Niki's Award Winning Chili

Even though it is warming up here in Utah I thought there is still time to enjoy this amazing chili recipe! Trust me though, you will want to make this over and over again throughout the year! I am not normally one to make amazing things, let alone share the recipe but this one just cannot be ignored!! My good friend Niki shared this chili with my husband and I one time and I begged her for the recipe!! She made it to go along with other food for a camp out we went on but the only thing I remember is we ate a lot of chili and chocolate covered almonds from Whole Foods. Ever since, this is most likely the number one requested recipe from my hubby!
 

A few months ago our church ward had a Chili Cook-off contest and out of maybe 30-40 different recipes to choose from, this recipe won!!! I'm not fooling around when I tell you this is probably the BEST CHILI YOU WILL EVER EAT!!
 

Okay I always hate when food bloggers give you such a long story before the actual recipe so here it is!

One important note *IF YOU DO NOT FOLLOW THIS EXACTLY YOU WILL NEVER KNOW WHAT GREAT CHILI REALLY IS!

 It is also important you use these two brand specific items if you can find them. They sell them here at our local Smith's.

 Niki’s Award Winning Chili

Sauce:
1 cup Garland Jack’s Secret Six bbq sauce
1 cup ketchup
1 cup loosely scooped brown sugar
salt and pepper to taste


Chili:
6 strips bacon (3 peppered 3 regular)
1 lb ground beef
5 chopped garlic cloves
1/2 a yellow onion
1 can S&W chili beans
1 can black beans
1 can white beans
1 can red beans

Combine all sauce ingredients and set aside

Cook bacon in a pan until fully cooked. Remove from pan and cook ground beef, garlic and onion in the remaining bacon grease until fully cooked.

In the crock pot use a quarter of the sauce and spread on the bottom then layer your meat mixture with half the bacon (chopped) then layer black beans, white beans, red beans and chili beans. Then layer remaining sauce on top and top with remaining bacon. DO NOT STIR.

For best results cook on high for five hours (NEVER STIRRING) and then on low for two hours and then a final one hour on warm. After that last hour stir thoroughly, turn heat off and enjoy!

We love to eat ours with tortilla chips and a little cheese on top but you really don't need either of those things to make it a meal! It speaks for itself!!

Bebe Deer Love

I had the opportunity to throw two of my friends a joint baby shower! It was so fun and turned out so beautifully!

I had the idea to do a Deer Love theme since it was just the week after Valentine's and well, I really love deer!!!

I tried my hand again at making some cookies thanks to Alison's Cookie Party (this woman knows what she is talking about people!!) and I was SO pleased with how these cute deer cookies turned out.

Just a quick note on these bacon wrapped water chestnuts, THEY ARE THE BEST THING YOU'LL EVER PUT IN YOUR MOUTH! Seriously. My friend Carli shared the recipe and I could really eat them everyday of my life and not care how fat I get. Maybe, one day I'll share the recipe with her permission!

Who doesn't like glittery donuts? They were so fun and with the strawberry milk it was just perfect!

Haven is having a boy and Emily is keeping hers a surprise so I wanted to do colors for both possibilities! Pink, mint and gold it was!

I made a couple of designs to go on some iron on sheets so the guests could make them for both babies. The "stay wild" design was free from Alexa Zurcher from the He&I blog. She actually gives a great tutorial on how to screen print using that design but we decided to make it a little cleaner and simpler for everyone.

I didn't get any pictures of the finished product but they turned out so cute! And much better than I was expecting from an iron on!

There were a lot of cute babies that joined us!

Dana from My Posh Designs was there every step of the way helping me put my vision together. Dana you are the best!!

Sara with Sara Vaz Photography did an AMAZING job with all the photos, no? You definitely should hire her for your next event or family portraits! She is so talented!

Well, there you have it! I wish these two beautiful girls healthy and happy babies! Mwah!

Beautiful Deer Spring Wreath

Yesterday was the first day of spring and let me just tell you, here in Utah, it was GORGEOUS! I went on a fun hike, found a pair of shed antlers (following Utahs regulations of course!) and soaked in the sun. Today I was inspired by the weather and antler find from yesterday to make this beautiful door decor. Hope you enjoy! 

nuepura

Hello December! You've been so kind to us this year, nice and warm (in Utah anyway!) no inversions yet, but just enough snow to get us excited for Christmas! One thing you still haven't given up on though, is drying out my skin.

Anyone else suffer from intense dryness? Every winter it sneaks up on me and before I know it I'm grasping my bleeding cracked hands in agony! I'm not a good water drinker and I'm also a germaphobe , that means I'm washing my hands constantly and not replenishing them with moisture from drinking water. It's a terrible cycle, I know! 

Every year I try a new lotion, hand mask, repair cream, and every year I'm so frustrated by how oily it is, how much it stings, or how much it just doesn't work! 

Not this year.

This year I was introduced to nuepura. 

Nuepura was created and developed by my cousin and friend Jodie and her fiances mom Karen. Jodie developed this after she discovered clean eating and Karen taught her that it's not just about what goes inside your body that matters, but what you also put on the outside (you can read more of Jodie's story here)! Your skin absorbs so many chemicals and harmful things into your bloodstream through the different cosmetics that we use everyday. Nuepura is a solution, a 100% pure lotion (I hesitate to use the word lotion because it is so much more than that!) full of amazing and natural ingredients like hibiscus, jojoba oil, marshmallow root,  and vitamins A C and E. No added preservatives or harmful chemicals. Your skin will just crave this!

I've been using nuepura for about two months now and it is amazing! It comes in a glass jar to avoid any harmful chemicals from plastic. It's not oily, it's not thick and cumbersome and it doesn't sting! It is lightweight, replenishing and smells and feels so good! I put it on my face after I wash, I put it on my legs after I shave and throughout the day when my hands are drying out. I can't get enough of it! I finished off a whole jar already because I'm a little addicted to it (Jodie, I need more!) but a little actually does go a long way.

Jodie wanted me to tell you anything I'd like to see improved upon with nuepura but the only thing I've come up with is new ways for me to have it!! I need it in a travel version, something for my lips, and a lotion pump so I can have it at my kitchen sink. The price point is a little higher than you would normally spend on your regular ol' lotion but for me, the price is worth the relief and benefits I get and how quickly it works! Another note about the price point is that you are getting SO many amazing (and normally very expensive) ingredients packed into ONE product. Because of these ingredients this lotion can replace your wrinkle cream, stretch mark moisturizer, face cream, eye cream, after shave, face primer, body butter, etc!! It is SO many different products in one, making this extremely affordable!

If you are local to Utah and you would like an opportunity to try this amazing product out for yourself please join me for an awesome party on Friday! We'll have a few vendors (another new one I'm so excited about - more on that later), Christmas treats, and open mocktail bar, and one lucky person will be going home with an amazing prize! Here are more details:

If you are NOT local and would like your own jar of nuepura, check out her etsy shop www.etsy.com/nuepura

*I am not a doctor, professional dermatologist, or esthetician, and do not guarantee any results for individuals. Always consult your doctor before adding new products in your regimen.

**i was compensated with one free jar of nuepura to write this review, but it is a 100% honest opinion of mine. I REALLY do love this product!!!

Give Thanks Free Printable

A little freebie for this Thanksgiving Day! Take time to give thanks...

(The background color isn't as dark as it seems here...not sure why!)
Download here

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving came a little early this year for my family since two of my brothers were in town only for a couple of days at the same time. It will also be the last time we'll all be together for at least a year and a half since my little sister will serve a mission for the LDS church in January!
I couldn't have been more thrilled when my mom asked me to be in charge of place settings and decor.  I knew this had to be a big deal!

We decided to hold dinner and activities at my parents church since my siblings families have grown so much. Not my ideal place to decorate but we made it work!

 I'm not very traditional when it comes to holiday decor as my family knows (and rolls their eyes at) so I chose to work with a more elegant color palate than your normal fall oranges, browns and yellows. I absolutely love how  it turned out!

I discovered the Madhouse Collection by Michael Aram about a year ago and ordered these amazing twig plasticware sets and have been dying to use them for something since. They are close to my favorite thing at the table! Add a gold pie plate, birch straws, a simple stamped napkin and a black and gold name leaf and voile! A perfect place setting.

This, right here, is my favorite thing at the table! Me and my hubby built this simple flower box from fence wood (costing a total of about $8!) and me, my sister and sister in law filled it with pumpkins, succulents and roses. Simply breathtaking!

I love how this Oh Joy! for Target pitcher went so perfectly with the table! I had been eyeing it for a while and Thanksgiving was the perfect excuse to splurge.

Alright, here is the fun part!! I saw this downloadable set from The Caravan Shoppe a few weeks ago and fell in love! For only $10 I had an adorable set of options for a tablescape for the kids. The poster, napkin rings and table lay were all included.

I thought the kids would enjoy seeing their names on a stand and gave them all different patterned black and white straws (we saw them trading shortly before dinner, it was pretty cute!) and the napkin rings went perfectly with black and white striped napkins.

Here's an idea of the set up. Fun woodland animals under every clear plate, a turkey cookie with plain white royal icing that they got to decorate later with edible markers, and utensils including colored pencils to draw on the table.

And of course, it's not Thanksgiving without pie! Dinner was late at night so the rest of these pictures aren't as great due to lighting. I'm also still learning with my camera :D

So many pies...

Oh hello! Roses, succulents and in a pumpkin! How pretty!

A huge shoutout goes to The Alison Show and Alison's Cookie Party for helping me make these cookies perfect the first time I tried! They were a huge hit and the kids loved decorating and eating them after! Alison also did a kids table using a similar printable set from the Caravan Shoppe, you can see that here. She also gave me the idea to run out to Tai Pan Trading and get those really cute wooden circle branches! Love them to pieces!

Thanks for coming along for the Thanksgiving ride! I hope yours is wonderful tomorrow and I would love to see what you do for your Turkey Day tablescapes! Post your links below!