I Love My State!

Nick and I love our beautiful state! Utah, we love thee! It is a great place to live. Utah is up and coming peeps! There are some really amazing local places here that are owned by some amazing people. I have been wanting to start sharing our favorite local places here on ze blog for a while and I am finally getting around to it. Support local! Wherever you are! 

I am sharing one of my all time favorite places to eat: Hector's Mexican Food. OH Hector's. What can I say besides if you are local or visiting go there now. Like now. I have been eating at Hector's for 12 years. Way back when it was Molca Salsa. Lets get the business out of the way before I gush anymore:

Hours: Monday-Saturday lobby- 9 am until midnight, drive thru is open until 3 am, closed Sundays

Menu: Pretty large. It includes burritos, tacos, enchiladas, tortas, quesadillas, chile rellenos etc...

Price: $

Location: 2901 E. 3300 S. Salt Lake City, Utah

            

If you are local then you may recognize the building as an old Eat-a-Burger. It has had a little make over since those days. It has indoor and outdoor seating. The seating is pretty limited. So limited that we won't usually go on weekend nights after about seven. It is a mad house! 

The sweet sweet menu. The kitchen is open and you can see all of your food being made. They use all fresh and high quality ingredients. Which I love! You can get vegetarian options.  

These are their chips and salsa. The salsa they use is actually pico de gallo and the chips are fried up fresh for you on the spot. 

This is the carne asada fries which are a local favorite. Between Nick and I we have tried basically the whole menu. You can't go wrong with any thing with their carne asada!

This is the money shot! BAM! Their hot sauce is made fresh everyday. It is hot and delicious. It doesn't have that vinegar flavor that most hot sauce has. I once told them that they should bottle it and sell it. They laughed and said they can barely make enough to last each day. It is that good. 

We are huge fans of Hector's. We have gotten to know the family that owns it over the years pretty well. Not only is it amazing food but the people are awesome. They are the kind of people that we will happily give our business to as long as they are around. 

We recommend the fish tacos, shredded beef tacos, bean and cheese burrito- with plenty of hot sauce, carne asada burrito, super nachos, chile relleno burrito, california burrito, carne asada tacos....... you get the idea. You will be happy with anything you get there.

Crock Pot Chicken and Dumplings

My Mom always made the very best Chicken and dumplings! It was one of those recipes that is sentimental recipes that makes you feel good and reminds you of home. While this recipe is not exactly my mamas it is close and we love it at my house. 

Crock Pot Chicken and Dumplings

1 diced onion

2 TBS butter

3lbs cubed chicken breast

2 cans cream of chicken soup

water enough to cover the ingredients in the pot

 2 cups all-purpose flour

 1 tablespoon baking powder

 1 teaspoon salt

 1 tablespoon white sugar

 1/3 cup buter

 1 cup milk

Place onion, butter chicken soup in the crock and stir. Cover with water.  Cook on high for 3-4 hours. About 45 minutes before eating, In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Gradually stir in milk until dough pulls away from the side of the bowl. Drop by spoonfuls into the chicken gravy. Cover and cook for another 30 minutes or until the top looks dry.

ENJOY!!

Emily

Bookmark Dump!

I am here to share my book mark dump. I know pinterest is the hip thing and I love it. As a matter of fact you can follow us on Pinterest right over there --------> But I still do it old school and book mark the things that are really really on my list of radness. So enjoy!

Tips to get the perfect pour shot from a Pinch of Yum. Rad! 

I want to try making this recipe for healing salve. Makes me think of our Grandpa. He always had a can of salve and he put it on ALL of our hurts. It always seemed to help too!

I want these shoes!

I can't help but think of fall right now!  The weather around here has been more like fall than summer for a few weeks now. I blame El Nino. So of course fall crafts are on my mind!

Weaving sounds like a perfect fall craft! And how pretty is this one?! UGH! 

Hobo dinners! The kids have been begging to make some.

Have you seen A Beautiful Mess in the last few days? It has a beautiful new design.

Emily's no sew magnet curtains for french doors is brilliant!

How much would your kids love to open up a Memory Box from when they were little? This one is a baby memory box but I am thinking of doing them for the elementary school years for my kiddies.

Confession time: I am crazy baby hungry. I want to get pregnant like yesterday. So I am pinning over all the cool baby products that are out there right now. Like Fresh Bib. It is a bib a month club! They are hip and fun.

This planter stand from Elise at enJoy it is basically amazing! Go buy one!

I collect tea towels. And these ones over at makelike are so pretty.

Speaking of tea towels. I made some stamped ones.

This weather has me thinking about weenie roast and smores! Here is an easy and quick fire pit DIY.

I have been on the Working Mother website a lot lately. It has been hard balancing work and the kids. How do we do it? I have no idea. But I miss my kids!

  

No sew magnetic curtains for French Doors-A Tutorial

So I have french doors in my kitchen and they have been living with sheets for curtains for sometime now and they nor I have been happy about that. We were using "magnetic curtain rods" that were continually moving and falling off etc. It was a mess! I was so excited when I came across a tutorial on how to cover these windows in a much better fashion! BUT it required sewing...I can and do sew but wasn't feelin' it for this project so I went out on a limb and gave a no sew style a try and I think it turned out great!! Here is what I did...

SUPPLIES:
enough fabric to cover your windows (I needed 4 yards)
self adhesive magnets (I used 2 packages of the 18 piece the flat strip style because I wanted it as flush to the door as possible)
fray check
fabric tac

INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Cut fabric to the size of your windows including enough to come past the trim to attach to the door. I added 2 inches to each side and bottom.

2. Fray check all the edges of the fabric by following the instructions on the fray check bottle.

3. Once the fray check is dry, (it should dry pretty fast) Glue the adhesive magnetic strips to the fabric. I used extra fabric tac glue down the middle of the magnets because the adhesive on the magnet was no where near strong enough to adhere the fabric to the magnet. Evenly space the magnets all the way around the fabric. 

Thats totally all it takes!!

Here is how mine turned out!! I LOVE it! I am imagining using different fabrics for the different seasons too! Like something red for Christmas etc. SO FUN!!

LOVES!!

Emily

Quick Baked Pasta

That up there is my family's current absolute favorite meal. I say current because that seems to change every time I turn around. However, this seems to be a contender for favorite of all time. I mean we have eaten this twice in a weeks time. WHAT? That is crazy go nuts in my family. Best part? It is 4 ingredients. So lets hope it stays high on the list. Quick and easy- just how I like it! 

Quick Baked Pasta

1 lb pasta- we use rigatoni

1 lb italian sausage

1lb ball mozzarella cheese, cubed

1 jar pasta sauce

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Cook pasta until al dente. While pasta is boiling cook and crumble sausage until it is no longer pink. Mix pasta, sauce, mozzarella cheese and sausage in pasta pot until well combined. Pour into 9x13 pan and bake 30 minutes or until cheese is melted.

I leave the sausage in rather large hunks. That is how we like it. I also cook the pasta until a pretty firm al dente. We like it to be a little less mushy when cooked and it continues to cook while it is baking in the oven. One last thing! If you like your food a little more saucy- add more sauce and cover with foil before baking. We like it crisp so we leave the foil off.     

Health tip-Laughter is great medicine!!

I have Hidradenitis suppurativa. (hi-drad-uh-NIE-tis sup-yoo-ruh-TIE-vuh)Its a mouthful!! It will flare if I am under either physical or emotional stress. (and it is not pretty)  I have discovered that laughter is very much necessary for my own health and I need it every single day!!

Check out what laughter can do for you and me...

Laughter brings the mind and body back into balance.

Laughter relaxes the whole body. A good, hearty laugh relieves physical tension and stress, leaving your muscles relaxed for up to 45 minutes after.

Laughter boosts the immune system.

Laughter decreases stress hormones and increases immune cells and infection-fighting antibodies, thus improving your resistance to disease.

Laughter triggers the release of endorphins, the body’s natural feel-good chemicals. Endorphins promote an overall sense of well-being and can even temporarily relieve pain.

Laughter protects the heart.

Laughter improves the function of blood vessels and increases blood flow, which can help protect you against a heart attack and other cardiovascular problems.

I am very lucky to come from a very laughy (I think i just made up a word) family. Both my siblings and my children are some of the funnest and funniest people I know. My dad tells amazing jokes and my mom makes me giggle just by being her cute self. My hubby has a laugh that gets me laughing just because he is...even if I have no idea what he is laughing at. (who are we kidding it is me a good portion of the time with out me even trying. Just living. I seem to crack him up. No idea what I do, but it makes me so so happy to hear him laugh) 

Lets all keep laughing my friends! Its important!

I know I will and do!! 

So fresh and so clean

I hate cleaning and organizing. The feelings of hate make me avoid it. Which leads to a miserable experience the next time I clean or make plans to organize something. It is a vicious cycle. I dream (literally) about having a beautifully organized and perfectly clean home. Those are pretty lofty expectations for someone with my aversion. I am messy, what can I say? But! There is light at the end of the tunnel! I want to change. I really want to change. I have been searching for good cleaning tips online. There are TONS of secrets and tips. Things to make it easier or more fun. There are fewer tips to make it more fun that there are tips to make it easier. Go figure. Some of my favorite tips are:

1. If it will take you 15 seconds to do something do it right then. Don't wait.

2. Set a timer and focus on cleaning a specific area for the entire time.

3. Keep a basket in each room to load up with things that don't belong in that room. When you walk out take that basket and put the stuff away. 

4. Have a basket or bag in your home at all times to fill with items donate. The less stuff you have the less you have to clean and put away.

5. Sweep every night before bed. 

And here are some of my favorite lists and sources:    

66 all natural cleanings solutions. I love the idea of using natural cleaners with the kids. I am more comfortable with them using natural stuff than crap full of chemicals. However I do use this cleaner and love it. Full of chemicals and all.

This list from buzzfeed is kind of funny but helpful too!

I love Organized Home. It is a striving/struggling organizers crack! This list of cleaning tips from pros is pretty great.

Here is a cool list of 50 organization ideas! I need these in my life.

I love the idea of getting organized in the fall before the holidays hit. Everything needs to be as streamlined as possible when they hit!

Did you know you are suppose to clean your vinyl blinds? Yeah I am learning all the time!

Check out this easy way to clean your oven!

Clean my house in 20 minutes a day? Yes please!


What are your tips? Favorite short cuts? Your tricks to simplify? Help a girl out!

Bean and cheese Burrito Sour Cream Enchilada Casserole! SO Easy!

This is one easy peasy casserole! It literally took me 11 minutes to get in the pan and cooking! Yes, I time myself. It took longer for the oven to preheat. Serious easiness here! It was actually requested by my now 17 year old son for his birthday dinner if that gives you any indication as to if it is as yummy as it sounds. Also for my gluten free friends and family I You can make it with corn chicken taquitos (please read the label to be sure if your brand is gluten free) and it is just as good if not better. I literally decided to try it while shopping for the ingredients for the bean burrito style and it was amazing! I think I like the taquito version better!!

Bean and Cheese Burrito Sour Cream enchilada Casserole

14 bean and cheese frozen burritos thawed (enough to cover the bottom of your pan)

1 family size cream of mushroom soup

16 oz sour cream

7oz green chilies

12.5 oz canned chicken un-drained(optional)

2 cups of cheese

Line the pan edge to edge with your burritos

Mix remaining ingredients except cheese together and pour over the burritos. Top with cheese. Cover with foil and bake for 1 hour in 350 degree oven. 

For the taquito version you will want to add a little sauce to the bottom of your pan first.

It's ALIVE!!

I LOVE plants. That statement may sound silly to some people but I know that there are others out there that get it. If you get it you get, you know? Next to having my kids and being married to an awesome man having my own plants is one of the most fulfilling experiences in my life. Really. Here comes the kicker: I kill any kind of plant that is in a pot that I get. Which can be a blow to the self esteem given my previous statement. Stick those bad boys in our garden outside and I have the greenest thumb. They grow and flourish under my watchful eye! Put anything in a pot and it is almost guaranteed to die. My lovely Mother-in-law is the exact opposite. That woman can take any almost dead plant and bring it back to life and make it thrive. Even African Violets! She is my inspiration. Sigh. SO on to the real reason we are here:   

My poor sad little succulents. They weren't getting enough sun. Then I moved them outside and scorched the ever living crap out of them! I watered them too much. Then not enough and they shriveled up and I thought for sure they were dead. Did you know succulents need shaded sun? Or bright indoor sun. Yeah I know that now. It probably didn't help that I never really planted these ones in a pot. Whomp whomp. I brought them in and was on my way to throw them out when I decided why not throw some water on them just to see what happens. Guess what happened? They plumped back up! They grew roots! What?! SO now I am going to plant the little tops with roots and see what happens. Succulents are super resilient apparently. 

Elise did a whole real time series of posts showing the results of propagating succulents over on enJOY it. Her posts were actually the reason I decided that I might as well try splashing some water on them. She followed this tutorial from Needles + Leaves to propagate her succulents. Which is an amazing blog! The pictures alone slay me. It is definitely becoming a favorite.

Would anyone like to have an update on how the replanting goes? I would be happy to share. Have you tried propagating succulents? How did it turn out? I am now wanting to try propagating my friends jade plant and my mother in laws rubber tree. I have caught the bug!

Homemade DIY breakfast chicken sausage. No nitrates or fillers and quick and easy!

My hubby isn't able to eat beef and will only eat pork once or twice a month and my son gets sick when he eats nitrates. Needless to say sausage could have very well have been a thing of the past. Which kinda sucked because I LOVE sausage!! Luckily I found a wonderful quick easy recipe to make my own chicken sausage (we even grind our own chicken) and it is rather tasty! You won't regret whipping up some of your own! Plus there are no fillers and we know exactly what is in our sausage, AND its much lower in fat AND No mystery meat here!!

HOMEMADE CHICKEN SAUSAGE

2lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs(ground in a food processor)

2 tsp sage

2 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1 TBS brown sugar

1/8 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

Mix together and cook as desired as patties or crumbles etc

Pretty easy eh? :)

Loves

Emily

A dream outfit for Nicco

The time has come to choose a dream outfit for Nicco. When he was little I felt like the clothing choices were really limited for boys. But now the world is my oyster! I love outfitting him with new clothes now. There are a lot of cool clothes for little boys. There are some super fun brands. I love that there has been a shift in the attention to detail for boys. When I was younger and wanted skate shoes I had to buy little boys that I had to order from a catalogue because you couldn't find any in stores. Now they are everywhere! Back to the matter at hand, Nicco needs some new clothes desperately! So here it is, my dream outfit for my boy!

Totally cool shirt for a totally cool dude. Again supporting small biz! Makes my heart feel good!

Remember that I said this is a dream outfit! I don't think I could get the boy to wear red skinny jeans. But how cute are these red skinny jeans?!

UGH!! How cool is this varsity style jacket? I actually want this jacket for me. Nicco would look totally rad in it. 

Nicco is getting into skate boarding lately and he needs (needs HA!) a good pair of skate shoes. These ones are pretty cool.

Now all I need to do is buy these things! I love back to school time. It feels like a second chance. I am not totally looking forward to being back on a schedule. I enjoy the spontaneity of summer. I love that you can do anything at anytime. But the kids thrive on a schedule!

 What are you buying for back to school? How do you get ready for the new school year?

-AnneMarie

Edible Finger paint DIY

 We found this lovely idea on pinterest and HAD to try it!! What you will need is some Greek yogurt, (we used plain but will probably try vanilla flavored next time) kool-aid packets, paper to paint on, and containers to mix and store left over paint with. All you do is separate the yogurt into containers according to how many flavors/colors you have mix and then paint. Easy peasy lemon squeezy! 

 Even my 14 year old daughter Gabby loved playing with the "paint"!! As you can see above the mess factor was much smaller with her. LOL! We will be looking for a heavier weight paper for next time but using a double layer paper worked just fine this time.  Other than that they had a blast playing with the fun finger paint! I hope you decide to give it a try soon!

Loves 

Emily

Easy Woven Paper Basket

I have a healthy love for baskets. You have no idea how much I love them! They are useful and so so pretty. Since I love them so much I decided to try my hand at weaving a couple of small baskets out of some paper. 

Supplies:

butcher paper- I used a super heavy weight for the brown craft paper 

Scissors

Scotch tape

Pencil

Flexible metal stratight ruler- this is not necessary but it made the process easier!

I measured and marked 4 inches in from the edge on each end of the butcher paper. I chose four inches but you can choose any size. Whatever size of paper strip you chose to use will affect the end size of your basket.

This is where the straight edge comes in handy. I used it to tear the paper. It  made it so easy! Just make sure you hold the straight edge tight or it will mess up your line.  

I took the strip and folded it in half and then folded each end into the middle seam. Does that make sense? It makes the strips very strong. Which will help the basket hold up. You end up with strips that are about an inch wide.

This is the folded up strip. At this point I taped them shut. They didn't want to stay folded so I helped them along. My strips were 35 inches long. I made three of them. I cut down two of them into 10 inch strips. My plan was to make a pretty small basket.

I wove six of the ten inch pieces together for the base. I taped every single seam to keep them together. The inside of the basket is not very pretty! 

I bent the pieces that would make the sides of the basket up so that would be easier to weave.

 

Now to start weaving. I took the last long piece and taped it to the inside of one of the corner pieces. Tape that bad boy down good! 

You weave the piece the whole way around. In and out.

You need to bend the pieces and fold them a little to head around the corners. The first row is a little more difficult. It doesn't want to stay together at first. Each row after that gets easier  and easier to weave. I taped every single seam on the inside. Every single one! I cut off the strip once I got around to the spot that I started. Then start the next row on the next strip and weave. 

This little basket only needed two rows of weaving before it was finished. After the weaving was done I snipped off the tops to make them somewhat even.

Tape!! And lots of it. The more tape the better as far as I am concerned. It helped a lot to stabilize the basket and keep the weaves together. 

I finished it off with scraps from the long strips. All they needed was- you guessed it- a little tape to hold them on. I think it would be cute to finish these with some bright colored staples too. They were so easy to make. The little one ended up only taking an hour or so to make. No time at all! Now to fill them up!