Navy

I love navy. It's a classic color that goes with almost any other color.  I love wearing navy and using it in decor and as an accent color.  The main color in my living room (other than the walls and couch) is navy blue and a few of my essential clothing pieces are navy.  Do you love using navy or have a navy piece that you love?  Here are a few beautiful navy pieces I swoon over.

Navy in a living room.. loving everything about this room! via

JCrew Navy Blazer via

Navy Lilly Pulitzer Dress via

Navy in the dining room via

Clutch by Fossil via

Anthro Navy Stripes Sweater via

Navy Table Setting via

Happy Sunday!

I hope that everyone has had a wonderful weekend!  I always love Sundays because they are usually relaxing.

The husband and I got a lot done this week.  We painted the new guest bedroom, cleaned house, got a new project started (pics soon), spent some time with friends and family, and of course took time to relax.

Happy Sunday!

My kind of relaxing, via

Independence Day

                                            

                                                         via pinterest

via pinterest

via pinterest

via pinterest

Happy July 4th!  I hope that everyone has a safe and fun holiday!  Remembering those who fought and continue to fight for our freedom and safety!

My husband and I have the day off work today and the rest of the week "work" free as well.  After celebrating today, we intend to paint our guest bedroom upstairs (which is actually the master), get a few things set up in there, work on our dining chairs some more, and of course relax!

New Recipe- Stacked Sweet Corn, Bean and Beef Casserole

I picked up the latest Better Homes and Garden Magazine (May 2011) a couple of weeks ago and came across a picture of a recipe that looked sooo good.  The recipe is featured in an article about the Mexican food creations of Joanne Weir.  It was fairly simple to make and made a ton of food.  The recipe is listed below as directed in the magazine along with my thoughts and take on it.

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

2 ears of fresh corn (we used a large can of corn)

8 oz ground beef

7 oz uncooked chorizo sausage (which we left out)

15 oz can pinto beans, rinsed and drained

tbsp olive oil

small yellow onion

large yellow sweet pepper (our grocery store was out of yellow so we used a red pepper)

2 cloves of garlic

3/4 cup green salsa

tbsp chili powder

2 tsp ground cumin

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

4 flour tortillas (8-9")

1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar or monterey jack cheese

sour cream

tomatoes and cilantro for garnishing

Cooking directions:

Step 1: Preheat oven to 375

Step 2: In a large skillet cook the beef and sausage, drain fat if needed.  Add the pinto beans to the beef and heat through.  Cover and set aside to keep warm.

Step 3: Chop the onion, pepper and garlic.  In another large skillet, heat olive oil and add the chopped veggies.  Add the corn, green salsa, chili powder, cayenne pepper, and cumin.  Stir mixture and the recipe says to heat for about 5 mins.  

Step 4: Spray a pan (we used round pizza pans) with cooking spray.  Lay one tortilla flat on each pan.  Top each with the meat and bean mixture.  We used about 1/2 cup of the cheese for topping this layer.  After adding the cheese, top each with another tortilla.  Top this layer with the veggie mixture and then add another 1/2 cup or so of cheese (or however much you like).  Top off this final layer with another tortilla.  

Step 5:  Cover both tortilla stacks with foil and bake for 10 minutes.  Uncover then sprinkle with 1/4 cup of cheese.  Bake for 10 more minutes (ours took less than 10 to melt).  Take out of the oven and let stand 10 minutes.  Top with sour cream, tomatoes, cilantro and anything else your heart desires.  

Here's how ours turned out:

This is just one of them! Makes a ton of food!

Look how thick it is!

Plated with a side of Mexican rice.  

Busy busy!

Sorry I've been a long-lost blogger recently.  Things have been really busy the past couple of weeks with work, mother's day, birthdays, family time, stuff with friends, errands, etc, etc, plus I haven't been feeling that great the past few days.  Anyhow, please excuse my blog for a little while.  I'm going to be updating the look of my blog and playing around with some settings so if it looks a little crazy looking, I apologize ahead of time! I do have a few things I want to share soon that I hope readers will enjoy (more ideas, recipes, etc)! Happy Tuesday!

Productivity!

My vacation last week was very relaxing and productive!  After spending those few days at the beach, we settled in for a week at home.  I did get EVERYTHING crossed off my to-do list!  Asides from having great meals, resting, and generally having a good time, I was able to plant my herb garden, plant new flowers in my pots, get my patio set up (except for the table), create my gallery wall, Spring clean the house, golf, and went to the farmer's market a couple of times for those fresh veggies.

Gallery wall on the upstairs staircase

  

At the top of that staircase (finally got my map framed and hung).  I love the colors in the map and will take an up close picture soon.  I'm not settled on the table decor though... any ideas for it?

The start of my herb garden.  So far we have dill, Italian oregano, mint, and cilantro in the first basket.  

They were selling these geraniums at Lowe's.  I couldn't pass up on the pink one.  

One of two potted plants out in front.   My snapdragons, which were in the pots, didn't live through the Winter.

Table Decor for Spring

These bright, cheerful and elegant tables will make any room feel welcoming to guests.

via Southern Living

via Better Homes and Gardens

via Country Living

via Better Homes and Gardens

via HGTV

via HGTV

via Martha Stewart

via Country Living