ACU diaper bag redo

Back when I first got my sewing machine I made a diaper bag out of a pair of Darin's old ACU's that he wore while in Iraq. I was pretty proud of myself that I did it from scratch with no real pattern and having no idea how to make a purse/diaper bag. It took me 3 days to make and I was happy with it for the most part but there were things I didn't like that I didn't know how to fix at the time. Here is what my bag looked like when I first made it

*the biggest thing I didn't like was the lining, I didn't know how to do a traditional purse lining like I do now, I hated all the seams showing.*



Well after months of learning and sewing and making 2 other bags since the first one I have learned how to do things that would help improve the look of my bag so I decided to fix the things I did wrong.

It still isn't as good as if I had known all I do now then but I'll get another shot once Darin goes through the rest of his worn out can't wear anymore ACU's.



My other purse I made a few months ago from ACU fabric that you can get at any craft store. I wanted a smaller purse that was still roomy enough to carry a few diapers & a wipes case for like a trip to the store or something, but small enough that on the few occasions I don't have monkey with me I can still use it as a purse.

Beignets & Rolls

Today after making rolls I decided to give Beignets a try using the leftover Challah dough that was refrigerated. They were not what I expected but since I have never had one anywhere before I'm not sure how they are supposed to taste lol. They were easy enough to make especially with the dough already made up in the fridge.

All you do is roll out the dough to about 1/8th of an inch and cut into 2 inch squares using a pizza cutter. Then you let rest for 40 minutes. Once rested heat up some vegetable oil and cook them about 3 at a time until they are browned on each side. They do puff up and are very airy inside. We had them with honey instead of traditional powdered sugar. They were not that sweet but I'm sure had we covered them in the powdered sugar they would have been. Darin said they tasted pretty similar to sopapillas and little man really seemed to enjoy them so that's what matters right.

Also while Challah makes amazing bread it however did not make very good rolls, they were really dense and didn't taste like the bread loaf did. They look pretty but weren't near as good as the first batch of rolls using the basic boule dough.

MilSpouse Friday Fill In -#40

I'm following along with http://wifeofasailor.com/ and her military spouse friday fill in. I'm coming in as they are already on Friday #40 but still think it will be fun to do.

Friday Fill in #40

1. Which was the best day of your life - wedding day or homecoming day?

Our last (and first deployment) happened so fast after he enlisted that the whole year was a whirlwind. While him coming home was an amazing day our wedding by far out beats it for being the best day between them.

2. Were you part of the joining the military question or did you sign up for the relationship when your man was already in the military?

I was a part of it. DH had never even hinted or said anything about joining any branch of military. Then one day when our oldest son was just about 2 months old he said he was thinking about joining the National Guard and had talked to a recruiter about it. We talked about it and prayed about it for about a month without telling anyone what we were thinking of doing. He told me that it was my decision, that if I said no he wouldn't and that would be that.  Saying yes was one of the hardest decisions I had made up to that point. He signed his enlistment papers 12 days shy of our son's 3 month mark, 5 months later he was in bootcamp & ait and gone for 4 1/2 months, then just 10 months later he was on his 1st deployment.

3. What is your favorite Disney movie and why?
I've always loved Beauty & the Beast, I love the message behind it and it's one that whenever it comes on I have to watch it.


4. What is your favorite family activity to do on the weekend?
CAMPING, my whole family (boys included) love being out at the lake, camping, on the boat, fishing. It is just a great way to get out and away from it all.

5. Where do you secretly wish you could be stationed with your SO's line of work (realistically speaking, not everyone can be stationed at NAS Fiji)?

One big reason DH choose the guard was so that we wouldn't have to move around. But had he chosen active army I would have loved to be stationed in Germany or Italy, I think the cultural differences would have been so neat to see and experience.

Rain Rain Go Away

I thought the saying was April Showers bring May flowers but it seems that mother nature has it all jumbled up again and we are seeing a lot of rain for May. Our yard had finally dried out from the last soaking a few days ago then a few hours ago it hits us again. Since it's been raining nonstop for a few hours now it's been enough to flood most of our yard.

Bread in 5 minutes a Day - Recipe & Review

A few weeks ago I ordered Artisan Bread in 5 minutes a day & Healthy Bread in 5 minutes a day. I had seen the YouTube video from the authors showing how easy it was to bake fresh bread even for those who bread challenged (which I am lol. Baking bread has been until now my "downfall" in my baking. I love to bake from scratch or add extra ingredients to box mixes to make my cakes, cookies and brownies taste their best and have been baking for as long as I can remember. However when I would try to make bread or biscuits they would be more like weapons then food. No matter what I did they would be hard one or more of these - as rocks, taste like chalk, burnt on outside, dough on the inside. No matter what I did, what recipe I tried I just couldn't get it right. Until I got these books and dug in. My first batch of bread was their base recipe that you can find on YouTube Artisan Bread In Five.  It only took about 10 minutes to mix up the dough and refrigerate it. The next morning I made two small loaves and crossed my fingers. They turned out amazing, my kids & husband loved them. The outside was crusty, inside was dense a really basic but great french bread. My oldest thought it was the neatest thing that I could make bread lol. So yesterday I decided to try another recipe this time for a Challah which is a sweeter dough that could be used to make a softer crust bread (along with cinnamon rolls, dinner rolls and a long list of others). If you have the book the recipe is on page 180, if not you can find it below.

 
Challah

1 3/4 cups lukewarm water
1 1/2 tbs granulated yeast (or 2 packets)
1 1/2 tbs Kosher salt
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup melted unsalted butter or vegetable oil
7 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
egg wash - 1 egg beaten with 1 tbs water
poppy or sesame seeds for the top  (I omitted the egg wash & seeds as my kids wouldn't have eaten them)


Using a 5 quart bowl with lid (not airtight) mix the first 6 ingredients together

 Then mix in the flour WITHOUT KNEADING, using a spoon, one cup at a time

Cover dough (not airtight) and let rise for 2 hours, it will have doubled in size and then this dough can be used as is or put in the refrigerator and used over the next 5 days.

I chose to make 1 loaf now and refrigerate the rest for later, for my loaf I did the traditional Challah braided rope. Starting with about a grapefruit size ball of dough (approx 1 lb) Dust the ball with flour and quickly shape it into a ball by stretching the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all four sides, roatating the ball a quarter turn as you go. Then divide the ball into thirds, roll the balls between your hands one at a time streching to form each into a long rope. Braid the ropes starting from the center and working to one end. Allow the bread to rest for 20 minutes if fresh dough is used (40 if from refrigerated dough). Preheat the oven to 350 about 10 minutes before you add your bread.

once the bread has risen pop it into the oven, 25 minutes later your bread will be nice and golden brown and have a soft pillowy consistency similar to white bread.

Well that's it, I hope you enjoyed my first time writing a recipe & review.

Welcome to Living & Loving Life One mess at a time

Hi Ya'll! If you're here you probably already know me IRL or from Facebook. But for those that don't. My name is Summer. I am 27 years old. I am married to my high school sweetheart Darin and we have two amazing little boys Walker & Jordan.

I've had a family blog since 2003 that is very personal and has a lot of photos and information about my kids so I have it set to private to protect my kiddos. However the last few months I have really enjoyed "blog hopping" and have decided to not only have our private family blog but one that is for me. I will be posting random things from things that interest me at the moment, recipes I'm trying, craft/art projects I've done or want to do, my weight loss journey, being a mom, wife and a National Guard family. I also will be doing reviews, giveaways and spotlights on blogs & things I love. I also still plan to share photos & things about my family & home but not as in depth as on my family blog. I plan to take an hour each night after my kids have gone to bed to take some time for myself and just blog about whatever.

Artscow.com - Review

For those of you that haven't tried it yet check out Arts Cow they are a great online photo place. You can order prints & lots of photo gifts. Personally I have ordered hundreds of 4x6, 5x7 & 8x10 prints from them. I've also ordered some photos gifts that turned out way cute - photo mouse pad, custom playing cards, key chains & photo dog tags. The best part is when you sign up for FREE you get 1200 free prints & lots of free gifts (you just pay shipping). My last order of FREE prints totaled $25.67 for 100 4x6 prints, 50 5x7 prints, 10 8x10 prints & 40 wallet prints! They are a company based in Hong Kong so it does take about 8-10 days for the prints to get here and about 14-24 days for the photo gifts but most times I get them sooner then expected (unless you order to close to Christmas then it seems to take twice as long). If any of you have gotten holiday cards/invitations from us they were printed from Artscow (except for my Shutterfly cards Christmas 2010).

Anyways go check them out!