Family, Home, and Me with Jessie

My friend, Jessie, is up next for our FHandM series. Her blog, Adventures of a Pinner, documents the outcome of yummy recipes and crafts that she has found on Pinterest. Take it away, Jessie!

We are foodies around my house, we love to eat and trying new recipes is one of my favorite things to do with my family. My girls love to help me cook, well mostly bake so I take that time to spend some one on one time with them. I try and make one new recipe a week; it’s been great I have made some yummy stuff. I love sharing food with people because I feel food has so much love in it, having people come over for dinner and having them just really enjoy the food and to tell me its delish makes me happy to know that I could bring joy to someone else with food.  Here is one of our favorite recipes (sorry no pics but I promise it’s AMAZING):

Chicken Broccoli Casserole

1 to 2 pkgs stove top

1 to 2 cans of cream of chicken soup

16 oz. sour cream

2 cups cooked chicken (bite size)

1 pkg frozen broccoli (I use fresh)

1 cup cheese

Pre heat the oven to 350. Mix together soup, sour cream, chicken, broccoli, and cheese put in a baking dish. Prepare the stove top sprinkle on top of the soup mixture and bake for 25 to 30 minutes. Enjoy!!! 

I’ll admit it I’m not a clean freak and I’m not very good at keeping things organized but I try. If you’re like me and have 6 people living in your two bedroom house, plus 3 dogs and one cat and you have a hard time keeping up with your house work, then I suggest you make a cleaning schedule. I try and do at least one room a day because I have so many people in my small two bed room house and it gets messy super-fast! I also have a hard time keeping up with all my laundry so I make a day for that too. I find that it’s just all around easier to keep my house clean when I stick to my schedule.

Monday- kitchen

Tuesday- living room

Wednesday- bathroom/laundry

Thursday- bedrooms

Friday- kitchen (again)

Saturday- I take the day off to spend time with the family

Sunday- living room/ bathroom. My girls love to help me cook (well, mostly bake) so I take that time to spend some one on one time with them.

I have two girls, a 5 year old and a 17 month old so I don’t get very much mommy time, but when I do I like to find new recipes on Pinterest. I love cooking and trying new recipes, I think that food helps the soul J or maybe I just say that so I don’t feel so guilty when I make cookies and eat 3. I also like to try DIY beauty products; I came across a blackhead remover that is super easy and amazing! It only has two ingredients, half of a lemon and 4 drops of honey rub it on your face and let it sit for 5 minutes and wash it off with lukewarm water. It makes your skin soft and your pores look smaller and cleaner.  


Thank you so much, Jessie! Be sure to check out some of the yummy recipes on her blog, Adventures of a Pinner.

If you are interested in participated in our FHandM series, please email me at

gracefullykensie [at] gmail [dot] com.

Cream of Tartar on Stainless Steel

I've tried quite a few different things to try to clean the outside of my dirty old toaster oven and nothing ever seemed to cut it. There were always streaks and finger prints left behind. So I found an idea on Pinterest for using Cream of Tartar to clean stainless steel claiming to make my appliances look brand new so I had to give it a try. 

All you have to do is mix 1 tbsp. of Cream of Tartar with a few drops of water. Rub the mixture onto your appliance with a sponge and wipe clean with a damp paper towel.  Easy as that. 

Here are some before and after shots for you to take a look at:

You can definitely tell a difference. I didn't have the "It looks brand new again!" experience that I was hoping for, but it is a whole heck of a lot better than it was before. Turns out Kim from Tales + Tips (where I got the idea) discovered that Bar Keepers Friend is an easier and cheaper solution than using Cream of Tartar. I have also read recently on The Manly Housekeeper that Mark used Bar Keepers Friend to clean the anti-slip grips on the bottom of his tub with amazing results. Sounds like I'm going to have to give this stuff a try and report back. Stay tuned!

Please disregard how dirty the INSIDE of my toaster oven is. 

That's up there on my list, don't worry.  :0)

Homemade Garbage Disposal Refreshers

Homemade Garbage Disposal Refreshers

• 3/4 cup baking soda
• 1/2 cup salt
• 1/2 teaspoon liquid dish soap
• 1 lemon or 2 limes

The original recipe called for lemon, but my family has this obsession with limes. We have to buy the bulk bag from Costco. Maybe it's weird, but we put lime juice on just about everything these days. Our friends laugh because anytime they stop by for dinner, more often than not they'll hear me say, "try it with a little lime juice. It's really good!" I have limes ready and waiting on my kitchen table... in a crystal bowl. They're just so pretty!

Mix the salt and baking soda together making sure there are no lumps. Then add the liquid dish soap and zest the lime peels into the mixture. Add the juice from the lime. Start with one and add as needed so the consistency looks like course sand. Cover a cookie sheet with wax paper and, using a rounded teaspoon measuring spoon as a mold, pack the mixture tightly into the spoon and tap lightly on the pan to gently coax it out. Let them dry over night. Once they are dry, store them in a sealed container by your sink. Anytime your garbage disposal is smelling less than lovely, drop a few in and flip the switch. 

Honestly, I don't have much to say about these things. The idea is great, but I don't know that the effectiveness is worth the time and effort put into making them.  I haven't decided yet. I'll update you later on when I come to a solid conclusion.

Family, Home, and Me with Ashley

My friend Ashley is amazing. She is a successful business woman as well as a wonderful mommy. Her shop, The Awful Waffle, makes everything from Belgian waffles, crepes, and fries to pizza and gelato. Seriously, this place is YUMMMMY! If you happen to be in the Utah County area, you gotta stop by. 

Anyway, I've known Ashley for over 4 years now and I can't help but smile any time I talk to her. She has this amazing, happy energy that is unbelievably contagious. So of course I asked her to contribute to my FHandM series!

photo courtesy of Celeste Coslett

I was raised to know that if I make family the most important thing in life everything else will fall in to place. For me, the boundary of family was always elastic and all-encompassing. Of course, the strong bond my siblings and I have and the love and relationship I have with my parents were always at the core of everything we did, but there was always so much more than that. My mom is a true southern bell and loves to be social and host gatherings and to take the time to get to really know her guests. My dad is an incredible youth leader, always inspiring those around him by just being him, so naturally my friends wanted to always be where our family was. The amazing thing about my mom’s generous and loving hosting and my dad’s ability to connect with anyone is that it created this atmosphere of family to anyone who came to our home. It gave people a place to feel anchored. My best friend and her sister, to this very day, are very much considered siblings. My parents offered help and support to anyone who needed it (or didn’t even realize they needed it). The reason I am focusing so much on this for my “family” section of this post is because recently I’ve been reflecting on my values and the kind of family I have and the people I choose to surround myself with, including my employees; I know it’s because of this incredible base I was raised with.  That being said, I’ve found my own love of hosting gatherings. If there’s ever a reason to come together I channel my inner parents and I do a few things. First, I plan out a dinner. I’m on a budget, so I always try and find a really amazing meal that can feed a lot of people. There are two go-to meals I use. First is sort of a Utah classic - Hawaiian Haystacks. This one can feed in bulk with an awesome variety for a low cost, which is great for my pocket and any potentially picky guests. The second one, which is amazing in the fall and winter, is my sister Heather’s Taco Soup. She and her friend Ellen have this great blog The Recipe Recycler. It’s delicious, low in cost, and can feed a ton of people! Just include some french bread and a salad and bam, you’re done. 

photo courtesy of thereciperecycler.blogspot.com

The next thing I think of is how to set the table. I drool over Anthropologie kitchenwares, but that store is where I’ll go one day when I’m rich and famous. In the mean time, I’ve found some really amazing dishes that look like they came straight from Anthro’s shelves. The first place I look is DI or Goodwill. There are some incredible dishes that are crystal (or look like it!) and some really great vintage stained-glass cups. I’ve always sort of been an undercover grandma - which I’m totally okay with because the 30’s and 40’s were such a dreamy time. These dishes are usually what I like to think are surplus that Grandma got rid of. I’ve also found some gorgeous bowls from...get this...the dollar store. Seriously. I get compliments on them all the time. They are this incredible embossed glass and they’ve lasted me 4 years so far. Amazing. This is my favorite find, however. I found these beautiful bowls at Anthro and was trying to find a way in spending that much on bowls. I went to Ikea one day and found these. Almost the exact same ones! I almost passed out right there in the isle. So I bought 8, a standard amount for entertaining, I’ve discovered. 

To set the table, I have a few go-to tricks. Tablecloths are crazy expensive almost everywhere. Who said tablecloths have to have come with that label? My favorite thing to do is go to hobby lobby when they’re having awesome sales on their fabric and I’ll get 2-ish yards of cute fabric. I’ll sew up the ends then store it in a bin in my garage. The other thing is I use curtains. Yep, curtains! I’ve cycled through a few in my life, but I’ve always kept them. The different colors and textures really make an amazing and easy table covering. I also bought these lace curtains from Ikea. It comes in a pack of two and the lace is so pretty (and so cheap!). It could be the only thing you put on a table or you could layer it over said curtain/fabric pieces. The last thing I use are old duvet covers. These also help add texture and interesting patterns to a table setting. 

Another go-to trick I use are cake stands. Home goods and TJ Maxx always have really great deals on cake stands, so when I see one for less than $5 I buy it. These are great for putting a flower arrangement on or displaying food. 

The last thing I think of when I’m hosting is a fun game to play. Pictionary is one of my favorite games to play because it costs nothing if you do it this way: Everyone has 5-10 strips of paper. They write a person, place, thing, or movie on it. This helps keep the game relevant and also can by hysterical. You split in to even teams and bam! A game is born. 

One thing that’s usually required when my family hosts something or we have a dinner together is something that used to be a little awkward but we’ve embraced it and go with it. Depending on the occasion, this can go a few ways. It doesn’t really have a title, but basically each person at the table is says something they love about someone. If it’s someone’s birthday, each person has to say one thing they love or admire about the birthday guest. For Thanksgiving, we all have to say 3 things we’re thankful for. Another way to do it is to use dice. Say Joe is up first and rolls a three. You count over three people and whoever that third person is, Joe would have to say one thing he loves about that person. Then that person has to roll the dice and do the same process. Once you’ve been talked about, you then are out. Does that make sense? This is great because it forces you to get outside of yourself and to be verbally positive, and even give you a chance to express good things when maybe you’d never found the chance before. 

I have a million things I could say in the realm of family, but I’ll limit this post this time. 

I think it’s really important to have elements of actual nature inside my home. It brings in oxygen and a calming feeling to it. Since I live in Utah, I’m blessed with an abundance of beautiful nature literally outside my front door. It’s a very rare occasion that I will justify buying flowers when I can simply go outside and pick them. 

Springtime in Utah is obviously a glorious time for this. Yesterday I went into my (very unkempt) backyard and found wild daffodils! A lot of them! I got my super sharp scissors (you should use gardening shears) and clipped a handful, some shrubbery for filler and then stuck it in one of my (dollar store!) vases. If you live in Utah and don’t live somewhere with much land, that’s okay. I used to live in a house that had pretty much a patch of grass for a front yard. Finding wild flowers is pretty easy to do. Over by the Provo temple there are some fields where a lot of babies breath type flowers grow. Every now and then there’s a patch of tulips and iris's (for real!) randomly that grow. I’ll even just clip pretty wild grass or bushes that look interesting and put that in a vase. 

In the winter I love going up into the foothills where there are wild evergreens and I’ll clip some branches off and put them in a tall, cylinder, straight vase and wrap an ivory ribbon around the base. It’s not only beautiful and unexpected but also smells incredible.

I’m not particularly one to talk much about myself, but I would like to share a few things I do for myself. As a full time mom and a full time business owner, there’s very little room for “me” time. Something I noticed as a new mom was that I began feeling worn down and that I was sort of losing my identity. I realized that it was because I wasn’t doing things that made me happy like I used to. Of course, being a mom is so fulfilling and has changed me in so many wonderful ways, and I love my business and the people in it, but I recognized that to be the best mom and the best boss I needed to start finding ways to do things that rejuvenated me. I’ve always loved anything artistic, so I bought myself a cheap sketchpad and a high quality set of drawing pens. I promised myself I’d take the time at least twice a week to work on my hand lettering skills. While I’m still not amazing by any means, it’s been a great outlet for myself. 

Something else I’ve taken up is enjoying long baths. I’ve found this really incredible lavender Epsom salt that really is rejuvenating. Found here for less than $5! I picked mine up from Smith’s and it’s amazing. I try and take a bath once a week with a good book or my guilty pleasure show (currently the bachelorette), and I’ll soak for 30 minutes once Scout has gone to bed and the house is quiet. This quiet time has really provided me with a space to just shut my mind of, vegetate, and simply exist. Sometimes that’s all I need to feel revamped. This particular kind of bath salt is great because lavender, in its nature, is calming, relaxing and healing. Epsom salt is a multifunctional healer. When I was little I sat in a bed of ants, and since I am allergic to bug bites, this was pretty dangerous. A little soak in an Epsom salt bath did the trick - it sucked all the poison out of the wounds and I was just fine - not even itchy! Epsom salt also soothes sore muscles and naturally relaxes them. It’s supposed to help treat Eclampsia in pregnant women, treat asthma, and foot pain - just to name a few. 

Anyway, there are a few other things I do for “me” time, but the point here for me is the fact that I’ve found time to do that and that there’s nothing wrong with that. In fact, I think it’s quite necessary. 

photo courtesy of Heather Annette Photography [facebook / website]

Thank you so much, Ash! The Awful Waffle has a blog, but be sure to like The Awful Waffle Facebook page so you can be the first to know about great deals that they offer almost every night!

If you are interested in contributing to the FHandM series, please email me at

gracefullykensie [at] gmail [dot] com.

Family, Home, and Me with Marilyn

Next up on the FHandM series is Marilyn. She is the first friend I made in this bloggersphere when I started Gracefully Kensie which makes her super special in my book. Her and her husband, Kaleb, have their blog, Brewed Together, where they cover just about everything. Seriously! Photography, design, recipes, DIY, fashion, travel- all of it! And they LOVE making new friends so head on over and check them out... right after you read what she wrote here. :0)

Kaleb and I have been married for a little over three years, but have actually been together for about seven years. It's crazy how time flies! I still feel as if I am 23 years old most of the time even though I'll actually be 27 in a few months. Kaleb is my best friend and truly my soul-mate. One of the things that brought us together besides our instant magnetic attraction to each other, was our love for being creative. When I met Kaleb, he was currently living in Ireland, but just visiting Oklahoma City for a few weeks to see family. He was largely into more of an urban style of art and specifically graffiti. I was intrigued by this unique creativity that I had never explored before. 

While graffiti never became my passion, it encouraged me to be more open to different art forms. From there I really learned to find my own style while exploring and enjoying other art forms. Together we now use our blog as an instrument to share our creativity and ourselves with others in different ways. We hope through our blog that we can encourage others to blog or do something creative every day. 

One of my hugest pet peeves for myself and our home is to always have it clean and presentable. We really enjoy working on our blog every day, but I have a hard time focusing on anything else when our home is dirty. It ruins the photographs and if we ever have unexpected visitors, which is relatively often, I just love being able to have a home others aren't afraid to step into. When I think about our blog and home, I feel that our home is an extension of our blog and it reflects a lot of our work. I believe that we will always be innovating and creating our space to suit our style. And with that comes cleanliness! If followers of our blog were ever to come over, I would want them to feel like they are stepping into the photographs (which hopefully seem clean to our readers). 

This past weekend I actually did a spring cleaning through our tiny closet. And I removed three large bags worth of items to donate. It was one of the best feelings in the world. I truly feel that in order to do your best work for others on your blog, it begins with yourself and your home. If your home is the space you are creating from, then be sure it is an environment that inspires creativity and not something that is lingering over your shoulder like a 'to-do' list. I really also enjoy keeping fresh flowers in our home. This a small and personal thing to me, but my day just tends to be happier when there are flowers around. I feel that it also helps our space to look a little more alive.

One of my favorite things to do for myself is to go out and buy a new dress. I've always enjoyed doing my hair and make-up as well, but since my hair is actually extremely thick and does it's own thing when it's humid, it is not something I necessarily enjoy doing. I enjoy doing my make-up for fun and taking photos as well, but when it comes to weekends I don't really wear it so that my face can have a break. It's also really freeing to leave the house and be a little more natural sometimes.

When it comes to clothing, I can wear a dress any day of the week. In fact I wear them on Saturdays and Sundays as well. I believe the key here is to find one that suits your unique style. Confession: I might have owned about 50 dresses until I went through my closet this weekend and decided to give away about 1/3 of everything in it. A lot of times I will buy less expensive ones so that it's not a big deal if I get them dirty or spill something on them. I can run around in them and it's sort of like I am wearing shorts, but more lady-like.

all photos courtesy of Brewed Together

Thank you so much, Marilyn! Check out more by Marilyn and her hubby over on their blog, Brewed Together. 

If you would like to contribute to our FHandM series, please email me at

gracefullykensie [at] gmail [dot] com.