La Festa Italiana!

For the past 3 years we have been counting down the days to the Mount Carmel Italian Festival in July. They have the most amazing Sausage and Pepper sandwiches, and the atmosphere is always so much fun.  Can you say fantastic people watching? You never know what you will find at the Italian Fest.  

We ate (too much), drank (way too much), won a cake and had a Saturday evening full of fun. 

 The hubby doing a little gambling.

 Our winning cake number!

 deep fried Pizelle's-Unbelievably sugary and delicious.....my Mom's Fav. 

 Me and my love

Mi Famiglia (minus a few....) 

xo,

Kara

Gramma's Chicken Piccata

Chicken has been feeling so boring and played out to me lately, so I thought I would try something new and different.  I have had my Gramma's Chicken Piccata recipe for years, and thought I should give it a whirl.

I love that I have a recipe or two that my Gramma Gilbert wrote for me.  It makes it special to see her handwriting and know I am making a recipe that she loved too. She was such an amazing cook, and while she doesn't cook anymore, I still have some favorite dishes that she has taught us how to make.  One of my favorites was her chokecherry jelly. You can check out our attempt at jelly here.

I made just a few changes to this recipe. 

Enjoy~

Ingredients

1 to 1 and a half pounds of chicken breasts

Flour-enough for coating the chicken

3 TBS of butter

Juice of 1 lemon

2 cups of low sodium chicken broth

1 small jar of Capers- the amount you use can vary based on how much you LOVE capers. if you are like me you will use 3 big spoonfuls
salt and pepper

Start by pounding chicken to a uniform thickness of about 1 inch thick.  Salt and Pepper the chicken to your liking and then coat both sides with flour.  Melt butter in the skillet on medium/high heat and then brown chicken. 

Remove the chicken from the skillet and add lemon juice and chicken broth to the skillet. Boil down to about half a cup. I didn't measure this, but rather judged the amount based on the thickness of the broth.

Place chicken back in the skillet with the capers and cook another 3 to 5 minutes.

Serve and enjoy!

I chose to make a very basic pasta to serve on the side- whole wheat penne, olive oil, basil and parm.  The light flavor blended perfectly with the Chicken Piccata.

xo,

Kara



Weekend Review

I am a day late with this post because yesterday I was EXHAUSTED.  I didn't even turn on my computer when I got home from work, so unlike me. 

My sister Kate's husband's 30th birthday party was this weekend out in LA, and we had a great time.  We had an outdoor BBQ on Kacey, my other sister's in Hermosa Beach and it was full of all the fun you expect at a day time BBQ at the beach-a Mexican Fiesta! I wasn't able to take a bunch of pictures but I wanted to share with you a few I took :)

My beautiful sister Kate and her husband Billy-the birthday boy!

As soon as I arrived, we needed cranberry mimosas to fuel ourselves for the prep work ahead :-)

 The beginning of our table set up. Kate is so creative and made everything perfect.

Final stages of the table-Kate made Chipotle style burritos and they were ahhhmazing. And we couldn't forget to invite the Mexican Flamenco dancers. They really kept the party going.

Boys being boys.  Many games were played on that table. Isn't Kacey and Rossi's deck fantastic? Such a great party house!

Our littlest fiesta guest. Could she be any cuter?? Oh and don't you love the Mexican landscape in the background? That was Rossi's (brother-in-law) contribution.

The end of the evening took us to a bar in Hermosa.  It was fun, great music, and even better people watching. 

Finally, this lady had to call it a night.  I had been up for 21 hours........not sure when the last time I did something like that was.  I am getting too old for these shenanigans. :)

It was such a fun, whirwind Saturday, and I was so happy to be able to come out to be a part of the fun! Hope you all had wondeful weekends too!

xo,

Kara

Lifestyle update!

Well it's been almost 3 weeks since I let y'all in on my plan to change my habits into healthy ones and here are the deets on what has transpired :)

I have worked out 14 of the last 19 days and I am super thrilled with this accomplishment.  I am happy not only because I made a committment and stuck to it, but also because the majority of the workouts were completed before work! I finally forced myself to get out of bed and just do it! (thank you Nike).  I truly feel ONE HUNDRED PERCENT more energized, and all around happier. 

**Please remind me of this when I complain about waking up early come Winter.

                                                                                                            via Kara on Pinterest

I have been much more aware of the food I am eating, and have been reminded how quickly calories add up. The Lose It App is great on my iPhone, and if any of you are wanting to count calories this is an easy way to do it.  I don't think that I will always count calories, only because it makes me a little crazy.  I would rather get settled into my lifestyle change and just make smart food decisions.

                                                                                                              via Kara on Pinterest

OK-so the snacking after work thing is still my nemesis, but I am getting better. I am choosing carrots over crackers, and hummus over cheese.  Baby steps :)

As of this morning, I have lost 5 pounds! Now pounds aren't the most important aspect of a lifestyle change, but if I am being honest.....they motivate me.  As I make the changes, seeing all my hard work in a number makes me want to do better. Is it the same for you?

                                                                                                           via Kara on Pinterest

I hope hearing about my changes inspires you to make some of your own.  Even the littlest change, can make a difference. 

I am off to LA this weekend to celebrate my brother-in-law's 30th Bday! It could be wild and crazy. And I am leaving the hubby behind :-)

Happy Friday.

xo,

Kara

Metal Letters a la Pinterest :)

 I was so excited when I was perusing Centsational Girl earlier in the week, and found that there is a Pinterest Summer Challenge link party today.

  via

It motivated me to finally tackle a Pinterest project that I had been too scared to try.  Since moving into our house I have become much more adventurous in the crafting department, but you would never mistake me for Martha Stewart :)

This project seemed fairly elementary, and one I could possibly complete without some sort of disaster lurking in the wings, just waiting to ruin my big plans. I am in the process of sprucing up our laundry room on the cheap and figured these faux letters would be the perfect addition.  And if I totally screwed them up.....no biggie! 

 Here are the Pinterest finds that inspired me to link up!

            Source: sugarandcharmblog.com via Kara on Pinterest

I used these instructions to create my Metal Letters, but also drew inspiration from this picture as well.

                                                                       Source: lifeasathrifter.blogspot.com via Kara on Pinterest

For a novice crafter this Pinterest project was perfect for me! I went to our local crafting store (which use to be my personal hell, surprisingly now I kinda LOVE it), and picked up my supplies: 

Cardboard Letters, Folk Art Black Acrylic Paint and Folk Art Pearl Metallic paint

I actually had paint brushes at home, shocking to those who know me.  I was a little nervous picking out the paint, because I was afraid I was purchasing the wrong ones, but turns out I made good choices. 

Step One:

Paint all letters in black paint-let dry completely

Step two:

Using the Folk Art Pearl paint, use long strokes and paint over the black.  It instantly gives you the metal letter look we all love. 

Once the letters have dried, hang wherever your heart desires. 

This room is a total work in progress, but I wanted to share the finished product hung up on the wall.  This may not be their final resting place, but here you go!

Pinterest project complete!  Gonna have to decide which crafty, DIY project I want to try next :)

xo,

Kara

sharing with:

centsational girl

ten june

young house love

bower power