Photo of the Week - Week 50 - Good Times

Week 50 of 52

Location:  Mt. Pleasant, MI
Subject:  Goofy Good Times

This weekend we attended a wedding in Mt. Pleasant.  So much fun!  They had a photo booth set up with all sorts of props.  So. Much. Fun.  Kept the kids (and grown-ups) busy for hours.  I love this idea more than the professional photographers setting up a screen and taking goofy pics.  If only for the fact that you get a copy of these ones.  They had a scrapbook set up and printed out two pics of your photo booth fun and you could put one in the scrapbook with a message to the bride and groom and keep the other.  Or keep both.  Totally up to you.  I though this was such a fun idea!

See what I mean, kids had a blast.  That photo booth started during dinner and lasted until there were just the clean-up people left.

Me and Rach posing for Zack.  I bought the hubby a new point and shoot camera and we were testing out this night.  Not sure I like that thing.  The whole night I was wishing I had brought my own camera.  Oh, and for those that are frugal or fashion curious.  My outfit:  Dress - Chadwicks - Thrifted - $3 smackaroos, Shoes - Anne Klein - Thrifted $5 smackaroonies.  Not too shabby!  Rachel's outfit?  Have no idea but she sure looked cute.

Me and the hubby who was not being too cooperative with the whole take a picture thing.

With the gorgeous daughter who says unspeakable things about herself.  I however, think she looks adorable here.

Z. and his giant piece of rainbow cake.  A sister made the huge and gorgeous wedding cake.  (Sorry the only picture taken of this cake did not turn out!)  Each layer of the cake was a different flavor.  Made it very difficult to choose a piece of cake.  I suppose you can guess which layer all the kids ate from.

J. danced with me!  He usually refuses to dance.  I guess he really is growing up.

Me, Rach, and Tamara waiting our turn in the photo booth.

Cameron and the kiddos.  Well two of them anyway, Z. was having a ball running around with all the other kids.  Either that or he was still in the photo booth.

I know, totally out of focus but pretty hilarious.  Couple of goofballs.

There is your photo of the week - pluralized.  It was so much fun that night.  We danced till our feet were sore and our cheeks were rosy.  Miss Rox up there heckled the DJ until he announced that she be "removed".  It was all in good fun though.  So much fun and so happy to see two people tie the knot.

Chicago this weekend!  Wooo Hooo so excited.  Should be some fun pictures for you next week!  Stay tuned. . . . . . . .

Photo of the Week - Week 49 - Waiting on Spring

So official arrival of spring is 15 days away.  I am thinking slightly longer for us to actually see "SPRING"!  Mom and Dad arrived just in time for one of the worst snow storms this winter.  In fact, as I sit here typing it is snowing yet again out there.

So this week's photo is dedicated to that season that is ever so slowly creeping up on us.  Spring.

Week 49 of 52

Location:  Mecosta, MI
Subject:  Lily of the Valley

On a side note, yes I know this is late.  Like technically this should be photo 50 or 51.  So, so sorry.  Things have been busy, I have been sick, excuses, excuses, excuses.  But at least you got a photo and a word or two to let you know we are all still alive up here in the great north.  Miss you all and can't wait to see you in May.

Photo of the Week - Week 48 - Random

Week 48 of 52

Location:  Near Mt. Pleasant, MI
Subject:  Besties

A. and her bestie.  We were going to update their BF pictures, but it was really, really cold outside.  This was during a break in the snow.  Spring time we will try again.

These past few weeks have been a little crazy.  Not much time to get out and shoot.  The hubby needs help at work, so I have been bouncing between that, going with my Aunt to see my Grandma, taking care of sick kiddos, and trying to squeeze in stuff that needs to be done around the house.  Busy, busy, busy.

So this week you are getting some random photos.

Random #2:  Monday night was our trade goodie night.  This is what Tamara had for us this week.

MMMMMMM marshmallow fudge.  It was very delicious and addicting.  And the dern girl sent some home with us.  I can hear them now calling me from the kitchen.  Eat me. . . .EEEEAAAAATTTTT  ME!  So I shall stuff the kids with them when they get home so I don't have to listen to them anymore!

and. . . Random #3:  Another sneak peak of the bathroom that is super close to being finished.

After multiple antique store trips (not that I am complaining, any excuse to get to one is good enough for me) we headed to this awesome store in Grand Rapids that I LOVE!  Phil's Stuff is a great antique's and etc. store.  He is only open on Saturday's but is so worth the drive.  The basement has one whole room dedicated to all things home and architecture related.  So awesome.  Anyhow, I finally found two matching handles that I liked and snatched them up.  I believe these are brass.  They will soon be painted black and will go on the new linen cabinet.  And surprisingly they were much cheaper than new.  Love 'em!

What's Cookin'?

YUM!!  That's is the word that everyone used to describe this soup last night.  Yes, I am still on my soup thing.  I can't help it, it is just so yummy.  This one has been on the list to make for a long while now.  Every time I pull chicken out for dinner the kids ask "Oooo, are you making chicken enchilada soup tonight?"

So last night, I braved it and gave it a whirl.  I will admit, the reason it has been on the list and not in the pot is because I was really nervous about this soup.  I wasn't sure if it was going to turn out as yummy as I was envisioning in my head.  And let's face it, when times are tough, I can't be affording to make a whole pot of something that ends up getting dumped out because it is yucky instead of yummy.

So last night I gave it a whirl, and thank goodness, it turned out wonderfully.  Everyone asked for a bigger batch next time because only one person got to go back for seconds.  With that being said, here is the recipe in case you want to try this scrumptousness yourself.

1 pound chicken
1 large can chicken broth (49.5 oz size)
1 cup finely chopped onion (I used a mix of green and red onions) remember to set some aside for topping
1 jalapeño, finely chopped (adjust to taste, the jalapeños we had were huge!)
1-1/2 to 2 Tablespoons minced garlic (adjust to your taste)
1 teaspoon chili powder
2 cups green enchilada sauce (homemade or canned) I used canned - hot style
1/3 cup water
2 Tablespoons corn starch
1/4 finely chopped fresh cilantro
1-1/4 low fat shredded cheese (I used colby jack mix)
1 roma tomato, diced

Cook chicken in covered pan with 1/2 cup of the chicken broth. Sprinkle both sides with the chili powder.

While the chicken in cooking dice the veggies.  Saute the onion and garlic in 2 Tablespoons of the chicken broth.  Add the jalapeño and saute for 30 more seconds.  Add the remaining chicken broth and the enchilada sauce and let simmer.

Once the chicken is cooked through shred and add to the pot.  Add all the juices from the chicken pan to the soup pot.  Let all ingredients simmer together for 20 minutes.  Mix the water and the cornstarch and add to the soup.  Simmer for an additional 10 minutes.  Add the cilantro right before serving and mix well.  (this preserves the cilantro flavor, adds much yumminess to the soup).

Divide the shredded cheese equally between all servings as a topping.  This recipe makes 10 1-cup servings.  Each bowl will get 1/8 of a cup.  Add any other toppings, I topped ours with cheese, green onions, and tomatoes.  Also yummy would be fresh green cabbage, fresh tortilla strips, a dollop of sour cream anything really that you would want on your enchilada.

And, for those of you keeping track, this lovely soup is 3 Weight Watcher PointsPlus per cup.

And as promised, Monday nights is our trade yummy dessert night.  Last night was my turn.  Here is what we had:

So yummy.  Chocolate pudding with whipped cream and white chocolate covered raspberries.  I wanted to make cups out of the white chocolate but couldn't do it without adding too many calories or points.  So, that idea was quickly nixed.  So I dipped the raspberries as planned, and spread some of the white chocolate on the inside of the cup instead and then used the remaining chocolate to fill each little raspberry.  So delicious!

So here is the skinny on this dessert.  5 pointsplus for that heavenly glass of dessert up there.  The chocolate pudding is only 1 WW pointsplus for 1 cup.  I used Jello brand fat free, sugar free cook and serve and made it with water instead of milk.  If anyone wants directions on how to do that let me know.  The whipped cream is lite whipped cream and 0 pointsplus for 2 Tablespoons.  Rasperries of course are 0 pointsplus.  So here is where the majority of the points came in.  The white chocolate.  It is 4 pointsplus for 30 grams, melted with 1/2 teaspoon of shortening.  So next time I am only going to do 15 grams with 1/4 teaspoon and skip the chocolate on the glass.  Save a couple of points.  Once it hardened on the glass it was kinda hard to get it off.  Either that or double the amount of raspberries cause those sure were delicious.  Rachel and I decided we could eat rasperries all day long if they were always covered with white chocolate.

So that's what was cookin' this week.  How 'bout at your house?

Photo of the Week - Week 47 - Snowflakes

Guess what it is doing today!?!  SNOWING!!!  Finally.  We aren't supposed to get that much, the news said maybe only an inch.  But it has been snowing pretty good for a couple of hours now so I am thinking probably more than an inch.  The kids are probably hoping it means a snow day, too bad it is already Friday.

The snowflakes are so pretty.  This morning I was running around out there catching them on different colored paper.  The neighbors probably think I am nuts. . . and they are probably right.  But in the meantime, I get to enjoy looking at these longer than the few seconds it takes for them to meld together.  They are all so different and so delicate.  Love it!

Week 47 of 52

Location:  Mecosta, MI
Subject:  Snowflakes

Blue Potatoes Make the Prettiest Mashed Potatoes

Cameron has been working at a farm close to home.  No, he has not become a famer.  They are building a bakery and he has been working on that.  They are going to be baking organic goods made with ingredients that they are going to grow on their farm.  Pretty neat idea and I can't wait to taste the goods.  Apparently they grow a lot of different potatoes.  Yesterday Cameron came home with a bag full of blue potatoes for me.  So today we used them for garlic mashed potatoes.  So pretty.  It almost looks like frosting.  And they taste deeeeelicious!  Good for you too, blue potatoes have more antioxidants than any of the other colored potatoes.

Isn't it pretty?  One odd thing about these blue potatoes.  The potatoes are a deep rich blue color, when you cut them open they are a vibrant or dark purple.  The water they are boiled in however, is almost a teal color.  Amazing how many colors this one little veggie produces.

In other deeeeelicious food news, this week Rachel and I went over to a friends house to scrapbook.  We are swapping yummy dessert/goodie treats each week.  This is what she made for us this week:

Oh my! SOOOO deeeeelicious.  I couldn't find the nutrition information, but these were very light.  3 pointsplus each for those of you counting Weight Watchers PointsPlus points.  Thank you T!!!!!!!

Last week Rachel made these really yummy meringue cookies.  But alas, they were so delicious, they were eaten before I could take a picture.  Soooo, that means she will just have to make them again. (HINT HINT!!)

Stay tuned for next Monday's goodie.  I promise you will not be disappointed!

Photo of the Week - Week 46 - Bathroom Remodel Sneak Peek

Our upstairs bath is almost complete.  I am beyond excited for it to be totally finished.  For a refresher, here is what we started with:

While the yellow certainly was cheery enough, the rest of it, well. . . . was the rest of it.  New bathroom is french inspired and so far, so super cute, and roomy, and cheery, and clean, and new, and Beeeeea-u-tiful!

But you are only getting a sneak peek.  Shower needs to be tiled, and I need to get busy and finish the linen closet, pantry, whatever you want to call it.  And I am waiting on some wall vinyl, then I have to make the window and shower curtains and then voila!  Well now that I have actually written down what needs to be finished I guess it is not super close.  Guess I better go get busy.  Then I will give you all a proper reveal.  Woo Hoo!  I am so excited.  Now if the rest of the house could just magically be finished. :o)

So there it is Week 46 of 52

Location:  Mecosta, Mi
Subject:  Bathroom Remodel Project

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