Pictures from the Country

Here are some pictures from our holiday in the country:

The inside of our cabin

Me in our cabin's kitchen

Our cabin 

A delicious lunch- potato salad, quinoa salad, tomato salad, and peas

We had an amazing time, and the weather was perfect! Hope you enjoy the pictures.

Don't forget to enter my giveaway by leaving a comment on this post! 

Brenna

Giveaway!

Well hello! I am officially back from the country, and as promised have a giveaway for all of you!

To celebrate one year of blogging, I am giving away one copy of the Rebar Cookbook! As many of you know, I ADORE this book, and have yet to find a recipe that isn't absolutely amazing. My personal favourites are the focaccia bread, the falafel burgers, and the genmai miso soup. Yes, this book is vegetarian and contains numerous vegan options as well, but everything is delicious,  so it will make a great addition to any household (meat eaters or not).

So, here are the rules:

You have to be or become a follower to enter, and you may enter twice if you link back to ANY of my posts (including this one) on your blog/website/facebook, etc.

Enter by leaving a comment on this post.  Please leave two separate comments of you are entering twice.

Please include the address of your link to me if you have done that.

International entries are welcome!

You have until September 10th to enter, and the winner will be announced on September 12th.

Thank you so much for reading my blog, and I look forward to seeing who wins!

Brenna

Blog Love!

Thank you so much to Stephanie over at Green's Going Green for giving me a lovely blog award! This past year of blogging has opened so many doors to friendships and fellow-minded people, and I have truly enjoyed every minute of it!

This award is given to bloggers with under 200 followers. Here are the rules:

1. Thank the giver and link back to them.

Thank you Stephanie!

2. Reveal your 5 picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.

Frolics From Scratch

Living a Little Greener

Slow Living Essentials

Sunny Corner Farm

Ivy Nest

3. Copy and paste award to your blog.

Done!

4. Have faith that your followers will pass the love to other bloggers.

I have faith!

5. And most of all have Bloggity-blog fun.

Moving To The Country...

Gonna eat a lot of peaches! Ok, so we are not moving, but we are going away to the country tomorrow until next week for a wedding that I am in. My best friend from high school is marrying her high school sweetheart on Saturday, and I couldn't be happier for them! So that means I will be away from this space for a while, but I will return, and with something quite exciting...

Next week, Conscious Earth will have its very first giveaway! Stay tuned for more details, but until then, I leave you with this...

Michael Bernard Fitzgerald is my favourite artist, and he is Canadian! I saw him live last year and it was to this date the best concert I have ever seen. This song is fitting for the romantic weekend we are about to be a part of. Check out his other songs, they really are wonderful!

Have a lovely week! See you soon,

Brenna

An Update From our Tomato Garden

Here are some pictures of our little tomato garden that is producing quite a few little sweet and delicious tomatoes for us to enjoy:

All but one of our plants are flourishing. The plant in the red pot is a different variety of tomato that was given to us by a family friend, and I just think that it was not meant to live in a pot. It has one fair sized tomato on it, but half of it has been eaten by end rot, so I do not have much hope for it. However, the others are looking amazing! They are heavy with fruit and we have been picking a few tomatoes every few days. 

How is your garden doing?

Brenna

On My Mind... Fresh Summer Produce!

Joining in with Rhonda at Down To Earth for an On My Mind Post.

Today, I am thinking about all of the lovely fresh produce we have in the house and what to make with it. I am currently roasting some corn on the cob in the oven for a nice light lunch. Yesterday I made use of some fresh lettuce and cucumber from the market and some tomatoes from our very own pots in this lovely salad:

I topped my delicious lunch with some leftover falafel patties and homemade tzatziki from a meal earlier this week. It was pure heaven. Recipes for falafel and tzatziki can be found here. 

Join in with our posts over at Rhonda's for some fun!

Have a lovely day,

Brenna

Yarn Along (5)

Joining in with Ginny at Small Things for another Yarn Along. It has been SO long since I have participated in this as my knitting had come to a standstill...that is until last night. I have devoured many books since the last post, but had a bit of "knitter's block" (is that a real thing?). But then last night I came across this pattern again and remembered how much I loved it and all of the lovely cotton I bought last year, so I cast it on! I made one of these dishcloths last year as a Christmas gift, and I intend on making a few more this year.

I am currently re-reading the entire Harry Potter series for pure pleasure. I am on the fourth book (out of seven for those unfamiliar with the series). These books are so much fun to read and I am loving them all over again! Here is another photo showing the texture on the dishcloth:

Thanks for stopping by!

Brenna

Rhubarb Raspberry Bran Muffins

My kitchen is currently bursting with fruit. We have apricots, raspberries, blueberries, rhubarb, and cherries. So today I did some baking to use up some of the delicious variety. 

This recipe is normally used for making blueberry bran muffins, and it makes the most delicious muffin I have ever eaten. The recipe is 100% whole grain, contains no refined sugar, and is amazingly moist. Today I added raspberries and rhubarb instead of the blueberries, and they were delicious!

Original recipe found here. 

Rhubarb Raspberry Bran Muffins

Makes 20 small muffins

2 cups wheat bran

1 cup oat bran

1 cup whole wheat flour

2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

2 eggs

2/3 cup plain yogurt

1/3 cup oil ( I used half sunflower, half olive)

1/3 cup molasses

1/3 cup honey

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups fresh raspberries

1/2 cup thinly sliced rhubarb

Preheat oven to 375 F. Grease muffin tin. Mix all dry ingredients together in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, mix all wet ingredients together. Pour wet ingredients into dry and mix together until blended. Fold in fruit until it is incorporated throughout the batter. Fill muffin tins and bake for about 20-25 minutes, depending on the size of your muffin tin. 

The rhubarb was not especially prevalent in these muffins, so if you would like a more tart flavour, I would suggest doing half raspberries, half rhubarb. These muffins will only last a few days on the counter before they will begin to get moldy. I like to freeze mine individually wrapped in only tin foil. Then when you want one, simply pop it into a 350 F oven for about 10 minutes and you will have a fresh hot muffin all over again! Makes for a great breakfast, as you can throw it into the oven while you shower and it will be ready when you get out! 

Enjoy!

Brenna