Office to Bedroom Project

When we moved into our house, the master bedroom was downstairs.  There’s a hall bath connected to it.  So, I guess it was technically meant to be the master bedroom.  Over the years, and two kids later, we moved to the large bedroom upstairs and added a closet so we could be near the kids.  The downstairs room was converted to an office as we both began telecommuting.

My knees have been getting worse as I get older, and it’s time to move back downstairs.

For now, I’m working on packing up everything in the office and trying to imagine the reclaimed space as a bedroom.

 

Pam’s Super Easy Dirty Rice

INGREDIENTS

1-2 lbs. ground beef
2 cups dry rice – cook according to directions (you’ll get 4 cups of cooked rice)
1 envelope of Biscuit Gravy (plain) or you can buy the mix with black pepper in it

Garlic salt or pepper

Onion flakes

If you like it spicy you can add Cajun seasoning or Red Pepper Flakes

 

DIRECTIONS

Cook ground beef in the crockpot for 3-4 hours. Stirring occasionally so it doesn’t become a big lump.  Add the seasonings to the beef while cooking them. (This makes the ground beef extremely tender – better than browning in the fry pan.)

About 20 minutes before you’re ready to eat, cook the rice and make the gravy mix.

Strain the fat from the ground beef and put meat back in the crock pot. Add the gravy and mix well. Now toss the rice in and coat well with gravy/meat mixture.

This makes a big batch.  Enough to feed our family of 4 for 2-3 meals.  So it’s great for a big crowd, or for leftovers.

Serve with your favorite vegetable.

Mini Kitchen Project

So, after nearly 20 years using the same ugly set of pots and pans, I broke down and bought a new “pretty” set.  I got the entire set on Wayfair for $120 and they’re a pretty blue.  But, even if I get rid of all the old pots, there’s still not enough cupboard space (9×8 galley kitchen) to store them all.

I’ve had an idea for awhile now that I should hang a pot rack above my kitchen sink.  There’s a recessed area because of the garden window.  And I had an Ikea Bygel towel bar and some S hooks that I’d bought a couple of years ago that never got used for their intended purpose.  I enlisted my husband’s help to determine where there was enough wood to support the weight of the pot rack and we hung the towel bar on the garden window header.  I had to use 2 S hooks for each pan to get them to face the correct way to “stack” the pans so that more would fit on the rail.

Here’s the before and after pictures of the project.

And here’s the completed project:

Potato Soup Recipe

Cheesy Beer Potato Soup

Prep and cooking time – about 60 minutes (includes peeling and cubing the potatoes)

NOTE: I cooked this in my Dutch Oven on top of the stove.

Ingredients
4 large potatoes (cubed)
3 cups water (just enough to cover the potatoes to cook)
salt to taste
Minced onion (I used the dry ones)
1 can of beer
2 cups of heavy whipping cream
2-3 cups of Medium Cheddar – shredded

Cover the potatoes with water and bring to a boil. Then turn the heat down to med-high and cook for 20-30 minutes. Check to see when they’re soft enough to mash.

Mash potatoes – it will soak up most of the remaining water. Now add the beer and minced onion and let it start to simmer. Then add the cream. Do not boil – just warm up the cream. Once the cream is warm, add the cheese and stir in so that it will melt. I let it simmer for about another 10 minutes (long enough to cook crescent rolls) and then serve.

Top with more shredded cheese, and chopped up bacon.  (Note:  You can use chicken stock instead of beer if you don’t like beer.)

YUM!!!

Christmas Planning

I wanted a cute Christmas Wish List to print out for my kids this year.  I’ve had a hard time finding one, so I decided to create my own.  I’m sharing it here.  Please feel free to download and use it for your personal use.

Click on link below for .pdf file.

Christmas Wish List

Purple Clematis

                    

             

These lovely purple flowers are next to my back porch.

My Backyard Flowers

                    

The roses in my backyard are exploding this year.  I especially love the bright pink roses.

Memory Wall details

a – Memories Sign – made by me

b – Antique photo frame with my paternal grandfather’s baby photos

c – CM Photo Panel – photo of my paternal grandparents on my grandfather’s police motorcycle – a Harley – from 1935, the week they met

d – the two “altered” photo frames – left photo Paul’s family, right photo – 4 generations photo of me with my mom, grandma and great grandma

e – CM Everyday Display

f – Reflections Memory Tray (from Michael’s) – I still have “stuff” to add to it

g – photo ledge from IKEA – for my punches

h – magnet board from IKEA – Layout Ideas

i – CM calendar that I made with photos of Chihuly Art exhibit

My Memory Wall

It’s taken over a week, but I finally have all the photos and frames placed the way I want them. I think it just makes my new scrapping “nook” perfect.

Jazzing up picture frames

I did another “crafty” project for my Memory wall.  I found these two photo frames at Hobby Lobby.  I liked the distressed wood look, but wanted them to match the other colors on the wall.  So, I used a bit of the turquoise craft paint and dry-brushed the frames.  They went from this to this: