Author: Kath

Recipes

Super Simple Sourdough Starter Biscuits

Kath

February was the month of learning how to Sourdough. How to make starter, how to feed it, keep it alive, and then learn what all we can make with it. We have yet to attempt a loaf of bread, but we have made a couple of delicious recipes! One being homemade biscuits. Once you try biscuits from scratch, there’s really no going back. They’re super simple to make, and beyond better than the ones you pop out of a can.

You really can’t mess this recipe up. It takes minimal prep time and is so easy to make! Whether you want to make the biscuits with or without the starter, it’s super simple. Here’s what you need.

Ingredients

  • 4 cups All Purpose Flour
  • Sourdough Starter (approx. 1 cup)
  • 1 stick of butter FROZEN
  • Pinch of salt
  • Approx. 1/2-1 cup of milk
  • 1 tbsp. Baking powder

Recipe

Now, before I get into it I will say that as much as I love to cook and try new recipes, I’m all about eye balling the ingredients. It’s just how I’m wired. Trying to do better with precision, but until then these are my guesstimated amounts.

  • First, you’ll need to preheat the oven to 450 and get a decent sized bowl. If you’re wanting to incorporate sourdough starter, scoop one cup of that into the bowl. Combine with the milk (if you have buttermilk – even better) and whisk them together until it’s a frothy mix without any clumps. Then sift your flour into the bowl. Add salt, baking powder and start mixing! If the dough seems a little dry you can add more milk or water.
  • You’ll then want to grate or crumble the frozen butter. Freezing the butter makes this process so much easier and helps to form those buttery biscuit flakes we love so much. My kids love to take on the butter grating so if you’re wanting to include your kids in on the fun, this is a great task for them to help with.
  • Once the butter is grated you’ll add it to the bowl and start folding it in with the flour. I’ve found that it’s easiest to remove the dough from the bowl and start hand kneading it to ensure that the butter is as evenly distributed as possible.
  • Once your dough is looking and feeling good, it’s time to roll it out. I usually have the dough about half an inch thick, it’s really up to you and what you prefer.
  • If you don’t have cutters (like me), cups make for great dough cutting! I just grab one of our tall glass cups, flip it upside down and start forming the biscuits.
  • Once your biscuits are ready, assembled and the oven is ready, it’s time to bake. Place the biscuits in the oven at 450 for 10-12 minutes.
  • Once cooled, it’s time to eat! Grab some extra butter, jam or gravy and enjoy!

If you try this recipe and love it as much as our family does, be sure to tag me on Instagram @Honestlymommin . I’d love to support you as you continue to progress in your homemade cooking journey!

Talk soon.
Kath

Recipes

Go To Recipe for the Picky Toddler

Kath

We were very lucky with our twins. When it came to trying new food, they would eat ANYTHING. To this day we laugh looking back at them attempting to scarf down their Dad’s pork chop at 9 months old — paella by 3 years old! However our youngest, who is 3, takes picky eating to a WHOLE other level. If it was up to him, his diet would consist of bread, butter, mac n cheese, and pirates booty. If it holds any nutritional value, theres a solid chance that he’ll refuse to eat it, which has forced me to get creative with sneaking healthy foods into his meals. Smoothies are my usual go to when discreetly adding fruits, vegetables, and/or supplements. After paying more attention to the ingredients in pre-made and processed food and being completely appalled by the additives and mystery natural flavors I’ve become even more motivated to create healthy, REAL food that will be beneficial for children’s health. This week we started with a classic staple kids meal – chicken nuggets.

This seems to be a trending recipe as I’ve seen it all over Instagram reels. We put our own spin on it with a few added spices and it is something that my kids ask me for almost every day now. Mom win! Check below for the recipe and be sure to tag me on Instagram if you give it a try! Would love to see any additions you do to make it your own and how it positively impacts your family’s health and nutrition goals.

Here’s what you need:

  • 1-2 packages of ground chicken or turkey (I’ve tried both – chicken is definitely better but turkey is easier to find. Trader Joe’s currently has a great pasture raised ground chicken)
  • 1 egg
  • Panko or breadcrumbs
  • Seasoning: salt, pepper, garlic, onion, paprika (I also added some of our local butcher’s bbq meat rub. It gave the nuggets a little zing of spice and extra flavor)
  • Air fryer or oven (Air fryer is quicker and makes the nuggets a little toastier)

Instructions:

  • First, you’ll need to add the ground chicken or turkey to a bowl
  • Add the egg, and about a half cup of the panko or breadcrumbs
  • Thoroughly mix everything together
  • Once you’ve done that, start forming the nuggets with your hands and coating them with your breadcrumbs
  • After that is complete, transfer your nuggets to your oven or air fryer. Cook the nuggets in the air fryer at 345 degrees for about 30 minutes. (I have never made these nuggets in the oven but my guess would be to bake them around 375 degrees for 30-40 minutes, then broil for 2-3 minutes to get that crunch)
  • Let nuggets cool down, and enjoy with some ketchup, bbq sauce, or homemade ranch! (another recipe you can expect to see from us soon)

And that’s it! It takes a little bit of prep work but it is so worth it and your kids will love it just as much as you will!

You can view my Instagram Reel showing the step by steps for this recipe below:

Homesteading

The Homesteading Journey Continues.. With Sourdough!

Kath

Like a lot of people, I became inspired by homesteading and a more self sufficient life in 2020. It’s been a slow going process, but in these past couple of years I’ve already learned so much and am motivated to continue learning more — and hopefully live on 3 acres of land and have a farm one day.

There are many things I plan to share through this blog – motherhood, healthy meal and snack recipes (especially for those with picky eaters!), gardening, DIY crafts like as crocheting, polymer clay jewelry, creating home decor, along with sharing my personal hair regrowth journey and tips/tricks as we continue to decluttter our home and simplify our lives.

Our homesteading journey will be a big part of this blog, especially since I’ve committed to learning ONE new homesteading task each month of this year. Last month (January) it was learning how to crochet, which has already become one of my favorite hobbies and down time to do’s. This month, it’s been sourdough. I’m not gonna lie, I’ve always been intimidated by sourdough. The thought of creating the starter, knowing when to use it, how to actually make it have been excuses for me not to just go ahead and try it. Ending the procrastination pattern is another positive change I’m working on this year so what better way to get into 2023 than to bake delicious bread!

After a few Instagram reels and A LOT of googling, I realized making the starter is SO simple. Kicking myself now for not making it sooner. All you need are 3 things: flour, water, and a mason jar. Here’s how you make it:

– Add 1/2 cup of flour (I use organic all purpose flour) to your mason jar

– Add 1/4 cup of room temp water to the jar and mix it up really good

– Seal your mason jar, and leave it on the counter (a place that it will stay around room temp- ie. kitchen counter) and check back on it in 48 hours

If all went well, your starter will have just about doubled in size. This is my favorite part. Such a rewarding feeling! You will then remove about half of the starter and re-feed it with another 1/2 cup of flour and 1/4 cup of room temp water.

Based on my research, room temp and water on the warmer side helps to activate the starter and help it grow. If you are leaving your starter at room temp, you will need to feed it daily. If you choose to put your starter in the fridge, it can be fed once or twice a week. Storing your starter in the fridge is a great option for those who may need to press the pause button on their sourdough journey and want to keep their starter in stable condition.

48 hours after creating the starter
What our starter currently looks like. This is after 2 weeks of consistently feeding it!

Thinking about giving sourdough a go? Try it! It’s so simple and all you have to gain is delicious future recipes.

We’ve gotten as far as the feed and re-feed phases of sourdough. Next up is seeing if we can actually bake with it. Stay tuned for how that goes and what we learn!

Mom Life

The Path to Less Daily Stress

Kath

Stress and anxiety is something that I’ve come to deal with on a daily basis since becoming a mom. Constantly worrying about getting all the things done, asking myself if I’m doing everything I can to be the best mom possible, stressing about outside factors going on in the world, Looking at our mess of a house and immediately getting more anxiety from all the clutter. Are you like this too? If so, let’s be friends. Moms that can relate to these feelings know how isolating and down right awful it can be to feel this way.  And I’ve had about enough of it.

I always set goals for the new year, but this year, it’s different. I still have so many things I want to try and learn, but my main priority is to SLOW DOWN and focus on being more present. I don’t want to look back on my life and remember how I was always worried about a clean home rather than focusing on the beautiful memories with my family.

 In order to decrease the constant stress and anxiety, I still need to be productive. After a lot of soul searching, brainstorming, and listening to all the declutter your life podcasts, I’m confident to say that I’ve cracked the code to help balance moving forward in our home decluttering journeys while not having it take up a ton of our time.

I used to dedicate a Saturday or Sunday to decluttering. Just do a massive throw out/donate it all. Clothes, toys, junky items, old tupperware bins, you name it. I’d feel great (and exhausted) at the end of the day. However, by Monday evening the house was a mess again. There was no system with the kids’ abundance of legos, superhero action figures, arts and crafts. If you have kids, you KNOW your home organizing journey is never really over. It’s something you have to work at every single day to maintain order and a little bit of sanity, which is tough when you also have to go to the grocery store, run errands, make the meals,  take the kids to sports practice, volunteer at the school, basically be a constant car pooling service. It’s overwhelming, but if we focus on the little by little decluttering tasks each and every day we will get there and feel SO much better. I sure know I have.

Now, I’m also a big procrastinator. Always have been, wish I wasn’t but ya know.. There are certain decluttering to do’s I really REALLY don’t want to do! Even if it’s driving me nuts to look at the mess every time I walk by that room, I’ll put it off. That’s why I made a fulfill jar. It holds me accountable, it’s kind of fun once you get into it, and it’s a pretty addition to my little corner shelf of essential oils and plants I have managed to keep alive. My toy free zone. It gets me closer to a clean, happy, less stress home and it grants me ONE decluttering to do a day. Not an overwhelming amount of time to dedicate an entire day to clean chore.

I’m pretty far from my ideal home organization goals. The kids’ just had their birthday, so it was basically Christmas all over again. They’re very into legos so you can bet that tiny little lego accessories are scattered and *accidentally* vacuumed up on a daily basis. A few months ago this would have stressed me out ALOT. Thankfully, the fulfill jar is not only helping me stay on top of my decluttering priorities when mom life gets super busy, but I feel good knowing that I’m doing something proactive to make our house a home that is not filled with junky items we not only don’t need but clutter that will also negatively affect my kids’ behavior and well being. They don’t mind making the mess but I’m pretty sure no one likes living around a mess.

Since starting this new year, newish and cleaner home journey I’ve:

  • Donate at least 5 bags of clothes and told toys
  • Clear our 4 dresser drawers
  • Clean 2 bedroom closets
  • Declutter our medicine cabinet
  • Clean out the utensil drawer
  • Thoroughly cleaned our kitchen sink
  • Cleaned the walls of our home (something you never really think to do but it NEEDS to be done!)

One thing I really love about this is that not only has my daily stress gone down, I feel more fulfilled. I’m already feeling more present with the kids, not having my mind wander about what cleaning things I SHOULD be doing.. feeling super thankful for this cute little jar that started out as a fun DIY while my kids were on their coloring rampage. And I’m so happy to share it with you too so that you can also feel that sense of accomplishment, gratitude, and productivity while also adding a country chic home decor addition to your toy free zone.

Click link below to get your own fulfill jar –

https://www.etsy.com/listing/1391585156/fulfill-jar-declutter-mason-jar-floral?click_key=89fec11e2aaf0a9dadec61c9f1567cc9285a2e24%3A1391585156&click_sum=aaed1bb7&ref=shop_home_active_3

Uncategorized

My Hair Thinning to Hair Growth Journey

Kath

Hair loss, hair thinning, hair growth, hair health. Thanksgiving 2021 is when i first recognized that my once thick and volumous hair was suddenly dull and thin. Kinda freaked out. These were issues I never thought about let alone struggled with, so it was all new territory. I’m not a huge fan of social media- it can be so addicting with the constant scrolling, not realizing you’ve been staring down at a screen for 2+ hours when there’s so many other things you could be doing. However- I am grateful for Instagram and Youtube because it taught me SO much about this problem and what I can do to fix it.

We’re all busy and I’m currently knocking this blog out as my toddler naps next to me so I’m going to get right into it. Here’s what I did to slowly but surely transform my hair. But before I start I will say, you have to be PATIENT. Hair growth takes time. I’m still not where I want to be with my hair BUT it is SO much better than it was a year ago. Just keep going and acknowledge the little (still significant) milestones!

  1. The first thing I did was reduce HEAT on my hair. I tried going cold turkey- air drying but that look was not it for me and only led to me constantly messing with my hair and creating a whole lot of frizz. If air drying works for you, go for it. Instead, I air dry my hair about 80%, then gently go through it with the hair dryer brush and finish it off with hot rollers.

    I used to straighten my hair EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. Hence the hair damage I’m now working to repair. After experimenting with different methods (air drying, heatless curls, curly girl method, wavy girl method, etc.) I’ve found that the hot rollers work best for me right now. Based on what I’ve read, it is less damaging compared to a curling or straightening iron, and the curls/volume really last! So I’m all for it, but to each their own.
  2. Hair Oiling. Going on 6 months of oiling my hair 1-2 times a week and it really has made a difference in the growth and shine of my hair. Below is what I use to stimulate hair growth:
  • Rosemary Oil
  • Pumpkin Seed Oil
  • Clove Oil
  • Amla Oil
  • Castor Oil

What I do is mix these oils together in a bowl, and evenly distribute it on my scalp with a dropper. Massage the oils into my scalp for a couple of minutes to help further stimulate hair growth and leave on for 1 1/2-3 hours. You can also put a cap on your head to protect it from dirt and other environmental factors, or even warm up a microfiber towel to wrap on your head to have a little extra heat for the oils. Based on what I’ve read, it is NOT recommended to sleep overnight with oils in your head.

Once it’s time, rinse the oils out and follow your typical shampooing hair care routine. These days I’ve been shampooing 2x to ensure I’ve gotten most of the oil out, then proceed to use a clarifying shampoo. Right now I’m using an Apple Cider Vinegar based one and it has been amazing! I move onto using a moisturizing hair mask for about 10 minutes, then it’s onto conditioning and ending with a leave in conditioner.

I still follow the wavy girl method from time to time, but until my hair thickens out more I’ll mostly be using the rollers. Can share the wavy girl method and products I’ve followed and used later on if anyone is interested.

3. Nutrition and overall health is another thing I’m constantly making a priority. Being a busy mom it can be hard for us to take care of ourselves, but that doesn’t make it any less important. Taking vitamins, going to the doctor to get bloodwork to see if there are any deficiencies, eating whole, nutritious foods, staying hydrated, and also making sure our mental health is doing well is so important. Stress and anxiety can be factors in hair loss as well and I don’t know about you but keeping up with these kids can definitely be stressful sometimes! Keeping that in check will not only benefit our overall health but will also make us feel better.

4. The final thing I’ve changed to help in better caring for my hair is how I sleep. Every night I make sure I’m sleeping on a silk pillowcase as it helps in reducing frizz and hair damage. You can also wrap your hair in a silk scarf, bonnet, or tie it up in a loose bun or ponytail to help with frizz control and such.

I hope this was helpful, I felt very lost in the beginning of my hair journey but have learned so much through researching what works, hearing other peoples stories, and trying for myself to see what works for my hair and what doesn’t! It’s a journey, stay patient, it will get better.

Homesteading

Homesteading for the busy mom that doesn’t know where to start

Kath

Like most, the past couple years may have sparked new interests, hobbies, even careers. Being a stay at home mom and always wanting to find new things to try and do around the home I’m always on the search for what I can do next. When all things quarantine began, this amplified. New home projects, becoming more invested in our health than ever, and trying new hobbies for fun. It was a crazy and stressful time but I’m grateful for it. Without those tougher times the good things never would have surfaced, which brings me to homesteading.

I can’t recall what it was that first drew me to homesteading, but whatever it was left a huge impact because here we are almost a year later still trying new things and learning from all the beginner mistakes. As inspiring and motivating as it was when I first dove into the homesteading hashtags, youtube videos, and podcasts..it was also EXTREMELY daunting. Where do I even begin? I don’t live on 2 acres of land with a cow and 4 goats..is this even doable for someone living in the suburbs? Can I do this being a busy mom of 3 wild boys? The answer: YES.

Since I began to share my gardening journeys and bread baking adventures I’ve received motivated messages from other busy mamas inspired to make similar changes in their home. Since I totally get how intimidating starting out was, I figured what would be a better first blog post than to share what helped me as I dove into the homegrown, from scratch, do it yourself lifestyle.

  • Tip #1. Keep it simple and doable with your daily life and routine. What comes to your mind when you hear the word “homesteading?” For me, it was chicken coops, a farm, 5 acres of land, milking a cow. Yes, those are definitely components of homesteading. But if we don’t have those things, it doesn’t mean we can’t homestead! To avoid quitting before I even got started or getting completely overwhelmed, I kept it as simple as possible.
  • First thing I did- buy seeds. You can find vegetable, flower, and fruit seeds on amazon or at your local garden nursery. Fun fact, you can even grow your own fruits and vegetables from the produce you purchase at the grocery store! Just be sure to buy organic and non-GMO. You can grow your seeds on your windowsill, outdoors in your garden bed, in a pot on your deck, or under an indoor light.
  • 2nd thing – Begin with the basics. For me, that was baking bread. Working through the basics before moving on to the harder tasks helped me find my footing and how to fit this lifestyle in with house cleaning, errands, carpooling, and other mom life things.
  • & the 3rd thing that helped me get started – commit to ONE new thing a month. This was actually my new years resolution and it’s made not only sticking with it so much fun but I’m actually learning valuable, self sufficient tasks that will benefit our family. Write it down, make a list in your phone’s notepad of one thing for each month. Commit to it, try it, learn from your mistakes, keep going, and then move on to the next thing the following month.

Example:

January: Bake bread

February: Make pasta from scratch

March: Sow seeds indoors

April: Plant seedlings outside

May: Focus on properly caring for garden

June: Learn how to sew and mend clothes

July: Make at least one from scratch meal a week

August: Learn how to dehydrate foods

September: Plant fall and winter vegetables

October: Learn how to can food

November: Educate myself on medicinal herbs

December: Learn how to make soap and/or candles

There are so many cool, new things we can try and learn through homesteading. Above are just a few. Keep up with me here as I continue to dive into all things busy mama homesteading, gardening, fitness, and focusing on living a balanced, healthy lifestyle with all things parenthood!