DIY or DIE

Great news, I joined a craft group! My sweet friend from high school, Kate Gallacher put together a monthly craft possy to help us meet new friends and finally execute our forever pins of cute crafts on Pinterest. I've been so excited for this to start and this month was my turn!

To explain how this is all going down, just in case you would like to start your own, here are the deets:

-Our group consists of 12 girls (1 girl per month)

-Every 2nd Wednesday of the month we meet up at 7pm to craft it up

-Each month a different girl will host the craft

(hosting consists of having everyone over, picking the project, getting the supplies, and of course providing snacks)

- Every girl pays $15/month to participate. 

-We have a craft bin holding all the extra supplies from past crafts (so they can be recycled in a different project) that gets passed from host to host at each activity. 

I created this little calendar and sent it out to everyone in the mail via Pixingo (which makes it easy) trying to prove my domesticity.  (ignore the red squiggles, those didn't get printed)

My efforts in proving my domestic self were to no avail. I couldn't hide my lack of crafty talent for long. I saw this darling idea on Pinterest that seems simple enough. All you need is a plain white mug and a sharpie, what could go wrong? The girls would soon see right through me! I had high hopes that craftiness would just spring out of me when I needed it most and DIY would become a suffix to my name.

Lets just say I'm learning it takes practice and patience. Although my DIY skills are in the making, I do love to throw a P A R T Y. Here's how it turned out!

Disregard the limited space in our condo, presentation was a little smushed. 

Everyone else's mugs turned out DARLING. I wish so bad I would've taken pictures of all of them. All you need is a blank mug and a gold sharpie. Design as you wish and bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. *Let the mugs cool COMPLETELY. (or learn the hard way)

DISCLAIMER: I had someone message me who tried the mugs... guess you shouldn't put them in the dishwasher! I hand-washed mine, so they have stayed decorated. Some dishwashers may erase all your hard work.

The drink in the giant mason jar was a hit:

Simply Limeade 

Diet 7Up

Mint Leaves

Lime

Love

Food served was different, easy, and great for parties:

Sliced apples from Costco on lollypop sticks

Caramel and Chocolate fondue 

+ toppings 

(heath bar bits, oreo bits, coconut, & peanuts)

We also munched on a yummy salad and rolls. It was a delicious and domestic evening. 

Let me know how yours turns out! 

DIY or DIE

Wishful Cooking

Let me start off by clarifying my lack of skills in the kitchen, but also add my will and optimistic dreams of being this killer cooking queen of a wife. In my heart I know Cam's love for me will grow, my kids will think I'm a cooler mom, my neighbors will want to be better friends, and then someday the food network will offer me my own show...and then the smoke clears from the kitchen and I wake up from the fireman beating down the door because I've burnt the dang toast again.

I will say I'm pretty lucky because Cam is the easiest eater on planet earth. He will eat anything I make and say it's delicious even when the chicken is dry as dust or the bread is burnt black. Hopefully I'm getting better with each meal I attempt. My mother reminds me she's been cooking for 20 years and that's a lot of practice...so my dream continues.

I did attempt a delicious recipe this week and it turned out pretty delicious, except I haven't quite mastered the moist chicken yet. If you are better at that than I am, I am sure this will turn out scrumptious.

This recipe comes from a magazine I picked up at the local Costco, but you can find it HERE

Curried Chicken with Ginger, Mango, and Lime

Serves 4

You'll Need:

3 lbs bone-in, skinless chicken thighs 

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon curry powder

2 teaspoons salt

1/4 teaspoon allspice

25 grinds black pepper

3 tablespoons vegetable oil (I use coconut oil)

1 1/2 cups finely chopped red bell peppers

1 1/2 cups finely chopped red onion

2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
1 tablespoon minced garlic

2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh jalapeños (seeds and all removed)

1 cup low-sodium chicken stock

1/2 cup mango chutney

1/2 cup fresh-squeezed, strained lime juice

1 tablespoon honey

1 3/4 cups 1 inch chunks ripe mango

1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro leaves, for garnish

4 lime wedges, for serving

In a large bowl, coat the chicken with a light layer of flour, shaking off and reserving the excess flour. 

Season the chicken on both sides with the curry, 1 teaspoon salt, allspice, and 18 grinds of pepper.

Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a sauce pan over medium-high heat.

When hot, add the chicken and cook, turning halfway through until both sides are lightly golden brown (about 7 minutes).

Transfer to crockpot

Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon oil in the pan, then saute' the bell peppers, onion, ginger, garlic, and jalapeño until the onion has softened (about 3 minutes).  

With a wooden spoon, add the reserved flour and stir until in disappears (no more than a minute).

Add the stock, chutney, lime juice, honey, and the remaining 1 teaspoon salt and 7 grinds of pepper; bring to a boil, stirring often.

Pour over the chicken, cover and cook on LOW LOW LOW (hence my dry as dust chicken) until tender and cooked through.

Just before serving, gently stir in the fresh mango and garnish. 

I served it over quinoa with a side of zucchini and squash.  YUM!

Bon Appetit,

1st Annual Couples Halloween Party

We held our first party as a married team this weekend and had such a great time! Our funnest friends spent a night full of food, games, costumes, and laughs with us and we couldn't have had a better time. It all started a few weeks ago, when we sent out our invites using Pixingo: 

Thanks to wife for putting a wrong address, everyone got lost and wound up all around the valley. (whoops... sorry all!)  So after many phone calls and texted pins, most had arrived and we dug into the delicious "freaky food" everyone helped bring.

The fun meal was followed with games, a photo-booth (created by us, obviously), a "tattoo" parlor and the costume contest winners! As simple as it was, we LOVED being with everyone and had a million ideas for the next party. Thank you to everyone who came and helped out. We are so blessed to have you in our lives. 

First Place Winner of the Costume Contest:

Kenzie and A.J.

Second Place Winner of the Costume Contest:

Tyler and Kallie

And the Third Place Winner of the Costume Contest:

Katie and Kevin

The rest of the photo-booth pictures turned out awesome!

Lastly, here are the recipes for the soups/chili I made for the party. Enjoy!!!

Creamy White Chili

Ingredients: 

1 lb boneless chicken (shredded)

1 medium onion

1 1/2 tsp Garlic Powder

1 tb oil

2 cans Great Northern Beans

1 can Chicken Broth

2- 4 oz cans diced chilies

1 tsp Salt

1 tsp Cumin

1 tsp Oregano

1/2 tsp Pepper

1/4 tsp Cayenne Pepper

1 cup Sour Cream

1/2 cup Heavy Cream

Saute: chicken, onion, garlic powder until chicken is cooked! Add beans, broth, seasoning and chilies. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, simmer 30 min. Remove from heat. Add Creams. Serve immediately. 

(serves 7)

Potato Cheese Soup

Ingredients: 

30 oz bag of shredded hash browns

3 cans Chicken Broth

1 can Cream of Chicken Soup

1/2 cup chopped onion

Salt & Pepper

1 package Cream Cheese (add right before serving)

2 handfuls of shredded cheese

Put everything into crockpot

*Garnish with shredded cheese and bacon bits

Cream Cheese Chicken Chili

Ingredients:

1 can black beans

1 can corn, undrained

1 can Rotel, undrained

1 package ranch dressing mix

1 tsp cumin

1 Tbsp chili powder

1 tsp onion powder

1 8 oz package light cream cheese

2 chicken breasts

Drain and rinse black beans. Place chicken at bottom of pot, then pour out whole can of corn (undrained), rotel, and black beans. Top with seasonings and ranch mix. Stir together. Place cream cheese on top. Cover with lid and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Stir cream cheese into chili. Use 2 forks to shred chicken. Stir together and serve.