DIY Magnet Board

It's my mom's birthday (almost) and she recently moved within her school to teach another age group meaning that it was time to decorate a whole new class room! I asked her what she wanted to decorate her room with and she said that maybe a magnet board and a mod podge letter. Maybe? Just maybe? I had to fix her maybe.
I turned dollar store kitchen ware and clearance fabric into something so cute that she will love to hang it in her classroom!

These are the supplies! Fabric, coordinating paint, ribbon and a metal cookie sheet. (Not pictured: a drill - girls can use power tools too!)

What I did first was drill two holes in the top center of the cookie sheet in the way that  I wanted it to hang. It took some time to make it all the way through it, but it wasn't bad or scary. I would recommend doing it over a sink so you don't drill into your counter... oops. 

Next I took some paint and blended it together around the edges of the sheet. I then cut and covered the center with fabric. I used spray adhesive to glue it down, but mod podge would have worked. I then covered the top of the fabric with mod podge to give it a more finished look. I put some ribbon through the holes and viola! Magnet board!

Raspberry White Chocolate Cookies

I had never made anything with jello before other than... jello. And of course, on Pinterest a round of "jello cookies" and "pudding cookies" surfaced and I had always wanted to try them out. Except for I never EVER put jello on my shopping list (nor do I remember) but it was on sale this week at the grocery store! The bonus is that they are super pink with no food coloring!

Raspberry White Chocolate Cookies

adapted from lilluna

Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 2 TB raspberry jello
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 3.5 oz. box instant white chocolate pudding
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 bag white chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Cream together butter, sugar, and jello. Add in eggs and vanilla. Continue to cream until well blended. 
3. In a separate bowl, add together pudding, flour, baking soda, and salt. Slowly add into sugar mixture. Gently stir in chips.
4. Spoon onto a greased or parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 9-11 minutes. 

DIY Hanging Dish Towel

      Happy Fourth of July! I've been very crafty over the past week or so since my husband has been away on business and I was  very bored. One thing that I had been meaning to make for quite some time was a hanging dish towel to go over the bar on our oven. The husband likes to carry dish towels over his shoulder when he cooks then just throws them wherever on the counter. That's not happening anymore!    

     This project took maybe thirty minutes to complete. And the bulk of the time was spent trying to re-thread my sewing machine... oops. 

The finished project!

   

I bought a dish towel from Target and cut it in half. It was too bulky to have it all on one thing. (One for you and one for a friend!)

I then cut a pattern of how I wanted the fabric top to look. I cut out the fabric, ironed it, and hemmed the bottom edges. 

The I sewed around the edges of the fabric with the face sides together. I couldn't get a good picture of sewing in the towel, but after you have sewn the fabric panels together and have turned it right side out, pin the cut side of the towel into the opening of the fabric creating a sort of ruffle while you pin it. Sew it down!

I then added velcro to the skinny part of the fabric and to the rounded part as well. (Just the stick on kind).And done!

DIY Framed Initial

I love my mom. She's so cute. She gets on Pinterest and pins stuff that she wants. So when she pinned this from Etsy I had to make it for her birthday that's coming up. Not gonna lie, it's pretty cute. 

I gathered my supplies: wooden letter, frame, and accent pieces as well as some new paint. You will also need a poster board of sorts, a paint brush, and hot glue.

First I painted the frame, letter and little accent pieces and let them dry. Warning! Craft wood is super absorbent and it took me three coats of paint for  each piece.

I then cut and painted the poster/foam board to fit the frame and where none showed in the cut out parts of the frame.  

Then I carefully hot glued the letter to the board and then the board to the frame. I let it cool. But when it sat overnight the board had warped and I hot glued it again and now its really stuck!

**UPDATE**

I am now selling these in my Etsy shop HelloBrownlow!! I customize them just for you! :)

Happy Father's Day!

I have the ABSOLUTE BEST DAD EVER. He has always been very supportive of me growing up and he still is. I'm pretty sure I've already bought him a tie in every color and too many gift cards to Bass Pro, so a unique card was the only way to go. 

And he loved it. 

Love you Dad!

I found it on Pinterest, but they had blocked the link because it was spammy. :( But in theory this is the blog it's from.

DIY Sharpie Mug

Every other person that I follow on Pinterest has some sort of variation of the DIY mug. Most of them have mustaches or funny faces on the bottom of them but what about a mug for the twenty-something bookworm?  It's super easy to do. I bought a mug from the dollar store, drew out what I wanted on it and drew on it! You just bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 40 minutes. Done!  

Now it't time to brew some herbal tea and settle into a good book. :)

Chicken Taquitos

Sundays are the only days that my husband and I both don't work. So for the most part we stay in all day or we go do something fun. Well... today we stayed in and cooked. I cooked for about two hours (mostly because I didn't know what I was doing) and the outcome was delicious.
Normally I don't like the taste of corn tortillas (I'm weird, I know) but today I just had to use them to see. My taquito recipe is inspired by this one from The Kitchn. We also served it up with a side of Spanish rice.


Chicken Taquitos

Ingredients:
3 large chicken breasts
1/2 cup shredded cheese
2 tsp of each: garlic powder, chili powder, cayene pepper, SW chipotle seasoning, paprika
1 pkg of small corn tortillas
butter
sour cream (for serving)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. Boil chicken breasts in large pot until cooked thoroughly. Shred chicken. Place the shredded chicken in a large mixing bowl. Toss with cheese and spices. Add spice to taste.
3. On the stove heat up a medium pan. Butter and heat tortillas through
4. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. One by one, lay the tortillas flat and place chicken mixture on one side. Roll tightly and place the taquito seam side down on the baking sheet. Repeat.
5. Bake for 30 minutes, flipping each over half way through. They should be crispy.
6. Serve warm with a side of salsa or sour cream with lime zest

Southwest Pasta Salad

Memorial Day marks the unofficial start to summer. With summer comes trips to the lake, the pool, and road trips. Have a fun picnic this summer with a cool yet spicy pasta salad. This isn't your boring Italian dressing and some pasta pasta salad. NO SIR. This is a spicy pasta salad. A southwest pasta salad if you will. 

Ingredients:

1 box of tri color rotini

mini pepperonis 

shredded cheese - I had the fiesta blend from Kraft

Cesar dressing

spices - paprika, chipotel  powder, garlic powder, black pepper, chili powder

Directions:

Cook pasta according to directions on the box. Season the water with pepper and garlic powder while bringing to a boil. Cook to al dente.

Drain pasta and pour into bowl. Pour a fair amount of dressing on the pasta but not enough to drown it. Lighter is better. 

Season with the spices and mix together. Add pepperoni and cheese.

Chill in fridge.

You could also sub the pepperoni with grilled chicken!

Peppermint Foot Scrub

Pedicure are expensive. Let's be honest. I work full time, my husband works full time and I can STILL not afford to get one as often as I like. I mean, how awesome would it be to get one every other week, shoot, every week?

I like to treat myself to some pampering-me-time about once a week. I don't even leave my house to do it. I give myself a nice foot soak and scrub and paint my toe nails. And that's about all I have time to do or I just get super distracted. 

This foot scrub is not only soothing and invigorating but cost effective too. All you need is a jar, sugar, oil, food coloring, and some peppermint essential oil. Bam. Done.

I used about two cups of sugar to start with. I guesstimated that based on my jar size. I added in olive oil to get it to the right consistency, you'll know it once you feel it. It came out a strange yellow color because it was olive oil so I added a few drops of red food coloring. You can use mineral oil or coconut oil to not have a discoloration to your sugar. I added in enough peppermint oil to make it smell good but not too strong. And that's it! Easy peasey.

Memory Frame

     In light of Mother's Day and the recent tragic disasters in Moore, Oklahoma preserving memories captured through photographs becomes increasingly important. To those who lost everything in the tornado, even their loved ones' lives, our community is pulling together and praying for you.

    Photo box upon photo box can be found in my parents' house. Most of these boxes I had gone through while I was still in high school and were scattered and tucked away in my bedroom. Mother's Day weekend I spent hours finally cleaning out my room so my dad could have a "real" office free of all the girly decor I had left behind. Among my things that I shoved into drawers, I found these pictures of my mom's parents. One of my granddad and me and one of my grandmother and me. Mother's Day was also my granddad's 85th birthday! WoooHoo! He is old and opinionated but I think that's allowed. What made finding these pictures even more touching is that my grandmother died 9 years ago this year. I wanted to preserve the memory of her so that my future children can know who she was.

   To create this frame, I bought a picture frame from the dollar store and took out the happy smiling family and used them as a stencil. I traced out the size of the frame on scrapbook paper. I went online to find a quote about grandparents but all I found were so-so. So I made up my own kinda-sorta.  I printed it on another piece of scrapbook paper and cut it out from a stencil. I tacked the photos and the quote down with photo glue. On the quote paper I put brads on either end. I also painted the frame a different color because an ugly brassy color is never cute. 

    While I could have done more in the ways of decorating it, I think that the simplicity of it rings true to how my grandparents lived their lives. They are simple people who would rather spend a day with their grandchildren then spend a day buying lavish things. While my grandmother has passed, I see a lot of her in my mother. She is the inspiration for how I live my day to day life. 

Exodus 20:12 Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

Wedding Card Box

     Guess what. I'm going to save all of you brides-to-be about fifty bucks. Yeah, that's right. Being crafty can save you so much money for your wedding! Trust me. Over the next month or so as my anniversary nears, I'm going to be posting all of the fantastic ideas and decorations I made and the money saving tips I've compiled. 

     When my wedding planner asked me about where I wanted all of the gifts to go, I knew right away where I wanted the table to be. But then she asked me about a card box. I'm fairly sure my reaction was "like the Valentine's Day boxes we made in elementary school?" 

     Instead of being in elementary school, I was getting married and I didn't think that a shoe box with a hole in the top was acceptable. My mom and I did some digging on Pinterest after realizing a cute card box costs about $50 and made a run to the craft store (for the thousandth time.) We bought a plain cardboard circular box, some scrapbooking floral decorations and a small wooden letter.  

     We cut a hole in the top with a very sharp exacto knife and painted the whole box white. I then took a stencil and wrapped it around the box and painted it in our wedding color. I then painted the wooden letter and sprayed it down with glitter spray paint. Yes, it does exist! I positioned the letter where I wanted then placed the flowers around it.  To make sure that people knew what to do with it, I cut out a tag from paper then stamped the word "CARDS" on it, tied a string to it and taped it neatly from the inside of the hole on the top. 

     It worked magnificently! It was so easy to just carry out the box after the wedding instead of worrying about grabbing all the cards. Another helpful hint from my wedding planner: designate someone to be in charge of the gifts. Have them take gifts that come with cards and tape the card to the box so nothing gets mixed up! It makes writing thank you cards so much easier. 

Creamy Cajun Chicken Pasta

Mmmm... I do love me some spicy food. Not like "HOLY CRAP MY MOUTH IS ON FIRE" spicy but enough spice to make my eyes water a little. Inherited from my mother, I have the ability to withstand a fair amount of heat when it comes to food. With that being said, the one instance that my husband and I experienced made us sweat... and cry. Honey and Siracha is a lovely combination when used to coat chicken.  Just not when your friend makes it and doesn't understand the spice to sweetness ratio. OMG. Really, I cried, sweated, then drank a gallon of water. 

This "Cajun" meal comes from a tumblr that posted it on Pinterest as well. I didn't have several of the ingredients so I substituted and omitted where needed. I also ended up making a cajun seasoning instead of buying one (I'm cheap). The creaminess then the spiciness even each other out and create and perfect spring meal to eat out on your porch.

Creamy Cajun Chicken Pasta

Ingredients:

• 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into thin strips 
• 4 ounces linguine, cooked al dente 
• 2 teaspoons cajun seasoning (your recipe, Cajun Seasoning Mix or store-bought) 
• 2 tablespoons butter 
• 1 -2 cup heavy whipping cream 
• 1 small can of diced tomatoes, well drained
• 1/4 teaspoon salt 
• 1/4 teaspoon dried basil 
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper 
• 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder 
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese 

Directions:

1. Place chicken and Cajun seasoning in a bowl and toss to coat. 
2. In a large skillet over medium heat, sauté chicken in butter or margarine until chicken is tender, about 5 to 7 minutes. 
3. Reduce heat add heavy cream, tomatoes, basil, salt, garlic powder, black pepper and heat through. 
4. Pour over hot linguine and toss with Parmesan cheese.

Chocolate & Peanut Butter Marble Cookies

I get a craving for peanut butter cookies every so often and it just so happens that my husband does too. We were just made for each other. And of course this craving never comes while I'm making my grocery list or in the middle of the day when it is actually an acceptable hour to bake cookies. Of course not. That's how cravings work, right?

Despite the late hour, we ran to the market to buy the peanut butter cookie mix. YES A MIX. I sometimes don't want to make the effort of REALLY baking.

But I did change things up a bit. Made these bad boys a little bit spunky. Chocolate. And like my effort towards really baking I really didn't want to melt chocolate. Solution? Hot cocoa mix. 

Ingredients:

• PB cookie mix of your choice
• Ingredients for your cookie mix (usually oil, water, and egg)
• 2 pkg of hot cocoa mix or 4 Tbs of cocoa powder
• 1 Tbs milk

Directions:

1. Mix PB cookies according to the directions on the package
2. Once mixed, set aside. In a small bowl, combine cocoa mix and milk together. Consistency should be that of melted chocolate (paste-like). You can add more milk if it is too thick. 
3. Combine cocoa and pb cookie mix until just incorporated and evenly distributed.
4. Place on non-stick cookie sheet and bake according to package. 

Wedding Card Album

I never thought that I would be so sentimental about everything from our wedding until I started to go through it and was deciding what to keep and what to give away. The cards were the hardest part in some sense. I sat in our living room right before we moved to a new city and spent hours going through the cards and gift bags/boxes that our wedding gifts had come in. I'm not even kidding. I teared up a little reading all the wonderful things that people wrote in those cards. 

Even though I tried to make my solution to my card situation as cute as this one (she also has a much better tutorial) I still love it and it's SO much better than these cards sitting in a shoe box in our spare bedroom. 

The front of the album is a gift sack that I cut down to size of the largest card we received. I layered the back of it with cardstock to make it a little sturdier. I put a large card in the front and a large card it the back. The back cover is the gift sack and cardstock combo as well. 

The tricky part is getting all the holes that you will punch in your cards to line up. It might take some practice on plain paper. (That's what I ended up doing first instead of ruining my cards.) 

To hold everything together I took ribbon from yet another gift bag and tied them all together at the corner then I took a larger ribbon to wrap around it. And apparently I can't tie bows. 

I'll probably add more decoration to the front of it as I think of it and if I remember it next time I'm at Hobby Lobby. This isn't something that fits into a photo album and it isn't something your photographer can whip up. These cards are your family wishing you well on your journey together. It's irreplaceable. And trust me. When your grandma sees this next time she's over, she will think it's awesome. 

DIY Confetti Glasses

I love Anthropologie. I really do. But I can't afford it. Like save up for a year can't afford it. That's okay though because Pinterest has come to the rescue!!! With a plethora of knock-offs to search through you can get the look of Anthro without breaking the bank. 

In trying to be a grown up (got married, graduated, moved, got a job, etc etc...) I decided my hot pink cups from my freshman year weren't going to cut it anymore. I don't want anything fancy or expensive that I'm afraid I'm going to break. Here comes the knock-off part. I got my inspiration from the Anthropology glasses and from this gal's blog.

These are Dollar Tree glasses folks. No need to go to a fancy-dancey store to buy these. (Unless you just want to).

I chose four different color groupings to paint my glasses with. I enjoy variety and with spring coming/occasionally here I chose brighter colors. I used heavy body acrylic paint as well as just the regular acrylic paint you can buy in smaller containers at the craft store.

 

Voila! Cute glasses!

However cute these are, the paint isn't going to last forever. If you seal it with an acrylic sealer from Hobby Lobby it should last a while longer. Just don't put it in the dishwasher!!!! 

Cocoa Cookies

You know when you just get the craving for some warm cookies or some savory chocolates and you have absolutely no edible anything in the house and it's too cold outside/too late at night to go get some? Story. of. my. life. Not that I'm a chocoholic or anything...

I didn't have chocolate chips or chocolate bark or anything other than hot cocoa mix and cocoa powder. It was time to get creative. Scouring Pinterest I found The Busty Baker's blog and discovered her Mexican Hot Chocolate Cookies. These are actually hot as in spicy. That wasn't exactly what I was craving so I left out the spice and got a delightfully chocolate-y cookie that I can - I mean COULD - eat a dozen of. This recipe makes three dozen medium sized cookies. Between my husband and I, these were gone in a week.

Cocoa Cookies

adapted from The Busty Baker

Ingredients

2 ¼ cups all purpose flour
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon coarse salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, divided
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 ¾ cups sugar, divided
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400F. Line two standard baking sheets with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, cream of tartar, baking soda, salt, and 1 teaspoon cinnamon.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter and 1 ½ cups sugar on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time. Add vanilla and beat to combine. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture, beat to combine. 
3. In a small bowl, combine remaining ¼ cup sugar, and 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Form heaping tablespoons of dough into balls and roll in cinnamon sugar mixture. Place on prepared baking sheets, spacing 3 inches apart. Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until cookies are set in center and begin to crack, about 10 minutes. Let cookies cool on sheets for 5 minutes before transferring cookies to wire racks to cool completely.

The bottoms of mine burnt easily so regularly check your cookies after the five minute rotating mark. 

Chocolate Sheet Cake

Isn't it cute that my grandparents' birthdays are within a week of each other?? It's like they had it planned all along... But anyways. My grandmother is the one who taught me how to bake and she always let me climb through her shelves and shelves of cook books. That's her addiction. Collecting cook books. Granted they are a liiiiiittle old (like the 70s old) but they work. They also aren't concerned with how much butter, Crisco, oleo, lard, grease, and what ever else would spike your cholesterol.

Years ago when my brother and I would be sent to Grandma's house for my parents to have a little piece and quiet my Grandma would let us pick out a dessert for her to make for after dinner that night. Grandma Cookies (recipe coming soon!!) were always our top choice but one day I decided to dig through those 30 year old cookbooks. And look at what I found!! A recipe for chocolate sheet cake! I made it for my grandparents' birthday this past weekend and they LOVED it. There is also a more chocoholic version of this recipe but I need to save it for a special occasion. :)

My apologies for the picture quality. This was the only picture I could get of it with my phone before it was all eaten up! 

Chocolate Sheet Cake

Ingredients:

For the cake

• 2 C flour
• 2 C sugar
• 1 Stick butter
• 1/2 C shortening (or vegetable oil)
• 4 T cocoa 
• 1 C water
• 1/2 C sour milk*
• 2 beaten eggs
• 1 t baking soda
• 1 t vanilla extract
• 1 t cinnamon 

For the frosting

• 1 stick butter
• 4 T cocoa
• 6 T milk
• 1 one pound box confectioner's sugar
• 1 t vanilla

Directions:

Cake

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F
2.  Mix flour and sugar in a bowl and set aside.
3. In a saucepan, mix butter, shortening (oil), cocoa, and water and bring to a rapid boil. 
4. Pour over flour and sugar.
5. In a separate bowl, mix together sour milk, eggs, baking soda, vanilla, cinnamon. Add to the first mixture.
6. Bake in a greased 9x13 pan for 20 minutes.

Frosting

1. Melt butter in a sauce pan 
2. Add cocoa, milk, vanilla, and confectioner's sugar
3. When well blended pour over cake and let cool before covering.

This cake does not need to be refrigerated BUT it is easier to serve when the cake has been chilled.

*Sour milk - add 1t vinegar to the regular amount of milk before adding in the other ingredients

DIY Chevron Painting

We have lived in our new apartment for almost three months now and I'm STILL trying to find cute yet "gender neutral" pieces of art to decorate with. My husband doesn't like anything too floral, pink, or girly. Which I completely understand. So I browsed through my Pins and came across Refinery 29's version of another pinner's DIY project. I was obsessed and put it on my to-do list.

The project is super easy and I think that if you wanted to include your kids you could. It was fun to break out my craft box and do something on my day off! It now hangs proudly in my living room and everyone who has come to visit thinks it's awesome!

Supplies:

Canvas

Paint - multiple colors

Paint brushes - one big one small

Paper plate to use as your palette

Painter's Tape or masking tape

Trash bag or news paper to put your canvas(es) on while you paint

Gather your supplies! You will need several small canvases of the same size OR you can use one large canvas. Just whatever you prefer. Same with your paint choices. I chose bright colors for spring! The big white bottle is matte medium. Take it from an art major. If you are running low on paint and want to extend its coverage mix this in on your palette.

Paint streaks of colors, some large and some small until you get a pattern you are pleased with. I did a layer of big streaks and a layer of small ones with my smaller brush. Let it dry COMPLETELY. 

Grab your painter's tape and start in the lower left corner and cut equal size (or close to it) pieces of tape and place them in a chevron pattern leaving space in between each strip.

Make sure that your tape is stuck down. Paint over you tape and color in white paint (or you could do black paint... that could look nifty.) This part doesn't have to dry all the way but I found it easiest to take off the tape while it was still a little wet.

Let it dry all the way after you touch up the edges and any imperfections you may see.

And voila! You have some awesome original piece of art for all of your house guests to "oooo" and "ahhh" at. Have fun!

Cookie Dough Topped Brownies

The husband loves brownies. It's the only dessert that he will eat a TON of. For Valentine's Day he requested brownies. Little did he know...

Cookie Dough Topped Brownies

Adapted from Leelala

For the Brownies:

Pick a pan (circular or square/rectangular) that measures about 9x9 or 9x13 depending on the thickness of brownie you desire. Grease pan with cooking spray.

Use your favorite box brownie mix and prepare and bake as directed. Let cool completely.

For the Cookie Dough:

3/4 C unsalted butter

3/4 C granulated sugar

3/4 C brown sugar, packed

1/4 t salt

1 t vanilla extract

1/4 t almond extract

1 C flour

1 C chocolate chips

Combine butter, salt, and sugars in a large bowl with an electric mixer. Mix until smooth. 

Add in milk, vanilla and almond extract (don't worry if you don't have almond extract, sub for vanilla).

Slowly mix in  flour until incorporated. Add in chocolate chips.

Take a spatula and spread dough across the cooled brownie layer until completely covered. Chill until ready to serve. 

Makes approximately 24 squares. 

Beefy Cornbread Casserole

Ah, a semi-cold day in Oklahoma. Just kidding. When I made this a few days ago it was seventy degrees. It's January right?? But despite the fact that we have had warmer than usual weather recently, my husband wanted a warm comfort food when he got home from work. For him I'll try and cook anything he wants. Keyword is try. 
I'm getting better at just kinda throwing stuff together and hoping for the best. My grandmother was the best at this. If she didn't have an ingredient she would substitute with the next closest thing and I don't remember a dish I didn't like from her.
I bring this up because it has been one of those "I'll just make whatever we have in the pantry" weeks. Cream style corn for example. I had corn and I had cream cheese. BAM cream style corn. The list can go on...

Ingredients:

1 box corn muffin mix (I used Jiffy)

1/3 cup milk

2 lg eggs

1-3 cups cheddar cheese (depending on your level of cheese loving)

1/3 cup diced Jalapenos or bell peppers for a milder taste

2 tsp red pepper flakes

1 can cream style corn (or 3/4 cup regular corn with added dollop of cream cheese)

1 lb ground beef

1 lg onion diced

1 T vegetable oil

salt, pepper, garlic powder and whatever else to taste

Directions:

In a large skillet, brown beef until only a little pink is left. Add in diced onion and bell pepper/jalapeno and cook down.

In a mixing bowl add together corn muffin mix, milk, eggs, cheese, corn, oil, and spices to taste.

In an 8x8 pan grease and then pour a layer of the corn muffin mix. Add the beef mixture then top off with the rest of the corn muffin mixture. It's okay if the last of the muffin mix doesn't cover the beef entirely.

Bake at 350 degrees for 50-55 minutes or until the top layer is firm and browned. 

Mod Podge Letter

So, I got married... YAY! and I have a new last initial. I wanted to make something cute but not too time consuming to celebrate this and make our new place a little homier. I had done mod podge letters many times before for my sorority sisters but had never made one for myself. And of course I went to Hobby Lobby and found the perfect pieces for this project. Time to get crafty.


 

 

For my letter, I selected a wedding photo that would fit nicely on the letter once it was cut down to size. I got a cheap print from Walgreens done so I wouldn't be using a nice print that we had ordered. 

I flipped both the letter and photo over to trace. 

I cut it out so that it wouldn't be just a cropped picture.

I chose three complimentary papers from my favorite place Hobby Lobby (they were on sale too!) and lined them up to show how much I wanted of each one.

Then again I traced around the letter and cut out the paper.

I mod podged the paper down. I would recommend using a little liquid glue too just to help the edges of the paper.

I glued down the photo and put a layer of mod podge to finish it.

Poppy Seed Chicken

For my entire life there has been one constant comfort food (that isn't chocolate) that I always go back to. Poppy seed chicken is a family recipe that has been passed down through at least three generations. The first time I had it at my grandparents house, my brother and I begged my mom to make it again for us. And to this day neither of us are tired of it and we still fight over who get to crush the Ritz crackers.
With my lack of cooking skills and my record of being accident prone in the kitchen or around hot things, it's perfect. My husband enjoys it too (mostly because for once he doesn't have to cook!).

According to my mother...

Ingredients:
2 lbs chicken breasts, cooked and cut into large pieces
8 oz sour cream
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 1/2 c Ritz cracker crumbs (1 sleeve)
1 T poppy seeds
1 stick melted butter (don't use light!)

Directions:
Boil chicken till done and cut up.
Mix sour cream and soup and add chicken.
Put in 8x8 casserole dish that has been greased.
Mix crushed Ritz crumbs, butter, and seeds and sprinkle over the top.
Bake 30 minutes or until hot at 350 degrees.




You also get a bonus picture of my brother and I. Aren't we just the cutest?! :) (please note that this is from 2007... haha)