I'm sorry to have made everyone wait until Monday for the big announcement of who won the giveaway for the Furi Rachael Ray Froggy Double-Bladed Mezzaluna with Wooden Cutting Board and Non-Slip Mat. In the future I promise to have all giveaways end on Thursdays so I can announce the winner the next day.
Without further ado...
Drum roll please...
The winner is: 
Jaida from Sweet Beginnings! Congratulations, Jaida! I hope it makes chopping herbs an easier task. Please contact me with your mailing address within 24 hours.
Thank you to everyone who entered. I really appreciate my readers and am so happy you enjoy reading my blog (and hopefully making my recipes) as much as I enjoy sharing my meals with you. Happy Cooking!
And the winner is....
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Chilly means Chili
image here
There’s a chill in the air and the evenings are getting shorter. We’re breaking out the sweaters and socks and having bonfires over here in Mr. Roger’s neighborhood. Two in one weekend! Conversation with friends, hot chocolate and s’mores… marking the change of seasons. There’s nothing like it!
I’d like to share my favorite chili recipe… perfect for fall! Every time I make this, I get rave reviews. And like every other recipe I post on my blog, it’s easy too. With almost 1300 five star reviews on Allrecipes.com, you know it’s gotta’ be good! Using Verde salsa is key to this recipe.
Our favorite brand of salsa is Pepper Dog Salsa, you can find out where to buy it here.
Ingredients
- 2 pounds ground beef
- 1/2 onion, chopped
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
- 2 1/2 cups tomato sauce
- 1 (8 ounce) jar salsa
- 4 tablespoons chili seasoning mix
- 1 (15 ounce) can light red kidney beans
- 1 (15 ounce) can dark red kidney beans
Directions
- In a large saucepan over medium heat, combine the ground beef and the onion and saute for 10 minutes, or until meat is browned and onion is tender. Drain grease, if desired.
- Add the ground black pepper, garlic salt, tomato sauce, salsa, chili seasoning mix and kidney beans. Mix well, reduce heat to low and simmer for at least an hour.
Another weekend treat was seeing the movie Courageous in the theater with our boys. I know people’s opinions of movies are so subjective, and because of that I don’t usually recommend any.
But this one is different. If you have a man in your life…whether it be an older son, a father, a brother, a husband, a co-worker, or a friend… please bring them to see this movie. It’s the type of movie that will affect everyone in one way or another. It very well could be life-changing. Go see it!
Spaghetti Carbonara with Blue Cheese, Asparagus and Artichokes
I love carbonara. This isn't a big secret if you've read this blog for any length of time. It's my absolute favorite pasta dish, so when I saw Jessy over at Gourmet Day to Day had a recipe for Linguine Carbonara with Blue Cheese and Artichokes I knew I had to try it. Just one problem - SP isn't a big fan of artichokes. Luckily my stepdad invited SP out for dinner recently, so I invited my mom over to share the pasta. 
We both loved this. Loved it. We kept oohing and ahhing over the rich, creamy pasta, the crispy bacon, the freshness of the asparagus and the artichokes. Oh, the artichokes. So nice to see them on my plate again. I made a few slight modifications to the recipe, adding sliced onions and cutting down the blue cheese so it didn't overwhelm the other flavors, although you can add up to 1 cup if you want more blue cheese flavor. Thanks, Jessy, for a delicious spin-off to my beloved carbonara.
Kitchen Tip - Use kitchen scissors to easily cut bacon directly over the pan.
Spaghetti Carbonara with Blue Cheese, Asparagus and Artichokes
Slightly Modified from Gourmet Day to Day
1 pound spaghetti
1 bunch asparagus, trimmed and cut into thirds
8 slices bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces
1/2 large onion, sliced
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 8-oz cans artichokes hearts (in brine), rinsed and quartered or 2 8-oz packages frozen artichoke hearts, thawed and quartered
1/2 - 1 cup crumbled blue cheese
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
1/2 cup half and half
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese (about 3 ounces)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
In a large pan or dutch oven, cook cut bacon until starting to get crispy over medium-high heat. Add sliced onions and cook about 15 minutes, until tender and starting to caramelize. Add artichokes and garlic and saute for 5 minutes.
While artichokes are cooking, add pasta to boiling salted water. Add blue cheese, cream, black pepper and salt to the artichoke mixture and simmer until sauce thickens, about 5 minutes.
Add the asparagus to the pasta water 3 minutes before the pasta is done. Drain and add to the sauce and toss to coat. Remove from heat.
Beat the eggs and half and half together, along with the cheese and basil. Add to pasta and toss well with tongs. Serve immediately. 
Makeover Monday: 'Life Is Beauty Full' Sign
One of my favorite things to do is giving new life to furniture and decor for my home. What great satisfaction I get from making something from ugly and plain to something fun!
Each Monday this Month, I'll feature a makeover I whipped up. I try my very best to use what I have at home when it comes to the makeover. There is always leftover paint, wood and trim from past projects that I have stored away for projects like these.
I'm excited to show you what I did over the weekend. I created this fun sign with one of my favorite sayings.
"LIFE IS BEAUTY FULL"
It was so simple to make!
All you need is:
Piece of wood
MinWax Dark Walnut Stain
Craft Paint
Painters Tape
Stencil Brush
Stencils
Tape Measure
Pencil
Let's go over the steps!
I had this old sign that I didn't care for anymore. So I flipped it over and removed the sawtooth hanger off the back.
The wood was already nice and smooth, so it needed no prep work.
I wanted to create the look of planks on the one piece of wood.
Now you can easily create a wood plank sign instead. Just head over to my easy tutorial on making a wood plank picture holder.
To create the look of planks, I decided to paint horizontal lines using painter's tape. I love painter's tape, I use it for everything!
So I measured 4 equal parts, for each word of my quote. I wanted each word to be the focus of each "plank".
My planks happened to be 5 1/4'' wide each but it all depends on the size of your board. So this measurement will vary to your taste and size of your piece of wood.
Then I placed a piece of tape at each marking. I don't like to mess with pencil marks so very small marks are only necessary.
Then I placed another piece of tape next to the existing pieces. I did no measuring on this step. I just allowed a small gap between the 2 pieces of tape.
Then I painted in between the 2 pieces of tape with dark brown craft paint.
I pulled off the painter's tape and now I have 3 lines with 4 sections for each word of my quote.
Now this is where you can do a couple options. You can either use paint or vinyl for your sign. You can create wonderful designs and words from your personal cricut or silhouette.
I don't have either so I used craft paint to first free hand a design inspired by a pattern I found on the Internet. It's not perfect. But that's okay because I'll be sanding and staining the piece later to hide the imperfections. But I like imperfections. :) I used a color called "seamist". I only painted this design on one section of my sign.
I already had some alphabet stencils. So I went ahead and stenciled each word with black craft paint to each section.
I used the painter's tape to keep my letters straight. I don't like to measure and mess with pencil marks.
After the paint was dry, I sanded down the wood to give the letters and design a little distressed look. Then I added MinWax Dark Walnut Stain.
The stain really made the "seamist" color pop. The design is subtle enough to add that extra detail without overpowering the the message of the quote.
Now I have a fun and inspiring sign to add to my living room that I created for FREE!
Thanks for stopping by. Be sure to come back tomorrow to link up to Terrific Under Ten Tuesday! A fun linky party for projects and fun finds for $10 or less!
Linking up HERE.
Menu - Week of October 2, 2011
October is finally here and in the Northeast we are really noticing the change in seasons. Leaves are falling along with the temps and much to my chagrin, it's getting dark much earlier these days. My camera and I are mourning the loss of natural light. I am also in full-on comfort food mode, as you will see in the menu plan below.
I'm also excited because next week is Baby Girl's second birthday, which we're celebrating on Saturday. Hard to believe two years have passed already. Where does the time go? And the day after her birthday is our 8th wedding anniversary. These two milestones truly mark the beginning of the fun and festive fall and holiday season for me and I can't wait.
Sunday - Salisbury Steak, Blue Cheese and Scallion Mashed Potatoes, Creamed Spinach
Monday - Goat Cheese, Sweet Onion, Apple and Brandy Stuffed Chicken, (for the recipe swap and I'm planning to modify it), oven roasted potatoes, corn
Tuesday - Gnocchi Mac and Cheese, side salads
Wednesday - Pan Seared Pork with Citrus Rum Sauce, mashed potatoes, green beans
Thursday - Ranch Pasta with Bacon, Spinach and Tomatoes
Friday - BBQ Cheddar Bacon Ranch Chicken Salad Wraps, chips
Saturday - pizza, antipasto and cake for Baby Girl's 2nd birthday party
Solitude Sunday
The most important thing about the HOME is the people in it. Make your FAITH a priority. LOVE on your kids and spouse at all times. CHERISH those sweet simple moments. And take care of yourself! Because as moms, we tend to put others before ourselves. So use that quiet time, even if it's a couple minutes....go for a walk....eat your fruits and veggies...get that haircut that you have been putting off...whatever it takes to make you feel like you can accomplish anything! It makes you a better person, wife, mother and friend.
Have a beautiful Sunday.
31 Days of Creating A Home: Day 1
Welcome to Day 1 of Creating A Home here at AT HOME WITH K!
I am joining The Nester's "31 Day" Series. So welcome to all new guests. Please have a seat, grab your favorite beverage and enjoy your stay!
This month I'm going to show you some great ways to CREATING A HOME.
My husband and 2 boys are my world! And making our house a home for my sweet little family is very important to me.
So for the next 30 days, I have a fun schedule that I made up to keep to the theme of Creating A Home.
Each day of the week will have a set theme. It will keep me on track of this fun challenge and hopefully something for you to look forward to each and every day!
So here's a Preview of October here at At Home With K
Solidute Sunday
I don't know about you but Sundays are time for my family and I to wind down and enjoy our time together. We start our day off with church to get our week off to a great start. I am blessed with a wonderful church family. For the rest of the day, we just mostly HANG OUT, REST and PLAY with our time off from work and school. It's wonderful for the soul to get that break. It makes me a better person, mommy and wife.
So on Solitude Sunday, I'll share whatever comes from the heart.
It could be a peaceful picture.
Or Motivating Quote or Scripture.
Something for you to ponder and hopefully motivate/inspire you that day.
Makeover Monday
I love makeovers! If you know me from my blog, I love to create nothing into SOMETHING for my home! I'll be sharing a project each Monday that can help add to your decor for next to nothing! Those are my favorite!
Just a preview of one of my many past projects.
BEFORE
My husband's old bachelor cd/dvd stand.
FREE
AFTER
By adding beadboard, 3 boards and paint, I created a fun shelf for my son's room.
Free using things I already had on hand at home!
Terrific Under Ten Tuesday
Each Tuesday, I sponsor a linky party called Terrific Under Ten. It's for projects or thrift finds for $10 or less. Each and every week, I am amazed by what people come up with for next to nothing! Be inspired by other bloggers' projects and if you want I would love to have you link up as well. The more the merrier!
Wild About Organizing Wednesday
Organizing is the key of keeping your home SANE! Each Wednesday, I'll share some fun organizing tips that have helped my family in our HOME.
Thrifty Thursday
I love to go to garage sales, auctions and second hand stores! Why buy department store price when you can find great finds at great discount prices?! I do this for most of my decor in our home. Thursdays, I'll share some of my great finds for less!
Here's one of my fun finds.
Outdated end table for $3 at a garage sale.
I added a little black paint and it's one of my favorite pieces!
Fall Friday
Oh I love fall! Don't you?!! The crisp cool air, crunchy leaves, warm colors, the sweet smells...oh I could go on and on. And don't forget football! Husker football is very big in my state! :) On Fridays, I'll share anything related to FALL. It could be decor, a project or recipe...to help you create FALL in your HOME.
Shaklee Saturday
And last but certainly not least...I recently became a Shaklee Independent Distributor! I'm so excited! Someday, I'll share my personal story with you on why I decided to join with Shaklee. This year, my family had a life altering event that shook our family to the core. But no worries, it is getting better each and everyday. To make a positive out of a negative, my family and I have been healthier than we have ever been by the choices we make in the food we eat and our environment. So that is why I am so excited to share my Shaklee experience with you! Every Saturday, I'll share a Shaklee product (or 2) that will knock your socks off on how effective they work and still being GREEN and COST EFFECTIVE while at it. No yucky TOXINS added!
You are more than welcome to check out my SHAKLEE WEBSITE for more information about these great products. Email me if you have any questions! I'll be happy to help!
And there you have it, 31 days of Creating A Home that is pretty, on a limited budget and safe for your family!
Thank you for so much for visiting today and be sure to come on back again for the rest of the series!
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