Author: Kathleen

  • dutch apple bread (and a baking challenge)

    As I was reading through my More-With-Less cookbook I was overwhelmed with the urge to do some baking. One day I’d love to master baking yeasted bread from scratch, but I’m not quite ready to tackle that yet. For now, I was very inspired by the quick bread section of this particular cookbook.

    Quick bread is any bread leavened without yeast. Technically this could include cakes and brownies and such, but I want to branch out from that. I set myself the goal to try ten new quick bread recipes.

    dutch apple bread

    My first attempt – Dutch apple bread – was rushed and I realized too late that I used baking powder instead of baking soda (I am ALWAYS doing that; I know the difference but they just get mixed up in my mind) but after a quick web search I figured it would probably still turn out fine and thankfully it did! The end result is most likely a little denser and not as full as it should have been but it was still yummy.

    dutch apple bread

    Dutch apple bread 
    adapted from More-With-Less 

    1/2 cup margarine (I used butter)
    1 cup sugar
    2 eggs
    1 teaspoon vanilla
    2 cups flour
    1 teaspoon baking soda
    1/2 teaspoon salt
    1/3 cup sour milk or orange juice (I used buttermilk)
    1 cup chopped apples
    1/3 cup chopped walnuts

    Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla and beat well. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt separately. Add dry ingredients and buttermilk alternately to butter/sugar mix. Fold in apples and walnuts. Bake in greased 9×5 loaf pan for 55 minutes, or until bread tests done (mine needed a few extra minutes).

    dutch apple bread

    Enjoy!

  • app review : kids academy

    Hey, this is a sponsored post – I am being paid to provide a review of these three (free) kids’ apps, but I promise to always give you my honest opinion! 

    So recently I tried out the free versions of these three apps by Kids Academy, and I wanted to share some quick reviews of them.

    Kids Puzzle

    kids puzzle

    This is a straightforward game to teach your child about numbers. It has them tracing the number in order to collect fireflies and fill a jar. You can also create a little profile for your child including a picture which is kind of fun.

    What I thought: It’s a really cute concept. I thought it would be way too hard for Meredith, and it is still a bit beyond her, but she definitely improved over the last couple weeks of using it. However, I’m not sure if the tracing with her finger on the touch screen will translate to actually writing the numbers.

    With the free version, you only get numbers 1 to 3. It costs $3.99 to access all the numbers with an in-app purchase. The parent area is appropriately difficult to access, but when Meredith clicked on it she couldn’t get back to the game which was frustrating for her.

    What Meredith thought: To my surprise she kept coming back to it, despite not being very good! She did ask me to do it for her a lot, but that is also how she learns – by observing. As I said, she got better and now she can do the 2 sometimes. :)

    Find it here.

    Learn to Read & Write

    learn to read & write - kids academy app review

    This app has a few different activities. There are easy mazes, mazes to help teach rhyming words, and uppercase letter tracing. A paid in-app purchase gets you access to activities on lowercase letters, vowels, and writing words.

    What I thought: The mazes are a cute idea. However, your child has to know what the picture actually is to be successful, and some of the pictures even I didn’t know what they were supposed to be. The letter tracing is pretty straightforward, and again I don’t know if it translates to actual writing. This part was kind of beyond Meredith’s ability at barely 3 years old.

    What Meredith thought: This was the most frustrating app for her, so I actually ended up deleting it for now because it would just upset her when she tried it. I think it would be worth retrying in a year or two for sure.

    Find it here.

    Preschool & Kindergarten Learning

    preschool & kindergarten learning - kids academy app review

    This app has a bunch of different activities within it. It actually includes the numbers tracing to collect fireflies and the letter tracing. Then there is also a game that has an animated scene with pictures of things that start with each letter, and as the child touches them they do cute things and light up. It appears that the paid in-app purchase gets you the rest of the letters & numbers for all games (only three are included for each) along with tracing shapes.

    What I thought: This is my favorite for Meredith for now. It has the number tracing, which she likes, and the letters, which are fine for her, and the animated scenes are the most appropriate for her age and I think they are super cute. I am actually tempted to buy this one, but it’s $9.99 so…I probably won’t. :)

    What Meredith thought: As I mentioned, she really enjoys the tracing even though she’s not too good at it. And she likes that she can do the scenes on her own. She keeps coming back to this app!

    Find it here.

    Do you have any toddler apps to recommend?

  • link roundup / 13

    link roundup

    Today I’m sharing some stuff I found around the Internet. Not as many links today because I’ve been buried in continuing education classes for work, but these are definitely worth checking out! Enjoy!

    >Get your Ultimate Healthy Living Bundle! It’s awesome, trust me, and only available until Monday.

    >I’m always impressed with Ali Edwards’ week in the life project, but have never taken one on myself. I wonder if this is the year? Her new project kits look so cool!

    >My all-time favorite TV show, Gilmore Girls, is going be streaming on Netflix soon! Ten episodes that will get anyone hooked – they listed my favorite first! (My dad shared this link with me – he knows what’s up.)

    >This used to be me…but it’s not anymore. :)

    >A free printable for your office that is so true for me!

    >Whoa, super inspired by this video and now I want to take this ecourse.

    >I am SO in love with this kitchen renovation.

    >The sentimentalist’s guide to dealing with children’s school papers.

    Check back later today for a review of some fun kids’ apps I tried out!

  • currently

    currently

    Genius: Meredith goes through phases where she has these daily screaming meltdowns, and we were in one this week. I am never sure what is the answer to these, because sometimes she’s done something that needs punishing, and other times she just flips out. One day this week we were trying to get out the door to head to daycare/work and she was screaming and crying. Thank God for the extra dose of patience and optimism that I had prayed for that morning, because I picked her up and started singing “This is the day the Lord has made…” and she immediately calmed down and asked me to sing it several more times. She even asked what it meant and we talked about having a happy day. Now this might never work again, but for that morning I felt pretty awesome.

    Fail: two money-wasting incidents that were completely my fault here. 1) I had a doctor’s appointment in the medical center where parking is super expensive. I got my smart chip when I entered the parking garage and put it in my pocket to keep it safe. When I got back to my car I couldn’t find the chip anywhere so I had to pay $20 to get out. The next day, I found the chip in my pocket. Ugh.

    2) I’m scrambling to complete all my continuing education hours to renew my oncology certification by Monday, and I needed about 75 (which is a LOT). So I paid $35 for unlimited courses at nurse.com, only to realize once I signed up that the courses offered are the exact same ones that my hospital offers for free. Double ugh.

    Currently:

    planning my autumn goals, including lots of ideas from the Ultimate Healthy Living Bundle (I really want to get serious about natural health remedies one of these days)

    stressing about all those CEU’s

    trying not to let this week get the best of me

    struggling with how to discipline (the worst part of parenting, am I right?)

    concerned about my dwindling freezer stash of breastmilk

    drinking more cafe mochas than I should

    attending a van tour with this organization tomorrow

    running on the treadmill most days, since it’s been breaking 100 degrees here lately

    loving my new craft room – the smaller, more organized space is so inspiring

    almost halfway through the binding on my quilt

    looking forward to finishing for so many reasons

    missing cross stitch lately

    relieved that the weekend is here

    ”A

  • 30 days of lists : days 1 – 10

    This month I’m participating in 30 days of lists, a fun journaling idea that challenges you to make one list each day. I’ve been sharing mine daily on Instagram, but today I’m sharing the first ten days with you here.

    list 1

    list 2

    list 3

    list 4

    list 5

    list 6

    list 7

    list 8

    list 9

    list 10

    Obviously I’m keeping it super simple! I stamped out the prompts beforehand, and each day I add the washi tape and my list, then snap a quick photo. It’s been easy and fun to keep up with. I love fun little projects like this every once in awhile, and I’ve enjoyed looking through the hashtag #30lists on Instagram to see what everyone else includes on their lists.