KellyStewart.org

It is so hard to believe that it is almost November.  Fall is flying by.  Fall has always been a busier time for us and this year is no different.  With all the work on our addition, I scaled back a little on the fall decor.  Besides Christmas, this is the holiday that you will see decorated for around the Stew house.  Here is a snapshot of what the house is looking like these days….

Here is the front porch.We are still  needing a few small trees and I am leaving a space to plant some flowers.  Any suggestions for a small, skinny, evergreen to go on either side of the steps?

My mums are  half way to dead and this happens EVERY year for me! How do you keep them alive!

You will notice, for the two of you following our addition, that I painted the front door black and added my favorite ORANGE berry wreath.  I love it so!

Here is my one attempt in the entry way to add some fall flavor…

This  is HANDSDOWN one of my favorite pieces to decorate seasonally with- my wall bucket.  I add different greenery and hang it on the

front door, depending on the season…super easy!

This was my Grandmother’s hutch that I inherited. I painted it black and I am loving it in our breakfast nook.  I have the red accessories out for now, but after Christmas, I am going

to put some white and greyish/blue accessories.  I just threw some greenery, pumpkins and gourds around.

My centerpiece on the table kinda looks like fake leaves threw up on it, but it adds some warmth and I think next year, I will put in a little more effort!

This is my new Bountiful platter and bowl that I put out to throw in some different colors. I also actually decorated the top of the coffee table for the first time EVER.  Having

young kids has always stopped that one for me!

I still have pictures from Africa underneath, but I just love having a reminder of our trip…

That is it….stay tuned for an addition update! We are close….

Also, I added the Google Friend Connect, so feel free to join in!

I am no gourmet chef by any stretch of the imagination. I do have a few go to recipes that we eat on a regular basis, so after posting a “tweet” about trying to figure out what I was going to fix for Parker’s teacher for dinner and I got requests for recipes, I decided to put them on here. Also, Kelly’s Korner is hosting a little blog tour, sharing some of our “go to” recipes, so I decided to join in!

I ended up going with Mexican Chicken, which is yummy and easy! I added a salad, sweet corn muffins and Nestle Toll House Cookies!

3-4 chicken breasts, boiled and cut into bite size pieces
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can rotel (drain it for a less runny casserole!)
1-2 cups cheddar cheese
Package of corn tortillas (small)

Tear the tortillas into small pieces and line the bottom of a pan. Mix together the soups, rotel and chicken and pour on top. Top with cheddar cheese. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes!

Another easy fav at the Stew House is Taco Soup. There are a gazillion versions of this soup, and here is mine.
1 Lb Ground Beef or Turkey
I can black beans
1 can corn
1 can diced tomatoes with chiles or rotel ( i sometimes use two- one plain and one with chiles)
1 1/2 cups water
1 packet of Ranch Dressing Mix
1 packet Taco Seasoning
Mix and heat to a boil and then simmer until you are ready to eat… at least 20 minutes. This is also a great recipe for the crock pot.
Garnish with sour cream, cheese, olives, corn or tortilla chips. I also bake corn muffins with this!

Now this recipe is a little more involved. I have also baked it in the crock pot on low for 4-6 hours. Yummy!
Chicken Spinach Lasagna

Ingredients

* 1 tablespoon butter or margarine
* 1/2 large onion
* 1 (10 1/2-ounce) can reduced-fat cream of chicken soup, undiluted
* 1 (10-ounce) container refrigerated reduced-fat Alfredo sauce ( i have also used the jar version)
* 1 (7-ounce) jar diced pimiento, undrained
* 1 (6-ounce) jar sliced mushrooms, drained
* 1/3 cup chicken broth or white wine ( i use cb)
* 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
* 1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed
* 1 cup cottage cheese
* 1 cup ricotta cheese
* 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
* 1 large egg, lightly beaten
* 9 lasagna noodles, cooked ( if in crock pot or oven, I have done this without them being cooked)
* 2 1/2 cups chopped cooked chicken
* 3 cups (12 ounces) Italian mix or Mozzerella cheese, divided

Preparation

Melt butter in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, and sauté 5 minutes or until tender. Stir in soup and next 5 ingredients. Reserve 1 cup sauce.

Drain spinach well, pressing between layers of paper towels.

Stir together spinach, cottage cheese, and next 3 ingredients.

Place 3 lasagna noodles in a lightly greased 13- x 9-inch baking dish. Layer with half each of sauce, spinach mixture, and chicken. Sprinkle with 1 cup Cheddar cheese. Repeat procedure. Top with remaining 3 noodles and reserved 1 cup sauce. Cover and chill up to 1 day ahead.

Bake at 350° for 45 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining 1 cup Cheddar cheese, and bake 5 more minutes or until cheese is melted. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

SO there you go…. a few recipes that are staples around our house!

We have had a fun weekend! The girls went to stay with LuLu and had a fabulous time. They left on Friday and we were able to go eat a late lunch and to see, Vantage Point. The film was shown from several different perspectives, so you saw the same set of events about 4-5 times. It was different, but we still enjoyed it! After we picked Bradley up from Ms. Kathy, we met up with Chris and Dawn and went to eat at Red Robin. It was so yummy!

Saturday was a day for Basketball, more importantly, UT Vols Basketball. They were playing #1 Memphis Tigers. I have shared what huge sports fans we are, but nothing beats UT Basketball for my hubs. So, in honor of the “biggest game in the history of UT Basketball,” we had a few friends over. I couldn’t resist adding some appropriate decor!
I used orange jelly beans, orange slices (or pure sugar tinted orange), oranges and random decor that we have in Bradley’s room. Needless to say, we are now the #1 ranked team in the Nation!

While I was getting things ready on Saturday, I noticed something on my fridge that made me cackle out loud! See if you notice what it is from the picture:

This is Marta, our child through Compassion. Evidently, one of the girls thought she needed a little color in her clothing and added to her outfit! This truly made my day and still makes me laugh!

Sunday was a great day. We had 7 families here for our small group and it went well. I am excited to see how God works over the next few weeks to form our group. The girls also came home and we love having the fam back!

Life is never dull around here!

We have finally finished our rounds of Christmas gatherings and it has been wonderful. I have enjoyed being with our family this year and it has been so nice to be in our home. I have savored this Christmas much more than those in the past and I think it has a lot to do with not traveling! In our family, each year is different due to schedules, so we will see what next year holds.

I am looking forward to beginning 2008. I am not excited about the crowd at the Y! Last year, it was crazy! All those new year resolutions which seem to fade by mid February, make for a crowded workout.

The Lord has blessed us so much and I never want to forget to give thanks for all He has done in my life. My life is His to use and I am praying that in this next year, I look for more opportunities to make His Name Great. He deserves all this broken vessel has to give!

May God reveal more of Himself to you as you live out each day in 2008!

Last week before the total madness hit our home, Jason and I traveled with another couple to one of our most favorite places in the world. You may be thinking Hawaii, the beach, the mountains, but you would be mistaken. While I love those places, they really are not an overnight trip!

We went to Ikea.

I don’t know if I can fully express how my first experience to this haven of home decorating changed my perspective on space and how much you need, cheap furniture and cute accessories! If you have not been to one, trust me, it is worth the trip! The closest one to us is in Atlanta, but can we say Road Trip!!

We have bought a lot at Ikea in our 4 trips there. In the last year.

We decorated a great deal of Bradley’s room with things from Ikea. We painted the crib and my granny’s china hutch black for his room, so we bought a changing table, chair, rug and curtains for his room on one trip. We also got Emery 2 tall bookshelves with doors and a dresser on the same trip. We spent a whopping $400 bucks.
That first night we arrived, we walked around their showroom with our jaws dropped. The next day we actually bought some things.

This trip we went to buy couches and chairs for our church. I needed some new dishes, skillets and casserole dishes. I was successful on that end. But, they were out of stock in the cute red dresser I wanted for Bradley’s room, a sidetable for our dining room and a chandelier for our bedroom. This definitely was our most disappointing trip, yet. But, we did get some cool things for the church at an amazing price.

I am still a faithful Ikea fan, though!

I think I have a serious problem. I love, deeply and with great passion, Diet Coke. I wouldn’t trade my kids for it or anything, but I would consider trading our dog, Knox, for some good fountain diet coke. (Animal lovers relax, I am exaggerating a tiny bit, not much, but some. Knox was a bit of a maniac as a puppy and I have some residual bitterness towards him. Another post.)

Back to my love.

But, my absolute favorite drink is a Diet Coke WITH A CHERRY ADD IN from Sonic. That may sound so gross to some, but I crave it. Since we are on a budget, Jason refuses to pay for drinks when we eat out because they are like $2 a glass and that is just for a soft drink. So, I use my monthly “blow money” on DIET COKE from Sonic. How sad is that? I am glad I never took up smoking because I would probably be a two pack a dayer!

This might be the most pointless post I have ever written.