Pinning Away on Pinterest

I've been "pinning" away on Pinterest and have come across some beautiful ideas to execute during this fall season. Here are a few:

Fall Wreath

Source: decorchick.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Spanish Chicken with Chorizo and Potatoes

Source: pickyin.blogspot.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Decor

Source: google.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Pretty Fall Outfit

Source: polyvore.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Mini Chicken Pot Pies

Source: the-baker-chick.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Gourmet Caramel Apples

Source: glorioustreats.blogspot.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Apple Cupcakes with Caramel Buttercream

Source: bakedperfection.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Ginger Crisps

Source: countryliving.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Beautiful Quote

erpenpolaroid.blogspot.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Skinny Caramel Macchiato Lattes

Source: tidymom.net via Jessica on Pinterest

Homemade Fried Wontons {w/Recipe!}

Last night we didn't feel like anything too heavy for dinner. I made Teriyaki Chicken with Brown Rice for lunch and I ate a little late, as did Dele, so I went a somewhat simple route for dinner and made homemade fried wontons.

It was my husband's first time ever having them. He's not a fan of them at Chinese restaurants, but these style of wontons are WAY more delicious. Once he tried one...he kept devouring them...one after the other. I used sweet ground Italian Sausage for the filling, but you can get as creative as you want {shrimp, chicken, sausage, onion, celery, mushroom, water chestnuts, garlic, fresh ginger, etc.}.

Cook your sausage - drain the fat. I used 1 pound, which filled about 26 wonton wrappers.

These are the wonton wrappers I used. I found them in the refrigerated section of where the organic items are, in the produce department.

After your filling has cooled a bit, take a wonton wrapper and place some meat in the middle of it....

Use your finger to dab some egg yolk onto the corners of the wonton wrapper {to act as a sealant} and press edges together.

I do a bunch at one time....

Add some oil {I use canola} to a wok or a frying pan, with the fire set to medium. When the oil is hot, add your wonton's...

You will see them begin to sizzle. They cook quickly {when you can see them begin to brown on the edges, it's time to turn them} - watch them closely so they don't burn!

Remove them from the oil and drain on paper towels.

I like to dip my wonton's in sweet & sour sauce....

If you like it too, serve yourself up some to enjoy with the wonton's that you just made!!....

Enjoy!!!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 lb. sausage
• 1 package wonton wrappers

DIRECTIONS:

• Brown the sausage and drain any fat.
• Allow meat to cool
• Place a generous teaspoonful of the filling mixture to the center of a wonton wrapper, moisten the edges with a little egg, or water, and then fold into a triangle and press the edges firmly
• Fry in hot oil until browned
• Drain on paper towels
• Enjoy!

Chicken, Chicken...and More Chicken!

Thank you to all of you who saw the blog post about my husband's app and voted for it!! Thank you for taking just a minute out of your day to do that; your support was/is really, really appreciated!! So THANK YOU again!! He is currently in the lead; voting ends in a few weeks so there's still time to vote!

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My choice of meat is usually always chicken {unless I'm at a great steakhouse!}. I've been accumulating all sorts of various recipes [that have chicken in them] on Pinterest. In the next few weeks, I will be giving these a try.....

Creamy Caprese Pasta w/Chicken

Source: howsweeteats.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Copy-Cat PF Changs Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Source: wasabimon.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Crockpot BBQ Pulled Chicken

Source: justgetoffyourbuttandbake.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Thai Chicken Bites

Source: laurenslatest.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Spicy Honey Chicken

Source: the-girl-who-ate-everything.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Copy-Cat CPK BBQ Chicken Pizza

Source: thepioneerwoman.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Mini Chicken Pot Pies

Source: the-baker-chick.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Oven Roasted Sweet Potato Fries {Recipe}

Mr. Wonderful LOVES sweet potatoes. I don't. Never have. But Yukon Gold, Russet, Fingerling, and all the others...I'll eat those kind of potatoes any day ; ) But just because I don't like sweet potatoes doesn't mean they are eliminated from being a side dish during meal time in our home. Most of the time I make them mashed, but this week I made sweet potato fries...

The hubby LOVED them. And when I say loved them, he woofed them down barely taking a breath in-between bites. Ha! Since I didn't try them, I can't give you my opinion on how good they were, or were not - but I have quite a picky eater and when he raves about something and then asks for me to make them more often, they must be yummy : ) If you would like to make them, here is the recipe....

Sweet Potato Fries Recipe {adapted from Ali of Gimme Some Oven}

Ingredients:

• 2 medium-sized sweet potatoes, rinsed and dried
• 2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
• 2 tsp. smoked paprika
• 1 tsp. coarse salt
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 tsp. freshly-cracked black pepper
• 1/2 tsp. cumin
• 1/4 tsp. cayenne (optional)

- I have a tendency to throw in a little bit more of "this or that" and substitute spices if I don't have on hand what the recipe calls for - so in the case of these sweet potato fries, I improvised a bit.

Method:

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

Carefully cut the potatoes into 1/4″ thin strips, or to your desired thickness and length. Then place in a large bowl, and toss with the remaining ingredients (oil and spices) until potatoes are evenly coated.

Then spread out the potatoes evenly on a baking sheet prepared with parchment paper or silicone baking sheet. (Try not to overcrowd the sheet, or have multiple layers of fries — you want them to be roasted, not steamed.)

Place in oven and cook for 20-25 minutes, turning the fries once or twice during that time to cook evenly. (May take more or less time, depending on the size and thickness you cut the fries.) Remove once the edges slightly begin to brown and fries begin to crisp.

Ilah couldn't resist getting her hands on a sweet potato fry while I was taking pictures ; ) I was reluctant for her to have some because of the spices but daddy said, "let's see if she likes them". At first she was chowing down and I was shocked that the spice didn't faze her....then by the fourth fry, she put her fingers in her mouth and started gagging!....like mother, like daughter ; ) I swapped out those sweet potato fries for other delicious treats and she gladly moved on from one thing to the next : )

It's Friday!!! Hope you all have a great weekend!!!

Bourbon Chicken Recipe

On the menu this week for dinner was Bourbon Chicken. This dish has become a staple one in our home because it's so delicious and after you've made it a few times, it's easy to whip up. We hadn't had it in a while and our taste buds started to give us a hint that Bourbon Chicken needed to make its way back into my menu planning.

If you'd like to give this recipe a try, here's what you'll need:

2 lbs boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
• 1 -2 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1/4 teaspoon ginger
• 3/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/4 cup apple juice
• 1/3 cup light brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons ketchup
• 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/3 cup soy sauce

I usually double the above ingredients because Dele likes extra sauce.

DIRECTIONS
Prep Time: 15 mins
Total Time: 35 mins

1.) Heat oil in a large skillet.
2.) Add chicken pieces and cook until lightly browned.
3.) Remove chicken.
4.) Add remaining ingredients, heating over medium heat until well mixed and dissolved.
5.) Add chicken and bring to a hard boil.
6.) Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
7.) Serve over hot rice {we used brown instead of white or fried rice}
8.) ENJOY!

*If you'd like to add cashews, like we do, heat them in a pan over medium heat for just a few minutes and then add them to the chicken, mixing until they are incorporated.

Our July 4th Party!

Monday, the 4th of July, was a LOT of fun!! And it started off quite eventful...when our neighbors back yard [brush] caught on fire! The flames were high and the fire was starting to spread as their wooden fence caught fire. Dele ran to their house pounding on their door....I grabbed our fire extinguisher out of our garage and ran it over to him. Just then, our neighbor opened their door and Dele ran through their house and out their back door attempting to put it out. I called the fire department and they arrived just minutes later!

We live in an attached townhome. Thank God {literally} that Dele had gone outside to bbq when he did and saw the fire. At the time, the wind was blowing in the opposite direction so the flames were staying away from our home, but they had started to jump to the townhome next to the house that was on fire and had Dele {and our friend who hopped onto our other neighbor's patio and grabbed their hose} not had put it out...well, it would have been a very bad day for many people. The cause? Cigarette butts that weren't entirely put out. Nice. Once the excitement was all over {I'd say flames trump firecrackers! Ha!}, we went on to start our fun-filled 4th of July celebration!

My tablescape was exactly the same as last year. I pulled everything out from storage and mirrored the same look; in fact, the first few photos are last years pictures.

I got these napkins at Hobby Lobby last year. Love them! So patriotic! Here's a close up so you can read some of the words on them....

A few weeks ago I spotted these red placemats that are the same design as the blue ones that I bought last year {the blue ones were the last ones and on clearance; at the time I wish they would have had more - preferably red so that I could interchange them}. What are the odds of getting the exact same pattern placemats, in a different color, an entire year later? Score!!

Let the party begin!.....

For a festive look, I wrapped my pitchers in red, white and blue ribbon....

We had sweet tea, raspberry lemonade, bottles of coca-cola and water with lemon.

Dele was the grill master! The patio was the guys' spot....us ladies stayed inside where it was nice and cool ; )

I made two dishes of mac-n-cheese, because I know how fast it goes!...

We had three different types of chicken/steak....bbq, jerk, and suya {that is made in Nigeria}. I'm not into spice so I passed on that one!

I realized {after it was gone} that I forgot to add cucumbers and blue cheese to my salad! Woops! The other things I added were avocado, cranberries, homemade candied pecans and croutons.

BBQ baked beans!....

The dessert side of the table.....

Refreshing fruit cups comprised of watermelon, strawberries and blueberries....

Get your dessert plate!....

I can't take credit for making these. They were done by KaLice Events. I sent them an image of a cupcake design that I wanted replicated and they did a great job! They were Red Velvet.

I put them in star cupcake wrappers to spruce up the look even more!

Onto cheesecake shots!! I saw them here and just had to make them!! They were a BIG hit and were super easy to make!! A delicious dessert that will be a staple one in my home now!!

It was my first time working with puffed pastry sheets {to make the stars}. Even though my stars didn't come out perfect {I think it more had to do with my cutter}, not too bad for a first timer ; )

I made some peanut butter cookies and packaged them for guests to take home as favors....

After our belly's were all full, we whipped out the games and started with Taboo {guys against girls!} - and then went on to play Cranium!....

Where was Ilah? She was having a fun-filled afternoon with my mom! Here are some shots that I got of her in her July 4th attire!....

For someone who doesn't even know it was the 4th of July, she sure was pretty excited about it! Ha ha!....

The bow that I made to match her festive attire.....

My happy little firecracker!....

We had a wonderful 4th of July! Hope you did too : )