Crockpot Christmas Cider

Crockpot Christmas Cider

Ingredients:

64 oz Apple juice

8 oz caramel ice cream topping

1-1/2 teaspoon imitation cinnamon extract (way cheaper than cinnamon sticks)

1 orange (sliced into round sections)

Directions:

Add all the ingredients (except the orange) into your crockpot. Stir it until it’s well blended yo! Then – grab that orange that we left out and slice it into round sections. Add those into the mixture, they float on the top and it makes the cider look all fancy and stuff. Turn your crockpot on low and simmer it for about 3 hours or so. You can serve this drink hot or cold! Garnish it with whipped cream! If you save the apple juice bottle you can use a funnel and pour the left over cider in it and store it in the fridge! Enjoy!

Food Porn | Jefe's Plethora Pie

Can you tell that my husband came up with the name? We love "The Three Amigos." ;) This is another crockpot meal - it went over great with the Silas man! It may be our favorite recipe thus far!

Jefe's Plethora Pie Ingredients: 1 cup salsa 2 garlic cloves (we use the kind in the tube) 1/4 cup fresh cilantro (we used the kind in the tube again lol) Lazy! 1 16 oz can of refried beans 1 15 oz can of black beans, rinsed and drained 1 diced tomato 7 medium whole wheat tortillas 2 cups of shredded mexican blend cheese (Toppings: salsa, sour cream, and extra cilantro)
Directions: 1. The first task at hand is to prep your crockpot. Line the entire pot with aluminum foil and then spray with non-stick cooking spray.  2. In a small bowl - combine the refried beans, 3/4 salsa, and garlic.  3. In another bowl - combine 1/4 cup salsa, cilantro, black beans and diced tomato.  4. Take one tortilla and spread 1/4 of the refried bean mixture on it. (Try to leave a 1/2 inch of space around the edges) Place it in the crockpot! Sprinkle it with 1/4 of cheese, then slap another tortilla over it. Add 1/3 of the black bean mixture over the new tortilla. Sprinkle 1/4 cup of cheese over the black beans. Top it with yet another tortilla! (It's madness, I know) Repeat layers! You will end up with the refried beans on the very top. Sprinkle your finished creation with the remaining cheese.  5. Then you are going to cover it and cook on low for about 4-5 hours. (2-3 hours on high) Slice and serve with sour cream, salsa, and cilantro. It is soooo delicious! We are looking forward to eating it again tomorrow. 

Birchbox Un-boxing | December 2013

Hey - guess what? I'm finally over my plague and it's the very last Birchbox un-boxing of the year! Crazy-go-nuts y'all!

Camille Beckman

Glycerine Hand Therapy | Full-size, $14

Eslor

Skincare System | Full-size, $28-$65

Jouer

Pink Glace Moisturizing Lip Gloss | Full-size, $20

Number 4

Non Aerosol Hairspray | Full-size, $30

Fatty Sundays

Gourmet Chocolate Covered Pretzels | Pack of 5, $7

Obviously my favorite product in this month's box is the pretzels lol. It quickly disappeared right after I snapped the photo. I highly recommend Fatty Sundays pretzels! All in all it was an "okay" box. Nothing all that special. 

Were you pleased with the December's box? :)

Would you like to subscribe to Birchbox?

You can do so...

----->HERE<-----

Shazzaam!

My favorite Winter fragrance!

Ugh - I am just getting over the plague. :( Everybody in the Cherry house has it - minus the animals. (Thank goodness) I tend to always worry about the rabbit since he lives in the kid's room. Enough about all this snotty business though!

Mary Kay

Warm Amber 1.7 fl oz $20!

Here it is folks! I am absolutely loving my new Mary Kay fragrance! It has such a rich scent - unlike the Bath & Body Works version. It's something that you can enjoy all year long, but I feel like I'm going to especially gravitate towards it during the cold season. :) There's just something about it.

It's a perfect mix of warm amber and creamy sandalwood - that's not too musky.  I'm a big fan of earthy scents and this one is particularly enjoyable. I used to douse myself in patchouli...which I really regret ever doing. LOL (There was this whole Walmart thing that happened, not good) This is a much better alternative. (Oh, and a little patchouli goes a long way people) Don't even get me started on the dreadlocks girl that I can smell before I see her coming. (I've run into her 3 times in the past two weeks) I think she takes patchouli baths - I should know...because that's what I used to do haha. 

If you are interested in trying out this perfume for yourself or purchasing it as a Christmas present you may want to check out the two links below. 

----> Warm Amber 1.7 fl oz $20 <----

----> Special-Edition Holiday Duets - Warm & Wonderful $34 <----

What's that you say? You don't have a Mary Kay Independent Beauty Consultant to purchase these from? I happen to have just the loverly lady for you! 

All the way from Texas!

Who I have had the pleasure of being best friends with since I was 5 lol. We have obviously always been into cosmetics haha. 

You can visit her site by clicking the link below. :)

------> Independent Beauty Consultant Jesslyn Wilson <------

She has some great holiday specials going on right now! So go check it out. 

Food Porn | Elephant Soup

This is the 2nd installment in my new "Food Porn" series. :) I hope you guys are enjoying it so far! Like my last recipe - this one also incorporates ye ole crockpot. I actually mixed all the ingredients (minus the vegetable broth) in a ziploc bag and froze it the night before. Then - when I got up the next morning all I had to do was cut open the baggy and toss (gently) in the block of soup (lol) and turn the crockpot on low. Done!  It was very satisfying to come home to a hot bowl of this soup after a long day of working in a building with no heat! NOM & BRRR. Here she be...

Elephant Soup

Ingredients:

1 yellow onion - diced

2 green onions - chopped

2 red bell peppers - chopped

4 cloves minced garlic

1-28 oz can of crushed tomatoes

8 cups vegetable broth

1 teaspoon of chili powder

1 teaspoon of black pepper

1/2 teaspoon of ground allspice

1/4 teaspoon of celery salt

1 cup uncooked brown rice

1 cup peanut butter (add very last)

sour cream (topping)

Directions:

Add all the ingredients into the crockpot minus the peanut butter and sour cream. (Yes - I said peanut butter) Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 4-5 hours. When the soup is done stir in the peanut butter and cook on high for 20-30 additional minutes. Lastly - put some sour cream on top yo! 

Food Porn | Vegetarian Lasagna Soup

Oh lawd - I have been gone for a while now. :/ How embarrassing! I've been so busy working, taking care of kids, cleaning house, going to weddings (seriously - so many Fall weddings), and keeping a regular exercise routine lately. I'm going to make a special effort this weekend to come up with a weekly blogging schedule. (I promise this time) So...as Sir Elton John always says...the bitch is back. ;)

Earlier today - Mr. Cherry and I decided to invest in a nice crockpot. We found a Hamilton Beach crockpot at Target on sale for $24.99. It says $29.99 online...so I guess we got a good deal! We have decided to collect some good recipes from Pinterest and cook them in the crockpot during the day while we are at work. Crockpot + easy online recipes = saving time and money! (hopefully lol) The batch of food I made tonight will probably last us several days. Silas was not very pleased with it though - he says next time he doesn't want cheese on top. What kind of kid doesn't like cheese? Ugh.

Anywho! Here is the recipe y'all...

Vegetarian Crockpot Lasagna

Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

1 bag of vegetarian crumbles (We purchased the Quorn brand)

3 cups of vegetable broth (this ended up being 1.5 cans)

1 cup of water

1 tbsp of garlic paste (it's in the refrigerated produce section)

1 tbsp dried parsley

1 tbsp dried basil

1/2 cup chopped onion (this annoyed me - I hate chopping onions!)

1 - 28 oz can of diced tomatoes

1 - 6 oz can of tomato paste

1 cup of V8 juice

2 cups of uncooked shell pasta

pepper and salt to taste (I'm not a huge fan of salt, so I used it sparingly)

Directions:

First I dumped the can of tomatoes and the tomato paste into the crockpot. Then I poured in the broth, veggie crumbles, garlic paste, parsley, basil, chopped onion, V8, and salt & pepper. 

This meal can be cooked quickly (the method we chose tonight) or slower. (if you need more time)

So this means you can cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours...or on high for 4-5 hours. Our lasagna took 4 hours to cook tonight. 

Around the 3 hours and 30 minutes mark - we added in the water and uncooked pasta. I then covered it back up and let it simmer 30 more minutes.

Lastly, I sprinkled a healthy amount of cheese on top lol. Next time I will refrain from doing this to Silas' bowl. ;)

I hope everybody is having a wonderful weekend! We are finishing painting our bedroom tonight...so I'm off to paint! Oh...and happy Doctor Who day!

The Secret Sisters @ Standard Deluxe

Last night - India, Matt, and I had the pleasure of going to go see "The Secret Sisters" at Standard Deluxe in Waverly - AL. It was fantastic.  -----> Their website here <-----

Photo credit decca.com

This traditional country music group consists of two lovely sisters...Laura and Lydia Rogers. (I adore the name Lydia btw) They are actually a somewhat local band - coming from Muscle Shoals, AL. Laura's voice reminds me of Mama Cass Eliott's voice a bit. (I'm a big The Mamas & The Papas fan) India and I were really stoked about the show all week. Her favorite song is "Tomorrow Will Be Kinder" - I was unaware until last night that it was inspired by our 2011 tornado outbreak in Alabama. The crowd got very quiet when they sang it - it was beautiful.  -----> View short video I took <----- I took a longer one - but you can hear India yelling about a spider she saw on the cooler during it. LOL

November's Lust-worthy Items

It's seriously November? What the heck man...now I'm just getting angry. This year is flying by! Lots of exciting things are coming up soon! Brad's wedding, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Miri's 1st birthday in January! (Did somebody say My Little Pony invites?)

The following items can all be found on Etsy - I have an addiction remember? ;)

Vintage Sterling Wedding Set

$135 at EternalElementsShop on Etsy

Custom Look What I Did

$40 at WhatchawantDesign on Etsy

Handmade Minky Blanket

$8 (sale) at mintandarrows on Etsy (I snatched it up)

3 Yard of Silver Garland (for baby Miri's room)

$9 at caitlinwilhelm on Etsy

American Apparel Ariel Pullover

$40 at Cakeworthy on Etsy

Recycled Fabric Headband

$5 at mynameiskorrine on Etsy

How is your week going so far? I'm pumped up for Friday - I am going with the hubby and my sister to see the "Secret Sisters" show in Waverly. Excite! Photos?

This Is Halloween

----> This Is Halloween <---- Go ahead and sing the song - I know you wanna. Actually...I found myself singing (and dancing) to this song at a wedding reception just this past weekend. Nightmare Before Christmas songs are a great way to bring the inner 7 year old out of a group of full grown adults lol.  The wedding was pretty darn fantastic...I mean...they lit a unity rocket folks! (Not kidding) I wish I had more photos but I got into the boxed wine! ;) Darn that boxed wine! (Shakes fist)

We all stayed out past 1 am. (Gasp you should!) What's really impressive is that we all didn't go into cardiac arrest after dancing to "Shout." We were really feeling the late 20s and early 30s. (So much jumping I tell you!) We ended our night over at Ruthie's house, and she has a massive bug collection. Because - let's mix alcohol and bugs...why not? LOL No humans or insects were harmed and I came home with two pet hissing cockroaches? How does that even happen? The husband definitely does not approve. I will spare you from photos of them. They are named Jake and Elwood. ;) At least I didn't leave with 10 - like Joy. I figured they would be a nice science-type experiment for Silas? So many question marks!

Halloween is only 2 days away...and our party is only 3 days away! I'm really looking forward to taking lots of awesome photos this week. Maybe throw in a review or two? I know I've been gone a while. 

How was your Tuesday? Miri the mouse is still awake. -_O

Fall Photos

This past weekend we recreated Silas' 1st Halloween photo - this time using baby Miri. ;) 

The photo was taken in the exact same location! Miri was a much more willing participant though! ;)

(Baby pumpkin baby is angry!)

Seriously - somebody needs to obviously put a stop to all the cuteness going on right here! ;)

I know it's a gloomy addition to the end of this cheery post - but this quote from "Doctor Who" last night really struck a chord with me. The past year has been hard... The universe has to move forward. Pain and loss, they define us as much as happiness or love. Whether it's a world, or a relationship... Everything has its time. And everything ends. - Sarah Jane Smith

Review | Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser

Now - I know what you are thinking! The one thing that the web doesn't need is another "Liz Earle" review lol. I just cannot contain myself...this review is going down anyways folks. (Sorry) When I first started getting into the whole blogging/vlogging jazz - I became very aware of this skincare set. Beauty gurus everywhere (especially in Europe) were singing it's praises. Many people believe it to be the holy grail of all cleansers. I...I just have to agree lol.
Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser $24.50 on Birchbox.com I received this set in my October Birchbox. I literally freaked when I opened the box and saw it. Liz Earle?! What? Seriously?! Matt and I both noticed a lovely radiating glow after the first time I used it. I have started doing something that I never do since using this cleanser - I wash my face...and I leave the house (drumroll please) with no makeup! Gasp you should my friends! This stuff gently removes all dirt and grime and leaves my face looking...flawless. My skin has cleared right up! I plan on purchasing the set from Birchbox.com on Monday. It comes with a 3.3 fl oz cleanser and two muslin cloths. It doesn't foam up like most cleansers...it rubs on more like a lotion? I don't feel the need to moisturize when I'm done...and it leaves my face feeling so soft and awesome. Not like normal cleansers...dry and tight. It's just amazing. Period.
Matt and I went to a lovely wedding tonight. :) Here are some photos.

How is your weekend going?

New Blogging Space!

This little area may currently be my favorite little nook in the entire house. How adorable is it? :) I thought it would be fun to give a little e-tour of my new blogging space.

1. This gold vintage chair belonged to my great-grandmother, "NaNa." She passed away many years ago - but we just got our hands on this a couple of weeks ago. It was in a storage shed thats contents were going to be thrown away. Good thing we saved it!

2. LOL This is my "Patron Saint of Smiling" art. It is one of my favorite pieces in the house. Matt and I found it on a trip to Orlando. (Pure gold!) I have mad love for Will Ferrell...many of my friends don't...so they don't find it as amusing as I do. ;) If it doesn't make you laugh, it's your loss.

3. This is a painting that my grandfather affectionately calls "Mammie." The artist was a family friend that sadly passed away a couple of years ago. We have another painting that goes with it that is displayed on the opposite wall in the dining room. I don't think the other one has a name? It's an old man sitting on a basket with the same cotton field in the back. I can remember these hanging in my grandparent's house during my childhood...so they are both very special. :)

4. How cute is this desk? We bought it from our friend Erin just last week. It didn't look anything like this though! (See before and after photo) It was her dad's desk that he owned during the 60s. I think it turned out quite nicely! All it needed was a couple coats of paint, polycrylic, and new hardware. Brand new!

5. Awww - it's Silas' hands and footprints. He was 20 months old when he made this for me. I think it was a mother's day present? I adore it. 

6. Lastly, my Daher tins. Matt loves to give me lots of grief over them. He is constantly making fun of the name. Whatever! If you want me to love you forever...give me a Daher tin. You can find them scattered about antique and thrift stores. Make sure it has this stamp though! (Below) There are many fakes roaming around out there! One of my best friends (Ruthie) got me into collecting them. She has like...a million. They were used as decorations for her wedding reception. It was beautiful. 

Designed By Daher

Long Island NY

Container Made

In England

How was your day? :) Tomorrow is hump day! Does anybody else hate that damn camel as much as I do? I hear his voice in my head every Wednesday when I crawl out of bed. Ugh.

Birchbox Un-boxing | October 2013

This year is really flying by - and it's completely freaking me out lol. This is a thing right? I've always heard that the older you get - the quicker time passes. Just stop it already 2013! :P
Anywho! October Birchbox a'hoy! 

I really couldn't publish my un-boxing post quick enough lol. I wanted to dive right in and start using everything. Birchbox really stepped up their game this month - big fan over here!
Benefit Cosmetics Fake Up | Full-size, $24
Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser | Full-size, $21.50
Liz Earle Pure Muslin Cloth | 2 cloths, $6
POP Beauty Aqua Lacquer | Full-size, $14
&& Birchbox Find ChapStick Hydration Lock
Were you pleased with the October box? :)

Would you like to subscribe to Birchbox?

You can do so...

----->HERE<-----

------> Etsy Shop Lust <------ I'm going to try out something new here on ye olde blog. I thought it would be fun to give random shout-outs to Etsy shops that I'm currently loving. I find some pretty awesome sellers on a regular basis...and I feel like I should share them with my readers!  Today's shoppe (<--- oh fancy) is "Mint and Arrows." I already own one of their hair ties and 2 more are on the way. They are so soft and comfortable - no headaches. I may end up purchasing a couple once a month or so. ;) At $6 per tie...who can say no? I highly recommend them!

Honoring Peaches

Better words fail me - so I'm going to post what my sister-in-law Christine said...

To all our family and friends, today is a very special day of remembrance. Today is the birthday of someone who meant the world to my family, myself and everyone who knew her, Peaches. 
Peaches left us to be with the Lord earlier this year and left behind a hole in our hearts that will never be filled. She was the heart and soul of our family and had a way of making even the worst of days seem "not too bad". She was a light in our lives that will never go out, a constant reminder of hope and love.

While she was here with us, Peaches was the ideal example of living life to honor God. She gave away everything she had to give to others emotionally, physically and financially until the day she died. It was often noted that if you needed it, she'd give you the "shirt off her back". She was a passionate monthly contributor to organizations whose goals were to spread the word of God and allow people to have a second chance at life.

In her honor, my family and I have decided to try and raise some funds to donate on her behalf. In addition to the money we will donate as a family, we thought we would try and include some of our other friends and family and those whose lives were touched by Peach.

Growing up, Peaches was the cook of our family. She was the one to get "dinner on the table", both literally and figuratively, for most of my childhood. Sitting and watching her cook was a show and she was always prepared to add a plate for anyone in need. To think of families without the blessing of someone like her to help them through tough times is what inspired the cause.

We are asking that if you have a moment, please remember the person in your life who gave freely of themselves and asked nothing in return. Someone who made your life as it is now, possible. Peaches was that person for me.

If you have been blessed by someone, and would be willing to donate, please consider donating towards our "Virtual Food Drive" to honor Peach. A donation as simple as $5 can make a difference or, if you are feeling generous, donate what you would consider to be the cost of a meal for one night for a family in need.

100% of the money raised goes to a wonderful company called "Feeding America". With one in six Americans still relying on the help of "Feeding America" for food, they are the leading domestic hunger relief organization in America with food banks serving every state. Helping feed 37 million Americans each year, they are the the leading provider of food assistance for Children and Elders in America.

Here is the direct link to our "Honoring Peaches" page for you to donate easily and quickly.

----------> help.feedingamerica.org/goto/HonoringPeaches <----------

Thank you in advance for doing this. It is a small thing to honor a big hole in our hearts. We miss you Peach!