Find me at two blogs today!

Happy Hump Day!

Today I am busy over at two blogs...Savor Home and Classically Eclectic!

Tiffany from Savor Home

had me talk about what I know for sure...and today I talked about "style!"  Be sure to head over there and check it out!

Kelly from Classically Eclectic had me participate in her "What's in your bag Wednesday" series!  I had a lot of fun of rummaging through my bag--definitely head over there to see all my loot!  :)

 

Thanks to Tiffany and Kelly for having me today!   I had a blast!

xo natasha

Garlic Pasta {with a twist!}

Garlic pasta is a Schue Family staple in our household.  It is great as a side dish or as a meal on its own...but regardless of how you eat it, it's always a crowd pleaser!  With garlic and butter...how can you go wrong?

Since we can't eat cheese right now, we decided to add a twist to this favorite...lemons and basil!  It was a great spring touch!

We love using our garlic chopper {last seen here} and of course the lemon juicer saves a lot of time while prepping.  Also...a sharp knife goes a long long way!

And here is the glorious final product!  So so SOOO yummy!  

Recipe:

• 1 lb angel hair pasta {angel hair is a MUST...no substitutes!}
• 6-8 cloves chopped of garlic
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 cup good olive oil {may need more to keep pasta from sticking}
• Juice of 2 lemons
• 1/2 cup basil, chopped {plus more to top}
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Freshly grated Parmesan to top {for those eating cheese!} 

Bring water to boil in large stock pot and cook pasta accordingly.  Strain pasta with hot water and set aside in serving bowl.  Place pot back on low-medium heat heat and add 2 butter and oil.  Stir butter and oil until melted.  Once butter is melted, add garlic and sauté until lightly browned--careful not to overcook!  Add pasta back in pot and toss until pasta is coated...occasionally adding olive oil as needed.  Add lemon juice and basil and toss with salt and pepper to taste.  Top with leftover basil and freshly grated Parmesan.

I guarantee this too will become a favorite in your house.  Add your favorite ingredients to make it your own!

Hope you enjoy!  Bon Appetit!

xo natasha

linked to: Tasty Tuesdays

The Other Guest Bedroom

Last month, I showed you one of our guest bedrooms, here.  This guest bedroom is actually the "main" place where our guests stay...it's a bigger room and has a queen bed, so it's much more comfortable.  This room has just recently gone through a little make-over, since I've been moving some things around in our master bedroom, last seen here.  The hubs and I went to Marshall's over the weekend (sister store to TJ Maxx) and I found some PERFECT blue lamps for next to the bed...so so excited about them!  Pictures to come once I get that room updated.  

Anyway...I made some recent purchases for the guest bedroom, which include some bedside tables and such, so I feel I can finally show off this room a bit.  Here you go!

Here's the room right after we painted the floors, which was desperately needed due to the smoke smell from the previous owner.  I highly recommend this trick if you need to aerate a room pre-carpet installation.

And here's the room right after we moved in...pretty blah.

Here's the room today! 

You'll notice the lamps have come over from the mater bedroom.  I just bought the white bedside tables from Ross for a great price.  The painting above the bed is from Pier One.

The bedside table on this side is my new purchase from Marshall's, just $40.  The stool underneath is from Target.

Don't mind Mr. Whiskers...she's having fun being a show kitty in these pictures!  :)

I wanted to include the chandelier, which was a great find from Lowe's, and under $100!

There was an ugly light fixture before, so instead of re-texturing and painting, we bought this medallion and voila!  Easy fix!

Update!  Here is the link to the chandelier.

I think the room has a good mix of masculine {striped bedding and iron lamps} and feminine {floral painting and chandelier}.  What do you think?  

Hope you all had wonderful weekends!

xo natasha

For the Love of Gwyn

Gwyneth Paltrow.  It's only been recently, that I have become extremely fond her!  Call it her amazing performance on Glee {which deserves a post of its own}, my awareness of her fun blog GOOP, or just how gorgeous she is...I just really really like her!

 {I mean really...how gorgeous is she??}

So you can imagine my excitement when I found out she's coming out with her own cookbook, My Father's Daughter!

I ordered the cookbook exactly one month ago and I'm supposed to get it on April 5th!  Pretty excited about it.  The recipes are said to be simple and easy...and nutritious of course!  The book is divided in 6 sections: Make-Ahead, Quick, Vegetarian, Vegan, One-Pot Meal, and Dress-Up Meal.  She also shows how to modify the recipes to be kid-friendly.  How neat is that?

Since I don't have the cookbook yet...and quite frankly, I've not been very inspired to cook lately, given that I can't eat cheese and ALL the good recipes have cheese in them...I've decided to feature a recipe from Gwyn's blog, which includes my all-time favorite, Barefoot Contessa!

What a dynamic duo huh?  You can find the entire entry here.  Here's a couple more shots of her day with Ina:

I'm telling you...if I could spend the day on Ina's Martha's Vineyard estate, cooking and eating with Ina and Gwyn...I'm pretty sure I would be in heaven!  And I am just DYING to eat that bruschetta...

Happy Friday Loves...hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

xo natasha