Humble Abode

Welcome to my humble abode. We live in a small 2 bedroom 2 bath townhome and let's just say I have become ever more grateful and humble through our experiences here. I will admit that most of the time, I feel like my kids are constantly on top of me and everyone is in everyone's breathing space. My husband can attest to the sounds of my occasional complaining and wishes. But I just know that one day, I'll be so grateful for these times. One day, I'll have a modest size home with fantastic decor. One day.

But for today, let me show you what you can do with a small living space like ours! I love a fresh, clean room with crisp colors. I tend to lean towards neutrals with a pop of color. When you especially have a small space like ours, a clean and light colored style is the way to go! Dark colors will only make it look smaller.

When you're still in the renting stage like us, having a book shelf like this one here is the perfect way to display some home decor! I scored this off a friend of mine for $50 and just switched out the knobs for some cute mercury glass knobs from Hobby Lobby. (Yes ours has a hair tie wrapped around it so our toddler will stop getting into it!)

I just realized our toddler yet again probably messed with our books. Oh the joys of having a toddler that is just the right height for nice things :)

Decorate with pictures of the ones you love, books, small plants, candles, and little knick knacks (like this cute little cake stand I found on a Facebook selling group!)  I like using colorful books because they really add depth and height to your shelving. Greenery or flowers really add a freshness to your home (even if they are fake!)

I've mentioned it on my Instagram before but shelving just stresses me out! I know it may sound silly, but finding the right items to pair with each other is tricky. I'm a perfectionist but having kids have really toned that down. I know nothing in your home can be perfect or stay perfect! 

Another way to fill your walls is either doing the famous gallery wall or getting these wonderful IKEA shelves to make it easy for you.

I added these cute spring pillows I scored on sale at T.J. Maxx to brighten up the couch and the room as a whole!

Here is our unfinished gallery wall. I get too stressed about it and still haven't found the right things to put together.

That "Family is forever" canvas sign is one of my favorite pieces I own. I scored it at T.J Maxx for $10!

We installed this shelf from Home Depot as our "mantle" above our unused fireplace. It's where I usually do my holiday decor as well. I love mixing silver and gold and this gold frame with one of my very favorite hymns holds dear to my heart. Josh gave this to me for Christmas last year and it's a perfect addition to our home!

And last of all, a wonderful reminder for us all. I like to put a picture of the Savior by the door. It's a notable reminder of His example before we walk out and to keep His spirit within the walls of our home.

Chocolate Pumpkin Cake with Chocolate Ganache

The weather here is finally getting exciting and bearable for the kids and I to be outside without the occasional swipe of the sweat mustache. I wait all year where I can open the windows and enjoy the fresh air that fills my home! Over here at the Boyd Home we get giddy over pumpkin everything...who doesn't? Over the years, I feel like pumpkin has become somewhat of a fad and I feel it's totally acceptable to jump on the pumpkin bandwagon. Pumpkin candles, pumpkin frozen yogurt, pumpkin lotion and soaps, pumpkin donuts...I've even seen pumpkin body spray...totally ok to smell like a pumpkin baked good in public, right?

Growing up, I was not a fan of pumpkin at. all. It's one of those things as kid that made you gag and you thought were only for adults. I think it was the fact that pumpkin baked goods had spices and all I cared about was chocolate. Well as I grew older and my taste buds became more refined, I can't get enough of pumpkin flavored things! Isn't it funny how your taste buds change over time?

My birthday falls on the time frame where it starts to get socially acceptable to bring out the pumpkins. It's like a birthday present to me. Cooler weather and pumpkins. What more can I ask for? One of my very favorite pumpkin baked goods I like to make is my mother's Chocolate Pumpkin Cake! I ask for it every year but this year I wanted to make it myself! It's the easiest  4 ingredient cake you'll ever make! Did I say 4 ingredients? Yes! It's sooo moist and chocolaty (I really had look it up to make sure it was a real word).

Chocolate Pumpkin Cake with Chocolate Ganache

Serves 8-12 people

Preheat your oven to 350

Ingredients:

Cake--

• 1 box of Devil's Food Cake mix
• 1 small can of pumpkin
• 3/4 cup of water
• 1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips

Ganache--

• 1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup of heavy whipping cream

Directions:

1. Simply mix together all the ingredients and pour into a prepared baking pan and bake for 20-30 mins. It depends on what pan you use. I like to use a bundt pan for this because I think it makes it look pretty and presentable. A bundt pan I found out takes more time for this cake to bake! I took the whole 30 mins.
2. If you're using a bundt pan, let the cake cool for 10 mins in the pan before you flip it, tap, and lift the pan out. Place it on a wire rack or a cake stand to let cool even more.
3. Prepare your ganache. Place chocolate in a medium bowl. Heat cream in a small saucepan until bubbles begin to appear around edges and then pour over the chocolate. *Watch the cream closely because if it boils too long, it'll boil out of the pan-like it did for me-oops. Let stand until chocolate melts, then whisk until smooth. Let it sit; ganache thickens as it sits but you still want it pourable. Use a gravy ladle to pour it on top of the bundt cake. Let it sit for about 15 mins before you serve. Enjoy!

*Tips for using a bundt pan: to prepare, spray the pan with cooking spray and lightly flour dust the pan and shake out the excess. Make sure all the crevices are sprayed! 

Looking for more of my food diary posts? Go to Instagram and look up #jessiesfooddiary

*Please don't steal my recipes :) Always link or credit my recipes if you use it, thanks!

General Conference Breakfast

In our church, we have a world wide conference broadcast on tv every 6 months where the leaders of the church preach, teach, and share and we stay home and watch church on tv that weekend! There is a morning and after session for both Saturday and Sunday for that weekend. We LOVE to make a special breakfast and eat it while we watch the morning session.
Over here at the Boyd home, we sure do need our chocolate fix! We get excited Conference morning to make our "healthy" Chocolate Chip Pancakes! What's great is that it only needs 3 tablespoons of sugar! But don't let the "healthy" part turn you away, it's so yummy and flavorful!

Healthy Chocolate Chip Pancakes

Makes approx. 20 4" pancakes

Preheat your griddle to 375

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups unsweetened vanilla almond milk
• 3/4 cup plain Greek yogurt (I like using Fage Greek Yogurt)
• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled ( you don't want it to scramble your eggs!)
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups AP flour
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Whisk the milk, Greek yogurt, eggs, butter, and vanilla until smooth.
2. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
3. Stir in the dry ingredients with the batter until it is all incorporated and smooth. If your batter is too thick, go ahead and add more almond milk to make the batter thinner.
4. Pour 1/4 cup of batter onto the prepared griddle. Flip over when the outer edges start to form bubbles. Cook for another minute and you're done!
5. Cook the whole batter and freeze the extra pancakes! Just put them in the toaster when you want to eat them again!

These pancakes are so fluffy and have that nice outer crisp (not soggy! yuck!). *My secret to that is I cook the pancakes on a griddle with coconut oil-not a cooking spray! Just put a teaspoon or two of coconut oil after your griddle is hot and spread it around. Apply each time you cook a batch. Makes the perfect outer surface on each pancake every time!*

I hoped you enjoyed your conference weekend as much as we did here at the Boyd home. It was all so inspiring and exactly what I've been pondering about for quite some time and it was exactly what I needed to hear!

You can watch my three favorite talks here, here, and here!

Looking for more of my food diary posts? Go to Instagram and look up #jessiesfooddiary

*Please don't steal my recipes :) Always link or credit my recipes if you use it, thanks!

#jessiesfooddiary

Welcome to my Food Diary! I have always loved cooking but honestly, it was those times spent in my own kitchen after we got married that my passion grew even more and my skills flourished more naturally. Most of my own creations are inspired from things I've tasted and love, my mother, and my passion for healthy foods-with the exceptions for cheat meals of course ;). I hope you'll be inspired by and may try a few of my own creations as well as adaptions from other recipes, Pinterest recipes I've loved (I'll always link it to my Pinterest), and the recipes shared from other foodies I admire! Happy cooking!

Looking for more of my food diary posts? Go to Instagram and look up #jessiesfooddiary

*Please don't steal my recipes :) Always link or credit my recipes if you use it, thanks!