Easy Chicken Pasta Dish

Talk about coming back and then disappearing for a week!! Sorry for that folks, still trying to figure out a good balance of my time. I was planning on blogging mainly on my lunch break at work but I am very fortunate to work for a company where there is always someone around to enjoy lunch with! :)

But what better a time to check in and a share a new recipe on the a Monday evening? I've got my Seahawks on in the background and a cute little Roxy cuddled up next to me!

I just have to share this awesome recipe that I found from Pinterest! It's such an easy but extremely tasty pasta dish that I recommend every one try this recipe!

Without further ado here is the newest dinner recipe to have found a permanent home in our house ----- Farfalle with Garlic Parmesan Cream Sauce & Pan Seared Chicken Sausage.

I loved this recipe! Added a slice of garlic toast on the side and it was a perfect fall dinner!! And perfect as leftovers! The only small alterations I made to the original recipe was that I used a basil and cheese sausage! I can't remember the brand but I would say pick your favorite and go with that! And the last alteration I made...I left out the spinach!! I really have tried to like spinach but I really think it's never going to happen! :)

Enjoy this recipe and a big thanks to (a)Musing Foodie for sharing the recipe!

Friday Favorites - October 4th, 2013

Good Morning and Happy Friday to You!!

I absolutely love reading other blogs who do a Friday Favorites so I figured why not jump on the bandwagon myself!!

Here are my first Friday Favorites!

1. This adorable little note pad! I found this at Bed Bath and Beyond the other week and thought it was super cute!! I've been on the lookout for something small that I could keep in my purse for when I need to jot something down and this was right on the money! Plus the proceeds from the sale went towards Breast Cancer Awareness...Win-Win!



2. Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte! Of course this is probably a favorite on a lot of people's list but I had to share! I waited until 10/3 to have my first PSL of the year!! It was delightful and made my morning start off with a smile!

3. Sleepytime Tea! I have been having trouble sleeping lately, for a few weeks actually so I've started a new regime this week and it's been working. I am in love with this sleepy time tea! This and some melatonin seem to help me fall asleep.

4. GoPicnic Lunches - I found out about this awesome site from Groupon. They had a deal one day and I figured hey why not try it, keep a few stashed at work for those days I'm running late or I forget my lunch! So far I've tried this Peanut Butter & Crackers one and loved it!!

It was pretty filling too because check out how much food you get (pear was not included in the box):

And on the inside of the box was a Suduko puzzle! I am pretty horrible at those so I didn't even try but I thought it was so clever of them...it was like an extra treat!! The Groupon deal I purchased was a sweet deal and I ended up with 9 different packs of these in all different varieties...don't be surprised if these pop up again on the blog :)

5. Last but definitely not least this little guy....It's from a Pin on Pinterest and every single time I look at it I cannot help by smile! This week has been a pretty stressful week so I like having this little guy to cheer me up! I mean how can you not smile when you look at this adorable face?

There you have it folks my first Friday Favorites!! I hope that everyone has a wonderful Friday and very fun weekend!!

Books and Cooks...

Happy Tuesday Everyone!! I hope you all are having a fabulous kick off to your week!!

I am pretty excited for tomorrow as we are having a company party!! For 6 years the company I am working for has been voted Best in the Business and we are celebrating tomorrow!! It should be a blast!!
*Side Note - I was actually laid off from my position last year (12/31/12 to be exact) but I started at my new company this past April and I love it!! :)

I thought today I'd share with you a couple new books and some new foods I've tried recently!

First up the foods....

I always hit up the clearance section at Target because you never know what kind of little items you might find to try out! I usually find small things of flavored coffee to try or flavorings to add to your meals! My other favorite place to browse the food racks is TJ Maxx. Yup TJ Maxx! I always find good flavored coffees there, scone & muffin mixes, and now I've found a Quinoa mix! I have never had Quinoa but figured I'd jump on the band wagon before another health food takes over. Last night I decided to combine my two finds - Lemon & Herb Quinoa with steak marinated in Campbell's Skillet Sauces Fire Roasted Tomato!

I will be honest I have no idea how people can rave about Quinoa the way they do! Perhaps it's because I'm a texture person when it comes to my food and there is just something wrong to me about the texture of this stuff but you can put me down as not a fan of it! I even waited the full 20 minutes for it to absorb the water, then 5 minutes to sit, then fluffed....but nope I took two bites and couldn't do it! For those of you who do like Quinoa make sure to hit up your local TJ Maxx to see what they have to offer in flavors!

Onto the skillet sauce....DELISH! I was pleasantly surprised how good this sauce was! Whenever I see Fire Roasted on anything I usually find it to not be quite as "firey" as I like but this one was right on the money! And so easy...brown up your meat, toss in your sauce, and let simmer til your meat is cooked! If you can find this one make sure to try it...I know I'll be on the look out for different flavors!

Onto the books...I recently put out a post on Facebook requesting suggestions for a book I could devour! I was looking for something that would suck me in and make it hard for me to accomplish anything over the weekend! One of my super sweet coworkers left two books sitting on my desk waiting for me the next morning! One of those was The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky.

A good friend of mine Laura had recommended this one to me  awhile back but I completely forgot about it, especially since I watched the movie (very sweet movie for all you cinema lovers). I was lucky enough to sit down Sunday and read this entire book! It was a 4 star story and such an easy read! It's written in letter format which I love! I definitely recommend this book!

And one more book that I recently purchased is a 5 Year Q&A Book!!

I heard about this book recently from a vlogger on YouTube and it sounded right up my alley. I really like to keep a journal but some nights I just want to read or I am so tired that the minute my head hits the pillow I am out...this books allows me to still record a thought each day! Basically for 5 years you record your answer to each question and every day has a different question! I really love this and think it will be so fun to see what changes and what doesn't change in my answers! Another "book" I would recommend to everyone!

Well folks I should probably wrap this post up as my lunch break is nearing its end! I will leave you with a few fun upcoming things I've got going on though...

I am currently rereading all the Harry Potter books! I have not read these since the first time I read them and think it's so fun going back through book 1 now! I just love everything about Harry Potter!! I am also reading a few other books on the side but the next one I am starting is called The Fault in Our Stars...the second book my coworker lent me!

This week, aside from the work party tomorrow, I've got happy hour with my best friend Alycia, Coffee and a walk with a friend on Saturday, Decorating for Halloween!! and Sunday morning Chuckles and I have a date to watch the first episode of the new season of Once Upon a Time! He is working nights now so we will be DVRing it and watching it together a WEEK LATE!! It's killing us both to have it sitting on the DVR but it's our show so no sneak watching it!!

I hope everyone has a great rest of your week and I'll be back on Friday with my Weekly Favorites!!

Blog Hiatus is Over!

Hello Readers!!

I hope you are all still out there and interested in what I have to share! After a few months of contemplation I have realized how much I've been missing this little ol' blog of mine and I have decided to bring it back to life!! I have spent the last 3 months (approx) thinking about how much I have wanted to get back into blogging but then remembering how time consuming and stressful it started to be. But in these 3 months I also have determined a way to blog and keep my sanity which will be to limit myself to only 3 posts a week. I have already set aside time on my calendar and I am so extremely excited to be coming back to the wonderful blogging community.

This time around I will still be focusing on book reviews, new recipes, crafts, etc but I will also be tossing in some randomized posts...such as Friday Favorites, new product finds, weekend recaps, holiday festivities and more! I actually love that a lot of bloggers do a Friday Favorites post and I think it's a fun way to focus on the positive stuff that has gone on throughout your week.

I can't express how excited I am to be diving back into blogging. And I hope I didn't lose my fabulous readers during this hiatus!!

So without further ado lets kick this off with a new recipe! :)

This past weekend I was lucky enough to spend my entire weekend at HOME!! It was lovely!! I was able to relax, bake, read, and do some things around the house!

I ended up trying a new recipe that I've held onto since last Fall.....Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies...

These were super easy to make and included two fun ingredients:

 

 

Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies

 

Ingredients

 

• 3 cups uncooked oats
• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1 cup dried cranberries

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine oats, flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt. Set aside.
3. Combine butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
4. Add in eggs.
5. Add in vanilla and pumpkin puree.
6. Add in the flour mixture.
7. Stir in cranberries.
8. Drop by spoonfuls onto baking sheets
9. Bake for 10 - 12 minutes.
10. Let cool.
11. Enjoy!

I ended up doing a split on these cookies. I divided the batter in half and only put cranberries in one half.

 

I got this recipe from the blog Mother Thyme.

 

This past week was quite the week of baking and I ended up sending these to Chuckles work today! I just couldn't have any more baked goods in the house! This week alone I made chocolate chip cookies and muffins for Chuckles and Monday night I will be baking cookies for work because....Tuesday is National Homemade Cookie Day!!

 

Alright my lovely readers I am off to finish up Laundry and enjoy what is left of my wonderful weekend at home!! I hope everyone has had an enjoyable weekend!!