This is how it happened...

Cottage Cheese met Mrs. Dash - Extra Spicy ;)

Mrs. Dash shook things up a bit with Cottage Cheese

Once Mrs. Dash put her top back on, Cottage Cheese got all stirred up and made one yummy dish! :)

^-^

This is a PG blog - I promise lol 

Seriously, If you like pepperoni pizza you'll love this! Super simple, takes not even 5 minutes to "make", eat and lick the bowl! Though please... do slow down to savor and be kind to your stomach ;)

To make a Low Carb tastes like pepperoni pizza snack - here's what you need:

- Cottage Cheese (full fat, no? ;))
- Mrs. Dash Salt Free Spicy Blend

As much or as little as you'd like of each - mix them up and enjoy!

Newest Cocoon Addition...

...here she is :) Ruffled Baby Bundle Cocoon... Pattern coming soon! 

...any yes I'm in love with the picmonkey "DUSK" filter :) why do you ask? :) ;) 

I had an idea a few months ago to work up this cocoon. Something about the ruffles... I was swooning at the idea of making this. I'm so glad to be sharing it with you! :) 

 With any luck, I'll be able to edit the pattern this week and make it live to you on craftsy, ravelry and etsy. :)

I hope you enjoy the photos in the meantime :) 

♥ Dawn 

Handmade with ♥ labels...

A little bit ago I signed up for the yahoo group knitlist ads to see what other knitters were up to :). Recently Sandra of Knitting With Sandra Singh had shared with the group that she was hosting a giveaway where you could win a set of Mountain Street Arts crafting labels. I entered the drawing and when they drew a winner I was *so* excited to find out I had WON! :D

Since the labels are super cute and I really appreciate Pam and Sandra for collaborating on the giveaway I wanted to show you guys my labels! :D And give you links to find them too if you like what you see. :)

Thanks for viewing and to Pam and Sandra for the giveaway! :D I ♥ my labels! ^-^

Chicken Salad Salad Recipe

*nom, nom, nom...*

Okay - so if you eat Paleo less any dairy this is not a recipe for you. However, if you still incorporate dairy have at it! :)

Chicken is delicious - I'd go so far to say it's not only my favorite white meat but it's meh favorite meat. I grew up on hamburger and pork primarily. There was at least one year that dad purchased half a cow for the family! ^-^ It was good eatin' let me tell ya :D. Whenever we'd go out to eat though I'd usually get something with chicken and since I do like it so much, it's what I feed my family today :). It's pretty lean and it's tasty...so...

I put about 5 - 6 lbs in the slow cooker for about 5 hours on low Saturday...  I put them in the fridge overnight and come Sunday... used some of it to make this chicken salad. I prefer cooking chicken in the slow cooker since it heats the breasts slowly and they remain tender. This recipe was adapted from a chicken salad recipe from treasure cave cheese recipe that came with the smoky flavored blue cheese I purchased. :) They have some tasty recipes!

Chicken Salad Salad Recipe:

Ingredients:
 1/2 cup mayo
 1/4 cup sour cream
 1/4 cup Smoke flavored crumbled blue Cheese
 1/4 tsp black pepper
 1/8 tsp garlic powder
 3 cups chopped cooked chicken
 2 stalks celery, finely chopped

Optional:
 Iceberg Lettuce
 Spinach
 Walnuts
 Dill Pickle

After breaking up some iceberg lettuce and laying a spread of spinach ontop I put a few tablespoons worth of the Chicken Salad on the spread, broke up some walnuts and tossed them on top too! 

                                    I decided I might want some more crunch and flavor... 
                             so a 1/4 of a dill pickle spear is probably a good idea! Amiright?! :) 

I really appreciate how quickly this recipe worked up and how work lunch friendly it is too! 

I hope you like it! Please let me know if you tried it! :) 

Must be Sisters...

...true. story. Sisters are fun. Mine let me rope her into being silly with me and getting it not only on camera but let me share it with the world (the WORLD! O.O). 

My flamingo hat is off to her ^.^ 

It is worth noting we also both wore the necklace our older sister had given the both of us (matching necklaces) for Christmas of 2011. :) To bring the sisters thing full circle. :) All good stuff.

If you want to make your own awesome flamingo hat find the pattern here and let the fun begin! :D

Cups of Vintage Love...

...abound! ^-^

The newest etsy crush I have is on a shop called LostInIvorySeas which I happened upon while being "lost" in the great etsy abyss!  I love the way they photograph their items, off centered (ftw!)...  complete with a homey background color and what looks to be linen/cotton table cloth... ahhh... so natural... 

then, as I delved deeper into all the items they have to offer I noticed the succulents in many of their vintage cups! 

*I want! I want! ^-^*

Of all the lovely items though I'd say this one is my favsies... 

Cups of Vintage Love by LostInIvorySeas

I very much appreciate the craftmanship of both the cups and saucers. In high school I took a pottery class and know the work that goes into this kind of project. Awe, I miss getting my hands dirty like that ^-^.

Anyways, please check out LostInIvorySeas shop for more home decor items that may have you swooning too ;).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'm looking for items to fill a blank frame in the study right now... 



looking up "leaf art" I found this piece. The jury is still out on what I'll be getting for the frame but wanted to share this piece because this is a talented artist! 

I'm inspired to use a few of my own dried leaves as a project like this in the future! ^-^ 

Pin them for later here.

Lorenzo Duran Silva Leaf Art

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

Lastly, this lovely work of art my sister shared with me... she had found it on facebook. 

This beautiful video shows the amazing things one can do with their body after working and disciplining themselves... this is *so* graceful! These two seem to dance flawlessly! 

So much strength, poise, control & trust! 

Though the song doesn't have words watching them is so inspiring! I had to share!

Ahhh art! :) 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It begs the reminder though... if no ones told you lately :) ;)... you have your own beauty... unique only to you... let your light shine :). 

Source : Spiritual Inspiration on Tumblr

xox ~Dawn

Because He who was able to save us...

...did so at Calvary. You and I can be free.

(No copyright infringement intended - please let me know if you know the source of this image - thank you)

So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. ~John 8:36

A few years ago I was on my way home from some venture and I stopped on this song, it was playing the latter part of the song as Kirk Franklin sings about the weights of the world that bring us down... and then say's they're gone.. all gone. Though this part of the song is not very long it moved me... and then the song ended.

It ended and I was in tears thinking, "Hey! I want more reminders!" ^-^

The reminders of what we've been set free from were so comforting I vowed to find this song so I could have it to remind myself when thoughts of what I'm not, or not quite, come knocking on my minds door.

This morning I wanted to play some Christian music and Pandora was just not cutting it. I remembered the gone, gone, all gone song, went to the internets and did some digging and some wordsmithing... and as grace would have it, found it :). I had thought the song would be titled "Gone" - apparently that would have been *too* easy ;). I like that this song is titled Imagine Me, because too often my mind likes to imagine me in irrational situations and then the day is laced with fear. This is not me walking in freedom (obviously) but I do have the freedom Christ died for and I can walk in it, and in the times that come (oh and they will ;) ) when I just don't see how I can make it through, I can press on, leaning more into Him and let him carry me through.

Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. ~ Deuteronomy 31:6 

Truly the battle is in our minds, it's there we take a stand and decide one way or the other, to rely on ourselves, to hope in ourselves or trust in an all knowing and ever loving God who wanted to be with us everyday of our lives. Every day. Never leaving or forsaking us. Loving us enough to send His Son to die for us. And not just a quick death, but a long and painful one. :s I don't have kids, but hello, that's a pretty crazy offering. Just saying ;). 

I share all this to say, I choose joy, I choose peace, I choose Christ. I choose freedom. 

Let's get back to that.

Imagine me...^-^

Chicken Stir Fry Recipe - Paleo Friendly

Yesterday I made Garlic Chicken and had some left over. I decided to use the chicken breasts as part of my old and faithful go to recipe ...

Chicken Stir Fry

Pin it for later here.

Ingredients:

- 4 - 5 chicken breasts cut (cooked or uncooked)
- 1 cup cut carrots
- 1 cup diced celery
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1 Tblspn dried cilantro
- 3 Tblspns olive oil
- 1 1/2 tspn poultry seasoning

You could also add onions - but they make me cry so I'm not too keen on them at the moment ;). 1/2 a cup would be good wiht this ratio.

1) Cut up the chicken breasts.
2) Add all other ingredients and saute on med-high heat.
3) Cover and let simmer for about 20 - 25 minutes. Stir ocassionally.
4) Cook until vegetables are tender (or to your liking!)
3) Serve warm and enjoy!

Love a dish with lots of color! :D

Delish!

If you try this dish let me know how your family liked it!

Antique Tables are Mostly Awesome!

Well they are! ^-^ I mean.. you just don't *see* detail like this anymore these days people! Amiright?  ;)

A few years ago someone posted up on freecycle that they had a solid wood table, made in the 1930's, they didn't have chairs or the leaf that would have gone with it, but they said all the right words, "table" solid wood" & "antique" - I was intrigued! After finding out I was the first person to respond to the post, I proceeded to rope the mister into driving to the ladies house to pick it up! We brought the ole beaut home where my sister and I wiped 'er down with olive oil and appreciated the shine it brought out in her! :) Its been a few years and we haven't invested in chairs because shortly after acquiring said table, we found that my 6' 4" mister could not fit underneath it and sit comfortably. Womp, womp.

Antique Beauty - 1  

Comfort for the Mister - 0

Lesson learned.. Antique tables are mostly awesome ;) you see reason now right? :) It has been a few years we've lived with the eye candy of a table but I *want* to have dinner with people and sit around a table with chairs. At present we use the coffee table in the living room to pop a squat around and don't tend to have large groups of people over for a formal dinner... come to think of it we aren't really a formal kind of family, but we want people to be comfortable when they do visit and sometimes that means we need more sitting room. Ya dig? :) So in short, this table needs to go to allow us room for a new one complete with chairs and a leaf!

Insert craigslist, a bunch of snapshots and some know how... I'll be put together a listing soon to sell this lovely. 

The stats: 

- Made by The Seng Co. in Chicago Illinois

- 29 inches tall

- 47 3/4 inches wide

- 65 3/4 inches long

All the levers! ..Okay it's just a few pics of the same one ;)
Just look at that craftmanship!

By the time I get responses about this the table it might already be gone,  but I implore you - oh people of the Internets to please tell me - what do you *know* about this table? Is this oak or walnut wood I'm dealing with? Whatever happened to The Seng Co.? They were around from the early 1890's to the late 1950's known for their impeccable construction and then seem to have vanished.  I want a story to go along with this piece but I only have the stats I shared and the little I found about the company online. Any antique connoisseurs care to share?? Hmm O.o O.o It's okay if not... I hope you enjoyed the pics! :) ♥ Dawn