2014- Here we go!

Happy weekend friends!!

We had a wonderful Christmas in our household this year. I absolutely love the holidays because everyone slows down (kind of) and makes time to spend with each other. It is so hard to get the whole family in one room at the same time, but everyone makes it a priority to slow down at Christmas!


Now that the Christmas season has officially ended (tear), we can start looking to the New Year. What will 2014 bring? What will I accomplish in 2014? The questions and possibilities are endless, which is why I adore this holiday!

New Year's 2013. Sparkle and Champagne ya'll.

Even though I love me a good New Year's Eve party, complete with sparkle and champagne, I am not one for resolutions. I try to live everyday the best I can and if I make it to the gym, awesome. If not, well sucks for me. Instead of resolutions, I like to make suggestions to myself for the new year. It just sounds less harsh when I don't take myself up on a "suggestion" I made.


Here are my 2014 suggestions::

1) Not acquire so much "stuff."  Do I love me a new pair of kicks? Absolutely, but this year I am going to try to spend money more wisely. I have decided that finishing a new project, like the dining room table, gives me much more satisfaction than a spiffy new pair of boots. 2014 will be the year of fun projects I have declared. Although.. boots do make the world go round.....This one might be tough.

 

2) Pick a cookbook & create every recipe in the book. I love cooking. I love creating something delicious and having people enjoy it. I love to discover new flavors and I think trying other people's recipes is vital to keep you on your toes in the kitchen. Therefore, I think I am going to try to cook all Pioneer Woman recipes out of this cookbook and see what happens! Gabe is going to love this one.

3) Create a new tradition with Gabe. As we have now settled into daily life of work and play, I want to create a fun tradition that we can keep going once we have kids of our own. It might be going to lunch every Sunday after church (which we should attend more often) or maybe making pizzas one night a week. Something that we can look forward to each week as a family.

4) Donate more. This goes along with suggestion #1. I plan on having a rather large garage sale next summer since our house is in a neighborhood and I have to say I am quite excited about this. I really want to donate more and anything that doesn't sell at the garage sale will most definitely be donated. I know there are others out there that need the sweatshirt more than I do and it is very gratifying to help others out.

5) Enjoy life. Last but not least, I think we all could benefit from this suggestion. The everyday hustle and bustle of jobs, family, and life itself can get rather overwhelming. 2014 will be the year I stop and smell the roses, roll with the punches, and enjoy that margarita when I feel like it!

Do you have any "suggestions" for 2014? What are you looking forward to most?

 

Hope you all have a fabulous weekend!

Xo- Karalie

Breakfast anyone?

Hello all!

Now that our Christmas shopping and grocery shopping are both officially complete- we can take a big deep breath and enjoy this Christmas week!


It is freezing outside. And I know some of you will say "DUH, its winter in Kansas!" but this is just a little too cold for this girl. So to battle this frigidness, I made breakfast for dinner. Because what's better to warm the soul than bacon?!  Nada.


Therefore, its french toast and bacon for dinner!


Here is how I made my french toast:

(These photos are from my iPhone and don't quite do the meal justice)

Start with 6 whole eggs in a dish. You could probably get away with 5 because I had some of the soaking mixture left over. Add 3 Tb of heavy whipping cream to these eggs and have at it. Beating eggs is actually a great stress reliever. Try it.

Once you have these two beauties combined, add your cinnamon, a pinch of salt, and my secret ingredient --------> french vanilla instant pudding mix!  I added about 2-3 Tb of it. It thickens the batter (so does the heavy whipping cream) and sweetens just enough and adds the perfect vanilla flavor. It is a multi-tasker.

Add in some WHITE bread. Yes you can use whole wheat, but it just isn't the same. I tried to find thick cut texas toast, but I was also grocery shopping the night before Christmas Eve. There were a lot of things I couldn't find. Fail. 

Get your griddle pan ready by slathering it with butter over medium heat. I leave the wrapper on it that way I don't make a mess. Pop what ever you don't use back in the fridge and you have it for the next time you make french toast... or pancakes... or waffles.  Am I finding a theme here?

Griddle these babies till they look like this:

Pop them on a cooling rack and place in a 200 deg oven until you have finished the entire batch. That way they all stay crispy and warm.

Meanwhile, place your bacon on a cooling rack that is placed over a baking pan. Place in an oven that is OFF. Once in the oven, preheat to 375 deg and cook till crisp. I think you could even do 400 deg to get the bacon extra crispy but it should look like this once it is out:

Thank you Lord for bacon. 

Plate up a few pieces of french toast along with powdered sugar, add in some bacon, and voila! The perfect comfort meal for this ridiculously cold night!

ENJOY!!

Xo-Karalie


French toast:
6 whole eggs
3 Tb heavy whipping cream
1 Tb cinnamon
3 Tb french vanilla instant pudding mix
Pinch of salt
Thick cut white bread
Butter for greasing pan

Combine first eggs and cream. Beat with a whisk till very well combined. Add in spices and whisk till combined.

Heat griddle pan over medium heat and rub with butter.

Soak bread in batter mixture and brown on hot griddle.

Place in 200 deg over to keep warm until all bread has been cooked.

Serve with bacon and powdered sugar.

Here Comes Santa Claus!

HAPPY HUMP DAY FRIENDS!


Only 2 days until the weekend- Whoo!

So now that Thanksgiving is officially behind us, we can bust out the Christmas tunes and eggnog. Except, we have been in the Christmas spirit since the middle of November and I don't like eggnog. But, the Gantz home is decorated and ready for Santa to slide down the chimney.


I went with a particular color scheme this year, silver and red, with touches of vintage and sparkle. Yes, I plan a color scheme each year, its that OCD thing coming out.


Let's start with the Christmas tree!

Those letters spell "Merry Christmas" and I got the inspiration at Pottery Barn. They were $3.50 a letter and I just couldn't see spending that on letters! Therefore, I bought the letters at JoAnn Fabric for $1.49, little left over silver paint and glitter spray and voila! My own letter banner.  You can semi-see one of the pillows we (well my mom) sewed for this season. One set is an awesome vintage Santa fabric and the other is fashioned after this pillow. Except, I did silver stars.

Up next, the buffet.

This is one of my favorite places to decorate in the main living area. The ornament garland I found at TJMaxx and the trees were half price at Hobby Lobby. The planter is left over from our wedding and I filled it with cute red bird and snowflake fabric. Layer in some ornaments and glitter pears to complete it! I love love this and can't wait to change the vibe each Christmas. Oh the possibilities!

Then let's move on to the dining room table.. Which is 100% complete!!

Yes I know our table is a little off center but just go with it. My wonderful mother sewed this adorable runner for me and it has vintage reindeer fabric in the middle. These white milk jugs I found at Target when we moved in and the berries I got half price at JoAnn. Add in some candles and hurricanes and we are complete! I am in the process of changing those yellow chairs to cream and will post them when I'm done.  (Look at that wood grain guys- success!)

Here are just a couple little projects I made...

These used to have some paper on them so I took a little acetone to them and dawn dish soap and they are as good as new. I painted stripes to go along with the color scheme for the year and filled with left over ornaments. I literally did not spend a dime on these and just used what I had!

These were wine bottles (obviously) that I gave a little makeover to. I free-handed the painting so the lines could be a little sharper but most definitely turned out better than I thought. Thanks mom for the cute bow!

Last, but not least, are just a few other things we did.

I found those stocking holders at TJMaxx for very little money and my mom made the stockings. I am eventually going to stencil a "G" and a "K" on them. The little wagon with the tree and snowman was once a baby blue. Black spray paint fixed that and now I can decorate throughout the seasons! Add a few Santa Claus' from Gabe's childhood and the Gantz home is open for the holidays!


Have you made some fun Christmas decor for the season? I'd love to hear what projects you guys are working on!


Up next in the Gantz life... Finish dining room chairs and.... start on... THE PALLET WALL! :)


Xo- Karl