Poppy Seed Chicken and Pasta Salad

Hi, all! I was way too exhausted to post last night, sorry about that. I'm all rested up now though and ready to post the promised recipe!

Poppy Seed Chicken and Pasta Salad

1 1/3 cups uncooked spiral pasta

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts

1/2 cup slivered almonds, toasted

1/4 cup finely chopped onion

1/4 cup dried cranberries

1/4 cup chopped celery

1/2 cup bottled poppy seed salad dressing

Boil chicken breasts until done. Set aside to cool and then shred. Cook pasta according to package directions. I use the stock from my boiled chicken as the cooking liquid in order to add a little more flavor. Rinse pasta in cool water and drain well. Combine first 6 ingredients and mix well. Drizzle dressing over top and toss to coat. Chill until serving.

This makes 4 lunches for me, or probably one meal for 2 (with a little left over).

If you decide to use it as lunches you may want to add a bit more dressing (just a squirt) on the 3rd and 4th days. I always divide it up into 4 storage containers ahead of time.

Also, a tip on the almonds. I just toast mine in the microwave. I spread them out in a single layer on ceramic or glass plate (DON'T USE PAPER!) and micro for about 2 minutes. Stir and then micro again for 1:30. Keep stirring and microwaving until they are to your liking. Be careful though, it's a fine line between toasted and burned! It usually only takes me the 2 rounds to get them where I want them, but all microwaves are different.

You may see what looks like burned spots on your plate. Don't be concerned. That is just the oil from the almonds. If you run water over the plate when you are done it washes right off.

I hope everyone enjoys their weekend and some yummy food!

Festively Fall

Wow! Thanks, everyone, for the warm welcome! I even got a follower on my first day! Look -->
Hi, Jaime!

As promised, here is last night's crafting project.



I'm pretty happy with how it turned out AND it cost me less then $10! The grapevine wreath and leaf garland came from the dollar store. The beaded pumpkins, berry stems and ribbon for the bow came from Hobby Lobby, at a 40% discount! I tried to post closeups of the pumpkins and berry stems and of the bow but Blogger keeps reorienting my photos so they are sideways. If anyone knows how to remedy this or why it's happening let me know. If I can fix it I'll post the other photos.
Tomorrow I will move on to another of my 3 "C"s - Cooking! So, be ready for a yummy new recipe to try out this weekend!

Wow, I'm blogging!

So, my sister-in-law, Kacey, is OBSESSED with blogging (you know you are!) and has somehow pulled me over to the dark side. Well, at least the blogging side.... I wanted my blog to be ABOUT something 'cause, goodness knows, my little life isn't interesting enough to write about! I decided to let this be a place to express my creative juices, a place to put what I create out there and hear what the world thinks of it. At least, if it thinks positive things! Like any normal human being I adore positive feedback and I would love to have the opportuinity to hear what someone other that my sweetheart thinks. Not that his opinion isn't valuable, but.....
So, without further ado, here is my first post and my first project.
I "borrowed" my project idea from Joy's Under Five Bucks & Under Five Minutes! at "Joys of Home" (love her stuff btw) and modified it a little . Mine actually cost me between $10-$15 and took a little longer.
Here is my finished project:





The extra cost came from my idea to make it a hanging plaque for the back of our front door. I bought a magnetic hook and a knob that I liked from the local "home improvement store" and had my hubby drill out the hook. That also made the hole big enough for the knob to fit into. The casing around the magnet was painted the same color (Burnt Sienna) as the back part of the plaque. Who knew it would match so well?!

Finally, here is a closeup of the letter plaque itself. The flash has made the color appear "off". In real life, the 'R' is a wine color that matches the accent wall of my living room (and the ribbon the letter hangs from) not barn red! I also used the Burnt Sienna as a wash over both the letter as well as the paper under it to help antique it a little.

I am really happy with how it turned out. I always feel like the backs of doors are so naked. We spend a lot of time looking at them and I just wanted my front door to feel pretty on the "inside"! The only thing I am unsure about are the "tails" of ribbon. I though that they added a little extra flair but now I am not sure. What do you think?

PS. I was crafting away tonight during Project Runway when I wasn't texting Kacey (can you BELIEVE Kenley? You do NOT sass the Tim Gunn!) so I should have another fun Fall project to post tomorrow!