Elf on the Shelf Ideas

We had quite a bit of fun with Jack this year! The teenagers had fun coming up with ideas and helping which was nice for this tired old mom ;) 

Here are a few of my favorites:

Do you have a family elf (or two?) 

Broccoli Cheddar Chicken Braid

Broccoli cheddar chicken braid for dinner... sooo good! This is a family favorite!

You will need:
2 cans Crescent Rolls (I used the reduced fat ones)
2 cups cooked chicken chunks
2 cups Cheddar Cheese (I used sharp)
2 cups steamed chopped broccoli
1/2 cup light Mayo
1 egg yolk
Rosemary (I used what I had in my seasoning cupboard or you could buy some fresh rosemary too)

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F
2. Spray some non stick spray onto a cookie sheet, and spread both cans of crescents length wise to form a long rectangle.
3. Press each of the seams to form a single layer of dough.
4. In a large bowl, combine chicken, cheese, broccoli and mayo.
5. Spread mixture over the center of the croissant dough evenly to create a log.
6. Using a sharp knife, cut horizontal strips 1 inch apart down each side of the crescent dough.
7. Fold the dough strips over the top of the mixture, alternating left and right to create a braid.
8. Brush the top of the braid with a beaten egg yolk and sprinkle rosemary on top.
9. Bake for 28-30 until golden brown. (I cooked mine for 40 minutes to get the dough a bit crispier, that's just how we like it)

It's really easy! And yummy!

Spinach Artichoke Bubble Bake

After my work day, I wanted to make something for dinner that was quick to put together so I could simply relax. 

So I skipped quite a few steps by simply using a tub of spinach artichoke dip from Costco, mixed in a cup of mozzarella cheese and a can of chicken (drained), two tubes of biscuits, cut each biscuit into 4ths and mixed in with the mixture, top with another cup of Mozzarella and then baked at 350 degrees in a 9x13 dish for 50 minutes, covering at 30 minutes for the last 20. 

It was SO good! Everyone approved and there’s none left, so I’d call that a success!

1 tub spinach artichoke dip from Costco

1 can chicken, drained

2 cups mozzarella cheese 

2 tubes biscuits

• Mix dip, chicken, and 1 cup of cheese.

• Cut up each biscuit into 4ths. Place in 9x13 baking dish with the mixture and mix up, make sure to coat them all.

• Sprinkle remaining cheese on top

• Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes, cover for remaining 20 minutes.

That’s it! Tell me what you think of you try it! Enjoy!

Copy Cat Hibachi Ginger Peanut Dressing - YUM!

I ❤️ the dressing they put on the salad at our local hibachi spot. I found this copycat recipe on Pinterest and I am so happy I did! So delicious!

Ingredients:

• 6T rice vinegar

• 1T fresh ginger, peeled

• 2 garlic cloves, minced

• 3T vegetable or canola oil

• 1tsp toasted sesame oil (Asian sesame oil) 

• 1/4 C creamy peanut butter

• 3T soy sauce

• 3T honey

Put all Ingredients in your food processor and mix until smooth. 

That’s it! So easy!! I store mine in a mason jar, it didn’t last long so I can’t say for sure how long it’s good for, it was gone by day 3 and still tasted great! This was a hit with my entire family!

Army Theme Birthday Party

My youngest turned 8 this month. EIGHT!! Time FLIES that’s for damn sure. 

So anyway, let me out of my feelings for a sec and get back to what my post was originally about. The birthday party! Eli decided he wanted an Army theme. Not surprising coming from a kid that is obsessed with history, specifically learning about World War 2.

So I searched high and low... on Amazon. In the safety of my own home in my pj’s & no makeup. Just the way I like it. Search for “Camo birthday” and you’ll find a bajillion things to choose from. Seriously, it was great. 

I had his cake and cake pops made by Edible Delights, she did an amazing job! 

Michelle’s Cupcakes took care of those and OMG! So yummy! 

I used some of Eli's actual toys as part of the decor to save on money as well as waste.  Tank and little army men for a centerpiece?  Why not!  

Grenade cake pops are a must for an army/camo themed birthday party!  They were a HUGE hit!

Well, that's about it!  What do you think?  What other fun ideas would you throw in there for the perfect camo/army themed party?

Main Floor Bathroom Update

The main floor bathroom is pretty small, which is kind of why we decided to tackle it first, knowing that it would be a quicker and cheaper project. Our house is a lot of brown & beige tones, and we have both agreed that we want more greys, and black and white. 

This is the one and only photo I have of our bathroom before we got to work. My husband hates it lol. But, you can see the vanity, mirror, hideous flooring. The lighting was just a dark bronze builders grade light, and it was off center  which always drove me crazy! It was time to make it our style!

Just installing the new vanity made such a huge difference! The flooring was definitely not working and so we started looking around at ideas. I reallllllllllly wanted black hexagon tile. SO obsessed. But, I was having a hard time finding it in stock anywhere. So we went to Lowe’s and Bo pointed out some tile that I NEVER would have expected him to like. And I LOVE it so I’m so happy that he did too! We decided to just go with Lowe’s for the installment because we are both intimidated by doing tile ourselves. 

TADA!! What a transformation, right?! The tile really adds character! For the wall color we went with Sherwin Williams’ Storm Cloud SW 6249, it’s gorgeous. 

Vanity & Mirror: Home Depot

Ceramic Tile: Lowe’s https://www.lowes.com/pd/DELLA-TORRE-Cementina-Black-and-White-8-in-x-8-in-Glazed-Ceramic-Encaustic-Tile/1000241509

Vanity Light: Lowe’s (it was one where we just picked out the sconces for it, got the light and sconces for about $55)

4.5 Star Review Sign: Wayfair

Towel Hook: Amazon

Wire Shelves: Wayfair

Forgot your phone sign: Wayfair

Shower curtain: Wayfair

Toilet paper holder: Target 

 I am going to keep my eye out for a mirror that fits the space better, the one we have now is kind of small but it came as a set with the vanity and it does the job. We also didn’t do anything to the shower, maybe one day far down the road! 

What do you think? What would you have done differently? 

We moved to Colorado!

Holy moly. A LOT has happened since I was last active on my blog! But I suppose 3 years is a long stretch, oops! 

But I’m baaaaaack!

And, I no longer live in North Dakota. My family and I moved to Colorado! We moved to Fort Collins December 28, 2016. We stayed in our rental for about a year and a half before finally taking the plunge and buying a house. 

Real estate in Colorado is expensive! We quickly realized that nothing in our price was what we were looking for and  unless we wanted a tiny home, or a serious fixer upper, there was no way we could afford to purchase Fort Collins. So we started looking at surrounding towns.

We decided on Severance. It’s a small town, and it’s great. We stayed in the price range we were hoping, and were able to get into a beautiful brand new home! It was already just about finished when we looked at it, so we didn’t get to pick out any of the colors or anything. I do wish we did come in a bit sooner to have some say in things, because now we find ourselves looking around and wanting to make the home more US. We have already done a few things, which of course I’ll be sharing in the next couple of posts after this REintroduction haha. 

We closed on the house April 20, 2018! You can probably tell, we were so excited! 

Time to move in! We had just until the 1st to be fully moved out, so we got right to work! Such an exhausting week that was! 

This is what you see right when you walk in. Well, there is a small entry with a bench and coat rack. But, this area that you see was the selling point. Those high ceilings! Bo and I both actually looked at 3 houses separately, and both agreed that this one was our favorite layout. 

Who knew shopping for a fridge could be so much work?! Way too many choices haha! But we did decide on this LG, we got it from Appliance Factory in Fort Collins, and we have actually gone back for a few more purchases because they have such great prices! 

Well, that’s a small tidbit of an update of where I’m at nowadays. I figured that I couldn’t really post about our recent projects without an explanation as to why it’s not the same house as previous posts. I do miss that house! But I can definitely say I am happy with our new home and also being in Colorado :) 

Stay tuned for more...