My First House Party!

I found out last week that I get to host my first House Party and I couldn't be more excited.

The party is April 16, so I am working away planning the menu and the goodie bags. 

The party is the Green Works New to You House Party.  

We will be sampling the Laundry Detergent and Cleaning Wipes.  

What a great way to start your Spring Cleaning!

In addition to the samples we will be doing an appliance and toy swap!

If you have any ideas for my green party, shoot them my way!

Super excited! YAY!

I love parties!

What I cooked on Sunday

We had a few nights out or late night meetings this past week, so I actually made the proper amount of food for once!  Usually we have tons of leftovers, because it's hard to cook for just two people.

Here is what I cooked on Sunday:

Corn Chowder - recipe - made this for lunches throughout the week and froze some. Super yummy!

Poached Chicken - part of this recipe

Baked Ziti with Spinach and Chicken - recipe - I used half of the poached chicken in place of the veal in this recipe.  It wasn't all that great, and my sauce wasn't thick enough, but with some changes, I might make it again

Minestrone Soup - recipe -  We had this on Monday and then I froze the rest.  I used the stock from my poached chicken as the base and flavored it up.  The hubby thought it needed noodles, but I enjoyed it just the way it is.

I finished off my day of cooking by making Chocolate Chip Cookies - recipe.  Yummy!

It was a very long day in the kitchen, but my nights after work were easy peasy and I didn't really have to cook a thing!

Do you cook on one day during the weekend in preparation of the week?

My new Camera Strap!

YAY, my camera strap finally came on Saturday.  It's from Shey B and I love it!

I attempted to get some shots of the strap... I prolly should have done that before I put it on the camera.

Can you see what it looks like?

I got the Honeysuckle Dream strap cover.

She was having a sale the day I got mine and currently this one is 20% off.

Now my camera is as fabulous as I am.  LOL.

XOXO

Diaper Cake

I work for a hospital and coordinate many of the community events that we participate in.  Next weekend is the KidShow at our local mall and we will be having two booths.  One booth will be in their new Baby Shower area, so I decided to raffle off a diaper cake since I enjoy making them.  

Luckily our colors are blue and green and so are Target brand diapers.

Since this is a raffle prize I went with Johnson and Johnson products. 

Every baby needs those.  

Do you think it looks too much like a "Boy" cake?

I am going to run to the store today and get some white flowers for the top of the cake.

I am hoping we have some stickers with our logo at work that I can put on the center level too.

Nothing like crafting for work on the weekend!

XOXO

Supermoon!

Did you all have a chance to look at the Supermoon last night?

I thought it looked amazing.

I was excited to be able to try out my camera that my hubby got me for Christmas.

I am still learning how to use some of the features, but I did get some really great shots.

Hope you wore your moonscreen.  HA HA!

Have a great Sunday!

XOXO

Easter Specimen Art

I am already working on some fun Easter crafts!

I picked up some small Easter Egg glitter picks from the Dollar Store.

I pulled the eggs off the picks.

Later, I decided to pull the ribbons off the picks too.  

You never know when you might need little ribbons, right?

I cut the eggs in half.  I ended up using almost all of them.

I first arranged them on some pink scrapbook paper that I already had on hand.  

I then measured out, because I am slightly anal, where I wanted to place the eggs.

Bought a cute white frame then realized it needed something.  Cue little ribbons!

I added the ribbons onto the eggs, mixing up the colors of eggs and ribbon.

VOILA!

Do you love it?

I am pretty happy with how it came out. 

Hoppy Easter!

XOXO

Top o the Mornin' to you!

Good Morning! 

It's almost St. Patty's Day and I almost forgot to post my decorations.

Ok, so I didn't go all out or anything.  Which is somewhat surprising because I am 80% Irish!

Anywho, I decided to decorate my foyer table, since it's kinda boring out there.

I LOVE this Over the Rainbow art from Funky Polkadot Giraffe!

Cute green frame I found at Target!

And I was finally able to get some Subway art in my home!

 Courtesy of Eighteen 25

I couldn't part with my love birds.

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!

XOXO

I really want a Silhouette machine!

I enter every Silhouette machine drawing I see and I have still come up short. 

I am so jealous of all of the projects I see on everyone's blog.

I would love to make things like these:

Cutesy shirts for the holidays for me and my kiddos

(You know this machine cuts fabric, right?)

My Own Road

Decorations for my very, very bare laundry room

Craftomaniac

Pillows to decorate my empty house

Tatertots and Jello

Cute nursery wall hangings

Creative Baby Nursery Rooms

For now I will keep dreaming.  Maybe I will get one someday...

XOXO

Wok this Way!

My mom and I recently took a cooking class called Wok this Way.  

No, it wasn't taught by an Asian Steven Tyler.  HA HA!

I really wanted a Wok, so my mom got me one for Christmas, along with a cookbook, and bought this Wok class that was being offered by the city she lives in.

Let me just tell you I was blown away by the recipes she cooked.  She made a wilted spinach salad, ginger glazed carrots, fried brown rice, stovetop taco casserole, and chicken cordon bleu stir fry.  All of this for $14 per person and an $8 food fee the night of the class.  Plus a copy of the recipes plus about 10 more and we all took some food home. 

Well, I had chicken leftover from my Drop Biscuit Chicken Pot Pie I had prepared on Sunday, so I used the extra chicken for the Taco Casserole I made on Thursday.

Super easy!

You will need:

1 lb lean ground beef or turkey (again I used my leftover shredded chicken)

1 large onion, chopped

1 sweet pepper, chopped

1 c. each chunky salsa and taco sauce

2 t. cilantro

1 T. chili powder

2 t. each cumin and oregano

tortillas or tortilla chips

8 oz. shredded cheddar cheese

8 oz. shredded Monterey Jack cheese

1 (4oz.) can chopped green chiles, drained

1/2 c. sliced black olives 

1 c. sour cream

So, in your wok over medium high heat cook meat until no pink is visible.   Remove and drain off excess grease.  Return pan to heat and stir-fry onion and pepper until the onions are translucent.  

Return beef to pan (this is when I added my cooked chicken) and add the salsa and taco sauce.  Stir in seasonings and stir over low heat until heated through.  Sprinkle the cheeses over the top, then the chiles and olives and cover.  Cook until cheese is melted.

Serve rolled up in tortillas, like a burrito, or spoon over a handful of tortilla chips.  

(this would also make a yummy dip)

Dollop with sour cream, if desired.  Serves 4 - 6

This was delish and really easy to make.  It's a nice twist to a Taco Tuesday or a Mexican themed night.

Pour yourself a margarita and enjoy!

XOXO

Rachael Ray dinner anyone?

So, I LOVE Rachael Ray.  I have her cookware, cooking utensils, bubble and brown bakeware, and nearly all of her books.  I have also discovered her new show Rachael Ray's Week in a Day on the Cooking Channel.  Lucky for me they also play it on Food Network since we don't get the Cooking Channel yet.  

Can I just say I am a HUGE fan of this show?!?

Anytime I can make meals ahead of time for the week AND have leftovers, just call me hooked!

So, I decided to make her Drop Biscuit Chicken Pot Pie Recipe (found here)

They have you poach a chicken, which I have never done.  

It was so easy and my kitchen smelled AMAZING!

I prepared this on Sunday and we ate it on Monday.

Here's a look at it when it was done and out of the oven.  (Yes, there was already a spoonful missing)

The only thing I had to prepare on Monday was the biscuits!

The best part was that there was enough chicken for a round two meal (I love Sandra Lee too) which I used for Chicken Enchiladas in my Wok!  Yes, in my Wok!

I will post that recipe tomorrow!

Roasting Chickens were on BOGO sale at Giant Eagle a few weeks ago.  

So, I picked up two more and will be poaching another chicken this coming weekend.

Yummy!

So go get yourself a chicken and get to cooking.  You won't be sorry!

XOXO

Valspar

It was a very long week, so I was very happy to see that my Valspar paint sample came!
Have you signed up to receive a free sample?
If not, hurry over to Valspar and order yours today!

Check out this cute little box it came in

Inside the box includes a mini paint roller, your paint sample (I ordered First Kiss), and a $5 coupon to Lowe's off a gallon of paint!

Also, included were some complimentary color choices.  

I am not a huge fan of the complimentary colors they sent me, but that's ok.

Such a fab little gift and it's Free!  

I love Free!

I can't wait to use this to make a little wall hanging for Lexi's room!

XOXO

Lexi's room is painted!

Not that I wasn't excited for my new bundle arriving in early June, but I am beyond excited now!  

Her room is finally painted!

Do you love it as much as I do?

Here is the first coat of paint...

And now for the stripes...

Doesn't it look like a Victoria's Secret bag?

OMG, I am in love.

The white crib is going to arrive early next week and then I can really get to decorating.  

I am so pumped, it truly made my week.

Only 10 - 12 more weeks to go!

XOXO

Gymboree Play and Learn

Hey gang.  So we have been taking little man to Gymboree for their Play and Learn class on Saturdays.  OMG!  Teddy has such a great time.   That being said all he ever wants to do is play at the 

basketball hoop.  It's just too funny. 

Luckily we were able to get him to participate in some of the group activities.

Oh and he LOVES bubble time. 

I am really loving the class.  Even though he gets plenty of social interaction at daycare, I think this class is a wonderful activity for us to participate in on the weekends.  

We are supposed to get a foot of snow tonight.  Ugh, will it ever end?

At least we have Gymboree so little man can burn off some of that energy.

XOXO

Free Beauty Bag from Target

I saw this over at CouponQueeny.  Stop on over to Target take a short quiz and receive a FREE beauty bag in 4 - 6 weeks.  Who can't use a free beauty bag?  Have a great Sunday!