Finished Friday #56

Welcome to another edition of Finished Friday and our first edition with thumbnail links! Yay!

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This week's featured posts...

Check out this adorable (and healthy) Grover Snack from Creative Kid Snacks.

 

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 Lauren shared her awesome graphic designer skills with her Free Fall Decor Printable. 

 

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Libby also shared a delicious sounding recipe for Caramel Chocolate Crunchers. 

 

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First Day of School Pictures {Finished Friday #55} Come & link up your projects, too!

Link up your finished projects at the bottom of this post.

This was our first official week of homeschool for the year. I think we have a great looking group of kiddos this year :)

Emahry - Kindergarten
so excited about school that it's the first thing she's asked about every morning

Jonathan - PreK
cried when I told him we were finished with school for the day
(Yes he's sporting a shiner. It was a case of eye socket meets sister's head while playing tag.)

Eliya - pre-pre-PreK
loves doing school like the big kids

Amelia - pre-pre-pre-PreK
somehow finds a way to get in the middle of every single activity

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Today's Question: Is your family back into the school-time routine? What's been the biggest challenge with the start of school this year?

Okay, now on to the link-up...

I'm trying to hold myself accountable to finish some of the projects on my to do list by posting each Friday about a project I've completed.

Would you like to join in? Link up to your own projects below.

1. Link to your project post, not your blog's home page, so we can find it easily.
2. Let us know what project you are sharing in your title, for example: Spring Wreath
3. We'd love it if your post links back here so that your readers can come join the fun. Feel free to copy & paste our Finished Friday Button into your post. (Just copy the text in the box below the button, click on the "Edit HTML" tab for your post and paste it there.)
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Quick, Easy, and Healthy Homemade Mayonnaise with a Hand Blender {Finished Friday #54} come and link up your projects, too!

Link up your finished projects at the bottom of this post.

Mayonnaise is one of the items that has been difficult for me to buy for quite some time. Either I wasn't pleased with the ingredients or the price was way out of our budget. Thankfully, now I don't have to worry about whether I can afford mayo I feel good serving my family!

Several months ago I stumbled upon making mayo in the blender. While it tasted great, it was also a little time consuming. So I was very excited when I discovered that you can use a hand blender to make mayo quickly and easily.

It just so happens that my parents bought us an immersion hand blender for Christmas and we have been using it a lot. In fact, there haven't been many weeks when we haven't pulled it out for one reason or another.

One of my favorite uses for our hand blender is making healthy and extremely easy homemade mayo. Did you know that was even possibly?

Now I've been making fresh, healthy mayo every week, mostly to use in some of our favorite creamy salad dressing which we'll be sharing soon.

Quick, Easy, & Healthy Homemade Mayonnaise

1 whole egg, room temperature*
1 egg yolk, room temperature*
1 Tablespoon white vinegar
1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
2 teaspoons sugar (we use powdered sucanat)
1/4 teaspoon lemon juice (lime juice works as well)
1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
2/3 cup olive oil** (light tasting olive oil makes a milder mayo, EVOO will make the may taste like olive oil)
1/3 cup coconut oil**, melted (extra virgin coconut oil adds a sweetness and coconut flavor, expeller pressed or refined coconut oil is flavorless)

*You can bring eggs to room temperature more quickly by submerging them (still in the shell) in warm water for 5-10 minutes until they no longer feel chilled to the touch. Room temperature eggs emulsify better than cold eggs. You can also use 2 egg yolks for a richer mayo.

**You can adjust the olive oil to coconut oil ratio, just remember that coconut oil solidifies at lower temperatures so your mayo might get hard in the fridge.

1. Place whole egg and egg yolk at the bottom of the container that came with the hand blender, or another container of similar size. We typically use a wide mouth canning jar.

2. Add the remaining ingredients except for the oils.

3. Place the immersion blender (still off) into the container and press it against the bottom so that it covers the egg yolks.

4. Pour the oils into the container.

5. Pulse the hand blender slowly until you see the mixture turn lighter. Then move the blender up and down (staying under the surface) a few times until you have a rich, creamy mayonnaise.

Check our video here. Sorry it's sideways :)

Yield: approximately 1 1/4 cups

If your mayonnaise is more like mayo soup, doesn't thicken, and begins to separate that means it did not emulsify. Never fear, you can still fix it! Pour your mayo soup into another container and place a room temperature egg yolk into the blending container. Now cover the egg yolk with the (still off) immersion blender and pour the "mayo soup" into the container. Pulse slowly until you see the mayo turn lighter, move the hand blender up slowly and you should feel the mayo getting thicker. Move the blender up and down until all of the ingredients have been incorporated.

This mayonnaise will keep in the fridge in an airtight container for about 2 weeks.

This recipe can also be used to make lacto-fermented mayo which is even more nutritious and will last at least twice as long in the fridge. Simply stir 1 Tbsp of whey into the finished mayo. Cover the container with a cloth and leave it on the counter for 6-7 hours. Then place it in an airtight container in the fridge.

Making homemade mayonnaise is a great recipe in which to involve your kids. All of our kids love adding ingredients to the jar and our five year old can even do a little of the blending herself. 

We'll be sharing some of our favorite homemade salad dressings made with this mayo soon. Subscribe to our free updates so you don't miss them.

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Today's Question: How do you use mayonnaise in your home? What recipe would you like for us to try with this homemade mayo?

Okay, now on to the link-up...

I'm trying to hold myself accountable to finish some of the projects on my to do list by posting each Friday about a project I've completed.

Would you like to join in? Link up to your own projects below.

1. Link to your project post, not your blog's home page, so we can find it easily.
2. Let us know what project you are sharing in your title, for example: Spring Wreath
3. We'd love it if your post links back here so that your readers can come join the fun. Feel free to copy & paste our Finished Friday Button into your post. (Just copy the text in the box below the button, click on the "Edit HTML" tab for your post and paste it there.)
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Building Our Chicken Coop {Finished Friday #53} Come link up your projects, too!

Link up your finished projects at the bottom of this post.

Earlier this week our hens started leaving some of these little goodies for us to find in their chicken run.

Finding our long awaited eggs lying in the grass gave us a little extra motivation to get the chicken coop and nesting boxes finished.

Tim's put in long hours on the coop and nesting boxes this past week and thankfully, the kids and I have been able to help a little bit, too.

Amelia slept on my back right through the sawing :)

Tim's actually done a lot more to the coop, but since it's not at our house, I haven't taken a finished photo yet. It's now attached to the chicken run and the hens (and a few roosters) have been enjoying the extra room and shade. Now we just need to train the hens to lay in the nesting boxes.

Here are the four eggs Tim collected tonight (on the left). Hens typically start by laying small eggs, called pullet eggs. The eggs will continue to grow larger as the hens get older. For comparison the eggs on the right are Large eggs.

Today's Questions: What projects were you able to finish this week? What to you hope to complete next week?

Okay, now on to the link-up...

I'm trying to hold myself accountable to finish some of the projects on my to do list by posting each Friday about a project I've completed.

Would you like to join in? Link up to your own projects below.

1. Link to your project post, not your blog's home page, so we can find it easily.
2. Let us know what project you are sharing in your title, for example: Spring Wreath
3. We'd love it if your post links back here so that your readers can come join the fun. Feel free to copy & paste our Finished Friday Button into your post. (Just copy the text in the box below the button, click on the "Edit HTML" tab for your post and paste it there.)
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Finished Friday #52 {Come link up your projects!}

Link up your finished projects at the bottom of this post.

Finally, a week where I accomplished at least one project that has absolutely nothing to do with tomatoes!

This week we were able to nail down our learning plans for the year.

We're thrilled that we'll be spending almost nothing out of pocket for homeschooling our daughter through Kindergarten and our son through Preschool (as well as our other daughter through Pre-Pre-Preschool...and I guess that means the Baby's in Pre-Pre-Pre-PreSchool).

Click here to see what we'll be learning about together.

Of, course we did manage to squeeze in canning three more batches of Spaghetti Sauce. Our pantry is full!

Today's Questions: What projects were you able to finish this week? What to you hope to complete next week?

Okay, now on to the link-up...

I'm trying to hold myself accountable to finish some of the projects on my to do list by posting each Friday about a project I've completed.

Would you like to join in? Link up to your own projects below.

1. Link to your project post, not your blog's home page, so we can find it easily.
2. Let us know what project you are sharing in your title, for example: Spring Wreath
3. We'd love it if your post links back here so that your readers can come join the fun. Feel free to copy & paste our Finished Friday Button into your post. (Just copy the text in the box below the button, click on the "Edit HTML" tab for your post and paste it there.)
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Spaghetti Sauce for Canning {Finished Friday #51} Come and link up your projects, too!

Link up your finished projects at the bottom of this post.

I know you're probably getting tired of hearing about tomatoes, right?

But, then again, just think how I feel.

This week we finally got into canning tomato sauce. We've used this sauce recipe for a few years and we're very pleased with the simplicity and taste.

Spaghetti Sauce for Canning
adapted from this recipe at Cooks.com

yield: approximately 9 pints

1/4 bushel tomatoes, cored, blanched, & peeled, approximately 32 cups (we use a mixture of Roma and what ever other red tomatoes Tim decides to plant)
1 large onion, peeled and chopped
1 medium green bell pepper, chopped
1/2 cup oil
2 Tbsp dried parsley
2 Tbsp dried oregano
2 Tbsp dried basil
1 Tbsp minced garlic
2 Tbsp salt
6 Tbsp sugar
24 oz. tomato paste

In an 8-Quart or larger pot, cook the onion and pepper in the oil over medium heat until soft. Add tomatoes and cook until very soft. (As you can see this recipe just barely fits in an 8-Quart pot.)

Add the tomato paste and mash until desired consistency. We use our immersion hand blender to make this really quick and easy.

Add seasonings and cook down until thick. We usually cook at a simmer for 8-10 hours. Process in a hot water bath for 50 minutes or in a pressure canner for 20 minutes at 10 lbs.

By the way, these are some of my best friends right now. Seriously, how did I ever can without them?!?

Today's Questions: What projects did you finish this week?

Okay, now on to the link-up...

I'm trying to hold myself accountable to finish some of the projects on my to do list by posting each Friday about a project I've completed.

Would you like to join in? Link up to your own projects below.

1. Link to your project post, not your blog's home page, so we can find it easily.
2. Let us know what project you are sharing in your title, for example: Spring Wreath
3. We'd love it if your post links back here so that your readers can come join the fun. Feel free to copy & paste our Finished Friday Button into your post. (Just copy the text in the box below the button, click on the "Edit HTML" tab for your post and paste it there.)
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Finished Friday Features and Link-Up #50

Link up your finished projects at the bottom of this post.

Our week has been filled to the brim and running over with tomatoes. Thankfully there were a few small ways to get the kids involved, check out the "smushing" going on below :)

But since I talked tomatoes last week, I thought I'd feature some of my favorite posts from July's Finished Friday link-ups.

Please pin from the original sites.

Dorothy shared these drool worthy Carrot Cake Cinnamon Rolls.

These Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies from Samantha sound perfect to me. How do you like your chocolate chip cookies?

Speaking of chocolate, Heather shared her recipe for easy, healthy homemade chocolates and I'm so glad she did. Yes, I made them. Yes, they were delicious!

Marissa showed us all a super easy way to gather fabric when sewing. Since I have limited sewing time, I can't wait to try her tip.

Paula also made my day when she posted her secret for an Easy, Five-Minute, Layered Haircut. I cut Emahry's hair and my own hair that same afternoon. We both had great results!

Today's Questions: What projects did you finish this week?

Okay, now on to the link-up...

I'm trying to hold myself accountable to finish some of the projects on my to do list by posting each Friday about a project I've completed.

Would you like to join in? Link up to your own projects below.

1. Link to your project post, not your blog's home page, so we can find it easily.
2. Let us know what project you are sharing in your title, for example: Spring Wreath
3. We'd love it if your post links back here so that your readers can come join the fun. Feel free to copy & paste our Finished Friday Button into your post. (Just copy the text in the box below the button, click on the "Edit HTML" tab for your post and paste it there.)
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Where the linky says "Your Name" please enter the name of your project or the title of your post!

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Preserving Fresh Produce {Finished Friday #49} Come and link up your finished projects, too!

Link up your finished projects at the bottom of this post.
Also be sure to check out our Early Learning Prize Pack Giveaway ($60 Value).

This week we've been overwhelmed with fresh produce from our garden. This definitely isn't a bad thing, but we have so much that we've decided to freeze most of it until we can get around to canning.

There's been lots of yellow squash that is easily sliced and frozen for making Creamy Summer Squash Soup later. We have even more stored in our extra freezer at my parents' home.

We've also had lots and lots of tomatoes, which we've blanched, peeled and frozen for making tomato sauce later. I like to freeze the gallon bags on a flat surface and then stand them upright so they take up less room. (You can also see a glimpse of a bag of chopped banana peppers and our veggie scrap bin that we store extra bits in until we have enough for a big batch of vegetable broth.)

We also have these tomatoes that were blanched and cooled before we peeled, bagged, smushed (the kids' favorite part) and froze. This filled another 2 1/2 gallon bags. We combined the last half with the half filled bag you see in the freezer above.

And the tomatoes in this 5 gallon bucket filled another 4 bags for a total of 12 bags of tomatoes in our freezer alone. (We have a few more bags in our extra freezer.)

Oh, and these green and yellow tomatoes that we picked off of a couple plants that had to be pulled up because the bugs were getting crazy. (Plus the big batch of Salsa Verde that is already in the fridge ~ thanks, Tim.)

We also have a bag of unexpected potatoes that I don't know what to do with yet.

So while we might have a lot done we still have a long way to go. Wish us luck!

While we enjoy the fruits (and vegetables) of our labors, we are also still enjoying many, many garden books together. Check out some of our favorite garden and plant books for kids with pictures and reviews.

Today's Questions: Have you preserved any fresh produce so far this summer?

I'm trying to hold myself accountable to finish some of the projects on my to do list by posting each Friday about a project I've completed.

Would you like to join in? Link up to your own projects below.

1. Link to your project post, not your blog's home page, so we can find it easily.
2. Let us know what project you are sharing in your title, for example: Spring Wreath
3. We'd love it if your post links back here so that your readers can come join the fun. Feel free to copy & paste our Finished Friday Button into your post. (Just copy the text in the box below the button, click on the "Edit HTML" tab for your post and paste it there.)
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