Roundup

Simple No-Fry Doughnuts

This time around with baby #2 on the way, all I have ever been wanting to eat is doughnuts...? Why not, I say..! Anyway I stumbled upon this easy recipe and have been doing a little baking of my own;

Simple No-Fry Doughnuts:

For a printable--> here + here!

 15 doughnuts:

Dough

3/4 cups Warm Milk

1 packet Active Dry Yeast

1 tbsp. Unsalted Butter

1/3 cup Sugar

1 Egg

2 ½ cup All Purpose Flour

Pinch of Nutmeg

½ tsp. Salt

Glaze

Will make enough to glaze all the doughnuts

¼ cup Milk

1 tsp. Pure Vanilla Extract

2 cups Confectioners Sugar

For the Cinnamon Sugar Topping

Will make enough to cover all of the doughnuts

½ cup Unsalted Butter

1 cup Sugar

1 tbsp. Cinnamon 

DOUGH:
¼ cups of the warm milk in the bowl of a stand mixer.  Sprinkle the yeast over the milk.  Let sit for 5 minutes.

In a small bowl, combine the remaining ½ cup of milk with the sugar and butter.  Add it to the yeast mixture.  Stir to combine.  Add the egg and stir until mixed.  Add flour, nutmeg, and salt and stir until the dough starts to form.  Change to the dough hook and knead for until the dough becomes smooth.  {If dough is too sticky, slowly add more flour.}

Transfer to the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead for 5 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic and has formed a ball.  Place the dough ball in a large lightly greased bowl, and cover with plastic wrap.  Let sit in a warm place for about 1 hour, until doubled in size. 

Once the dough has doubled, roll it out on a lightly floured surface until ½ thick.  Using a doughnut cutter (if you don’t have a doughnut cutter, you can use 2 biscuit cutters – 1 that is about 3 inches, and the other that is about 2 inches for the inner circle) cut out the doughnuts until you have no dough left.

Place the doughnuts on a baking sheet lined with a silicone mat or parchment paper, about 2 inches apart.  Cover with a clean towel and let sit for about 45 minutes.

Preheat the oven 375 degrees F. 

Place the baking sheets in the oven and bake for 7 minutes, until lightly golden brown.  Be careful to not overbake these.  You want them to be light and doughy inside.  Let the doughnuts cool for about 5 minutes until ready to top with either the glaze or cinnamon sugar topping

While the doughnuts are cooling make the glaze and/or cinnamon sugar glaze.  Each recipe makes enough to cover all the doughnuts.  I made a half recipe of each and topped half of the doughnuts with each topping.  Or you can choose to just do one of topping for all the doughnuts. 

GLAZE:
 combine the milk and the vanilla in a small saucepan.  Heat over low heat until just warmed.  Slowly add in the confectioners sugar and whisk until the mixture is smooth.  Remove the glaze from the heat and place over a bowl of warm water.

To glaze the doughnuts, dip them halfway into the glaze and place on a draining/cooling rack set over a baking sheet.  Sprinkle with sprinkles if desired.  Let set for about 10 minutes.

CINNAMON SUGAR:melt the butter in a saucepan or a microwave, and place in a small bowl.  Combine the sugar and cinnamon in a medium sized bowl. 

To top the doughnuts with cinnamon sugar, dip the halfway into the melted butter.  Then dip them into the cinnamon-sugar mixture.  Set on a draining/cooling rack to set, about 5 minutes.

Boy Child

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 After finding out last week that we are expecting a BOY early this June, I spent a billion hours online this weekend rounding up some of my favorite looks/clothing. We are over the moon that the babe is going to be a mancub.. one girl, one boy, one happy family. Anyhow,  I thought I would share some of my favorites:

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Sorry, some of the links lead to sold out items, but I thought it was still fun to look at.

Roundup

cold and flu season: fight back!

If your neck of the woods is anything like ours, everyone is getting sick.  The boys and I are especially susceptible as we are at school all day, surrounded by trillions (gazillions?) of germs.  Little O has already had an ear infection this year, as in 2013.  I have come down with some sort of blessed sinus thing that threatens to last for weeks.  Is it Spring yet?? 

I thought it might be nice to share our family's list of go-to home remedies for coughs and sniffles.  So read up, stock up, and stay healthy!

Peppermint tea with lots of honey is my favorite way to soothe a scratchy throat before bedtime.  Even the kids have been known to enjoy a lukewarm cup of tea.  Our pediatrician told me that studies have shown that honey is just as effective as cough syrup.  Amazing, right?!

These have saved my voice many a school day.  They taste good and have echinacea, which helps lessen the blow of the common cold.

On Guard is a blend of essential oils that includes citrus, clove, and cinnamon.  It helps support the immune system and smells really good.  I rub two or three drops on the bottoms of my feet and the boys' feet every morning before school.  It kept us healthy through the beginning of the school year, although nothing seems to be working against the craziness that is blowing around this flu season.  Also, did I mention that it smells great?

Finally, our pediatrician pointed us in the direction of ZarBee's.  It is an all-natural, honey-based cough syrup.  It really has helped the boys on those restless, cough-filled nights. 

We wish you all health during this new year!

Roundup

Independent Play: Quiet Boxes

Winter is here in full force, and it's brutal!  Temperatures have been below freezing for a solid couple of weeks now.  After two weeks in (comparatively) warm Texas, Utah feels like the arctic tundra.  The cold temperatures and nasty air quality mean that we have been spending a lot of time entertaining ourselves indoors. 

I ran out of ideas this week and decided to put together plastic tubs of activities that would encourage independent play.  Here are some items that would be great to keep your preschooler busy during these short (and looooong) winter days:

1. Match it Game

2. Lace and Trace Game

3. Woodland Connectagons

4. Mighty Mind

5. Big Book Of Big Machines

anders and oliver's room: part 1

photo by Carolee Beckham

 Our friend Meta shared the first installment of Oliver and Anders' room tour over at one more mushroom last week.  I went to Meta after moving into our new home earlier this year.  The boys' room was large, empty, and intimidating.  I needed a designer's help.  Meta was so great to work with!  She and I were on the same wavelength throughout the entire project, and she had so many great ideas and suggestions for the space. 

Hop on over to one more mushroom to be inspired by more beautiful photos of amazing children's spaces.

Roundup

Keep Those Little Fingers Busy.

This was a really fun, simple project papa shared with us this Christmas while we were busy making Christmas crafts. It was a project that they had done in school. All you need is:

    *A bowl of milk
    *Food Coloring
    *Dish Soap
    *A Q-Tip

         Drop the food coloring into the bowl of milk, then dip your Q-Tip into the dish soap. Then you can use your Q-Tip to poke into the colored milk, and the color will disperse away from the soap. It leaves little circle ripples where ever it touches. Hazel absolutely loved this activity!