Simple and Delicious Crusty French Bread

This easy Crusty Bread recipe was a HUGE hit this week so I thought I would quickly hop on here to share it. 

Yield: 1 loaf (about 6 servings)

INGREDIENTS

• 2 1/4 tsp. active dry yeast
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 1 1/4 cups warm water (about 105 degrees F should do the trick)
• 1 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
• 2 1/2 cups All-Purpose Flour, plus extra for dusting

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Combine yeast, sugar, and warm water in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook (you could also mix this dough by hand if you like – just use a large mixing bowl instead).
2. Let the yeast proof for about 5-7 minutes, until the mixture gets all foamy.
3. Add kosher salt to bowl.
4. Add flour to bowl a bit at a time and mix on low speed until all flour is incorporated and dough has just started to pull away from the sides of the bowl. (If you are mixing by hand, mix until ingredients have just come together and form a smooth dough).
5. Lightly flour all sides of your dough (don’t mix the flour in – it’s just to keep the dough from sticking!) and turn it over inside the mixing bowl to coat with flour on all sides. Cover with a tea towel and let rise on the counter for about 1 hour, until dough has doubled in size.
6. When dough has risen, lightly flour a large cutting board.
7. Tip the dough out of the bowl and onto the cutting board. do not punch the dough down – you want to keep all those nice air bubbles intact so you have an airy, delicious loaf of bread. (Note: If the dough is sticking to the bowl a little bit, just wet your hand with a bit of water and gently separate the dough from the bowl to get it all out).
8. Sprinkle a bit of flour across the top of the dough, then begin shaping it into a round loaf.
9. Flour a small mixing bowl and place your loaf into it seam-side down. Cover with a tea towel and let rise another 30 minutes or so.
10. While bread proofs, place an empty dutch oven (with the lid on) in your oven and heat to 460 degrees F.
11. When the oven is hot, you’re ready to go!
12. Tip your bread dough gently out of the mixing bowl and VERY CAREFULLY (without burning yourself!) place it – seam side UP, this time – into the hot dutch oven.
13. Put the dutch oven lid back on the pot, and slide the whole thing back into your hot oven.
14. Cook bread for 25-30 minutes.
15. After about 30 minutes, remove the lid from your dutch oven. The bread should be crusty and lightly browned. Continue cooking, uncovered, for 10 minutes more or until the bread has deepened in color and you have a beautiful brown crust.
16. Remove entire Dutch Oven from oven
17. Lift the bread out of the dutch oven and onto a cooling rack. Let cool for about 20 minutes before cutting into it... and, enjoy!

Menu For The Week of 10/30

I can't believe we are heading into November already!😲 We just had 80 degree days and BOOM! Now it is a high of 48 in Michigan. I'm not complaining, I have actually been ready for the cooler temps. I don't know about you but most of my cute clothes are Fall/Winter stuff. Now that its cooler I enjoy cooking a lot more. This weeks menu is a little random haha. I am trying to use up some things we have in the cabinets and freezer. Anyways, thanks for stopping by and if you have any questions feel free to message me!

Monday: Spaghetti and Garlic Bread (Can you tell my kids REALLYYY enjoy spaghetti lol)

Tuesday: Mexican Pizzas (we are using ground beef but obvi you can omit that)

Wednesday: Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup w/ Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Thursday: Leftover Chicken Noodle Soup (Thursdays seem to be the leftover day for us haha)

Friday: Chicken Quesadilla w/ Queso for dipping (Guyssss, Im going to cook on a Friday... say whaaaa! lol)

Saturday:

Sunday:

Saturday and Sunday are left blank because I go shopping on Friday and at that time I will finalize whats for dinner on those two days. Thanks for tagging along for another week of meals. Hopefully in the near future I will be able to share a few of my fave recipes as well! I promise just a little planning and you can do this! If you need any help, PLEASE feel free to message me. That is what I am here for.

xo,
Megan

Menu For The Week Of 10/23

Hey hey hey!! I have been working since yesterday to get on here and post our menu for the week. My laptop had different plans and decided to update for two days. But, here we are! All updated and still running as slow as ever haha. Below are our meals for this week. I will try and link most of them to Pinterest recipes that I love. Just click the main dish for each day and it should take you to the pin. Thanks for stopping by! 

Monday: Buttermilk Waffles with Baked Organic Chicken Fries

Tuesday: Ground Beef Tacos on a Corn Tortilla w/ Mexican rice and homemade Salsa

Wednesday: Beef Stew packed w/ lots of veggies served w/ homemade Crusty Bread for dipping

Thursday: Leftover Stew. I will make white rice to eat it over to make sure its enough and bellies are full

Friday: Order PIZZA!

Saturday: BBQ Meatballs, Quesadillas, and use up the rest of that delicious homemade salsa w/ homemade Corn Tortilla Chips. (this is our "football Saturday" meal so we like to do appetizers)

Sunday: Baked Salmon and bow tie pasta w/ a creamy garlic sauce and roasted carrots

Menu For The Week Of 10/16

Good evening, friends! I said I was going to work hard to get next weeks menu up on Sunday and as promised here it is. We didn't have meatloaf for dinner tonight (I'm SO bummed... not! lol) so that will be moving from last weeks menu to this weeks. I actually picked up a frozen Beef and Broccoli meal from Trader joes over the weekend and that's what we had tonight. It was AH- MAZING. My husband is super picky and only likes homemade food and even he loved the meal. He suggested I get another bag of it this week *insert surprised ghost face emoji*. If you have any questions about the menu feel free to message me through here or on Instagram. As mentioned before I won't be posting recipes since that would take quite a while to come up with a recipe for each meal. I will however link Pinterest recipes that I love. Just click on the main dish for example: "meatball subs" in this post and it should take you right to Pinterest. Thanks for stopping by :)

Monday: Meatball subs w/Caesar salad topped w/homemade croutons

Tuesday: Meatloaf, mashed potatoes and green beans

Wednesday: Roasted chicken thighs with carrots and parmesan potatoes

Thursday: Leftovers (between the meatloaf and roasted chicken there is bound to be plenty leftover for us)

Friday: Chili dogs OR takeout (I'll let the kids pick this one)

Saturday: We have a wedding to attend! So yippy that means no cooking!!

Sunday: Fried chicken tenders, Mac & cheese, steamed veggies (we love the steamable bag of veggies)

I grocery shop every other Friday so this Thursday I will make a list of meals for the next two weeks and then make a grocery list from that. Friday morning I head to the store with my list of meals and grocery list in hand. I generally stick to what I have planned but if I find something on sale I might switch out a meal for the one I can make on sale instead. That's why its important for me to have my list of meals with me as well so I remember why I'm buying something and if I change my mind I remember what I need to put back.

xx,

Megan

Menu for the week of 10/9

I am going to try and keep these weekly menu posts as short and sweet as possible. Actually, I am lying they wont be very sweet because I don't like sweets and I can't bake. But, you get what I'm attempting to say here. I also want to add that we eat pretty simple most of the time and repeat family favorites. Some weeks I will make a lot from scratch and other weeks we will eat "boxed food" as I call it. Also, some weeks will be much lighter and healthier than others (my husband LOVES southern cooking... anything fried or smothered lol) Please don't judge or be rude if our meals don't work for you. This is just a starting point for you to get ideas and hopefully be able to create your own weekly menu without my help. I wont give recipes or many photos here as stated above, this is just a simple list or menu to help give you some ideas. We are a family of 4. Me, my husband, and our two boys who are 7 and 16 months. These meals will generally be kid friendly. I try not to have too many leftovers when I cook so you can alter the amount being made to work for you. We don't eat a lot of fish although I would love to change that if I could get the kids to eat it haha. So, here's to week one of sharing our weekly menu with you all!

Monday: Spaghetti w/meat sauce and a side salad

Tuesday: Smothered Chicken over white rice w/ green beans

Wednesday: Leftovers (The previous recipe makes enough for leftovers and reheats well so I try to take advantage of this to give myself a day during the week that I don't have to cook)

Thursday: Grilled hot dogs, baked parmesan fries, and pasta salad

Friday: Takeout (I don't always cook on Fridays. Our schedule is usually pretty busy that day so we often pick up dinner)

Saturday: Boneless wings w/fries and dipping sauces (Saturdays have been for "football food" lately so for the next few weeks it will often include things like wings, fries, and meatballs... blame my husband hehe) 

Sunday: Meatloaf w/a brown sugar and ketchup glaze on top, mashed potatoes and collard greens

Lastly, I often keep things like chicken nuggets and frozen pizzas in the freezer for days I last minute decide not to cook. Also pancake mix. perfect to fill everyone up and easy to make. Best part is the kids always think its such a treat to have breakfast for dinner.

5 Simple Rules to Engaged Followers

I have seen it a lot lately, large accounts with only 30 likes on a photo. Ugh, Instagrams new algorithm has struck again!  We all know "likes" are not the most important thing in life however, when you work really hard on a photo it does completely suck when no one see it... I mean it IS a photo therefore you want people to see it, right?! This post is not about how to get followers. That is a whole other subject. This post is just about getting your followers or even non-followers to be more active and engaged with you. I decided to take a few simple tips and put them together here. Seriously, they are super easy!

Tip #1: Post When YOUR Followers Are Active

This sounds pretty simple right? My followers are generally moms, around the same age as me. I know that is a very blanket statement but for the sake of this post I'm going use it. What does that break down to? I probably shouldn't post around 7am when were all getting our kids off to school, or at 6pm when were most likely busy with work commute, homework, dinner, laundry, etc. Maybe I shouldn't post at 7:30-8pm when most are rocking their little ones to bed. Saturday afternoons are usually pretty slow on Instagram no matter what type of account you have, I would like to think most are out enjoying their day off of work or working on the yard if its a nice day.... not looking at Instagram. If you ran a nightlife blog and post at 7am would that make any sense? See, figure out where you fit and what lifestyle your followers live. There are general times that have shown to have higher engagement on Instagram, you can easily Google those if you need something to start with. Do your own "test" and post at different times to see what works best for YOU.

Tip #2: Use The Right Hashtags

Use hashtags to reach out beyond your followers and use tags that fit with your account. This also works in reverse, I often look under a hashtag for inspiration and new accounts to follow. Also, something new I have noticed, lets use the hashtag #Blessed as an example... #Blessed currently has 73,549,656 uses. That is a lot of blessed people on Instagram. However, at certain times when I have attempted to use that hashtag it has only shown around 200,000 uses. What does this mean? In MY opinion this means that hashtag has been temporarily banned and you are only seeing those posts that are allowed under that hashtag, or those that you follow who have used that tag. When I see that, I do NOT use that tag. That means that my post will also be banned... lets use a better word: limited. I don't want to limit my post therefore I don't use that tag. It has happened often with tags like #HomeDecor or #RaeDunn. Which leads me to the next part, skip out on a tag if it only has a few uses. No one obviously uses it, which means no one will see it. Find tags that are bigger: bigger means more engagement!

Tip #3: Be More Active With Your Followers

Take the time to write something thoughtful back to those who comment on your posts. I know that you can't always write a novel back and some comments like a thumbs up emoji just seem annoying so why would you write back to that. I suggest this for two reasons: One, when people feel like you care they will continue to like/comment. That's also how you build awesome relationships with your followers. Two, the more activity on a post the higher up the timeline it will be moved. That means when you "lump" comment back to a few people you're actually missing an opportunity to make more activity on your post. Now, I do still reply to a few accounts in one comment if they would all generally get the same reply. But if someone took the time to write you something kind, take the time to write them something kind back. Also, if you know the persons name, USE IT. I honestly love when someone replies to me with my name. It makes the response that much more personal and makes me want to engage with that account more.

Tip #4: Be An Active Follower

Be the change you want to see. You can't be upset that no one is commenting/liking your posts if you don't take the time to do the same. When I took the time to be more active on my timeline I seen a jump of a few hundred follower in just a few short weeks. I know this isn't always possible but, if you spend one week doing this I promise you will see results. Also, when you comment under someone's post, their followers will see it and maybe someone will check out your page. Look at it like free advertising.

Tip #5: Use your Instagram Story Feature

When I want to share during low engagement times, I use my Instagram Stories! I consistently get hundreds of views on anything I post to my story. I absolutely love that feature. I like to call it: The Walker Residence The Unedited Version. I share so much of my day to day on there. It is a way to build a more casual relationship with your followers. I love when people reply to my story, that alone has sparked amazing convos and so many genuine friendships. In return when you do get a chance to actually post to your Instagram feed, those who have been following your Story are way more likely to engage with you on your post.

I hope you have found my tips helpful in increasing engagement on your account. Feel free to share any additional tips/tricks you have picked up along the way!

Megan

Straying From the Typical This Fathers Day

I cannot believe that fathers day is just a few weeks away. This past year has been amazing as our family adjusted to a new tiny human entering the bunch. Greyson has added so much to our family. But, as you know a new baby also brings lots of sleepless nights and mysteriously lots of dishes. My husband has been so amazing. There are times when Greyson even prefers for his dad to put him to bed (bittersweet haha).

I have been on a quest to find the perfect gift for my husband. He really is the man that has everything. When JORD Wood Watches reached out to do a partnership I just KNEW my husband was going to be thrilled! I remember (sometime during that haze in those first few months after having a baby) that he loved the look of their men's wood watches. Honestly, this was the only thing he wanted.

As soon as he removed the wood watch from the box his eyes lit up! He loved the details on the engraved wooden box, with all the items needed to take care of the watch. As he read through the directions on how to start the watch up, I heard him say things like "this is amazing!" and "this is the most unique watch I've ever owned!" Seriously, why did I not think to get him one sooner!!

If you are looking for a cool watch that stands out from the rest JORD Wood Watches is the way to go! There is even still time to enter my giveaway contest for a chance to win a $100 Ecode towards a wood watch of your choice with JORD Wood Watches.

Welcome back!!

Listen, I just wanted to let you all know that I am finally ready to take this blogging this serious. (Or semi serious at least haha) There is so much competition out there in blogger world that I let it stop me from doing something just because I wanted to! I started to make it about website design, my domain, my laptop being too slow (although it really is slow), the lens on my camera not being good enough. I know, every excuse possible right? I am done with that. I'm going to write about things that I love, topics that I deal with often. Sometimes that will be kids and dinner ideas. Other times that might be DIY or budget friendly dates. I'll even try to cover everything in-between. You see... what I forgot was that my opinions and ideas could help someone else. Maybe only one person but that's better off then where I started. Now, I'm not promising that we will meet here daily... heck maybe not always weekly, but I will definitely attempt to be way more consistent. In order to do that I may have a few typos, my photos may not be perfect, but I will be here. To anyone who has visited my blog before: Welcome back! To those stopping by for the first time: Hello! I am so happy to have you all and grateful for the opportunity to share a little of my life with you.


Megan

Homemade Sloppy Joes

      Can I start this off with saying, I have never been a huge fan of Sloppy Joes. See, I have a problem with the sloppy part. I hate messy hands! But, this recipe is so amazing that I am willing to suffer through the dirty hands (and table and cups and everything) to enjoy this yummy homemade classic. The store bought version is FINE, but something about making it from scratch adds so many more flavors. This recipe takes about 20 minutes from start to finish and when you've had a long day that can come in handy!

      Preparation:

   
       Finely chop half a green pepper and about a 1/2 cup of onions. Both can be omitted if you have picky eaters but to be honest they probably wont even notice the peppers and onions in this amazingly messy meal. You could also sneak in so many other veggies if you want. Some options are red peppers, mushrooms, shredded carrots, or celery.  Next, heat large skillet to a medium-high heat. Add ground beef (or ground turkey if that's your thing) to skillet and season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Let ground beef brown for about 7-8 minutes. Once ground beef is almost cooked all the way through add in peppers and onions and continue cooking for about 3-5 minutes longer. Once ground beef is cooked through drain off grease and return to skillet.

      Once you return ground beef and veggies to skillet lower to a low- medium heat to avoid splatter. Add in tomato sauce, ketchup, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, and Sweet baby Rays BBQ sauce. Mix well, cover and let simmer on low for about 15-20 minutes stirring occasionally. Serve on a toasted bun. Can be topped with pickles, American cheese, or whatever else you would like!

Recipe:

• 1 lb ground beef or ground turkey
• 1/2 cup chopped yellow or white onion
• half a green pepper finely chopped
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 8oz can tomato sauce
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 1 tbsp. mustard
• 2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup Sweet Baby Rays BBQ sauce (or whatever BBQ sauce you love!)

Copycat Japanese Steakhouse Style Fried Rice

       Listen, I love going out to dinner with my husband just as much as the next girl. I mean I get to eat and I don't have to deal with dishes, a broom, a mop, ect! But, the frugal side of me enjoys a good home cooked meal that usually tastes better then anything I would ever order at a restaurant. Because of this love for home cooking I am always on a quest to make my restaurant favorites in the comforts of home. My husband and I have been eating at a local chain Japanese hibachi restaurant pretty often lately and lets just say it is not cheap. We give each other this look and then it happens, we both admit that we are craving that yummy fried rice! I decided to try my hand at this addictive fried rice we love so much. I can confidently say I have come up with an amazing competitor! Even the hubby gave me the stamp of approval. I decided to share my new favorite recipe with you call on this glorious Sunday afternoon.


Ingredients:

• 3 cups cooked refrigerated long grain white rice
• 1 packet fried rice seasoning ( I use Kikkoman fried rice seasoning)
• 2 eggs beaten
• 1/2 cup green peas
• 1/2 cup diced carrots
• half a large onion, diced
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 4 teaspoons minced garlic (I buy garlic pre-minced in a jar to save time!)

Preparation:

       Now, I feel like this recipe tastes a little more "authentic" if you use real rice and not instant rice. However, to save time instant rice will work JUST FINE! To start, cook the white rice per instructions on packaging. Be sure to lightly salt the water that the rice is boiling in as, this is what will add salt to your final product. Per the instructions on the packaging for the rice I used, one cup of uncooked rice will yield 3 cups cooked rice. Once rice has slightly cooled after cooking, store it in a loosely covered bowl in the refrigerator and let chill. From my experience 1 1/2-2 hrs should be enough time. To make this recipe even easier during the busy work week you could make the rice the night before.

       While your rice is in the refrigerator this is the perfect time to prep your veggies and garlic. Chop onion and carrots. Set them aside together in a small bowl. Mince garlic and set aside in a separate small bowl. Mix rice seasoning in a small bowl with 2 tablespoons water and set aside. Scramble the eggs right before you are ready to start cooking and have them also ready in a small bowl. This recipe is all about having everything ready when you are ready to cook.

       One of our wedding gifts was a really awesome (and huge) wok! So, that is what I used to prepare this recipe. I know everyone doesn't own a wok so a regular old large non-stick skillet will work. Or, a griddle would be fine as well. No biggie to go all "authentic" here. It will turn out just the same. Heat wok (or skillet/griddle) on medium heat. Add in sesame oil. Once heated toss in onions, peas, and carrots. Cook until veggies are tender and onions are translucent. about 7-8 minutes. Set veggies aside (I just pour them in the bowl that the chilled rice is in to save on dishes). Now, add scrambled eggs to wok and cook through. Maybe 5 minutes at the most. Again, set aside (They too can go in that same bowl your rice and veggies are waiting in. No need to be fancy here).

     The next part is where it all finally comes together! Turn up your stove top to a medium-high heat and put 3 tablespoons of butter in wok along with minced garlic and stir until sizzling. Pour in rice, veggies, and eggs. Stir rice around breaking up the grains of rice. Once rice has loosened up pour in your rice seasoning that has been dissolved into the water. Add your soy sauce and stir until everything is thoroughly mixed and the sauces have mixed well with all the rice and veggies. Once everything is mixed add last tablespoon of butter under all the rice. Smooth out rice into an even layer and let "fry" or brown lightly. Stay close at this point. You CANNOT walk away or you will end up with burnt rice not fried. (ewe!) Once the rice has gotten a little bit of crunch and color flip the rice to brown the other side. Again this is not the time to walk away. Now, once your rice has gotten a little color and dried out some (about 7-8 minutes)... YOU ARE DONE! See, not that hard right!

Enjoy!
Megan

So you want to be a blogger.

          When I was young, say... 10 or 11 I wanted to be a fashion designer. The weird thing was that I never was that in to fashion. I grew up in a single parent home with two younger brothers. I didn't have the means to be "fashionable". I was however very smart in HOW to shop and even how to upcycle items to look pretty presentable. I may have never been trendy growing up but I was always dressed nicely because I always got a little creative. Once I got to high school I realized that my dreams of being a fashion designer and still living in the city I grew up in were almost impossible. However, I knew I was artistic and wanted to do something with that. In high school my schedule was full of any art class that was offered. Drawing and creating always came easy. Even in English class I never had a problem coming up with content for a paper. From then on I decided graphic design was for me! It was creative, yet practical.
          My first year in college graphic design was my major. Again, my days were filled with art classes. I loved it. After taking a break from college for about two years I realized it was time to go back and finish what I started... but my interests had changed. Graphic design seemed cool and all but cooking... cooking had become a passion. I loved cooking for people. Something about home cooked meals made me and everyone around me happy! Cooking was where my heart was. So, I enrolled back in college and did a year with Culinary as my major. It was great! I learned so much.
          After that year in culinary school, I had my son and did not return to college. I eventually started an office job that I was always grateful for but at times made me feel dead inside. All of this creative energy being bottled up. After a few years in corporate America I couldn't take it anymore and left my full time decent paying job to be a full time stay at home mom and wife. I can truly say at this point I have found my calling. I love being here for my husband and my son. (and our 4 month old Boxer puppy we recently got.)
          I purchased a Canon DSLR camera right before I left my job and learned the art of photography quickly. Little did I know God had set me up with a craft to help make ends meet if ever necessary. I have been home for about 9 months now and I have always wanted to start a blog. I feel like I have a lot to share but that no one in my immediate circle could relate. I love cooking, DIY projects, cleaning, playing with my son... none of my friends could relate to any of that. My two best friends who are both wonderful mothers are in different places in life than I am. I needed to branch out but was unable to leave the house at times.
          That's how we ended up here. I know I have great things to share all of you and that you all have great things to share with me. I hope we can become friends. I welcome emails, comments, and shares. I just want to find others like me who enjoy the simple things like no dishes in the sink, red wine, and Pinterest. So, if you happen to stumble upon this very first post of mine. SAY HI! I won't bite I promise... I sometimes talk to myself (jk!... well sort of) and my dog. So, I would love to hear from some of you and what content you would like me to write about. Also, I promise not to talk about myself the majority of the time! (hehe) I really rather NOT! But, I figured we needed to start somewhere so lets start with how I got right here with you.

xx,
Megan