inspire me monday

sweets and treats today! I'm thinking about the holidays around here, and for us, that means lots of homemade treats by mommy! {If you're new here, our youngest son has a peanut allergy which = not much candy out there is ok for him.}
So, these are a few of the things that are rattling around as ideas!!

pumpkin brownies - minus the nuts of course!

{recipe here}

pumpkin truffles

{recipe here}

Carmel corn:

{family recipe}

pumpkin chocolate whoopie pies:

{recipe here}

candied apples:

{still looking for a great recipe for this one...}

And of course, fun and cute ways to decorate them!

{found here}

{found here}

YUM

Making a list of ingredients to purchase for our favorite Easter treat:

{Recipe from "Feast" by Nigella Lawson - one of my fave, fave cooking authors.}

This was last year's version! Happy Tuesday!

W.O.W.

Shower invites have gone out! You think I was inspired by Pandora when I put these together? I couldn't tell you! But I did think of it when I was looking back! :)

A new sketch is up over at the Kaisercraft Blog! You can grab the template for your digi layouts here...


And we had one of the fullest days I can remember in a quite a while. Whew! Everything from basketball camp, to shopping, to a stop by a local craft fair, lunch with daddy, family game night, laundry and these:

Hope everyone's having a lovely weekend!

Enjoying the Simple Things...

Just when I let go of some things to "make more time" it feels like that time slips away to other things. Can anyone else relate? I do feel that I need this time that I'm taking a bit of to selfishly recharge. I feel like ultimately, it'll pay big dividends in the end. :) I'm trying to make blogging more of a priority - I'd love to get a post up every day. Right now, I'm just trying to settle on a routine that fits into my schedule! :)

For now, here are a few simple things that are inspiring me, and helping me recharge.

Simple lunches. Tasty. Healthy. Filling:

This is actually how it ends up being eaten. :) I have an entire story of a weight loss journey that will some day be written. For now, it's waiting for the right words. I'm still adjusting to the fact that I can actually wear skinny jeans for the first time in my life...
Color inspiration in the greeting card aisle:
Along with a few words of encouragement. :)
Marking things off my list:

I'm helping to host a baby shower in April - this is my first draft of the invitation. I need to adjust some wording and such, but the graphics are settled. We'll be having a whimsical garden theme. I'll be sure to keep you updated on favors and decorations!
Projects completed:
Your hearts are in the mail, Brit!

Being more in love than ever after 8 years together:
Details:
Happy Monday! My afternoon is full of grocery shopping, settling on rental things for the shower, and epic laundry... WooHoo! Bring it on!

Today.

Veggie stock simmering for the base of tonight's minestrone:
This lovely arrived yesterday, filled with inspiration. Seriously. I love every page even though I can't read a word. {Including the one with my layout on it! lol} Sometimes inspiration just doesn't need words.
Printed out my workbook for the class I'm taking:
Today's a day for getting things done. Home with the boys, working on schoolwork, finishing up projects that need to go out in the mail. I {heart} Wednesdays. It always feels like it's a downhill slope to the weekend from here! :)

Back tomorrow with cleaning tips for busy mommies! :)

Lemon Basil Chicken Salad

One of the ways I love to stretch my food budget is getting more than one meal out of something.

For example, one of my favorite ways to do this is to buy a whole chicken. Believe it or not, I've found that whole chicken to be one of the most economical purchases on my grocery bill. Why? A little bit goes a loooong way, baby! Since we only buy all natural and organic meats, this is something I'm always looking out for! It's one of the reasons that I started adding a significant amount of legumes into our diet as well, but that's another story. All this why? Ultimately, because I'd rather spend my money on other things but want to eat healthy, and enjoy my food.

How is this whole chicken my ticket? Simple. Generally it costs me about $5 for one of those birds, and that $5= two meals for our family of growing, hungry boys.

The first night, I roast it. Sometimes I serve it, all seasoned up with sides and veggies. Other times, I use part of the meat for soup, like the one pictured in this post.


Next is the unromantic, not-so-fun part of the process. De-bone those leftovers. ;) But, if you can make it through this part, you're golden...
'Cause then we finally get the today's part. I have an entire list of recipes that I can use at this stage of the game. Quesedillas, creamy chicken with noodles, and today's example:
YUM. That's all I have to say. And lest you think that this is some sort of upscale, I'm-some-kind-of-crazy-woman-running-around-in-dress-clothes-listening-to-classical-music-while-savoring-my-lunch kind of thing, {I guess I associate chicken salad with ladies luncheons?} Here's an example of how I eat mine:
Standing up, while cleaning up the kitchen and teaching a math lesson. Boo-yah!

And of course, the boys prefer their's on bread. {Three year olds have no concept of plate.}
And now that you've made it this far through the post, you finally get the recipe!

Lemon Basil Chicken Salad:
1 - 1-1/2 c. leftover chicken pieces {like the example above}
1 tsp. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. sweet pickle relish
3-4 Tblsp. real mayonaise
pinch of salt {that translates as roughly an 1/8 tsp.}
fresh ground pepper to taste

Toss everything together and serve either with lettuce and a side of your favorite crackers, or on your favorite bread.
Enjoy!

Woot! It's Friday people! Bring on the weekend!

"How Do You Do It?"

Believe it or not, I get asked fairly often, "How do you do it all?" Between two children, homeschooling, digital designing, and working one day a week outside of the home, how do you get everything done and still find time for the things you love/enjoy like crafting and scrapbooking?

There is no short answer to this question. It has multiple, multiple parts. :) I'll start by sharing a couple today. Of course, I couldn't do it without the loving support of my hubby, who knows that those things that I do for myself help keep me sane. lol I'm a creative person at heart, and need to have that as a part of my life in order to be happy...

A good place to start with this is organization. I don't think of myself as a super organized person, but... I like to have a place for everything. ie., I do not alphabetize ANYTHING, but there's a spot where most things BELONG.

For me, that translates into baskets. Mostly because I'm a dump and go kinda person. Here's a great example: DVD's on the right, Wii games and controllers on the left. All within handy reach, but hidden away, so things are nice and neat in short order.
Another example: schoolbooks. At the end of the day, they're tossed into this basket and then slide right under the table with the pretty gray table cloth. Ready for tomorrow, but neatly hidden away... Finished loose schoolwork pages go directly into a binder in a closed cabinet close by...
Linen closet: this is right around the corner from the sink in our master bathroom... below the second shelf are the towels, and then the linens...
Recipes: as you all know if you follow my blog at all, I'm a true foodie at heart. I grew up cooking and baking, and then worked in the industry under a couple of great chefs that taught me a lot... so I've got quite a pile from some of my favorite authors. That dumpy looking binder on top is my collection of stuff that I'm hoping to organize this year!

Magazines and family devo stuff: This and the previous basket are kept underneath the side tables in the living room...
Ok, don't burn me for this one! This is the hall closet with the cleaners, cleaning cloths, and the top shelf is our hurricane preparedness basket with batteries, flashlights, candles, etc. On the floor, I have a cooler for grocery shopping and our re-usable shopping bags. Dust mops and broom are there, too.
Ok! That's it for today! The boys room is also filled with various baskets and organizers, but I didn't take the time to photograph those.

If you can stick with me, I'll be sharing my cleaning philosophy/method next week! I generally don't spend a lot of time cleaning, and that says a LOT since we have two small boys!

One last photo before I got today. Homemade cream of chicken and rice soup topped with yummy goldfish crackers...
Please leave a comment to let me know if you find this post interesting and/useful! I'd love to know! :) Have a great Thursday!

hello bloggy peeps!

Sorry for the lack of posting so much this week! I'll spare you photos of the piles of tissues from the wicked sinus thing I'm working on... instead, I'll bring you a few photos of other things happenin' around here...

A pile of potential brought home from the craftsy store yesterday.
Lately, it's like pulling teeth to get my oldest to go along with any type of shopping - especially anything related to the mall or craft supply stores, so I was *lucky* to pull this off in a few minutes running down the aisles! lol

Dinner from Tuesday. It's one of our fave meals around here... I make a killer alfredo. :)
And the clean "studio"/craft space is no longer... lots of inks, mediums and general fun stuffs going on...
Hope you're enjoying a sweet weekend!

Baked with Love

Back with more projects tomorrow!

Experienced some technical difficulties with the ol' puter last night, so it wasn't as productive as I had hoped! Long story short, everything I touched fell apart last night! I ended up just crawling into bed! lol I did make these yummies for dinner, though! My homemade recipe for buttermilk biscuits...

Well, hello!

I can't believe I haven't posted for a week! Guess that means I've been busy... ;)

All kinds of birthday goodness going on around here - (of course he's at that age that when you ask for a little smile you either get something really goofy, {ergo the shot below}, or you get the very cheeseball grin stretched across the face. Me thinks I'll go with the goofy - at least it's a a good representation of him right now!


I snagged this one while Daddy was BBQing...he was hanging out waiting for samples.


This is one of the reasons I haven't been around!


Of course, because of the allergies in the family, if we're going to have a cake that everyone can enjoy, it must be made by mommy. Then of course, mommy had to prove to said oldest that we could have a "cool" cake that was made at home. What was I thinking? Oh well, it was all worth it when he said, "Wow, mom - that's the best hotwheels cake ever!" And we all got to enjoy it without having to endure tears from the little guy for being left out. That's mommy and daddy's favorite part!

The cake recipe is from my absolute favorite - Nigella. She's got a recipe for everything, and it always works. I of course was concerned about finding a homemade recipe for a cake that would hold up to the mold {you have to have a heavier cake, or it will crumble.} Anyway, should I have doubted she would come through for me? Never! Of course this was labeled exactly for children's birthdays - knowing the fantastic shapes they can sometimes request. :D It's found in her book, How to be a Domestic Goddess. I must add that this book is consulted on a regular basis around here, and I'm no dunce at baking. ;)

End of the year party!!

David had his end of the year party for his kindergarten class yesterday!! He had so much fun. Sack races, water balloons, tree climbing. One of his buddies is part monkey... his mom just rolls her eyes and says, "Yep. That's J.!"




We also presented David's teacher with a gift. This is the sewing project I've been working on with J's mom. I learned how to quilt!! We had a blast putting it together. I'm so happy with the way it turned out. Plus, I made a new friend in the process. :D


Today's been a different story. I've just totally given up...

the boys were up before the crack of dawn, ready to run. Us - not so much. So, we put the TV on and crawled back into bed. {I know, I know.} Very quiet. All is good. Well, not so much. 15 minutes later, David comes running in to tell us that his brother is covered in vaseline. You guessed it. I gave myself a pedicure last night and left out the ointment I used. E. had covered his entire head with it. Ack. You know that stuff doesn't wash off with soap and water. I would have taken a picture, but I barely was able to crack an eye open. Ended up wiping him down with paper towels.

Moving on. I did enjoy my breakfast.



Getting ready for church was a struggle too, today. Couldn't find what we were looking for. Ended up just in time. Hubby was into work.

Came home. Tried to relax. Little guy has diaper explosion of a lifetime. We're talking puddle on the floor. Poor guy. He just balled. I threw him into the tub, and after all the trauma, he dropped off for a nap.

I've just decided today is one of those days. DO NOT EXPECT THINGS TO GO WELL. Maybe then I'll be pleasantly surprised. I did start to giggle as I recounted this here. Maybe things ARE taking a turn for the better.

Hope your Sunday's going better than mine!!

Pick me ups, happy hair, and last night's dinner...

My mini album for the challenge. :) Whew! All done. So happy that I participated - it helped bring things back into perspective for me. :)




All together now, "Oooooo..." We had Curry chicken and steamed beets for dinner last night. So yummy. You will have to indulge my love of veggies - my parents were big gardeners, we had tons of fresh veggies all summer long growing up. Green beans, beets, butternut squash, sweet corn, potatoes, and fresh herbs, of course.


I was having such a happy hair day, I had to take a pic. On inspecting the results all I could see was the clutter in the background!! :P All my scrapping stuff is spread out from the projects I did in the last couple of days, and the laundry is waiting to be folded. {sigh} {shame} At least I know my house doesn't look like this all the time.


Off to clean up!!