Flannel Sale

Oh the leaves are starting to turn and the weather is getting cooler.  That can only mean 1 thing!  Fall is here!

When I think of fall, I think of curling up with a quilt and a warm cup of tea (or are there any Pumpkin Spice Latte lovers out there?!).

What better type of quilt in this type of weather, then a toasty warm rag quilt.  As you can tell from my past posts, rag quilts are one of my FAVORITE things to make.

Right now I have some great flannels in my Etsy Shop, how fun are these colors?

And for the rest of the month of September, any order of flannel is 10% off with the code COZY10.

October in Colorado

To celebrate his birthday, hubby & I took an extra-long Weekend and went back to our favorite place in the world - Estes Park, Colorado!  If you didn't already know, this is where we got married and feels like coming "home".

We timed it perfect for the Aspens changing & the weather was absolutely perfect!  Just look at that blue sky!

One of the things I just love about Colorado is,  as many times as we've been there, we always find something new to see or do.

Trail Ridge Road

Elk

And you have to believe we stopped in here!  It was like stepping back in time.  The homemade cinnamon rolls were the best I've ever had!  There were also quilts that were all hand stitched.  I didn't take any pictures inside because I was so excited about everything!

I'm already wishing we were back there, hopefully we can get there again next year!

Awkward Corner Makeover

Does every house have that one place that's just a bit awkward & they don't know what to do with it?  In our house its the corner.  Its between the kitchen and dining room, on the other side of our fridge.

I knew it had potential but I just never knew what to do with it.  That is until I found this at Target!  I hoped it fit and loaded it up in my Honda and brought this baby home!

I thought the glass doors gave the perfect opportunity to display all of my cookbooks, while keeping them dust free.  I made a table runner for the top & my mom got me these antique cake platters for my birthday, the perfect place to display them - aren't they fabulous?!

And finally I came across two pictures at Shopko.  Since one was damaged I was able to negotiate with the manager and get them both 50% off!  Little did they know, this "damage" was going to be perfect to fit over the ugly phone jack in the middle of my wall!  Put it all together, and taaa-daa!  Awkward no more!

Slow Cooker Homestyle Chicken Noodle Soup

Cool, crisp, fall days are soup time to me!  And inspired after a weekend visit back home to my parents' farm, I decided to make some Homestyle Chicken Noodle Soup in my slow-cooker.

Love the beautiful colors on my way "up north"

Start with all of your ingredients (I like to prep as much as I can the night before, so I can throw everything in the slow cooker before I go to work in the morning).  Since I don't like the fuss around with bones, I use boneless skinless chicken breasts.  Another one of my favorite things to use is homemade chicken broth.  That's whats in the jars on the right.  I make a big batch of it and freeze for whenever I need some.  (By the way, these are my last two jars so I'm going to have to make a batch of that soon too!).  

I put the chicken on the bottom and LIBERALLY sprinkle with salt & pepper.  Since I'm using a homemade stock with no added salt, I use quite a bit of salt & pepper at this step.  If you are using the canned broth, I'd back off on the salt since those tend to have it already added.  Then I sprinkle with Thyme, Parsley, and Turmeric (a trick I learned from Pioneer Woman to give the soup that nice golden color).  Add your broth, cover, and cook on low for 8 hours.  

When I get home, I put on a pot of water & boil the egg noodles on the stove.  While those are cooking, pull the chicken breasts out, shred with two forks, and drop back into the broth.  Add the cooked noodles and serve.   

Slow Cooker Homestyle Chicken Noodle Soup

1 pound of boneless, skinless chicken breasts

2-3 whole carrots

2 stalks of celery 

1/2 medium onion

4 cups of chicken broth

2 tsp of Parsley Flakes

1/2 tsp of Turmeric

1/2 tsp of Thyme

salt

pepper

1 pkg of Egg Noodles

You CAN go home again

This weekend I made the beautiful drive up north to my parents house.  Something about that area just feels like home.  I love the smells, the hills, and in the fall you can't beat the colors!

And of course the animals!

These guys came up to me to say hi

My Dad & his new Bull Tommy

Happy Monday #21

Have a Happy Monday!
~Melissa