Juice Head.

I finally got myself a juicer!! And so far, I absolutely love it. I didn't get it to diet or to supplement meals.... I primarily got to start making fresh juice for Taylor after I read that article about arsenic levels in brand name apple juice. Yeah, I know, nobody's ever died from drinking apple juice over the years but still.

So My husband and I decided to go to the farmers market on Monday, since we had off for the new year. I cannot believe we got ALL these fruit and veggies for $30. Incredible. I think the 20 minute drive in the wrong direction is totally worth the savings! We picked up 5 lbs of carrots, 1 lb of apples, 5 mandarins, 5 kiwis, 2 pomegranates, 3 lemons, 2 limes, 2 packs of blackberries and 2 packs of blueberries. Wow!

Strawberry Kiwi Juice

Blueberry Pomegranate Juice

We've just been kind of throwing fruit in that we've had tried mixed in the past. Taylor really gets into it too. She picked out Strawberries and Kiwis. She even has a blast putting the fruit into the hole and watching it come out the other side! Paul mixed a whole pomegranate, a handful of blueberries, an apple and 1/4 of a lime without the rind. It was quite delicious. Does anyone have any yummy juice recipes they'd like to share??

OH! We also picked up some Chia Seeds for $2. Yeah those plants that grow out of clay heads. Weird, right? I saw them at the farmers market and remembered trying them once at book club. Apparently they are packed with nutrients (click for more information)! And they provide tons of energy... which I so desperately need these days. Also, they made me feel nice and full well into lunch time. I don't know much about them but when we had them at book club they were placed into juice. So that's what I tried. I put a tablespoon of them in 8 oz of orange juice and let it sit for about 30 minutes before drinking. I don't mind the texture but some may. Anyway, lets just say I had one cup of coffee (while waiting for my chia juice to be ready) and my chia juice and I am still wide awake! Not impressed? Normally I drink a cup of coffee at 7 am, another at 9 am, one at 2 pm and sometimes another at 5pm! Yes, I'm an addict! I'm pretty sure this may become part of my daily routine!

Starting 2012 off right

Happy 2012, loves!! 

I had my 2nd annual New Years Day Dinner tonight. I'm starting to really love this tradition. Honestly, I think every family should sit down together and have the first supper of the new year together. In the end of it all, family will always be what is most important....and I wouldn't trade my family for the world. :)

There, sadly, was a minor disaster with the main dish, but it was easily brushed off because my wonderful Mommom brought a glazed ham with her just in case (she must know me too well). My theory is: you live and you learn. And what I learned is...never cook a meat you aren't familiar with cooking with for a bunch of people. The recipe it's self sounded delicious.... and called for baking for 40 minutes. Let's just say it took about an hour and a half.. and never made it to the table. **Sigh** Maybe I'll try again for just my little family before attempting for a party of 12 again!

2012 Menu:
First Course:
Apple Walnut Salad with a light Raspberry Vinegarette Dressing

Second Course:
Broccoli and Cheddar Soup (click for recipe)

Third Course:
Stuffed Pork Tenderloin (click for recipe)

Glazed Ham

Honey Roasted Potatoes, Sweet Potatoes,  and Butternut Squash

Peas and Corn

Biscuits

Dessert:
Frozen Strawberries -n- Cream (Click for recipe)

Carrot Cake - I had picked up a box of Duncan Hines 'Decadent Desserts' Carrot cake because it was on sale. It was amazing! And had real carrots and raisins in the mix. Seriously, I'm not even ashamed to admit I cheated, it was that yummy.

Apple Pie

We all followed up dinner with an hour of playing dolls in Taylor's room and then some Family Scattegories. Seriously, hilarious.

Moment of the night : 
  - Rolled letter - "D" 
  - Scattegory - "Things that are black" 
  - GG laughing hysterically at the 'word' that popped in her head. 
  - Me almost peeing my pants from laughing so hard.


Here's to another year full of family and laughter. I hope everyone has an amazing 2012!

 

 

 

 

Christmas aftermath

Wow, I've been incredibly busy these past couple of weeks but now that Christmas is over, I should have more time to get back to my crafting! How exciting!! I got TONS of great stuff for Christmas, including my wonderful new Ninja Blender, a boat load of new serving bakeware dishes (since I always complain that I never have enough bowls when I have people over for dinner) AND a Kindle Fire (thanks for my wonderful husband)! I wasn't even aware how incredibly awesome & convenient these things are! I haven't used it for reading yet, mainly because I'm still trying to figure out how to rent ebooks from the library BUT once I find someone tech-saavy enough to show me I'll be a reading machine! Oh, and though I haven't really had the time to be incredibly creative, I did whip up a case for my kindle. Turned out really cute and it was so simple, I'm thinking about making 1,000 more to match every purse I own! Crazy? A bit.

And yes, if you noticed the AWFUL background, I've relocated my crafting table in to my, oh so cold, laundry room. The wonderful wife that I am sacrificed my nice warm, carpeted loft so my husband would no longer have to share his make-shift art studio man cave with me. I admit, I'm kind of messy...okay okay, REALLY messy. On top of that, he got a gaming computer for Christmas and let's just say listening to him yell and rant on and on about how someone he's playing against is 'cheating' is just not my cup of tea! So for now here is my beautiful work space. Don't worry, I have full intentions to get some drywall up and a nice, soft throw rug ASAP!

I've been getting ready for my 2nd annual New Year Day dinner!  I'm pretty sure I have the menu all planned out and I'm debating on doing a post with recipes and yummy pictures. We will see, I tend to get incredibly stressed when it comes to having people over, and cooking for that matter. I hope everyone has a  great New Years! Stay safe!

Here's some pictures from Christmas Eve/Christmas:

So he said, "Let's run and We'll have some fun Now before I melt away."

Have I ever told you the Christmas is my favorite holiday? Not so much the gift buying/getting aspect but the lights and the decorating!! Now typically I keep my decorating inside my four walls. I don't even hang out Christmas lights outside....which seems impossible to do anyway since I live in a townhouse. Usually, I stuff my front bay window with lots of Christmas decorations and raise my blinds and pull the curtains closed so my neighbors can enjoy without peeping into my house. BUT, recently I ditched the curtains and made roman shades for my bay window (tutorial here). As beautiful as they are, they totally screw up my method of spreading the cheer! So I came across this INCREDIBLY cute idea of hanging Christmas Ornaments.


Now it still doesn't resolve me being able to open my blinds and decorate my window but it DOES make me feel a little better since my window is oh so pretty. :)

I also love Christmas bc there is an overflow of crafts that come with the holiday; decorations, cards, clothes, homemade gifts just to name a few! I've started making some homemade things to give as gifts this year, but obviously I can't post them until after I give them. So keep an eye out for that after Christmas post!



I did get around to making a Stocking Hanger though! Every year we usually just thumb tack them to the wall; which is not attractive and makes it impossible to even put anything remotely heavy in them without them ripping out of the wall and falling to the floor. Not fun.

I know Thanksgiving is over but I made this Pumpkin Torte for dessert and it turned out AMAZING! So I wanted to share the recipe. Not only was it yummy yummy, it was SO easy to make. I also made Pumpkin Pie & Pumpkin Pie Pudding Parfaits for Thanksgiving! You can never have too much pumpkin!

Giving Thanks!

Thanksgiving is only 4 days away! For most people that's nothing too exciting but this will be my first Thanksgiving hosted at my house!! I feel a bit overwhelmed, but that's typically how I feel prior to any event I host. I'm pretty prepared though. I have all the supplies I need for Thursdays dinner and on top of that, I've had some spare time to make do some crafts!! Always exciting!

I picked up these amazingly cute baskets from Joann's Fabrics, 50% off! I guess the plus side to having to wait 30 minutes to have your number called to get your fabric cut is that you have no choice but to walk around & occasionally score some amazing deals! I spent no more than $4.00 a basket and got those Cinnamon Spice Pine Cones that they place right at the front door... 

making it impossible not to grab a bag...to fill them with. If my house doesn't already smell delish on Thanksgiving from the turkey, these are sure to do the trick

My Aunt's birthday was yesterday so I made here this super cute clutch. I was surprised how simple this was to make. I think I may even make these for Christmas gifts. So if you like it, let me know! I will be sure to get your one for the holidays!

Unfortunately, I didn't make the turtleneck shirt BUT I did sew the appliqué Turkey! I liked the Turkey so much, I made one just to frame so I can reuse it every Thanksgiving! (see below)

I made these Thanksgiving picture frames to decorate the table on Thursday. If I have enough time this week I'm planning on making a matching Indian man and woman to go with the set.

I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!! 

Project : Gain the courage to beautify the kitchen

I've been contemplating painting our ugly, stock kitchen cabinets for about 6 months now. I always work up the courage to do it the during weekend and then chicken out the friday before. Well, lets face it, cabinets are really expensive, and we're not trying to stay in this house forever so if it doesn't turn out good, then we'll have to invest in new ones somewhere down the line.

While cleaning the bathroom the other day I was thinking, "God I really really hate these stock bathroom cabinets"..sound familiar?  Especially the one in our half bath. It takes up half of our bathroom space and, let's face it... It's quite ugly. So I thought of this BRILLIANT idea....If I hated the bathroom cabinet anyway, and were already looking into getting a pedestal sink..then why not test out the painted laminate cabinets for durability and appearance until we can afford to replace it? Lets just say I'm surprisingly pleased with how it turned out. And it wasn't too hard! I did make the mistake of letting it dry on newspaper and the paper got stuck and fused to the doors. I sanded and painted over it the best I could but thank got that was on the inside of the doors only. I'm still going to wait until after Thanksgiving to attempt the kitchen, just to see if the paint will chip and to make sure they are easy to clean.... but I  have already picked out the new color scheme for our kitchen!!! I'd say Project : Gain the courage to beautify the kitchen went off with out a hitch!!!

I forgot to take a before picture of the half bathroom's cabinets but, have no fear, every cabinet in my house is the exact same ugly stock cabinet...

...Here is a picture of my upstairs bathroom's cabinet. Bask in it's beauty...

2 days, 3 times using a loud power sander, and 4 coats of paint later...and we have a finished project!

Here's are the colors for the kitchen I picked out, lets just say... I'M SUPER EXCITED!

Tutorial: Easy Thanksgiving Wreath

Thanks to daylight savings I had an extra hour in my evenings to find something crafty to do! I've been in Christmas mode since we did the 'Operation Christmas Card' event at my house so I thought I'd mix it up and show Thanksgiving a little love!! I found this idea on pintrest.com (what's new, right?) And thought I'd give it a try since I already had all my scrap booking paper out from yesterday's card making. I, also, thought I'd do a tutorial, just in case you were trying to find something to get you in the spirit as well!! Oh yeah, and this will totally be hanging on my front door, instead of my bathroom door. I just have to buy a wreath hanger first!

I, conveniently, had this cardboard lying around from a picture frame my husband took apart and turned into a drawing light table. I used a large mixing bowl to trace a large circle onto and used an exact knife to cut it out. This doesn't have to be very precise since you will be covering the entire thing with paper leaves.

Now onto making the leaves:

- Cut the paper into a variety of sized squares (2 in., 3 in., 4 in.)
- Fold the square in half, good sides together
- Fold the top corners down
- Fold the bottom corner over (as pictured, kind of hard to explain in words)
- Ta Da! You can also add variety by adding some leaves with "veins". Make these by repeating the last step, as mentioned above but start at the opposite corner and work at the opposite angle.