"Ray"framing!

It's been almost two years since my youngest daughter, Brittany, has gotten married.....and four years this coming November since my oldest, Ashley,  was married. I had yet to frame any of the wedding pictures, until today! I know - crazy! With the new world of digital photo technology, we were given disks of the professional pictures that were taken, so that we could pick, choose and have our own pictures printed. I love that convenience and the cost effectiveness of it, but without a deadline and having to make a choice of say 50 or so pictures, I just kept waiting and waiting. Between the two weddings, we have at least 1500 pictures......what a blessing, and a curse!

I had purchased several frames, in all different sizes and it had been on my "to do" list for several months, to at least get a picture of each couple in my living room and individual pictures of my girls. So, today was the day!

I purchased my frames from the Family Dollar.......they were beautiful and about 5 dollars a piece....but a little too shiny gold for me, but I knew I could fix that!

I borrowed some brown acrylic paint from Ashley's craft box and got started.

I love distressing furniture, frames, etc....because there are no mistakes! It is suppose to look weathered and messy. You can see how shiny the frames were. I loved the details and the brown paint actually draws them out.

I just applied the brown paint and then wiped it off with a cloth. After I finished, I let them dry and they dried very quickly.

I love how they turned out, it only took about 45 minutes to distress four frames and hang them. Purchasing less expensive frames, even if they were not my exact style, then distressing them to work was certainly worth it.

simple cRAYvings : chicken florentine

Do you ever go out to eat at what should be a nice restaurant and after you receive your check you say, "wow, that definitely wasn't worth $12.95!"?  I have done that several times in the past, more than several...hundreds of times!  Growing up with such an awesome cook, my thrifty mother Trisha, I have learned that sometimes even the nicest restaurants can't quench your cravings like a good home-cooked meal.

Justin, my husband, and I recently went to Ruby Tuesdays (mainly for their salad bar and awesome, soft croutons).  I ordered the Chicken Florentine.  Needless to say, it looked pretty but that's about it.  It tasted bland, the chicken was barely cooked so it had a very moist, wet taste (in a bad way), and the creamy spinach topping was below par.  It inspired me to create my own Chicken Florentine!

I was very tempted to quickly look up a recipe on the Internet but decided to make up my own recipe and share with you.  Here is how I did it...

2 chicken breasts - cut in half (makes 4 tender size)
half jar of store bought alfredo sauce
2 cups fresh spinach
tablespoon minced garlic
1/4 cup minced red onion
2 tablespoons butter
salt and pepper
fresh tomato

Brown the chicken tenders in olive oil or butter (your preference)

While the chicken is browning, in a pan melt the butter, and add the onion and garlic.  Let the pan get nicely coated with the butter, onions, and garlic then add the spinach.  Let the spinach completely welt down before adding the alfredo sauce.

Mix in the sauce and add salt and pepper to taste.  You can add other herbs as needed like parsley or oregano...again, its your taste preference.

Once your chicken is fully cooked, you may plate your chicken, topped with a tomato slice and your yummy spinach sauce!  YUMMY!

As a side, I did steamed broccoli and carrots seasoned with salt and pepper with a little mozzarella cheese on top!

Justin and I agreed my dish was MUCH better than Ruby Tuesday's.  Not to mention the calorie count and price.  Ruby Tuesday's Chicken Florentine was over 750 calories per serving.  My version was approx. 300 calories per serving (2 tenders, two tomato slices, 1/2 cup of spinach sauce).

Let me know what you think....ENJOY!

Until later,

Brit