Cinnamon Sugar Pretzel bites & Salted Caramel dipping sauce!

Cinnamon Sugar Pretzel bites with Salted Caramel dipping sauce!

Pretzels:
1 1/2 cups warm water
1 Tbsp sugar
2 tsp salt
2 1/4 tsp instant yeast
4 1/2 cups flour
2 oz unsalted butter, melted
vegetable oil (for bowl and work surface)
10 cups of water
1/3 cup baking soda
2 Tbsp butter, melted
1/3 cup cinnamon sugar


Dipping Sauce:

2 cups granulated sugar
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into pieces
1 cup heavy cream, at room temperature1 tablespoon sea salt



Pretzel bites:

1. In a bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, mix together water sugar salt and yeast on low speed for 10 seconds. Switch to the dough hook and add in the flour and butter. Mix on low speed until well combined. Change to medium speed and knead until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the sides of the bowl, about 4-5 min. Remove the dough from bowl and transfer to a well oiled bowl. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and place in a warm place for about 50-55 min or until the dough doubles in size. (we usually put the oven on 200 degrees for a few minutes then turn it off and place the bowl in the warm oven)

2. Put dough onto a slightly oiled work surface and divide into 8 equal pieces. Roll out each piece into a rope (about 18-24in long). Slice each rope into bite size pieces about 1 1/2 inches in length. Cover the cut pieces with a damp paper towel while working with the rest of the dough so it doesn't dry out.

3. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper (or use cooking spray) and set aside.

4. Bring the 10 cups of water and baking soda to a boil.

5. Using a slotted spoon lower a handful of pretzel bites into water and boil for 30 seconds, flipping them around in the water a few times. Remove from the water and blot dry with a paper towel and place onto baking sheet (making sure they do not touch each other). Bake until golden brown, about 10 min.

6. Place a colander into a larger bowl. Put a handful of pretzel bites into the colander and brush them with the melted butter. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar onto the pretzels and shake around. (I use a very generous amount of cinnamon sugar here). Place in container or onto serving plate.

Dipping Sauce:

1. Be sure you have all of the ingredients ready. Once you start you must move quickly to avoid burning the sugar. First, heat the sugar over medium high-heat in the bottom of a heavy 2-3 quart saucepan. When the sugar starts to melt, start whisking the sugar. The sugar will clump up, but keep whisking. It will continue to melt. When the sugar is melted, stop whisking. You can swirl the pan to move the sugar around.

2. Cook the sugar until it reaches a deep amber color. Make sure you watch the pan very closely. This is where it is easy to burn the caramel. You want the caramel to reach 350 degrees F. If you are new to making caramel, I suggest using a thermometer.

3. As soon as the sugar reaches the dark amber color, carefully add the butter. Whisk until butter is melted. If the sugar gets stuck to the whisk, you can switch to a wooden spoon.

4. Remove the pan from the heat and slowly pour in the heavy cream. Whisk until cream is incorporated and caramel is smooth. Whisk in the sea salt.

5. Let the caramel sauce cool for about 10 minutes in the pan. Pour the caramel into a large jar and cool to room temperature. Put the salted caramel sauce in the refrigerator. Store the salted caramel sauce in the refrigerator for about a month.

I'm including the original blogs that we found the recipes on, for further questions or tips that you may have. Enjoy!

Pretzels: http://www.smells-like-home.com/2012/01/soft-pretzel-bites-with-cheese-sauce/

Caramel Sauce: http://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/salted-caramel-sauce/

My son is a dancer...can't walk yet...but dances Everywhere!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=0JwPyXu0HpA

Dining room Buffet Table

Buffet Table

  

My final piece for the dining room was a buffet table. I wanted something simple made from real wood that I could redo myself…and with a low price tag. Something like this but with more open storage instead of so many drawers. 

"My Inspiration"

http://pinterest.com/pin/175077504234751580/

So I began my search on craigslist. It took about a week to find the one that was just right. I found it just 15 minutes away from a very nice man moving to Michigan…who was selling it for $25. It did have all 3 drawers when we bought it, two of them became firewood for my husband later that week.

before

 We got it home and gave it a good cleaning and sanding. We had to replace the bottom board with plywood for to create a bottom shelf. Then I painted the entire thing black to match our fireplace and new chandelier. Add a few coats of polyurethane to protect it from my children…and finished!

We already had the sanding, painting supplies. So the only new costs were for the dresser, the plywood, and new knobs…Total cost $30.

 

Dining Room Light Fixture

 Our Dining room was finally starting to come together. We had our fabulous Table, our already existing fireplace, and a new 8x10 rug that I got on clearance for only $39 at Home Depot (because our 5x8 wasn't  going to work with our new 8ft table!). Now we needed some sort of fixture over the table, a buffet for my “Nice dishes” and some sort of "art" to fill in the huge blank wall at the end of our table. Challenge accepted!

 I took the old brass chandelier that came with the house and spray painted it, then removed the glass and added some chandelier lamp shades that I found for $2 each, which by the way was very exciting! Online they were asking for $10 each shade…times 5 shades…are you kidding me! Guardian Angel Thrift store saved the day again. 

Old 

New

And Finally the finished product! More info on those fabulous pictures of the kids on my wall...later :)

DIY Dry Erase Calendar

This is pretty straight forward. I saw the picture, I liked the idea, I made it!

The Idea...

http://pinterest.com/pin/8866530488845988/

I used an old oak frame I bought at the thrift store for $1 (painted it white to match my “soon to be Kitchen theme”.  Then we went “shopping” at Lowes. I really did need paint for the kitchen walls, but my secondary goal was to score a bunch of free color samples for the Calendar. My kids are great at leaving the store with a million of these in hand! I made sure to get the ones that already had a small square cut out of them so I wouldn’t have to do it myself.

I put my son to work deciding what order the different shades of blue should go in. When he was done we taped them down to the paper in the frame, we went with a white background but any color paper or cloth can be used to match your décor. I wrote the days of the week and taped them down also but left the month and number spots blank to fill in with the dry erase marker. Then we put the back on, hung it up and got to writing.

...Our finished Dry Erase Calendar. 

I already had the white paint and white paper, plus the dry erase markers at home. The paint color samples were free. So the only thing I actually bought for this was the frame.  Total cost: $1 

DIY Farmhouse Table...$130 total!

So I decided that at 30 years old, having 3 children now and buying our first home, that it was time for us to own a “grown up” table. Something that wasn't put together with a tool that is included in the box! I wanted a place that all of us could sit for meals and maybe even some extra room for guests when they visit. While I wasn't extremely picky about the look of the table (although my husband would probably disagree with that statement), I was very picky about how much I wanted to spend. I mean come on…why can’t I have a farmhouse style table that sits 8-10 people for under $300. Is that really asking too much? Apparently it was…so I had to either change my plans or change my budget.

Those who know me, know that I’m not great at compromising when I have a plan set in my mind. So I decided my very talented and handy husband could certainly find a way to get me that beautiful table and save us money. Boy was I right! I showed him the picture of what I wanted. 

http://pinterest.com/pin/28429041368203711/

I found it on Pinterest (where else!). He found the plans online at this wonderful website http://ana-white.com/2009/12/plans-farmhouse-table-knock-off-of.html, went off to Lowes to buy the wood, came home and made me a table right in our dining room in just 4 hrs!

After a good sanding I stained it with a color called gun stock  added polyurethane for protection, and viola…a masterpiece! I now have a beautiful 8 ft long farmhouse table that can fit our whole family plus guests. Our only change from the actual plans were to omit the stretcher (long piece of wood that runs under the table) because I could just picture my children hanging all over it!

Its huge! I'm in love

Bad lighting...sorry

Don't mind the mess

Total cost for the wood, a new toy (Kreg jig) my husband needed…oops I meant tool  ;)  the sanding materials and the stain/polyurethane I picked out came to…$130. I can’t even describe how many times I passed by the dining room just to look at it! 

Black & Blue End Table ~ $11.50

Room, room and more room! I’m not complaining…but when you go from an 1200sqft apartment to a 2200sqft home…you seem to have a lot less furniture. I've never had a living room and separate family room before, so we are lacking in furniture. Our living room consisted only of a couch (my husband got a almost new black leather Lay z boy couch from a client for free) and an area rug that we moved from our dining room when we got our “grown up table” (that post will be coming soon…and it is Amazing!) Needless to say…it was lacking not just in furniture, but in character also. I knew I wanted to get an end table that I could “fix up”. Below is a picture of my "inspiration" from Pinterest. Its completely not the color or design I wanted but I loved that they added their own creativity to it. 

 http://pinterest.com/pin/255508978828951930/

So I went to a few different thrift stores over the next week and finally found my diamond in the ruff. It was an old brown end table that had a faint smell of cigarettes…ugh. After some much needed cleaning and sanding, and airing out, it was ready to paint. I went with black (a reoccurring theme you will see throughout my home) and used some of the leftover paint from our bathroom redo to give it some character. Here is a picture of the wood before we started.

And here is the after shot. I love how it turned out, and in total it only cost me $10 for the table and $1.50 for new knobs…can’t beat $11.50. 

Out with the old...in with the Bathroom redo...$100

Well more than just my blog name has changed in the past 1 & ½ years! I’m now a Stay at home mother of three children…Baby William was born in July of 1012. Then a month later in August we bought our first home. Very exciting times but stressful and chaotic too!

One of the beautiful joys of home ownership and raising three children is no longer having money. Okay maybe I’m exaggerating but I definitely don’t enough money to decorate my home with the pottery barn and Pier one magazines that I’d like to. So that’s where Pinterest comes into play. Thousands of pins filled with inspiration just waiting for me to try!

One of our first big projects was the guest bathroom. Its kind of small and it was overpowered by dark wood, yellow tile, and a red laminate counter top…all original to the house! I loved the look of this bathroom  (picture below) I found while on Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/pin/179018153910148751/

I loved how the white stood out and looked so clean next to the cool blue. So we painted the walls with a beautiful blue, put in a smaller white vanity (on sale for $69 at Lowes), and put down laminate peel & stick tiles. In total we spent about $100…and it looks like a whole new space. 

Old Bathroom (the red counter peeking out in the corner)

Fresh and clean!

I Love It! And for just $100...it makes me love it even more. 

$4 Homemade Wall Art

   


     So when you first walk into my house there is a wall straight ahead that has an electrical panel on it. Why they couldn't move it a few feet into the closet...I will never understand. Anyway, I wanted some kind of art to hang there to cover it...without spending a lot of money. The problem was that in order to cover the panel and have the art centered on the space, it would need to be at least 24x36 and fit into our style and color theme!

     I saw a really cute Holiday idea for a mantle that used wooden blocks and thought it would be great if I could alter the idea to make wall art instead of tabletop decor. So I went to the dollar store for inspiration and thats when I found everything I needed.

Paper plates (I used black square plates) - $1
Red decorative filling - $1
Ribbon - $1
Bows (they were actually christmas ornaments) - $1

Total cost = $4

     It turned out really cute and fits the space and our decor perfectly. The best part was the overall price of only $4 and how easy it was to make. The kids loved watching me make it that they wanted to make one of their own. So I went today to pick up different colored plates plates, colored beads and different colored ribbon ofr my daughter and son to make one of their own for each of their bedrooms. I'll update later to let you know how that goes!

Stop and Smell the Roses

     Everyday on our walks we pass this same spot...Anjali always has to stop to pick a flower...this was the first day I stopped and realized that the leaves look like hearts...I think it was Gods way of telling me to slow down and enjoy ♥