Chili's Queso

Copycat recipes are great!  You can enjoy your favorite foods without eating out and forking out 10 times the cost.  I made this for a movie night with my husband.  Very good.  One recipe makes a huge batch.

http://www.sixsistersstuff.com/2012/01/chilis-copycat-skillet-queso-recipe.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+blogspot%2FyJOAYq+%28Six+Sisters%27+Stuff%29

Mmm Mmm Good

There is something about having a bowl of warm hearty soup on a cold rainy day.  This meal fit perfectly with the weather outside.  This creamy chicken and rice soup was made in a crockpot.  Thursdays are my busiest day and the crockpot is the only way to get a hot meal on the table. 
PS. this soup was delicious!!

http://thriftydecorchick.blogspot.com/2011/09/comfort-foods.html

1st book of 2012

I read a ton of books last year.  I hope I am able to find some time to read a lot this year, too.  My neighbor lent me this book.  It is about a family in Scotland who worked in the coal mines by force and found their way to America to travel west with the LDS saints.  This book was based on true facts; I had no idea what these people had to endure in Scotland.  It is sad.

I enjoyed this book!

http://deseretbook.com/Light-Above-Jean-Holbrook-Mathews/i/5022188

Pot Roast Nachos

These would have been a good Super Bowl snack, or an appetizer, but we had them for a whole meal.  We made a roast for Sunday dinner (our own recipe, not the roast recipe found below) and of course we had a lot of left over meat.  So I made these the next day.  My husband loved them and has already asked fo them again! They were just the right spiciness and we will definately be having these nachos again!

http://www.plainchicken.com/2011/06/pot-roast-nachos.html

Lemon ~n~ raspberries

Sunday dinner dessert.... Yummy.  I will make this again because it was easy and good.  Next time though, I want to use blueberries instead of raspberries.  I like them better!  Cherries would also be great.

http://thimbleanna.com/recipes/rasppie.html

Bookmarks

The kid and I absolutely LOVE to read.  Between the two of us we go through a ton of books.  We usually just grab any random piece of paper laying around to use as a bookmark.  This Sunday afternoon we made these cute bookmarks from guess what?  Home Depot paint samples!!
Another great idea from pinterest.  You will not see us reading another book without these stylish bookmarks.  The kid already has one ready to go.

School

It is amazing how much paperwork a child brings home from school.  There is no way you can keep everything but I feel g.ilty everytime I throw something away.  I mean, this is my childs smarts and creativity in action.  So I end up with piles of school stuff that I dont know what to do with.

Me and the kid sat down together and organized all her saved school work.  It was fun to go through everything together.  We organized it into school years.  Someday we will love going through all of these files to reminisce and remember how cute all her papers are.

http://iheartorganizing.blogspot.com/2010/11/school-paperwork-storage.html

Canvas photos

My new favorite thing to work with is canvas.  I found this idea on pinterest.

 http://thecraftingchicks.com/2010/07/i-%e2%99%a5-canvas-photo-wall-hanging.html

This last weekend we had a craft night with some of the girls.  This is what I made. All you need is canvas, scrapbook paper, wood letters and cute pictures. 

Andes cupcakes

Oh yes....  These bad boys are awesome!  Mint is my favorite flavor and chocolate is my husbands favorite treat.  These cupcakes gave us both.
*A few notes:  These took a few hours to make and my kitchen ended up a mess.  Second- I know these contradict my previous post on my getting in shape goal.  But I could not pass this recipe up.  They ended up awesome.

http://www.yourcupofcake.com/2011/05/andes-mint-cupcakes.html

Abs

Having a baby is a miracle and I love pregnancy.  There are some crazy things, however, that happen with your body.  I have lost all of my baby weight but there is a stubborn area that needs some SERIOUS work.  That would be my tummy.  I want a tight flat tummy!!!  I really have no idea what exercises work the best, so I am trying this.  I hate doing it and I dread doing it; so I have to keep my end goal in sight.

My deadline to have a flat tummy:  June 1st. 
Why?  Because boating season will be upon us!! (woot-woot!!)
I am running on the treadmill as well.  Which I also hate doing.  I wish I was one of those people that enjoyed working out. I have already had to make up missed days.  Ughhh, this one is going to be hard for me.

http://www.allyou.com/diet-fitness/at-home-workouts/exercise-00400000048562/page9.html

Olive Garden at home

Everytime I eat at Olive Garde I order the fetuchini alfredo. I don't even remember the last time I got something different.  This tasted pretty close to the actual sauce.  Plain and simple in taste but that is how I like this sauce.  It was easy to make, too!  Best part is....it did not cost $12.00 a person.

http://www.olivegarden.com/Connections-to-Italy/Recipes/Sauces/Alfredo-Sauce/

Sunday dinner

I was so excited to try this recipe.  I am not a huge fan of ground beef, so a lasagna with chicken and alfredo instead of meat and tomatoe sauce sounded great.  The flavor ended up yummy but there was one huge problem.  The butter in the alfredo sauce turned to grease.  Like the whole bottom of the casserole dish was grease.  And the alfredo sauce disappeared :(
I dont know if it was because I made it a day in adavance and put it in the fridge, or I cooked it too long.... or what.  But the grease was so off putting, I will not make this again until I figure out what happened. If that had not happened, it would have been great.
But HEY... i tried it and now I know.

3....2....1....

http://www.craftymischiefbybrittany.com/2011/11/halloween-candy.html

One of the best parts of anything exciting that is about to happen is the anticipation.  I remember being a kid and having butterflies before we went on family vacations.  Even if we knew about it months in advance.  To a kid, time moves like a snail.  That is why I love countdown chains.  Then it is plain to see how much longer you have....and you can get more excited by the day.
The everyday cardstock chains, we have been there-done that many times.  I wanted to do something new. 
So here are our countdown to Disney candy chains.  (The Mickey and Minnie were done on a cricut)
It did take some time, I almost dont want it to get eaten! 

What's for dinner?

Last night I made this recipe.  It was super easy.  I would give it a 8 out of 10. 

http://www.melskitchencafe.com/2009/09/crispy-southwest-chicken-wraps.html

It was almost exactly like this recipe below that I made last month. This one we loved.  It was a 10!! So next time we are in the mood for some southwestern chicken....I am making this one below.  For some reason, it was yummier!

http://foodgawker.com/popular/favorites/page/5/

Declutter this place

So, like the previous post, my house is also crazy cluttered.  You know how most people have a "junk drawer?"  Well, we have a junk drawer, a junk corner, a junk closet.... you get the point.  I have also started this goal.  I have a calendar with it all spelled out everyday.  I have missed 2 days, so I had to make them up.  I am going into this knowing that I wont be perfect.  Some days life is just too crazy.  As long as it gets done sooner than later, that is what I care about

http://www.mysimplerlife.com/2012.htm

Lets get organized

I am so doing this.  1 week already down!! I never know where to start, or even what to do to get my stuff in order. My house, sadly, is completely unorganized.  I can never find anything when I need it and that is a cause of great anxiety.  This has got to be done for my own sanity!
(link below)

http://www.home-storage-solutions-101.com/organized-home.html

Be a little better

Here's to 2012

I was browsing the interenet and came across the above...

Right when I saw this I knew it could be my 2012 theme.  I wasn't even looking to have a "theme!" But this completely sums up what I want to accomplish this year. 

I can't save the world this year, I can't stop world hunger, I can't make millions, I can't become the perfect person.  Sure, I can make these my goals but let's be honest.  Not gonna happen. However...this idea is doable.  I can realistically try a little everyday to become a better person.

A few things I really want to work on:
Be a better cook  (my poor husband.  He has put up with my cooking skills for way too long)
Be more clean   (uhhh, my poor husband again)
Be more organized  (maybe I will be able to find things now)
Be more patient!  (they say it's a virtue but dang it's hard)
Be more righteous  (this really is my ultimate goal)
Become more educated (sometimes I miss school?? Crazy as that sounds, I do. I want to learn more)

I am going to use this blog to keep track of the things I do to push me to be a little better.  Every week (at least) I am going to try something new, learn something new, start (*ah-em* and finish) something new, work on something new...
If you have ever heard of pinterest, I have over 300 ideas I want to do and I have only done 10ish.  Lots of ideas from there will show up on this here blog.

Happy New Year!!