FOODIE FRIDAY.....MUMMY Dogs

Just in time for all HALLOWS EVE....MUMMY DOGS....a new TWIST on an old favorite

SO easy y'all!!! You just make two slits on the bottom of the hot dog for legs and one slit on each side for arms. Tear your crossiant dough into strips and wrap like a mummy.....Serve with a side of KRAFT mac and cheese and a TWIX ghost for dessert and you are all set for dinner 1960's style WITH A TWIST!! HAPPY HAUNTING

TRY IT THURSDAY...Dia De Los Muertos Masks SKULL Day of the Dead Masks

I have started a new tradition (By accident) Last year I found these paper mache masks at Michaels....they were around a dolla each...FAB craft project with the kids for a few bucks (because I already had the paint).

Gather your supplies....

BE SILLY!!!! 

Or serious....

And get your groove on

SO, this year I happened to be at Michaels and lo and behold they had the masks AGAIN!!!! 

So we got silly in 2014

 And got our groove on again!!!! 

(it was after I had 6 masks I decided I needed to make a WALL of masks every Halloween and THIS will be our new tradition....

the END

THRIFTY TUESDAY....SHOP and SWAP

If you've been reading my blog for a lil while you know shop and swap is once a year out in these here parts - every fall to be exact. THIS year marks the third year I've went and I ALWAYS get something good! It was like mayhem though this year....I got there half hour after it opened on the first day(had to get my son from school first) and people were LITERALLY running through like LUNATICS!!! It was a little picked over already within a half hour. BUT that's ok, there's always something for everyone....

These barrel style chairs are going to be PERFECT for my basement family room makeover!!! They're sturdy, large and were lightweight (or I'm a strong mutha because I carried them BOTH at once a half a block)

My HAUL (In all fairness though the bags on the right side were from one of my clients)

The housewares section (I think I will get a TON of use out of that blue 3 bud vase, a fab citrine green covered dish - another piece for the basement makeover? a chicken feeder, wicker chargers, a cheese cloche, pinecones - which have already found a home in the base of my plant because the pets like to dig in the dirt and see that GLORIOUS vintage metal trash can?!?!? THAT was the score of the day)

Some close-ups of the items....stay tuned to see where everything went to live....

On to the clothes portion....

T-shirts for cutting (and the gym IF I ever get my lazy butt there!!)

What FAB things have you scored lately?!?!?! Did I mention these were all FREE?!?!?!? You can donate items (which I was happy to do - I had 3 bags full and a box of toys my son no longer plays with - some good stuff).

A DAY IN THE LIFE.....CATCH UP for 4 weeks

Pics via my iphone for the last FOUR weeks - what?!?!?! That's an entire month!!! 

Shop and Swap...got these chairs - I'm going to paint them...white or Robins egg blue?!?!?! Weigh in via the comment section 

Every time I leave shop n swap with a full trunk (I also took 3 bags of clothes and a box of toys to donate)....stay tuned for a THRIFTY TUESDAY post with all the goodies

Subway's flatizza's...SO good! Have you tried one yet?!?! I always get the italian...

PERFECT fall day picnic

Acorns

Autumn banner....comprised of MANY elements...wooden beaded garland, vintage shiny brites christmas garland, tissue paper tassels and glitter letters....

Swapped out wall decor for something more seasonal....

Have been moving some furniture around....

Lunch with MY gurls!!! 

 WHAT?!?!?! Bath and Body has CHICAGO candles?!??! Momma NEEDS one...but 22.00 is a tad expensive

FAB chandelier at ON THE BORDER....

GLORIOUS sunset down the country road....

These 2 pics were literally taken within 2 minutes of each other...look how DIFFERENT the sky became in the short time

 Why not put my sons shirt on the dog?!?!? This is what we do on a friday night - how about you?!?!?!

BLAH BLAH BLAH....The count is back for the season....apparently there are 3 box styles BUT I can only find this same one at every store I go to

CHEERS to a GREAT month!!!

FOODIE FRIDAY...HOMEMADE Potato Soup

So every week over the summer I received a produce box fromAngelic Organics (If you've been here in foodie friday before you know what I'm talking about) there for a few weeks there were potatoes (like a 3lb bag) in every box...I cooked some, I grilled some, I gave some away and still have a bunch! I decided to make homemade potato soup...the recipe below is an amalgamation of several recipes I found on-line. 

I started by washing and peeling my potatoes...

I used some bacon grease and garlic herb butter to sautee garlic cloves, onions (I only halve them because my son HATES onions and this way I still get the flavor and they're easy to pick out :) )and thyme...

Once those were browned I added some chicken broth and flour to make a rue...

(every time I look at this pic all I see is boobs)

I poured the rue, the remainder of the chicken broth and water into the crockpot...added my roughly chopped potatoes, the onion halves....

Salt and pepper to taste and celery stalks....

 Once the potatoes were soft enough to stick a fork thru I scooped some out and let them cool...once cool I added them and some broth to the blender....

I then spooned the mixture BACK into the crockpot...I wanted you to see how pasty the potatoes looked after being blended....

I cooked on low for several hours....added bacon into about an hour before serving...

And VIOLA!!! There you have it - homemade potato soup!! This recipe contains no heavy cream and very little milk...I got my creamy texture simply by blending some of the potatoes (a hint from ONE of the many recipes I looked at. I wanted to be able to use what I had on hand and heavy cream wasn't one of the items).

I had hoped the produce boxes would have gotten me step outside my box and try new things...I have made 2 HOMEMADE from scratch item since I got the box, tried cabbage rolls (which were a HIT) had pico de gallo lots and while it's A LOT of work to wash, clean and prepare the veggies that come at ya all at once it was something I'd recommend again!!