Little touches and fun to do

I like to spend money, yes I do.  That's not always possible, but I do like it just the same! Check out the cute owl switchplate cover I bought a couple months ago from Anthropologie:

He was  pricey - I justified it by working a little OT.
And I do love owls.
He brightens up my little office nook.  Which makes me want to change out  a few other switch plate covers  around the house, but not spend as much as this one cost. (Or anything, really!)

So,  I fished around in my scrap box for leftover fabric from the last project, and got my Modge Podge out...

I cut out a piece of fabric just a little bit bigger than the switch plate. Coated the front of the plate with MP, laid the fabric over, and secured on the edges with bullfrog clips. then brushed more MP on the front of the switch plate to crisp up the fabric so it would be easy to cut out the holes for the switches.  I just cut an "x" where the screws would go. These utility knives were less than $2 for both at Wal-Mart.

Love it!

This is the switch right across from the laundry room.

This print is so perfect and matches my cute little baskets 

above the washer/dryer.

Couldn't stop there - had to do one for the front room:

I so love the colors in this one - matches the basket under my desk, and it even goes well with that old Martha Stewart green!  Now I am looking around at other switches in the house - the bedrooms, perhaps? since I need so little fabric, I can get some really beautiful ones!  Cheap thrills, right?

My garage OCD

I can be sort of a freak about organization.  I take the old "everything in it's place" to extreme.  And, if you share a house with me, I believe your stuff should be in it's place, too! This causes hubby great concern over me throwing out his "stuff".  Which more often than not, is trash we should have pitched long ago....anyhoo....I got my trusty helper to help me neaten up the garage Friday. It was making me crazy. er.

 

When I saw the "after" photo, I was still cringing.  You could barely tell we'd spent 2 hours in the heat and dust. We just own too much crap, plain and simple.  All that crap isn't enriching our lives or making us happy in any way. And taking hours to straighten and organize it actually lessens the joy of having a home that's comfy for us all...just my opinion.

I can see a little glimmer of more space here - at least everyone has a place for their bike.  Parking a car in here would be out of the question, though...

And we can actually get to the back door without injuring ourselves tripping over stuff. Even if the stuff is shoved into every nook and cranny...yikes...26 years of accumulated "treasure".

Of course now, we have to rid our garage of a rather large pile - analog TV's, broken stereo speakers, a cabinet I was going to paint and didn't.....and why do we have a sandwich board?  I envision a place where the boys can hang out with a dart board, table, and a few folding chairs....if I could only get hubby on board with clearing out the unnecessary clutter....

 

Creamy jalapeno dressing

I found a recipe for creamy jalapeno dressing like they serve at Chuy's, a popular Austin restaurant.  So here's what I needed, and please pretend I remembered to add mayo, because I did!

Creamy Jalapeno Dressing

Pickled japs in juice, a packet of ranch dressing mix, 1/2 cup buttermilk, 

1 c. mayo (the real thing), and 1/2 a bunch of cilantro, chopped with stems removed.  I dumped the japs into the blender with a little juice and chopped them up, then added all else and blended together.

Looks good, smelled even better!

The recipe suggests you make it hours before you want to use it.  I think hubby will be very happy to see this beside his taco salad - it's his favorite thing at Chuy's.  I will toss a bagged salad with black beans, green onions, avocado, tomato, and seasoned, cooked ground beef. My favorite salad!

Gina

You know it's getting closer to summer when...

I guess the natives neighborhood kids are restless.  They are practicing a blatant disregard for the usual evening school night schedule by hanging out in the garage way past dinnertime, with the radio cranked up, singing loudly, practicing fake French accents, just basically being silly. Boys, even!

Believe it or not, they were actually debating what Superman would do if he dug to the center of the earth...huh?  What have you done all afternoon, boys?

No, you cannot come inside my house.

No I really don't want to debate whether Superman would call out a la Ozzie for a "sammich" from Sharon.  Who are these kids?  I think the late spring heat has gotten to them. And, like I said,  it's a school night. And they need to come in now and eat.  Tomorrow is just another school day...and one day closer to summer.

On the dinner table: pizza meatloaf

Ooohhh...one of my favorite things to make, even though it's really too hot outside. I forgot to buy salmon for tonight. ): Well, I just have to thaw out some ground beef, sorry; salmon another day!  But I'll make this:

I learned to make it in high school from an old cookbook of my mom's.  Simple enough for a kid to make, but really filling and cheesey!  It was a family favorite back then and Hubby really likes it. We usually have it with potatoes of some sort (these are roasted), and a veggie (like these buttery carrots).

If I were feeling creative I might also do rolls....but..yeah. Not tonight.  However, I did make Cornflake Cookies since the oven was hot anyway.  Here's the meatloaf recipe - try it, you might like it!

Pizza Meatloaf

Mix 1 can tomato soup with 1/4 c. water and 1/2 tsp. each of crushed oregano and garlic salt.  Ladle out 1/4 c. of it into a bowl and add: 1 1/2 lbs. ground beef, 1 egg, 1 c. bread crumbs, 1/2 chopped onion.  Shape into loaf and bake at 350 for 50 minutes.  Drain fat off.   Pour the rest of the sauce over it, top with cheese, and bake til cheese melts. Cook the tatoes and your veggie at the same time in the oven.

Enjoy!

No stress cake

This is the cake that greeted my new graduate when she returned home from commencement.  It was a huge hit!  It looks like a lot of candy, but each slice has only two skinny Kit Kats  and a handful (or less) of M&M's.  Find the recipe at Texas Monkey - there are lots of variations.

Mr. Somber

He used to be known as the Sweet One. The one who was guaranteed to come hug and kiss you goodnight. The one you could count on for that same hug and kiss at the front door in the morning on his way to school. He was flexible, cooperative, kind-hearted, friendly, good-natured....

I need to file a missing person report. They've taken the Sweet One and left me the Somber One.

They left a teen in his place. Moody. Serious. And don't even think of tickling him. Or messing with him in the morning - whoo! You're just asking for trouble there.  He's going to let me come have lunch with him today.  And considering how close to the end of the school year we are, it might very well be the last lunch together he and I share at middle school.

Good.

Maybe he will happy up for the summer....

Mother's Day 2010

My Mother's Day was quite nice!  We went to Elsi's for Salvadorian food.

I had a great dinner with my favorite people!

Gina

Crockpot Chicken Mole Verde

Crock pot to the rescue!  Pretty much, a crock pot makes everything better. Tuesday morning: staring down a package of raw chicken, I decide to make mole. Verde Mole.  Never made it. But it looks good.  And very verde.

I just mixed the mole with chicken broth,

 browned the chicken,

threw it into the crock with the mole sauce, added some peppers and onions,

along with a sprinkling of oregano. And a little salt.
Then walked away for about 8 hours while it cooked on low.

  I served it with rice and fresh green beans.
Hubby went back for seconds.  That was easy!

Gina  

Shared with:

Simple Plate - What A Crock!

Happy Mother's Day Week 2010!

Rustown Art

  I officially release my self from all lingering guilt at putting my kids in daycare from 1989 - 1999!

I think I read too many parenting magazines at the time that heaped on the stress and recrimination to the point at which I thought I could not possibly be "my kid's mom".  I was there to bathe, read to, and tuck them in at night.  There to feed them and help get them dressed and in the car in the morning.  And there to take them to swim lessons, the park, birthday parties, visiting relatives on the weekend, etc.  All of that counts!  Meanwhile, I was working to help provide my family with much needed second income, health insurance and oh yes, food and utilities.  My kids weren't confused at what a real mother was. I was sure they would be well-adjusted people who excelled in school and life.  

God bless the working mom.

Sometimes I'm amazed at how fortunate we've been and how well this turned out!