Wednesday, March 28, 2012

My New Kitchen - Part 1

The next space in our house remodel that I would like to show you is our kitchen; however, there are so many pictures that I decided that I would divide it up into two posts - This post will show what the kitchen looked like before and the process we went through.



Now, before I go any further, these first pictures are pictures of pictures - so the quality is pretty bad.  However, I wanted you to see what the kitchen looked like when we bought the house.



Isn't the wallpaper just bea-U-ti-ful???  Not!  Then put that awful wallpaper with "peachy - pink" cabinets!  Well, let's just say that something HAD to be done!

This is a side of the kitchen that had 'some' of the angled walls - remember I have said that none of the walls in this house were straight - this included the kitchen. (BTW, isn't my son-in-law cute?) In the background was the space that was suppose to be the dining room.


Now you can see where Mountain Man took the cabinets out and placed them in the middle of the room to see if where we wanted to put the island would work.  Please check out the lights and the fan.

We have finally moved into the demo phase of the project.  That awful wallpaper was still on the wall, but Mountain Man and I worked on removing that awful stuff at night when I got off work.  (Last year I worked at the local middle school teaching World History, Science, and Intensive Math.)  It only took about two days to get the wall paper down.  While we didn't have to worry about some walls since they were being replaced but these are outside walls.  We did not replace the drywall on these walls.

Here you can also see that the ceiling is down.  We tore out all those old lights and raised the ceiling as much as we could.


Walls are starting to go back up on Day 4.  The half wall shown above will be the side of the island.  To the left will be the new pantry. 

Now, to cut costs we kept the footprint of the kitchen the same.  It had a good flow between the appliances (you know - that triangle thing they always talk about) and even with the placement of the island it does not interfere.



Drywall going up.





Wood floors installed.
New can lights and chandelier over island installed.

Kitchen cabinets are being installed.
New washer and dryer are being stored in the living room -
 we used places wherever as storage while the work was being done.


Work still in progress


We decided to use an IKEA kitchen.  We went to a local cabinet maker and to one of the home improvement box stores and got estimates. 
All the prices were at least three times as much as the kitchen from IKEA (in fact, one was over four times as much!).  We decided to go with the IKEA kitchen, not only because of the price, but also because it had a 25 year warranty.  We had seen this kitchen in the store and it looked great.  We figured, that with as much traffic that this kitchen got in the store and it still looked great - Mountain Man and I couldn't faze it.





This is where I am going to leave you for this week - next week I'll show you the finished kitchen.
Have a great week and be sure to come back next Wednesday for "My New Kitchen - Part Two"!








Hugs -


Carol




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http://blackberryvine.blogspot.com/2012/04/tuesday-to-do-56-and-54-55-list-makers.html





Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Southwest Taco Pie

Good Tuesday morning to you!  I know that it a little rare for me to be doing a post on Tuesday - but maybe this is something that I can start.  Posting a recipe on Tuesday might be something you would like?  I'll look at the response of today posting and see if you like this idea.

Now, let's get down to the nitty gritty.  Southwest Taco Pie - it really is a simple recipe to fix - and if your family likes Mexican/Southwestern food this should become a staple in your recipe file.  I found this recipe on the Food Network site back in 2005, so I'm not sure if it is available now.  They have the prep time as 20 minutes and the difficulty as "Easy" and I would agree with both statements.



This is all the ingredients except the ground beef and salt and pepper.  So, you can see - there aren't a whole lot of ingredients you need.  (As I look at his picture I think that I could be a good advertisement for WalMart - but, I have found that they make a good product for a less expensive price, but that is just my opinion.) 

Okay, here is a list of ingredients:

Southwestern Taco Pie

1 lb. ground beef
1 package Taco Seasoning Mix
1/3 cup water
1 Tablespoon oil
1 pkg. frozen green, red, and yellow peppers and onions*
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 can whole kernel corn, drained
1/2 cup salsa
1 package refrigerated pie crusts, softened as directed on package
2 cups shredded cheese (recommended Mexican blend)

Garnish:
Sour cream
Taco Sauce

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.


Brown ground beef in a large skillet over medium-high heat for 8 to 10 minutes or until thoroughly cooked, stirring frequently.  Drain.  (I use my precooked ground beef, so all I have to do is warm the meat up - shorten the cooking time.)  Add taco seasoning mix and water; mix until ground beef is well coated.




Meanwhile, heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat until hot.  Add peppers and onions; cook 4 to 5 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally.  Remove from heat and drain excess liquid.  Add garlic and onion powders, salt, pepper, corn and salsa, stir well and set aside.



Prepare pie crusts and directed on package for 2-crust pie using 9-inch glass or metal pie pan.

Combine salsa and corn mixture and with ground beef; mix well. 



Sprinkle 1/2 cup of cheese evenly in bottom of crust-lined pan.




Spread 1/2 beef mixture evenly in pan over cheese, pat down.  Sprinkle 3/4 cup cheese in pan and spread evenly with remaining beef mixture, pat down,



top with remaining 3/4 cup cheese.



 Top with second crust and flute; slit in several places.

Bake for 30 minutes or until crust is golden brown.  (Cover edge of crust with strips of foil or a pie crust shield after fifteen minutes of baking IF the edges are getting too brown.)




Let stand 5 minutes before serving.



If desired, garnish with a dollop of sour cream and a drizzle of taco sauce, or salsa.  (Mountain Man doesn't like sour cream, so I garnish my slice individually.)

Easy Peasy!

Store leftovers (if you have any) in the refrigerator.

* If you are using fresh peppers and onions, use 1-1/2 cup chopped onions and 2-1/2 cups chopped peppers and increase prep time and stove top cooking time.

I hope you enjoy this as much as Mountain Man and I do!

See you tomorrow for more of our house renovation!


Hugs -

Carol


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Monday, March 26, 2012

Monday Menu



Happy Monday everyone - hope you all had a fantastic weekend!  It has been interesting around here!  I spent most of Saturday working on projects for "the" baby shower - and I plan on sharing some of the decor this week (I just can't wait!) - but that will be on Friday, so be sure to check back in to see some of the pretty stuff!

Okay, now about the menu.  Last week we did a pretty good job.  I told you last week that we were having company on Thursday so I switched some things around, but we stayed with what was going on during the week.  As a review - this is what was planned:
                   Monday  - Country Ribs, Potato Salad, Baked Beans
Tuesday - Baked Spaghetti, Salad, Garlic Bread
Wednesday - Tangy Chicken, Mashed Potatoes Broccoli
Thursday - Southwest Taco Pie
Friday - Movie Night, Homemade Pizza
Saturday - Chef's Choice
Sunday - Ham w/Great Northern Beans, Cornbread


This is what we actually ate on each night:


Monday - Spaghetti, Salad, Garlic Bread
Tuesday - Baked Chicken, Mashed Potatoes, Broccoli
Wednesday - Southwest Taco Pie
Thursday - Country Ribs, Potato Salad, Cole Slaw, Baked Beans, Strawberry Shortcake
Friday - Dinner at my Mom's (Pizza)
Saturday - Leftovers

As you can see - we did change up some things (no baked spaghetti - just regular spaghetti and baked chicken instead of Tangy Chicken).  So, while I stayed with the theme of the week - I did stray a little.  That's okay.  At least I had everything I needed and this just shows you that you don't have to be rigid when you do menu planning.

Now, as you see above, I did fix Southwest Taco Pie and I have pictures to prove it!


As you can see I do not 'stage' my pictures - this is just how it looked on the counter after Mountain Man cut our servings (yep, between the two of us we ate half the pie!).  Maybe I need to working on the staging - what do you think?

I did take pictures of each step while I prepared the recipe - and instead of posting all the pictures today I will do a separate post on the pie tomorrow.  Please be sure to come back to get the recipe - you will be surprised at how very simple this is to fix and it is YUMMY!!!!

Okay, let's look and see what is on the menu for this week:

Monday, March 26 - Steak, Baked Potato, Green Beans
Tuesday, March 27 - Chicken Italiano, Pasta, Salad
Wednesday, March 28 - Oven Baked Pork Chops, Sweet Potatoes, Honey Carrots
Thursday, March 29 - Chicken Burritos, Spanish Rice, Refried Beans
Friday, March 30 - Movie Night, HOMEMADE PIZZA
Saturday, March 31 - Chef's Choice
Sunday, April 1st - Chicken and Yellow Rice, Green Peas

So, how did you do this week - did you do like I did and switch things up a little or did you go completely "off the wagon"?  What is on your menu plan for this week - leave me a comment and a link to your blog (or just list you menu in the comments).  I would really like to see what you have planned for the week!

Well, gotta run - the dryer is "calling".  Remember to come back tomorrow for that recipe - you'll be glad you did!

See ya tomorrow!


Hugs -

Carol



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Friday, March 23, 2012

So, what to write about?

I know that I am a little late in doing this post today - it has been somewhat hectic week.  We have had to do some running around trying to get all the information together to take to our accountant for good ole tax preparation.  Seems like I "forgot" to change our address with some of our past employers, so we didn't get our 1099's.  However, after some running and sitting and waiting I THINK we have everything that he needs.   I NEVER look forward to this time of the year - but I guess it is a necessary evil.  Well, enough of that - let's move on to more interesting topics.

Which leads me to the title of the blog - what to write about.  You see, I keep a very watchful eye on the number of "hits" I get on my blog.  I am trying to build my readership - in fact, I don't think I have told anyone this except Mountain Man - but my goal for the month of March was to reach 50 followers - and I have reached my goal.  But, I'm not satisfied with that - now I want to have 100 followers.  I am very grateful to all of you that have decided to start following this blog - and I am also very grateful to those of you that have been with me since the beginning (you guys know who you are!).  However, I really would like to reach more people, so in the middle of February I started linking up to "link parties".  In the first week I doubled my followers - don't get too excited - I went from 12 to 24 - but I was excited!  Then I went from 24 to 30!  That's when I really started trying to link up more and build my blog. 

What does this have to do with today's post?  Well, as I said, I keep close eye on what attracts people to read my blog.  I've been posting the renovation pictures of the house on Wednesday - and those are the posts that i have been linking.  This week I thought I would try something different.  Usually on Friday my post is about a project that I have completed - and last Friday I posted the name sign that Mountain Man and I did for Lorelai.  This was the post that I decided to use on my link up's this week.  BUST!!!  I have had about 1/3 the number of "hits" on my blog with this post than I have had with the renovation posts, which sorta surprises me.  Is it that the craft post was not something people were interested in?  Did I not put a catchy enough tag on the post?  Do you only want to see my renovation posts? Are the posts too long?   I'm just not sure - so what do I write about?   

Now that I have gotten thru my little "oh me, oh my!" party let me tell you that I did have something else I was going to write about today - but I'll save that for next week.  So, if you would like to leave me a comment and let me know why you think I didn't get as many "hits" this week.  I would love to know your thoughts on this. 

Thanks -  I'll "see" you on Monday with the Monday Menu - spoiler alert -
I have pictures to share of a meal I fixed last week!

Have a great weekend!

Hugs -

Carol

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

A Little Walk in the Past

The last few weeks I have taken you on a partial tour of our remodeled house  - I have shown you the bedroom (link here), the master bathroom (link here) and the master bedroom closet ( link here ).  I've taken you into the laundry room (link here)and shown you the fireplace renovation (link here).  So, I thought I would take a little break and show you the house we had in North Florida.  This is the house we sold when we decided to become full time RVer's for a couple of years. 

So, here we go:


Master Bathroom


When we bought the house the bathroom was ALL WHITE!  WOW!  So, MM and I decided to do this beautiful steel blue.  I think it turned out really nice.  One of the things that I really like about this bathroom was the built in make-up table.  One of the things that I hated about this bathroom was the pedestal sink (I am not a fan of pedestal sinks - I don't like being able to see the plumbing and not having any storage - just me!)



Master Bedroom




Breakfast Nook


Check out the saying above the window - it is SOOOO me!


Galley style Kitchen



Built -in China Cabinet between Kitchen and Dining Room


Dining Room





Living Room



Florida/TV Room


Foyer

Office



Guest Room


Guest Bathroom




Laundry Room


The tall cabinets are the pantry.




All the jams and fruit that I canned while living there.
(Yes, I know I don't iron, but I do still own an ironing board!)


Craft Room










This was a bonus room over our garage that Mountain Man converted for me to have.











I absolutely LOVED my craft room.  In fact, this was probably the hardest thing for me to give up.  I had so much room - everything had a place and I knew where everything was.  Oh well, such is life.

I hope you enjoyed this little tour of our "old" house.
Next week I'll go back to the renovation project in our current house!
Be sure to come back to see our new kitchen -

Just to give you a preview



This is my OLD kitchen - nowhere else to go but up!



Hugs -

Carol



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Monday, March 19, 2012

Monday Menu




Good morning all!  Hope you had a fantastic weekend!  The weather here in south central Florida has been so hot - it's hard to believe that it is only the middle of March!  Mountain Man and I have already been in the swimming pool several times and have taken the "blanket" off - as the pool temperature yesterday was a balmy 96 degrees!  If we keep the "blanket" on, our pool will become a sauna!

I didn't do too well with the menu plan for last week.  First of all, Sunday was Melissa's first baby shower - and it was in Lakeland (about 2 hours away from home) and was given by her sisters and sisters-in-law.  The shower was very nice (I'll post some pictures later), but I did not cook.  Then the girls (my three daughters) and I went to Orlando and spent the night - as Melissa had her 3-D ultra sound first thing Monday morning.  After the ultra sound (sweet Lorelai is growing, but she seems to be a little camera shy) Melissa and I went shopping to look for some items for the nursery (IKEA and Baby R'Us).  We didn't get back to Lake Placid until really late - so I didn't cook Monday night either!  However, after those two days - I jumped back on the Menu Plan and finished up the week right on target!  You know sometimes you just have to be a little flexible and know that things are going to come up in real life.  In case you are wondering, nope Mountain Man did not go out to eat - actually the neighbor feed him on Sunday night and we ate a freezer meal on Monday night (one that I had prepared earlier).

Now, on to this week - I already know that I will change things up a bit.  Not what we are eating, but the day that we eat it, as we are inviting our neighbor over for dinner.  They will be leaving for their home in Michigan in a  little over a week and we want to have them over for dinner before they leave.  I have to see what day of the week is best for them for one of the meals that I will be cooking.  Other than that - things should be good.  (I'm fixing Southwest Taco Pie this week - let's see if I can get pictures before MM eats it all!)

Okay, with further ado, here is the Plan for this week:

Monday, March 19 - Country Ribs, Potato Salad, Baked Beans
Tuesday, March 20 - Baked Spaghetti, Salad, Garlic Bread
Wednesday, March 21 - Tangy Chicken, Mashed Potatoes, Broccoli
Thursday, March 22 - Southwest Taco Pie
Friday, March 23 - MOVIE NIGHT, Homemade Pizza
Saturday, March 24 - Chef's Choice
Sunday, March 25 - Ham w/Great Northern Beans, Cornbread

So, how did you guys do this week?  Did you stay on your plan?  If not, do you have a back up so you don't blow the budget eating out? 

Thanks everyone!  Hope you have a great week!

Hugs to you all!

Carol

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Saturday, March 17, 2012

Where does time go?

I have really fallen off the blogging wagon I guess.  I can't seem to get a schedule down so I don't post - but it's been almost...