A little Christmas decor + some new recipes

Happy Sunday Evening!  I'm so bummed that it's already Monday tomorrow! I'm very thankful, however, for an incredibly wonderful and relaxing four day weekend spent with the ones I love most.  It was quite the ticket both Gary and I needed!  Besides some errands here and there, a little bit of shopping  {not on black Friday}, and the usual house stuff like laundry and cleaning, it was great.

I cleaned up the front of the house on Saturday and did some Christmas decorating.  Nothing too spectacular.

I call our weeping cherry tree the Charlie Brown Xmas Tree. :)

I also added a couple solar lights around it to show it off a little better at night.  I love it.
 

I found this guy at home goods last year for $4!  I went there this morning and I somehow was not sucked in to EVERYTHING in that store.  I bought just a couple things for some people for Christmas.  And two cute silver and glittery reindeer to put outside.

I decided this year that I just didn't have the energy to break out our tree and decorate it.  It's not a real tree so yes, there would be no mess. This year it just seems a bit pointless to me.  We aren't having any gatherings so no one will really see it except for us and maybe some family here and there.  I figure next year will be much more fun celebrating with a little one and the tree decorating will just mean more to us. :)


Gary didn't have an opinion either way. Men...lol.


Our baby tree instead this year. 

After a two week streak of not cooking at all... for reals..fast food and pizza and cheese and crackers were mainly what we feasted on most days. Ugh, pathetic.  Even so, I finally made a few yummy meals for this week!  How I mustered up the energy to do so, I couldn't tell ya. Tonight's meal was turkey chili and the best corn muffins I have ever eaten!  I don't know why I never thought to come up with this kind of recipe.  It was that 'duh' moment for sure.

I'm so happy I came across this recipe from the Six Sisters Stuff blog via Facebook.  They were dead on in describing these puppies!  They have the perfect combo of sweet from the cake mix and a wonderful cornbread texture. And they are definitely  not as crumbly and messy.  These hit the spot with the chili. I can't wait for leftovers !  I have a thing for huge muffins--the bigger the better. :)  You certainly don't have to make them as large as I did.  Mini muffins are great, too!

Sweet Corn Muffins

-1 box yellow cake mix
-2 boxes Jiffy cornbread muffin mix
-follow cake mix instructions for the eggs/oil and milk measurement for the muffin mix.  I used 4 eggs and it was fine. Use cake mix instructions for baking.
-350 degrees for 22 minutes seemed perfect.  

-Serve warm with a little butter.  Drool!  Freeze in a freezer bag and open and thaw whenever you'd like.

You seriously need to try this recipe.  It's the best!



Risotto-Plain

I came across what seemed a very effortless risotto, plain, from a cousin in the family.  It was just that; so very effortless and delicious!  This is the plain version but that's what great about risotto, you can add any thing you like to it.  You can add chicken, shrimp, crab, or your favorite vegetable.  This is a great recipe to have on hand. 

Ingredients:

Cooking time: 45 minutes

-2 cups Carolina Rice
-2 containers of chicken stock- no salt added {48- 64 ounce}
-1 8 oz can Hunt's tomato sauce
-1/4 cup unsalted butter
-3-4 TBSP. pecorino Romano cheese
-salt and pepper to taste


Method:

Bring the chicken stock to a boil over medium-high heat then add in the rice. Keep stirring. Add in tomato sauce and butter, keep stirring. Leave this uncovered the entire time, just keep an eye on it. Stir here and there over medium-high heat.  This will eventually become very thick and creamy. Add in the salt, pepper and cheese and stir well.  Add in any vegetable you prefer or a meat and turn this into an entree.

Now we have creamy, delicious rice to simply warm up whenever we want. This is so comforting.

Try some of these recipes out and let me know what ya think! :)

Have a great rest of your Sunday and here's to a great and {hopefully fast} week ahead!


So tell me:

How did the extended weekend treat you?

Did you start your Christmas decorating yet?  Are you putting up a tree this year?
 
What's your favorite go-to and easy recipe to have on hand?