Scarf Mania!

On Friday I mentioned in my high five for Friday that I had picked up the supplies to make an arm-knit infinity scarf.  I was looking at Pinterest the other day, and I came across a picture for arm knitting.  The infinity scarf that was shown was really cute, so I clicked on the link to check it out.  I don't know how to crochet or knit, but this post suggested that I didn't have to know and I could still arm knit an infinity scarf in 30 minutes.  Because the scarf looked so cute, and all it required was a couple bundles of yarn, I thought I'd give it a go. 

So I watched a quick YouTube video on arm knitting, and sure enough, I was able to knit an infinity scarf.  I'd say it was a pretty good success.  I made four scarves this weekend, and I really like all of them.  I would say that a scarf takes me about 45 minutes, but that could be largely due to the fact that I have really small wrists, therefore each of my knitted rows is smaller than they would be for someone with more normal sized wrists and arms!  Overall, it was a quick and easy craft that turned out pretty awesome!  I'm excited to get some wear out of all of these!

Motivational Monday

We had a great weekend, full of getting many errands accomplished.  I'm feeling more organized than ever, and it was pretty nice to get some of the things done around the house that we've been needing to forever.  Now we're ready to hit the week full steam ahead.  It's going to be a good one, and I'm looking forward to all the fun we will have.  Happy Monday everybody!  Hope you have a great one!

High Five for Friday!

It’s the first Friday after a full week of not having Doug around since the holidays!  It was a little weird after having so many short weeks in a row.  I’m glad it’s Friday and I’m glad the weekend is here so we can all be together again!  Here are the highlights of the week:

1.      Drew is getting his first tooth!!  We’ve been waiting for it, and expecting it since most babies his age already have teeth.  Then, on Wednesday I was playing with him when he opened his mouth and I spotted it.  I felt it, and sure enough, there’s a little tooth poking through.  It’s exciting, and a little scary because I’ve heard horror stories of children and teething.  I’m hoping he will be as awesome at getting his first tooth as he has been at everything else.  He’s such a happy guy, so I hope that carries over and he’s not in too much pain!

 

 

2.      My husband had a tough day on Monday, so I made him some chocolate chip cookies to cheer him up.  They turned out better than my usual flat cookies, so it was a success.  Plus, it’s been nice having a homemade sweet treat around the house for dessert!

 

 

3.      Last night, Doug and I (and Drew!) went out for date night.  Before we had Drew, we pretty religiously had a date night every Thursday night.  With Drew, our date nights have become more sporadic, but we still like to get them in as often as we can.  Last night, we tried out a new restaurant in town called Wasabi.  It’s a Chinese/Sushi Bar kind of restaurant, and I think it’s safe to say, it was a little more authentic than we were bargaining for.  The food was pretty good.  We had Tuna Tata for an appetizer and it was delicious.  Not to mention, great plate presentation. 

 

 

 

4.      Drew finally decided that cereal puffs weren’t all that bad this week.  In the past, every time I’ve given him a cheerio or a cereal puff, he’s gagged and sometimes even thrown up.  This week, he finally realized that he needed to keep the puff away from the back of his mouth where it would gag him, and he got it down.  He’s been eating them all week!

 

 

5.      I found a tutorial on Pinterest on how to make an infinity scarf without actually knowing how to crochet.  I’m going to give it a shot tonight.  Could be interesting.  But hey, what’s the worst that could happen, I waste a couple dollars on some yarn?!  I’ll give it a go!

 

 



Hope you all had great weeks too!  Enjoy the weekend!!

 

Crockpot Chicken Pot Pie

Baby, it’s cold outside!  During the winter, when the weather turns colder, I crave hearty comfort food.  There’s just something about a nice hot meal warming your belly when it’s snowing and cold outside.  In past years, Doug and I have really loved buying the Chicken Pot Pie from Costco on those cold winter nights.  It’s easy and warm and delicious.  So the other day, after I had made crockpot chicken and dumplings, I thought to myself, wow, I could easily change this recipe up just a bit and make it into a crockpot chicken pot pie.  I tried it, and it was delicious. 

I’m into easy when it comes to cooking dinner.  Especially now that Drew is around, there’s just not the time that there used to be to make gourmet dinners every night.  I’ve always loved my crockpot, especially when both Doug and I were working tax season and wouldn’t get home from work and the gym until about 7:30 at night.  Now, with Drew, I love the crockpot because it's just so easy.  I can cook all day without doing much work, and when Doug gets home after work, the meal is ready without too much messing around.  It makes my life easy when I don’t have to try to cook while also watching Drew.  Most days by dinnertime, he’s not interested in me leaving him to fix dinner!

So the other day, I adapted my crockpot chicken and dumplings recipe to a crockpot chicken pot pie.  Of course, it’s not exactly a pot pie, but it tastes very similar and is pretty darn delicious.  I recommend this for those winter nights when you just need some warm, comfort food!

Ingredients

• 4 frozen chicken breasts
• 2 cans cream of chicken soup
• 1 can chicken broth
• 1 onion (I use onion powder because it’s easier and I don’t like the consistency of onions)
• Frozen vegetables (I usually use broccoli, carrots, and green beans, but you could use whatever you like, also I don’t have an exact measurement, just add until you think there’s enough)
• 1 can Pillsbury Grands Flaky Layers biscuits

 

 

 Put the four frozen chicken breasts into the crockpot.  Add the frozen vegetables, as much or as little as you want.  Pour the two cans of cream of chicken soup over the top, and then one can of chicken broth.  Then I add the onion powder.  Cook on low for about 8 hours.

After the 8 hours is up, shred the chicken with a fork.  It will be very tender, so you should be able to just touch them with a fork and they should fall apart.

 

Take out six of the biscuits and cut them into nine pieces each (cut like this #).  Add the cut up pieces of biscuits to the crockpot and cover.  Continue to cook for about 45 minutes (if it's taking too long, you may want to move the crockpot setting to high for the biscuits to cook) or until the biscuits look done. 

 

 

 

Once it’s all cooked, you can stir it all together, or just leave the biscuits on top and serve.  Salt and pepper to taste, and enjoy!!

 

 

Today's Obsession: Nail Polish

It’s no secret that I have an unhealthy obsession with nail polish.  I have too many bottles to count, and I have a hard time leaving Target without picking up a new color.  It’s funny because as a little girl, I was very much a tomboy and never painted my nails.  Somewhere along the line in my adult years, I found a love for nail polish and this little obsession began.

So for Christmas this year, I was lucky enough to receive two new nail polish items that I’ve never tried before.  One was the CND Vinylux Fall collection, which is essentially a sample of small bottles of the CND Fall colors.  The neat thing about the CND Vinylux polishes is that they are supposedly very similar to gel polish, but they don’t require the light that a gel manicure does.  They claim to last at least seven days without chipping just like a gel manicure that you got at the salon would.  Even though I am addicted to nail polish, I’ve actually never gotten a manicure (except for my wedding), because I prefer to do my own nails.  Because of that, I have no idea if the gel polishes really last that long as I’ve never had a gel manicure, either at home or the salon.  I’ve heard good things about gel polishes though, so I’m assuming they must be good.  I’ll review the CND Vinylux polish sometime in the next couple weeks so you can see how it looks and how long it lasts.

The other new item that I got is the OPI Matte Top Coat, which essentially makes any polish that you have matte.  I wasn’t sure if I was going to be a matte kind of girl, but I tried it yesterday, and I have to say I really like it.  And the best part is, that this one top coat basically doubled my nail polish collection because now I can make any shade that I already own matte for a different effect.  I painted my nails with OPI’s Muir Muir on the Wall, and applied three coats.  After that dried, I applied the Matte Top Coat, and instantly the polish turned matte.  It was pretty cool.  Here are some pictures: 

 

 

 

If you like nail polish like I do, I have to say I would definitely recommend both products that I received this year for Christmas.  They’re something a little different than the everyday polish, and I think it’s fun to experiment with new products!!

Chocolate Chip Cookies!

My husband had a hard day at work yesterday, so I thought I would make him some chocolate chip cookies to cheer him up.  He loves cookies more than any other person that I’ve ever met, so I knew it would be the perfect treat after a long day.  Truth be told, I like chocolate chip cookies too, but I like eating them way more than I like making them.  For some reason, every time I make chocolate chip cookies, they always turn out flat.  I use the traditional Toll House recipe, and no matter what I do, they come out of the oven as little saucers!  It’s frustrating because I’d like to be able to make killer chocolate chip cookies for my husband who loves them so, so much.

Yesterday I decided to give a new recipe a try in an attempt to avoid the “flat cookie” curse.  The recipe produced dough that was a nice consistency, and the cookies did end up a touch thicker than usual.  They still weren’t as thick and chewy as I was hoping for, but I guess a little better is still a success.

 

 

Here’s the recipe that I followed.  I think it made pretty delicious cookies, so I’d definitely recommend it.

Ingredients:

2/3 c. butter flavor Crisco

2/3 c. butter (softened)
2 eggs
1 c. white sugar
1 c. brown sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
3 c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 bag semi-sweet chocolate chips

Step One:  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Step Two:  In a large mixing bowl, cream Crisco, butter, eggs, white sugar, brown sugar, vanilla.

Step Three:  Gradually add flour, baking soda, salt.

Step Four: Mix in the chocolate chips.

Step Five:  Use a small – medium cookie scoop and place rounded balls on cookie sheet.

Step Six: Bake 8-10 minutes.  Remove when golden.  Leave on baking sheet for 3-4 minutes before moving to a cooling rack.

What about you?  Do you have any suggestions for making the perfect chocolate chip cookie?  I’d sure like to be better at it than I am, so any help I can get is appreciated.  After doing a little research on how NOT to make flat cookies, I’ve decided I might try some other recipes and maybe even change the color of my cookie sheets.  I’m not sure either will help, but I’m sure my husband won’t mind the practice!  Lucky for me, he says he’s never met a cookie he didn’t like!

Holidays!

Did you all have a wonderful holiday season?  I sure did!  It was nice to have some time off with my husband and Drew, and great to spend so much time with our families and friends.  It always amazes me how quickly the holidays pass, and this year was no exception.  It’s hard to believe it’s come and gone for another year.  It never lasts quite long enough.

We had a fun trip home to Rapid over Christmas.  It was fun to see family and friends.  Drew has two great grandmas and a great grandpa, so it’s always fun to see him with them.  It’s pretty special that he has that many great grandparents and I love that he gets to spend time with them.

While in Rapid, we enjoyed the traditional Christmas festivities.  We also went for a winter hike that was quite fun, but very chilly. I don’t think the temperature got much above zero for the entire hike!

 

 

Overall it was a fun trip home, and I’m glad we were able to make it happen.  Doug came back to Bozeman early with my sister and her husband so I was on my own with Drew on the way back, and we had a bit of an exciting ride.  The interstate was closed about halfway to Bozeman, so we had a slight detour.  We did end up making it, and it didn’t take too much longer than normal, so that was nice.

We had a pretty uneventful New Year’s at home this year.  We decided that since Drew needed to be in bed by about 8, it would be easier for us to stay in.  It was a relaxing and enjoyable night, and we even made it until midnight!

New Year’s Day we went for a cross country ski with our new Burley.  It was a lot of fun, but unfortunately, it really warmed up and even rained a little the night before, so it was extremely icy.  We’re looking forward to trying again when the snow conditions are a little better, but it sure was fun to get out and enjoy the winter weather as a family!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well, I hope you all had a wonderful break and enjoyed the holidays.  Happy New Year, and here’s to a wonderful 2014!!