Sewing for the den

I still haven't gotten over a case of procrastination and taken care of those curtains in the den, but I did sew up some new pillows and recovered the ottoman.

These pillows, ca. 1982 were part of a set Hubby had on his bed in college.  They have been great over the years as extra couch cushions and floor pillows.

They were pretty floppy and I wanted them a little smaller, 

so I pinned them a bit to make a more square pillow form. 

I used my favorite method, the envelope enclosure. 
No zippers or velcro or buttons.  

Easy to remove and wash.

I ended up making one apricot colored and three light jade green.  And I had a little upholstery fabric left from  the ottoman so I made an accent pillow, too.

 The first time I re-covered the ottoman I used leftover fabric from the couch project.

It was necessary to cover because of the damage at the seams.

 The fabric I chose is a floral that I think will lighten the room.

  

Lastly, I hauled all the fabric scraps out and sorted and folded.  A lot of this went into the donate pile.  

Done!

Ready for relaxin'.

Mealplan Monday #10 and getting ready for summer

One day last week I paused from hanging laundry on the patio to watch a very tiny spider weave her web.  She was making dinner plans.  Well so was I!

******

Monday - Dad grill for Memorial Day
Tuesday - Cilantro Lime Chicken tacos, black beans, guacamole, sour cream
Wednesday - Turkey Picadillo, rice, carrots
Thursday - Seriously Scrumptious Drunken Pork Chops, masheds, frozen veggie
Friday - freezer leftovers
Saturday - Dad grill
Sunday - Grilled Cheese on Texas Toast bread with soup from freezer

 ******

Last week's Wal-Mart trip was expensive but in my defense, included a lot of non-grocery items that were pricey.  Even so, I have to get better at planning and couponing.  Summer means that although I don't have to buy as many drink boxes and granola bars, I still have to feed these people the same amount of meals.   And  I would like not to have to go into debt doing it!  Lunches here will be very simple.  But I still want to keep on trying new things for dinner...

A brother needs a sister...

She can teach you things your big brothers won't...

Patience and humility, maybe a little composure...

Tolerance and perseverance which will come in handy some day...

A sense of humor and how to have fun...

...and to not take yourself too seriously.

Shared with:

What to do about dry brownies...

If you're like me, you hate to toss out brownies or bar cookies that came out a little too dry.   I recently made some Chubby Hubby bars that while they tasted great right from the oven, were more like bricks the next day!  Too expensive to toss, though.

So this is my quick fix:  I get some some plain ice cream -- chocolate or vanilla works best.  Nothing fancy, cause these bars have a lot of nuts, chips, and peanut butter in them already.

In a big mixing bowl soften the ice cream just a bit and "chop" it with a spatula.

Then crumble the bars in and continue chopping until it's all mixed in. 

Find a big enough sized container and spoon it in, then refreeze.

After dinner, serve everyone your specially mixed up ice cream with big chunks of delicious mixed in. 

Frugal AND delish!

Shared with
The Grocery Cart Challenge
and

Study snacks for Scout

I feel kinda bad that I've been giving Scout so much grief over pulling his grades up.  In my defense, though, he's a smart kid who can do a better job of managing his time and assignments.  I think a summer job would be very helpful for him...but in the meantime, I thought I would put together a "finals care package" for him:

 

It just so happens that all the goodies I picked out for him fit into one of those large rectangular zip loc containers:  a Coke, trail mix, cheese Ritz, his fav candy bar, popcorn, gum, and smarties.  Get it?  Smarties?

I buy them for my kids on big test days - kind of an inside joke around here..

I wrote some encouraging notes on the lid and parked it on his desk. 

 ******

Good Luck on your finals, Scout.  Your Junior year of high school is coming on fast...

DO YOUR BEST

shared with:

Mealplan Monday #9 with some crunchy crumbs!

I've been pretty good about finding non-oven dinners to make lately.  I average turning it on once a week, but I would love to just quit using it all-together,  Too bad there are so many good things to eat from the oven on Pinterest!  Whenever I can, I convert them to stove top.  And I use my secret weapon to make things crispy crunchy delish:

Every time we finish most of a bag of chips, crackers, or croutons, into this bag it goes, gets beat a little with rolling pin, and stored in the freezer.  I can then mix in a little seasoning, maybe some grated cheese, and voila!  Delish topping for casseroles, fish, veggies...yum yum.  A frugal tip I learned from my mom.
******

Monday - Pizza provided at scout meeting; the rest of us will have rotisserie chicken and sides from the pantry
Tuesday - Tuscan Chicken Stew, linguini
Wednesday - Cheddar Bacon Crumb Chicken, broccoli salad, sweet potatoes
Thursday -Freezer clean-out meal
Friday - Salmon with lemon cream sauce, green beans with crunchy crumb topping, skillet potatoes
Saturday - Dad grill, plus Frito Salad
Sunday - Crock Pot Sweet Pulled Pork, rolls, coleslaw

******

I also want to scale us down to one dessert per week - people here love their desserts!  Check this one out by Megan at Crumbs and Chaos - Chocolate PB Marshmallow Bars - if I'm going to have the oven on Wednesday night anyway.....

Shared with:

Just Peachy!

The Girl brought some some odds and ends groceries from her apartment - you know, the ones you don't normally buy, but you hate to waste so they just hang out in your pantry...She had two cans of peach halves.  Seemed random to me until I wanted to make a dessert and thought maybe I could combine it with cream cheese and cake mix.  I did a little research, then came up with my very own...

Gooey Peachy Butter Cake

Because I'm so kindhearted, I tried a piece to make sure my peeps would like it...(:

I already had the two cans of peaches, so I ran to the store and grabbed:
a box of yellow cake mix
a brick of cream cheese (let it soften a little)
3 eggs
2 sticks of butter (melted)
3 c. powdered sugar
1 t. vanilla
1/2 t. nutmeg (not pictured)

Butter a deep 13x9 glass dish and set aside.  Pre-heat oven to 350.  Melt the butter in the microwave.  Open the peaches and drain them.  Meanwhile, mix the cake mix, one egg, and 1/2 c. of the melted butter.  It will look like cookie dough:

Pat it down into the dish and arrange the peach halves on it like so:

Did you buy peach slices instead of halves?  I don't think it will make any difference...Now, in the mixer, combine the cream cheese, the rest of the melted butter, the powdered sugar, 2 eggs, nutmeg, and vanilla til creamy. 

It helps if you beat the cream cheese a little by itself before dumping the rest of the ingredients in.  But if you didn't, don't worry about it if the mixture looks a little lumpy.  Now, pour that over the peaches and crust:

See the specks of nutmeg?  I think nutmeg is one of the best things you can do to a cooked peach dessert.  They just seem to be made for each other!

Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes.  You can see the crust puffs up a bit on the sides.  

That makes it easier to slice.  The middle will be soft and gooey.  This is so good warm!

If you're going to be making an oven dinner anyway,  you may as well make a gooey, peachy, buttery dessert.  Right?.

Shared with:

Mealplan Monday #8 - finals are almost here!

I can hardly wait for finals to start for Scout - it will signal the end of 10th grade - goodbye forever sophomore year!  It's been one of those years, yes.
When he finishes up, we will do the room switcheroo again.  I know The Girl needs her privacy, but so does Scout.  And Bubbie is caught in the middle - no choice about whether he gets a roommate.  And meanwhile, Firstborn will still have the rare luxury of not sweating it.  But, Scout and The Girl have it all worked out and agree on the arrangement, and it's only for two months...so be it!

 

Such a flexible and compliant kid! 
******

Monday -Aloha Pork Chops, rice, carrot (didn't make this last week)

Tuesday - Leftover Chicken Tortilla Soup from the freezer and garlic toast

Wednesday - Creamy Spagetti and meatballs, brussels sprouts

Thursday -Simple Chicken Casserole, Salad

Friday - Sammie tray, chips (mom at work, boys going camping)

Saturday - YOYO

Sunday -Leftover Oriecchiette with sausage and peppers from the freezer, green beans

******

Last week, there were a couple of night where I had to re-think what was for dinner...there was a band concert I didn't have on the calendar and just a couple of nights I felt really popped!  Plus, with working extra hours, I have really left my creative time on the back burner...I hope to remedy that this week and spend less time in the kitchen, hence the freezer clean out!

Happy Mother's Day 2012

Gina's first Mother's Day, 1990

The moment a child is born, the mother is also born.  She never existed before.  The woman existed, but the mother, never.  A mother is something absolutely new. 

 ~Rajneesh

What a week...

I have to get out of the habit of grouching about it being a bad week around here - 

it's full, is all.  Not that its bad, it's just life...

 A recap:  Sunday I left work early to make way in the garage for the contents of The Girl's apartment.  It was hot, muggy, and the garage was a mess.  Cue disaster movie music as Hubby gets carried away arranging the scout camping equipment.  But, halleluyah, there was now room. So, Scout and I went to Wal-Mart to buy the weekly groceries.   Monday I headed to Waco bright and early to begin getting her here.  Along the way we had to jump through hoops:  get the sub-letter to come and pay her share of May and sign the lease, get a nail removed from The Girl's tire and have it patched, do 90% of the cleaning and packing that had not yet been done due to finals, clean out the fridge, stuff the cars, turn in the key, fight traffic on IH35.  Blerg.  We got the car unloaded an hour before the rain hit.  Tuesday, I worked.  What was I thinking?  Wednesday and Thursday are a blur.  I got a few things crossed off my To Do list, including laundry, paying car notes, going to a meeting at work, attending Scout's last band concert (ever).  Today I am going to straighten up the house before I head to work and we will order pizza tonight as a treat for a hard week.  My menu plan went awry - I bite off more that I can chew sometimes.  At least there are things in the freezer that can carry over into next week.  The rain was good.  I have slept good.  I have all my scrubs cleaned and ironed for the weekend.  And Mother's Day will be spent with other mothers, some of whom have sick ones...but all in all...not that bad of a week.

Mothers- The Eighth Wonder of the World