Hello, 2014

“Make no small plans. They have no magic to stir humanity’s blood and probably themselves will not be realized. Make big plans; aim high in hope and work…. Remember that our sons and daughters are going to do things that will stagger us. Let your watchword be order and your beacon, beauty. Think big.”
-Daniel Burnham


I am trying to be less anxious and scared this year and embrace what happens.  Here's to a beautiful year of happiness and shiny smiles for you all! 

Dear Katie: Pediatric Herbal Medicine

I get quite a few messages in my inbox asking about one thing or another and I try to group them into like categories to answer for you guys.  Today's topic is pediatric herbalism as I answer a few common questions about childhood ailments.  Just so you know: I'm not an expert.  I am a practicing nurse who has spent five years studying herbal medicine, but medical advice is cautiously given and just suggestions.  Don't do anything I say if you don't feel comfortable and by all means, consult a doctor first!  Also, please note that these are general guidelines.  Truly, with more specific information I can tailor a plan to your needs and family.  Email me at mkmatthew@hotmail.com and put Dear Katie in the subject line.  

*Most of these remedies are adapted from Demetria Clark, herbalist extraordinaire.  You can get her book on herbal healing for children here.  

I only had time to answer two questions today, so we will make this a multi-parter!  Enjoy...

Dear Katie.  My three year old has severe motion sickness.  I don't like the idea of giving her the pills we can buy because it knocks her out!  Do you have any suggestions?
Poor baby!  I understand how awful nausea can be.  The first herb I would recommend is ginger!  Ginger is an amazing digestive herb traditionally used for nausea for hundreds of years.  For a three year old, I would try candied ginger as well as some iced ginger tea about 30 minutes before the trip.  If your baby doesn't like the taste of the ginger tea, try diluting it with a bit of apple juice.  Also, small simple snacks like crackers can do wonders.  If the body is busy digesting gentle food, nausea seems to be less severe.  Another thing that might help is a bit of peppermint oil on a cotton cloth.  Traditionally, the aroma of peppermint is said to help with nausea.  Also, hard peppermint candies with REAL peppermint oil can help.  Make sure your daughter has plenty of ventilation on her and that she is facing forward.  Hopefully this helps! 

Dear Katie, my 20 month old daughter has been getting chronic Urinary tract infections.  We have tried different antibiotics but nothing seems to help.  I'm at my wit's end.  Please help us! 
First and foremost we should talk about hygiene.  Little girls have a short urinary tract that is very close to the anus, where the bacteria that most often causes UTIs, E.Coli, lives.  When cleaning baby, make sure that you are going from front to back with a clean wipe each time.  If your baby will sit in a bath, try making a strong calendula tea and throwing that into a bath with about an inch or so of water.  Also, limit the amount of sugar that your baby eats.  Bacteria feeds on sugar, so starve that bacteria!  Try and heat up her food with some spices if she will let you by adding things like ginger and cinnamon to applesauce or by adding cinnamon to some water and putting it in her sippy cup. Don't get me wrong-don't add tons and tons, but just a sprinkle here and there could do wonders.  Increase the amount of protein she is eating to beef up the immune system.  Smashed beans, hard boiled eggs, ect.  Natural antibiotic type foods include foods with a high sulfur content like garlic and onion.  If none of this works, email me again and we will do a little more digging into the underlying issue.  

Treasures From the Interwebs

Here is a bit of what I've been loving this week on the internet.  I love reading other people's collections of links, so I thought I would throw my hat in the ring.

This article on Toxic Relationships


This tantalizing piece on self love 

 "Drink broth for breakfast in your skivvies and high heels. Or maybe long underwear and a wool beanie or a leopard print kimono, barefoot with black toe nail polish. Drink broth and tea and hot water with lemon." -MaryBeth Bonfiglio

Toying with the idea of purchasing these little supplements

Reading about how wormwood kills 98% of breast cancer cells in 16 hours.  Herbalism, people!

This Lemon Chicken Stew made it's way onto my list of to-makes.

2 Ingredient, Easy, Peanut Butter Fudge

Yall.  This fudge is INSANE.  If you like peanut butter, you will love this. If you don't like peanut butter, don't make this recipe.  Anyone can make it, 80% of people will devour it, and it's a super simple treat to take to holiday parties.  Try it, you'll love it.

* I have no idea who originally created this recipe, but it was not me.  It's just one of those that floats around and makes every cook look great.  ;)

Peanut Butter Fudge

• 1 jar of creamy peanut butter.  I used Skippy natural; you know, so it's healthy...
• 1 bag of white chocolate chips

Line a square casserole dish or brownie pan in aluminum foil and spray lightly with cooking spray.  In a medium sized, microwave safe bowl, mix the ingredients together.  Seriously, the hardest part of this recipe was getting all the peanut butter out of the jar.  It took me four, 30 second intervals with stirring in between to get the mixture to a pour-able liquid.  Pour into the liquid and let the fudge set up!  About 20 minutes into the setting, I took a butter knife and made pretty swirl designs on the top.  After about an hour I transferred to the fridge for an extra hour and then cut the fudge into small squares with a pizza cutter.  Small squares are key, because this stuff is straight up rich.  

The only things you need

Where You All Are From

I love stats!  Wow, over 5,000 different people in December!  It's an honor to share my life with you all.  Here's the view map from December 2013.

Holla, Russia! 

10 Random Facts About Me

10 Random/Fun Facts About Me

1. My parents accidentally named me after three saints
2. I love Crocodiles
3. I wanted to be a photographer for a long time.  I even have some professional training behind it, and a big honking DSLR camera.  The last teacher I had asked me if I was going to continue in the commercial market and when I said no, he told me that I didn't truly love photography because I wasn't choosing to do it for a living.  I disagree and I still love it, but I chose a more practical route.
4. I wish I could have picked my schnauzer's name.  I would have named her Scout, after To Kill A Mockingbird's character.
5. I don't wear much jewelry, but I do wear one ring every single day. It's an infinity symbol and my marmie has it's twin, as do several of my cousins and best friends.
6. I know how to read palms
7. Water is like a drug to me.  I go every single day I don't work to a pond nearby and when I'm stressed, it really helps me to go sit by some water.
8. I love to cook
9. I broke my foot falling down a flight of stairs in my loft when I was 21.  I had to do a semester of nursing school in a boot.
10. I speak Spanish 80% of the way.

Katie Plans: A Christmas Party!

No, I'm not having a Christmas party.  But if I was...this is how I would play it!  Light food with lots of sweet treats, rustic decorations, and a crafty ornament-making table.  Also, of course, a signature cocktail!

** Links for all that is pictured can be found on my pinterest board (HERE!).

These could be used as coasters, gift tags, or ornaments!  The possibilities are endless. 

Seems simple enough: an old crate filled with evergreen, pine cones and mason jars with candles in the jars.  Easy peasy! 

Old door with wreath: Good for photos! 

Candles on a cake stand.  You could put cinnamon sticks around them too! 

White branches with lights wrapped around them in a tall vase with some greenery and a big fat bow! 

Mason jar lid santa. 

DIY ornaments: sew or glue a triangle with a cinnamon stick inside. Simple!

DIY ornament: bottle caps and pictures

Twine wrapped around cheap balls: Big impact for little money

Cheese tree!  I bet those are pine branches but you could use celery or green bell peppers. 

Who doesn't love tortilla roll-ups?!

Cranberry jam and brie cheese in puff pastry squares: looks so hard but is so easy!

Chocolate covered pretzels dipped in crushed peppermint candies. 

Apple cider margaritas?!  Yes, please!

And of course: Christmas music! I love the mellowness of this record.  I've had it for a few years now...maybe two and I love it so much I keep it on repeat all day long. 

DJ Earworm and Some Ex-Boyfriend Story

I dated this guy for 2 and a half years once and he introduced me to these songs by DJ Earworm.  Every year, this DJ guy takes the most popular songs and mashes them up together to make one comprehensive, awesome song.

So what if I'm a dork.  I like mashups...

This is the 2013 one. Enjoy!

Southern Mac and Cheese

I've never been one to like the stove-top mac and cheese that comes with the powdered neon yellow/orange cheese.  Even as a kid, I would opt for something else.  So, I was pretty sure that I just didn't like Mac and Cheese in general.

Enter the classic pot luck.

Do you know what a pot luck is?  Growing up, one Sunday a month, after church, a bunch of families would all get together and bring food and eat together and fellowship. Those afternoons are some of my favorite memories!  Most women would bring a covered dish or casserole, and this baked type mac and cheese was a staple.  I loved it.  I had to have it.  I had to figure out how to make it.

Then I forgot about it.

Until two years ago, when I was watching Trisha Yearwood on the cooking channel.  She made an  AMAZING looking Mac and Cheese and once again, I was obsessed.  She makes her differently than mine and in a completely different method (crock-pot), but to be fair, this recipe is definitely inspired by her television show.  I hope y'all try it!

Sorry for the janky angle. I was so excited about eating it...

Southern Mac and Cheese

8 oz of cooked elbow pasta (macaroni)
1 12 oz can of evaporated milk
8 oz sour cream
1 stick of butter, melted
2 large eggs, beaten
4 cups of Colby Jack shredded cheese
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp paprika plus some to sprinkle on the top



Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and set aside a greased 9 by 13 casserole dish.  Mix everything together in a large bowl, but save some of the cheese to sprinkle on the top.  Bake for 45 minutes covered with foil, then 15 more minutes without the foil until the top is tan and bubbly.  Let the casserole rest for AT LEAST 15 minutes before you dig in.  Enjoy!

Christmas and DIY Cone Trees

If you know me at all, you know that I love home decor and DIY things.  If I could figure out how, I would buy five hundred blank houses and decorate them all completely different. Part of what I love about my home is all the personalized touches that I've added over the years.  Seasonal decor is a big thing for me; I am a Christmas freak.  Even though I live alone, I don't see any reason why I shouldn't decorate just a much as I would living with others.  Expect a home tour/Christmas decor video soon:).

Today I wanted to share with you an easy way to make those super chic little Christmas trees that all the decor stores are selling right now.  Super easy and super fun.  I started with a cardboard cone base, but you could certainly make your own cone out of poster-board or cardboard as well.  Then, I just took ribbon scraps and burlap that I loved and glued them around the tree.  The golden beaded one is made from a long strand of those super cheap necklaces that you can find at any dollar store. Ta-Da!  Instant awesome DIY Christmas cheer.  I made up three of these babies in about an hour with a trusty hot glue gun.

*My style trends more towards natural/rustic decor with pops of color here and there.  I love burlap and natural woods, with gold and silver sprinkles throughout for Christmastime.

The finished project

The way to do the ribbon and burlap is to wind it around, starting at the top by affixing it with a small dot of glue.  Then, as you wind, make one twist per round as you go down, keeping the ribbon tight.  This is how to create that effortless "rumpled" look.  Then, at the end I hot glue all around the bottom and sporadically within the body, taking care not to let the glue show.  For the beads, I would put long lines of hot glue down the tree body from the top along each side so that each round was hitting the hot glue at two separate spots.

These are the three Marmie made.  She opted for a more colorful look. 

Gift Ideas for Kids

It's that time of year!  Here are my best picks for the children in your life. Click on the captions and it will show you where to purchase, if you so choose:).  

Tin Can Robot Kit! 

Rock Tumber: Who didn't have one of these?

Calico Critters Cozy Kitchen

Kitchen Set by Melissa and Doug

Wooden legos 

Felt Sandwhich set 

Super Rad Dollhouse 

Slingshot!  This is handmade and available in other colors

Beeswax crayons

Coloring book of awesome.  Tell me you wouldn't frame this artwork and be proud of it?

Natural playdough.  No link for this one:(

Candle-making kit for little hands.  

And then...two more out of the box ideas to teach children about the importance of living outside themselves: 

Sponsor a child.  Teach your kids that Christmas is about giving back, too!  

Go to your local zoo and get information on how to sponsor an animal.  Then your kiddo can see the animal and understand that giving is even more important than receiving. If you don't live by a zoo, Google the WWF and find out how to save animals in the wild with donations.