It's been a while...

It has been a while since i posted so beware this post will have a lot of pics and will be very random!

Thrifty Finds

Mirrors 

Oval $1.98

Octangle $2.50

Mason Jar .39 cents

Polka Dot Shirt $2.50

Chair $3

 Skirt $1.50

Chair After

(You can see the before pics in the two previous pics)

Afghan $5 

 I have been meal planning and try new recipes lately.. not my favorite thing but one of my new recipes was Pioneer Womans Grilled Chicken with Lemon Basil Pasta and it was INCREDIBLE.  You should try it :)

 I made this planner out of an old Readers Digest book.

I found these at a yard sale for $2.50 for all of them. 

I got this tray for $2 here is the before

 And after

I also got this beautiful dresser half off at the thrift store for $36

 I got this cart from a friends yard sale, here is the before

and after

My friend hosted an incredible Mad Hatter Bachelorette Party at my house last weekend and we made this Cafe Menu Board for the party out of old cabinet doors.

Our dear friends got married last weekend :)

And my sister came up to help me make a 100+ cake balls for their wedding.

Seriously i have the BEST family in the world!!

The last couple weeks have been crazy but don't worry i'll be back with our regular scheduled programming soon!

Monday Monday....

Along with my room makeover and spring planting, I did a few other things around the house this weekend. I added some frames to our hallway.

While sweeping the downstairs, i rearranged the living room. here are some pics...

There is an project in the making in the picture below, I will share with you when i finish :)

it may be hard to see but i moved the ladder and bench (from under the window) behind the couch and caddy cornered the couch. 

I worked on some stuff for a craft show i'm doing with Joon in April.

and I made some delicious Pineapple Upside Down Coffee Cake... from scratch! 

I used a recipe from this months Better Homes and Gardens.

It was so delicious and easy to make.

Chili Recipe

I LOVE chili, especially in the fall! There are a million different Chili recipes so I thought i'd share with you my chili recipe. 

I am the WORST at following a recipes. I have a Chicken Corn Chowder recipe i hope to post soon but i made it i merged two recipes. Is that even allowed?!   So i have been trying to remember how i made it. Anyway here is how i made my chili. I don't really measure spices I just kinda sprinkle them in until my little heart desires :) so if you are a detailed person you may hate this recipe.

1 Cans of Tomato Paste

1 Tomato Paste can of Water

1 Can of Tomatos

1 Can of Black Beans

1 Can of kidney beans

1/2 bag of frozen Corn

1/2 Onion

1 lb Ground Beef

1 cup of Cheese

Chili Powder

Fresh Garlic

Cumin

Salt

Pepper

Roasted Red Pepper Seasoning

Sautee Ground Beef and Onions. Sprinkle some Cumin Salt and Pepper on the Ground Beef.

In a large pot combine EVERYTHING. And if you're feeling a little crazy add some sour cream.

Spoon into a bowl and enjoy!

My sister is an AMAZING cook! Kinda wish i had her mad skills.

At family vacation this year my sister made some super delicious hummus! She got the recipe off allrecipes.com, so i decided to try it for myself.

Yep that's her taking a picture of me taking a a picture of her, and everyone else is just checkin out the neighbor landing his helicopter in the front yard... no biggie...

Here is what you will need:

• 1 (15 ounce) can garbanzo beans, drained
• 1 (4 ounce) jar roasted red peppers
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 1/2 tablespoons tahini
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

Mix it all up.

In an electric blender or food processor, puree the chickpeas, red peppers, lemon juice, tahini, garlic, cumin, cayenne, and salt. Process, using long pulses, until the mixture is fairly smooth, and slightly fluffy. Make sure to scrape the mixture off the sides of the food processor or blender in between pulses. Transfer to a serving bowl and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. (The hummus can be made up to 3 days ahead and refrigerated. Return to room temperature before serving.) 

So good! Well i haven't tried mine yet, but once it sits in the fridge for an hour i will. Hopefully it will be good :/

Dad's Sauce

If you know me or my family you know my dad makes the best spaghetti and meatballs in the WORLD... well except maybe Allison who thinks it takes like wine... but that's not a normal reaction to this delicious sauce. The recipe started with my grandpa, and my dad tweaked the sauce to make it his own. 

 Since i can remember my dad would make a huge pot of sauce and 100 meatballs divide each into four and we would eat it once a week, usually on Sunday's.  So you can see why my dad wanted at least one of his 6 children to carry on the recipe. 

So a few weeks ago over 4th of July i made my first attempt to recreate his sauce. Even though my Dad doesn't measure anything he guesstimated how much of everything i needed. He told me to add about a half a glass of wine to the sauce, well i found out that his half a glass of wine and my half a glass of wine were very different! Probably cause i don't drink the stuff! I had to apologize to our guest that for the extra winey taste. 

So this Saturday i attempted to make the sauce again. This time i pretty much made it from memory, i reevaluated my "half a glass of wine" and it actually turned out pretty good!  

Here is a pic!

And another, i got buddy in this one :)