Happy Halloween!

Have a fun, safe and spooktacular Halloween everyone!

my little baby...

My little princess is growing up :( It is big girl bed time! I can't believe it...my little baby is big enough for a big girl bed. She is sooooo done with her crib. "I sleep on floor momma?" She so badly wants out of her crib that she is begging to sleep on the floor! Soo...I didn't want to go out and buy a $300 bed...for numerous reasons. Instead I looked at Craiglist every single day, and not only was I doing it I had friends looking for me as well! Side note: I've got some pretty cool friends. The kind of friends that look for furniture for my daughter. Sweet! Where was I? Oh yeah...Craigslist. So I found this bed, at least I think I did, and came across a super cute bed for $35! Can you believe it, a solid wood bed for $35?! I loved it, and I loved the price even more. It does have some damage but nothing that can't be painted over and easily forgotten!

Here is the before:
And after 1 coat of Kilz white primer and 2 coats of Pineapple Citrus yellow:



My mom has really helped with the painting process. I've realized after painting a coat of primer and a coat or so of yellow paint that I really don't like painting! Thank goodness for moms! Stay tuned for the absolute finished product...hope it should all be painted and dried and made by tomorrow because i'm getting super de duper antsy!

beans, beans the magical fruit...

Yet another recipe…only because it was so delicious! And $2 a serving! Can’t beat that eh? Again, I found it in an old Woman’s Day magazine issue on budget friendly meals. I think I might be getting a new magazine subscription, especially since it has given me some awesome dinner ideas! It was so good that there wasn’t enough left to take a picture of…sorry gals. It was bowl licking good…sadly I’m not kidding!

Pasta e Fagioli

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon dried rosemary (I used herbs de’provence instead)
2 carrots, chopped
4 cups low sodium chicken broth
1 14.5-ounce can Italian style diced tomatoes
1 ½ cups small bow tie pasta
2 15-ounce cans white cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
¼ cup grated parmesan cheese

Heat the oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion, garlic, rosemary and carrots; cook 5 minutes, stirring occasional, until vegetables are soften. Add the broth and tomatoes; bring to a boil. Stir in pasta and cook 8 minutes, or until al dente. Add the beans; cook 2 minutes, or until pasta is done. Ladle into bowls; top with cheese.
This was a super yummy dinner and I love how easy it was on the wallet. I had always wanted to try Pasta e Fagioli but was kind of weirded out by putting beans with my pasta. I am kicking myself thoroughly for waiting so long to try it. This will go on my list of “staple dinners”. The beans in it taste good…not too beany and they kind of brake down and become sort of a sauce for the pasta. It is a perfect comfort food! And great for those cold nights when all you want to do is sit on the couch with a blanket and snuggle with the kiddos!

Dinner tonight!

Curried Lentils and Rice (with Monday nights leftover chicken)

1 cup jasmine rice
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped celery
4 cups water
1 cup brown lentils
1 teaspoon honey
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sour cream
chopped cilantro, to taste

Cook rice according to package directions. Heat oil and curry powder together in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and celery; cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are soft. Add the water and lentils and bring to a boil; reduce heat. Cover and simmer 22 minutes, until lentils are soft. Rove from heat; stir in the honey, vinegar, salt and sour cream. Ladle over bowls of rice. Top with cilantro if using.

YUM YUM!

I found this recipe in a money saving article in Woman's Day Magazine. They had numerous other recipes that looked and sounded amazing! I have alot of them on my menu the next few weeks so I will make sure to post those as well.

I am also serving this with the extra Crock Pot chicken that I made on Monday. And man was that good(and super easy!).

4 chicken breasts
1 package italian dressing mix
1 cup water

Cover and cook low 8-10 hours
Shred it with a fork and serve it over rice or noodles, or use it in any recipe calling for shredded chicken!


Well off to clean before I have to go to the airport to pick up grandma!

What to do...

So I am at a point right now that I have so many things on my list that I don't know what to start with. So basically I haven't started anything! Ha! Instead I have painted my nails black (tis the season right?) and read half of my Sookie book (love!) and eaten some chocolate chips and talked to a friend on Facebook. Productive right? Well, I did also take the princess to a birthday party this morning at a pumpkin patch. So much fun! But since I had my mind on my to do list I forgot to wear boots. Bad bad bad bad idea...so much mud! And I am sooo not a messy muddy person, noooo way! Of course the princess was dressed well enough for the occasion. Thanks to the birthday girl we got to take a sweet little pumpkin home! As well as a cup and a half of mud...yum! So between laundry, cleaning the bathrooms, the kitchen, bedrooms, sweeping and vacuuming I can't decide which one to start with...hmmm...such a tough decision isn't it!? And then there is my craft to do list...make 3 tutus, 2 wands and that is surprisingly it right now. I've gotten all of the Halloween costumes behind me. The princess is going to be Darby this year...please tell me you know who that is. You know, Disney channel, friend of Tigger and Pooh...cute little red head. Yep, that is her! I figured let her be something she knows, there are so many costumes that I love but she doesn't understand so it just wouldn't be as sweet. Plus this was semi-easy and mostly homemade!
Ok, step away from the computer. Step away and nobody gets hurt...
I'm off to do my "company" cleaning! Wish me luck, I need all the luck to stay off of here!

First post!

Why am I having such a hard time starting a blog? Hmm…let’s see…I don’t like being bad at something. I keep putting this off because there are so many super cool crafty blogs out there how can I compare?! My list of “things I want to make” is getting longer and longer (and longer…) and I suppose this will help me to finally get going! You will be my motivation…my much needed kick in the rear. I have gotten so many cool ideas from the other wonderful moms and crafty bloggers out there! I love tutus, and love to make them for all of the little girls in my life! I believe every princess needs a tutu. I absolutely love Amy Butler, and wish I had her talent and style. I love fabric and wish I could own all the beautiful fabrics of the world, but also wish they were closer to the $4/yard price that what they actually are. I know, you pay for quality, blah blah blah. I love photography but am terrible at it…though I keep telling myself if I get the right camera then it will look good (who knows…my crappy pics might look like good crappy pics)! I love cupcakes, something about them screams sweet, and there is something so childish about them. I absolutely hate patterns, they confuse the heck out of me and I always end up doing it my own way anyways. I love redo crafts, adding a little piece of your own personality to things you already own. Now, I love the idea…do I actually do it? Not so much…but I really want to! I have a knack for starting something and not finishing it…or waiting too long to finish it and then forget where I left off. It’s one of many flaws I am trying hard to work on! I am told I have too many opinions, why is that a problem I would like to know?! J I like what I like, deal with it! Kidding! (sort of) I have a daughter, she is the reason I have joined this whole crafting world. Though it was embedded in me when I was born, both my grandmas sew like crazy, and paint, and knit/crochet (couldn’t tell you the different…) and cook, and bake, and anything and everything else crafty. I love to bake! It is a terrible hobby…just ask my jeans. I’ve gained the “Moms Group 5”…you know it if you are in a moms group. That extra 5 pounds that you’ve gained because of all the goodies people bring to playdates, but man are those goodies, well, good! Cooking is ok; I love making “everything but the kitchen sink” crock-pot meals! A little bit of this, a little bit of that…and you know what? So far they have all been pretty tasty! I do not do well with recipes; cooking recipes that is…baking recipes are alright with me. Weird huh? So I have decided that this little blog will be about my adventures in crafting and cooking and baking. Or whatever fancies me that day! I will make sure to take some terrible pictures for you gals (or guys) to show you the things that I make. And I will give credit where credit is due…as I have gotten a lot of ideas from other bloggers. Thanks for listening to my rant and wish me luck in this new endeavor!