Walk For MS Northwest

This will be our second year walking for MS research. It is a cause that is close to our heart. We had so much fun doing it last year, our daughters rode in the wagon and walked a bit, mostly they enjoyed getting the treats along the way. We have been blessed with supportive family and friends who have donated to our cause and we wanted to take this time to say THANK YOU!

https://secure3.convio.net/nmss/site/Donation2?idb=63274962&df_id=31696&FR_ID=15675&PROXY_ID=8996903&PROXY_TYPE=20&31696.donation=form1&JServSessionIdr004=kxjkvy9u32.app326b

<3 Nicole

Orange Chicken

This is a recipe I threw together for orange chicken, it was too orangey so I changed it a little bit. If you make this please let me know what you think, I want feedback!

Orange Chicken



3 Chicken Breasts
1/4 Cup Flour
pinch of Salt
1/4 Cup frozen Orange Juice Concentrate, thawed
3 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
3 Tablespoons Ketchup
1 teaspoon Balsamic vinegar

Olive Oil

Mix flour and salt in a small bowl, set aside. Cut chicken into bite size pieces. Coat frying pan with olive oil and heat to medium. In another bowl mix orange juice, brown sugar, ketchup and balsamic vinegar and set aside. Coat chicken in flour and cook in oil until cooked through. Once chicken is cooked, pour sauce mixture in, bring to boil while frequently stirring and reduce heat to low and let cook for 5 minutes. Stir occasionally.

I served mine over rice and it would have been wonderful if I hadn't of used so much orange juice concentrate. (The amount I used was about 1/2-3/4 Cup, I think 1/4 Cup is a good amount to try.)

Enjoy!

<3 Nicole

Photographers

We haven't had family pictures taken since my youngest daughter (now almost four) was a newborn. I don't want to go back to JC Penney Portrait Studios because that's lame, it's not us. I don't want to go sit in front of a black curtain and all say cheese. I want real photos that capture who we are as individuals and who we are as a family. I want to be outside in the sunshine having fun. I've searched google and facebook trying to find a local photographer, I've had a few recommended to me and I have narrowed it down to one my friend Ashley is going to be using soon. The reason for this post is because I was so shocked to find so many "Photographers" that have education or biographies that say, "I love taking pictures, this is my hobby and I am very talented." I think to myself, well good for them, I know what it's like to have a hobby and find out people are willing to pay for my work. But then I look at their photos which are on the same level as something my five year old daughter has taken, with very little to no editing and they are charging a $150 fee plus the cost of photos. This is crazy to me. I know it shouldn't bother me, because if somebody is willing to pay that kind of money then who am I to care, but I guess I am just offended that anybody can call themselves a photographer. It's like me calling myself a writer just because I have this blog. Haha.... Ok that is the end of my rant. Anyway, if anybody in the Olympia or Bremerton area has any recommendations for a GOOD photographer send me the link, I need to look at their photos before I even consider it! Thank you Ashley for your recommendation, I will most likely be using her!

<3 Nicole

Sewing

Right now I am super obsessed with sewing. Just like cooking, baking and basically everything else, I do not like following directions. I don't have the attention span to sit down and read directions, cut, pin, read more directions, etc. So I like to just picture things in my head and go from there... it doesn't always work out, but sometimes it works out better than I planned! So my project right now is making a travel hair clip holder.

For those of you who don't know I own a small business with one of my best friends, we make hair accessories (headbands, clips, hats, etc) for girls and women as well as tutu's and fairy wings. This is more of a hobby for us, we love what we do and it's awesome to work at festivals meeting lots of new people and seeing familiar faces who have supported us from day one! Anyway, I am going on vacation next month and I wanted to take some of my hair accessories for myself but don't want to lose them or have them get squished during travel. I am figuring out in my head how I am going to go about this project and attempt to create this travel case. Hopefully by the end of today I will have my first attempt done and I will post a picture.

I love trying new projects but I do wish I had a longer attention span!

Pictures to come soon!

<3 Nicole

*Update, this is what I came up with so far. This was just for my daughters and I. If I decide to make more to sell they well be much cuter! :)









Any feedback would be great! Thanks!

<3 Nicole

The Perfect Pumpkin Bread

I had some pumpkin puree and I was craving some pumpkin bread so I decided to try a new recipe. I altered this one I found from a wonderful blog: http://fortheloveofcooking-recipes.blogspot.com/





1 C pumpkin puree
1/2 C vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 C white sugar
1/3 C brown sugar
1 1/2 C + 1 T of flour
1/2 C oats
1/2 t salt
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t baking powder
1 t ground cinnamon
1/2 t pumpkin pie seasoning
1 C chopped walnuts
1/2 C chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees, grease a loaf pan.
Beat together pumpkin puree, oil, eggs and sugars. Add salt, cinnamon and pumpkin pie seasoning along with flour, soda, and powder. When blended add in oats and nuts. Pour batter into pan and sprinkle with chocolate chips. Bake for 50-55 minutes until cooked through. Let cool, serve warm with butter.

I love this recipe, it is my go to bread recipe from now on! If you make this please leave a review or any changes you made, enjoy!

Greek Chicken Pasta

I wanted to make something new, so I threw this together one night for dinner and was very impressed.

Greek Chicken Pasta

14.5 oz (or one box/package) of Bow Tie or your favorite pasta, cooked according to directions
1 Tomato diced
1/2 Can of sliced olives
1/2 t dried oregano
1/2 Cucumber, peeled and diced
1-2 Large Chicken breasts, cut into bite sized chunks, cooked in olive oil and oregano
1/2 Cup crumbled feta

Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper

Cook pasta according to directions, drain and put into serving bowl. Cut up chicken breasts in olive oil, and a little sprinkle of oregano. Cool and put in bowl with pasta. Peel and chop cucumber, dice tomato and slice olives, combine into bowl with pasta and chicken. Add feta, mix well. Season with olive oil and salt & pepper to taste.

*I added baby spinach to mine and it was wonderful! If you make this please leave me feedback!

My Kids

So I have two daughters, I love them more than anything. They are the most important things in my life but sometimes they drive me crazy! Today and yesterday were a couple of those crazy days. It just so happens that my Mom called and asked if they could come have a sleep over at her house. When I told my daughters they ran around the house screaming about how excited they were to go! I was just as excited, I thought it would be nice to have the whole house to myself, enjoying the silence... taking a nap, watching a movie, reading a book, or doing some cleaning, but in complete silence! This happens to me every time they go to my Mom's for the day/night..... I get so sad after about 30 minutes of being alone. I miss hearing my girls chase each other and laugh, I miss seeing my little one walk around in dress up clothes all day with sunglasses on. I miss my big girl drawing pictures and taping them all over the walls. I guess I should just enjoy the silence while I have it because I know tomorrow my little noise makers will be back and ready to play.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

<3 Nicole