Happy Birthday

....to meeee (yesterday)!!!  On Sunday, we celebrated father's day, my birthday, and Brenton's birthday (his is on Friday).  After a dinner of Tofu and Veggies at a local Chinese place, we came back to mom and dad's house and opened presents.

LOL notice that I'm recording him AND taking a picture at the same time?  Pure awesomeness.

Reading a card from my sister and BIL.  She got me Lego Pirates of the Caribbean for Wii.  EEEEE!!!!!!  I had been waiting and waiting and WAITING for this game to come out!




Mom and Dad got me a Miche bag cover and extra purse straps.  And this mug that has Winnie the Pooh on it!  LOVE!

The cake was GF!!!  It tasted like a REAL cake- way to go mom!!  Like the 27 my sis made?  So creative.

BLOOOOWWWW!!!!

 Then for lunch yesterday, since that was my ACTUAL birthday, I made a massive birthday salad!!  And for whatever reason, I was inspired to find a bread machine recipe to try when I got home, so a trip to Bexley Market was necessary. 

Here goes nothin'!!  I felt weird not really MIXING this up myself before plopping it in the bread pan....

I've had a bread maker since my wedding, and haven't used it yet!    Can you BELIEVE that?!  I make my own almond milk, but I don't make my own bread?!  WHAAT?   Inspiration is a scary thing my house!!!  muah hah hah.....

Mix mix mix!!!  I had to wait 3 1/2 hours for it to be done!!!!  OHHH the agony.

 When Brenton got home, he surprised me with this!!  (a rose, some cookie dough ice cream *FAV!*, Green and Blacks Organic Chocolate, and a Disney Gift Card!  My "real" gifts are coming from Amazon.... and I don't think they'll be here for a little while.  GEESH!  This was gift enough for me!!!!!

We were both STAR-VING, so I made some quickie birthday burritos (ha.).   TJ's whole wheat tortilla, vegetarian refried beans, salsa, and lettuce from the garden.  Oh, and a little cheese and Franks Red Hot sauce.  LOOOOOOTS of Franks.  MMMM.

 ....and we had the leftover cake and the ice cream and 'bits' that hubby brought home.  Ok, that's enough sweets for a long time.... oye.  Hey, it was my BIRTHDAY!!!! 

We took on Lego Pirates-  OMG HOW FUN!!!!! LOOK!  That's Jack!!!!!

BEEEEEP BEEEEP BEEEEEEEP!!!!  (gawd.)  The bread was done!!!  YAY!   I took it out and put it on our cooling rack....aka a broiler pan.... (merpy merp).  The top was concave.... awesome.  It kinda.... made a 'thud' sound when I put it on the pan.  Talk about DENSE!

The verdict?  Actually... pretty good bread for a first attempt!!!!!!   We had it for breakfast this morning- we'll see how long it keeps us full!!  Did I mention that I had 114 Facebook "happy birthdays"?!  HOLY-COW.  I couldn't keep up with them all!!!!  Feeling loved is so great! xoxo. It was almost like the last day of school when you have everyone sign your yearbook.  HAHA. 



 SOOO for the bread recipe:

3 Cups Whole-Wheat Flour
2 Tsp Cinnamon
1/2 Tsp Salt
1 Cup Warm Water
1/2 Cup Oil (I used coconut oil because that's what I have in the house)
4 Tbsp Honey
2 Tsp Yeast
1 Cup Raisins

I poured in the dry ingredients, then mixed the wet together and poured it on top.  I SHOULD HAVE baked it on the sweet bread setting I think.  I did the whole wheat setting and the crust came out a bit hard.  BUT THE INSIDE IS SOOOOOO GOOD.   If you have a bread machine- give this a try!!! 

This'll be going up at 11am when I'm at work, so comment and I'll get it later!  Something to talk about:  do you make your own bread??  Have you ever tried?  Do you have a recipe to share???  I'm inspired to get this bread-making thing DOWN!! 

XO

Travel Series.... continued. Breakfast Cookie!

Enjoy! Inspired by the Fitnessista!  <3

xoxo

Product Review, and other things...

Good evening!  Holy moly where on earth have I been?!?  It's been since the end of APRIL?!  Oye...  it feels like longer than that.

I'm currently uploading my 'travel breakfast cookie' recipe to youtube... it should be up by this evening!  (I hope)  Sure took me long enough...gah.

So what has been happening lately?   A whole lot, mixed with a whole lot of nothing.  I've been SLOOOOWLY getting over a cold, which has (as it does) spun my life in circles.  It all started as a sore throat... then went into a cough... and then just stuck around a while.  2 weeks!  I guess a LOT of people have had this same cold.  Wacky.

Brenton and I are back to "Insanity".  What ARE we thinking?!  I'm exhausted.  It's a great workout, but boy is it tough.  We're trying to get ourselves ready for a couple of vacations we have planned- Disney in the Fall, and Yosemite next Summer.  For us, there seems to be no better way to quickly get in shape.

Enough rambling... on with the review!  As you know, I try to go as natural and organic as possible in everything that I do, eat, wear, use.... you get the idea.  I was so excited to find this mascara at Ulta today:

Creepy eye picture coming.... you've been warned.   (LOL)

Look at the difference!  Top is no makeup at all (attractive...), bottom is with my new mascara.

Creepy...sorry.

Not bad for an organic mascara!!!  How much did it cost?  No more than any of the 'conventional' mascaras!!

RUN, don't walk, to your nearest drug store and get some for yourself (or your wife... girlfriend...sister...mom...)

I'm really impressed with the demand for natural and organic cosmetics.  We're certainly NOT there yet, but this is a step in the right direction!!!!!!  Vote with your dollars.  The more consumers buy products like these, the more the companies will start making changes (you know... that whole supply and demand concept).

The breakfast cookie video is STILL uploading.  I'll post it when it's ready!

xoxo

Go buy some organic products.  Check out www.ewg.org- this is a great resource for natural products.