Tomato Artichoke Pasta

This recipe from Our Best Bites instantly caught my eye since it involves some of my favorite ingredients…pasta and artichokes!  Delicious!  I made a few changes to the recipe to use ingredients I had around the house and it turned out amazing.  (No sense in going back to the grocery store if you can substitute!)  Here is my version of the recipe:

Tomato Artichoke Pasta
Original recipe by Our Best Bites

Extra virgin olive oil
5-6 cloves garlic, pressed
4 – 6 medium tomatoes
3 oz. tomato paste
3  chicken broth
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/2 C yellow onions
6-7 oz. marinated artichoke hearts, chopped
1 package spaghetti noodles

In a large saucepan, heat 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. Meanwhile, bring a pot of salted water to boiling to cook your pasta according to the package directions. When oil is hot, add garlic, onions, and artichoke hearts. Saute until garlic is fragrant. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, chicken broth, salt, and pepper. Heat through and toss with cooked pasta.

Thank you Our Best Bites for another delicious recipe!

Happy Memorial Day!

We just wanted to take a minute and wish you all a Happy Memorial Day!  Fly your flag high and proud today!!!!  We would not live in this great country if it were not for the sacrifice of the brave men and women who gave their lives to protect it.

Today is a GREAT day to spend with our families: camping, playing baseball, picnicking, getting amazing sales at stores……but have you taught your family the reason we celebrate Memorial Day??

Memorial Day was originally conceived as a day to remember Civil War dead.  After World War I it was changed to include all who died in battle. Let’s not forget the reason we celebrate this holiday! 

We are so thankful for our freedom and for the people who have died protecting it!!!

I {{actually}} won something!

I’m beyond ecstatic!  I WON a giveaway from Lacey Placey on Little Birdie Secret’s blog!!!  You might wonder why I’m so excited….it’s because I NEVER win anything and I’m ALWAYS entering giveaways!!!  Seriously, in my entire life I can only think of one other time when I’ve won something and it’s because I’m pretty sure the odds were stacked in my favor! =)  Here’s how I won…When I was about 8 years old my sister and went with my mom to get several pictures framed.  For the entire hour that we were there I did  nothing but repeatedly put my name in for a drawing for an easel they were giving away.  I’m sure I had over 200 entries in that box!  So, as I said before, the odds were definitely stacked in my favor and I was the proud owner of a brand new art easel! 

The giveaway was for two new pillow covers and I had SO much fun picking them out!  Here are the ones I picked:

AND

 

I LOVE the colors and am still SO excited about my win!  Thanks Lacey Placey and Little Birdie Secrets!!!!

Eggs Benedict

I truly LOVE eggs benedict.  It is an amazing breakfast and is incredibly simple to make!

 

Here’s what you’ll need:

English Muffins

Eggs

Ham

Packet of hollandaise sauce

Asparagus (optional)

Start by cooking your asparagus until tender.  While the asparagus is cooking, toast your english muffins and make your hollandaise sauce using the directions on the back of the packet.

You can poach or fry your eggs…poached eggs definitely turn out prettier! =)  (I usually just fry my eggs because it take MUCH less time!  But in case you’re more patient than I am, I’m adding the directions for egg poaching.)

To poach eggs: Fill a large frying pan with 3 inches of water. Bring water to a gentle simmer, then add 1 teaspoon of white vinegar. Carefully break your eggs into the simmering water and cook for 2 1/2 to 3 minutes.  Yolks should still be soft in center. Remove eggs from water with a slotted spoon.

While your eggs are cooking warm the ham over medium heat.

Spread your toasted english muffins with butter and top each one with a slice of ham, followed by one egg, and several pieces of asparagus.  Drizzle with hollandaise sauce and serve immediately.  Enjoy!

Winners……..

We had a wonderful time reading all of the wonderful comments for our Ribbon Retreat + Fabric Bow & Headband Giveaways!  Thank you so much for becoming & being followers of our blog!  We love how many blog land friends we have made!  Now for the news you’ve been waiting for all week….

The winner of the matching flower hair bows is…

Random.org picked lucky number 6!!

CONGRATULATIONS Andi!!!  You will love your new hair bows!  Thank you so much for being a follower of our blog!! You are the best!!

 

The winner of the large flower hair bow and two matching headbands is…

Random.org picked lucky number 10!

CONGRATULATIONS Lindsay!!!  You are one lucky girl!!  We appreciate you being a follower of our blog! 

 

Thank you so much to everyone who participated in our giveaway….we LOVE to read your comments!  We truly feel so lucky to have met all you wonderful people out there in blog land!

Hanging the Laundry

I LOVE that my laundry room has a door that I can close to hide my laundry piles!  Although, I’m now dreaming of a laundry room that is large enough to do all of the folding and of course, decorate!  For now, I’ll settle for decorating the laundry room door!

Awhile back I fell in love with this vinyl decal from Right on the Walls!  Love it, but not the $39.95 price.  I knew I could make my own with some of my favorite tools: Cricut, Sure Cuts A Lot 2 software, and vinyl from Expressions Vinyl.

To make your own, start out by cutting out your vinyl in a variety of fonts.  After you have weeded your vinyl, apply transfer tape.  I LOVE the 6” roll of paper transfer tape because it is so easy to work with.  I just tear different pieces to cover the vinyl I’m working with.  Apply this vinyl to your surface.

Now cut out your clothespins.  I originally wanted a clothespin for each letter like the example I was following, but it seemed a little busy after I put it up.  So, I changed it so that there is a clothespin on every other letter.

Here is what it looked like with clothespins on every letter.

And with just a few clips.  I’m still on the fence…should I keep all of the clips or keep it simple?

{{What I Made Wednesday}} #10

Last week’s {{What I Made Wednesday}} Linky Party was great!  We had even more link ups this week with a total of 57 link-ups…so exciting!   With this week’s link party, I’m hoping we’re going to surpass last week’s numbers!! **wink wink**

With that being said, there were SO many great projects linked up that I had a really hard time deciding which ones to feature.  Here are my favorites for the week…

She’s Crafty made this ultra cute chicken wire message board to dress up her craft room.  I NEED one of these!   What a great place to store all of those great craft ideas.  LOVE IT!

I absolutely adore this simple tote bag made by Craft Buds!  The tutorial is simple and I think even I could follow it with my basic sewing skills.  So cute!

Delicious!  This mushroom chicken dish from Moore Babies looks amazing!  I’m always up for new recipes and especially ones that are healthy.  I can’t wait to try it!

How adorable are these shirts made by Mom’s Crafty Space?!?!  I’m beyond excited to make several of these for my little one and niece!

This project by Lemon Tree Creations has been stuck in my mind for the last week…I LOVE IT!!!  All week I’ve been wishing I had a duplicate doormat so I could do this project!  I might just buy a doormat just to do this project! =)

Now on to the

{{What I Made Wednesday}} party…..

{{The Details}}:

• Must be made by you.
• Link up to your specific post - not your main blog.   (Please no Etsy shops or giveaways)
• Please post our button or link back to our blog so more people can join in the fun.
• Visit some of the other participants and leave them a comment to show your LOVE!
• We hope you LOVE our blog...if you do, we would LOVE it if you become a follower!

{{What I Made Wednesday}} will be open Wednesday – Friday. Next Wednesday we will feature some of our favorites from this week's party as well as host a new {{What I Made Wednesday}}! 

Also, if you’ve been featured, don’t forget to grab our button!

 

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Personalized Coffee Mug

I’ve been brainstorming great gifts to give as a thank you when I stumbled upon Running With Glitter’s tutorial for these super cute personalized coffee mugs! 

I bought my customizable travel mugs at Starbucks.com  several months ago but they seem to not sell them anymore. =(  I’ll update this post if I can find them again….nothing beats a Starbucks mug and they were super affordable at only $10! 

I had lots of fun creating these mugs and they turned out super cute! 

This mug insert is by far my favorite.  Using my Sure Cuts A Lot 2 software, I cut out the different frames and glued them on top of each other.  The only change I made was on the top frame.  Instead of cutting out the name and gluing it to the top frame, I cut it into the frame so all I had to do was lay it on top of the orange frame and I was finished.  So easy!

I decided to put it all together in a gift basket.  Remember the name I cut out from my last frame for the mug?  Since I didn’t use it, I added it to the front of the envelope!  Love it!

I’m super excited about giving these away to two people who did so much for me this year!

Still Under Construction….

Since my kitchen is STILL under construction (everything in my kitchen is sitting in my living room) & I still have no kitchen sink or kitchen counters, Menu Monday is still on hold!  Thank you so much for being patient….and hopefully we will get everything going and back together shortly.  We have one more company measuring for countertops this morning, and then we will make a decision from there.  I am keeping my fingers crossed that the granite countertops I want will be the best deal….{{{wish me luck convincing my hubby (: }}  We then have to wait 2 weeks before they come in.

Our weather lately has been YUCKY….we have been getting snow or sleet almost everyday! ):  Yesterday, nothing was falling from the sky, so we headed outside for a little fun!  My daughter has been wanting to go outside and do hopscotch {{I have no idea where she came up with the idea…she is only 2, and I haven’t talked about it}}!  So, we got out our sidewalk chalk, drew our lines and I taught my sweet little girl how to hopscotch!  Of course, I threw some learning into it, by numbering all the boxes.  Just watching her jump around, trying to copy me is …..PRICELESS!!

What fun things have you and your kiddos done outside this summer???

Buttermilk Waffles

Welcome to our Servin’ It Up Saturday!  I thought I would change it up a little bit and add a staple off of our breakfast menu! 

I have always been a lover of anything breakfast….especially waffles!!  I have tried mixes, and every by scratch recipe around…..until I found this one, and I haven’t made waffles any other way since then! (:  These waffles are so easy to put together, which makes it nice on those mornings it feels like all I do is run around like a crazy lady trying to get out the door.

I don’t know if it is the cinnamon in the waffles that makes them so much better than other versions, but these are magnificent! 

Buttermilk Waffles

• 1 stick butter, melted
• 2 cups flour
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 large eggs
• 2 cups buttermilk
• 1 tsp vanilla

1. Preheat waffle iron.
2. Beat eggs until fluffy.
3. Beat in everything else just until smooth.
4. Pour batter onto waffle iron & cook.
5. Serve with butter and your favorite syrup.

Painting Rainbows {{Kid’s Corner Friday}}

My kids LOVE painting!  When one of the super creative kindergarten teachers at our school had her students complete this project, I knew I had to try it with my own kiddos!

Start off by dividing your cardstock or thick paper into six different sections.  If you look closely, you can see the lines I made for each section.

Using a permanent marker, draw your lines across the page.

Now mark your sections by color and by level it according to age if necessary.  For my 3 year old, I put color words.  For my two year old I added colored dots.

They had such a fun time with this project (especially since they got to paint in their jammies) and it was SO easy to put together!  What fun paint projects have you and your kiddos completed?  I don’t know about your kids, but I’m pretty sure mine could entertain themselves for hours with some paint and a few pieces of paper!

The Ribbon Retreat + Fabric……..Plus Giveaway!!

I stumbled upon an AMAZING company about a year ago, when I was looking for a website to buy ribbon when I was making and selling bows……..I was so LUCKY when I found The Ribbon Retreat + Fabric!!  Since then, I never buy my ribbon anywhere else!  Their prices are so reasonable, shipping is reasonable & they  have EVERYTHING you could ever imagine!
If you are looking for ribbon, like I was….you have to check out their website!  I am pretty sure they have every type of ribbon I have ever needed or wanted. 
They also make coordinating ribbon colors SO EASY with their ribbon mixes. 

Do you shop for your kids at Gymboree??  They even have groups of ribbon especially designed to match Gymboree’s clothing line….how cool is that??

Need headbands, tulle, tutus, flowers, hair bow hardware…..they have it all!!!!!

How cute are these???

I absolutely love that they have FREE tutorials for bows and other SUPER cute projects….this is a one stop site!  They also have a blog that features different projects….now can you see why I am hooked???

Need fabric for your newest project??? They have that too, along with tools and FREE project ideas!

I don’t know about you, but I am ALWAYS on the lookout for a good deal….so, I signed up for their Special Savings E-mails.  That way, I am always saving money when I purchase products from their website!  Also, don’t forget to check out their Sweet Deal Wednesdays, that start every Wednesday morning!  Hurry over….the deals don’t last long!
The Ribbon Retreat + Fabric graciously sent me $10 to use on their site….so of course, I bought some ribbon and made some bows for you guys……our AWESOME blog friends & readers!!!

Check Out What I Created….

 

AND

And today is your lucky day…..we are going to giveaway them both….to TWO lucky winners!!!!!

Winner #1 will receive two matching flower bows on lined clips {{picture #1}}

Winner #2 will receive a large flower bow on a lined clip & two matching crochet headbands {{picture #2}}

You have 5 magnificent ways to enter to win!!

1. *~* MANDATORY ENTRY*~* Become a follower of our blog & leave a comment below letting us know you did {{If you are already a follower…just let us know in your comment}}
2. Head over to The Ribbon Retreat + Fabric and leave a comment below telling us what you LOVE the most!
3. Become a follower of Sweet Peas and Bumblebees on Facebook & leave a comment below letting us know!
4. Blog and/or Facebook about this giveaway and tell us you did in a comment below!

*~* Please leave your email address so that we can contact you if you have won.  If you want to disguise it, that's just fine.  ((ex.:sweetpeasandabb {at} gmail {dot} com)) *~*
The giveaway will end on May 27th at 8:00 p.m. m.s.t., and the winner will be notified by on our blog & by e-mail!! 

Also, The Ribbon Retreat + Fabric has sweetly agreed to give our readers a 10% discount on their website, just enter the code: Sweet10 at checkout!