Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop - October 24, 2018

Welcome to our 300th party! We are so grateful to all of you for gathering here with us every week. Your talent and enthusiasm makes it so much fun to host this great party. Thank you for making it a big success! Let's start out right away with our features .... the posts that you liked best!  

Most Viewed

New Pinterest Communities Feature - The Professional Mom Project

   

Tailgating Essentials - My Life Abundant

   

Living My Best Life - Engineer Mommy

 

Editor's Pick

Crumbled Pumpkin Bread - Lou Lou Girls

  And now, let's get this party started!

This week please follow our co-hosts on Twitter …

Ducks ‘n a Row – Twitter

Mom Resource – Twitter

My Life Abundant – Twitter

Marilyn’s Treats – Twitter

Engineer Mommy – Twitter

Eclectic Red Barn – Twitter

Penny's Passion - Twitter

Simple Steps For Living Life – Twitter

Simple party guidelines >>

• Please TWEET our party ♥ Use the hashtag #WWBlogHop
• Add as many of your family-friendly posts as you would like to. No Etsy shops, adult sites or blog parties, please.
• Visit others. Let them know you stopped!
• If you are NEW to Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop, let us know in the comments so that we can follow you back. ♥ Help us find your posts – tell us what number they are!
• NOTE: party entries appear in REVERSE. i.e. the most recent entry goes to the top! That way all of our guests will have a chance to be seen no matter when they arrive.
• Thanks! ♥

Autumn Soup Recipe Swap - Let's Make White Chili

When the weather starts to cool down, my cooking seems to switch gears to more hearty dishes.  Soups and stews are some of my favorite things to fix because many of them can be made ahead of time and then warmed up later in the week after a long day at work.  This White Chili is one such dish!

Here's What You Need

Rotisserie Chicken

2 cans Great Northern Beans (drained)

Olive Oil

2 Medium White Onions

4 Minced Garlic Cloves

6 cups Chicken Broth

2 cups of Monterey Jack Cheese

2 - 4 oz cans Green Chilies

2 tsp Dried Oregano

1/4 tsp Cayenne Pepper

2 tsp Ground Cumin

Sour Cream

Here's What You Do

Chop up the two onions into fairly small bits.  Cover the bottom of your stockpot with olive oil and dump in the onions.  Saute them for about 5 minutes, then add the garlic.

Cook the onions and garlic for another 5 minutes or until the onions are clear in color.  

Add in the green chilies and spices (cumin, cayenne pepper and dried oregano).  Cook for another couple of minutes.

Add in the six cups of chicken broth and two cans of drained Great Northern Beans.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and let simmer while you cut up the chicken.

Use as much chicken as you like.  Typically I use two breasts and one leg, including the skin.  If you want yours a bit more or less meatier, add more or less to your discretion.

Right before serving, add two cups of Monterey Jack cheese and let it melt into the mixture.

To serve, I usually add a little bit of cheese on top and a dollop of sour cream.

This chili truly is even better the next day after the flavors have a chance to meld together, making it the perfect thing to fix on the weekend and have one night for dinner the following week.  Hope you enjoy it as much as do we!

Now it's time to link your favorite soup and check out everyone else's favs.  The group of gals hosting this Autumn Soup Recipe Swap are listed below.  Please make sure to visit each of their blogs!

Amber I Am - Amber

A Camera and a Cookbook  - Lysha

Deb's World - Deb 

Family.Love.Inspiration - Dani

Is This Mutton? - Gail

The Mishaps and Mayhem of a Solitary Life - Katie

Penny's Passion - Penny

Sizzling Towards 60 & Beyond - Sue

Wife Mommy Me - Stephanie

Once Upon a Time & Happily Ever After - Leslie

An InLinkz Link-up

Weekending - October 19, 2018

I.Love.Weekends.  It's not like I hate Monday through Thursday, but there's just something about weekends that I adore.  This weekend wasn't jammed packed, but had a great balance of fun and work.  Here's how it went down ~

Friday morning started with this gorgeous sunrise!  This was my view as I was backing out of the driveway to head to work.  I actually stopped the car, got out and snapped this picture.  So many times I glance up, note the beauty and just keep going.  On this day, it was nice to pause a second and just take it in.

After work, a few of my work friends got together to catch up.  This group used to get together to watch Scandal.  Now that Scandal is gone, this was our first Non-Scandal Scandal night.  The hostess, Jamie, greeted us with the most delicious sangria before our dinner of chili and cornbread.

We capped off the evening by watching Book Club and dessert.  The apple pie was from Sugarfire Pie for all you St. Louis peeps.  I had no idea that Sugarfire opened a pie place!  It was superb!

Saturday morning I lounged in bed for a while reading my book club book - A Spark of Light by Jodi Picoult.  It just came out this month.  Have you read it?  Well, there's a part about a girl hiding in the closet and that made me start thinking about what a disaster my closet was and how we needed to change over our summer to winter clothes.  I woke Eric up and we literally spent the next 6 hours cleaning the master closet.  The end result was we have three ginormous bags full of clothes and shoes we are donating and you can actually walk in the closet without tripping over stuff.

                         

  

I bought a new shoe rack for my booties and boots last week and it was a great addition to the closet.  

         

 

The last couple of years I've used the trick of cutting pool noodles and sticking them in my boots to get them to stand up straight.  It works like a charm!

If you have a closet or drawers that needs a bit of a organization makeover, here's my shopping list of things that have really helped me ~

We worked on the closet until it was time to get ready and join our friends for dinner at one of our favorite places, Cooper's Hawk Winery  That place has never disappointed us.  We start with a wine tasting and then move on to dinner.  Fun evening!

Sunday was a lazy morning.  I read more of my book.  Eric was grateful I didn't get any more crazy cleaning ideas.  We decided to grab lunch at Noodles and Company.  It was our first time there and we loved it.  It's located very near our house, but we just never think of eating there.  This might have been our first visit, but I know it won't be our last!  I got the BBQ Pork Mac and Cheese.  Next time I'm going to try their Zoodles.

Eric headed off to work and I headed out to run some errands.  The day wrapped up with me making a pot of white chili.  I'll be sharing this recipe tomorrow with a soup linkup I'm doing with some other blogger friends.  If you have a favorite soup recipe, don't forget to pop in and link up.  If you like to fix soup, definitely come back and check out all the links!

Now here we are at Monday and the start of a fresh week.  My friend, Debbie, and I are going to a cheese making class tonight.  I'm pretty excited to see how that goes!  See you soon!

Five on Friday - October 19, 2018

Oh my gosh -- I'm so darn glad it's Friday!  We've had a super busy week at work with a couple late nights and I can't wait to relax a little this weekend.  But first, here's my five for this week ~

1.  Every Breath

Nicholas Sparks' new book, Every Breath, hit the stands on Tuesday.  Do you have it loaded on your Kindle already?  Here's the synopsis from Amazon:

Hope Anderson is at a crossroads. At thirty-six, she's been dating her boyfriend, an orthopedic surgeon, for six years. With no wedding plans in sight, and her father recently diagnosed with ALS, she decides to use a week at her family's cottage in Sunset Beach, North Carolina, to ready the house for sale and mull over some difficult decisions about her future.

Tru Walls has never visited North Carolina but is summoned to Sunset Beach by a letter from a man claiming to be his father. A safari guide, born and raised in Zimbabwe, Tru hopes to unravel some of the mysteries surrounding his mother's early life and recapture memories lost with her death. When the two strangers cross paths, their connection is as electric as it is unfathomable . . . but in the immersive days that follow, their feelings for each other will give way to choices that pit family duty against personal happiness in devastating ways.

Illuminating life's heartbreaking regrets and enduring hope, EVERY BREATH explores the many facets of love that lay claim to our deepest loyalties--while asking the question, How long can a dream survive?

Sounds like he has another best seller on his hands!

2.  Essie TLC Nail Polish

A girl from work came in with this nail polish on this week and I was immediately obsessed with it!  The color (A Game) is so fantastic for fall.  To sweeten the deal even more, the polish will strengthen your nails in just 1 week.  My friend's polish had been on for over a week and it was still looking fabulous.  The description says you don't even have to use a base or top coat.  Can't wait to get my hands on a bottle!  Would you like one too?  Click HERE to get it.

3.  National Mammography Day
As part of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the third Friday in October (TODAY) has been named National Mammography Day.  If you've been putting off scheduling your mammogram, DO IT TODAY.  Friends, this is nothing to mess around with.  Get it done.  Enough sound.

4.  Nightmare King

Burger King might have just taken Halloween a bit too far.  Starting Monday, October 22, they are selling the Nightmare King sandwich.  This bad boy is made up of 1/4 pound savory flame-grilled beef, a 100% white meat crispy chicken fillet, melted American cheese, thick-cut bacon, mayo, and onions.  All that on a GREEN glazed sesame seed bun.  As an added bonus, Burger King did some studies with Paramount Trials and Florida Sleep & Neuro Diagnostics Services, Inc. and Goldforest Inc and found out this sandwich increases the possibility of you having nightmares.  Crazy!!  No, this will not be added to my diet.  

5.  It's worth a shot.....

Now let's get this weekend started!  I have girls night tonight with a bunch of really fun gals and I'm so excited to spend the evening with them.  Then tomorrow it's a full day of doing nothing planned.  Don't get me wrong, I have a to-do list a mile long but it might just have to wait while I take my time getting out of bed in the morning.  Pop back in next week to see how the weekend goes.

Linking up with:

The Peaceful Posse

Amanda at Meet At The Barre
Erika at Little Bit of Everything

Simply Sweet Home
High Five for Friday
5 on Friday

The Blended Blog
This post contained affiliate links.  I may receive a small commission if you click on the link and purchase.  Thanks

Friday Favorites Linky Party - October 19, 2018

Happy Friday!  Enjoy the links.  My feature today is the Maple Glazed Butternut Squash with Bacon from Home Cooking Memories.  Hope to give it a try over the weekend.

Please support and follow our lovely blog party hostesses:

Jerri at Simply Sweet Home - Twitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst

Lisa at Condo Blues - Twitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst

Amy at A Day of Small Things - Pin

Penny at Penny's Passion - Twitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst

Kelly at Under a Texas Sky - Twitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst | BL

Lauren at All About That Mommy Life - Pin | Inst

Jennifer at Busy Being Jennifer - Twitter | FB | Pin | Inst

|

If you are featured this week, be sure and grab a featured button for your blog!

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You can show your love for this week's favorites by going over and commenting on the posts and by pinning or sharing!

And if you love all of this week's favorites, please pin, share, and invite your friends to this week's linky party!

Rome - Day Quattro

Welcome to Thinking Out Loud Thursday!  I'm still thinking about our big trip to Rome this year and working my way through the days.  Today I'm on Day Four.  If you've missing one through three, here's the links to catch up.

Day Uno       |       Day Due       |       Day Tre

Day four began early because we had someplace exciting to be -- back to the Vatican to see the Pope!  Since our day was starting early, we decided to pop in on the Trevi Fountain.  I was hoping to get some pictures without a lot of people in the background, which is not an easy thing to do.  At 7:15 am there were not a lot of people and we were able to get some great shots.  Some of them are strong contenders for our Christmas card photo.

After our experience with Bus 62 and getting to the Vatican on day three, we decided a new plan was in order.  We still arrived via bus, but this time we caught our ride at a different stop and took a different bus.  All was well and it was a smooth trip across the river.

You could feel the buzz in the air from the moment we started walking down the street.  We flashed our ticket and was directed to the chairs up front.  Oh yeah -- we were feeling pretty special!

The sights around St. Peters Square were electric.  People were chatting for the Pope and waving flags and banners.  The atmosphere was almost Disney like.  It wasn't hard to catch the enthusiasm of the crowd.  All eyes were waiting to see the 266th Pope!

All the information about the Papal Audience reflected the starting time being 10:00 am.  The gates open around 8:00 pm and we were there pretty close to that to get to our seats.  Having never been to this event before, we choose seats near the center for better viewing of where he would be sitting.  As the ceremony began, we realized that the Pope cruises around the perimeter of the seating area in the Pope Mobile.  If I were to do this again, I think I would try to sit near the outside aisles to see him a bit better.  

We didn't have to wait until 10:00 am for the festivities to begin.  Right around 9:30 am, several Cardinals came to the stage and began welcoming varies groups from around the world.  Seeing so many people from so many different places truly made the world feel a little smaller.   Each message was delivered in several languages and thank goodness one of them was English.

As cheers from the crowd erupted, Pope Francis arrived and cheerfully rode around the crowd with a huge smile on his face before taking his seat.

After the Papal visit had concluded, we decided to do a bit of exploring in that region of the city.  We found an overlook that was amazing!

Our bellies were letting us know it was time for lunch.  We were planning to visit The National Museum of Rome and decided lunch near that attraction was our destination.  Ristorante del Passeggero looked inviting with their outdoor seating.   It definitely hit the spot!

There are tons of reasons I did not want to rent a car in Rome.  Here is just one example why:

We were watching people park while having lunch and were amazed at their techniques.  Can you even image getting out of this spot?!?

The National Museum of Rome was a rather small museum and we covered it fairly quickly.  You will find a huge collection of Roman sculptures to browse through.

The weather was absolutely beautiful the entire week we were in Rome.  We spent the remainder of the afternoon and early evening wandering the streets taking in the city.

We found another great restaurant for dinner - unfortunately, I did not make note of it's name.  Pasta and wine were a wonderful way to cap off the day.

As we made our way back to the hotel, of course we stopped for the 34738473 time to take pictures in front of the Trevi Fountain.  This time we got a little silly!

The next day we were taking a train to Florence and were excited to see that part of the country.  I'll be recapping Day Five soon!

So that's what I'm thinking out loud about today.  What's on your mind?  Link up and share!

An InLinkz Link-up

Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop - October 17, 2018

Welcome to our party! Oh, the creativity that came to our party last week. We are thrilled with the quality and variety of crafts, home decor, recipes and more. You are amazing!

Here are the posts that you visited most last week >>>

 

Most Viewed

Chenille Fabric Pumpkins - Flamingo Toes

 

Very Popular

Classic Style Personality - Style Yourself Confident

   

Magical Layered Pumpkin Cake - Crystal & Company

 

Easy Spiced Nuts - Crafting A Family

Editor's Pick

Chicken Parmesan Casserole - Kelly Lynn's Sweets & Treats

  So let's get this party started!

This week please follow our hosts on Facebook ...

Ducks ‘n a Row – Facebook

Mom Resource – Facebook

My Life Abundant – Facebook

Marilyn’s Treats – Facebook

Engineer Mommy – Facebook

Eclectic Red Barn– Facebook

LeCultivateur – Facebook

Penny’s Passion – Facebook

Simple Steps For Living Life– Facebook

 

Simple party guidelines:

Please TWEET our party. ♥ Add as many of your family-friendly posts as you would like to. No Etsy shops, adult sites or blog parties, please. Visit others. Let them know you’ve been there! If you are NEW, let us know in the comments so that we can follow you back. ♥ Help us find your posts – tell us what number they are? NOTE: party entries appear in REVERSE. i.e. the most recent entry goes to the top! That way all of our guests will have a chance to be seen no matter when they arrive. Thanks! ♥