Coconut Chia Rice Pudding

Happy hump day! A few months ago my mom introduced me to these tiny little things called Chia seeds. They are these small, dry, white and black seeds that are packed with a bunch of goodies that are very good for you such as, omega-3 fatty acids, protein, fiber, antioxidants, and calcium. As I mentioned, they are dry but when these little things get wet a gel forms on the outer part of the seed making them slippery. I've added chia seeds to smoothies, granola bars, even cookies to help give me a boost of energy. 

Today, I want to share with you another sweet recipe, but this time using chia seeds. Coconut chia rice pudding! It's a sweet, comforting dessert that is perfect to have any time of year.

Coconut Chia Rice Pudding

1 cup of short grain rice (sushi rice)

1/2 cup of whole milk

4 cups (2 cans) of coconut milk

1/2 cup of white sugar (add more or less if desired)

1/4 cup of chia seeds

Place rice, whole milk, coconut milk, and sugar in a heavy pot over high heat. Bring to a boil, let boil for 1 minute, turn down heat to low and cover. Stir frequently. Cook on low for 25 minutes, until it's nice and creamy and the rice is soft. Let cool for 5 minutes, then stir in the chia seeds.

Serve warm or cold. 

Nautical Toddler Room Reveal

While I was pregnant with Ellie (baby #2), I decided to change my son's room from a nursery to a "big boy room". Even though it still has a few things you would find in a nursery such as the crib, and the changing table.  I added a toy bin, a book wall, and an alphabet mat to make it more appropriate for a toddlers age. Originally I wanted to decorate his room with hints of nautical pieces, but didn't have much success in sticking to that at first, until I collected my ideas and made a few pieces of decor myself, like the nautical sign above his crib, the rope mirror, and the white washed sign.

Below are a few pictures of how it looked before.

And here is how it looks now.

Now let's be honest for a second. It's a toddlers room, it's not always this organized and put together and when it is, it stays that way only when the little guy is not in his room. There are usually toys and books scattered across the whole room and the alphabet mat is never complete because he loves to take it apart.

Back to Blogging

Hello there! Long time no see, right? After a long break from blogging I am back and I couldn't be happier to be writing again. I've missed everything about blogging and I definitely feel ready to pick up where I left off a few months ago.

As most of you may know, 4 weeks ago I gave birth to a sweet baby girl, Ellie Jane. She is the sweetest, and I am so thankful for her gentleness and the fact that she only wakes up once at night, eats and falls right back to sleep. I have recovered very nicely and having 2 kids isn't as scary as I thought it would be. I think the fact that Ellie is so well behaved makes it so much easier to give Luke the attention he needs at this age (he's 14 months). 

Either way, I am happy to have things go back to normal and for me to start sharing yummy recepies and fun DIY's with you again.

10 DIY Christmas Decorations

 Christmas time really is the most wonderful time of the year! In our family the main focus of Christmas is the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. We try not to get caught up in the shopping, planning, eating, and chaos of the season. Don't get me wrong, I still like to decorate the house and make Christmas treats, but since I'm 8 months pregnant this Christmas season I wasn't able to make too many things myself so here are some of my favorite crafts that I would have made.

 A Beautiful Mess

 Remodelaholic

 Shanty 2 Chic

 One Project Closer

 View From the Fridge

 Southern Scraps

 Design Dining and Diapers

 Lemonade Makin' Mama

 Clean & Scentsible

 

Cherished Bliss 

 Merry Christmas!

Deconstructed Christmas Wreath

After a short Thanksgiving break from blogging, I'm back with a Christmas craft! This will be my first Christmas post on the blog and I'm pretty excited about it. 

We spent Thanksgiving week with the part of our family that live in the Midwest which was a lot of fun. While we were there, two of my sister-in-laws planned this neat craft-- we made deconstructed wreaths... This isn't your traditional Christmas wreath that's for sure, but I absolutely love how they turned out and as always this is a very easy craft to put together.  

    

 We started off with a variety of pretty ribbon and different ornaments.

 I decided to make a more rustic piece so I grabbed some burlap and red ribbon to start my bow.

 I used the same technique to make my bow as I did for my *fall wreath*

1. Cut both ribbons the same size.

2. Bring both ends towards the middle and bind together with a hot glue gun. 

3. Pinch in the middle. 

4. Secure with floral wire.

 Tie a few pieces of twine in the middle of the bow. I made mine different sizes to give it dimension. 

 After you have your twine tied, it's time to add a center to the bow. I chose to make a cluster of mini pine cones, cinnamon sticks, and berries for the center of my bow by gluing them together with a hot glue gun.

  

 After the center was finished I tied one ornament to the end of each twine and glued clusters on the top of each ornament to match the center of the bow.

 

 This is how mine turned out.

 SIL #1's wreath... she went with the classy red and gold colors which turned out very pretty. 

 SIL #2's wreath... She went with the fun festive red and green colors! 

All 3 wreaths turned out very cute and we had a blast making them. 

What's your favorite Christmas craft?