Bye Bye Brick Walls!

ONE WALL DOWN... TWO MORE TO GO!!!

We are finally working on the house! We have taken out some sheet rock and carpet inside the house already, but taking off the brick on the outside of the house is a whole other level of demolishing. I feel my HGTVness coming out! The boyfriend even allowed ME to used the sledge hammer and smash on some brick. I have to say, it was pretty fun! FOr the rest of the week, brick will be coming down and and clean up crew will coming in so we can clear some space for some EXCAVATING!! Yes, the house will be lifted from the ground so the foundation can be fixed. It is going to be a site not to miss. I will be sure to take a video!

Until next time...

XOXO

Jessie Anne

Fingers Crossed!

Hopefully by the end of this week/beginning of next week we shall know what will be our poor home's future. For the past month, Charlie and I have been dreaming and planning of new ideas for our home. Pretty much everything will be gutted so it is the perfect opportunity to redesign the floor plan if we want to. I have never drawn so many floor plans in my life. And if you follow me on Pinterest, you know I have been pinning a little overboard with home ideas. (Hey! Pinning is so much cheaper than buying design books at Barnes and Noble or Home Depot!)

The biggest changes of the house will be the outside face of the home and the master suite area. But of course the kitchen area will have a face lift and Charlie is going to build me my own space in the basement so I can do all the crafting my little heart desires. 

Here are some of my ideas for my new home sweet home...

  

Hope you all are having a beautiful week!

XOXO

Jessie Anne

Bye Bye House

Hello My Friends! It's been a while... Want to know what I have been going through for the past month? 

Thursday, June 13th, 2013 around 3:30 pm 

This happened...

 Yes... not just one, but TWO trees fell on our house. Thank the Lord that Charlie and I were both at work. 
There was a 20 minute freak storm that flew by Lenoir with rain and a whole lot of wind. The wind caused two tress to fall on our house and destroy it. You can walk through the house but you must watch your step due to installation and sheet rock everywhere. The house is not livable and we have relocated to the family lake house in Hickory until it is rebuilt. 

The very next day Servpro came to our house and moved all of our stuff out in one day. I should take a picture of our warehouse. We have come to the conclusion that we have too much STUFF!

Here are some more pictures of the damage...

It actually took the tree people about a week to get to our house and get the trees off. There were trees down everywhere due to this storm. But they said none were as bad as ours. 

After 8 hours... the tree is finally off!

We went to the beach with family two weeks after the trees fell. If you notice, there is a tree to the left of the house that chose to fall while we were at the beach. So now we can say THREE trees fell on our house. 

For the next year, I will keeping you updated on the rebuild of our house. No decisions have been made with insurace (hopefully we will know how much we will have to rebuild in the next two weeks). Charlie and I have decided that we want to save as much money as we can rebuilding. So I will be sharing with you our DIY tricks to making our house home again, but on a budget! Be sure to come back for weekly updates!

XOXO

JESSIE ANNE

Garlic Cheese Monkey Bread

Sometimes I get so bored with just popping in an already made frozen piece of garlic bread in the oven. So I figured I would make my own! I love the concept of monkey bread. Monkey bread is just biscuit pieces baked together so when you eat it, you are taring apart each piece and it is fun to eat. Kids love it. Before you put another piece of already made bread in the oven to heat up, try this recipe. You can always modify it with different ingredients. Just experiment and make sure to include the kids in the fun.

I have also made Mini Cinnamon Monkey Bread which is SO delicious. You can find the recipe here. 

Garlic Cheese Monkey Bread

(4-6 servings)

Ingredients:

Cupcake pan

1 can of biscuits

Parmesan Cheese

Mozzarella Cheese

Minced Garlic

Butter

Salt 

Pepper

Non-Stick Cooking Spray

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450.

2. Cut your biscuits into 4 pieces.

4. In a bowl combine 3/4 cup of parmesan cheese, 1 teaspoon of salt, and 1 teaspoon of pepper. 

5. Cover all your biscuit pieces with the dry ingredients. 

5. Melt a stick of butter.

6. Mix 1 tablespoon of minced garlic in the butter.

7. Spray your cupcake pan with non-stick cooking spray.

8. Place about 5-8 biscuit pieces in each cupcake holder. Make sure to layer with mozzarella cheese. 

9. Top off your biscuit pieces with more mozzarella cheese. Then pour your butter garlic mixture on top  of each serving.

10. Bake for about 10-15 minutes until golden brown and cheese is melted.

11. Enjoy!

XOXO

Jessie Anne

Chicken Bacon Wraps

Chicken Bacon Wraps
(Dinner for 2)

Ingredients:
2 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
6 strips of Bacon
Brown Sugar
Chili Powder
Toothpicks

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Line your pan with aluminum foil and spray with non-stick cooking spray (easy clean up!).
3. Wash and cut your chicken into 1-inch pieces.
4. Cut your bacon strips into two.
5. Wrap each piece of chicken with bacon and secure with a toothpick.
6. Combine brown sugar and chili power and rub ingredients into to the chicken wrapped in bacon.
7. Place on lined pan and cook in the oven for about 30 minutes until chicken and bacon is cooked.
8. Serve with dipping sauce (I serve with Brown Sugar BBQ Sauce).
9. Enjoy!

This recipe is perfect for a party, appetizer, or dinner! I love it and it is so yummy!!

XOXO

Jessie Anne

Apple Pie Bites

When you get to know me, you know I love my sweets and I love my apple sweets. Apple Pies are one of my favorite desserts especially when icing is involved. I made these for the first time last night and I am now addicted! They are great for breakfast, snack, and dessert! I highly recommend making this for your family, friends, or just for yourself!

Apple Pie Bites Recipe
(Makes 8 Apple Pie Bites)

Ingredients:
1 Gala Apple (or any apple you choose)
1 Can of crescents rolls (8 count)
Brown Sugar
Cinnamon

Icing Ingredients:
Powder Sugar
Almond Milk
Water

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Line cookie sheet with aluminum foil and spray non-stick cooking spray for easy clean up.
3. Roll out the crescent rolls on the lined cookie sheet.
4. Sprinkle brown sugar and cinnamon on each crescent roll
5. Cut your apple into 1/2-inch slices.
6. Roll each apple slice in a crescent roll.
7. Top the crescent rolls with a little brown sugar and cinnamon.
8. Bake in the oven for about 11-15 minutes until the crescent roll is slightly golden.

How to make the Icing:
1. Put about 2 cups for powder sugar in a bowl.
2. Pour a little Almond Milk into the powder sugar (a little liquid goes a long away).
3. Add a few drops of water into the mixture.
5. Mix it up and pour all over the apple pie bites.

ENJOY!

xoxo

Jessie Anne

Homemade Ground Beef Pizza

On Sundays, I always know what is going to be on the menu for each meal during the day. It's cinnamon rolls for breakfast, family lunch after church and ordering a pizza while watching a game or movie for dinner. It's our tradition! Lately, I have been wanting to cook at home on Sunday evenings so I can practice my cooking and baking skills. Since we like our pizza on Sundays, I decided to create my own rather than ordering a pizza from a greasy pizza joint. I am proud of myself that I did not have a recipe, and the only instruction I followed was the oven temperature and how long to cook my homemade pizza. With five simple ingredients you can make your own pizza in a matter of minutes.

Ingredients:
Already made pizza dough (I have not crossed the line yet to attempt to make my own pizza dough, but the Food Lion brand pizza dough next to the Cinnamon Rolls in the grocery store works out just fine.)
Olive Oil
Shredded Cheese (Mozzarella and 4-Cheese Pizzeria)
Ground Beef (Charlie's favorite pizza topping)
Pizza Sauce (for dipping)

1. Cook your ground beef. 

2. Preheat oven to 425 or the temperature the pizza dough calls for.

3. Take out your pizza dough and using your hands, flatten the dough to your desire shape and thickness on a cookie sheet or pizza pan.

4. Rub in some olive oil over the dough

5. Cover the dough with mozzarella cheese.

6. Add your ground beef

7. Top off your pizza with the 4-Cheese Pizzeria shredded cheese

8. Bake for about 12 minutes or until it looks just right!

9. Heat up some Pizza Sauce for dipping and BAM! You have yourself a pizza!

Another dinner that is "Charlie-Approved!" 

It makes me feel so good when he wants me to make it again. It gives me hope that I can be a good cook!

xoxo

Jessie Anne

Crockpot: BBQ Cola Chicken

A "Charlie Approved" dinner. Definitely a meal I recommend everyone trying at least once. So juicy, so tender, and so easy it will become one of your go-to dinners during the week!

Ingredients:
6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon paprika
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 can of coca-cola
32 ounces of barbeque sauce

1. Season chicken with onion powder, paprika, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Make sure to rub it in real good.
2. Let the chicken marinade in the refrigerator over night in a ziplock bag or just place the chicken straight in the crockpot.
3. Place chicken in the crockpot and pour a can of cola and 24 ounces of barbeque sauce all over the chicken. Toss the chicken around to cover every breast with the cola and sauce.
4. Cook for 8 hours on low.
5. Shred chicken and add the rest of the barbeque sauce. Let it sit for 10-15 minutes to absorb all the juice.
6. Enjoy!!

Enjoy this recipe. I love you will love it and your family too!

xoxo

Jessie Anne

Happy 2013

I'm Back! I've had a long break from the blog world, but I'm back! There is always something to share in the everyday life of Jessie. This year I am going to share with you all my creations in the kitchen! It's a New Year, a New Blog, and the New Year is going to be an amazing year with life changing moments (I can just feel it). So Happy 2013 everyone and enjoy :)

To start the year off right, here is a recap from Charlie and I's Charleston Trip this past weekend for my Birthday/New Year...

FRIDAY: Arrived to Charleston. After checking in you would think we would be tired of driving since we have been in the car for the last 5 hours. But we got back in the car and drove around Downtown Charleston, Mount Pleasant, Sullivan's Island and Isle of Palms. After our little adventure we went back downtown to eat at Aman's Restaurant and had steak and potatoes (our favorite!). After dinner we went to get a cupcake at my favorite place ever... CUPCAKE! This was the first cupcake of many on our trip :)

SATURDAY: We got up early because this was the Aquarium day! I have been looking forward to going to the Aquarium ever since I planned the trip. The animals were so cute and it was a great experience. Afterwards, we had an early lunch at Poe's Tavern in Sullivan's Island. Charlie could not stop talking about their food all weekend! We stopped at some antique and furniture places on the way back to downtown. We did a little bit of shopping and a whole lot of walking. We got another cupcake at CUPCAKE, and it was so good!!! We ate dinner at Lowcountry Bistro then headed to the Pavilion Rooftop Bar at the Market Pavilion Hotel (Super nice. Super expensive) to watch some games and see the amazing view. We met some people at the bar and we all went to Husk (our second dinner for Charlie and I). We found out that Husk was named the Best Restaurant in America by Southern Living. So Charlie and I were pleased to have been able to try it out. It was good.

The South Carolina Aquarium

Charlie in the Eagle's Nest

Me in the Eagle's Nest

The gorgeous view from the Aquarium. I love this bridge.

Charlie's new favorite restaurant

Our second cupcake of the trip

My dinner at Lowcountry Bistro... yum!

Pavilion Rooftop Bar

SUNDAY: Charlie and I were on our way to Drayton Hall until we made a wrong turn which led us to Folly Beach. We decided to explore and go to the pier. It was a gorgeous and calm Sunday morning. Afterwards, we took the trip to the Ashley area and visited Drayton Hall. It wasn't what we expected but it was still fun! We were going to visit Middelton Place afterwards, but we decided we will save that for our next trip to Charleston. After Drayton Hall, we made the drive to Red's in Sullivan's Island. It was on the water and food was good. We both got shrimp but it wasn't enough. The sun was setting so we went to get back to our hotel so we can see finish watching the sunset from the restaurant on the top floor of the hotel. The views were GORGEOUS! 

Folly Beach Pier

The Happy Couple :)

Drayton Hall

Sunset at Red's

MONDAY: MY BIRTHDAY!!! We started the day out right by going to Battery Park next to the water. We had a relaxing time walking around and taking pictures. We are such goof balls when you put a camera in our hands. For lunch we ate at Hominy Grill then went shopping!!! After a little retail therapy, of course we had to go back to CUPCAKE once again (Hey! It's my birthday!) I might of had more than one cupcake that day... but who's counting! That night we spent New Years at the Pavilion Rooftop Bar. We got to see many fireworks and the food at the bar was actually very delicious. We had their Barbecue Chicken Pizza and Kobe Beef Hamburger. It was a nice, chill New Years (just how we like it.)

Charlie stole my camera!

What a goof ball at Battery Park

Battery Park

Oh no! Charlie took my camera again...

Happy Couple :)

Isn't he so cute!

Birthday lunch at Hominy Grill

Maybe our third and fourth cupcake of the trip :)

I just love CUPCAKE

I guess I'm too much for him... 

Happy New Years Eve!

 TUESDAY: Our last day... We woke up not wanting to leave. We felt like we were in Charleston for a month (which isn't a bad thing). We just knew it was going to be hard getting back to reality. But before heading home, we took a carriage ride around town. It was the perfect ending to the perfect trip.

I am so blessed that Charlie and I were able to have our first vacation just us two (no friends, no family). It was relaxing, fun, and the best way to end 2012. I can't wait till our next trip to the Lowcountry!

xoxo 

Jessie Anne