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 summer begins

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

  

Gina

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 (or bar cookies)

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! 

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.

Serve everyone your specially mixed up ice cream with big chunks of delicious mixed in. 

Gina

Shared with
The Grocery Cart Challenge
and

Study treats for Scout

I feel kinda bad that I've been giving Scout so much grief over pulling his grades up. 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 ziploc 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.  

DO YOUR BEST!

Gina

shared with:

Mealplan Monday #9 with some crunchy crumbs!

I've been pretty good about finding non-oven dinners to make lately.  Whenever I can, I convert a recipe 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

Gina

Shared with:

Gooey Peachy Butter Cake

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

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:

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

Gina

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.

 

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 Spaghetti 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

Gina

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

I won!

Melissa over at The Inspired Room had a giveaway recently from Day Spring and guess who won?  Little ole me!  Yay!  I don't win contests all that often so I was thrilled.  Not to mention, DaySpring has such lovely things for the home.  My prizes were

 This beautiful large wall clock with its antique-y looking finish.

which goes perfectly in my little office nook

And also there was this heavy, carved wooden dough bowl.  I knew I had to put it out somewhere  that we would be able to see it daily, so for now it holds the den remotes. 

Check out the embossed trim on the handles.  Maybe it will inspire me to finish up the den re-do. Thank you Melissa and DaySpring.  They are beautiful and I'm sure my family will cherish them for years!

Gina

Mealplan Monday #7 and a window plan

Today is all about moving The Girl back home. And, since I'm still taking extra hours at work, it looks like I won't finish up that den curtain project any time soon.  I got the drapery hooks up, and Hubby is eyeing them suspiciously

I was hoping that all he would notice was that I scrubbed
the cellular shades, cleaned the windows, and vacuumed spider webs
from waaay up there.
No such luck.

I think the ladder was a giveaway.

Monday -Crock Pot Roast, mashed potatoes, green beans with bacon
Tuesday - Orecchiette with Sausage and roasted peppers, zucchini
Wednesday - Slow cooker pantry chicken stew, pull apart rolls
Thursday - Aloha Pork Chops, rice, carrots
Friday - Cafe Rio chicken soft tacos, cheese, pico, guacamole
Saturday - Dad grills
Sunday - Pizza, salad - mom too pooped!

The Girl has one request for Monday dinner: home cooked food. I was hoping to get away with ordering a pizza, and serving a chopped salad of romaine and tomatoes. The next best thing is the crock pot roast - easy and wonderful.  I can make homemade mashed potatoes and I will cook some bacon to add to frozen green beans.  We will be full of roast by 8 p.m. and having a hard time keeping our eyes open.

Gina

Roommates

On Monday, The Girl will move back home for the summer, from college.  Since she graciously gave her room to Scout, we will be putting her up in Bubbie's room.  Not sure how that's gonna work out...we had to do some major cleaning.

 To the left of the red bookcase is the closet.  I spent a good hour vacuuming it, organizing toys and clothes, and adding storage in the way of a shoe organizer that hangs on the inside door.

 Bubbie's desk was moved out to the garage and the extra IKEA dresser moved back in.

New sheets put on, carpets cleaned.  Looks empty, huh?  In just a few days it will be chaos.

And Bubbie will have to get used to having a roomie for the summer.

Gina

Shared with: