Projects for 2016

My first project journal

A couple of weeks ago I visited a local Barnes and Noble store and looked for new books, inspirations, ideas. I found many fresh titles and interesting new authors when I accidentally took a look at a display filled with motivational books. One of them was a journal for the new year full of great listing features for plans that you can jot down on a daily or maybe on a weekly basis. It gave me the idea right there to check some popular websites for more books/journals in the same topic. I know that many hundreds of these books exist, some of them worth buying them, some of them not so much. I did quick research and read many reviews and after I came home, I decided to order one. This is the first journal of mine (besides diaries that I wrote when I was a teenager). 

I got the journal a couple of days ago, and I cannot be happier with it. It is The 52 Lists Project. 

The journal has a hashtag community (#52listsproject) and the writer of the journal has her own Instagram page @mooreaseal so if you are interested, you can check her and the community out to get more inspiration.

The book has 4 bigger sections based on the seasons of the calendar year. My favorites are the spring and the fall chapters. All the photos are gorgeous and somehow calming and mind settling. (The picture above with the deers truly reminds me of so many trips with school and with my family to the Matra and the Bukk mountains in Hungary.)

Each chapter has many subchapters (lists) where following the instructions, you can list as many ideas as many you can just think of. You definitely have plenty of space. First, I got kind of intimidated by the almost 2 page long space, but I was actually able to fill more than one page at a time without overthinking the ideas and plans.

Some of the most inspirational lists in my opinion are:

- List the ways you love to have fun.

- List the things you should ignore.

- List your essentials.

- List your favorite places you have been.

- List the qualities you admire most in others.

- List the ways you can love yourself more.

- List your top twenty mood-boosting songs.

- List the things that make you peaceful.

- List your accomplishments.

- List your favorite books.

After every list you are provided with a little take-action motivation part which encourages you to literally take action based on the list you have just created. It was highly inspirational for me and gave me additional ideas of how to implement changes in my everyday life without making a huge fuss about life spinning decisions and I can take one step at a time. 

So have fun making lists and getting inspiration in your everyday life!

Reflecting on 2015

Here is what happened in 2015...

... I experienced interesting haircut choices...Thank God, his hair grows like weed..

...I turned 30...

...still can`t believe it...

... we celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary...

... we have been to the Prado Museum...

... I got to go home...

...and this time Otto could could come with me...

...I saw my friends` kids getting bigger...

... we finally made it to Budapest...

... I (kind of) tacked my fear of heights... not really...

 

... we have been to Madrid. I loved it...

... I learned how to fish...

... we moved...

... we have been to Disney for the first time...

 

... my love of  Star Wars reemerged...

... I got a bit wiser...

... I have been to my first Heat game... 

... I was on my first (maybe second) ride... never again...

... I got to drink some new stuff...

...our life will be very different soon...

 

...we had a lot of fun...

... and I regret nothing...

Weekend Project: how to make your own granola

Let me present you a great and fast weekend project that basically qualifies as a workday project too, because it is so simple and easy to do. I saw a recipe on The Beautiful Mess blog the other week and decided to give it a try. I changed a couple of things to personalize it for my own taste. Here are the ingredients with my changes:

-2-3 cups of rolled, dried oatmeal

- 1/3 cup of olive oil

- pinch of salt

-2-3 spoons of cocoa powder

-1 spoon of vanilla

- 1 spoon of cinnamon

- 1/3 cup of honey or maple syrup

- any dried fruit or nuts

(rolled oatmeal, cocoa powder, olive oil, maple syrup or honey, vanilla, cinnamon, salt and any dried fruit)

I decided to try a little hack with coconut flakes. They are usually pretty moist and contain a decent amount of water. However, you can put it in a pan, toast it and get a totally different, new texture and taste.  

Make sure you use only low heat and you stir the flakes constantly as they are very delicate and tend to burn very easily. I am sure you will love the great coconut smell in your kitchen. I used the toasted coconut flakes in banana bread and it resulted in a very nice, flaky texture and of course, great coconut flavor too. 

Important: I put the toasted coconut in the granola after I baked the granola. Don`t bake the toasted coconut as it will burn and taste really bad.

So after you prepared all your ingredients, you just need to measure them and mix the dry, then the wet ingredients. I usually mix them with hand as all the wet ingredients (mostly the rolled oats) need to get covered well. Preheat your oven to 350F or 180 Celsius and use a big tray for your oven and spread the moist, paste-like oats in it in a relatively even layer. Bake it for approximately 5-10 minutes (you will smell it after a couple of minutes) and then get the tray out of the oven and mix the half-baked oats once again so all of them bakes evenly and the bottom layer doesn`t get burned. Keep an eye on the oven, don`t have to bake it for more than a good 10 minutes.

I am not a big fan of the chia seed texture when you put them in some liquid, but I love using it in the freshly baked granola mix. Make sure that your granola is cooled down before you mix a couple of tablespoons of chia seeds for the health of your heart and circulation.

So these jars filled with granola are the end result. So much nicer than the store bought version and great as a gift for the upcoming holidays. I honestly eat it at lest 4-5 times a week for breakfast. I used dried cranberries, dried raisins, chopped dates as additional nutrition, flavor and texture. Don`t worry if you don`t have maple syrup, you can use agave or pure honey to sweeten it. Also, I put the dried fruits in the oven to bake but you can add the fruits after the granola is baked, just depends on your taste. You can serve the granola with milk, yogurt, on top of sweets and pies. Good luck, have fun and enjoy!

Madrid

Snapshots from Madrid 

I really didn`t want to write anything about these pictures, not because I am lazy but because these pictures tell much more than 1000 words.

Enjoy and go to Madrid once in your lifetime!