My Weekend -Story@Home and New Provo Restaurants

So you may have noticed that I didn’t host the Finding the Pretty  & Delicious Linky Party this weekend.  I was a little busy this weekend.  I flew to Utah on Wednesday to participate in the Roots Tech/Story@Home Conference that was happening in Salt Lake City.

I was able to attend some of the wonderful classes that were offered and I was privileged to be able to be one of the presenters too.  My presentation was on Thursday afternoon and was entitled Life is in the Details.  I talked about the importance of the stories we are living right now.  How we need to create these stories, look for and find the stories in our every day life.  I was also able to emcee a couple of the classes.

Thanks to Emily Duffy Hill for taking the one photo I have of myself presenting.  It was fun to see and meet a few of you while I was there!

I thought it was Spring but I guess Utah didn’t get the memo or forgot to check her calendar because I woke up to this one morning!

So glad they put snow scrappers in the rental cars!

While I was in Salt Lake City I had to check out Les Madeleines, a French Bakery I had heard about.  In fact I had to check it out twice.

Everything I got was delicious.  Their shortbread is amazing and my favorite thing didn’t even make it into the picture – we ate them all right away – the Butterscotch and Toffee Shorbread was to die for.  I never did get to the bakery in time to get one of their famous Kouing Aman.  The pictures of them look fabulous.  Maybe next trip!

I did enjoy some other good food on the trip too.  While in Provo I ate at Station 22 with my kids.  I had eaten there before but they have changed the menu and the set up of the restaurant and it was great!  Everything we had was fabulous.  Tessa and I split the wedge salad and the Memphis Chicken Sandwich (which I didn’t get a photo of).  Cali loved her Blackened  Mahi Mahi and Clark had the Chubby Checker and Jessica enjoyed the Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup.  Everything was delicious!

Logan wasn’t able to join us but we got Clark to take a photo of the four Wilkes girls!

The girls and I also visited one of our favorites for a salad one evening – Cubbys in Provo!

Oh and I woke up to this another morning!  Utah – look at your calendar,  it’s Spring!!!  Good thing I learned to drive in the snow.

I had been hearing my son, Logan, rave about a new restaurant in Orem called the Tortilla Bar.  He is a frequent visitor!  He told me the food was life changing so I knew I had to check it out.  On Saturday the boys went to two March Madness games up in Salt Lake so the four girls decided to visit the Tortilla Bar.  It is very small and busy so I recommend going early, especially on a weekend.

Logan was right – it was amazing.  We continued to talk about our food the whole weekend and I’m still thinking about it.  The restaurant is owned and run by a father and his three sons – all who were there in the kitchen and waiting on tables that evening.

We ordered the Green Apple Salad, Avocado Tacos ( amazing), the Black Bean and Butternut Squash soup which they kindly made dairy free for us and we devoured the Calamari Empanadas and I thought I didn’t like calamari.  I was wrong.

The Steak Tacos are absolutely to die for and we ended the dinner with some delicious flan with peanuts and a lime drizzle.  Just gotta say – life changing.  I can’t wait to get back to Provo the end of April so I can eat there again!!!

The portions are not huge so if you are going expecting a big plates of rice, beans and cheesy, gooey enchiladas that is not what you are going to get.  You are going to get something oh so much better!

There was also some fun girl time.  Jessica was busy studying so she wasn’t able to join us.

A highlight of the trip was stopping by the school where Cali is student teaching and seeing her in action.  Got to watch part of Hamlet rehearsal.  So proud of this girl!

On Sunday I was able to attend church with all five of my kids and hear Clark and Jessica speak in Sacrament meeting and attend Jessica’s Sunday School class.  I am so blessed to have such amazing children.  After church I took over my sister in law’s kitchen and fixed dinner for my kids.  How I miss cooking for them on a daily basis.

So hope you’ll forgive me for no Linky Party this week because as you can see I was bit busy eating and playing with my kids!  It will be back next Saturday though so don’t forget to come visit and link up.

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Easter Decor 2013

Today I am going to give you a quick little tour of my Quick & Easy Easter Decor 2013.

Easter snuck up on me a bit.  I realized this weekend that if I was going to decorate for Easter I better do it soon as there were only two weeks before the day.  I think I had my Valentine Decor out for two months – I put it out about a month before and then didn’t get around to taking it down for another month.  Easter is getting a little cheated this year.

But I will enjoy it for the amount of time it is up!

I am a big fan of Minerva Teichert’s artwork and last year I purchased her Lost Sheep print and had it framed.  I enjoy it all year but for Easter it gets displayed front and center in the entry way.  Since last Easter I have been searching for some little lambs to put in front of the print and I finally found them last month!!

I love using part of my milk glass collection in my decor.  It helps me justify collecting it too!  You already got a sneak peek at my moss covered eggs yesterday.  You can check out the tutorial for DIY Moss Covered Eggs here.

Love a pretty bird’s nest.

In my family room I have a little colony of bunnies I have collected over the years.

On my mantel in the family room I have a pretty new printable that I got from Kiki & Company. 

She has it in several pretty Eastery colors as well as black and white.  Mine is 20 x 30 and I had it printed at Costco on posterboard.  Love it!

Of course a vase of tulips is a required part of the Easter decor.

On my kitchen table I created a pretty little vignette with a cake stand, some mason jars full of eggs and some more tulips.  Added another little moss covered egg too.

Do you decorate for Easter?

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Happy Mail

Happy Monday! I’ve got a quick, fun little post for you today.

I am the mother of college students. I currently have one college sophomore, a college senior (ready to graduate in April), and two in law school and one son who has graduated. I am often asked by people for ideas for care packages for college students. I have shared a few of those ideas here on the blog before – a Trick Or Treat Care Package and a little preparedness College Kid Care Package. I’ve also sent a birthday party in a box.

So today I want to share a fun, easy idea you can do for someone  far away or close by – whether it is a college student, a missionary or just someone you love.  I think everyone likes to receive mail – at least happy mail.  With the internet, emails, text messages etc.  it seems as if handwritten cards and letters are becoming a thing of the past. I don’t know about you but it seems like the only thing that comes in my mail any more are bills and junk mail!

Who wouldn’t love to go out to their mailbox and find this waiting for them!

Yes, I mailed my kids a box of candy.  I used the “movie theater” size boxes you can pick up at the drugstore or the Dollar Store for about one dollar a box.    I then came up with a fun little saying that tied in with the name of the candy and typed it on a label and put it on the box.

Here are a few of the others I did.

I then put another label on the other side of the box with their address and my return address.

Then I took it to the post office and they put some stamps on it for me.  Now you are going to spend about twice as much in postage as the candy is worth but it was so fun to do and who wouldn’t love getting a box of candy in the mail!

So, no I didn’t wrap it in paper and yes it arrived just fine, no problems!  The gal at the post office loved the idea!

So show someone you love them and send them some Happy Mail today!!

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Crock Pot Roasted Red Pepper Chicken and Pesto Sandwich

Make a delicious sandwich with this Crock Pot Roasted Red Pepper Chicken and Pesto.

***If you love EASY and DELICIOUS meals that you can make for your family in your slow cooker, please join me over on Instgram where I share ALL slow cooker recipes!  Hope to see you there!  Find me on Instagram at @slowcookerrecipelove ***

I think I have used my crock pot more in the last year than I have in the rest of our married life combined.  Not sure why it took me so long but I have pretty much fallen in love with it.

You may have noticed, since I have been sharing a new crock pot recipe almost every week.  Those of you who filled out my survey asked for more quick and easy dinner recipes and I have decided that the crock pot is just about the easiest and quickest way to get dinner on the table!

Today’s recipe for Roasted Red Pepper Chicken done in the crock pot doesn’t get much easier – it has two ingredients.  Chicken and roasted red peppers which I bought in the jar.

Put them in the crock pot for 4 hours on high or 6-8 on low and it is ready to shred and add to your sandwich.

I jazzed the sandwich up a bit with some pesto mayo for the bread and some homemade pesto focaccia bread.  Since the rest of the dinner was so easy I decided to make my own bread.  You could definitely buy your own focaccia bread at the store or just use any kind of roll or bun to serve it on.

The pesto mayo is a quick and easy addition that just takes the sandwich to another level.  Trust me.

I like to spread it on thick and then add some lettuce and fresh tomato and then a nice big topping of the roasted red pepper shredded chicken.

Roasted Red Pepper Chicken and Pesto Sandwich makes for a quick, easy and most importantly delicious dinner.  With our reduced size family there were plenty of leftovers and my husband was glad – he enjoyed it for lunch a couple of more times.  He is a good leftover eater – especially when they are as good as this was!

Hope you enjoy it as much as we did – think you’re going to thank me for this one.

Roasted Red Pepper Chicken and Pesto Sandwich {Crock Pot}

Roasted Red Pepper Chicken is perfect on a sandwich or wrap.CourseSlow CookerCuisineAmericanKeywordroasted red pepper chickenPrep Time15 minutesCook Time4 hoursTotal Time4 hours 15 minutesServings6 servingsCalories224kcalAuthorLeigh Anne Wilkes

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 lb. chicken breasts
• 1/2 C roasted red peppers sliced thinly
• salt and pepper

Pesto Mayo

• 1/4 C mayo
• 3 Tbsp pesto
• focaccia bread
• tomato
• lettuce

Instructions

• Place chicken and roasted red peppers in crock pot.
• Season with salt and pepper.
• Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 6-7 hours.
• Remove chicken from crock pot and shred. Return to crock pot and mix well.

Pesto Mayo

• In a bowl combine mayo and pesto
• Spread on focaccia bread, add tomato and lettuce

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The Art Of Being Still

It is the first Sunday of the month and as I promised last month I am going to take the opportunity to share a little bit more of my personal side with you once a month. Share some thoughts and ideas I’ve had mulling around in my head.

Last month I shared with you my thoughts on the Art of Being Busy and how no matter what stage of life we may be in it is possible to be too busy! I even suggested that it may be a bit of an addiction! I invited each of you along with myself to examine what we are busy doing in our lives. I left you with the question of “How Can we Develop the Art of Being Still?”

Today I want to talk about why it is important to be still. Why we need to take time to “insert a pause” into our life each day.

So why do we need to take time to “insert a pause” into our daily lives, to take time to be still?

I think first we need to change the way we look at time. I think we usually look at it as a commodity – something to use up. May I suggest, instead, we look at it as a gift. That there is a greater good involved here and that each day is a gift that has been given us to use for good, not use up.

I am sure we all know someone or have experienced it ourselves, when life has changed in an instant – for the good or for the bad. I received a random text from one of my daughter’s the other day that just said “I love you.” My children frequently tell me they love me but it is usually at the end of a phone call etc. I decided to give her a call to see what was up and how she was and to thank her for the text. Her friend’s mother had suddenly died that day.

Life can change in an instant. Time and the value of time takes on another perspective at times like that. When we truly see time as a gift and value it, the way we choose to spend our time is effected.

Hopefully we can each learn the value of time without having to experience a life changing event. I have learned the value of using a small part of my time, of my day devoted to the Art of Being Still. Why do I do that? It gives me time to think. It gives me time to feel the spirit and to listen. It is amazing what we can hear when we listen. Inserting a pause into my day helps me better deal with whatever the day may bring and slowing down a little bit helps me notice the details of life.

Have you ever driven some where and arrived at your destination and have no memory of the actual process of getting there. Your mind was so full of “noise” that you were not noticing the details around you, what was happening right then and there. None of us wants to arrive at the end of our life and wonder how we got there.

Neal A. Maxwell said “frantic, heedless busy-ness crowds out contemplation and leaves no room for renewal.”

“Take time to slow down and ponder so that you can feel the Lord’s love for you.”

Bonnie Parkin

Next month I’ll be back to share with you how I  insert a pause into my life each day. Until then I hope you will take the opportunity to slow down a little bit, listen a little bit, don’t be in a hurry to be done.

Richard L. Evans said, “there seems to be little evidence, that the Creator of the universe was ever in a hurry. Everywhere, on this bounteous and beautiful earth…there is evidence of patient purpose and planning and working and waiting.”

For other Sunday inspiration please visit my friends Mariel and  Mandy, and Kristen

Leigh Anne

You can also visit me on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter or Instagram.

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