The New Casita Cory

Yesterday Forrest and I did the most grown up thing in our marriage (besides getting married)...we bought our first house. AND I AM SO EXCITED! I'm sorry, I just couldn't hold it in. I stopped by in afternoon to snap a few pictures. I am so thankful for this house and cannot wait to get moved in!

The dining room...that will soon become Forrest's office. I am contemplating sharing this space with him and putting my crafting area in here as well. Blending corporate fitness sales & felt flowers may be a stretch.

The deck on the back of our house...excited for grilling again!

Our living room...this and the kitchen will eventually be painted a gray color. Still not sure if I should put up blinds or not. I kind of love the windows as they are.

The kitchen is so big! I also love that I have 2 windows over the sink. And look at all of that storage space...sweet.mother.of.pearl. I am so glad to have a gas stove!!!!

This is our breakfast nook. We are going to just have our dining table here and have a more casual dining space since we are using the dining room as an office. Look at all those windows and the window pane in the door. I can't wait for a sunny day!

Guest bedroom 1.

Bench swing on the side of the porch.

The view of the deck from the yard. We are planning to utilize that space underneath for storage. We also have a huge crawl space that you can walk around in!

The next few pictures are kind of blurry. I stopped in this afternoon to take care of a few things, so I rushed a little bit while taking the pictures. I will get some better ones this weekend!

Guest bathroom. Lavender must go soon!

Master bathroom. I'm not in love with the golden shower / fixtures...but that is like 1000 on my list of things to do!

 

The room above the garage (this is just one part of it, there is another part where I am standing that has a closet)

Guest bedroom 2. Sorry it is so dark!

 

And the master bedroom (with his and hers closets!!!! and a tray ceiling). Sorry again that it is so blurry.

I bought the paint tonight to lighten up those walls. I plan to put large stripes on the right wall in this picture, where the headboard of our bed will go. Of course I hopped over to Pinterest to get some inspiration and here are some ideas I found:


Here is one in a living room. I like the broad stripes.

Source: realhousewivesofbc.blogspot.com via Megan on Pinterest

This chevron stripe is amazing, but I'm not going to try and pull that off yet!

Source: google.com via Megan on Pinterest

Another striped wall I found on pinterest.

Source: draperydesignblog.com via Megan on Pinterest

I think this one is my favorite. I am using a shade called Toasting Tan and another called Polar White to do the stripes. We will see how it turns out!

Source: cottageandvine.blogspot.com via Megan on Pinterest

Have you ever painted a striped wall? What tips do you have to make it easier?

Awesome Hair Tutorial

Hello all!

Things are a little hectic around Casita Cory this week because we are actually closing on the house today and moving in on Saturday! So, I am going to refer you on to some bloggers and/or videos that I really enjoy.

About a month ago a friend from work introduced me to the The Small Things Blog. She has several hair tutorials, but my favorite is her "How to Curl Your Hair with a Curling Iron" video. Check out the link to her site and watch the video.

I am absolutely terrified of curling irons. I once got one of those old brush/curling irons stuck in my little sisters head! I was in elementary school and had the good sense to unplug the thing, but my mom spent about four hours that night getting the curling iron out of the knotty mess in poor Jennie's head. I was in soooo much trouble!!! I knew then that hair styling was not in the cards for me...sigh.

In October I had my hair trimmed and the stylist took some time to curl it after she cut it, and I loved the way it looked. I went out and bought my own curling iron and tried with absolutely no success to repeat the style.  I watched this tutorial once and then did my hair and loved the way it looked. I have curled my hair almost every day since.

The day of my first attempt:

I have medium length hair and sometimes it curls naturally and sometimes it doesn't. I also have the kind of hair that when you just blow dry it out becomes frizzy. So I was really happy to find a way to style my hair that takes about 10 minutes and makes me feel better all day long! I use some extra hair spray to keep my fine locks from falling, but other than that this tutorial teaches you everything you need to know.

Try it out and let me know what you think!

Before the tutorial = hot mess

 

After the tutorial = controlled curls

One day I curled it, but decided to put it in a ponytail: 

yes...I took these pictures sitting at my desk at the end of the day...and my hair is still in one place....it's a miracle!

Giving Thanks

We hit the road early yesterday morning heading to Pennsylvania to spend Thanksgiving with Forrest's 93 year old Grammy and his Aunt Mimi. We haven't seen them since April 2010, so we are very excited to spend some quality time with them! On the drive, we stopped in VA to pick up my wonderful sister-in-law, Lauren, so we had fun catching up with her in the car.

I thought I would take this time to let you know what I am thankful for this year.

I am thankful for a God who loves me so much that He sent His son, Jesus, to take my place on the cross. I am thankful for my church that reminds me of that sacrifice, and calls me to love and serve others because of it.

Source: susieharrisblog.com via Megan on Pinterest

I am so grateful for my loving husband. His energy and passion for life are contagious, and I am a better person each day because of him.

I am thankful for my wonderful parents. They have sacrificed so much for me over the years, and I am overwhelmed by their constant love and generosity. I am thankful of how they love each other, and what a great example of marriage they have given my sisters and me :)

I am thankful for the two best sisters in the world. I am thankful for every opportunity I get to spend with them on the phone, on FaceTime or in person now that we all live so far apart! I am also thankful for the men who love them and make them so very happy!

I am super grateful for this precious face...and being Mimi :)

I am thankful for my in-laws! I am very happy to be a Cory and I am thankful to spend Thanksgiving with you this year!

And to wrap it up, I am thankful for the beautiful journey Forrest and I have traveled this year. I am thankful for our new city, our new jobs, our new church, our new small group, our new friends....and hopefully, if all goes well next Tuesday...our new house!

We have so much to be thankful for this season! I pray that each of you will have safe travels, and I hope you enjoy the quality time with your families and friends. Thank you for reading this blog!

Happy Thanksgiving :)

Roasted Acorn Squash with Sauteed Tatsoi Greens

I really cherish my days off. Not only because I don't have to work, but at the end of the day I have a little extra energy to be more adventurous in the kitchen. Yesterday was another wonderful 78 degrees and sunny, which made it an even better day! I also mailed off my big grad school project, so now I wait to see if the committee passes me or gives me feedback to make changes. Yippie! I also started packing up the apartment because we move into the new house on December 3rd--and.i.cannot.wait! I can't believe we are packing up again, but this time it seems to be going a little easier, mostly because I don't think we ever settled into this place like our condo back in the 'Burg.


I had originally planned for the butternut squash dish to last us two nights, but you all know about the starving man living with me, so that just didn't work out as planned. While at the farmers market yesterday, I picked up an acorn squash because I wanted to try cooking it. I had a couple of ideas in mind, but ended up using this recipe that I found at www.simplerecipes.com :

 

Source: simplyrecipes.com via Megan on Pinterest

I served it with some sauteed tatsoi greens that I also found at the farmers market and a rice and orzo pilaf from Trader Joe's. It was another dinner full of the fresh, healthy flavors of fall.

Roasted Acorn Squash

1 acorn squash, cut in half from stem to end

1 tbsp butter

2 tbsp brown sugar

2 tbsp maple syrup

1/2 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 400.

Place the acorn halves in a baking dish and pour in about 1/4 in of water to keep the skin from burning and to help in the cooking process.

Coat the insides of the squash with butter. Add the dash of salt to each (if you use no salt butter). Sprinkle 1 tbsp of brown sugar into each half and then drizzle 1 tbsp of maple syrup over each half.  

Bake for about 1 hr.

With 20 minutes to go on the squash follow the box directions for this delicious rice/orzo pilaf:

Once you have that simmering on the stove, rinse the greens and de-stem them. Tear them into smaller pieces. On the stove, heat 1 tbsp of olive oil to medium heat in a medium skillet. Then add my no-fail-delicious-greens ingredients: cracked red pepper (2 pinches) and a whole garlic clove (you can kind of pop it open with the side of your knife first).

When the oil is hot, remove the garlic and add the greens. Cook until tender. By the time the greens finished up the pilaf and squash were ready, so I plated the three and added a dash of parsley left over from last night's meal. 

This was very filling and totally delicious. I actually would scoop out a 1/2 spoon of acorn and eat it with a 1/2 spoon of the rice--the sweet and savory combo was amazing. Those greens were great too. You can do the same with spinach or any other dark, leafy green!

Who is ready for Thanksgiving??? We are hitting the road tonight on our trip to PA with a little lay-over in VA to pick up my beautiful sis-in-law. What are your travel plans?

A Fall Famer's Market Meal

Yesterday was absolutely gorgeous. 75 and sunny in November. You just cannot complain about that. I hadn't made a trip to the State Farmer's Market for a while, so I decided it would be the perfect thing for a beautiful Sunday afternoon. I had a recipe in mind that I recently pinned over on Pinterest for Butternut Squash & Tagliatelle with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce which I found on the Cook & Be Merry blog.

Source: cookandbemerry.com via Megan on Pinterest

With the recipe in hand, I headed out on the 40, getting lost only twice before making my way to the market.

The recipe calls for 6 Thai chilis, but the pepper-lady at the market didn't have any of those. I opted for 3 Anaheim and 3 Cubanelle peppers instead for a mix of hot and sweet. I also picked up the butternut squash, a few apples, along with some parsley, arugala and totsoi.

 

When I got home I roasted up the veggies for the sauce, then sauteed the butternut squash while the pasta cooked. It looked gorgeous and carried the light fresh flavor of a fall harvest.

Okay, mine looks totally different from hers, but I did have to make a few changes. To see her original recipe click on the link above. Here is the Casita Cory version:

Butternut Squash & Papperdelle with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

 

Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

3 Anaheim Peppers, seeded and sliced

3 Cubanelle Peppers, seeded and sliced

1 Red Bell Pepper, seeded and sliced

1 Red Onion, seeded and sliced

4 Cloves Garlic, whole 

1 tsp cumin (I used ground)

3 tbsp olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 400
2. Place the peppers, onion and garlic on a baking sheet.
3. Drizzle with olive oil & sprinkle the cumin evenly over the veggies
4. Bake for 45 mins or until the peppers start to char, tossing the vegetables occasionally
5. While the peppers and onions are still warm, scrape them from the pan into a blender or food processor and puree until smooth. Set aside.

 Pappardelle & Butternut Squash

 1 medium butternut squash

2 bunches of fresh arugula

3 tablespoons of parsley, chopped

Zest and juice of 1/2 lemon

1 8 oz package of pappardelle pasta

1. Heat the water to cook the pasta according to package directions.
2.  Cut the  butternut squash into 1 inch cubes
3. Heat 1 tbsp of olive in a medium skillet
4. The arugula I found at the market has larger leaves than that in the original recipe and the one we most frequently find at the grocery store. It has a darker green color, which makes it gorgeous. I did tear/cut it into smaller pieces.
5. Zest the lemon and set aside.
6. Cook the butternut squash (I added some S&P) until it browns on the sides.  Then squeeze the lemon over the butternut squash and add the zest. Stir to mix.
7. After straining the pasta, return it to the pan, stir in the roasted red pepper sauce and plate that.
8. Top with the butternut squash, parsley and arugula. I stirred mine just a little bit to mix the ingredients together.

The flavors were light and very fresh, and it contains the hidden antioxidants in the peppers, along with the vitamins in the greens.

Side note: I am making some changes to the blog. I am trying to design it myself and create the html code for it, so it is a trial and error process. Please forgive me as it changes until I find what I'm really looking for!

Happy Monday and I hope you enjoy the recipe!

Winter Dinner for 2 or 4

I love a meal that requires about 20 minutes of prep and one to two hours of baking. I can spend some time getting the meal ready, but then I can sit back and relax while the oven does the work. As much as I enjoy making multi-ingredient, labor-intensive meals, the precious time I savor doing something besides sweating over the stove is something no fancy meal can replace. One of my favorite prep-and-bake meals is my famous Roast Chicken and Veggies.

Okay it isn't famous. It isn't even remotely well-known. In fact, I think I've only ever made it for Forrest. But it is a star in my recipe book. I turn to this meal frequently in the winter to get a healthy well-rounded plate using fresh ingredients--and as it fills the house with the delicious aroma of fall veggies, lemon and rosemary, I can sit back and focus on a new favorite past-time, crafting.

There are a few other things that make this meal really amazing.
1) It is really easy.
2) It is really cheap.
3) It is really delicious.

Ingredients

1 whole-roaster chicken

4 red potatoes

3 small sweet potatoes

3 medium carrots

1 large onion

1 lemon

2 sprigs rosemary

2 cloves garlic (not pictured) 

Cut up the the veggie into large chunks

Drizzle some olive oil over them and toss them with salt and pepper. In a deep 9 x 13 pan, drizzle a little bit of olive oil and place the two 2 cloves of garlic in the center (I used the side of my knife to crush it just a bit). Strategically place the veggies so that they make a little nest to put the chicken in. 

You will need to remove the gizzard and rinse the chicken and the cavity. Pat it dry with a paper towel. 

Drizzle the chicken with olive oil, and shake on some salt and pepper. Rub the olive oil and S&P over the skin and cavity of the chicken. Stuff the lemon and rosemary inside the cavity. Tie up the legs and place it over the veggies in the pan. Tuck the wings back. You have to kind of bend them back behind and hook them so they don't move.

 Bake at 425 for about 1.5 to 2 hrs. You should be able to stick your knife into the thigh and the juices should run clear. I didn't get a picture of the final roast because I always cut deeper into the thigh to make sure no blood runs. The first time I did this recipe there was just a little bit of blood in the thigh and it made me nervous.

Then, remove the chicken from the pan, cut the twine and remove the lemon and rosemary. Save one half of the lemon. Scoop out the veggies and leave the juices in the pan. Squeeze the lemon into the juices in the pan and stir them up. Strain the juices and set aside. 

Slice the breast and place slices on a plate next to the veggies. Stir up the juices and pour some over the sliced chicken. Serve with a green veggie like green beans. 

The chicken is super juicy and basically melts in your mouth. The veggies have a great flavor from cooking in the pan with the chicken and lemon juices. You will want to make this over and over again!

What are some of your favorite roast recipes?