Chicken and broccoli over rice...

This is my favorite meal ever!!!!!

I would just like to let you know that right off the bat. This really is my favorite meal. It's a family recipe, my mom used to make it for me for my birthday dinners and now that I'm "the mom" I get to make it whenever I want, which is usually about twice a month. This is also a go to recipe for me when I have company coming over for dinner, because I know that they will love it (unless they totally hate broccoli). I'm not saying it's super healthy, it's not bad. I'm just saying it's amazing and you really should try it out because it's that good.

Chicken and Broccoli over rice...

Main Ingredients

2 chicken breasts (or more if you like lots of chicken)

2 bunches fresh broccoli

1/4 c. Parmesan cheese

paprika for sprinkling

Sauce

2 c. milk

2 pkg. cream cheese

1 tsp. salt

3/4 tsp. garlic salt

3/4 c. Parmesan cheese

- First boil the chicken breasts until fully cooked, and set aside to cool.

Then steam the broccoli until it's tender and set aside to cool.

- Mix all ingredients of the sauce together in a double broiler. I don't have a double broiler, so I just use a saucepan of water and use a Pyrex glass measuring cup to hold all the ingredients. Heat until the cream cheese is melted and mixed well with everything else. I like to use a wire whisk to mix this all together so that it's nice and creamy.

- In a 9x13 baking dish, lay the broccoli down on the bottom as the first layer. Then spoon 1/2 of the sauce over the broccoli. Then shred your chicken into manageable pieces and layer it on top of the sauce. Spoon the rest of the sauce on top of the chicken. Then sprinkle the 1/4 c. Parmesan cheese and paprika over the top until it looks pretty.

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook the dish for about 25 minutes or until the Parmesan cheese is melty and it's bubbling. Let cool for about 15 minutes before serving.

- Serve over rice.

If you have a small family like me this may seem like a lot of food for 2-3 people, but it makes great leftovers too! Make some extra rice and store them both together in serving size tupperware dishes. I'm handing you gold here... pure gold. Smothered in Parmesan and cream cheese... you can thank me later.

Indian in the cupboard...

photo from Nie Nie Dialogues...

Over the weekend we stopped by the CAL Ranch Store and my little guy and I were both mesmerized by all the little Schleich toys that were there. I love them. I love the little fawn, and the cows, and the porcupine!!! They are so well made and so miniature. Most things are adorable in miniature form aren't they?



It got me thinking about Nie Nie's Indian in the Cupboard collection that she talked about here. I like collections, but I like them to be functional. I love her idea of using toys as decorations, and I'm now on the lookout to find the perfect little {old} cupboard to start my own collection. I'm excited, I can see this as being a fun activity for our whole family. Both in collecting them and playing with them.

Starting with... my husband has no clue what The Indian in the Cupboard is. He may or may not have missed the fourth grade it sounds like. So the movie is on the way via Netflix, and maybe just for fun we will read the book together too. Then let the collecting begin!

Twenty {7}...

Twenty {7} is...

... being thankful for each day that I have to spend with those I love.

... growing out this super short hair.
... feeling better in my skin than I ever have before.

... simplifying my life so that I can be more productive and focus on the things that really deserve my attention.

... filling my body with healthy things and taking better care of it.

... lacing up my running shoes each morning.

... sewing more clothes for myself.

... listening to music more often when I do the dishes (my least favorite chore).

... working hard for my family, but not so hard that I don't have any energy for them when I get home.

... cooking with garlic and cumin (my favorites).

... wearing more heels... for the hubs.

... my budding wooden spoon collection.

... being less frumpy and more put together.

Twenty {7} feels good...

May I Suggest...

My cute friend Hannah from Sherbet Blossom has a May I Suggest series on her blog each month where she invites different bloggers to give their favorite suggestions on different topics and items. Hannah invited me to join in the fun for the month of October.

I had to laugh a little when she did because I am a super simple, low maintenance type of a girl and I'm not really into lots of products or gadgets.... so hopefully I can have some good suggestions this month!

Check in each Friday to see what I and the other fab bloggers suggest! Today's topic is beauty... check it out!

Dinosaur...

My little boy is going to be three this Halloween. So this is the first Halloween that he has really had any clue as to what is going on. I asked him what he wanted to dress up as without hesitation he said, "DINOSAUR!"

He's always been interested in messing with my sewing stuff much to my dismay... so I decided to make this a fun project for us to work on together. I took him to the fabric store and let him pick out what fabric he wanted (I did sway him a little... I didn't want him to be a light pink dinosaur). I've also been letting him help me when I pin the fabric together. He sits quietly on my lap when I sew the pieces together and pulls out the pins when it's time and puts them back in the pin cushion.

It has been so cute to have him help me do this. It's a bit frustrating at times when I would like to just get something done and he slows down the process... but I'm learning to be patient just as he is learning about working on a project from start to finish.

I love working on projects with my boy... I highly recommend it.

Baby steps - constant concerted effort...

A friend of mine posted this video on Facebook today and it made me cry! What a touching story. Simple... yet so powerful.

Something that my husband keeps telling me and that I keep telling myself is that losing weight is more just a constant, concerted effort to exercise and eat healthy. There aren't really any magic tricks or pills. Just to keep trekking along and making good choices.

I'm still just trying to keep good habits. I know that I do better every day with my eating if I start the day out right with some exercise and a healthy breakfast. Every single time you eat a meal you make a choice... to do something healthy and good for or body, or to not. I'm happy to say that I am making the healthy choice a lot more often than I make the non healthy choice and it's starting to show.

My progress...

I've now lost 10 lbs. I have about 3 lbs to go to be at my "pre chemo" weight. I'm starting to see it too. I have more energy now than I did before. My clothes are starting to fit a little better. Yesterday I ran 3 miles straight without stopping. It was a slow run, but it was a good one.

I'm planning on running a half marathon in March. I haven't signed up for it yet, I'd like to be able to run 6 miles before actually signing up for the race (that's about half the distance of the race). I do think though that by signing up for this race it will keep me motivated to get out and do my runs every week. Constant concerted effort...

September...

I went back to work full time this month for the first time since my little guy was born almost three years ago. My husband is doing a very intense accelerated nursing program for the next year so it was pretty necessary and I'm grateful to have found a good job. I needed to get some "comfortable" black shoes to wear for work. I've always wanted to own a pair of Toms, and I figured these would be great for my job.

Well... they would be if they had more of a sole. They are super comfortable, but when you are standing on a tile floor for 10 hours straight... they just don't make the cut. So they will have to be my comfortable shoes to wear when I'm not at work.

I still love them though! I would love to get another pair sometime, maybe the yellow cord ones. Those are adorable.

desk...

We needed to get a simple desk for our computer in the living room. So we found this old one on Craigslist that looked promising.

I wish I had gotten a better look at it before we bought it because I initially wanted to stain the top wood a dark brown, but the very top of the desk was laminate... bummer. I just ended up painting the top surface a dark brown and the rest white. It was a super easy refinishing job. I just sanded it down very roughly to give the paint something to stick to and we just threw a couple coats of paint on it. I thought about filling in the little nick's and such with wood filler but in the end I really didn't care to... gives it character.

Here is the after...

Please excuse my mess of chords behind the desk. Does anyone have a great chord solution because these are driving me crazy! I really love the little knobs that I got. I totally splurged on the knobs and got the cute yellow ones from Anthropologie (it's considered a splurge when the knobs cost almost as much as the desk itself). It was completely worth it though because I think that the knobs totally make the desk! They look so good! They make me smile whenever I look at them.

She looks good in the living room. I think that I am almost done with putting my living room together. A few pillows to make and it will be there. Pictures to come!

Bald for Becky Auction...

This week I am participating in an online auction for a sweet lady named Becky, who was diagnosed with cancer in May of this year. She is a thirty year old mother of four, with her kids ranging in age from 8 months to 9 years. After having an emergency mastectomy, doctors found that the cancer had spread to one of Becky's lungs and diagnosed her with a very invasive form of Sarcoma. After a tumor in one of her lungs was removed, Becky found that the cancer had spread to both lungs. She started chemo, but after two rounds of chemo, they found it to be ineffective. They are now searching for an alternative treatment, but she was given 6 months to live from her doctor.

Becky's story has really touched me, having battled cancer myself this year. I am auctioning off one of my family trees to help raise funds for her family. There are lots of great participants in this auction! I encourage you to check it out, and maybe get some early Christmas shopping done that will help this family.

To find the auction you can go to baldforbecky.blogspot.com. Also, the family has a facebook page for Becky which you can find here.

Rustic Tree...

This project has been a long time in the making. It probably took me a good five months from beginning to end (I took a lot of breaks in between steps) but it was so worth it! I got the inspiration for this from Three Men and a Lady.

First, we found some old wooden pallets back behind Target one night and brought them home. Then my hubby pulled them apart and nailed them to some boards to make this rugged square. Then I stained the slats a dark wood stain. The search was on to find a tree picture that I liked. This was the winner...

The picture was in color but I made it black and white so that it would be easier to trace onto the boards. I covered the wood with some white contact paper so that I could trace the image onto the wood. I had the picture copied to a transparency at Kinkos and then I borrowed a projector from my church and projected the image onto the wood.

This part was a little nerve wracking. All of those squiggly lines!!! I kept saying, "Honey, do you think people are going to know that this is supposed to be a tree?" I wasn't convinced for a while. The most tedious part of the project was cutting out all of the negative space with an exacto knife. That took forever! Once that was done I put one coat of paint on it and pulled the contact paper off while it was still wet. The paint bled through on some parts and I had to do a little touch up afterwards, but I think that it turned out amazing!!!!

I'm so happy with this project! It's very rustic, so there are lots of imperfections and flaws, but that's what was nice about it. I tend to be a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to my crafting so it was nice to have a project that could be a little rough and rugged. I still might take my sander to it and rough it up some more in a few places, you know... to add to the rustic feel. I really do love it. I hate to pick favorites, but I think that this might be my favorite project I have ever made for my house before...

The wheels are turning...

Life has gotten really busy around here lately... which leaves not much time for crafting. I have a few projects so close to being done... but not quite yet!

In the mean time, here are a few things that I'm hoping to start soon when I find some time to craft again!

We bought an old desk over the weekend that needs a new paint job. I think I'm going to do something like this desk from over at A Delightful Blog.

I love this cute little hexagon bib from over at A Quilt is Nice. So adorable! I might need to try this out before I commit to a full hexagon quilt. Maybe make a few of these to add to the "baby gift" stash...

This is an old ad for Alice Lane. I just love those pillows! They are so adorable! I am almost done putting my living room together, and would like to make a few of these in green, brown, and white to finish it off. So cute!

Quilt Pattern found...

Okay, so remember when I said I was in love with this quilt pattern here? Well... I changed my mind. I don't know what it is, maybe that I want to have white bedding and I felt like there was just too much white and not enough color on this one... or maybe it was just that the white and the colors weren't separated enough... not sure. Anyway, I've had my hope valley fabric sitting here waiting for me to make up my mind. Then I saw this beautiful little quilt on a delightful blog and I knew this was the one.

It's the same basic idea, just a little more color mixed in with the white. I love that it's still asymmetrical... I love Denyse Schmidt. I love all of her stuff. Her fabric, her patterns. You can find this one for free here. So I'm going to do that pattern with white and these beautiful fabrics...

I think I'll start tomorrow because I can't wait!

Sunrise...

July 31, 2009 - I was driving home late at night when I made an awful discovery. I don't know if the seat beat was bothering my neck or what, but I reached my hand up and touched my neck just above my collar bone and felt it. A lump, the size of a large grape. "Crap!" I thought, "Please don't let this be cancer." Sure enough, it was cancer. Hodgkin's lymphoma.

July 31, 2010 - I woke up at 3:30 AM. Pulled on my jeans and hiking boots... and glasses cause that is way to early for contacts. Met some friends who pulled up on a four wheeler and we rode to the top of a mountain. Hiked for about 30 minutes and sat at the top of a peak to watch the sunrise. And it was beautiful.

And so is life. Life is beautiful. And I'm happy to still be in the game.

Baby Steps - Sleep...

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Getting good sleep is so important!!! I have had the hardest time going to sleep ever since I became a mom (almost three years ago). I can't even blame it on my kid who has been a great night sleeper ever since he was 5 months old. Nope, it's just me, I have the hardest time falling asleep.

I really think that sleep is essential to being healthy. Your body repairs damaged cells while you are sleeping. I think that it is also easier to eat healthy, and work out when you are well rested.



I've been trying to pay close attention to things I do at night that might be the cause of my not being able to sleep. If I don't get a good nights sleep (at least 7 hours right now) I have a really hard time functioning the next day. It's ridiculous, but important enough that I'm trying to be better at this. I've come up with a few rules that I need to follow in order to get good sleep.

1- If I nap during the day, I have a really hard time falling asleep before midnight. So no naps (this is a hard one because I LOVE naps!)


2- No hot baths at night. This is another hard one because I love hot baths!!! But if my body temperature is too hot then I can't sleep. So no more hot baths.


3- If I am too hot, take a cold shower or go to the pool. For some reason I do sleep better if my body is nice and cool so sometimes a cool shower is in order to get some sleep.


4- My feet have to be comfortable in order to get to sleep. I keep a pair of socks by my bed if my feet are too cold, and a bottle of lotion if my feet are too hot. I don't know why but if my feet aren't comfortable, I can't fall asleep.





Have you found any tricks to getting better sleep? If you do please share!

Limes...

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I love limes. I think that they are one of the greatest things on the planet. I love their tartness, and how they intensive the flavor of other foods. Limes are in season right now so they taste so yummy! We've been eating a whole lot of lime around here lately. Here are a few of my favorite lime recipes...





... Shrimp Tacos. I made these twice last week, and might be making it again tonight. I'm in love with this one. You season the shrimp with lime and the pico de gallo. It's just so fresh and yummy!


... Brazilian Limeade. Made this the other night after a long hot day and some time at the pool. It was wonderful! So lime-y! This one is a must to try (thanks Sarah!).


... Sprite + Lime. My favorite easy beverage. So good...


... Lime-Cilantro Rice. I haven't tried this one yet, but it's on the menu tonight! It reminds me of the rice they have at Chipotle, which I'm a big fan of. So hopefully it's great (I'm sure it will be). I'm even going be brave and try the pineapple with it.


... Pineapple Mango Salsa. This is another one that I am dying to try. A nice fresh summer salsa, loaded with lime. Lovely...