Easter is Coming!

I am very much looking forward to the Easter Holiday. This past weekend we made our annual trip to the Broadway Market. We picked up our smoked Polish sausage for Easter morning and some pierogi to have for breakfast and for Dingus Day. We are always a sucker for the spice shops and bought three different mixes, which are delicious! We bought a garlic one that will work great with fish, a steak seasoning one and a dried pepper one. We tried both the steak and pepper one Sunday night by mixing into beef and making hamburgers. I preferred the burgers with the steak seasoning and Christopher preferred the one with the pepper seasoning. And we bought a bunch of other things too.

I am pretty proud of myself for getting most of the Easter baskets done. I have Christopher’s, our Godsons and nieces and nephew done as well. Now I just need to send them…why is that always the hardest part? I have our parents and siblings left to do.

Sunday we had our Easter celebration with our Godson, Wyatt and my friend Carly. We had such a great time with them. Little Wyatt is getting so big, it is hard to believe he will be one years old in less than two weeks.

This week, Mom and Dad Musialowski went on a much needed vacation to Florida, with a stopover in Charlotte to visit Micah and Max (our niece and nephew). We are looking forward to hearing all about their trip. At home, Christopher and I are visiting with Jonathan and have a bunch of things planned this week, including quesadilla night, going out to Fat Bob’s and taking him along to Easter Brunch with the Leutze Family. Maybe even a Lego night or Wii tournament…we shall see.

Last night we counted our piggy banks; we like to call it our vacation fund. We both surprised ourselves when we counted over $300 in cash and change! We are well on our way for vacation 2013. Where to…that is yet to be determined!

Easter Egg Wreath

I forgot to post about an Easter wreath I made my grandfather. I found this post on Pinterest and thought I would try to make one. I think it turned out pretty cute, don’t you think? It was super cheap too. I used the following materials:

-          A cardboard box, it was big enough to cut out a 12” circle. I used a large serving plate to trace the outline and a dessert plate to trace the inside circle.

-          2 – 18 count packs of Easter eggs. These I found at the Dollar Tree. At $1 per pack, you cannot go wrong!

-          ½ package of Easter grass. I had one bag leftover from last year, but I found these bags at the Dollar Tree as well.

-          Hot Glue Gun & about 4 glue sticks

-          6” Ribbon. I also had this already

Overall, the project cost less than $3! And I am pretty happy with it. Next year I am thinking about making a bunch of wreaths for each of my aunts. I will probably buy in larger quantities from Oriental Trading  to get a better price per wreath.

Here are the stages:

I started with my wreath form base that was cut out of a cardboard box. I then staggered the plastic eggs along the wreath. 

Here is what the first layer of eggs look like

Next I added the Easter grass and glued it down in between the eggs to fill in the wreath form.

After adding the grass, I glue on an addition layer of eggs on top of the base layer to  make the wreath look fuller.

Once you have all of your eggs and grass glued down, add the ribbon to hang your wreath! 

Ta Da! A simple, yet cute Easter Wreath. My Grandfather loved it!

Discovering Quinoa

So this last month I have been experimenting with Quinoa. I have heard so much about this super grain and wanted to try some of the many recipes I have seen/pinned from Pinterest. Two of my favorites are PB&J Quinoa for breakfast and Quinoa Pizza Bites. Last night I made the pizza bites and I wanted to share with you the recipe because it was delicious and very filling.

I hope you all enjoy! 

Quinoa Pizza Bites

½ cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed

1 cup water (to cook quinoa)

1 egg

1 Tbsp dried basil

1 tsp dried oregano

2 tsp onion powder

1 tsp garlic powder

¼ cup parmesan cheese

Any other toppings you would like, chopped into small pieces. I LOVE pepperoni, so I cut 8 slices into small pieces

Pizza or spaghetti sauce for dipping (I used about ¼ cup – I love sauce)

Cook your quinoa! Boil the quinoa and 1 cup water and cover. Once boiling, reduce heat to low, and let it simmer for 15-20 minutes (until water is absorbed and quinoa is tender).

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all of your ingredients (except the pizza sauce) in a mixing bowl until it is well mixed.

Lightly spray the bottom of a mini-muffin tin with olive oil spray. Using a tablespoon, scoop about 1Tbsp into each muffin tin, it should fill almost all of them!

Bake them for 20 minutes and let cool a couple minutes in the muffin tins. Pop out of the tins and serve them warm with pizza sauce to dip in!

Quinoa Pizza Bite - yummy!

Long Time No See

It has been a while since I have last blogged. We have been busy with our activities. I feel like the last couple of weeks have been filled with sporting events, bridal showers and home projects.

In March we went to a Bandits game (courtesy of Chris’ brother Chet) and met up with a bunch of friends before and after the game. The same weekend, Chris went to the CHS State Championship game with his family and helped cheer CHS to state victory! I was asked to become a mentor for the No Boundaries program run through Fleet Feet and sponsored by New Balance. Our first run was yesterday in the bitter cold and wet weather. I was happy to see the weather did not deter the participants and about 75% showed! Looking forward to next week and the rest of the season as we prepare to race in the Koman run.

Lets Go BANDITS!

In March I also attended two showers and had a shower discussion. My friend Jenn Moore had a lovely shower at the Buffalo Yacht Club hosted by her family and Therese had another shower hosted by the Urban Family. I hosted my family over to discuss and plan my cousin’s shower. The Aunts are sure funny when they all get together. We will be meeting again in May to go over the final details.

Chris and I are still deciding on where to go on vacation. We were so sure about Punta Cana, but lately, we have been missing Disney…we shall see what happens! Any suggestions, please let us know!

Our First Anniversary Disney Trip :)

This past weekend I began our first home project of 2013 – refinishing our hardware stairs. I prepped, sanded, cleaned and started to stain and paint the stairs. So far, so good! I am looking forward to finishing the project this weekend and will take more pictures of them completed.

We also attended GAMBIT, CHS’ big formal fundraiser. Chris and I had a ton of fun with our friends and came home with a bunch of loot! We cleaned up well, don't you think?

Chris & I at the fundraiser

Our friends Abby & Dave

I think guys should wear tuxedo's all the time!