DIY: Kindness

I am approaching 30, and quick.  My birthday is coming up in just a few days, and I have been thinking about a way to celebrate.  Of course there will be cake (err, tiramisu) and possibly some singing, but I want to do something to celebrate how blessed I am and to share some love with the people around me.  And so is born "DIY: Kindness".  It fits the genre of the blog and gets me thinking about opportunities beyond my home and family, though both of those are definitely included.  I am going to attempt to complete thirty acts of kindness in the weeks surrounding my birthday.  "DIY: Kindness" is in full swing--that's one advantage to having a birthday near Christmas, lots of chances to help out.  

Source for quote

Here's the progress on DIY: Kindness so far:

1.  Paid for the car behind me in a drive thru.  

2.  Bought a book of stamps, left with postal worker to give to the next person.  

3.  Bought a Christmas present for a senior citizen 

4.  Bought a Christmas present for a child

5.  Sent a pillow and pillowcase to a family who needs it.

6.  Left a little something for the mail carrier--bottle of water, some chocolate, and hand lotion

7.  Left a card and cookie mix on the neighbor's doorstep

I have a ways to go.  It's sort of like when I decided to give my husband thirty gifts on his 30th birthday a couple months ago.  It seemed like such an awesome idea (and it was!) but when I was putting it together, I wasn't sure.  

Please feel free to join and get to doing some DIY Kindness.  It can be big or small.  Sometimes just holding a door or sharing a compliment can make someone's day.  If you choose to join, I'll add it to my list of 30, and you may just see some kindness coming your way as well. 

Pretzel Crusted Chicken

If you learn how to cook one meal, this is the one. It would be great for company or a quick meal at home. It doesn't require much time and tastes amazing.  Serve it up  with some salad and you're good to go. Plus, you get to pound the chicken.  You'll feel like a ninja when you're done.  And then you still get to eat.

The recipe is originally from Taste of Home's magazine.  Many kudos to contibutor Kerri Balliet for giving me my new favorite meal.

Pretzel-Crusted Chicken with Mixed Greens 

Ingredients
-2 cups sourdough pretzels
-1/2 cup flour
-eggs
-1/4 cup buttermilk ( I used half &half)
-2 garlic cloves, minced
-1/8 tsp. pepper (more if you dare)
-5 Tbsp olive oil, divided
-4 chicken breasts
-2/3 cup mayo
-2 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
-2 tsp. cider vinegar
-1/8 tsp. salt
-1/8 tsp. pepper
-1 pkg salad greens

Directions:
1. Crush pretzels in a food processor or baggie with a mallet.  Place pretzels and flour in separate shallow bowls.  In another shallow bowl, whisk the eggs, buttermilk, garlic and pepper.  Pound chicken to 1/4 inch thickness.  Dip both sides of chicken in flour, egg mixture, and then pretzel crumbs.
2. In a large skillet, heat 3 Tbsp. oil over medium heat.  Add chicken; cook for 4-6 minutes on each side or until no longer pink.
3. Meanwhile, in a small bow, mix mayo and mustard.  Remove 2 Tbsp. to another bowl for dressing.  Whisk in remaining oil, vinegar, salt and pepper.
4. Drizzle saald greens with dressing.  Serve remaining mayonnaise mixture over chicken.

Thankful for Coloring

I am so thankful for you checking my blog today.  I have so much information and numerous projects to tell you about, but no high-quality, edited photos to illustrate how crafty I truly am.  Instead, here is a peek of some of my daily life.  I am so grateful to be living it.  

 "You wanna color by me mama?"  All other tasks on my list are out the window.  I cherish these minutes!

 Today I hosted a family "Crafty Crap" day.  The goal was to bring a project you've started and want to finish.  I finished nothing.  Just started more, like this pile of old-sweaters that want to become mittens.

 Thank you, Target, for these sparkly ornaments placed strategically in the dollar section.  It's way too early for Christmas deco, but I couldn't pass them up.

 I tried these pumpkin spice drinks.  Originally from a blog, pinned by a friend.  They're nasty.  Don't do it.  It may be tempting, but even the whipped cream cannot mask the badness of these.

 Speaking of nasty, is this not the most festive pile of garbage ever?  I sweep at least once per day (I swear!) and this is my pile from today.  It looks like an "I Spy", right?

Knit much?  Yeah, obviously not.  I have two kids, that's my excuse.  Oh and that whole not finishing thing. 

Thank you for stopping by my little space today.  

Much love,
Robin

Ham and Cheese Twists

These beauties are perfect for parties, laid-back weekends, or an after-school snack.

I dreamt about these one night.  Really.  It was so lucid that I woke up thinking I had actually made them. Two days and three ingredients later, they were just as good.  We had to pick up just one ingredient for these tasty bites, and they were quick, simple, and delicious.

Ham & Cheese Swirls (or Twists, I can't decide)

Ingredients:

• 1 package canned breadsticks 
• 12 slices ham deli meat
• 3 mozzarella cheese sticks  

Instructions:

1. Cut the cheese sticks into fourths, roll with ham.

2.  Stretch the breadstick pieces into a long, thin piece and wrap around ham, securing the ends.

3.  Bake at 350 for 7-10 minutes

*While baking, I brushed  a little butter on the top of each twist for added flavor and that golden look.

Experiment with different combinations of lunch meat and cheese.  I might try ham and swiss or turkey and american.  

Starstruck

This is not a craft post.  This is not surprising, because on this here "craft blog"  there have not been too many of those lately.  What gives?  Mostly my inability to photograph projects and recipes though photography is one thing I've really been working on.  Mostly I've just been doing my best to love every free second with my little boys and trying to keep my house from appearing on "Hoarders."

I did have a little time to do something for myself last month and wanted to share it here with you.  I met my all-time favorite singer/songwriter!!!  My husband and I took a little trip sans kids to Nashville to see Lori Mckenna play.  As a bonus, we stayed with a couple close friends.   It turned out to be a beautiful night, and I enjoyed every minute of the concert.  Afterward, I got a minute to meet Lori and stammer out a few words of admiration and snap a picture. Did I mention she gave me a hug?  Maybe it was because she felt bad that I had traveled all the way from South Dakota.  Or that I appeared unable to form sentence.  Or maybe she is just that sweet.   I fell in love with her music in 2005 when I heard one of her songs on college radio in Massachusetts, and have been obsessed with her music since.  You can check her site through my link above, and even score a free tune from there.  

This is not the most flattering picture of her, but you get the idea...Lori Mckenna mid-song

 I've been a fan for like, um, ever, and you are amazing and humble and err..I'm from South Dakota (why did I need to say that?) and I loved the concert...Oh did I mention I called myself "Lori Mckenna Superfan"???

 We hugged it out.  

 This cheese-tastic expression on my face pretty much sums up the entire experience. 

There you have it.  Now I'll go craft.  

Teacher Gift Dos and Don'ts

I thought about not writing this post because it might seem like I am
a. a brat
b. ungrateful
c. rude

but then I realized that my intent is to be

d. honest
e. informative
f. amusing


We know it's back to school time, but let's not get too crazy with the apple/school bus/pencil themed gifts just yet.  I am here to serve as your personal teacher gift concierge, to assist you with all your teacher-gift buying needs.  Some people may not make a habit of sending a gift on the first day.  If this is you, pin this and stop back around Christmas.  If you're a beginning of the year giver, please read on.

source

*Disclaimer: Teachers (Myself included) do not expect gifts from students, and are generally surprised and appreciative (myself included) when they receive them.

5 Teacher Gifts to Reconsider

1. Coffee mug.   So the teacher drinks coffee.  He/she probably owns plenty of these already.
2. Knick knacks.   How many little figurines can one person have?
3. Bath & body products.  Unless you know the specific brand and scent, this is dangerous territory. Especially shy away of the bargain ones.  We know you picked that up in the dollar aisle.
4.  Jewelry, specifically school related.  No one needs to be sporting a schoolhouse brooch.  Exceptions are fun or trendy pieces you might pick up for yourself.
5. Anything school-themed.  Just because you can personalize a tote that says "Mrs. Anderson, World's Greatest Teacher" doesn't mean you should.  We teach because we love kids, not apples and rulers and primary colors.

5 Teacher Gifts that are Fail-safe

1. A note from your child or you.  I save all of these, and they mean a lot to me.
2.  Food.  This one is tricky, so be observant.  If the teacher is health-conscious, stick with fruit or another healthy snack.  If she's into chocolate or candy, opt for those.  The key here is be observant.  Or ask the teacher's colleague.
3.  Hand sanitizer or disinfectant wipes.  Not all teachers might love this, but I'm all for killing some germs.
4. Gift Card.  This could be to somewhere for supplies or for the teacher's personal enjoyment
5. Drinks.  Again, be observant here.  Have you noticed there's always a diet coke on the teacher's desk, or that they're partial to bottled water?  Your student can watch for this too.

Goodies You've Pinned

I have completed a ton of projects.  Clothes repurposing, sewing, knitting, furniture upgrades, recipes, etc.  And then I have this here blog that is designed to feature all the goodies.  Can I get my act together to put the two together?  Possibly :)

Today shall be a Pinteresty post.  I got most of the ideas from there.  Now, before I show you these, please know that I am a finicky user in that I don't just peruse Pinterest, repin some junk then move on.  I mostly read blogs and pin from there, and if I do get an idea straight from Pinterest, I always go to the link first, check out the site and maybe subscribe to the blog while I'm there.  There's my rant.  Check the link, read the blogs.  If you don't I will be annoyed when your link from Pinterest is faulty.  But I will probably keep following you anyway because you more than likely have good taste.  Especially if you're here reading this.  On with the projects.  

First up, BBQ Chicken Quinoa Salad.  Tastier than my picture might reveal.  Iowa Girl Eats just makes her food look so much better! Love her blog--I print off and try her recipes at least weekly.  

Second, I saw this idea a gazillion times on Pinny.  It's awesome--just give your kids some glowsticks in the tub, turn off the light, and prepare to hang out in the bathroom for at least 45 minutes.  

This picture comes straight from Chef in Training, who originated the Pinterest phenom Chicken Cordon Bleu Pasta.  Definitely not a light dish, but twas well received in my household.

Got water balloons?  Use em up before summer's over.  We celebrated 4th of July with a little target practice.  Draw some circles, targets, or other shape on the concrete with chalk and let the kiddies (or adults) go wild.  Good for at least five minutes of fun, and no one walks away with welts or bruises.