Fall is here!

Well, sort of. It is officially “Fall,” but here in Florida it’s still 90+degrees. Ugh!

Until the weather actually changes, I have decorated the inside of my house to make it feel (and smell) like it’s actually Fall. I love the simplicity of it 🙂

 

Side note: If you haven’t already jumped on the flameless candle bandwagon, I suggest you do! I bought a 5 pack of candles (batteries included!) with a remote from Costco for $19.99 and I am in love. They don’t make a mess, they’re safer and stay pretty all year long, unlike those others of mine that you see in the background. I have my plug-ins so that gives the scent I need instead of lighting candles.

Unfortunately I ended up working today so Friday/this weekend will be my day of cooking and projects I have lined up. Today I’ll give a quick rundown of what I cooked last week. First off, I think it’s safe to say Paul enjoyed the banana bread LOL I woke up the next morning to this note on our fridge:

I tried two new recipes and they were both really easy! The first one was a shrimp scampi recipe I happened to find in the NY Times. Instead of pasta I used zoodles; I love them! It calls for either wine or broth and I opted for broth since that’s all I had. I honestly think that using wine and marinating the shrimp beforehand would have been much better. I found it to be pretty bland. I took one picture of all the sauces and garlic simmering (below), finished cooking and plated, then realized I didn’t take a picture before digging in ::eye roll:: 

For the next night I cooked a skillet chicken parmesan with orzo by The Girl on Bloor. I love that she included more veggies than just tomatoes in it! I didn’t have a whole lot of time so I just dredged my chicken pieces in flour and then cooked them in butter and oil. The finished product happened to be delicious and Paul thought so too. He’s a huge fan of one pot meals and everything in a bowl.

As for a project last week, I saw some ideas on Pinterest and put together an emergency car kit for each of our cars. I went to the dollar store and bought first aid products, hand sanitizer, pain reliever, masks, gloves, a flashlight and put them in a small plastic container. I threw it in my backseat and will probably forget that it’s there until I’m dying for a bandage due to a blister from shoes I hardly wear. It was fun and easy putting it together, but only a nurse would say that 🙂

Over the weekend we went to visit Paul’s family and had a Thanksgiving-in-September dinner. It was so good but we both were craving Mexican food so I’m hoping to make some this weekend. He’s Mexican American, for those who don’t know, and his mom emigrated here from Mexico. She’s an amazing cook and is self-taught! I’ve watched and taken notes on a few of her prize items so hopefully I can cook them as good as her one day! You can see Elena (“mami”) below breaking down that turkey we smashed and Brewster is just hoping she’ll drop something. 

I have some recipes and projects planned for this weekend so I’ll update next Monday what I try out. I thankfully will be off then and can start working on my October decor 🙂 I’m so excited for that! I have some great ideas to share!

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Until next time, friends.

Melody