advice

Hey you.  How you doin?

 

This is a picture of one of my favorite places in my home. The sun, when it's not hiding behind the ever present clouds, spills heavily onto the little front porch in the morning.  It's gloriously warm and inviting, and when I am lucky, one of my boys will pop out there and sit with me for awhile while I take it all in over a cup of coffee.  I'm totally in love with this house. The sweet sounds of the birds, the light, and the impromptu gathering of neighbors in the cul-de-sac to chat while the kids laugh and ride bikes in the moonlight.

 

It's all been very distracting in a grateful and wonderful kind of way.  But it also has me doing a lot of thinking in this very lovely, sunny spot. See friends, I am in need of some advice. This blissful past fresh-start month has me thinking it would be equally as nice to have a blog fresh start.  Not only has a lot happened in the past year, but the way in which it changed continues to amaze me. I want my blog to reflect that. I want content that feels and flows naturally.

 

Speaking of random, let me tell you something.  I am forever grateful for the man who redid this house and whom waited three long months to close on it so we could make it ours. But this sweet sweet man, he didn't put cable jacks in here. I mean, it's 2013, isn't it?  Cable jacks are not mandatory for code, but if you ask me, I thought they were for sanity.  I'll admit, I have a cable dependent mind. It helps me to unwind at night, and surely those hours logged watching HGTV or Food Network has made me a savvier woman.  But living without cable for a month was surprisingly easy and I think I am 50% sure I could go another month without it.  (Though the same cannot be said for my husband.)  This months brightest discovery on Netflix outside of Judy Moody: The Not Bummer Summer was Mad Men. LOVE it. Love love love it. (I'm on Season 2: Episode 1, in case you were wondering.) And it just so happened that while I type this, Cooper said...

 

"A man is whatever room he is in."

 

That's just it.  I look at my writing and posts in the past year and they were as scattered and tired as I had been feeling.  From here on out, I'd like the time I spend writing to be a reflection of this fresh start I have been given. 

 

And so goes the question...invest a little time and money and grant myself a blog do-over? Advice, please!

 

Tuscan Shredded Beef Sandwiches

 It's been a long time since I've done two things:

1) Cooked in the kitchen,

and

2) kept anything green alive.

Can you imagine how I felt when this was delivered to the house Memorial Day?!?  No worries though, because my husband recruited help.  And by help I mean my 8 year old. Nothing like a little last minute 5 pallet sod project, right? 

I've got to say, the nice gentleman who redid our house did a fabulous job on the inside.  The problem is, we bought our house when the yard was covered in snow.  We had our eyes checked when we snow thawed and we realized he had left two ex-10-years-of-assocation-dwellers a whole lot of dirt on the outside to deal with. 

It's a lot of dirt, but a welcome surprise.  With a ton of work, we get to make it our own.  There are no ugly overgrown trees or shrubs to deal with, and most importantly, no rock for these wimps to haul away.  So far, we've kept it green a week, which is a victory considering the flowers I planted in my pots have already died.  

On sod laying day, it was forecasted to be cold and rainy, which is perfect for a crock pot meal, even if it is the very end of May. I found the original recipe here, and it's SO good, we've made it twice in the past week! Yesterday, I substituted Costco's Tuscan seasoning for the Italian seasoning brand in the original recipe and tweaked the ingredient amounts just a bit (because of what I had in the pantry).  We were pleasantly surprised at what additional flavor it had!

My husband said it beats the annual Christmas Eve beef tenderloin his Dad makes, which is a HUGE compliment for this infrequent beef eater. (Don't even get in the way of me and my father-in-law's Christmas Eve beef tenderloin, you'll lose a hand.)  I had planned to use leftovers in different meals throughout the week, but there were none, so you should definitely double it.  What the heck, triple it. You won't regret it.

 Ingredients:

(serves 4-6)

2.5 lb beef round roast

2 cups low-sodium beef broth

2-4 cloves minced garlic

2 medium red onions, sliced thin

2 tbsp Tuscan seasoning

(The brand I used here is from Costco, but I've made this with Italian seasoning too with delicious results.)

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp fresh cracked black pepper

mini-kaiser rolls (Market Pantry)

EVOO mayo for spreading

Place the broth in the bottom of a crock pot. Cut the roast into large chunks and place it in the broth. Top with the remaining ingredients. Cook on high 4-5 hours, or low 6-8.  Salt and pepper to taste.  We served the shredded beef on mini-kaiser rolls smeared with mayo.  Be sure you spoon some of the juices from the crock pot over your sandwich before you put the top on. The juice and the mayo and the beef are just heaven on a bun :)

 

Honey, Almond, & Banana Muffins with Zulka Morena Pure Cane Sugar!

 

 

 

It's official. The first baking has been done in the new house!

 

It's been way too long since I made my three little men their favorite breakfast.  Honestly, muffins are a special treat for the weekends. As much as I'd like for you to believe that I get up extra early on the weekdays, fluff my apron and whip up made-from-scratch muffins for my family, but that's just a hilarious fantasy.  I LOVE to sleep. Even more so, I love hang out under the covers in the morning and listen to the birds sing and smell the fresh air coming out of my window. Bliss.

 

What also makes me happy is the chance to make these muffins with a sample of a natural new-to-me cane sugar.  Zulka Morena Pure Cane Sugar is a non-GMO sugar boasting the naturally occurring colors and flavors of sugar cane, tasting as if you were biting into the actual sugar cane plant!  I, for one, will happily use it 1:1 as a replacement for over processed white sugar, which is something that has already been banned in my pantry. 

 

And what better a place to test drive new sugar than a muffin where you use the ingredient in the batter as well as in the topping.  The results? DELISH.

 

Ingredients:

 

1/2 cup slivered almonds

2 tablespoons Zulka Morena Pure Cane Sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

3 ounces honey almond flavored cream cheese (plain if you can't find this flavor)

1/4 cup butter, softened

1/3 cup Zulka Morena Pure Cane Sugar

1 egg, room temperature

1 medium over ripe banana, mashed (1/2 cup)

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour (unbleached)

3/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp kosher salt

honey, for drizzling

 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with baking liners.  Set aside.

 

In a small bowl, place the almonds, 2 tbsp Zulka sugar, and cinnamon.  Toss the ingredients together and set aside.

 

In the bowl of a stand mixer, place the cream cheese, butter, and 1/3 cup Zulka sugar.  With the mixer on medium, beat until combined. Add the egg and beat well.  Add the mashed banana and vanilla and stir until just combined.

 

In another bowl, place the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, baking soda, and kosher salt. Use a whisk to combine ingredients.  Turn the mixer on low, and gently add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients until just combined. Add 1/4 cup of the almond/sugar/cinnamon mixture and fold in gently. 

 

Place half of the batter equally amongst the baking cups. Drizzle with honey, and then top with the remaining batter. Sprinkle the remainder of almond/sugar/cinnamon mixture evenly over the tops. 

 

Bake the muffins about 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when poked in the center.  Allow them to cool 5 minutes, then remove from the pan and drizzle with honey. Serve immediately, or allow them to come to room temperature and store in an airtight container for one day (for best texture).

 

 

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT:

Dwell on Joy is happy to consider product and/or company reviews as part of this blog if it is of interest to me or especially my readers. As a result, in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255, please note that for these reviews, Dwell on Joy may receive complimentary product or compensation, but the opinions expressed are based on evaulations of that product and/or company and are completely my own.

Sneak Peek: New House!

Dearest friends,

 

It has been one week since we got our hands on these guys.

 

 

 

 

I'm going to admit, in the months leading up to that moment, I've been kind of a home decor squirrel, stashing away beautiful treasures that I envisioned in places throughout the house.  And in just one week, because of these said squirrel tendencies, my home is already starting to show signs of life and joy.

 

 

 

Of all the beautiful things I've enjoyed this past week, the abundance of sunlight is by far my favorite.  Thank you for all of the well wishes. I can't wait to be back writing soon :)

 

Love, one thankful & grateful Sarah



$250 Amazon Giftcard Giveaway!!!

 

TODAY IS MOVING DAY!!!

 

 At noon today, maybe while you are sitting in your cubicle, driving in your car jamming out to music (which I usually am doing), pushing your kiddos on the swings, or out for your daily jog, I'll be signing my name to numerous documents and then be handed the keys to our new house!

 

Since I'll be knee deep in unpacking boxes and in between wireless services over the next week or so, I've decided to team up with some awesome bloggers for a HUGE giveaway! 

 

No worries if you didn't win the Canon Rebel last month, because $250 in Amazon cash can get you just about whatever YOU want!

 

Well, almost I guess, if it is $250 and under :)

 

Here are the lovely ladies in on this:

 

 

  

Now go on and enter! I hope

a Rafflecopter giveaway