Jan26

Kitchen Adventures: Homemade GF Pizza

Posted on 26 January, 2015 by Melissa

There is something about homemade pizza that says comfort and a cozy night in. I haven’t made much homemade pizza because I have had a hard time finding a gluten free crust recipe that we like. We often use this cauliflower crust recipe, which is delicious, but is also very different than an actual breaded crust. I am super excited because I found this amazing recipe last week and let me just say… I can now add homemade pizza nights to our regular meal plans!:) The thin crunchy crust compliments the topping flavors so well!

I used this recipe from Minimalist Baker. I didn’t have white rice flour on hand, so I used sweet rice flour instead. I also like to substitute ground flax seed in recipes that call for xanthan gum, so I added about 2 tsp. ground flax instead of the xanthan gum in this recipe. Other than those two changes, I followed the recipe. And seriously, this was such quick prep and I used my rolling pin to roll it out onto our pizza stone (which if you have experienced GF crust before, its really hard to find one that isn’t wet and sticky). I highly recommend this dough recipe!:)

Now for the fun part – I wanted to share what we topped our pizza crust with!

Caramelized onion :: Mushrooms :: Pear :: Mozzarella:: Fresh Thyme

Caramelized onions – melt a little butter or olive oil, add onion slices. Cook in skillet over medium high heat for a few minutes. Sprinkle with some sugar, salt, and about 1-2 tbsp. of balsamic vinegar. Cook until onions are soft and brown.

Add mushrooms and a little more olive oil into the skillet and cook the mushrooms with the onions until mushrooms are soft.

Take pre-baked crust out of the oven, sprinkle with mozzarella cheese, add onion/mushroom mixture, then arrange the thin slices of pear on top. Brush or drizzle the extra juice from the skillet over the pizza. Top with more mozzarella cheese.

Once the pizza is baked through, sprinkle with fresh thyme and enjoy!:)

This is a delicious topping combination! If we had goat cheese on hand, I would have went for that instead of the mozzarella, but that will be for next time!

What are your favorite pizza topping combinations?

Jan20

Photo Documenting: Vintage Bicycle

Posted on 20 January, 2015 by Melissa

Photo Documenting: Vintage Bicycle

Hello! It’s been a while since I have written in this little space. Spending my days with Evelyn has proven to be so amazing, challenging, filled with so much joy, unpredictable, fun, overwhelming at times, just to name a few!:) To get a blog post in these days seems a little more (actually a lot more) difficult, but we are slowly finding a new normal with our family of three and loving the journey with all of its ups and downs. I hope to share more on motherhood in future posts.

For now, I wanted to share what I have been working on during some of my free moments.

I have been slowly working on this mixed media painting of a vintage bicycle. You can read more about this piece and why a bicycle here.

After sitting on my shelf for a while, I have been inspired to keep working on this painting and wanted to share my recent progress through photo documenting.

I think this piece is in the final stages, so I hope to finish it in the near future and can’t wait to share the finished piece with you all!

Have a wonderful day!

Dec30

Project Embroidery

Posted on 30 December, 2014 by Melissa

Project Embroidery

Hello! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and time of celebrating! We traveled to visit family and had our first overnights as a family of three.:) We were a little apprehensive about how it might go with a one month old, but Evelyn did great and we were so thankful to be together with family! I think Evelyn had a wonderful first Christmas!:)

I wanted to share with you an embroidery project I worked on a few weeks back. It was really simple and a lot of fun to create.

I really like to incorporate words or little phrases around our home because I believe they can be such helpful reminders of what really matters and of truth. If we are surrounded by messages of truth in our home, I think we can be continually pushed to re-evaluate our perspective. I also love that having words and phrases that are meaningful to our family around our home, it allows us to share more of ourselves with others. My hope is that the words in our home bring encouragement to those who come into our home and see them.

I was at a local thrift store recently and found a pretty large sized embroidery hoop and was immediately drawn to the color and look of the hoop. Now, I haven’t ever used one of these hoops before, but I love the look and style of embroidered wall art. So I thought for the few dollars that the hoop cost, it was worth a try to make something for our wall!

I wanted to create something simple, so I decided on a short phrase that to stitch in writing and then added a simple vine/flower design.

Embroidery2

I stretched a piece of fabric inside the hoop and used pencil to sketch out the words and flower design.

Then I just started stitching the words using the pencil lines as my guide. I didn’t want all the flowers to be embroidered, but more hints of embroidery throughout the design, so I decided to paint the flower design onto the fabric using watered down acrylic paints.

From there, I embroidered flower centers…and may add some embroidery to the petals, but I haven’t decided yet!

This is a super fun and simple project to do and there are so many different ways to create an embroidered image. It is also really nice because its a project you can work on here and there when time allows (which is my new reality with a newborn). The best part is that you can make several and change them out! I think I could really get into this whole embroidering thing!

Next on my list: I want to create an embroidered hoop for our daughters nursery with her name, Evelyn, embroidered into a floral vintage fabric!:)

Dec9

Free Download: Gift Tags

Posted on 9 December, 2014 by Melissa

Free Download: Gift Tags

One way I like to make a gift extra special is to wrap and dress up gifts with little extra embellishments like ribbon, twine, mini bells, and gift tags. The past two years I shared with you gift tags that I created and wanted to make them available again this year!

You can download the tags and print them for free to use on your own gifts for others!:)

Click Here for your Gift Tags

*I didn’t indicate a dot for punching a hole simply because depending on how you want to use them, you may want the hole in various places.

Enjoy!:)

Dec5

Kitchen Adventures: GF Pumpkin Bread

Posted on 5 December, 2014 by Melissa

Kitchen Adventures: GF Pumpkin Bread

GF Pumpkin Bread

Because we are a gluten free home, good bread recipes can be difficult to find, especially recipes with ingredients that we tend to have in our home on a regular basis. So, when I find a good recipe, it makes my day!:)

I wanted to share a delicious pumpkin bread recipe with you all that I tried a few weeks ago! It is so good, we were averaging two loafs a week!:) Whether you eat gluten free or not, this pumpkin bread is the perfect blend of sweet and spice, with a hearty taste. We enjoyed the bread with some apple butter given to us by friends.

GF Pumpkin Bread1

you can find the recipe here from Against All Grain.

Coconut flour can be expensive, but what I like about this recipe is that it only uses a very small amount of the flour, so one bag can go a long way!

I followed Version 2 using the coconut flour. I substituted honey for maple syrup and used peanut butter instead of almond or sunflower butter. I also substituted almond extract for vanilla in the recipe.

I imagine you could use regular flour for this recipe if you are not a gluten free eater.

A slice of this bread with my morning coffee. Perfect!:)

Nov29

Welcome to this world Evelyn

Posted on 29 November, 2014 by Melissa

Welcome to this world Evelyn

Just popping in to share some news from our little family. We welcomed Evelyn Grace into this world and into our family Thursday, November 20th. To be honest its hard to find words to express the joy we feel. Evelyn is an incredible gift and we are so thankful and privileged to be her parents! What an adventure it has already been!

This season of thanks has a whole new meaning and what better way to celebrate than in the giving of thanks for this new little life.

I wanted to share a few photos of her first few days!:)

first hours of her little life at the hospital

daddy daughter time. Pretty sure she has the best daddy!:)

We are so in love and thankful for this life!:) I will share more of our adventures with our growing little family on this space!

I hope you all had a wonderful thanksgiving!

Nov17

Today is a Gift

Posted on 17 November, 2014 by Melissa

Today is a Gift

first snow1

I Woke up this morning to this beautiful snowfall outside (view from our back deck)! There is something so peaceful and beautiful about the white covered tree branches and shimmering flakes falling to the ground.

I just finished creating a sign that now hangs in our living room which reads “Today is a Gift.” As I woke up and saw the beauty outside, I was reminded of just that, today is a gift.

In these last few days of waiting as we are now almost a week past our baby’s due date, it has been a struggle to take each day as a gift without wishing it away or looking toward the future.

There is so much value in today, whatever it may hold, and I am thankful for the beauty of a freshly fallen snow to remind me of that this morning!

May you find the simple beauty in today and be reminded, like I was, that today is a gift!:)

Nov10

New Print in the Shop

Posted on 10 November, 2014 by Melissa

New Print in the Shop

Hello! We are in the home stretch friends. My official due date is tomorrow! So, we are patiently (or quite honestly, not so patiently) awaiting baby girls arrival.:) In the meantime, I wanted to share with you a new print now available in my Etsy Shop!

…………

One of my favorite aspects of having a creative business is sharing my work with others. This is the main purpose of why I even have a business, but I am learning to embrace the enjoyment of sharing with others more as I do this longer. It can be very intimidating to put work out there into the world, and sometimes that can hinder any excitement that may come from simply sharing a part of myself. My hope is that my work may be an encouragement to others, that it would speak of truth and messages we all need to be reminded of at times, and that through each painting, beauty may be added to everyday life.

I am so encouraged when I get to ship out my paintings and prints to others. I get excited about who will receive each piece and hope the story each piece tells will bring beauty to their home.

One of my recent originals, “She Found Freedom to Dance,” has been purchased and I am excited to share I now have an 8×10 Art print available in my Etsy Shop.

This painting was originally created with vintage papers, modeling paste, pastels, acrylic paint, and charcoal.

“She Found Freedom to Dance”

You can find out more details about the print over at my shop.

Have a wonderful day!:)

Nov3

Photo Documenting: “Hope Breaks Through”

Posted on 3 November, 2014 by Melissa

Photo Documenting: “Hope Breaks Through”

Happy Monday!:)

Since taking this course, my goal has been to photo document my paintings step by step throughout the process. Documenting has really helped me step back and see my work from a different perspective.

This specific painting is for an event taking place this Saturday, the annual Let Them LOL Water Gala. You can read more about this organization and painting in a previous blog here.

Below is a progression of my process. This painting had less drastic changes throughout than most of my pieces, partly because I had such a specific vision for this piece. I titled this painting “Hope Breaks Through,” which is the message I want to portray through this piece. Hope breaks through the darkness, the struggle, life circumstances that seem unchangeable… Hope is in the midst of difficulty and my desire is that this piece is an encouragement and reminder that we can choose hope and bring hope to others.

“Hope Breaks Through”

Oct28

::Two Weeks::

Posted on 28 October, 2014 by Melissa

::Two Weeks::

Two weeks from today marks my official due date. It’s hard to believe we could be holding our baby girl so soon! In some ways it has seemed like a long journey of anticipation, but it also feels like time has gone so quickly. We have been so overwhelmed by the generosity of so many people who have gifted us with what we need and have helped us prepare for baby girls arrival… we are so thankful for the support and love that we have received throughout this journey.

Well on another note, I am officially in “nesting” mode (although I kind of think I am a natural nester and that getting ready for our baby hasn’t proven to be much different than my everyday tendencies), as we are getting the nursery ready, working on projects. It has been fun to get the nursery ready and I hope to show you photos in the near future!:)

We are so beyond excited and I think with each day counting closer to her arrival, we become more excited. However, our excitement hasn’t come without some fears of the unknown. We are looking ahead at something we have never experienced before and in many ways cannot prepare for. There is much left to the waiting, until she arrives and for someone like myself who likes to be prepared and feel in control, this is a stretching place to be. My mind can easily fill with questions of what her birth story will look like, of how our lives will be drastically different once she is here, fear of the responsibility of parenting and caring for this little baby. Through the ups and downs of excitement and fear, I have learned so much… that there is freedom in letting go, in trusting the Lord, who has created and formed our little girl, who knows her and loves her more than we ever will. Embracing opportunity to let go, to give up my need for control, and trust is worth the fight. I still have much growth ahead of me in these areas, but I am thankful for a season that has reminded me once again that true life is not found in grasping for control, but in giving up control to the One who can be fully and completely trusted.

baby shoes1

We can’t wait to meet you little one!:)