St. Patty's Day {Crafts, Recipes, Decor & More!}

You didn't think I was going to let a holiday go by without celebrating it, did you?

Of course not!

But I also genuinely have a hereditary reason to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. Both sides of our family have Irish descendants. My mother's maiden name is "Healy" and Brian's mother's maiden name is "Likens" so we both claim our Irish heritage and are proud to celebrate this fun holiday.

Fortunately for you, I did all the leg work and found some of the cutest ideas floating around Pinterest and Blog-land and complied them all here.

So without further adieu, let's hop right in like a little leprechaun and get down to it!

Free Printables 

Y'all know I love a good free printable! I was a little surprised at the amount of very cute and creative things people have made. Here are a few of my favs:

This Irish prayer below can be downloaded from the talented blogger, Marie, at Blooming Homestead.

I currently have this beauty framed and displayed on my kitchen counter. I just love those gold polka dots!

If you are planning to host a St. Patty's party for your kiddos, this entire party pack can be downloaded for FREE from WeHeartParties. I adore this color palette. 

And if you don't want to waste all of your computer ink, you can download it and either email it or bring a jump drive to Staples and they will print it for you for a nominal fee.

I think these gold/green shamrocks with the black & white background are so beautiful. They remind me of Kate Spade. You can download them at Paisley Petal Events.

I love to include little notes in Payton's lunchbox. Sometimes they are handwritten words of encouragement and sometimes they are printed jokes or fun facts. These St. Patrick's Day jokes will definitely be sitting next to his turkey sandwich next week. You can download them at Capturing Joy.

And if your family is anything like mine, I think this sheet of "Fun Facts" would make interesting dinner table discussions. You can print them off here at Degree Search. (Sorry they are so hard to read here, it was either this size, or so enormous it went off the page).

Craft & Gift Ideas

None of us are just sitting around looking for ways to spend more money or exert more energy toward another project. So I've found a few super easy craft and gift ideas that take no more than a few minutes to put together, but sure would make someone's day!

This free printable can be downloaded here from Blue Skies Ahead. Simply attach it to a single-serve container of Lucky Charms and BAM - you're done!

Or if you have some extra glass jars laying around the house, it would be a fun project for the kids to separate out a bag of Skittles to make "Rainbows in a Jar."

If you're willing to get your kids' hands a little messy, these crafts look very easy, but produce some grandparent-gift-worthy results.

This would be easy enough to assemble, but could be costly unless you can get the streamers at the Dollar Store.

I know Parker would love to do this craft. It's as simple as cutting off the top of a green pepper!

Depending on how adventurous you are with messes, this is one that any kid would love to do! Check out how No Time For Flashcards creates a super fun sensory play craft that results in puffy paint shamrocks. 

P.S. I would put my kids in their underwear and have them do this in the bathtub! :)

Recipes

My mother always made corned beef for St. Patrick's Day. I have very fond memories of it, and I still make it every year as well. But if you're looking for some other fun food ideas for this festive holiday, here ya go...

Such an easy and fun dessert for a kids party!

Simply make lime jello in plastic cups, then right before serving, top it with whipped cream and Lucky Charms cereal.

Yet another Lucky Charms recipe... I know. But I love the idea of just swapping out a couple of ingredients from Rice Krispy Treats and coming up with a super easy St. Patrick's Day dessert. These would be cute boxed up and sent in as teacher gifts.

And if you're not a big fan of corned beef, this Crock Pot Guiness Irish Beef Stew looks pretty darn amazing! You can get the recipe here from Season with Spice.

Or who doesn't love a loaded potato skin? This Irish spin on the classic appetizer looks AH-mazing.

You can get the recipe for these Ruben Style Potato Skins here on Simple Comfort Food.

And I had to include this little gem for my hubby who occasionally likes a little Bailey's on the rocks. These look both decadent and delicious.

Get the recipe here from Gimme Some Oven.

Okay loves, that should give you more than enough inspiration for your St. Patrick's Day celebrations. May the luck of the Irish be with you all! ;)

Mouthwatering Slow Cooker Pork Roast

Hello everyone! I hope you had a fantastic weekend.

We spent most of ours bouncing around from one birthday party to the next. In total, we celebrated FIVE birthdays in one weekend. Phew! That's a lot of celebrating.

Today, I wanted to share a delicious recipe that I came across last week when trying to figure out what to do with the pork loin roast I had purchased because it was on sale.

I am pleased to report that my entire family loved this recipe and the leftovers were just as yummy. This would make a super easy weeknight meal, or could be dressed up with some fancy side dishes and made for company. Either way, I hope you'll give it a try next time pork loin is on sale at your grocery store.

Mouthwatering Slow Cooker Pork Loin

Ingredients:

As simple as this may seem, the only ingredients are:

• Approx. 2 lb. pork loin roast
• 3 tablespoons of soy sauce
• 1 packet of dry onion soup mix
• 3 tablespoons of minced garlic
• 3/4 cup dry red wine
• 1 cup water

Directions:

Just like the ingredients, the directions are super simple!

1. Pat your pork loin roast dry and place it inside a greased slow cooker.

2. In a bowl, combine soup mix, red wine, water and soy sauce. Mix to combine, then pour over the pork loin, turning to ensure the entire roast is coated with the liquid.

3. Spread minced garlic on the top of the pork.

4. Cover and let cook on low for 10 hours, or high for 6-8 hours depending on the weight of the pork.

5. Once it is fork tender, shred the meat and serve with the remaining sauce.

I served ours with a huge pan of roasted vegetables. It was the perfect compliment to the pork.

I hope you and your family enjoy this recipe as much as we did.

I'll be back later this week with some fun St. Patrick's Day ideas. Stay tuned!

Photo/Brain Dump...

Warning: Brain and Photo Dump Ahead!

I'm being forced by my dumb phone to seriously purge my photo stash, so I wanted to get some of my favs up on the blog for archive sake.

I touched on our Valentines weekend in my last post, but didn't share many pictures. As you know, I love holidays. I'm pretty sure when I get to heaven, every month will have a wonderful holiday to celebrate and I will have access to as many decorations, cookie cutters, house flags, decorative pillows, glitter, and scrapbook paper as my little heart desires.

In the meantime, I tend to go a little overboard with themes. So, the boys started off Friday morning (before school) with a full-fledged Valentine's celebration.

My mom always bought my brother and I the little Russel Stovers chocolates for Valentines, and I am happy to keep that tradition going with my kids. And yes... I let them eat a chocolate before breakfast. They were so happy!

Breakfast was of course in the shape of hearts (making heart-shaped eggs is a lot harder than I expected. May have to perfect that one during the year).

And lunch may or may not have involved some hearts as well. :)

Parker's school had a cute program that day called "Donuts with Dad." The fathers came to their class and received special hand-made gifts from the kids and they all had donuts together. Then they took the kids out to the playground and got all rowdy together (as Dad's do best).

They requested the kids and dads to wear their favorite sports team attire. Don't they look cute??

Parker is so happy in this picture. Brian is his hero.

After school, I met up with my in-laws and the took the kids for the rest of the weekend! They are Saints! (Thanks Mom & Dad - we are so appreciative!!)

The time alone with Brian was so great not only because we got to move at a much slower pace, have long, meaningful discussions, and SLEEP IN... but I think it's so important for couples to reconnect without the kids around every once in a while. It reminds you why you married your spouse in the first place. :)

Friday evening, Brian and I attended the Harry Connick, Jr. concert.

 It was AH-mazing. He is so talented and can jam on that piano like no one else I've ever seen.

Before the concert we went to one of my favorite restaurants called "Cafe Carmel" and ordered all sorts of fattening, delicious items like this 3-cheese baked macaroni and cheese. Mmmmm.... makes my mouth water just thinking about it!

It was such a special weekend. Even though we didn't go anywhere, and we didn't do much else besides the concert... recharging our batteries was just what we needed.

...........................................................................................

In other random thoughts...

I am so obsessed with Ed Sheeran's new album. Well, I guess it's not technically "new" but his latest album. The song "Thinking Out Loud" is on constant repeat on my itunes. Download it. You won't be sorry.

The boys love to wrestle with Brian in our bed at night. We've even had to have our bed frame replaced because they were so rough with their WWF impersonations!

But the other night, they just cuddled up together in our bed and stated, "We're not leaving! You have the most comfortable bed in the house!" Which is true... but hey, we're the adults.

 

When it comes to beds, I love all white bedding, lots and lots of pillows, and a crisp, clean duvet over a high-quality down comforter. Makes me want to just curl up in my bed right now.

We've been having the most gorgeous weather lately.

The french doors have been open almost every day.

I need to re-read this when it's the middle of August and we're dying of the sweltering heat.

So, judging from my blog stats, you guys like my recipe posts the best. They are always the ones that get the highest "views" and comments. So, if that's the case, I've got some more great meal ideas to share in the coming weeks.

Happy Friday everyone. Yay for the weekend!!!

Recipe: Slow Cooker Chicken Sausage & White Bean Stew

I'm still coming off my Valentine's weekend high.

I gotta say... I love my kids with all my heart and soul... but spending a weekend alone with my man was just what the doctor ordered.

We went out to dinner and then attended an amazing concert...

We slept in, drank second-cups of coffee, lazed around the house, did random errands with no time limits or children yelling, "WHERE are we going now?!?" or "Are we done yet?!?!"

It was a weekend full of adult "me time" where we did whatever we felt like doing, Quite nice, I gotta say.

My love showered my with my favorite flowers on Valentine's morning:

And I got him a new cheese platter/cutting board, hand-fired with a very inside joke... don't ask... it would take way to long to explain. :)

It was a wonderfully relaxing weekend, and I was super excited to hug my babies (can I still call them that??) on Sunday. But as all holidays are... this one passed far too quickly, and now we're back to the real world. :)

And since the week is in full gear, I thought I'd share a very quick, SUPER easy, family-friendly weeknight meal with you.

My boys love this so much, and I love it too because it's healthy, takes minutes to assemble, and it is comfort food at its best.

Here's my recipe for Slow Cooker Sausage & White Bean Stew:

Ingredients:

1. (2) Cans of Cannellini beans
2. 3/4 - 1 cup chicken stock (homemade preferred of course) :)
3. al fresco chicken sausage I chose the sundried tomato version, but they are all delicious! And I love that I can pronounce and understand all of the ingredients on the label (chicken meat, sundried tomatoes, basil, etc. - NO by-products or fillers!)
4. Pasta - shells are my top choice for this dish, but penne or bowtie works great too.
5. Parmesan cheese and any Italian herbs of your choosing

Directions:
1. Thinly slice the chicken sausage (it's already fully cooked, so you don't need to saute it unless you want to), and place it in the bottom of your sprayed Slow Cooker. Then generously drizzle with EVOO.

2. Drain & rinse the cannellini beans and dump them on top of the sausage.

3. Sprinkle with any Italian herbs of your choosing. I did some dried thyme, garlic salt, and basil.
4. Pour 3/4-1 cup of chicken broth on top until it almost covers the beans.
5. Cook on high for 4 hours or low for up to 6 hours.
6. Cook pasta and then ladle the sausage/bean mixture on top of the pasta and top with shredded Parm.
7. ENJOY!!

I love serving this with roasted broccoli and a dry white wine. It's a crowd pleaser for sure. And one that you'll want to come back to any time it's chilly outside and you want some savory comfort food.

Cheers everyone!

Angel Chicken: A Family Favorite Recipe

I could have sworn that I shared this recipe on my blog before. Maybe because I've emailed it to so many friends over the years that I thought I had posted it here as well. But I just did a search and can't find it, so I'm going to post it (again??) in case you are not familiar with this family favorite.

This recipe is so simple, yet so delicious. My sister-in-law sent it to me years ago and it has since become a regular menu item on our table.

Here are the ingredients you will need (plus chicken and pasta):

First, get out your trusty slow cooker and spray it with a non-stick cooking spray. Place 4-6 chicken breasts in the slow cooker (frozen or thawed, it doesn't matter).

Second, dump the following ingredients into a saucepan on your stove and cook while stirring over medium high heat until well combined:

• One can of condensed cream of chicken/mushroom or golden mushroom (my favorite) soup
• 1/2 stick of butter
• 1/2 container of onion & chive cream cheese
• 1 packet of Good Seasons Italian salad dressing dry mix
• 1/2 cup dry white wine (could sub water for this)

Once the above ingredients are well combined, pour over the chicken in the slow cooker.
Let it cook on low for 8 hours or high for 5-6 hours.
Serve over angel hair pasta.

Granted, this is definitely not a low-calorie dish, but trust me, it is so heavenly... you'll know why they call it "Angel" chicken.

I love serving this, along with a big salad for company because I'm not stuck in the kitchen prepping food. The only thing you have to do at the end is cook the pasta. Super simple. Super delish. I hope you'll try it soon and let me know how you like it!

Boys' Birthdays & Monster Jam

Phew!

Both boy's birthdays in one week is becoming increasingly exhausting as they get older. But I'm definitely not complaining, because we had so much fun celebrating these two amazing kids.

Payton's birthday was Wednesday, so on Tuesday night we decorated the house, blew up balloons and put streamers on his bedroom door. I love having them wake up to an instant party!

 Of course Brian brought home some special donuts for the birthday boy!

It was a fun morning indeed.

That afternoon, Brian and I joined Payton for lunch at his school.

We brought cookies for him to pass out to his friends.

That evening we had some neighbors over for dinner and cake. It was a wonderfully simple way to celebrate such an outstanding young man.

On Saturday, we got to celebrate Parker's birthday too.

We are very fortunate to have so many family members living nearby now. Brian's parents and brother, and my parents and my brother and my niece and nephew all came over for a birthday brunch. 

The kids had a ball hanging out with everyone and celebrating their special day.

That evening, we picked up one of Payton's good buddies and headed down to the Monster Jam truck rally at Raymond James football stadium.

We lucked out with our tailgate/parking spot. The family across from us had a bunch of remote control monster trucks that they were letting the kids play with (I think he had lost his mind!). The boys had so much fun playing with them!

 It wouldn't be a tailgate if you didn't actually hang out on the truck tailgate! And the birthday boy enjoyed a yummy cupcake.

Then, as the sun began to set, we headed in for the truck rally. I must say, as much as I joked about going to Monster Jam... it was actually really fun.

View from the top of the stadium. Amazing sunset.

They even had fireworks!

We all had so much fun. I highly recommend it to all families with young children. They were mesmerized the entire time.

And even though it was a busy week filled with present wrapping, cookie delivering, baking, decorating and entertaining... it was all worth it to see the smiles on my little guys' faces. They are my world and I feel incredibly blessed to be their mommy.

Now, somebody tell me how I could possibly have a 10 year old?!? That just doesn't seem possible! Oh well, time moves on... you just have to embrace the change and enjoy the ride.

Happy birthday Payton & Parker. I love you so very much!!!