Mandi Ehman's Blog, page 34

Natural red food coloring from beets {101 Days of Christmas}

I’ve been feeling guilty about using red dye in our peppermint swirl marshmallows ever since I did it, and I knew I needed a new plan before I made our annual batch of candy cane cookies (watch for an update with tips and tricks for these favorite cookies tomorrow!). I’ve purchased natural food dye before, but I really wanted to try making it instead this time. Turns out, like many pantry staples, it’s a cinch to make.

Natural food coloring will never reach the same vibrancy of artificial food dyes, but they’re really very pretty if you set your expectations right from the start!

Note: I tried making powdered food coloring as well, which didn’t work at all for me, so I may need to experiment a bit more with that!

Ingredients:

1-2 beetroots water

Directions:

Scrub the beetroot like you would a potato or carrot. Remove and discard both ends.

Chop into 1″ pieces (no need to peel). Place in a single layer in a  saucepan and cover with water.

Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and  continue to simmer for 1-2 hours until just 1-2 tablespoons of liquid remain. The more you simmer, the more concentrated the dye will get.

Transfer liquid to a jar with a tight lid.

Add several drops at a time until you achieve the color you want.

P.S. Come back tomorrow and I’ll show you what this dye looks like in my candy cane cookies!

Join us as we celebrate 101 Days of Christmas with new DIY projects, gift ideas, traditions and more every day from now through Christmas!

Mandi Ehman is the blogger behind Life Your Way. She and her husband have four beautiful girls plus one baby boy, and together they live, work and homeschool on a little slice of heaven in wild, wonderful West Virginia. Mandi loves coffee, chocolate, easy meals, beautiful things and minimalist spaces.

Meet the 101 Days of Christmas sponsors:

King Arthur Flour's Baker's Hotline: free professional help with any holiday baking challenge
World Vision Gift Catalog: share a full life with children in need by giving unique, life-changing gifts
Plant Therapy Essential Oils: 100% pure, undiluted oils you can trust at a price you can afford
Life Your Way Christmas Shop: get your 2014 Christmas planner today


Natural red food coloring from beets {101 Days of Christmas}

© 2010-2014 Purple Martin Press, LLC | All rights reserved

     

Three ways to serve your local community {101 Days of Christmas}

While our family has taken the opportunity to raise money to purchase farm animals for families around the world through World Vision—both through the girls’ hot cocoa stand (which raised $120!) and the fundraiser here at Life Your Way—I think it’s important to look for ways to serve our local communities as well.

Here are a few of the ways we give back locally and not just internationally:

1. Host or contribute to Cookies for a Cop in your area.

My friend and fellow blogger, Becky Grizovic, created Cookies for a Cop just last week as a way to show support to law enforcement officers this Christmas (and all year). In just 10 days, she has brought together almost 50 people to deliver more than 12,000 cookies to 115 different departments in 9 different states (well, those were the numbers as of Friday; they’re probably even higher now!).

On the Cookies for a Cop website, Becky offers ways you can help, and I’m excited to be coordinating the effort to serve our Winchester police department!

2. Work with Salvation Army or another local organization.

Similarly, the Salvation Army and other local organizations and churches offer many different opportunities to serve at Christmas. Whether it’s ringing the bell as part of the Salvation Army kettle drive, collecting meal boxes for local families or working to distribute resources to the community, this is a great way to serve your neighbor, quite literally.

3. Donate to World Vision’s Poverty in America.

With just 11 days until Christmas, I understand the challenge of carving out more time for serving in the midst of the commitments you already have, family get-togethers and various other obligations. There are also opportunities to donate money here in the U.S., and World Vision’s Poverty in America division provides resources like family food kits and other necessities to children and families across the country. And thanks to corporate sponsorships, your gift is multiplied up to 8 times, so you can be confident it’s making an impact!

Projects from the archives:

Join us as we celebrate 101 Days of Christmas with new DIY projects, gift ideas, traditions and more every day from now through Christmas!

Mandi Ehman is the blogger behind Life Your Way. She and her husband have four beautiful girls plus one baby boy, and together they live, work and homeschool on a little slice of heaven in wild, wonderful West Virginia. Mandi loves coffee, chocolate, easy meals, beautiful things and minimalist spaces.

Meet the 101 Days of Christmas sponsors:

King Arthur Flour's Baker's Hotline: free professional help with any holiday baking challenge
World Vision Gift Catalog: share a full life with children in need by giving unique, life-changing gifts
Plant Therapy Essential Oils: 100% pure, undiluted oils you can trust at a price you can afford
Life Your Way Christmas Shop: get your 2014 Christmas planner today


Three ways to serve your local community {101 Days of Christmas}

© 2010-2014 Purple Martin Press, LLC | All rights reserved

     

Candy cane ornaments {101 Days of Christmas}

I’ve used pieces of candy canes to Mandi Ehman is the blogger behind Life Your Way. She and her husband have four beautiful girls plus one baby boy, and together they live, work and homeschool on a little slice of heaven in wild, wonderful West Virginia. Mandi loves coffee, chocolate, easy meals, beautiful things and minimalist spaces.

Meet the 101 Days of Christmas sponsors:

King Arthur Flour's Baker's Hotline: free professional help with any holiday baking challenge
World Vision Gift Catalog: share a full life with children in need by giving unique, life-changing gifts
Plant Therapy Essential Oils: 100% pure, undiluted oils you can trust at a price you can afford
Life Your Way Christmas Shop: get your 2014 Christmas planner today




© 2010-2014 Purple Martin Press, LLC | All rights reserved

   

Weekend reading: December 13, 2014

From Instagram: Celebrating my grandma’s 80th birthday yesterday like any good Italian family does…with lots of yummy food {at Maggiano’s}!

I am having a hard time wrapping my head around Christmas being less than 12 days away! This year has been busier, more chaotic and more frantic than usual (we don’t even have all of our gifts purchased yet!), and I’m not really a fan of feeling this way at Christmas. It is what it is, though, and I am going to do my best to be fully present for the next two weeks anyway!

Assuming he’s completely over his croup (ugh!) Jackson is scheduled for lip tie surgery on Monday. I hope to share more about this journey and how we ended up here in the New Year, but for now I’d appreciate your prayers, as I’m a little nervous even though I know it’s a simple, relatively low-risk procedure.

What I’m reading: The Last Anniversary by Liane Moriarty and The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown

What I’m baking: candy cane cookies, nonpareils, peanut butter  blossoms, madeleines, fiori di sicilia cookies and kipferl

What I’m thinking about:

{Follow my personal Facebook feed for the things I’m thinking about and talking about all week!}

For entreprenuers 5 Ways to Protect Your Entrepreneurial Confidence | Copyblogger 40 gift ideas for the entrepreneur in your life | EntreFamily How I Gained and Lost 60 Pounds as an Entrepreneur   and So Can You! | Medium On stress and simplicity Healthy Ways To Handle Seasons of Stress | Keeper of the Home The Craft of Simplicity | Wild Olive The practice of loss | The Art of Simple

P.S. Where can you hear from Tsh Oxenreider, Anne Bogel, Crystal Paine and Meagan Francis (plus 8 other amazing bloggers) all in one place? Head here to find out!

Have a great weekend!

Mandi Ehman is the blogger behind Life Your Way. She and her husband have four beautiful girls plus one baby boy, and together they live, work and homeschool on a little slice of heaven in wild, wonderful West Virginia. Mandi loves coffee, chocolate, easy meals, beautiful things and minimalist spaces.

Meet the 101 Days of Christmas sponsors:

King Arthur Flour's Baker's Hotline: free professional help with any holiday baking challenge
World Vision Gift Catalog: share a full life with children in need by giving unique, life-changing gifts
Plant Therapy Essential Oils: 100% pure, undiluted oils you can trust at a price you can afford
Life Your Way Christmas Shop: get your 2014 Christmas planner today


Weekend reading: December 13, 2014

© 2010-2014 Purple Martin Press, LLC | All rights reserved

     

Eggnog marshmallows {101 Days of Christmas}

I didn’t discover eggnog until I was almost 30, but I now have a deep, deep love and appreciation for all things eggnog (and that’s even without the booze!).

I’m not sure why it didn’t occur to me to try eggnog marshmallows until now, but I’m so glad it did because these are yummy. The most amazing part for me is that they go from a creamy yellow to bright white just like plain marshmallows, and I still can’t quite figure out how that happens!

Ingredients:

1/3 cup cold water 3 envelopes unflavored gelatin 1/3 cup cold eggnog 1 1/2 cups sugar 2/3 cup light corn syrup cinnamon and/or nutmeg confectioner’s sugar

Directions:

Grease a 9″x13″ pan and spatula and set aside.

Add 1/3 cup cold water to your electric mixer bowl and sprinkle with gelatin. Let sit for 5-10 minutes.

In the meantime, bring eggnog, sugar and corn syrup to a boil and continue stirring until it reaches 238 degrees on a candy thermometer (about 5 minutes).

Whisk gelatin mixture on low speed, slowly adding the syrup by pouring it down the side of the bowl. Gradually increase to high speed and beat for about 12 minutes until thick and white.

Pour the marshmallow mixture onto your prepared baking sheet and smooth with the spatula.

Sprinkle generously with spices.

Cover and let sit overnight.

Grease a cookie cutter or knife and divide into individual marshmallows.

Toss the marshmallows in confectioner’s sugar.

Variations:

Once your marshmallow mixture is thick and white, turn the mixer to low and add a generous spoonful of spice to be swirled throughout the marshmallows rather than sprinkled on top.

Click here to add this recipe to your Plan to Eat account.

Join us as we celebrate 101 Days of Christmas with new DIY projects, gift ideas, traditions and more every day from now through Christmas!

Mandi Ehman is the blogger behind Life Your Way. She and her husband have four beautiful girls plus one baby boy, and together they live, work and homeschool on a little slice of heaven in wild, wonderful West Virginia. Mandi loves coffee, chocolate, easy meals, beautiful things and minimalist spaces.

Meet the 101 Days of Christmas sponsors:

King Arthur Flour's Baker's Hotline: free professional help with any holiday baking challenge
World Vision Gift Catalog: share a full life with children in need by giving unique, life-changing gifts
Plant Therapy Essential Oils: 100% pure, undiluted oils you can trust at a price you can afford
Life Your Way Christmas Shop: get your 2014 Christmas planner today


Eggnog marshmallows {101 Days of Christmas}

© 2010-2014 Purple Martin Press, LLC | All rights reserved

     

Crocheted snowflakes {101 Days of Christmas}

I would love to learn to crochet. Not just to make endless chains and boring squares made of single crochet stitches but to really crochet and make hats and cute little toys and accessories.

Unfortunately, it hasn’t yet made the top of my “want to” list, so I haven’t done much more than a few hearts or shamrocks. My grandmother, on the other hand, regularly makes beautiful blankets for friends and family, so I asked for her help with these crocheted snowflakes from Red Heart Yarn.

These look great as individual ornaments or tied along a longer string as a festive banner. You could also hang them in windows or attach them to gifts!

We used a sparkly white yarn and followed this tutorial from Red Heart Yarns.

For the final row, my grandma did these a little bit differently:

When starting the last row, crochet 1, +slip-stitch in the next 2 stitches, chain 4 and single crochet in next stitch. (This will make a loop of the chain 4).

Repeat from + all around. End by slip-stitch at end of row.

If you’re feeling really ambitious, you could even make several different style snowflakes since no two snowflakes are the exact same!

Join us as we celebrate 101 Days of Christmas with new DIY projects, gift ideas, traditions and more every day from now through Christmas!

Mandi Ehman is the blogger behind Life Your Way. She and her husband have four beautiful girls plus one baby boy, and together they live, work and homeschool on a little slice of heaven in wild, wonderful West Virginia. Mandi loves coffee, chocolate, easy meals, beautiful things and minimalist spaces.

Meet the 101 Days of Christmas sponsors:

King Arthur Flour's Baker's Hotline: free professional help with any holiday baking challenge
World Vision Gift Catalog: share a full life with children in need by giving unique, life-changing gifts
Plant Therapy Essential Oils: 100% pure, undiluted oils you can trust at a price you can afford
Life Your Way Christmas Shop: get your 2014 Christmas planner today


Crocheted snowflakes {101 Days of Christmas}

© 2010-2014 Purple Martin Press, LLC | All rights reserved

     

Glittery snow goo {101 Days of Christmas}

I came across the recipe for this snow goo at Growing a Jeweled Rose and just knew my girls would love it! Although we used all of the white glue in our house to make it (I knew I should have purchased more for our stash during the back-to-school sales), it’s easy to make and keeps well in a tightly sealed container.

And I have to admit, even as an adult, that there is something soothing about sticking your fingers in the cold goo and letting it slide over them!

Ingredients:

3 cups water, at the hottest temperature out of the tap 2 cups white school glue glitter 3/4 teaspoons of borax

Directions:

Combine 1-1/2 cups water, white glue and glitter in a medium bowl and mix well.

In a small bowl, mix remaining water and borax until the borax has completely dissolved.

Pour the borax solution into the glue mixture and stir until it begins to come together. Use your hands to continue kneading the mixture until you have goo!

Store in a container with a tight lid.

Projects from the archives:

Join us as we celebrate 101 Days of Christmas with new DIY projects, gift ideas, traditions and more every day from now through Christmas!

Mandi Ehman is the blogger behind Life Your Way. She and her husband have four beautiful girls plus one baby boy, and together they live, work and homeschool on a little slice of heaven in wild, wonderful West Virginia. Mandi loves coffee, chocolate, easy meals, beautiful things and minimalist spaces.

Meet the 101 Days of Christmas sponsors:

King Arthur Flour's Baker's Hotline: free professional help with any holiday baking challenge
World Vision Gift Catalog: share a full life with children in need by giving unique, life-changing gifts
Plant Therapy Essential Oils: 100% pure, undiluted oils you can trust at a price you can afford
Life Your Way Christmas Shop: get your 2014 Christmas planner today


Glittery snow goo {101 Days of Christmas}

© 2010-2014 Purple Martin Press, LLC | All rights reserved

     

Do-a-dot printable coloring pages {101 Days of Christmas}

Have you tried Do-a-Dot paints? With a barrel full of paint and a sponge tip applicator, these offer the fun of painting with the convenience of markers!

It’s been a while since we’ve had Do-a-Dot markers in the house, and the girls were so excited when I got a new set for this project. The big girls can happily make their own pictures without any help, but our 5-year-old liked having the guidelines of these printable pages to start, and they’re perfect for keeping your preschoolers busy {for a few minutes, at least!}.

Click here to download or print the do-a-dot coloring pages.

Projects from the archives:

Join us as we celebrate 101 Days of Christmas with new DIY projects, gift ideas, traditions and more every day from now through Christmas!

Mandi Ehman is the blogger behind Life Your Way. She and her husband have four beautiful girls plus one baby boy, and together they live, work and homeschool on a little slice of heaven in wild, wonderful West Virginia. Mandi loves coffee, chocolate, easy meals, beautiful things and minimalist spaces.

Meet the 101 Days of Christmas sponsors:

King Arthur Flour's Baker's Hotline: free professional help with any holiday baking challenge
World Vision Gift Catalog: share a full life with children in need by giving unique, life-changing gifts
Plant Therapy Essential Oils: 100% pure, undiluted oils you can trust at a price you can afford
Life Your Way Christmas Shop: get your 2014 Christmas planner today


Do-a-dot printable coloring pages {101 Days of Christmas}

© 2010-2014 Purple Martin Press, LLC | All rights reserved

     

DIY bath powder {101 Days of Christmas}

I’m so glad that Christina, one of Plant Therapy’s staff aromatherapists and resident bloggers, agreed to share this recipe with us because it’s not one that I would have come up on my own!

This bath powder is luxurious and smooth, perfect for the woman who needs just a little bit of pampering in the midst of her busy life!

Ingredients:

1 ounce (by weight) Natrasorb Bath Starch 1/2 ounce (by weight) jojoba or other carrier oil 15 drops essential oil

Directions:

Weigh the bath starch and transfer it to a blender. Note: The bath starch is very loose and light by itself, so be sure to move slowly and carefully to avoid a big mess.

Weigh the carrier oil separately. Add the essential oils to the oil and stir to combine.

Pour the liquid oil on top of the starch in the blender and blend for about 30 seconds to incorporate. Allow to settle and then package in individual jars!

Tip: I’ve managed to create the rest of my recipes based on volume measurements, but this one really calls for weighing out your ingredients. That said, I haven’t tried it yet, but I think you could skip weighing the ingredients and add just a little bit of carrier oil to your powder at a time, pulsing it to get an idea of the consistency before you add any more. You want it to be dry, almost like a coarse meal in baking, with enough oil to keep it from flying everywhere! Just be sure to add the essential oils to the first bit of carrier oil you add so that gets incorporated right away.

Projects from the archives:

Join us as we celebrate 101 Days of Christmas with new DIY projects, gift ideas, traditions and more every day from now through Christmas!

Mandi Ehman is the blogger behind Life Your Way. She and her husband have four beautiful girls plus one baby boy, and together they live, work and homeschool on a little slice of heaven in wild, wonderful West Virginia. Mandi loves coffee, chocolate, easy meals, beautiful things and minimalist spaces.

Meet the 101 Days of Christmas sponsors:

King Arthur Flour's Baker's Hotline: free professional help with any holiday baking challenge
World Vision Gift Catalog: share a full life with children in need by giving unique, life-changing gifts
Plant Therapy Essential Oils: 100% pure, undiluted oils you can trust at a price you can afford
Life Your Way Christmas Shop: get your 2014 Christmas planner today


DIY bath powder {101 Days of Christmas}

© 2010-2014 Purple Martin Press, LLC | All rights reserved

     

Chocolate peppermint M&M cookies {101 Days of Christmas)

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Glad & M&M’S®. All opinions are 100% mine.

Yesterday I shared an easy “layered’ brownie recipe with you from the back of the Glad holiday containers package, but Glad & M&M’S also asked me to come up with my own holiday recipe.

I knew right away that we needed to incorporate the red & white White Chocolate Peppermint M&M’S into a rich chocolate cookie. (Because let’s face it, is there a more delicious combination in this history of Christmas than rich chocolate and peppermint?!)

The result is amazing, so much so that we packed these cookies right up in the Glad holiday containers and sent them home with my sister because we did not need them in the house after a week of Thanksgiving leftovers!

Ingredients:

2 cups white sugar 1⁄2 cup (1 stick) butter 2 eggs 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 2 cups all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 1⁄2 teaspoon salt 2-1/2 cups M&M’S White Chocolate Peppermint candies

Directions:

In a medium bowl or stand mixer, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix well.

In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the flour mixture and cocoa powder to the wet ingredients and mix. Stir in 2 cups of M&M’S.

Cover the dough and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Use a cookie scoop or spoon to drop golf ball-sized balls of dough on a prepared cookie sheet or stone. Press a few M&M’S on top of each.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, until the edges look cooked (although they’ll still be soft in the center).

Cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

***

Click here to add this recipe to your Plan to Eat account.

Find Glad holiday storage containers and White Chocolate Peppermint M&M’S available exclusively at Target this holiday season!

***

Join us as we celebrate 101 Days of Christmas with new DIY projects, gift ideas, traditions and more every day from now through Christmas!

Mandi Ehman is the blogger behind Life Your Way. She and her husband have four beautiful girls plus one baby boy, and together they live, work and homeschool on a little slice of heaven in wild, wonderful West Virginia. Mandi loves coffee, chocolate, easy meals, beautiful things and minimalist spaces.

Meet the 101 Days of Christmas sponsors:

King Arthur Flour's Baker's Hotline: free professional help with any holiday baking challenge
World Vision Gift Catalog: share a full life with children in need by giving unique, life-changing gifts
Plant Therapy Essential Oils: 100% pure, undiluted oils you can trust at a price you can afford
Life Your Way Christmas Shop: get your 2014 Christmas planner today


Chocolate peppermint M&M cookies {101 Days of Christmas)

© 2010-2014 Purple Martin Press, LLC | All rights reserved