2016 Blog Posts in Review

Welcome 2017!

A lot of people have been summarizing their last year and naming all the big challenges and changes they've had. Looking back over this year, with everything it is just "the second year".

It's been two years since we've moved to Washington. 2016 was the second year at my husband's job, second year at schools for my kids, second year in our house, second year planting a garden, second year in my calling (job) at church as primary president, etc. In all these things and more it feels like we've finally gotten the hang of things and just tried to improve on them. Hopefully 2017 is even better now that we have some experience under our belts.

I looked over my blog posts from 2016. It was interesting to see what things I posted about. Here's a a little summary:

I planned and posted 41 weekly menus, up to week 387 now! (Although most of these I posted when the week was already halfway over.)
To celebrate my 350th weekly menu, I hosted a giveaway.
8 Healthy Snack Ideas
Bits and Pieces (only posted one of these posts, since I started posting more on instagram)
2016 Goals (nice to review this a year later)
Homemade Playdough (this is still a favorite and is in my pantry right now)
Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up and applied what I learned to my closet
Honey Garlic Chicken (one of my kids' favorite recipes. I usually make the chicken alone instead of with the roasted veggies and toss the chicken and sauce in angel hair pasta.)
I said goodbye to facebook (temporarily). I deactivated my account for a while and definitely feel like I can step away from facebook for a while and not miss out on anything. It does seem like it might be hard to go without it, since I sometimes use it to check on events, etc.

Sad to see that I only posted two recipes, and only one of which you can eat (since you shouldn't eat playdough). I tried quite a few new recipes and found some new family favorites. But my time spent blogging has been short. Life is busy, but I do love blogging. Hoping to post some new recipes in 2017.

Happy New Year to all of you! I'll be back tomorrow (hopefully) with a menu plan.

One Hour Rolls

These rolls are amazing! I've been making these rolls since 2001 when I was a newlywed and my sister-in-law shared the recipe with me. The rolls are light, fluffy, easy to make and they only take one hour! And delicious too! I've made these rolls more times than I can count, so I've perfected the art of making them. Here are some step-by-step instructions with pictures for you. Here's what you'll need. I buy pretty much all of the ingredients in this recipe at Sam's club, thus the huge containers. You need warm water, yeast, oil, sugar, salt, egg and flour. In the mixer bowl, add warm water (not hot), oil, sugar and yeast. Mix together. After ten or fifteen minutes the yeast mixture should be puffed up like this. Time to add the salt and beaten egg. Then mix in the flour. (I've used a mixture of half wheat and half white flour successfully.) Keep adding flour until the dough is manageable. It will be a little sticky, b

Havreflarn (Swedish Oat Crisp Cookies)

We had some teenagers over for a Swedish themed dinner last night. They were participating in a "missionary for a day" activity. They were paired up into companionships, like the official missionaries for our church and were assigned to a family for dinner. They ate with us and then taught us a lesson about Heavenly Father's plan for us. My husband served a mission in Sweden. He lived there for two years and loved it. Swedish meatballs are a staple at our house. (They're super easy to make and my pickiest eater's favorite!). When we visit IKEA we usually stock up on the cream gravy packets and jars of Lingonberries. We were out of lingonberry, but after a few phone calls, I found some at one of our local grocery stores. We ate meatballs, gravy, lingonberry, mashed potatoes (I ran out of time, other wise I would have steamed little red potatoes from our garden) and green beans (though my husband doesn't remember eating them in Sweden

The Best French Bread I've Ever Made

This is the best french bread I've ever made. I got this recipe from my friend, Nikki, who gave us some of this bread as a thank you for my hubby helping them move a piano. I remember it being delicious and we gobbled it up fast. I was intimidated for some reason by the recipe and waited a few years before I made it. We needed some bread for to make some turkey, provolone, avocado sandwiches, so I made some of this bread and it was perfect! We sliced one loaf like they do at Subway. Then later I made normal shaped sandwiches with the rest of the bread. Delicious... light and fluffy and yummy! Update 2/22/12: This is still my favorite bread after making it for a year! It turns out perfect every time and it's gone in a flash! printable recipe French Bread recipe from my friend, Nikki Yield: 2 loaves Ingredients 2 c. warm water 1 pkg (or 1 heaping Tbsp.) yeast 1/4 c. granulated sugar 1 T. olive oil

What is on your menu this week?

Search This Blog