Gardening Class

Last night I took my gardening class at Home Depot.  It was a lot of fun and I learned more than I thought I would.  I really wanted to learn about organic vegetable gardening because it's something I want to do next Spring.  They didn't really talk as much as I'd hoped about that, but I learned some other really cool tips for container plants.  

First, if you have a big pot that you're filling with flowers, herbs, tomatoes, etc and you don't want to use a ton of dirt to fill the pot you can take a smaller pot and turn it upside down and put it on the bottom, to save on dirt.  Kind of like putting a brick in your toilet to save on water.  You can also put packing peanuts in the bottom of the container to take up some space and help with drainage.

Second, they talked a lot about how it is important to use a soil that retains water well in container pots so you aren't constantly watering.  They said though that another option is to mix sphagnum moss into the soil and put a little on top too.  They said that it can hold like 40 times its weight in water and will release it gradually.  I thought this was a great tip since I usually kill my plants by the middle of July because I get sick of watering them.  

Ok well that's it!  I'm off to Detroit tomorrow for the weekend but I am seeing Angels and Demons tonight with the hubby.  I'm pretty excited but mostly just curious!

Have a great weekend!!

Chicken Squares

I got this recipe from my hubby's mom a couple of years ago and have been making it ever since. They're really easy to make and the filling will keep in the fridge overnight if you want to make that part the night before! 

Ingredients:

8 oz (1 block) cream cheese, room temp
2 c. cooked chicken, cubed
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
3 tbsp milk
2 tbsp onion, finely chopped (you could easily omit this for the little ones if you want)
8 oz crescent rolls
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Blend cream cheese and milk together until smooth. Add in chicken, salt, pepper, and onion. Unroll crescent rolls and shape two triangles together to make a square. 

Like this:

Put 1/4 of mixture in center of each square and pull up corners and pinch tops and sides together. 

Bake for 20-25 minutes. Eat :)

You can check out more great recipes at Tasty Tuesday and also Tempt My Tummy Tuesday!!

Have a great day!!

Menu Plan 5/11 - 5/16

I hope everyone had a great Mother's Day!!  I had a lot of fun with my mom over the weekend. She came to visit and we ate out a couple of times, went shoe shopping, and bought summer flowers.  It was nice to have the bathroom that she uses done as well as the yard so I could get some gardening advice.  

Finally, this week is going to be a little less hectic so I can make a recipe that I saw on Barefoot Contessa a couple of weeks ago.  I've been wanting to do it, but sometimes when you have a busy week it is so much easier to make something you know is easy and quick instead of hoping that it is! Here is what I'm planning:

Monday:  Chicken Squares

Tuesday: Roasted Potato Leek Soup with Spinach Salad

Wednesday:  Grilled Italian Chicken (Chicken Breasts marinated overnight in Italian Dressing) with Grilled Asparagus & Melon Salad

Thursday:  I have a gardening class at Home Depot to go to so hubby is on his own!

Friday:  Left over Roasted Potato Leek Soup

Saturday:  Off to Detroit for a Bachelorette Party!

To check out more menu plans go check out Organizing Junkie's Blog for Menu Plan Monday!!

Have a great week!!

Bathroom Redo #2

Dear Blog,

Sorry I neglected you this week.  You see, I've been fighting off this cold thing and also really busy around the house.  I promise to get better.

Thanks,

Ashley

Ok, now that we got that out of the way I am happy to say that cold and all I finally got the bathroom done!  Yay!  At least there is one project that feels like it is completed.  

Here are some before pictures:

And here is the completed project:  (take a look at the candle sticks--i'm not sure about them yet.  what you do think?)

Now, I'm off to work outside!

TGIF!

White Chicken Chili

I made this last night for dinner and it was so good!  I don't know where I got this recipe but I've been making since college.  I completely forgot about it until I was going through a (very unorganized) pile of recipes.  Give it a try!

Ingredients

1 1/2 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts

2 tbsp olive oil

1 cup onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, finely minced

1 1/2 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed

1 can (15 1/2oz) white beans, undrained

3 (4 oz) cans chopped green chilis **don't worry these aren't spicy.  If you want a spicier chili add a couple chopped Jalapenos in with the onions**

1 (8oz) pkg cream cheese

3 tbsp lime juice

2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp white pepper

salt to taste

Directions

Heat the oil in a large pan over medium heat and add the onion. Cut the chicken into bite size pieces and add to the pan, stirring frequently so the chicken cooks on all sides. Add garlic and cumin. Run the beans with their liquid through the blender. (This makes the chili thicker and people who don't like the beans won't notice them. However, if you like a looser chili and beans, just skip this step.)  Add the blended beans, chilies, lime juice, salt, and white pepper. Simmer for 10 minutes. Cut the cream cheese into chunks and add it gradually to the pot, stirring until it’s melted and mixed in. Add the corn, heat through.

I serve this with sour cream, cheese, olives, onions, tortilla chips, or whatever else sounds good!

To find more recipes join in on Tasty Tuesday at this fabulous blog here!

Also check out Tempt My Tummy Tuesday here!

Have a great day!!

Menu Plan 5/4 - 5/9

Well I had a busy weekend!!  Saturday we went to a great wedding in Ann Arbor.  It was a lot of fun and nice for my hubby to see some of his old high school friends.  Yesterday we were pretty unproductive and feeling a little um.....quesy after all the wedding festivities :)

Here is my menu for the week.  I am posting the White Chicken Chili recipe tomorrow after I make it tonight!

Monday:  White Chicken Chili

Tuesday:  Bowtie's with Creamy Mushroom Sauce

Ingredients

1 lb bowtie pasta

2 tbsp olive oil

1 small onion, minced

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 lb mushrooms, cleaned and sliced

**you could use mini bella, shitake, button, etc.**

1/2 c. white wine

1/2 c. chicken stock

1 c. mascarpone cheese 

**This is like Italian cream cheese.  My grocery store carries it, but if yours doesn't or you don't want to spend the money, I would just use cream cheese that is softened**

1/2 c. grated parmesan cheese

2 tbsp. chopped chives

Boil water and add pasta to salted water and cook.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add in onions and saute until almost soft.  Add in garlic and saute until both onions and garlic are soft.  Add in mushrooms and season with salt and pepper.  Saute until mushrooms are tender, about 5 minutes.  

Turn up the heat to high and add in the wine.  Simmer until almost completely reduced.  Add in the stock and simmer until about 1/2 reduced.  Take the pan off the heat and stir in the mascarpone cheese.  Stir in the drained pasta and parmesan.  If the sauce is too thick add a little pasta water.  Garnish with chopped chives and eat!!

Wednesday:  Taco's 

Thursday:  Salmon Salad with Grapefruit Dressing

Grapefruit Dressing

Ingredients

1 large egg

1 1/2 tsp dijon mustard

1 cup olive oil

2 tsp lemon juice

4 tsp grapefruit juice

Dash of worchestershire sauce

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp grapefruit zest

1/4 tsp black pepper

In a blender or food processor combine the egg and mustard with 1/2 cup of olive oil.  Blend at low speed.  With the motor running add in the rest of the olive oil in a steady stream.  Add the remaining ingredients and pulse 4 to 6 times.  Dressing keeps 5 days and makes 1 cup.

Friday:  Left over Taco's

Saturday:  Dinner out with Mom to celebrate Mother's Day

To see more menu plans visit Organizing Junkie's Blog here!!

Have a great week!!

Stand By Me

Well I'm heading back to Ann Arbor today for the weekend!  We have a wedding to attend but you better believe I'm hitting up Whole Foods and Trader Joes!!!!!!!!!!! Believe it or not, my mom doesn't have the internet so I won't be posting for a bit.  But I did find this sweet video online yesterday and wanted to share it with all of you.  It definitely brightened my morning :)

Have a great weekend!