A Night With The Girls

Everyone needs a girls night out, espesially when you're a stay-at-home mom. I mean I love my job but summer is wearing on me. Today my 6 year old had 2 friends over in the morning, then 2 more came over then the first 2 left and another one came over then another one. By this time it was time for all of the friends to go home so then I had to listen to "But she just got here" followed by crying and whining and begging and sobing. I am not going to lie, sometimes I day dream about making my escape to the mountains where it is cooler and quieter.

Anyhow, since every one's budget is kinda low right now I decided to cook instead of eating out (my husband was so kind to take the kids to McDonald's) plus my house is only 5 minutes from the theatre. I love dinner parties so I jump at any chance to make fancy food, set the table really nice and break out the stemware. So I did just that, I made a leafy green salad with homemade Asiago cheese crackers, for the main coarse Paella, and dessert was individual cinnamon roll cakes with cream cheese icing. And what is a ladies night out without a little alcohol, I made a white sangria with Pinot Grigio, orange liqueur, fresh sliced oranges, peaches and raspberries. It was yummy, a little strong, but yummy. By the way the movie we saw, The Ugly Truth, was hilarious. If you don't get offended by bad language or sexual discussion I highly recommend it.

Pealla

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

Salt and Pepper

Olive Oil

1 package of Andoulli sausage (2 links)

1/2 lb frozen cooked shrimp, deveined and shells removed

2 T smoked paprika

1 sprig fresh thyme, stem removed

1 cup sweet onion, finely chopped

1/3 cup each carrot and celery, finely chopped

3 cups arborio rice

6 cups chicken stock

1 small can of petite diced tomatoes, drained

1 t saffron

Cut chicken into 1 inch pieces and season with salt and pepper. Heat about 1/4 cup olive oil over medium high heat then add chicken and brown on all sides. Meanwhile cut sausage into 1 inch slices and add to chicken after chicken has been browned. Cook for about 5 minutes or then add shrimp and cook for 2-3 minutes longer. Add 1 1/2 T smoked paprika and salt and pepper to tastes. Stir to coat meat with the spices then remove from heat and transfer to a bowl or cookie sheet. Place original pan back on medium high heat and add onion, carrot, and celery. Add all of the juices from the meat back in with the veggies and cook until tender but not browned. Add remaining paprika and thyme then add rice and stir to coat evenly. Add the meat, chicken stock, diced tomatoes and saffron and bring to a boil then reduce heat to medium and cook for 10 minutes. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Place lid on pot and put the paella in the oven for 15 minutes or until all liquid and been absorbed into the rice. Serve family style in a large bowl. Serves 8-10 people

These Boots Weren't Made For Walkin

I know, I know, it's been done a million times but seriously I love the boots used as planters. These are my husbands old work boots and I have them sitting on my front porch. And a tip to all of you single ladies; the next time you have repair men or someone you don't know coming to your house set out a pair of men's boots or shoes in a place where everyone can see them so that you seem to be so vulnerable living alone.

Cheap Chic

Here are some of my dollar store finds put to good use. For my "English Tea Garden" I glued a tea cup and saucer that I got for $1 to a carved wooden post. I have 3 of them and I am going to put bird seed in them for the winter.

Instead of buying the pricey large framed art piece to fill up that big empty wall in your house try this: I bought 5 frames at the everything is a dollar store ($5) then I bought 5 different pieces of scapbook color ($.25 ea = $1.25) and a package of gold letters ($2). In each frame I fit a piece of scapbook paper and 1 letter (in this case I used D-R-E-A-M). I had some ribbon on hand which I hot glued to the back. Then I hung each framed letter with about 5 inches between them. They were 8 inch wide frames so the total piece was 5 feet across and it only cost me $8.25.

This is the best one because it was free. I found this tree stump when I was walking around my grandmother-in-laws property. I used it as yard decoration for the first year I had it then when we moved I was packing it up to take with me and I noticed that it had a pretty good sized hole in it so I planted a mum in it not thinking it would survive, but that was last year and this year it more than tripled in size!

This Weekends Treasures

I had the best weekend ever! This weekend was the "World's Largest Garage Sale" in Duncan, OK, plus I went to my very first auction, then I went shopping in the gargage of a lady who inherited all of the antiques in her grandmother's bed and breakfast. Awesome! I bought this cute roll top desk and chair for $40 and these cute tea cups I am going to attach to posts to put out in the garden to double as garden decor / bird feeders.

Not only was it fun to hunt around at all the sales in Duncan but it was fun to be with my girl friends and have a little road trip (I am a stay at home mom and especially during the summer; time without kids is few and far between). I am always looking for citywide garage sales so if your town is having one please let me know. Auctions are great for finding deals too. I was really into it, I should have been tired after running around garage sales all day with no sleep but it was just to cool. I got a brass tray and 3 craft books for $3!

Ok, ok, so I know that some people don't share my love of junk hunting at garage sales, however, I have something for you too. I was shopping the end of season sales at Hobby Lobby and they had whole rows that were 80% and 90% off. I got the cutest lamp (pictured) originally $100 for $10 (the picture doesn't do it justice because it's not hanging up yet). I also got a birdhouse for $2 and a decorative pillow for $3.

I haven't pictured a lot of the things that I got this weekend because I will be revamping and reviving them to sell at my trash to treasure sale at the Big Foot festival......so stay tuned.

PS: For all of those who are like me and don't think about entering into any of the state fair contest until you are at the state fair this is your reminder. If you go to their website they have all the listing for all of the contests and there are a lot. Just seach Oklahoma State Fair and it will bring up the website.

Awesome Words To Live By

Those people who know thy have great siritual needs are happy;
Because the kingdom of God belongs to them.
Those who are sad now are happy;
Because God will comfort them.
Those who are humble are happy;
Because the earth will belong to them.
Those who want to do right more than anythng else are happy;
Because God will fully satisfy them.
Those who show mercy to others are happy;
Because God will show mercy to them.
Those who are pure in their thinking are happy;
Because they will be with God
Those who work to bring peace are happy;
Because God will call them his children.
Those who are treated badly for doing good are happy;
Because the kingdom of heaven belongs to them.


I read these verses in my student Bible from the book of Matthew and they just really touched me because I love being happy.

Southern Baked Red Potatoes

Ingredients:
8 Small Red Potatoes
2 oz Cream Cheese
1/2 Tsp Garlic Salt
1 TBS Sour Cream

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Slice the bottom off of the red potatoes so that they will stand up strait. Bake potatoes for 30-40 minutes or until they are tender all the way through. Let the potatoes cool slightly so that they can be handled. With a small knife cut a circle into the tops and spoon out the insides of the potato reserving insides in a small mixing bowl. Add the cream cheese, garlic salt, and sour cream to the reserved potato insides and with fork mash to combine. Spoon or pipe the mixture back into the potato shells and sprikle with paprika if desired. Lower the oven down to 200 degrees and bake 15 minutes longer.

Big Foot Festival

The Laughing Lily is hitting up Honobia (It is pronounced Ho-nub-ee).

We will be having our first annual Trash to Treasure Sale at the Bigfoot Festival in Honobia, Oklahoma! It's not until October so mark your calendars now. You can visit the festivals website at www.bigfootmountain.com for more information.

Take a walk

One of my favorite things is that I grew up in a university town and I still don't live that far away from it. Last night my family and I took a walk around the university. The weather was perfect and apart from the constant "my feet hurt, can we sit down" that came from my 6 year old it was a perfect evening altogether. I love old architecture, they just don't make buildings like they used to anymore. Whether I am by myself or with my family walking is the best way to clear my head.

Avacado Eggrolls

Avacado Eggrolls

Ingrediants:

2 Avacados

1 Tbs Fine Chopped Red Onion

1 Tbs Chopped Fresh Cilantro

Juice of 1/2 Lime

1 tsp Fine Choped Sundried Tomatoes

Salt & Pepper To Taste

6 Eggroll Wrappers

Vegetable Oil For Frying

In a large stock pot or cast iron skillet heat oil to frying temperature (make sure you have enough oil to fully submerge the eggrolls). Cut eggrolls in half and remove the seed. slice each half in strips and remove outside peel. Place in mixing bowl with next 4 ingredients and carefully combine. (If avacados are to ripe and mush up to much call it guacamole and act like that is what you ment to do, no one will ever know.) Lay an eggroll wrapper on a flat surface with one of the corners pointing at you (like a diamond). Place about 3 oz of the filling in the middle of the wrapper. Start by folding in the side corners then fold the corner that is pointing at you over the filling continue rolling until you have a log shape. Fry for about 4-6 minutes or until golden brown on all sides. You will need to turn them a couple times while they are frying.

A Window Into The Past

My parents just celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary and I threw them a party. In preparation for the party I had asked them for pictures and they brought me a laundry basket full of them. After the party was over they told me that I could hang onto the pictures for a while. I am going through this phase recently where I am trying to salvage as much of my family's heirlooms as possible and learn as much as I can about my family's history (not the who was born from who history but the stories, places they lived, adventures they took, people they loved).
Anyways, I wanted to display the pictures in a way that really showed them off and they would not just be another picture. I can't take full credit for the idea though, my sister-in-law is getting married this fall and my mother-in-law is going to hang up old windows and put pictures of the bride and groom in the window, which I think is going to be the cutest thing ever!

The Laughing Lily's Lasagna

Lasagna is one of those recipes that a lot of people stay away from because they think it's so hard to make but that's not true. My recipe is simple and freezes perfectly.

Ingredients:
12 lasagna noodles
Meat Sauce (see recipe below)
Cheese Sauce (see recipe below)
1 cup Mozzarella

Pre-heat oven to 350. Cook the noodles until just aldente (about 7-10 minutes). Meanwhile prepare a 9 X 13 baking dish by coating it with non stick cooking spray. Spoon 1/2 of the meat sauce in the bottom of the dish then lay 4 noodles side by side over the sauce. Cover the noodles with half of the cheese sauce then a layer of meat sauce and a layer of noodles and repeat (cheese sauce, meat sauce, noodles). Spoon remaining meat sauce over the top of the lasagna and sprinkly with Mozzarella. Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake for 40 minutes (uncover for the last 10 minutes),

Meat Sauce:
1 pkg of ground Italian sausage (16 oz)
1 24 oz jar of prepaired marinarra sauce
1/2 cup chopped roasted red peppers (from a jar)
1/4 tsp ground red pepper
1 Tbs sugar

In a sauce pan over medium high heat, brown the Italian sausage then add next 4 ingrediants, combine, and turn heat off. Divide into 4 parts.

Cheese Sauce:
1 Sm container of Ricotta Cheese
1 Cup Mozzarella Cheese
1 Cup Parmesan Cheese
2 tsp Garlic Salt

In a medium size mixing bowl combine all ingredients and divide in half.

If anyone has any questions about this recipe or anything else on my blog please email me at wdodd1@cox.net. I would love to hear from you.

Green Decor

Just because the watering can has a hole in it or the glass in the window is broken doesn't mean you can't use it. So what if the chair doesn't have a seat in it!

I love to shop at antique and junk stores, although I will say that junk stores are my favorite. You have to look a little harder at junk stores but you pay 1/2 the price (sometimes much less). My husband always tells me there's no way he would pay for the things I buy but I always tell him that "I have a vision". I will admit though that it is easy to get carried away and instead of the country cottage look you will get the junk yard look or worse you will be deemed the crazy old lady in the neighborhood and your house will be the one that the trick or treaters avoid. A great tip is to keep it simple, just add a few things here and there. I thinks it adds a warm cozy feeling to the yard. And I can guarantee that old wash tubs and rusted out diaper pails are way cheaper then fancy clay pots.

Easy Salsa

Salsa is so easy to make and it is so much better for you if you make it yourself. This is a recipe for our family's favorite salsa:

Ingredients:

10 Roma Tomatoes (quartered)

1 small red onion

2 Garlic cloves

2 jalepenos (ribs & seeds removed optional)

Fresh Cilantro (I use about a handful)

1 tsp sugar

Salt & Pepper to taste

Put all ingrediants in food processor and pulse until desired consistancy. (If you do not have a food processor and blender will work great but be careful not to overblend or you will have a liquid salsa)

The Sunny Outdoors

I love being outdoors espescially when you go out on a hot day with nothing but blue skies and just enough cool breeze to keep you from sweating. These are pictures from my backyard. I love gardening but I don't love "gardening" if you know what I mean. That is why I keep most everything in a raised bed or some kind of planter so I don't have to weed. The only down side is I have to water like crazy!