Square Book/Map Wreath

So my new front door is my enemy! I really really dislike it! It has two windows in it so whoever comes up to the door can see right in! Discussion of what to do regarding those no-privacy windows just kept taking back burner to larger projects.

Until I had this strong crafty pull to make a wreath! I had this great 16x20 frame that I thought I'd put on one side of the door and then make another frame for the other side. And they'd help with visibility into the house from the sidewalk etc..

Here's my quickly painted and a few flowers and a "M' taped on frame.

Then I came across this blog and LOVED the look! so I attempted to duplicate :-)

Supplies

 Book and or Map you will be ok cutting up (I really wanted to use Charlotte's Web or a Dr Seuss, but couldn't make myself cup them up.. so I got a very interesting teen novel for $1 at Goodwill that I had no issues destroying!)
Cardboard- the sturdier the better (as you will see I learned the hard way)
Hot glue gun
Giant paper punch. Mine is 2in scalloped edge but kind of wish I would have gone with the 3in. Buy at JoAnns not Michaels!
a pencil
a piece of ribbon
box cutter

Step 1 Punch out book pages. I was able to get 6 punches per page and I did all 200some pages of the book (really only 100 because front and back..) Did not use all of them. You could probably get away with 50pages...

I did mostly book pages with some map cutouts too.

Traced the frame onto cardboard using a sharpie then cut it out with box cutter.





Step 2 Take pencil end and wrap punched paper around it to form a cup/flower.. whatever you think it looks like. I did a large group of them at a time then hot glued. You could probably glue right after this step but I thought making a ton of paper cups at a time was more time efficient.

Step 3 DON'T BURN YOUR FINGERS! (aka hot glue paper cups down.) I added in some of the maps.. basically just tried to cover all of the cardboard.

I attached a very small ribbon on the top and glued paper over it but so on the back I could thread different ribbon around that ribbon to hang it from... so I could switch out visible ribbon if needed..

And tada.......

(Oh and it's suppose to be a rocking horse, goes with the name of our street.. but Husband informed me couldn't see the bottom of it and "We're not THAT country to have a horse on our front door!")

So it lived there for awhile but what GREAT IDEA I had of the two wreaths (M frame inside and this one outside) did not work out.. They did NOT match up and I was going to need to paint the back of both wreaths! And we kind of have some crazy wind at our house so this poor flimsy cardboard wreath was not holding up to the "wild nature" of Southern Cali! Would work ALOT better to glue onto a frame! Then it could have stayed out front!

So I moved it inside and instead of taking the time and painting both backs to hang back on the door I found it a new home (for now)!

Hope you got inspired!

ENJOY!

Amazing Grilled Sandwiches!

Love Love Love Grill Season!!! (which is most of the time in Southern California) But there is something about those warm early summer days and firing up the grill!
We stumbled across the recipe while trying out the 'one vegetarian meal a week" idea.
Here's the originalrecipe from Allrecipes.com But of course we've changed things up a bit... :-)

Grilled Veggie Sandwiches

1 Red or Yellow or Orange Bell Pepper, cored and pulled apart into two halves
1 Zucchini, sliced longways
1 Yellow Squash, sliced longways
Half Red Onion, sliced
Mushrooms, if desired, either buttons sliced or Portabellas- they would make a pretty hearty huge sandwich
Loaf of Really Yummy Bread- (we normally go the focaccia route) sliced horizontally and vertically
Feta Cheese, crumbed
Pesto
Olive Oil for drizzling

Preheat grill to medium high.

Brush veggies and grill grate with oil. Place veggies on grill about 3min each side. Watch carefully though some may cook alot faster! (when I do mushrooms I do them inside in a saute pan and just saute with some garlic powder and pam spray)

(you can see the kids' ham and cheese side, but we did veggies

on their other side. Also added some parm cheese this time too!)

Place bread on cookie sheet. Spread both sides of bread with pesto. Pile on veggies (one side or both- sometimes hard to put together if on both sides) Top with feta. Pop them under the broiler for a few mins (could also put back on grill)

and ENJOY!!!

Sorta Soba Bowl

I really enjoyed watching Rachael Ray when I became a newly stay at home mom. She has such great recipes and understands the need to make a quick healthy meal. I don't get much time to watch her show now (Kids keep me too busy for that!) But we have some favorites of hers that we always come back to.

Sorta Soba Bowl
 Feeds 4-6 Adults

1lb of whole wheat spaghetti (we normally have a ton of leftover noodles but I freeze them or use them up         the following days)
2tbs vegetable oil- basically a few turns in the pan to help with sticking
1 onion diced
2+cloves of garlic-chopped
3 "handfuls" of store bought shredded carrots- I don't shredded my own carrots- more power to you if you do!
10ish shiitake mushrooms- thinly chopped
1 large zucchini, cut into half moons then sliced 1/2-inch thick
1 large bok choy or 3 baby boks- (remove middle part if using large bok choy) chop
6 cups of stock -chicken or veggie works

Topping
1/4cup toasted sesame seeds
1/2tbs ground coriander
1/2tbs chili powder
cayenne pepper- just a pinch depending on how spicy

Soy Sauce

Bring a large pot of water to a boil for the noodles. Once it boils add some salt and the noodles and cook until al dente- try not to overcook.

While water is boiling for noodles, swirl veg oil in a large soup pan/pot over medium heat. Add onion, garlic and carrots. Cook until onions start to get tender (4-5mins)

Add mushrooms, zucchini and bok choy- cook for another 2-3mins. Add stock and bring to a simmer for 5mins.

In a small bowl mix topping ingredients together- reserve for a garnish for soup.

Take cooked noodles and drain. Toss with a little veg oil and place in individual bowls. Drizzle some soy sauce over the noodles. Then pour veggie soup over noodles. Top with sesame seed topping.

For our little ones, I leave off the spicy topping and just sprinkle regular sesame seeds on theirs. I also serve it with forks and spoons for them. I, myself, use just a fork. We have left it vegetarian before but have also added shrimp and/or chicken to it. If chicken, I will marinate the chicken in some soyaki (from trader joes) or just some regular teriyaki sauce. Then bake in marinade and shred or dice cooked chicken and add into soup last minute.

Enjoy!

Bbq ribs!

Best ribs! Rub recipe makes a ton, but we normally make the whole rub then keep it on hand. Think its lasts us 3 times... So you could half or third it.
Takes some planning since it is best starting it the night before-though we've done it last min too.

2-3 racks of ribs-i like pork, we normally get them from costco.
1 cup bbq sauce

RUB
1tbs of each
Garlic powder
Onion powder
Salt
Dry mustard
Ground black pepper
1/2 cup paprika-normally thats a whole jar
1 cup brown sugar

Night BEFORE mix rub and apply all over ribs. Wrap in plastic wrap and put back in fridge.
Grill ribs indirect heat (or 350 oven) for 90 mins. I normally flip mine to get grill marks.
baste with bbq sauce-all sides and cook 30 mins longer. Again I'm a flipper..
Then slice up and enjoy! So yummy!

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ABC's of Me

ABC's of Me

A. Age: 27, though my older brother and I agree I act more like 31 than he does!

B. Bed size: Queen.. keep talking about a king, but who knows when..
C. Chore you hate: ALL!!
D. Dogs: Rex 1year old 80lbs husky/german shepard

E. Essential start to your day: Shower- I don't function well without one
F. Favorite color: Green
G. Gold or silver: silver
H. Height: 5’5”
I. Instruments you play: nothing really
J. Job title: stay at home mom, thanks to my wonderful husband!
K. Kids: 2 very strong willed little ones. Lil Mis 5 this summer and Lil Man almost 2.5
L. Live: In the sunshine- Southern California

M. Mom’s name: Minnette
N. Nicknames: Megs, Mommy
O. Overnight hospital stays: having babies and Lil Mis' open heart surgery (18 days!!)
P. Pet peeve: chewing gum, bragging about their kids nonstop (a little is fine here and there)

Q. Quote from a movie: no idea.?.. I'm on kid mode.. "BEST DAY EVER!"
R. Right or left handed: Right.
S. Siblings: older brother
T. Time you wake up: when the kids (or dog) wakes me up.. around 6:30 normally
U. Underwear: Yes... I wear underwear...
V. Vegetables you dislike: No.. not really.. I grew up in a home where artichokes, mushrooms, salads were the norm
W. What makes you run late: Kids.. always the kids..
X. X-Rays you’ve had: broken arm.. 5th grade maybe?!?!
Y. Yummy food you make: ALL! :-)
Z. Zoo – favorite animal: little tiny monkeys that are active while we're there.. love watching any animal play at the zoo. Polar Bears too, when they are out...

Well ENJOY getting to know me a little better...

Vegetable Id Posts

We finally got our garden planted! I am so excited to plant our garden in the ground this year! It's been in containers for the past 2 years and I am really hoping it just takes over out there.

I thought it would be cute to have little stakes that said which vegetables were what, especially since we started most from seeds. I had some craft popsicle sticks laying around, picked up a sharpie and some markers and wrote down what the veggies were. So proud of myself and then..... fast forward to when my husband watered the garden for the first time and sure enough my markers were not waterproof.. :-(

Did a little googling and found DIY: Garden Stakes. SOOO CUTE!!!

It was a project I did outside while the kids were playing. They even came over and helped with the first coat of paint.

These were my colors.. really wanted yellow but didn't have enough

You can tell that the Lowe's side was hard to cover- but it's only on one side.

She says to use a paint pen to write the types.. Had no idea what a paint pen was or where to find it, but they are locked up at Michaels.. sharpie brand is what I picked up- also called a poster pen. Just FYI..

There's my little basil plant!

Say What?!

I don't know about you, but every time a holiday comes up I google to find a new recipe geared towards that holiday. So we had just moved into our new house and St Patricks Day approaching fast. We decided not to really celebrate since we had so much going on. But let me tell you, this holiday is one of my husband's favorite! He's a huge corned beef fan!

St Patty's Day morning I searched stores trying to find a corned beef and a place that had cabbage left! Finally found both! Already had russet potatoes at home and figured kids would enjoy mashed better than in the pot with corned beef.

Searching AllRecipies I found a group of recipes called "colcannon". Had no idea what it was, but it said that it's traditional Irish side dish.. that sold me.. plus I already had everything on hand!! So tried it out and the kids devoured it!! LOVED IT!! Best part is, it has "hidden" vegetables in it! Tried to keep the fat low and opted out the bacon.

Menke's Colcannon
2 1/2 lbs of potatoes
1/2 of a head of cabbage- finely chopped
1 onion chopped
large handful of shredded carrots
1/4cup milk
1/4cup blue cheese dressing (if not a blue cheese fan sub in more milk)
1 tbs of butter
salt and pepper to taste

So basically you are making mashed potatoes. Bring a pot of water to boil and add the potatoes. Boil until tender.

In a saute pan pour a swirl of olive oil, heat to medium high. Add in cabbage, onion, carrots. Saute until cabbage is soft.

Drain potatoes and mash with milk, dressing, and butter. Then add in cabbage mix and salt and pepper to taste.

ENJOY!