A little bit of this, a little bit of that

Hey there...it's been quite some time since my last post; over a month to be exact. But, we are still alive and well...we are just alive, well, and busy. But, I have some good recipes to share and a DIY project or two to tell you about, so let's get to it.

First off, I must blog about one of my favorite appetizers- spinach and artichoke dip. My friend Megan and I discovered a recipe for this scrumptious dish in college by Alton Brown (Food Network). It is hands down the best spinach and artichoke dip I have eaten so far...and I've tried a lot of them. This is not a health conscious recipe, so if you're looking for a healthy version this is not the one to use. Me? I don't really care...it's too good to give up. I've tweaked it just a bit from the original recipe. Here's what you need:

1 box of frozen spinach (preferably thawed)
1 can of artichoke hearts, drained OR  1 1/2 cup frozen
6oz cream cheese
1/4 cup mayo (I use Duke's)
1/4 cup sour cream (I use Breakstone)
1/3 freshly grated parmesan
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp garlic powder

Boil the spinach and artichokes until they are tender, about 5 minutes. Drain. While that is working, heat the cream cheese in the microwave until softened. Then, in a medium bowl, stir together all of the ingredients. Eat. My favorite dipping tool is a tortilla chip.

His original recipe calls for red pepper flakes. I'm not a huge spicy fan, so I leave them out.

The next recipe I want to share is one we had tonight. Since we are Catholic, during lent we can't have meat on Fridays. So, we opt for fish instead. Tonight we had tilapia with a tomato and onion saute. This is a take on a recipe that I found in Real Simple a few years ago. I feel like tilapia is such a versatile fish that you can do just about anything with it. I typically season mine with evoo, garlic powder, paprika, salt and pepper, panko bread crumbs, and lemon slices. I then roast it for 12-15 minutes at 375 degrees.

Tonight I switched up our saute a little bit. First, I heated about 2tbs of evoo. Then, I sliced a small onion. I then started getting the onion soft in the pan. While that was working, I sliced a pint's worth of cherry tomatoes in half. I then added them to the pan. While they were softening, I added 1/2 tsp dried basil, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and a generous drizzle of honey. I let that work for a few minutes and then covered the pan for 3 minutes, just to sweat the onions and tomatoes. After that, I uncovered the pan, let it saute for about 2 minutes more and then served my fish on top of it all. It was so tasty! The honey really took the saute to another level. This whole meal took about 25 minutes to make. A great weeknight option.

One last recipe suggestion... In January, Southern Living printed a recipe for ratatouille. I had never made ratatouille before so I was excited to try this classic dish. It was so good. Husband ranted and raved about it for days. You should check it out here.

Now for a few simple projects...

Since we moved to a place with a lot more wall space, I've had to get a little creative to fill the spaces. It's all still a work in progress, but we're getting there. Here are two simple projects I did to add a little something to our new walls.

First is a super easy, super fun way to make some "word art". From a website called Tagxedo.com you can create a word shape using any words that you like. I typed in words describing our marriage and generated them into the shape of a bird. You don't have to register or anything at Tagxedo, just go in and follow the directions. The more times you type in a word, the more times it appears in your word creation. Here's the one I created for our dining room.

The second piece I made was one I made for Kenneth for Christmas. I saw the idea on Pinterest. My suggestion for making something like this is to download fonts that you think will work for your piece. I downloaded ten or so fonts and played around with them until I got something I liked. I create this whole piece in Microsoft word.

Making and printing out the two projects above was virtually free. I then just put them both in nice frames and there you have it!

In other news, I got a haircut this past week. I hate it. This is not unusual, though, I pretty much never like my haircuts. (Isabella House is nodding right now) I went in thinking I was going to a medium length and came out with a much, much shorter length. I think I lost at least four inches of hair when it was all said and done. All I know is that this head of hair isn't going near scissors for a long, long time. My husband is sweet and keeps telling me he likes it...we even went out to eat to make me feel better about it. Here's my first day of short hair picture. (Ignore the fact that my hair is slightly covering my eye)

That's all I have for now...perhaps my next update will come sooner than a month from now! Enjoy the new blog design!

On the last day of 25

Here I am on the eve of turning 26. It's been a low key night as I am battling a ferocious cold and am feeling kind-of run down. I was just thinking back over the past year of life and reflecting on all that has happened. I believe that this year has held more for me than I ever could have imagined. I am definitely not standing in the place that I thought I would be last year on this day. Kenneth and I have been through many different changes this year which have brought us stress, joy, strength, frustration, compassion, and most of all have brought us closer to God. If I've learned anything in year 25 it is that I continually have to let go of what I have for my life and hold to what God would have for me. So as I enter into my 26th year, I will hold fast to this: I am loved by a bigger God than anything I could see or imagine and His plan is best and nothing is too big for Him.

As promised, I am going to leave the rest of this post to photos of our new place. Everything is unpacked and now it's just down to tweaking and adding decorative elements over time. I have before photos, but they're not too great because I took them with my i-Pad, but they'll give you an idea of what we were working with. Enjoy!

living room before...a lovely shade of hunter green

living room, side 1, after

side 2, after

master bedroom before

master bedroom after

dining room before

dining room after

guest room before

guest room after, still a work in progress

office before

office after

kitchen before

kitchen after

So, that's our place as it stands right now. I will get more detailed into each room in later posts. I am looking forward to adding to our decor and making it more like home over time. Well, that's all for now. I am off to bed, hoping that some rest will help cure this cold! More posts to come soon on DIY projects, yummy dinners, and easy, tasty appetizers!

oh hey...

Just a short update tonight. We are all moved and are slowly settling in to our new house. All the rooms are painted, curtains are sewn, furniture is arranged, pictures are hung, and things are being unpacked. It's been an overwhelming process. We moved in on a Saturday and traveled to Florida the following Tuesday for Young Life's All Staff Conference. So, I've really only been in the house for a little over a week. I have a lot of recipes to share, diy projects to post about, and pictures of our rooms to show, but it will have to wait. More work still lies ahead of me for tonight. We had a great time in Florida and we learned so much..more to come on that too. Just wanted you all to know that we are alive and well, ha. I am looking forward to having this weekend to get things settled and to host our first party on Sunday. So, that's all for now, look for another, more detailed, update soon.

Be Willing

Today the weather man told me that there is a chance of snow flurries tonight. This is quite good news. I really hope this man delivers. I would like enough for a two hour delay please.

Well, the new house is coming along. I'm pretty sure I've successfully inhaled an unreasonable amount of cleaning supply and paint fumes. Sadly, I will continue to do so again this weekend. So far, we've fully painted the two bedrooms. The living room and office both have the first coat on them and are ready for a second. It seems like I've painted forty-seven rooms instead of just four because all of the rooms thus far have needed primer before our paint go could on. This is in addition to using the paint with the primer in it...oh yeah, the previous owners really liked dark red and hunter green. I am trying to keep an open mind and be excited about this new little place. The Lord is working on my heart about being willing. Being willing to try new things, to make this move, to follow as He leads, not necessarily as I would see best. I'm also trying to adapt this willing spirit in trying new classes at the Y or making things for our house.

Today I finished a little DIY project that I set out to do last month. It was pretty simple except for the cutting part. I am not a very good cutter- I always got S's instead of E's on my report card in the cutting category. I found this picture on Pinterest and decided I'd like to do the same sort of "art" for over our bed.

via Pinterest

So, I gave it a try. I purchased two square canvases from Michael's and some white and gray paint. In all, my supplies cost me about $8.00. I painted the canvases white first. Then, I typed up the words for my stencil. I then printed the words on card stock.

 

Next, I cut out the letters. This task would have been easier with an x-acto knife which I do own. However, I thought that it was in a craft box that was buried under a lot of other heavy items and husband wasn't here to move them, so I didn't bother. Really all this only to find out that after I had finished cutting the letters out, my x-acto knife was on the table to whole time with my paint brushes. Terrific.

 

After that, I stenciled them on the canvases and viola, all done! I'll post final, dried pictures when we hang them up in the new place.

In the spirit of being willing, I also tried a new chicken salad recipe this week. I don't really like chicken salad all that much, but Kenneth does, so we have it every once in a while. This recipe came from Ina Garten and is called "Mustard Chicken Salad". It was so good! I actually enjoyed eating chicken salad!

Here's what you need to make it:

• 2 whole (4 split) chicken breasts, bone-in, skin-on
• Good olive oil
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 cups broccoli florets
• 1 1/2 cups good mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons dry white wine
• 1/4 cup Dijon mustard
• 3 tablespoons whole-grain mustard
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh tarragon leaves
• 1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes, halved

I used boneless chicken breasts which worked fine. I also only used 1 cup of mayo and I thought it was plenty. I also used dried tarragon and white wine vinegar. (I didn't read the recipe correctly and just now read it and realized it said white wine not white wine vinegar ha)

Here's what you do:

1. Preheat the oven to 375. Coat the chicken in the evoo and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast the chicken for 35-40 minutes. When the chicken has cooled, cut it into bite-sized chunks.

2. While the chicken is cooking, prepare a pot of boiling water. Add the broccoli florets to the boiling water and boil for one minute. Then, place them in ice water to keep them crisp and green.

3. Make the sauce. Combine the mayo, mustards, tarragon, and wine. When the chicken has cooled and you have chopped it, place it in a bowl and cover with enough sauce to moisten it. Then, add the broccoli florets and the tomatoes, stir, and refrigerate to let the flavors set. You can serve it cold or at room temperature.

 Recipe from foodnetwork.com. 

It was super good, I recommend it! I'm off to find a snack and settle in for some afternoon TV- relaxing before another long weekend working on the house! I will leave you with the verse that is speaking to my heart. 

 Create in me a pure heart, O God,
 and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
 Do not cast me from your presence
 or take your Holy Spirit from me.
 Restore to me the joy of your salvation
 and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me
Psalm 51: 10-12

A New Little Adventure...

It's hard to believe that in just two short days I will be returning to work. It feels like the start of Christmas break is far away, but it also feels like it's just slipped away right before my eyes. Very "oxymoronic". We have been traveling for the past week, spending 17 hours in the car between all of the places we've visited. We are gearing up again tomorrow to head back to NC for New Year's Eve with our friends. This will be a "quick trip" as we are only staying one night, but sadly we'll also be spending 7 more hours in our car. Good thing we like our car. Overall, we have enjoyed our vacation. It has been good to see family and friends and to be able to catch up. We spent half of the week in Lynchburg and the other half all over North Carolina. Husband got NC State bowl game tickets for Christmas so we were in Charlotte, NC for a night, it was really fun and really cold! Santa was good to us all, as usual. I got a lot of fun things including a new Schwinn bike!

family on Christmas Eve

new bike!

at the bowl game

There is a little new piece of news in the Moorefield world. We are moving. Not far away or anything, just to the next town over. We'll still be with the same Young Life area and I'll still be at my school. Just now, Kenneth will not have to commute to work and I will. Bummer. We are moving to a house that has 3 bedrooms, 1 bath, living room, dining room, finished attic, basement, and a kitchen. Right now, however, this house it not quite like I want it. There is a lot of cleaning to be done and we are going to paint practically every room. So, we have a lot of work ahead of us. Today my mom and little brother came down and we all went over and started to work on the place. I will admit that when I got in there and started cleaning I began to feel very overwhelmed. I still do, really. There is just a lot more cleaning than I had expected...mostly because I've never moved into a place this "big" before. It was really helpful to have my mom and brother there today to get things started. Mom and I tackled mostly the kitchen and bathroom while husband and my brother hung lights and replaced blinds. We still have a lot more to do if we hope to be in by mid January. We've set a budget and with that I'll be buying things to help spruce up the place. So, look for more updates as we continue in this little adventure. I hope to post some helpful, budget-friendly ways to help "make your space". You can also follow me on Pinterest where I'll be posting a lot of ideas!

With all that said, I am still super sad to leave this apartment. I have grown quite attached to this place and to the people we live next to. I am having a hard time "letting go" as you will. The Lord is growing me during this time, though. I'm learning to find peace in Him and trust in His plan for our lives. We know that for many reasons it will be good to move and helpful for us and our ministry. I just know that I am really going to miss this place. It is my first "place of my own" after moving out of my parent's home, the place we came home to after getting married, and it is filled with so many memories. I know we'll make new memories and that this next place will be a part of the, probably, many places that fit into our story. Currently, I am trying to live by this motto: "it's not about where you live, it's about where you love."

So, for now, I will leave you with some sneak preview of some design items I'll be using. I love the fabric I found. I looked around a few places and I'm glad I got exactly what I wanted! Enjoy.

dining room curtain fabric

office curtain fabric

paint colors

Pasta e Fagioli & Christmas in our home

So, I've been able to try some new recipes this month.  In all, they have each been pretty decent, but my favorite has been Pasta e Fagioli, a recipe I found on thenest.com. I have to admit, as I was making this I thought that it was most definitely not going to turn out well. It looked colorless and seemed it would be fairly tasteless. However, I was determined to see it through to the finish and after the first bite I was glad I did. It was so tasty! The flavors worked together really well and it made for a perfect winter's night dinner. Here is the recipe (with some revisions).

You will need: 1 tsp dried thyme (or 4 sprigs of fresh), 1 tsp dried rosemary (or 1 large fresh sprig), 1 bay leaf, 1 tbs olive oil, 1 tsp unsalted butter, 1 medium onion chopped, 3 oz bacon chopped, 2 garlic cloves minced, 5 3/4 cup chicken broth, 1-2 cans red kidney beans rinsed and drained (depends on how much you like beans), 3/4 cup elbow macaroni, salt and pepper, and 1/3 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese.

To prepare: If you're using fresh herbs tie them in some cheesecloth. Heat the olive oil and butter in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, bacon, and garlic and saute until the onion is tender (around 3-5 minutes). Add the beans, broth, and herbs. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat, then decrease the heat to medium and simmer for 10 minutes. (If using fresh herbs, discard herb sachet now) In a blender, puree 1 cup of the bean mixture until it is smooth then return it to the saucepan. Cover and return to a boil over high heat. Add the macaroni and boil until pasta is cooked, stirring occasionally. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

 

I recently joined Pinterest and since then I have found some awesome decorating ideas, including a lot for Christmas. I saved a lot of them to do for next year since it is a little late to start some projects for this Christmas. Below are some pictures of how we've decorated our house for this holiday season. A few of these ideas came from jones design company blog...a new obsession of mine!

Art Sign...from jones design

vintage jingle bells

card hanging...i used twine & clothespins

our stockings

dining table deco

red & white paper flowers...design idea from jones design

Well, that's all for now...I am so glad to be enjoying some time off. It's been nice to relax, get some errands done, and finally have some time for crafting! Be sure to be on your best behavior, Santa comes in less than a week!

 

Christmas begins!

Quick update tonight...
I LOVE Christmas and everything that goes along with it. We've had a great time just enjoying the season so far. Kenneth and I got a lot of shopping done last weekend as well as getting to cut down our tree. So fun! I've tried two new recipes this month that were both great. I plan to post them this weekend. But, for now here's some beginning of the season pictures!

Picking out our tree..

all decorated!