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Posts by Jennifer Ackley:

January 2 2024

Starbucks Copycat Pumpkin Loaf

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recipe

Starbucks Copycat Pumpkin Loaf

by: Jenn

Time 10 minutes for prep, 45-50 minutes cook time
Makes 2 loaves or more depending on size of pams

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Ingredients

For the bread:

3 large eggs
1½ cups pumpkin puree
⅔ cups of extra virgin oilive oil
1/2 cup powdered sugar
½ cup light brown sugar packed
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin spice
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon cloves
1 teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon baking powder
¾ teaspoon salt
1½ cups all-purpose flour

For the topping:

3 tablespoons pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
1 teaspoon honey (or maple syrup)
½ teaspoon extra virgin olive oil

Directions

For the bread:

Preheat the oven to 350ºF Grease loaf pans with olive oil. with baking spray.

Place eggs in a medium-large bowl and whisk well.

Add pumpkin and whisk until smooth. Add the oil, white and brown sugars and vanilla. Mix until nice and smooth.

Sprinkle the pumpkin spice, cinnamon, clove, baking soda, baking powder and salt over the pumpkin mixture and mix until well combined.

Add the flour and stir just until the flour has disappeared and no large lumps remain.

Transfer batter to prepared loaf pans.

Prepare the topping by mixing olive oil and honey to the pepita seeds, then sprinkle over the batter mixture.

Baking Tips: Check on the pumpkin loaf around 40 minutes, if the top is browning place a foil tent over the loaves for the remainder of cooking time.

Cooking time is dependant on the size of the loaf pan. I bake my loaves in 8×6 pyrex pans for 46 minutes.

This pumpkin loaf is so good right out of the oven, but you could let it rest for 20 minutes, if that’s your thing.

skillet chicken_crack chicken_15 minute recipes

July 13 2023

15 Minute Chicken and Pasta

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recipes

This recipe is perfect for those days when your exhausted with playdates, soccer practice, mounds or laundry you have no intent to put away, or you’ve just forgot to take anything out of the freezer to thaw for dinner. It’s also perfect for after thanksgiving when you want to use that left over turkey but your tired of sandwiches. For the over achievers that love to comment with I added cherry tomatoes or broccoli, that’s awesome! This is a recipe you can defiantly drag out or spice up. Break out the wine moms, this recipe could be done in minutes so you’ll have time to kick your feet up and scream at your kids for the last two hours before bed to pick up their toys and brush their teeth vs cleaning a disaster in the kitchen. Time is precious, so I’ll skip the mellow dramatic mom stories, head to the kitchen dust off that can opener and get to cranking.

15 Minute Chicken and Pasta

by: Hip Momma

Time: 15 minutes
Servings 6

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Ingredients

10 oz. can of chicken or left over chicken breast shredded.
2 cups of dry pasta of choice
2 strips or more of bacon
1 shallot diced
4 cups of water
1 cup of vegetable broth
8 oz. of cream cheese
1 1/2 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese
2 Tbsp. Primal kitchen ranch dressing
1 tsp Himalayan salt
1 tsp fresh ground black pepper

Directions

preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Add vegetable broth to a large sauce pan and bring to a boil, then add pasta and cook for 8-10 minutes or until tender.
While pasta is cooking cook bacon in cast iron skillet, leaving slightly under cooked.
Remove bacon and blot off access grease, then reduce heat to low/medium and cook shallots for 3-4 minutes or until translucent.
Cut or tear bacon into space pieces once cooled and set aside.
Once pasta is cooked spoon it into the cast iron skillet with the shallots using a ladle. You do not need to worry about straining off all the water as you scoop the noodles into the skillet. You’ll want to reserve the water incase the mixture dry before placing in the oven.
Mix in vegetable broth, cream cheese, mozzarella cheese, ranch, salt and pepper until creamy. If the noodle mixtures looks to dry, spoon in some of the water from the pasta. This will keep the noodles from getting hard and sticking to the skillet in the oven.
Sprinkle the cheddar cheese on top of the mixture then top with chopped bacon bits.
Place the skillet in the oven and cook for five minutes.

NOTE If your the bubbly burnt cheese type you may need to leave the skillet in the oven a bit longer. Just be careful not to over cook the pasta in the process.

November 23 2022

How To Choose A Furniture Paint Color

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How To Choose A Furniture Paint Color

The number of emails I get from people wanting to know what color I used on a piece of furniture exceeds the number of emails I get from potential clients. The truth is I don’t really use color chips. If I’m designing my own pieces I draw inspiration from wallpaper, hardware, a chandelier I picked up or even magazines. If I have a bold wallpaper, I want to use I usually make all of my material selections based off of that. The last thing I usually decide on is the paint color. More often than not the paint is a color match of a color in the wallpaper.

It’s not my intention to be rude when I get inquiries. I just don’t have a color name to give out. I want my pieces to be unique, even what looks like white in pictures, isn’t white. I’ve only used white once, all of the other light pieces in my gallery are grays, creams and cashew colors. It’s hilarious the responses I get when I try to explain that the piece in question isn’t white. I have had people get combative, not once or just one person, a collection of people on more than one occasion. It’s insane! Sorry I couldn’t be of more assistance to you, or I was unwilling to guess what it was you wanted me to tell you.

For me I think it’s harder to work on custom orders than design my own pieces. I shouldn’t say it’s hard, it’s like going on stage to perform in front of an audience full of people. I have all the confidence in the world I could pull off my routine, but what if the crowd isn’t feeling it. Crickets!! It’s kind of scary, for me anyway!

I’ve had several clients request a piece that ties into something sentimental like a piece of art. I have to design a piece of furniture that fits the style of their home and incorporates this object or that will display their objects. I can honestly say I have had every single client turn down my first choice for a paint color. Everything else is great, back panel, wallpaper, hardware, lighting, but the color choice has been reselected on every single custom order I’ve ever worked on.

Initial Design

Finished Product

There is only one piece of furniture I have worked on that is the true color selected by the client. She chose an award-winning paint color that was brand specific, and I could only get the paint mixed in that brand. Chalk paint tends to be slightly lighter than the paint chip or swatch. If you were to purchase a color from the wall at your local hardware store it’s not going to be the same paint color.

When I first started out, I had to agree to a final sale on my color choice for that reason. What seriously blows my mind is how often I see cans of chalk paint on the oops rack for sale because someone returned it. I’ve never been dissatisfied with my design choices, so it doesn’t bother me that they act like a supersized Karen but be consistent.

It sounds cheesy, but I let the furniture speak to me. I don’t buy anything to make a replica of a Pinterest pin or viral post. I hate making replicas of my own previous work. If I wanted a repetitious life, I’d get a job working on an assembly line building someone else’s crap. I like designing and creating my own art whether its furniture or decor. So, my best advice would be to choose a color that appeals to you not that’s plastered all over social media.

November 22 2022

Confessions Of A Seasoned Furniture Flipper

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Confessions Of A Seasoned Furniture Flipper

I honestly hate the term furniture flipper; I don’t flip furniture. I’m a designer. I reimagine furniture and I put a lot of thought into it. I don’t drill a pass-through hole in an old wardrobe and call it an outlet. It’s a hole!

The cringiest thing is the old lady funk. Old furniture smells, anyone that’s says otherwise is a liar. I tell every client before I work on any piece of furniture, I wipe it down with vinegar sit it out in the sun to dry out and repeat. I cannot stand sanding down a piece of furniture and having old lady funk dust on my clothes and hair.

I literally vomit in my mouth when I see a reel that says I flipped 5 pieces of furniture in 2 days. Then the person sprays right over the drawers, doors and hinges. WHAT! Don’t be lazy, break that shit down, wipe that shit down and spray it separately. DON’T BE GROSS!!!! I don’t care if you shove a glade warmer in the pass-through hole, it’s going to smell.

Cartoon man feeling bad smell isolated on white background

Instant gratification has killed true craftsmanship. Wood working is an art, shaping, chiseling and sanding are skills taken for granted. Sure, I can slap a coat of chalked paint over a lacquered piece of furniture, but why would I? It’s going to flake, peel, crack and rub off from body oils wherever its frequently touched. Long before I started selling furniture, I refinished my own pieces. I was pissed I didn’t take more time prepping my pieces before I slapped that coat of paint on it because I bought into those youtubers diy videos.

When I first started out, I refinished several pieces of furniture my client’s purchased from other sellers that were rushed. I got to a point where I had to say no., I was tired of stripping paint off hinges and handles because someone wanted to make a quick buck. I design my own pieces I don’t have time to play fix it for insta flippers flipping large furniture in a day. NO, Ew!

I’m so over that process I won’t even buy a previously painted piece of furniture. No Gracia! I don’t want to mess with whatever is hiding under that blanket of chalk paint. I don’t care if it’s Annie Bell Diva the fuck ever paint. It’s a hot ass funky mess and I want any part of it.

TRUE STORY

ugly_dresser_furnitureflip_furniture_makeover

I affectionally call this ugly dresser. I bought this sad little piece for $5 on the marketplace. It was already painted black and gray with this odd upside-down applique on the drawer. When I picked it up, I realized why the seller was giving it the fuck away. She had that shit sitting at the end of her driveway when I pulled up. She picked it up like Hulk and tossed it into to my vehicle for me. I swear I felt her nudge me like she was shoving me off before I changed my mind.

It looked all cute and photoshopped in the picture, but it was… not. It was painted with high gloss paint; the brush strokes were thick and streaky. The white showed through the black and gray paint. It took forever to get that crap off. What was underneath was even worse than the tar that was slathered all over it. The entire piece was over sanded, the parts that were wood had no visible grain and the formica top was worn down by the sander.

After I scrapped away all the shit and saw the disaster under it, I was done. Normally I’d remove the outdated skirt footing or square it up. I had plans to remove the wood applique, but I was too terrified. For all I knew it was hiding a hole or a portal to another dimension. I didn’t want to release a troll or whatever might have been sealed off behind that sad little thing.

As you can tell it did not want to take the paint. I felt like my best option was to make it rustic and pray someone let me throw it at their vehicle like the seller did to me before they changed their mind.

The buyer actually loved it and wanted a matching armoire. So there truly is a buyer for every piece.

Do you remember walking the halls in high school and the smell that permeated had high notes of axe and bath and body works body spray and low notes of funky teenage boy musk and sweaty crotch? Don’t do that to your furniture.

I nitpick every piece I build or refinish. There is always something I think I could have done better, but I can always say I cleaned every piece from top to bottom, inside and out. My wallpaper is always on point and my ratan isn’t all chueco, looking like my armoire has Bell’s Palsy.

The vast majority of these viral flipper reels are people endorsing products. They spend more time editing their videos than they do “working” on their furniture.

Full disclosure, even if I got a piece of furniture off the side of the road, the time I put into reworking it is just as valuable as the materials I purchase. Labor is a factor for my business just like it’s a factor for every other major company or corporation.

Before & After

September 17 2022

Free U.S. Money Counting Activity

farmhousenook Montessori 0

Free U.S. Money Counting Activity,

My children don’t want to sit in a chair and get lectured by mom then color a picture afterward. They hate baby activities like coloring pennies, connecting the images to the values and matching. I can’t blame them, its boring! That’s the busy work I hated when I was in school. If the activities and lesson plans are not challenging or entertaining kids are not going to respond.

What’s more fun that an afternoon of playing deli owner? I set up the counter with the kids favorite snacks, a couple of drinks and created a menu on a dry erase board with the prices.

I gave each kid money along with a worksheet with the values of the bills and coins. See the example below.

Use the worksheet to help count the different ways to make $0.25, $0.50, $0.75, and $1.00. The sheet serves as a tool when kids are starting out with values of money. They can compare their change to the worksheet and determine how many dimes nickels etc. they need to make a dollar.

Once they have the hang of counting the change and adding up the coins you can make it fun by playing deli owner, grocery store clerk, etc.

For example: I had banana’s on my menu for $0.25, apples for $0.25, and a sandwich for $5.75. My son wanted apple slices and a sandwich so he had to add the total cost to pay me.

U.S Money Value Chart

It was really cute to watch the light bulb come on when he realized $5.75 + $0.25 = $6. My son quickly switched his four quarters for a dollar and recounted his money before paying me. They enjoyed it so much they asked if we could play it again for dinner.

Dollar Tree sells a play money set that has mini realistic looking bills. The coins however are paper and all the same size. I pulled out the change jar so it wouldn’t be so confusing. Money is basically obsolete, but it’s still a valuable lesson. It helps with quick counting and fractions down the road.

September 5 2022

Better Than Panera Chicken Chili

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recipes

Better Than Panera Bread Chicken Chili

by Jenn

Time depends on your devotion boo!
Makes 8-12 cups

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Ingredients

2 chicken breasts
1 cup of diced potato
1 cup of diced carrots
2 cups of cooked northern beans (garbanzo beans)
1 cup of diced onions
1 cup of corn
2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
2 gloves of garlic sliced
1/2 cup of jalapenos diced
1 cup vegetable broth
1 1/2 cups of water
1 cup tomato puree divided
1 1/2Tbsp. smoked paprika
1 1/2 Tbsp. chipotle chili
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 Tbsp. pink Himalayan salt
1 1/2 Tbsp. fresh ground black pepper
2 Tbsp. flour

Directions

Soak garbanzo beans over night.. rinse and change water at least once. Cos beans for two hours and reserve 1/2 cups of water for chili. Skip this step if using canned or precooked beans.
Place a 4 quart sauce pan on the stove over medium heat with 1 Tbsp. of extra virgin olive oil. Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper and place in the skillet cooking for about 5 minutes on each side.
Remove chicken breasts and let rest. Meanwhile reduce heat to low and add garlic and onions. Cook for 2-3 minutes, stir to prevent sticking.
Mix flour with 1 Tbsp. tomato puree, chipotle chili, cayenne pepper, smoked paprika, salt and pepper and set aside.
Add 1 Tbsp. olive oil to the sauce pan with onions and garlic, stir in carrots, potatoes and jalapenos. Cook for 2-3 minutes.
Add a little of remaining water (1-2 Tbsp.) to remove any bits that may have stuck to the bottom.
While veggies are simmering shred chicken. It may still be a little pink which is okay.
Pour chili paste into the sauce pan, mix well. Add vegetable broth, water, tomato sauce, shredded chicken and corn to the sauce pan, stir well.
Reduce heat low and let simmer for 1 hour.

September 4 2022

The Hungry Caterpillar Counting Activity

farmhousenook Montessori 0

Caterpillar Counting and Matching Activity

counting_activity_the_very_hungry_caterpillar_farmhousenook

The Very Hungry Caterpillar is one of my children’s favorite books. When my son was a baby I found a plush version of the book with a strawberry teether and a caterpillar baby toy. I must have read the story to him a hundred times a day. I used the books I read to him and my daughter as inspiration when I started teaching them even before school age. I taught them shapes, letters, numbers, colors by making fun themed activities from stories I read to them. It brought their favorite stories to life while providing sensory learning, which is key in child development.

By the end of the day the my pearls of wisdom have escaped me, but you really don’t need a how to on creative sensory activities. Appeal to your child’s interests and they’ll love it. If you have more than one child, like I do. Well then you have your own little critic who is going to ask why you copied the book instead of drawing worms in each circle. This is were that wine glass comes back into play.

very_hungry_caterpillar_art_counting_and_matching_learning_activity

No lie, at first I drew hearts in the circles because my daughter loves hearts and the color pink. My eight year old critic thought it was weird, so I had a 16 oz. glass of wine and “copied” the book. I was so damn excited I brushed my hair, put on make-up and changed out of my leggings like I was going on stage to accept The National Medal of Arts. I didn’t care that my son thought I copied a book and my husband thought my pairs looked like moldy guitars. My daughter was so excited she reached octaves that would wreck a ship when she saw it. I got my award and a little tipsy.

August 5 2022

Avo Toast

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recipes

Avo Toast

The possibilities are endless when it comes to avo toast or avo naan bread. Once of my favorite things to top avocado bread toast with is mango salsa. Our breakfasts resemble hotel continental breakfast with a variety of sausage or bacon, fresh salsa, diced veggies, fruit, and sometimes egg. It’s kind of like a build your own pizza event in the mornings only the base is avocado in stead of pasta sauce.

Dress up left over chicken, beef or pork by making it a topping on toasted naan bread with avocado. Cut up chicken breast into small pieces and sprinkle over avocado. Add grilled onions, roasted corn and feta cheese and you have whole new meal out of the meal from the night before. Do I need to write out a recipe when a picture is worth a thousand words.??

August 5 2022

Naan Bread

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recipes

NAAN Bread

by: Jenn

Total 2 hrs.35 mins includes cooling time

Active 35 mins

Resting time 2 hrs.

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Ingredients

2 1/4 cups of organic unbleached flour divided.
1/4 tsp aluminum free baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp Himalayan pink salt
2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
3/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
1 tsp grated garlic
warm water for kneading

Directions

In a large bowl mix 2 cups of flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
Add yogurt, olive oil and garlic to the dry ingredients. Mix until well combined.
Knead dough until smooth, applying warm water to hands as needed to form a smooth dough ball.
place the dough ball in a bowl, cover and let rest for 2 hours.
Dust the surface with flour. uncover the dough, remove from the bowl and place on the floured surface.
Cut the dough with a dough knife into 8 wedges.
Roll each wedge into 8 individual dough balls.
Place a comal on the stove over medium heat and lightly grease with avocado oil.
Dust the surface as needed, roll out each ball into a thick circle.
Place flattened dough on greased comal cook unti the dough bubbles about 2 minutes, then flip and cook for 1 minute.
Wrap in saran wrap for 3 days or in frezzer by wrapping saran wrapped naan with foil.

August 5 2022

Breakfast Pizza

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recipes

Breakfast Pizza

by: Jenn

Total 10-15 minutes
Makes 4 to 8 servings

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Ingredients

Naan bread
2 Tbsps. of jam or jelly of choice
1 banana
1/8 cup of chopped walnuts
melted chocolate (optional)

Directions

Pre heat oven to 350°F.
Place Naan bread face down for 7-10 minutes.
Cut banana into thin slices or chunks.
Melt chocolate (I use vegan chips or cacao nibs)
Remove Naan bread from oven and spread jam or jelly over to top side of the bread.
Top the Naan with banana’s and walnuts.
Drizzle melted chocolate over the toppings.
Cut into slices or wedges.