Five on Friday. . . Pinterest Edition

I'm still spending large amounts of time on Pinterest. . . anyone else there with me?!  The iphone app makes it accessible at all times.  I know that 95% of what I like or pin on Pinterest I will never do, but I just enjoy the creative ideas and cute photos.  I've actually found a few good recipes from Pinterest, so that's not time totally wasted.  The one issue I have with Pinterest is that people write "Brilliant" on every single pin.  I'm thinking, "NO!! Not EVERYTHING on Pinterest is brilliant".  Anyways!

Here are some of my new pins.

Crispy Edemame - I love edemame and this sounds delicious.  The directions say: 1 (12 ounce) package frozen shelled edamame, 1 tbsp olive oil, 1/4 c grated Parmesan cheese, salt & pepper to taste. 15 min. in a 400 oven.  I'll let you know if I try this and if it's good.

Ladder Garden - This was not a good idea for me to pin this.  I am terrible at keeping plants alive so this would just be a waste of money and time for me, but I can't help but like this. It would look so perfect on my front porch!

DIY Bracelets - This pic was pinned by Lauren Conrad.  I like her style and her clothes at Kohls.  I think these bracelets are so cute.  I like how skinny they are. She gives instructions on how to make these.

Christmas Tin - This is cute (but not brilliant).  Take the cheap tins from the dollar store, spray paint and re-purpose them.  Now I just need to think of something to make to put in them and give to my friends.  I have some time.  ;)

Smells Good - Someone wrote that this is the scent that Williams Sonoma burns in their store.  I've actually used this in my house and it does smell really good, but it makes me nervous to leave my gas stove on for that long.

Directions:  Fill pot 2/3 full of water, add one sliced lemon, and a few sprigs of fresh rosemary (I used dried rosemary from the spices aisle), then add 1-2 tsp of vanilla.  Then just simmer it on the stove. 


Complimentary Pic of the Post:
Micah loves to "read" his books.  He's gotten really good at flipping the pages super fast.  So fast that I can't really read them to him. Books are my best friend right now.  I take them every where with us to help keep him occupied and quiet.  :)

Cleaning. . . UGH!

I am a mostly organized person.  I like my house to be picked up and put together and for things to be clean and my chores to be done.  I don't even mind doing dishes and doing the laundry is not THAT bad.  But I DO hate doing the "elbow grease" kind of cleaning.  I despise scrubbing the toilet and the showers, and I most of all HATE cleaning the stove!!!  I mean, who really likes to do those things, unless you're Monica Geller.

I found this one post on Pinterest about cleaning the grates on my gas stove top (which are the WORST to clean) with ammonia and so I had to try it.  This lady promises no scrubbing and I'm hear to tell you it look ALOT of elbow grease but my grates are the cleanest I have EVER seen them.  The stove was here when we moved in and I never could get them clean from day one.  The fumes were awful and I had to open the bags outside but ultimately it did get the grates clean.  So WIN!

The other tip I found was for cleaning the microwave and it is awesome.  Worked like a charm and my microwave smelled like vanilla. This is not my microwave but mine looked like this afterwards.  This one took no elbow grease and I will definitely be doing this again.

I guess the ultimate lesson to keeping a clean kitchen is don't buy a gas stove top (not a fan!!) and don't let your microwave get that bad.  Uh. . . so anyways, I just wanted to pass those along.

Complimentary Pic of the Post

 I will be posting more about Micah very soon,
hopefully this weekend!

Recipe Review: Chicken & Cheese Lasagna Roll-Up

There are so many yummy looking/sounding recipes on Pinterest and I find tons that I'd love to try.  So, I'm going to start trying some of them.

I recently made this recipe for Chicken & Cheese Lasagna Roll-Ups.  It looks so good to me but ultimately it was kind of a bust.  

This recipe was on the easy side.  You cook the chicken ahead of time and mix it up with various cheese and a little milk. Then you spoon some of the mixture onto a cooked lasagna noodle and roll it up and bake it in the oven.  You pour spaghetti sauce over it before you bake it but it still turns out pretty dry.  The cheese just didn't really melt and so the roll ups were pretty dry.  That was our main complaint with this dish, it just wasn't amazing.

So, there ya have it, maybe you can improve upon this recipe but I don't think I'll make it again as is.

Sooo YUMMY!!

I've decided to try a few recipes I've found on Pinterest and I decided to make a Mexican soup called Albondigas Soup tonight and it was amazing.  It is so delish, I can't even tell you!  Curtis and I had several bowls.  The recipe is from this cooking blog.  It has meatballs, bell peppers, carrots, potatoes, and lots and lots of yumminess.

It was a lot of work, but I think it wouldn't take me as long next time now that I know what all goes in it.  You mix the meatballs first and cook them separately, then cut up all your vegetables and start the soup.  It would be a great recipe for a weekend since you can take your time to prepare it.  It's not really something you can whip up in 30 minutes.

Either way, it is super yummy and I can't wait to have this again!!

Heads up, I'm trying another recipe from Pinterest tomorrow for V-day, I'll let you know if it's yummy.

Five on Friday - Pinterest

Hey friends!  I can't believe Christmas is like a week away.  How has this year gone by so fast?!  Oh I know!  I've spent half of it caring for a new baby.  Time flies when you experience major life changes.  :)  Just for the record, the last half of the year has been the bomb dot com!

So, what have I been up too?  Well a little bit of everything and yet nothing at all.  I've had a lot of family and friends time lately, which has been awesome, but it feels like I haven't been able to get much done around the house, but I think I'm managing ok. 

Speaking of not getting much done around the house - I have discovered Pinterest.  I have been hearing about Pinterest for awhile now and didn't understand it.  It also sounded like a huge time hog (which it is, but it's awesome).  My friend invited me to join and at first I didn't get what was so great about it.  Then I spent some time searching and finding friends and OH my goodness, there are some amazing things on there!  People are just so clever. 

For those who don't know, members can 'pin' pictures, recipes, ideas, etc. onto their page and then other people can re-pin them.  You can create categories on your page so, for example, if you're planning a birthday party you can search and collect ideas for it.  It's a really cool way to share creative ideas.  So, I'll share with you.  Here are 5 of my favorite pins.

1) Style.  I have no idea what polyvore.com is but people have been pinning these 'styles' from that site and I'm really loving them.  My favorite combo is this:

2) Crafts.  I've also found some really cool craft ideas on Pinterest.  One of my favorite is mixing food coloring or dye into bubbles and painting with them like this. . . .

3) Baby.  I have pinned a few baby related ideas.  For Micah or for the future, someday baby #2. How CUTE is this idea?!

4) Recipes.  OH my goodness, the recipes.  I have found some delicious looking recipes on Pinterest.  I've tried one of them but there are SO many others I want to try.  Like this one!

Broccoli and cheese soup is one of my all time favorite meals.  The recipe for this one can be found here - http://www.food.com/recipe/broccoli-cheese-soup-for-the-crock-pot-348190

5) Home Decor.  There are tons of awesome ideas for home decor.  This one is genius!  Buy a rubber doormat, spray paint it and hang it on the wall.  How simple and affordable is this!

So, in conclusion, Pinterest does take up time, but it is a fun way to relax and get inspiration where you may be lacking.  You can also pin ideas you have.  I've pinned my wreaths.  You need an invitation to join so if you'd like to join, just email me at stefstallings [at] gmail [dot] com with your email address and I'll send you an invite.

Happy Friday and I hope you enjoy you're weekend!

xoxo,
Stef

P.S.  Complimentary Pic of the Post
OMG This boy!  There are no words!