Strawberry Pie!

Need I say more? Okay, maybe the picture doesn't do it justice. I don't claim to be a great photographer!

Let me begin this saga of the quest for the perfect strawberry pie by saying Shane doesn't ask me for much, especially when it comes to food. So when he asks me to make something, pins the picture to my food board on Pinterest, and then asks me again, don't worry--I'm listening. But strawberry pie?! I had only had it once, and I HATED it. It was mushy, and slimy, and oddly gritty because of all the strawberry seeds. Yuck. Of all the things to crave, Shane wanted THAT? 
It was then that I realized the recipe that he had pinned on Pinterest was only different from the one I had pinned in one way--his wasn't cooked! Suddenly it all made sense. Fresh strawberries.

I can't claim full ownership of this recipe--the gelatin/strawberry mixture recipe came from this site, With a Grateful Prayer and a Thankful Heart. The pie crust recipe, however, is my own. Enjoy!

Fresh Strawberry Pie

3 Tablespoons cornstarch
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups water
3 oz box strawberry Jell-O
2 cups sliced strawberries

Pre-bake a 10" pie shell (recipe below), and line bottom with the sliced strawberries

Combine cornstarch, sugar and water in small saucepan.  Bring to a boil and simmer, stirring constantly, until thickened.  Add the Jell-O and stir until dissolved.  Pour over the strawberries and refrigerate until set.Serve with whipped cream!

Never-Fail Pie Crust

1-1/3 cup flour

1 tablespoon white sugar

1/2 cup coconut oil (cold/hard--not liquid)

5 tablespoons cold water

Mix dry ingredients together, then add coconut oil and mix thoroughly. Add water and mix just until all flour is wet. Turn out onto a countertop and roll into a circle with a rolling pin. Use extra flour to keep the dough from sticking. When the dough is big enough to fill the entire pie pan, transfer to the pan. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes.

Simple as that. I promise, it's easier than it looks!

Good luck! 

Changes...

Hey blogging world.
It's been a while.
A long while.

Life has changed a lot for me and my husband since I last wrote. Shane's internship in Pennsylvania ended (it wasn't sudden--we expected it to end after 9 months), and we relocated to my parent's house in north west North Dakota while we are in between jobs. Yes, North Dakota. I'm pretty sure I have heard every North Dakota joke out there. Go ahead and give it your best shot though, if you don't mind possibly snotty replies, haha! It's been a truly interesting 2 months. After not living with my parents since before college, there was some readjusting, especially now that I am married. There is definitely different dynamics, with my two favorite men both in the same house! :)

I have been keeping so busy. My mom has a HUGE garden, so there is everything that goes along with that. Weeding, picking, cleaning, hulling/peeling, and then the on-going quest for ways to preserve the produce for the cold, unforgiving North Dakota winters. I'm sure I will be posting some of my favorites soon, as I don't plan on letting the blog go this long again...

Hope your summer is going great. Enjoy it, while it lasts. (Some North Dakota realism for you there!)

Homemade Tomato Soup

After spending the whole evening ice skating at an outside rink with our SWAP group (middle-schoolers), we were thoroughly chilled to the bone.  I couldn't wait to get back to my house, warm my toes up, and eat something piping hot. Not just warm, but feel-it-go-all-the-way-down hot. So, as soon as we got home, I decided to get some tomato soup going on the stove top. I wasn't exactly sure how it would turn out, but I whipped up my own recipe.

Soul-Warming Tomato Soup

1 can diced tomatoes

2 cups water

1 small can green chilies

1 teaspoon sugar

3 teaspoons chicken bouillon 

1 teaspoon onion powder

2 teaspoons basil

I just threw it all in my pot and let it simmer. I think mine boiled for about an hour...if you used crushed tomatoes it would probably take less time. It would also be great to slowly add some cream into it for a less acidic, more creamy soup. 

I personally HATE tomato chunks in my soup, so I strained the chunks out (after simmering the broth is nice and tomato-ey by itself) and added some saltine crackers. HIT. THE. SPOT.

So now, I believe I am going to make a couple rounds on Pintrest, and call it a night. :)

Bipolar Mother Nature...

I find the difference between this post and my previous post quite amusing. Here, in Western Pennsylvania, we are having Spring. It is 68 degrees outside, and I am wearing shorts. Being from the Midwest, anytime it gets above 50 we break out our summer clothes and pretend that it's summer. But it does give me a chance to show off my new smooth, soft legs! I found an article a couple weeks ago that spoke about a sugar scrub for your legs. After tweaking it a bit, I found the answer to all of my problems.

Lemon Sugar Scrub
3/4 C white sugar
1/4 C olive oil
4 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Soak in the bathtub for a while.
2. Apply the scrub. Massage it into your legs for a good, long time. Then shave your legs!
3. REPEAT! (yes, after you use the scrub, you will be surprised at the amount of hair and dead cells that will come off when you scrub and shave a SECOND time)

I put lotion off after I crawled out of the tub, and my legs were ridiculously smooth and soft. BE CAREFUL because the bottom of your tub will be SUPER slippery. Use body wash afterwards, and most of the slippery-ness will be gone!

Enjoy!!

Snow Day!

Today is a snow day. Storm Jove (does anyone else wonder when we started naming winter storms?) is making it's way through Western Pennsylvania. Maybe I'm the only one that grew up like this, but growing up in the Midwest, when it stormed, we all hunkered down in our house, got the fireplace going, drank hot chocolate all day, and usually played board games. Of course, in the Midwest, a storm meant a lot more than three inches of snow.

...Uh, don't get me wrong. I'm not complaining about the milder weather here.

Last night, in the calm before the storm, I had some friends over, and we decided to make homemade pizza. And I stumbled into the BEST pizza dough recipe EVER. Especially because you only need to let it sit for 5 minutes before forming into your circle shape. Or rectangle shape. Or star shape...heck, whatever shape you want! It's really super easy, actually, I promise. And you might even be eating the pizza before the delivery guy could get to your house!

Simple Pizza Dough

1 oz active dry yeast (1-1/2 tablespoons or one package)

1 teaspoon white sugar

1 cup warm water (110 degrees, if you must be precise.)

3 cups bread flour

2 teaspoons garlic salt

2 tablespoons olive oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water (until creamy looking). Stir in flour, garlic salt, and oil. Shape into a circle, put toppings on, and bake for 15-20 minutes.

As for everything else, I make my own sauce (petite diced tomatoes, basil, oregano, and garlic salt), add mozzarella cheese, pepperoni, spinach, red bell pepper strips, and green olives. Don't judge. I also sprinkle a little Parmesan cheese on top. I'm not sure if it was the smell of the pizza baking or all of the giggling, but even Shane made an appearance in the kitchen. He even personalized his own pizza by making it a cheese-stuffed crust. Always a step above and beyond. 

Well, I'm going to go enjoy the rest of my snow day. Thank you, Storm Jove.

Starting Out is Always the Hardest.

After spending countless hours thinking, researching, and bouncing ideas off my husband, I finally figured out what I was going to name my blog. It probably shouldn't have been that hard, but I just couldn't define what I had in mind. How do you define recipes (I love spicy food), beauty tips (I have long, dry hair, dry skin, and small amounts of time), thoughts from my daily devos (Ephesians 4:2 is the theme verse of my life), and all of the silly things that happen to me.

I have so many things in my life that inspire me. My husband, Shane, is my true love, my prince charming, and I admire him more every day. He is the assistant youth leader in our church, and a great one at that. He is full of common sense and wisdom, and his relationship with the kids he teaches makes me confident that he will be a wonderful father someday. As newlyweds (September 1st, 2012!), it's a wonderful challenge to learn how to love someone unconditionally.

Did I mention that my husband doesn't cook? Well that's another thing that inspires me. I love (and need) to try new recipes all while on a budget and trying to avoid the need to buy new jeans.

I am a nanny to two boys; both under the age of 4. They keep me busy as well as remind me of the innocence and forgiving hearts we are called to have as ones "such as these" (Matthew 19:14). I eventually plan on going back to college to become a Registered Nurse, but for now my circumstances don't allow it (I have already graduated from a non-accredited two year Bible college in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with a "certificate of Bible"...whatever that means. Either way, I loved it.)

I volunteer 3-4 nights a week at the church with my husband, whether it is with the youth group, Journey (a teenage Bible study), girls night, or the middle school group.

I hope you enjoy my life as much as I do.
-Sarah