Sweet peanut butter cookies

Hubby has figured out a new trick: we can pretty much make cookies any time we want just from the random stuff we have in the house. He knows I LOVE dessert so it's hard for me to refuse when he wants to bake for me! Anyway, he made these really yummy peanut butter cookies the other day and I had to share them with you.

Ingredients:
• 1 c sugar
• 1/2 c butter
• 1/2 c peanut butter
• 1 egg
• 1 1/4 c flour
• 3/4 t baking soda
• 1/2 t baking powder
• 1/4 t salt

Preheat the oven to 300.

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl.

Form a ball with the dough and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate the ball for at least 30 minutes.

When you're ready to bake the cookies, use a tablespoon to create small balls of cookie dough and place on a lightly-greased baking sheet.

Bake at 300 for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown.

These are amazing dipped in cold milk!

Easy Lamp Makeover Tutorial

So here's my old lamp that was in my craft room. I don't even know where I got it...I think it was in my grandparents' house, it got passed down to my parents, sat in their basement for 10 years, and then I took it.

Anyway, it's the perfect size for the room, but the ugly off white shade was just not right. I wanted a bright red to match the bedding.


Solution? Spray paint...or so I thought. It did NOT work well and I didn't get the bright red I wanted.


Plan B was to cover the shade in red fabric. First, I wanted to make sure the fabric was ironed. Any wrinkles in the fabric will never be able to be fixed once it's on the shade.


Then I spread the fabric on a flat surface and slowly rolled the shade around the fabric.


I traced the outline of the shade. Yeah, yeah, still using my pen to write on fabric, but I promise I have real fabric pencils now too! It's a bad habit to break!


Then once I had the outline drawn, I enlarged the shape by 1 inch on each edge so there would be extra to wrap around the inside of the shade.


I cut out the fabric and slowly wrapped it around the shade. Using tacky glue, I wrapped the edges of the fabric to the inside of the shade and glued. It worked best to only do a few inches at a time.


After each section, I let the glue dry. If it works better, use paper clips or binder clips to keep the fabric from moving while it dries.


When the shade was completely wrapped, I folded over the edge to give the overlapped area a finished look. Then I glued the edge closed.


And here's my finished lamp!
It was super easy, took less than an hour, and only cost me a couple bucks for the fabric!


The red fabric could not match any better!

Asian-Inspired Chicken Tacos

These were a creation from Hubby after he was inspired by an episode of Diners, Drive-ins & Dives. I was a little nervous when he told me about this, but I was happily surprised when they turned out SO good!

Ingredients:
• 2 t minced garlic
• 1 T chopped green onion
• 1 T chopped cilantro
• 4 chicken breasts
• 1/2 cup hoisin sauce
• 2 T soy sauce
• shredded cabbage
• shredded carrots
• soft tortillas
• white rice
Place chicken in large pan and cook until no pink remains.

Add garlic, hoisin sauce, soy sauce and cook until sauce thickens.

Pour in cilantro and green onion and cook for a few more minutes until soft.

While chicken and sauce is cooking, make rice according to box directions.

Pour chicken and sauce onto taco shells. Top with cabbage and carrots.

Wrap up the sides and enjoy!

Tasty Cranberry Feta & Spinach Couscous

Hubby was out of town recently and you know what that means? I get to make food that he doesn't like! This is definitely my kind of food, but he thinks it's a little too girly for his taste buds. So if you want a "girly" easy meal, this is a quick idea that I adapted.

Ingredients:
• 1 1/4 c water
• 2 t vegetable oil
• 2 t lemon juice
• 10 oz. package of couscous
• 1/3 c dried cranberries
• 1/4 c chopped basil
• 1 t lemon zest
• 1/4 c feta cheese
• 1/2 c chopped fresh spinach
• salt & pepper to taste

1. In a medium pot, boil water, lemon juice and oil.

2. Stir in couscous, remove from heat, and cover pot. Let covered pot sit for 5 minutes and stir occasionally.

3. Remove cover and fluff couscous. Pour into a large serving bowl.

4. Add cranberries, basil, feta, lemon zest, spinach and salt & pepper and mix well. Serve cold.

Perfect for a quick meal or leftovers on a busy day!