Thrift Store Team Spirit

I'm convinced that the burnt orange color I'm mildly obsessed with is the team color for thrift shops. I have two blankets, two pillows and a sweater scored in this color from several different shops. My latest acquisition is a round brown & orange throw pillow and another brown-orangy crocheted throw.

I'm fairly certain the round pillow was originally from Target. One of the things I look for in throw pillows is that it has a zipper. I wash everything before snuggling up on my couch with it, you know just in case. So if you need me, I will be wrapped in my orange blankets, with my orange pillows in my orange wrap sweater. My kind of camouflage! 

Split Pea Soup

Split pea soup is one of my favorite comfort foods. Lucky for me its very easy to make and has room for personalization! I followed the instructions on the bag of dried split peas, well pretty closely anyways. Next time around I will add less water/milk because this is the sort of soup that I prefer to be thick and hearty. 

When it came to herbs and spices the bag said season to taste. So naturally that means garlic and I added thyme as well. Instead of straining the soup, I blended everything up together (once softened) to keep it a thick soup and to hang onto every centimeter of fiber from the added vegetables. 

I made grilled cheese to go with it in order to convince Cody to try the soup. The jury's still out for him on this one, so I have several servings frozen for my lunches instead! Maybe next time I will work some ham flavor or pieces into it to win him over. It certainly seems that this is a hate or love it soup, which team are you on?

Ins & Outs

Holiday season is in full swing and winter (fall for the rest of the country's standards) has arrived! We're getting lots of rain so far and thanks to that we have discovered a few long lost patches of grass in our backyard. Tanner and Brandi are enjoying the mud and nightly fireplace slumbering. Its really funny to see their two distinct personalities. I'm not sure why, but Tanner is terrified of fires. He's warmed up to the idea since we have been making them every night, he hides in his safe spot between the couch and ottoman. Brandi can't get enough of the fire. She is front and center absorbing all the heat she can get. 

Made my first lasagna a few weeks ago. I make pasta all the time, but lasagna usually sounds like too much effort on a work night. Love those no-boil noodles!

We met up with my parents on Friday to cut down a Christmas tree at Castle Rock Ranch off Highway 9. Love their trees! I like to have the tree up for every bit of the season, and we haven't had dry, dead tree issues with this ranch. We also use a bit of miracle grow in the tree water just to be safe!

In addition to Christmafying the house, I worked in some 'Black Friday' shopping on Saturday at the Hope store (50%!!!!). 

More to come on that and our Christmas decor! Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!

More Onesie Fun!

I recently worked on some more appliqued onesies, boy versions this time. Both mommas to their second boys are into the jungle animal theme so I went with that in picking my outlines. I again, just 'googled' for animal outlines and found a giraffe, elephant & whale. I didn't accessorize or make as many this time around but it was still a fun way to pass the rainy day(s)! My mom suggested I do a few bibs too, but I haven't yet found ready made plain bibs.

I really wanted to do some monogrammed appliques too, maybe I will get myself more organized in time to do shirts for their first birthdays!

Scalloped Potatoes

Thanksgiving is 6 days away! What are you making?! Are you hosting? I was going to host, but then I totally chickened out. Seat & serve 20 people? Oh and then there's the teensy weensy important factor that we don't have a dishwasher. I was really excited to host since now we have our own place, but I just over-thought the whole thing (because that's one of my special skills) and now one of my aunts is hosting instead. Thanks Aunt Suzanne! 

I think I am going to bring the stuffing recipe I made last year (since we were with Cody's family--it wont be a repeat for my family!), but I thought I would share this scalloped potato recipe that I made a while back since it fits with the typical Thanksgiving meal. I found the original recipe here, but mainly used it for the general how-to on scalloped potatoes. For example, I used shredded parmesan, mozzarella and a 4-cheese italian blend instead of the cheeses listed. Which now that I think about it probably means I doubled up on the parmesan and mozzarella quantities. And I forgot to buy heavy cream, so I used the last bit of our half & half and 2% milk. Forgot about the nutmeg & bay leaves too. Like I said, the recipe was a general jumping off point in this experiment. 

Luckily it worked out! It smelled amazing, which is precisely why the after picture above is missing a corner. I had to stop dinner with a "Wait, I need a picture!". Did I mention how grateful I am to have a patient hubby?

I Swoon for Orange

Specifically, burnt/reddish orange. Every time I turn around I catch myself gravitating to this color (in my closet, out shopping, online browsing...). And paired with turquoise? Be still my heart! I just love, love, love it right now! I blame this blanket for starting my obsession. So here is another chapter to this love story, and an almost entirely thrifted outfit!

Brown v-neck, $3 (Goodwill)

Orange wrap, $7 (Goodwill)

Jeans, $9 (Goodwill/Target new)

Boots, $11 (ThriftTown)

Necklace, $15 (World Market)

Orange Creamsicle Cupcakes

Love an easy, festive recipe. This cupcake recipe (found here) asks for a box of white cake mix, 1 cup of orange juice and 8 oz. of non-fat greek yogurt. The batter was really fluffy and these cupcakes stayed moist for 3+ days!

Bake, frost & enjoy!