April Photo-A-Day Challenge!!

When I was working on my project life for February I realized that I wasn't taking enough pictures. So I went in search of a fun Photo-A-Day challenge. One that wasn't random selfies and pictures of my friends. Granted I love to take pictures of myself and most of the pictures in my phone are of Steve. But realistically one can only have so many pictures of themselves in their scrapbook. So in my great search I came across theidearoom.net. I am currently on Day 4 and decided I will share the pictures that I am taking throughout the week and tell you all a little about the pictures. I hope you can join me and I would love to see all the pictures that you guys take. If you use instagram be sure to #theidearoom & #downtowndivadesigns. Now go out and take some pictures and have lots of FUN!!

Chicken Taco Soup

The weather the past week in Dallas was a little dreary and a whole lot rainy. What better time to make Chicken Taco Soup. Its souper easy and souper hearty.

Ingredients:
2-3 Boiled Chicken Breast
2 cans Bush's Chili Beans ( I used one mild sauce, 1 medium sauce)
1 can Pinto Beans
1 can Black Beans, drained & rinsed.
1 can Corn, drained
1 can Diced Tomatoes ( i used the ones with Green Chiles)
1 can Diced Green Chiles
1 pkg of Taco Seasoning
1 pkg of Hidden Valley Ranch

Boil the chicken breast until done. Shred/chop the chicken. Drain the corn & black beans. Pour everything into a crockpot or stock pot. The longer it simmers the better it is, but is ready to eat in about 2 hrs. Top with cheese and/or Fritos.

Project Life 2014

 Project Life is my latest obsession and I am so excited about 2014. While I have always enjoyed Scrapbooking I have not completed very many in the past few years. A few months ago I was on Instagram and one of my friends kept posting these really neat pages that she had completed but I never knew what they were. Around Thanksgiving I was looking for quotes for my scrapbook and I came across Project Life on Pinterest. Needless to say I fell in love. I googled it to see where I could order the products from and found the Heritage Kit on special at HSN. I ordered the kit for my Christmas present to my self and fell in love all over again. So, what did I ask for from my sister for Christmas?!?! You guessed it, Project Life!! She got me the Honey Kit and the Holidays Mini Kit. Last night while I was home alone I was cleaning up some things and decided to take advantage of the time and start my 2014 Project Life Book. This is my first book so I was a little intimidated by the process and all the cards. 2014 is a year of new beginnings and lots of adventure for me and my love. I included my quote of the year by Bob Moawad on the front page. When I was trying to come up with something cute to make the numbers out of I decided I would try my googly eyes that I bought for Christmas crafts. I think they turned out quite nice. The only things I change is to print the cards instead of writing the text but I couldn't get that to work properly so writing it was.. :)

I am looking forward to an Awesome Adventurous 2014 and I look forward to sharing my pages with you! Check back weekly for updates. I am going to attempt both a Heritage Album and a 2014 Album at the same time and if time permits I am going to backtrack and do a 2013 recap.



Recipe of the Week- Chicago Dogs

It's the New Year and I am excited for the changes ahead. One of my goals is to blog more. So I'm revamping my blog and including lots of new topics. Each Friday I will share with you my Recipe of the Week. I love to cook and people are constantly asking me for recipes so what better way to give them out. Since it's my first Recipe blog I'm going to start out simple and go with my love's favorite hot dogs!  Now I know you think Hot dogs is no brainier but we searched for 2 days for the ingredients for the perfect Chicago Dog. Finally, I found Hirsch's Market in Plano and they had everything from the dogs to the poppy seed buns. So what makes the perfect Chicago Dog?

Ingredients:

Vienna Beef Hot dogs
Sport Peppers
Neon Relish
Diced Onions
Yellow Mustard
Tomatoes (we used Roma)
Kosher Pickle SpearsPoppy Seed Bun
Dash of Celery Salt

I like to bake my hot dogs on my Pampered Chef Medium Bar Pan at 350*. It takes about 15-20 minutes for them to be perfect. Then you assemble the dogs! 

Granted since I have a severe mustard allergy I've never tried them but he loves them. Hope you enjoy!! 

Happy New Year!!!

What a year 2013 has been. There have been lots of happy moments, lots of sad moments, and lots of change. This year was extremely trying at times but I made it through it. I had the flu, 2 cyst rupture, tore my meniscus, my dad died, my grandma died, a very close girlfriend died, and my mom has cancer and is undergoing chemo.. Oh yeah, I lost my job but thankfully found an amazing new one.  I am looking forward to a Fabulous 2014 of good health for me and my family, a year of adventure with my awesome guy, and a year of fun and new opportunities.

Bob Moawad is my inspiration for the year. I love the quote that I have pictured to the left but my other quote for 2014 is :

"Creativity is God's gift to you. What you do with it is your gift to God.".

-Bob Moawad

I spent a good part of my New Year's Eve getting myself organized and prepared for the New Year. My weekly planner is now complete thanks to "The Handmade Home." I had been in search of the perfect planner and could not find it  and was to the point of making my own when I came across exactly what I was looking for on Pinterest. The best part is it was free to download!! All it required of me was some paper and about 45 minutes of printing. It wouldn't have taken that long but I was printing on multiple colors of paper and on both sides. OCD, I know! I got my 3-ring binder out and put my planner in the front. My ideas and inspiration page courtesy again of "The Handmade Home." To continue my organization I downloaded a Project Life Planner from "The Erratic Project Junkie. " Both of the sites are AWESOME.

Now that I'm somewhat organized it's time to figure out my goals for the year. I don't do resolutions because I never stick with them so my 2014 Goals are:

1) Lose Weight ( Isn't this on everyone's list. LOL!)
2) Get Healthy ( I am beyond tired of getting sick.)
3) Monthly Project Life (2014 is my first year, so I'm excited and nervous!!)
4) Blog More (My goal is once a week, minimum)
5) Go back to School
6) Build Downtown Diva Designs
7) Create Something new Weekly ( You guys will be seeing lots of Project Life Cards!!)


I wish everyone a Happy & Prosperous New Year!!!



Links to the Awesome Sites I mentioned:
http://www.thehandmadehome.net/
http://erraticprojectjunkie.blogspot.com/

Extreme Couponing!!

This morning I got up with the intention of going to the store for a few items. Came home with a whole lot more not to mention some awesome deals. On my Facebook page I am running a contest to see who can guess the amount I spent. The winner gets a Santa Letter Ornament!!! To make it fair I'm going to include a list of the items I purchased.. 

4 Totinos Pizzas

2 bags Safeway corn

1 pkg Safeway butter

4 cans Grands biscuits

2 Pillsbury Heat n' Go Waffles

6 cans Bush's beans (2 chili, 2 pinto, 2 black)

1 jar Barilla Pasta Sauce

3 cans Progresso Soup

4 cans Campbell Condensed Soups

I box Premium Crackers

1 box Folger instant packs

2 bags Twix Funsize

1 bag 3 Musketeers Funsize

1 bag Snickers Funsize

2 bags M & M's Funsize

1 box Nature Valley Granola Bars

3 reg size bottles of Suave Professionals Shampoo & Conditioner

2 Large bottles Tresemme Shampoo & Conditioner with pumps

1 bottle Tresemme Premium Heat Spray

1 box Playtex Sport

2 Vitamin Water Zero

2 Pledge Multi Surface

1 bag Stacy's Pita Chips

1 box Del Monte fruit squeezers

Like Downtown Diva Designs on Facebook and place your guess!!

Happy Boss's Day!!

In honor of Boss's Day I made my boss some homemade peanut butter cookies. Growing up peanut butter cookies were always my Holiday Cookie to bake. The whole process would take several hours and by the time I was finished I didn't want to eat any of them. Now as an adult I have a slight allergy to peanut butter so I usually steer clear. But for some odd reason I was craving peanut butter cookies.. Couldn't make a batch and Steve and I eat them all so hence the Boss's Day cookies. Instead of using the recipe that I used for years I decided to mix it up and try a simple basic recipe. 

1c. Peanut Butter

1c. Brown Sugar

1 egg

Splash of Vanilla

Mix all together and back on 375 for 10-12 minutes. Roll into balls and flatten with a fork. I added a little piece of chocolate to mine to make them extra good!! The cookies come out golden brown and delicious!!