Salmon Tacos

Yesterday I posted about my Salmon Tacos we had for dinner the other night.  We had some salmon we hadn't cooked from our Valentine's Day dinner. My husband manages a restaurant, so we opt for eating at home most of the time. And I don't mind one bit!  He's a great cook & he enjoys doing it.

• Salmon (no bones or skin)
• Blacken seasoning
• Tortilla shells
• Toppings
• Pico De Gallo
• Salsa
• Lettuce
• Tomato
• Slaw
• Cheese

Really, the possibilities are endless with toppings for tacos!

Grill the salmon over medium heat to medium or to your liking. 

It should just flake apart.  

We had shrimp & rice with our tacos.  

This seasoning is AWESOME on shrimp!

 My hubby decided to do his taco UP!  

There is salmon under all of those fixings.

I went simple.  

I made fresh pico de gallo that day.  

My favorite topping for any kind of fish taco!

I am off to make my Pineapple Salsa now.  

I have some ripe avocados....I'm thinking guac too!

Enjoy the day!

Silence is Golden & Seafood is Delicious

Shhhhhh.....hear that?  

NOPE me neither!

It's been three years since my kiddo has had a nap on the regular.  Let's just say, it's been a long 3 years.  Since starting pre-school 3 days a week for a few hours, they seem to be happening a bit more.  Some weeks its 1 day, some it's 3 days.  I will take what I can get.  Today was an early day so somehow I convinced him to lay down on the air mattress while I enjoy some computer time.  It took about 2 songs in & he was out!

So instead of folding the towels I just brought up from the dryer, I will take a few minutes to myself & write. I am sitting here  listening to Imogen Heap radio on Pandora with the soft, soothing voices, dreaming of the beach.
Ahhhh, I am in my happy place.

Back to the my reality...
The day after my 39th Birthday (that was hard to type, lol) the Lenten Season began.  My hubby & I have been trying to make better eating choices. Personally, I cannot eat chicken & veggies EVERY day.  Seafood & fish seem to be a happy medium  My husband works in the Strip District of Pittsburgh & is a block away from an awesome fish market called Wholey's.  It's something to see, let me tell ya.  Lots of whole fish looking at ya,  live lobsters and fish & lots of other seafood.  Plus a whole meat department.  A foodies heaven!  If you are ever in Pittsburgh, you gotta check it out.

For Ash Wednesday, 

We had Cajun Seafood Alfredo with shrimp & crab meat 

(Don't tell anyone, it was the imitation stuff & still yummy)

This past Friday was the first Friday of Lent & we were pretty boring.  Cheese pizza from Costco.  Delicious, but boring & not the best thing when trying to watch what you eat.  

Now Valentines Day was a different story!  We had some great blackened Salmon I grabbed from Costco.  We had already had steak for dinner that week so more fish it was & I wasn't mad at all. I thought I took a picture but I didn't.   Apparently I was too hungry to Instagram my food for once. 

              My husbands taco                           My taco

That was not the case on Monday!  

We had salmon that we hadn't cooked yet & some thawed out shrimp so tacos seemed perfect. 

I stocked up on veggies that weekend & planned on making some pineapple salsa. (I will share that recipe next time. It's amazing!) Unfortunately the pineapple needed another day so I made some homemade pico de gallo.  I don't know about you, but I would much rather have fresh anything!

And today's lunch was brought to me by left over shrimp. 

This Shrimp Caesar Salad was unexpectedly awesome!

Now that I have bored you long enough with my food intake, 

time to get back to those towels that aren't gonna fold themselves.

Remember to give seafood a try this Lenten Season

and

Enjoy the day!

Here's to 2016

With 2015 behind us (thank goodness) 

I am looking forward to a year of change!

My husband has recently gotten a well deserved promotion & my best friend of 35 years got engaged over the holidays.  And I am looking to start a new business venture that I am very excited about. So needless to say, we have lots to look forward to.

At the beginning of 2015 I vowed to myself that I would blog EVERY week.  

HA! Easier said than done.

This year I am going to just concentrate on taking time for myself.  With my almost 5 year old in pre-school 3 days a week for a few hours, I should be able to find a few minutes to myself.  Whether I am writing a blog or taking a walk, I need some time for me.  

I also am going to attempt to have better eating habits for my family.  My husband schedule has always been all over the place.  Now we will actually be able to sit down & have dinner together by 6 o'clock.  I have started to make a list of things that I would like to make & good ol Pinterest  is there to help.

My best friends wedding is something I am EXTREMELY excited about!  

We have been friends almost as long as we've been alive.  Charity lived 6 doors down from me growing up.  We are closing in on our 40's & still like sisters!  She is marring her childhood crush and it is the cutest thing in the world.  After being married before & having 2 kids that are now almost adults, it's finally HER time. 

 I couldn't be happier for her. 

These are a few pictures of us over the years

on vacation.

(Luckily I my scanner broke & I couldn't find the really embarrassing ones, lol)

And now I will go have some real fun...laundry & dishes.

Happy New Year & here is to 2016 being awesome!

Surviving my life as Mom...

It has been waaaaaay too long since I have taken the time to sit down & unload my brain a bit.

Real life has a times become quite real the last few months.  Being a stay-at-home mom already makes me very happy, but it has put my family on a very fixed income the last few years.  But through all of this we have gotten ourselves in a much better position for the upcoming year.  My husband works very hard to accomplish this for us & we are hoping to see the light at the end of the tunnel very soon.  We have been riding the struggle bus so long, but we always make it through.  Having the support of friends & family definitely helps!

Ok, enough about my struggles...

We all have them!

The last 6 months have been quite busy.  LOTS of weddings...
(I will be posting pictures in upcoming posts)

• A good friend got married & had a destination wedding.  (At the same beach I did 2 years ago.  What can I say, we love Sandbridge) I did her flowers & decor for the wedding.
• My brother-in-law got married to an awesome gal I am honored to call my sister.  I spent a week in Ohio helping them get ready before the wedding.  All hands on deck & the brides vision came together beautifully.
• I also got to do my first order for artificial wedding bouquets!  I was VERY excited & loved doing it.  More importantly, the bride loved them.

I have also started to do some custom decorations.   

Here are a few of my creations

Fall Centerpiece

I couldn't resist that cute little Scarecrow

Door Wreath

I must say, I am loving that sprig of orange & red!

I have a few orders for Christmas that will keep me busy the next couple weeks.  I really enjoy decorating.  I am OBSESSED with re-using jars right now! Feeling very ambitious this holiday season, so stay tuned for some DIY ideas to get your home ready for the holidays.

Have a super day!

Quick Chicken with Roasted Red Peppers, Basil & Mozzarella

A few weeks ago I pulled out chicken on a Tuesday & by Thursday I was still trying to figure out what to do with it.   Everything I wanted to do, I was missing some key ingredient.

• Peanut Butter, No Jelly
• Cereal, No Milk
• Ham, No Burger

I know you feel my pain. We've all been there. 

Time for fridge inventory!

Besides the already thawed out chicken, I found

* Mozzarella

* Basil 

* Roasted Red Peppers

You will also need:

* Italian Seasoning

* Olive Oil

First I cooked the Chicken

I put some Olive Oil in the pan

Seasoned the Chicken with Italian Seasoning

Cook on Medium heat for about 10 minutes or until cooked

(Mine were cut pretty thin so it didn't take long)

I put the cooked chicken on a cookie sheet

Then put the Roasted Red Peppers on

Next I put on the Basil, but only on 3 pieces.  

My son is not a fan of Basil, AKA-Green Feathers 

LOL...kids

Finally I top it with Mozzarella

I would have preferred fresh, but all I had was shredded

Cook at 350 degrees until the cheese is melted

Wah La!

I served it with a side of 

Butter Garlic Pesto Angel Hair pasta

The meal probably took about 30-40 minues

Perfect meal for those hectic days

When you are doing the most.

Enjoy & have a great weekend!

2015 Weddings

Wedding season will be here before we know it.  This year I have 2 weddings.  One is a really good friend of mine that loved the idea of my wedding so much, she is having her own beach wedding!  The second wedding is my Brother In Law & his wonderful fiance.  Me, being the lover of all things party related, is helping out in both weddings.

My friend Missy, who is getting married at the beach is not one for crafting & she is quite frugal when it comes to certain things.  Spending money on things like fresh flowers that will be dead in a few days is one thing she is not interested in.  So I will be making her bouquets for her wedding.  I have been making "Throw Away" bouquets for about a year now & quite enjoy it.

Here is one that I made awhile back.  

Her's will have different flowers.

I will also be making a lot of her decorations for the reception dinner, which will be catered at her rental home.  We've been brainstorming to come up with ways to cut corners.  Recycling & re-using everyday household items is something I always try to do. We came up with a great way to re-use jars & empty oatmeal containers.  

Luckily Missy's BF owns a daycare center 

& has been saving us baby food jars.  

They are PERFECT tealight holders.  

I had a few packs of stencils left from

 mine & Grace's weddings

*Note my awesome "Craft"tote from Thirty-One

Think I am going to need a bigger one, lol.

I took the heart stencil traced it on extra large labels that my Mother In Law gave me.
I knew I would find something to do with them.

I used a paint brush & applied the Mod Podge.

(Oops, forgot to take a picture of that step.  Sorry!)

Last week I made some myself 

by mixing regular old glue & water.

Next I took sand & sprinkled it on to the glue on the jar.

Once I peeled the sticker off, I noticed the heart needed reshaped a bit.

I just simply used the end of my paint brush to fix it.  

It was really easy since the glue was still wet.

They turned out adorable!

And even better, the Bride loved them!

For future jars, I am going to make the heart a bit smaller so you can see the top of the hearts a little better.  

My next project will be covering more jars & few very large oatmeal containers. Only next time I will be using twine.

Stay tuned!

This Christmas

We had a bit of an odd Christmas this year.

We kept our tradition of breakfast, gifts & Bloody Mary's.  My best friend & her 2 teenagers have been coming here 3 years now for Christmas morning. Teenagers can take innocence out of Christmas, so they come here to enjoy my, almost 4 year old, son open presents.  Of course each year, we have more people join us.  We were up to 8 of us this year!

We had an awesome breakfast casserole I found on Pinterest!  My hubby made his modifications, of course more meat.  Everyone loved it, despite all their faces when I made it in front of them.  It's perfect for a crowd.  I am planning on making this in Deep Creek next month.

Here is the link to the recipe

My first time putting someone else's recipe on my page. 

 Hope I did it right :)

http://www.budgetsavvydiva.com/2014/11/cheesy-sausage-breakfast-casserole-recipe/



As for rest of our Christmas day, it was just odd.  My mom was the only one of my family members to come over.  She works retail & had to be a work super early so she didn't stay super long. Not that we had a bad Christmas, it was just not the norm.

I think next year I need to go away for the holiday.