Tuesday, August 31, 2010

What could be better than homemade hamburger buns?!

This last weekend we decided to have hamburgers so I thought why not take the opportunity to try making my very own hamburger buns?  I love that now that I own a BOSCH Universal Mixer I can even consider throwing together homemade hamburger buns, and make it actually happen in a relatively short amount of time!  The recipe for Soft Buns that I used this go around is featured in the Marmee's Favorites Bundle giveaway I currently have running, along with The Bread Box mini-zine.


I ended up substituting some of the unbleached flour for whole wheat, but they were still gloriously light and fluffy!  I also rubbed their tops down with butter after they came out of the oven, but you could also brush them with egg wash and sprinkle with sesame seeds before baking and they would be equally wonderful!

Of course my hubby and kiddos were delighted to have the real deal on their burgers.  My husband was so jazzed that he even wants me to make some hotdog buns next time!  Even better, I was able to freeze approximately 25 more buns to pop out and bake up anytime we need them.


These buns are very versatile and could be used not only as buns but also as rolls for dinner or, as I like to do, a mid-morning, mid-afternoon, mid-evening and mid-night snack!  Hey- I like me some good bread!  You ladies have really go to try this recipe!  Seriously!  Run over and pick up a copy of The Bread Box at Marmee's wonderful little shop, Marmee's Bread Market, or you could also enter to win a whole bunch of great recipes in my current giveaway- Marmee's Favorites Bundle!  Don't miss this opportunity ladies!





Be sure to visit my sponsor- Marmee's Bread Market- for recipes and everything else you need to easily make fresh baked goods for your family!

Monday, August 30, 2010

Guest Posting on HannahKeeley.com today!

Hello all you lovely ladies visiting from HannahKeeley.com!!  Thank you so much for stopping by! I hope you enjoy your look around.  Stay a while, grab a cup of tea and put up your feet!  I try to fill The Mama Kenz Studio with a little taste of me, mixed with a lot of honesty and humor, a helping of useful tips and ideas, and some beauty & fun along the way!  I hope you find it to be a comfortable and interesting place to rest your mouse for a spell!

Be sure to stop back by throughout this week (or just grab a subscription!) as I have some very fun things on the horizon, including some very cute and useful printables (the best kind, in my opinion)!  Also, don't forget to check out the giveaways I am currently hosting (Marmee's Favorites recipe bundle & The Hands on Bible) and my upcoming BOSCH Universal Mixer Raffle!!  Oh, and if you want to learn more about our family life and the homeschooling adventure we are on, take a peek over at my other blog, The World According to Them!

For those of you who don't know, I am very honored to be guest posting over at HannahKeeley.com today!  If you haven't checked out this Christian Mom of 7's great website you should definitely go and do so!  And while you're there, check out my post about getting ahead of the game!




Be sure to visit my sponsor- Marmee's Bread Market- for recipes and everything else you need to easily make fresh baked goods for your family!

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Just plain cool decor stuff from Farm Chicks!

To wrap up my Farm Chicks hysteria I thought I would just go ahead and feature the plethora of fabulous general decor items I found (and, once again, wanted!).

Wanderlux was the vendor that I bought my vintage plate set from and they had the coolest, most colorful pieces!  I loved these embroidery hoops and flowers (surprise, surprise!)...



and bowls (I REALLY should have bought these!)...

Don't you LOVE this bird fabric?!

There were washtubs EVERYWHERE, but I had a particular affection for this blue one...

And I loved this upcycled, chalkboard cupboard door!

This corkboard captured my heart!  I adored the fabric and hope to do something similar to a corkboard for our schoolroom soon!

Just a blue ladder... but I love it!

mmmmm... vintage fans!

Oh the things I could do with this!

Just pretty.  I have thing for vintage bottles.

I took dozen of other pictures but these were the things that, looking back two months later, really caught my eye!  I hope to start making our house feel more like who I am now (oh, and my family are!).  Actually, scratch that, I hope that we will be moving in the next year or so and I can decorate that house to feel more like us!

Saturday, August 28, 2010

Trunks from Farm Chicks!

Alright- I KNOW!  This is a couple of months late!  But I never was able to get around to showing you all the rest of the wonderful things I discovered at Farm Chicks, so I thought I could sneak a couple posts of loveliness in this weekend!  So here ya go!


So many cool trunks were for sale at Farm Chicks and some of them were for truly amazing prices!  In addition, an inordinate number of them were pink!  I fell in love, and desperately wanted one, but simply couldn't fork out the cash this year.  Maybe next year?


This one was actually originally tipped up on its side and used as a medicine cabinet in World War II.  Sometime later it was painted pink and has since been worn to perfection!  Happy Endings was the vendor with this trunk and she had lots of other cool pieces as well!

Not so much a trunk as an old suitcase, but I still dug it!

Be still my heart!  I thought this one could have made a really cool coffee table.  Hmmm.... looks like I need to start stashing money in an envelope for next year!

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Overnight Cinnamon Buns and A GIVEAWAY!

Mmmmm... heaven on a plate!

These warm cinnamon buns filled our house with such a wonderful aroma on Sunday morning and do you want to know the best part?  I made them the night before and all I had to do was stick them in the oven on Sunday morning!  Now you know I am all about prep-ahead meals, so these were right up my alley!

Perfectly sweet with a generous helping of whole wheat flour- what more could you want?!


My family had requested cinnamon rolls before, but I of course was always a little intimidated by them.  The kneading and the time it would take and blah, blah, blah!  But then I got my BOSCH!  I'm so in love!  I use it almost every day in some capacity or another!  Seriously girls- you've got to get one!  (And you can always enter to win one in my upcoming raffle!)



So to kick off my little giveaway season Marmee has offered to giveaway 3 (yes, t-h-r-e-e) of her favorite's bundles!  This downloadable bundle includes:
  • A 3 Page Feature recipe for an incredibly delicious soft and fluffy bread!  This featured recipe has a surprise ingredient of over‐ripe bananas along with nutritious freshly milled golden wheat, golden honey, and a sprinkling of poppy seeds. It makes a soft, lightly sweet yeast bread with no resemblance to a cake‐like banana bread. This recipe makes 4 nice‐sized loaves for slicing and makes a superb toast for breakfast slathered with butter and fruit preserves or a marvelously yummy PBJ sandwich!
  • Sizzlin' Summer Recipes and Menu from Marmee including Chicken Strips, Dippin’ Sauces, Soft Buns in a BOSCH mixer (which I will be making this weekend!) and more.....
  • 5 pages of printable pantry labels to organize your containers of baking goods in your pantry - exclusive of Marmee's Bread Market
  • Marmee's Mornin' Favorites featuring the overnight cinnamon rolls I made this last weekend and endless hot cocoa!
  • Family Table Courtesies- An exclusive Poster for your family from Marmee.
Sound good?  Here is how you can enter!


Mandatory Entry: Hope on over to Marmee's Bread Market and tell me what product you would most want to get!


Extra Entries (leave a separate comment for each!  And PLEASE be honest!)

@Chic_Mama is hosting a giveaway for a YUMMY download package w/3 Winners! http://tinyurl.com/28mrx65

@Chic_Mama is gearing up to raffle a BOSCH Universal Mixer!  You WANT to see this! http://tinyurl.com/2fzlh2r


Giveaway will run from August 24, 2010 to September 6, 2010 at 8:00PST.  Winners will be notified within 24 hours and must respond within 48 hours to claim prize.  Downloads were supplied to me by Marmee's Bread Market for honest review- all opinions are solely mine and based on my experiences.  For other disclosures and additional contest rules and terms please go here.




Be sure to visit my sponsor- Marmee's Bread Market- for recipes and everything else you need to easily make fresh baked goods for your family!

Monday, August 23, 2010

The BIG Announcement!!

Alright ladies- here is the big doozy I have been dying to share with you!!  Along with all the other awesome giveaways that Marmee from Marmee's Bread Market is partnering with me to bring you, I will be hosting a raffle for a Bosch Universal Pluss Mixer from October 19- November 16, 2010!!!


And this isn't just any old raffle where you fork out your money for a ticket and just hope you get the grand prize!  NOPE!  EVERYONE gets something!  Marmee will actually be offering 3 different raffle download packages, chocked full of goodies!!  Our top tier raffle package will be $7.99 and is worth 8 entries in the raffle!  The second tier raffle package will be $5.79 and worth 6 entries, and the final tier will be $3.59 and worth 4 entries!  These packages will be so packed full of awesome recipes and ideas for your kitchen and family you just won't believe it!  It is a total win/win!

So, why am I announcing the raffle so early?  Well, I wanted to get these raffle buttons and banners out to all of you because if you have them on your blog they will help get you extra entries into the other giveaways I will be running with Marmee between now and then!  So snag them now and start spreading the word!  And remember, tomorrow starts the first giveaway!



















Be sure to visit my sponsor- Marmee's Bread Market- for recipes and everything else you need to easily make fresh baked goods for your family!

Meal Plan Monday- August 23-29th



I have been a baking fool lately (surprise, surprise)!  I have seriously used my Bosch Universal Plus Mixer almost every single day since I received it from Marmee's Bread Market!  So far I have made basic whole wheat bread with both red and golden wheat (10 loaves total), about 35 of the softest dinner rolls on the planet (froze a bunch), whole wheat pizza crust, banana bread, overnight cinnamon rolls & frosting, and today I added whole wheat english muffins to the mix!  I'm on a roll ladies and soon you will see posts (and even some video... eek!) about all of it!


Here is what's on the menu for this week!  You will probably notice a lot of repeats, but since we are on a tight budget still I am trying to stretch one meal as far as I can!


Breakfasts:

Whole Wheat English Muffins and scrambled eggs (English Muffins from Marmee's Bread Basket Cookbook)
Sweet potato Oatmeal
Sweet Potato Oatmeal (LO)
Breakfast cookies & Scrambled eggs
Breakfast cookies & hard-boiled eggs
Spinach & bacon Omelets w/toast
Frozen Cinnamon rolls

Lunches:
MTM- ABC- butter pasta, cheese, apples
Whole Wheat English Muffin Pizzas w/ applesauce
 Whole Wheat English Muffin Pizzas w/ applesauce
Tuna Melts on Whole Wheat English Muffins
PB&J, Carrots, Pretzels, Grapes
PB&J w/ Yogurt
Macaroni & Cheese w/ carrots & applesauce

Dinners:
Chicken Osaka w/ rice & corn
Pork chops w/ appleasauce, rice, salad
Rotisserie Chicken w/Corn & salad
Chicken & rice soup w/ garlic mozzarella braid (From Marmee's Make it Special DVD)
Chicken & rice soup w/garlic mozzarella braid (LO)
Hamburgers, Homemade Hamburger Buns, Macaroni Salad & Corn
Hamburgers, Homemade Hamburger Buns, Macaroni Salad & Corn

Snacks:
(morning/afternoon)
dried fruit/ peanut butter toast
dried fruit/ peanut butter toast
Grapes/ pretzels & cheese
Grapes/ Caterpillars (From Marmee's Make it Special DVD)
Applesauce/ Caterpillars (From Marmee's Make it Special DVD)
Grapes/ pretzels w/Peanut Butter dip (from Deceptively Delicious)
Graham crackers w/Peanut Butter dip (from Deceptively Delicious)

And here is my prep-ahead schedule:
Yesterday- Make English Muffins
Monday- Make a batch of bread, prep oatmeal for next morning, prep english muffin pizzas
Tuesday- prep english muffin pizzas
Wednesday- make breakfast cookie dough, prep tuna melts
Thursday- Make Best Bread (from Marmee's Bread Basket Cookbook), caterplillars and garlic mozzarella braids, pack lunches for Friday
Friday- Free Day!
Saturday- Free Day!
Sunday- Make Graham Crackers

I have linked this post up to OrgJunkie.com's Meal Plan Monday!  What are you eating this week?







Be sure to visit my sponsor- Marmee's Bread Market- for recipes and everything else you need to easily make fresh baked goods for your family!

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Postponed but still making an announcement!

Well, a bit of a bummer- BOTH the sites I was affiliating with for tomorrow's post are either backlogged or having technical issues!  So, I won't be guest posting on HannahKeeley.com until next week and the great little giveaway I am hosting for Marmee's Bread Market won't be up until Tuesday (hopefully!  Her servers are down- a horrible hit, so you can be praying for her!).

However, I will still be making my big BOSCH announcement tomorrow and plan to get a super cute printable up later this week that I bet you are all going to want to see!  So, hang in there with me!  Have a wonderful evening!



Be sure to visit my sponsor- Marmee's Bread Market- for recipes and everything else you need to easily make fresh baked goods for your family!

Friday, August 20, 2010

Lots up for grabs!!!

There is a LOT going on in my blogging world lately, so I just wanted to bring you all up to speed and let you in on some fun giveaways!


Right now over at The World According to Them I am hosting a giveaway for The Hands on Bible!  This is such a great tool for kiddos and families- don't miss this one!


Also over at The World According to Them I have started posting about the Raising Rockstars Curriculum we are using (and loving) as our core this year and will be starting our Tiny Tot School posts about how I am working with (or rather, keeping busy) Lion Cub!  Be sure to check back there on Monday to read more about our new routine and how it is working for us!  I hope to include some printables as well!

Monday I will be guest posting over at HannahKeeley.com all about getting one step ahead!  I am very excited to be sharing with Hannah's readers and think you all will probably enjoy all the wonderful information and freebies on her site as well!  She is a Christian mom of 7 who has her act together and helps you do it too!

And last, but not least, I will be making a BIG announcement on Monday about my upcoming Bosch Raffle with Marmee's Bread Market AND will be hosting an AWESOME giveaway from her shop with MORE THAN ONE WINNER!  You are not going to want to miss this!

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!




Be sure to visit my sponsor- Marmee's Bread Market- for recipes and everything else you need to easily make fresh baked goods for your family!

A little gift for you!

I wanted to put together a little gift to encourage my Bible in 90 Days readers that I am mentoring and I thought that some of you might just enjoy it as well!

This little printable is a bookmark with Philippians 4:13- "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."  I wanted to encourage all of you who are participating in this reading that even when it gets hard, and it does, you can catch up and get back on track with Jesus' help!  Call to Him and He will help you find a way!

The other side of this little sheet is an "I Refuse to be Distracted!" list!  I know that whenever I sat down to read, a zillion things instantly started popping through my head!  This little list is a place where you can write down those nagging thoughts and save them for later!

Enjoy and feel free to pass the link along!

Elements courtesy of the freebies section at Two Peas in a Bucket.  Design by MacKenzie.




Be sure to visit my sponsor- Marmee's Bread Market- for recipes and everything else you need to easily make fresh baked goods for your family!

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

We're back to school!

I say we are "back" but it really feels like a first in so many ways!  This is the year that I am really starting to take our schooling seriously.  Not so much for Rhythm, but more for myself!  This year is about learning but even more so it is about getting into a new routine that includes more structure and consistent set-aside school time.  I feel like I am in that transition from being a mom with young kiddos who could pretty much do whatever whenever, to becoming a mom with a homeschooler who will require goals and a routine.  It is a definite shift in our family but one that I have been looking forward to- a chapter that I am ready to open, and work hard on.


To be perfectly honest, this first week was really hard!  Much harder than I anticipated!  Monday was darn near enough for me to put Rhythm in preschool and Lion Cub in full time daycare!  However, I took a step back, gathered my senses and gave Tuesday a second chance. It did work out better but we are definitely still adjusting!  You can read more about how it went on the boy's blog, The World According to Them.


Hop on over to The World According to Them to also hear more about everything I have planned, what our school room looks like and even take a peek at our Back to Homeschool pics!



Be sure to visit my sponsor- Marmee's Bread Market- for recipes and everything else you need to easily make fresh baked goods for your family!

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

My Beautiful Homemade Bread! BOSCH Review!

This past weekend I was finally able to track down all my needed ingredients to begin making our bread from scratch in my fantabulous new BOSCH Universal Plus Mixer sent to me from Marmee's Bread Market!  Okay- seriously, I am not just exaggerating here! I mean, to be honest, I did already kinda know that I was going to love it, but now that I have actually used it, I am forever ruined for bread and mixers!  I think I probably officially qualify as a mixer/bread snob now.  I can simply never go back!

So, you are probably thinking, "She's lost her mind!  What's all the fuss?"  Oh, I am so glad you asked because I am dying to tell you!  I never thought that making bread from scratch at home would be practical or honestly feasible.  After all, I have two young children who require copious amounts of my attention and we are hoping to have more.  Many days it is hard enough to get dinner on the table, let alone bake a fresh loaf of bread!  Then I learned about the Bosch Universal Plus Mixer.  It is the most heavy-duty home machine available on the market (boasting an 800 watt motor!) and can mix & knead up to 6 loaves of bread at a time.  My friends who make all their own bread in a Bosch kept telling me that all you have to do is throw your ingredients in and the machine does the rest!  After learning this, I thought to myself, "Ok- that sounds doable.  It probably isn't quite as easy as they are making it out to be, but it does sound easier than doing it any other way, and I do want to be feeding my family fresh bread made with home-milled flour.  So, maybe that would be my best option."

Well, imagine my thrill when I tried out my new Bosch and found out that they weren't exaggerating- it really is that easy!  This past Sunday I made 10 loaves of bread with very minimal effort!!  SERIOUSLY!  I wanted to try out both of the kinds of grain that I had gotten- Red and Golden- so I made a full batch of Marmie's Basic Whole Wheat Bread with each kind (5 loaves of each).  The instructions that she lays out in both her Bread Basket Cookbook and her Make it Special: Homemade with Love DVD were so simple and easy to follow- she even gives you the exact order to place everything in your mixing bowl for a practically no-fail method!  I also really appreciate that she tells you why you are putting certain ingredients in, what they do and where to find them.

This is literally all I did:
-Put 5 pounds of wheat through my NurtiMill (I had measured it on my kitchen scale first)

-Placed all my main ingredients and some of the flour in the mixing bowl
(This was how much flour I had left over- about a cup.  I sent it home with my mom!)

-Mixed for about 30 seconds 
-Waited 10 minutes for it to get bubbly (notice- I'm not doing any work right here!)
-Turned on the machine and added the rest of my flour (well, there was a little left over- about a cup- because the amount really varies based on weather and such.  Marmie explains all this very clearly in both her book and DVD)


-Let the machine do it's thing and knead my dough for me (most other machines CANNOT handle this task- it completely wears out the motor.  Oh, and again notice, I'm not doing any work right here either!)
-Formed the dough into loaves
-Let two loaves rise so I could bake them and wrapped the other three in freezer paper and zip-top bags to make later in the week

That's it!  In a matter of one hour I had two loaves of bread in the oven, three more in my freezer and I really only did any actual work for about maybe 15 minutes of that hour!  A half an hour after that we were enjoying fresh, warm, whole wheat bread that my boys LOVE!  Rhythm is constantly asking for another slice and I am sure that if Lion Cub could, he would be too!

My Beautiful Bread!

I am amazed by how much confidence this machine has given me as a homemaker.  I feel like I can legitimately take on the task of making my own baked goods without being completely intimidated by it or feeling like I just don't have the time.  This is something completely feasible.  I really can do it!  I am so excited to try out the other recipes Marmie has sent me, and trust me, there are a lot of them!  Even more, though, I love that even when it looks like I have a busy day coming up, I know that I can very easily make my own pizza dough from scratch or some whole wheat rolls for dinner (which I did, by the way... all in one evening... cause now I have a Bosch and I roll like that... and they were both amazing!) even in the midst of the craziness that is often my life.

Thank you Marmie for giving me the chance to incorporate the use of this wonderful machine into the way I care for my family, and thank you Bosch for creating such a wonderful product for homemakers like myself!

So ladies, what are you waiting for?!  Go get your Bosch right here from Marmee's Bread Market!  Not ready yet?  Well don't worry, by the time I'm finished sharing with you all the baked goods I will be feverishly making over the next few months (ok- probably forever!) you will be so inspired and so envious by the constant smell of fresh bread in my home that you will certainly be adding one to your Christmas lists!  And hey- keep watching because next week I will be starting a giveaway for a great download package that will really get you excited and announcing an upcoming raffle for one of these little babies!  You won't want to miss it!




Be sure to visit my sponsor- Marmee's Bread Market- for recipes and everything else you need to easily make fresh baked goods for your family!

Monday, August 16, 2010

Menu Plan Monday- August 16th-22nd


Well, I had been hoping to have our menu planned through October by now, and while I am not quite there yet I did at least finish through the end of this month!  Horrah!  Needless to say, I have decided to work A LOT of baking into my plan since I have my fun new BOSCH Universal Mixer from Marmee's Bread Market (my wonderful sponsor!), which truly does make baking home-baked goods simple and easy (I SWEAR!)!  For now, I will go ahead and just give you the breakdown for this week's menu though:

Breakfasts:

Baked Peanut Butter Oatmeal (lo)
Best-Ever Banana Bread & hard-boiled eggs
Best-Ever Banana Bread & hard-boiled eggs
Cereal & hard-boiled eggs
Biscuits w/ scrambled eggs
Overnight Cinnamon Rolls

Lunches:
MTM- yogurt, carrots, bread, cheese, olives
Egg Salad Sandwiches & Carrots
PB&J Waffle Sandwiches
Rib Quesadillas w/ carrots & cherries
Lunch at Nana’s
Friend’s Birthday Party
Loaded Nachos

Dinner:
Leftover Pizza
Ribs w/ mashed potatoes & corn
White Chicken Chili
White chicken chili left-overs
Salmon Cakes, Broccoli & Salad
Salmon burgers Broccoli & salad (Left-overs)

Snacks:
Ants on a log/ Dried fruit
Yogurt/ Dried Fruit
Ant on a Log/Fruit leather
Dried Fruit/ Yogurt
Snacks at Nana’s
Ants on a log
Peanut Butter toast






Oh, and here is a little tip for you!  When making your menu plan and shopping lists, take the time to also make a list of all the things you need to prep-ahead so that you can save yourself some work!  I use one of those magnetic planner notepads from the $1 section at Michaels that has lists for each day of the week- that way I can keep it right on the fridge and be reminded of what I need to do to stay ahead of the game.  For instance, I write down for each day how I can prep breakfast, lunch, snacks and even a few dinner components the night before while I am making dinner so that I am always a day ahead and never have that "rushed" or "behind" feeling.  Here is what my prep schedule looks like for this week, just to give you a better idea:


Monday-
Take Ribs out of Freezer for Wednesday
Boil Eggs
Make Egg Salad for tomorrow's lunch

Tuesday-
Make Banana Bread Batter for tomorrow's breakfast
Make PB&J sandwiches for tomorrow's lunch
Put rub on ribs for tomorrow's dinner
Make Ants on a log for tomorrow's snack

Wednesday-
Prep Rib Quesadilla's for tomorrow's lunch
Go Grocery Shopping

Thursday-
No Prep Ahead (mostly leftovers)

Friday-
No Prep Ahead (mostly leftovers)

Saturday-
Prep Overnight Cinnamon Buns & Frosting for brunch tomorrow
Grate Cheddar and swiss cheese

Sunday-
Make Frittata for tomorrow's breakfast
Make English Muffins

You can find more great meal ideas over at Meal Planning Monday being hosted by OrgJunkie.org!





Be sure to visit my sponsor- Marmee's Bread Market- for recipes and everything else you need to easily make fresh baked goods for your family!

Thursday, August 12, 2010

My Brand New Bosch Universal Mixer from Marmee's Bread Market

Any of you who have ever looked into baking your own, homemade bread for your family have no doubt heard of the amazing machine that is the Bosch Universal Mixer.  There really is nothing else like it on the market, as far as a home machines go, with a large enough motor to withstand the torque of consistently making large quantities of bread dough.


Many of you have probably seen the other posts I have written about trying to win one of these mixers because I have been dying to get one for nothing short of 2 1/2 years (talk about delayed gratification!)!  I managed to get my NurtiMill for Christmas last year, but in all honesty, it is still sitting on my counter, unused, because the thought of milling all that grain and then having to make the dough by hand was just too daunting!  Well, not anymore!  YESTERDAY, on my happy little doorstep arrived a happy (not-so-little) package containing my brand spakin' new Bosch Universal Mixer courtesy of my wonderful new sponsor- Marmee of Marmee's Bread Market!!


Ok- in all honesty, the box never did actually make it to my doorstep because I was anxiously waiting for the UPS man practically at the window and met him in the yard and practically kissed him!  I also received, via USPS, Marmee's HomeBaker's DVD in which she will teach me how to make bread (which I love because it is like she is actually joining me in my own little kitchen!  And yes, I like to pretend she did this just for me!), her wonderful Bread Basket Cookbook that is packed full of recipes (it will probably take me years to actually try everything that looks good in there, and so far there isn't ONE that doesn't!) and an issue of The Bread Box recipe mag!  Keep in mind that she sent all of this out only on Monday and it arrived in just 2 days!  Talk about service!

Here is the full spread of everything I received from Marmee- notice the cookie paddles she included too!  I can't wait to try them out!  What a great excuse to try out that new chocolate chip cookie recipe I recently found!

Now, my heart did catch in my chest a little bit when I noticed that the box had been damaged, but luckily my new baby mixer wasn't!

Cute baby in box- just had to post it!

As of now, she (yes, my mixer is a "she"- maybe I should name her Martha II too! haha!) is still sitting pristinely on my dining room table for all to admire while I clear a space for her on my small kitchen counters!  A friend of mine very generously supplied me with some wheat to get me started on my little baking adventure until I am able to get to our "local" (and by local I mean an hour away and in a different state!) grain supply store, so I am hoping to possibly start breaking "her" in as early as this afternoon!  It will just depend on whether or not I am able to get to the store to pick up a few extra things I need.  (Side-note- I actually did stop by the store after our park playdate with aforementioned friend and her children, but after Rhythm had skinned his hands on the playground, Lion Cub had beat him over the head with his stainless steel sippy cup, and I turned around to find them both on the brink of meltdown from being too close to naptime,  I thought it would be best to back out of my parking spot and return home...  Ok, so actually I asked Rhythm, "Are you up for it?"  To which he promptly replied, "NO!"  Alright then.  Maybe later.)

Next Tuesday you can expect a full review of my new Bosch- especially since I plan to use it probably about 20 times between now and then!  Also be sure to keep your eyes open for some great giveaways coming up in the very near future along with an announcement about the Bosch raffle I'm hosting that you won't want to miss!





Be sure to visit my sponsor- Marmee's Bread Market- for recipes and everything else you need to easily make fresh baked goods for your family!