Chicken Pesto Pasta

I didn't realize how much I loved pesto until I tried Azzip's zip sticks.  They are my favorite!  It got me thinking that I was missing out.  I'd never searched pinterest for "pesto" and when I did, I found so many recipes I wanted to try!

My first recipe to try was an instant family favorite.  Allie had seconds and thirds, Hayden had seconds, Kevin raved about the dinner and even posted about his love for it on instagram! Haha!  I also love finding new recipes I can make in my electic skillet and this one worked perfect!  (Definitely easy to make in a pan on the stove too, so don't let that last sentence make you think you can't make it!)  If you've never bought pesto from the store, it's by the pasta sauces (thanks sis for that tip!)

Original recipe can be found here.  I did a few things different (like increased the noodles a tad, increased the cream and cheese, and nixed the cherry tomatoes {which I'm sure my kids would have loved, but Kevin and I gag at the thought of them}).

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 chicken breasts, sliced into ½-inch strips
• 2 tablespoons garlic, chopped
• ½ tablespoon kosher salt
• ½ tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup heavy cream
• ¾ grated parmesan cheese
• ¼ cup pesto
• 3 cups (uncooked) mini penne pasta
• Parmesan cheese to garnish

Directions:

Heat the oil in a pan over high heat. Combine the chicken, garlic, salt, and pepper, cooking until chicken is browned.  Start cooking your noodles while you're chicken is cooking.

Then, mix in the heavy cream, parmesan, and pesto, stirring until evenly combined.

Next, bring to a boil and cook until the sauce has reduced, about five to seven minutes.

Toss in the drained pasta, stirring until evenly coated. Remove from heat. To serve, sprinkle parmesan cheese on top!

Weekly Recap

I had such a great week that I thought it was appropriate to do a weekly recap!  

1.  Inauguration
I'm obsessed with all things inauguration!  I love seeing the news clips of the new first family.  I can't wait to watch the swearing in, and I am excited to see what Melania and Ivanka will be wearing during all these festivities!  I also love Mike Pence (and family) and loved seeing him move to DC with his pets in hand. 

I mean seriously, Ivanka is breath takingly beautiful.  Welcome to DC!

2.  Surprise Gifts
This last week I received 2 surprise gifts that just stopped me in my tracks and made me feel so thankful!  I think it's so sweet that both of these girls thought of me. 

The cutest itty bitty pocket knife (I've been wanting) given to me by my one and only sister in law!

Adorable LOVE decoration to add to my Valentine's decor from my sis.

3.  Valentines decorations
I waited long enough and broke out the Valentines decorations!  I had every intention of doing it last weekend, but got busy doing other things, so I did it the middle of this week.  Krissy and Austin were loving helping me decorate.  One of my favorite things was Allie wrote a paper at school that was started "My house" and she finished it "has a playroom.  It is pretty" and when she drew her illustration, she drew our house with hearts all over it.  I hope these kids love Valentines day as much as their momma!

Kids Portrait Innovations picture from last year.

If I remember correctly, Hayden made the hanging hearts when Allie was just months old.  Krissy and Austin want to make some decorations too, so I'm trying to decide on a cute craft they can put out every year!

4.  Wooden signs
Last week I made a front door Valentine's decoration that left me feeling a little underwhelmed  It's cute, but doesn't scream Valentines.... well somehow it came about that one of our favorite family friends had several cute wooden door signs (heart//candy corn//snowman//bunny, etc) that she let me trace!  Kevin happily cut them out for me and now I have cute decorations for the whole year!  I just need to start painting!

I think the bunny is my favorite.  P.S. the curly tail belongs to the heart, not the bunny! :)

5.  Friend Dates 
Yesterday I had one of my friends over for a play date.  She's expecting her 2nd baby and craving all things sweet, so I made her some Valentines cupcakes.  (Can't say they sounded bad to me either, and I maybe ate 3, but whose counting?!)  We had a good time chatting while the kids played.  This morning I'm meeting another friend of mine for breakfast.  She's a few years older than me and her kiddo is in high school.  My mom's bible study started back up this week too, so my friendship cup runneth over.  Some weeks I get so busy with stuff that needs done in and around the house that I don't make it a priority to see my friends, but I'm always so glad when I do!

(Pillsbury) Valentine's cupcakes

6.  Basted Quilt
That quilt I started last July... well I didn't quite forget about it, but I just haven't taken the time to finish it.  I think not knowing what exactly I am doing has halted my progress.  This week I decided to get the quilt top back out and baste it (which means add a back and middle cotton layer and get it ready to quilt).  Oh, want to hear a funny story?  When I was buying the material for the quilt back, I had decided I needed 70 inches of material.  When the JoAnns worker called my number at the cutting counter, I told them I needed 70 yards.  Their eyes got big and said, "Well there certainly isn't 70 yards here."  My face turned all the shades of red and I corrected myself.  But anyways, Krissy was so excited to "help" me baste it and kept handing me safety pins.  She also took my phone and look several picture of me hard at work lol.

Thanks Krissy for taking a picture for me!  Next time try to crop out my unmade bed ;)  Eek!

Probably  our happiest news of the week:  Kevin officially got moved to days.  We knew it was coming, but didn't know when.  It still seems surreal. He will be home everyday when the kids get off the bus, and home all evening with us!  Being on the off shift most of our relationship has meant we've had to say no to lots of things, so I'm excited to see what we get to say yes to!

His celebratory cookie cake said "Congratulations on Day Shift" but the rotten cats stepped on the box before we could get a picture!

Hope you all have a great weekend!  Check back in with me next week - I'll be posting a couple recipes we tried this week and loved!

Homemade Wax

Not only did I made the DIY Exfoliater this weekend, I made some homemade wax.  It's kind of an embarrassing and funny story why I made it.... so here goes!  I ordered a new teeth whitener system for Christmas.  I wanted to take a "before" picture, and when I flipped my camera around to see how the picture turned out, I couldn't believe how much hair was on my upper lip!  I was seriously mortified!  It wasn't dark hair, but it definitely looked horrible in pictures.. so I wanted to wax my lip.  It seemed painful, but shaving my lip seemed weird, so I decided on waxing...

If you have any interest in making some yourself, here's the link to the video and recipe.

I was happy with the results and it didn't hurt as bad as I expected.  Or maybe it did, but it happened so fast that it wasn't too bad. :)

New Resolutions for the New Year

Can you believe we are over half way through January?!  Over the last few years, I've gotten on board with making New Year's Resolutions.  Most of the resolutions I make are smaller things I want to accomplish that year - like making a quilt for example.  (I can't say I've completed that quite yet, but I think this year will be the year.)  I have been feeling for awhile like I need to get my priorities in order, so I'm working really hard to keep the resolutions I've made. 

I found an app called "Bible Study" and it's a 365 day plan to read the entire bible in chronological order.  I'm currently reading in Genesis (just finished Job), and I have to say, I don't want to stop at the end of my daily reading.  I'm learning so much.  I have a study bible and that makes a huge difference.  The little commentary at the bottom just makes what you've read more applicable to your life.  I try to get my reading done once I get Hayden and Allie to school, and Krissy & Austin have been fed.  I usually set out about 30 minutes to read and journal afterwards.  It's been a great thing to add to the start of my day, and really sets my mind/attitude for the rest of the day.  I've heard that said a thousand times, but didn't really realize how true it was until I saw for myself!

I also started a workout program at the beginning of January.  It's from BeachBody (21 day fix), and it's 30 minutes a day at home.  You focus on a different area of the body every 7 days, but then it repeats itself each week.  I'm really enjoying it, and already feeling better.  That first week, I was incredibly sore, and complained like a baby almost everyday - just ask Kevin.  I didn't weigh myself to begin, and I haven't weighed myself any other day.  I'm mentally at a point where I don't care what the number on the scale says, I just want to feel healthy and less jiggly.  My knees and hips pop like an 80 year old woman now, and I'm sure that will only get worse as I get older - also, we have a Florida trip planned for May and who wants to put on a swimsuit when you feel bleh?! So I'm prioritizing my health every day.

Lastly, Kevin and I are both working on keeping a budget.  Every month, for the last 4-5 years, I've made a monthly budget.  Just because I've made the budget, doesn't mean we've stuck to the budget.  Know what I mean? We set some financial goals, and are both working towards making them this year!

I don't know what your goals are for the year, but something I keep telling myself to hold me accountable is, "You don't get December results in January".  It takes a full year of reading/learning, a full year of making the choice to work out, a full year of watching how you spend your money to see real results.  Are you still going with your resolutions or have you already given up?

Patti's Restaurant

Yesterday Kevin had the day off work, while the two oldest kids had to make up their snow day from a couple weeks ago.  We wanted to do something fun, so we headed to Kentucky to eat at Patti's.  It's always been one of my favorite restaurants for so many reasons;  I love the shopping in and around the restaurant, I love the strawberry butter, I love the food, I love the restaurant decor, and if I have room for dessert (which I usually don't), it's amazing too.   If you ever get to Grand Rivers, you have to go eat there!

Before we ate, we made a pit stop at Kevin's parents property by Barkley Lake so he could see if there were any signs of deer.  He's wanting to hunt down there this fall with Hayden.  I promise to cheer them on (because I know it's something he likes and wants to do), but let's be honest.... I want nothin to do with a dead deer.... I take that back.  I wouldn't mind one deer head mount for me to decorate with seasonal things, but that's it.  We spent about an hour walking through the woods looking for hoof prints, bedding areas, and deer rubs.  I know you're jealous.

Here are some pictures from our lunch out :)

Most of the Christmas decor was still up, and it was fun to see!

Me & Krissy waiting on that bread!

Flower pot bread with 2x strawberry butter and regular butter

Kevin & Austin

Krissy & Austin both loved the bread (Austin was licking strawberry butter off his plate), and they both got corn dogs and homemade chips for lunch that they loved too!

I got my usual - aloha chicken salad.  It was fantastic!  The kids helped me eat my fruit :)  Kevin got a fried chicken salad that I didn't get pictures of.

Before we left, I looked around their store and found their 75% off Christmas clearance.  I saw this little mistletoe ornament and decided I needed it!  (It looked like all the stores were having huge sales, so it's a good thing we ran out of time and had to get home!)

We couldn't leave without a picture of Krissy on that big pink tractor!

These two crashed on the way home and Kevin and I enjoyed the silent ride back home!

DIY Exfoliater

I kept meaning to buy an exfoliater when I was out and about, and never could remember.  This past weekend I decided I'd just make one at home.  I had all the ingredients already, and I really am enjoying it!

What you'll need to make it:

1/4 C sugar

1/4 sea salt

1/4 coconut oil

20 drops lavender oil

20 drops peppermint oil

Mix first three ingredients in a small bowl with a fork.  Add in the oils and mix again.  And that's it.  I had this cute little glass jar to store mine in.  I keep it in the shower, and exfoliate my face every time I take a shower. 
The coconut oil leaves your skin feeling super smooth and the peppermint make it feel really refreshing! The sugar and salt are obviously rough, but that's what gets the dead skin off! :) Hope you enjoy!

Snickerdoodle Cookie Recipe

The table cloth, oven mitt, and pot holder all came from Walmart!

I promise I don't just eat cookies all day, but I do frequently search for new food recipes to try.  That usually leads me to finding a new dessert recipe I want to try.  That's how I found this cookie recipe (on Pinterest) and have been thinking about it for a week!  I decided yesterday it was time to see if these cookies were as good as they claimed to be.  And they were, so that's why I'm sharing the recipe with you!
Original recipe can be found here.
I should also mention, if you love snickerdoodles but aren't into baking, Walmart carries a box mix called Krusteaz (I think you just add a stick of butter), and their snickerdoodle cookies are pretty amazing!  They have a flatter/chewy consistency and are so so good.

Ingredients:
1 C unsalted butter, softened
3 oz cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 C sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp baking soda
3 1/4 C all purpose flour
(Topping)
1/3 C sugar
1 heaped tsp cinnamon

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350*
In a mixing bowl, beat together the butter, cream cheese, and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add in the egg, vanilla, salt, and cinnamon and mix well.  Add in the cream of tartar, baking soda, and half of the flour mixture and mix on low until combined.  Add in remaining flour and mix again just until combined.

In a small bowl, mix together the sugar and cinnamon.  Set aside.

Scoop the dough with a cookie scoop, and coat the balls in the cinnamon sugar topping.  Place cookies on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.  Bake for 8-10 mins.  {At 8 minutes, the cookies were still a bit gooey in the middle, but once they cooled, they were a great consistency.  I like mine a bit more done (so we can eat them out of the oven), and I opted to bake mine for 10 minutes.}  Let cool on the cookie sheet a few minutes then transfer to counter to cool completely.

What I like about them:
They are super thick, and soft.  They are good out of the oven and equally as good the next day.  This is a good recipe to make with the kids - they can roll the cookies in the cinnamon and sugar mixture!  The dough doesn't require any refrigerating, so they are pretty quick to make!

The cookie is very thick and soft.  The original recipe calls them chewy, but mine weren't chewy.

Allie's been pretty upset we've eaten or shared all the cookies before she's gotten home from school, so I made sure to pack her (and Hayden) some in their lunches today!

Some New Purchases

I have bought a few things lately (other than my dresser) that I've been really happy with, and wanted to share them!

1.  Wire baskets - $1.98 each
These little metal baskets (they come in 5 colors) were right inside the doors of the home living side at Walmart.  I thought they were cute, and when I saw they were only $1.98, I knew I needed some!  I bought 4 my first trip, I went back for 2 more, and I'm probably going to get a few more the next time I go back!  I keep finding great places to use them! 
I replaced some old fabric baskets in my medicine cabinet with two of these.  One for adult meds and one for kids meds.
I reorganized my food cabinets, and used the baskets to hold:  sprinkles, opened packages of baking supplies, and snacks.  (Btw, did you know sprinkles expire?  I was shocked to see I had some that expired in 2012! Eeek!)

This is kiwi green and rose gold.  They also carry them in  blue, white, and gold, but several colors have already sold out at my store!

2.  Hello (kids toothpaste)
My kids are weird about toothpaste.  They only use Kids Crest - and on the off chance we had to use regular toothpaste, they'd all scream and cry and tell me it was too hot.  Totally ridiculous, but totally true.  I don't know if I didn't brush their teeth well enough, or if the Crest toothpaste just doesn't dissolve very well, but I always had blue globs of toothpaste in my sink.  When we ran out of toothpaste a few weeks ago, a new kind caught my eye.  Trying a new toothpaste sounded a bit risky for these picky kids, but it was watermelon flavored and I thought that was pretty safe! It's called Hello.  It smells so good, and the kids LOVE it.  They have several other flavors, and some that have fluoride in them.  I need to ask the kids' dentist this month if they need the extra fluoride.  I read an article recently about how the average person is getting too much fluoride... so that's why I opted for the fluoride free one!
Also, the toothpaste is white, and dissolves really well and I've never had globs of it leftover in the sink.  That's reason enough for me to keep buying it!  It's a tad more expensive than the Crest, but totally worth it in my book!

3.  Valentines Haul from Target
I'm already in full Valentines prep mode at my house.  (It is my favorite holiday!)  Target usually has the best selection of Valentines things, so I went last week to check it out before it was all picked over!  I left with the biggest smile on my face and two bags full of Valentines things!  The cupcake/frosting mix and the pack of blue Valentines (to the right with the mailbox) were the only things not up front in the $1-$3 section.  I got Hayden and Allie the cutest Valentines to pass out to their classmates, adorable plastic plates (which happen to be the kids favorite colors:  Hayden = red, Allie = orange, Krissy = pink, Austin = blue!) a darling mini cake stand (I wanted ALL the colors, but settled on white), some mini chalkboard placecards for our 2nd annual Valentines dinner, a new weekly planner (for menu planning), bandaids (because my kids go through them so quickly), and a small pack of pink doilies

I'm still on the hunt for something for my front door.  I haven't seen any cute Valentine options at any stores.  I've browsed Pinterest, and may make something if I can't find anything I like!

My New Dresser

Guys, let me first start by saying... prayer works!

You know that dresser I talked about in my last post?  I found it on Craigslist, fell in love instantly (with the look of it AND the price), and was crushed to hear it was already sold.  The buyer was supposed to pick it up this weekend, and the seller said she'd let me know if they didn't end up getting it.  I tried to go about my day Friday as usual, but I was seriously so upset!  I prayed about it every time I thought about it - which, lets be honest, was a lot.

We've sold things on Craigslist before and people that said they were going to come didn't really come, so I prayed these buyers would be like that.... so I'd get the opportunity to buy it.  And that's exactly what happened.  Right before noon on Saturday, Melanie (the seller) texted me "Dresser is yours if you want it".  IF I WANT IT?!  OhMyGosh YES!  I started jumping up and down screaming - the kids thought I was nuts.  Kevin had just left to run an errand, and I called him and could barely contain my excitement.  Then I called my mom.... and then I texted my sister... and then me and the kids danced around the kitchen (we did the Chuck E Cheese Happy Dance, with music and all) because I was so excited. By the end of our little dance party they were all screaming "We are getting the dresser!"

Kevin and a friend went to pick it up about an hour later, while I stayed home to get our room ready.  I was texting Melanie back and forth, and she was the sweetest.  She said she actually had other people interested in it, but offered it to me next because she could tell I wanted it so bad. 

We knew it had a drawer that needed work when we bought it, and Kevin got right to work on it.  It's so nice having a handy husband! :)  So, if you're wondering why in the pictures below it's missing two drawers, he had to remove the bottom drawer to get to the one above it.  I was so excited to move our clothes out of the kids dresser and into our very own, very grown-up, dresser!

Every time I walk down the hallway, or glance in our room, I just look at it and just smile!
I. LOVE. IT!

...Before & After.... 

Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies

I don't know anyone that doesn't love a good chocolate chip cookie.  You are going to love me for this recipe.  Our family's favorite time to eat chocolate chip cookies is right out of the oven.  I judge a cookie by how it taste the next day (if there are any left), not out of the oven (because even a bad cookie is good then).  Let me start by telling you I saw this recipe on my sister's blog and thought the cookies looked great (pretty and thick).  As I stirred up the dough, all my expectations sank because the dough seemed dry, and I figured they'd end up being dry and hard.  Gag.  Clearly, I know nothing about baking science and what determines cookie softness. 

Straight out the oven we were all in love.  Warm, thick, ooey gooey melty chocolate but not overly sweet or salty - just right!  They were fantastic.  I told everyone to eat up because, like I said, my expectations were low for how they'd taste the next day.  When I woke up the next morning (today) I had two things on my brain - 1) How do these chocolate chip cookies taste and 2) Buying a dresser on craigslist.  {I've been on a dresser hunt for about 2 months and have really picky taste, and a small budget, so I couldn't wait to tell the seller I was coming to get it today.  Then the seller tells me the dresser already has a buyer, but if they don't show tomorrow to pick it up, I'm next on the list.  Let's be honest, it's already sold - cue my tears!}  So, on to the good news, the cookies were so great this morning.  Like maybe that's what I had for breakfast because I was eating away my already-sold-dresser sorrows... or maybe because they were still soooo soft and perfect.  The fact is they are now all gone, and the kids and Kevin are going to be majorly disappointed when they get home.

A little heads up, this recipe requires a wee bit of planning.  The butter needs to be room temp (I laid my butter out after breakfast).  Also, the dough gets refrigerated (I made the dough after lunch, and baked it after dinner).  My cookie smarts tell me that refrigerating helps gives them the thick consistency, and also gives the dough time to soak up all those flavors.

Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies

(Makes about 28 cookies)
Ingredients:
1 1/2 sticks salted butter, at room temp
3/4 C Domino light brown sugar, packed
1/4 C Domino granulated sugar
1 large egg
2 C all-purpose flour
2 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp baking soda
1 C chocolate chips

Directions:
Cream together the butter, light brown sugar, and granulated sugar until light and fluffy (I used my stand mixer).
Add in the egg and cream together.
Mix in the flour, cornstarch, and baking soda.  Mix until combined.
Fold in the chocolate chips.
Let the dough rest in the fridge before baking - at least 3 hours.  I went ahead and scooped my dough (using my cookie scoop) into dough balls, then covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated.  If you don't scoop them into balls before refrigerating, the dough is going to be really hard to work with.

After the dough has chilled (mine chilled 4 hours), preheat oven to 350*.  Line your cookie sheet with parchment paper, and bake the cookies 10-11 minutes.  Mine all baked for 11 minutes and that was perfect.  Let them cool on the cookie sheet for a couple minutes before transferring to foil to cool.

Store in air tight container.

Perfect cookie - my nails could use some attention though...

And if you happen to have a dresser like this for sale, that's cheap, let me know!  Isn't it pretty?!  It will take me a few days to get over not getting it! Waaaa