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Nothing says summer to me quite like a good old caprese salad. Ripe tomatoes, Sweet basil and fresh mozzarella with a drizzle of balsamic glaze. This is all you need to make a delicious caprese salad: I love the balsamic glaze from Trader Joe's (Trader Giotto's). It is so inexpensive but doesn't sacrifice flavor for cost. The key is to have fresh ingredients. Fresh mozzarella is a must! And today most grocery stores have a really nice selection of cheeses. I usually serve this for lunch or as a Friday night appetizer. You can even make little caprese stacks. All you have to do is layer the tomato, basil and mozzarella slices on top of one another and drizzle the glaze on top. You can make a mini version of this salad too by using boccincini, cherry tomatoes and basil and put them on skewers! SO cute! I hope you make a caprese salad this summer! You wont be disappointed. Note: the tray is from Ikea

Are you sensing a theme here yet? I love home-cooked meals. I love trying new recipes and I have more cookbooks than I care to count. But, a lot of nights, I resort to quick tried and true recipes that are my family's favorites. My easy pasta bake is one of them. For the past year, my family has incorporated more gluten free meals into our diet. The biggest struggle has been finding a pasta that stands up in taste and texture. We have tried brown rice pasta, quinoa pasta and corn pasta and all fell short. But then Barilla came out with their own gluten free pasta and it is the best! It tastes the most like "real" pasta and it holds up really well in sauces. I used Barilla gluten free penne pasta for this recipe. Here is all that you will need to make this easy and delicious dish. Ingredients: 1-1/2 boxes of Barilla Gluten Free Penne Pasta 1.33 lb pouch of Butterball Ground Turkey 1 jar of your favorite marinara sauce (we love Rao's) 1 medium ca...

I find this time of the year always to be so hectic. Take the school activities, sporting events, all the last minute end of the year things that come up and add them to the regular day-to-day hustle and it sometimes leaves me no room to make dinner. This is where the make ahead casserole comes in. Our favorite is my Chicken and Rice Casserole. And bonus, it's gluten free too! I made it even easier by using several premade ingredients such as Perdue cooked and seasoned chicken, boil in bag brown rice and jarred alfredo sauce. You can most certainly grill your own chicken and made your own white sauce but when time is an issue, premade is the way to go. Ingredients: 1 package of Perdue Short Cuts Carved Chicken (Grilled Italian Style) 9 oz 1 bag of Success Boil-in-bag brown rice (cooked) 1 jar of your favorite alfredo sauce 1/2 bag of frozen peas thawed Grated Parmesan Cheese Gluten Free Bread Crumbs Slivered almonds Directions: Mix first 5 ingredients and pl...

I opened! I finally opened!! Natsy Tatsy Designs is up and running!!!!! I've been making earrings, bracelets, gift tags, cards and all sorts of handmade things and giving them as gifts forever. With the urging of some very sweet friends, I decided to open up an etsy shop to sell my handmade creations. I am starting with earrings. I hope to have lots more items listed within the next week. So stop by and let me know what you think? Am I priced right? Do you like the colors and variety of choices so far? What would like to see more of? Whatever feedback you can give me, would be greatly appreciated!!! Here's a little preview of what's in the shop:

I recently found myself browsing the aisles of GoodWill looking for things to alter. So, when I saw this pine cone tree for $4.99 I knew it would be perfect. I kinda loved it just the way it was but I was itching to paint it. At first I thought all white would be pretty Or maybe even red? But since I loved the way the Noel sign turned out after I spray painted it gold, I was itching to paint this gold as well. And I am glad I did. I love it. I think the gold adds a subtle elegance to it and would make a gorgeous centerpiece for my holiday table. I still may add some glitter to it. What do you think?

I am fortunate to have my local HomeGoods and GoodWill stores right next to each other. I always check GoodWill first in hopes of finding a hidden treasure. If I strike out, I always just head on into HomeGoods to see what they have. Lately, I've been scoring at GoodWill. Yay! On one recent trip, I found two holiday decorating treasures. A pine cone tree and this Noel sign that was only $.99! What a steal! I have been eager to try spray painting with gold metallic paint. I've seen so many crafters and bloggers using it and even though I am usually drawn to silver, I knew I had to experiment. I am so glad that I did. I can't stop. This Noel sign was is just one of the many things I've spray painted gold. I even spray painted our pumpkins gold! I'll share those projects in another post. I don't want to overwhelm you. I used Krylon spray paint in metallic gold pictured below that I bought at Hobby Lobby for 40% off. And after two coats m...

I have a great admiration for those people who do the weekly format of Project Life. I don't think I could keep it up for an entire year for a variety of reasons. 1. I don't think my life is exciting enough to take a picture everyday. 2. I would most certainly forget to take a photo everyday even if I could find something worth documenting. 3. I take the bulk of my photos at family activities. So, I just decided to make it work for me and my photos and my life. That's what's so great about Project Life. You can make it work for you. Don't misunderstand me though, I wish I was disciplined enough to take a photo a day or even do the weekly themes but I know my limitations. Maybe that can be one of my resolutions for 2014 to be better about taking a photo a day. :) Oh, I just thought of a fourth reason I could not do the weekly format. I like to jump around when I scrapbook. I need to feel in the mood to scrap a certain set of photos. Hence these two ne...

Back in the day, I used to scrapbook and forgo meals and personal hygiene. The kids were young. Their idea of a good dinner was a corndog or chicken nuggets. Hubby was always working late. I went to crops at the lss and even hosted them once a week at my house. I used to call my camera my third arm. Then something happened. I went to work as a preschool teacher. My mornings without the kiddos were now occupied. Then the afternoons got filled with baseball, soccer and scouts, etc. I found myself scrapping less and less. But I still was taking photos like crazy. That is exactly when Ms. Becky Higgins created this brilliant concept called Project Life. It's scrapping without all the fuss and muss. Its taking all your precious photos and adding gorgeous artwork and getting them into books that people can actually look at. Oh My! So, I bought the very first kit and I made a couple of pages. Then a few months go by and nothing. Now all these amazing Project Life k...

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One of our favorite fall family activities is to pick your own apples. This year we went to a quaint local place in Bethel, CT only to find that their crop was pretty much destroyed by a hail storm. We still managed to pick enough apples to feed a small army. In addition to the usual apple crisp, this year I decided to make apple butter as well. And since I have been determined to use my crockpot more often, I searched for a slow cooker apple butter recipe. I didn't have to look very far. I found the perfect one at www.mybakingaddiction.com. It was simple yet delicious!! I had quite the stash when all was said and done so I gifted some to friends and family. Slow Cooker Apple Butter October 17th, 2011 Yield: 4 pints Prep Time: 30 minutes Cook Time: 12 hours Ingredients: 6 1/2 pounds apples - peeled, cored and sliced 1 cup granulated sugar 1 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon fr...

1,2 1,2 Check, check. Is this thing on? Just making sure it still works. ;)

I love spring cleaning. I really do. I actually look forward to it. And much to my delight, my favorite organzing pro, Marcia Ramsland, sent thru an e mail with tons of valuable spring cleaning tips. I hope she inspires you as much as she does me. Enjoy! What is Spring Cleaning? Spring Cleaning is all about moving out the dust and cobwebs of winter to welcome sunshine and spring breezes to freshen your home inside. It is the process of transforming the dinginess of winter into the springtime feeling of a clean house. Whether you spend one day or one month at it, you can make an impact by jumping into spring cleaning purposefully. Where Do I Begin? The best way to begin is to work by “Priority Rooms,” those rooms that will make a positive visual and emotional impact on you. Pick a specific area and schedule one to three hours there. Post a large sign of declaration to stay on track. “Today I am Spring Cleaning the Family Room 9-11:30 a.m.!” Follow these simple spring...

I am a list maker through and through. I often say...if it's not on list, then it doesn't get done. Sometimes I have several going at once...a daily one and a weekly or even a monthly one. And nothing gives me greater pleasure than being able to cross things off my list and eventually toss the daily one in the garbage. :) I am not too hard on myself tho if I do not cross everything off, I just move it to the next day. I recently received this e mail on to-do lists from the organizing guru herself, Marcia Ramsland that I thought I'd share with you. It is jam-packed with great to-do list pointers. Enjoy! A written to-do list is the secret to clearing your mind of mental clutter and accomplishing more each day. When the list is more than a day’s worth of actions, it is actually considered a “Master List.” Marcia’s Time Slotted To-Do List: When you start listing items on your to-do list, you have three choices: you can put to-dos in the order they occur to ...

Every year we like to go to u pick farms in our area. Even though we have our favorites, we still like to find new ones to try. This year we tried Evergreen Farms in Watertown, CT for the very first time. They had blueberries and black raspberries. YUM! Here are some scenes from the day. :) Enjoy! I know we will be enjoying blueberry muffins and pie and pancakes for the next week. :) The neck pails they give you to store your bounty in. :) The happy pickers. ;) The berries:

Here is what my kitchen table looks like this summer. The table runner is from Target and I absolutely love love love the vibrant happy colors. The candle & candle holder which holds my current favorite scent, carribean salsa, are from Bath & Body Works. And all the rest hails from HomeGoods. :)

I have always wanted a Lazy Susan for my kitchen table but the problem was finding the right size and color. After much searching, I broke down and bought a cheap one from Target for $7.99 and decided to spray paint it. I went for Heirloom White to match the chairs. I think it turned out pretty good. WDYT? Before: After: Next up...the stuff that goes on top. :)

If you are looking for a really delicious and easy recipe to take to parties this summer, then this is the one for you. I made these yesterday to take to a pool party and they were yummy! My hubby actually asked me if I made them or just heated them up!? LOL! Tray is from Ikea. It's my new fave. It's long enough to hold lots of goodies. :) Recipe: 1/2 cup ricotta cheese 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest 1 teaspoon lemon juice 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 1/2 of a 17.3-ounce package Pepperidge Farm® Puff Pastry Sheets (1 sheet), thawed 1 small zucchini or yellow squash, cut into 3-inch matchstick-thin strips 1 small red pepper, cut into 3-inch matchstick-thin strips Directions: Heat the oven to 400°F. Stir the ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese, lemon zest, lemon juice and black pepper in a medium bowl. Unfold the pastry sheet on a lightly floured surface. Roll the pastry sheet into a 10x12-inch rectangle...

I am a part-time knitter for sure. And I have the attention span of a gnat when it comes to my knitting projects. If it's not a gift and I don't have a deadline, it can linger on for months. But that doesn't stop me from buying more yarn. :O So, as you can imagine, I have a yarn stash that has gotten out of control over the last few months. The little basket that I bought to house my yarn is beyond overflowing. It is littered with bags and bags of unfinished projects and new yarn. I have been on the hunt for a lidded basket that doesn't look like a laundry basket. It is has been harder than I thought. Then today while I was perusing the aisles of AC Moore for wooden letters, I saw a big but not too big basket that would work and it was 50% off. Well, when I got to the register, it ended up being $5.00! The original price was $14.99. I was stoked over the bargain even though I had to climb the shelves myself to get it. Everytime I go in there, I swear I ...

Here they are... They were a hit. So much so that my Mom was jealous. LOL! For my Dad... For my hubby...

This year I wanted to do something really special for my father and my husband this Father's Day. So, I came up with this inexspensive photo idea. I hit Michael's today armed with a 50% coupon for 1 regular priced item and a 20% off my total order one. I picked up unfinished wood letters for $1.99 each and a heart for 99 cents. The paint was 2 for $1.00. I always have foam brushes so no cost there. And I picked up a 3 photo black frame on super sale at Kohl's for under $10.00 and a wood desk frame on clearance for $6.99 at Michael's. My photos were even 25% off after I used a special Father's Day coupon code for CVS. My supplies: Here they are painted: The photos: The frames: As soon as I pick up the photos from CVS, I'll share the finished product. The photos should be ready in 30 minutes. :)