Grilled Chicken, Summer squash and Sweet Corn Pasta and Sauteed Green Beans

Tonight, Chris and I teamed up to make a grilled chicken, summer squash and sweet corn pasta dish, and sauteed green beans. It was very filling and hopefully healthy ;) This was Chris' portion! Ha! I don't eat that much. Here are the recipes:

Grilled Chicken:
Marinade:
Chicken breasts, thighs, tenders, whatever (you could even substitute pork chops)
 Soy Sauce
Chicken Stock or broth
Juice of one lime
a one inch cube of ginger, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced

To mix your marinade, combine the garlic, ginger, and lime juice in a big bowl. Add your meat. Cover with half soy sauce and half stock. Let it marinate in the fridge for at least half an hour. I try to let it sit about 3-4 hours for a really tender chicken. If you use pork, marinate at least 6 hours.

Grill meat until 160 F. Check with a meat thermometer or cut open and the juices should run clear. 

Summer Squash and Sweet Corn Pasta:
2 Tbs Olive oil 
1 zucchini diced
1 yellow squash diced
1 onion diced
2 carrots diced
1 jalapeno, seeded and diced
Corn kernels of 4 corn cobs
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp coriander
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 cup chicken stock or broth
1 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Cooked pasta, I used elbow because that is what I had

Heat oil in a large skillet. When the oil looks like water in your pan, smokes, or when you flick water in it sizzles, add onions and carrots.

When onions are transparent, add squash, zucchini, jalapeno, corn, and garlic. Cook until tender.

Add your stock and let it simmer about 5 minutes or until no longer soupy. Add coriander, salt and pepper. Stir in cheese until melted. Then stir in pasta. Serve hot.

This dish was very good! It had a kick from the pepper. If you prefer, you a more mild flavor, substitute the jalapeno for a bell pepper.

Sauteed Green Beans:
Fresh green beans
Pot of boiling salt water (about 2 Tbs of salt to a big pot of water)
Bowl of ice water
1 Tbs butter
1 shallot, minced
1 Tbs minced parsley

First, you need to prep your green beans. Snap off the stems and strings. Add beans to the boiling water for 5 minutes. The beans will become a very vibrant green. Strain the beans and put them immediately in the ice water. This shocks the beans and stops the cooking process so your beans will remain firm and still have a slight crunch. Leave the beans in the water only as long as it takes them to cool. Lay them out on a paper towel to dry.

In a skillet, melt your butter. Add your beans, shallots, and parsley. Toss and cook until hot, or about 2 minutes. If you over cook, your beans will shrivel and look unappetizing.Season with salt and pepper to taste and enjoy

The green bean recipe is my favorite! During the summer, green beans are super cheap. This recipe is fast and tastes delicious!

Let me know what you think of these recipes! They are staples in our house because of how easy they are, they taste great, and we always have all the ingredients needed. I hope you enjoy em as much as I do.

Quick and easy cupcake plate!

Every batch of cupcakes should have a special place to sit so everyone can admire them until they get eaten. Not every one has sch an awesome place though. My pal B has this amazing tiered cupcake tray that she took a second mortgage out on to get :p

Isn't it gorgeous...

Well I on the other hand am too cheap to buy a tray specifically for cupcakes. That and I just borrow hers when I am having lots of cupcakes. But for times when I am only serving a few cupcakes and not 60, like I did there, I have to be slightly more creative.

You can make this in under 10 minutes! Yay!

It is also technically environmentally friendly because you are re-purposing the toilet paper roll!

Here is what you need:

2 Paper Plates

One Empty Toilet Paper Roll

A Pen

Some scrapbook paper

Some fabric Scraps

Scissors

Double Stick Tape

A Ruler

2 Napkins (optional)

So for the first step you are going to need to get all the paper and glue off the toilet paper roll. It needs to have all the paper off for sure or else the tape will not stick. Then make a mark on your roll. It doesn't matter where, it is just going to help measure how much paper to cut.

 Now, lay the TP roll onto the corner of the paper. Make a mark where the top of the roll is and line the mark you made on the roll with the ede of the paper. Roll the roll (haha) across the edge of the paper until your mark meets the paper again. Make a mark there as well.

Use your ruler to make straight lines and cut out your rectangle. Then, using double stick tape, tape the paper to the TP roll!

I like to fill my roll with fabric scraps to give it some weight so it is steadier. You can also put a napkin on the plates. Put your TP roll in the center of the plate and put a plate on top of it.

 Now, Fill with yummy cupcake-y goodness! Mmmm...

I made this for my "Pinkilicious" play date. We read the book Pinkilicious, ate pink cupcakes (hope we don't all turn pink) and everyone showed up in pink clothes!

The girls really had a great time! 

So here is what I have been up to lately! 

I got the pattern for this dress from Brynnberlee. The fabric is the JoAnn's "Legacy Studio - Artsy" line. It was on the red tag table for $4 a yard. I'm a red tag table kinda girl.

This is a sleeper gown I made for my sister, who is due for another boy in November! Yay! I want to make her more stuff!!! I got the pattern from The Cottage Home. It was not as easy as it sounds, but it only took 4 hours start to finish. The hardest part was getting the sleeves attached. Also, I didn't use any special needle. I just went slow, but had no problems. The knit I used was JoAnns and I had a 50% off coupon, then the binding was made from a rib knit I found in their remnant section so it was 50% off. Are you understanding how I shop so far?? Ha! I am sure if I decided to really up it and make stuff to sell, I would go get designer fabric but for friends and family they can deal with the cheap stuff.

So, that is what I have been up to lately. I sew a lot more than it comes across, I am just unsure about how to get it all in blogging form.

Working on a skirt. Promise to share this soon :) Here is a sneak peek!

Thrift Store Goodies

I have never been into thrift store stuff, I always thought it was junk.... But, now that I am an adult and can think beyond "one mans trash", I see that it really can be "another mans treasure. Today I headed to my local Goodwill, who knew thrift stores had sales?? Everything with a purple tag was 50% off! Good deal!

So the reason I went was because I saw THIS  on The Cottage Home. Which btw, I LOVE that girl! Her two year old's tea party was amazing. And her sewing studio makes me drool, not to mention, she lives in a cottage! Love it! Anyway, I was looking for some cute t-shirts for cheap to repurpose since my sister is about to bring another little boy into the world. She gave all of her newborn stuff to a neighbor who had no family or friends to help her out. My sister has always had a kind giving heart! I did find one shirt I thought was appropriate. Maybe I am going to the wrong thrift store, most every mans shirt was from functions like walk for the cure or the hard rock cafe.

I paid $1. Woot! Woot! It was originally $1.99 but because it had a purple tag, it was 50% off. I do have a red shirt I am going to cut up and use for the neckline and bottom like The Cottage Home did on their sleeper gown.

Next up, I have been drooling over fall wreaths lately. I don't know why, I just really want one. I have been planning on buying the stuff and making one, but when I saw one at the thrift shop I had to look!

Isn't it pretty? It was love at first sight.

The best part?? Only $2.99, but wait, it gets better! Look what was still attached!

That right, a $39.99 tag!

Aubrey and I went through the book section, and I wanted to look for some cook books, but her attention span was lacking. We did go through the plastic ware aisles. We got 4 plastic plates that would be perfect for grilling! And also 2 popcorn things. I think they are really cute. 

So I paid a total of $9.44, I'd say it was a very successful trip!

What do you look for when you head to the thrift store?

Keyhole Dress... Finally!

It only took a forever! I finally finished the keyhole dress from Sugar Tart Crafts. My skills weren't the best to start with and I still have a lot of learning to go, but I did learn bunches from her video tutorials and from her pattern.

My favorite part about this dress was the piping. It takes the dress to a whole new level! At first I was extremely intimidated, until I watched Toni's video a million times! Ha! Being able to see the step made a world of difference. I am a very visual learner. Branch story:: I made a headband for me using this tutorial.

Only thing I did differently was add piping to the main portion of the headband. Very easy tut, honestly took me 30 minutes including cutting my fabric!

Annnnnnnnd were back! So remember last time I showed a picture of the embroidered bird, well here is the bodice finished! It looks very finished with the piping and I added a bow to spice it up. The pearl I used came off a bracelet I had (Aubrey chewed the string apart and we had beads everywhere!). I got the tutorial for it here. Except I gathered mine really tight!

Finally, the buttons! I found a fabric covered button kit at Jo-Anns for 3.79 at half off! Uh duh! It was really easy, you just cut circles, push em in the mold provided, press the cap over, then shove the fabric in the cap and press the back in with the presser provided and VOILA! Too easy! I am in love with how it really pops against the yellow fabric.

So here is where I'm going to brag a little! My mom gave me lots of fabric, and I know I complained slightly last time, but the mister did let me go buy the coordinating fabric because I begged. I added up the total cost to me for this dress. Are you ready for this? A total $8.39 for this dress and my headband! Amazing. Sewing really can be cost efficient if you use your coupons and utilize what you have on hand.

So go check out those sites for the tuts yourself and learn something new!

The New And Improved PMN!

So I hope you noticed that I have been working on my blog. Trying to make it better. To be honest, I am computer illiterate most of the time... I can facebook till my fingers fall off, but html and photoshop are like a foreign language to me. However, I did get the top banner worked out but it still looks a little computer generated. I am not really sure how yall get those really fancy blog pages up and running, but in my mind, mine looks okay and presentable! If not, PLEASE be that friend who tells me so. I need to know if it is junk and am fooling myself.

Anywho, this weekend has been pretty great so far! I am about half way through the keyhole dress. When I was working on it I was also talking on the phone and cut my piping before I was supposed to so, I have to hit up Hancocks again for more! Chris had off Sunday (technically today for me because I haven't gone to bed even though it is Monday at 3:00am) which he usually doesn't, and we spent the day lounging. We laid around until 11, then we went to Chili's for lunch. Aubrey brought her kitten purse and kept pretending it was eating her mac and cheese. The couple behind us wasn't thrilled about her loud "meows." Then it was home for naptime! Aubs napped for 3 hours!!! She is typically a one hour napper, but I guess she is growing and needed more beauty rest. I fell asleep too. Ahhh, sweet nap time.

After we woke up at 4 (which explains why I am up at 3 am), we headed over to the in-laws for dinner. Mops and Pops (Chris dad and stepmom) made grilled chicken, grilled mashed sweet potatoes, steamed broccoli, and peach pie. Following dessert, we headed outside and Aubrey and Pops got in the pool while the rest of us watched.

When we finally got home Aubrey took a bath and then let us know she was ready for bed. I love how she gets her book, hands it to me, then sits down between my legs so I can read her favorite story "Guess How Much I Love You." Chris and I stayed up and watched a couple episodes of True Blood. Love that show! Chris went to bed a couple hours ago, but since I got a nap in I am wide awake.

So, let me know if this is lame, but a lot of people have been posting What they Wore. I like seeing what other stay at home moms wear because I have been trying to dress up more to make myself feel better about my attire. Here is what I wore today:

I found the dress at Macy's for $20. and I've had the boots forever. I know the clutch doesn't match but it was my wallet. Usually I wear pants because I have always been very self conscious about my legs, but I am trying to get over myself and feel more comfortable in my own skin. I was actually very confident in this dress! I think I could maybe make it... hmmmm... maybe.... I guess I outta get some zzz's

Hope you had a great weekend!

How to make a pattern to hand embroider

Here is a peek of the dress I am making. I know the fabric is not designer, but what can I say, my husband is a cheapass! When I told him I needed new fabric to make the dress he said "Didn't your mother just give you a suitcase full of fabric?" Yeah, she did... Thanks mom. No really I appreciate FREE fabric, but Chris isn't going to let me buy new until I have used up my stash. My words to him "It's called a stash because I am stashing it, not because I want to use it right now..." Ha!

Anywho, I am no artist. I cannot draw a straight line, let alone anything of cuteness or quality. So to make my hand embroidery pattern, I like to go online and print out the pictures I want to use. For this project I decided I was going to do a pink outline of a bird so I googled "vintage bird" and printed out the bird I liked best.

Next up I put a lamp under my glass coffee table. If you don't have a glass table, you can put a piece of glass on two chairs and a light under, or tape it to the window with good sunlight. 

Place your fabric on top of paper making sure you have it lined exactly where you want it. Then trace the pattern with a water soluble pencil carefully. 

Tada! Easy! And it looks great!

Next iron some lightweight fusible interfacing onto the back of your fabric.

Slip your fabric onto an embroidery hoop. 

So my mom gave me this really old needle kit! It has some neat needles in it! Anyways, If you don't know how to embroider, you should try... It is easy really when it is broken down. I used a split stitch and the stabbing method. Here is the website to the video I used to learn. There are alot of other stitches on the site as well that will be worth learning.

Anyways, I hope this helped. I know I never thought I would be embroidering, but I find it fun and this is my second project where I have embroidered. 

Happy crafting!

Rosy Cake

I LOVE birthdays. Seriously love them. I have very fond memories of my birthdays as a child. I always got to pick my favorite dinner and there was always a cake. Ever since I have known how to bake, I have made cakes for others birthdays. Usually I claim it is my gift ha! Really I'm just cheap. So just last week it was my best friend's birthday, and I made her a cake! again! She got one last year too.

I love how it turned out and everyone loves a simple white cake and white icing. Pink and yellow is my favorite color scheme right now. I am in the process of making this dress in the pink and yellow. The colors are just so summery!

So my plans for the weekend involve sewing, grilling, and enjoying my air conditioner! Enjoy your weekend!