Tickle Your Tastebuds

Summer is finally in sight and that means grills, cookouts, and yummy foods that are easy and do not require heating up the oven! Let's face it, summer is so short that no one wants to waste that beautiful weather cooking in the kitchen.

This is one of my favorite recipes for summer. It will keep for several days (if you can keep from eating it all in one sitting, that is), it is super easy and it has yet to be turned down by anyone! The best part is, you can make just the pasta salad as a side dish, which is what I usually do. Even my picky preschooler likes it!

Party Pasta Salad

Pasta Salad
1/2 Cup red wine vinegar
1/2 Cup olive oil
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh basil leaves
Finely chopped garlic to taste
Salt and pepper to taste
1 pound pasta, cooked according to package and drained
1 tomato, peeled, seeded and diced
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup pitted black olives (I leave these out because I don't like olives!)
Lettuce leaves

Marinated Chicken Breast
1/4 cup teriyaki sauce
Dash of freshly grated ginger root or ground ginger to taste
1 (8-oz.) boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Sprigs of parsley or basil, for garnish

1. In a large bowl, stir together the vinegar, oil, basil, garlic, salt, and pepper. Add the pasta, tomato, Parmesan cheese, and olives and toss to thoroughly combine. Let the salad stand for 1 hour. Serve on top of lettuce leaves.

2. In a medium bowl, stir together the teriyaki sauce and ginger. Add the chicken, cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.

3. In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Cook the chicken for 5-7 minutes on each side, or until cooked through.

4. Slice the chicken into 1/2-inch wide strips and place them on top of the pasta. Garnish with sprigs of parsley or basil.

Final Week of March Madness

In this March Madness sale, March came in like a lamb and is going out like a LION! Are you ready? Drum roll please...

March 29-April 4 save 30% off all 16x20 Memory Boards. Yep! They are regularly $67.99 but the sale price will be $47.59. That is a savings of over $20!

And don't forget - if you don't want to use PayPal, you can shop over at 1000 Markets and use Amazon!

And as always, if you see a fabric and want the memory board in a different size, just ask! I am happy to accommodate custom orders.

I've been featured!

I am always so excited when I am featured in a treasury! This morning, on a whim, I decided to check Craftopolis. Imagine my surprise to find my tacks in this beautiful treasury... that was still being built. Be sure to stop by this treasury and take a look at all the gorgeous items featured by Red Bracelet!

Military Monday!

Welcome back to Military Monday! Over the past few weeks I have featured shops with items that would be perfect for the kiddie’s Easter baskets; today I am going to feature a shop that is for those grown up baskets. Believe it or not, some folks do give an Easter basket to the biggest kids in their lives.

Today’s shop is Lilac Ave. A shop with beautiful and yummy smelling candles.

A few weeks ago my last two Yankee Candles burned out and I knew I needed to replace them. We have guests coming next week and monsoon season had left the dogs smelling very… doggish. New Yankee Candles just were not in the budget, but on top of that my son’s allergy and asthma doctors had recommended switching to soy candles. I decided to give Lilac Ave. a try. The price is so great that I figured if they bothered my son’s asthma, I wouldn’t be out that much.

Well, I opened the box and immediately decided that if they bothered him, I would just burn the candles when he isn’t home or stock up on his medications (ok, not really). So… there was this smell coming from the box. I was a little confused because I knew it wasn’t what I had ordered. It smelled like cookies and I had ordered Grapefruit and Jasmine, and Fresh Linen. Turns out, Lilac had included a sample of one of her tarts! I quickly hid it so DH wouldn’t be expecting cookies!

Going to a friend’s house for Easter lunch? Take the host/hostess a darling one-of-a-kind candle. Going to a cookout? Take along a citronella candle in a festive spring bucket.

March Madness Continues!

It is time for a new week of the March Madness sale! Starting Monday, March 22 through Sunday, March 28, all 12" x 16" memory boards will be 25% off! Original price is $44.99; the sale price is $33.74. That is a savings of $11.25! You know you can't pass up a sale this great. So, stop on by the shop... pick out which memory board you want to purchase... convo me ahead for an adjusted listing... or check out and I will refund you via PayPal. See how easy that is?

Random Thursday

The leprechaun showed up a day late! I went out to take pictures in the natural light and this little leprechaun popped out to help me. If only he actually helped! Instead I was badgered with "when are you going to be done?", "when are we going to the park?", "my football is in the mud, will you get it?", and my personal favorite, "I'm bored!"

Just as I was finishing up this leprechaun decided to help. I don't ordinarily allow the canine variety to help but I was hoping he would bring the gold. And, well, who can resist this face?

Military Monday

Military Monday is my way of honoring great shops owned by Military supporters. With Easter approaching I thought this week I would focus on shops that have great Easter basket items. And I have personal experience with both of these great shops.

Suds n Such has the cutest soaps for kids. I wanted to try handmade soaps for my son because I had read they were better for his eczema. Angie was so sweet to answer all my questions and tell me about the ingredients she uses. I ended up buying him the popcorn soap figuring it was a good way to try it out. This soap is so cute! Not only does it come in a “tub” like real popcorn but also it smells like real popcorn! Don’t let that scare you… the smell does not transfer to your hands. You just end up smelling and feeling clean. The best part of this soap is that it is portable. We recently took a trip and I popped a few kernels in a Ziploc baggie.

My other faves from Angie’s shop are:

Puzzle soap! I know this is supposed to be for kids but I think I want some for me.

And soap to go for kids. This is on my list for when my son gets a little older.

Another great shop with kid stuff is Monster Bug Blankets

I just purchased these Easter egg crayons for my son to give his preschool classmates. They came individually wrapped and each crayon is nestled in Easter grass. They are so cute. I am more excited about these crayons than he is! And now she has flower crayons! These little flowers would be so cute for birthday party goodies.

My other faves from Monster’s shop:

Monogrammed towel set! And don’t think these are just for little kids. They would also be perfect for your college student.

Check out the tow truck t-shirt. It is so hard to find cute boy clothes on Etsy but Monster has several boy items that are just too adorable.

March Madness!

Are you ready for the next installment of March Madness? This week, March 15-21, take an additional 25% off ALL 11x14 memory boards! They are regularly priced $31.99. The sale price will be $23.99. You save $8! That $8 will buy a lot of coffee at Starbucks! You can either convo me ahead for an adjusted listing or checkout and I will send you a refund through PayPal.

Miliary Monday

Welcome to Military Monday. This week our featured seller is Two Seaside Babes. Once again, a great opportunity to buy Easter basket goodies that are good for you.

How can anyone pass up this adorable hat?

But it isn’t just about the girls. Two Seaside Babes has hats in every size and color, even for little boys.

And checkout her newest creation… a flowered headband! I wish I could wear headbands because I absolutely adore this!

Two Seaside Babes also has blankets, toys, scarves and patterns to make your own beautiful items.

I’ll let you in on a little secret… she also has a second shop of hair accessories!

These little ladybugs are my favs. Do you think I’m too old for them?

March Madness Week 2

Are you ready for more March Madness? Starting tomorrow morning, all 9x12 memory boards are an additional 20% off! The prices listed are the regular prices; just convo me ahead for an adjusted listing or checkout and I will send a refund via PayPal. The regular price is $29,99 and the sale price is $23.99. You save $6