Productive Sunday, Making Egg Rolls, New Dining Room Tabletop, Spaghetti with a Twist

Thanks, friends! I'm loving our new party planning area - so fun! Mostly, i'm loving the space it freed up in the pantry - now to organize the pantry better! Here's to February. :) Here was yesterday's To-Do list - I think I did pretty good! :)

• gym + reading (at least 4 miles while reading + chest) nope... today will have to kick off my workouts
• grocery store (for book club) DONE - loved picking out some items for some new recipes - hit up Publix, Kroger and an Indian grocer!
• blog reading catch up! DONE (almost - still have few more to do tonight!)- enjoyed seeing what you all have been up to!
• baths for Reuben and Remy - didn't happen - they'll get them tonight!
• recipe test: egg rolls - DONE - I made 4 'testers' then tweaked the recipe for when I make it for book club!


• Make a few meals (at least 1 breakfast and 2 lunch/dinners) - DONE; I made 6 servings of breakfast risotto; 4 servings of a new recipe from Biz, Chicken Tikka Masala; and 4 servings of another new recipe called Chicken Curry in a Hurry.


• Organizing January - March photos (in prep for '2010 in pictures' book) - didn't do it - will do tonight!
• Order my cruise card - didn't do it - will do it tonight!
• Make list of spices I want containers for - DONE - even went to BB&B and got 40 spice jars. Now I just need to make labels... :)
• Visit Macy's for three gifts - didn't happen - couldn't stomach the mall on a Sunday - i'll beep by this week!
• Visit Party City for more napkins for the buffet jar - DONE - also got some fun little items for the buffet including fancy toothpicks, mini forks, bamboo skewers, etc.

So not bad!! I do have a bit to do tonight but that's fine - i'm looking forward to a pretty chill Monday evening. Poor Austin is still sick - some kind of chest cold. Has him out of commission which is so weird - he NEVER gets sick. :(

So, not to dwell on the past or to talk too much about my dining room, but I LOVED my old dining room rug. It was a Pottery Barn Outlet find. Reuben loved it too. For those who missed all of the posts where I whined about it don't know, he loved to relieve himself on it to the point that we had to get it drycleaned. Which was a total fail and waste of $. Enter the new rug (another Pottery Barn Outlet find), which is a much more intense print which meant our printed place mats were no longer going to work. On Saturday when me, my mom and my sister all went up to Pottery Barn outlet they were setting up a display with a runner and these cool, heavy, awesomely rustic, candlesticks - with no candles in them. I loved it. I picked up 5 candlesticks (only $53 total) , my sis found the runner (only $15) in the store and game over - I was going to copy PB's tabletop for my living room for only $68. Here's how it turned out - not a major transformation but i'm much happier with the rug, and the room, now!

BEFORE: this is the new rug - you can see how the 'poppy' placemats were just kind of meh. As far as not just doing a single centerpiece in the middle - I was worried it would compete with the huge light that hangs over it! (not shown in this shot!)

AFTER: Candlesticks and runner instead - not competing with 'beehive' light... do you see little Reuben? LOL

Close up shot of candlesticks

The completed room - new tabletop and new 'party central' buffet!

So exciting! I can tell I have the house buzz again. But don't worry - the cooking buzz is still firing on all cylinders! Here's a new recipe we've been munching on this weekend! It's one I had had in my file for a while - here goes!

Cowboy Spaghetti
Makes 6 Servings
Recipe adapted from Blog Chef

Nutritional Information: 399 calories, 55 carbs, 8 fat grams and 25 protein grams.

Review: This one is a winner - a nice mash up between spaghetti and chili! I don't know if this is the right word but I would say TANGY! It has a lot of flavor. It really is like a spaghetti meat sauce, but with a great, flavorful kick and the bacon adds a lot too! I loved cooking with beer - first time! :) This one was easy, love the 400-calorie count and LOVE that it makes six servings. This one is a keeper!

Here is the recipe on Healthified Kitchen!

Q: Have you ever made egg rolls? Do you like egg rolls? I usually don't eat them because they're so fried and bad for you - but I'm loving this light, baked version - i'll post the recipe later this week!

Q: What's your favorite centerpiece? I usually prefer something a bit more central - but i'm liking this longer tablescape and think it's super versatile for seasonal decor or for my everyday white squares!