mmmm citrus {& herb} chicken

I have been seeing a lot of these recipes on Pinterest over the last month of so, so I decided to give it a go!
I mixed up a few different recipes using what I liked from each! {you don't always have to follow one specific recipe, be fancy}

Ingredients:

1/4 cup olive oil
3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tablespoons sugar
2 lemons
2 oranges
1 onion, sliced
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 tablespoon basil
1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon parsly
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 tablespoon rosemary
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
salt {your choice of amount}
pepper {your choice of amount}
10-12 chicken pieces, I used drumsticks & thighs {at Trader Joe's they have BONELESS thighs!}

Directions:
Mix together olive oil, garlic, all seasonings, sugar, 1 juiced lemon, 1 juiced orange! I let my chicken marinade in the mix for about an hour in a big zip lock baggie, if you don't have time for that... place chicken in a 13inX9in baking dish & pour mixture over chicken making sure all the chicken parts gets some of that sauce bath!
slice lemon, orange & onion, place around and under chicken then if you want to add some more seasoning over your chicken, go for it! This is when you make your recipe your own.
Bake for an hour or until chicken reaches 160 degrees, uncovered {middle rack, move to top last 10-15 mins for a nice brown color}
THEN!
Enjoyyyyyyyyyy!!!

I made garlic cheesy bread & garlic green beans, it went together perfectly!!!!!!

How stinkin cute are these?!

I picked these adorable tags up at {Rust and Roses} the last time I went antiquing & I can't get over how adorable they are... I also still have to find the perfect place or use for them!
I wish they had the brand name on them because they had a bunch of other awesome stuff!
I'll have to check next time I am there & give ya an update for some awesome online shopping!
Tag Quotes:
"admit one to dreamland"
"I never met a cupcake I didn't like"
"live in the sunshine, swim in the sea, drink the wild air"
"I can't wait til you see me fly, let your heart soar in new directions"

Where have {I} been!!!!!?????

I am so, so sorry that I have been MIA the past week!!!
I am super busy, about to graduate from ASU in a couple of weeks & I am definitely starting to feel the pressure!
I haven't had much time for new yummy treats or diys... but I promise I will have some new ones coming soon!!!!
I will post some of my old diys or refurbishes to stall until I can find some free time for new ones!
Thank you to all of my new viewers, family & friends who keep interested in what's up on the ol Kaddywhompus blog!

Updates: Lemon water in the mornings... FABULOUS! My face completely cleared up, which could have been luck! But I have been drinking it for about a week or two every morning & I don't crash in the middle of the day, my skin looks fabulous & I am feeling great!
Berry Danish... a definite to do Easter morning!
What else... hmm!!! OH... ohhhh noooooooo
Apparently I lack the green thumb that runs strong through my families blood... I blame it on being in Arizona... but it appears all of my new plants are slowly dying... hopefully they will perk back up soon!!!!
I hope everyone had a perfect holiday weekend & stay tuned for some new fun on Kaddywhompus next week!!!!

{Sedona} Saving me from AZ 1 trip at a time

I love, love, love, love, love Sedona... Anyone who has ever been would have to agree with me.
Every time I go I feel so blessed to live so close to such a beautiful place. Thankfully my boyfriend agrees to go with me frequently to help me avoid insanity of the desert in Tempe.
I don't think there are any "bad" places to go in Sedona but fortunately we have found some of our favorite little places each time we go... Last time we hiked up to Devil's Bridge with some friends & it truly took my breath away, probably more so from the actual hike.
We decided to check out the Amitabha Stupa & Peace Park to experience some peace & see this "sacred" place... There was even a Buddha there doing some stuff, I would assume praying but... I don't know much about that! Anyways, it was pretty cool, I was obviously obsessed with the flags & trinkets that were everywhere.
Then we finally did some hiking... {"stomping" - Zach} around Oak Creek and found a perfect rock to lounge on and enjoy the cool water & beautiful day...
Every time I leave I can feel any weight I have had on my shoulders completely disappear & I feel physically & mentally refreshed, it's perfect!

EASIEST cream cheese & {berry} danish

Yummmm... yum... yum!

Oh my goodness, I am so happy I finally decided to make this because it is SO DELICIOUS, easy & even cheap! 

My taste tester gave it over 20/10 SO that means it is good... then again he's not too picky ;)

Ingredients: 

1 tube crescent rolls

For the filling:
1 8 oz package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons all purpose flour

1 cup blackberries {or any berry of your choice}
For the icing:
1 cup powdered sugar
4 {or more} tablespoons heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Pre heat oven to 375 degrees.

Mix together cream cheese, sugar, vanilla & flour.

On an ungreased cookie sheet roll out the crescent rolls and connect them {see photo} it should be able the length of your cookie sheet, smoosh together any open holes. 

Cut diagonal strips up each side of the dough {as pictured} about 1/2 an inch wide.

Once all your strips are cut spread your cream cheese mixture up the center & top with your berries... I mooshed up half of my berries to make it into almost a jelly consistency. 

Fold & braid dough over the mixture & berries, this part could be a little tricky if you are trying to make it look as pretty as can be...

Bake for 20 minutes, let cool... 

Mix icing ingredients, if the icing is too think just add a splash or more cream until it is at your desired consistency & drizzle over that baby!

Then... over indulge & enjoy!

When life hands you lemons...

I don't know why, it must be the seasons changing but my face & it's recent reoccurring zits & pimples are really trying to give me some sort of strange depression or anxiety BECAUSE IT'S DRIVING ME BONKERS!
I have been trying lots of home remedies, baking soda facials, honey, vinegar & so on... they have all helped in their own ways!
ANYWAYS... as you can tell I have been scouring the internet for all sorts of home remedies & all natural things & I have become rather obsessed!
Especially when I came across LEMONS!
wow, wow, wow! I don't know if I am the only one who did not know all of this, but there are SO MANY great things lemons are good for especially if you drink it in the morning with luke warm water - if you are under 150 pounds a half of a lemon & if you are over a whole lemon {that is what I had found as the most common recommendation}!!!!!
Energy, digestion, acne, detoxing, wrinkles, infections, stinky breath, ph levels, vitamins... I mean seriously, you see? The list is endless!
SO... of course I ran to the store & grabbed as many lemons as I could & this is now going to be apart of my everyday routine!

There were so many great articles & blogs posting about the benefits of drinking lemon water & also applying it to the skin... here is a few of the million I read!!!

{life hack}
{food matters}
{Vixi}

plants & pots

So I finally decided it was time to try plants again after the death of all my succulents last year!
I thought I should stick to cheaper plants in case they faced the same destiny, PLUS I found all of this awesome information on plants that clean the pollutants from your house... I almost sprinted out of my apartment to HomeDepot to stock up on them all!!!

{mother nature network}
{this old house}

Both of those websites have awesome information on what the plants are doing to help your indoor air quality, it really is amazing.
I decided on these3 little ivy plants & a peace lily (not pictured due to the already problematic replanting issue I had)
As for those adorable pots, ONLY A DOLLAR EACH!!!
I am telling you, the Target dollar section has been on fire the last couple of months, I have been getting the best stuff there! I also found those two glass containers in there too, but they were 3 bucks!

brew, ferment, bottle, enjoy

This weekend Zach & I FINALLY used the brew kit from {Craft a Brew}that I got him in SEPTEMBER, I have no idea why it took us so long to use it!!!!!!
The kit is reasonably priced, filled with everything you need & has super simple step by step directions to follow!!!
It was so fun!!!
I was mistaken when I thought it was going to be ready to drink the day we made it... but I had obviously forgotten the important step of fermenting!!!
But in a couple of weeks it will be ready to bottle & enjoy!!!
{the anticipation is killing me}

treasures of {Phoenix}

Please excuse the iphone photos!
One of my most favorite places in Phoenix to go is 7th Ave where you can find all of the best antique shops as well as the BEST coffee shop {Copper Star Coffee} you have to try their blended carmel, mmmm my mouth is watering now!!!
One of the antique shops, {Rust and Roses} has an AMAZING, vintage, miniature silver bullet trailer which they have decorated like a magical, gypsy hideaway!
It is the definition of perfection!

comfort foods {hamburger rollup & pan gravy}

Yum, yum, yum! I consider my favorite food to be a catagory rather than a specific food (that's how I get around the "what's your favorite ____ ?" How can you ever pick just one thing, so... I categorize my picks) COMFORT FOOD! that's my favorite type of foods... or doughnuts. ANYWAYS...

Hamburger rollups are so simple, so easy... & SO DELICIOUS! (it's basically biscuits & gravy) My mom learned of this masterpiece in her home economics class in high school!

What you'll need...

Hamburger Rollup:
bisquick (follow the bisquits recipe x2)
milk
roughly 1 pound ground hamburger (or turkey... for all you turkeys)
1 pound sausage (I use the jimmy dean premium pork sausage regular)
flour
seasonings of your choice

Gravy:
grease from cooked sausage & hamburger
flour
milk
seasonings of your choice

How To:

• Preheat oven to 350
• Brown sausage & hamburger together - season if you'd like! I just do plan ol salt & pepper!
• Follow bisquick recpipe on box for bisquits (double it), roll dough out onto a cutting board or just your counter in whatever form you find easiest to roll (I do as close to a rectangle as I can)
• Once your meat is cooked & dough is rolled out, top the meat onto the dough, roll! 
• Pop in the oven for about 30 minutes! (if the top starts to get too brown throw some tin foil over your rollup)

• Homemade gravy time!
• To make a roux for pan gravy all you do is heat the leftover grease until you seem bubble (medium heat - high) sprinkle flour, mix... repeat! 
• Add milk (while stirring - your wrists will get a workout) 
• Repeat this process until you have as much gravy as you'd like!!!
• Add all your yummy seasonings again I just use salt & pepper... maybe some onion & garlic powder!

Pull your hamburger rollup outta the oven, cut that thing open and see all the yummy meat & dough in a pretty marble pattern, drench it in gravy & enjoy! 

no bake cookies

Yum, yum, yum, yum!
I was always so happy to see my momma in the kitchen, she's an amazing cook & a pretty dang good baker!
I give her, my grandmother OH & not to mention Mrs. P & Hattie all the credit for my abilities in the kitchen!
These are so simple & fast, the only thing that can happen is the chocolate not setting and you end up with gooey cookies, which I am fine with if that happens!

Recipe:

Ingredients:
2 cups sugar
4 tablespoons coco
1 stick butter
1/2 cup milk
1 tablespoon vanilla
3 cups of oatmeal (quick oats)

Extras:
wax paper

Bring sugar, coco, butter & milk to a boil (in a saucepan) for 2 minute!
Add vanilla & oatmeal until mixed together (while still boiling)
Have a piece of wax paper ready for you to drop that delicious mixture onto in spoonfuls... be careful during this step, DO NOT test the mixture, or you'll eat it all!
Enjoy!

Spring cleaning? spring ORGANIZING!!!

There once lived a little girl who grew up with a HOUSE full of hoarders!
Now I love them dearly, but my entire family has an extremely difficult time "getting rid" of things, which I think is great... with a hint of awful!
Because I now have the hoarding gene, which leads me to keeping EVERYTHING as in... ticket stubs, souvenirs, old clothes, just everything & anything, I just have a better way of hiding & organizing these hoarded items!
I am good at the occasional throw away spree when I get the courage to just literally throw it all away, but that does not happen often!
I finally have time this week & next to do an ENTIRE apartment organization take over... focused solely on all of my holiday & crafting "junk" time for it all to find a cute little home!
Today, I started on my pantry... say hello to these super cute jars, only around 10 bucks for all 3! You can find them at Wal Mart & Target! Or Goodwill I am sure, but today I did not have the patience to take a trip there!

build it yourself!!! {easel}

I made a huge mistake of not taking progression pictures of this super easy easel diy!
I was actually worried it was not going to turn out!
I originally made it for my friends wedding to display her seating chart & it sure did the job.
Home Depot is awesome because they will literally cut all of the wood for you {I am still awaiting my own workshop ;)}
anyhow! then all I used were nails and a few hinges at the top to keep the legs together!
Super simple & easy to add anything else to it to spice it up a bit!

plant life {succulents}

I have come to the conclusion that succulents aren't for everyone, even though it's been said they are the easiest plant to keep... & that you cannot kill them, but guess what... I killed them, A LOT of them!
I put some in really cute corks for magnets & the rest in this... & they are now all dead! 
I hope I have my grandparents & mother's green thumbs, but I am not starting off so great.
Obviously I did something wrong & I must try again because they look great... maybe fake ones will do?
yes... I need to dust...

my {fabric} refreshed bookshelf

How handy are those super cheap bookshelves, end tables & tv stands you can find at Target & Wal Mart? But occasionally... boring in the appearance department!
I re painted this handy dandy bookshelf, tore out the weird cardboard backing that they have & added some fabric (stapled to the sides) & pinched the middle and tied some pretty lace ribbon on them!
Then you have yourself a shabby chic bookshelf!

the cheapest & easiest diy

Pinterest inspired!
Originally I REALLY needed something to organize some things in the ol kitchen!
Then I quickly changed my mind! This is only THREE DOLLARS!!!! Dollar store plate, bowl & candle stick holder, I think it would be even better painted!!!