Whats Cookin' Good Lookin'?

Its almost Friday! How has your week been? Mine has been surprisingly productive despite the cold temps outside. One of the biggest goals here in the Fashionably Domestic home has been to stay warm!

I made the family a yummy meal this evening, full of fresh vegetables. We go through so many fruits and vegetables in this house.

Italian Sausage and Veggie Pasta

1 pkg. Italian Chicken Sausage 

1 Red Bell Pepper

A few tablespoons minced garlic

Splash (or 4) of white wine

1 Summer Squash, chopped

1 Zucchini, chopped

2 Heirloom Tomatoes, quartered 

1 can diced tomatoes, 15oz

Kale or Spinach(as preferred)

Italian Seasoning

Dried Minced Onion

Dried Fennel 

Dash of Milk

Salt and Pepper

Organic or Gluten Free rotini pasta

Fill pot with water and bring to a boil for pasta.

Heat pan, add olive oil and saute sausage and red pepper until peppers are soft. Add garlic and a few splashes of white wine and saute for a minute or two. Add squash and zucchini and cook until soft. Add can of tomatoes and season to taste with the garlic, onion, Italian seasoning and fennel. 

While that cooks, I sear the heirloom tomatoes in another pan then puree them in a food processor and add that to the pan of veggies and sausage. I also add a little water if it doesn't seem "saucy" enough for my taste. Add the greens, spinach or kale, dash of a milk and season as needed. Serve topped with red paper flakes and Parmesan cheese. 

If you can't tell, I'm a pinch of this and dash of that type cook so its difficult to really write out a detailed recipes. I owe that skill to my grandmother, truly one of the best home cooks I've ever met.

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In other news, Snuggle Bug is still on an obsessive carb binge. The positive thing is her doctor thinks it will help her gain weight, the down side is my bread machine is getting a workout and I just bought a waffle iron in hopes of saving money on her waffle habit. Fingers crossed it saves some money and who knows what new recipes I'll find on my new waffle making journey! 

Five Minute Craft of the Day!

Does anyone else love pretty storage? Bins, baskets, boxes…..i’m in love with decorative storage! I seem to go through phases. One moment it is baskets, baskets for everything I can see. Then it is plastic storage bins and off I run to the store for plastic storage bins to organize whatever mess is around and now its jars and boxes. I love jars, so perfect for those odds and ends just not big enough for a box or bin.

A little peek into my bathroom closet….


Now it is time for a 5 minute craft project of the day! I went to walmart and purchased a few simple white storage boxes in varying sizes that cost between $7 and $4. Something along the lines of this…



I had planned on buying some stamps for this project but was sad to find that my walmart didn’t sell stamps and the nearest craft store was 30 minutes away and closed on Sunday. Since I’m not the patient type I looked for a new option which ended up being rub on transfers which cost about $2.50 for a pack. I had never used them beforebut I love them now because they are so easy!

Here we have the finished product.



Aren’t they pretty? Five minutes and $13.50 later i've got two adorable boxes to store my scrapbooking supplies! I bought one more box in brown for sewing supplies and I'll probably end up buying a few more before my pretty storage box phase ends. Hmmm, I wonder what is next. Bags maybe? I guess we'll see!

Making It a Home...

See that bench? I made it! I know, I know...not that special but i'm proud none the less lol. Drawing from my old school theatre techie roots, I went into the garage one afternoon and began to look through our pile of scrapwood. After measuring, cutting (did I mention I LOVE power tools?) and putting that sucker together I have a garden bench! Its still missing something though, lacking pizazz...any ideas?

This may not look like much, but a few months ago this was a pile of dirt, weeds and leaves surrounding our back porch. I turned the soil, planted some flowers and shrubs, put down a weed filter and then topped it off with pine bark. It looks so much nicer now! I'm thinking about adding some bright flowers around it too, just for some added color.

I also made a new flower bed our by the back fence but its still a work in progress so i'll show that when it is done and all pretty. Ideas are always welcomed!