Ugly Wire Shelves

Lately I have been looking around our home at areas I feel need organizing or a serious face lift. I love organizing and finding ways to make our home look better but I love doing these things without spending a ton of money. The Dollar Tree has been a great resource and helps me save tons of money when it comes to organizing and Pinterest has been an even better tool when it comes to DIY. One of the areas I felt needed a face lift was the wire shelving in our kitchen pantry area. I hated those wire shelves. Nothing ever sat flat on them due to the openings and my items would fall through or tilt. So I went to Pinterest to find a solution. The solution was DIY shelving made out of foam board and contact paper all from the Dollar Tree!!

I also picked up some labels and baskets from the dollar tree as well as some clear canisters from Walmart to organize my items.

This DIY project did require some measuring so I let my hubby do that part. He measured the shelves so he could cut the foam board to fit seamlessly. After he finished cutting out the faux shelves, I wrapped each one in gray and white contact paper and placed them on each individual shelf. I now had a flat surface to place all of my baskets and items on. I loved the way it turned out and this project cost me under 10 bucks! I hope this simple and savvy project inspires you to tackle an area in your home thats in need of a facelift.

Fried Bananas

I bought a few bunches of bananas from Aldi a few days ago. They usually run about 37 cents a pound so I usually grab a yellow bunch and a green bunch. Today I saw the bananas sitting in my fruit basket and thought, hmm…why not fry up some bananas today? I can be sporadic like that when it comes to cooking. It wasn’t on the meal plan calendar but it was something I wanted to try. I told the hubby and he helped me brainstorm a good batter recipe to coat the bananas in. I looked in our pantry and we had everything I needed minus the club soda so I looked up an alternative recipe that didn’t require club soda. I found one that substituted ice-cold water for the club soda. I had plenty of that so I was ready to get started. I was so ready and eager that I forgot to take pictures of the process. Sorry. Although I don’t have pictures, I must say this is such an easy recipe and it took literally 5 minutes to prepare and 4 to 5 minutes to fry the bananas. I was thrilled and so happy with the way the fried bananas turned out. I took them out of the grease and tossed them in cinnamon and sugar and placed some vanilla ice cream on the side of my plate and viola…dessert was served!

Ingredients

1 cup of self-rising flour

2 tsps of baking powder 

1 tbsp of sugar 

Ice cold water 

Cooking oil for frying
Bananas

Coating Ingredients:

Cinnamon
Sugar


Directions

Sift dry ingredients in a bowl.

Add ice cold water. Add enough to bring mixture to the consistency of pancake batter.
Batter should not be too runny and it's ok if there are a few small lumps.
Break your banana(s) into whatever size you desire.
Dip each banana in the batter mixture, dropping them into heated oil one at a time.
Cook for about 4 to 5 minutes or until golden brown. Turning them once if needed.
Remove from grease and toss in cinnamon and sugar mixture

Serve with ice cream and enjoy the sweet crunch! YUM!!

Homemade Chicken and Dumplings

For the past few days I have been fighting off a cold. I have been doing everything I know to do because I can’t afford to get sick and I don’t want my babies sick either. So I have been drinking tons of orange juice, taking maximum strength meds, popping cod liver oil pills, and resting when I can. With children it can be kinda hard to rest. I honestly don’t know what a full eight hours of sleep feels like anymore since becoming a mom. It’s amazing how we as moms learn to go with the flow and adjust to this wonderful yet crazy thing called motherhood. I am thankful that I have help because I have been able to get some rest and eat some good ole comfort food.

Yesterday I decided I wanted to give my mother-in-law’s chicken and dumplings recipe a try. She invited me over to her house a month ago to bake and cook and we had so much fun. We baked lemon squares and pecan bars. Her desserts are some of the best on this side of heaven. So delicious!!

 

After we finished tasting our treats, I mentioned that I had never eaten chicken and dumplings before. I know. Don’t gasp. Yep, I have never eaten this southern comfort dish because I never liked the way it looked and I also didn’t like the idea of eating dough that had been dropped in hot broth. I eat with my eyes like most people and the pots of chicken and dumplings I had seen in the past were not that appealing so it’s just one of those dishes I steered clear of. After explaining this to my mother-in-law, she insisted that I try hers. She had some broth in the freezer and a whole roasted chicken in the fridge so we were set to go. She showed me how to make the dough for the dumplings and I dropped them into the simmering broth one by one. It smelled delicious but I still wasn’t sold. Once they were done, I grabbed a bowl full and sat down to see what I supposedly had been missing out on. I took one bite and guys I devoured everything in the bowl. I couldn’t believe I had misjudged such a delicious dish. Although hers looked more appealing than the ones I had come across in the past. It was so scrumptious! I had my niece text me the recipe so I could try it at home with the hubby. He loves chicken and dumplings and I wanted to add this dish to our meal-planning menu. He was so happy when I told him how much I loved one of his favorite meals.

So, what better time to make chicken and dumplings than when a girl is trying to fight off a cold? We unthawed some chicken thighs we had in the freezer, grabbed some white wine, onions, garlic, thyme and other spices and threw it all in the pot to create a delicious broth/home for our dumplings. 

While the chicken was boiling, I mixed up the ingredients for the dumplings and let our toddler help me knead and roll the dough out. Once the chicken was done I took those soft pieces of dough and dropped them in the broth a few at a time. Does anyone else like the way dough feels? I love making dough and love how soft it looks and feels.

After cooking the dumplings in the broth for about 20 minutes I was ready to chow down. I must say, it wasn’t as good as my mother-in-laws but I love a challenge and I will be sure to get as close to hers as I can next time.

 Recipe for dumplings:

Ingredients

1 cup of flour

1 tsp of baking powder 

Half tsp of salt

Half a stick of butter (cut butter into squares) 

Directions

Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in bowl

Mix butter into flour using a dough blender

Add milk until mixture scrapes away from the bowl and is sticky

Kneed dough on well floured surface 

Roll out until thin

Cut into long strips 

Take a strip and break into pieces of your desired size and drop into broth 

Boy oh BOY!

So I recently gave birth to an almost 10lb baby boy! His weight and height explained why I had so much pain while pregnant with him. My pregnancy with him was totally different from when I was pregnant with our daughter. When I was pregnant with our daughter I literally had zero sick days, no pain, no nausea…nothing. I was so happy and I felt good the entire pregnancy. Some days I was tired but that was usually because I was doing any and everything my hands could find to do. I felt so good I continued to do my everyday normal activities plus some! Her birth on the other hand, was a tad bit different. It was chaotic but my recovery was great with her. No pain or pain meds. I did have a bit of the baby blues in the beginning due to the sudden changes in hormones but with prayer and support I was over that in no time.

Now, with our son, my pregnancy was the total opposite. I was so sick. Sick all of the time. My face broke out, I had things growing in the weirdest places, and I was in so much pain in my pelvis and hip area. There were days that I literally sat in bed and cried and couldn’t do anything because I was so sick. This did a number on my psyche because I am a busy bee. I love working. I love working on projects, being productive, and being active. I didn’t have the energy or strength some days to do anything and that was so depressing and frustrating. I remember crying one day and asking myself why I decided to get pregnant again. Now keep in mind, after having our daughter, I loved being pregnant and often would tell my family how I missed being pregnant. I think it was just the constant sickness that had me in a state of delirium. During the pregnancy with our son my husband had to cook and pick up the slack. The house was a cluttered mess because organization is my strong suit not my husbands, so there was stuff everywhere that needed to be unpacked and put in place. So needless to say, I was so over it all. Lol.

Well fast-forward to today and I am back to my normal self, in fact I am even better. All of the down time I had before having our son and after gave me a lot of time to pray more, seek the Lord more, brainstorm, organize my ideas and goals, and dive into Pinterest more. I have finally adjusted to having two and our home is the most organized it has ever been. The only thing I am still trying to get used to is having a BOY. People tell me all of the time how blessed I am to have a boy and girl. I literally prayed for a big and fat baby boy and I got just what I asked for. The thing is, I am such a girly girl and so is our daughter. Our daughter is so prissy, so dainty, and into all things girl. 

Miss all things girly...she has so much personality 😊

He is soo different from our first-born as to be expected but I guess I wasn’t mentally prepared lol. He isn’t as chill as she was… to be honest he is bit of a cry baby at times. He is a big boy who has an even bigger appetite.  He is always hungry and seems to never be satisfied no matter how much we feed him. Our daughter on the other hand is a light eater, a neat eater (since a baby she was a neat eater, she never liked messes), and she was low maintenance. Our son on the other hand is a messy eater and very active. He is way more active than our daughter. We can tell he is going to be adventurous. He is already walking around the house like a pro in his walker, he can pull-up on things, he NEVER liked being held like a baby but preferred sitting straight up or standing. He likes to rock, move, roll, scoot, walk, grab things, pull things, and he loves to be played with roughly. He loves being on the go. He fusses if you take too long feeding him his baby food. He is truly a male with lots of testosterone. 

Although our baby boy is helping me grow in patience and understanding, he is the sweetest baby boy ever. He has the gentlest eyes and a smile that warms our hearts. His laugh is the cutest and he already has lots of charm. I am so proud to be his mommy and if I could do it all over again…the pregnancy sickness and the hip pain that I still have from time to time….I would do it again in a heartbeat because having our baby boy makes it all worth it.

Pacifier holder I made for our little  big baby boy 

Buttered brioche buns and smoked Gouda

 The title of this blog post makes my mouth water all over again. Anyways, I hope you had a lovely weekend. I spent most of the weekend resting and trying to fight off a cold. I am determined kick this colds butt and feel 100 percent better. So, I spent most of the weekend resting, drinking orange juice, and taking meds. I did make time to cook quesadilla’s Friday but I was too tired to cook anything Saturday. Thankfully the husband stepped in and cooked a scrumptious meal for us to feast on. During my last mini grocery haul I picked up some really fresh brioche buns from Aldi. I had some ground beef in the freezer that I separated into one-pound balls and then flattened into rectangles and placed in freezer bags. I like to flatten and freeze the meat like this because we tend to like the way Wendy’s serves their burgers. Their burgers are rectangle in shape and not too thick. So when we feel like having a burger we just pull out one of the Ziploc bags, which has the right amount of meat we need to make burgers. Simple.

Had to add this pic...look at those cute little fingers...little crumb snatcher

The burgers were so delicious and juicy! We like our burgers medium to medium well. Tip for keeping your burgers juicy is to not press it with the spatula while it cooks. Pressing the burger as it cooks will press all of the juice out of it. The hubby got this really good char on them and he topped some burgers with smoked Gouda and a special garlic mayo sauce and one burger he topped with sharp cheddar. The sharp cheddar burger was for me! I love sharp cheddar. He fried up some crinkled fries. Most of the time we cut up potatoes and fry them up but he didn’t feel like cutting up potatoes & I didn’t care. I was hungry and ready to eat. J

Burgers are really a quick and simple meal that you can make as fancy as you want. You can add sautéed mushrooms or you can do a Greek style burger by adding feta, roma tomatoes, romaine lettuce, red onions, & Tazikis sauce. Burgers are so versatile and can be tailored to fit whatever your tastes buds are craving that day. Hope you feel inspired to think outside of the box and spice up your burger a bit.

Menu Details

Brioche buns are $1.99 at Aldi

Roma Tomatoes are $1.49 for a bag (lb)

Smoked Gouda is $1.99 at Aldi