Cruise is over - but vacation is not :-)

We celebrated our 25th anniversary a little early by taking a cruise from Charleston SC to the Bahamas.  It was fun - and full of good memories - 

 

 

 

This is DH in our cabin.  It was comfy but cozy :-) 

Every evening we had a different towel creation in our room along with some mints and the next day's schedule.  I'll have to try my hand at some of the creations.  

One afternoon there was a Chocolate Extravaganza at the buffet.  Lots of goodies to dip in the chocolate fondue and a chef making ice cream swans - from pieces of cream puffs and a scoop of ice cream. 

 

And now we are back home (and covered in a blanket) but had to play with some of my new toys since I don't go back to work until Wednesday.   Good to be home and have some time to just relax. 

More Quick Cooking and some Adelyn Time

Last night I made Curry Chicken Breasts.  Reminded me of a recent date night to India's Oven.  Very tasty and really easy.

 I served them over rice and had some fresh pineapple (very ripe) on the side.  Very good!  I will be making those again.

Tonight it was Brunswick Stew. 

I told my husband this morning that I was making Chicken Stew for supper and he turned up his nose.  I said -"Well then, it is Brunswick Stew" and he said "Like we had in Williamsburg on our honeymoon." and smiled.  It's all in how you present it :-)   He loved it and the fresh hot biscuits on the side. 

 And Adelyn is almost 6 months old!

Where has the time gone?  She changes so much every time we see her.  She and Mommy came over for a family brunch today and then just hung out for a while.  So blessed!

Getting serious about cooking and menu planning

I have been very lazy for quite a while when it comes to meal planning and cooking.  Too often just heating up some pre-processed package meal or even worse getting some carry out/fast food.  So.... over the weekend I pulled out a few of my old Quick Cooking magazines.  I used to plan all my menus around them and there are some pretty good recipes, after all they are submitted by everyday cooks and tested by the QC staff. 

The first recipe - Herbed Chicken and Rice

Number 2 - Vegetable Bean Soup

Baked Omelet was number 3 - oh so good! 

And probably our favorite - Lemon Broccoli Pasta

And tonight it was "Encore Night" (not leftovers - they were too tasty to be called leftovers)  Everyone just picked from what was in the frig and made their own supper.  

Productive Sunday Morning

I did not make it to church this morning because I am on call and had an issue to resolve just as I started to shower. Didn't have time after that and good thing because got called back about 15 minutes later.

So I made good use of my time by using some expired Greek yogurt (outdated yesterday) in some experimental recipes. 

The first was some Pear Scones.  I took a recipe for blueberry scones and used diced fresh pears instead. Also used pumpkin pie spice. They are okay but probably won't make them again. I'll put some in the freezer to pull out this winter. 

The loaf is Cranberry White Chocolate Tea Bread.  Most of it will go in the freezer too. If I keep it all out, I will just keep snacking on it until I have eaten it all. 

And after all of that I made. A pot of Vegetable Bean Soup. 

A beautiful fall day and such wonderful smells in the house. 

I love Saturdays

I love Saturdays - although I planned to work on some card designs, I never made it there (or at least not yet - there are still a couple hours in my day). 
Trying to get back to counting the calories with My Fitness Pal and a consistent exercise routine. The scale has slowly crept up about 10 lbs and some of the clothes are getting a little snug.   I am NOT buying larger clothes!!! So I am planning meals in advance instead of just winging it most evenings.   Pulled out a bunch of my Quick Cooking magazines last night and made up a menu for the next two weeks (and then I am off the hook for over a week - cruise! - and no calorie counting either)  First thing this morning I got my shopping done and then came home to a clean house (thanks to my DH who does all the housecleaning !)  and prepped the veggies for the week. 
Then a visit with my daughter's family.  Always happy to take a break with the granddaughter.  They had gone apple picking. 

She is rolling over a lot now and trying to talk.  If she is like her mama she will be talking up a storm in no time!  Won't be long and she will be crawling and sitting up.  No more cuddly little baby - but love seeing her grow and change.

After they left, I got busy on supper.  Lots of chopping - love my Pampered Chef chopper! Herbed Chicken and Rice (Quick Cooking),  Roasted Garlic Cauliflower (Allrecipes) and Provel Topped Tomatoes.  (So excited that Sam's has the provel cheese from Imo's.)

The whole meal was 474 calories  ( lots of Parmesan cheese on the cauliflower - which was good for something different and I had the calories to spare tonight but I usually make it without the cheese).
DH's favorite part of the meal - the tomatoes.  They really are tasty. 

Faux Patina Technique

I have seen many examples of the faux patina technique and have been wanting to try it for a while.  Someone asked me to make an anniversary card for 7 years - which is copper - so I had a good reason to do some patina.

This one has a strip of the faux patina with some crocher trim. The card stock used is Early Espresso, Always Artichoke, and Crisp Cantaloupe.  The stamp is from Simply Sketched.

The patina hearts are layered on Cajun Craze and arranged on Always Artichoke, Early Espresso and Crisp Cantaloupe with a Crumb Cake seam binding bow.

These three hearts are mounted on Early Espresso and then arranged on Always Artichoke, Early Espresso and Baked Brown Sugar.

Coastal Cabana, Baked Brown Sugar and Crisp Cantaloupe.  A little extra with the embossing on the front and...

some pop-up hearts inside.   I really enjoy making the pop-up cards.  I hope people enjoy getting them as much.

Some Calypso Coral, Early Espresso and Island Indigo for this card.   The hearts on a Very Vanilla ribbon and then you open the card and...

the ribbon falls out with more hearts attached.  Just another fun card.  I'm not sure any of my patina experiments really look like tarnished copper - but it was fun and it gives a special touch to the cards. 

Make your own envelopes

With Stampin Up's new envelope punch board it is so easy to make envelopes to coordinate with your cards.  The board has measurements on it for 66 different sizes of envelopes.   I experimented with a couple different sizes.  They are all close to 3 x 4 inches so would make cute cards to include in a gift bag. 

 Gingham Garden DSP is used for the envelope and a piece is on the card.    Love the gingham!

 Another sheet of Gingham Garden.  The double sided DSP is perfect for making these envelopes. 

Here I used some reitred DSP  (I have lots!)  It's really fun matching the envelope to the cards.