Chili Dip

Well it's almost New Years Eve! Woo! Party time! Lets face it you're either going to a party, hosting a party, or staying home (like us I still say it's a party if I'm up drinking champagne). And all parties need food.  Easy, delicious, and non diet food. So I give you my Chili Dip!

I grew up with this recipe. My parents always had requests for us to bring it to parties. Christmas Eve dinner is a snacking type meal and this is the lead. When my parents weren't up for cooking we ate Chili Dip for dinner. And lets face it this is perfect football party food.

Here's what you'll need: Double Recipe
-9x13 glass or baking dish
-2 blocks of cream cheese
-2 can of Hormel Chili NO Beans (feel free to try another brand but I haven't found anything better)
-bag of cheddar cheese 
-a couple of bags of your favorite corn chips. 



Place your two blocks of cream cheese in the dish.

Spread the cream cheese evenly with the back of a spoon.

Dump two cans of Hormel Chili NO Beans on top of the cream cheese.

Spread evenly.

We have a few things going on so I'm making two double batches. 

Take a couple heaping handfuls of cheese and spread across the top. Or if you really love cheese just dump the bag on top.

You have two options on how you melt all this deliciousness together. You can either bake it in the oven at 350 for about 20 min or whenever it's all melty and hot. Or you can put it in the microwave (turntable off) for 5-7 min.

I prefer to do mine in the oven if I'm not pressed for time it warms more evenly and throughly. But the microwave works in a pinch.

Check out these yummy melty layers of deliciousness.

Caution it will be hot! And it is really hard not to eat right away despite how hot it is.

(There is no shame in eating a single of this solo...I've done it before and I know I'll do it again.)

I hope you enjoy! Happy New Year!

Cute DIY Tags

So have you heard about hometalk yet? It's AMAZING! If you like Pinterest (I'm a junkie) and you REALLY like home or garden then you will want to take a look at this site. (warning this site can and will cause a new online DIY addiction) And while you're there make sure you follow Upside of Chaos on hometalk.

My first post was on my hometalk page was for my Wooden Chalkboard Labels.  I was contacted by hometalk to find other chalkboard labels and tags. I loved each of these ideas that I found on their site. 

I really can't get enough of tags. While I'm working on finishing my fall home purge I've been thinking of how I can use each of these chalkboard tags with everything I've organized! Which ones are your favorite?

Bocce Ball- Brunch Cocktail

Mimosas and Bloody Mary's are your typical brunch drinks and as much as I love a good Mimosa my preference is a Bocce Ball. When you make this drink it looks like murky orange juice which tends to cause people to be wary of trying it. But to be honest with you...I haven't found anyone who doesn't like it. 

What You Need:

Amaretto Liqueur (Disaronno is our preference)

Orange Juice

Soft Drink (Pepsi or Coke will work but we prefer Dr Pepper for the extra sweetness)

First things first a nice generous pour of your Amaretto Liqueur.

Fill the glass with your Orange Juice.

Top with your soft drink of choice. 

And then give it a little swirl!

Pair with a nice big breakfast. All of your friends might think you're crazy when you try and share this drink but I promise they're going to love it and so will you.

Note: I have not found a bartender who knows this drink. So you'll have to let them know how to make it if you prefer to eat brunch out.

Cheers!

Please remember to drink responsibly!

Fall Home Purge Part 2

So on my last post I shared with you all that I was in the process of doing a Fall Home Purge. Here's an update on what I've been up to. 

I can tell you that I've been working on my dresser and master closet and getting a lot done there but it's not done yet for me to share. So here's everything I've done since my last post in addition to working on purging all my old or unused clothes.

My first stop was our coat closet. As you can see it's a bit of a mess. It's over loaded with shoes that haven't been put where they're supposed to be as well as being overrun with jackets.

So I searched through and removed all jackets we are no longer using as well as our shoes. Then since it's cold outside I placed all my flip flops (4 pairs), sandals (2 pairs), and all my flats in the bin on the shelf. Then the bin on the bottom shelf I placed all the kids shoes in it. They typically just throw their shoes in the closet and they don't fit on the rack well so I'm hoping this will be a better option. 

Next up was under the bathroom cabinets. Up first the half bath on the main floor that the guests use. 

First I made sure my first aid kit is properly stocked and made notes of what to pick up. Then I found an extra shoe bin to place all of the leftover child safety supplies instead of keeping it in the gift bag they came in...4 years ago. I also went through and purge any extra stuff that hadn't been used in over a year including candles, air fresheners, expired children's tylenol, etc.

For my master bathroom I was going to start on my husbands side but it is exactly how I organized it over a year ago. So I moved onto mine. It's a little crazy.

I started by pulling everything out and tossing all lotions, body sprays, makeup, etc that were expired or have gone unused for over a year. (I really had a lot to get rid of)  Everything was reorganized curling iron and straight iron and extra bathroom supplies in the metal basket. All my nail polish in the large multi color make up bag...(I have an addiction to nail polish). All my makeup in the purple bag (I own next to none). All of my hair sprays and creams are behind the nail polish bag.

The kids bathroom cabinets are empty except for extra towels and washcloths so there was nothing to do there.

So then I moved to the kitchen. I decided to tackle my lazy susan. Stuff falls out every time we open it and finding things are difficult.

                                 

                                 

I got rid of all tupperware that did not have partner. Actually I just got rid of a bunch of lids. The actual containers were missing and have been for quite a while. I tossed any water bottles that did not have lids or were broken.

                                 

You can't see it but in the back right corner I was able to move a stack of bowls down into the lazy susan instead of keeping them on top of my refrigerator!

                                 

My final task in this post was underneath my kitchen sink. We had begun tossing items underneath instead of placing them in their places and some of those cleaners were practically gone.

I took the time to combine or toss empty bottles. Made notes of homemade cleaners to make so I can refill the bottles. Reorganized and replaced everything!

Each time I purge a section of the house I feel so much better. It's amazing how much your mood can be uplifted with throwing away or donating a bunch of stuff!

Fall Home Purge

One of the blogs I have been following for a while has been A Bowl Full of Lemons. Toni is currently doing a 31 Day Purge on her blog which I absolutely love! I can't think of a better way to get ready for the holiday season than going through and purging my home of the clutter that has accumulated.

Toni at A Bowl Full of Lemons started this 31 Day Purge at the first of the month. But since October is playoff month for Volleyball State Championships (back to back State Champions by the way! My team is kind of badass.) I was unable to start on the first. So I've started this week. I'm planning on posting my progress as I go to help keep me accountable since I'm behind everyone else. At the same time I'll be doing the tasks out of order and throwing in a few of my own. 

To get things started I began with the pantry. Even though the month has been extremely busy I've neglected to put things in their proper places and it ends up looking like this....which makes my stomach turn a bit.

How did I ever find anything in this mess?

I removed everything from the pantry and tossed anything that was expired. I then sorted and grouped items together.

I refilled all my Oxo containers and made notes of what I needed to pick up at the store.

Then I grouped my canned food items and placed any excess items in this reusable grocery bag till I can find a new bin or basket to hold all these items.

Since I was feeling good about getting all that done I thought I would tackle another day on Toni's list. The next one just happened to be Magazines. 

Believe it or not I don't own a SINGLE magazine subscription. Kind of crazy right. But I'll let you in on a secret. I haven't needed one for almost a year. I use the Next Issue app! This was one of my Christmas gifts from the hubs last year.There are so many magazines in this app depending on what kind of subscription you want. 

When I find something I love and want to remember I just take a screen shot and save it in my inspiration folder on my iPad.

But since I was supposed to purge them I went back and deleted all downloaded issues on my iPhone and iPad so that I could make some storage space. 

I managed to get two tasks done pretty quickly and it's amazing what a difference getting rid of the excess stuff in your life can do for your day.

I'm planning on doing all the clothes in my dresser and closet next. I'll let you know how all that goes. It's going to be a bit crazy. I've been holding on to a lot of pre-pregnancy clothes (from 4 years ago). 

See you in a few days!

No Sew Outdoor Curtains

We have a nice covered patio out back. We really love this space (let's be real the patio was one of the biggest reasons we bought our house). However it gets pretty hot out there in the summers. I've always wanted patio curtains out there but lets face it outdoor curtains are really, really, really expensive. So I opted for a bunch of canvas drop cloths.

Each of these packages contains TWO...yes you heard me TWO drop clothes! Each pack was only $10.88!

The next biggest expense was going to be curtain rods. Our patio is pretty big. We figured it was going to cost us a small fortune in curtain rods...but while browsing our local Home Depot (date night!) we saw some electrical conduit...which happens to almost be the same size as a curtain rod for a lot less! So we bought four of those bad boys and some curtain rod hangers and we were in business.

Please ignore my fan...it's disgusting. I've tried to get it clean but it really doesn't want to be. Which is why it's going to be replaced....it's pretty ugly too.

We had a bit of a debate on how we were going to hang these wonderful and glorious curtains. Hubs One option: trim all the drop clothes and sew a sleeve and then just slide it over the pole...too much work for me. My option: buy the curtain rings with alligator clips on them and we can remove them as necessary. We went back and forth a bit. Would the clips hold the fabric in a bad storm and we weren't home to take them down. If we did the sleeve would the whole curtain and rod rip off if there was a storm. (we get a lot of storms and some serious wind) In the end I won with the clips! And they're amazing!

We just folded the excess cloth over and clipped the fabric in regular intervals and what do you know its perfect! The curtain ring clips can even withstand two kids pulling on the curtains and racing through them as fast as they can.

It's blocks the afternoon sun from hitting the tv so unwatchable. Gives us some shade so we can extend out time outside with the little ones.

You can even enclose the covered patio for a bit of a cabana feel! We're definitely getting our monies worth from these curtains.

I also can't wait to use the curtains this fall and winter as insulation from the colder weather!