Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner!

I've been remiss with my blog lately....unfortunately or fortunately depending on how you look at it, life got in the way AND I'm also working on the gazillion pictures I took in New York City that I want to share with you at a later date......in the meantime though, I'll share another recipe from our family dinner table.

It's amazing that in the same month I've discovered and made two different casseroles that the spouse loves!  As I've mentioned in a previous post, the spouse is not fond of casseroles or stews but I keep making them thinking I'll hit upon some that he'll like and lately I have.

This one came across my Facebook feed from Tip Hero.   Super easy and really good.  One of our son's friends was over that night and ate two helpings of it and there were no leftovers.  I think the next time I make it, I'll mix it up a bit and use buffalo wing sauce instead of hot sauce and sprinkle fresh chopped green onion on top.

Loaded Chicken & Potatoes

1/2 lb. Bacon – diced and cooked, set aside

8 medium red or gold potatoes - diced

1 lb. cubed chicken breast

Mix together in large bowl:

1 Tbsp. Paprika
2 Tbsp. Garlic Powder
2 tsp. Kosher Salt
1 ½ tsp. ground pepper
¼ cup olive oil
2 ½ Tbsp. hot sauce or buffalo wing sauce

Add potatoes and chicken to the oil & spice mixture and mix well.

Pour chicken & potato mixture into a lightly sprayed 9 x 13 baking dish. 

Bake at 400 degrees for 60 minutes.

Top with:   
½ cup of chopped green onion
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
Reserved bacon.
Return to oven for 5 more minutes to melt the cheese

Serve with sour cream.

Planner Supply Organization

I've been trying to get organized with my planner supplies and this week I dumped all of my supplies on my work table to see what I had so I could come up with a organization system that works for me.

Currently I have a decorative box that I was keeping the things I was using in but I found that the smaller items got lost in the big box, so I needed to find something that could hold those smaller items but I could see at a glance.

I went looking online for organizers but everyone wanted more money than I was willing to pay,  so I had to come up with something else.  Looking at other options, I decided to go on the hunt for those cheap plastic photo albums that I see everywhere and I found them at Michael and on sale.....buy one, get one 1/2 off and there were only $1.99 a piece anyway....cheap score!

I found a couple of cute ones!

Now I just needed to decide how to organize the supplies themselves.  I decided to keep the items from each designer together.  I've found lots of freebies to print online and even discovered a couple of etsy stores that are favorites. 

I had to cut some of the sheets up to fit in the page sleeves but once I was done, I was pleased with how much they hold and how economical they were.

If you enjoy the whole "decorate your planner" craze like I do and need a cheap way to organize your stash, try those small photo albums.

My Casserole Hating Husband

I'm married to a man who isn't particularly fond of casseroles, stews and even a good majority of soups BUT that doesn't mean I don't make them, because I like them and if I'm cooking, you get what you get.

That said, I made a chicken casserole for dinner that he LOVED and announced "THIS ONE is a keeper", so I thought I'd share it with all of you.  It's also super easy and quick.

If you're a cream soup hater, you might want to stop reading right now and turn your hating can soup heart somewhere else because this recipe does use a can of cream soup.

French Onion Chicken Casserole

Serves 6

2 cups cooked chicken breast

1 can Healthy Request Cream of Chicken Soup

1 small container of light French Onion sour cream dip

1/2 cup of shredded sharp cheddar cheese

12 oz. of egg noodles (or really whatever kind of noodle you want to use)

1 cup of French Fried Onions

Prepare the noodles according to directions.

Combine the cooked chicken (I roasted mine, then chopped the breasts up), soup, sour cream dip and cheese in a large bowl.  Once the noodles are done, drain well and add to the chicken mixture.

Pour the chicken and noodle mixture into a greased casserole dish and top with the onions.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 25 minutes.  Let stand a few minutes before serving.

Since I had just a little bit of shredded cheese left in the bag, I sprinkled the rest of it over the dish and let it melt after it came out of the oven.  I was also out of egg noodles, in fact the ONLY noodles I had were rotelle and bow ties, so I used those and the husband loved them and he is SO not a pasta person but he said "they go well in this dish".

The nutritional information isn't too bad either......per serving:

302 calories

21 grams of carbs

14 grams of fat

21 grams of protein

1 gram of sugar

If you decide to try it, let me know what you think!   Enjoy!

For Your Listening Pleasure

It you know me well, then you know that I LOVE rock music, it's one of my passions.....classic rock, soft rock, southern rock, country rock, hard rock and even a little heavy metal and even though I may listen to an occasional pop song, I rarely venture outside my comfort zone of music.  It's taken me years, but I think I have finally complied what I call my perfect "Best Rock Songs Of All Time" playlist.  I have honestly been working on this list for years and have had various versions of it on my iPod, but I think I have finally finalized it.......so without further ado....in no particular order....

• Second Chance - Shinedown
• Fire Woman - The Cult
• Back in the USSR - The Beatles
• In My Blood - Black Stone Cherry
• The Hand that Feeds - Nine Inch Nails
• Stranglehold - Ted Nugent
• Pride; In the Name of Love - U2
• You're Going to Get What's Coming - Robert Palmer
• Somebody Told Me - The Killers
• Black - Pearl Jam
• Bitch - The Rolling Stones
• Whole Lotta Rosie - AC/DC
• Stone In Love - Journey
• Born to Run - Bruce Springsteen
• You Wreck Me - Tom Petty
• Houses of the Holy - Led Zeppelin
• Sex on Fire - Kings of Leon
• Thunderstuck - AC/DC
• Gimme Shelter - The Rolling Stones
• Not Strong Enough - Apocalyptica
• Burden In My Hand - Soundgarden

As you can see, a couple of bands made it on the list more than once, AC/DC and The Stones and I was fortunate enough to see AC/DC twice with Bon Scott before he passed and once with Brian Johnston, but alas, have never see The Rolling Stones.  Same goes with Led Zeppelin, they NEVER played Iowa and by the time I lived anywhere that they would have possibly played, Jon Bonham was dead and the band was no more.

Another note.....there is one lead singer that appears twice on the list in two different bands....Brent Smith, lead singer of Shinedown.  He also lent his voice to the Finnish heavy metal band Apocalyptica on their single "Not Strong Enough" and just because these guys are so unique, I'm going to link you up....check it out!



I also hesitated to have Ted Nugent grace my list because of how bat shit crazy he seems to be these days, but "Stranglehold" is a kick ass song from a kiss ass album, so I'm holding my nose and including it.

The rest are songs that have been absolute favorites of mine that I find myself playing over and over again, in fact, Nine Inch Nail's "The Hand That Feeds" is one of my ring tones.  :)

It's certainly an eclectic mix of rock, but that's always the way I have always liked my rock.
Enjoy!

"What's For Dinner?"

I'm so darn tired of trying to figure out what to plan for dinner for the myself and the spouse.  I'm married to a man who likes to know "what's for dinner" and the young adult in the house is rarely around at dinner time so we don't worry about him, but funny how, when I'm making a favorite of his....pasta, burgers....he seems to be hanging out. 

I started thinking about making it easier on myself last fall and scoured the Internet for ideas, so my idea is bits of pieces of the information I did find, but with my own twist on it.  Some meal planning is by day....Monday's are meatless, Tuesday is chicken, Wednesday is pork, well, you get the idea.

My idea is super simple and involves your favorite meals, so the first and most important step is to get a pad of paper or open a word processor program, sit down with whomever it is that you are eating with (your family, your spouse, your parents, etc.) and list 30-35 of your favorite meals.  List all those meals that your family asks you to make and jot down your favorite sides that go with the main meal.  

The philosophy behind this is you'll have 30-35 of your favorite meals right at your fingertips. 

Once you have your list of favorites ready, you'll want to make a meal card for each meal.  It's completely up to you....hand write them on index cards, print them on index cards or cardstock.  I was having issues printing directly on to the index cards, so I did it the hard way and created a word document and listed our meals in that, printed, cut them out and glued them to the index cards.  Printing directly on index cards or cardstock would definitely be easier. 

Of course, I'm going to embellish my meal cards....that's the fun part!  I just took some of my many markers out and while watching that three OT college men's basketball game between Kansas and Oklahoma the other night, I doodled on all of the cards.  I used a simple line and dots but it jazzed them up a bit. 

I also like to look at the meal plan cards as a prompt too....maybe seeing it will remind me of a recipe we liked.  I was somewhat vague on several of the cards (like the photo below) so that you have some flexibility in the plan.

"Chef's Choice" when mentioned on the cards is a favorite recipe for that food.  I also made room for any notes that I might want to jot down when using that card.

If your family is like mind, we don't cook all seven nights of the week.  There is usually a leftover night in there and there is usually a night where one of us isn't that hungry so we "fend for ourselves".  Currently, we also have a surplus of make ahead freezer meals, so I doubt I'll use seven of my cards a week.

I decided that I didn't need a box to store these.....I think I ended up with 35 cards and that's not enough to use a box, so instead I embellished up a chipboard envelope that I re-sized with some minions paper (I LOVE minions) which works perfect with my meal planning/coupon basket.

What? you say a meal planning/coupon basket?  Yep.....I've been using this basket for at least 15 years to stash my coupons, my grocery ads, my freezer inventory sheet and clippings of recipes we want to try.   It's 10x14, it's slim and it fits inside a drawer or cabinet easily...it's Longaberger too..

My meal planning routine happens on Sundays...usually in the evening....it's multi-taking at it's finest.   Meal plan, clip coupons, look at grocery ads all while watching the latest movie DVD we've rented or while watching Netflix......then I'm all ready for my Monday grocery shopping and around here, Monday morning at the grocery store will make you feel like you own the place.

So...when you're racking your brain trying to come up with ideas for meals, you'll have an envelope full of ideas to choose from!

I hope sharing my "30Plan" with help all of you with your meal planning.  Enjoy!

I'll be back soon!

In addition to some other New Year's resolutions that I made for 2016 which is surprising because I haven't made a New Year's resolution since 2003 which is when I quit smoking cigarettes....January 3, 2003, so today is the 13th anniversary of not smoking cigarettes......I am also going to start blogging again.....

I think I need more of a routine than I've had the last 15 months and since I'm not taking any classes this spring semester, I'm going to devote more to doing things in a more scheduled way.  As far as my blogging, I'm shooting for twice a week....three at the most if I have anything extra fun or interesting to share (which I know is in the eye of the beholder), but I hope you enjoy letting me share.

One of the things I'll share next week is something I've been working on since summer......meal planning!  Although our son still lives with us while going to school and working, we don't see him much at meal time, unless it's pizza or pasta, so I am back to planning and cooking for two again and after almost 30 years, I'm getting tired of coming up with weekly menus......

I am married to man that wants to know what's for dinner and he's used to having that information, but I'm getting burnt out.....doesn't make sense considering I have the time but it's just coming up with things so we aren't eating the same things all the time.

I call it "30Plan" and all you need are index cards and a good pen or make a template in your word processing program.  You'll also need a small index card box (I'm planning on making mine) to hold the cards and I'll probably embellish mine out with my scrapbooking supplies.

Can I tell you how much a love index cards?  I would but that could be a whole blog post in and of itself.....I used them for so much things.   You can also use card stock or whatever you have, just make it index card size....3x5 or 4x6.

and if you've stopped by, thank you.....and next week I'll share with you something that has made meal planning for me a lot more easy AND I have a bunch of crafty things to share too!

Uh Oh...I've discovered decorating planners :)

I've always had a planner....way back in the days of Franklin Covey and Day Timer, I tried those and even today I use the system that Staples carries, the ARC System.  I also knew that there was a cult following of several newer planner systems, such as Erin Condren, Moleskine, The Happy Planner, etc., but I had NO idea the creativity that is out there in regards to dressing up aka decorating your planner.

I made the "mistake" of checking out Pinterest and etsy to see what others were doing to their planners and I was immediately hooked....played right into my love of paper crafts.

Rather than buy new when there really wasn't anything wrong with the one I have seemed silly especially for a retiree (there are other things I'd rather spend that money on) so after considering several, I stuck with what I have and what has worked for me for several years. 

I just need to get creative with it!

I used the 8 x 5 size of planner and a horizontal weekly calendar.  I use my planner not only to schedule my time but to plan my projects, keep to-do lists and goal lists, keep business cards organized,  and hold store coupons.

Here's the cover of my pink planner and of course, it needs to include a Iowa Hawkeyes Tiger hawk sticker.  :)
 

 

Before I got crazy buying stickers and things from etsy and other sources, I knew I needed to look no further than my own craft room and I was right, I found TONS of stuff that I can use in my planner.

I have tons of washi tape and found a couple miniature stamps that will work perfect in planner decoration.

 

 

I did find these Halloween themed packages of washi tape at the Dollar Tree store when I was there for something else.  SCORE!

 

I also have tons of pens that can be put to good use for decorating and doodling.

 

Found all of these sticky notes and flags in a drawer.

This is just a small sampling of what I found in my craft room.  I also found tons of sites that have FREE planner printables too! 

 

I did decide to spend the money of a special punch that Staples sells to punch paper and such to fit the Arc planners.  It was a bit pricey but I got in on a sale, had some Staples rewards to spend and I won't need to buy the calendar refills anymore so I bit the bullet and purchased the punch.

 

 

I also decided to make a couple more divider for my planner.  I have tons of chipboard so using one of the purchased planner dividers I already had as a template, I cut out a few other dividers and using scrapbook paper covered them in coordinating colors.

 

I found a few really cute free planner printables and using one of my circle punches and a pair of scissors.....presto.....free planner embellishments!  There is a gazillion out there!

I also found skinny elastic hair bands at the Dollar Tree that I've wrapped around my planner and I can slide things under if needed.

The tabbed dividers that I purchased with the planner years ago are plain black poly and I decorated the divider for my calendar in washi tape and border stickers.

 

I also found a bunch of embellished paper clips in my craft room and picked out a few to use.

 

I've got a couple plastic pocket pages inside that hold things I want to keep for reference.

 

 

I also have a few poly pocket dividers that I use to hold coupons, receipts I need to hold on to and stuff I clip off of newspaper, magazines, etc. that I want to check out further.

 

 

Here's my first attempt at decorating my weekly calendar.  I'm sure my "style" will evolve over time as did my scrapbook style, but it sure is fun to do.  I'm not sure it's helping to get me get projects and to-do's done any faster, but the pages and lists are fun to look at.  :)

 

I also re-purposed a box I had hanging out in a closet that I've dedicated to storing things I've specifically identified I'll be using for my planner.

It's a fun extension of my scrapbooking hobby that I still love to spend time doing, so I call that "a good thing and one, if enjoyed is never a waste of time".

Thanks for stopping in!

FINALLY...our Master Bathroom Update!

First of all....I can't believe that my last blog post was July 8th!  That is almost two months ago and I have lots to share.  I'm going to try and stay on a once or twice a week schedule this fall.

Second....I'm finally ready to share our master bathroom update that we've been working off and on since the end of May.   I was dealing with both a herniated C7 disc and a fractured ankle during the remodel so between those things, a couple problems we encountered and coordinating with both my husband and our plumber for time, it took twice as long as I should have, but we weren't in any hurry other than having a mess on our hands in our master suite for a while.

The bathroom is pretty large, but very poorly designed, lots of wasted space.  Unfortunately, we didn't have the budget to move plumbing around, so since we couldn't do that, there was no sense in spending money on new vanities, we just needed to update the ones we have!  About six months ago we replaced our toilet with a taller model that flushes quietly, yet strong, so we didn't have to worry about replacing that.  I also decided not to replace the vanity tops as there was nothing wrong with them, they are fine and a neutral off-white, so again, no sense in replacing.

I had half assed painted the bathroom in 2005 but I only did two walls and then did a paint effect around the ceiling parameter with small square sponges.

Here's some before pictures -

 

The tall white cabinets at the end of each of the vanities were purchased at IKEA a couple of years ago and the storage they provide comes in handy. 

We were still using the cheap ass light fixtures the contractor put in (I priced them....$13 bucks a piece) and the only nice thing I'll say about them is they give off good light, but their days were numbered.

 

Our vanities, although well built didn't come with hardware, so this update job includes new hardware for both of them.

 

 

and see that ugly sheet vinyl flooring?  It's history.

I'm pretty loyal to Sherwin Williams for paint, we have a store in my small burb, they have an awesome website to check out paint colors and I like it's durability.

 

For the bathroom, I chose SW6547 Silver Peony for the walls and SW6254 Lazy Gray for the cabinets and mirror molding.   The walls were done in SW Duration Home and for the vanities I used SW ProClassic Interior Acrylic Latex Enamel.

 

Here's a list of the things that we did -

 

1.  Painted the ENTIRE bathroom this time rather than just two walls.

2.  Painted both vanities and added hardware.

3.  Painted molding and framed both plate glass mirrors above the vanities.

4.  Replaced the light fixtures.

5.  Replaced the faucets.

6.  Took down the two towels rods and installed a bar of towel hooks instead.

7.  Replaced our shower head with a rain shower head and bought a new corner shower caddy.

8.  Installed new light switch plates.

7.  Installed new flooring.

 

Here's a few progress pictures of the priming, painting, installing, etc. that happened over couple of months.

 

 

I lined all of the drawers and the bottom of the vanities with really cute paper I found at the Dollar General for $2 bucks a roll.

A closer look at the light fixture.  THAT gave us a bunch of issues from me not finding anything I liked to having an electrical issue spring up after we took down the original fixtures that needed to be corrected.  After searching for several weeks on the internet for lighting with no success, I finally went back to Lowe's where I had seen a section in their lighting department that was a "build your own" type thing and I found the right size fixture in the right finish and the perfect glass globes.  I wanted clear and I love that these are seeded.

 

The flooring was a whole another issue.....my husband was dragging his feet for weeks on this, so I compromised and said it could wait until I returned from a girl's retreat in Colorado.  The weekend after I came home, we started and although just a couple spots that were tricky, we were both surprised how easy and quick it went down.  Total time = about six hours which included breaks.

This is fabulous flooring if your not looking to use ceramic tile in a room that gets moisture.  It's vinyl plank flooring and I found it online at Home Depot.  The product is TrafficMASTER Allure and it comes in 6" x 36" planks.  The online reviews were what convinced me to use it, plus it was affordable, especially when DIYing it.

 

There's my handsome husband.  :)  

 

 

Here's the finished product!!! 

 

I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out since I couldn't have the 20K luxury gut job I would have liked to have. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The faucets were found at ATG Stores online and the vanity hardware at Menards.  Funny story about the hardware.  I ended up picking the exact same knobs as I did when we added hardware to our kitchen cabinets.

 

 

I'm not completely happy with the shower curtain I found, but it will do for now.  The picture on the left shows the color brighter than it really is, it's definitely more of a muted lavender.  The print above the toilet I found at ArtFest Midwest earlier this summer and framed it using a discounted brushed silver frame from Michaels.

 

I also made the decision to get rid of the two towel bars.  One was over the toilet where the framed print is now and the other was over on the wall where the tower hook bar now hangs.  That space is really completely wasted, so I thought we might as well take advantage of it and just hang our towels.

 

Want know how much we put into our update?  Here's the breakdown (round up or down):

 

1. Paint and Primer = $157.00
2. Light Fixtures = $116.00
3. Bathroom Faucets = $178.00
4. Curved shower rod, shower curtain, showerhead and shower caddy = $122.00
5. Framing the mirrors = $45.00
6. Vanity hardware = $29.00
7. Light Switch plates = $24.00
8. Bath Rugs (IKEA) = $30.00
9. Flooring = $168.00
10. Miscellanous = $40.00
11. New linens (Target) = $85.00

For a grand total of $994.00

 

Thanks for stopping by and seeing what took quite a bit of my time this summer!