side.  I wanted to have a guideline for sewing the pouches closed.

This was the finished product.  I just loved how they turned out!

I hope you enjoy this picture collage of my lavender pouch project.  Seriously, these pouches were super easy to make.  If you are looking for a small, fun project to try, definitely give this one a chance.  Your senses will be thanking you every time you open your clothing drawers!

15 minute Black Bean Soup

Almost 3 years ago now, I was told about a recipe for black bean soup from allrecipes.com.  The person who told me about the recipe swore up and down that it was the easiest and fastest black bean soup she has ever made.  She wasn't lying (which is good because this person was actually my pastor's wife).  This is seriously the easiest black bean soup.  And, as a plus, it is a totally satisfying meal!

Matt and I have always struggled with meals on the nights we go to our church small group.  We don't want anything that takes too long to make.  If a meal takes more than 20 minutes to make, it just isn't going to work for us.  We have resorted to Chick-fil-a way too many times when grabbing a quick bite before heading off to small group. I don't like the idea of relying on fast food when needing a fast meal.  I would like to be able to have some recipes on hand to whip up for times when we literally need a fifteen minute meal.  This recipe is a great one but if anyone has any other suggestions, please let me know!  I need to expand my quick meal supply.

This black bean soup recipe is definitely one to try if needing something hearty and filling no matter how much time you have. Here's the recipe: Black Bean and Salsa Soup.  It is just a good ol' recipe to have on hand.  If feeling adventurous, you can add corn to the recipe, a different kind of bean, or maybe some roasted peppers.  I put in some extra black beans to our soup to add to the texture.  I also topped it with some baked Scoops and a dollop of non-fat greek yogurt.  Delicious!!  But seriously, if anyone has any quick, semi-healthy recipes out there, please let me know.  My small group meal nights are depending on you.  :) Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Frozen Yogurt with Peanut Butter Cups

I wasn't lying when I said the next couple posts were going to be about different flavors of frozen yogurt.  I am seriously obsessed with it right now.  As I was reviewing the other recipes and photos that  I have in waiting, I realized a lot of them are desserts.  I guess I am on a dessert kick or something these days.  I will be honest and say I have absolutely no problem with that.  I always say that if someone put a bag of chips in front of me and a piece of cake in front of me, I would take the cake 100 percent of the time.  Desserts are my absolute weakness.  My absolute delicious weakness.

Before getting started with this peanut butter frozen yogurt recipe, I want to give a shout out to my sweet sister.  She sent me and Matt a beautiful bouquet of flowers for our 1 year and 9 month anniversary.  It was a super sweet surprise!  I loved having the flowers sitting on our kitchen table.  Waking up to a beautiful bouquet of daisies can make any morning just a little brighter.  Thanks, Aud for being so thoughtful and kind to us!

And now on to the frozen yogurt!!  Here's the link to the recipe that I used Peanut Butter Frozen Yogurt

It is from a website specifically focused on creating and baking healthy desserts.  That is right up my alley!  This recipe was ridiculously easy and delicious.  Matt said that he wanted to peanut butter cups in his frozen yogurt so I just chopped up some Reese's Cups and threw them in.  They only added to the deliciousness factor. I hope you enjoy!

Cinnamon Peach Frozen Yogurt

I am going to issue a warning right now.  The next couple posts that come from this blog will probably involve some sort of frozen yogurt recipe.  I am becoming slightly obsessed with frozen yogurt these days.  Although I type "warning" like there is some type of threat or worry that comes along with all these frozen yogurt recipes, the only real concern is that you will start to love different types of frozen yogurt like I do.  I also have been cooking and baking a lot in the last couple weeks, I promise!  You just wouldn't know that because I have been so busy I have not been blogging at all.  I promise many new recipes will be coming the next couple weeks.  Now on to the delicious recipe!!

The other day I found myself with a heart full of adventure and five peaches that were on the verge of going bad.  I thought, how can I use peaches up in a quick manner?  Well, what about a frozen yogurt?  And after that brief thought flitted through my mind, I knew how I was going to use them.  I am going to make them into a peach frozen yogurt.  After looking over some frozen yogurt recipes, I got a basic idea of what I need to do and started on my way.

First I cut up three of my five peaches and placed them in a pot with water, sugar, and a tad of butter. 

I cooked the peaches down until they were very soft and the juices could be strained off.  I discarded the peach skins after pushing as much juicy syrup out of them as possible.

The magic ingredient in this recipe is cinnamon.  It is actually the best ingredient in my opinion.  After all the peach juice was strained, I added cinnamon to the hot syrup.  I stirred it in and let the syrup cool in the freezer for about 15 minutes.

After the syrup had cooled, I added it to fat free vanilla yogurt.  I also added an additional sploosh of vanilla just for fun. After mixing well, it went into the Kitchaid ice cream maker. 

After about 20-25 minutes of mixing, the yogurt was done!  I added the remaining fresh, chopped peaches and mixed well.  Below is the beautiful finished product!

I loved getting to experiment with the flavors in this frozen yogurt.  What amazed me most in the final product was the amazing addition of the cinnamon.  I had actually thrown it into the peach syrup at the last minute because I had actually forgotten to add it to the peaches before they were cooked down.  This was an amazingly delicious accident!  This frozen yogurt base is by far the best one I have made to date.  Matt said this yogurt doesn't even need the additional fresh peaches next time.  He loved the cinnamon-y peach flavor all by itself!

I think when I make this recipe in the future, I am going to experiment with the type of yogurt I use.  I used Publix's fat free vanilla yogurt this time.  I am beginning to realize that the yogurt might freeze differently if I use a higher fat content.  We will see...  I will continue to keep you up-to-date with my frozen yogurt adventures!  I hope you enjoy!

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Cinnamon Peach Frozen Yogurt

1 cup water
1/3 cup sugar
5 peaches total (3 peaches chopped for the syrup and 2 peaches chopped to be added into the yogurt)
1 tablespoon butter
1 24oz container of fat free vanilla yogurt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Add water, sugar, butter, and 3 of the chopped peaches to a medium-sized sauce pan.  Cook peaches down on a medium heat for about 15-20 minutes or until very soft.  Stir often.

While peaches are cooking down, chop your remaining 2 peaches into small bite-sized pieces.  Set to the side.

Once the cooked peaches are very soft, strain the juice off into a large container.  Push as much juice as possible out of the peaches.  Throw away the skins and remaining pulp.  Stir cinnamon into the peach juice/syrup that is remaining.  Place syrup into the freezer for 15-20 minutes to let cool.

Add the yogurt into the cooled peach syrup.  Mix thoroughly and place in ice cream maker according to the manufacture's instructions.  Once the yogurt is frozen, add the fresh peaches that were set aside earlier.  Stir the peaches in and enjoy!  (The yogurt can either be eaten right then or frozen for later enjoyment.)

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My 100th post

I just realized after loading pictures for a new recipe I tried the other day, that post was going to be my 100th post on this blog.  I know to many people that fact might not mean much but for me, it feels like an accomplishment.  My interest in this blog has definitely waxed and waned but in the end I feel such excitement in my soul when I get to take pictures of food, try new recipes, and be creative.

In honor of my 100th post (and basically the one year anniversary of this blog which was started September 13, 2012), I am going to post some of my favorite photos from the last year instead of a new recipe.  I did not know that I would get such joy from taking photographs of friends, food, and just plain ol' objects when I started this thing. Thanks to all of you for being so encouraging along this continued process and for being a part of this blogging adventure with me!  I hope you have enjoyed (and will continue to enjoy) the ride!