There’s a Mouse in the House!

See this adorable, blue-eyed little guy? He is one of the strangest and friskiest little kittens that I have ever met.

There was a time when he wasn’t frisky, in fact he was sick-really sick.

Therefore, I gladly will trade all of those horrible sick days for his crazy shenanigans and up to trouble-ness.

Max has a favorite toy and his name is “Brown Mouse”. This cat loves plays fetch with “Brown Mouse”. I have spent many an evening throwing this mouse so that Max can thunderously retrieve. Then, he drops it in my hand-waiting for me to throw it again. It’s weird.

Lately, “Brown Mouse” has been stored here in the front windowsill by the aforementioned feline.

“Brown Mouse” used to have two ears.

He also used to have tail feathers.

“Brown Mouse” has a split in his side that leaves tuffs of fuzz all over the house.

But, “Brown Mouse” rattles and gets Maxwell hyped up.

I have tried replacing “Brown Mouse”, but Max won’t hear of it. This is his toy and he will play with it until he has determined it’s time to store it away in the front windowsill once more.

Or if he decides “Brown Mouse” needs a bath and I find it in the water dish.

I know, I have weird cats.

Simple Homemade Butter

In March, I gave myself a month long challenge of ridding my house of nasty chemicals and high priced products that I can make myself. Here are a few of the things that I was able to replace around the house that you’d find at your supermarket in the beauty and cleaning aisles:
Recipe for Facial Moisturizer
Cheap, Organic Face Wash
DIY Household Green Cleaners
DIY Organic Eye Makeup Remover
Simple, Organic Lip Balm

Then, I got crazy in May and June replacing anything in the kitchen that comes in a package. Here are a few things that I’ve replaced that you’d find at your supermarket in the food aisles:
Simple, Healthy Salad Dressing
How to Freeze Beans and Avoid BPA
Homemade Crockpot Yogurt
Simple, Tasty Granola
Skinny Orange Julius
Sweet Iced Coffee-No Calorie

Today, I wanted to share with you a simple recipe to replace the store bought margarine or butter you have in the fridge. Here’s all that you’ll need to make your very own Simple, Homemade Butter:

2 Cups Heavy Cream
1/4 Cup Sour Cream
1/2 Cup Plain Yogurt (see recipe above)

First, prepare a water bath by filling a large bowl with water and ice cubes. Pour 2 Cups of Heavy Cream into the bowl of a standing mixer. Turn the mixer speed to medium.

Gradually add the sour cream and the plain yogurt.

After a few minutes, the mixture will begin to look frothy.

After 5-10 more minutes, the mixture will begin to resemble butter.

During this process, I usually cover the mixer with a towel to avoid splattering my entire kitchen.

The butter will start to form a clump in the center of the bowl and will give off the byproduct of buttermilk.

Once the clump is the right consistency, remove from the bowl and place on a clean, lint-free tea towel.

Dip the butter several times into the ice bath, removing all the excess buttermilk.

Save the buttermilk that was left in your mixing bowl for other recipes. It’s great for pancakes, let me tell you!

For later use, form the butter into a block and wrap tightly in saran wrap and place it in the freezer.

I usually cut the butter in half, placing half in the freezer and half in the fridge. If you are going to use the butter immediately, don’t worry about saran wrapping it. Store the butter preferably in a glass dish and leave in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.

Slather your Simple, Homemade Butter on your favorite piece of toast and enjoy your buttery awesomeness.

A Friend that Loves at all times

Dear Readers:

I have one of those friends that actually thinks my jokes are funny and I think hers are hilarious. Our friendship came out of the blue and was totally unexpected. And yet, we can talk about God, what’s happening in our lives or what we hope to happen in the future for hours. When we leave one another, we both walk away feeling encouraged and uplifted.

She’s embraced the good, the bad, the ugly in my life and has loved me regardless. She even loves me when I’m in the middle of Crossfit and super stinky.

We enjoy doing a lot of the same things together, but also just enjoy watching the world hurriedly pass by as we sip a cup of coffee.

She’s always got my back, never undermines or gossips about me. What I tell her is locked up in her vault and I know I can trust her.
But, she is no pushover. She’s told me like it is more than once. I love all of these things about her. She is definitely the “…friend that loves at all times…” Proverbs 17:17.

Do you have one of these friends? If so, how did your friendship form and what do you love about her?

Ever get nervous about entertaining “the Unknowns”?

Dear Readers:
I thoroughly enjoy welcoming people into my home. If you are ever in the Oklahoma area, look me up. I will put a pot of coffee on, grab some chocolate zucchini muffins out of the freezer and set my Pandora to Ella Fitzgerald.

The house may not be perfectly clean, I may not have the fanciest furniture and my cats may leave a few white hairs on your clothing. But, if you are up for those few inconveniences, I am up to stuffing you full of food and then sending you merrily on your way.

However, I know my shortcomings. I am a work in progress and there are those rare occasions when I wonder if my “hostessing is the most-essing”. It’s silly, I know. But when guests are “the Unknowns” to me and also co-workers of Biceps, my crazy meter skyrockets.

“Men are simple”, I tell myself. “Throw some meat on a paper plate, place a beer in the other hand, and they will think you rule as a hostess.”

Although, I don’t think men use the term hostess.

I tell myself the above theory over and over, and yet I’ll spend 10 hours cleaning, 5 hours cooking, 3 hours grocery shopping and at least 2 hours getting ready…

And then they’ll eat everything in 10 minutes and not care if the toilet is clean, as long as there is one-or at least a tree they can stand behind.

So, dear readers-does anyone else get nervous about entertaining “the Unknowns” or is it just my weird paranoia of not measuring up to what I think people think of me?

(Which is ridiculous and not at all a Godly thing to do, but yet, here I am doing it…I am definitely a work in progress.)