Mr. Prof designer home

This is my first time participating in the Secret Recipe Club, a large-scale version of the recipe swaps I do on my cooking board, only instead of being assigned a single recipe you are assigned a blog and asked to pick a recipe, make it and then blog about it on a specific day.

I was assigned Farmgirl Gourmet, written by Heather, a mom of two who loves cooking and lives on 20 acres with 8 goats and 15 chickens. Her blog is full of gorgeous food and recipes, most of which she either grows herself or sources locally. Check it out for more delicious recipes.

I chose her recipe for Angie's Chipotle Shredded Chicken Tacos, partly because I wanted to try an experiment with my crock pot and partly because it looked delicious. We love tacos but I rarely make them so this was a great excuse.


Even though I don't usually cook with chicken thighs I decided to stick to the original recipe. I'm glad I did - the thighs were deliciously tender from the slow cooking. I served the tacos with a lot of toppings:


We really enjoyed this recipe and I had a lot of fun browsing through Farmgirl Gourmet for inspiration. I'm writing this post about 3 weeks after I made the chicken tacos and there are a bunch of new recipes on the blog that sound good. Enjoy!

Angie's Chipotle Shredded Chicken Tacos
Farmgirl Gourmet

2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 6)
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup salsa
2 tablespoons canned chipotle chilies in adobo sauce, sliced
1 tablespoon chili powder
Salt and pepper, to taste
Warm tortillas
Toppings: Shredded cheddar cheese, lime quarters, sour cream, lettuce, guacamole, tomatoes, cilantro, onion, salsa

In a slow cooker, combine chicken, garlic, salsa, chipotle chilies, chili powder, 1/4 teaspoon pepper and salt to taste. Add a 1/4 cup of water if the mixture looks too dry. Cover; cook on low for 8 hours.

Transfer chicken to a serving bowl, shred with 2 forks. Taste and season with salt and pepper if desired. Spoon onto warm tortillas and add toppings.

Kitchen Tip: If your slow cooker is on the larger size (6-quarts or larger) you may have issues with recipes burning. Most slow cooker recipes seem to be for 4-quart cookers. To make the space smaller, put a Pyrex or Corningware dish into the slow cooker and put the ingredients inside the dish.

On this foggy, cold autumn morning I'm dreaming of somewhere warm and far and away. Possibly because I'm going somewhere hot hot hot later on in the week for a wedding. And I LOVE weddings! So how perfect to come across this beautiful, rustic, romantic beach home in Sydney, Australia from Home Life. What do you say? Yes please! 










All pictures: Home Life. Photographer: Jared Fowler

I love that everything in the home has been brought back from all corners of the globe. The pieces work together beautifully against the white background. Such a lovely home!

I know someone in particular who is going to love this post...g'day Cas in Sydney! Big hug to you cheeky-bo! xxx

Hard to believe these are the last two days of October. November is right around the corner. In my neck of the woods we actually had SNOW yesterday. We rarely get measurable snow before the New Year, but we had between 4-6 inches yesterday. Before Halloween even. Ridiculous.

This week's menu plan is sparse because I'm out of town at my big work conference Tuesday - Saturday. I'll be eating hotel food most of the time but hopefully my coworkers and I will get out for a few good dinners. I hope everyone has a great week!

Sunday - Ground beef tacos with shredded lettuce, cheese, salsa, sour cream and avocado with yellow rice

Monday - Creamy chicken with mushrooms and onions over egg noodles. I'm experimenting with my crockpot, combining some recipes from Fix It and Forget It. My basic idea is chopped onions and mushrooms, a packet of onion soup mix, a can of cream of mushroom soup and chicken breasts. Once it's done cooking I'll stir in some sour cream and serve over egg noodles.

Picture: via the beautiful blog Stylizimo

Another delicious recipe from Cassie, this one for Roast Beef with Mushroom Gravy. I recently discovered why I was having so much trouble with my crock pot (mine is very large so standard recipes tend to burn, a problem I've solved by adding a Pyrex or Corningware dish to make the cooking area smaller) so I'm no longer hesitant to use it.


I prepped the onions and mushrooms the night before so I could sear the beef in the morning before heading to work. I loved coming home to a house that smelled of delicious roast beef with gravy. My only complaint was the greasiness of the gravy. My cut of beef let off a lot of fat, so next time I'll strain the gravy through my fat separator before serving. I served the roast with mashed potatoes but I think egg noodles would also be awesome and am planning to do that next time. Thanks for another winner, Cassie!

Roast Beef with Mushroom Gravy
Cassie Craves

1 3-pound beef roast
2 tablespoons butter, divided
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper
1 pound mushrooms, sliced
1 onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic
1 10.75-ounce can cream of mushroom soup
1 packet dry mushroom gravy mix
1 cup water

In a Dutch oven, heat olive oil and 1 tablespoon of butter over medium-high heat. Season beef roast liberally with salt and pepper. Add beef roast and sear on all sides until caramelized. Add to the bottom of a crock pot.

To same pot, add remaining tablespoon of butter, mushrooms and onions. Cook until mushrooms are brown and onions are soft, then season with salt and pepper. Stir in garlic and cook and stir for 30 seconds. Stir in beef broth and scrape the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon to release browned bits. Add mushroom mixture to meat in crock pot.

Mix together cream of mushroom soup and mushroom gravy mix. Pour over meat and mushroom mixture.

Cook on low for 8 to 10 hours, until meat begins to fall apart. If it looks greasy, strain mushrooms and onions from the gravy then put gravy into a fat separator. Add the mushrooms and onions back in and serve with mashed potatoes or egg noodles.

I love this soft, calm nursery, brightened up with a shock of colour using wonderful prints by Darling Clementine....

Picture: The bedroom was created by the clever blogger at Supersnella. Buy these lovely retro style prints at Darling Clementine

'Marionette' Darling Clementine



Picture: Family Living. Get the Sundvik table from IKEA and choose a lovely fabric to cover. I painted the surface of my little girls' table with black board paint so they can draw on it until their hearts content! IKEA also sell a shelf like this. Find similar wall stickers like the tree on the door at Inke.




Picture: Family Living. All little ones love their dolls to sleep in style - like in this Juno dolls cot which you can buy at House of Hedda , I love how it matches the bed! Try colourful fabric for your angels wall from IKEA and Inke for wall stickers.





Picture: IKEA Family Live. IKEA sells children's kitchen units, this play food and tea set. If only our angels could actually make us supper too?!



Yesterday, we went to Half Price Books and I was so excited to get a good selection of books (on the cheap!) to give me a boost in the area of personal Bible study.  Last year, I hit a real slump in that area, and I really want to be intentional to try to nurture that area of my life, so that when I hit another tough time, I'll have a variety of spiritual "food" to intake.

Are you in a slump?  It could hit in many different places:

• marriage
• spiritual life
• relationships with your kids
• emotions
• sex life
• friendships

But when it hits, it can be hard to climb out.  I'll offer thoughts on a few... I'd love to have you share your tips/ideas for dealing with slumps in any area of life as a Christian woman!

Spiritual Slump
Sometimes I want Someone to just come and lift me out... and sometimes He does.  But sometimes, He comes and is simply with me in the pit.  And sometimes when I don't reach out to Him, He gently reminds me how much I need Him.

So what I am learning to do is just keep talking to Him.  Just keep looking outside of myself, to find where my Creator, Redeemer, and Friend is at work.  I may have ebbs and flows, but He is always the same.  So when I look to Him, there is a fixed "constant" in my life, no matter what else is going on around or inside of me.

What I did last night is pre-purchase a number of those little Bible study guides put out by NavPress, Charles Stanley, or Chuck Swindoll, so that I have an intentionally-selected system to use to study God's Word in new ways, particularly for those times when I'm not just bursting with ideas or an intense desire for Scripture.  I've found that this is particularly important for me overseas when I don't have as many options for conferences, women's retreats, etc.

Sex Life Slump
Now, every time I check out my SiteMeter, I am very aware that the articles I've written about intimacy are still the most-visited, most linked, and most popular posts here at Making Home.  :)

But of course, in our marriage, we still hit sickness, a crazy schedule, travel times, and general exhaustion from time to time, like anyone else.  It could be easy to cast this area of sex aside as one thing to remove from "the list" of necessary "to-do"s.  And I'll admit that lately I've not been as creative and fun in this area as I'd like to be.

However, it's such a central part of the marriage relationship that it would be a shame to let it fall to the wayside.  A few things that help me as a woman are to: (1) take time to really kiss my husband... not just a peck, but really look him in the eyes, and kiss him, every day.  (2) Freshen up!  Take a bath while he puts the kids down, or get a shower in during naptime.  Spontaneity is more easily achieved when you feel clean & relaxed.  (3) Just do it.  I don't mean to do it without enthusiasm or enjoyment... I mean, let yourself just go along for the ride.  Take time to enjoy the simple sensations and fun times together that happen when you are alone with your husband.  Just do it.

I've heard a number of women express the idea that sex is like exercise-- "I may not always feel like doing it beforehand, but I'm always glad to have done it."



What about you?  Have you been in, avoided, gotten out of, or even simply made it through, a "slump" in your life?  Please share in the comments!






Image: photostock / FreeDigitalPhotos.net