paint decisions

OH THE IRONY! I am sitting here debating paint colors for the new house and its apparently National Painting Week at Sherwin Williams. We have to paint pretty much the entire house, but the first floor needs to be the same color since the house has lots of arc ways and we are making the kitchen an open concept design into the dining room. Obviously I want to stick with something semi-neutral so that we can use any color in the design and furnishings. Here are my top five paint choices for the first floor. 

one. 

two. 

three. 

four. 

five. 

There are literally thousands of colors to choose from-how stressful! Hopefully we will get a paint color picked this week or next and can start painting the walls in the next couple weeks. 

southwest pasta salad

I made this pasta salad for a Mother's Day cookout over the weekend, and it was a big hit. I'm not a fan of normal pasta salad recipes because they call for Italian dressing or some sort of vinegar based dressing. This recipe is different,  and calls for Ranch dressing- so unhealthy, i know- but totally delicious. I will note that I substituted out the tomatoes for a can of Rotel for ease and quickness since this was made sort of last minute. 

Ingredients:

16 oz. rotini pasta

2/3 cups Ranch dressing

1 15 oz. can kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 15 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 15 oz. can whole kernel corn, drained and rinsed

2 large tomatoes, chopped

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1 ½ tbsp ground cumin

½ tbsp chili powder

1 tsp onion powder

¼ tsp dried red pepper flakes

salt and pepper as needed

Directions:

1. Cook pasta according to package directions until al dente. Drain and rinse in cold water.

2. Place in a large mixing bowl. Mix with Ranch dressing, beans, corn, tomatoes, cheese, and spices.

3. Chill salad in refrigerator until ready to serve. 

weekend recap

What a busy weekend at our house!

On Friday afternoon I stopped by the local radio station to pick up tickets to the Of Ale and History Beer Festival that I had won. The rest of Friday evening was spent watching the Caps lose...in OT to the Rangers, forcing a Game 6.

Saturday morning we woke up early to get yard work done at both houses before our afternoon plans. Once all the landscaping and mowing was done we headed out to Belle Grove Plantation for the Of Ale and History Beer Festival. What a fun time! I loved trying new beers, but also having a few that I knew I already loved. They gave you a "scorecard" to keep track and grade the different beers that you tasted throughout the afternoon. The festival was filled with vendors, food, and live music to keep everyone entertained. 

There were over 70 different beers at the festival that you could taste. Some favorites included Lindemans, Stella Cidre, and Malice from Winchester Cider Works.

                                                                                                                                                              

After a very long afternoon of beer in the sun, this girl needed a major nap session- which is exactly what I did. We decided after an afternoon siesta we would go to dinner at our favorite Italian place in town. We had a semi-late start on dinner which meant we didn't get home until after 10 o'clock so we watched a movie on the couch until we were both ready for bed. 

Sunday we were able to sleep in and enjoy "weekend life" for a little while. We had some last minute errands to run before the Mother's Day cookout in the evening. I spent the afternoon making a new pasta salad - recipe will be coming soon. I'm pretty picky about pasta salads, but this one uses Ranch dressing instead of Italian dressing or vinegar. We spent the evening hanging out with friends and family for a Mother's Day cookout, and then came home to watch the Caps lose again to the Rangers, forcing a Game 7.

shredded chicken tacos

This is sort of an eyeballed recipe from Pinterest- with some modifications. The recipe is shredded chicken tacos so there is room for lots of creativity and customization. The original recipe is as followed:

Ingredients: 
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup salsa
1 tbsp taco seasoning

Directions:
1. In a crock-pot, place chicken breasts (frozen) in the bottom
2. Sprinkle with the seasoning
3. Top with the salsa
4. Cook on low for 6 hours, or high for 3 hours.
5. Shred and serve.

Here is where my customization comes in:

I used four chicken breasts-which was waaayyy too much- but now we have leftovers. I also used most of the jar of Newman's Own salsa so the chicken would stay moist, and I used about half a packet of taco seasoning.

I laid out a taco bar of sorts in our kitchen so that we could make our own tacos. I had lettuce, cheese, sour cream, sriracha, and Spanish rice as options for toppings. Again, here is where you can choose whatever toppings you want or you can make it into a taco salad. My plans for leftovers are either pulled chicken BBQ sandwiches or taco salad using tortilla chips.

currently || may

craving || all the fresh fruit possible! I love the start of the summer because lots of fruit comes into season and is so easily accessible.

listening || the Bobby Bones Show....of course.

planning || cruising! Next month is cruise month which means it's time to get all the paperwork in order before we leave.

reading || The Residence: Inside the Private World of the White House.

decorating || just finalized materials for the new kitchen. Wooo! Can't wait to see the finished product.

mini cheesecakes- easter edition

I made these miniature cheesecakes a while back- Easter weekend to be exact- and thought I had posted the recipe to share. Clearly I forgot to post about these little desserts so now is my chance. They were fairly easy to make since I have a Kitchen-Aid stand mixer. Below is a photo of the finished product and the recipe to go along with it. 

Ingredients:

1 cup graham cracker crumbs

¾ cup sugar

2 tbsp. sugar

3 tbsp. butter or margarine, melted

3 pkg (8 oz. each) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened

1 tsp vanilla

3 eggs

1 cup BAKER’S ANGEL FLAKE Coconut

2 tbsp.  BAKER’S ANGEL FLAKE Coconut

54 speckled malted milk eggs (about 9 oz.)

Directions: 

1. Heat oven to 325˚

2. Mix graham cracker crumbs, 2 tbsp. sugar and butter; press onto bottoms of 18 paper-lined muffin cups

3. Beat cream cheese, vanilla and remaining sugar with mixer until blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing on low speed after each just until blended.

4. Spoon over crusts

5. Bake 25-30 minutes or until center are almost set. Cool completely. Refrigerate 2 hours.

6. Top each cheesecake with 1 tbsp. coconut; shape to resemble bird’s nest. Fill with malted milk eggs. 

weekend recap

This past weekend was the very Virginia famous Apple Blossom Festival in Winchester. It is technically a week long festival, but the biggest events happen during the second weekend. 

On Friday there was a midway set up downtown where you can play carnival games and eat just about any sort of carnival food imaginable. Seriously- fried oreos, funnel cakes, turkey legs, corn dogs, cotton candy, etc. Needless to say I had a corn dog and a funnel cake Friday night. After walking through the midway we headed over to find a spot to watch the fireworks. The fireworks show was AMAZING so say the least. We had great seats on the hill next to the high school and had a great view. 

On Saturday we woke up and did the exact same thing. We headed downtown to get carnival food for lunch, but then headed toward the parade route. The Apple Blossom parade always has celebrities that ride along the route for various reasons. The committee picks a grand marshal every year to kick off the parade and this year was Kevin Jonas. Candace Cameron-Burke (a.k.a DJ Tanner) was also there supporting her daughter, who was the Apple Blossom Queen. The parade is an all day event that shuts down most of the streets in the downtown area. We didn't stay for the entire parade, but were able to catch some of the festivities. 

Needless to say Sunday was my recovery day. We spent the day hanging out in the sun and doing some laundry. Here's to the next busy week filled with trivia and hopefully winning hockey games!