Author: shannonleger

Baking, Desserts

Carrot Cake is a Vegetable, Right?

by shannonleger
Carrot Cake is a Vegetable, Right?

We finally harvested the last of our garden and had a bumper crop of carrots. We love eating carrots, both raw and cooked around here but this is like, a crazy amount of carrots. Since I’m too lazy (or maybe just plain tired out from a super busy few months in the Leger household) to blanch and freeze OR preserve the carrots, I thought I’d make a carrot cake with some of them.

There’s still a ton left so I’ll probably have to just give in soon and figure out something easy to do with them or risk losing them. If they don’t succumb to freezing out in my garage, the pesky little squirrel that’s been sneaking in there to nibble at our bucket of chicken feed will start to nibble on them. Stay tuned for what happens with the remaining carrots, LOL.

I found a great recipe online at Live Well Bake Often and was intrigued by the addition of unsweetened applesauce. I’ve never made a carrot cake that included applesauce so I thought I’d give it a try. It turned out amazing! I hope you will give it a try and enjoy it as much as my family did!

It’s the simple things in life! I think the fact that the carrots were grown in our backyard garden with lots of love and
free of chemicals and pesticides made the cake taste even better!
Super Moist Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Icing

Carrot Applesauce Cake with Cream Cheese Icing

shannonleger
Delectable moist carrot layer cake filled and topped with cream cheese icing and chopped pecans
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 10
Calories 650 kcal

Equipment

  • Measuring spoons
  • Measuring cups
  • Kitchenaid Mixer
  • Mixing bowl
  • Spatula
  • Whisk
  • Parchment paper
  • Cake release
  • 8 inch round cake pans
  • Food processor with grater attachment
  • Pastry brush

Ingredients
  

For the carrot cake:

  • 2 Cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 Tsp baking powder
  • 1 Tsp baking soda
  • 1 1/2 Tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 Tsp ground ginger
  • 1/4 Tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1/2 Tsp Kosher salt
  • 3/4 Cup vegetable oil
  • 4 large eggs, room temperature
  • 1 1/2 Cups light brown sugar
  • 1/2 Cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 Cup unsweetened apple sauce
  • 1 Tsp vanilla extract
  • 3 Cups grated carrots

For the cream cheese icing:

  • 1 8oz package of cream cheese, room temperature
  • 1/2 Cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 2 Cups powdered sugar
  • 1 Tsp vanilla extract

Instructions
 

Carrot cake:

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat bottom and sides of two 8 inch round pans with cake release using a pastry brush. You can also add rounds of parchment paper in the bottom of each greased pan and then grease the paper to give additional protection against sticking.
  • In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt until combined.
  • In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix together the oil, eggs, brown sugar, granulated sugar, applesauce and vanilla extract until fully combined. Add the grated carrots and mix until combined.
  • Remove bowl from mixer and add dry ingredients. Fold in with a spatula until combined but do not over mix.
  • Pour batter evenly into two 8 inch round pans. Tap firmly on countertop before placing in a 350 degree F oven for 30-35 minutes until cake tester inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire rack for 25 minutes. Remove from pans and allow to cool completely on wire racks before frosting.
    Baked carrot cake layers

Cream cheese icing

  • In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat cream cheese until smooth. Add butter and mix until incorporated. Add powdered sugar and vanilla extract and mix until fully combined.

Assemble the cake:

  • Level tops of cakes with a cake leveller if necessary. Place one cake layer on cake stand or platter and spread approximately 1/2 cup of icing on the cake layer. Place second cake layer on top and spread remaining icing on top and sides of cake. Chop 1 cup pecans or walnuts and place on top of cake and around bottom and/or sides.
    Slice of carrot cake with cream cheese icing
Keyword Cake, Carrot Cake, Cream Cheese Icing, Homemade cake, Layer cake, Pecans
Top of carrot layer cake with cream cheese icing and pecans
Top view of carrot layer cake with cream cheese icing and chopped pecans
Baking, Desserts, Fall

Happy Fall Y’All!

by shannonleger
Happy Fall Y’All!

I haven’t been posting on the blog much lately but this summer has been “almost” too crazy to handle! There’s been lots of excitement in our house because we purchased a family cottage by the bay (Bay of Cocagne to be exact) and we have been travelling there every chance we get to work on it. It’s left me with little spare time because when we aren’t there, I’m back at home taking care of the family and madly searching for deals online, Facebook Marketplace for second hand items or new in box items that folks are selling for whatever reason. We are on a very tight budget so it just makes sense to shop around but it definitely adds a whole new level of challenge to this endeavour! I’m always up for a challenge though! I’ll be posting our renovation journey here on the blog over the coming days and weeks so stay tuned!

I missed the whole late summer/early autumn posting opportunity, I had plans to share pickle recipes, Thanksgiving recipes and various fall baking recipes but only managed to crank out one Pumpkin Cookie recipe! So……I couldn’t let another day pass without posting an apple recipe! Apples are one of my favourite fall foods. Fun to bake with for sure! I decided to attempt a version of Dutch Apple Pie (or some might call it a French Apple Pie). It’s really just a perfect cross between pie and crumble! So if you can’t decide what to make, make a Dutch Apple Pie! Make sure you set aside a couple hours for this pie making adventure because this one is a little time consuming. Well worth the effort and the wait though!

First you’ll want to make a single crust pie dough. I used my favourite, Classic Crisco “no fail” recipe here. You’ll then blind bake it and proceed with the recipe that follows. I hope this pie will bring all the wonderful fall flavours, smells and feels into your home!

Dutch Apple Pie

Shannon’s Dutch Apple Pie

shannonleger
A gorgeous and delicious apple pie full of fall flavour. A wonderful combination of pie and crumble, this fall dessert is sure to please.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 8 Servings

Equipment

  • Measuring spoons
  • Measuring cups
  • Whisk
  • Baking Sheet
  • Aluminum foil
  • Parchment paper
  • Pie plate 9 inch
  • Fork
  • Mixing bowl
  • Rolling Pin

Ingredients
  

  • 1 Single pie crust – see link above

Crumb Topping

  • 1/2 Cup brown sugar, packed
  • 3/4 Cup all purpose flour
  • 1/4 Tsp nutmeg
  • 1/8 Tsp salt
  • 6 Tbsp butter, melted
  • 1 Tsp vanilla extract

Apple Filling

  • 5-8 apples, peeled, cored and sliced
  • 2 Tbsp butter, melted
  • 1 Tbsp lemon juice
  • 1/2 Cup granulated sugar
  • 3 Tbsp all purpose flour
  • 1/2 Tsp cinnamon

Instructions
 

Crust

  • Make crust as instructed in Crisco recipe link above. Shape into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap and flatten into a 6 inch round disk.
  • Refrigerate for 1 hour or freeze 15 minutes. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Meanwhile, make crumb topping and filling.
  • Once crust has been chilled for 1 hour in the refrigerator, roll out dough on a floured surface to fit a 9 inch pie plate. Fit into pie plate and flute edges if desired.
  • Prick the bottom of pie with a fork about 10 times and line with parchment paper. Add pie weights (you can also use rice, dried beans for weight) and bake for 15 minutes at 400 degrees F. Remove pie weights and return to oven and bake 8-12 minutes longer.
    Pie crust with pie weights
  • Move oven rack down one from center and reduce temperature to 350 degrees F.

Crumb Topping

  • Whisk together brown sugar, flour, nutmeg and salt.
  • Add vanilla, melted butter and toss evenly with a fork until moistened. Refrigerate.

Filling

  • Toss sliced apples with melted butter and lemon juice.
  • Add sugar, flour and cinnamon. Toss to coat the apples evenly. Set aside.

To Assemble

  • Fill cooled pie crust with filling, break topping into small chunks and sprinkle over top of pie. Place pie on an aluminum foil lined baking sheet and bake for 45-55 minutes.
  • Remove pie from oven and cool on a wire rack for about 2 hours. Serve with whipped cream or French Vanilla ice cream.
Baking, Fall

Pumpkin Spice and Everything Nice!

by shannonleger
Pumpkin Spice and Everything Nice!

Well, it’s been a hot minute since I last posted here on the blog! We’ve had such a busy summer and I have so much to share with you! For today though I just want to share this recipe for Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies. They are so delicious and bring all the fall feels! I have nice memories associated with these cookies, my Mom has made this recipe as long as I can remember. If you are from the Maritimes, I’m pretty sure you’ve heard of the Barbour Cookbook and that’s where this recipe is from.

I usually use the canned pumpkin but if I have fresh pumpkin, I will use that. The pumpkin flavour taste is not as pronounced but still pretty darned tasty! I hope you’ll give these cookies a try this fall season! I bet they will become a family favourite!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

shannonleger
Moist and delicious Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
Course Dessert, Snack
Cuisine American

Equipment

  • Measuring cups
  • Measuring spoons
  • Spatula
  • Baking Sheet
  • Small scoop
  • Kitchenaid Mixer

Ingredients
  

  • 1 1/2 Cups Brown Sugar
  • 1/2 Cup Shortening
  • 2 Eggs
  • 1 1/2 Cups Pumpkin
  • 1/2 Tsp Salt
  • 1/4 Tsp Ginger
  • 1/2 Tsp Nutmeg
  • 1/2 Tsp Cinnamon
  • 1 Tsp Lemon Juice
  • 1 Tsp Vanilla
  • 2 1/2 Cups Flour
  • 4 Tsps Baking Powder
  • 2 Cups Chocolate Chips

Instructions
 

  • Cream the shortening and sugar.
  • Add the pumpkin, eggs,, seasonings and extracts.
  • Sift dry ingredients and add to sugar mixture.. Add chocolate chips and blend.
  • Drop from a small #40 scoop onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake 15 minutes at 400 degrees F.

Notes

The original recipe calls for 1 cup raisins and 1 cup chopped nuts.  I substitute 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips for the raisins and nuts.
Crafting, DIY

Farmhouse Kitchen Hand Towel How-To

by shannonleger
Farmhouse Kitchen Hand Towel How-To

Hope you are all staying cool! Here in Eastern Canada we are having a bit of a heatwave. Today is feeling like 43 degrees Celsius with the humidex. Crazy times we are living in for sure! I never remember early June being this hot! It’s nice though to have summer come a bit early. I’m good with it as long as my A/C holds out, haha! Tonight’s supper will most definitely be BBQ something. Burgers I think….I’m excited to try a new green sauce on them. My Epicure order just arrived and one of my items was their new Feisty Green Sauce. It sure smells good, I’ll let you know how it tastes!

Since I’m mostly stuck inside today due to the heat, I thought I’d whip up some new Farmhouse style kitchen hand towels with a few basic items I purchased. I have looked and looked for just the right kitchen towels for so long and haven’t had a whole lot of luck! They are either too cheap looking, too much crochet on them, too expensive or just not my style/colour. I don’t go to craft shows anymore due to the whole pandemic situation so I often simply can’t find them. But like I said, they never seem just right for me when I do. DIY is the best option I think if you are wanting a specific style or colour. These were so easy to do and all I needed was kitchen tea towels and coordinating potholders. Oh, and a few buttons!

Find the center of a tea towel by folding in half. Mark it and unfold, On the wrong side, stitch a running stitch across from one side to the other. Gather by gently pulling your running stitch. Before tying it off, size it up based on the width of the potholder you will be using for the topper. (My stitching doesn’t look centred in the photo but it is!)
Find the center of your potholder and with right sides together stitch to your gathered tea towel making sure the potholder is centred on the gathered fold of the tea towel.
Fold up potholder in half and attach a coordinating button to the top of one side. You will use the hanger that’s on the potholder to “button” it and join the two sides of the kitchen hand towel around the handle off your stove, dishwasher, etc. Very easy, kitchen appropriate, and oh so cute! Oh, and it fits a multitude of handle widths!
The options are endless! They remind me of little dresses. I love them!
I decided to try a more tailored version as well. For these ones, I folded the tea towels in thirds lengthwise….the way they’d be folded normally when you purchase them.

I folded the towels in thirds but to a width that looked nice with the width of the pot holders I was using. With right sides together as shown, I machine stitched through the center (where the towel would fold over when hung)
I folded the potholder in half, added a coordinating button and voila! Ready to hang and gorgeous! A fantastic addition to any kitchen!
Aren’t they pretty? I’m so excited to finally have pretty (and large) kitchen hand towels that aren’t tattered and stained! Hope you will try this out for yourself! If not, I’ll be selling a few so you can message me here or through The Butchers Daughter FB page. Love to hear from you!
Gardening

The Black Gold of Gardening

by shannonleger
The Black Gold of Gardening

Hey y’all! It’s been a hot minute! I have honestly never been so busy in my life! Between kids school projects, general family life, the blog, the chickens and the coop construction and a few other things I’ve been working on…..it’s just nuts. In a good way! Don’t you love being busy? For me, I’m at my best when busy. Things start getting a little off center for me when I have too much time on my hands. I tend to be a deep thinker which isn’t all bad but it can get to be too intense when I don’t rein it in and it can lead me to not feel my best mentally.

This past weekend I decided to work on our compost bin. We’ve increased our garden plot again this year and I want to make sure we have healthy soil not only this year but for years to come. One way to do this is by adding compost! It’s honestly the black gold of gardening. Other than seasoned manure it’s a top gardening “tool” you can use to ensure the success of your garden whether it be a veggie garden or a flower bed.

I’m all for saving a buck and stretching our budget as far as I can so maintaining a compost bin just makes sense! Why pay for it when I can make my own with a little work, some kitchen scraps, brown material from our yard and surrounding wooded area and some water. It’s one of those things that can seem intimidating but it’s really so simple once you get started! One of the best things for me is knowing that I’’m getting every bit of use out of the food I buy or grow in the garden. Any peelings, egg shells, tops of carrots, beets, rhubarb leaves, etc can go into the compost to create beautiful nutrient rich compost that can then be used to grow more amazing food! And it’s no additional cost to me other than my time. Would you like to create your own compost too? In a few simple steps, you will be well on your way!

Add 3-4 inches of twigs and branches on the bottom of your composter to allow for good airflow on the bottom of your pile. You can build a composter out of wood (use old pallets to save money – wood is exorbitantly expensive these days!) or your can purchase a pvc composter like the one pictured at a local home improvement store or online. Mine is a Garden Gourmet manufactured in Canada by Scepter Corporation. A fun side note: Notice the potato plant growing along the bottom edge of the composter. It’s deep green and robust. A few new little potatoes were sprouting from the plant when we dug it out of the composter! It’s had been under some other scraps we removed. Loving the environment it had already started growing from some potatoes I had thrown in there early in the spring. I transferred it to the garden and it will be a great (and early) producer since it’s had such a head start.
Added some additional kitchen scraps or green stuff as I like to call it. So technical I know! Green stuff can be peelings from fruit or veggies, egg shells, hair (non chemically treated), dryer lint.
Each time green material is added, an equal amount of brown stuff should be added. Here I go again with the technical jargon, LOL! Brown stuff is dry leaves, dried brown grass clippings, these dried up needles and branches from a Christmas arrangement.
Important to remember that each time waste and brown material is added, the pile should be turned. This will help with odours from scraps, flies, and ensure that waste gets hot enough to break down and kill off potentially harmful bacteria. I also add a layer of soil just to ensure things are well covered and add texture and additional nutrients to the pile.

To heat things up I added some fresh lawn clippings on top and mixed it in. Then I watered the pile. The key here is to water until you have a moisture level of a squeezed out sponge. Too dry and you will hinder the breaking down process, too wet will result in a soggy pile which also isn’t ideal for breaking down and creating that compost we want for enriching our gardens. We want the organic material to breakdown not “rot” into a big slimy heap of mess and stench.

Using organic matter such as compost, manure, cover crops in your gardens will greatly improve your harvest which is what every gardener wants! That’s success for a gardener and it’s a great feeling when you start to harvest beautiful fruit and veggies from your own garden. There’s nothing like it! Not in taste, nutrition and certainly not as far as your mental health! It’s a feeling of accomplishment after putting in hours of work planning, then maybe starting seedlings inside, finally sowing the garden, weeding, composting, and tending to each little plant for many weeks before harvest. It’s knowing you are providing for yourself and your family the very best nutritious food that you know is organic and therefore pesticide free. These days, it also means food security. Living through a pandemic and seeing the effects on our food chain…..all the shortages, whether it was from increased consumption (as in the great yeast shortage of 2020, haha!) or from delays in shipping (ill workers on farms or delayed transport due to restrictions) it really opened my eyes to what is possible and it quite honestly scared me. It’s a great feeling knowing I can go in my backyard and pick from a multitude of fresh produce all summer long to create meals for my family. I extend this availability by preserving some of it to get us through the winter months. I will share more in a future blog post on the art of preserving food through hot water canning. Stay tuned!

I truly hope this post has piqued your interest in composting and gardening and provided some good info you can use to be successful in both. I’d love to hear from you! If you have questions or comments or want to share about your composting or gardening adventures, please do so below! Take care and until next time, Happy Composting!

Cooking, Food

Whose Your Daddy Mac (n Cheese)?

by shannonleger5 Comments on Whose Your Daddy Mac (n Cheese)?
Whose Your Daddy Mac (n Cheese)?

Last weekend was Victoria Day Weekend here in New Brunswick, Canada. I wanted something other than BBQ for a special meal and my kids LOVE ham so I decided to make a big ham dinner with, you guessed it, mac n cheese. I souped up (pun intended, haha!) a mac n cheese recipe with a can of mushroom soup and made a couple other changes and voila! Creamy, rich, and oh so good, Mushroom Mac n Cheese! I kept things pretty simple since it was a holiday and I didn’t want to spend too much time slaving away in the kitchen so I served the ham and mushroom mac n cheese with green beans and home canned veggies like pickled beets and mustard bean pickles. I’ll share my recipes for those in a future blog post so stay tuned!

Mushroom Mac n Cheese

Mushroom Mac n Cheese

Rich, creamy Mushroom Mac n Cheese
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine American
Servings 8 Servings
Calories 547 kcal

Equipment

  • Large Saucepan
  • Strainer
  • Pot
  • Liquid Measuring Cup
  • Dry Measuring Cup
  • Measuring spoons
  • Grater
  • Baking dish

Ingredients
  

  • 12 Ounces Dry Macaroni or Small Shells
  • 1/4 Cup Butter
  • 1/4 Cup Flour
  • 2 1/2 Cups Milk
  • 1/2 Tsp Dry mustard powder
  • 1 Tsp Onion powder
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 Can Condensed cream of mushroom soup
  • 4 Cups Shredded cheddar cheese
  • 1/2 Cup Parmesan cheese

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
  • Cook pasta according to package instructions. Drain and rinse.
  • Melt butter over medium heat in a large saucepan. Whisk in flour, let cook 2 minutes. Whisk in milk, mustard powder, onion powder, salt and pepper. Cook and stir till thickened.
  • Remove from heat, stir in all but 1 cup of cheddar, the parmesan and the soup.
  • Stir in cooked pasta and pour into a 9×13 pan or casserole dish. Top with the reserved 1 cup of cheddar.
  • Bake for 18-25 minutes. Cool 10-15 minutes. Serve and enjoy!
Keyword Brownie, Cheese Pasta, Creamy Mac n Cheese, Mac n Cheese, Mac n Cheese Casserole, Macaroni, Mushroom Mac n Cheese, Small Shells

Did you do anything special with your family over the long weekend? I’d love to hear from you! Comment below and share what you did! I’m looking for ideas of things I can do close to home or right in the backyard this summer! My boys are little and due to COVID I think this will be another summer of staying close to home. I don’t want them playing video games all summer so this Mama could use some inspiration! Over the weekend, we stayed busy working on the chicken coop which I hope will be done this coming weekend. The chickens are growing so fast. They really do need to be moved outside soon into their own space. They’ve been living in a large box in our den for the past several weeks and are now starting to flutter up and almost out of the box. My husband has been trying to work from the same den, haha. They make his daily morning meetings interesting! I do think his colleagues enjoy having a close up visit with them when he occasionally clips the video cam onto the side of their box. Check back in for my next blog post where I’ll share progress on their new farmhouse style coop. It’s so sweet, I absolutely love it! It’s a great addition to our backyard for sure!

Our little chicks aren’t so little anymore!
Our little chicks aren’t so little anymore!
Baking, Desserts, Food

Shhhh, it’s Mom’s little secret…..these brownies are healthy!

by shannonleger1 Comment on Shhhh, it’s Mom’s little secret…..these brownies are healthy!
Shhhh, it’s Mom’s little secret…..these brownies are healthy!

Back in the mid 2000’s Jessica Seinfeld released a cookbook called Deceptively Delicious. It is targeted toward parents cooking and baking for their children so lots of child friendly things in this cookbook. Pretty much every recipe could be used to feed a family though. I mean, who doesn’t love a good Sloppy Joe or a big plate of Mac and Cheese? I purchased the book then even though it would be many years before I’d have children of my own and a possible need to hide good things in their food. I’ve since began using it for family treats. It turns out that my kids have pretty well developed palates and eat a wide variety of foods, fruit and veggies included. Honestly, they likely do better with their diets than many adults. I’m at the age now where diet is increasingly important to me for a variety of reasons and I have a major sweet tooth so I decided to work on adding more vitamins, minerals and fibre into those things instead of completely cutting them out.

I recently made the brownies with spinach and carrot purée and they were pretty amazing I must say! They definitely aren’t the decadent brownies you’d purchase at the local bake shop, laden with sugar and butter, their chewiness is definitely different than what we’ve come to expect from a brownie. BUT…..they are still pretty tasty, have a fudgy texture and are a great way to satisfy a craving while cutting down on fats, sugar and calories! Not to mention that they have 3 grams of fibre and the benefits of powerful antioxidants from the carrots and spinach.

These brownies were a huge hit in our house and I plan to make them again (and again!). If you have a garden, they are a great way to use up some of those items you may have extra of during the season. I literally just dunked the spinach in boiling water and it wilted immediately and was ready to purée. The carrots took a bit longer but chopped or sliced in small pieces, they will also cook quickly and were a cinch to purée in my Vitamix.

Look at the beautiful colours of the fresh purées! So many nutrients in there!

The only note I will add is to wait till they are completely cool before digging in. Otherwise, you will taste the spinach. Once cool though, you honestly would never know there are veggies hidden in them! Shhhhh, it’s our little secret!

Chocolate Fudgy Brownies

Healthy Brownies

Brownies with Spinach and Carrot Purée hidden inside
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 55 minutes
Course Dessert, Snack
Cuisine American
Servings 12 Brownies
Calories 133 kcal

Equipment

  • 8×8 Baking Pan
  • Spatula
  • Whisk
  • Cooking Spray
  • Double Boiler

Ingredients
  

  • Cooking spray
  • 3 Ounces Semisweet or bittersweet chocolate
  • 1/2 Cup Carrot purée
  • 1/2 Cup Spinach purée
  • 1/2 Cup Firmly packed brown sugar
  • 1/4 Cup Unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 2 Tbsp Fat free soft tub margarine spread or butter
  • 2 Tsp Pure vanilla extract
  • 2 Large egg whites
  • 3/4 Cup Oat flour or all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 Tsp Baking powder
  • 1/2 Tsp Salt

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Coat an 8×8 inch baking pan with cooking spray.
  • Melt the chocolate in a double boiler over low heat.
  • In a large bowl, combine the melted chocolate, vegetable purées, sugar, cocoa powder, margarine and vanilla, and whisk until smooth and creamy, 1 to 2 minutes.
  • Whisk in egg whites. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt with a spatula.
  • Pour the batter into the pan and bake 35 to 40 minutes. Cool completely in the pan before cutting into 12 bars.
Keyword Brownie, Chocolate, Vegetable Purees
My Journey

My Heart’s on Fire for Elvira! (And a few other chicks!)

by shannonlegerLeave a Comment on My Heart’s on Fire for Elvira! (And a few other chicks!)
My Heart’s on Fire for Elvira! (And a few other chicks!)

I bet you can’t read the title of this blog post without breaking into song, at least in your head, haha. If you’re over the age of 40 you probably remember that hugely successful group, The Oakridge Boys, and their hit song, Elvira. I just finished listening to it on Youtube as I sat down to write this post. I’ll likely have it on repeat in my head all day now!

I’m here today because I have to share……I’m in love! With six fluffy little chicks. I swear I could spend hours watching them flutter around their brooder (a cardboard box in my den for the time being), peck away at their feeder and sleep. They’re adorable and I know already they are going to be beloved pets in the Léger family. Pets that just happen to provide nutritious food for our family :). I’d like to introduce Elvira (she’s the biggest one of the bunch), Noisette (she has a brown back, no stripes like the others have), Birdie (the smallest chick), Fluffy, Coco, and finally Hey-Hey. As you can see in the pictures, they are growing fast! They were three days old when we picked them up and that was a little over a week ago. In that time, their wings have grown and feathered out and they are getting their tail feathers. I marvel at the speed of their growth from newly hatched chicks to this, not even two weeks later!

We are enjoying learning…..it’s a bit of a learning curve, having never owned livestock before. Can I call them livestock? I always tend to think of livestock as cows, pigs, goats. But they definitely aren’t the same as dogs, cats, hamsters……the type of pets I’m accustomed to and experienced in caring for. It’s become a family affair, we’ve all pitched in to feed, water, and care for them. Doing lots of temperature checks as their environment ideally is kept at a certain temperature depending on their age. We’ve learned about the benefits of adding garlic to their water, and of keeping their little butts clean (look up pasty butt if you are curious about what this can mean for a chick if it’s not watched for and taken care of).

Top picture was taken at 3 days old and bottom was taken at 5 days old. Within a couple of days, their wings started to feather out!

We began construction of our new backyard coop as well in the past week. The chicks won’t be able to use it for many more weeks but we want to have it all ready for them when they can move out of our den or garage into their new space. I decided on a Farmhouse themed coop and together we have planned, sawed, nailed and painted. Well OK, it was mostly my husband who did all that with the help of our two little boys but I did choose the design and painted the coop. I think it’ll be a beautiful addition to our backyard in more ways than one and I can’t wait to start collecting those gorgeous fresh eggs from our girls! Imagine baking with those fresh eggs! I’m honestly just so excited.

My almost 8 year old learned to use a power drill. He was pretty happy about that. I’m so happy we can share in the experience of building a coop for our chickens. I think chicken keeping and all that it entails, is a great learning experience for kids!
We were lucky to scrounge up almost enough lumber and plywood from around our yard, basement, garage and shed to build the coop. The rest we were able to purchase from a local mill. With prices as high as they currently are for lumber, we are grateful. This entire project will be completed for well under $200 CDN.
My five year old got in on the action too and learned how to use the power drill with his Papa’s help.
Last weekend we had a good old fashioned “coop raising”. My Dad even came by and helped put the walls up. More pictures to come in future blog posts.

Maybe you’re inspired to keep chickens? Reach out if you have questions! I love to share any knowledge we have picked up along the journey and I love to talk about chicken keeping, gardening, anything kitchen related, Homesteading…..let’s face it, I love to talk. Those who haven’t seen this side of me, just haven’t hit upon the right topic! Lol. I look forward to chatting, please leave me a comment below!

DIY

Where are My Keys Hun?

by shannonlegerLeave a Comment on Where are My Keys Hun?
Where are My Keys Hun?

Last year when we began our kitchen updates, I took down an old key holder I’d had up since 1998 or so. I know, I know, crazy! Let’s just say I get my money’s worth out of things! Haha! It was time for an upgrade for sure! I looked online as in-store shopping wasn’t really an option at the time, then looked locally at discount stores once we could shop for non-essentials. No luck finding just what I wanted so of course I went the DIY route! With my husband Colin’s help, we created a simple key holder that fit in nicely with the Farmhouse theme of our home.

We had a piece of solid oak leftover from our living-room step makeover, so Colin cut a piece to fit the space we wanted to place it and then stained it to match our new luxury vinyl floors. I sealed it with gloss Modge Podge and attached a cast iron key with key hooks onto the piece of oak. Just to give it a little extra punch, Colin painted the key black and added a bit of white here and there to age it a bit. I then sealed the paint on the key by applying a thin coat of the gloss Modge Podge.

I have a weird hang up when it comes to putting nails, screws or hooks in drywall, especially freshly painted drywall, so I used 3M Command Strips to hang our new key holder. After a few days with all our keys on it, it fell off the wall. It was the part of the strips that attached to the back of the holder, not the ones on the wall that were the issue. I think this was due to the fact that I applied the gloss Modge Podge to the back as well. To compensate for this, I used a bit of crazy glue under each strip and it’s held well since. I’m really happy with the end result! It’s custom, fits the space perfectly, matches our decor and serves the purpose of keeping our keys all in one spot right where we need them. Best of all, this project came in well under $20!

Stained oak board cut to size. A little paint, a couple of screws and a bottle of Modge Podge to seal are all you need to create a cute Farmhouse style key holder. You could also use a piece of reclaimed barn board, or even a piece of wood from a pallet.
The end result! It’s so nice to finally have a place to hang our keys again. I added this sweet little metal organizer where we keep reusable bags that need to be returned to our vehicles, masks, mail that needs to be sent, etc. It’s conveniently located right by the door to the garage so it’s very easy to grab keys and other things on the way out the door!
DIY, Home Improvement

Blinded By The Light!

by shannonlegerLeave a Comment on Blinded By The Light!
Blinded By The Light!

Hello everyone! It’s been far too long since we’ve chatted! I really missed you guys! I hope you missed me too. I’ve been on this huge journey over the past year and a bit, I think a lot of us have been. I decided at the beginning of the pandemic that I’d use the extra time (and money saved from not going out to eat, shopping, travelling, etc) to change up my home and get some things done around here that had been put off for far too long! In the process of renovating my home, I honestly have begun to change my life too! More on that in another post, haha!

One of the things I’d been putting off since last year was getting some window treatments up. I took down all my window coverings…..curtains, blinds last spring when we were in the thick of our kitchen turned main floor renovations. For all the many months since then, we’ve been blindless. Is that a word? Haha. I decided to forego curtains altogether and stick with inside mount cellular blinds. I love the clean look of them, tons of light still gets in but they do give a bit of privacy and help block UV rays, not to mention heat and cold. Finally, back in March, I took the plunge and ordered blinds for my whole home through Blindselect.ca. I’m so happy with the quality and aesthetic of these blinds. They often have discounts and I was able to order during a 50% off sale. Even better.

The only problem was, I couldn’t find a good solution for my exterior steel doors. I needed something that would block the blinding light coming in, especially my front door where I also wanted some privacy. I wanted something that would look good but that would work with a very small budget. I also didn’t want anything too permanent (I have a thing about putting holes in walls, doors, etc). My solution was to DIY Roman blinds using old pvc mini blinds that we took down from one of my boys’ rooms when we installed the new blinds. I thought I would share this DIY with you because I know there’s someone out there in the same predicament I was in! Here’s what I did and the end result. I’m so pleased!

Step 1: Choose a mini blind that’s the correct width for your steel door window. You will also need approximately a yard of fabric of your choice. A heavier fabric will hang well but do keep in mind this is going up with magnets so you won’t want it to be too heavy. You will also need a pack of nickel sized magnets and some fabric/craft glue.
Step 2: Remove the small plugs from the bottom of the blinds. This will allow access to the main cord on either side of the blinds. Untie the knots and remove the bottom rail.
Step 3: Cut all the ladder cords. These literally look like a ladder and connect the ladder cord in the front to the ones in the back. Once they are all cut, remove the ladder cords completely. You will be left with the two main cords that pull the blind up and down, as seen on the right in the photo. It’s a thicker cord. Do NOT cut these main cords.
Step 4: Remove all the slats of the blinds, except for 3 or 4 depending on the length of your window and how many folds you want in your finished Roman blind.
Step 5: You will be left with something that looks like this. Put your bottom rail back on, knot the cords and place your plugs back on the bottom rail.
Step 6: Cut your fabric 3 inches larger than your window on all sides (top, bottom, sides). Fold and iron a 1.5 inch seam.
Step 7: Apply fabric glue. I ironed it lightly after folding over onto the glue.
Step 8: Apply fabric glue onto first fold and fold over another 1.5 inches. Iron in place. This gives your seam a completely finished look with no raw edges to fray. All with NO sewing!
Finished seams. Loving it! Now for the really fun part!
Step 9: Lay out your slats spaced apart evenly. Glue in place with fabric glue. Let dry. You will also glue the top and bottom rails in place.
Step 10: Decide how many magnets you will need to hold your particular blinds in place. I ended up adding magnets in between the ones you see in the photo, after doing a trial run and realizing they weren’t going to hold the blind in place. Glue magnets in place with fabric glue or crazy glue. Or both, haha!
This was my door prior to having the Roman blinds installed.
And here’s the after photo.
As you can see, lots of light still comes into my foyer (which I wanted) but it’s not as blinding and the door area just looks more polished. The project was $20 or less and I got the style and fabric colour/design I wanted. I reused an old blind saving it from heading to the landfill and best of all, it was an easy no-sew project that didn’t require holes to be drilled into my steel door. It can be taken down and changed out easily if you tire of the colour, design, etc. It’s a great solution for those who are renting and you don’t want anything permanent installed that may keep you from getting damage deposits back, etc.
I chose a dark grey and white ticking which complements the Farmhouse style of my home.
Night time view of the blinds…..a little easier to see the colour.
Can be completely lowered to cover the
window at night.

I hope you will find these instructions helpful and enjoy the process and the pride that comes when you make something yourself for your home!