So my girl Tairalyn from Little Miss Mama is now co-hosting Five Things with me...YAY!! She created a new, more modern button for everyone to include in their link up post and an awesome logo for her and I to include in our posts, she's such a rock star... I love her! 

{First, a few things to know about Five Things....}

1. Five Things link up is posted every Thursday at Midnight EST. Share any five things that are on your mind right now. Whether it's something you are obsessing with on Pinterest, a new and exciting event going on in your life, or even sharing five of your favorite books; it's totally up to you. 

2. Please put the Five Things button on the post your sharing for the link up; sharing is caring, the more players involved the more fun we'll all have.

3. Please follow both your hosts Diana from The World Around Her and Tairalyn from Little Miss Mama via Facebook {here and here} and/or Twitter {here and here}. As it’s not mandatory it is greatly appreciated. 

4. If you tweet about your post or Instagram it, feel free to tag me or Tairalyn and use the hashtag, #FiveThingsParty

5. Check out the other bloggers who have linked up, show them some love and comment on at least one other bloggers link-up post.

1. Easter is this Sunday, can you believe it's here already! I am obsessing over all the cool egg designs popping up on Pinterest like this one from The Cards We Drew. Blogger Abbey spray painted plastic eggs and used vinyl cut outs for the arrows, which I'm also in love with right now! Are you dying eggs for Easter? Not sure that we are this year since the girls are older, but I do have a little surprise up my sleeve for them! Shh!

2. Painted Terra Cotta pots are another big trend this Spring, I love what the ladies over on A Beautiful Mess did with this color block idea. This DIY actually popped up on Brit & Co. today, but was first featured on A Beautiful Mess two years ago, so it looks like the trend is still going strong!

3. My mom's birthday is tomorrow, Happy Birthday Momma! She has been through so much in the last six months and this will actually be her first birthday without her husband, my step-dad. We all just want her to be surrounded with love and make this a beautiful day for her. She is coming to my house next weekend to see me in my local women's group annual fashion show, plus my sisters will be coming to visit that weekend as well so we can all have dinner together. This photo of us is from last Summer when I chopped all my hair off, well not all but most! I'm missing my short hair right now, just got it cut but thinking of going shorter!

4. I need this Brave wrap bracelet in my life! The next time HorseFeathers Gifts has a sale, it's mine! The gals at this wonderful handmade shop are going to help my friend Busy Bee Kate and I celebrate 100 on Facebook when we reach there, so be sure to follow us both so we can have a giveaway on our blogs!

5. How gorgeous is my friend Melis and her adorable bow! I bought one for myself two weeks ago from her shop Mila Rose Designs when she was having a sale. It's called "The Kregs", and I plan on wearing it for the Mother's Day Breast Cancer Walk in Philadelphia with my tutu from Atutudes! Melis is also helping me with the giveaway when I reach 100 on Facebook, woo hoo! 

That's it for my week, share with us what's going on with you and Five Things that are on your mind by linking up below...

Five Things

I talked about starting a five things post series before, but it never really turned into a series! More like a one and done kind of thing. So, let's kick it off into a series, shall we?! Plus, I would love to start a link up party if you would like to join in with five things that are on your mind, so feel free to write a post and join in! My girl Tairalyn from Little Miss Mama inspired my first five things post, so hopefully she will join in on the fun with us! I was also inspired by my friend Steph at The Vintage Modern Wife who started her own Happies and Crappies link up party!

First Some Details on the Five Things Link Up Party:

1. Five Things link up is posted every Thursday at Midnight EST. You can share any five things that is on your mind right now. Whether it's something you are obsessing with on Pinterest, a new and exciting event going on in your life, or even sharing five of your favorite books, it's up to you!

2. Please put the Five Things button on your post for the link up.

3. Please follow your host. It’s not  mandatory, but we appreciate the love.

4. If you tweet about your post or Instagram it, feel free to tag me and use the hashtag, #FiveThingsParty

5. Check out the other bloggers who have linked up and show them some love too!

Shall we get started...

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1. Right now I am obsessing over these gorgeous DIY potting benches I'm seeing all over Pinterest, like this one from HGTV Gardens...

{DIY Potting Bench}

I really don't have a need for one, but they are just so adorable! I especially love the mint color of the dresser part on this one. Potting Benches can be repurposed from so many different furniture items. See an old cabinet in the thrift store that could use a little love, give it a new life as a potting bench! 

2. I saw a post on Brit & Co. with the title, "Are Tin Cans the New Mason Jar?" Well, I think so because I am seeing so many different ideas for repurposing them. I for one want to spray paint them copper like blogger Amy did...

{DIY Copper Tin Can Planter}

Aren't they gorgeous! My friend Katie over at Busy Bee Kate recently repurposed tin cans as well, she made hers into a wind chime. So many ideas, so little time!

3. I've been itching for a new tattoo lately. Right now I have four of them and I already have in mind what I want for my next one. My sisters and I are supposed to get one together as well. We had a design, but I think it included too many trendy tattoo ideas that are going around right now. It had the infinity symbol in it and those flying birds. I want all of my tattoos to be unique and original, so perhaps my younger sister can come up with a drawing of something different. 

4. I need a vacation, but July is still so far away! It just feels like it's been ages since I had a break from everything. I am picturing the beach right now, warm clear blue water, and silence, oh and no cell phone or internet! 

5. I worked out on the treadmill three times this week, but I still feel like I am snacking too much. What can I say, I love food! 

Well, those are my five things....what's going on in your world this week? Thanks for stopping by and linking up!

An InLinkz Link-up

What's for Dinner? Chicken!

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!