Yummmmmm....Texas Caviar!

Texas Caviar
1-Cup sugar
3/4-Cup apple cider vinegar
1/2-teaspoon black pepper
Mix sugar, vinegar and pepper in pan. Bring to a boil and simmer until sugar is dissolved. Set aside to cool.

1-15 oz can black eyed peas
1-15 oz can black beans
1-15 oz can white corn
1-15 oz can pinto beans
Rinse and drain all of the above.

1 each: green pepper, yellow pepper, red pepper
1 medium purple onion
1-C celery
Chop fresh vegetables.

Mix all vegetables together with the cooled liquid and chill for several hours or overnight. Serve with tortilla chips or corn chips. Also good with grilled meats; will keep for up to 6 weeks in refrigerator.

~Compliments of my awesome next door neighbor, Teri

Winner of my contest!

OK, so I'm a day or two late in choosing, but it took me a while to narrow it down to my favorite.

I chose to go with Amanda's saying, "Cherish yesterday, dream of tomorrow, live for today" as sweet, simple and to the point has always been my style.

I can see this on my wall already....however, I still don't have my room painted, so I should get on that :)

I emailed Amanda this morning to let her know that she has won, and if I don't hear back from her by Friday, I will choose the 2nd runner-up!

DIY Vinyl Lettering!

I took the plunge and decided to try out the Cricut on the vinyl...what do you think?

Giveaway- free scrapbook stuff- but you have to (sort of) work for it!

My darlin' hubby is going to start working on my scrapbook studio pretty soon, and I'm trying to come up with the perfect saying and/or decoration for the walls.

I've got a Cricut, so I'm planning on making one (or multiple) sayings to cut out of vinyl and put it up on the wall, a la Uppercase Living.

So I need some ideas!!! The person who gives me the saying I choose will win an assortment of scrapbooking supplies. (Sorry, no picture, as I don't have chosen yet what will be given out)

If it helps at all, my walls are going to be a blue-green color, with a muted lime green and dark brown as accents. A loveseat and TV are going to be in there as well, so that I can make it MY space to relax and have fun.

Please make sure I can get a hold of you easily if you win, as I don't plan to hunt you down like a crazy person :)

Contest ends November 30th!

For you Tastefully Simple beer bread lovers...I've got a much cheaper recipe!

I love Tastefully Simple Beer Bread. It's the first beer bread I'd ever tried.

After I started dating Sam, and got married, his mom passed on a recipe to me.

Beer Bread.

'No way, it can't be as good as TS's beer bread,' I though. But sure enough, I think it is!

3 cups self-rising flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 - 12 oz beer

Mix all together and pour into a greased/sprayed loaf pan. Bake 50-60 min at 350 deg. In the last 15 minutes or so, you can pour some melted butter over the top- although be careful doing this, as the sides may already be raised above the edges. You could probably put pats of butter on top of the mix just before tossing it in the oven...I'll have to try that next time.

For Z's preschool fundraiser last spring, I made several dry batches and put them in ziploc bags and then put the bag into the paper bags below. They flew off the table!!