Holiday Home Tour 2015

Hello everyone! I hope you're enjoying the month of December so far. It's only day six, and I already feel like it's passing by too quickly. This is the time of year that I look forward to all year long. I'm sad when it ends, and then summer comes and melts us all away with the heat. It's actually warmer today, about 80 degrees, but it should be back to the mid-sixties in a few days which to me is the best weather possible!

I'm lacking on recipes because we've still been eating a lot of random meals. The other night I fixed my spaghetti and meatball recipe (found here) and the night before we had chicken pot pie soup, I also have a recipe for that. I've been working on Christmas decor around the house, so I thought I would share a little home tour with you. I'm not completely finished with the house, but this post will focus on my family room and dining room. Nothing too fancy really! I follow so many talented bloggers on Instagram, and honestly sometimes the beauty of their posts gets me down. I feel inadequate knowing my home will never look as beautiful as theirs. I don't have the money to buy all the decor items, and I don't have the skills of an interior stylist. But I'm here to show you that you can still decorate your home on a budget, and you don't have to go overboard. Comparison can be a horrible thing. Instead I want to focus on how cozy and beautiful I've made my house for my family to enjoy, and I hope it brings you some enjoyment as well!

Last Minute Gift Idea!

Merry Christmas Eve fellow bloggers. I'm missing the hubby since he'll be gone until the 27th, but I'm very thankful to have my dad and sister back in town for the holidays! This is going to be a great Christmas ^_^

For those of you who didn't get all of your shopping finished in time, or maybe you're looking for a cute stocking stuffer, here's a quick and easy homemade gift that is sure to please! Homemade sugar shower scrub! My sister gave me the idea to make my own when I started talking about how great all the St. Ives products look. After playing around with different ingredients and amounts I think I found an easy formula using ingredients you're sure to have on hand:

Cranberry Orange Stuffing

Sorry for posting this so late! It's been a crazy busy week. This stuffing is absolutely delicious and very easy to make. I adapted this from Rachel Ray's 30 Minute Meals recipe found here. Her recipe was to serve four people, but her serving size was about an ice cream scoop full. Now, I don't know about your family, but mine is all about leftovers. I wanted to make enough to feed all 6 of us and have some goodies left over. 

Keep in mind that I undercooked mine slightly so that tomorrow when we re-heat it, it won't dry out. I say cook yours about 40-45 minutes or until it's golden brown on top and no longer a soupy texture.

Cranberry Orange Stuffing

• EVOO
• Couple pats of butter
• 7 ribs of celery diced , no leaf with the white chopped off
• 1.5 medium white onions, I chopped it super fine
• 3 bay leaves
• S&P to taste
• 2 cans (32 ounces) chicken stock
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 3 tablespoons freshly chopped thyme
• 2.5 loaves Trader Joe's Low Fat Cranberry Orange Bread

First things first, if you can't get Trader Joe's brand cranberry orange bread then don't worry about it. I'd say 2 loaves are equivalent to about 5 large cranberry orange muffins. So 7 muffins? Yikes. I'm sorry I'm not sure how big the loaves are and I forgot to take pictures before I threw away the wrappers . . . 

Preparation & Cooking Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 F. Chop all of your veggies, saute in a skillet over medium-low heat with the bay leaves and thyme until they've reduced in size and softened. Once the oven is heated, chop the bread and toast in the oven for 10 minutes. I had left my bread unwrapped on a baking sheet for two days to dry it out a bit, which it didn't really get dry so I had to toast it up a bit. Beat the eggs and whisk in the chicken stock/broth. In a large bowl add the veggies and bread. Ladle the stock over the bread and veggies and mix until it has soaked up a lot of moisture. I ended up not using the entire 2 cans of broth because I didn't want the mixture to be too soupy, since the bread is already much more moist than regular toasted bread. It should be moist enough where you squeeze it in your hand some of the moisture leaks out, but doesn't drip down your hand. Place mixture in casserole dish and bake at 350 F for 40-45 minutes, or until golden brown on top. Let cool and serve!

Taco Bar!

Hey there, I hope everyone had a great Cinco de Mayo! I nursed a hangover the majority of today, awesome. The best part of the holiday was definitely the food! We had tacos & beer, okay and tequila. Then I might have also had wine while watching Cougar Town. No big deal, I'm alive.

Irish Colcannon: Served with Corned Beef Brisket & Cabbage

Top of the mornin' to ya! I hope everyone is having a lucky St. Patty's Day. This is one of my favorite holidays, in addition to being Irish I am also a beer and whiskey drinker . . . obviously this holiday suits me well ;-) I decided to cook colcannon, brisket, and cabbage this year. Super incredibly simple to make and very hearty. Here is a simple and quick recipe for Irish Colcannon.

Pumpkin Muffins

Last night, I made a dozen pumpkin muffins while hubby was at work (because I really hate making dinner for one, so this was easier). Now we're down to four muffins sitting on the counter, they are really good!! I got the recipe from thee PPK (Post Punk Kitchen). It's a vegan website, which I'm sure you've already heard of, that has amazing recipes!! So thanks to Isa, who submitted this recipe, these muffins rocked my socks off!