Slow Cooking and Wreath Making

Today was a wonderful Sunday. Saturday night I soaked 2 lbs of Great Northern Beans and this morning cut up wonderful veggies and ham to put into our new slow cooker!

This is a great slow cooker! I am glad it is a big one because this reciepe filled it to the brim!


Here is the recipe, I made it a double batch so everything was doubled in our crock pot.

Crock Pot Great Northern Beans

1 lb Great Northern Beans
1 onion, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons veg. or chicken bouillion (my suggestion would be to not use bouillon if you are adding ham, ours ended up being pretty salty)
1 bay leaf
1/4 cup olive oil
1-2 tbsp butter
salt & pepper to taste

ham is optional

Add 1 cup of water and cook all day on low in crock pot about 10 hours.

towards the end the liquid decreases and becomes a bit creamy as some of the beans break apart

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Very savory and tasty. A little bit too salty for me next time I will not add bouillon if I add ham, and even then I will probably only add half the bouillon of the recipe if I don't add ham!

My opinion is salt can be added per person depending on how you like it. But over all a great recipe it really hit the spot and we have tons of left overs!!

Maybe thinking of adding a bit of water to make it a bit soupy and to dilute the saltiness!

We also went to Michael's to get some wreath making supplies. I really wanted to make a wreath!

I had a great time making it!! And I hung it on our apartment door! I know a lot of people will probably not see it, but it will bring me joy every time I walk into our apartment!

So sparkly and golden. I loved creating my own handmade wreath. With a jingle bell :)

Hubby help me take pictures while I made the wreath, and he is work on making a mosaic wall hanging! I will certainly be helping too. I love art projects!

I also washed the linens and put on our new duvet and down alternative comforter! It is very beautiful in our bedroom and perfect for fall! Can't wait to climb into bed to sleep in clean sheets! Oh the little things in life! :)

Goodnight and Sweet Dreams.

Gut essen!

I haven't posted in awhile because I have been busy subbing which I am happy about! I have been getting called in a lot to sub and the teachers have been getting to know me at a few of the schools in the area so that is really great! Yay!

This weekend was nice and relaxing we had some friends over for dinner and I made german food! Yum! We watched Transformers The Dark of the Moon, it was a pretty good movie but I think the 1st one was the best.

Our German meal! Pork Schnitzel, Cheese Spaetzle, and Sauerkraut

The spaetzle was already made noodles from Aldi! It was very good with Swiss cheese and browned onions on top! Yum! I will be buying this again!

And for dessert a perfert duo for lower cal. brownies with some good nutrition too! :)

What an amazing idea! These really taste good together and you don't add anything else just cake mix and pumpkin and mix together!

Each good size muffin is only 181 calories! :) and tastes like pumpkin brownies! I want to try this with yellow cake or spice cake next!

Last weekend was the PSU vs. Perdue game! It was a great weekend a bit cold and windy but nothing we couldn't handle for tailgating! :) We also went to see the homecoming parade! and PSU won! :)

hanging with friends waiting for the parade to start

after the parade we went to dinner, I forgot to take a picture of my food...I was to hungry so I just wanted to eat! but I had the best beer ever...Creme Brulee Beer! It was crazy how much it tasted like creme brulee! SO GOOD!

PSU marching band!

Cheese!

I always love to visit Happy Valley! :) We will be back again soon!

Farmers Market & WV Botanical Gardens

Happy Saturday! We didn't want to waste this beautiful day so we got up early this morning around 8:30 am to go to the local farmers market for the first time! I forgot my camera but I will bring it next tie so I can take pictures! We also got up because WVU tailgaters were already being noisy outside oh well! I am so glad we went and I know we will be going back every Saturday we can until the winter!

Here is all the yummy food we got! All for approx. $30. Not bad especially for super fresh farm raised food!

I finally got some local honey this guy has several beekeeping sights a 10 mile radius around the town! It is awesome and I have heard it can help a lot with allergies! It tastes very flower and clover-y, very different from generic store bought.

This bread was still warm they had baked it fresh this morning. Olive Rosemary was Justin's pick! My pick a stuff Chibatta with spinach and feta! There was only one left. Glad I grabbed it because it is delish!

Farmstead Cheese! Like a very creamy cream cheese yum! Organic kale in the bag, WV Gold apples they are pretty crisp and sweet, and butternut squash I am going to roast it!

After our trip to the market and back we decided to go check out the WV Botanical Gardens! Which is a lot closer than I thought it would be. Justin always figures out secret ways to get to destinations! I took lots of pictures! :)

On the way to the Gardens!

I love fall but this weather today was more like summer!

Justin! You look good with pretty trees!

I cant wait till the leaves turn brighter colors! We need to come back when they do.

...I don't know, I guess it is an excited face!

Sunshine! Vitamin D :)

We met some friends...

...and disturbed some while eating their lunch. These guys were really eyeballing us!

These 3 pictures are why I love fall! COLOR! also the smell of fall I love and basically everything, who am I kidding!

Justin checking out the creek

telling me cool stuff about the creek!

We stopped and sat on a bench for lunch! The spinach and feta stuffed ciabatta was so good, we still have half left!

a big bag of carrots, which we ate most of already.

WV gold!

shady fellow

an old dam

Justin taking cool time lapse photos

me taking pictures of my mug ;)

again...

and again...

Have a great rest of you Saturday!

What are you planning this weekend? OR have done? Going to join the hubby watch the Penn State Game! Have a great Columbus Day weekend! :)