LEMON YOGURT PARFAIT

I'm kind of proud of this yummy treat.  Let me start by saying I definitely am not much of a fan of plain greek yogurt, but if I add all these yummy ingredients - this is one of my favorite breakfasts.  I stumbled on to adding lemon zest when it was winter time and I had no fresh fruit to put on top of my plain greek yogurt.  I am familiar with using lemon zest in recipes; I know that the zest (and not the juice) is what provides that great lemon flavor.  I find the zest from 1/2 to a whole lemon works out well here.

The bonus here is you end up with flavored yogurt that is a natural flavor and doesn't include the who knows what ingredients that you find in flavored yogurt at the grocery store.  Furthermore, even if you want to add fresh berries or other fresh fruit on top - the lemon flavor compliments just about everything.

INGREDIENTS

Nonfat Plain Greek Yogurt - Stoneyfield Organic
Lemon Zest - from an organic lemon
Granola - Organic
Organic Sugar
Organic Berries (Strawberries, Blueberries, Raspberries, etc...)
Chia Seeds

***Note #1 - Sometimes I don't have any fresh berries on hand, and I have found the lemon zest adds just enough flavor.  Just plain greek yogurt, granola and lemon zest - Mmmmmmmm.

***Note #2 - I don't measure anything here so I haven't provided any indication for specific amount.  Just add the ingredients based on your personal preference.

Here is what I do:

(1) Put yogurt in a dish

Greek Yogurt

(2) Use a zester or a fine cheese grater to sprinkle lemon zest on top of yogurt.  This may look like a lot of lemon zest but the flavor is amazing. What is pictured here is the zest of a whole lemon.

Lemon Zest

(3) Sprinkle just a little bit of sugar. If you are using a sweeter already flavored yogurt - you probably want to skip the sugar as your yogurt is probably sweet enough already.

Just a little sugar.

(4) Add granola. I add enough to cover the yogurt in my bowl.  I keep some granola in a Tupperware with a plastic spoon so I an easily spoon it on to my yogurt.

Granola

(5) Add berries.  My favorites are raspberries, but blueberries, blackberries and strawberries are all good options.  No berries?  Just the lemon zest provides a good amount of flavor.  Try it without the berries and I think you will be surprised.

(6) Sprinkle Chia Seeds.  These are really good for you.  I try to sprinkle them on anything I can - salads, yogurt, oatmeal...

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One more tip - don't let this sit around too long as the granola will get soggy as it sits in the yogurt.

WOOD FISH WALL ART

 

 

 

This was one of my "leftover" projects.  This means that all the materials were leftover from previous projects I had worked on.  These are my favorite types of projects because it means they are FREE!!!  Here's the piece of art in it's spot in one of the guest rooms at our cottage.  I painted the walls a pale aqua (this is actually a 50% mix of Tidewater by Sherwin Williams #6477).

 

The beige ticking stripe fabric works well with the shower curtain (also beige) and provides a good contrast for the dark stained fish cut-out.  The overall neutral color of this piece stands out nicely on the aqua blue painted walls.

 

Beige Shower Curtain in Bathroom

 

LIST OF SUPPLIES

• Wood fish cutout - The wooden cutout was a prototype made by a friend as we were figuring out a plan for this school of fish wall art project. See photo of that finished project below:

Wooden School of Fish Project see link:
SCHOOL OF FISH

• The prototype wood fish ended up being slightly larger and a cut out of a thicker piece of wood than the fish we used in the final project above.  So...this fish didn't get used.  All I had to do was stain it.

 

Wood fish Cutout

• Stain - The stain was also leftover from the school of fish wall art project.  I wear latex gloves when applying this stain.  I used an old sock to apply the stain to the wood fish.  In addition, I used a small paint brush to get the stain into some of the crevices.  To finish the fish after staining, I had an almost empty can of spray satin polyurethane - just enough to coat the fish.

Gel Stain

• MDF (Medium Density Fiberboard) - Any solid piece of wood or material will do as the base for this type of project.  As long as it is solid - the material does not matter as it will ultimately be covered with fabric.  The piece I used was an extra piece of MDF from the corner shelves project now in progress.  (That post coming soon.). 

• 2 Screws - The screws are necessary to ultimately attach the wood fish to the fabric covered panel (from the back).  The screws needed to be long enough to go through the MDF, and then halfway through the depth of the fish.  I found a couple in my miscellaneous screws jar.  Here is the process I went through to prepare the base and the fish:
• NOTE - All this should be done prior to covering the piece of MDF in fabric.  You will not attach the fish until you have covered the MDF base in fabric.
1. I placed the fish on the MDF base and I outlined the location of the fish. 
2. I removed the fish and I chose two spots on the MDF to drill the holes for the screws.
3. Next step - drill the holes in the MDF.
4. I held the fish in place on the MDF base again, and used a sharp pencil to poke through the holes of the MDF and mark the placement of the holes on the fish.
5. I then drilled pilot holes on the back of the fish (at the points I just marked) being careful to only drill halfway through the depth of the fish.    You can put masking tape on the drill bit to mark the depth you need to help prevent drilling too deep.
6. Don't attach the fish yet - you will do this after the MDF is covered in fabric.

• Fabric - This was beige ticking stripe fabric was leftover from the pillow shams I made for the aqua bedroom at the cottage.  The fabric was adhered to the piece of MDF with a staple gun (by wrapping the fabric around to the back and stapling).  Pay particular attention to the corners and make these as neat as possible.  Once the fabric was in place - I attached the fish by using two screws going in from the back through the pre-drilled holes in the MDF, and into the pre-drilled pilot holes on the fish.

The fabric used was leftover from the pillow shams from this guest bedroom.



Final piece in it's place in the guest bathroom

This project makes me take a second look at the rest of my leftover supplies and get the creative wheels turning to see what I can come up with. . . hmmmm. . . .

Here are similar pieces I made earlier for a friend's little boy's room.  See photos below and links to those posts.

SCHOOL OF FISH

 

 

SEA CREATURE ART

For more beach cottage posts see my Beach Cottage page.

FLOOR LAMP UPCYCLE

My mom suggested a floor lamp would be a nice addition in our bonus room in the cottage.  This made sense to accommodate a nice reading spot.  However, I was not looking forward to purchasing a floor lamp at retail prices.  I could get a cheap one for around $70. . . but then it would be "a cheap lamp".  I could spend a $200 or more on a better quality lamp. . . . but then I would be spending $200+.  The next option was to keep an eye out at local thrift stores and Craig's List.  Ideally I was picturing a white lamp base to go with our cottage style décor.

My patience paid off, as I found this one for $25 on Craig's List.  It was in working order (the wiring was good), it came with the harp, a compact fluorescent bulb, and a rather dated lamp shade.  I liked that it was a substantial and sturdy lamp.  Never mind that the base started to fall apart when we were putting it in the car right after purchasing it.  No worries, some duct tape and glue fixed that with minimal effort - easy-peasy, and I must point out once again. . . . $25.

Floor Lamp - BEFORE

My plan is to donate the lamp shade and get a slight tax deduction.  I had a couple extra lamp shades at home that I thought would work in it's place.   So after some swapping around shades on lamps in our home - I chose this wicker one for my "new" lamp. It's from Pottery Barn.  I had purchased it a while back because it was 50% off so I got it for about $25.00. 

Lamp Shade

The wicker casts a strange light as you can see through the spaces in the shade to the hardware, so my solution was to line the shade with crinkled craft paper. (NOTE: this is not the heavy craft paper but the lightweight gift-wrap weight of paper).  It worked well to mitigate the strange lighting affect.

Wicker lamp shade lined with craft paper.

Because I knew I wanted a white lamp - I needed a can of primer and a can of white high-gloss spray paint.  Luckily, I had enough of a can of white primer leftover from other projects and an unused can of white high gloss spray paint (not sure why I had that one).  Score!  No need to spend money on the paint!  I decided not to sand the lamp before painting since I was going to use primer and the existing finish on it was not overly glossy.  (I hope I don't regret skipping this step later.)  I plan to be careful when transporting the lamp down to the cottage.  It will probably be a good idea to let the paint cure a good long while before moving it to help avoid scratches.

Floor Lamp - AFTER

So - the grand total for a new floor lamp was - $25!  (If I had to buy a shade and a couple cans of primer/paint I would likely have had to spend another $25 or so).  The moral of this story - thrift store and Craig's List finds can be up-cycled with just a little effort.  I often tell people - imagine what a piece will look like if it was simply repainted a high gloss black or high gloss white.  Some really outdated pieces can be transformed with this simple change.

Here's the lamp in it's final spot in the bonus room at the cottage... (I think it works nicely with the white trim; and relates well with the rope boat oar hangers and the light brown stripe in the pillows)

For more beach cottage posts see my Beach Cottage page.