All in a Day's Work

Hello to all of you and I hope you are having a sweet day! We have been busy with our deep spring cleaning around the old Cozy Home. My hubby and I got an industrious notion to take down everything in the bathroom yesterday and scrub the walls. My sweet hubs filled up a bucket with good warm soapy water with vinegar added to it, grabbed the scrub brush and got busy scrubbing away! God has blessed me with an awesome man!!! I took the shower curtain, window curtains, rug and decorative towel sets to be washed, wiped down the pictures and dusted off the little silk arrangements. Before we finished yesterday I had scrubbed down the tub and the surround as well as the sink and the "water closet" and gave the floor a good mopping. We were really tired when the evening came around. My feet were swollen and my shoulders ached, but it felt nice to know we had accomplished the task. We had a wonderful supper of homemade beef and veggie soup that we had put on earlier in the day just before we started our "clean fest". We just put everything in the bath back together this morning and it feels so good and fresh in there. I almost don't want to leave the room. I can't wait to finish cleaning all of our rooms this way!

Today we have been working on some other every day cleaning that needed tending. The sweeper, more laundry, etc. I was just about TWITTERY when our mail ran today and I found a copy of the NEW Celebrating Home Summer Catalog there! OH, MY GOODNESS!!!! There are so many new and wonderful items and collections added!!! We are getting an AWESOME garden cloche with an optional stand so that it can be used as a candle centerpiece, a new GORGEOUS collection designed by Pamela Scurry , as well as a great collection of nature and bird inspired accessories called th  "Nature's Song" collection!!! I think this is our prettiest catalog EVER! I can't wait 'til they post some photos of the newest items on the web site so that I can share them with you all! They will be available to purchase starting April 15th.

Before I end my post today, I wanted to share a couple of recipes that I have tried out lately. One is for a casserole and one is for a salad, they are BOTH just yummy! First the casserole:

Chicken and Vegetables Au Gratin

6-8 pieces of chicken (thighs or breast meat)
1 large package frozen California Mix vegetables (broccoli, califlower and carrots)
1 can Cream of Chicken soup
1 jar Ragu Cheese Sauce

In a skillet with a bit of oil, brown the chicken pieces on both sides. When brown, place the chicken in your slow cooker or Bean Pot and season to taste with Seasoned Salt, pepper, onion powder and powdered chicken bullion. Open the package of frozen vegetables and pour them over the chicken. In a separate bowl, mix together the chicken soup and the cheese sauce stirring until well blended and pour the mixture over the vegetables and chicken in the Bean Pot. Cover with the lid and place into an oven warmed to 325 degrees for aprox. 2 hours. Serve with a salad and dessert!

We had this for dinner Saturday and there wasn't a bite left! MMMmmm, GOOD! The salad recipe is one that I had last week with a group of friends. Here it is:

Carol's Berry Good Salad

1 package Mixed Spring Greens salad mix
2 cups sliced Strawberries
2 cups blueberries
1 can Mandarin Orange slices, drained
2 cups Feta Cheese
1 can Butter Toffee Pecan peices (I believe she used Planters Brand)
1 jar Marzetti's Poppy Seed dressing

Wash the salad greens and the fruit and allow to air dry. In a 9x13 Casserole Dish, place the salad greens first and then layer with the Strawberries, Orange Slices, Blueberries, Pecans and top with Feta Cheese. Allow guests to spoon the dressing over their individual servings. This salad can be served alone or as a side dish. Simply wonderful!!!

It feels so good to be back to posting. I enjoy reading your wonderful blogs and I hope you enjoy reading mine.

Until later, Stay Cozy,
Charlotte