New Fall Outdoor DIY Wreath

I wanted to re-do my fall wreath for the front door this year.  I made my old one a few years ago.  It was nice, but a little too busy.  I got some inspiration from Pinterest.com (where else?!?), and held out very impatiently for Michael's big sale this week.  For my wreath I decided to combine a couple of different ideas: the flower arrangement on this one and the letter idea from this one.

Monday after work I headed straight there to get some supplies!   After 2 evenings of painting, cutting stems arranging and re-arranging flowers, and some more re-arranging of flowers, I think I finally have it done!

Now if I could only find my outdoor wreath hanger I could put it up outside.  For now it can just sit on the inside of the front door!  It is pretty to look at!


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Maine Trip: part 4 of 4

One night in Maine my sweet grandparents decided to treat the entire family to a lobster dinner.  However, because we were 2 hours from the coast and getting 30 people to drive that far for dinner was out of the question, they went and picked the lobster up and brought it back to us.  I don't think I have ever seen that much lobster at one time.    Since a lot of us were lobster novices my mom's cousins were happy to demonstrate how to eat it.  I must say my grandmother is quite the lobster eating expert, I was very impressed with her skills!

The pre-lobster dinner table.  

We decided to bring the kitchen table and a couple of smaller tables outside to add to the picnic tables that were already outside. 

 Eric and my grandma filling up the butter bowls.

Warming up the lobsters!

LOBSTERS!  They were HUGE!

More lobsters!

 Table full of family!

You know it's serious when your grandma gets out the hammer to eat her lobster!

He was loving it. 

Dessert: grilled bananas with raspberries, caramel sauce,  and chocolate chips.

I think there were maybe 2 leftover lobsters.  Don't worry they were gone by lunch the next day =).

I am so thankful that we got to spend an amazing few days with our amazing family in one of the most beautiful places I have ever been.  It was wonderful to get to meet more of my family and I can't wait for the next reunion!

Game Day Treat Review

I was so looking forward to this football season so I could try out all of the new tailgate recipes I have come across on Pinterest.com.  Unfortunately, Eric has been gone on dove hunts the past 2 Saturdays, so we have not had any big game-watching get-togethers like we had last year yet.  What is a football-loving girl to do!?!?  I said the heck with it this weekend and went ahead and cooked a few little dandies I have been wanting to try.  It helped that my friend from work & her mom came to watch the first half of the Bama game with me!

I had a couple of recipes that were at the top of my "Need to try" list, and I had most of the stuff for them, so I went with Buffalo Chicken Rolls and Cheddar Bacon Ranch Pulls. They were both fantastic!  Eric was quite happy that there were leftover wraps, and had them finished off by Sunday evening.

Buffalo Chicken Rolls

via- didn't get a picture of mine, these are the ones I copied

I based my recipe on the one that I linked to, but made a few changes to better suit my taste since I am not wild about blue cheese.  Here is my recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 package (24 papers) egg roll papers 
• small cup of water (for sealing egg roll papers)
• 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts cooked and shredded
• 1 cup Budweiser Wing Sauce (our wing sauce of choice--we like it because it's got some kick, but it's thicker than regular hot sauce)
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 cup slaw mix (optional- I used some this time but could not taste it so will be leaving it out in the future)
• Non-stick baking spray
• Homemade Ranch Dressing for dipping (recipe below)

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Mix shredded chicken with wing sauce, until chicken is completely coated.  If you like wing sauce you can use more that 1 cup.

Step 2- Fill 'em up

Lay out a few egg roll papers on the counter (I do not suggest laying them all out at once because the papers will dry out and by the time you roll them up they will crack and tear).   Place 1 TBSP slaw mix (if using), 2 TBSP chicken, and 1 TBSP shredded mozzarella cheese near one corner of the egg roll paper.  

Step 3- Rollin***

Fold the corner of the paper where you put your chicken/cheese up over the chicken/cheese so it covers the chicken/cheese.  Fold the corner of the paper to the left of the chicken/cheese in toward the chicken/cheese. Fold the corner of the paper to the right of the chicken/cheese in toward the chicken/cheese.  Your egg roll paper should look like an open envelope at this point.  Dip your finger in the cup of water and moisten the corner that is still sticking up.  Roll the egg roll paper toward the open corner to seal.  Repeat with remaining rolls.  ***If you are not familiar with rolling egg rolls and need a visual guide, refer to the blog I linked to above (they have great visuals). Repeat Step 3 with remaining egg roll papers. 

Step 4- Bake 'em

Place rolls on a greased wire rack set on top of a cookie sheet (I covered my cookie sheet with foil for easy clean up of spillage).  Spritz rolls with non-stick baking spray and bake for 15 minutes, or until the rolls are crisp and brown.  Serve with Homemade Ranch Dressing (see recipe below).

Homemade Ranch Dressing-makes about 2 cups

(this recipe came right off the Hidden Valley Dry Mix container)

• 1 cup Mayo (I used Hellman's Mayonnaise)
• 1 cup milk (I used skim since that's what I buy and it still had tons of flavor)
• 3 TBSP (one package) Hidden Valley dry Ranch Mix

Whisk together all 3 ingredients and refrigerate for @ least 30 minutes.  

As a ranch dressing enthusiast, it's fabulous! Way better than anything from the store. 

I also made these fabulous Cheddar Bacon Ranch Pulls.

via - also forgot to take a picture of mine so this is the one I copied

I followed the recipe pretty closely, except I used shredded cheddar cheese instead of slices.  It was delicious!

Cool Running

I am a certainly a fair-weather runner, and tend to enjoy running a whole lot more when it is cooler outside--Hence the reason I wait until about 45 minutes before the sun goes down to run outside in the summertime.  I have always preferred running outside to running on the treadmill for whatever reason.  I think I just love the fresh air!

I have been a huge slacker the last month or so with my running.  I could blame it on the heat (but we have a treadmill) or that our schedules have gotten really busy (I still manage to watch tv almost everyday), but really it comes down to the fact that I have not gotten off my lazy butt and moved.  I decided to change my slacking habits yesterday.  I will be totally honest that the weather was the #1 factor in my change in habits.

I started with a 1.75 mile walk during my work break.  I have a friend at work who I walked with this spring.  It was great exercise and a much needed mid-afternoon break for us.  We have the entire downtown area to utilize, so  we can walk tons of different paths through different areas, with hills (or not).  It has been waaaaay too hot to walk the past 4 months, and we don't want to offend our co-workers with our smell after a super hot walk. Since we have not been able to go and we were sooo excited to venture out yesterday.  

When I got home last night it was absolutely gorgeous!  The puppy dogs knew it, too.  They had been cooped up in the house all day so they were full of energy and ready to play.  I decided to take them on a walk.  They usually just get to play in the backyard because they can get a little rowdy on walks, plus little Peanut's legs get tired so he doesn't like to walk as much as Hawk does.  We took a nice long walk around the neighborhood, and after I put them in the house, I decided I needed to keep going.  So I put in another 3 laps (2+ miles).  I could should have done more but it was getting dark.  I could hear the boys whining from inside the house from the street, so I ended my run and let them play outside until it got dark.  

I REALLY REALLY REALLY hope this awesome fall weather sticks around and that we are done with hot summer temps for the year because I would really enjoy getting back into a running routine!

Love this!  via