Monday Menu

So much going on - I have to say that I give a lot of credit to those of you that have small children/babies at home and can still post everyday.  This is just NOT happening with me.

However, I did want to give you the Monday Menu today.

So, here it is:

Monday, September 24 - Chicken and Yellow Rice w/green peas, Cuban bread

Tuesday, September 25 - Crock Pot Pork Chops, Baked Potatoes, Corn on the cob

Wednesday, September 26- Louisiana Style Pork Roast w/potatoes, carrots, and onions

Thursday, September 27 - Chicken Alfredo, Noodles, Garlic Bread

Friday, September 28 - Layered Mexican Pizza

Saturday, September 29 - Hamburgers, French Fries, Lettuce & Tomato

Sunday, September 30 - Country Style Ribs, Cole Slaw, Beans

That's it.  

Hope you have a fabulous week!

Hugs -

Carol

Monday Menu

Hello everyone!  I sincerely hope you had a fabulous week last week.  Mountain Man and I were able to get a few things done around the ole 'new' homestead - but there is still soooooo much to do!  It will just come little by little.  I actually wanted to work in the garage (yes, this one is no different than at any other house we have lived in), but instead I did some canning. While we were in North Florida I was able to get some fresh pears right off the tree.  So, I spent Sunday afternoon in the kitchen - and ended up with eight pint jars of pear jam and six quart jars of sliced pears.  Not too bad for a days work.

So, how did you do with the recipe from last week?  It actually turned out pretty good for us - let me show you.

First, I placed my chicken breasts (thawed) into the crock pot)

Chicken Broth and Cream of Chicken Soup

Measure out 1 cup of broth and save the rest for a later date

(I actually put the extra in an ice tray - froze, then placed in a zip lock bag.)

Mix Cream of Chicken Soup and the broth.

Salt and pepper chicken

Pour broth and soup mixture on top of chicken

(notice, no mushrooms)

Set timer for 4 hours on high.

Ahhh!  Now we have mushrooms

(okay, I confess, I didn't have any mushrooms - so Mountain Man made a trip to the grocery store - with a list of other things we needed too- haven't been to the grocery store at all this month)

All done.

Looks pretty yummy.

Okay, I did make some changes - I originally said I was going to have mashed potatoes, but a "game day substitution" was made to pasta.  Bad idea - it would have been much better with the mashed potatoes - oh well, you live and learn.

(BTW - this is Mountain Man's plate NOT mine! LOL!!)

Mountain Man thought that this was a keeper, but also thought that it would have been better with mashed potatoes.

Okay, I get it!  

Next time I'll fix mashed potatoes!

Good grief, Charlie Brown!

Okay, let's move on to this weeks menu -

Menu Plan

Monday, September 17 - Skillet Macaroni & Beef

Tuesday, September 18 - Crock pot Italian Chicken, Noodles, Vegetables

Wednesday, September 19 - Mexican Chicken, Tortillas, Lettuce & Tomatoes

Thursday, September 20 - Baked Southwest Tilapia, Rice

Friday, September 21 - Homemade Pizza

Saturday, September 22 - Crispy Cheddar Chicken, Baked Potatoes, Broccoli

Sunday, September 23 - French Onion Pork Chops, Noodles, Steamed Cabbage

Now, let's look and see what recipe we want to do this week -

well, how about the Mexican Chicken recipe?  It's another Crock pot recipe, but they seem to be the way I'm rolling right now.  This recipe also comes from the Gooseberry cookbook "Super Fast Slow Cooking" and it's a new recipe for me too.

15-oz can black beans, drained

2 15-1/4 oz. cans corn, drained

1 c. picante sauce, divided

2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts

12 8 - inch flour tortillas

Garnish - shredded Cheddar Cheese

Mix together beans, corn, and 1/2 cup picante sauce in a slow cooker.  Place chicken on top; pour remaining picante sauce over chicken.  Cover and cook on high setting for 2-1/2 hours, or until chicken is tender.  Shred chicken and return to slow cooker.  Sprinkle with cheese; cover and cook until melted.

Serve with tortillas.

Serves 6.

Sounds good to me - how about you?

Just to let you know.......

I'm trying to pull together the other recipes that I have 'highlighted' on the blog so you can go to one place to see them, if you are interested.  Give me a couple of weeks to get this together (the 'wee one' seems to take up a lot of my day during the week - I'm not as young as I used to be - LOL!)

I'll be excited to see how things went for you guys!  So, Please share.

See ya in a couple of days!

Hugs -

Carol

Our New Home

Well, as you know, we sold our "forever" (not) home in August and had ten days to find a new place to live, pack, and get moved.  That is NOT enough time to buy a new house, so we decided we would rent for a little while.  We found a cute little (with the key word being "little") house and signed a six month lease - with an option to renew.

I thought that I would share the "before we moved in" pictures.

 Master Bedroom Closet

The other side of the master closet

Master bathroom

Master bathroom looking back toward bedroom

Master Bedroom

(really the largest room in the whole house)

Another shot of master bedroom

Living Room/Dining Room/Kitchen

(yep, you read that right - this is the whole sha-bang)

A different view of the kitchen 

(and Mountain Man writing down measurements)

Another view of the kitchen

 Guest bathroom

Another shot of guest bath

Guest Bedroom

(10 X 10)

Guest bedroom closet

/

Third bedroom/nursery

(also 10 X 10)

Another shot of the nursery

So, now you see the "little bitty" house that we are attempting to make into our new home.  The largest most challenging problem that we have is we are renting!

We haven't rented anything for about 30 years and it is quite an issue for me.  I really have all these ideas but Mountain Man keeps telling me
"This isn't our house"!

I am trying to figure out how to give this house our "stamp" - but I can't paint, I can't change the kitchen cabinets (and boy does the kitchen need a complete overhaul), I can't do anything to the floor.  All the things that I have always been able to do to make a "house" our "home" I can't do!  

Boy, is this frustrating!

However, I will do this - and I'll start showing some of the changes that we have made next week.

Hope you'll come back and see what we're doing.

Hugs -

Carol

Monday Menu

Hello everyone - I hope you had a fabulous week.  I know that I was AWOL last week - but Mountain Man and I had a chance to take a mini-vacation since my daughter had to go to training in Tallahassee and her husband took his vacation time to take care of the "wee one".  It was nice to get away and spend some time with our friends in North Florida but we are home now and I don't see anything in the near future that will take me away - so, I think I will be back on task.

Now, I had a question on my last Monday Menu post.  I was asked if I posted recipes with my menus.  Well, I have been thinking about that.  I know that I usually do a recipe on another day of the week - but what if I pick one recipe every week and post it at the end of the Monday Menu post?  Then, the next week do a review of that recipe - do you think that would work?  You guys could even come back and let me know how the recipe turned out for you.  What do you think?  I'll post one this week and you guys can let me know what you think of this new idea.

Okay - so let's get with the program and post this week's Monday Menu!

Menu Plan

Monday, September 10 - Shepherd's Pie, Biscuits

Tuesday, September 11 - Southwest Taco Pie

Wednesday, September 12 - Chicken w/mushroom gravy, Mashed Potatoes, Corn

Thursday, September 13 - Baked Spaghetti, Salad, Garlic Bread

Friday, September 14 -  Homemade Pizza

Saturday, September 15 - Country Ribs, Potato Salad, Baked Beans

Sunday, September 16 - Home style Turkey w/stuffing, squash & zucchini casserole

Recipe for this week

Okay, for the first recipe with the menu plan, I thought I would give you a Crock Pot recipe - something simple and easy (that is my mantra).  So, let's go with Wednesday's recipe for 

Chicken w/mushroom gravy

(this recipe came from Gooseberry Cookbook - "Super Fast Slow Cooking")

**I should also note that I have never made this recipe before - so it will something new for all of us.

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, halved

salt and pepper to taste

1/4 c. chicken broth

10-3/4 oz. can cream of chicken soup

4-oz. can sliced mushrooms, drained

Place chicken in a slow cooker: sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Mix together broth and soup; pour over chicken.  Stir in mushrooms.  Cover and cook on low setting for 7 to 9 hours, or on high setting for 3 to 4 hours.  Serves 4.

Okay, guys, I'm looking for you to give me some feedback this week.  Let me know what you think of this new format - or if you would rather I keep the recipes on Wednesday.

Thanks!

Hugs -

Carol

Out of Town

We are out of town this week visiting friends in North Florida (Melissa and the baby - along with dad- are at a training for Melissa's new job, so we had the week "off").  I'll be back to my regular posts next week.  Hope you have a wonderful week.

Hugs -

Carol

Breakfast "Muffins"

Okay, I'll admit it - I'm a Pinterest addict.  I can spend hours (and hours) looking at things on Pinterest.  IF I ever do one half of the projects and recipes that I have 'pinned' it will be a bloody miracle.

However, I have actually prepared one of the recipes and wanted to share it with you today.

You all know that I love to prepare large batches of things for breakfast then put them in the freezer.  Then, when Mountain Man wants something and I don't want to fix it (or when Mountain Man doesn't feel like fixing it) all we have to do is pull something out of the freezer and pop it in the microwave.  One of my go to recipes for this are my Breakfast Burritos - if you would like to check out the post for them here it is:

http://cdm-arewethereyet.blogspot.com/2012/04/breakfast-burritos.html

I don't want to brag, but they are pretty good.

While I love the burritos, I wanted something else that we could actually choose from and there are so many great sounding recipes on Pinterest.  I found this recipe and decided to try it with a little changes.

If you would like to see the original 'pin' here is the link:

http://pinterest.com/source/brittanybohnet.com/

(but when I tried to go back to the pin it didn't work anymore - insert a sad face.)

So here is my version.

Ingredients:

9 Eggs

Chopped Ham

Green Onions 

Shredded Cheese

(I used Fiesta blend, but you can use the flavor of your choice)

Milk (about 1/3 cup)

Salt and Pepper to taste

Chop ham (I didn't measure - just 'eye ball it')

Chop onions

(once again I just guesstimated)

Salt and Pepper your nine eggs, add milk, 

then scramble

Line your muffin pan with cupcake liners.

Fill liners about 2/3 full.  Sprinkle with cheese.

Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes or until set.

 Remove from oven and let cool.

They look really pretty and tasted good right out of the oven.

However, I took the leftovers, wrapped them in plastic wrap, and popped them in the freezer.

When we took them out a few days later and warmed them up in the microwave they were a little "rubbery" - you know what I mean?  We could eat them, but they sure didn't taste like the day I made them.

So, what is my verdict?

This is a quick and easy way to fix some egg muffins if you are ready to eat them all the day they are fixed - but I would not recommend freezing. 

Oh well, you live and learn.

Maybe next time.

But they sure look pretty don't they?

Have a great weekend and I'll "see" you Monday for "Menu Monday".

Hugs -

Carol

Finally the Guest Bathroom Reveal

Well, it has been quite a break for me, some planned - a vacation in the mountains - some unplanned - my first grand baby spending ten long days in the NICU and selling our house rather quickly.  However, Lorelai is doing great and growing like a weed and we have settled (somewhat) into our new 'home'.  Now, before I can move on to the new challenges of the new home, I have to finish with what I started.  

When I left waaaaaay back in June I had planned on doing my usual weekly posting - you know, my Monday Menu plan, then the Guest Bathroom Reveal, then I would introduce you to baby Lorelai.  Well, she decided to show us who was the boss from the very beginning and put my all my fabulous plans out the window.  Since it has taken a while -  before I show you the "After" let me remind you of the "Before" -----------------

.

I know these pictures are awful, but this was an awful space.  I really did not want to spend any time in here - literally there were palm tree roots growing out of the base of the toilet when we bought the house!  Seriously!!!  

And to think that we lived with this for about six months.  Well, not exactly.  We had to get rid of the palm tree roots to make the bathroom usable and then we replaced the toilet.  Also, we could not stand the paint job (can you call that a paint job?).  This was something that we could "fix" in a hurry.  So, Mountain Man got in there and got rid of those glued on maps and blobs of whatever that was.  That made a big difference.   But we still had to contend with those gray fixtures, pink tile, and pink vanity (which, by the way, were the same cabinets that were in the 'old' kitchen).  

I don't know which bathroom was the worse - the master or this one.  I don't guess it really matters - they were both horrible!


Let's fast forward to August, 2011.  The remodeling is finally done and we have a fully functional bathroom - wanna see????  Well, okay, I guess you have waited long enough.

Let's start the tour with the whirlpool tub.  

Believe it or not, we did not replace the tub - it would have cost a fortune to find one that would fit in the space - so we had the tub refinished.  Much more reasonable in price and it looked great.

A close up showing the new tile and the new finish on the tub.

One of the things that we wanted in here was a chandelier over the tub, but we didn't want something "fancy-dancy" since we were using a fish/lake theme in here.  So, on one of our many trips looking for furniture and accessories, I found this.........

A little rustic - 

but for $70.00 a good find for the look we were going for.

New vanity, new sink, new toilet, new light fixture, new tile on the floor.

Just a little different, don't ya think?

One of the things that I wanted to 'tweak' was to add a frame around the mirror, but because of the placement of the receptacle we couldn't.

Imagine me crying - :-(.

Oh well.

A different view of the vanity area - but I wanted you to see the new door going out to the pool (and you can see the new shower in the mirror).

Originally, the door was one of those solid doors with one of those little windows in the top section - you know, a "70's" door (okay, maybe an 80's door, but it was still U G L Y).  Well, I 'fought' with Mountain Man for the new door, and I am so glad I won the 'battle' (I think Mountain Man was too, but he won't admit it).

Finally, the shower area.

It was so dark before and had those terrible pink tiles.  Actually we stripped the entire bathroom down to the studs and replaced all the drywall and green wall.  We also added the light in the shower and the glass doors.

(Excuse the squeegee - I keep it real around here)

So, that is the guest bathroom.

Was it worth the wait??

I hope so.

Just one more tour of the 'before' and after'.

Before

After

Before

  

After

This is the last room in the foreclosed house tour.  I hope that you have enjoyed the pictures of all the changes that we made to this house.  It was definitely an adventure that I wouldn't have traded for anything.  While I thought that this was going to be our 'forever' home and there were things that I still wanted to "tweak", that was not what was written in the cards.  

I am going to enjoy the next phase of our life and will be excited to see where the good Lord will lead us next.  I hope that you will continue to follow along as we try and make the house that we have rented into a "home".

Until then.....

Hugs -

Carol

I'll be linking up to some of these great parties:

Metamorphosis Monday at http://betweennapsontheporch.net/

Meet Me Monday at You Are Talking Too Much

Your Cozy Home Party on Monday at Cozy Home Scenes

Motivated Monday at Be Colorful
Beautify It Monday at http://bringingbeauty.blogspot.com/
Show it Off Mondays at http://www.getouttamyheadplease.com/
Make it Great Monday at http://etcetorize.blogspot.com/
Just a Party with my Peeps on Monday at http://howtonestforless.com/
Monday Marketplace at http://commonground-debrasvintagedesigns.blogspot.com/
What's in the Gunny Sack on Monday at http://www.thegunnysack.com/
Cowgirl Up on Monday at http://www.theivycottageblog.blogspot.com/

Tabletop Tuesday at A Stroll Thru Life

Tip Me Tuesday at Tip Junkie

Tutorials and Tips Tuesday at Home Stories A to Z
Terrific Tuesday at http://adventuresofadiymom.blogspot.com/
Swing into Spring on Tuesday at http://diybydesign.blogspot.com/
Tuesday To Do at http://blackberryvine.blogspot.com/
From Dream to Reality on Tuesday at http://thediydreamer.blogspot.com/
Uncommonly Yours on Tuesday at http://www.uncommondesignsonline.com/

Wow Us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style

DIY by Design on Wednesday

Uncommonly Yours on Wednesday at Uncommon Designs

Show and Share on Wednesday at Southern Lovely
It's a Party on Wednesday at http://acreativeprincess.blogspot.com/
Hooking up with HoH on Wednesday at http://www.houseofhepworths.com/
Catch as Catch Can at http://www.myrepurposedlife.net/
Time for a Party on Wednesday at http://www.finecraftguild.com/
Open House Party on Thursday at http://nominimalisthere.blogspot.com/
Thursdays Favorite Things Blog Hop at http://frenchcountrycottage.blogspot.com/
Link It Up Thursday at http://kadie-sevenalive.blogspot.com/

Show Me Extroidinary on Thursday at The 36th Avenue

Grace at Home on Thursday at Imparting Grace

It's A Party on Thursday at A Creative Princess

Open House Party Thursday at No Minimalist Here

Share Your Creations on Thursday at Kristen's Creations
Grace at Home on Thursday at http://www.impartinggrace.com/
Transformation Thursday at http://www.theshabbycreekcottage.com/
Time Travel Thursdays at http://thebrambleberrycottage.blogspot.com/
Super Sweet Thursdays at http://sofabulouslyflawed.blogspot.com/
Thursdays Favorite Things at http://katherinescorner.com/

Tickled Pink Fridays at 504 Main

Flaunt it Friday at Chic on a Shoestring Decorating

Feature Friday Free for All at Five Days...5 Ways

Addicts (not so) Anonymous on Friday at Addicted 2 Decorating

Inspiration Friday at At the Picket Fence
Feathered Nest Friday at http://frenchcountrycottage.blogspot.com/
Friday's Unfolded at http://www.stuff-and-nonsense.net/
Friday's Features at http://www.redouxinteriors.com/
Freedom Friday Blog Hop at http://myturn-evelyn.blogspot.com/

Weekly Top Shot on Saturday at The View From Right Here

Saturday Nite Special at Funky Junk Interiors
A Pinteresting Party on Saturday at http://herestohandyandy.blogspot.com/
Say G'Day on Saturday at http://www.natashainoz.com/

Overflowing with Creativity on Sunday at It's Overflowing

Sew Darn Crafty Sunday at Sew Many Ways

Sunday Showcase Party at Under the Table and Dreaming

Simply Klassic Sunday at A Simply Klassic Home
Sunday Round Up at http://www.arosiesweethome.com/
It's Party Time on Sunday at http://itssoverycheri.com/
Nifty Thrifty Sunday at http://www.niftythriftythings.com/