TTR: Sweet and Saltines

I made these as a treat for me and the kids. They were gone so fast! These are sooo delicious. My hubby wants me to make them next time with graham crackers instead of saltines. The only thing I did wrong was try to smooth the chocolate too quickly. It didn't get as smooth as it should have. These were tasty!

Ingredients

• Cooking spray
• 35 to 40 saltine crackers
• 2 sticks (1 cup) butter
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 8 ounces semisweet chocolate chips (about 1 1/3 cups)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Line 1 large or 2 small jelly-roll pans with aluminum foil, spray with nonstick spray and arrange the saltines salt-side down in a single layer. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter and brown sugar together and boil until it turns a caramel color, a few minutes. Remove from the heat and pour over the crackers, covering them evenly.

Put the jelly-roll pan into the oven and bake for 3 to 5 minutes, or until just bubbly, watching carefully. Remove from the oven and pour the chocolate chips over the crackers. When the chips melt a bit, spread them over the crackers with a knife.

Transfer the pan to the freezer for 15 to 20 minutes, or until completely cold. They will form one big sheet. Break up into pieces. Store in an airtight container.

 

Bathroom Sign: SYTYC Week 1

 

 

My kids have to start sharing a bathroom. That means I have to change it to something that will work for both a boy and girl. The only thing my two kiddos could agree on was fish. Is fish the most original idea? Probably not, but you can't argue with kids that are finally agreeing and not fighting.

I needed something that I could hang on the wall above their towel hooks. I decided to make them a sign. I knew right away what I wanted it to say. I went with: "one fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish". My oldest kiddo LOVES to read stories to my littlest kiddo. Dr. Seuss books are 9 times out of 10 the books they are reading. I think it's the perfect saying to show something they love to do together.

Almost all the supplies I needed were things we already had around the house. The wood was leftovers in my hubby's scrap pile, the vinyl I've had on hand for months, the metal piece on the back was also in the hubby's scrap pile. The only thing I had to buy was blue craft paint (go figure it ran out before I finished the first coat).

What I did was cut 4 pieces of wood to 24 inches long. I gave them a quick sand and painted them with craft paint. Once they were dry I cut out the vinyl letters. We had a scrap piece of metal used for stairs laying around our garage. I had my husband help me screw that on the back to hold all the boards together. I also attached a picture hanger to the back.

This weeks challenge for sure gave me the push to get going on the kiddos bathroom. I'm so pleased with how this turned out!

TTR: Chicken Tortilla Soup

 

If you missed one of my last posts, I've decided to take the recipes from Trisha Yearwood's food network show and test them out. I watch a ton of food network. My problem is I don't usually try the recipes that are on the different shows. Trisha's recipes all seem delicious and easy.

 

I decided to kickoff, "Testing Trisha's Recipes" with her Chicken Tortilla Soup. This recipe was super easy and super delicious. My hubby isn't a big soup fan and ate three bowls. The only substitution I did was milk instead of half and half. This recipe was a HUGE hit in my family. I will for sure be making this again.

Chicken Tortilla Soup
 

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• Three 14-ounce cans chicken broth
• 4 cups half-and-half
• One 10.75-ounce can cream of chicken soup
• 1 cup prepared salsa, mild or spicy
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, boiled, drained and shredded
• One 15-ounce can black beans, drained
• One 15-ounce can kidney beans, drained
• One 15-ounce can whole kernel corn, drained
• 2 teaspoon ground cumin
• One 1.27-ounce packet fajita seasoning
• One 16-ounce bag tortilla chips
• 8 ounces Monterey Jack, grated
• 8 ounces sharp Cheddar, grated
• 1/2 cup sour cream

Directions

Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the garlic and the onion and saute until softened, 5 minutes. Add the flour and stir well, cooking for 1 minute more. Add the broth and the half-and-half. Stir in the cream of chicken soup, salsa, chicken, beans, corn, cumin and fajita seasoning. Continue to simmer over low heat for 15 minutes.

Crumble the tortilla chips into individual bowls and top with a ladle of soup. Sprinkle each serving with cheese and add a dollop of sour cream.



Family Drawing

I decided to kill some time a few months ago at my favorite thrift store. I found a super cute frame for only $1.50.

After I got home it sat empty in my closet because I didn't know what to put in it. I found the cutest idea on the U-Create website. They suggested having one of your kids draw a picture of all the people in the family. If your kids are anything like mine they do this all the time anyway. I don't know why I never thought to frame them instead of hanging them on the fridge.

My oldest is big into drawing right now. I let her be the one to draw the picture of our family for the frame. I love this little picture. Even my hubby thinks this is one of the best photos of our family we have. I highly suggest letting your kids, niece/nephew, grand kids whoever it might be do the same. It will bring a smile to your face every time you look at it!

I'm a Contestant!!!!!!!!

One of my all time favorite blogs is So You Think You're Crafty. I have been a big follower long before I started this little blog. I have always thought how cool it would be to actually be one of the contestants. Some of you may be wondering what is SYTYC???

 

SYTYC is a craft competition that lasts for 10 weeks. Each week there is a specific theme that the contestants have to do a craft around. There is also voting that takes place each week. The project with the lowest amount of votes gets sent home. The super cool part is anyone can vote! The other cool part is you don't know which contestant did which craft. The contestants aren't allowed to say which project is theirs. It's all anonymous.

 

If you follow me on facebook, I posted a link last week during the audition round. I asked everyone to go and vote for their favorite projects. It was a pretty tight race. I was on pins and needles all week. I'm happy to say though that I'm officially one of the contestants!! I'm so excited for this! I will be a part of Season 16 which starts on June 6. I will be posting reminders about the voting. After the voting is over I will post my projects over here.

 

My audition craft was the Summer Wreath. I will post a tutorial soon. Thanks to everyone that voted!!

Testing Trisha's Recipes

 

Did you ever see the movie Julie and Julia? I thought it was a clever idea. I've thought for a long time it would be fun to try something similar. The hardest part for me was trying to find one cookbook or Network star that I could try this on. That was until I discovered the show Trisha's Southern Kitchen.

 

 

First of all it's Trisha Yearwood! I have always loved her. Second all her recipes are pretty easy. I also like her recipes because she uses ingredients that aren't hard to find. Third she's cooking for her hubby who happens to be THE Garth Brooks. You would be eating the same things he is. It was really a no brainer for me to pick her.

 

 

 

I'm going to try out at least one recipe of hers a week. I already started by doing one of her dips for our book club. I will be calling this little adventure, "Testing Trisha's Recipes". I'm super excited about this. I hope that some of you will follow along and try some of them too. Stay tuned......

Introducing My Family

 

When I first started my blog I was scared to give out too much information. I didn't want the whole world knowing everything about my little family.

 

While I was on my hiatus from blogging last year I had an "ah-ha" moment. I was looking at some of my favorite blogs and realized what I loved about them. I of course loved their awesome recipes, amazing home improvements, and darling crafts. Mostly though, I loved that I was seeing normal Moms just like me. I don't have the amazing home decor or food network worthy recipes like some of them. What we do share is a connection as Moms.

 

I'm not scared anymore to show the faces of the little ones my world is centered around. For the moment I am taking baby steps to this. I will still keep their names to nicknames.

 

Without further ado I'm happy to introduce you all to my family:

 

This is my hubby. We have been together for 10 years. We have only been married for 8 of those years. He is hard working, funny, handy around the house, and a great Dad. While he may have a temper (like most men do), I can't imagine my life without him.

 

This is our oldest MnM. She is the reason I grew up. She is turning out to be such a neat young lady. She loves dancing, reading, playing the piano, drawing, and all things pink. She looks like my mini me. She hates to see people getting left out or have their feelings hurt.

 

This is my little dude Smac. He is my crazy little red head. He is a lot like his Dad. He is funny, wild, and has a big heart. He loves going to pre-school. His favorite toys are his Ninja Turtles, dinosaurs, and cars. He makes me laugh every day.

 

Last, but certainly not least, is the newest addition little Lady A. She was born in October. She is the reason I had a break on my blog last year. She has been the sweetest little thing. She is also my smallest baby. My other two were much larger than she is at 4 months. Her brother and sister LOVE her.

 

So there you have it that's my little family. They are my world.

 

 

 

 

 



Pinterest Inspired Heart Block

 

I have another pinterest inspired project. If you missed my last one you can find it here. I decided to do one for the month of love this time. I loved the heart blocks from one of my favorite blogs Simply Kierste.

 

 

 

I did a couple things different from the inspiration ones. I used scrapbook paper instead of newspaper for the under part. I also added some ribbon. I know I say this all the time but this little block was seriously easy. I mean crazy easy. I really love how it turned out. This was another pinterest success.

 

 

I'm linking this to: Keeping It Simple, Craft O'Maniac, Sugar Bee Crafts, and Sumo's Sweet Stuff

 

 



Valentine's/St. Patty's Day Blocks

 

I loved the countdown blocks I found here. I thought it would be fun to tweak them just a bit. For mine I did them two sided. I did one side for Valentine's Day the other for St. Patrick's Day.

 

 

I used mod podge for the scrapbook paper. I didn't have any vinyl, so my chunky numbers are also from scrapbook paper. A quick bow on top, some embellishments, and this little craft was done. I am for sure going to do some more of these for other holidays. I think these are a fun alternative to traditional countdown blocks.

 

 

 

I'm linking this post to: Keeping It Simple, Sugar Bee Crafts, Craft O'Maniac, Six Sister's Stuff, Lil Luna, Blue Cricket Design, and Sumo's Sweet Stuff

 



Pinterest Inspired Snowmen

My Mother in law and I saw the cutest snowmen on Pinterest at Christmas time. We decided we needed to make some. They were super easy!

 

We followed most of the same instructions as the inspiration ones from Keeping It Simple. For the eyes and mouth on ours we used black sharpies. The noses were cut from orange foam sheets. We bought the gloves for the hats, and the fleece for the scarfs, from the dollar store. We also made pom pom's for the top of the middle snowman's hat.

 

This craft was for sure a Pinterest success.

I'm linking to: Sugar Bee Crafts, Keeping It Simple, Craft O'Maniac, and Six Sisters' Stuff

Where Oh Where Has This Blogger Gone????

It seems almost contradicting that each post I do lately is all about, "how I'm going to be a better blogger". Yet here I am 2 months after my last post. I could give you excuse after excuse why I've been so neglectful. I'll spare you all with that and instead post a new post on the little blog.

That brings me to my next dilemma what to post about?? I could update the book club list considering I'm 3 months behind. I could even post some darling Easter crafts I made but alas never got around to posting.

That is where you all come in what would you like to see happen on this blog? Are you sick of all the book club posts and no crafty posts? Do you want more crafty posts? Do you just want something posted instead of nothing?

Instead of leaving this whole post up in the air I thought I would start doing pinterest posts. I'm sure you all have discovered pinterest. If not you are missing out. These are some of my recent pins that I can't stop thinking about! I hope they leave you inspired!

Family Hand print Tree

Non Serious House Rules

Apple Nachos

DIY Maternity Maxi Dress

 

January Book Club Selection/Review

The book that was selected for our January book club was 13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher. This book is about a girl named Hannah who is in High School. She (like lots of teenagers) has a lot of High School drama to deal with. For her own reasons Hannah decides to commit suicide. Hannah pre-records tapes that are sent out to different people that influenced her decision to end her life. Along with the tapes is also a map of the town and locations where different events in Hannah's life happened. 

This book touches on a subject that is very personal to many people. As well as being personal it's also a very controversial topic. Without going too deep I think Hannah was an over dramatic teenager.  High School is a rough age for most people. I strongly believe that having extra curricular activities, and belonging to a religion, can have major positive influences in a teenagers life. Hannah ended her life because she thought that was her only solution. In my honest opinion all she did was run away from the problems instead of addressing them. This book is being made into a movie with Selena Gomez playing the role of Hannah. Will I read this book again? Probably not. Is this book a must read? In my opinion no. 13 Reasons Why is very well written and brings a new perspective to this topic. With that being said I personally have a hard time recommending this book.

Valentines Ideas- 5 Days Late

I realize that I'm late in posting this. Valentine's Day was so five days ago. Not going to lie I still have all my stuff up. My rationing for this post was that it's not too late to make a quick craft for next year. These ideas would even be fun to tweak and make for Easter or St. Patty's.

Ribbon Heart

Love You Tree

Felt Flower Ball

Scrabble Tile Craft

Top 10 Posts of 2011

Hey everyone!! I hope all of you had a great holiday season! As you can see I still have yet to post all the fun things we did during the holidays. Sooner or later they will get posted.

It's crazy to think that one year ago I started this little blog. This blog has brought out a crafty side of me I didn't know I had. I didn't start this blog to make money or have thousands of followers. I honestly didn't think I would have more than 20 followers. During my "break" I almost deleted this blog. I haven't found a balance with blogging and every day life. I didn't know that it was worth the effort. 

It wasn't until Old Mac said something that I really noticed, as cheesy as it may sound, crafting really made me a better person. I think that everyone needs some sort of healthy "outlet". Apparently this is mine. Thanks to all of you for sticking by while I figured this out!

I wanted to post something so I thought it would be fun to do a Top 10 post from 2011. These are the posts that received the most traffic from all of you!!

10. Jello Salad

9. Barbie's Crib 2

8. Song Quote Saying

7. Old/New Easter Wreath

6. Lucky Charms Inspired Tree

5. Dish Towel and Recipe Holder

4. Love You Day Craft

3. HOOO Loves You

2. Ribbon Heart

And the number one post by a long slide...........

1. Peep Craft

December Book Selection/Review

The book that was selected for our December book club was Christmas Jars by Jason Wright. This book was a very quick read. Because it was so short I don't want to spoil anything about this book. The one thing I will say is Christmas Jars has changed my holiday spirit this year. My cousin made all of us our own Christmas Jars so that we can all start this tradition. I highly recommend reading this book! I give Christmas Jars 4 out of 4 stars.

Christmas Movies Worth Watching

I thought it would be fun to take all the Christmas movies mentioned in the giveaway comments, and make one big list. One of my favorite things to do during the holidays is watch Christmas movies! There were some of my favorite movies that weren't mentioned in the comments that I had to add. If you have missed any of these great movies there are still two days left to get some movie watching in!!

Christmas Movies Worth Watching

Christmas Vacation (My all time favorite)

Elf (My second favorite)

A Christmas Story

It's a Wonderful Life

Polar Express

Kris Kringle

The Grinch (both versions)

The Santa Clause

Frosty the Snowman

Home Alone

Muppet's Christmas Carol

Mickey's Christmas Carol

The Holiday

The Family Stone

White Christmas

12 Days of Christmas Giveaway Winner

A big big thanks to all of you who entered to win my giveaway!! I also need to give a big thanks to To Sew With Love for setting up this event! The winner of my giveaway is...................

Congrats to Tina who said, Became a follower of To Sew With Love - already a follower on FB -!!

Check back on the blog this week for a cram packed few days with lots of recipes, holiday decor ideas, and much more!!

12 Days of Christmas Giveaway Galore!!

 Welcome to the 12 Days of Christmas Giveaway Galore, hosted by To Sew With Love! All of the participants will have their giveaways open from December 5-16. The winners for all the giveaways will be announced on December 17. Make sure to get your entries in before they close.  You will need to visit the host blog to enter.  Entry requirements vary per host.  

Welcome to everyone visiting for the 12 Days of Christmas Giveaway Galore!! I'm so excited to be participating with all the other awesome bloggers! My giveaway is a flannel infinity scarf and a $15 gift card to a store of YOUR choosing!!

Here are the requirements to enter for the flannel infinity scarf and $15 gift card:

 1. Mandatory-  Become a follower of

Nat Mac's Knick Knacks

and tell me what your favorite holiday movie is!

Extra Entries:

2. Follow Nat Mac's Knick Knacks on facebook

3. Become a follower of To Sew With Love

4. Enter to win ALL 27 giveaways and

receive 2 extra entries.

**There are a total of 5 possible ways to enter. Please leave a SEPARATE comment for each entry. The giveaway will close on December 16. The winner will be selected using random.org. I will announce the winner on December 17.**

To Sew With Love, 12 Days of Christmas Giveaway or the 12 Days of Christmas Giveaway bloggers participants are not responsible for sponsors who do not fulfill their prizes.

12 Days of Christmas Giveaways!!

Hey ladies I'm super excited for Monday to come!! Some of you may have noticed the button for the 12 Days of Giveaways on my sidebar. To Sew With Love is hosting a 12 Day of Christmas Giveaway Event that will run from December 5-16!! There are 27 bloggers participating in this!! Be sure to mark your calendars!

This is a sneak peek at my giveaway. You'll have to stop back on Monday and see just what this is!