We Have Our WInner

Thank you so much to everyone who entered the coaster giveaway. 

I used a random number generator at www.random.org and the number it gave me was lucky # 3. So the third person who left a comment was Lauren@theelephantstrunk. 

Lauren, email me at nessapierson@gmail.com to claim your prize. I need your mailing address so I can ship it to you. 

Thank you to all who entered. I will do another giveaway in a bit again. 

Is there anything you would like to see given away that I have done on here, a craft or something?

Last Day to Enter Giveaway

This is the last day to enter my giveaway. The giveaway ends at eleven p.m. tonight and I will draw the winner tomorrow morning. So make sure you enter today if you havent already. 

Click HERE to enter.

Framed Pom Pom Monogram

Here is my lovely craft project that I have been working on. I made a big P out of pom poms. 

Here is what I did, I used the Cricuit a while back when my aunt let me borrow hers to cut out a bunch of cute letters, I wasn't sure at the time what I would do with them, but I knew they would come in handy. 

Next I cut out a bunch of squares and glued them to the letters and the parentheses things (what are those things called, brackets??) I used the pom pom technique that I showed you in THIS post, but instead of using circles or flower shapes I just did squares, which is way faster. So I glued them to the letters, and then I had to kinda cut them down a bit too, so that they would kinda outline the shapes a bit more.

Then I had a silver frame that I bought from the dollar store that I had been meaning to use, I painted it black, which actually took a few coats, that silver frame did not want to be painted but it worked and then I put some scrapbook cardstock that I had inside the frame and then glued the letters to the glass. 

It was actually really easy, and didn't take too much time at all. I didn't like it at first when I just had the letters done, but once I got the paper in the frame and the frame painted it really all tied together and looked great. I am really liking it now. 

I also think it would be cute to just cut out the letters and put them on the cardstock in the frame, that could be cute too... I also think I might try making a P out of rosettes... 

pork chops and apple stuffing recipe

Sorry this is sooo late in the day, my power was out the whole day. And I had to go into work rather than working from home, which meant I had to shower, do my hair and make up all in the dark. It was freaky I tell ya. Oh and work at the office is so boring, I was dying there. Feel bad for me! :)

So one day I was super bored and started watching PBS, or some channel like that (because I spend my time wisely) and along comes this weird cooking show and this little old lady starts cooking up these pork chops and stuffed them with apples and stuffing, by the end I was drooling and so was my hubby who had eventually fallen into boredom with me and watched the cooking show too. But I wrote down the recipe, and have since made it several times and love it! It is super super easy too.

Pork chops and Apple Stuffing

4 boneless pork chopped and diced

1 Apple, chopped and diced in small pieces

1 C. Apple Juice

1 box Stove Top Stuffing

So I used small pork chops, they are so tiny and thin, but I had them in my freezer as left overs for another recipe, so I just worked with what I had. Plus I like when my meat is more thin.

First Step: Prepare stuffing as directed on box.  You can of course make your own stuffing the lady on tv made her own, but me and the hubs are really big fans of Stove Top, and the tv lady said you could use boxed kind anyway. It is way easier too. Once the stuffing is made, put your apple chunks into the stuffing and mix it around.

Step 2: Cut the pork chop open as shown in picture below, so you make a type of pocket in the pork chop (does anyone know what this process is actually called? cause I don't) Then fill your pocket with the stuffing with the apples in it. (the apples in the picture look HUGE, I think its just because the pork is so tiny... Also my pockets would have been better if the pork was thicker. 

Once you have done this with all the pork chops put them in a greased glass pan and press the rest of the stuffing in the pan. Pour the cup of apple juice in the pan over the stuffing. 

Bake at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes until pork is cooked through. 

Serve pork with the stuffing.

Ahh don't look at my paltry salad. I didn't feel like adding anything to it! 

Click HERE to enter the giveaway for the tile coasters.

hmm....

Well Mondays I usually show you a new craft, but sadly I do not have one today. I am in the middle of two different crafts and I am not done with either yet! But I will be done with one of them by Wednesday or Thursday, so I will show you all then. But tomorrow I will feature a recipe for all of you as usual.

But in the meantime, don't forget to enter the coaster giveaway HERE!

Coaster Giveaway!

1Loving Life has made it to 50 followers. To thank all of you who read my blog I wanted to do a giveaway.
So I am giving away one lucky follower a set of tile coasters.

Remember when I showed you the tile coaster tutorial? Well I made four sets of coasters. So one of you lucky ducks gets the red coasters that are shown above. 

I have a set that I made and I am loving them. They have felt on the bottom so they don't scratch your table, and they hold up so nicely, and let me tell you, I have spilled a ton on mine and they are doing great. 

So you can enter three ways, leave a SEPARATE comment for every entry you do. To enter the first entry is mandatory, the other ones are not.  

1. First you MUST be a follower of Loving Life to enter the giveaway. So if you are not a follower already leave a comment below to let me know you are a new follower, if you are already a follower also leave a comment below telling me your a follower. (This is a mandatory entry)

2. For an extra entry you can blog, tweet, or post on your Facebook about this giveaway. Come back after you have done so and leave a comment letting me know you did. 

3. Leave a comment telling me your favorite recipe or craft that I have shown you on this blog. I just want to get a feel for what you guys like. 

This give away ends on Friday, February 25 at 11 pm. 

I am so excited to give these away to one of you. 

Homemade Chicken Noodle.

Well winter is almost over (Hopefully!!) but we still have plenty of cold days left I am sure. Here is my favorite recipe for Chicken Noodle Soup. My mom has made this recipe for forever and I love it. Homemade Noodles are the best. This was my first time making it and it was really easy. It is going on the old rotation now.

Here is the recipe copied straight from my momma's blog ( I would give you the link, but she never writes on her blog so it would be a waste of time.)

Homemade Noodles:

1 C. Flour

1 Egg

1 tsp Salt

Combine ingredients. Add water. Roll thin. Slice and boil. ( I use a pizza cutter to cut thin strips about 1/4 in. or less is best) These noodles are what makes this soup so tasty!

Soup:

3-4 chicken breast (boneless, skinless) cooked and chopped into small pieces

6 C. Water

2-3 chicken bullion cubes

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 c. diced celery

1/4 onion

2 c. baby carrots or diced carrots

Salt and pepper to taste

.In large pot boil water, then add noodles, bullion cubes, carrots, onion and celery to water. Boil until noodles are done and vegetables are tender. Add chopped chicken, cream of chicken soup, and salt and pepper.

Now I made a few changes. I used 2 14 oz cans of chicken broth and 3 cups of water, and I don't like cream of chicken soup, I don't know why but its gross to me. so my mom told me to add one small can of chicken noodle soup. I added it and it was yummy, but I didn't think it was necessary at all. Next time I think it would be okay to just add one bullion cube to it and it is fine. The noodles also add as a thickener too r since they have all that flour on them.

The noodles are just so good!

Update: 

I love to add pureed vegetables in my food now, and this is a great recipe to pump up your vegetable intake, you can read all about it HERE. A great way to do this is to add carrot puree to the broth (along with the cut up carrots that are already in the soup). It doesn't change the flavor of the soup and you are getting even more vegetables!