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Chocolate Cranberry Spice Cake

December 8, 2016 By Chelsia Rief Leave a Comment

It's the holidays, and I don't know about you, but I don't have time for complicated. This chocolate cranberry spice cake is easy, so yummy, and festive!

You guys! We had SNOW this week!!!! Our very first snow in our house and I didn't even get a good picture of it. Why? Because it gets dark at four in the afternoon!!! WHAT? WHY?? Okay, okay, I could have probably gone outside before it got dark, but I was very busy cleaning my bathroom, folding four loads of laundry, putting a freshly dry cleaned bedspread back together...you know, #priorities.

And you know, I probably could have saved myself a lot of money by just getting our comforters dry cleaned because it made ALL the difference! I can't believe I waited this long to do it. Our bedspread looks nearly brand new again and all for about $30!

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Mom's Tuna Casserole

December 6, 2016 By Chelsia Rief 2 Comments

Looking to incorporate more fish into your budget? Try out my mom's tuna casserole - it's comforting, delicious, flexible, and easy!

Everyone's got that list of meals that their mom would always make...and were always good. My mom's tuna casserole is on that list for me. It's my brother's favorite dinner that my mom makes, and I've got to say, my little family likes it a lot, too.

Mom would probably make tuna casserole for dinner at least once a month. I think she liked it because the ingredients were inexpensive and the recipe was fairly simple. I mean it's a casserole, so not too difficult, and reliable, right? [Read more...]

Tuesday's Tidings for Dec 6, 2016

December 5, 2016 By Chelsia Rief Leave a Comment

Hers

1. I finished reading Chip and Joanna's The Magnolia Story a few weeks ago and I have to say, I loved the way it was written. It's such a unique read because they are both literally sharing the page with their memories. Even Grace and Josh picked the book up and read it after I was done and they too, just loved it. BTW- a really great Christmas gift for the fan of Fixer Upper. It's an easy read and you'll fall in love with them even more as a couple.

2. To piggyback on the above, Josh also got me a copy of The Magnolia Journal and I think it's probably one of the first magazines that I've read cover to cover. I love that the advertisements are not annoying and few and far between. Every article and story I read was also informative and inspiring. It's a beautiful magazine and definitely one I'm going to subscribe too.

3. One thing we're loving right now is The Crown on Netflix. Josh and I are only about halfway through episode 4, and while I'm sure Josh already knows most of the story (seeing as how he's a history ~~supernerd~~ buff) I'm learning a lot about the royal family (most of which appears to be historically accurate), which makes me think I need to give The King's Speech another go (because I fell asleep on it the first time). Also, I'm moving to England. I mean c'mon, it's the land of Coldplay, tea time, Downton Abbey, and really classy clothes (I realize everyone doesn't see Coldplay as a plus, but, hey...). Also, sounding really intelligent with that accent. I'm moving! On second thought, they have the same weary winter weather we do here in the Pacific Northwest... [Read more...]

Weekly Menu for the Week of Dec 5th

December 4, 2016 By Chelsia Rief Leave a Comment

What a week! I think I mentioned in last week's menu that Josh was supposed to be on vacation this week. Well, he was, and then he and the kids got sick. So far, I'm doing okay. But, fingers crossed. I'm trying to stay up on sleep and drink lots of water...and smoothies.

We did, however, get some things done this week. If you follow me on Instagram, then you know Josh filled in our corner fireplace with shiplap and I think it's beautiful! I'm in love it with - it just adds some nice character to our house. Lots more to do with the fireplace yet to finish the look, but it's a great start to making the space much warmer and cozier.

I know there are a million "how to's" on Pinterest for installing shiplap, but we haven't seen any for filling in a corner fireplace with it. I believe the plan is to share how we did that on the blog as well. [Read more...]

One Pan Salmon, Asparagus, & Sweet Potato Dinner

November 30, 2016 By Chelsia Rief 9 Comments

Sometimes you need a superfood fix, and this one pan salmon dinner with asparagus and sweet potatoes provides a full meal that is easy, healthy, and quick!

I can't decide if I'm channeling my inner teenager from Friday nights past or if I'm getting older (I've got a feeling it's a bit of both), but currently, I'm huddled up on the couch with my leopard print blanket (which reminds me of my old leopard print comforter from the good ol' high school days) and I'm watching a movie with a pizza waiting in the wings.

This is all very reminiscent of my junior and senior days. Once in awhile on Fridays, my parents would go out for a date, and if I didn't have a date or wasn't working, I had a date with my bedroom. Either I'd have a movie I rented or watch one I already owned and my parents would ensure I had a dinner of some kind. I usually requested a cheese and olive pizza from Pizza Hut and off they would go and I would have the whole house to myself.

I loved it!

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Weekly Menu for the Week of Nov 28th

November 28, 2016 By Chelsia Rief 1 Comment

Happy Cyber Monday and first week of December everyone!

First of all, let me just ask, how was your Thanksgiving? Ours was great, and I hope yours was, too. We got to see family and eat good food. I forewent (that's a thing, right?) Thanksgiving seconds to hold my little six-month-old niece - who promptly fell asleep on my shoulder. #totallyworthit

Did you do any Black Friday shopping? I bought a few things on Saturday including this tree collar for our Christmas tree (which I'm admittedly crazy about...).We set it up last night and it looks great! Already loving it over a tree skirt!

Which means, yes, you heard right! We got our Christmas tree up, we've got our outside lights up and the only thing we have left to do is decorate the inside of the house. [Read more...]

$4 Easy DIY Cedar Planter

November 26, 2016 By Joshua Rief 2 Comments

Festive touches for the holidays don't get much easier or cheaper than these cute little trees in this $4 DIY cedar planter!

This is one of those insanely simple DIY projects that many of you probably would not need any kind of tutorial to make (if you were to chose to make it, of course). But...that's one of the reasons I like it so much. Some of the DIY projects we've been tackling (or contemplating tackling) lately are pretty involved affairs involving lots of wood, many tools, and lots of weekends and evenings! This one...

More like $4, one board, and half an hour.

It's a blank slate, of course. If you're the creative type, I foresee snowflakes, lights, and ribbon taking this planter and its humble denizen up quite a few notches on the decorative scale. Because this is just a planter. I guess, realistically, you need add the Christmas to it! [Read more...]

Weekly Menu For The Week Of Nov 21st

November 20, 2016 By Chelsia Rief Leave a Comment

Happy week of Thanksgiving and Black Friday! Let the turkey eating and Christmas shopping commence!

How many of you are going out of town or have family coming into town? This year, we're spending Thanksgiving with Josh's family. We switch off every other year and last year we hosted Thanksgiving at our house and seated a ton of people around that beautiful farmhouse dining room table that Josh built. Since we're noshing on pumpkin pie with Josh's family this year, his sister and her family are coming down from Washington to spend the week with the whole family.

I'm especially thrilled because I get to snuggle my little niece Ellie. I haven't seen her since July...she's going to be so big now!!! Why do babies have to grow?

We should protest that! "Stop babies from getting bigger!" [Read more...]

Pan Seared Chicken with Apples and Pears

November 15, 2016 By Chelsia Rief 5 Comments

Pan Seared Chicken with Apples and Pears is a yummy, easy, reliable one pan meal that you'll want to make over and over again!

For some reason, I've decided that this was the season of apples for me. I've only made three pumpkin recipes this year (which is rather unlike me) and whole-heartedly embraced the apple. I guess this isn't too surprising of a thing. I love apples. I eat a Granny Smith every day, but I think subconsciously, I knew I had an abundance of pumpkin recipes already on the blog, but not a lot of apple.

So I'm bringing you another apple recipe, and you could totally make this all year long if you wanted to. Since we had so many apples leftover from when we went apple picking I knew I wanted to do something that wasn't breakfast or dessert.

The way I see it, we can always use one more chicken recipe in our arsenal to switch things up a bit and make that boring weeknight chicken dinner really a winner!

See what I did there? Haha! That's what we call a play on words my friends. Or...something like that. Okay, moving on now.

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Weekly Menu For The Week Of Nov 14th

November 14, 2016 By Chelsia Rief Leave a Comment

It's the week before Thanksgiving and I haven't posted a single Thanksgiving recipe yet! Sorry about that! I'm just over here dropping the Thanksgiving ball, but really you are in good hands. We've got a delicious stuffing recipe on our site, as well as my family's candied yams, and we've got lots of pies to choose from we well.

I just think that this year, I've decided to focus on snacks and dinners for you guys instead. But I do have some holiday-inspired dishes coming your way. [Read more...]