Recycled Craftiness - Stale Bread Makeover

I love it when I can take something that would end up being trash and make it into something new and interesting. Last week I baked a honey sunflower seed bread. It was yummy, but I made two loaves and that ended up being too much. Normally it would just get thrown away. But I'm an avid fan of Food Network and they always give tips on what you can do with stale bread.

One of those tips is to make bread pudding. Now honestly when my mother made bread pudding when I was a kid I hated it. But I think that's just because my mother is an even worse cook than I am. It was always runny and tasted like uncooked egg. So I make a point to try things I once thought gross, as long as my mother isn't cooking it. *wink*

I think I did an even better job than she would have. Its too hot yet so I haven't gotten a chance to taste it, but it looks delicious.

UPDATE: We've tried it and we all love it. Yay. Though I do wish I had put cinnamon and brown sugar on top. So I'm happy to have learned a little more about cooking today and added another recipe to my repertoire. 

My Bread Pudding. It looks yummy!

I love getting recipes from Allrecipes.com. So here's the one I followed.

Bread Pudding II Recipe

Ingredients

• 6 slices day-old bread
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1/2 cup raisins (optional) - I left this out since my bread had sunflower seeds in it.
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 2 cups milk
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Break bread into small pieces into an 8 inch square baking pan. Drizzle melted butter or margarine over bread. If desired, sprinkle with raisins.
3. In a medium mixing bowl, combine eggs, milk, sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla. Beat until well mixed. Pour over bread, and lightly push down with a fork until bread is covered and soaking up the egg mixture.
4. Bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until the top springs back when lightly tapped. 

Veterans & Family

Thank you veterans and their families for the sacrifices made. May the Lord and Lady bless you all.

Have a wonderful Memorial day.

Magickal Graphics

Magickal Graphics

Its Just a Bell

In my car I have a pentacle with bells on it hanging from my mirror. I use it as my protection charm. Every time it rings I consider it a message that the Lord and Lady has protected myself and car from danger.

My daughter was playing with it yesterday and I reminded her that spiritual things are not toys and shouldn't be played with. Then she responded with, how is it more than just a bell?

Well I went through the whole speech about it being a spiritual protection symbol. She thought about that for a few minutes and then said, "You know mom its just a bell, it can't protect you."

I have such a literal child. I know she's only 10, but when it comes to all things spiritual she seems more atheist than anything. I've always believed in allowing children to make up their own mind. But while she was younger we kept our religious practices separate from her. I just didn't want her to go repeating what she saw at school and be made fun of, or worse you hear horror stories of teachers calling home asking questions.I also didn't want to brainwash or influence her decision too much.

Maybe I should have been more open. Maybe I should have included her from the start. I don't know. But I do hope eventually she will start to question it more. She has participated a few times and enjoyed it. She loves when I do a ritual and can help me.

Do you believe in allowing children to find their own path or do you raise them as (insert your religion here)?

Up and Down on this Rollercoaster called Life

Pain is a good thing right? It means your still alive at least. Today has been a great and a not so great day. Around noon I made lunch. My favorite, macaroni and cheese. The kind with the powdered cheese. You know the really crappy stuff. For some reason I was craving it with lots of butter. Shortly thereafter, I began to have a toothache. You know it really sucks when you're trying to entertain a toddler and your teeth hurt. Especially when that toddler loves to smack you in the face.

I make it a few hours with mild pain before my whole left side of my face began to hurt. It was so bad it radiated to my left eye and ear. I was gargling with antiseptic mouth wash. If I wasn't alone with Wyatt I think I would have drowned myself in whiskey just to reach oblivion. Thankfully my MIL and FIL didn't go to work today. They came home at 3pm and at 4 I made my FIL take me to urgent care where they gave me some pain meds for the time being. Now its just a dull ache. On June 7th I have my surgery to remove all my teeth and then get dentures. I really really want June 7th to hurry up and get here. I am afraid of surgery, and morn the loss of all my teeth. But its for the best.

On happier news, Dh has a job! On Wednesday he goes for orientation to be hired full time with Goodwill. The hours are minimal and the pay sucks, but at least its a job. Maybe we are finally pulling ourselves out of this hole. One can only hope!

And now, here's a song that I think describes my day pretty well.

The Reluctant Viking by Sandra Hill

By now most of my regular readers probably know I'm a sucker for sappy romances. So when my daughter and I took a trip Friday to the public library I found this gem in its romance section. Most historical romances deal with 1800 England or Native Americans. Nothing wrong with those settings, but I find anything dealing with characters older than the 1800's can get a little...bossy. Male chauvinist pig was used quite a few times in Sandra Hills book, and rightly so! That's why I have a love/hate relationship with characters that are apart of a society I'd probably hate if I actually had to live in their time. When writing my own romances I try to avoid these characters because I just don't see them as very lovable. I suppose everyone has their tastes, but I'm a stubborn woman. If a man tried to force his seduction on me, I'd see it as rape. I'd sooner cut off his balls than allow him to seduce me. I suppose that's not very romantic is it. lol.

But on to the book review.

Ruby is a modern woman with a problem. Her marriage of 20 years has just broken up. When she selects one of her husbands meditation CD's to relax and think, she goes on a time-traveling journey to 925 A.D in the Viking city of Jorvik. There Ruby meets Thork, who is the doppelganger to her husband Jack. Ruby takes this new Viking specimen of her husband as a sign to re-do her life and make her marriage work. Along the way she has to convince Thork that she is his soul mate. The Reluctant Viking teaches us to slow down and appreciate life, because there may not be a tomorrow, and there are no do overs in real life.

If you like overbearing oafs who eventually realize how wonderful loving a good woman can be, I highly recommend you buy The Reluctant Viking, or check it out at your local library.

Birthday Pictures

Well my pretties I've had my head in a book most of the weekend. The other day my daughter wanted something to do so we took a trip to the public library. You know I just couldn't walk out of there with at least 5 things to read.

We had Wyatt's birthday party on Saturday. He seemed to really enjoy it. He had a smash cake, which immediately got smashed to pieces. I can see it was well named. lol

I've been thinking about what's next for writing, and I'm coming up blank for topics. Anyone have any suggestions? I'd love to hear them.

Without further ado. Here's Wyatt's birthday pictures.

Just hanging out in the yard waiting for daddy to come home so we could start the party.

The cupcake and smashcake

Wyatt gets to see his cake for the first time. I really wish I was able to catch his expression because it was priceless! Too bad I had the wrong angle.

Mmm. Smashcake!

Yummy frosting

Ta-da! I'm all messy and ready to open presents.

Happy Birthday Wyatt!

A year ago today I was terrified and laid out like a suckling pig on the surgery table allowing a near stranger to cut me open. But it was all for a good cause. Wyatt Eldon Carpenter was born at 9am on May 18th 2011 via c-section. Happy 1st birthday to my little man! Also, a big congrats to myself for successfully breastfeeding for one year! :) It was a rough start but we finally made it through. (And we won't be weaning).

Here's a picture journey through the year.

The Beginning

September 8th 2010. Were pregnant!

Our Little bean. DH swears he saw the face of Gene Simmons in this picture. I think its just wishful thinking.

36 weeks pregnant. Huge and hoping it ends soon.

4D ultrasound. I got a lot of ultrasounds because Wyatt was HUGE and didn't want to come out.

41 weeks 2 days pregnant. Day before c-section.

The Birth

Our first moments. Welcome to the world my little man!

Sister gets to meet little bro.

Wyatt Eldon. 10.1 lbs and 23 inches long

Daddy & Wyatt meet for the first time.

Baby Grows

First day home.

Thumbs up mom. I look cool!

Where's mom daddy?

The whole family.

First toy! Meet Mortimer the moose.

My handsome little man.

Weeeee

He stole my baby blues!

The rest looks like all daddy.

Grandma knows how to have fun.

Enjoying a little down time with mom.

Giggles!

Grandpa and Baby man helps with the Christmas lights.

What's the flashy thing mom?

Cousin Joe came to visit.

This is the life right here. So comfy!

The birthday party will be this Saturday so the grandparents can be here. Rest assured there will be lots of birthday pictures posted later. Enjoy these for now.