just thought i'd ask...

clearly I've made a few changes to my blog in the last week or two, and I know I haven't been posting much lately but it's just that I haven't had a lot to say. it's the same old same old around here. making soap, dreaming of making jewelry, keeping the dogs and myself exercised, keeping the house clean, pulling some weeds, dreaming about landscaping, etc. you know how it is. spring makes me think more about living, and less about etsy, but I promise I'm not going anywhere. just taking advantage of the fact that sales are slower now, and trying new things with the extra time.

so that brings me to the point of this post. the look. what do you think? I added that black and white background to the page about a week ago, and I really like it, but part of me also worries that it's distracting and makes the page look too busy. and since it's important to me that my blog is friendly on the eyes, as well as fun to read and interesting to look at... what do you think?

love it or hate it? any suggestions?

♥ janell

Easy Ranch and Herb Chicken...

Kevin does the grocery shopping and he's gotten pretty savvy at it. One thing he always makes sure we have on hand is frozen chicken breasts that come in a big bag.
Of course fresh chicken breasts would be even better, but in times of penny pinching, they are affordable and you can make many meals out of one of those big bags of chicken.


One of my favorite throw together recipes, is for baked chicken breast with ranch dressing drizzled over the top.
If you can put your imagination into that without a recipe, be my guest, it's *so* good no matter how you doctor it up!

My basic recipe though is this, and feel free to change it to your own tastes however you choose...

you'll need:
• small glass baking dish
• 4 chicken breasts, thawed {extend cooking time if frozen}
• olive oil
• your favorite herbs or two or three
• black pepper
• lemon pepper
• Hidden Valley Ranch {or your favorite ranch dressing}
• 1/4 cup water


how to make it:
• preheat the oven to 350* fahrenheit
• drizzle a small amount of olive oil in the bottom of the dish, and spread it around
• place 4 chicken breasts into the dish
• pour 1/4 cup of water into the bottom of the dish
• drizzle ranch dressing over each chicken breast, spread it out with a spoon or brush
• sprinkle your favorite herbs over the chicken
{i used thyme, basil and a little bit of rosemary}
• top with a dash of black pepper and/or lemon pepper

bake for 30 minutes at 350*
or until chicken is juicy but not pink. {oven times may vary}
side ideas: salad, garlic bread, mashed potatoes, oven baked red potatoes, steamed seasonal veggies, asparagus, etc.

enjoy!

♥

Shabby Blogs .com

I pretty much know nothing when it comes to building websites, doing graphics design, making banners, buttons and such like that. zilch. nada. nothing. Everything I ever have done to my blog was by the help of some kind soul on the internet who gladly posted a tutorial on their own blog, for all to share.


ShabbyBlogs.com is one of those great sites, because it's just an amazing resource of blog backgrounds, headers, banners, and other shabby graphics that you can use at your disposal, to help fancy up your own website.

All of the elements on her blog are for personal use only, not for commercial use, or to be shared or resold, but they are still totally awesome and worth having as a resource. And, as if the free graphics weren't enough, there are install buttons located next to all the background images, so that you can upload them right to your blog. No questions asked.

I wanted to give a special shout out, and a special thanks too, because I found the element in my banner at ShabbyBlogs.com quite a while ago and have loved using it as part of my banner. Today when I thought maybe it would be fun to see what new backgrounds were listed on the site, I found this gorgeous butterfly motif that I LOVE, and decided it was time to bring them back up again...

ShabbyBlogs.com people.

Click. Visit. Enjoy!

♥