Smoked Sausage and Potatoes

Tonight Kevin (yes, that’s right, my husband does 95% of the cooking and cleaning around here, thank heavens) made a recipe that I so lovingly printed out and left on the counter for him. Lucky him, I also purchased all of the ingredients so as to make his job easy.

Turns out, it was easy anyway.

Thanks to Pinterest, I’ve Kevin has tried many, many new recipes. Some of them have been huge fails, but some have been keepers (or as we call them in our house, re-dos). This one, my friends, is a keeper! Easy, inexpensive, and tasty – notice I did not say healthy, but I guess it could be worse, right? I’m of the school of thought that anything you make at home has GOT to be better for you than something at a restaurant. Basically, this is not something you would want to make every day for dinner – and you’d probably get sick of it anyway. Every once in a while, though? This stuff is legit. (Yes, I’m 36 and I just said “legit”).

Here’s my crappy picture (hey, it’s not easy to make this look good. You just have to trust me on this one):

 

Smoked Sausage and Potatoes (via Recipes from the Big Blue Binder)

1 pkg. of Smoked Sausage (we only use Beef in this house, but it’s just whatever – I used Hillshire Farms if that makes a difference)

1 large onion, peeled and chopped (Kevin chopped them up tiny, I prefer them to be bigger chunks)

5 large potatoes, peeled and chopped into 1/2 inch cubes (we used 10 smaller ones instead)

Olive oil (yeah, I was out, so he used Canola. It was fine.)

Fine sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Sweet Paprika (I’m pretty sure I only have one kind of paprika, and it may not be sweet!)

Dried thyme

Grated cheddar cheese (we only had Cheddar/Jack blend and it was great)

Preheat oven to 400. Line a large baking pan with shallow sides (we used a 9×13, which may require some timing adjustments*) with foil and drizzle with some oil. Set aside.

Cut the sausage into rounds, or if you’re fancy, you can slice them all sideways style (what is that called, anyway? Diagonally? Well, whatever, Kevin sliced them fancy.) Put sausage, onions, and potatoes in a large bowl. Drizzle some more oil on them and season with salt, pepper, paprika, and dried thyme. Toss it together with your hands until everything is coated. Pour the mixture out into the baking pan and spread it out.

Roast for 45 minutes to an hour, stirring every 15 minutes or so, until potatoes are golden brown. Turn off the oven and sprinkle the cheese over the top (just a handful – you don’t need to cover it). Stick it back in the oven for a couple of minutes to make the cheese melty.

Serve immediately! We had sourdough bread (CARBS CARBS CARBS) with it. We probably should have had something green with it too, but I’m lazy and we didn’t.

* It took us about an hour to cook – and it could have gone a few minutes longer but the sausage was going to burn. I think this happened because we used a 9×13 pan with deeper sides… potatoes took longer to cook!)

Uh NO, Pinterest. {Clothing}

First and foremost, I need 4 more followers on Pinterest to hit 1,000. FOUR MORE, y’all. Which ones of y’all are going to be those 5? You KNOW you want to follow me on Pinterest and see what crazy stuff I pin on my Uh NO board. Oh, and you know, those other 105 boards I have.

Let’s address this. Would you just suffocate if you did place it over your face and mouth? Think about what size bra you wear, then just plan to die either way. It’s on rethinksurvival.com. Yeah, I’ll rethink survival at that point.

Some things do NOT need to be pinned. I’m sure on the RIGHT person, this cardigan would be pretty cute and not pair with an old denim shirt. AND quite possibly that RIGHT person would consider wearing a bra. Before you ask, I did actually go look at this Etsy shop. Not a single picture or item is this “model” wearing a bra. I’m NOT EVEN KIDDING! Its a shop out of Solvenia. Do they now wear or sell bras there?? Also, lets address the belly button. UNACCEPTABLE.

I’m obviously not the only one that thinks these are ridiculous. These were pinned from ugly-sweater.blogspot.com. Not a sweater, but they are knitted or crocheted shorts (for men OR women). Even worse? I have 2 pair pinned. TWO pair! How many pairs of these ugly things are there? Wait, I don’t want to know.

First, how exactly is lace going to prevent “chub rub”? I’m thinking the lace would be like creating a fire between your legs. Maybe that’s just me. Secondly, lets discuss the model’s legs. Do they really think we believe that chick has an issue with her thighs rubbing together?? You’re right. She doesn’t.

We Texas girls love a good pair of flip flops. A GOOD pair of flip flops, not these things. I’m guilty of having a flip flop tan line. Why? Well because I wear flip flops year round. Can you imagine the awful tan lines you get from these? No, don’t imagine.

I need to give you something – the definition of fancy. Fancy – elaborate in structure or decoration. These things maybe elaborate in structure, but sweet Jesus, who is going to wear this? When did YARN become fancy to wear on your ears? Or drinking straws? I guess after a long night of clubbin’, when you stop by Whataburger and they forget to give you a straw for your drink you can just pop one off your ear.

Please don’t pin stuff that is absolutely ridiculous, or do if you want to be featured on Uh NO. It’s up to you. This was just a “clothing” edition. Apparently I went through a pinning phase of awful clothing items. Don’t worry, I have PLENTY more where these came from.

My Slacker Pinterest Party Weekend

You guys know how I’m usually the ringleader at our infamous Pinterest Party Weekends, right? Well, this time? Not so much. Not at all, actually.

I started my new (AWESOME) job on Monday, August 12. Friday, August 16 was my 36th (ouch) birthday. I headed to Aunt Toni’s house right after work. I will just say that it took me three hours to get from work to the lake, and if I think about it too much I will get mad… so I won’t.

I’m sure all of you know what I’m talking about when I say that once the job stress was gone, all I wanted to do was sleep. It was crazy tension relief (combined with a sinus infection, but we won’t go there) and all of the stress I’d had for over a year just melted away. It was pretty amazing, but my body paid the price for it! Changing my schedule and getting up by 5:30 AM to leave the house by 6:30 AM has turned me into one of those people that is asleep before the 10:00 news is on. Seriously.

By the time I got to Aunt Toni’s, I was ready to drop! I brought my trusty SIlhouette, but Paige got a Cameo from her fiance (aka my cousin) for her birthday, so I got to play with the fancy one instead. I’m super jealous. It’s so much quieter than mine! I got to show her how to use the Silhouette software and she cut some stuff on it. I’m not allowed to show you what she and her bridesmaids made for the wedding, because 1) it’s not my wedding, 2) her wedding is in January and some of the people invited read this blog, and 3) I didn’t take any pictures to tempt me to show you what they did. I will just say that it is going to be one pretty wedding! I can’t wait to go! She has some awesome bridesmaids – funny and they are hard little worker bees.

Whitney and I were in charge of Saturday lunch, so I wussed out and picked up rotisserie chicken salad and croissants from Costco. HEY! I also made a pasta salad that I have loved for years and years. I’m not totally lazy (although this recipe is so easy, I kind of am).

I was lucky to have worked for 18 years with a bunch of women who loved to bake and cook. We made a cookbook (and you better believe I took it with me when I left last month!) and this is one of my very favorite recipes from one of my very favorite people in the world. Marsha used to make a separate bowl just for me without celery because I HATE celery. I sacrificed and left it in for the Saturday lunch, but I didn’t eat one bit of that nasty celery.

Anyway, here’s the recipe. It makes a large bowl – we had a little leftover and there were about 10 of us there.

Marsha’s Pasta Salad

1 box vermicelli, broken into halves or thirds or whatever you want (sixteenths?)

Olive oil

2 Tbsp. lemon juice

Accent (seasoned salt)

Mayonnaise (a few large spoonfuls – I’m very exact, aren’t I?)

1 jar diced pimentos, drained

1 small can chopped olives

1 cup celery, chopped

1/4 cup green onion, chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

The night before you want to eat this, boil the vermicelli with a couple of teaspoons of olive oil. Once cooked, drain and put into a large bowl. Add a few shakes of Accent and 2 Tbsp. of lemon juice and stir to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and leave in refrigerator overnight.

The next day, the pasta is basically going to be a huge weird ball of lemony-smelling goodness.  Add a few large spoonfuls of mayonnaise (yes, light mayonnaise works fine. Miracle Whip does not. Don’t ask.) to moisten it. You’re probably going to have to use a fork to break the pasta apart, I’m just saying. Now, add the pimentos, olives, celery, and green onion.

That’s it. It tastes like summer. Feel free to add salt and pepper to taste! The ingredients look really weird together, I know – but this salad is exceptional and SO easy. Everyone loved it!

Guess how many naps I took on Saturday? Just guess.

 

Three. Glorious. Naps. Two of them while holding a sleeping Benjamin. Man, I love that baby. He’s pretty awesome even if he cries a lot. He’s cute so it makes up for it. Also, I tolerate kids that are blood relatives much better than non-related ones, so I’m sure that makes a difference.

Since I spent basically all of Saturday asleep (apparently it was very much needed), I whipped up a quick yarn wreath on Sunday morning. Whitney and I saw a yarn wreath at Target last year during Christmas and fell in love with it. I did not, however, fall in love with the $20 price tag. I didn’t even love it enough to buy it on clearance for $14. Nope.

I bought yarn that was close enough at Michaels (um, probably in January – that’s how long I’ve been holding onto it) and used a styrofoam wreath form. I wasn’t in love with the felt bow on the Target wreath, so I substituted some felt flowers. It looks very fall-ish and not Christmas-y, in my opinion.

You know what? I didn’t even feel BAD about sleeping. I warned them going into it that my brain was mush (hello, first week at a new job?!) and sure enough, it was. I give big props to whatever air mattress I slept on. I think I liked it better than my bed at home!

I’ll be posting more now that I’ve (somewhat) gotten a routine down. I’m planning on cleaning the craft room this weekend so I can get back to making things! I miss that so much.

Have a great weekend, guys!

Pin there. Done that. {It really does work!}

I know, it’s a been awhile since there was a Pin there. Done that. If you’re a new reader, welcome! Pin there. done that. is very simple. I find a pin on awesome Pinterest and recreate it my way. I’ve combined a few pins to make one, failed at painting while recreating a pin, and then the one time, what had happen was … I nearly killed my husband. You can call that last one a fail or a win, depending on the day.

Do you ever pin something on Pinterest and think “I wonder if that really works”. I have an Interesting Ideas board with some pins that I often wonder if they work.

Last week when I spent hours and hours outside in the garage (with both doors up), I needed some tunes. A few weeks ago I upgraded my phone but didn’t think anything of it. That is until I went to plug my phone into a little iDeck. Yeah, I bought it years ago and up until the iPhone 5, it worked for everything. Dang you, Apple, for changing the charger cord. I had to improvise. I knew I had pinned something that could “blast” my music for me. I mean, I really needed to get my Pitbull fix (and obviously Kelly Clarkson).

 

Do you have a board like this on Pinterest? Have you tried any of the “interesting ideas” that you’ve pinned?

Benjamin’s Nursery Reveal

Nothing like waiting til the last minute, huh? We are about 4 days out from my scheduled c-section and we finally got the nursery done! It has been in the works for a while, but still unorganized and not completely “finished”–until now. A huge weight has been lifted now that it’s done…even though I know it really doesn’t matter since it’s not like the baby cares or will even be sleeping in there anytime soon, but it’s one of those irrational, hormonal, pregnant things. Don’t judge.

Anyway, onto the nursery reveal pictures–I know that’s what you are here for.

You might remember the framed artwork, wooden B, table, and lamp from our fall Pinterest Party. And that awesome chair? A gift from a very close family friend, my dad, and my Nana. It is SO much more comfortable than the wooden one I had with Logan (which I still have, we just moved it to the living room). And we re-used the garland from the baby shower to dress up the plain navy curtains.

Oh, and that quilt rack? Started out like this:

And now:

A little ASCP Napoleonic Blue, thin wooden board cut into ovals, and a wooden star to cover the old hearts and it is much cuter and more appropriate for a boy’s nursery.

 

The other side of the room with more Pinterest Party crafts (sorry for the blurry camera picture).

 

The infamous orange dresser turned changing table, colorful lanterns (I’m thinking I need to add some more), and more storage above.

I love it. It is pretty close to what I was envisioning–modern, colorful, not too theme-y (just a few whales thrown in there). I can’t wait to bring Benjamin home and rock him. I say that now, but I know those late nights will catch up to me. At least I will have a comfy chair to sleep in.

 

 

Bow Tie Baby Shower Part Two

 

If you missed the first part of the shower (decor, food, and guests), click here to check it out!

The “bow tie” part of the shower was a somewhat last minute thought of mine. I can’t stand playing games at baby showers – I’m sorry, “guess the chocolate bar while it is smudged in a diaper” is disgusting, and in my opinion, not entertaining at all. That shiz is not okay (pun intended). I knew we needed some kind of activity to keep people talking and moving, so I borrowed Pleated Poppy’s tutorial (LOVE HER) and prepared the pieces for approximately 40 bow ties.

The sad part is that I already had most of the fabric in my craft room. Hey, they’re great for using up scraps! I also learned that flat irons work just as well (or better) than a regular iron for fabric. I’ve used my flat iron exactly twice – once on hair, once on fabric. I far prefer the fabric use because I do not have time to do that on my hair!

I wanted to make it easy for everybody to make one, since not everyone is crafty (although it most certainly can be taught!). Once I had everything cut, ironed, and glued, I put each “step” in its own metal bucket and made a little plaque for each one (I bought the buckets and wooden plaques from Pick Your Plum months ago!) so people could make their way down the table and at the end, they’d have a cute little bow tie. I made a couple while people watched and they all ended up helping each other when I wasn’t there. It was fun!

I also purchased many, many onesies in varying sizes from Amazon. Do you know how difficult it is to find plain colored onesies? Yeah, you can find white gerber onesies anywhere – but what if you want red? Green? Blue? Amazon. They weren’t expensive, either! I bought Whitney some of the monthly stickers as well, so she can use the onesies for those too. (The stickers were from My Lullabug and they are CUTE) There is so much cute stuff out there for babies that it was hard to stop shopping!

Without further adieu, the pictures:

Y’all, it was so much fun to watch people that have never crafted a thing in their life (I know, they really do exist!) get so excited about making something like this. I’m still getting emails and compliments on how cute and how different the shower was – the best part is that Whitney loved it!

If you have any questions, ask away!

 

 

 

Uh no, Pinterest.

Hi. My name is Tarah, and I’ve been a blog slacker. Okay, I’ve actually not felt good the last week, so that’s my real excuse. I know y’all were hoping for a baby shower post, BUT nope, not yet. Pictures are being dispersed as I type.

Instead of the much anticipated baby shower crafts, you get a great edition of “Uh no, Pinterest”. Y’all are lucky Heather found me a YouTube video on how to use the new embed feature for Pinterest or this wouldn’t be happening.

It’s the karate choppin’ cat lady. Cat hoarding at its best, I guess. I hate these stickers on cars anyway, but one stick person with “stick” cats. No. I can’t even begin to give her the benefit of the doubt and think that maybe some of these cats are deceased. I did count the cats. There’s 36. Maybe, just maybe she has 4 cats and she’s counting their “9 lives”. No. She’s just a cat hoarder. The reflection of the guy taking the picture cracks me up as well.

Now y’all. I’ll admit it. I love a good hot dog, but anything blue on my hot dog is a big fat no. That’s just gross. I don’t know what it is. I didn’t look. I just saw it and immediately pinned it to my “Uh NO” board. No food should ever be blue unless it is blue jello (preferably in a Jello shot form).

I know some people think the belly cake is sooooo cute for a baby shower. It’s not. It’s just not. Especially with the boobs with it. THEN you add the sonogram picture. Why is it not cute? Because you’re going to cut the cake, the BELLY CAKE WITH THE BOOBS AND THE SONOGRAM picture. Basically you’re giving that poor mom-to-be a picture of what it would look like if she had a c-section. And just an FYI – I have TWO belly cakes pinned. The other has a little baby foot protruding from the belly. Ew.

I have NO idea why I haven’t featured this one before. NOW I know what I can do with all the “one shoes” that I see on the road. Seriously, have you ever noticed that on the road there’s always just ONE shoe of a pair of shoes just hanging out? I always wonder where the other half is and how the person doesn’t notice it is missing. So, yeah, now I’m just going to stop and pick up every single shoe I see on the roadside and use it as a bird feeder. I’m sure my HOA would LOVE it.

Heather’s Top Ten Pins (5-17-2013)

I’ve been spending a lot of time on Pinterest lately (big shock there) and not a lot of time creating things myself. Don’t worry, I’m about to shift it into overdrive for Whitney’s baby shower – but until then, here are my “top ten pins” from this week! Enjoy! Don’t forget to follow me on Pinterest!

Humblebee and Me Sleepy Time Spray – I have been having a really rough time going to sleep lately. I guess that’s what happens when your mind goes and goes and goes constantly?! I’m seriously contemplating making some of this spray to see if it helps calm my brain!

I Shih Tzu Not T-shirt – Okay, I couldn’t actually find where this t-shirt originated from, but can I just tell you that it caused me to bust out laughing in my office? (So what, I take 5 minute Pinterest breaks sometimes).

150 Chalkboard Fonts – Now you guys know that I love my fonts, so imagine my squeals of joy when I found this pin! Soon I will have them ALLLLLLL.

 

Orange Julius Popsicles – Whitney and I LOVE Orange Julius. Unfortunately, they don’t really exist anymore – so the closest I’ve been able to find is a dreamsicle snow cone OR a Sonic orange cream slush. The Sonic slush is probably the closest we’ve been able to get to the OJ flavor, but now I’m going to have to try these bad boys!

 

I just love these Embroidery Initial Necklaces – they are just so cheery and fun, how could you not like them? I have a “thing” for initials, so maybe it’s just me – but I love these!

I mean, yeah, I made this – but it’s true. Maybe I’m way late on this, but have you seen this site? I am in love. I had a blast making different signs, and my favorite was this one!

 

Kevin and I love BBQ Chicken Pizza – so why wouldn’t we love these too? I’ll be putting these on the grocery list as soon as I get back from…

 

St. Louis. Yep, I’m going back. This time for a full week! I’m still trying to decide what I want to do on my time off, so if you live in St. Louis help me out! A reader suggested the Botanical Gardens, so I hope to make it there this time! 🙂

 

I am a sucker for cherry lemonade/limeade all year round. Imagine my smile when I cam across this recipe! We might be having these all summer long.

 

Ah, Roeshel, one of my blogger idols. She’s got great taste (I mean, come on, she loves Gilded Pesto too)! Now I’m going to have to copy her… sometime… when I have somewhere to put this!

Well, those should hold you over for a few days. Heck, it’s the weekend – why don’t you make some of these?!

Have you heard about Spark Studio?

Thanks to Walmart Labs for sponsoring today’s discussion!

Have you heard about Spark Studio? It’s a new way to shop walmart.com – if you like Pinterest, you will like this! It is actually a lot of fun – I’ve been messing with it for a couple of hours now 🙂

You can search for stuff by top pinned/color/brand/department. Now, I know this sounds like how you would search for things on the website anyway, but it’s different – I promise! Much like Pinterest, you are shopping by picture. Unlike Pinterest, however, you can actually shop from the site! Since I am shopping for multiple occasions (baby shower, a brand new nephew, Haven Conference clothes and travel necessities) Spark Studio makes it really simple.

With Spark Studio, you can browse and shop products by:

1) Inspirations- Items by Walmart shoppers on Pinterest
2) Fashion and Beauty- Discover must-haves from Walmart shoppers
3) For the home- Solutions and ideas from Walmart fans
4) Babies- Search the top picks from Pinterest moms
5) Pets- Find everything you will need for your pet
6) Playtime- A collection of items to entertain the whole family

Now that I’ve played around on Spark Studio, I decided to make my own Pinterest board for it so I can keep track of the stuff I need/like/love/want. Go see what I’ve pinned, and then make your own board – and then share it with me in the comments. I’m nosy like that.

Go! Have fun! Buy something for me! Mama needs a new rug for the living room 🙂

 

DIY Nursery Decor

This last Pinterest Party was really more of an ‘Operation Get Benjamin’s Nursery Decor Done’ party for me. And I got it all done! I love all of it and I think his room is going to be modern, bright, and cheery–just what I was going for. And it really didn’t cost me anything, other than the cost of a few sheets of scrapbook paper, some spray paint, and some DIY knowledge. Remember this post and the sneak peeks I gave? Well, here you go!

This sign was in my son’s old nursery at our previous house, but it just didn’t go with this nursery. I tried to sell it but I guess it was just meant for bigger and better things. So, it got re-purposed.

A couple coats of ASCP Napoleonic Blue and it was good to go for it’s new plan!
And ta-da! All done. Scrapbook paper, the trusty Silhouette, some mod podge, and a clear coat of spray paint and it was a brand new piece.

I found this huge B at the Hob Lob and immediately knew what I wanted to do with it. I love the name Benjamin, but it is a *little* long to put up on a wall. The space on this B would allow me to put his name on there without taking up an entire wall. Problem solved. (I was so proud of myself and my craftiness this weekend…you guys don’t even know.)

Again, more Napoleonic Blue, Silhouette letters, and a frame found in Aunt Toni’s attic (which I spray painted orange), and we have decor for above the crib.

Now, this little beauty (ha) started out as a plant stand when my sister was going through a Mary Engelbreit-ish stage. I needed a small table for beside the glider and this was just sitting in her garage collecting dust.

You guessed it–Napoleonic Blue, some scrapbook paper and mod podge and it’s a cute table to hold my phone/water/bottle/etc. I LOVE it!

Now, this next project took the most time. More time than it probably should have but it was SO worth it in the end.

I had these old framed picture of herbs hanging in my old house, but was over them by the time we moved. Again, tried to sell them but couldn’t.

We took them apart (which took quite a bit of effort–thanks Aunt Toni) and got to work. A little spray paint, some cute pictures and sayings from the Silhouette, scrapbook paper, and posterboard for matting and they have a whole new life.

Can you even believe it? So much better, right? These will look adorable above his dresser/changing table.

I got the idea for the ABC canvas off Pinterest (I know, imagine that).

Source: blackflipflops.blogspot.com via Whitney on Pinterest

 

My version (thanks to Heather for helping me out with this):
It took a lot of effort to line them up and make the patterns “random” enough and then I *still* ended up spacing them wrong, which is why you see the 2 stars placed in odd spots. Oh, well. Still works.

My final two projects weren’t even in the original plans, but they sure did turn out cute! When scouring my aunt’s attic for other goodies, we came across this lamp. Old and brass, but would work great in the nursery.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That other cute sign? Totally last minute. I had this rustic sign from my old house and it wasn’t getting used, so I figured–why not paint it?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I figure I can hang it on his door or on the front door during naptime or something. Better than letting a good piece of wood go to waste! Oh, wow, how I have changed. A year ago, I swear I wouldn’t have looked at any of this stuff twice.

I can’t wait to get it all hung up this weekend and of course, I will share the pictures once it is all completed!

So what have you re-purposed? Or are you more of a ‘start fresh’ kind of person?