Recipe reviews

As promised, here are some yummy recipes that I have made recently.  All recipes (and pictures) were found on Pinterest, all were easy to make, and all received a husband approval rating of "delicious."

I'm sharing two crock pot recipes and two vegetarian recipes.
1) The crock pot has been my BFF since this semester started back.  Longer school days = I'm more tired and have less time, so it has been awesome

2) At the beginning of the year I decided to cook meatless on Mondays.  David and I used to do this last year, and loved it, but somehow as we moved and I started school last fall it kind of fell by the way-side.  I have really enjoyed cooking this way so far and it helps us take one more step to being healthier.

First up,
Crock Pot Orange Chicken

David and I cook stir fry pretty frequently, so this was a great new, easy, alternative to the usual teriyaki sauce we use.  Brown the chicken quickly, throw it in the pot, and cover with sauce. Done. I stir fried some frozen veggies with a little of the leftover sauce and whipped up some rice on the side.  Very tasty.

Crock Pot Pot Roast

This took me by surprise and turned out to be one of the better pot roasts i've ever had.  SO FLAVORFUL! And only five ingredients (plus waster)...FIVE.  Right up my alley.  My grocery store didn't have the right size pot roast I wanted, so I actually used 2 1/4 lbs of stew beef instead, which worked just as well.  Try this on the next rainy night in.

Tuscan Pasta with Tomato Basil Cream Sauce

Wow, this was yummy.  I think this will become a staple in our "meatless Monday" collection.  And it was pretty simple with the pre-packaged ravioli and sauce.  David and I inhaled it.

Red Wine and Goat Cheese Risotto with Caramelized Mushrooms

This was a fantastic company dish.  Even David, who feels iffy towards mushrooms, really liked it. I personally loooove risotto, and this was no exception.  Even without any meat, this was very filling and satisfying.  

So there are my reviews.  Hope that you get a chance to try some of these, as we loved them in our household.  

New year, finished projects

Happy 2012! Yes, I know we're two weeks into it, but this is my first post of the new year.  I started class last week and am slowly transitioning to waking up early again and getting back into the grind.  The school days are longer, but i'm excited about this semester.

This break was not only restful, but productive in terms of getting some projects done.  In addition to the Christmas stockings and tree skirt I made, I finished a couple of other things on my list.

The first to tackle was our dresser.  We bought this off craigslist because it was the perfect size that we were looking for in our bedroom.  The problem: it was red, silver, and black....not attractive.  A couple of months ago we did the sanding, and it took forever.  Lesson learned: sanding is not easy/possible on a dresser with 3 coats of paint and has lots of small grooves and surfaces.  But we did the best we could.

Then we primed and painted the dresser, and added new knobs.  I'm very pleased with the way it turned out, and proud of the sweat equity that went into it.

Did you notice the awesome bicycle mirrors hanging that my hubby made? Just wanted to brag on him again, they rock.

Next, I made a rack to organize most of my jewelry.  I have been wanting to do this for a long time.  David had recently bought some screening to fix holes in our back porch, so I snagged some and stapled it to this regular, cheap picture frame.  I then added hooks at the bottom to hang my necklaces.  It's worked out really well so far!

Please ignore the awful coloring of the photos, our closet is painted bright pink...what can ya do

And even though I completed this project several months ago, here is a before/after shot of our dining room chairs I recovered, but never documented.  I love recovering chair seats, it's just so easy and makes a huge difference! Before: awwwwful dark floral-ness.  After: burnt red color...the photo makes it look more orange than it actually is.

The next project I plan on tackling is to make a painting to put above our bed.  We're lacking artwork on that wall and I finally found the right size canvas I was looking for...it's pretty huge, definitely one of he bigger pieces of art i've done.  I'll let you know when that's completed, although with school it might be a while.

And just for fun...

This picture cracks me up...anything to get his bone.

He might look crazy, but he's a sweet, sweet boy.

Hope everyone is having a great start to the new year.  Be back next time with some yummy recipes.

Christmas review and looking forward

To keep it brief, Christmas was fantastic.   

The week prior, David and I flew to Texas and got to see his family and have and early Christmas with them.  We even managed to squeeze in seeing a few dear friends, BBQ, and Mexican food.  It was lovely.

When we got back, my family came to Augusta for Christmas weekend.  It was filled with good times, food, laughter, and celebrating Jesus.

What a blessing...

Even the pups enjoyed their time together.

My talented and sweet husband also got me this mirror.  I saw something like this online earlier in the year but it sold out (and was expensive)...so he made one for me!  Watch out Etsy!

Having this break was so nice, and so needed.  The Lord has been gracious to allow me so much time to be able to relax and spend time with loved ones.  As school starts again in a week, and a new year is drawing close, there are a lot of things on my mind.  Remembering all that happened this last year, good, different, and difficult...excitement and anxiousness about the future...many many goals that I have for myself for 2012.  With all of that swimming around in my head, it's easy to let myself become overwhelmed.  But honestly, the only thing that I need to focus on is Christ.  He is the reason I have another year to celebrate, even just another day.  My main goal for 2012 is to glorify the Lord more, with my heart, mind, and actions.  He is the one who has given me everything undeservingly.  And I know that I will fall short of this, even daily....But He has conquered all of my mistakes (past, present, and future), and He is the one who is merciful and loving and is with me every step of the way. 

 

Oh, Christmas tree

I'm a passionate "real" Christmas tree advocate.  I told David before we got married that this was a non-negotiable issue, and the only way I would waver would be if he became highly allergic.  I'm sure as our lives become busier, and our family bigger, this will become a more difficult tradition to keep up.  But i'm sticking to it.  I have such great memories of going with my dad and sister to pick out our tree every year.  It was always "our" thing the 3 of us did, and we would usually buy some poinsettias to bring home for my mom.  We would all decorate the tree and house together that night.

Being that David and I were at my parents' house last year, and this year WE are hosting Christmas, David and I got to pick out our first tree together.  This was a big deal to me, and it was one of the first things we did once I finished my finals.  Two other great things about that day: 1) We went to Waffle House before hand (don't judge, you know it's good), and 2) Trees are much less expensive here than out west!

Not gunna lie, the drive home with a tree on top of my car was a tad stressful

...And the decorating begins!

I love homemade ornaments, or ones that you got from a place you visited, or ones that mean something to you.
This angel is made from a cotton bloom and it reminds me of growing up in Mississippi.  My mom and dad have the same one on their tree too.

These 3 ornaments are ones my grandma MADE and sent us.  I absolutely love them.

We are clearly still very "Texan" in our house too.

The finished product! (sorry for the quality, I think this is off of my phone)

It's perfect in every way.  It makes the house so cheerful.  Continuing on the tree post, I made a tree skirt!   I loosely based my idea from the ruffled tree skirt tutorial that's all over Pinterest, but mine's definitely not as "professional" looking.  I used the leftover fabric I had from the stockings I made for David and I last Christmas.  I'm very happy with it and I love the way it turned out.

(Again, phone photos)

  

What are some of your Christmas crafts?

Tis the season!

Well, I finished my first semester of graduate school!  It's still hard to believe.  It started to sink in when I didn't wake up at 6:30 this morning....mmm, that's the good stuff.  Once I finished my last final, I immediately started pulling out the (small amount) of decorations that we have.

Later this week, David and I are going to go pick out our first Christmas tree....i'm kinda really super excited about this :)  Continuing with the Christmas spirit, here are a list of some of my favorite Christmas movies.

Comedy/Family:  ELF
I absolutely love this movie, and who doesn't?  Will Ferrel just exudes child-like Christmas silliness and happiness, and it can't help but make you smile.

"I'm sorry I ruined your lives...and crammed 11 cookies into the VCR" 

Comedy/Other: Scrooged
So this is another comedy, but I wanted to separate it from ELF because it's not quite as kid-friendly.  Anyway, this movie still cracks me up and we watch it every year.  Bill Murray is always funny to me in anything he does.  This movie is a spin on the classic story of Scrooge, but a modern day version (warning: by modern, I mean 1988).

Bill Murray confronting a ghost: "No, you are a hallucination brought on by alcohol...Russian vodka poisoned by Chernobyl!"

Classic: White Christmas
Uh, be still my heart.  This is my absolute favorite "old" Christmas movie.  Words can't describe how wonderful this movie makes me feel, so I won't even try, just go watch it.

"I want you to get married.  I want you to have 9 children.  And if you only spend 5 minutes a day with each kid, that's 45 minutes, and I'd at least have time to go out and get a massage or something."

What are some of your favorite Christmas movies?