A Simple Abundance

Living a minimalist life to the fullest!

Yummy Summer Salad

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I love to try new recipes – especially in the summer.  This one makes my mouth water just thinking about it.  I call it the “Yummy Summer Salad” because I don’t know the name.

A couple of months ago, we went to visit some friends in Alabama and they made it for us.  Megan told me that she picked it up in a grocery store salad bar one time and asked them the recipe.  I’m sure it has been tweaked a bit over the years.

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Recipe

Salad

  • 2-3 cans of chickpeas drained and rinsed
  • 1 bag of thawed organic edamame
  • 1 small bag of crasins
  • 3-4 chopped carrots
  • 1 tub of feta

Dressing

  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Mix all Salad ingredients together.  Whisk the dressing together and pour over salad.  Mix everything together well.

This salad is good right away but gets better as the flavors meld.  I say make it the day before you eat it.

Thank you to Megan Brantley for introducing me to it!

Homemade Vanilla Extract

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I’m so excited to share this post! I don’t think I have ever been more thrilled about the outcome of a gift that I created.  I proudly present — Homemade Vanilla Extract!

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In July I started dreaming of Christmas 2016 and so I took to Pinterest. I found a post about extracts and how easy it is to make them.  I locked in on vanilla extract and an idea was born. I was going to make it for Christmas presents.

The process is super easy. All you need are good quality vanilla beans and cheap vodka or bourbon. We purchased bourbon vanilla beans for this recipe. Cut the beans lengthwise to expose the seeds and immerse in the vodka.  Let it steep for at least a month. I couldn’t wait, so I started my batch in August which produced a dark and beautiful vanilla.

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Bourbon Vanilla Beans

 

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Cut them in half lengthwise and then cut them to fit the size of the bottle.

 

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Before the vodka.

 

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Five minutes after filling with vodka, the beans are already starting to steep.

 

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This bottle has been steeping for one week.

My next step was to design labels. Since the Hubs is a graphic designer — who incidentally designed my logo and blog — I asked him to help. He came up with the idea of putting my logo on the labels and giving it a Christmas vibe. He then designed the back label with directions and ingredients. When they arrived in the mail, I fell in love with them! I couldn’t believe how beautiful they turned out!

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If you don’t have a graphic designer available, you can easily design and print your labels at Evermine. I love their stuff and will likely use them for my Christmas Potpourri tags next year.

The final result looks professional and beautiful. I have to thank the Hubs for his great work and for helping me find the little bottles.

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From our house to yours, Merry Christmas! We wish you a prosperous and happy 2017!

If this post could save a life…

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October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Its also the month my mom was born – and passed away from breast cancer. I’ve been pondering a post on my blog all month and only have a few days left, so here it is.

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Mom was diagnosed with Stage III Metastatic Breast Cancer in August of 2012 and passed away October of 2014. She found a lump about 6 months before she went to the doctor and I believe that she would be here today if she had sought help earlier. There is nothing I can do to change history, but I hope her story can help someone else.

Early detection of breast cancer is key.  

I know you have heard that statement a thousand times – and it’s true. Early detection can save your life. The American Cancer Society has published research on the survival rates of early detection and they are much higher and require less overall treatment than those who are diagnosed with late stage (III & IV).

Ladies, its important to start getting yearly mammograms at 40.  Most insurance plans will pay 100% of your screening.  If you don’t have insurance, there are programs out there who will help you get one for free.  You should also perform the super easy monthly self-exam,  and have your PCP and GYN perform them during yearly appointments.

I had a scare in the fall of 2011. I found a lump on my left breast and was scared to death to go to the doctor and find out if I had breast cancer. A million thoughts ran through my head about what would happen if I had it. The prevailing thought was that the adoption agency wouldn’t let us adopt if I had breast cancer. We were working with a local agency and had just completed the 2nd step of their program.

My husband urged me to go to my doctor and she was concerned enough to send me to get an ultrasound. It turned out that I had a clogged duct that went away after a month. I found out later that many women who find lumps don’t have breast cancer.

My post today is in honor of my beautiful mother. If she were here, she would stand beside me and echo my words. Get tested. Get tested yearly and don’t be afraid to go to the doctor if you find something. If found early, your chances of survival are greatly increased.

Interested in helping cancer research?  Donate to the American Cancer Society.

My Latest Obsession: Bullet Journaling

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If you are like me, there is never enough time to get everything accomplished that you want to. I often think that I have 24 hours in a day and so do some of the most successful people in the world. We are all equal from that perspective, but we differ in how we spend our time.

I love to make lists and check them off. I heard on a TED Talk once that checking off items on a list actually gives you a momentary endorphin rush. I guess I’m addicted to that feeling because I live for checking those items off. To that end, I was searching for a new way to keep my schedule and lists in a handy system. I’m tired of using my smart phone for everything so I decided to try an analog system.

To my surprise, Pinterest led me right to the greatest thing since sliced bread IMHO — The Bullet Journal. You can organize it to make sense for your life. If you crave creativity like I do, you can embellish to your heart’s content.  Or, you can be as straightforward as you like. Its completely up to you. Search for it on Pinterest or Instagram for inspiration.

I discovered this gem only 72 hours ago and I’m already knee deep in it. My husband and I ran over to the craft store yesterday where he helped me pick out markers and pens that wouldn’t bleed and do what I wanted them to do. I already had a brand new journal to keep track of things at work so I was set.

I’ve been pouring over pictures and ideas on Pinterest, and most of what I’ve done so far is borrowed from the layouts of others. I’ll probably do that for a while until I find what works best for me and then branch out on my own. I find that creating my pages is incredibly calming and helps me to shut out all of the other things going on in my mind that stress me out.

Here are a couple of pictures of the calendar I am working on.

Month at a Glance

Month at a Glance

 

A week in the life at work...

A week in the life at work…

I challenged myself to read two books each month over the summer. I used to read a lot but not so much in the last several years. I’m staying away from leadership and self-help books mostly and just reading novels (especially action thrillers!). I decided that I would develop a page for my journal to help keep track of books that I read for the rest of 2016.

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My little book case

I’m already thinking of other things I can keep track of. The list goes on and on. Here are just a few ideas:

  • Movies I want to see
  • Restaurants I want to try
  • Places I want to visit — or a map of places I have visited recently
  • House improvements I want to make
  • Pictures for a very important album
  • Recipes
  • Daily gratitudes
  • Quotes/Bible verses
  • Weight training reps and graphs
  • Blogging ideas

I’m fully aware that I can keep track of all of these in an app that does all of the work for me, and I have used many of them — I’m just ready for a different perspective and to pry my smart phone from my hands.

If you have already discovered bullet journaling, please post a picture of one of your layouts below. I’d love to see what you have done!