Absence makes the heart grow fonder???.....

Wow! I have been absent from my blog for a very long time! So much has happened since last summer and we have been through a lot! My family always comes first and that has where my entire energy has been devoted to. We have made it through the storm and can see the sun behind the clouds. We will survive and move forward!

Now on to what I've been working on lately. Purge, clean, organize and prep... prep? Yep, that's what I said! We have bug out bags and I've been slowly stocking those up with essentials. Also stocking up on water and food. I no longer have a guest bedroom it has been turned into my craft/storage room. Home Depot had shelving units for $35 that where so easy to assemble myself and I bought totes with lids. Plus I had about five bags of trash and a couple that went to Goodwill.

Why am I doing this? Well I'm getting prepared for next year. Next year my son graduates and its up in the air where we will all be after that. More then likely I'll be traveling with my husband due to his job and our son might or might not be staying in our home. I want to make the transition easier by starting now. I have too much JUNK! Junk and stuff that is not necessary and takes up space and I really do not want to move this JUNK to a new place. Really, why keep things that are doing you absolutely no good. I'm sorting and keeping important stuff but the rest is outta here!

After this weekend (crossing my fingers) when my son and I clean and organize his things all I'll have left is the work shop. We plan on condensing everything into totes with lids and out of boxes, throwing (hopefully) a lot away or donating. Buying more shelving units and try to keep it more organized. Somehow the work shop ends up in this discarded mess that is overwhelming! Maybe we can stop that!

Soon I'll have some pictures of my prepping, organizing and the furniture pieces I'll be doing for a friend. In the mean time I hope to try and keep this blog going. Not giving up just yet! :)

Summer Hiatus?

This summer has been anything but normal. It started off great with a mini vacation to New Mexico and Carlsbad Caverns.

It was straight down!! Huge cavern that was so beautiful!

Then a few nights up in Roswell and some funny encounters.

 My son got his drivers license in June and then July 5th he drove his car into a dry creek.

 It was a total loss and thankfully he walked away with only a few bumps and a broken front tooth. In one week we bought him another car and us a new truck. My hubby had all his lower teeth extracted and lower dentures put in. He had the uppers done already but he says this is horrible and hurts way worse then the top. Now its two weeks till school starts and I finally got school clothes bought. Its just been one thing after another and hopefully with school starting and fall on its way (eventually) maybe things can go back to normal.

I did have one cool thing happen... I was published! HAHA! I submitted this picture I took of a storm rolling in over our hospital to our local newspaper and it made the front page!

I sure miss those storms right about now. Here in Texas you don't see much rain during the summer. We do have a cold front moving in and the highs are expected to only be in the 90's... I miss the 90 degree temps!

Lovely round table

Usually I find myself browsing the local antique shops. Somehow I came across a booth who I assume must be leaving the shop for this poor lonely table was the one and only thing to occupy its space.

For sale $20 the price tag screamed... yet I walked away. All night the thoughts of what to do with such a table rattled my brain. The next morning I woke up and fixed a big glass of iced coffee and sat down with my laptop. I went through my Pinterest trying to think of something. Eventually I bit the bullet and went back to buy the table. I came home and sanded her down and got her all cleaned up. Finally deciding what my plan of attack was I came up with this....

I painted the bottom a dark chocolate brown and the top a nice cream. Then she sat again while I figured out exactly what to do with the top. I knew I wanted something to personalize it more.

I have a metal "S" that sits on a shelf in the living room and I traced out every bit of detail on to the table. Then with a tiny paint brushed filled it all in. She is still needs another coat of poly but wow am I so happy with the result! Now I have a new side table for the living room! I love how things work themselves out :)

I'm sharing this at :
Miss Mustard Seed-Furniture Feature Friday

Shopping adventures

Recently my hubby and me went browsing through several stores. There is one in particular that I love in our small town mall. I see so many things in this store that I see people do on blogs its not even funny. Specially when we are talking prices. WOW they are expensive! But there are so many things I love!
Lets start off with these cute bunnies...

$25 each.. hmm wonder if I can find some bunnies at the dollar store like I did the pumpkins back in the fall. Betcha I could!

Rooster $25 and the beehive cake stand which I soooo love is $65. Rooster same thing goes try to find some thing cheaper to just modge podge .. the cake stand I'd probably have to bite the bullet and just buy it! 

This adorable small dresser was $199... you can find stamp things at Graphics Fairy online and apply it yourself to a piece of furniture. I'm hoping to do this soon!

This is a rustic bar my hubby was taking a look at for $599. Maybe find a piece of furniture for the bottom and build the top yourself. And that's what he said he wanted to do. Eventually! 

So many things to look at and so many cheaper methods to do it. I'm ready to jump in and get started!

Olive dresser

A friend recently moved back to New York and left me some goodies! A dresser with matching headboard and night stand and a huge wooden end table. I began with the dresser first, my son asked for this to be in his room so he picked out the color.

Your basic blonde color bedroom set

He picked out an olive color which I was a little worried how it would turn out but it ended up a beautiful color for a teenage boys room.

I stained the top and painted the bottom. But the stain didn't do so well on those side pieces. Of course that bugs me to no end but my son is very happy with it. And that is what matters most!

Camp Recipes

Next in my camping series the best part... food! 

First tip cut and bag your veggies before you even leave! Foods like onions, bell peppers and carrots can be cut ahead of time put in zip-lock baggies and toss in the cooler. Form large hamburger meat patties into zip-lock bags too. Remember these will shrink some and its best to get a higher cut to cut back on grease. Cook up your chicken ahead of time too. Chicken takes forever on an open fire or those standing grills, best to be safe. Plus it saves you cooking time!

Have yourself a camp meal planner. Say you will be staying two nights…

Night one- Foil Packet Dinner

Dessert- banana boats

Next day

Breakfast - breakfast burritos

Lunch- sandwiches, chips and fruit

Dinner- bbq chicken fajitas

Dessert- S'more buffet

Last day breakfast- Omelet in a bag

Lunch- sandwiches, chips and fruit

Then usually you pack up and head back home! J

Foil cooking tips

Foil packet dinner-

Ground hamburger meat patty

Potatoes

Onions

Carrots

Mushrooms

Season salt

Pepper

butter

Lay down a large piece of foil place one hamburger patty.

On top place some sliced potato, onion, carrot and mushrooms. Sprinkle with season salt and pepper place tablespoon of butter. Fold the foil up pocket style and seal the edges well. Toss on the grill and cook 20 or so minutes per side.  My kids usually liked a little ketchup with this once it was done.

source

Banana Boats-

Banana’s

Toppings- chocolate chips, marshmallows, peanut butter or strawberry jam.. your favorite toppings

Slit each banana lengthwise through the peel, making sure not to cut all the way through to the other side. Then stuff with yummy things such as , chocolate chips, marshmallows even peanut butter or strawberry jam.

Wrap each banana with foil and set on the grill for about 5 minutes allowing enough time for the chocolate to melt. Open carefully they will be hot and eat with a spoon.

Breakfast Burrito-

1 package large flour tortillas

6 eggs

1lb breakfast sausage or bacon whatever you prefer

onion

bell pepper

shredded cheese

Wrap the tortillas flat in foil and place on part of the grill with less flame, flip every so often. Cook the sausage in a pan until no longer pink. Remove to a bowl. In same pan saute the onion and bell pepper until tender. Then add the eggs and scramble. Return the sausage to the pan and toss. Lay a tortilla on a plate, spoon the sausage/ egg filling to one side and top with cheese. Roll up just once over filling then fold in two sides then continue rolling. Helps hold all the good stuff inside. Serves 4 or 5 people. My gang can eat a lot of these. I usually cook double.

BBQ Chicken Fajita-

With these I usually cook the chicken ahead of time on the grill at home. Then put in a zip-lock bag and freeze. By this time I'm exhausted from the heat and a day on the water. Its a great quick filling meal!

source

Chicken breast

BBQ sauce

Onion

Bell Pepper

Large flour tortillas 

Cheese

Cut up the onion and bell pepper in long strips. Put in a pan with a tablespoon of butter and saute till tender crisp. Place chicken in a large zip-lock bag and using a wooden mallet or rolling pin beat and flatten. Remove from bag and sprinkle a little salt and pepper then lay on the grill. Once the chicken is no longer pink brush on bbq sauce and cook for another minute per side. Layer chicken, veggies and cheese on tortillas and serve. You could also grill some fresh corn to go along with this. Just make sure you allow the corn to soak in water for about an hour before grilling.

S'more Buffet-

I found this pic on pinterest and it came from My Recipes. Cute idea! With some new twist on ingredients!

Omelet in a bag-

source

Basically is what it says. 

You will need- 

Zip-lock baggies

Eggs

Cheese

Ham

Water

 Bring a large pot of water to boil. Crack eggs into a bowl add salt and pepper and whisk together. Dump the eggs into the baggies along with ham and cheese. Press out all the air and seal the bag. Place into boiling water for 12-15 minutes. Carefully remove from water. Top with more cheese if you like J

Simple and fast but good! That is what its all about when camping!

Beef and Broccoli Stir-fry

Mmmhmm another great recipe! Fast and good! I doubled the sauce which did help coat all the broccoli. I also added thin sliced fresh carrots. Deeliteful! :)

Beef and Broccoli Stir-fry

3 tablespoons cornstarch , divided

1/2 cup water , plus

2 tablespoons water , divided

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1 lb boneless round steak or 1 lb charcoal chuck steak , cut into thin 3-inch strips

2 tablespoons vegetable oil , divided

4 cups broccoli florets

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 small onion , cut into wedges

1/3 cup soy sauce

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 teaspoon ground ginger

hot cooked rice

Directions:

1-In a bowl, combine 2 tablespoons cornstarch, 2 tablespoons water and garlic powder until smooth.

2-Add beef and toss.

3-In a large skillet or wok over medium high heat, stir-fry beef in 1 tablespoon oil until beef reaches desired doneness; remove and keep warm. (Don't over cook the meat or it will be tough)

4-Stir-fry broccoli and onion in remaining oil for 4-5 minutes.

5-Return beef to pan.

6-For the sauce combine soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger and remaining cornstarch and water until smooth; add to the pan.

7-Cook and stir for 2 minutes. It will thicken fast so get it quickly tossed around to coat everything.

8-Serve over rice.