Tap...Tap... Is This Thing On???

Wow! It has been exactly a month since my last post. Sorry it has taken me so long to get back over here. It was a nice break once I stopped stressing about it though. :) Today I thought I would share with you a few projects and recipes I have used from Pinterest this month. I always feel so accomplished when I actually follow through and use something I have pinned.

Peanut Butter Cup Crunch Brownies

All I can say is Oh ma' lordy! They were delish!!!

Homemade Body Wash

I have 5 kiddos and one of them has sensitive skin. This was a great way for me to save a TON of money on body was and make sure that it was safe for their skin. I think I will use less glycerin next time but this recipe was very helpful.

Simple Cabbage and Chickpea Soup with Fresh Basil

This soup was so warm and yummy! PERFECT for Fall. I added some zucchini and northern beans, just because. We also put a heaping spoon full of cooked Quinoa in the bottom of our bowls and ladled the soup over it. YUM! 

And on a more personal note, I have been reading this book...

Started this journal...

and dwelling on one word...

I am amazed at how one little book can change your life. If you need some encouragement, godly wisdom, and a new outlook on your life, I HIGHLY recommend One Thousand Gifts. 

Have a great week!

The Uber Smoothie

I have been craving smoothies this week for some reason. Every time I was on Pinterest this week, I was pinning new recipes. I am calling the the Uber Smoothie because it is two awesome recipes smashed into one.

The first recipe I pinned is from this really fun site called Muffin Tin Mania. It is a wonderful blog with some really GREAT ideas for using muffin tins in special ways. I used the Green Smoothie Cups recipe as the start for my Uber Smoothie.

Here is what you will need:

2 cups coconut water

1/3 cup almonds

2 cups spinach

2 celery stalks, chopped

1/4 cup fresh mint

1/2 orange

1 tablespoon honey

1/2 teaspoon ginger powder

2 cups frozen mango cubes

The only this I added to this recipe was a  small scoop of this:

{{adding to the Uber-ness of this smoothie}}

Then whiz it up...

Pour it into your muffin tins and pop those bad boys into the freezer.

And this is what you will get...

Super Uber, right??

Ok the NEXT smoothie recipe I pinned was the Monster Smoothie (check out the original recipe here) from Sing For Your Supper. 

Uber Smoothie

1 green smoothie cup

1 banana4 or 5 strawberries1/2 cup fresh blueberries1 small peach (I left the peeling on but peeling it is fine too)splash of coconut water1 tablespoon Greek yogurt 2 teaspoons honey

1/2 cup crushed ice

{I actually used a honey flavored greek yogurt and there is honey in the green cups so I did not add the 2 teaspoons of honey here.}

{You can just barely see the green cup at the bottom of the blender.}

Then whiz it all up and presto!

The Uber Smoothie!

It looks very unassuming, but this smoothie is power PACKED and SUPER yummy!

Let me know if you give it a try! :)

A Cold In My Nose

 Don't you just hate a summer cold? It just seems to go against everything about summertime.

Well that's exactly what I've got going on today...

(btw, I highly recommend Sambucol)

What do you crave when you are sick? 

For me, it is Tom Kai Gai. It is this amazingly yummy and super healthy Thai soup.

I crave it bad. 

My sweet hubby came by with this to cheer me up...

Hopefully I will feel better tomorrow. I am planning to do some fall fabric shopping, I can't wait to show you all my new ideas for Fall Rosie accessories!

Have you seen Kellie's new Fall Bags???

They are sooooo pretty. I just LOVE Fall!

 But for today I think I'll do some reading. :)

Hope you are having a good week so far. :)

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Playing House

This week.we have been house sitting for some dear friends and I have really been enjoying the chance to play house.
The FAVORITE part is cooking on their A.Ma.Zing WOLF range.

Aaahhhhhhhhh! Can you hear the angels singing? :)
So I thought I would share a couple of the recipes I used this week.

This recipe from Melissa d'Arabian
(which is seriously yummy and I have used many times)
I made the chicken with mashed potatoes and extra gravy. YUM-O.

and then I tried out this recipe from The Pioneer Woman (LOVE her) for the first time.

The family loved it, but I did add some rotisserie chicken just in case the hubs didn't like the fact that it was a meatless meal. It was delish and I doubled the recipe so we have leftovers for lunch tomorrow. I'm wondering how it would taste cold? Hmmm...

So, even thought we are still in a holding pattern with our own home, it was so nice to play house this week. I even enjoyed doing the laundry. GASP!  :)

Thanks to our sweet friends who invited us to stay in their home. We loved every minute of it!

Hope you are having a great week too! 

New Chicken Recipes Anyone???

The past few weeks, my Mom and I have been trying out some new recipes. Some we found on Pinterest (are you addicted yet??) and some from recipe sites. We have been trying to jazz things up a bit, because we were stuck in a rut! Here are a few of our favorite NEW chicken recipes. We have tried all three of these and they were each a big hit with our large family. (Believe me, if we can find a meal that all 9 of us like, we feel like we just hit the jackpot!)

Famous Butter Chicken

via allrecipes.com

I think anything with "butter" in the name, HAS to be good, right? Well, it was! Yumm-O!

Baked Pesto Chicken

via Kalyn's Kitchen

I made quinoa to go with the chicken. There was tons of yummy liquid in the bottom of the pan to pour over the quinoa. It was DELISH and had TONS of flavor!

Chicken and Sun-Dried Tomato Orzo

via Eating Well

Oh boy! I think this was my favorite.! Sooooo much flavor and very little effort. You have GOT to try this one! :)

So, do YOU have any yummy new recipes you have tried out lately? Let us know! And let me know if you try any of these out. I promise you won't be disappointed. :) 

YES Snacks

Hopefully this post will bring a little sanity to your summer. My kiddos could munch all day long, so I've come up with something we call "Yes Snacks". I felt like I was saying no all day and I didn't want them to think that was the only answer I would ever give. The kids know if they ask for anything on this list, I will always say yes. (But they still have to ask.) Here is a list of some of our yes snacks:

Fruits

Veggies

Cheese Sticks

Almonds

Pistachios

Pretzel Sticks

Annie's Cheddar Bunnies

Yogurt

Applesauce

Today I replenished the yes snacks and decided to jazz it up a little for the kiddos. I don't make it this pretty every day, but are they worth it? YEP!

I made some yummy and healthy dips to go with each. I really didn't use a recipe but here is what I used:

Veggie Dip

Greek Yogurt

Dill

Garlic Powder

Salt

Pepper

Fruit Dip

Vanilla Yogurt

Natural Peanut Butter

Raw Honey

That's it! So easy and SERIOUSLY yummy. Did they like it?

I think so. ;)

On The Fly Entertaining

     Have you ever had a friend call and say, “I am five minutes away, can I drop by?” This use to happen to me once a week. And I actually don’t mind! I love spur of the moment visitors, but for a lot of us, this can be a stressful situation. In the morning and early afternoon my house is usually a mess because we have been homeschooling. So when I get a phone call like this, my kids and I spring into action. It is a pretty funny sight! “Noah, put away everything on the table. Parker, pick up the living room floor. Jackson, go straighten up your room. Miley, please watch your sister while I get dressed.” (Yes, I am often in my pajamas.) This is usually how we get things ready for a visitor, but what if it is close to lunchtime when they call? No, I don’t plan on feeding everyone a meal, but it might be nice to offer our visitor a snack. Well, I have found some things that I can whip up very quickly AND cheaply with very little stress on my part.

{It doesn't hurt to have a pixie and a puppy on the look-out either. ;) }

   My very favorite idea required a purchase. I went to a Pampered Chef party recently and purchased a Stoneware Fluted Bunt Pan, and it has already paid for itself. 

   The only reason I bought it was so I could use this recipe. I knew it would be perfect for a quick treat! All you need it a boxed cake mix and a can of pie filling! When my grocery store has a sale on these items, I stock up my pantry. You can use any flavor you like, but what I like is this:

• 1 box Chocolate Cake Mix
• 1 can Cherry Pie Filling

Mix two ingredients. Spray your bunt pan and drop mixture in. Place in microwave and bake for 12 minutes! THAT’S IT! You can sprinkle it with powdered sugar to if you like. This recipe makes entertaining very easy. (No, I don't sell pampered chef and I haven't received compensation for this plug. :)

    You don’t always need food to make a good impression. Sometimes offering a yummy drink in a pretty glass is just as fun! This next recipe is so quick, easy, and inexpensive that it is perfect for on the fly entertaining!

{Dinah's Dishes}

FRUIT TEA

Southern girls love fruit tea and we don't mind spending the time it takes to make it. But when you have someone heading to your house, this is a quick and easy recipe for Fruit Tea. If you have some tea already made and in your fridge, it makes this recipe twice as fast.

• 1 can Orange-Pineapple juice
• 1 pitcher of ice tea

Combine juice and tea. Slice lemons and limes for a pretty presentation.

   So there you have it! A couple of recipes that are quick, easy and helpful for spur of the moment entertaining. Just remember that advanced planning on your part always works to your advantage! Stock your pantry with these ingredients so that you will be ready to entertain your drop-in guests.

P.S. I have lowered the price on our Rosie Necklaces from $35 to $30 AND you can still use the BLESSEDNEST coupon code for and extra 30% off. It's a GREAT deal, so hurry over to my shop and pick out your fav! :)

Spring Chicken Lettuce Wraps

When the weather turns warmer, I find it quite hard to convince myself to turn on the oven or cook over a hot stove, so I have a few go-to recipes in my back pocket just waiting for a warm spring/summer evening. This recipe is the first one I think of. My friend Amber made it for me one night and since then, it has become one of my favorite recipes. Here are the things you will need...

Living Lettuce 

(Any wide leafed lettuce will do. Iceberg or Romaine would work fine.)

Rotisserie Chicken

Sriracha Hot Sauce

Chickpeas

Garlic

Greek Yogurt

Lemon or Lime

Cilantro

Tomato

Avocado

(salt, pepper, and cumin)

First I make the hummus. (There will be lots left over so I buy extra veggie such as red bell peppers or carrot chips to dip later as a snack.)

Drain and rinse 1 can of chickpeas...

Next, I add 8 oz. of Greek Yogurt, the drained and rinsed Chickpeas, 2 cloves of Garlic, a handful of Cilantro, juice of 1/2 a Lemon or 1 Lime, 1 Tbs. Sriracha Hot Sauce (This is hot stuff so it's up to you how much or even IF you add this, but it give a wonderful flavor to the hummus.) Salt, Pepper, and Cumin to taste. 

Now just whizz it up in your blender to smooth and creamy. In the end, I needed a bit more liquid, so I added 2 Tbs of Newman's Own Olive Oil and Vinegar Dressing. This adds another great flavor punch too. If you don't want to add this you can just add a bit more yogurt.

Now find yourself a sweet little helper and start building your lettuce wraps! :)

Spread the hummus over the lettuce...

Then add your chicken, tomato and avocado. And voila! You have an amazingly yummy, and super easy dinner!

Wouldn't they be great of a picnic??

YUM!!! Hope you love them as much as I do! :)