Bingo Time!

Today was the first day that I got to play in my craft room since I tore it apart to re-do it in January.  This morning I saw the Bingo game that Cherise at sewingly along was getting ready for & it sounded like fun!  So my first project in my new & improved craft room, was to create a Bingo Board for the May for Me Bingo hosted by these fine ladies:

Tonya @ Hillbilly Handiworks
Sharon @ Vroomans Quilts
Snoodles @ Lily Pad Quilting
Marcia @ Marcias Crafty Sewing

Its part of their May for Me Celebration, which I'm finding intriguing.  Since I just found out about this all this morning, I haven't had time to figure it all out yet but it sounds fun! So to start with, I had fun rummaging through my fabric stash and creating my own Bingo board which is below with the master list as to what each of my squares is. I didn't get the B-I-N-G-O letters at the top, but I hope thats ok.  I did try to color coordinate on my card and my listing to make it easier to follow.

The fun starts May 1 and you have until April 22 to get your card made too!  Just drop by any of the ladies hosting & you can find all the info to join in as well!

Happy Easter - Bird Nest Cookies

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead ... 1 Peter 1:3

Happy Easter everyone!  We are going to my parents for the day, they have goats and cows and chickens and ducks!  Its going to be fun!  Since we're just doing a simple dinner, I wanted to bring a Easter-y treat.  I saw these on Pinterest and was super excited to make them for Easter. They are very similar to the Haystacks my grandmother makes for Christmas.  And there are only a few ingredients.

All you need are:
1 - 12oz bag of butterscotch chips
1 - 12 oz bag of chow mein noodles
1 - bag of Cadbury Mini Eggs

Before starting, I sorted the Mini Eggs by color.  Yes I am a dork, and also look how you few pink ones you get compared to the blue & yellow!  Which was ok though, because we have been seeing a bluebird in our yard this week, so I went with the blue & yellow eggs anyway.  There were also a million white ones, but I didn't use those either.

Ok, cookie time. First melt the butterscotch chips in a glass bowl in the microwave.  I also mixed in a scoop of creamy peanutbutter at this point (maybe about 1/4 cup).

When that is fully melted, then you mix in the chow mein noodles.  (One thing would change for next time, is I would pour the melted peanutbutter and butterscotch over the chow mein noodles. It was kind of difficult to get them fully coated when I added them on top of the mixture without breaking too many while I stirred.) Once the chow mein noodles are mixed in, I used an ice cream scoop to drop on to wax paper.  Add some of the Cadbury Mini Eggs to the center of each one and you're done!

Update & Pinterest

I can't believe its been so long since I've last updated. I've been really busy with work and studying lately. And I've been exhausted at night. Haven't had time to do laundry let alone anything fun like sewing or quilting. My husband can attest to the laundry bit, apparently I let the underwear situation get a little low last week....oops! I do have all of the work in my craftroom finished, but don't have quite everything back in there yet. So no pics quite yet, but I promise they are coming. I am so excited to share.  Things should quiet down for a bit for me after Easter so I hope to have a *reveal* post for you then.

One thing I have done is, I've finally entered the world of Pinterest. I've been seeing the amazing ideas everyone has been coming up with from Pinterest & I have finally got myself set up. I even posted a link to my coffee pot cleaner tutorial, and was really suprised on how many hits I had from Pinterest. I've added a button on the side of my blog, so if you want to follow me & I can follow you back! I've started a Facebook page too, not much on there yet but feel free to visit me there too :)

Hope everyone had a great Monday!

Easy Natural Coffee Pot Cleaner

I don't know if this happens to you, but my coffee pot seems to accumulate this hard to get off grime over time. And since I am not lucky enough to have a Keurig (honey are you listening? *hint hint* No? Ok then.), well I have to try to clean it.  So I scrub. And scrub. And scrub. And then call it good enough. 

Well, a while back I found an easy & natural way to clean your coffee pot that didn't require scrubbing!  And leaves your coffee pot sparkling clean! 

Start with your dirty coffee pot. As you can see, I tend to let mine get pretty bad.

Then fill the coffee pot about 1/2 full with ice.

Add 1/4 cup of salt.

Swirl that around & let sit for 10-15 minutes.  I then add a bit of water and shake & swirl the whole works around a bit more.  And dump out.  Then fill with hot & sudsy water and swipe with a rag (I like to use one that has this scratchy mesh on the back).

Rinse thoroughly. And that's it. You're done! How easy was that?! And no harsh chemicals!

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Ever since I saw these super cute Love Bugs I knew I had to try to make some. One of my friends is having a rough time, and I thought one of these might cheer her up a bit! 

Hope everyone has a Happy Valentine's Day!!

Buffalo Chicken Sandwich and Fries

I don't know about you guys, but I've been seeing this recipe for Crock Pot Buffalo Chicken floating around & since I love using my slow-cooker I really wanted to try it!  So I figured the Superbowl would be a great time to give this a try.

The recipes is super easy-only 3 ingredients!

• 3lbs of frozen chicken breast
• 1 bottle of Franks Wings Sauce
• 1 Hidden Valley Ranch Packet

I followed her recipe pretty close, except I used fresh chicken breast instead of frozen and the Hidden Valley Ranch packet I used didn't say "Dips" on it, but I don't think that made any difference.  Here is what it looked like after cooking 5 hours on High.

I made sandwiches on fresh bakery hamburger buns that were still warm when I bought them. And added a slice of Colby cheese to melt over the chicken. I also made Sweet & Spicy Sweet Potato Fries by chopping up a sweet potato, tossing them in a little olive oil and mixed together some salt, pepper, cayenne, dried rosemary, and brown sugar.  Baked at 425 for 10 minutes, flipped, and baked for about 5 minutes more.  The brown sugar caramelized a bit and the little bit of heat tied in nicely with the buffalo chicken. While we were eating I decided I need a little ranch on the side to dip the fries and my sandwich since it was a bit hot for me.  My husband didn't need any he liked the heat level, but he is obsessed with Franks Red Hot anyway. 

And since it was just the two of us, 3lbs of chicken made A LOT of food, so it was great to have some to freeze for a different day as well.  

11 Things About Me

The other day Veronica who writes at Adventures of D and V tagged me in her All About Me post.  So here are my answers to her questions. 

1.  Have you ever had a nickname? If so what was/is it?   Yes. When I was doing my internship, our boss had a nickname for each of the interns. Mine was Pinky. Because I LOVE pink and wore something pink almost every day. 
2. What is your favorite dessert?  There is a place in a small town north of here that makes the BEST pies ever. My favorite is Raspberry Cream Cheese. I could seriously eat the whole pie myself.  OMG they are just amazing!
3. If you could take a trip anywhere where would you go?  Well, for people who know me, my favortie place in the world is Colorado. Its where we got married, and we just LOVE it there. 
4. What is the #1 most played song on your iPod? LOL this suprised me. Hey, Soul Sister - by Train.
5. What is your favorite way to exercise?  I love to take a walk after dinner. I like walking by myself and having some time to unwind from the day with my own thoughts or jamming out to my iPod.  However, in the winter I am a wimp and do not do this because I hate being outside in the cold. In the winter, I'm a big fan of Jillian's 30 Day Shred (well, usually not too much of a fan WHILE I'm doing it, she is brutal!).
6. If you could stay the same age forever, what age would you pick? Interesting question...I would have to say 19. My 2nd year of college was probably the funnest year of my life, although if I could go back I would probably do some things differently. 
7. If you could learn a new skill, what would it be?  I really want to learn how to crochet. I bought myself a book to teach myself to crochet and last weekend when my mom & I were in our hotel, I did start reading it. And made a couple stiches, but I need A LOT more time and lessons for sure!
8. If you had to change your first name, what would you chage it to?  Ok, I have to take the easy route out on this one. I love my name & wouldn't change it! I think it fits me perfectly.
9. What is your favorite sound? Oh my, our dog Mr. C makes the cutest noise when you feed him bites of apples! He loves them and makes this little crunching sound, it is SOO cute! 
10. When you were growing up, what did you do that got you in the most trouble?  Fighting with my brother for sure. He was a quite a bit younger than me, but he loved to pick at me and we ended fighting all of the time. Our poor parents. But now, we get along great! 
11. What story does your family always tell about you? One my mom's favroties, is when we were shopping once & she asked me how the shirt looked that she was trying on & told her she looked like a "teapot". Everyone knows me as the sweet & quiet girl, and find it funny that I would tell my own mother she looked like a teapot. But seriously, she asked my opinon it was not good, although I probably could've told her in a nice way, but when you're a teenager sometimes thats tough! 

Ok so now its my turn to come up with some questions for you.  I'm tagging Alecia @Chicken Scratch, The Cooking Accountant @ The Cooking Accountant, Denyse @ My Crazy Beautiful Life, Racheal @ Lovely Crafty Home, Cherise @ sewingly along, and of course anyone else who wants to play along!

1. If you could be an animal, what would you be and why?
2. What is the accomplishment that you are most proud of?
3. What is your favorite breakfast cereal?
4. Do you fall into the stereotype of your birth order? Oldest sibling? The baby? Only child?
5. What is your favorite household chore?
6. What is your LEAST favorite household chore?
7. If you are sitting down alone, what do you watch on TV?
8. What would be one word to describe your personality?
9. How often do you check your email?
10. What is the most interesting thing in your purse right now?
11. How tall are you? Would you rather be taller or shorter?