Day 1 of new dinners = VICTORY!

UN-STUFFED PEPPER SKILLET , from one oe my favorite cooking blogs was a huge success. Oh, and did I mention it's dirt cheap to make?  That's quite possibly my favorite part.  This one is getting added to the recipe file for sure!

Augustus 411

Just the highlights!  Brent unexpectedly switched jobs, which also meant he had some time in between, two weeks of vacation time saved up from the old job to be exact, so after we hung out around home for 4 days we decided on a whim to head out to Utah to visit family.  It was fun, but so tiring and the thought of making that drive again makes me want to puke!
We were home about 10 days and then we headed to SW Michigan for a week at the lake with the Staller clan.  We had lots and lots of fun, and now I'm exhausted!
I have SIX!!!! new recipes I'm trying this week; I got all of my groceries today and Un-Stuffed Pepper Casserole is in the oven right now.  Hopefully I'll be better about this blog stuff and can let you all know how it turns out!

Like pulling teeth . . .

Okay, I know I go way to long between postings- but I've been busy peeps! Here's a glimpse of what I've been up to:

Took Viv and Sophie to a Tin Caps game for Isaac's B-day.  It was Star Wars night, hence the hair and outfits.  The fireworks afterwards were great!

Mom's friend Debbie bought this large floral print at MOOD (I swoon) to use as a tablecloth.  Sadly, her table is a bit larger, so she needed a border added on.  It was a great learning experience for me.  I learned to properly miter corners on a border and do great mitered corners on the hem edge.  This came in especially useful when I made the 8 matching napkins (tutorial on my next post I think!)

Another little bit for Debbie.  She picked up this great Batik in the Carribean, so I bought some green and red florals to finish it out and cover some pillows too!

The family keeps me busy!

Viv's first piano recital- she did such a good job!

Sophie busted her lip open at the Burger King playland.  She was a trooper and only cried for about 30 seconds before she was ready to go play again.  Unfortunately we had to leave to get her some stitches! 

Family Dinner.  Viv set and decorated the table.  She said it was a restaurant.  She's so cute like that! 

Viv's missing an extra tooth on top because her mommy has butterfingers.  I dropped a can of mousse out of the bathroom cupboard and it fell right on her front tooth.  Luckily Ryan drove into his office and Brent met him there and he pulled the tooth.  Crazy times! 

Sophie's stitches healing nicely.  She's thinking about giving that frog a kiss! 

Nathan is NOT thinking about kissing the frog! 

I think she's gonna do it!

Brent is a real softie and brought this kitten home that he found wandering on the side of the highway.  Its very cute and is named Sprinkles, but it needs a different home.  Me and animals don't mix!

Big Reveal and a New Recipe!

Here's the after shot!  This is probably the worst photo ever taken, but that's all I have right now.  I'm really happy with how the makeover went- if you want to see the before, check out my previous post.  It really does look better in person, I think the photo magnifies my amateur spray-painting status.  The hubby says to let him do it next time.  I think I will!

 And, a yummy new recipe.  I've made about four versions of this dish over the last couple of months, and I think I've perfected it.  I started out with two different recipes, smooshed them together and voila!  I'm not really into Thai food, but this kept getting better the more I tweaked it, so its probably barely Thai food anymore, but we all love it!  I like to make all the ingredients early in the day and then about 20 min. before we eat I start the rice, warm up the sauce and then throw the chicken on the grill.  Recipe after the photos.

Grilled Thai Peanut Curry Chicken &and Rice
Marinade for Chicken:
2 Tbsp. Sesame Oil
1 garlic clove minced
1/2 c. Peanut Butter
1/4 c. Soy Sauce
2 Tbsp. Brown Sugar
1 Tbsp. Rice Wine Vinegar
Warm Water to thin sauce- I used between 1/4-1/2 cup

*Place all the ingredients into a food processor and pulse until smooth.  It will be pretty thick at this point.  Slowly add water to thin the sauce down.  It should be the consistency of heavy whipping cream.  Reserve about 1/2 c. marinade and pour remaining over 2 large chicken breasts that have been cut into cubes.  Let marinate for an hour (or more), and then place on skewers and grill until done.  Continue basting with the reserved marinade while grilling.

**NOTE:  The last time I made this I got lazy and just mixed up some sesame oil, vinegar and soy sauce and used that for the marinade and it was just at yummy!

Sauce for Rice
1 c. mild salsa
1/4 c. Peanut Butter
2 Tbsp. Orange Juice
2 Tbsp. Honey
1 tsp. Soy sauce
1-2 Tbsp. Curry Sauce - or more if you like.  Play around with it a bit

*Process in blender or food processor and then place in a small pan and warm thoroughly.  Don't let it boil- peanut butter should not boil!

**NOTE:  The last time I made this I was lazy and didn't feel like dirtying my food processor and just heated everything up.  It tasted JUST as good, although it didn't look quite as pretty!

*Put it all together!  Spoon a bit of rice on your plate, top with sauce, chicken, chopped cilantro and julienned red pepper.  You could forgo the pepper, but please don't skip the cilantro- it is essential!

I'm linked up here:

Tis the Season

Garage Sale season is in full swing!  Just about every weekend there are at least 3 or four communities hosting garage sales.  It's fantastic- I go to one area and usually hit about 20 garage sales (give or take a few)!  That's amazing, and I've gotten some AMAZING deals.  Like the Robeez shoes.  Granted, there's no bun in my oven, but could I pass up $1.50 for cute Robeez?  I don't think so!

I linked up here

And this little gem- which will be painted black by the end of this week (fingers crossed) was only $5!

I got a couple of things for my display  areas and added a little spray paint and they're now much cuter- $2 for the brass thing and $.25 (what a deal!!!) for the pitcher thing.  Seriously, the brass was making my eyes burn.  It was so funny, the old lady I bought that from told me it had been on her mantle for almost thirty years!!!  My hubby used engine paint on it, and it worked brilliantly.  Just think- its made to cover and stick to something that is dirty and greasy, so you know its going to stick to garage sale junk too!  I used Valspar Brilliant Silver on the pitcher.

This last one isn't a garage sale find, but I did get it at the dollar store.  Sorry I don't have a before pic, but it started out as a plain old glass vase.  I spray painted the interior first thinking that it would look REALLY shiny- almost like a mirrored surface.  Well, I was wrong.  The paint (Valspar Brilliant Silver spray paint), doesn't look shiny through glass, it looks dull.  So, I gave it a really light coat on the exterior so that it looks shiny in some places and dull in others.  It gave it a really great look!

I linked up here:

For the Birds

Do you know the song "His Eye is on the Sparrow"?  It's a great song- I've always really loved. it.  I'm not even sure when I first heard it, but I love the message and decided to make a hanging for my hallway.  Feel free to print out one for yourself.  You can download it HERE, and when you go to print, under "Page Scaling" choose "Fit to printable area."  This is made to fit nicely in an 8x10 frame.  Enjoy!

I'm alse participating in TCB Tuesday Link-up party, go check it out!

Hoppy Easter (cheesey, I know)

Sophie helping to sweep the living room- making everything look good for the Easter Bunny.

Vivian in her "Easter shirt, that she insisted on sleeping in.  What a silly girl!

Nathan LOVES his chocolate bunny :)

The Silly picture.  Unfortunately, that's the only kind of picture we got of all three kids together this year.  Oh well.  I think it represents our lives fairly accurately.

I made the girls' dresses using THIS free pattern from Burda style.  I had a couple of friends make some too.  Its a really easy pattern, and the thing I like most about it is the attention to interior detail.  It is constructed so that there are no raw edges visible inside.  The bodice is lined too- which I always think is a nice touch.  One minor note, I had to add a button closure to back.  Maybe my kids have really big heads, but these puppies were not going on without it!