The Little Things: Colored Salt Pot

by Natasha on February 9, 2012 in the little things

I’m really big on buying little things that may not be the most practical but are something that will put a little brightness in your day. Whenever you see it or use it you might just smile a bit more. To me, that’s worth the extra couple of bucks.

I saw this tiny Le Creusat pot with lid at Whole Foods of all places. I probably stood there a good 8 minutes picking it up, then putting it down. Looking at the price, putting it back down. Then thinking, ohhhh, but it’s so cute. And it’s pink? Ugh. I’m going to buy it. I just won’t buy myself any grocery store flowers this month. There, justified.

I now know that these little oompah loompah dutch ovens are actually called ‘le cocottes’ & are mostly used for fantastic individual desserts like molten cake.

I don’t bake any desserts fancier than break off cookie dough but I did think of another solution for my little pot o’ goodness. Coarse salt.

I’ve been sprinkling kosher salt when I cook for awhile now but didn’t really have a good way to access it. Not only is my ‘cocotte’ (boy I feel stupid saying that.) beautiful but it’s the perfect size.

Not every time but often enough I find that I’m happy to see if when I open the spice cabinet. That doesn’t make me an incredibly lonely weirdo, right? Inanimate objects make lots of people happy. Yup. Sure do.

I looked all around amazon & couldn’t find the pink one that I have but I did find this lilac one which I actually like even better. It’s gorgeous. Now if only I was creative enough to find a reason to justify a 2nd…

What little things have you splurged on that make you happy?

PS- I was just perusing the Le Creuset website and I saw this…Sigh. It’s $170 which is ridiculous but isn’t it sweet? I think I’m in love with a casserole dish. They have a special now too that if you spend $150 you get 2 cherry colored cocottes for free. Well isn’t that nice.

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Warm your heart creamy chicken broccoli bake

by Natasha on February 7, 2012 in dinner 101

Do you ever just try and throw ingredients together & “make up” dinner? It’s one of my favorite things to do but I find the results are either ‘rock n roll’ or major ‘crash n burn’. My family is a trooper though & they eat it regardless. Although this could be because I give them no choice.

Regardless this time it was YUMMY! The ingredient combination isn’t exactly rocket science but whatever, I’m still proud of myself.

Warm Your Heart Creamy Chicken Broccoli Bake

3 chicken breasts cut into 2″ cubes
8 oz light cream cheese, cubed
1 can cream of mushroom soup (I used the fat-free)
shredded parmesan cheese
1 head of broccoli cut into florets
egg noodles (substitute no yolks for a light option)
milk (as needed to thin sauce)

Preheat oven to 350.

Set a pot of water to boil for noodles.

Trim broccoli into florets & place them in a microwave safe glass dish, add 1 tbs water & cover with lid. Microwave for 3 minutes. Drain, season lightly with salt & pepper, set aside.

In a large skillet drizzle a tablespoon or two of extra virgin olive oil over medium high heat. Season your chicken cubes with salt, pepper & garlic powder. Cook chicken cubes in skillet for 2 minutes each side or until golden brown. Work in batches if you need to, adding oil as needed. Don’t crowd the chicken or it won’t brown as nicely. It’s ok if the chicken isn’t cooked all the way through, it’ll finish in the oven. Transfer chicken to a plate & turn skillet down to low.

Add noodles to pot, cook according to package directions.

While noodles are cooking add cream of mushroom soup & cream cheese to your skillet. Stir over low heat scraping up all those yummy brown bits from the chicken in the process. Add milk as needed to thin the sauce.

Drain cooked noodles & add noodles, broccoli, chicken & sauce to a baking dish. Top with shredded Parmesan cheese & bake for 15 minutes (cover with foil if noodles or cheese start to burn) or until chicken is cooked through.

Serve right away & receive massive amounts of praise humbly yet deservedly

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Falling Dots Heart Sweatshirt

by Natasha on February 6, 2012 in tutorials

When you have a super girly girl who’s obsessed with pink, hearts & anything frilly a Valentine’s school party seemed like such a good excuse to make her something new…I was inspired by this bag from V & Co & made the sweatshirt from an XXL men’s sweatshirt I picked up at Target. I used this hoodie pattern from lil blue boo (my go to pattern that I know is quick & super easy) & to make the project go by extra fast I used the existing cuffs, hem ribbing & hood.

The whole project start to finish took 2 hours. Right inside that glorious Sophie naptime window. The dots were done by ironing on a freezer paper heart stencil as a guide & then I dotted fabric paint with an eraser tip. So easy, right? I’m loving this technique, perhaps a shamrock with ombre greens next month??

And in case you’re wondering what Sam was doing to keep herself busy…She’s says it’s a dress for Soph. Yes it looks like a pediatric hospital gown but the thought is sweet. I told her it was beautiful.

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Where am I?

by Natasha on February 6, 2012 in Where am I?

Here’s where I was this week when I wasn’t here…

(also look for a valentine’s sweatshirt post later this afternoon!)

On the Kaneshow Blog: Superbowl goodies, “Tell me about her” (a post on flirtatious women in my man’s office), The Dread (sometimes it’s worst than the act), Trendspotter: Neon Lips

On Pinterest I put together a new board on Superbowl party recipes that really are good to keep in your back pocket for any get together you might have.

Other than that P & I have been trying not to walk into any walls. We’re so tired. Poor Sam has had the most bizarre virus. If you follow my FB than you saw the awful picture of her as ‘pinkilicious’, the rash lasted for a couple of days & then came the nighttime cough. For 6 nights she’s been up the whole night coughing like crazy. We’ve done the humidifier, motrin, benedryl, nothing works. Until today she’s been pretty happy during the day & hasn’t had any fever so I haven’t been too worried but today she finally has a fever. Guess we’ll be heading back to the pediatrician’s office. I wonder if they’ve given me my own parking spot yet?

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Best Superbowl Recipes

by Natasha on February 3, 2012 in dinner 101

I’ve got to stop pinning food late at night…it’s killing me.I’m not a big football fan. I’d say it’s probably my favorite of all professional sports but honestly, that’s not saying much. I do however love Superbowl Sunday because I have a major love affair with good appetizers. I love going to restaurants & just ordering apps for dinner.

Superbowl gives you total carte blanche to eat every gooey, cheesy, saucy bit of goodness served. I put together a pinterest board with a some of my go-to apps for Sunday’s game. Pioneer Woman’s BBQ whiskey sliders & That’s So Michelle’s caramel apple shots are definitely must tries for me. Ughh, these pictures are killing me! MUST FIND MELTED CHEESE NOWWW!

SUPERBOWL FARE PINTEREST BOARD

-By the way, I know I’ve been doing a lot of pinning instead of listing out all the links here, I’m hearing there’s a waiting list now for new Pinterest accounts so if you need one leave a comment that includes your email address. Depending on how many are left I can’t promise anything but I’ll try my best to send you a personal invite from my account.

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Ruler Growth Chart Tutorial

by Natasha on February 1, 2012 in tutorials

Did you see this on my Pinterest DIY board about a month ago? I finally got over to Lowe’s & bought my big piece of wood (to which P said, “hehe, big piece of wood”, I married a 13 year old) & after that the project was easily done in one afternoon…

The wood couldn’t have been easier to get. In fact if you’re intimidated to go to the hardware store (like me) & the thought of going to lumber section no less is enough to make you scratch a project (hand up in air) then this is one you should absolutely make yourself do. I had all sorts of anxiety about getting the right size piece of wood. I don’t know what my problem is, I’ve asked for wood to be cut at Lowe’s before. They don’t make you sacrifice your first born child.

It was completely painless but nonetheless every time I need to go I get all panicked about being a girl in man’s world. Like they’re going to see me with my wedge boots & pretty little purse & point me in the direction of the paint section. “Aw, poor little lamb is lost, paint samples are that way honey…”

But look, all that anticipation for nothing…

I didn’t even have to speak to anyone. Wood already comes precut in 6′ pieces. It even has a nice little sticker on it so I can do self-checkout & not speak to a soul. I was in & out with my big piece of wood in 5 minutes. {insert joke here} {{for a craft blog it surrre is getting dirty around here!}}

Next step I threw a vinyl tablecloth over my dining room table & laid the wood across a couple of cans of spaghetti o’s. Using an old bib I wiped on some ‘golden oak’ Minwax stain to the front & the sides. While the stain dried I used my Silhouette (did I tell you P got me one for Christmas? Susan finally taught me how to use the darn thing over the weekend, more on that to come) to create the number & dash stickers. The wonderful thing about the Silhouette is I can go ahead and space out all of the dash marks 1″ apart that way I can transfer them all onto the ruler in one perfectly spaced ginormous vinyl cutout. If you don’t have a Silhouette than a.) I apologize for rubbing it in your face that it’s so stupidly awesome for this project & b.) have several other perfectly suitable solutions.

I’ve seen lots of people mark 1″ spaces down their piece of wood & then use a stencil to draw on the dashes & numbers like this lovely lady did here. If something even easier sounds good to you then take a look at this, pre-made vinyl growth ruler kits from Etsy. Girly does all the work for you. If you don’t have a cutter & don’t mind paying a few extra bucks that’s probably a nice way to go. Also I used pink vinyl because I didn’t want the stark contrast of the black vinyl against the wood, I think the pink is a little funky & somehow makes having a giant ruler a tad less hokey.

Once all of your stickers are applied, take a deep breath, you’re almost done. And now’s the fun part. You get to whip out your drill. (hehehe, ok, seriously, I have issues)I attached two d-rings. (purchased at target in the picture hanging/hooks/duct tape aisle) Each one is 2″ on either side of the center of the board, about 6 or so inches from the top of the board. Then on the wall I placed two of these mounting screws also bought at Target. They claim to hold 60lbs each & since I was a bit worried about the darn thing falling on my kid’s heads these seemed like a good idea. Just keep in mind when you’re placing your bear claw screws in the wall that they need to be the same distance apart that you placed your d-rings (4″) & also if your ruler is like mine & starts at 6″ then you’re going to need to hang it exactly 6″ off the ground. That’s it my friend. It was easy, right? Righhhttt?? I hope you make one. I’m really loving the way it looks. Now I just need to find a way to get Sam to understand why her height mark isn’t getting higher every time she walks in the room. (“but I ate my broccoli!”)

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Where am I?

by Natasha on January 30, 2012 in Where am I?

You’d be surprised how often I ask myself that…

So I thought I’d do a quick little round up of where else I was this week…virtually that is, oooo, futuristic!

Kaneshow Blog: “Where is the love?” (all about the haters), “Project: Valentine’s Felt Posey Headband”, “IMO: Makeup 101” (school’s teaching teens “makeup class”), “Strings Attached Vasectomy (pun intended)”

Over on the Sharpie Blog they featured my Snow Leopard Ottoman, very happy to see that.

Sheposts.com gave me a little shoutout for winning the HP Design Challenge at Alt! Still waiting for it to get here, hopefully soon!!

For my monthly ideabook on Houzz.com I found products for a ‘Winter Blues’ themed livingroom. Loving these!

And continuing to feed my Pinterest addiction I put together a roundup of my favorite Valentine’s projects thus far, and it’s not even February yet…I might have a problem.

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Sweet Potato & Sausage Soup

by Natasha on January 27, 2012 in dinner 101

Weird name, I know. Trust me when I tell you though, IT’S SO GOOD. If sweet & savory describes your taste, & not just your personality (teehee), then add this to your ‘must try’ list.

P, Sophie, my girlfriend Megan who just happened to be stopping by during dinnertime & myself finished all of ours & had seconds. Sam “doesn’t like soup” so I fished her out the sausage & sweet potato pieces which she happily gobbled up. This was as easy as it was delicious. How can you argue with that?

The original recipe is from Epicurious but I found it via Smitten Kitchen (Makes 8 servings)

1 10- to 11-ounce fully cooked smoked sausage (you could also use chorizo if you wanted a little kick)
2 medium onions, chopped
2 large garlic cloves, minced
2 lbs sweet potatoes (about 2 large), peeled, quartered lengthwise, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices
1/2 lb white potatoes, peeled, halved lengthwise, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices
6 cups low-salt chicken broth
1 9-ounce bag fresh spinach

Butter, EVOO & Salt/Pepper

Heat 2 tablespoons of evoo in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add sausage; cook until brown, stirring often, about 8 minutes. Transfer sausage to a paper towel lined plate. Add onions and garlic to pot and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add all potatoes and cook until beginning to soften, about 10 minutes. Add broth. Bring to a boil, scraping up browned bits on the bottom of the pot. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until potatoes are soft, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes. Using a potato masher (or in my case a fork) mash some of the potatoes in the pot. This will thicken the soup a bit. Add browned sausage to soup. Stir in spinach and simmer just until wilted, about 2 minutes. Stir in 1 tablespoon butter. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with crusty bread. Mmm.

For more easy recipes I’ve reviewed click here

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Valentine’s Project Ideas

by Natasha on January 27, 2012 in tutorials

I don’t know what it is about Valentine’s Day but it’s without a doubt my favorite holiday to craft for.

Maybe it’s the red, pink & white combo or maybe that it’s my excuse to whip out a doily, whatever the reason I just can’t get enough of the girly, lovey-dovey projects. I mean, when have you ever known me to actually make something for a holiday sooner than the week before?

Today I made the No-Sew Posey Headbands below for the Kaneshow blog & if you haven’t seen yet, I’ve posted a Valentine’s Craft board on my Pinterest account & below are a few from there as well. If you have a V-day project that you love please leave a link to it in the comments below, bonus points if it’s pink, I’m always a sucker for pink.

Valentine’s Posey No-Sew Headband

Pinterest Valentine’s Wrap-Up

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beauty school dropout

by Natasha on January 25, 2012 in mommy blog

Oh my.

A few of you have emailed or commented asking how I either find time to blog & keep a house running or have expressed your concern that I’m going to totally burn out by taking on a 2nd blog. (truth be told, I’m scared too, I’ve certainly been overwhelmed before)

Truth is I haven’t quite figured it out yet. The best thing in my corner is I have a really supportive husband & some really amazing babysitters. Someone commented yesterday that I seem like I have it all together & what an inspiration I am to them. To that I have two things to say…

1- Did you see this post?

2- I have help.

I wanted to tell you what my schedule is like for blogging so you don’t think I’m such sort of magician, or worse, that you must be doing something wrong. I hate when other blogs make me feel bad about myself. I know I’ve thought, goodness, I haven’t even brushed my teeth & she’s already sewn 3 coordinating dresses, done a freezer paper tutorial & made homemade play-doh for her kids. Whatever.

So here’s how I have time, between you & I…

Monday, Wednesday & Friday Sam goes to a half-day of school. Also every Monday I have a sitter come over & watch Sophie while Sam is at school so I can have a good 3 hours of focused work time. (although sometimes that sadly turns into laundry or grocery time) Sophie take a 1 & 1/2 to 2 hour nap every afternoon. During that time I set Sam up with some Barbies, a craft or maybe a tv show so I can blog. This includes making the craft, writing the posts, editing the photos or doing social media. I’m really lucky that I have a very self sufficient 3 year old. At 5pm P gets done with work & takes the kids so I can cook dinner, after that he bathes them & gets them ready for bed while I do my daily chores. Cleaning, laundry, pay bills, that type of stuff. We each put one kid to bed & then he & I both sit on our laptops & finish our work, bouncing ideas off eachother. I don’t really read, watch too much tv or other things people might do to unwind in the evening. And that’s about it my friend. Starting in March Sophie is going to go to school with Sam two morning a week so I’ll have a good 8 hours a week of uninterrupted work time.

In the meantime I’m taking it day by day. For instance I knew I had a lot of writing to get done during Sophie’s nap today so while I was at Target this morning I picked up a makeup kit for Sam to play with while I worked. So far it’s been 2 hours & she & all of her dolls look like mini-prostitutes. But hey, she’s happy & I’ve gotten two posts done. It works.

I’m fully aware of how lucky I am to have such an incredibly supportive husband & also the income to spend on sitters. I’m blessed, I know. I’m the daughter of a single mother & almost every day I think of her at some point & wonder, how the heck did she do this by herself?

So there you go, just thought I’d put it all out there.

Also speaking of underage makeup, today over at the Kaneshow blog I’m writing about my opinion on 14 year olds who are being offered makeup classes in their school. I kind of lose it. Check it out & tell me what you think…

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