Just Desserts

For as much as I say I'm not a huge fan of baking, I LOVE sweets. So it almost being Valentine's Day I thought I would share a few of my favorite sweets.  

Neiman Marcus Chocolate Chip Cookie

Bakerella Red Velvet Cake

Ina Garten Angel Food Cake

If you want to cheat you can buy the mix at Williams Sonoma

Martha Stewart's Coconut Layer Cake

13 months

How to Roast a Chicken

It was a cold and wet weekend and all I wanted to do was curl up by a fire and eat some good old comfort food. I believe the perfect winter meal is a roasted chicken. And it boggles my mind how many of my friends don't know how to make one, or they assume it is difficult. It is quite possibly one of the easiest things to cook. Here's my version, and it turns out perfect every time. 

Ingredients:

1 5-6 pound roasting chicken

2 T room temperature butter

2 lemons, one halved and one sliced

1 large bunch fresh thyme

5 cloves garlic

5 springs of fresh rosemary

freshly ground black pepper

kosher salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425F. 

Remove any giblets that may be in the chicken. Rinse chicken thoroughly. Generously salt and pepper the inside and outside of the chicken. Stuff the cavity of the chicken with the lemon cut in half, garlic, springs of rosemary and thyme. Insert sliced lemon slices under skin covering the breasts. Brush the outside with butter and sprinkle again with salt and pepper. 

Place chicken in roasting pan, breast side up. Roast the chicken for 1 1/2 hours, or until the juices run clear when pierced with a knife between the leg and thigh. Remove, and cover with foil. Let chicken rest for 20 minutes before serving. 

Serve with roasted vegetables. 

This is adapted from Ina Garten's Roast Chicken recipe. You can view her recipe here. 

A Week's Worth of Recipes

I was putting together my grocery list for this upcoming week's dinners and thought I would share what was on the menu. I have cooked according to my meal plan and it has worked out great. Easy grocery shopping, spending less money, not wasting food and not having to worry about what's for dinner. 

I'm no Martha Stewart, a week's worth of meals includes left overs on Thursday, with Friday and Saturday left blank as we usually go out with friends or eat at family's.  

So here's our week {4 days of meals}

Sunday- Chimichurri steak & chicken with green salad {see recipe below}

Monday- Meyer Lemon Chicken Piccata {Cooking Light}

Tuesday- Chicken and Black Bean Green Enchilada Rice Bake {Picky Palate}

Wednesday- Roasted Chicken with Balsamic Bell Peppers 

Thursday- Left Overs

Chimichurri Steak and Chicken

Season steak and chicken with salt and pepper and grill.  

Chimichurri Sauce

1 cup fresh Italian parsley

1/2 cup olive oil

1/3 cup red wine vinegar

1/2 cup fresh cilantro

2 garlic cloves, peeled

dash of crushed red pepper flakes

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon salt

Puree all ingredients in food processor. Transfer to bowl. Serve sauce with prepared meat. Sauce may be kept in refrigerator for a couple of days. Best served at room temperature. 

Spring Wardrobe

It's still January. This is technically only the second January I haven't been working 70+ hours a week in public accounting but last year with a one month old the month seemed to go by pretty fast. But this year it is going by quite slowly. And I'm ready for Spring. All of the stores are getting in the first of their Spring clothes and from what I've seen so far, it looks like there are going to be fun, bright colors! Here are a few outfits that I think would be really cute {click on image to go directly to source}. 

Polyvore

Polyvore

Polyvore

Polyvore

Polyvore

Polyvore

Polyvore

Polyvore

** If you have never searched Polyvore, I highly recommend it for some great clothing suggestions. I have found that the easiest way to search for what you are looking for is to select "collections" from the drop-down menu within the search icon. 

J Crew

J Crew

Banana Republic

Gap

Gap

Gap

Gap

And since most of the day I'm wearing workout clothes, here are a few cute things out there right now 

in that department:

In Stride Jacket

Scoop Neck Tank

No Limit Tank

All from Lululemon 

{clearly I'm a fan of Lululemon}. 

Favorite Things - A Few New Fonts

It's been a while since I've posted some favorite fonts. Here are a few that have caught my eye recently:

Hammer Keys

Apple

Znikomit

Indenture English Penman

Ecolier

All are free to download at dafont.com

2012 Home Goals

Did you make goals for the New Year? My husband and I always jot down a few things we would like to accomplish. We tend to categorize them, financial, family, work, house, etc... Maybe if I put my house goals out their for the whole world to see I'll be more likely to follow through with them. So without further ado:

1} Plant a garden that produces vegetables we can eat. We have a great yard with lots of sun and I really want to plant some fruits and veggies this summer. 

2} Organize all the closets. Currently they are in a scary state, especially mine. This is primarily because my closet is actually in my daughters room. Houses built in 1945 were not big on storage for clothes. So there are my clothes, shoes, Christmas decorations and old baby clothes all in the closet. It needs to be organized. 

3} I know I'm jumping way ahead on this one as it probably won't be completed until late this year but I can't wait to turn the baby's room into a toddler room. I really have my heart set on bunk beds. 

I've linked up at The Nester. Check out others House Goals here. 

DIY Felt Heart Garland {tutorial}

In honor of Valentine's Day, which isn't my favorite holiday {high expectations can only lead to disappointment}. I still consume way too many candy hearts and wanted to add something a little festive around the house. I've seen similar garlands on Pinterest and Etsy and decided to make my own.

Here is what you will need:

sewing machine

thread {color of your choice}

 10 sheets of pink, white, purple and red felt

small heart template

large heart template

Directions:
1} trace heart template on felt color of your choice. I fit 6 small hearts on a sheet and 2 large hearts. I decided to trace small hearts on the light pink, hot pink and red felt and traced the large heart on the purple and white sheets.

2} cut out hearts making sure to cut slightly inside the tracing line so it won't show.

3} I decided to make a pattern so I stacked my hearts in the order I wanted before starting to sew. If you wanted something totally hap-hazard you could omit this step.



4} Using a straight stitch begin sewing horizontally {if you want to hang our hearts like a streamer you can sew vertically down the middle} through the mid-section of the heart. I decided to leave a little room in between hearts. In order to accomplish this I stopped sewing, lifted the foot {make sure needle is up}, pulled a little of the thread and put my second heart under the foot and then began sewing {see pictures below}.





5} Continue with remaining hearts. I had 44 hearts cut which yielded a garland of about 12 feet. 

Hope this adds a little Valentine's festivity to your house!

A Master Bedroom Update

Out master bedroom has been the same since we got married. I registered for this bedding from Pottery Barn and I still love it. I also purchased a bedside table from Pottery Barn a couple of years ago on extreme discount. I still wish I had purchased two as now we have two completely mis-matched side tables and the one I purchased is discontinued.  Just my luck. Our dresser was one of my first DIY projects. My husband had this Ikea dresser from college:

A nice dresser, but not exactly my style. So I had this genius idea of spray painting it black and adding new knobs. 

Not amazing, but not horrible. A new dresser is on the top of my "want to purchase" list. What was really driving me crazy is the fact that we have this really awkward widow right behind our bed. 

WARNING: next picture is awful

Last week while reading Emily A. Clark, I was inspired by a bedroom that she just completed. 

She put drapes behind the bed, genius. I knew that was the solution to my problem. And it looks so much better!

I know it would look even better if I put a valance up over my ugly shade but the drapes will do for now. And in case you were wondering, they are also a super sale purchase from Pottery Barn years ago. I wasn't sure I still liked them but I think they look great behind the bed. All the linens are from Pottery Barn {except for the "S" monogrammed pillow which was made by my mom}. The bed frame is from Williams Sonoma Home which is currently on loan from my husbands' cousin. 

A little vacation

Here it is, January and its 70+ degrees outside. I have no room to complain. I live in what I think to be the best place in the US. But it's still January and I'm ready for a vacation. I think after all the holidays, eating, cooking, cleaning, new-year's resolution-ing that we do come January we are exhausted. I start to miss  Summer {beach, pool, hot weather, bbq, etc...}. 

Growing up my parents went on a trip by themselves {just the two of them} every year. And now that we have one of our own I'm wanting to start that tradition as well. February-May can be a great time to travel. The weather is good many places around the world and things tend to be a bit less expensive as it isn't peak travel time. 

Last year we went to Napa Valley and had a great time but I'm thinking some place a little more beachy this time around. I think I could spend a week or so at any of these places:

Punta Mita, Mexico

Tamarindo, Costa Rica

Lanai, Hawaii

Cancun, Mexico

Turks and Caicos

St. Lucia

Mexican Style Butternut Squash and Chicken Stew

I would consider myself a cook, not a baker. I very rarely follow a recipe exactly {which is why I am not a good baker}. I took this recipe and spiced it up a bit. It turned out delicious. And I did it in a crock-pot which makes it even easier. Here you go:

Mexican Style Butternut Squash and Chicken Stew

Ingredients {missing butternut squash}:

1 can black beans

1 can Rotel  mexican style diced tomatoes with lime and cilantro

1 t. dried oregano

1 cup quinoa

1 T crushed garlic

1T olive oil

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts

1 large butternut squash

1 t. salt

2/3 c. chopped parsley

water

Optional:

avocado, limes and 

Directions:

1. Using large knife, pierce butternut squash and put in microwave for 6 minutes to soften. Remove from microwave, peel and dice into 2 inch cubes. 

2. Add above ingredients {except parsley} to crock pot and fill crock pot with enough water to cover your ingredients. 

3. Cook on high for 4-5 hours or low for 8 hours. 

4. Stir in parsley.

5. Serve with avocado, limes and salsa if desired. 

Enjoy!