Recipe Monday!

I love sharing recipes. The best part is that I know it's good and thus recommending it is easy. I also love to get recipes from other people. *Hint hint*. So i've decided to post my favorite recipes on Mondays.

Today I'll share my mother's salsa recipe. This recipe is super easy and healthy. You can control the salt, the flavor and the freshness. We make it in the summer with fresh tomatos and it is unbeliveable.

Mom's Heart Healthy Salsa

(makes about 4 cups)

2 cans of fire roasted tomatos (14 1/2oz each)

1 can chopped green chilies, drained (4oz)

8 medium green onions, chopped (1/2 cupish)

1 small green bell pepper, chopped (1/2 cupish)

1 clove garlic finely chopped

1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Dash of Chili powder

salt to taste.

Place all ingredients in blender/mixer. Cover and blend on medium speed until desired "chunkieness". Cover and refridgerate. Best served 24 hours later.

You can't go wrong with this recipe. It's the best one we have found thus far.

BigHouse!

A good friend of mine from college, Micah Melnick and her husband started a non-profit organization called BigHouse about three years ago. It reaches out to the foster children in Lee County, AL (Opelika and Auburn area). They have after school programs, a "clothes closet", and toy closest for birthdays and so much more. This particular event is a swimsuit drive to make sure every foster child in the STATE has a new swimsuit and towel (personalized with their name on it). It's a wonderful event and i've participated every year. If your interested in helping by either donating a swimsuit, towel, or just a donation, just let me know and i'll make sure it gets to BigHouse. Prayers are always welcome too!

If you'd like to find out more about BigHouse, check out their website: www.ourbighouse.org

and they also have a facebook page found by searching "Big House Foundation".

If you would like an idea of how many foster kids need swimsuits and towels in YOUR county...Some of you may be surprised at the need!

Jefferson:1400

Mobile:525

Madison:438

Montgomery:239

...Tuscaloosa: 200

Cullman:192

Shelby:190

Marshall:177

Lee:121

Chilton:101

Houston:100

and theres PLENTY MORE!!!

 

I'll come pick up the swimsuits or meet you somewhere! Catch me on my cell phone or send me a message on facebook or email: ellyn211@hotmail.com

A new craft store?!

So I had most of the day off, long story- [Employee Appreciation day. End of story] BUT I did have the afternoon off so I took myself out to Jo Ann's. If you haven't been yet, you must go. Yes, it's just another craft store [Pretty crappy way to see it] but it's new and exciting. My history with Jo Ann's starts in Atlanta. My wonderful MIL and her lovely lady friends took me to Atlanta to finish buying things for the reception. It was a lot bigger than the one in Huntsville but we found SO much stuff...and we got really lucky because they were having a huge sale and we got a TON-O-STUFF for about 125$.

It is half fabric and half craft but lucky me, i'm in the market for both.

So next Tuesday I'm having some wonderful ladies over for a painting party so i needed to go to Jo Ann's, check the place out...and you know, restock my "woman cave".

I got some cute beads for bracelets I WILL learn how to make.

Also I got us girls some painting trays! I thought they were a super cute idea (and cheap too!)

So tonight i'm cleaning up my woman cave and getting it totally ready for all the amazing projects i plan to start and never finish in 2011.

Stay turned.

It's going to be a great ride.

I love weddings...

So tonight I went to [what we thought was] an engagement party with my sweet MIL. I was excited to go because it was in the roundhouse and I hadn't been back to the roundhouse since my wedding. It was strange walking in and notice the different atmosphere. Most of the things were the same, the tables were set up the same way, they had a bar, and a long row of tables full of yummy food in the back. But this was a night for some other "bride to be". Funny twist to this party was that they ended up getting married! They surprised EVERYONE when she walked out in a white dress and they both meet the preacher and said some vows! It was sweet and was very much the way of the bride. Now my mother would have pitched a fit if that had happened...I wouldn't have agreed to it anyways.

But this night got me thinking about my wedding.  I miss the parties and showers but I do NOT miss the planning. That was the most stressful part. I didn't want to forget to do something. I didn't want to miss an idea...but then towards the end, I started to realize that I couldn't see every picture or couldn't hear about every idea. I received some wonderful advice from a sweet lady, Mrs. Hannah Alderson about weddings..."Pick a day and time and then anything that happens or doesn't happen after that point is out of your control and won't get done and you can't change it." At the time she told me, sometime in august I thought "nah, I'll get it all done. Don't worry"...Little did I know, I wouldn't get it all done. But at 12pm on Friday, If it didn't happen, it wasn't getting done. After that point, I sat back and relaxed and focused on making memories of this wonderful weekend ahead.

There were things that did go wrong...

First- When we got to the church that morning, I was locked out of the bride's room. My mother had to turn around and go back home to find the key. You're thinking, well, that wouldn't be horrible. No, not really but my videographer could only film one person at a time getting ready that way so it was me or the girls. So I started getting ready in the parlor and turns out the video and photography turned out great with the light.

Second- I was trying to finish getting ready so I could go see Kyle and all I had left was to put on my grandmother's pearls. Now, I do have both my grandmother's sets of pearls. As I went to hook the pearls, they just fell apart. It was all I could do to walk out of the room, my stomach hit the floor. Thank goodness I had a "back up" pair.

Third- This one I didn't know about until tonight actually. The stadium that went on top of Kyle's cake wasn't just a stadium. It had a base. So when our wonderful cake lady first saw it in the box, she didn't notice the base on the bottom of the stadium. It wasn't until the cakes were almost finished and ready to be assembled did she notice the base. So our original plan for Kyle's cake was to be a tiered cake with the stadium on top...as you saw, it was two separate cakes...I never even noticed until Teresa told me tonight. Of course, an elephant could have been standing on top of the cake before i realized what was going on that day.

Fourth- I had bought my garters just a few days before the wedding, an Alabama one and a houndstooth one to throw...it wasn't until right before we were about to throw them that I realized I didn't even wear them that day...ha!

Lastly- The two flower arrangements that were at the alter of the church were to go to the roundhouse and be used as some more decoration on the food table and the entrance to the roundhouse...never made it out of the church- both vases shattered on the way out of the church. That's what you get for getting cheap glassware?

However, none of those things bothered me. November 20, 2010 was the happiest day of my life and nothing was going to rain on my parade. I was so happy and everything fell in to place. I knew that something was going to happen, I knew that the entire day couldn't have gone on without a hitch so in a way I was prepared.

Some of the happiest moments-

Getting to see Kyle for the first time!

Having the best time with my girls!

And having our families come together.

Of course, it wouldn't have been the same if I didn't have the videos to remember:

Ellyn + Kyle from Matthew Wilson on Vimeo.

Ellyn + Kyle First Dance from Matthew Wilson on Vimeo.

Until next time...

New Hair, New Project, New attitude!

Spring is in the air, la da da da, spring is in the air...

Who's excited for spring!? ME!

So with spring comes a new sense of attitude for me. I love being outside. I was the kid who stayed outside all day every day during the summer and my mother was always begging me to come inside.

Who wouldn't if you has the coolest place in the world to play?

My dad built me to coolest play house when I was five years old thus started my obsession with the outdoors.

I'll admit, i'm a much nicer person when it's beautiful outside. So the seventy degree weather this week has been a much needed attitude adjustment for me. Snow turns me into a bear, litterally, i hibernated and eat a lot. So i'm very thankful for this beautful sunny weather. I only get to enjoy an hour at lunch and whatever's left after i get off work but it's enough to make me smile again.

Also, if you know me well, you know i have very strict regimines when it comes to my hair. I don't wash it often, try to keep heat off it as much as possible, and i rarely get hair cuts. I do however try to get a spring and fall trim with my hair. I've recenlty been introduced to having a professional highlight and color my hair...boy, i've been missing out (and saving money too- that's one pricey habbit to be picking up).

So last tuesday on my off day, I got my spring cut and color. I was nervous about the cut, new guy- i knew he could rock some highlights but how good was he with scissors?

Excellent. He did excatly what i wanted: whatever he wanted to do.

I knew if he asked me what I wanted to do, i would reply "Cut it all off". therefore, i stayed quiet and let him do his own thing.

He did a really good job.

So befores and afters:

No Layers to layers!

It feels great, so light. Now i just can't wait to see what it looks like curly!

So lastly, spring brings this eagerness for me to do something. Plant flowers, run, be outside, clean out closests, something...So after i started blogging and finding all theses wonderful blogs about home decor and food, recipes, crafts, it's made me itch to learn to do something new. So while in Hartselle last saturday i stopped at this AMAZING shop, Bella Reese that had this lime greem houndstooth print chair.

Well, needless to say it was NO WHERE NEAR my budget. Leaving the shop super bummed, I decided to stop at Willown Tree Fabrics in Decatur on my way back into town. And that's when i saw it...the EXACT lime green houndstooth fabric. So i got to talking to the lady working there...turns out that her sister owns the antique shop and this is where she got the fabric for the chair.

So here's my chair that I plan to redo.

So I've decided to recover my own chair.

This is as good as it gets picture wise.

So in like, sixty years when i finally finish this project, i'll post pictures!

Hope all is well with everyone!

 

Things I've learned living with a boy...

So it's been a while since I could even get on the Internet, much less post something. So what does one do when there is no Internet and your husband has taken over the t.v? You clean. So i cleaned...and i cleaned...and after i had cleaned most of the baseboards in the house, i stopped...I was freaking myself out. So while I was on this cleaning spree, i cleaned out the fridge and freezer. Mind you, I moved into this house with the fridge full. I had no idea what was in that freezer when I moved in. I now know. I found: 6 bags of french fries

3 freezer burnt "heat and eat" burgers.

One carton of ice cream with ice icicles that would be perfect for the Artic tundra

4 boxes of chicken fries

and a bunch of "man food".

Before and Afters of the fridge:

                      BEFORE:                                                                                   AFTER:

(Hard to tell a big difference but I can tell and that's all that matters!)

The funniest thing about this whole thing is Kyle tried to argue with me that we didn't have ANY french fries and we should by some. So in our deep freeze in the garage sits 2 more bags of shoe string fries.

Any one want some french fries?!

So one thing I've learned living with a boy, clean out the freezer every once in a while.

While cleaning I took notice how our house smells...like in general. It doesn't have an odor like smelly gym socks but I doesn't smell like "afternoon rain showers". Now it does.

Boys stink. Hands down. Thank goodness for Fabreeze air fresheners.

Life. Saver.

Also...boys are dirty. New found favorite item of the house: Clorox wipes. It's amazing what those things can do in a house. We've been through more boxes than a kindergarten classroom.

Finally...Toilet paper.

I have bought more toilet paper in the past two months than I know my mom has bought a family of four in a year. You think I'm kidding, right? Seriously. Jumbo rolls and the jumbo pack.

I'm that girl that walks out of Target with jumbo toilet paper, Clorox wipes and air fresheners. I should tattoo "wife" on my forehead and call it a day.

However, as much as I've learned about living with Kyle in the past couple months, I wouldn't change it for the world.

Part two of cleaning instead of playing on the internet: Pantry redo! Coming soon!

My Valentine...

Happy Valentine's Day to the most wonderful man in the entire world! Kyle and I decided to have our Valentine's Day on friday night. We were going to go out, have dinner, run to Hobby Lobby...or so I thought. Instead i'm late getting off work on Friday and I pull in and Kyle comes to the door smiling...never happens. I usually meet him inside on the recliner playing xbox until I get home (Until softball season starts anyways...) However, I walk in and he has dinner set on the table, candles, wine, GiGi cupcakes, 4 redbox movies and Tulips. Turns out, we both just wanted a good meal and to stay and in chill. He read my mind...and only after two months of marriage. It was the best one we've ever had...(the past were at dance competions, fun for me...nooottt so much for kyle.)

This was our first picture we had ever had taken together.

I love you, babe!