Cauliflower Two Ways {Pinned and Tried}

The food of this week apparently was Cauliflower. We are eating very healthy and trying out new recipes. This week I tried two new recipes I had pinned on Pinterest- one that we absolutely loved and one that didn't make the cut.

Number one was Creamy Cauliflower Sauce from pinchofyum.com. (Click for recipe). I used it as pasta sauce on veggie noodles with broccoli and chicken. (Side note: I was extra excited to try this out in my new Blentec blender with the "sauces" button, which worked flawlessly by the way. Not an endorsement, just love my blender!) I served it to my family without telling them what it was. They all told me it smelled amazing and then they tasted it- and LOVED it. They didn't even realize it was cauliflower sauce until after their plates were empty. We definitely will be making this again. And again times infinity.

Big mom hi-five in the air for me! Lindsay from pinchofyum also uses it for creamy garlic rice and chicken alfredo pizza sauce, which I would love to try.

via

The second recipe was basically substituting a cauliflower mixture for pizza crust. I used a cheesy cauliflower breadstick recipe I had pinned and basically made a pizza crust with it. I followed all the directions, multiplying times four to feed the family and putting it on a cookie sheet. After cooking for 40 min, I spread a little bit of red sauce on and sprinkled pizza seasoning and cheese over the top the same way I do homemade pizza. After cooling for a few minutes I cut with a pizza cutter into "breadsticks." Unfortunately, it didn't go over great. I liked the taste but the rest of the family thought the cauliflower taste was too strong. Also, even after all that baking, they still were limp and kind of like an omelet consistency. Maybe it needed to cook longer? I guess we'll never know since I won't be cooking it again :( But I praised my family for trying something new and humoring me! I served it with a delicious spinach salad so they weren't too starving :)

So those were our dinner adventures this week! Have you tried anything new lately?

~Rebecca

Pinned and Tried: DIY Boxwood Wreath with B&W Stripe Bow

A little bit ago, I was perusing images of DIY boxwood wreaths on Pinterest. I've been wanting a nice green wreath for my front door that would work all year long, for every season. For some reason, boxwood wreaths are insanely expensive and I've always wanted one but would never pay for one. I came across one image with a black and white striped bow and fell in love. Also, the bow gave me an idea: change it out for seasons/holidays and I would have the ultimate wreath that I would never have to worry about changing, storing, and I could get rid of all my other ones that take up so much space in the garage- triple win! 

The inspiration came from this picture here. I used an old wreath form I already had, I bought two boxwood garlands from Joann when they had a great sale, and I bought 1 yard of black and white striped ribbon. I just attached the garland to the form using twist ties starting from the inside and worked my way around and out. The bow is just clipped on so I can easily change it out. Here is how mine turned out:

Love. (We really need to paint that trim- yikes). As you can see it is a lovely rainy Spring day today.

I hope you enjoyed my DIY Boxwood wreath! ~Rebecca

A "Frozen" Birthday Party! (with ideas and links to sources)

We had so much fun putting on a Disney Frozen birthday party this past weekend for my daughter. I feel like saying "This birthday party brought to you by Pinterest," because seriously. I could not have done it without so many ideas and online links from Pinterest!

Welcome!

If you've never seen it, "Please open up the gates" and "Love is an open door" is from the movie. I thought it was a fun way to greet our guests. There were balloons, but it was so windy they didn't last long.

We had the living room decorated with streamers and any Frozen paraphanelia I could find. The bags are from the Target dollar spot. I had the sing-along version of Frozen all cued up so that as guests came in and we were waiting for everyone to get there, they could stay excited and occupied by singing along. We also did that as the party was ending and we were waiting for pick up.

We all loved the chalkboard art I drew! But I can't take credit for it, I just searched "Frozen chalkboard" on Pinterest and copied an idea I found.

The cake was my favorite! After looking at tons of ideas, I decided upon this idea where you make a sheet of homemade hard candy and then break it up to look like "Elsa's ice" and decorate the cake with it. My kids had these Pez candy dispensers so they let me brake the tops off so we could decorate the cake with Elsa, Olaf and Anna. Then I took a number candle we had and painted it purple. The idea for the cake and "Elsa's ice" is found here, although if you are an amatuer candy maker like myself, I highly recommend reading the more detailed instructions on making hard candy here.

For an easy activity, I printed these placemats I found here for each guest, with a Frozen "plate" picture for them to color, which I found here and cut into circles and glued on, which I had them color when they came to the table while I was cutting cake and scooping ice cream.

I printed this personalized Frozen banner I found here and glued onto some scrapbook paper. My daughter also wanted to color some pictures and hang them up for decorations like the ones here.

The plates, napkins, hanging snowflakes, party favors and streamers I got for cheap on Amazon. I got better prices than Walmart.com and Target.com with free shipping.

We played "Do you wanna build a snowman?" with this super cute Olaf game printable from here. The winner got a prize.

And we played "Krostoff's Ice Chipping" game. I took small toys and froze them in water in cups. Then I gave them each a butter knife and just let them go at it (after giving them a warning to be careful!) I didn't know how it was going to go or how long it would take, but they seemed to know exactly what to do and just went for it! It was hilarious and ice was flying everywhere as they just hacked at it fast and furious. A couple girls got to their toys right away! And the first winner got a prize. The only thing I would do differently is freezing them in tupperware or harder plastic cups since these disposable ones ripped apart easily.

Another really fun game we did (I don't have a picture of) was a scavenger hunt with clues of movie quotes. I had a Frozen plastic cup from Target filled with Frozen fruit snack bags as the treasure they had to find at the end. It was a hit! They had a great time doing this, I thought it was the most fun game. Found here.

For the favors it was totally worth it to buy a favor pack from Amazon. It came with 6 things for 8 girls and was cheaper and faster and easier than trying to buy a bunch of different little things. It ended up being about a dollar a person. If you're not shopping online, you could probably do the same by buying 8 Frozen things from the Target dollar spot. I know they had a ton of Frozen stuff around Christmas time. We ordered these super cute thank you photo cards from Walmart which matched her invitations.

Overall, it was a super fun, super cute Frozen party! I know my daughter loved it so that's the most important thing :)

Have a great week! ~ Rebecca

The Friday Four Roundup #11 {Product Review and a Pinterest Fail}

I you haven't already, make sure to check out my Early Fall tour {here}. I say early because in a few weeks we will need to add some Halloween decor, and then my favorite, Thanksgiving!

1. Speaking of fall, not only did I add some touches to my house, I also found some super cure fall wallpaper for my "electronic devices." I just searched "fall wallpaper for iphone" on pinterest. When you see something you like on your phone you can just touch it and some options will come up and click "save image" which will go straight to your photo album on your phone. Then go to settings and update your wallpaper. Note: I could not save the image in my pinterest app, only if I went on pinterest through safari.

2. After doing a ton of research online and on the Ulta website, I discovered this Loreal true match mineral powder foundation got really great reviews. I decided to give it a try especially since I found that it was cheaper in my shade at Target.com than it was anywhere else, even Walmart. I LOVE it. I have tried BareMinerals for several years and also Loreal true match liquid foundation and this is very comparable to BareMinerals, if not better, and at less than half the price! I do need to use translucent powder to control shine over it, but it really gives a natural look and it so easy to use. (I am not paid to say any of this! All opinions in this post are my own!)

3. PINNED AND TRIED: homemade dry shampoo. After I ran out of my Suave dry shampoo, I decided to try this all natural recipe I found online by simply mixing equal parts baking soda and cornstarch. I found this shaker that was exactly like the one the original blogger used for like a buck. Umm, I don't know if it's just me, but it comes out way too much at a time, and pretty much made me look like I was trying to wear a powder wig. I only did it in a few spots that needed it. I rubbed it in like crazy and finally threw it in a ponytail to cover it because I was in a hurry. By the end of the day, the spots were really itchy and there was major powder under my fingernails from scratching. (gross). So I would say this is a Pinterest Fail. (!) Then I went and bought my beloved Suave dry shampoo. Definitely worth the three and a half bucks!

4. Lastly... "YOU'VE got mail. Those are very powerful words." (Name that movie) My awesome Sis in law Karen was so sweet to send me this mag after I told her I was wanting to read it but couldn't find it anywhere in my very small, very rural town. It really brightened my day. Now, go take a few minutes and go mail someone some love. You'll both be glad you did. And that's all for today's public service announcement.

I hope you have a great weekend! ~ Rebecca

My 3 Most Popular Pinterest Re-Pins

It's interesting what people are "pinterested" in. Here are three of my pins that I noticed get re-pinned alot that I thought it would be fun to share.

Popular pin #1 found {HERE}: (click to be directed to pinterest and to find original sources)
Halloween dipped marshmallows. I liked it because it is an easy, no bake treat that you could easily switch up for any holiday or occasion. It has been re-pinned 574 times.

Popular pin #2 found {HERE}:
This is Leigh Lezark. Not only is she beautiful, but she has cool hair. I pinned it for this great very dark brown medium length A-line hair cut. It has been pinned 344 times.

Popular pin #3 found {HERE}:
I loved Lillie's cute little outfit from dearlillie. But I especially loved the bow on her shirt. I thought it would be so easy and cute to pull a family picture together making matching bows I could pin on the girls, an alternative to flowers. This one has been pinned a whopping 1,393 times!

Pinned and Tried: Cauliflower Chowder

The Rundown: a little creamy, delicious. Very similar to potato soup but very low carb. It was a hit, everyone liked it (especially with bacon!) 

Original recipe found HERE.

We Are In Love With These Healthy Cookies! {Pinned and Tried: Guilt Free Oatmeal Cookies}

I pinned this recipe last week and have really been wanting homemade healthy snacks so I tried it out today. These are not "no bake" but they are just as easy and require no fancy equipment. I just used a fork to mash the bananas and mixed everything by hand with a bowl and spatula. The only thing I would add to the recipe is to mention to flatten them a little since they don't spread. (I always use my cookie scoop, thus the "mound" shape). Also I used a random bag of leftover white chips instead of chocolate or raisins.

So here it is:

Guilt Free Oatmeal Cookies

made with bananas and applesauce, no butter, sugar, flour or eggs.

3 ripe bananas, 1/3 c applesauce, 2 c oats, 3 tb milk, 1tsp vanilla, 1tsp cinnamon, 1/2 c raisins or choc chips.

Preheat oven to 360', combine all ingredients well, put on greased cookie sheet, bake 15-20 min. Made 2 dozen.

And just to prove their goodness, here are a few shots of us stuffing our faces with them!

original recipe found here:

http://www.favfamilyrecipes.com/2014/01/guilt-free-oatmeal-cookies.html

Pinned and Tried: Thanksgiving Sugar Cone Cornucopia #PinterestFAIL

Here is a picture of the original "pin" of the sugar cone cornucopia:

I was so excited to do this for my kids and nieces and nephews this Thanksgiving, I pictured our plate settings on the table with this cute little treat on the side....

(Sigh.) It never does quite turn out that way, does it?

I bought the candy and the cones all ready to do it. Aaaannnnddd........ it didn't work.

The first one sort of worked but only because I stuck it in boiling water before I steamed it so it was pliable. It was just luck because I could not for the life of me get the second one to bend at all. Even after I stuck it in water too (which you're not supposed to). Four hours later it is still soggy. So after the second one, I gave up.

I put the candy in a big bowl and put it on the counter while we were getting dinner ready and needless to say, judging by the empty bowl, everyone love the little treat, whether it was in a fancy cornucopia or not :)

Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and are now digesting in a wonderful way :) We're off to cut down our Christmas tree while tromping through the snow and listening to Christmas carols tomorrow. Have a great weekend.

Quick & Easy Crafts for the Nursery and a Sneak Peek! Part 1: Tissue pom poms

So... it's crunch time. The baby's due in 2 1/2 weeks and there has been 2 simple things I wanted to make for the nursery that I finally got around to doing today. We still need to hang the curtains and are waiting for the handmade quilts from the grandmas (hint, hint) and then it will be complete. So this is kind of a "sneak-peek" :) With my stomach hardening in braxton hicks all day though, she might come before it's done. But let's not get our hopes up :) 

The first project was these simple tissue poms. Poofs? Flowers? Whatever they are, I had read all over the internet that they are super simple to make. I followed a tutorial I found on pinterest here:

This was a no cost project for me since I always recycle tissue paper and bows and I had just enough of the colors I wanted, score! I wanted to use these instead of a mobile over the crib. So here is how they turned out:

Before I did this project I considered myself a crafty person, but somehow I managed to botch this "super easy" craft that every one and their dog can do (PINTEREST FAIL!) So don't look too closely!!! I kind of tweaked them a bit till they looked passable and decided that at this point, in between contractions, I just wanted the darn things hung. Done.

I just love the colors and the theme of this nursery, isn't it looking cute?

Come back for part two next!

Spring 2013 Inspiration: A Roundup of my latest

I don't know about you, but I am more than ready to say goodbye to the SNOW we've been having and say hello to the SUN and warmer weather. Here is a roundup of some of the things that have sparked my interests this Spring. Take a minute and enjoy looking at these pretties.

(They are all on my pinterest boards so if you want to see where they came from, please go there :) )

This week I was browsing for new sheets and I got an email from Pottery Barn for a % off all purchases so I decided to check out what they had to offer. I went to the clearance section and found a set of 2 Plaza(much needed)king pillowcases in sandalwood for $7.99! That's like Ikea prices for much better quality. They come in the mail next week!

I love the picture of this home exterior and thought what a good idea to add the pergolas on each side of the portico to add interest and character instead of doing a more pricey front-porch add-on. We could totally do this to our house since it has the same front design. (With some magical extra funds, of course!)

I absolutely fell in love with this bedroom. I'd like a little more personality in artwork, but everything else seems perfect. It even inspired me to spruce up and clean up my room yesterday and make it look clean and simple like this.

I found this skirt at Downeast Basics on the clearance rack with an extra 20% off. It looks really cute with a jean jacket and some yellow ballet flats:)

Love this super easy handmade card, could easily make with paper scraps.

More eye candy from Pottery Barn - so pretty. I like the idea of adding a soft blue to the Master bedroom color palette, but I also love my all- white bed :)

Super cute. Need I say more, other than I need to get started on some hair accessories for baby girl?

I've been really itching to get out my watercolors and do a few small projects before baby comes. Lots of inspiration found for birds, and a few other things I've been wanting to do.

I scored this set of washi-tape from Pick your Plum for cheap and have lots of ideas of what to do with it! Already decorated my daughter's magnet board with a border of washi tape, wondering if I should put some on the walls for fun? Also going to make a no-sew triangle bunting for the nursery. This stuff is so versatile.

Well there's my quick Spring Roundup. What has inspired you this season?Have a great weekend!