Stylish Blogger Award

Thanks to one of my BFF's Laura for nominating me for this very prestigious award.  She has a fabulous blog and it is hilarious.  So check it out!


So I have to tell you all 5 things about myself and then nominate another blog for the award.  So check ME out.

1.  I believe I have a small case of OCD.  Most of my friends and my hub can vouch for that.  Everything must be clean, straight, and I sanitize my hands quite frequently.

2.  I love MEXICAN FOOD.  Anytime we go out to eat we usually hit up a Mexican Restaurant.  Here are some of our favorites: Sol Y Luna, Superior Grill, Cocina Superior, Chuy's, and El Poblano.

3.  I totally wish I had my own show on The Food Network.  I watch it all the time.  Giada at Home, Cooking with Paula Dean, At home with the Neeley's, and Barefoot Contessa are a few of my favs.   Sometimes I also wish I starred in "The Real Housewives of Alabama."

4.  I am obsessed with Dance/Electronic music.  Now that I am driving the vehicle that has siruis radio, you can always find my radio tuned to BPM!

5.  A part of me would love to move to a HUGE city for a year or two in my young adult years (before children) like NYC or Chicago.  A part of me would also love to live on a lot of land like on a farm or something.  Just to experience it!

Ok so now that you know a few, very RANDOM things about me.  I would like to nominate my friend Josie for this award, check out her blog.  She has great ideas and wonderful recipes!

Recipe Friday: Salmon and Veggie Packets

Tried this last night and it was DELISH.  It's easy, but takes a little time.  It is from one of my Weight Watchers cookbooks.

Salmon and Vegetable Packets

4 Carrots, cut into matchstick strips
1 red bell pepper, seeded and cut into very thin strips
1 leek (white and green parts only) cleaned and thinly sliced
2 (5 oz.) Yukon Gold Potatoes, peeled and cut into match stick strips
4 (1/4 lb) skinless salmon fillets
1/2 Cup reduced-sodium vegetable broth, heated
4 Tablespoons dry white wine
4 teasponns olive oil
2 Tablespoons chopped fresh basil
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
4 lemon slices

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
2.  Combine the carrots, bell pepper, leek, and potatoes in a streamer basket, place in a saucepan filled with 1 inch of boiling water.  Cover tightly and steam until the vegetables are crisp and tender, about 2 minutes.  Remove the steamer basket from the saucepan.
3.  Tear off 4 (16 inch) squares of foil.  Place 1/8th of vegetable mixture in the center of each foil square. Top each mound of vegetables with a salmon fillet, then cover with the remaining vegetable mixture.  Spoon 2 Tablespoons of the hot broth over each portion; drizzle with 1 Tablespoon of the wine and 1 teaspoon of the oil.  Sprinkle each with the basil, ginger, salt, and pepper; top with a lemon slice.
4.  To close the packets, bring the 2 opposite long sides of the foil up to meet in the center; fold the edges over twice to make a tight seal.  Double fold the open sides to seal the packets.  Place the packets on a baking sheet and bake just until the salmon is opaque in the center.  About 15 minutes.  To serve, carefully open the packets, avoiding the steam that is released; slide the fish and vegetables onto plates.  Serve drizzled with any juices.

I did not use leeks and I don't have a steamer basket.  I just steamed the veggies in a sauce pan with an inch of water, covered.  Helpful hint: I lay out everything, ready, so that it makes it a lot easier and faster to put together.

Everyone have a GREAT weekend!

Before:

After:

Before & After : Bench and Train

Before, Master Bedroom Bench hardware:

(I drilled too many holes, messed up, tried to glue, it was a disaster.)

After:

(So 1 year later I decided to fix it.  I scraped, sanded, and repainted before putting the new hardware on)

At Home: $8

Before:

(I found this train at a garage sale and thought it was SO cute.)

After:

(I thought it would be cute and more personalized to paint it for our nephew's birthday, which isn't until November... Hey, I am on top of things)

Before and After: Landing.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

New Lamp from Pier One = $50

Zebra Fabric = $40

Not the best re-upholstering job = $50

All in 24 hours time!

Recipe Friday, snacks.

I know it has been forever.  I haven't really had anything to post about and no exciting ideas!  But I would like to share 2 really easy, completely opposite, yummy snack recipes.

#1 Fresh Salsa compliments of Ms. Paula Dean (She calls it Salsa on the fly!)

3 Large ripe tomatoes diced

1 small onion, chopped (yellow or white, I use yellow)

1 small green bell pepper (seeds and veins removed) minced

1/2 Cup chopped green chilies, with juice (4 oz. can)

1 clove garlic, minced

2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar

1 Tablespoon olive oil

salt

And when I saw her make this on TV she added 1 avocado, diced

It is delish.  I serve it with tortilla chips or on top of some tacos.  You have to know it is good since I recommend it because I am a salsa, pico de gallo connoisseur.

#2 Sweet Grapes

1 bag of green grapes

Wash in bowl , drain the grapes but make sure they are still wet, do not dry them off.

Pour 1 packet of Sugar-Free Fat-Free strawberry jello powder over the grapes and toss.

They look like they have red powder on them.  They are so good and a really healthy, sweet, easy snack.  It would be perfect for a Halloween Party too because they kind of look like eye balls! HA 

Hope everyone has a fabulous weekend. Stay cool!

Recipe for Dinner

Haven't had anything to post about this week but I do have a new favorite dish and I'll give you the recipe!

The chicken recipe can be found here:  Quick Chicken Piccata

It's delicious and very easy.

I serve it with my mom's recipe of baked carrots.

Baked Carrots

1/2 Cup sugar

1/3 Cup butter

1 package baby carrots

1 tsp. salt

1/3 tsp. cinnamon

1/3 Cup boiling water

Place carrots in a greased casserole.  Cream the butter, sugar, salt, and cinnamon.  Add water and blend well.  Pour over carrots.  Cover with foil and bake for 1-1/2 hours at 350 degrees.

To top off the meal serve with a green salad and rice or new potatoes.  It's delicious.   Enjoy the HOT weekend!

Recipe Friday - Apple Cake

This recipe is delicious!  I made it for D$'s parents birthday last weekend.  Try it for your dad's this Father's Day!  This is my grandmother, Nanny's recipe.

Country Apple Cake

2 large eggs
1-1/4 cups vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 Cups all purpose flour
1-1/2 cups granulated sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 Cup chopped walnuts
3 Cups chopped, peeled apples

Heat oven to 325 degrees.  Lightly grease a 13x9x2 baking pan, bundt pan, or 2 loaf pans.

In a large bowl beat eggs, oil, and vanilla until well blended.  Beat in flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt.  Batter will be very thick when completely mixed.  Stir in nuts and apples.  Spread batter evenly in prepared pan.

Bake about 35 minutes (took mine about 40) or until toothpick comes out clean.  Serve warm or cold.  Sprinkle confectioners sugar or cool whip or vanilla ice cream.

I served mine with caramel ice cream and it was delish!  Has a really good flavor!  Very easy and quick recipe and it tastes oh so good.  Hope everyone enjoys their Father's Day!

Praise! New Slipcovers!

Before:

From day 1, I have hated these beasts.  I tucked and tucked every day, they were hard and stiff, just all around horrid.

After:

Thanks to my good friend Kerra!  She had one on her sofa and I thought it looked and felt great.  So I ordered some myself from JCPenny.com.  Not only do they look sleeker, they are SO soft, and 2 separate pieces, so not as much tuck, tucking!  The old beasts are on the credenza in this pic.  If anyone wants them let me know! (not that anyone would after my complaints!)

Organizing and great deals.

I think I have a problem.  Everything HAS to have a place.  Yesterday morning I got the bee in my bonnet to organize the laundry room and underneath all the kitchen cabinets.  Keep in mind, I organize the laundry room like once a month.  It is my MAIN storage area for extra kitchen things I don't have room for, laundry supplies, my pool bags and towels, paper towels, toilet paper, etc.  It's such a small room and A LOT of stuff is in there.  Plus it is oddly shaped so if I put stuff in there I have to angle myself to put the wash in.  Anywho.  So I went to Target and bought 2 plastic drawer things, 1 to go in between the washer and one to fit in the odd space (but not cover the air vent! so it has rollers)

I went to the Dollar Tree (one of my very favorite stores) and bought all this.

3 red stackable baskets (for candle storage and 1 for my food storage container lids)

2 blue baskets with handles (for cleaning supplies)

4 clear containers with white tops (for my nail polish, kitchen napkins, and I think I have 1 left over)

4 large white containers (for cleaning supplies, storage in laundry room, storage for extra toiletries in linen closet)

all for $14.70

Seriously, why go anywhere else to get these things!? They are so cheap!  And they have drawer organizers too, which is very helpful in a desk or kitchen.

This is in between the washer and dryer, have dryer sheets, stain stick, etc in top drawer and powder room/nice kitchen hand towels in the bottom 2 drawers.

It looks kinda messy, but it is nice to have something to stack things on!  First drawer, random bags for dry cleaning, toting things places, etc. Second drawer, ribbon, bows, gift tags.  Third drawer, beach towels.  Fourth drawer, gift bags.

Yes, I have to stand on the washer or dryer to get to any of this..  But I have to put this stuff somewhere!!

Great deals.  I really have been wanting some Martini Glasses.  So Sunday afternoon D$ brought me to Pier 1.  I got 8 of these stemless Martini glasses for $2 a piece.  These little white serving bowls were like a buck!!  SO I got all of this for:

 like $22!

They had a lot of glassware and serving pieces on MAJOR sale.

Go get you some!

I also realized I could serve dessert in these glasses too, I think it would be pretty!

Diet Coke Cake.

This is almost a re-post.  Thanks to my good friend Lauren who wrote the Recipe-Friday post last Friday!  I just have to say, I've made yellow cupcakes with Sprite Zero and chocolate icing.  Yellow cake with chocolate icing is Drew's favorite.  I also made Devil's food cake (with 50% less sugar, made with Splenda) and diet coke.  This one was my favorite.  It was so moist and delish!  I topped it with cool whip and kept it in the fridge at my friend Jessica's suggestion.  Then for our girls supper club Wednesday night I made triple chocolate fudge cake with diet coke and cool whip.  It seemed to be a hit!  There were only 2 pieces left over!  If you haven't tried it already, I HIGHLY recommend it.  Saves so many calories and there is NO difference in taste!  All you have to do is make it like the back of the box but leave out the eggs, oil, and water and replace them with a diet canned beverage!

Saturday morning I am making my Italian grandmother's (Nanny) Apple cake for D$'s parents birthday.  I even cut out a stencil that says HAPPY BIRTHDAY for me to use when I sprinkle my powdered sugar on.  I'm out of control.  I'm sure it is delicious and maybe next Friday I will share that recipe and a pic or 2! Have a fabulous weekend!

Numbers

I found these cute numbers at this store called Wrapsody in Patton Creek.  I got these for $2 a piece.  Obviously, it is our house number.  I can't decide how I want to incorporate them.  Hang them over a door? Try and make a wreath and hang them from that for the front door?  I don't know, does anyone have any suggestions?

Also, found this cute hand towel and paid way too much for it...

Good work reaps rewards.

Sweet D$ was nice enough to stay 2.5 hours after a huge church service on Sunday.  Unfortunately, I could only wait on him for an hour (I had a migraine and felt HORRIBLE).  When he was done he told me he had some presents for me.  I was like what?  I thought in my head, I've been waiting on you for forever and you stopped and got something? haha.  Well I walked outside and he had these beauties.

Pretty azaleas and ferns.  Not sure how to care for them, so anyone who knows, please inform me!!  I put the azaleas in a pot and watered them all, but that is it.  Our front porch is starting to look like I am a crazy plant lady, luckily not a crazy cat lady.  I'd like to move some to the back porch with the cute new table and chairs, but I don't know what can be in the sun constantly.  Any help would be much appreciated!!

Organization.

Recently I have been in a nesting phase minus the pregnant thing.  I have organized every room, every closet, every under the counter space, ETC.  I'm posting some pictures to show up I organize, mostly by category.

This is the pantry.

I organized the cans with cans, all the baking mixes, etc.  I put the things I use daily in arms reach.  I put the things I don't use very often in the back or up top.

These are great.  I picked them up at Target yesterday. I put all of our zone and south beach and granola bars in 1 box, instead of having 6 boxes strung all over the pantry.  I also have misc. snack foods in the bottom one.

Fridge.  Drinks up top; dairy on next shelf, like yogurt, butter, etc. ; drinks; and meat on the bottom shelf.

Condiments on first 2 shelves on the door; salad dressing and marinades; then things I don't use often on the bottom!

The time it takes to organize is SO worth it.  Yesterday I spent an hour on the pantry, fridge, and the cleaning supplies under the kitchen sink.  I recommend organizing every couple of months.  That way, there is NO way it can get completely out of control and you can also weed things out due to expiration dates.  Hope this will inspire someone to get organized!

Recipe Friday - Guest Post!

Sarah has been begging me to tell her the recipe for this cake and still doesn’t quite get how it works. But it seriously is as simple as a boxed cake mix and one 12 oz can of a diet soda.  That’s it!

The famous Diet Coke cake is a well-loved recipe for dieters. Almost any diet soda will work. Lemon lime or cream sodas work great for yellow and white cakes. Cola, cherry cola and root beer are excellent for chocolate cakes! These cakes come out exceptionally moist and sticky, but delicious!

Directions

·  Obtain your cake mix and diet soda. Use a traditional cake mix that requires eggs, oil, etc. on the box - pudding cake mixes, brownie mixes, and angel food mixes generally do not work. Choose a 'light' colored soda for white and yellow cake, and a 'dark' soda for chocolate or devil's food cake.

·  Combine the box of cake mix with the can of diet soda in a medium mixing bowl. If desired, add sprinkles or miniature chocolate candies to make confetti cake - yum! You can color a light colored cake with a bit of colored sugar or food coloring as well. Mix well to make your cake batter.

 (* the batter will be runny and clumpy, use a fork to break up the clumps as best as possible )

· You may now follow the baking directions on the box - this will make two layers, or twenty-four cupcakes.

Otherwise, use the following baking guidelines:
24 cupcakes: 18-21 minutes at 350 degrees
2 9-inch layers: 28-31 minutes at 350 degrees
2 8-inch layers: 33-36 minutes at 350 degrees
1 13x9 pan: 32-35 minutes at 350 degrees

Make sure to switch the positions of the pans in the oven, halfway through baking!

·  Allow to cool in pans for about a half hour before you frost or try to eat your cake. You can enjoy this cake as is - it's far more moist than normal cake. Topping ideas: fat-free whipped topping, strawberry or fruit preserves, honey, marshmallow fluff

I haven’t taken many pictures of my “creations” however, here’s a half-eatened final project, and my try at mixing batters!

Any questions – email me at calvela@gmail.com.

Once you give this recipe a shot, you’ll never go back to using eggs, and oil. 

Don’t be scared folks. It’s simple, quick, and absolutely, fantastically, delicious!

Sarah, thanks for having me guest blog and be able to share this simple, sweet treat!

New Pretties.

World Market has a lot of cute stuff right now.  When I went to look for out door tables, I got a little bit of EVERYTHING else instead of a table.  Like these lovely place mats.  I love the pattern and the colors are perfect.  They easily lay flat as well.  They were $3.99 a piece.

When my parents were here this past weekend we went to our "favorite."  The old Ethan Allan store on 31, "Interiors and Antiques."  I believe that is what it is called.  I found these awesome vases.  I was looking for some sort of contraption to put my dried bridal bouquet in.   These vases were less than $10 a piece!  I was shocked.  They are thick glass too.  So right now I have my bridesmaids bouquet from Kerra's wedding in one.

And my bouquet.  Unfortunately, it was not dried hanging up, it was laying flat.  My mom couldn't do it because there was an emergency trip my family had to take the day after our wedding.  But, my favorite way to dry flowers is so easy!  Use a wire hanger and some clothes pins.  Take the bouquet or flowers and clip the stems to the hanger and hang them somewhere out of the way to dry, like the garage or laundry room.

Here is my bouquet on top of our china cabinet.

And I finally found a table to go with the cute chairs.  I found it at Ross for $29.99!! It was the cheapest I found, exactly what I was looking for, and the wood matches perfectly.

Hope everyone has a wonderful Monday, over halfway through the week!

BEAUTIFUL wedding.

I was very privileged to be a part of a wonderful friend's wedding this past weekend.  All of the events were beautiful and so much fun.  I loved spending time with great friends I don't get to see very often and having my parents in town.  Everything was perfect, here are some pictures.

Beautiful centerpieces at the Bridesmaids Brunch.

Myself with the blushing bride!

Wedding day after hair and makeup.

FABULOUS bridesmaids bouquets.

With monogrammed ribbon!

Happy, Newlywed Couple!

Thanks to the hubs always coming to support me at all the weddings!

So happy for you Kerra and Chris! I wish you nothing but the best in all the years to come! =)

Easy Summer Dinner

Marinated Veggies

Chop up your favorite veggies.  I use 1 cucumber, 1 onion, 1 green bell pepper, and 1 tomato.
I put them in a container that has a top.  Pour over some Italian salad dressing, enough to coat.  Also a couple of Tablespoons of white or apple cider vinegar.  Let them sit in the fridge a couple of hours and you have an incredibly easy, healthy, yummy side of veggies!

Tilapia

I buy the bag of frozen Tilapia at Target.  There are 6 individually wrapped tilapia fillets.  Follow the directions to thaw (or you could use fresh).  Pam the bottom of a pyrex, heat the oven as directed.  Place the fish in the pyrex, salt and pepper the fillets.  In a small bowl chop up some whole wheat bread crumbs, put a Tablespoon of dijion mustard and a few drops of lemon juice.  Put the mixture on top of the tilapia and bake as directed. I believe it is 12-14 minutes.  The mixture gets a little crispy and gives the fish a lot of flavor.

Rice

I recently have been making the Uncle Ben's 90 second packages.  They are great, so quick, and always turn out great!  So choose whatever flavor you like!

Enjoy your weekend.  We have an exciting weekend planned for all of Kerra and Chris's wedding festivities! YAY!

Subtle Changes.

Preparing to spray paint.  I wanted to take the 2 more "wild colored" crosses and paint them white to make the cross wall a little more neutral.  The flower topiaries came from my grandmother a few years ago.  Originally the bottoms were blue and for my apartment I painted them green, flowers remained light pink.  So I sprayed all of these things white.

Before:

After:

(For now, I have them in the guest room, haven't quite figured out where I am going to put them)

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

(This was red before.)

I like the way it turned out.  Looks softer.