Tired Tuesday Dinner

I just want to say a big "THANK YOU" to Sarah and AJ at www.imagrownupnow.com for an easy, tasty dinner to make on one of those weeknights when work has been really tough.

Their recipe is called mac & cheese lasagna and it's wonderful. 

You need 1 lb. of ground beef, 1 package of macaroni & cheese, 1 jar of spaghetti sauce, and 1 package of cheese.

Cook the ground beef and mac & cheese like you normally would.  Preheat oven to 375.

Layer the mac & cheese, ground beef, spaghetti sauce, and cheese in a baking dish.  Repeat process until baking dish is full.

Bake, uncovered for 15 - 20 minutes.  Done!

It's easy and so delicious - just the right recipe after a long day at work.

Disorganized

Where did March go?  What did I accomplish?  Even with my "lists", I am still so disorganized!  I'm almost four months into a new year and my life feels like a complete mess!  Ouch!  My bathroom needs a good cleaning, I need to exercise, I need to cook some decent meals!  Does anybody else feel this way?  Maybe I should have titled this blog "undisciplined" because I don't finish anything I start.  You know, I don't want to go to bed at night feeling like I haven't accomplished SOMETHING that day.  And I'm tired of the excuse that I don't have time, when I do.  How do I get organized and disciplined?  How do I make time not only for the things that I have to do, but for the things I want to do?  That's the $64,000 question, isn't it?

In Search of the Perfect Smoothie

I love the smoothies that I get at Tropical Smoothie; they're so creamy and yummy!  I am on a mission to find the perfect smoothie that I can make at home.  I like coffee so I thought that a coffee & banana smoothie might be good.  I have to admit that I'm not especially fond of bananas; when I was pregnant with my daughter, I had to eat a banana a day to raise my potassium levels.  Since then, I haven't really cared for bananas.  Anyways, I found this recipe scribbled on the back of a notepad and thought I'd give it a try.  It's a simple recipe - I like simple!

Coffee & Banana Smoothie

1 sliced peeled banana

1 cup of fat free milk

1/2 cup of cold black coffee

2 tsp. of sugar

1/2 cup ice

Mix in a blender and enjoy - but, you know what?  I didn't like it.  Too much banana (so sad).  I guess I'm still looking for that perfect smoothie.  Any suggestions?

Reflections on a Yard Sale

Yesterday and today I had a yard sale at my house.  I prayed all week for the weather and for my sale to be successful.  My prayers were answered on both counts.  I learned some things while preparing for and conducting my sale.

1. Prepare, prepare, prepare!  It's a lot of work!  I've spent the last month sorting, cleaning, and pricing.
2. Some people cannot tell time.  I put 8:00 to 1:00 on my signs, but people were there at 7:00 am.
3. Make extra signs, because your signs can be stolen - sad, but true.
4. People cannot read your mind.  Clearly mark your items with a price.  I borrowed an easel from my church and set up a price board for books, clothes, shoes, etc.
5. Don't sell anything that you're emotionally attached to; remember, you want to get rid of the stuff.
6. If you price it right, they (customers) will come, and it (stuff) will go.
7. Presentation is huge.  Set up your yard sale so that it's easy for your customers to shop.
8. Have a plan for what you want to do with the items left over at the end of the day.  I called our city rescue mission to come and pick up the leftover items.

Even though it was a lot of work, I got rid of some of the clutter in my house, I made money, met some really nice people, and helped out a local charity - not bad, huh? 

Another Use for Junk Mail

Don't we all get too much junk mail?  The other day, when my sister got the mail, there it was - another piece of junk mail.  My sister looked at me and said, "you're a crafty person, why can't you figure out a way to use some of this junk mail besides throwing it into the recycling bin?"  Well, I thought about it for a couple of days and here's what I came up with.  I combined two of my favorite things, crafting and gardening, and came up with a junk mail planter.  It's easy to make and a good use of junk mail.

First I took a medium size clay pot and washed it thoroughly.

I painted the exterior with two coats of white craft paint.  Then I took a couple of pieces of junk mail and using a pair of scrap booking scissors, I cut the junk mail into different size pieces.  I used a pair of scissors that left an vvvvvv edge on the paper.  Next I traced around the edges of the paper with different colored permanent markers - this adds a little color.

Using Mod Podge, I glued the pieces of paper onto the clay pot.  I used strips of paper around the top of the pot.  When it was dry, I covered my planter with three coats of Mod Podge.  There you have it.  It only took a few hours to make, and now, I have a really cool planter.

Roasted Cauliflower

I planted three cauliflower plants this year.  Honestly, I only planted three because I didn't really believe they'd grow.  So I was very excited when I ended up with two heads of cauliflower.  I'm the only one in the house who eats cauliflower - not a problem since I love it.  I found a handwritten recipe for roasted cauliflower and thought I'd give it a try.  I wish I could remember where I got the recipe from because I like to give credit where credit is due.  It's a really simple recipe - and it is sooooo good.  I am not exaggerating - if you like cauliflower, you're going to  love this recipe.

Roasted Cauliflower

2 tbs. olive oil

1 head cauliflower (1.5 lbs)

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.  Drizzle a 9" x 13" baking pan with 1 tbs. oil.  Cut the cauliflower vertically into 1/4" thick slices and place in the baking pan.  Drizzle the cauliflower with the remaining olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Bake for 25 - 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Next year, I am definitely planting more cauliflower!

Mardi Gras mask

What's a Mardi Gras celebration without a mask?  I went to Mardi Gras about 10 years ago and bought a mask.  But, like most other things, I figured that I could make one of my own.  So here it is, just in time for Fat Tuesday!

 

I found the pattern for my mask at www.makingfriends.com.  I cut out two masks, one from purple card stock and one from purple fun foam.   Purple is one of my favorite colors!  I glued the purple fun foam to the card stock to reinforce my mask.  Then I decorated my mask with sequins and feathers.  I attached a straw using a paper clip for a handle.  That's it!  It was so easy!

The mask on the left was the one I bought in New Orleans.  The one on the right is the mask I made.

Here's a close-up of my mask.

Plastic Bag (Plarn) Totes

I found an easy way to reuse my plastic grocery bags; I crocheted tote bags out of them.  I found the pattern at www.kaylaksthriftyways.com.  Each of my tote bags took approximately 70 grocery bags.

Before I began to crochet, I needed to cut up my bags and make plarn.

First, I straightened out the bag.

Next, I folded the bag in half and cut off the bottom seam and the handles.

I folded the bag in half again and, using a ruler, I cut the bag into strips.

I got approximately 10 strips from each bag.

Next, I connected the bags together by intertwining them.

I pulled the two bags until they were tightly connected.

I repeated this process until I had a ball of plarn.

Basic Plarn Tote

Gauge:  About 3 sc = 1"

Finished Size:  14" across, 14" high, 8" rise on handles

With size "k" crochet hook and plarn, chain 41.

Round 1:  Sc in 2nd ch from hook and in each ch across.  Do not turn; sc in each unworked loop of ch (40 sc).

Round 2:  Sc in first sc of previous round.  Mark as first sc.  Sc in each sc around.

Repeat Round 2 (44) times.

Work Handles:

On next round:  Sc in next 14 sc.  *Ch 40.  Skip next 12 sc.  Sc in next 2 sc.  Turn, skip next 2 sc, sc in each of 40 ch and next 2 sc.  (Turn, sc in 3rd sc from hook, in next 39 sc of handle, and in next 2 sc of tote) 3 times*, sc in next 22 sc of tote, repeat between **, sc in next 6 sc of tote, sl st in next 2 sc, tie off.

Here are two of my finished bags.  They're functional, strong, and fashionable.

Monthly Update

It's been a few days since I last shared what's going on.  I can hardly believe that it's March already.  I know that February only has 28 days, but please, where did the month go?  I know that at the beginning of the month I said that I was going to concentrate on all the plastic bags laying around my dining room and that I was going to come up with some different storage ideas.  I'm happy to say that I did make progress with the plastic bags and in the next couple of days, I'll share how I used some of them up.  The rest are neatly organized, waiting for my next project.  However, I spent most of February working on a lot of projects that I hope to share in March.  Stay tuned!