Tasty Thursday {chicken with tomatoes and garlic}

Happy Thursday y'all! Almost through the week. It's been gross and rainy here most of the week, but at least it washed the pollen away!

This week's recipe is one of the Pioneer Woman's from Tasty Kitchen. I actually found it about 4 or 5 months ago and it is a quick, easy throw together meal that my husband approves. Here's the link on Tasty Kitchen.

Sorry, no pictures. Boring, I know. But Ree's will be better than mine anyway!

What you need:
* 8 boneless, skinless breasts
* Salt And Pepper, to taste
* 3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
* 1 Tablespoon Butter
* 1 can (28 Ounce) Diced Tomatoes
* 1 can (14 Ounces) Whole Tomatoes
* 2 Tablespoons (Heaping) Tomato Paste
* Fresh Herbs: Basil, Parsley, Sage, Rosemary
* 8 cloves Garlic
* 16 ounces, weight Pasta
* ½ cups White Wine (or Red Wine)

What you do:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Salt and pepper chicken legs.

Heat ovenproof skillet or dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add olive oil and butter. When oil/butter is hot, add chickento the pan. Using tongs, brown on all sides, about 2 minutes. Remove chicken from pan.

Pour in wine, scraping the bottom of the pan to loosen any bits. Cook for 1 minute. Pour in tomatoes with their juice and add tomato paste. Add salt and pepper to taste, stirring to combine. Bring sauce to a boil, then turn off heat. Add plenty of fresh herbs, 8 cloves of peeled (but whole) garlic, and the chicken. Put lid on pot and cook in the oven for 1 hour.

Remove pot from oven and allow it to sit on the counter with the lid on while you boil the pasta.

Cook the pasta to al dente, Drain and add to a large serving bowl.

Remove lid and check sauce. If it’s overly thin, remove the chicken from the pot and boil the sauce on the stovetop for 5 to 10 minutes. Check seasonings and adjust as needed.

To serve, pour sauce over cooked pasta, then arrange chicken pieces over the top. Sprinkle generously with fresh Parmesan and serve with crusty French bread.

It was really good y'all! A refreshing, light sauce.

Puff Flower Pillow {handmade wares}

Happy Monday Y'all! We had a great relaxing weekend here even though the weather was terrible! We got teased with 2 weeks of gorgeous 70+ degree temps only to be knocked by down again with rain and clouds. It kept the hubs & I productive though! I've got lots of great stuff in store, we've got a clean garage, and we had delicious meals Saturday and Sunday {steak burritos & spaghetti!}

Today I'm sharing one of my favorite pillows with you - the Puff Flower Pillow. This one is pink, navy, and yellow {one of my favorite color combos!}



The puff is made by cutting a circle {rather large, I use my biscuit bowl as a guide} and hand stitching around the edge to gather the ends into the center. This one is finished off with a vintage square yellow button.



Love the detail! I use envelope closures on all my pillows because I like that they are easy to switch out with the seasons.



I'll be linking up this week! Check out my linky parties page for all the great parties. Visit 'em and make new friends!

handmade baby gifts {handmade wares}

One of my hubby's friends recently had a little girl so I whipped up some gifts for her. Everyone loves my name signs so I created one for little Sunny -



Her mom decorated her nursery will owls, so it was an easy choice! I like to do a fabric background with paper cut-outs and mod-podge finish. Of course for the little girls, I have to add a little glitter!

I also covered a shoe box in this gorgeous yellow & pink fabric and filled it with onesies since I've heard you can never have too many! The shoe box needed a little personalization, so I added the baby's initials to the top in buttons. I love the way it turned out!



I have many more baby gifts to make this year! It is so much fun:) What do y'all like to give for baby showers/new baby gifts??!?

*I am linking up this project. check out my new Linky Party page for my weekly link-ups. Check 'em out, link up, and make new friends!*

grab my button

I've created a button! And you can grab it:)

Grab my Button!

<a href="http://www.perfectchancemories.com.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kSmrsg0jjf4/TYesiulPEWI/AAAAAAAAEoM/k9NWRrGcxqY/s1600/pcm%2Bbutton.jpg" /></a>

My new Button!

Owls & Whales {handmade wares}

Hey y'all! I hope everyone had a fantabulous weekend:) We had great weather here on the Coast of NC & the hub, pups and I spent most of the time outside. Saturday was a day for walking and errands and Sunday I spend the day at my parents beach and antique shopping with my mom. Got a cute bedside table for only $35! I love great finds like that.

Today I ventured into applique and softies. Ummmm....hello? Applique is so fun! And the softies are so cute! Definitely a great benefit of my large machine upgrade. I did sets of one pillow and one softie - I think this would be a lovely grouping for nurseries and playrooms. Here's some (not great) pictures:









And every bit of fabric used in these two projects is repurposed from my grandmother's stash! all vintage:)

I've been featured:



I'll be linking up this week. Here's where:

Cowboy Chili {tasty thursday}

Seriously delicious Chili here y'all! We were watching Rachel Ray's new show - 5 meals, 1 day - and the hubs looked at this & said it looked great, so we had it for Sunday dinner. The. Best. Rachel. Ray. recipe. ever. period. Here's the recipe on Food Network.

What you need:
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 6 slices smoky bacon, chopped, optional
• 1 1/2 pounds coarse-ground sirloin
• 2 Idaho or russet potatoes, peeled and chopped
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 Fresno chili peppers, sliced
• 1 carrot, peeled and chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 large fresh bay leaf
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 (12-ounce) bottle beer {I used Corona Light}
• 4 cups beef stock {I used 3 cups}
• 1/4 cup thick Worcestershire sauce
• 1 (16-ounce) can baked beans
• 1 (28-ounce) can diced fire-roasted tomatoes or diced tomatoes
• Scallions, thinly sliced on an angle for topping

What to do:
Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the bacon, cook until browned, and remove with slotted spoon.



Add the beef, brown well, and then add the potatoes, onions, chilis, carrot, garlic, chili powder, and bay leaf. Season the mixture liberally with salt and pepper, and cook 10 minutes more, stirring frequently.

Add the beer and stir about 2 minutes, or until the beer almost cooks out completely.

Stir in the stock, thick Worcestershire sauce, baked beans, bacon, and tomatoes, and thicken to desired consistency, about 20 to 45 minutes over a steady simmer for loose to super-thick chili.

Serve with cornbread and enjoy!

What's cooking at your house?

Cooking Link-ups:

repurposed shoe boxes {project organization}

Happy Tuesday y'all! Did everyone have a good weekend? We caught up on a lot of stuff around the house and had some fun too. Friday night we went to a favorite local restaurant and had friends over Saturday.

Mid-way into my productive morning on Saturday, my foot pedal on my sewing machine broke. Boo! Second time on my little Singer machine. It was time to upgrade anyway so I ordered the Brother PC-420. So excited to get it! Is should be here tomorrow:)

After the sewing machine blow-out, I had to turn my attention to non-sewing crafts. I made a few gifts (tomorrow on the blog) and started an organization overall. For years and years I have been saving my shoe boxes. Needless to say I have A LOT of shoe boxes. I think I initially saved them because I was moving often in college and early 20s, but that part is over - no more moving (at least for a long time). But I couldn't just throw those boxes away!

I had some left over chalkboard paint from a previous project (or two), so I gave the boxes a coat of paint, a label, and organized a shelf in my pantry.






I am loving the cleanliness factor so far! My pantry is HUGE, so its going to take some time to finish this project, but I hope to have it done this weekend:)

Do you use old shoe boxes for anything?!?!?

Linking up: