DIY Art Desk

I see potential!! And for $30 it's perfect! 

This was a fun project! I had a vision from the beginning and I think it turned out perfectly!

Natalie is an art lover and collects all sorts of art supplies. She was quickly running out of space for all her markers, pencils and supplies. When I spotted this small desk on a Facebook for sale page, I snagged it up. It's small size is perfect- it's only 32" long and works well in the space. And to make the sale even sweeter, they threw in a matching chair that needed some TLC. With a little wood glue, nails, and a fresh coat of paint, it was back in business and better than before!


Thankfully for the rest of the project I had enough scrap wood and supplies that I didn't have to go purchase anything- including the paint! The paint I had left over from painting Natalie's bedroom.

For the back of the desk, I cut a piece of plywood to the length of the desk, 32 inches, and made it approximately 26 inches tall. I cut a shelf that measured 32" long by approximately 5.5" wide. The smaller of the two shelves was a last minute add on and I just eyeballed it and didn't even measure it!

I painted three mason jars the same pretty mint green color ('Scottish Glenn') as the chair and used dryer vent fasteners to secure them to the back. (I spray painted the fasteners gold). I secured three gold mug hooks into the bottom side of the small shelf so scissors or other supplies could be hung. A painted clothes pin was nailed to the board to allow pictures and other items to be hung!

I used the mint green color to add accent to the shelf and desk edges, knobs on the drawers, as well as the insides of the drawers.

I built a drawer organizer out of some more scrap wood and topped it off with some gold paint.

On the left side of the desk, I attached a Melissa & Doug paper roll/dispensor and cutter that Natalie got for Christmas. It literally was the perfect size and is a great addition to her art desk!

Paper dispenser & cutter!

All filled up! 

She LOVES her new desk and I can already see many hours of creativity pouring from it! I'm proud of how it turned out and look forward to another creative project!

Do you have any fun projects lined up or ideas for repurposing items?

Picky Boy's Version of "Steak"

I have a 7 year old that is pretty picky when it comes to what he eats. If it's not steak, chips, popcorn, or hot cocoa, it's a struggle to get him to eat sometimes. I came across a version of this on Pinterest awhile back and have since adapted it to work for our family. I have experimented using different meat and vegetables, and every time it seems to be an easy pleaser at our house.  This is a far cry from steak, but that's what the boy has dubbed it! Though it's not steak, it's delicious, easy, and enjoyed- for those reasons, it's a keeper! :)

The nice thing about this recipe is that it take minimal planning and prepping, it's filling, and you can feel good about serving this over take-out/fast food.

In a 9x13" greased dish, put 1-2 pounds of ground beef down the middle (can use 3-4 chicken breast). On one side of the meat, place 3-4 potatoes that have been peeled and cubed. On the other side of the meat, place one can of green beans (can use fresh green beans &/or carrots). I typically will add a handful of baby carrots to the dish... I'm the only one who will eat them, so I don't go overboard with them ;)

Once you have meat, potatoes, and vegetable of choice in the dish, lightly season with salt and pepper or seasoning salt (I use Lawry's). Then thinly slice some onions (as much as you prefer) and place over the meat and potatoes. Cut 2-3 tablespoons of butter into small cubes and place over the entire dish.

Cover the pan with aluminum foil and bake at 375*  for approximately 1 hour, or until the meat is done and potatoes are soft.
 


Picky Boy's Version of "Steak":

1-2 lb. ground beef OR 3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
3-4 potatoes- peeled and cubed
1 can of green beans OR fresh green beans
Fresh carrots (baby carrots save you prep work!)
Onion
2-3 T. butter, cubed into small pieces
Put into a greased 9x13" dish and cover with foil. Bake at 375* for approximately 1 hour.

Enjoy!

The BEST and EASIEST Homemade Salsa Ever!

When it comes to salsa, my husband is pretty picky. We have yet to find a store-bought salsa that has met his standards. By that I mean, a salsa that has good flavor and isn't chunky. He doesn't like chunks of tomatoes, peppers, or onions in his salsa which makes this easy homemade restaurant-style salsa perfect! I love how quick and easy it is to make and the fact that you have control over how thick and how spicy you want it. Once you make this salsa, your days of buying salsa in the grocery stores will be over! 

It is da bomb!

To make this salsa you will need a blender or food processor.  I use my Ninja and it works great. 

Jalapeno seeds adds heat to your salsa!
More seeds= hotter salsa!

In your blender/food processor add the following ingredients:

1- 14 oz. can of diced tomatoes

1 10 oz. can of original Rotel

1/2 of a small onion, roughly chopped

1 clove garlic, peeled & smashed

1/2- 1 jalapeno, seeded or not (Seeds will make your salsa hot! More seeds= more heat!)

1 tsp. honey

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. ground cumin

Small-medium handful cilantro (I add a large handful of cilantro because I LOVE it!)

Juice of 1 lime (or use 1- 1 1/2 tsp. bottled lime juice)

Put all the ingredients in the blender and pulse for 30 seconds. Blend until it's to your desired consistency. Taste and adjust taste if needed by adding more of a particular ingredient. Serve with chips, tacos, burritos and more! Enjoy!!

**This salsa is delicious served right after making! It will make enough to fill two jars. I usually make a double batch and stick the extra in the freezer! Salsa will freeze perfectly fine, but be aware that upon thawing, the salsa will have a thinner consistency. Taste remains the same and just as delicious, just thinner due to the freezing/thawing process. 

Here's what you need! Blend and enjoy! 

I hope you enjoy this salsa as much as we do! 

Homemade Pizza

Hello all!! It's been awhile since I have last posted so today I am hoping to make up for lost time ;)

Today I wanted to share with you my favorite recipe for homemade pizza. Often times I think people get intimidated with having to make pizza dough or feel it takes too much time. The quick solution usually results in either going for a store-bought pre-made pizza crust or the refrigerated kind you can simply roll out. OR for some people, their idea of "homemade" is Pizza Hut! Now, I do love Pizza Hut, but if you haven't given a real homemade pizza a shot, I'd encourage you to do so!

Dissolve active dry yeast in warm water.

To begin, you will want to preheat your oven to 425* and have your toppings ready to go! To start off you will need to dissolve 1 package of active dried yeast in 1 cup warm water. (*NOTE- do not use hot water as this will kill the yeast.) Once the yeast is dissolved, stir in 1 teaspoon sugar, 1 teaspoon salt, 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil, and 2 1/2 cups flour.

Knead the dough on a floured surface.

Mixing these ingredients will take some stirring in the bowl but in order to really mix well, flip the dough out on a floured surface. Knead the dough until smooth and elastic, adding flour if necessary so it doesn't stick. Once the dough is well kneaded, flip the bowl over the dough and allow it to 'rest' for approximately 5-8 minutes.

Allow the dough to rest for 5-8 minutes.

Once the dough has rested, roll out on a lightly greased pan. I used a Pampered Chef round stone. This recipe makes enough to make two small pizzas (thin crust) or one large pizza (thicker crust). Top the dough with pizza sauce and your favorite toppings. **A favorite of ours is hamburger and pepperoni!!** Finish off with a generous layer of cheese and bake at 425* for 15-20 minutes.

Make your own pizza sauce using pizza seasoning
with your favorite pasta sauce! 

**Don't have pizza sauce? No problem!! I stopped buying pizza sauce because I have found a dual purpose for plain ol' pasta sauce! Score! To make pizza sauce, simple use your favorite pasta sauce on your pizza and then sprinkle with pizza seasoning. (found in the spice aisle and costs less than a $1.00) Pizza seasoning will give your sauce the flavor and spices that traditional pizza sauce would have.)


The total amount of time invested in making a homemade pizza is about 35-40 minutes... and that's time to allow the dough to rest and baking time! If you have your topping ready to go, the process of making and baking a homemade pizza is pretty simple! Enjoy :)



Homemade Pizza Dough:

1 package active dry yeast
1 C. warm water
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
2 T. vegetable oil
2 1/2 C. flour

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Stir in remaining ingredients, mix well and knead on a flour surface. Let dough rest for approximately 5-8 minutes. Spread dough over greased pan, top with pizza sauce and toppings of choice. Bake at 425* for 15-20 minutes.

Freezing Vegetables

This is just one of my freezers and it gives me a small sense of pride when I realize all the time I put into packing it full. Not to mention all the money I saved! I love being able to open the freezer door and know that I prepared all this food and saved our family lots of money in the process. PLUS- it all tastes better than the stuff off the store shelves. This freezer is packed full of items I have prepared and froze. Homemade jam,  homemade salsa, fresh green beans, sweet corn, cut and prepared chicken breasts, hamburger (93% lean, purchased on sale and packaged into individual bags), fresh broccoli, homemade applesauce, fish, rhubarb, and more!

A good follow up to last week's post, freezing fruit, I thought would be how to freeze vegetables. Freezing veggies is a little different in that you have to blanch (partially cook) the vegetable before freezing. The most common vegetable I freeze is green beans. We love fresh green beans and by freezing them, we can enjoy them year round. As stated in the previous blog post, I keep an eye out for when green beans go on sale ($0.99/pound or less) and stock up!


I was able to grab some broccoli on sale earlier in the week ($0.99 per bundle). There was no way we'd eat it all before it went bad, so I decided to freeze it and have it handy for later use.


Just as you would with fruit, make sure your produce is well washed before moving forward. (I use an organic fruit wash found in the produce section at the grocery store).

Once your vegetables are washed, you can begin cutting and preparing it. For broccoli, cut the broccoli florets and stems (I personally don't are for the stem part of broccoli, so I don't prepare it. If you do, cut and prepare it as you normally would). If you're doing green beans, cut the ends off the beans.

In a large stock pot, bring water to a boil. Put cut broccoli (green beans) in the water and cook for 3 minutes. While the broccoli is cooking, cover a cookie sheet with a flour sack towel and fill a large bowl with cold water and add ice cubes.

When the vegetables have cooked for 3 minutes, put immediately into the ice bath.  This will stop the cooking process. Allow the broccoli to completely cool in the ice bath and then lay in a single layer on the towel-lined cookie sheet.



Once the broccoli (vegetables) have dried, you can go about the next step one of two ways:
1) Line a cookie sheet with freezer paper and freeze the vegetables in a single layer. Once the vegetables are completely frozen, bag the vegetables.
OR
2) Put into a freezer bag in a single layer and freeze.

**(When I freeze green beans, I will put my desired amount right into the bag and freeze. I don't worry about freezing in a single layer or freezing before bagging simply because when I go to cook them, I use the entire bag.  My bag was froze with my desired amount and I don't have to worry about breaking them apart for separate uses. I use the entire bag of green beans when I pull them out of the freezer, therefore, freezing in a single layer is not important. This can be done for any vegetable, if you know you will use the entire bag when you take it from the freezer, you can skip the freezing in a single layer/freezer paper. Does that make sense?!)

Okay- once the vegetables are frozen/ bagged, make sure you label them and you're done! This process can go fairly quickly and when you look at the grand scheme of things- it's saving you so much money! Plus, as I said before, it tastes so much better than the stuff you get off the shelves in the store.

Freezing vegetables and fruits is a great way to preserve the flavors of summer and enjoy them all year. Just like freezing sweet corn- it's something you get once a year but not limited to eating it just in the summer. I hope you are able to use this insight and try it yourself. Looking for sales, stocking up, preparing good quality food, and saving money is something I can get behind and feel good about!

Leftover Pasta? No Problem!

<--This picture seems pretty accurate, don't you think? When planning to make spaghetti, I feel it's usually a guess as to how much to make. Also, what is considered "one serving"? And what the heck do I do with the 10 pounds of left over spaghetti I just made? Sound familiar? Trust me, you're not alone. Leftover spaghetti can sit in your fridge for a long time... unless you know this little trick to make your left overs disappear!

Leftover spaghetti? Great!
You got another meal coming!

I probably can't dub it as a "trick" because the reality is, all I do with my left over pasta is fry it. Yup- super healthy I know, but it does the job.

My mom always made us "crunchy noodles" as kids because her mother use to make it for her. Frying up left over spaghetti (or any pasta) for my Grandma was simply a way to prevent food from going to waste... and it worked!

Whenever I cook pasta, I always purposely add extra just so I can make a batch of crunch noodles later on in the week for the kids. In fact, I'm matching a batch a goulash right now and cooked way more macaroni noodles than I will need just so I will have leftovers. The kids love it and it's easy to prepare.

Grab a pen and paper... are you ready?
In a frying pan, add a couple tablespoons of butter and allow it to melt. Throw in your cold, leftover pasta, and add salt and pepper to taste. Toss pasta noodles so they are coated with butter. Allow the noodles to cook, stirring and flipping once in awhile until noodles are golden brown.

.... and you're done. That's it. Super easy. My kids like eating them plain, just as they are shown in the picture! I'll admit that when I make this for the kids, I feel like I'm cheating and taking the easy way out. And I am. But I'm totally okay with that. If they like it and will eat it, it's a win-win.

Dig through your fridge right now. Do you have leftover pasta? If so, give it a shot! If you cook up a batch of "crunchy noodles" I'd love to hear what your kids think of it! Share your (or your kids') thoughts in the comments below :)


Have a wonderful week!

Bam! Dinner is served!

Freezing Fruits

I love buying fruits and vegetables on sale. Buying produce on sale can be a huge money saver! If you know how to properly preserve your food, it will go a long way. Not to mention it tastes better, is fresher, doesn't have preservatives or added juices, and looks way better than the canned stuff. I freeze whenever I have the chance. The thing about freezing verses canning however, is that frozen food can go bad with frostbite if not used in time. Be sure that you only freeze enough to use- don't over buy and freeze and then allow it to go to waste. If you freeze regularly, you will want to make sure you are rotating your stock and labeling foods with a date to ensure freshness!

One of my favorite things to freeze is green beans. I usually keep my eye out for sale- I will only buy green bean when they are less than $1.00/pound. In the summer you can usually find fresh garden green beans at a good price, unless you are able to grow them yourself!  Fresh green beans are so much better than canned beans. I can't wait to share with you how to freeze green beans. In order to properly freeze green beans (or any other vegetable) there are a few more steps involved, unlike fruit... I will save that for another blog post!

Floursack towels can be purchased at Walmart,
Target, etc. or my personal favorite- Amazon!

Freezing fruit is pretty simple as you don't have to worry about blanching it (pre-cooking it) like you would vegetables. First and foremost, it's important to wash your produce. I use an organic fruit wash that can be found in your local grocery stores, otherwise I know Norwex has a good fruit wash. Soak, wash, rinse and allow to dry on a clean flour sack towel. **Side note: I love using floursack towels in my kitchen. They are great for drying dishes, cleanup, and just about anything else! They dry quickly, are lightweight, great to covering dough when baking. Also, floursack towels won't leave little bits of lint behind on your dishes, or in this case, fruit.**


Once your fruit has been washed, line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and lay your dried berries in a single layer on the lined sheet. Make sure the berries are not piled on top of each other!


Pop the fruit in the freeze for about 3 hours (or until frozen solid). Once the berries are frozen solid, put them into a labeled bag. That's it!!

**The key here is freezing them prior to bagging AND freezing them in a single layer on the cookie sheet. Often times you will see people bag fruit by simply throwing it in a bag and popping it into the freezer. The end result- a large frozen clump of fruit that will need to be chipped away at or broken apart when you go to use it. By freezing them in a single layer prior to bagging, you avoid one large frozen fruit pile in a bag. The berries will not be frozen together and will make measuring and preparation of the fruit so much easier when you take it out of the freezer! It's a simple trick but is the best way to freeze produce!

I hope you found this little tidbit helpful! I will share how to properly freeze vegetable in a future post. Thanks for stopping by and checking things out! :)

These blueberries have already been frozen in a single layer on a cookie sheet then bagged!
The berries are not frozen together and measuring is a synch!