TABLESCAPE TUESDAY - Icy Cool Blue Tablescape!

Well, Happy Tuesday to you!!!

I hope you had a great weekend and a good start to your week.  My weekend was not so good.   I got sick around 5am Saturday morning, and it really took me out.    Fortunately, I'm feeling better now, but it was no fun, that's for sure. 

Well, for today's TABLESCAPE TUESDAY, I wanted to share with you my ICY COOL BLUE Tablescape.  I've used this for all my Sunday Family Dinners since early January.  


Once February hits, I'll change the tablescape to match the season for Valentine's Day!  I'm already getting some things together for that one and am looking forward to the change. 



For this tablescape I found this really pretty wrapping paper at Walmart for 50% off after Christmas.   I loved the sheen to it and the mixtures of blue hues!

I kept the decorations simple since the runner was so full of beautiful patterns.  I used tall silver candleholders with white candles, on which I put some sparkly silver ribbon (which you may remember from our New Years Eve table)   In the center is a silver box with a mirrored mosaic candle that I received as a gift from friends years ago!      

In between the tall candleholders and the centerpiece are some small snowflake tealights, some small turquoise votive candleholders and a silver pillar candleholder with some teal and crystal hanging accents.  

The plate breakdown is a simple one...silver chargers from Walmart, dark blue rimmed plates I got when I got married ages ago, some silver salad plates from Dollar Tree, and my white Dollar Tree bowls.   I used my blue stemmed glasses and clear water glasses.   White Napkins with blue bling napkin rings and simple silverware finish off the look..



I love how this table looked all lit up!  

Here is a view over to the living room where you can see the cordinating look, with my "Wrapped In Icy Cool Blue" Mantle.

 Thanks so much for joining me for this TABLESCAPE TUESDAY!   I hope you'll come back tomorrow where I share with you a wonderful and easy recipe that I made for one of our Sunday Family Dinners...It was a huge hit and I can't wait to share it with you!!!


This Post is being added to....

Tablescape Thursday

WHADDA WE EATIN' WEDNESDAY - Brandilyn's Bean Soup!

Hi again and welcome to another edition of WHADDA WE EATIN' WEDNESDAY!   I'm sorry it's been a while since I posted a recipe, but I hope to make up for it in today's post!!

About  2 weeks before we moved, our awesome Florida friends threw us a going-away party!  It was such a special and wonderful time with great people who I'm already missing a lot!!!

At that party, one of my friends brought this amazing soup, which was a huge hit with all the partygoers, including myself and my family.   I told her I just had to have this recipe and she was kind enough to share it.   We made it again and it was so tasty!   I thought I'd share this wonderful soup, perfect for those cold winter evenings to come home to, since it cooks in the crock pot!!!!

I call it "BRANDILYN'S Bean Soup!"  I don't think that's it's real name, but that is what I'm calling it because it came from my friend Brandilyn...and....it has beans!  haha!

The ingredients are simple.

1 packet of Ranch Seasoning mix

1 packet of Taco Seasoning

1 lb of ground turkey or ground beef (browned)

1 can of whole kernel corn or 1 bag of frozen corn

1 large can diced or crushed tomatoes (28 or 29 oz)

1 can of stewed tomatoes (optional)

1 large can of baked beans (or 2 small cans),

1 cans of black beans,

1 can of red kidney beans

1 can of white beans

 

Do not drain any of the cans.

 

The size of the cans will all depend on how much room you have in your pot. You can actually use any kinds of beans you like, if you don't like any of the types listed.

Put all ingredients in a large pot or crockpot, and again, do not drain any of the cans. Let cook till hot.   With the already cooked meat, you can set it on warm all day, or on low for about 4 hours. 

You can serve it as is in a bowl....

Or top it with cheddar cheese and sour cream, which is what I did.  YUM!!!   Both ways are really yummy, though!  This has a slightly sweet tang to it (most likely because of the baked beans and the ranch packet)  and it was very delicious!

This would be an awesome soup to make for a Super Bowl Party...It's also low in calories (if you don't load it with cheese and sour cream like I did...haha!)  and low in fat if you use ground turkey or lean ground meat!

 

Thanks so much for stopping by!   I hope you enjoyed today's WHADDA WE EATIN' WEDNESDAY!   I hope you get a chance to try this easy and yummy soup!   I'd love to hear what you think of it, if you try it!  Our whole family liked it a lot!

 

Have a wonderful day! 

 

This post is being added to...

 

Centerpiece Wednesday

 



MONTHLY MONDAY MANTLE! Wrapped in Icy Cool Blue!

Hi everyone!

I hope you're having a great start to your week!

Welcome to my very first MONTHLY MONDAY MANTLE!!!    As you may have read in earlier posts, we recently moved back to the Midwest after living in Florida for some time.   I loved the beautiful weather that Florida had and the warm winters that felt like a 6 month spring!  

However, one of the things that I love about our new home is that we have FIREPLACES!!!!    I love fireplaces for those chilly mornings and nights!   I also love that I have this wonderful mantle in my living room and very neutral décor that I plan to use to decorate with a different theme each month!  

This is so exciting to me!!!  I've always wanted a room that was versatile enough for me to decorate with the seasons, and now I have one! 

So without further Ado, here is January's MONTHLY MONDAY MANTLE!   I'm calling it "Wrapped in Icy Cool Blue".   I wanted the colors to be various hues of blue, silver and white.

 

I started with an old picture frame from an old picture that I painted white and added some wrapping paper to.  The hanger in the back is broken so I just set it on top of the mantle.

Then, on either side are my white candleholders from Ikea in the various sizes, topped with pillar candles.  Under the pillow candles, I hung some snowflake ornaments.  

In the middle is a glass pedestal with a plate and 4 sparkly ornaments on it.  

Then I wrapped the mantle in some pretty blue and silver tinsel that I got from Walmart and some blue lights I found on a super sale at Old Time Pottery.

Here it is all lit up from our dining room, which is decorated in the same theme this month!  I'll be sharing that table for our next TABLESCAPE TUESDAY, so Stay tuned!  =D

It's a simple mantle, but I like how it turned out for my first time!  

I hope you'll come back and join me for another MONTHLY MONDAY MANTLE next month, but in the meantime, please be on the lookout for some yummy recipes and seasonal tablescapes coming later this month! 

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Hope to see you again soon!  Have a great week!

Happy New Year!!! Exciting new posts for 2014! And my New Years Eve Tablescape!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

I can't believe that we are starting 2014!   It seems like we were just starting 2013....wondering what the year was going to bring.  

2013 was a great year in so many ways for me....I started blogging, our family started the tradition of "Sunday Family Dinners"!   I learned some great tablescaping, recipe and home decor techniques from so many of my blogging friends and through Pinterest, and enjoyed some wonderful times with family and friends. We had some wonderful get-togethers and parties, and....we moved halfway across the country!!!   It was definitely an exciting year to say the least!

However I'm just as excited about 2014!!!   I have to say, I'm loving our new home, and am so excited to be able to share some new features on the blog for you.   Our new home has a fireplace that I plan to decorate monthly to go with the seasons and Holidays of that month, and so I'm very excited to be sharing those with you on the new MONTHLY MONDAY MANTLE posts!!!

To go along with that, I'm going to be doing new monthly tablescapes to go along with the mantles (so unfortunately that means I will not do a weekly TABLESCAPE TUESDAY, but will do one or two each month.)   I will miss doing them more often, but my schedule will not permit me to spend the time on tablescapes like I was able to before.   I will, however be making new dishes for our Sunday Family Dinners, which is a tradition we will be continuing, and any noteworthy ones, I will be posting on the WHADDA WE EATIN' WEDNESDAY posts!    Also, once a month, I will share some of my top bargains for the month on my THRIFTY THURSDAY posts. 

For now, though...I'm going to show you my New Years Eve Tablescape!   My first tablescape in the new home!!!   

I call it "Silver, Snow, and Lights Aglow" 

 I found this cute wrapping paper half off at Walmart shortly after Christmas and thought it would be great!  I really wanted to do something in primarily silver and white.  

 This tied everything in together so nicely, and since my kiddos are really hoping to see lots of snow this winter, we thought it fitting to have these trees with the little snowflakes on the runner!

I kept the plates simple, with just a silver charger, and a white dinner plate, white napkins with silver napking rings.

 The candleholder in the center is from Michaels (with 40% off coupon) that I got last year, set on Dollar Tree silver platters.   The other pillar candleholders are from Ikea, and the sparkly ribbon around the pillar candles was from Michael's...70% off from their christmas ribbon!  The small glass tealight holders were from Joann's for like 69 cents each...I had to stock up!!  

 In the back, under the wreath, you'll see my winter "candy bar" with various Christmas Candies!  I'm going to show that off in a future post...including tips on how I made it.  

When the lights were turned down low, those "lights aglow" looked so pretty at the table!   I really liked how this turned out!!!  

I hope you enjoyed this post and the tablescape!  Happy 2014 and I hope to see you again soon!!!   =D


This post is being added to:

Centerpiece Wednesday
Tablescape Thursday
Let's Dish

Final Post for 2013 and What's Ahead for 2014!!

Hi all!

I hope you're doing well and enjoying the Christmas and Holiday Season so far!   We are preparing for a move next week and so life's been pretty hectic.   I only have basic Christmas decorations up, which are getting ready to be taken down and packed away for the move.  

I wanted to thank you for coming to visit my blog this year!   I was so blessed to see over 100,000 views of my blog this year.  I know some people have blogs that get 100,000 views in a day, but this meant so much to me. 

I also wanted to give you a quick peek into what's ahead for 2014!  A new home means new tablescapes for TABLESCAPE TUESDAY, new recipes for WHADDA WE EATIN' WEDNESDAY, and a fun new feature I'll be able to do....

The MONTHLY MONDAY MANTLE!!!  

Our new home is going to have a fireplace (actually, it has more than one, but there will only be one I'll decorate monthly!)  and so I plan to create a new look for my mantle and post it the first Monday of each month.   I'm so excited to have a pretty fireplace to decorate for the various seasons! 

I hope you'll check back to the blog in 2014 for lots of new posts and fun!  

Thanks again for a great year!   From my family to yours, have a very Merry Christmas, a blessed Holiday season, and a wonderful New Year!!!

WHADDA WE EATIN' WEDNESDAY - Easy LOW CARB Southwest Breakfast Casserole!

Hi all!

Well, it certainly has been a while since I have done a recipe for Whadda We Eatin' Wednesday.  I'm SO late that I'm even posting this on a THURSDAY!   haha!   There are several reasons for my recent absence.   A few months ago, I found out that my blood sugar is high, so I'm back on a low carb diet.   =( 

Unfortunately, that has kind of cut back on all my fun crock pot recipes for a while....however, I am learning some new ones that are lower in carbs, which is good...and I'll make sure to post them as we try them!

Also, we are preparing for a move, so life has been very busy preparing for that, along with work, family and homeschooling, and trying to have something of a social life!  haha!

BUT...TODAY, I have a wonderful recipe to share that is super easy and so delicious.  This is a great recipe for a nice Holiday Breakfast for the family or for entertaining!

I prepared it for a ladies prayer breakfast recently and it was so good and so easy, I made it a few times after that just for me and the family!

It's an Easy LOW CARB Southwest Breakfast Casserole!

Here's what you'll need:


4 eggs
1/4 cup milk or Heavy whipping cream (I used whole milk and it turned out pretty good...but the Heavy whipping cream makes it more quiche-like...not sure if skim or 2% milk would work as well...if you try it, I'd love to hear what you think.)
1/4 cup Salsa, or to taste
Real Bacon Bits to taste.  I used 1/2 package
1/2 to 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (or cheese of your choice, a Mexican blend or taco blend would probably be delish, as well as pepper jack if you want extra spice!)

That's it!   Just combine these ingredients and whisk thoroughly.   Then pour into a small casserole dish (mine was probably a 5x8) and cook for 40 minutes at 350 degrees. 



This came out so good and the ladies at the prayer meeting loved it.  My husband and I also loved it and just kept making it!


I hope you enjoyed today's 

WHADDA WE EATIN' WEDNESDAY!

Thanks so much for stopping by!   

Have a great rest of the week!  =)


This post is being added to:

Just Us Four Link Party
Foodie Friday
On the Menu Monday

TABLESCAPE TUESDAY - PUMPKINS AND PRAYER TABLESCAPE!

Hello everyone!

Boy, has it been a long time!!!   I'm so sorry for not being on sooner.   Life has been crazy busy these days with out of town trips, a hectic work schedule, and some other things....along with just trying to juggle work, homeschooling, and life in general!

For today, I wanted to share with you a table I created for a Fall prayer breakfast I had with a couple good friends recently!!! 

We hadn't had a prayer breakfast in a while, so I really wanted to make this table fun and special.  I call this tablescape "Pumpkins and Prayer"....I'm sure you can see why...haha!

I started with my full length white round tablecloth, however, it was just too white, so I topped it with an off-white crochet tablecloth from Goodwill to add some warmth.



This adorable pumpkin for the centerpiece was a great Goodwill find, and I set it on top of my homemade pedestal I made with a candleholder and a dessert plate (and some super glue!)

The orange pumpkin candle was set atop a small pillar candleholder...and it let off a wonderful pumpkin scent! 

I also used the top of a pretty covered dish I have as a small bowl for some orange and gold ornaments- a super deal I got on clearance after the Holidays last year.  I really like how this added some shine to the table.  All of these sat on top of a pretty beaded pumpkin placemat I got last year. 



For the place settings, I started out with orange chargers from Michaels, topped with a dollar store white dinner plate.  On top of that are these cute pumpkin plates from Pier 1 that I got for 75% off in January!!!   I stocked up on these, and you'll most likely see them again at our Thanksgiving feast!!! 

The darker orange napkins with the gold bling napkin rings were a good match for the darker orange in the pumpkin plates.  

I got this gold flatware online from Ebay, and then found some other pieces at Goodwill one day!  SCORE!   =D



It turned out to be such a nice morning of sharing and praying with some wonderful friends.  It's such a blessing to have friends that I can pray with and for and that I know are praying for me!  

Well, that's it for this TABLESCAPE TUESDAY!   I hope you have a wonderful week! 

This post is being added to:
Centerpiece Wednesday
Tablescape Thursday
Let's Dish
Seasonal Sundays