Sometimes I wish I was a little more creative in the kitchen, whipping up my own amazing recipes that others would blog about! But the reality is, right now I don't have time to experiment with ingredients and I just need something that is going to make the hubs and teens happy! OK, so not just happy, but something that is not overly unhealthy, greasy, or filled with processed ingredients. I'm no, "Everything has to be organic, let's go to the farmer's market" kind of cook. However, I do want to know what I'm eating and what my family is eating. I look at labels and we try our best to get things that don't have high-fructose anything in it. I mean, why would food items like bread need things like that in them?!

So, today I'm going to share with you a few of my favorite go to chicken recipes that I like to make for dinner, plus a few new ideas I would like to try to give our meals a little variety! 

Lately my go to chicken recipe has been one that I saw on a Hellmann's Mayo commercial! At first, I was a little hesitant because my older step-daughter isn't a fan of cheese. But I figured, it's mixed in and baked on so it might not be the consistency of the cheese she dislikes! I give you, Hellmann's Parmesan Crusted Chicken recipe...

{Hellmann's}

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup Hellmann's® or Best Foods® Real Mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (about 1-1/4 lbs.)
• 4 tsp. Italian seasoned dry bread crumbs

DIRECTIONS

1. "Preheat oven to 425°.
2. Combine Hellmann's® or Best Foods® Real Mayonnaise with cheese in medium bowl. Arrange chicken on baking sheet. Evenly top with Mayonnaise mixture, then sprinkle with bread crumbs.
3. Bake until chicken is thoroughly cooked, about 20 minutes."

Recipe from Hellmann's

I adjusted our cooking time to about 33 minutes for our oven and cut four chicken breasts in half, the ones we buy from Costco are pretty large! If you want a really delicious side for this dish, once in a while I'll make Fettuccine Alfredo with it, it's a wonderful compliment to the Parmesan topping on the chicken. 

Some of you that are reading this may be saying to yourselves, "Mayo, how is that healthy?", am I right? Well, everything in moderation and mayo actually isn't as unhealthy as you think, here is a list of the first few ingredients: SOYBEAN OIL, WATER, WHOLE EGGS AND EGG YOLKS, VINEGAR, SALT, SUGAR, LEMON JUICE. So, what could be so unhealthy about soybean oil, water, and eggs? Yes, egg yolks are high in cholesterol and fat, but according to a post on Fit Sugar, the egg yolks also contain many of the good parts we get from our eggs as well. OK, now don't run to your kitchen and load up on all the mayo you have been missing out on, like I said, everything in moderation! 

Another favorite recipe that I love making with chicken is a crockpot chicken chili recipe I discovered from Monica on East Coast Creative...

I took these photos on my phone, so I apologize for their quality! Though, I'm not really the best at taking indoor photos. I'm more of an outdoor photo girl! 

Any how, back to the amazing crockpot chili recipe that is perfect for any cold night...so why am I talking about it in Spring? Well, sometimes there are chilly nights during this time of year when we're still eating soups and drinking hot tea to stay warm, right? So, if you are looking for an easy, go to, put every ingredient in the crockpot and walk away until it's done recipe, this is the one! 

Ingredients: 

• 1 large can diced tomatoes
• 1 small can black beans
• 1 small can tomato paste
• 1 package boneless skinless chicken tenderloins or thighs (these two cuts get the most tender and fall apart)
• 1 packet McCormick chili seasoning

Directions: 

1. "Dump all the ingredients into your crockpot (don’t drain anything) and cook on high for about 4 hours or on low for 6-8. 
2. Once the time is up, shred the chicken using two forks, stir, and serve!"

Recipe from East Coast Creative

I could eat this for days! It's so easy to make and everyone loves it. I've even made it for one of my best friends and her family when they came to visit, and it passed with flying colors! Plus, the ingredients are all good for you; tomatoes, beans, chicken, nothing to hate on there! The only thing that I wasn't crazy about was the high sodium content in the chili seasoning, but I just discovered that McCormick also has a 30% less sodium packet as well, score! 

To switch up my Parmesan Crusted Chicken recipe a bit, I would love to try this recipe from Buns in My Oven that is pretty much the same idea but adds dry ranch dressing seasoning to it and cheddar cheese instead of Parmesan...yum!

{Buns in My Oven}

Or for those nights when I'm craving Chinese Take Out, Chinese Orange Chicken...

{Damn Delicious} 

Can you really go wrong with homemade Chinese food, I think not! Oh, how I want this right now...it's a good thing I already ate dinner tonight! 

So, what's for dinner at your house? What are your go to chicken recipes? 

Thanks for stopping by, have a great day! 

East Coast Creative: Creating with the Stars

It has been a busy week here in the land of The World Around Her. I've been working over on East Coast Creative all week helping them with their design contest Creating with the Stars, are you following along and voting? We just wrapped up week 2, which involved the contestants putting together a paint project. Next week is the upcycle round for the top 6 that are left in the competition. It all started with 299 entries and it was narrowed down to 12 for the first week...from 299 to 12!! Week one was the knock off round where the 12 contestants had to create a knock off version of a high end item...

{Image courtesy of East Coast Creative's Instagram!}

Can you believe these amazing knock off projects, and they are all handmade! If you haven't been following along check out the recap post of round one. 

What I love most about the competition, besides the incredible projects, is that it's not a popularity contest. When the projects go up for voting, readers don't know whose project they are voting for. So instead of voting for your favorite blogger or because they are paired with your favorite blog star, you are voting for your favorite DIY knock off. Then when the results are posted, that is when you know who did what, pretty clever right! 

It starts with 12, but then each week of the four week competition the bottom 3 get knocked out. So for this week's second round and battle of the paint projects it was down to 9....

{Image courtesy of East Coast Creative Instagram}

Who knew you could do so many stunning things with paint! I loved them all, it's so tough having to say good-bye to the bottom three each week. Some of the contestants have started to follow me on Instagram, which totally made me feel famous! I'm hoping to stay connected and have started reading their blogs. 

If you aren't already a fan of East Coast Creative, then what are you waiting for...you don't want to miss out on these awesome DIY projects and see who goes home with the big win at the end! The prizes are amazing, oh and plus there is a giveaway for everyone too! Get your butt on over there and enter to win a beach vacation to Punta Cana!! Oh, how I wish I could enter!! 

PS, I don't vote since I'm their blog assistant and know who did what, so that's why I need you to vote for me {next Monday will be the open vote for the upcycle round}! Right now on the blog is the winner's tutorial from this week, which one would you have voted for? Tomorrow will be the 2nd place tutorial, then 3rd. Plus if you have your own paint project you can link up for a chance to be featured on the blog this Sunday!  

Thanks for stopping by, have a great day! 

How to Spray Paint Brass Owl Bookends...

I'm so glad you guys loved my stencil lamp shade I posted about yesterday, I'm really happy that I went with stenciling it instead of one of the other ideas I was considering. It's a timeless look that won't go out of style or one I won't get bored with! As promised, today I'm going to share with you another DIY adventure I took with brass owl bookends.

My husband bought the brass owl bookends for me at Christmas, said he was searching our local antique store for owls and almost gave up when he stumbled upon them! The two love birds look so sweet perched on the branch, but the brass color just wasn't my style and didn't fit with any decor we have in our home. 

They were on my shelf above my work desk in my home office, however I learned the hard way that these guys were a bit too heavy to be sitting on that shelf! Luckily, my laptop wasn't on my desk at the time the shelf came crashing down and there wasn't anything that broke that was sitting on the desk or shelf!

What was I going to do with these things? We only have a small book shelf in our computer room, so I knew they weren't going there. Even if, I still didn't love the brass color! So, this weekend I shared a photo of them on Instagram and asked how I could give them a makeover. My DIY girl Katie over at Busy Bee Kate  tweeted back that I should use some steel wool, self-etching primer, and spray paint. 

While we were out at Michaels Craft Store searching for what to do with the lamp, I looked for the items Katie mentioned. I found the steel wool, but I couldn't find any paint labeled self-etching primer. That's when I found Krylon® Brand Dual Paint + Primer, which works great for Metals, Wicker, Glass, Ceramic, Fabric, Masonry, Concrete, and Wood. Plus the can I grabbed was also a super bond, bonus! 

I took them out to the garage and my husband helped me set up a little space on his work bench so I wouldn't get the spray paint on anything but my owls! I took out the steel wool and got to work removing some of the brass. Steel wool actually comes in different textures, who knew?! You want coarse for tougher jobs like removing paint, and softer for polishing. Ladies, make sure you are wearing gloves to handle the steel wool, it's a little scratchy! Next, it was time to spray paint. 

Well, apparently I don't know the correct way to spray paint, because what I was doing was causing the paint to drip...and we don't want that. That's where my husband came in and showed me the back and forth technique, he's a pro ladies and he's all mine!

At first, he thought we should apply a second coat, but if you take a look at the heavy spraying I was doing at the bottom it looks thick and takes away the details. I loved the way the feathers were showing through and didn't want them to look too caked with paint. 

I love how they turned out and can't wait to get my hands on another item in the house that needs a spray paint makeover! They are currently sitting on the cedar chest in my office, which is probably the only thing that is going to handle the weight of these guys.

What are some home decor items you have spray painted before? 

Thanks for stopping by, have a great day!