Some of our Favorite things
Sewing Table Remake- Every backyard needs one
You probable have one of these sewing tables or are on the hunt for one. This is such a fun project and so many different ways it can be done. I first saw this idea on Pinterest and had to show Dave. He agreed it was awesome and would be a nice addition to our backyard. The hunt was on. We would check the D.I. every time we went to town just to see if our little treasure had been donated yet. Several weeks later she was there and only $10 Wooo Hooo! Our next dilemma was, what on earth are we going to use for the ice/drink holder???? I took the measurements of the table top and the hole and kept them in my purse. On my weekly trips to the D.I. I would look for things I thought would work. It took a few weeks until I saw it. A beautiful old roaster pan, the big kind you cook Turkeys in just $4. The measurements were perfect and it was in really good shape. I grabbed it and had the biggest smile on my face as I left the D.I.
This is a relatively simple project. The hardest part was finding the container for the ice/drinks. The first step it to remove the sewing machine. It was only held in place by a few screws. I also had to remove the small piece of wood that is folded on the top of the sewing machine in the picture. It was only held on with two small hinges.
Once the sewing machine and the small wooded piece it was time to paint. At this point I removed the handle on the front of the table and filled in the holes with wood putty. Once it was dry I sanded it smooth. I also removed the folding table top. I wanted to be able to paint without having to worry about getting paint on the hinges. I chose a lovely red. I love the way red just pops in the garden. I used a semi gloss exterior paint. Valspar Fabulous Red 1011-2.
It took 3 coats of paint to finally get it to where I like it. Once it was dry all that was left was to add the bottle opener and the paper towel rack.
The roasting pan fits inside the opening perfectly. I did not have to make any adjustments. Just fill it up with ice and drinks and walah.
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Have you done one of these projects. We would love to hear what you did to make yours awesome.
Emergency Chocolate Cake with free printable
Who doesn’t love Chocolate Cake? I love it! Have you ever had a chocolate cake emergency? I have, just last tuesday it was 9 pm, no cake mix in the cupboard and even if there was no desire to get out the mixer and spend time making it. This Emergency Cake would have fit the bill perfectly, simple recipe and the only dirty dish is the mug you use to cook it in. Just make a single serving and wallah, one mug to clean and no chocolate cake on the counter tempting you all week. This mug cake is a great way to have your chocolate cake fix without messing up the whole kitchen. Plus you can kick it up a notch with chocolate chips, a spoonful of peanut butter and of course more chocolate frosting and sprinkles. This is a really easy mix to make. I just made a batch for Kylie to take to Bear Lake. She just started her summer job and the group of girls she is living with are going to love this.
Emergency Chocolate Cake
Author: Vivian
Ingredients
- 1 box Angel Food Cake mix
- 1 box Chocolate Cake mix
Instructions
- in a large bowl mix the angel food cake mix and chocolate cake mix. That's it. mix it up and put it in a cute jar or ziploc bag.
- To make cake:
- I a mug mix together 3 tablespoons of mix and 2 tablespoons of water. Microwave for 1 min. dollop on some frosting and sprinkles. Be amazed and how awesome you are for making this cake.
- To kick it up a notch mix in a small handful of chocolate chips or a teaspoon of peanut butter. Or go crazy and do both, then microwave
After you have mixed the Angel Food and Chocolate cake mix together you are ready to make a chocolate cake. First add 3 tablespoons or cake mix and 2 tablespoons of water to a microwave safe mug. Mix together with a fork. Microwave for 1 min.
Cake will rise a lot and be perfectly moist when it comes out of the microwave. Next add whatever you want. Sometimes a little whip cream and sprinkles are all you need. Other times chocolate frosting and caramel syrup are what is needed. The cake is good by itself too.
Add this cute label, some dectorative tape and a small bag of sprinkles to a jar and you have a perfect gift that will brighten anyone’s day. I am a huge fan of full sheet stickers. I use them when I need to make a lot of the same label.
Thrift Store Fairy Garden- You can create one too!
I am loving this Thrift Store Fairy Garden. I am always on the lookout for something I can repurpose from the thrift store. I found this really cool vintage light fixture for a 1$. I LOVE the thrift store. I also found this cute little VW Bug piggy bank that same day and I had to turn them into a fairy garden. Fairy gardens are so much fun and I always like a little magic in my life.
Because this was a light fixture I took a small cork and put it in the hole in the center. You could leave it open and just put a dish under to catch any excess water leakage.
Fill the fixture about halfway with potting soil. You don’t want to start with too much soil or you will have a hard time putting in your plants. Decide what kind of plants you like. I went with a simple daisy, some pansies and pink impatients. Just keep in mind where you are going to place your fairy garden. Do get plants that love shade and then put them in direct sunlight. I chose flowers that will do well in the shade of my pourch. Start with your tallest flower and put it in the back, next put your middle sized flowers on either side of the tallest and then add the smallest flower next to them. Fill in around the flowers with potting soil to help keep them in place and fill the rest of the fixture up with soil.
Now it is time to add your fairy trinkets. I wanted to use the VW Bug as my main focal point and it has a surfboard on top so I wanted to add a water feature. Luckily my local Dollar Tree has colored sand. I tool some pebbles from the front driveway and used them for my water border, next I found these cute fairy garden accessories on Amazon.
I used the little mushrooms, the duck, baby ducks and little fence. I have a lot left and can’t wait to use them in my next Fairy Garden creation.
When watering use a small watering can so you don’t wash away the sand.
I hope you have as much fun as I did making this fairy garden. Please send me pictures of your creations. I can’t wait to see what you come up with! Check out my blog post for this Ugly 2$ Table.
Easy Street Taco’s
Street Taco’s are my new favorite food. There is a little Taco truck in Logan that has the best Taco’s. It is amazing how crowded that little part of town gets around lunch time. The flavors are intense and simple. The Family loves it when I make Street Taco’s and if Dave is at work I have to make sure the kids save some for him or he gets cranky.
Street Tacos
Author: Vivian
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 10-12
Ingredients
- corn or flour tortillas (street taco size-4½ inches)
- 1 rotisserie chicken
- 1 med onion
- 1 green bell pepper, diced
- 1 jalapeno, diced
- bunch of cilantro
- fresh limes, quartered
- seasoning:
- 1½ tsp cumin
- 1½ tsp paprika
- 1½ tsp chipotle
- ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
Instructions
- shred rotisserie chicken, set aside. In large fry pan or stock pot saute onion and peppers in olive oil. Once translucent add rotisserie chicken and all the spices. Once everything is combined and thoroughly heated remove from heat and add chopped cilantro. Serve with corn or flour tortillas.
Start by sauteing the green pepper, jalapeno and onion.
Add shredded rotisserie chicken
Add the seasonings and mix until well combined and heated all the way through.
Add Cilantro and serve with mini corn or flour tortillas and fresh limes.
I make these all the time and one way to make them even quicker is to make a jar of street taco seasoning and just use 1 or 2 tablespoons of the mix, depending on how hot you like your tacos.
Large batch of Street Taco Seasoning:
5 Tablespoons Cumin
5 Tablespoons Paprika
5 Tablespoons Chipotle
1 Tablespoon Cayenne Pepper
1 Tablespoon Black Pepper
1 1/2 Tablespoons salt
Mix all ingredients together and store in airtight jar.
Here is a cute label to add to your spice jar. I put mine in a mason jar. Click on photo to go to printable pdf file.
**With the leftover chicken parts I like to make my own chicken stock. See the blog post we wrote for homemade broth. Andrew will heat some up when he is not feeling well and I use it in soups and chilis.
Fresh Blender Salsa
I am in love with this salsa. It is a big hit here and a great way to get the kids to eat lots of fresh veggies.
Start with lots of fresh ingredients. The farmers market just opened up for the season here and I can’t wait until they have all these yummy ingredients until then I will have to get them from the local market.
Fresh Blender Salsa
Author: Vivian
Recipe type: Blender Salsa
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 7 cups
Ingredients
- 8-10 Roma Tomatoes
- 1 green pepper, seeded
- 1-3 jalapenos, seeded (if you like it hot add all 3)
- 1 med yellow onion
- 1 bunch Cilantro
- 2 garlic cloves or 1 tablespoon diced garlic
- 1 tsp salt to start with- season to taste
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice (can use fresh lemon or bottled)
Instructions
- Add green pepper, jalapeno, onion and garlic to blender. Blend for just a few seconds. Add tomatoes, cilantro, salt and lemon juice. Blend until desired chunkeyness (pretty sure that is a word)
- taste. Add more salt if needed.
I like to take the peppers, garlic and onions and blend them first. This way they are smaller chucks. I usually only add 1 or two jalapenos, I like it hot but I still want to be able to taste the other ingredients. Then I add the tomatoes, lemon juice, cilantro and salt.
Blend until well combined and then taste to make sure you have the salt to your liking. If you accidently make it too salty just add more tomatoes until you have it diluted to your liking. I always start with about a tsp of salt and then add more if needed. When it first comes out of the blender it will have lots of air in it. After a few hours the bubbles go away and it looks a little better.
This is so yummy and will probably be gone the day you make it. It will keep for a week in the fridge. Serve with chips, on eggs in the morning or with streets taco’s which by the way are my new favorite food.
Fresh is always the way to go but if you are looking for a recipe to use up your garden tomatoes this recipe for LuAnn’s Salsa is awesome.
Lemonade Cupcake with Blackberry Buttercream Frosting
Summer is finally here and I am super excited for lemonade, beach parties and of course bbq’s. This is a simple recipe that has a yummy lemony flavor. It is a simple trick to bring that boring cake box mix to the next level. I will warn you though, the lemonade will make the cake be more condensed…less fluffy. I like cake that way. It hold the frosting better.
Lemonade Cupcake with Blackberry Buttercream Frosting
Author: Vivian
Serves: 24
Ingredients
- 24 fresh blackberries
- 1 yellow box cake
- Follow directions on box just substitute lemonade for water. Oil and eggs will be the same according to box directions.
Instructions
- Mix as directed on box. Fill cupcake liners ¾ full and bake as directed on box.
- Cool and Frost
Blackberry Buttercream
Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup Crisco
4 cups powdered sugar
8-10 frozen Blackberries thawed (keep juice)
Directions:
Cream butter and crisco together. Add thawed blackberries and their juices. Mix in powdered sugar one cup at a time. Whip until fluffy. If it is too thin add more powdered sugar if too stiff add another blackberry. It is hard to mess this recipe up. Enjoy!
Check out our other yummy cake recipes:
Mrs Fields Inspired Banana Bread
I remember going to the mall as a teen. Hanging out with friends and heading to the food court if any of us had money. Mrs Fields cookies was a favorite. My Dad actually bought me the Mrs Fields cookbook and I have made so many yummy things out of it. The banana bread page actually has so many smudges on it some of it is hard to make out. Good thing I have it memorized. In my opinion a good banana bread has to have walnuts and chocolate chips. I love to put the walnuts in whole so when you bite into your slice you can tell when you get a walnut.
Mrs Fields Inspired Banana Bread
Author: Vivian
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 2 loaves
Ingredients
- 2¼ cups flour
- 1½ tsp baking soda
- ¾ cups butter
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ½ cup honey
- 2 large eggs
- 5-6 medium super ripe bananas
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 1 cup walnuts
- 1 bag (12 0z) chocolate chips ( I like semi sweet)
Instructions
- in a medium bowl combine the dry ingredients with a wire whisk and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl cream the butter, brownsugar and honey. Add eggs, vanilla and bananas mix until well combined. Add the flour mixture, blend on low speed just until combined. fold in the walnuts and chocolate chips.
- split batter into 2 bread pans. should be just about ½ full. Bake at 325 degrees for 60-70 min until toothpick comes out clean.
Chicken Noodle Soup
Flu season is here and poor Dave has come down with it. I always feel better after having some homemade Chicken Noodle Soup and this is really easy to make. I decided to cut the carrots into hearts so Dave would know it was made with love. Which is a very important ingredient. Check out this link on how to cut carrots into heart shape. Heart Shape Carrots- How to
Chicken Noodle Soup
Author: Vivian
Ingredients
- 4-5 Chicken breasts
- 8 cups of water
- 3 carrots
- 2 stalks of celery
- 1 small onion
- 1 tsp poultry seasoning
- ¼ tsp garlic powder
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 cups dry pasta
Instructions
- In a large stock pot put 8 cups of water and chicken breasts. Boil chicken until done about 8-10 min. Remove chicken from water and shred. Add chicken back to water it was cooked in. Add sliced carrots, celery and diced onion. Add poultry seasoning, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Simmer for 10 minutes. Add pasta and cook following packing timing. Taste to make sure you have enough flavor. Add more salt and pepper if needed.
- Enjoy and get feeling better.
The best thing about this soup is you can freeze it. It will keep in the freezer for 2 months. That way when someone needs so chicken noodle soup it is on hand. Work great for when you get sick and just don’t feel like cooking.
Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole
I love Chicken Cordon Bleu but it takes forever to make so this recipe is right up my ally. I love a simple casserole I can make quickly. My family is always busy doing some crazy thing or another and as much as I would like to spend hours every night making awesome dinners there just isn’t time. You can make this even easier by using a rotisserie chicken. I made this last night and it was gone before I could get seconds. Love this one! It is going into my recipe rotation for sure.
Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole
Author: Vivian
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Ingredients
- 4 - 5 Chicken breasts cooked and shredded or cubed
- ½ lb sliced deli honey ham, diced
- ¼ lb sliced swiss cheese
- Sauce:
- 4 Tablespoons butter
- 4 Tablespoons flour
- 2 cups milk
- 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons dijon mustard
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
Instructions
- Place shredded chicken into 9x13 casserole dish. cover with diced deli ham. Layer swiss cheese over ham and top with sauce. Then sprinkle breadcrumbs on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 min.
- In medium sauce pan melt butter. Add four and wisk together until the flour and butter make a roue. Slowly wisk in the milk until you have a smooth sauce. Add lemon juice, mustard, salt, paprika and pepper. Continue to stir until sauce is thick.
Step 1- Place shredded or diced chicken in bottom of casserole dist
Step 2- Cover chicken with diced ham
Step 3- Cover ham with sliced swiss cheese (not pictured)
Step 4- Make cream sauce and pour over cheese, covering entire surface.
Step 5- Sprinkle breadcrumbs on top
Step 6- Bake in 350 degree oven for 25 min.
If you like this recipe try some of our families favorites.
Potato Casserole AKA Funeral Potatoes
If you live in Utah or Idaho you have probably heard of Funeral Potatoes. These are sooooo good. One of my favorite recipes. In fact growing up my Mom would tell me I better marry a potato farmer because I love potatoes so much. These are a creamy cheesy potato goodness. The reason they have been nick named Funeral potatoes is because when there is a funeral in the community the Relief society ladies will supply a dinner for the grieving family and these potatoes are a great comfort food usually served with Ham and a green salad and probable some kind of Jello. You can’t have a LDS dinner without jello. Also everyone in Utah/Idaho has their own version of this awesome dish. This one is definitely a keeper. My family will devour the whole pan.
Potato Casserole AKA Funeral Potatoes
Author: Vivian
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Ingredients
- 2 lbs frozen shredded hashbrowns
- 2 10.5 oz cans cream of chicken soup
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 small onion, diced
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
- ½ cup bread crumbs
Instructions
- in a large bowl mix together the cream of chicken soup, sour cream, diced onion and cheddar cheese. Once combined add frozen hash browns, mix until well combined. spread mixture into a 9 x 13 casserole dish, sprinkle bread crumbs on top and bake at 350 degrees for 25 min
Check out our other comfort food recipes:
Caramel Surprise Cookies
It’s time for the Sweetest Cookie Exchange again. We love sharing all these great recipes with you and can’t wait to see what our fellow bloggers are making. We have come up with a couple of cookies you are going to want to try. Today we have made a Caramel Surprise Cookie. It is a simple yet decadent cookie. Chewy caramel surrounded by soft cookie awesomeness (totally should be a word).
These are a simple crowd pleaser. Soft cookie with a chewy caramel center. The hardest part was not letting the kids eat all the Rolos before baking day. I did convince them to help remove all the foil wrappers. Okay, I had to bribe them with a few. Love this time of year, cookies and sweet treats baking in the oven. The smell of fresh pine from the Christmas tree and the glow of the twinkling lights all around town.
What is your favorite cookie this time of year?
Caramel Surprise Cookies
Author: Vivian
Recipe type: Cookie
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 6 dozen
Ingredients
- 2 cups shortening
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 cups brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- 4 eggs
- 4½ cups flour
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 package of Rolos
- Chocolate Chips to melt and drizzle over cookie
Instructions
- Cream shortening and sugars. Mix in eggs and vanilla until smooth. Add baking soda, salt and 1 cup of flour at a time, mix until well combined. Take approx a tablespoon of dough and roll into a ball. Squish rolo into the center and wrap dough around rolo. Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet at 325 degrees for 8-10 min. Leave on cookie sheet until cool to touch then transfer to wire rack.
- drizzle melted chocolate chip over cookie.
Check out the Sweetest Season board on Pinterest. Lots of yummy cookies to try