Spinach Artichoke Dip

Ok, so I know there are a thousand recipes out there for spinach artichoke dip and I've tried my fair share of them.

This one just happens to be my FAV-OR-ITE.  Which of course is all that matters, since I'm the one who makes it and ends up eating my fair share.

If I remember right, this recipe is one that Alton Brown (You know the mad scientist chef from the Food Network?) claims as his own, and now I do too.:)  I've actually gotten a few great, fairly easy, recipes from his collection.  Good and easy...that's how I roll, ha!

This is something that is popular on a Saturday night to eat in front of the T.V. with a movie playing...at least in my house.  Plus, it's filling enough to count as dinner in my book.

Enough talking already, I know you're thinking, "Just give me the recipe!"  Well, here ya go.

1/2 c. shredded mozzarella

1/2 c. sour cream

1/2 c. mayonnaise

1/2 c. grated parmesan 

1-2 tsp. dijon mustard

1 14 oz. can artichoke hearts, chopped

1 c. loosely packed, rough chopped spinach (I've used both frozen and fresh spinach.)

1/2 c. chopped red onion

Combine mozzarella, sour cream mayonnaise, 1/4 c. parmesan, mustard, and pepper to taste.  Stir in artichoke hearts, spinach, and onion.  Spread into a 9" pie plate and sprinkle with the remaining parmesan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 15 min.  Serve with what you want, chips and bread are popular.  Finally, pig out!

Linking to:

The Stories of A to Z
The DIY Home Sweet Home Project
Between Naps on the Porch 
Pinkapotamus 
Dittle Dattle 
Tip Junkie

I Hate Haircuts!

I have one of my cra-zy boys who hates getting a "stinking haircut".  (This is in his own words, of course.)  It is amazing how much whining, complaining, crying, and foot stomping goes on before and during the monthly dehairing!

Here he is with his angelic look on and all of that wooly hair.

 And yes, I am aware he has some serious bed head going on too.  That's what happens when his hair gets too long.  Plus, I have to comb it spend more time combing it which also typically involves more D.R.A.M.A!

Did I mention that this kid makes me hate haircuts too!

 After threatening to take away friends and the Nintendo DS for the day if I heard ONE WORD of whining, we got it done!

So much better, and minimum combing involved!  I really do love how quick grooming for boys can be.:)

And here he is much happier and begging me to take a pic of his "goofy" face.

WHEW!  I'm sooo glad that I'm done with this chore for the month!  Now I get to clean the piles of hair off of the floor, along with all of the muddy footprints from the great rain we got over the weekend.  Grrrr!

Happy Monday!

Thanks!

Don't you love it when you get a little recognition for all the hard work you do?

DaNita over at Delightful Order highlighted my bright Cabinet Door Table.  Thanks DaNita!

Hop on over and check out her blog...I love all of the great things she does and she hosts a great party ever Thursday.

Chicken Salad Goodness

It wasn't until about 2 years ago that I decided I liked chicken salad.

To be honest, I always thought things like grapes were just GRO-OSS to put with chicken.  That is until I had a chicken pasta salad at a baby shower (where else?).  I loved this salad and had to ask my friend Tiffany for the recipe.

Now, it's not just the standard chicken salad.  I did mention there is some pasta thrown in, right?  I'm a sucker for any kind of pasta.

The other night I put this together again.  It is the perfect summer salad and I haven't found anyone who doesn't like it.

Ok, I'll stop talking and let you be the judge.

Chicken Pasta Salad with Cashews and Cranberries

1 16 oz. package bow tie pasta, cooked, cooled, and drained

1 16 oz. bottle Coleslaw dressing

1/2 c. Miracle Whip  (the light version works well here too)

4 c. cooked cubed chicken (rotisserie chicken is easy)

2 c. seedless green grapes, halved

2 c. seedless red grapes, halved

2 (5 oz.) cans sliced water chestnuts

2 c. chopped celery

1/2 c. chopped green onion

2 c. cashew halves

2 c. dried cranberries

Whisk coleslaw dressing and Miracle Whip.   Mix with all of the ingredients except the cashews and cranberries.  Chill for 2 hrs. or overnight.  Add the cranberries and cashews just before serving.  Serve cold.

One warning.  This makes a HUGE amount of salad.  I half this recipe to feed my family of 5 and have leftovers.

Catch ya later!

Linking to:

Tempt My Tummy Tuesday
Not Just a Housewife
Today's Creative Blog
Lady Behind the Curtain

Another Day...Another Project

I'm kind of excited because I got another project done that I've fallen just a little bit in love with.  The last remake I showed you was the old toolbox in this pile of junk.

Now it's that old door.  Sorry I don't have a better picture.  This came off of some old cabinet at an estate sale and cost me $3.00.  The reason it took me so long was because I had to get the help of my husband to build a table out of this window.  Unfortunately for him, I come up with the ideas and they depend on my grunt laborer (wonderful, supportive, hubs) to complete.

I really needed some type of table to go between the chairs out on my deck.  I mean, what is the point of lounging in an Adirondack chair and not having a place to set your drink or book?  Jeesh! I also wanted to incorporate the old with the new...just for a bit of CHar.AC.teR!

We ended up tearing the screen out of the door and then backing it with a piece of mdf.  Then we built a skirt to which we attached some 4X4 legs.  We started with smaller legs, but they ended up looking really wimpy so we went back for something a bit chunkier.  I think we got the wood for the legs for about $12.00.  Pretty good considering the premade legs I was looking for at the Home Depot were about that per leg.  Of course, they were a bit fancier than ours.:)  

Again, let me remind ya'll that this is for the back deck, not the interior, so I was going for more functional than FANcy.  After building it all out, I ended up doing one coat of primer and two coats of paint.

  

I was going for a really fun, bright color that would pop off of the blah-ness (not a word?) of my outdoor area. 

I'm almost done here...starting to really like it.

After getting color on this little table, I did some sanding around the edges and then took distress ink to it too.  I finished off with a protective coat just because I knew it would be outside.

Also, I reattached the original latch.  I love the old look of it and wanted a reminder that this old table started out with an old cabinet door.

Here it is on the back deck between my chairs.
Ok, now I love it.

This picture doesn't quite capture the color, but I think you get the idea?

Just a couple of more views.

I think the color helps my flowers to pop too.

I just know that I'm going to love sitting in my chair with a big ol' glass of lemonade sitting on the table and a good book in my hand. HEAVEN! Now I just need to figure out where to put the screaming, crazy kids while I enjoy the moment.

As an aside, you may have noticed my posts have been few and far between. I apologize, I'm about 16 weeks pregnant (with ANOTHER boy) and had a horrible struggle with 1st trimester grossness and just overall lack of energy. I'm hoping that most of that is now resolved and I can move forward with all of the projects that have been building up. If not, please just stick with me.;)

Linking to:

Miss Mustard Seed
Remodelaholic 
House of Hepworths
Delightful Order
Tatertots and Jello
Designer Garden
Chic on a Shoestring Decorating
At the Picket Fence
A Little Knick Knack
Just a Girl
Fingerprints on the Fridge
Lovely Crafty Home 
Be Different, Act Normal
Green Door Designs
Under the Table and Dreaming 
Between Naps on the Porch 
Tip Junkie 
The Stories of A to Z 
A Bowl Full of Lemons

Buttons, Buttons, Everywhere!

Woot! Woot!  I finally figured it out!  I can now make a blog button!

For months I haven't had one because every instruction manual out there left me with a, what the bleep?!, sort of response.  In other words, I have been completely clueless, and just couldn't seem to figure out how to make this stupid little button.

That was until Maryann over at Domestically Speaking spilled her secret about this eHow site which provides (at least for me) very clear instructions on how to add a button to your blog.  Easy peesee!  

Check it out right here.

The only problem is that the art work for your button is something that ya gotta figure out all on your own.  Remember, I'm pretty computer illiterate?  I didn't even know what html code was before I got started blogging.  Haha...I hate admitting stuff like that.

Soooo, this is what I did.  I copied one of the many photos I've taken and saved for my blog and downloaded it to Photobucket.  I then used the nice little editing package on Photobucket to resize, crop, and add text to the photo so it would work as my button.  I know you all probably already new how to do this, but it was my first time.  It took a few tries, but I think I came up with something that I can live with for a bit.

Tada!  Here IT is!

I know it ain't fancy, but it works!  If you haven't figured out how to make a button, try this quick set of instructions.  If I can do it, I think almost anyone can.

Sam the Cat

Today Sam the Cat has become a H.E.R.O in our house!

Now, I need to explain Sam's history. He is the first pet I ever owned.  He came out of a vets office as a mangy, yes maybe even ug.ly kitten.  (I know ugly kittens aren't supposed to exist, but he did closely border on this description.)

The thing that saved him is he's always been extremely smart.  He acts more like a dog than a cat, which is why we clarify what he is by stating he is, in fact, Sam the Cat.

This 15 lb. cat has a few nasty habits.  He can't resist peeing on things.  He pees on clothes piled in laundry baskets, sheets that are balled up on messy beds, and for some reason, he can't resist soaking plastic bags sitting on the floor with his bodily fluids.  Also, he HATES, HATES, HATES my husband.  Said husband happens to be mildly allergic to cats so Sam sees it as his mission in life to lay on his pillow in the bed just to see the reaction, I'm sure.  As I said, smart cat?  For this reason, my husband doesn't love Sam so much.

We've controlled some of these bad habits by locking Sam up in the storage room at night which is when he likes to practice many of his obnoxious tendencies.

Despite all of this, he earned his place today...after 13 years.  Just kidding, he's always been wrapped around my heart which is why he still lives.

Today he killed the stove mouse.

Doesn't he look positively nasty?  Well, he really is most of the time.

The stove mouse has been living in the crack in between my stove top and the digital controls on the back of it.  We have been trying for 2-stinking-weeks to get rid of this little bugger with a couple of traps that we thought were strategically placed, but he has avoided them.  Aaargh!

It just gives me the heebee jeebies to think that a mouse is scurrying over my counter tops  where I COOK FOOD, PEOPLE!  Gro-oss!

Well this morning, after Sam was released from confinement, my husband heard a couple of high pitched squeals coming from the family room right off of the kitchen.  He investigated and there was a dead mouse on the floor with Sam strutting away from it, like he was the man!  At least, the cat.

For the first time my husband sang Sam's praises instead of loudly cussing him out!  I knew there was a reason I loved this ornery old cat!  Plus, he didn't even make a mess with the mouse that I had to clean up, other than body disposal, of course.