Kyle's 24th Birthday!!

Kyle woke up to this lovely display from his wife:)

Muffins for breakfast

I gave Kyle a sweater, a movie, cologne, and Reeses for his birthday:)

This is the famous delicious chocolate black birthday cake my aunt Suzie always makes that I made for Kyle's birthday. Soooo good.

Kyle chasing a bird on our Honeymoon to Hawaii - Ha ha

Spaghetti, Potato Wedges, Chicken Chile Verde, & Cream Puffs

Raquel's Homemade Spaghetti Sauce:

So this is like thee best spaghetti sauce in the world. And I'd like to take credit for it:) I found a recipe in a book and didn't have/like some of the ingredients, so I decided to make my own. Kyle said it was the best spaghetti sauce he has ever had. I thought it was pretty dang good myself. 

(Note: This recipe, along with most of my others, are meant to feed just the two of us:) So you'll probably have to quadruple it)

1 t olive oil

1-2 roma tomatoes, diced

1/4 onion, chopped

1/4 t garlic & herb seasoning

italian seasoning, or oregano or rosemary is good!

salt 

pepper

1 t sugar

1 can tomato sauce

1/4 c water

*seasonings are to taste*

**Pout olive oil in pan on med heat. Add chopped onion and simmer 5 min. Add roma tomatoes, garlic & herb seasoning, italian seasoning, and salt & pepper. Simmer 5 min. Add tomato sauce, sugar and water. Simmer 10-15 min (if adding meatballs, add them right now and simmer the meatballs in the sauce to help soak flavor in. I had extra meatballs from my Sweet & Sour Meatball recipe that I froze and pulled out to use in this recipe. SO AMAZING). Top on freshly cooked spaghetti and garnish with parmesan cheese. 

Fresh Potato Fries:

My Mother-In-Law gave Kyle and I 2 bags of potatoes last week, so we decided to try different ways to use them. One of the ways we decided was to make homemade Potato fries. And they are soo easy and soo good! We just used 2 potatoes. Cut them in wedges. In a bowl pour some olive oil and mix seasonings in it example: rosemary, oregano, italian seasoning, and salt and pepper. Dip each potato in the olive oil mixture and place on prepared cookie sheet with tin foil. I lightly crunched tin foil on my cookie sheet so that the potatoes cook evenly, they don't stick, and it's easy clean up! Bake 400' 25-30 min depending on how thick the slices are so just watch them until they're golden brown. 

Enjoy:)

Another reason why I love crock-pots:

Chicken Chile Verde Tacos with Fresh Pico de Gallo:

The recipe I found for this tells you to make your own chile verde.. However.. I just bought salsa verde and added to it and it still tasted amazing. I first sauteed 1/2 chopped onion in olive oil in a pan. Then added salt and pepper, chopped cilantro,1 cup chicken broth, and 1 T sugar. I put a few chicken breasts in the crock-pot and poured the sauce on top. Cook on hight 3-4 hours. It was very delicious but I thought it needed some garlic. 

Pico de Gallo:

Chopped roma tomatoes

chopped onion 

chopped cilantro

juice of 1 lime

salt

pepper

-I usually do more tomatoes then onion but just mix everything until taste. We put this right on our tacos and also just ate it plain with chips. So good and sooo easy. 

DESSERT!!

the easiest CREAM PUFF recipe:

From Our Best Bites:

http://www.ourbestbites.com/2008/04/tutorial-cream-puffs/

Make sure you WATCH the puffs in the oven so they don't over cook!! I think mine over cooked a tad but they still tasted amazing!

It says to use mouse in the middle but I had a small carton of whipping cream I thought would be good.. And it was great!

I just whipped the cream, added some vanilla and some Splenda and there you have it. Amazing fresh whipping cream.

When the puffs cook they all have a huge air bubble inside. So I filled a plastic bag with the whipping cream, made a small hole in the bottom, and filled them easily. Then I melted chocolate chips and dipped the tops in them. They're not that pretty, I was in a rush.. Ha but they sure were good.

50 Cent Bathroom Door Wreath

I've been wanting to make a wreath for such a looong time and my cousin Jessalyn Romney finally inspired me to after she made the cutest one for her door. So.. I went to the DI and found this piece of plastic (not sure what it was) for 50 cents and pulled out scrap fabric to make it. I first cut a long strip of fabric and hot glued it around the plastic.

I made sure the strip was long enough so that it had a scrunch effect when it was done. So cute!

I didn't have any green fabric (our bathroom is green and cream), or any green paint, so I mixed blue and yellow to make green paint and feathered it on a strip of cream fabric. 

It was a little two bright so I added brown streaks on it.

Then, between that strip of fabric and other cream strips, I bunched each one individually to make a flower and glued it on the corner of the wreath. I had extra little cute flowers I glued on top with a button to finish it. 

Love it! What do you think?

Finished:

Santa Fe Chicken Fajitas, Popcorn Wrapping, & Homemade Corn Chowder Soup

Crock-Pot: To use when you want an amazing meal that does all the cooking for you. 

I haven't used a Crock-Pot before but have come to love it because of how EASY it is. You pour ingredients in and let it do the cooking for you. It's great. So.. to test it out Kyle and I decided to make fajitas and they are soooo good! My mom always made them and they are just the best.

Santa Fe Chicken Fajitas:

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 can northern beans, rinsed and drained

3/4 cup salsa

3/4 cup corn

1/4 cup water

2-4 chicken breasts

cheese

Tortillas 

*Pour ingredients except chicken, cheese, and tortillas in Crock-Pot. Mix. Lay Chicken on it's side in middle of mixture. Cook on Low 2-3 hours or High 3-4 hours or until chicken is cooked through. Shred chicken and  put in tortillas with cheese.

Sauce:

1 bottle Taco Bell Hot Sauce 

(Sold at your local store; however, I went through Taco Bell's drive through and they gave me two handfuls.. ha that works too:)

1/4-1/2 cup ranch dressing

*Mix together and drizzle on top of fajitas

Simple visiting teaching treat:

1 cute paper bag ( I found colored ones for 25 cents at Walmart)

tissue paper

saran wrap

ribbon

I made fresh kettle corn and wanted to wrap it cute for the girls I visit teach, so I tucked tissue paper in the paper bag, wrapped the kettle corn in saran wrap to keep it fresh, and put it in the middle of the tissue paper. Then I folded the top of the bag down, poked two holes, then threaded ribbon through to make a bow. It was really quick, next time I would probably thread the ribbon through a cute card or something.

Creamy Corn Chowder - Our Best Bites Cookbook 

(And Breadsticks we bought :) Try putting some rolls out to rise before the soup!)

http://www.ourbestbites.com/2008/09/creamy-corn-chowder/

Cupcake Surprise & Popcorn and Pancakes

So last Friday I come home from a job interview to find Kyle holding two cupcakes with a note saying how much he loved me. I applied to this cupcake place the day before and he went in on Friday to buy some cupcakes, also telling them how his wife had come in the previous day to apply for the job and that he just had to come try it out - putting in a good word for me. Cutest surprise ever. And to top it off they were thee best cupcakes! The one on the left is apple with cream cheese frosting and the one on the right is just a rich chocolate. So good. I love my husband:) 

Dearest kettle corn lovers: this is the EASIEST and yummiest recipe for homemade kettle corn. 

1/3 cup popcorn kernels 

3 T sugar

3 T canola oil

salt

*So.. you pour the oil in a large pan and turn on med-high heat. While it is heating, mix the sugar and popcorn kernels in a bowl. WAIT UNTIL YOU SEE SMALL STREAMS OF SMOKE. This is important. You might need to stare at the bowl because it's kinda hard to tell. Once you see small puffs of smoke, pour the sugar and kernels in the oil and stir until mixed - only about 10 sec. Put the lid on and shake every direction then put back on burner. Do that every 10-20 sec until popcorn is completely popped. Immediately add salt to taste and stir to scoop off remaining sugar on bottom of pan. Serve:) 

 (This is half eaten already, a small amount of kernels makes a ton of popcorn)

Next on the list are these amazing Oatmeal Pancakes; thanks to Charlotte Rush from my home ward who gave me the recipe for my bridal shower. These are seriously to die for. Kyle and I actually ended up adding cinnamon, a pinch of nutmeg, and chocolate chips to them and they tasted like a breakfast cookie. In love.

1 1/2 c quick cooking oatmeal
2 cups milk
-Combine and soak 15 min
Add:
2 1/2 t baking powder
1 c flour (or wheat flour)
1 t salt
2 T sugar
Mix, then add:
3 T oil (or applesauce)
2 eggs
Mix together then pour on 300-350' griddle

 Question.. What do you do when your hubby gets tired of studying....?

MAKE QUICK PEACH PIE! yummmm

Another short and sweet of one of the easiest recipes. My family always makes this cause it takes a few seconds to throw together. Usually we use fresh apples cut up but we only had canned peaches - worked amazing though!

1-2 cups fruit (sliced apples, canned peaches, etc..)

3/4 cup sugar

1-2 T flour

2 shakes cinnamon

pinch of nutmeg

2 -3 T butter

*Mix all ingredients except butter in bowl and pour on top of prepared fruit in pie dish. Cut butter in pieces on top. Bake 375' 45-50 min (depending on fruit, just keep watch after 30 min or so)

Serve by itself or hot on ice cream yum!

1/2 cup oats

(OK so this is the before picture.. I meant to take an after picture but we ate it too fast.. oops! It looks great afterwards because the oats are softened and the butter mixed with them makes a nice caramelized coat. So easy and good.) 

Peach Days and Chick-Fil-A is NOT fun.

So I guess in Brigham City, UT they hold the record for the biggest parade in Utah each year - so it's a big deal, and lots of peach goodness! So Kyle and I went with Chad and Kynzie Kelley and Taylor and Tessa Brown to Peach days and it was great! We had fresh peach cobbler, walked around shops... oh, and rode the worst rides.. Ha ok they weren't that bad.. just about threw up each time.. great day

Never go on this ride..^

Love these guys!

So.. Let me explain something.. Anytime there is a Grand Opening of a new Chick-Fil-A, they pick 100 people to camp out in front of the building. Whoever stays the full 24 hours in the parking lot gets free Chick-Fil-A for a year! Yeah it's awesome.. Kyle did it last year and used all his coupons up in a few months.. Ha. So, we packed our camping stuff and left to the opening in Layton, UT at 3:30 in morning to sit in line. At 6am our names were put into a bag with another 250 people in which our names were not drawn.. Ok only part of that is true, they pick 100 people and 10 alternates who can choose to camp out so they can take someone's place if the break the rules or leave.. ha ha and Kyle was the 10th alternate they called: the last person they called. And he turned it down and we drove home:(

Waiting for them to call our ticket...

Our losing ticket...

I Heart Crafts

So I love anything that has to do with finding something in the dump and turning it into something. Last fall (before I was married).. I bought all new bedding and paint to redo my room. As for the decor, everything I found was purchased at Goodwill or the DI and spiced up:)

BEFORE

AFTER

(On the blank right wall I added a picture frame collage you will see in one of the pictures below.. Also, I wish I would have taken a final picture because at the point of each triangle I glued a big diamond stud on the wall. It looks way cool with them, just don't have the picture:(

In order to make the argyle wall, I had to measure the points of each triangle and then taped off what I would paint.

Most of these picture frames were found in the dump that I painted and spiced up. Great CHEAP way to decorate!

The Lamp....

I cut a long strip of material and sewed with a needle and thread back and forth in the middle of the fabric all the way across. Then pulled the string and scrunched up the fabric to make it have a laced effect. 

Then with hot glue (which is my FAVORITE craft tool. I use it with everything.) glued it around the base of a lamp shade.

 The Magnet Board....

So I found this magnet board which is about 2 1/2 x 4 ft at Goodwill for 7 bucks! The dark brown is wood and the light brown part is carpet.. ew. It was filled with dust and didn't have a back so I cleaned it and painted it white. Then bought a piece of sheet metal at Home Depo for $20. That was kinda pricey but they cut out the exact measurement for me and I kept the rest of the metal for other magnet boards.

Finished look!

I collected these bottle caps from when my family went out to eat and just hot glued magnets to the back I bought at Walmart. The diamond magnets however, were a little more pricey but so worth it. I got those at the Orange Patch home boutique in Mesa, AZ.

---------------------------------------------------

So in our current home in Logan I wanted a magnet board for our kitchen. I found thee ugliest bright pink magnet board at the DI in Provo, UT for way cheap and bought it:) I painted it black, then painted a stamp I had with two different kinds of paint - white and tan (slightly mixed). For the magnets I bought small circle mirrors from Michael's Art and Craft store and glued magnets to the backs of them...

Not bad?