Menu Plan Monday

Well, it's Monday again and I'm ready with my menu!

Here's this week's menu.

Sunday: Cheeseburger Quesadillas, didn't fix last week.  Made it yesterday and the boys loved it.  Emily did not.  Apparently she doesn't like ketchup.  It has ketchup.  I thought it was pretty tasty I used corn tortillas, spicy cheddar and pickles on mine.  :)

from Iowa Girl Eats

Monday: We have a banquet to go to.  Kitchen Closed!

Tuesday: Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya, This is my recipe. I'll clean it up and post here either later or next week.

Wednesday: Steak Fajitas, It's Miles' birthday and this was his pick.  This recipe is a huge hit with everyone. Post here either later or next week.

Thursday: Leftovers

Friday: Baked Chicken Pesto  New recipe

From Kalyn's Kitchen

Saturday: Spaghetti and meatballs, Not sure which recipe I'm going to use to make gluten free meatballs.

Last week didn't go quite as planned. We ended up ordering pizza on Tuesday because I didn't feel well and on Friday, I didn't cook what was planned because Richard's flight home got canceled and he didn't get home until very late.  The teenagers were going in different directions and we had enough leftovers.



Sorry I'm so short on recipes today.  I've got do grocery shopping still and take the dog into the vet for a nail trim and pick up some meds.

Good news, though, I did squeeze in a run and quickly finished up 2 other projects I hope to share soon. ;)

Map Table: How to cut an oversized circle

Just a few more makeovers from the Media Room to share.  Today, it's the Map Game Table.

Because it's always fun to see where you came from. Here's the ugly table with the map thrown across it.

And while you might be confused by these chairs, which clearly were not intended to be paired with this table, this is not an antique table.  I did, however, buy these chairs as part of the "set" off Craig's List for around $30.  I can't remember exactly, but  this seems right because I remember thinking,  "I'd pay that for just the chairs!"

What my very cool map is hiding underneath it though, is the bowing and swollen spots in the center of the table.  Believe it or not, this table top was actually particle board.  I wish I had photos of the damage, because fixing it was interesting.

I ended up sanding the swollen particle board down. It kind of just shredded like cardboard. Once it got it even, I patched it with dry wall spackle.  All I wanted was a smooth surface since the top was going to be covered by the map.

It also had a bead trim around edge that was missing in some spots. So that had to come off.  I know I took photos of all this but, after looking for quite a while they are not to be found on my computer.  GRrr.

I gave the table a couple coats of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Old White. I really do love that paint.  I know people are into DIY'ing the paint and I did that myself on a few of the chairs. More to come on that later.  But I do think Annie's paint is worth it, if it comes in a color you want for your project.

Then it was onto cutting the map into a very large circle.

Initially I tried using a pencil and a string to draw a circle.  That so did NOT work.  The pin I was using for the center kept moving and the tension of the string was inconsistent. Not to mention, the angle of the pencil made a difference too. I kept ending up with a wonky circle.  Not what I wanted. I needed a fixed compass.

So here's what we did.

I got a scrap piece of wood and drilled a very small hole in one end for a nail.  This is your constant point.  Then I drilled another hole for the pencil at the distance of the radius of the circle.

It looked like this.

Now just rotate the pencil around the map, or whatever you desire to cut, until you meet the point where you started.

Then I carefully cut along the pencil line with sharp scissors.  I felt pretty comfortable with this because of my years of experience in paper crafting.  The best tips I can give you is to not "saw" your scissors and move the paper not the scissors.  You'll be surprised how much these two tips help you cut a smooth edge. I can generally cut a circle better with scissors than with an Exacto type blade.

 I carefully smoothed out the whole made by the nail and color matched a bit of acrylic paint to cover up any remaining traces.

I used Mod Podge Hard Coat to apply the map to the painted table.  I quickly coated the back of the map, flipped it over used a bone folder to smooth it out.  Later I came back and put two more coats on top.  I chose the Hard Coat version because you can sand after coats and it is the most durable for furniture.  I didn't need to sand it any, it was pretty smooth finish.  I had intended to apply a coat of wax on top like I did to the table itself, but I've yet to do it and it's holding up fine.

Here's the final table and chairs.

 The two other chairs were finds Emily and I hunted for at our local thrift stores.  The chairs got a different colors.

Once I had assmbeled all the chairs they sat in my garage like this for a while. :)

Once the colors were decided,  I lightly sanded all of them and whipped the ones that weren't getting the real deal Chalk Paint with Liquid Sandpaper.  The blues were mixes of Louis Blue and a deep turquoise I had.  Yes, you can mix Chalk Paint with other latex paints.  I haven't had any problems.

When I do mix a DIY chalk paint, I prefer to use Plaster of Paris, mixed with just enough hot water to get it smooth and then mixed with Sherwin Williams Sample quarts.  They are cheap and the store is the most convenient thing to my house. And they are nice to me. ;)

The recipe I use is 3 parts paint, to 1 part Plaster of Paris, just enough hot water to mix the Plaster of Paris into a paste and then mix it into the paint.

Here's another look at the table from one side of the room.

Please feel free to visit the Media Room Tour and check the rest of the room out!

Thanks for visiting! I'd love to have you follow me on Facebook or Google +.

Sharing here.
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Menu Plan Monday Week of May 12-18

Hello and Happy Monday!

Hope you all had a great Mother's Day! I know I did. It was very casual. Sunday morning at church, a quick lunch before Miles went to work, and an afternoon spent outside planting new flowers and supervising assisting the hubby on a patio improvement project. ;) It was a beautiful day.

This week's menu looks like this. Where applicable, the recipe is linked under the photo. :)

Sunday: Lunch out and leftovers

Monday: Shrimp and Grits, green beans

I actually can't find the recipe I used last time which really upsets me because it was soo good.  I'll get back to you next week

Tuesday: Marinated Grilled Chicken and Crash Potatoes

 From A Family Feast

From Pioneer Woman

Wednesday:  Buffalo Chicken Wraps not sure on this recipe either, may use a crock pot but probably not

Thursday: Leftovers

Friday: Cheeseburger Quesadillas / new recipe for us, will let you know how it is.

from Iowa Girl Eats

Saturday: Chicken Picatta Pasta  / Pampered Chef recipe

I'm actually thinking about changing up the way I post the menus already.  I think it would be better if each week I posted it after we actually ate the menu.  That way I'd have photos and critiques. ;)

What do you think?  Good idea?

Mealtime Monday @ couponingncooking /Totally Tasty Tuesday @ Mandy's Recipe Box  /  Tempt my Tummy Tuesday @ Blessed with Grace  / Show & Share @ Southern Lovely  / / Tuesday Talent Show @ Chef in Training  /

Clunky Dresser to Mod Media Console

When I started the Media Room Project,  obviously, one of the first pieces I had to find and transform was that "special something" to become the media console.

Thankfully for me, many of the local thrift stores in my area post their wares on Craig's List.  I saw this big clunker and immediately I could see potential.

Also, fortunately for me, is no one else could see it, I mean, really that thing is pretty hideous.

As soon as I saw she marked it down from $65 to $45 and I drove out to the store and pick it up.  Oh, and a little tip about these clunky old dressers, they are usually made of extremely heavy particle board.  So, you and some little lady from the thrift store ain't aren't gonna be able to lift it into your car! Even with her husband we struggled to get it in the back of my SUV.

Once it was home, I got to work giving it a good cleaning, applying primer and semi-gloss white paint.  I didn't use high gloss paint because I was a little afraid of brush strokes and I already had some semi gloss white paint in my stash.

I rolled the primer on the flat pieces and used spray primer for the doors and drawers.  All that detail work had potential to be drippy mess.

I followed up with rolling the paint on the top, sides and insides. I used a brush for the doors and drawers. I kept a close eye on the drips.  I had them laying flat as I painted them to keep the drips to a minimum.

To convert the dresser to a media console, I just had to remove the runner for the drawer. I didn't even bother to patch the drill holes, because I knew they would be covered by media.

Here's a look at what it looked like when I as done.  OOps!! Forgive the bad iPhone photo.

I guess with the drawers out and no reference, I didn't notice how warped the wood "shelf" was.  So, hubby made a quick trip to the hardware store to get a piece of wood cut to the size of the opening and picked out a piece of trim that seemed to have some of the same lines as the dresser details.

To get it to look just right we placed the new wood on top of warped piece, lined the trim up to cover the warped gap and used a nail gun to attach it.

That one piece of trim made all the difference in making it look like it was always a shelf and not a drawer.  Drilling a few holes in key places in the back for wires and such was easily done with a door hole drill bit provided the needed functionality.

The last thing to do was to give the original hardware a couple coats of brushed nickle spray paint.

I just love it now!  It's crazy to me how more than just a little bit of paint can transform a funky seventies dresser into a hip, media console.

All the movies, games and gaming consoles are stored inside the ample space the dresser provided.  To play games, we just have to open one of the side doors.

If you'd like to see more of our media room, here's the reveal. This is truly a room on a budget.

Want to see what I started with?   The big transformation of the room can be found here, where I shared the before and I also explained how I used Pinterest as design board.

Still not convinced paint can make a huge difference, here's the first scary seventies dresser I worked on.  It was a heavy booger too!

Would you tackle a vintage piece like this? If your answer is yes, just make sure you bring a long some muscle! Chances are you are going to need it. ;)

Sharing here:
Feathered Nest Friday @ French Country Cottage  / Be Inspired Friday @ Common Ground   /  Friday Link-up @ Redoux  / Furniture Feature Friday @ Miss Mustard Seed   /  Shabbilicious Friday @ Shabby Art Boutique  / Frugal Friday @ The Shabby Nest /  Inspire Me Please @ Liz Marie  / Transformation Thursday @ Shabby Creek Cottage  / Hooking up @House of Hepworths  / Home and Garden Thursday @ a Delightsome life  //  Frugalicious Friday @FInding Fabulous/ Pity Party @ Thirty Hnndmade Days  /  Party Junk @ Funky Junk Interiors /  Weekend Wrapup@ Tatortots and Jello  /

Menu Monday : New Feature

Hello my friends!  Welcome to my first Menu Plan Monday!

In effort to get myself more organized after being embarrassed by my daughter's Foods, Nutrition and Wellness class, I've been planning weekly menus.

Here's the Story:  Her class was discussing grocery shopping and the teacher asked them to raise their hand when asked how often your parents go to the grocery store.

Um, she was the only student that raised her hand to the question, "Every Day?"

Yes, I will confess to being a nearly every day shopper, mostly just on the weekdays.  I think I had convinced myself it was kind of European, wink, wink, getting only the freshest produce and meat. While it was true everything was fresh, it wasn't really working for me.

But after being schooled by my eighth grader and embarrassing myself, I realized I probably was wasting time and opening myself up to impulse buying.  Not to mention, despite my very frequent trips to the store, I often resorted to calling one of my neighbors to see if they had that one ingredient I was missing from my pantry.  I'm sure they rolled their eyes when I called around dinner time. ;)

I've been at this menu planning thing for 3 weeks now and it's going really well.  :) I'm not sure if I've been doing it long enough to make it a habit, but we are all finding the benefits of knowing what's for dinner and reduced trips to the grocery store.

Here's this week's menu.  As you can see, I post the menu up on a chalkboard in the kitchen. Attractive, functional and free because I just moved this chalkboard to a wall in the kitchen from another spot in the house.

I promise as I can, I'll link up the recipes or share here.  The day has kind of gotten away from me with designing the cute little banner for the blog, picking up my daughter at school, grocery shopping (Trying to make Monday my only day) and cooking dinner.

These are all standard fair at our house.  No new recipes, to us anyway, this week.

Sunday:  Creamy Italian Trio Pasta, recipe below

Monday: Barefoot Contessa Meatloaf, Hashbrown casserole, lima beans

Tuesday: Leftovers

Wednesday: Oven Tacos,  Fruit salad

Thursday: Grilled Mustard Chicken & Corn polenta

Friday: Better than Lasagna, recipe below, green beans

Saturday: Leftovers

Creamy Italian Trio Pasta

 
The trio comes from the combination of meats. When I first started making this recipe, I literally got cheers when would say this was for dinner.

1 8oz light (Neufchatel) cream cheese
1 c grated Parmesan, or 1/2 Parmesan and 1/2 Romano if you have it
1 1/2 cup Half and Half or evaporated skim milk
2 cloves garlic
1 pkg turkey Italian sausage
1 lb chicken breast
1/4 cup chopped pancetta, smoked ham or bacon
12 oz of angle hair or other pasta, I use gluten free now
3/4 frozen peas (optional-sometimes I add them sometimes not)
2 tablespoons butter, optional

Cook sausage according to directions. Cook chicken seasoned with salt, dried basil and oregano using your preferred method. If the weather is nice, I grill both the chicken and the sausage. Chop both and set aside.

Brown pancetta or bacon and garlic in heavy skillet until light brown. Start the noodles.

Add milk and cream cheese over medium heat, mixing well. (May need to whisk.) Add Parmesan and Romano cheese once the mixture is creamy. Finish with a few sprigs of flat leaf parsley, basil and fresh black pepper.

Prepare your favorite pasta according to directions.

Add a ladle of sauce to the bottom of a large pasta bowl pour in prepared, strained pasta, top with rest of sauce. Toss and serve.

Italian Casserole-Better than Lasagna

I've been making this casserole for many years.  It's an adaptation of a casserole my Mother in Law contributed to a Mardi Gras Krewe cookbook.  It's kind of a "loose" recipe, not really exact measurements.  It does seem to always come out delicious.  I like to error on the side of having a little lagniappe. (or a little extra sauce)
 
Most of the time now, instead of using can or jarred sauce, I've been using my homemade spaghetti sauce. Mmmm, mmm, mmm talk about good! I might share that recipe some time. ;)
 

Better than Lasagna  

1 lb ground beef

1 lb italian sausage

10 oz noodles, gluten free

1 cup cottage cheese

1/2 cup sour cream

1 (8 oz) pkg cream cheese

2 28 oz cans of tomato sauce

1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese

1 tsp basil

1 tsp parsley

salt

pepper

8-10 oz grated Mozzarella cheese

Make meat sauce. (I actually think you need a little more than 56 oz, but I can't remember I always try to error on the side of having too much sauce. If I end up with extra sauce, some times I use it to make pita pizzas.)

Boil and drain noodles according to package directions. Combine with cottage cheese, sour cream, cream cheese and about 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese in large bowl.  Season with salt, pepper, basil and parsley.(Fresh is best but dried will do.)
 

Spray casserole with olive oil and cover bottom with sauce, layer noodle mixture on top, then another layer of sauce.  Finish with the mozzarella cheese.   Bake at 350 until brown on top about 30 minutes. (Or I often do 475 for 20 minutes if I'm in a hurry.)

I've experimented with different pans. I used to assemble the casserole in a deep dish and layered it more than once, but that was difficult to serve.  I use a 9x9 pan most of the time now and that works out nicely with almost 10 cups of my homemade sauce I pull out of the freezer.

I hope you come back next week and see how I'm doing keep me accountable. I'd love to hear if you menu plan and please feel free to share any tips or brag worthy recipes. :)

Oh, and I eat gluten free, so all of my recipes are either gluten free or have been adapted to be gluten free.

Sharing Here:
Mealtime Monday @ couponingncooking /Totally Tasty Tuesday @ Mandy's Recipe Box  /  Tempt my Tummy Tuesday @ Blessed with Grace  / Show & Share @ Southern Lovely  /  Hooking up @House of Hepworths  / Tuesday Talent Show @ Chef in Training  / Party Time @ the 36th Avenue  /   Party Junk @ Funky Junk Interiors   /

It finally felt like Spring!

Yesterday was a beautiful day.  It finally felt like spring again.  I don't know how it is where you are, but here in the Midwest, it's been an unseasonably cold spring.

But I'm still hanging on to ....

So despite the fact that today and the next few days will be cold and dreary, at least the trees have leaves.

Yeah for leaves!!

And even though our crab apple tree wasn't covered in blooms like it often is in the spring, at least there are a few blooms now.  (Anyone else have a crab apple that blooms profusely one year and not the next?)

Speaking of promises, how about this patch?

But I think the best views I saw yesterday, were the ones from the trail. If you've been around here a while, you know I am passionate about running on the trail with our goldendoodle, Tucker.

Leaves all around on the trail too. :)

 

Going to keep these views in my mind during the next few days.

Trying to finish up a big, troublesome project today.  Thankfully, I'm at the point in the process that I can work indoors.

True Blue Navy Chalkboard Wall

If it is possible to love a room, our recent Media Room Makeover, is probably on that love list.
I think one of the reasons I love it so, is the Navy Chalkboard Wall.  I also love that such a big impact can happen for less than $30.

I've always admired chalkboard walls, but I knew black would be to stark in this room. I really wanted navy.

This area of the Media Room is perfect place for an accent wall.

To the right of the wall, seen in this photo, is a big double door closet that hides the chalkboard wall from view when you first step into the room.

I love that about it.  It's completely unexpected, a fun surprise.

Once I decided to go for it, convinced my husband, I shopped around for tintable chalkboard paint. My first stop was my local Sherwin Williams.  (When I'm not using Annie Sloan Chalk Paint, I pretty much use sample pots from Sherwin Williams.  They are the perfect price point for a quart of paint and it's a convenient place for me to shop.)

Unfortunately, tintable chalkboard paint is not something my store carries in stock.  It would have to be a special ordered and it was a little pricey, around $20 for a quart and $50 for a gallon.  Not to mention, I wasn't willing to wait 5 - 7 days for the paint to come in.  By the time I went to buy the paint, I was ready to start painting!

My next stop was Home Depot.  They sell quarts of tintable Chalkboard Paint by Rustoleum.  The paint comes in 12 colors for under $15.

Admittedly, I knew going into this, that the color I wanted, a true blue navy, was not one of those colors.  But I wholeheartedly subscribe to the theory, "You never know, until you ask," and that other famous theory, "The worst they can say is, "No"."

So in my sweetest, southern charm I asked the super nice paint guy at Home Depot if he would custom tint the paint for me.  He said he would try. :)

I promised him that I would take what he came up with.  I showed him the swatch of navy fabric I had for the curtains and he went to work.

He started with the stock "Banner Blue" color and then added lots of black.

After a few tries, it was pretty doggone perfect!! I then thanked him profusely for making my day!!!

To apply the paint, my new best friend at Home Depot recommended using a thin foam roller so that the surface would be as smooth as possible. The smoother the finish, the easier it is to write and draw on a chalkboard wall.

Here's what I used.

Here's a lovely in progress shot of the room, at night, from my phone.  Yikes!

This was probably after a couple coats.

The only bad thing about this process was that I'm pretty certain it took around 5 to 6 coats. But before you freak out, each coat went on very quickly, like 10 to 15 minutes tops.  I didn't have to wait too long to reapply the next coat.

All total, I used a little over 2 quarts to get the job done.  I'm happy to have the extra paint, because at some point I can see that freshening it up with a new coat will be in order.  We've had a lot of fun drawing and being creative on the wall.  As evidence of that, the chalk residue is kind of clouding up the navy. Which isn't bad really, but I think you can really appreciate the color when it's nice and sharp.

We use a regular colored Crayola chalk mostly and chalkboard eraser, followed by a damp microfiber cloth to clean it. I would not recommend chalk board markers.  They do not fully erase on this wall.

Once we finished the wall, we added this cute little shelf for the sunshine yellow piece of pottery to hold our chalk collection. Just a simple piece of scrap wood and some brackets and voila!

The chalkboard wall definitely contributes to the happiness of the room. It totally makes me smile to see the vision for a true blue navy chalkboard wall come to life.

This definitely proves the theory, "it never hurts to ask."

 Of course, a little southern charm never hurts, either! ;)

Sharing Here:

Sharing at Young House Love's Pinterest Challenge, because clearly the chalkboard craze is all over Pinterest and I know I was inspired by Pinterest to do a chalkboard wall, but I don't think I ever saw a wall this color. ;)

Nifty Thrifty Tuesday @ Coastal Charm  /  Get your Craft On @ Today's Creative Blog  /  Make it Pretty Monday @The Dedicated House  /  Wow Us Wednesday @ Savvy Southern Style  /  Share it Link Party @ Winthrop Chronicles  / Show & Share @ Southern Lovely  / Transformation Thursday @ Shabby Creek Cottage  / Hooking up @House of Hepworths  /  Feathered Nest Friday @ French Country Cottage  / Be Inspired Friday @ Common Ground   /  Friday Link-up @ Redoux /  Home and Garden Thursday @ a Delightsome life  / Frugal Friday @ The Shabby Nest   /  Frugalicious Friday @FInding Fabulous
/ Pity Party @ Thirty Hnndmade Days  /  Nifty Thrifty Sunday @ Nifty Thrifty Things  /  That DIY Party @ DIY Show Off  / Sunday Scoop @ I Heart Naptime
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