A random list

As I was going through my photos and ideas for tonight's post I decided to do a Hot or Not list, a likes and dislikes list, you know a list of things that I like and things that I don't. 

I must warn you that this is pretty random. 

LIKE:

A made bed.

{This is a rare occassion, I must admit.}

Dislike:

A very messy and unorganized closet.

{Our spare room closet, can you see my wedding dress in there?}

Love:

Games!

{Bananagrams, Zip it, Pears and Pairs etc}

Love my lunch bunch game players! 

Hate:

A dirty sink at the end of the night.

{I like to have the kitchen clean before going to bed, Jay always says, "I will do it tomorrow."} 

Yay!

Craft Projects

{Anything with glue, I am in!}

Nay!

A husband that did not pay attention to what was also sitting on the stove when he started cooking. He then proceeded to leave the room until I heard a crackling sound and smelled burnt plastic.

{Don't forget Jay I need a new colander, my dear.}

Hot:

Chipotle for lunch.

Love their burrito bowls.

So delicious!!

Not Hot:

Hobby Lobby's fake grape decor that is everywhere.

Please fire the person who came up with this idea, it is horrible.

And we're off....

I was itching to hit some thrift stores after our snow and ice storm. My mom was the first one to hop in the car so we were off.

You know I am a sucker for old books. 

I have a new library table in the works that Jay and I are making and these will look great in it. 

Found the two cute green and white Ikea trays, old suitcase (I love it when people send me ideas and links for cool projects they find, I know exactly what I am going to do with this, thanks Nicole!)small stool to repaint, old (ugly) pattern to cut up ad misc. odds and ends. 

Great metal tiered cart.

I am definately ripping the fake wood grain sticker off the top.

Love this PartyLite birdcage!

I was on the fence about this guy. 

But for $2.99 I was sold.

Black or white?

I am thinking turquoise for this stool. 

What do you think?

Found this on my camera when I uploaded my photos. 

My car encased in ice. 

And it stayed this way for about a week.

Martha, You are amazing!

Martha is coming to a Staples near you. 

How cute are these products? 

I want one of everything. 

Love these kraft labels, I will definately be buying a few of these. 

They are only $3.99 for a pack of 36. 

Who wants to go to Staples with me? 

Pork and Potato Skillet

Here is your dinner idea for tomorrow. 

Trust me you will not be disappointed. 

And you can't ask for an easier recipe.

I present to you....

Pork and Potato Skillet

Coat a skillet with cooking spray and place over medium - high heat. Add 1/2 c. chopped onion, 1/8 tsp. each of salt and pepper.  {Feel free to add more pep if you like, i did.} and 1 tsp. minced fresh garlic, saute 3 minutes. 

Add cubed pork lean pork {i bought a pack of 3 pork chops from the butcher}; saute for 3 - 5 minutes. 

Add 1 1/2 cups cubed potato, 2 c. broccoli florets, and 1/4 c. chicken broth and cover with a lid.  Cook over medium high heat until potato is tender. 

Feel free to add more or less pork, broccoli, potato or onion.  I also would watch the last step closely, I did need to add a little more broth until the potato was cooked all the way through. 

I have now made this twice in the last two weeks and we love it.  We served it with a green salad.  

Let me know if you try this recipe and what you thought of it. 

Curry and a happy teenager

Thank you Maya Kaimal. 

You have made Josie love Curry.

She is even willing to branch out a bit and try some Thai and Indian food.  

Costco carries this delicious Indian Curry, about $8.

I can easily split this into two meals. 

First I brown some chicken, cut into cubes. 

Then add some onions and saute for a few minutes. 

Once all cooked, add half the tub of the cocnut curry and simmer for 5-10 minutes. 

I also stem some fresh broccoli and carrots and make a pot of basmati rice. 

Fast, Easy and delicious. 

AND .... Josie loves this meal!  

She has even requested that I make it for her birthday dinner. 

Josie also felt like baking and she whipped up a batch of letterpress cookies.  

These were very fun to make and one of the best recipes for sugar cookies we havve ever tasted. 

See below for recipe. 

Fred's Recipe for Sugar Cookies:

1 c. unsalted butter

1 c. sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp. vanilla extract

3 c. flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 350.

In standing mixer, cream butter & sugar until light and fluffy.

Add egg and vanilla. Mix well. 

In seperate bowl, whisk dry ingredients together.

Add dry ingredients a little at a time to the butter mixture.  Mix until flour in completely incorporated. 

Split dough in half, and roll each half between two sheets of parchment paper to desired thickness and chill for 30 minutes. 

Remove from fridge, and carefullylift off one sheet of parchment, then lightly dust the dough with flour.  Replace the parchment, flip over and repeat. 

Bake on an ungreased baking sheet (or better yet a Silpat) for 8 to 10 minutes or until cookies begin to brown around the edges. 

I escaped!!

I was able to escape my home today. 

The snow has finally almost melted, the ice is gone, the power is back on and football was on.  So that meant I was able to escape by myself and guess where I went?

You guessed right. 

Goodwill. 

Four of them to be exact. 

Here is what I brought home today.

 This vintage lamp base will be turned into one of our chalkboard stands. A little shorter that I usually find but I also scored the following find.  (see below)

 This will be transformed into the topper for the chalkboard lamp stand.  Can't wait to show you the "after" of this project. 

 I loved this beautiful silver leaf platter. 

 Don't know exactly what this was used for, thinking I could turn it into somethiing. 

 How cute is this?

A smallish white dish with crowns as the handles. 

 A cute side table just begging to be painted. 

What color do you see this piece?

All of the above pieces will be available at the next Ruffles and Rust show in May. 

Mark your calenders, this will be a show not to miss!  

Cabin Fever

Our power went out last night and was just restored at 10 a.m. 
As soon as it was back on I cranked up the heat, washed the dishes in the sink, made a large pot of coffee for Jay and charged the phone. Let's cross our fingers that it will stay on.  Jay and I went outside this morning to look around, a few branches down, everything covered in a thinck sheet of ice, car still has about six inches of snow and a half inch of ice on top of that.  This has been a long week but relaxing.  I actually miss my daily routine, work and goodwill.  

Today's letter is...

B. 

For broccoli and butter.

Not together, although that is good.

I have a Costco sized bag of broccoli florets that I need to use up.  Lucky us, today school was cancelled for Josie and we have quite a bit of snow at our house that I didn't want to chance driving to work (yes I am not a fan of driving in the snow) so I decided to start baking.  It is 10:32 a.m. she is still sleeping, snow is still falling and I have my first broccoli dish in the oven. I scoured through recipes to find one that I had all the ingredients for and or that I could improvise a little. 

Here is what I made:

CRUSTLESS BROCCOLI Quiche

1 tbsp. plain dry bread crumbs 2 tsp. butter 1/2 c. onion, finely chopped 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 (10 oz.) pkg. frozen chopped broccoli, thawed & drained 4 eggs 2 c. skim milk 1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce 1/4 tsp. salt 1/8 tsp. pepper 8 oz. sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded 3 tbsp. flour Grease 10 inch quiche dish or other baking pan. Sprinkle with crumbs. Set aside. In a nonstick skillet, melt butter. Add onion and garlic and cook over medium heat, stirring often, for 3 minutes. Squeeze broccoli dry between paper towels. Add to skillet. Cook, stirring often, 1 minute longer. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Beat eggs lightly in a large bowl. Slowly stir in milk. Stir in Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper. Add cooked vegetables. Stir to blend. In medium bowl, mix cheese and flour. Stir into egg mixture. Pour or spoon into quiche dish or casserole. Bake 40 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Let stand 5 minutes. Serve.

Butter.

Melt. 

The other day Jay and I were grocery shopping at Fred Meyer and were looking for a better butter.  The color and packaging of this product immediately drew me to it.  It was reguarly $5 on sale for $3.48 so we decided to buy one.  Well we loved it.  Jay went online and found a $2 off coupon which would make it $1.48 - so being the good price shoppers that we are we went back the next day and bought 4 more.  Lucky us we found that you can freeze these.  So now we have 4 frozen.  

It is made of all the 'good fats', coconut, flaxseed, palm fruit, canola and sunflower.  All organic and rich and creamy.  

If you are interested in trying out this product  go to their Facebook bage, like them and you can also receive a $2 off coupon.  I also saw that QFC carries this butter as well. 

Snow & Pot Roast Stew

Happy Martin Luther King Day!

It also happens to be a snow day here in my neck of the woods. 

I spent my morning cleaning and organizing our two spare room closets, making a delicious smelling Pot Roast Stew in the crock pot, finished the laundry, washed all the dishes and now waiting for Jay to get home so we can go and pick up Josie. Oh and maybe hitting a goodwill up. 

Here is a shot of all the ingredients I used for the stew.  See below for recipe.  

Pot Roast Stew

Cooking Spray

1 1/2 pounds boneless chuck roast, 

trimmed and cut into 1 in. cubes

1 1/2 c. water

1 can beef broth

2 1/2 c. cubed peeled red potato

1 3/4 c. sliced peeled carrot

1 tbl. Worcestershire sauce

2 tsp. olive oil

1/2 tsp. salt and pepper each

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 large onion, cut into 1 in. pieces

1/4 c. flour

1/4 c. water

1 tbl. thyme

1. Coat a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray. Place over high heat until hot, add beef.  Cook 5 minutes or until browned. 

2. Place beef in crock pot.  Add water and broth.  Add potato and next 7 ingredients, stir well. Cover with lid, cook on high 6 - 8 hours. 

3. Now add the 1/4 c. flour and 1/4 c. water to a bowl, stir with whisk until blended. Add flour mixture and thyme, stir well.  Cover and cook oh high for the final 20 minutes. 

Makes approx. 6 servings. 

*Update* This was very good.  We will 
definately be making this again.