recipe for crazy

Feels Like Spring

2012-02-27T14:26:00.001-06:00

I had another post prepared for today but the temps are too gorgeous for it so I'm just going to share some recent pics around our house.

It has been unseasonably warm for February in Oklahoma and we have been LOVING it. We've been spending a lot of time outside and doing some gardening.

And gardening means we've also been hitting up the local nurseries for our plants. I know, you're probably thinking, just because it's been warmer these last few days, doesn't mean it's going to last and a freeze is going to come wipe our your garden. I know, I know.

But, according to my grandpa - who happens to be the best gardener I know - your supposed to plant onion sets on February 14th. So, right now we just have onions, strawberries and our greens planted.

We typically get at least one more snow in March so if the temps take a dive, we'll just cover the beds and hope for the best.

Anyway, Sweet P has become quite the helper! She helped me pick out our strawberry plants and entertained me at a nursery.

She helped her daddy pick out tomato plants (we have those inside by a window right now).

I just love this one:

And when it comes to planting, she is no stranger to gardening or dirt.

She is usually right in the middle of what we're doing.

UNLESS, she's playing with her chalk!

Hope you're having beautiful weather where you live!

If you're local and looking for a local place to buy your plants or seeds, we usually go to Stringer's or Carmichael's (in Bixby). I like supporting local shops as much as possible, plus, they usually carry the best varieties for Oklahoma planting.

A Grand Getaway

2012-02-24T09:04:00.000-06:00

Last weekend we had a little relaxing getaway to a friend's house on Grand Lake. It was wonderful.

Sweet P was a trooper on the drive - I think it had to do with the fact that she was wearing her purple tutu! Whatever the reason, she entertained us the whole way. At one point I caught her snacking on her crayon, only to find that it didn't quite taste as good as she wanted.

We can't get enough of her. It's so weird to think that there's going to be two little ones in the backseat soon. I am loving these last few weeks we have a just a family of three but it's still sad. I hope Sweet P doesn't feel any less loved, goodness knows she won't be.

Anyway, once we got there, we got settled in, called it a night and woke up to my favorite sign.

I wouldn't mind living on the lake. Not one bit.

I enjoyed my morning coffee on the deck overlooking the water with my two favorite people.

It was a little chilly but that didn't stop us from exploring.

That girl kills me. She loves being outside, no matter how cold it is. She just started saying windy, though it comes out more like "when-we" and it makes her laugh every time. I love how full of life she is.

Later that night we visited our friend's restaurant, The Roadhouse, because it was prime rib night and I do love a good prime rib. We also got a slice of red velvet cake to-go.

And what goes best with red velvet cake on a chilly night? No, not wine, I am pregnant you know. A fire, duh!

It was so relaxing.

We had to leave the next day but before we headed home, we did a little fishing, played in the golf cart and relaxed on the deck.

Oh, and I finished off that red velvet cake!

Now it's full baby-ready mode back at the house. We started getting all the baby stuff down from the attic: bassinet, swing, jumper. This is going to be happening folks!

Embracing the Camera

2012-02-23T07:40:00.000-06:00

It's been a while since I've participated in Emily's Embrace the Camera. Partly because I'm not too fond of taking pictures of myself all massive and pregnant and partly because I just haven't made it a priority.

It's a little weird to me that I spend the entire day with Sweet P and barely have 10 pictures of me with her in the last few months. I have tons of pictures of her and her with her daddy but not many of me.

I need to be better about getting pictures of us, especially good pictures (aka non-iphone pics). But, for now, these will have to do.

Just the two of us, hanging out in the kitchen with her purple pony.

Heart-Shaped Cookies

2012-02-22T09:11:00.000-06:00

So, you know how I bought those heart-shaped donut pans? Apparently it's a doughnut pan but my fingers can't type that very well so I'm sticking with donut.

Well, I haven't made any donuts - YET - but I did use them last week!

I made the husband some chocolate chip cookies (his absolute favorite dessert) for our trip to the lake over the weekend. More on that later this week. So, having some dough on hand, I decided to try out my pans.

I greased the pans, spread some dough in and baked for like 8 minutes.

The popped right out and were delicious.

He told me I can't make normal cookies ever again. Apparently there's something to the extra browning/little bit of crispy the outside gets from cooking the pan while the middle stays soft and chewy.

I also realized I need to get a pastry bag. I tried piping the dough into the pans but blew a large hole in my ziploc baggie and dough went everywhere. How do I not own a pastry bag? I don't know.

Anyway, hopefully the next time I post about my pans, I'll have donut success to report.

Beautifully Rooted

2012-02-21T08:45:00.000-06:00

I have some exciting news to share today! Have you seen the new blog Beautifully Rooted?

It's a new blog created by Heather Hamilton, of Life Made Lovely, and Rachel Reeves, of No. 17. They wanted to create an online space full of inspiration for Christian ladies and the topics are a mix of home, food, diy, parenting and faith. There are several contributors for each topic which means there's several inspiring posts a day.

As if that isn't exciting enough, I was asked to be a contributor for the "Nourish" section! It was a little intimidating but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to be part of such an inspiring place for ladies. My first post will be up sometime today. I hope you'll check it out and leave me a little note.

There are so many amazing contributors and I feel so blessed to be in such great company. I hope you'll check it out!

Poster Giveaway

2012-02-20T13:27:00.001-06:00

Happy Monday!

For all of you folks that entered my giveaway for a new poster and didn't win, Stephanie has been hosting a giveaway over at her blog, FactThisBlogIsAwesome (how fun is that for a blog name!?), and it ends tonight at midnight!

This is Stephanie:

She's giving away one of these:

So hurry over to her blog to enter the giveaway - that is, if you want a chance to win a poster from my etsy shop! While you're there, tell her I said hi!

Insta Friday

2012-02-17T07:08:00.001-06:00

I have no idea who hosts Insta Friday link ups but I had some Instagram pics I wanted to share so I figured today is as good a day as any!

LEFT: I have been drooling over all these baked donut recipes I've been seeing in blog-insta-pinterest-land so I about wet my pants when I saw these donut pans at Target for 50% off! If you have an insanely awesome recipe for baked donuts - send it my way.

RIGHT: Did you know Oreo turns 100 this year? I didn't until I saw the Birthday Oreos at the grocery store the other day and now we are all celebrating. The cream filling tastes like cake batter and has sprinkles! Such fun, although I still prefect the plain ol' double stuffed one.

LEFT: That was my breakfast one day last week: coffee and chocolate sheet cake, The Pioneer Woman's chocolate sheet cake, to be exact. Great breakfast and super easy, fast and delicious recipe.

RIGHT: Sweet P enjoying her Mexican food. Mmm.

LEFT: Peek
RIGHT: a-Boo

LEFT: Making memories and bringing joy to one of her great-grandmas.
RIGHT: Just a little morning reading on the floor.

LEFT: Aha, someone found out how to make the shutter click.
RIGHT: And it may be the greatest thing EVER!

Oh the fun of instagram!

Well, Hello There

2012-02-16T14:16:00.001-06:00

We've had a bit of a rough go of it around our house this week. Nothing major, just some illnesses that have had us all down.

I have a never-ending pregnancy sinus issues, Sweet P had rsv, the husband got the stomach flu and then he gave it to me. I think we are finally all getting better though, well, I still have the sinus stuff but it seems that's just a lovely side-effect of being pregnant, that and leg cramps while I sleep!

Anyway, my little girl had been an absolute dream while we've all been sickly and she steals my heart every day.

I honestly don't know what I'm going to do with another little one around.

Where will the love come from? How can my heart get any bigger?

I don't know but I'm super excited to find out!

P.S. Don't you love Sweet P's headband!? It's from Snugars!! I love it!

Thanks so much, ladies!

Happy Valentine's Day!!

2012-02-14T06:12:00.001-06:00

Hope your day is filled with LOVE!

Monday

2012-02-13T07:29:00.000-06:00

Creative title!

Last week was a bit of a whirlwind for me - in a crazy, good way! So this week may be lacking in posts as I try to relax a little.

As you know, I opened my etsy shop last Monday so I needed to make a few changes to the blog.

If you're viewing this on a feed, you haven't noticed the changes so come on over and see for yourself.

The design hasn't changed, I just updated some things. First of all, I updated the top menu bar. Now there are links to my etsy store and an about me page.

I realized I didn't have any sort of about me section and a lot of you are new to my blog, so hopefully you can check that page out and get to know me a little better.

I also added some sidebar links: one for my Etsy shop (I know, I know, get off the Etsy shop already :) ) and a little instagram graphic with my username, @recipeforcrazy.

Sometimes I'll see bloggers post their instagram pics but not their name which makes it pretty hard to find them - I do this sometimes. So, instead of leaving my username after every post, if you want to find me, there I am.

These aren't major changes but I hope they're helpful!

I hope you have an awesome week!

The Winners Are ...

2012-02-10T08:55:00.001-06:00

Wow! There were 235 entries on the poster giveaway! You guys totally blew me away.

Thank you for all the sweet comments on the prints and shop. I'm so excited.

Now on to what you're waiting for, the winners.

Drumroll ...

199. hutch mom: who said, "YAY!! love your posters!! i added your shop to my favorites...i LOVE the JOY poster. it's LOVELY! {it would look perfect in my SWEET PEA's room}..." You get the JOY poster!

143. Suz: who said, "i LOVE the "you are my sunshine" print!" You get the SUNSHINE print!

42. Mom to Two Lovelies: who said, "I'd love the Joy print!" You get the LOVE print!
- I couldn't find a way to contact you so please email me your info.

Congratulations to the winners!

You will be getting an email today but if you don't, send me your info at lesley(at)recipeforcrazy(dot)com and I'll get your prints shipped.

Thanks again for everyone that participated in the giveaway! You guys are so awesome!!

If you didn't win, you can still get a print from my etsy shop :)

Have a fantastic weekend!

Last Day to Enter the Giveaway!

2012-02-09T09:24:00.001-06:00

Hey guys, I just wanted to remind you that you have until 11:59 this evening to enter in the drawing for one of three of my new poster designs.

To enter, go here.

In other news, my little miss is 18 months old. She's actually 18 months, 2 weeks, but here's a photo I forgot I had from a failed attempt at her 18 month pics.

She was a tad moody so that was the best of the bunch!

Happy Thursday and see you tomorrow to announce the winners!!

Robbers Cave State Park

2012-02-07T07:54:00.001-06:00

First off, you guys are awesome! Thank you so much for all the comments and kind words about my new etsy shop yesterday! I'm so excited. If you haven't entered the giveaway, you have until Thursday night.

So, on to some other fun. Last week we took a little "baby moon" to Robbers Cave State Park.

I have been wanting to go on a little getaway for a while now and when I saw a Groupon for 1/2 price stay at the cabins, I decided to surprise the husband with a little trip out of town. My mom and dad watched Sweet P so we could have a little alone time before baby #2 makes his/her big debut.

Sweet P got a special donut breakfast before we left her for the night. And man, it sure felt weird going out of town with an empty car seat. We talked about how it just didn't feel right. I can't tell you how many times I glanced back to see if she was ok!

Anyway, we made the quick little drive out of town and got to check into our cabin earlier than expected!

When I booked the cabin I had a choice of the honeymoon suite or a two-bedroom cabin. I opted for the honeymoon suite because it was supposed to have the best view. When the lady asked us what room we were staying in, I told her the number, 101. She replied with an "ooooh, the honeymoon suite!" I giggled because she didn't see us walk in and the counter was pretty high so she couldn't see that I was 32 weeks pregnant. The husband then felt the need to explain our whole life story and how this was our second honeymoon before baby #2 arrives and yada, yada, yada. I felt like a dork.

All that to say, the honeymoon suite did have the best view on the property!

The cabin was really nice and very spacious. I could've stayed a lot longer than one night.

So, after we got all our stuff in and unloaded, we ventured out to do some exploring. Our first stop were the caves. There's a little area of caves that you can hike up and around and even do some rock climbing or rapelling - if you're not 32 weeks pregnant!

Side note - on the way up to the caves a little older lady stopped us to ask if we were going up to the caves. I said yes and she politely warned me of the steep climbs and not to go into labor in a cave.

Thanks for the tips - on we went.

The weather was perfect and the views were fabulous. We hiked around and explored the caves.

By this time, the little older lady and the kids she was with were gone leaving the entire area to just me and the husband. It was awesome. No diapers to change. No schedule to go by. Nothing but the love of my life and the great outdoors.

We were enjoying our little get-a-way.

After cave exploring, we did a little fishing before heading back to the cabin to start on dinner.

Since the cabin was stocked with cooking utensils, a kitchen and plates, we brought an ice chest with some food for our lunches and dinner. I started on dinner and the husband started on the fire.

A little surf and turf - who says you can't eat good when staying at a park!?

We sat outside by the fire until the wee hours in the morning talking, laughing, wondering what our little girl had been up to all day and brainstorming names for baby #2. Ok, let's be honest, we stayed up until 1am. Not the wee hours but far later than I've been up in a long time!

Then, one of the greatest things happened! I slept in until almost 9am! Granted, my internal clock woke me up at 8 and I couldn't fall back asleep, but still, I got to stay in bed until 9!! It was glorious.

We ate a little breakfast, packed up, checked out and headed back home. There was a minor miscalculation in how much gas we had and where the next station was but we made it just fine. A little excitement added to the end of a great trip!

We picked up our much-missed, much-talked about, little girl and got her back where she belongs and I even got a little cuddle time in before it was time to go to bed.

And thus, the end to our "babymoon" and the trip was a success! The only thing we didn't accomplish was choosing a name for baby #2. So now it's crunch-time!!

The Big News

2012-02-06T07:00:00.001-06:00

***UPDATE: giveaway is now closed***

First off, you guys cracked me up on Friday with your guesses. I better clear some things up before I get to the news.

I may or may not be having a girl - we still don't know. Could be a girl. Could be a boy. In about 7 weeks, give or take a few days, we'll know!!!

Also, we are not having twins. I had a Dr. appointment last week and there's still only one little peanut in there.

So, if I'm not announcing the sex, name or the fact that I'm carrying an extra little one around, what is this big news?

I'm opening an Etsy store!

If you follow me on instagram, you saw the "joy" print already. Or, if you were really paying attention, you saw the pic on the January in photos post - hence the very small clue of JOY :)

I have been wanting to do this for quite sometime and finally committed to it. I know this isn't as exciting news as some of you expected so I hope to still make it a little exciting by doing a giveaway!

I have three poster designs in the store right now so there will be three, yes three, winners in this week's giveaway - one winner per poster, chosen at random.

Do you want to enter the giveaway for your chance to win one of my posters?

Yes!?

Oh that's so exciting!

Just leave me a comment letting me know which design you would want if you were chosen.

If you want to increase your chances of winning, you can get another entry if you share this giveaway on twitter and come back and let me know about it.

Want another entry? Share it on your blog and come back and leave me a comment with the link.

If that doesn't make you feel good about your chances, you can share a link to the giveaway and leave me a comment.

If my math is right, that's a max of four entries.

I will accept entries until 11:59pm, Thursday night, Oklahoma time (so you can space your comments out over the next few days, if you so choose). The three winners will be chosen at random using the random number generator and I will announce the winners Friday! Each winner will get an 11"x17" printed poster.

I also want to let you know how excited I am to announce that part of the proceeds of every sale of the "love" poster will be donated to Love146, an organization that is close to my heart.

So go check out my store already and let me know what you think.

Thanks and good luck!!!

Big News Coming

2012-02-03T08:17:00.001-06:00

We are really excited around here!

We have a BIG announcement next week!

We're so happy we're jumping for JOY!

That's all I'm going to say for now but there was a teeny, tiny hint in there.

Have a great weekend!

What does she eat?

2012-02-02T00:01:00.001-06:00

I've been asked a few times what my 18 month old eats so I decided to dedicate a post just on that.

I hesitated to post this because I don't know what you guys feed your kids, I've seen some of the mini pieces of art you guys make out of your kid's meals and then there's the, "what will people think?" Am I giving her enough fruit, dairy, whole grains? Am I feeding her too many sandwiches or too much meat? Yes, no, either way, it is what it is, so here's a little glimpse into what she eats.

I'll start with breakfast. We rarely eat the same thing two days in a row. I'm just not a planner and just make whatever sounds good, easy or what I have on hand the morning of.

One thing that's pretty constant is fruit. I go to Aldi about once a week just for produce - 99¢ pineapples & strawberries - worth the drive for me! Oh, and she always has milk with breakfast. She wakes up asking for milk.

Anyway, here's a random week in photos.

top left to bottom right: biscuit with butter and cinnamon/sugar with sliced strawberries and kiwis, steel cut oats with bananas, yogurt with granola, steel cut oats with bananas and frozen blueberries, egg and cheese biscuit with a cutie, another egg and cheese biscuit with bananas.

Next up is lunch.

We typically eat the same thing for lunch to make it easy. If I make a sandwich, whether it's pb&j, roast beef or grilled cheese, I half it between the two of us. Then it's cheese and fruit or a veggie.

--> Yes, I'm aware how boring this post is, but it has been asked!

Anyway, here are some random photos.

PBJ, string cheese and raisins, roast beef and cheese sandwich with raw corn and grapes, ham and cheese with orange/strawberry smoothie, roast beef and cheese with avocados, left over cheeseburger with a cutie and juice.

Last up is dinner.

I totally failed at dinner photos. Dinnertime is the crazy time for us. Sweet P is usually hungry and climbing up my leg or peering over the cutting board as I prepare dinner, the husband isn't home from work yet and I'm just scrambling to get food on the table. So, forgive me for forgetting to take some sample shots.

Basically, she eats what we eat with a cup of milk.

Homemade pizza
Spaghetti and meat sauce with corn on the cob and half a piece of toast
Baked fish, cheesy potatoes and green beans
Mexican food - she loves dipping her chips in salsa or queso and licking it off, then she gets some of what we ordered.
Grilled cheeseburger, 1/4 of my baked potato and 1/2 a banana

All that to say, the kid likes just about everything - except broccoli! She hates that.

Her favorites are fruit of any kind: strawberry, kiwi, grapes, banana, pineapple, oranges, apples and pears. Her favorite veggies are corn, sweet potatoes, potatoes, carrots, peas and squash of any kind.

But, her ABSOLUTE favorite thing to eat is ...

wait for it ....

CRACKERS.

Yes, you read it right. That is the most requested snack of any. She doesn't get them very often and when given the choice between a cracker or ice cream, she chose the cracker. Who is this child?

I'm scared to see if she'd pick a cracker over a donut. Goodness knows I wouldn't! Ha!

I'm sure that is WAY more info than any of you care to know about the eating habits of an 18 month old, even those that have asked! But there you have it.

January in Photos

2012-02-01T07:48:00.001-06:00

I've mentioned that I was joining in on the instagram and Fat Mum Slim's photo-a-day challenge this year. Well, January is over and here are my photos to represent.

I didn't commit to the FMS prompts until day 6 but here are my photos: 1-something you adore, 2-reflection, 3-drink, 4-treat, 5-lunch, 6-makes you smile, 7-favorite, 8-breakfast, 9-daily routine, 10-childhood, 11-where you sleep, 12-close-up, 13-in your bag, 14-something you're reading, 15-happiness, 16-morning, 17-water, 18-something you bought, 19-sweet, 20-someone you love, 21-reflection, 22-your shoes, 23-something old, 24-guilty pleasure, 25-something you made, 26-color, 27-lunch, 28-light, 29-in your fridge (freezer), 30-nature, 31-me.

You can also see my whole set larger on my flickr set: 2012 PhotoADay.

Here's a link for February's list if you want to join in the fun: February photo a day.

Crispy Southwest Chicken Wraps (recipe reviewed)

2012-01-31T07:01:00.001-06:00

I found another great recipe on pinterest that I had to share.

This one is a pretty quick dinner idea and my whole family loved it. The husband termed it quesaritos, because they're kind of a mix between a quesadilla and a buritto.

Here's a link to the recipe from Mel's kitchen cafe. She mentioned that the original idea came from Cooks Country. By the way, have you ever watched that show? It's really good and makes me hungry every time. I think it's on Saturday mornings.

Anyway, the things I liked most about this recipe were: it was fast, easy and really tasty. I had a bag of pre-cooked chicken strips in the freezer so I used those instead of the shredded chicken. I also added a few fresh toppings but other than that, I kept with the recipe.

First you make the lime-cilantro-black bean mixture (which happened to be my favorite part - next to the cheese) and cook the rice.

If you have pre-cooked chicken, that's all the cooking that's involved! Then you just assemble the "quesaritos." I bought the huge burrito sized flour tortillas and it made six.

Then you put each one in a skillet (with a little melted butter) to crisp up the sides, top with sour cream, salsa, fresh jalapenos and avocados and eat.

And your meal is complete!

Every Princess Needs a TuTu

2012-01-30T08:40:00.001-06:00

Each day I'm amazed at how independent my little Sweet P is getting.

She wants to do everything on her own and with as little help as necessary. I love watching her confidence grow as she becomes so much more a little girl and so unlike a little baby. She's just growing so fast and I'm trying to take every moment in.

One thing that is totally new is her independence in clothes choice. Her sister-cousin has always been pretty opinionated about her clothes and it's something I've never dealt with. Sweet P usually doesn't care what I put on her and for the most part, still let's me pick out her clothes.

However, she is starting to have her own opinions and favorites. She loves anything "cat" so any shirt or pajama with a cat on it gets picked first. When those are dirty, she likes her purple dress or sweater her pappy got her for Christmas.

Every now and then she demands to wear the tutu her aunt Ashley made her. If I ask her if she wants to wear it she always says no. I have found that to be true about almost everything.

My idea and it's a no. Her idea and it's the way to go.

This past week I had changed her after her nap and went to her closet to pick out her clothes.

This is what she picked.

Her purple process, cat shirt and her tutu. She's pretty stinkin cute, if I do say so myself!

My favorite socks

2012-01-25T22:19:00.001-06:00

Someone stole my favorite socks.

I'm not naming names.

But to be honest, I don't really mind because my knee length, neon heart socks look pretty cute on those plump little thighs.

Letters

2012-01-24T22:41:00.001-06:00

I have a thing for typography so you can imagine my delight when I stumbled upon these little beauties:

There were about 4 tubs filled with random letters, symbols and punctuation marks in various typefaces and sizes. I sorted through each tub until I found all the letters I needed. I have a small bag full that I came home with and have NO idea what I am going to do with them right now.

I just couldn't resist so if you have any good ideas, send them my way.

Homemade Pizzeria Pizzas

2012-01-23T15:20:00.001-06:00

I'm sharing one of my favorite recipes today. Honestly, it's not really a recipe at all. It's more like an easy, cheater recipe for a fun dinner.

Growing up we used to have pizza night where we got to make our own mini pizzas with whatever topping we wanted. The secret to fast mini pizzas was a can of biscuits. Yes, biscuits, the kind that come in a tube and you pop it open and put them on a cookie sheet to bake for breakfast. My mom would roll out each biscuit and then we'd top it with sauce, cheese, pepperoni ... you get the idea.

Anyway, we do the same thing now that I'm a mom, the only difference is the crust. There happens to be an awesome little hole-in-the-wall pizza place near me so I stop in and buy their raw dough. They sell the equivalent of a large pizza dough for only $3! Sure, it's more expensive than a can of biscuits but the taste of real pizza crust is tough to beat.

What is this magical pizza place I speak of? The Pie Hole. I've mentioned it before when I made pizza balls. They have this white pizza that's really good and their cheesy bread, well, it's pretty much amazing. So go try it and take home a ball of dough.

Anyway, I had all kinds of left overs ready for pizza toppings after a week of dinners so I stopped by and bought some dough (if you follow me on instagram, you already knew this - it was for "something I bought".)

Since this really isn't a recipe, I'll just share what we had for toppings but really, the possibilities are endless. I set each topping out in little bowls: chopped onions, bell peppers, mushrooms, jalapenos, leftover cooked chicken, pepperoni and cooked sausage. We also had mozzarella and cheddar cheese and regular pizza sauce.

Here's a tasty little idea for a different taste - make your own garlic butter glaze. In a small bowl combine 2 tablespoons of butter, 2 tablespoons of olive oil and two minced garlic cloves. Microwave it until the butter melts and brush that over the dough. I made one with just the glaze and it was amazing but it's also really good with pizza sauce on top too.

Anyway, I divided the dough into 7 balls, rolled each one out and then we each topped our own pizzas with the different toppings. It was fun and easy. Even Sweet P helped!

That's my pizza in the lower left with the garlic butter glaze, onion, mushroom, pepperoni and mozzarella cheese. It also ended up being my favorite.

As for cooking them, here's another little tip I learned from making these in the past. Bake the pizza at 450 degrees on a cookie sheet until the cheese starts to brown. Then, take the pizza of the cookie sheet and put them back in the oven, directly on the rack and bake for a few more minutes. This will make the crust a little crunchy but still soft in the middle.

MMM.

Here's my little pizza.

And here's one of the husband's.

So that's that. Homemade pizzeria pizzas. As good as, if not better than going out and much less expensive!

Instagram

2012-01-19T08:30:00.000-06:00

I mentioned a little while back that I was going to do a new photo challenge with instagram and my phone. I started out just planning on taking a picture a day for an entire year.

Once I got started, I noticed other people doing something similar but there was a common theme. As far as I know, this lady, Chantelle, created the graphic that tons of instagrammers are using to inspire their year-long photo challenge.

I started using her prompts and have really liked it.

Day 15 was happiness.

Here's a couple of pictures I took that almost made it:

First, a personal favorite. My husband doing the dishes = happiness.

Then there's the dinner he made. Baked fish, cheesy potatoes and cole slaw. Mmm. Good food and not having to cook it = happines.

Did I mention I wasn't feeling well this day? No? Oh, well that explains how I managed to get him to cook and do the dishes in one night!

Then there was my Sweet P and her chalk. I was happy it was warm enough to be outside to a little bit and she was happy to have her chalk. The kid and sidewalk chalk = happiness.

I finally decided on this one. I love that big ol-gap-toothy-smile. It makes me happy. That girl makes me happy.

I hope your day is filled with happiness!!

Tulsa Flea Market Finds

2012-01-18T08:36:00.000-06:00

Remember that post I wrote for Tasha Does Tulsa? Well, I have some new finds to add to my collection of awesome flea market treasures.

Notice the little hand trying to steal my goodies?

The thing I'm most excited about from my last trip to the Tulsa Flea Market was this beauty.

My cat recently broke my old butter dish and I almost went out and bought another basic white one from Target but decided to hold off. I'm so glad I did! I have a few Pyrex pieces in this pattern, I think it's called Butterprint, and love that it's a butter dish to add to my little collection! And the best part, it was only $6!! That's even less than I was going to spend on a plain, boring white one!

And my other favorite find of the day was an old wooden soda-pop crate. By the way, do you say soda, pop or coke? I say them all. Random.

Anyway, I've been on the hunt for a crate to put Sweet P's kitchen toys in and the soda (pop, coke) crate was the perfect size to fit in my little microwave stand. Which, by the way, I haven't done anything to since I bought it. I couldn't decide if I wanted to paint it or not so right now it's the way I bought it. Back to the crate. I've seen a ton with the metal dividers but didn't want those because her toys were going in it. After months of searching, I found this little guy and he was a steal for $8. I think it's a steal anyway. I also liked the fact that it didn't have a brand painted on the box.

So here's what the little area looks like before and after the crate.

Do you think HGTV will be calling asking for decorating advice soon? Ha.

It's the small things folks. Seriously, I really am very pleased with my little finds and am proud to give them a loving home.

2012-01-17T08:39:00.000-06:00

Hi, my name is Lesley and I'm a pinaholic. It's been 1 day since my last pin.

Seriously, pinterest is a great place for inspiration and recipe ideas. I have 125 recipes pinned to my food board right now. When am I going to find the time to make all those? Sometimes it's hard to make a recipe because, although the picture looks great, the dish might not be so good.

I think it would be awesome if there was a recipe reviews part of pinterest. Something to where if you pinned something and made it and wanted to leave a comment, that everyone could see it. I think that would be helpful. I know you can leave comments on pins but I think only your followers or people that repinned your pin can see it.

Since no place like that exists (that I know of) I'll leave comments on the pins for recipes I make and leave reviews here.

I'm going to start with two recipes I made this weekend.

First up, Gooey Cake.

Source: pauladeen.com via Lesley on Pinterest

I pinned Paula Dean's Gooey Cake recipe a while back and finally made it Saturday. When I initially saw the recipe, it make me think of a dessert my husband and I devoured at a little Italian restaurant. When the waitress brought us our check she made sure to tell us that she'd never seen two people finish the entire thing. Yikes. It was so good though.

Although it has been years since we ate that Italian Butter Cake, Paula Dean's recipe seemed the same and was just as delicious. The Gooey cake was super easy to make and called for very few ingredients - thus, making this a go-to dessert any occasion.

The only thing I varied was adding some powdered sugar to the top after it cooled. I think it makes it look extra fancy!

The other recipe I tried, and have made 3 times in 2 days, was an Orange Julius recipe. Here's a link to the recipe from Sweet Treats and More.

It tastes just like an Orange Julius from the mall! That's a great thing in my book. If you have milk, water, sugar, vanilla, ice and orange juice concentrate, you are ready to make your own!

Source: sweettreatsmore.com via Lesley on Pinterest

I thought her recipe was great but a tad too orange-y for my taste so I tweaked the recipe to my liking.

1/2 cup water
1 Tablespoon sugar (I've also tried it with raw sugar and it's great that way too)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup milk
1/4 frozen orange juice concentrate

First I blended the water, sugar and vanilla in my magic bullet and then I added the milk and blended a little more to get it good and frothy. Next I added the on concentrate and enough crushed ice to fill the cup and blended until the ice didn't make any noise. I divided it between two cups but seriously could have drank the whole thing myself.

Perfection. Even the husband agreed it tasted just like a real Orange Julius! I see myself trying this recipe with all kinds of different concentrates! I'll let you know how that goes.

So, long post but there you have it. Two pinterest recipes crossed off the list and reviewed.