It's been a while...

You would think that I would have been posting all summer when I had off from work.  Then, today is my first day back at work and I cook not one, not two, but three meals to get us through the week.  Go figure!  I'm hoping to be more diligent again, but baby steps.  That said, I'm not going to walk you through my recipes, but I will gladly share where I found them! 

First, I made an amazing pasta dish that I found on Pinterest.  If you want to see all of my favorites, stop in and check out my pins.  It's Orecchiette, Broccoli, Mushrooms and Roasted Garlic in a Light Lemon Butter Sauce.  Couple change-ups...as usual.  I couldn't find orecchiette pasta in my food store so I used campanelle instead.  This worked out perfectly because the toasted pine nuts found cozy little homes inside the nook of the noodle.  I love when that happens!  Also, I used all my basil this weekend in paninis so I was looking for something to jazz it up instead.  I topped with a spoonful of ricotta and a drizzle of olive oil...it was perfect!

 The next meal I made was a chicken pot pie.  I have had a serious aversion to chicken since I got pregnant, so this seemed like a salty, creamy, comfy way to disguise it.  I like to take the easy way out with these comfort food recipes so I found this piece of pie recipe.  Unfortunately for me, Ian was talking to me while I was mixing the simple ingredients.  I accidentally threw my egg into the chicken and veggie mix.  No big deal for Ian, really...it's more quiche-y now.  BIG deal for me because I hate quiches.  Ho hum.

The last thing I did was make roasted cauliflower...no biggie.  I used a very simple recipe.  I know how to roast cauliflower, but I liked the sandwich idea on this site, so I went for it.  I did leave out the balsamic vinegar.  Ever since I tried the South Beach diet 8 years ago, I can't stand balsamic vinegar!  So, for lunch this week, we will be having roasted cauliflower and hummus in pita bread.  Sounds kind of blah now that I think of it...I'm going to have to throw some cheese in there, or roasted red peppers! 

So, after my lull, I came back in full force.  Now I have to do some school work.  I guess it's true that you do manage your time better when you have more to do. 

Shutter Headboard, Part 2

It's done! It's done!  Thanks to Ian and his handy skills, we have a truly beautiful headboard.  I won't talk you through the process of how he hung it...I'm not quite sure myself.  But after some TLC, a lot of careful measurements and the help of the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser, we got them all up there.

While Ian worked on the shutters, I hemmed and hung no-sew curtains.  I love those glue strips!  I really wish I could just sew them, but why bother when I can glue them?!

So here they are, close up.

And here's the finished product!  Love it!

I finally feel like our bedroom is done!  Actually, we still need to carpet under the bed and there's a few other things on the to-do list, but it looks so much better than...

and...

Ick, I can't end on that picture, so here's one Ian snapped when we were exploring our yard at sunset.  Ignore the butt, it's the style of the shirt, I swear!  But check out that bump! ...also a little exaggerated by the shirt style, but still exciting!

UPDATE! Our shutter headboard has been featured on Bloggeritaville's Flashback Friday!  Thanks Leigh!

I also linked up with Gluesticks, one of my new craft blogs!

Shutter Headboard, Part 1

Ian and I made a great find at a local barn sale...it was a great barn, brought here piece by piece from Spinnerstown, and then renovated into a beautiful Bucks County home.  Unbelievable!  There were so many great items, including an antique child's drop leaf table and chair set and beautiful egg baskets.  But when we saw these shutters, we knew they were just what we were looking for to make our headboard...finally!  And she gave us a great price!

We measured them and realized that we needed four to fit the width of our bed and fit within the window frames on either side.  Two have a great patina on them and two have lost most of their paint.  It's hard to tell from the pictures, but they're an incredible shade of green and fade to blue on their sides.

Just look at the little wood pegs!  So charming.

Using a stiff brush, I wiped away all of the loose paint chips and dirt.

I'm going to look into whether or not I need to seal or lacquer these to preserve them.  Ian is working on how we're going to hang them to become our headboard.  I'll be sure to post the finished product as soon as it's done!

I almost forgot!  Ian spotted another great find at the barn sale.  He found a white door with the original hardware and a moon cutout.  He likes it because it reminds him of an outhouse door.  I was hesitant at first but it really looks great in our living room!  I'll post a picture soon. IT'S DONE! Click here to see our new headboard!

Grilled Pierogies... hoody hoo!

 Oh my pierogie!  Ever find one of those recipes that you're unsure about but you go for it anyway?  That happened to us today.  In between cleaning out the attic, finishing some antique shutters, putting together a new bistro set, and cleaning up the yard, I tried this recipe from the July/August 2011 Food Network Magazine...Grilled Kielbasa and Pierogies!  Seriously.  The best part, it only took about a half hour to whip up, oh yeah, and it was delicious!  Because I wasn't expecting much from this recipe, I didn't take pictures along the way, but when I saw the finished product I knew I had to blog about it!

In a bowl, mix together 2 tablespoons of coarse whole ground mustard, 2 tablespoons of cider vinegar, and whisk together with olive oil until it's nice a smooth.  

In a bowl, coat 1 pound of pierogies and 6 white onion wedges (cut from one large white onion) in olive oil and some salt and pepper. 

Throw the kielbasa on the grill.  These will cook up in about 8-10 minutes.  When they are cooked about halfway through, add the pierogies and onions to the grill until they get nice grill marks and the onions soften up.  When everything is done, take it all back inside, slice up the kielbasa and chop the grilled onions.  Add everything to the dressing with a little salt and pepper and some chopped fresh parsley.

Delicious!

Sick & Tired of Feeling Sick & Tired

Going into my 12th week, everyone said the queasiness and exhaustion would wear off.  WRONG!  I have been such a slug!  Poor Ian...he has been so busy around the house, running electric, transplanting things around the yard, mulching, doing laundry...and all I do is rest.  I feel awful!  I made a nice dinner last night, which was difficult with the raw meat and the hot, poorly ventilated kitchen (by the way, we have no air conditioning).  And now I'm whining!  See???  I need to find something to keep me busy!

My new obsession with Pinterest has kept me occupied, but immobile and unproductive!  I think I will pick a couple things from my Crafts & DIY board to do this summer.  Perhaps...

Ruler Art

Wouldn't this be great to measure the growth of a little one???  A little early, perhaps, but it would be a nice piece of wall art for now.  I just found the perfect piece of wood in our wood pile! 

Lavender Wreath

I wonder if I could pull this off?

Head Board

I have been meaning to get around to building or buying a headboard but I haven't made any progress, yet.  I think I love this!  Not as much woodwork as I had anticipated and I love the picture ledge!  I wonder if I could sew that pillow?  This may require a new duvet cover.

 

Tiered Cake Stand

I love this cake easy cake stand!  I don't need one, but I just love it!

Glass Etching

I have always wanted to try this!  It looks so easy...I just have to decide what to etch.  Love the water idea.  This may even give me an excuse to buy a Cricut.

Mercury Glass

I absolutely love mercury glass.  I don't know where this new obsession came from, and my collection only consists of two fake candlesticks from Target.  I want more and I can't afford the real thing so this may be a perfect DIY project for me.

Will any of this get done???  We'll have to see.  Every time I think my energy is coming back, I find myself out of breath and laying down with Netflix.  I just want to feel normal again! 

Getting Excited!

It's officially my summer vacation!  While I have a looong list of things to do, I decided to take a few hours to look at baby stuff online.  After a few sitings, it all became very real.  I am sooo excited for Baby Burley's big arrival!  ...long way off, but it's never too early to get ideas!

I love this idea for books!

This would make a lovely night light...wonder how it looks in the day time, though?

Can't you just see a baby crawling all over this!

Perfect for a winter baby!  ...oh, which I'm having!

In love with this for summer...wish my bump was bigger to fill it out.  I still want it.

This will be happening...

If we have a girl, this will be my first purchase!

...and these

First baby blog...guess it's official!

Pinterest Addiction

I realize this isn't a very original post in the blogosphere, but I had to proclaim my own recent addiction to Pinterest.

...true story

When I first came across this site, I thought it was just another way for me to save things I like.  I already use Diigo and Evernote and have more lists than is healthy for one person.  But then I saw a picture of the Pinterest homepage...not the actual homepage because you need to request an invite for an account in order to access all of the pins.  Kind of a bummer...but part of the appeal!

I am a visual person, so this is ideal for me!  Every now and then a browse the Pinterest boards and "repin" things that strike my fancy onto my own boards...I've built quite a few!  Also, when I peruse all of the blogs I follow, I can pin my favorite images to remind myself of something I want to try or fall in love with.  Now, rather than searching through all of the For the Home bookmarks I've saved, waiting for pages to load, and looking for whatever it is I wanted to save in the first place, it's all there laid out for me in an organized visual collage.

Here are clips from some of my boards...

  

My Style

 Nursery

 Crafts & DIY

  Nostalgia

...because it's nice to remember

  Recipes

 Gift Wrap

  Entertaining

  Baby Shower

 For the Home

There's two things that I love about Pinterest.  First, I lack vision when I decorate, shop, entertain, etc.  If I look at the boards that I've created over time, I can get a sense of what I really like and inspire myself!  Also, if friends and family want to join and become your friends on Pinterest, they can look at your boards and learn what you like.  Makes gift-shopping a breeze!  You hear that Mommy???  hint, hint

Why We've Been Away...

Well, it's been about a month since my last post.  There's a few reasons, I guess.  As the school years winds down, things are busier than ever.  As summer beats us with it's cruel heat waves, our lack of air conditioning has made it very unappealing to keep a hot laptop on my lap.  I've been feeling just awful!  Oh, and we've been working on this...



So there it is.  Hopefully central air will be installed soon, the non-alcoholic hangover will go away, and our blog will resume as usual...only with some slightly cuter posts.

Not Quite A Veggie Lasagna

Last week I had the urge to make a veggie lasagna.  I love me a good hearty meal, and this is oober healthy!  You might me saying to yourself, that doesn't look like a lasagna.  I stood in the pasta aisle at the food store looking at the lasagna noodles.  I had nasty flashbacks to the last time I tried to make lasagna...every single one ripped.  All I had left was a bunch of flat jigsawed pasta pieces, barely supporting layers of meat, cheese, and sauce.  I swore I would never make a traditional lasagna again!  So as I stared at those noodles, wondering if I should break my promise to myself...I chickened out and bought rotini.

Now you know me, I always seem to modify recipes...whether it's because I forgot an ingredient or I'm having some kind of wacky craving.  So, as I looked at veggie lasagna recipes (after buying the ingredients) I realized veggie lasagnas typically have white sauces.  Ho hum.  Red it would be. And I love my turkey meat, so this was not quite a veggie lasagna...it just had a lot of veggies in it.

As I boiled the pasta, I browned up some Italian seasoned turkey meat and in a separate pan, cooked all of my veggies... green and yellow zucchini, broccoli, garlic, mushrooms, and shredded carrots.

To the cooked veggies, I added a can of diced tomatoes and some chopped spinach that I thawed out in the microwave...best bargain in the foodstore!  To the meat I added just a little bit of my tomato sauce, just to give a little flavor.

In a separate bowl, I whisked two eggs and mixed in ricotta cheese and some Italian seasoning.  I typically wouldn't add egg, but I was recently told I needed to eat more eggs...at least one a day...so in they went!  I love disguising food in other food.  

Then, I started layering...

A lil' bit of sauce

Some noodles

Ricotta mixture

Veggies

Turkey

Sauce...gotta control my warm colors in this picture!

Mozzarella

Repeat!  Noodles...ricotta...veggies...turkey...sauce...cheese...

At this point I thought I was going to have too much for my baking pan.

But it all fit just right!

This was absolutely delicious!  I'm glad I didn't use the white sauce because I felt like it was just a little healthier.  There was a bit of cheese, but that's calcium, right??? And it made so much food that I was able to eat it for lunch, too!