Naming Your Home

HowDoesShe? Did an amazing post here, titled  3 TRICKS to take the WORK out of housework a bit ago. It seemed to hit about the right time for me.  When it comes my home I really stress out a lot about it not being in tip top immaculate shape! I know I'm being a bit ridiculous, especially since I have 3 little girls that love to play and make messes :) But I really tend to work myself up into such a stressed out frenzy over the "mess" in my home. I become overwhelmed and then to top it off I am NOT a fan of  doing dishes or folding and putting away laundry. So coming across this post the other day really hit home! Here's a paragraph that I never get tired of reading:

 "The most important trick to taking the “work” out of housework is ATTITUDE.  If you can shift your paradigm about why we keep house, by altering your attitude, you have unlocked the key to happy homemaking.  Now go back and read that last sentence again.  If you can really do this, it will be very powerful."

   I have that post bookmarked and keep referring back to the other two tricks! One thing I really loved about it was that one of the 3 Tricks is naming your home. I know, I know it sounds a little weird but the idea is that you need to take pride and ownership of your home. For me this is really hard. We have found a few problems with the home we live in and it doesn't exactly fit our family any more.We would love to move and find a better and bigger place or even just build our own home, but that's not something we can do right now. So when I read that, I immediately latched onto that idea, anything to help me out! I immediately asked the girls to help me come up with a few names so we could pick out our favorite one. What we came up with was Cozy Cottage. It works great for our cute little home! So I went right to work at finding a way to create a sign for our new name. I went to the Dollar store bought two frames and then visited a hardware store for some little tiny i-bolts. The rest I had at home!

First step was to paint my frames. They were a red color that was alright but not my favorite. So I spray painted them black. I figured I would give them two coats of paint but when the first coat dried and had a bit of red showing through I ended up really liking that so I didn't do the 2nd coat of paint.

I then got busy on my computer and just using Microsoft Word I created the name and added our address! Very simple! I then just screwed in the i-bolts to the bottom of the big frame and top of the little frame and tied them together with some ribbon. I immediately hung it up by our front
door! I think it looks great! And you know every time I see that name I do feel a bit more pride in my home. :)

Halloween Decor

I've had this one for awhile but absolutely LOVE it! I love Halloween but really don't have much in the way of decorations. I can't ever find stuff at the store that I REALLY love, they always seem kind of cheesy to me. But I do have a stamp set that I LOVE and thought it would be perfect to make something with that! So I ran to the Dollar Store (love it there!) and bought a frame and then came home and starting putting things together. I stamped out the images, picked out some great Halloween paper to go with it and Ta-da! We have a cool Halloween decoration! Of course I couldn't stop there, I had to drill some holes in the frame to do wire through them and hang it up! Simple, fast and easy! Love projects that go that work out that well.

Sihouette Give Aways!

First things first.... I have been making stuff- cooking, crafting, remodeling & even landscaping this summer! So my summer has been super busy! I'm hoping to catch up on my blogging once the girls go back to school at the end of this month! But for now I would love to share with you some sites that are giving away some Sillhouettes! What? You don't know what that is!!?? Well make sure you click HERE to find out what they are! They are truly amazing!

All the blogs listed below are giving away a Sillhoutte! Isn't that amazing!? Make sure to swing in and enter to win one yourself! And don't forget to hang out look around each site, they have some truly amazing crafts and ideas!

• The Idea Room

Mexican Flank Steak with Brown Rice

An absolute favorite of mine!! I found this recipe in a magazine a few years ago and have used it so much that the recipe has seen much better days! So I figured it was time to share it here for everyone and a place for me to store it :)

Mexican Flank Steak with Brown Rice

1 lb. beef flank steak, fat trimmed
3 dried New Mexico or California Chilies, rinsed,
stemmed, seeded and cut into 1 inch pieces
6 Tbsp lime juice
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp cayenne
about 1/2 tsp salt
2 cups brown rice
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 lb. red & yellow bell peppers (about 2), rinsed, stemmed,
seeded and thinly sliced lengthwise
1 red onion, peeled and slivered lengthwise
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1. Rinse beef and pat dry; cut across the grain into 1/8 inch thick slices and place in a bowl. In a blender, cover dried chilies with 3/4 cup boiling water; let stand until chilies are soft, about 15 minutes. Add lime juice, garlic, cayenne and 1/2 teaspoon salt and whirl until smooth. Pour over beef, cover and chill for 30 minutes.

2. In a 3 to 4 quart pan over high heat bring 4 cups water and the brown rice to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low and simmer until liquid is absorbed and rise is tender to bite, about 45 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, pour oil into a 10 to 12 inch frying pan over high heat. When the oil is hot, lift beef from marinade with a slotted spoon (re-serve marinade) and add to pan. Stir until meat is no longer pink, about 3 minutes. Transfer beef to a rimmed plate or bowl. Add peppers and onion to pan; stir frequently until limp, 5 to 6 minutes. Return beef to pan along with reserved marinade; bring to a boil and cook, stirring once or twice, for 1 minute.

4. Spoon rice into four wide, shallow bowls and top equally with beef, vegetables and sauce. Sprinkle with cilantro. Add more salt and lime juice to taste.

Macaroons

Awhile ago my youngest sister came to visit (really to do some laundry ;) ). But she was in a baking mood so she decided since she had never made Macaroons she needed to make some! They turned out delicious! She made the cookies and I drizzled the chocolate over them, have I ever mentioned I'm a choco-holic? ;) We found this recipe off a bag of coconut.

Macaroons

1/4 cup Flour
2/3 cup Granulated Sugar
1/4 tsp. Salt
2 2/3 cup Flaked Coconut
4 Egg Whites
1 tsp Almond Extract
1 cup chopped Almonds (optional)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Combine flour, sugar, salt and coconut in mixing bowl. Stir in egg whites and almond extract. Stir in chopped almonds (optional); Mix well. Drop teaspoon fulls onto greased cookie sheet. Bake 20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from cookie sheet, cool on racks. Makes 2 1/2 dozen soft cookies.

Drizzle chocolate over them. (optional)

For Sale

I've been cleaning up a little in my stamp room today and found some things I need to sell. The paper cutter is basically brand new, I honestly think I used it like 3-4 times. The stamps in are great condition. There are a few that are brand new and un-mounted (I can mount them for anyone that would like it done) and the ones that are mounted are slightly used but well taken care of. I can mail anything out, buyer pays shipping. Or you are more than welcome to come pick them from me :)

For Sale SOLD

Un-mounted Stampin' Up! set. Painted Posies. 8 stamps in the set. $7
Un-mounted Stampin' Up! set. Big Blossom. 1 giant stamp. $7
Mounted Stampin' Up! set. Daisy Crazy. 8 stamps in the set. $5

A Stampin' Up! Tabletop Paper Cutter. $35
Un-mounted Stampin' Up! set. Too Terrific Tags. 6 stamps in the set. $7
Un-mounted Stampin' Up! set. Alphabet Soup. 4 stamps in the set. $7
Un-mounted Stampin' Up set. Tags So Much. 6 stamps in the set. $7
Mounted Stampin' Up! set. All I Have Seen. 4 stamps in the set. $5

Snowball Cake

Mmm, this cake is sooooo good! I found this recipe on Kraft's site. It seems fitting with the snow we've been getting the last few days :) One great thing about this recipe is minimal dishes to clean up! You cook the cake in the bowl you mix it in! I'm just going to copy the directions exactly from them. Their directions are great, very detailed. They even have a short video if you want to watch that.

Snowball Cake

1 pkg. (2-layer size) devil's food cake mix

1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened

1 egg

2 Tbsp. granulated sugar

1 pkg. (3.4 oz.) JELL-O Vanilla Flavor Instant Pudding

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1 cup cold milk

1 tub (8 oz.) COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, thawed

1 cup BAKER'S ANGEL FLAKE Coconut

1. Prepare cake batter, in 2-1/2-qt. ovenproof bowl, as directed on package; scrape side of bowl. Beat cream cheese, egg and granulated sugar until well blended; spoon into center of batter in bowl.

2. Bake 1 hour 5 min. or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool cake in bowl 10 min. Loosen cake from bowl with knife; invert onto wire rack. Remove bowl. Cool cake completely.

3. Meanwhile, beat dry pudding mix, powdered sugar and milk in medium bowl with whisk 2 min. Stir in COOL WHIP. Refrigerate until ready to use.

4. Place cake on plate; frost with pudding mixture. Cover with coconut. Keep refrigerated.

A Gift

Adara received a Baptism invite for one of her good friends so we decided to make her a cute little gift for her to give her. I found an empty box that I had from some re-inkers and decorated it up and filled it up with Tootsie rolls. Then we covered a Mini composition notebook to match it. Hoping she liked it! :)

Valentine Hearts

As I went to pull out decorations I realized I really didn't have much for Valentine's Day! I have 3 big totes for Christmas and nothing really for Valentine's Day! So I decided I would make some really quick but not too much. So I I got thinking why not make a vase with hearts!? I added some red, white and clear flat marbles to a vase and then used my Cuttlebug and embossed some paper which I then proceeded to cut into hearts. I then taped them to some wooden skewers :) They really didn't turn out to bad! :) You could add more and make it look more like a bouquet. I also cut some down so I would have different sizes. I hope everyone had a great Valentine's!

Adoption

I have a wonderful friend from College, Debbie, who was blessed enough to give birth to little Abby almost 4 years ago. But the Lord has not made it possible for her to have any more children.

They just signed up for adoption and they need our help. Look on my sidebar and see their cute little family. If you click on their photo you can read their Profile. And if you wouldn't mind spreading the word they are asking as many people as possible with Blogs to put their Adoption Button on your Blog. Follow the instructions on my sidebar.

Thank you so much for all of your help. Debbie is the BEST Mom ever, and deserves a dozen children at least. Please help her find a match so they can help their family grow.

You can see their little family by visiting their Blog: http://sodaspringsaggies.blogspot.com

Scrapbook Page

The scrapbook store here in town had a little scrapbook contest in December. So I thought what they hey! I'll enter, who doesn't want a gift cert. to buy more stuff! :) So this is the page I did and entered. I received 2nd place on it! Not to shabby if I may say so myself! :) I really don't do much in the way of scrapbooking. I love it when I do it but for some reason I just never actually sit down and complete a book for me. I only do it for gifts or contests... I have a confession to make! I don't have a single scrapbook done for ANY of my kids!! I know horrible! It's on my many to do lists, maybe some day! :)

Chicken Pot Pie

I used to LOVE Chicken Pot Pies when I was younger but somewhere along the way my tastes changed. I don't think I've had one since I was in Jr. High. Sad. I know. But the other night I decided it was time to try it again AND make it myself! So I looked up a few recipes and finally found one to go along with mine and my families tastes. I did make a small change to it but nothing huge. So this is what I came up with. I hope you like it as much as we did! :)

Chicken Pot Pie

1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie
2 cups frozen mixed vegetables
2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, boiled
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 can condensed Cream of Celery soup
1 can condensed Cream of Chicken soup

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Line a 9 inch pie dish with pastry. Blanch frozen mixed vegetables for 3 to 4 minutes. Drain. Dice chicken and place in a large bowl. Add vegetables, thyme, celery soup and chicken soup. Stir together. Pour filling into pastry lined pie dish. Arrange top layer of pie crust, seal and flute the edges. Cut slits in the top of the crust to allow for steam to escape. Place pie on cookie sheet. Put aluminum foil around the pie crust edges. Bake at 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) for 30 minutes. Remove foil and continue to bake for an additional 30 minutes until golden brown. Remove from oven and let stand for 5 minutes and then serve.