raspberry love

a handful of frozen raspberries (or any berry, but raspberries are my fav) is my go-to cool you down summertime snack. YUM. And they also tint your lips the prettiest pink.


Also, i had to share this amazing engagement photo shoot. it was inspired by the notebook and I can't get over how perfect they are. Read more about it and see tons more photos here


(source)


Edit: oh yes! i made a formspring for vanilla and lace. if you have a silly (or serious) question that you feel isn't email worthy, there is handy dandy little question box on the right.. or can go here.

homemade laundry soap

This is my first try at a homemade laundry soap and i'm really happy with the results. I did a little bit of research since there are quite a few different "recipes" on the internet, and i heard great things about this one. When this runs out i'll probably try a couple more "recipes" for comparison sake, and i'll be back to tell you what I liked best. But for now I wanted to share this one! The ingredients are easy to find, and quite cheap. Maybe not initially, but the product you buy makes a few batches and the total cost per load ends up being about ONE CENT! You can't beat that..

1/3 bar of Fels Naptha soap
1/2 cup Borax powder
1/2 cup Arm and Hammer Washing Soda
Water
a bucket to mix/store

Grate or dice 1/3 of the fels naptha soap and put it into a large sauce pan. Add 6 cups of water and heat until soap melts. Add the washing soda and borax, stir until it has dissolved.
Pour four cups of tap water into your bucket, add your soap mixture and stir together. Add another 2o cups of water and stir to combine.

Let the soap cool and set up for about 12-24 hours. The consistency should be somewhat jello-ish and somewhat liquid.

Add a 1/2 cup to each load.

The role of the ingredients:

Washing soda helps to deodorize, but fighting grease and stains is the primary purpose. Look for it in the drug store or supermarket, in with the laundry and cleaning supplies.

Borax is awesome! It’s a natural stain remover and an excellent alternative to bleach, because it’s an anti-fungal/anti-mold and all-around disinfectant. Coupled with regular soap, it greatly increases cleaning power. Look for it in the drug store or supermarket, in with the laundry and cleaning supplies.

Fels Naptha is a stain remover. Also, in the laundry aisle.



more homemade cleaners to come this week.

farmers market

Hello!

Vanessa and i have been doing the farmers market every saturday since june, (I can't believe its the first time i've mentioned it!) and it makes saturday a blessing and a curse. A blessing since I get to bake plenty of treats and sell them but a big curse because it means waking up atleast a few hours before normal and sitting outside in the awful (horrible, disgusting, crappy, dreadful, ect) summer heat.

Ha! Okay, its not that bad. Actually, its super fun. Just somewhat exhausting. Saturday afternoons usually consist of a nap and plenty of couch lounging for the rest of the day (while watching tv show box sets of course).

Oh, and some pictures of our treats.

hope you're having an awesome weekend.

i have some DIY household cleaner recipes to share soon. exciting, yes?

tuesday

Just another start to the work week.

sewed up a pretty case for my "pearl"



my husband and his brother have been working on a comic book. the first printing arrived today, along with a bunch of paper strips. Mosey had a blast hiding in it, and pouncing on it.
(info about the comic book here, it's really neat)





i consumed plenty of these no-bake cookies today. i had almost forgot about a childhood favorite of mine, until sheena posted about them a bit ago.
they are too easy and i spruced mine up to be healthy (somewhat??)
she called them gorilla poops, and i liked that so thats what i'm calling them now.


makes about 20

1/2 cup pure agave (you can sub sugar if you must!)
1/4 cup baking cocoa
1/4 cup milk (almond milk was great)
1/4 cup extra virgin coconut oil
1/4 cup peanut butter
2 cups old fashioned rolled oats
1 teaspoon vanilla
pinch of salt


In a medium sauce pan mix agave nectar and baking cocoa. Add milk and coconut oil. Stir over medium heat, and bring to a boil. Boil for one minute. Remove from heat. Stir in peanut butter, vanilla, salt and oats. Drop by spoonfuls onto lined cookie sheets. Stick the pan into the refrigerator until the mounds are set, then eat away.

i love the NW

some trip highlights:
(some things are accompanied by pictures, some are not..oops)

-watched my little brother shoot big guns at targets.
i was just looking through the "eye thing".. i'm too big of a weanie to actually shoot it.


-had a delicious potluck with friends and family on the fourth. with a bon fire and tons of cool fireworks that night.


-went through some old photo albums with my grandma.
the stories that went along with some of the pictures were the best part.
first picture is of my grandma, what a babe. i love her dearly!
and the second is of her parents, i would've loved to have known them
at the time the picture was taken.



-had dinner at my aunt and uncles. but just us girls made it in the picture.

-watched a spider spin a web. (its a miracle i got this close)

-photographed a few friends' adorable babies




-made a french macaron video tutorial (which i'll be showing in the near future)


-played soccer in the sand with my brother-in-law. (more pictures coming soon, action shots are always funny)


-made silly faces at the beach


unphotographed:
-went to trader joes three times. i miss that place too much.
-went on a (late fathers day) starbucks date. just dad and i.
-saw eclipse with my sisters (guilty pleasure)
-satisfied my froyo craving at yocream
-enjoyed every second of the amazing weather.

its always a blast when i get to visit. :)

colorful and pretty

photos from my parents front porch.



the beautiful sky on the fourth.


and the farmers market in downtown vancouver.

strawberry freezer jam (honey-sweetened)

*This was supposed to be posted the day I left. Somehow that didn't happen. Oops!
I'll be back soon with a little blog about my trip*

I'm off to Washington for the next ten days. I'm looking forward to the non-humid, and somewhat cool weather they have been having there. Hopefully i'll find the time to pop in here and show you what i've been up to. But for now here is an awesome sugar free freezer jam recipe.

It sets up like regular jam, tastes amazing and is much healthier than the sugar alternative. And it takes a whopping 5 minutes to make (give or take?)

Strawberry freezer jam (honey-sweetened)

4 cups strawberries
1 T lemon juice
1/2 cup honey
(this can vary, depending on how sweet your berries are. Start at 1/3 and go up to 1 cup if needed)
1 package of No sugar needed pectin
3/4 cup water


Clean and stem berries. Blend with honey in food processor/blender until pureed.

Pour pureed berries into a bowl and add lemon juice and water. Sprinkle on the pectin and stir until well incorporated.

Ladle into clean jars/containers, leaving plenty of room for expansion. Let sit in the refrigerator for a few hours to set up and then transfer to the freezer to store

boredom = productivity

We're having a slow week here at the Porter household. But I'm trying to make the best of it by being extra productive.

I finished sewing up the new large dress/nightgown/shirt thing, started and (almost) finished another dress that just might be my new favorite dress, and finished sewing up a romper that I successfully knocked off from one I saw at target. All of which I'll be showing here soon, no doubt.


I've made two loaves of the master recipe in Healthy bread in five minutes a day. Those books are amazing.


Then I was craving something sweet, and since i'm still avoiding sugar I came up with this sugar free chocolate chip cookie dough (surprise surprise) . I took an eggless cookie dough, added agave in place of sugar and lowered the fat a bit. These little frozen dough balls are now my favorite sugar-free dessert. I don't remember the measurements I used but I'll be making them again very soon and I'll post the recipe as soon as I do so you may enjoy them too. (It looks like there is dirt on them, but really I was just out of vanilla extract so I scraped a teeny tiny bit of vanilla bean in there.)



Another breakfast smoothie.. This time with frozen bananas and strawberries, chunks of mango, blueberries and yogurt. Mango = such a good smoothie.


Other than that we've been relaxing like this. Watching the world cup, of all things. Just a few weeks ago I had never seen a soccer game. Now i'm sort of hooked, they are so intense!