How to keep your house smelling YUMMY!!

Hello, hello! I hope you are having a great Wednesday! 

Today was pretty hectic, but also a very, very fun day. As I mentioned yesterday, this semester is very different than the ones prior as I am taking full days of classes. Today I had school from 8a.m.-2:15p.m. That is definitely going to get some getting used to. Overall, it was actually a very fun day. My first class is 3 1/2 hours long, (ahh!!) but seems like it is going to be really, really fun. We are basically creating and producing our own TV news station! I can't wait to get into it and start learning! I have no experience whatsoever in broadcast journalism, so I am really excited to learn how to do it! 

Before changing my major back to journalism, I really didn't like school and would always find a reason to skip class or leave early. Now, I love it!! I feel like I am learning something new every single day, and not just that, but learning something that I can actually put in practice right now! Everyday I am reminded that changing my major was the right decision because I just love it so much! What's the saying? Do what you love and you'll never work a day in your life? I am definitely doing what I love.

Today I want to share with you my favorite products for keeping my house smelling yummy. 

Josh and I have two dogs and a cat. I love them dearly, but I do not want my house to smell like them. If you also have pets, you know that this can sometimes be a challenge. Forget to sweep the floors one day, and suddenly there is enough hair to make a whole new dog! Don't even get me started on the litter-box! At the end of the day, our lives wouldn't be nearly as fun without our furry children, so products that make my house smell good are life savers!

All products are linked below if you would like to purchase them. :]

1. Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day Basil Countertop Spray -- 16 oz

I am probably late jumping on this bandwagon, but I freaking LOVE this stuff!!! I found it a few weeks ago on an end-cap at Target. They were getting rid of their holiday scents, which, side note, the Iowan Pine smells fantastic if you can still find some! If not, definitely look out for it next year.

I have always used bleach on my counters, which works great, but have ruined many a shirt from leaning against it while it is still wet. I still use the bleach if I am working with meats, but for everyday messes, we have switched to this.

The thing that I love about it is that it smells great. I hate the smell of household cleaners! Most of them smell toxic, they give me a headache, and then your whole house smells for the rest of the day. Your counters will smell wonderful after using this. I actually want to clean now because it smells so great!

The other thing that I love about this spray is that it can be used one almost everything. I use it on the kitchen counters, the kitchen table, the coffee table in the living room, the bathroom counters...pretty much everywhere! It is super convenient to have a cleaner that works in so many areas.

I know there are other products in this brand that I have yet to try. I'll let you know what I think of them once I do.

2. Better Homes and Gardens Wax and Warmer

We have used these for years and have a wax warmer in literally every room of our house!  Most of them are the nightlight plug ins, but I do still have some large ones. We have tried everything including the Bath and Body Works and Glade plug-ins and this is by far my favorite. I have read that your nose gets used to smells within a couple days, which I believe to be true. I always found that the other brands smelled great for a few days and then I could never smell them. With these, you change them once or twice a week and your house will always smell wonderful!

I have every kind of scent you can imagine! My favorite is Carmel Apple, pictured above. It smells like you are walking through an apple orchard! Yum! My other favorite is one that we found last week, Chai Tea. It is the perfect light scent that I have been using in our bedroom.

You can use any brand of wax in these, or even make your own. Glade has some awesome wax cubes out right now as well. They are a little pricier than the BH&G ones, but smell just as great.

3. Glade Candle, Hawaiian Breeze

My mom bought a house when we were in 6th grade. My sister and I got to go look at all of the model homes with her before we picked one. Back then, and maybe they still do, KB Homes used the Glade Hawaiian Breeze scent in all of their model homes. So, when we finally picked a house, always made sure to have Hawaiian Breeze in her house.

This scent makes me feel at home, probably just because of all the memories that are attached to it.  Whenever I am feeling a little homesick or out of whack, I burn this candle and all feels right with the world again. I know that sounds weird, I mean it is just a candle, but there is just something about this scent that brings me back to Saturday mornings, sitting at the kitchen counter reading the newspaper with my mom.

4. Nature's Miracle Stain & Odor Remover

No one wants to talk about animal pee, but it happens, so I'll keep this brief. Sometimes, puppies and kitties have accidents. Since Binx started wearing diapers, those are very few and far between, thankfully. But, at the end of the day, accidents and throw up are just a part of being a parent, no matter if your children have four legs or two.

I like to keep a bottle of this around the house just in case. It works really well to get everything out of the carpet, including the smell which is very important so that they don't do it again. My parents used it growing up, back when we had two Greyhounds and a Great Dane, so it works on big messes too!

5. Bath & and Body Works Scentportable

This technically isn't in my home, but it helps keep things smelling nice, so I'm throwing it in here. I keep a Bath and Body Scentportable on the the mirror in my car. Currently, I am loving the mint tea leaf flavor, but my all time favorite is the eucalyptus scent. I love this anchor design, but the one I have is linked above. It is the pink sparkly peace sign. I may get a new design coming up, we'll see. These are 100x better than any other car air freshener that I have tried. They are a little more expensive, I'll be honest, but they last a long time and the smell is great.

What are your favorite yummy smelling products? Comment below and let me know! I am always looking for new things to try!

As always, remember to follow us on Facebook and Twitter for more fun throughout the week! See you soon!!!

Turkey Lettuce Wraps

Hello! Happy Tuesday!! And, happy first day of school UNLV! This semester is going to be totally different from any other, mainly because most of my classes are in the afternoon. Today I didn't go to school until 1p.m. when usually I am there at 8a.m. I couldn't believe how many people are on campus in the afternoon! I'm excited for a great semester, but will definitely have to get used to this new schedule as I will be going straight from school to work instead of having some time between the two.

I made an awesome lunch today! Since I had some time before heading off to school, I decided to start my morning watching some Youtube videos while unloading the dishwasher. There is a vlogger that I like named Nikki Phillipi. She recently posted a video about healthy snack food. Two of the recipes were for fresh pico de gallo and butter lettuce wraps. I'll link to the original video if you are interested. They looked amazing! We have been trying to cut out fast food all together, so I have been in search of some healthy alternatives. I tweeked the recipe a bit and made my own version. They turned out freaking awesome! I am seriously considering having some again for supper.

Side note: Josh and I upgraded our phones to the Galaxy Note 3, and the picture quality is Ah-mazing! So, that is very exciting!

I started with some butter lettuce as the "shell." I love this lettuce for two reasons; #1 because it still has the root in the package so it lasts forever, #2 it is just a better tasting lettuce, I think. Next, I added a slice of turkey to each shell. We use the Hormel Natural Choices deli meat because it has no sodium nitrates in it. I've read that it isn't that much healthier than other lunch meat, but I figure it can't hurt, right? Next, I added some bean sprouts. I finished it off with some homemade pico de gallo. I had some roma tomatoes in the fridge that needed to be used up, so it worked out perfectly.

You could definitely change up this recipe any way you'd like. In Nikki's video, she uses only turkey, tomatoes and cilantro. I think it would be great with some cucumber, olives and feta cheese. Mmm, that sounds good actually. Maybe some tomatoes, parsley, garlic and pepperoni instead of turkey. Yum.. I've got to stop. I'm getting hungry!

I really liked this lunch. It was filling, yet light, which I think makes for a perfect meal. I honestly didn't think Josh was going to like it, but to my surprise, he said it was "delicious!" I am excited to learn some new healthy lunch recipes!

Be sure to follow LTMFBlog on Twitter and Facebook! We are brand new on Twitter, but I am actually kind of liking it!! It is very different than Facebook. I know, I know, I am super late to jump on this bandwagon, but hey, I'm getting there! I post various things throughout the week like thrift store finds, photos of my dogs and of course, new posts on the blog.

There will be a giveaway coming up once we hit 50 followers on Twitter and Facebook... we are SOO close! I would love if you could help us get there!!

As always, be sure to check back during the week for other fun crafts and yummy recipes! Thanks for stopping by! <3

Our Farmhouse Style Table

About a year ago, I bought these beautiful vintage blue lamps for the bedroom. One is short and wide with a great big lampshade. The other is tall and skinny with a tall lampshade. I have loved them since the day we bought them because they were so unique and added a lot of color to the room. The bedroom in our old apartment was a little larger than our bedroom now, and so, we were able to have the nightstands farther away from the bed. Since we moved, the short lamp has been driving me NUTS! Of course, it is on my side of the bed, and the lampshade is just too big and is always getting in the way no matter where I put it.

I'm sure you're wondering how this has anything to do with my kitchen table, but don't worry, I'm getting there. :p

The night before last, I woke up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. After laying back down, I went to grab my phone off the nightstand to check the time and accidentally dropped it on the floor. Bending down to pick it up, I smacked my head right into the lampshade. Ouch. That was it, the last straw!! I decided right then and there that we would be making a trip to the thrift store in the morning to find a new lampshade. Sure enough, we found a smaller blue lamp with a smaller lampshade for my side of the bed. I moved the other lamp to the dresser where it can no longer attack me in the middle of the night.

After finding my new lamp, we decided to walk around for kicks and giggles just to kill some time. We went back into the furniture section, and there it was...the perfect bench for our new kitchen table. We have been looking for a bench or two head chairs since we bought this table over a month ago and hadn't found anything! I had pretty much given up searching for one and decided on attempting to build one.

The wood is the exact color of my other chairs, so they don't have to be painted. The fabric matches everything else in my kitchen so I don't need to reupholster it. It was meant for us! And that wasn't even the best part! The best part is that it was on sale! Originally $29, we got it for $22 with a 25% discount! Yea!

The bench is very comfortable and will allow our table to seat six instead of only four, just in time for friends to come over for game night!

Also, as you can see, Oliver has decided that it is his new favorite place in the house.

Oh! I haven't said anything about the actual table yet, I forgot I haven't showed it before. I have wanted a table like this ever since I first saw it on Pinterest. I just love farmhouse tables. They are so cozy and home-y. We found this guy at Deseret Industries a little over a month ago for $35!! Can you believe that? It was in great condition with only a few minor blemishes that came right off with my handy-dandy magic eraser.

{Side note-- Deseret is my new all time favorite thrift store. Oh my gosh, I have so much fun there. Everything is reasonably priced; I have never seen anything over $50 and most things are actually $1-$2. Also, they only sell good quality stuff there, unlike other thrift stores that will sell you something that is in horrible condition for one hundred bucks! They are owned by the LDS church, so I would assume that they are all over, but don't quote me on that. ;p I definitely recommend this store!}

You should have seen us trying to get this guy home, holy cow I'm sure we looked crazy! We bought it at the Deseret in North Las Vegas, so it was about a 30 minute drive back home. Josh and I took the legs off the table and slid it into the hatchback of our car. Ugh, it was only a few inches too long. Josh's motto is "If it doesn't fit, make it fit." So, he was determined to get this table home that night. He had me scoot the passenger seat ALL the way up, so that I was literally hanging on to the dash as he drove. It was so uncomfortable, but we laughed about it all the way home. We stopped at a light next to a car of teenage boys who were having a good laugh at our expense. Oh well, they were probably just jealous of my awesome new table! It sure was an adventure, let me tell you.

My favorite thing about this table are the drawers on the side. Currently, they are holding my placemats and chargers until I decide if I am going to use them or not. I also want to get some paper napkins and keep them in the one of the drawers as well. The left drawer is a little difficult to open, but my hubby is going to fix that for me, right dear? ;p

So, there it is, our new kitchen table that I have been promising to show you all month! I am in love with it. This morning, I sat at the bench and at my breakfast. This afternoon, Josh and I sat on the bench and ate lunch while watching the neighborhood kids play outside. It feels like home. I liked our old table, but it wasn't me. It was heavy, the glass was hard to keep clean as any little fingerprint would show up, and it only sat four. I love having lots of friends over with lots of food sitting family style in the middle of the table. I am so excited for this table. Yea!!

Granddad's Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

Josh came home from work today with a stuffy nose. Ugh. We can't get sick. Especially with the flu going around.

Four years ago, almost exactly, I came down with swine flu, H1N1. It was the worst three months of my life. I was a freshman at UNR. There were about five of us that came down with it, and we were quarantined to our rooms, only able to leave for the doctor. I remember being up all night long shaking and shivering. I couldn't get warm. Nothing I ate would stay down. I coughed so much that my lungs would just ache. I kid you not, I have never been so sick in my life. I remember calling my mom in the middle of the night and begging her to make the eight hour drive to come get me, not that there was anything she could have done to help. And now, it's back. I saw on the news yesterday that five people have already died from it this year. We cannot get sick!

I'm sure what Josh has is just a cold or allergies because he has no fever, but I'm not taking any chances! We've loaded up on vitamin c and echinacea, I've got him drinking Gatorade and Pedialyte to keep hydrated, and I made a giant batch of granddad's homemade chicken noodle soup. This thing does the trick, let me tell you. We grew up eating this soup. Anytime anyone felt sick, granddad made us soup. I recently asked him to teach me how to make it, and now it is one of my favorite recipes, probably because it brings back so many memories.

On of the best things about this soup is that it is super easy. Besides cutting the vegetables and chicken, you really just sit back and wait for it all to come together. The other great thing is that it is very inexpensive to make. I made ten servings of soup today and spent less than five dollars!! That is $.50 a serving! The other great thing about this soup--I know, it keeps getting better :) --is that it freezes very well. I put the leftover soup in individual bags and freeze them so that we always have some on hand for a quick lunch or supper. The last thing I love about this soup is that it is homemade. Have you seen the label of these canned soups? Granddad has been watching his salt intake lately because he has high blood pressure, and these canned soups have like 900mg of sodium in them!! I make the broth from scratch. I cook the chicken myself, though you could use like a rotisserie if you wanted to. I chop all the veggies myself. The only thing I don't make myself is the noodles.

Okay, enough blabbing, let's get to the recipe, shall we.

Smoky Chicken and Bacon Tostadas

Hello!!! How was your Christmas? I hope you had a great time with your friends and family! We had a relaxing morning and went out for supper with my granddad in the evening. It was a nice day. No cooking, no cleaning.

The food was AH-mazing. We went to Don Vito's at the South Point.  I haven't been there since my grandma was alive, so that was interesting. The food was so good, I can't even tell you. Granddad and I had the turkey dinner and Josh had a steak. For dessert, Josh had a cappuccino cheesecake and I had an eggnog cannoli. Yum!!! If you are ever in Vegas, I highly recommend it. Our supper was $30 per person and included wine, bread, salad, the meal, dessert and coffee. Oh, and did I mention, it was AH-mazing! Totally worth every penny!

Not to be a Debbie downer, but I never got into the holiday spirit this year. I felt like I was going through the motions of the holidays, but never really felt the holiday spirit. I even took my tree and decorations down the day after Christmas. I really missed my family this year. Everyone lives so far away. I think that's why I never felt the spirit this year. We spent Thanksgiving with Josh's family. It was the first time in awhile that we were able to be with extended family for the holidays. After that, it just wasn't the same to spend the holidays by ourselves.

I took a little time off from writing for some much needed relaxation, but now I'm back...so let's start things off with a bang!

I completely forgot about this recipe! This recipe comes from Pampered Chef. I made it about a year ago, and then put the cookbook on the shelf and forgot about it. The other day I was looking for something new to make for supper and stumbled across it. So exciting!

And let me tell you, this is to die for...literally. It is not a very healthy recipe, unfortunately. Between the bacon and the dressing made out of its grease, you are definitely going to need some Pepto before bed. It is totally worth it. It isn't something I could eat everyday, but it makes a great treat.

My granddad got us a toaster oven for Christmas, and I am thoroughly enjoying it! We cooked our chicken in it tonight and honestly, any chicken we've cooked in it has turned out absolutely amazing. It is so juicy and delicious. I'm sure there will be more recipes to come done in our oven, because I have used it like a hundred times since we got it.

Side note, this is what my kitchen looks like when bacon is being cooked.  Mommy has a bad habit of giving the boys people food so they are always ready and waiting for some bacon to come their way.  

Hubby's Opinion:

"It was a mix of sweet and savory. The chicken was very juicy."

So, with that, let's get to the recipe!

Crockpot Chili and Cornbread Waffles

Josh and I have been trying to eat clean since coming home from vacation. We haven't been eating fast food and have been trying to cut out processed foods. Usually when I make chili, I use one of those seasoning packets you get at the grocery store. I recently read that those packets are filled with salt and unhealthy chemicals, so I decided to try and make my own chili seasoning. It turned out better than I planned and I am so excited to share it with you!!

I like making crockpot meals on the nights that I work until 9pm so that I can come home and not have to worry about what to make for supper. The crockpot is like the greatest invention ever!

We also made cornbread waffles. I learned this trick on Pinterest. Any batter can be cooked in a waffle iron instead of the oven. Everything turns out crispy and yummy, and best of all, it only takes a couple minutes! We made our Cinnamon Roll Waffles this way as well.

Our Christmas Decorations

Yea!! It is December. Christmas is my favorite time of the year, probably because it is the only time in Las Vegas that it is not super hot here! I really don't do much decorating for the holidays. This is the first year that I have decorated a little bit in almost every room. Usually, I just put up the tree and call it a day. This year, I really wanted to get into the holiday spirit and decorate more.

I try to use only red and gold decorations, I know, I have mild OCD. I just really like everything to look cohesive and match. This year, my granddad gave me some of my grandma's decorations that are blue and white, so I have incorporated that into the decor.

Today I'll show you the inside of the house, and next week I'll show you the outside. The one thing you will not see today is my kitchen table. One of the things my granddad gave me were these little blue and white snowman plates that I have on the chargers on my kitchen table. One of them got knocked over the other day on accident. I have been looking everywhere a replacement, but they were something my grandma won at Station Casinos from gambling, so I am not finding it anywhere. :[ So, I am going to find something else to put on two of the four chargers and will show you that next week with the outside decor.

So, with that said, let's hop right in!

The most logical start of this tour is the front door! This is our entryway. On the left side of the entry, we have a shelf for our keys and a mirror. I added a little snow-globe a coworker gave me last year and a red and gold tree that I bought from Target my very first Christmas in my own house.

On the right side of the entry we have our entry table that Josh built for me. If you would like to see it in full, I can do a post on that. Josh originally built it as an island in our old house, but when we moved, I decoupaged it as an entry table. Anyways, that was a long introduction to the table. I usually just have a little Bath and Body candle on the right side of the table.  For the holidays I bought this little snowman candle holder from Goodwill and put a little pillar candle inside of it. We also have our box of mail and a little flower bouquet. I just bought this vase at Michael's over the weekend because little Oliver broke the other one while we were in California on vacation for Thanksgiving.

This is our coffee table and stockings. Yes, we do have stockings for our pets, and yes, there are already things in them...so that's that. I made the candle holders on the right hand side of the table. I can do a tutorial on that if you are interested, they are pretty easy to make. The nativity set I bought at the dollar store actually. It is a pretty cute set. The lantern on the left usually has green and brown decorative balls in it, but for the holidays I thought I'd put some Christmas balls in there. I got the lantern at Fallas. Oh, and the stockings are from the dollar store as well.

Here is a closeup of the lantern. I hadn't put up the nativity set yet in this photo, but we usually have this little basket for the TV remotes in the center of the table.

On the couch we have a little snowman pillow that I got from Goodwill this year. It is super cute. I also have a snowflake blanket that I got a few years ago from Target.

Of course I had to save the best for last, the tree!!! We just bought this tree before we left for vacation from Lowe's. It was $120, but it looks so much like a real tree so it was worth the money! The tree we had before we purchased the first year that Josh and I lived together. It was like $20 from Big Lots and was super thin and crappy, but we've had it for three years so it was time for something new. I love this tree because the needles are plastic and actually look real, unlike most fake trees with the papery needles, if that makes sense. I love it, it makes me happy. I also love that you can't see the pole in the center, because that is my biggest Christmas pet-peeve. Oh, and it is a pre-lit tree which makes life much easier, let me tell you.

Here it is in full. I love it. The ornaments have just been collected over the years from Target, the dollar store and Walmart. I added the ribbon to the tree this year because I have seen it on all of the professionally done Christmas trees, so I had to copy them.

So, that is it. Make sure you come back to see the dining room table and the outdoor decorations!! Have a good Thursday! (Sorry all of my posts have been a day late this week, it is finals week at school!)