Deck The Wall

Pinned From: Centsational Girl

Gotta love all the tips and tricks you find on Pinterest!  At first I thought, I'm never going to do this, the cutting of the paper and the hanging it is just more work...but then I decided that it would be nice for my new family photo collage to actually be uniform.  Cutting the paper out went really quickly and having everything exactly where I wanted it before putting holes in the wall was great! I laid the paper on the back of each frame and marked where the nail would hang on each, then I (and by "I" I mean my husband and I) put the paper up and hammered our nails right through the paper.  

Pin Worthiness: And how!

The extra steps weren't so bad and ended up being worth the stress free picture hanging!

Ranchy, Porky Goodness

Yeah, that's right, I said "porky."

Pinned from: Real Mom Kitchen

I logged onto Pinterest just to show a friend of mine how it worked.  Then I saw this yumminess all smothered in yumminess and pegged her pardon while I did a quick pin.  I'm super glad I did.  This is a winner!  Very easy, very tasty, whips up fast in the crock pot.  Can I get an "Amen?"

The only problem is that the quick crock pottiness of it is just for the pork.  You do have to actually make your starch and your side.  Might I recommend Real Mom Kitchen's Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes she herself serves with this pork?  I'm not usually one to follow a recipe for mashed potatoes because, come on...but I did with this because I'd never roasted garlic before, GASP, and wanted to give it a try.  Results, delish.  I also served with some green beans lightly sauteed in olive oil with a sprinkle of salt and pepper.  Wanna see?

I got a little anxious...promise the gravy thickens up a little if you give it a minute or two.

Pin Worthiness:  You Betcha

Eat this for dinner!  Soon.

Corn Bread Dressing

Pinned from: Mangio da Sola

Looks good doesn't it?  That's what I thought.  Don't get me wrong, it's not bad, it's just not my cup of tea.  I consider myself well versed in the consumption of good but I can honestly say I'd never really had a cornbread stuffing before.  I always thought it sounded good and seeing this image sure made me want to give it a go, plus there were comments on her blog by people who LOVED it.  Maybe I just don't like cornbread stuffing.  Maybe it is this recipe is the end all be all but I'll never know because of my aversion to it's basic make up.

Also, it goes against my basic rule for Crock Pot cooking...that it all be done in the pot, or maybe dirties one extra dish in preparation.  This bad boy dirties many dishes.   You have to make the cornbread, you have to poach the chicken.  That's lots of prep work and dishes for a crock pot dish if you ask me!

OK, that went on long enough, let me break it down for you.  My dinner table that evening included, me, my husband, my 2 year old, my 8 month old, my mother, and my brother.  I thought it was way too sweet, my mom that it was sweet, my husband said it was fine with salt, my  kids loved it and so did my brother.  So there you go.  A house divided.

Pin Worthiness: Sure

I mean, if some people love it and other's don't I suppose it's worth you giving it a try.  If you like cornbread stuffing then I really suggest you give it a try and tell me if it really is the best cornbread stuffing you've ever had.

Beauty

Pinned from:  The Ballet Blog

This image is just so beautiful.  I really love it.  I have a bit of a weakness for ballet art.  I used to be a ballerina, never anything major and honestly never any good but I did it for years.  When I was on a field trip to some museum (no idea where!) I bought a book of Degas paintings as a souvenir.  I just couldn't pass up all of those beautiful ballet paintings.  Years later my sister and I went on a trip to Paris and made a stop at Musee d'Orsay, it was by far my favorite day of our whole trip.  I saw all of the Degas works I'd loved up close and personal.  I've never been an artsy, fartsy, cry if a painting moves you kind of gal but I tell you I teared up a bit!  Anyway, I do so enjoy good photography.  Good, not overly photoshopped photography.  And good photography of ballerinas?  Well that's just icing on the cake.

Pin Worthiness:  And How

I'm loving the beautiful photography I get to see on Pinterest and I can't wait for more.

Simple, Different

Pinned from:  Cute Girls' Hair Styles

I've seen lots of cute hair ideas on Pinterest but I especially love the fast and easy ones.  This one is so simple I can't help but wonder why I didn't think of it.  I am a genius after all!  All you have to do is braid a normal, simple braid and then choose a strand to hold onto, any strand'll do.  Hold firm and slide the other two up.  It creates this fun, different look.  I did it to my 11 year old niece the other night and she liked it a lot.  I wowed everyone around with my vast knowledge of braids!  I didn't take a picture but this is one instance where it turned out just as well as the source picture!  I am sure it works better on "young" hair because it's so healthy and undamaged you can slide on up with out too much frizz and breakage poking out.

Pin Worthiness:  You Betcha

You're kids might be in bed, but grab Barbie and give it a try.  You know you want to.

Recipe Fail

Pinned from: Six Sisters' Stuff

This is not the recipe I made, this pin is for a list of 25 slow cooker recipes and this is the picture that appears on the pin boards, I've seen it all over pinterest.  Thought I'd show you this one in case you have it pinned.

This is what I made.  Orange Chicken in the Crock Pot.  When I started making my grocery list and added items from this recipe I became suspicious. A whole can of orange juice concentrate?  OK, I'm sure these people think it tastes good or they never would have linked it, right?

Well, I made it.  It was disgusting.  Seriously.  I could not finish it.  My son gagged, my husband humored me and then confessed that it was't good, never admitting how awful it really was.  It just was not a pleasant dining experience.

Why the epic fail?  Oh, that's just because...well...I'm an idiot I suppose.  The recipe calls for 8 oz of orange juice concentrate, an entire can is 12 oz.  I didn't misread just once, while writing down ingredients but again while making this stupid dish!  And here's the thing...I'm not sure that 4 fewer ounces would have made that much of a difference.  I realize it's a full third but it was just sooooooooooooo orangey!  Ick.

Pin Worthiness:  Not Really (this is based on this recipe alone and not the fact that this pin is for 25 recipes.)

The bottom line is I won't be making this again, even with just 8 ounces of juice, I'm too scarred from my first experience.  You can try if you want.  Let me know how it turns out.

Pinterest: A Double Edged Sword

Pinned from:  Need Supply

These boots.  I saw them and loved them.  They were only $75!  I tried to order them.  They were out of stock!  Out of stock!  I was so sad.  That's the problem with Pinterest.  You find something on there that you like, and everyone else does too.  It's a shame.  I would have been good to you brown derby boot.  We could have had some pretty good times.

Pin Worthy:  You Betcha

A good looking boot at a great price is hard to find and apparently harder to acquire.

Lemon Garlic Spaghetti

Pinned from:  I Nom Things

I love noodles.  I love basil.  I love light dishes.  I didn't love this dish.  It was fine.  I'd eat it again if it were in front of my face but I wouldn't go through the trouble of making it again.  Don't believe me, try it for yourself.  I wish you better luck.

Pin worthiness:  Meh

So why bother posting?  Well honestly, sub par recipes were my number one motivation for starting this blog believe it or not.  I feel like people over rate recipes (like on food.com) all the time and I am NOT a picky eater.  I'm a good eater.  Ask anyone, especially my mother!

I'm a TV Watcher

Pinned from: ilikeartalot.tumblr.com

Parks and Recreation anyone?  Sometimes you just need the silly pins for a good laugh.  Who doesn't love mustache chest hair?  That's why I married Shawn.

Pin Worthiness:  You Betcha

Brown Sugar and Balsamic Glazed Pork Loin

Pinned from:  C + C Marriage Factory

This pork loin in and of itself is good.  Not great, but certainly better than fair.  It's the glaze that makes this bad boy a winner.  Aye Ca-rumba!  I liked it.  A lot.  I generally think people over rate food on-line.  Things that are given 4-5 out of 5 stars I'd often give 3 or fewer.  I am not a picky eater!  I love food.  But I figure if I'm going to go through the trouble of putting those calories in my body I better enjoy it.

Pin worthiness:  You Betcha

This recipe is easy peasy, lemon squeezy.  I like my crock pot dishes nice and simple and this did not disappoint.  Although you had to dirty an additional pot to make the glaze, it whipped up fast and was delish!

Happy Feet

Pinned From:  Coolest Homemade Costumes

Check out those feet.  This year the plan was, Shawn a rooster, Me a hen, Berk a chick and Sovie an egg.  We got a few costumes donated to our cause and did some roll shifting but we were still in need of chicken feet and these cleaning gloves I pinned seemed like such a great plan!  Shawn sported these yellow feet and I wore brown gloves for mine.  I think our feet were everyone's favorite parts of our costumes and I didn't even get a picture with our feet in it.  Ugh.

Pin Worthiness:  You Betcha

I love to "search" in Pinterest.  It's like a filtered Google where only the cool ideas and images are allowed.  That's where this clever idea came from.  Try it out!