peace, love, and crafts » food is my friend

psl love.

Kristen McAshan — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 15:13:59 +0000

one day…i believe there will be a starbucks (or any decent coffee shop for that matter) placed near my house out in the sticks. one day. until then….i will enjoy my 40 minute round trip to starbucks and back for that perfect *decaf, soy, no whip, no sprinkles pumpkin spice latte* it was so worth it.

went perfectly with heart pancakes. spent the rest of the day with husband. even though we cleaned out the garage half of the day it was fun. he let me play Christmas music. i don’t know what it is…well i do know. i heart Christmas. but it seems i have started EXTRA early this year. but that’s okay. :) i LOVE putting frank sinatra holiday on pandora and listening to all the amazing oldies holiday music. baby has been kicking (or punching) like it’s its job lately. i think its the music. its a fan too. ;)

hope everyone enjoys there day today! it’s nice and cool and rainy here. *smiles*

peace and love
xox

new adventure.

Kristen McAshan — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 01:32:37 +0000

husband and i took a trip downtown to visit another birthing center today. fell in love. this is definitely a new adventure for us…along with our first baby! we haven’t made our decision yet as to who we are going to go with but i am so excited. i fell in love with this midwife. she’s been doing it for 36 years! i think she knows what she’s doing. this is a huge decision to make and i just wanted to share a little bit with y’all! will definitely let y’all know what we do and of course the whole experience with it.

also got a new watch today! 12 bucks. can’t complain. i made the mistake of letting my niece play with my last watch and now i can’t find it. ha.

ps. this is my fav drink of the moment. :) barely has any caffeine so i am good to go. and it’s called peace tea. who doesn’t want to drink that?! what’s your favorite drink??

peace and love
xox

friday :)

Kristen McAshan — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 15:23:50 +0000

this was a long week! but went by fast….is that possible? just glad it’s friday.

on wednesday we went to have my 12 week prenatal visit. this was the second ultra sound and it was amazing! i thought my first one of a tiny blob was a miracle, but after seeing this one….it looked like a real baby! ha. God is amazing. baby was moving around like crazy! dr said it was happy…pretty sure it was because i literally just had lunch. :) i can’t wait to actually feel the baby moving.

this week has been a little crazy and busy so haven’t hung out with husband that much so we’re making it a date night tonight. i’m feeling an ice cream date. that sounds amazing right now.

still have a lot to do with the house. need to make a little field trip (more like a long field trip) to ikea and get some cute (affordable) storage bins. i LOVE organizing! can’t wait to start my craft room. it might be the last thing i do….sigh. can’t wait to get back in the groove!

so i said i would start the weekly pics at week 12….so it’s about that time. get excited!! ps…my sister in law gave me some maternity clothes! i am super excited about that. i want to wear them now…but not quite ready.

come back later to check out my 12 week pic! everyone have a great day and weekend!!!!
ps. i had this huge craving for chicken tortilla soup at mcalister’s deli for abut 2 weeks now…and i am glad to say i FINALLY got it. it was about an hour drive but it was well worth it. i want it again too. it was so momentous i made husband take a pic of me. haha

crazy eyes waiting for my food.

glorious.

peace and love
xox

earth day!!

Kristen McAshan — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 18:37:33 +0000

happy earth day everyone!! with the girls today. they learned about making the earth happy on dora. awesome. :) thanks to Kristin at What are we doing today Mom? we rolled, baked, decorated, admired, and of course ate these!! tons of fun and threw in some education :)

who needs napkins…

enjoy your day!!! excited about doing some sewing later tonight! we shall see how it turns out…

peace and love
xox

full time chef

Kristen McAshan — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 04:34:55 +0000

so i realized why i have not been able to post anything as much as i used to….we went vegan for 5 weeks. that literally is another full time job on top of everything else i do. don’t get me wrong…i absolutely loved it. loved the food and recipes we had, loved the healthiness, loved the extra energy all day long…but very time consuming. we are off vegan for now…but definitely incorporating it into our own less time consuming version of a diet.

he really just wanted to eat…and i wanted a pic. priceless.

after 5 weeks of no chick fil a (only my fav place to eat ever) husband surprised me to a dinner there. it was magical. but then i felt all full and weird afterward. lol now that we are not as hard core, hopefully i will have more time to post!!! here are some pics of some meals we had. they are fabulous!

man. i’m hungry now. new week. lots going on. some fun…some not so fun. spending time with my family at least. enjoy your days…be thankful. be blessed. tell your loved ones you love them. oh and eat healthy! :)

peace and love
xox

embroidery love.

Kristen McAshan — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 21:19:23 +0000

your embroidery by helen brooks. my mom gave me this book of hers awhile back and i haven’t read it yet…but i already love it.

1949….awesome.

there’s probably stuff in here we don’t see much anymore…i should learn. :)

having a good friday! getting stuff done. started a new school term: Psychological and Spiritual Aspects of Healing, and Nutrition Across the Human Life Cycle. super excited.

speaking of nutrition. made quinoa salad for lunch. pretty sure i could have eaten 5 more helpings of it. :) don’t worry…i had to look up what that was…AND where it would be located in the grocery store, because i had no idea where to look (and i’m too shy to ask anyone there..ha)

working hard the rest of the day. then youth dinner and movie night! have a great weekend!!!!

peace and love
xox

smoothies=new obsession.

Kristen McAshan — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 00:06:01 +0000

bananas. they are interesting. there are times when i buy a bunch of them and we eat them all up really fast..then there are days when i buy a bunch and we don’t eat them…lol and they start to get brown and i do not eat mushy bananas. sooo instead of throwing them away…freeze them!!!!

i normally make banana smoothies…thick smoothies…mmmm.
(for one decent size smoothie)

* 1 frozen banana
* 4 ice cubes
* soymilk (enough to mix it but not too much where it’s not thick)
* spoonful of reduced fat peanut butter

this makes a delish drink. today i felt adventurous and made a new drink. not gonna lie…it’s not as good as my banana smoothie but it’s pretty good and very healthy!

green. i know what you’re thinking. haha. i was nervous too. not sure what to call it yet but this is what it is…

* 1 frozen banana
* 1 frozen peach
* handful of fresh spinach greens
* 1 cup or more of water

this smoothie will help alkalize the body….and no more colds! :) just a little tip for ya. so hopefully no cold for my hubby. i made him drink one. no open mic night tonight for him..sad day. but this way i’ll get some stuff done around the house and actually cook some din. have a great night!!!

peace and love
xox

some loves…

Kristen McAshan — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 18:49:40 +0000

so it’s a new year…and a new job!! i am happy to say that i get to take care of/play/teach 3 of my wonderful nieces all day. they are a handful but i absolutely love it and them. so this week i have been working on my new routine and getting everything settled back in from the holidays. now i can get back in the groove of my classes and crafts! i’m excited…so in the mean time, here are a few loves that i have…

colorful candy!! (that I thankfully have cut back on) :)

colored twizzlers?! sweetness.

rockband parties.

took down the ornaments and added streamers=a new year’s tree!

all of these yummy veggies…

plus a new food processor…

equals awesome homemade salsa!!

heart shaped pancakes…yes please!

and a hubby playing music for me in the kitchen while i cook. :)

i like how most of these loves are about food…hahaha. what can i say? i like food. more fun pictures to come!!! oooh AND i am getting extra excited for STYLE SCHOOL to start next week. going to be busy! have a great thursday!!! and of course….HOOK EM!!! championship game tonight!!

peace and love
xox

cake balls to the rescue

Kristen McAshan — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 18:04:34 +0000

changing it up….baking!!!!!!! everyone loves baking. giving all the credit to my bestie, Beth, who so graciously let me help her make these beauties one day. these are treats you make for everyone else because there are so many and so evil. ; )

not sure what the official name is….so let’s go with **red velvet cake balls** classic.

it’s super easy and messy…but fun! here’s what you need. (these are the ones I chose but any brand will work)

*red velvet cake mix*cream cheese icing*baking white chocolate (or milk chocolate)*

1. mix the cake mix together (box says to use canola oil and eggs so don’t forget those)

doesn’t it look fabulous

2. place in pan (you can use all sorts of sizes. the box informs you of how long to cook in the oven according to the size) we used the good ole 9×13 in. and cooked for about 35 minutes in the oven. so this is when you can do other crafts while waiting : ) oh and maybe drink some coffee. then yay

again, looks fab.

3. let it cool for about 30 minutes. you can speed up the process using the freezer too. once it’s cool, you can start getting messy and crumble up the cake in another bowl.

well done ellen : ) (she helped me out)

4. take the lovely container of cream cheese icing and mix it into the crumbles. now if you do not want your fingers to be pink for a few hours or so then assign someone else this project. ; )

the best part.

5. again we placed the mix into the freezer to make the batter hard and easier to clump together. (clump is a funny word) we made them about quarter size, but you can make them however big or small. I think the smaller the more fun, then that way you have a lot…to share.

we placed them back in the original pan, and had to use another pan since there were so many.

6. while the balls were in the freezer (and there is no particular time how long to keep them in there, just as long as they are hardened) we melted the white chocolate bars. again you can use regular chocolate or even dark.

amazing white chocolate

7. then smother the cake balls in the white chocolate and set aside to dry. if you have extra you can cover them some more with extra goodness.

we placed them back in the pans so we could freeze them again. they can be eaten at room temperature or frozen. in my opinion I love them frozen.

8. if you have even more extra chocolate, or just to change them up a bit, you can use a fork to sprinkle more chocolate (because you can never have enough). plus they look fun!

ahhhhmazing.

9. it doesn’t take long for them to harden, so you can place them in a container in the freezer or eat them!

: )

9 steps seem like a lot but it’s soooo worth it. thanks again beth!! you’re the best. plus everyone at my work will be happy.
if anyone tries this let me know how it works!! or if you change it up and get crazy!

peace and love
xox

*joy is the best makeup -Anne Lamott