Easy Chicken Parmesan

So, I've given up writing every week like I originally planned. I'm going to shoot for once a month. Key words..."shoot for." Don't hold me to it!

I would like to introduce you to a delectable meal. Chicken parmesan.

Fornos of Italy

If you've never had it, you're missing out big time. What's better than breaded chicken with pasta and marinara sauce? Pretty much nothing! There are some big processes to make chicken parmesan though. And I don't have enough time or patience to make those types of things! So, let's back up. Let me introduce you to the EASY chicken parmesan.

I found this recipe at "Deal" ectible Mommies. Here we go!

Place 10-15 (or however many you want) breaded chicken nuggets on the bottom of a baking dish (YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE TO SPRAY!)

Cover with marinara sauce.

Sprinkle mozzarella cheese on top.

Bake at 350* for 20-30 minutes.

Serve over whatever pasta you want.

The end. I mean, seriously, does it get any easier than that?!? And it only takes about 30-35 minutes to make. I've made it before and it's DELICIOUS! I didn't use enough sauce the first time, but I'm making it again tonight. Yummy.

Long overdue dining chairs

Nothing like a post more than a month after your last one! Goodness, I don't know where the time has gone.

Life has been crazy busy here, just as it is for all of you, I'm sure. What with work, the holiday season, and everything that has to be done, it's a wonder I can blog even once a month!

Anywho, I've been telling you for weeks months that I am re-doing my dining room chairs that I bought of Craigslist for $25 (the only thing I've ever bought off there!). And I am finally able to blog about it! Although, I have a confession to make... All 4 chairs are still in different stages. Chair 1 is done and in the house! WOO HOO! Chair 2 needs the seat fastened on and then it's done! WOO HOO! Chair 3 is primed and ready for paint and the seat is ready to go on after it's painted... Chair 4 is still in original form. Sad. So, you see, I'm not as caught up as I should be. Oh well.

Without further ado, I present Chair 1! (And for all you peeps... like me... that skip to the bottom of the post to see the before and after, I'll just show you now and save you the hassle.)

Ooh I'm so excited! Now to finish the other 3....

For anyone who wants to see what I did, here is the tutorial!
Step 1: Gather tools.. I used a small crow-bar type thing, screw driver, needle nose pliers and a hammer.

Step 2: Take seat cushion off of chair.

Step 3: Take staples out.

Step 4: Remove nasty, dirty, stained fabric and throw in garbage can in garage because you don't want it in your house.

Step 5: Cut batting to fit over top of cushion for extra softness.

Step 5: Make sure the foam isn't nasty, dirty, stained like the fabric.. if it is, buy new. I got lucky.

Step 6: Staple batting over foam and plywood (if you look closely, you can see I marked numbers on the plywood.. and corresponding chair.. so I would remember what goes with what.)

Apparently I forgot to document some steps...
Step 7: Measure and cut fabric to fit.
Step 8: Staple fabric onto seat.
Step 9: Attach seat to chair.
Step 10: Admire!

Step 11: Finish the other 3 chairs....

New Faucets!

So, remember my list of things to do in the bathroom? I ended up moving the fixtures to the top of the list after all! Our nasty sink faucet was so corroded and leaky that it HAD to be replaced.
I mean seriously..

EW. It had to be done. Now. I couldn't take it anymore.

No big deal. We'll just change that out and since our shower head and faucet needed to be replaced, we'll do that at the same time!

So, we marched ourselves over to Home Depot with our gift card that I won (the only thing I've ever won!) from Purdy's "Save the Walls" contest and bought us some faucets!

Isn't it SO much prettier? (Side note: do you see my mason jar soap dispenser? Also, don't look at my ugly counter or tiles.. those will be replaced soon.. hopefully.)

Well, of course nothing goes as planned.. My mom-in-law and I were sent to Home Depot for the second time to pick up some washers. We come home to this.

They had to take 2 of the 3 glass panels out, 1 of the 2 plastic surround pieces off, and cut out the drywall in order to put the new shower faucet in. Wow. 6 hours later, it looks like this! (Sorry I don't have a before picture, I was freaking out a little bit since our shower was in my dining room.)

I am so excited to try it out! I would have jumped right in after the in-laws left, but the caulking needs to dry until morning.

Guess what else? I have 2 dining room chairs finished! WOO HOO! And I finally took an "after" picture, so that post is coming soon.

Mmmmm.. Recipe ahead!

Delicious! I thought I would share one of my favorite recipes with you all today. Chocolate chip cookies! These are seriously the best cookies ever. So good, in fact, I had to smack my hubby's hand from snatching the cookie dough off of the pans!

Check these out!

Here is the recipe. Make sure and follow all the steps exactly.

Mix together:

1 c. Crisco

1 c. sugar

½ c. brown sugar

2 eggs

(When I get to this point, I mix so it’s not so hard on my hand later)

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp. real vanilla extract

2 ¼ c. flour

LOTS of chocolate chips! (Seriously. Go back and look at how many are in EACH cookie)

Bake at 400 degrees for 7-8 minutes (until they’re JUST turning golden brown… this is a key moment!)

Cool on baking rack, or eat them warm off the pan (the cookie dough is good, too). 

I hope you enjoy these!Let me know if you make them and what you think.

Oh. my. word.

 So, exactly how long has it been since I last posted? 2 weeks. WOW. I have been SUPER busy! And not with anything fun that I can blog about. Just work, sleep, eat, repeat process.

I did have time to make another small fall vignette. We have this uber cool antique roll-top desk. It was my grandma's. Technically, it's still my moms, but she thought it would look better in our house than in her dirty, nasty, scary basement in storage. I totally agree. Anyways.. I decorated it.

 Here it is!

 Sorry about the bad picture qualities.. my camera was freaking out that night!

 See that "B"? My brother-in-law made it for our wedding. We used it as our cake topper. It's so cool. It has a little base on it that he etched our names and wedding date into. Love it! 

Pretty flowers from my wonderful husband :) And our favorite wedding picture that my hubby doctored up in photoshop. 

THEN, tonight we are "parents for a night." One of my friends' anniversaries was this week and they wanted a night to themselves, so we adopted 2 of their kids for the night! So fun. Seriously. These two, especially the younger one, are hil.ari.ous. Want to see what I mean? Of course you do! 

 My sister and Ellie, the youngest.

 See what I mean?

 The girls.. they wanted to keep taking "funny" pictures. 

Getting them to take a serious one was HARD!

 I really like that my sister is trying not to get whipped in the face right here.

 Bunny ears?

 Cheeser.

 They also think my husband is their big play-toy.

 Oh well, he gives it right back!

Finally settled down for the night! 

On a side note, I finished 1 of my dining chairs! YIPPEEEEEEE! Now, 3 left.. I seriously need some time to work on them! 

Admiring Nature

So today, I was driving to a furniture delivery and was noticing the amazing change in the trees' colors. Fall is my favorite time of year. I love the colors, the cool weather, the way the sun seems to shine most days, the crunchy leaves, apple cider, bonfires, everything!

I was looking around at the landscape and was thinking, how awesome is God? And then I got to thinking about all of the amazing things He put on earth for us to enjoy and to marvel at.

Changing leaves

Stars

Mountains and landscapes

The ocean

The way light plays off of things like clouds and hills

Sunsets

What are some things from nature you are in awe of?

Blogger

I don't know how you all view your blogs, but I keep track of mine through Blogger. And right now, I'm not that happy with it! They changed the way you view the blogs and now it's all funky on my screen. I don't like it.

Dear Google,
Please change Blogger back to the way it was!
Thanks.

Weekend Getaway

 Hello friends!

Sorry I haven't written anything exciting in a few days. My hubby took me to southern Indiana for a birthday weekend getaway last weekend and since we got back, we've hit the ground running!

Here are some highlights from our weekend! Enjoy :)

We stayed at an Inn in New Albany. It's called the Admiral Bicknell Inn. I highly recommend it! We stayed in the cupola suite, a HUGE room with a cupola that looked out over the Ohio River.

Our room

Our bathroom

In the cupola

Front door

Back of the building

We left Saturday morning and got there around noon on Saturday. We spent the day walking around New Albany, eating at a Mexican restaurant for lunch, driving around Louisville, visiting Schimpff's Confectionary in Jeffersonville, taking a long nap, and going to dinner!

The confectionary had all these super cool crates

Hubby and me at the confectionary

More crates and bins

Crate

It was SO busy!

Ohio River

We almost ran out of gas driving around Louisville

 On Sunday, we slept in and had a lazy morning, then went to a pumpkin patch and apple orchard on our way home. It was the coolest one I've ever been to!

Apple orchard

Isn't he cute?

All the good apples were out of reach

Found one!

Apple cider :)

A flattened pumpkin!

It was super windy

Our GIANT pumpkins. 20 and 22 lbs.

Seriously, visit this place if you can!

 It was a great weekend with all my favorite things about fall. Pumpkin patches, apple orchards, apple cider, carmel apples, cool, sunny weather, wonderful time with my boy, leaves turning colors...

What are your favorite things about fall?