Dinner, darnit

I could kick myself at the end of every dinner. This is the conversation I end up having with myself as I am rinsing dishes in the sink.
"Crap."
"I forgot to take a picture."
"Crap."
"These blogs would be much more interesting with photos. Any ideas on remembering? I keep the camera downstairs until I need to take it upstairs to upload it. There is stays.
Anyway.
Tuesday I made chopped salad. I used a fancy tool from Pampered Chef called a salad chopper. It's like a huge pair of scissors. I loved chopped salad. I always serve it with frozen garlic bread sticks that cook in just 4 minutes.
Wednesday, I had leftovers....wait for it.....shredded pork mixed with salsa served over top of rice and a side of turnip greens. Of course, Nate had already eaten because he almost threw up when he saw my plate. I love to mix foods and try new things. Anyone can mix shredded pork with barbecue, but I've tried spaghetti sauce, salsa, pizza sauce and sauerkraut. I find that a combo of new and interesting flavors is better than the same old tired meal.
Tonight, I am making two batches of brownies for the classes that have behaved this week and kept their brownie points. It's been a long week, but I think we all need the reward of brownies and a movie.

Cold weather food

Soup season is almost over. As much as I love winter, I am ready for some warmth and sunshine. I think that my emotions need it.
But since it's here, I took advantage of the cold weather and made some soup in the slow cooker yesterday. I am still learning how to make thick soup. All of my batches are always thin.
I attempted to make corn chowder. I added a can of creamed corn to the crockpot. In a skillet, I cooked some bacon, then added diced potatoes and onions with a little water until the potatoes were cooked to a little soft. I added butter for some flavor. I dumped the skillet's contents into the slow cooker. I added evaporated milk (probably why it's not thick) and a cup of chicken broth. It didn't look chunky enough, so I added some frozen corn. I cooked it on low ALL day. The bacon and chicken broth made for a great flavor, but I wasn't satisfied with the texture. I'll work on that next time.

Getting the most out of your wardrobe

I talked Saturday about my large number of clothes. Over the years I have shared my tips for keeping your old wardrobe new...but I wanted to share them here.

A while back, I read that wearing the same color of different shades in an outfit was a good way to add some pop. That was when layering was in (but when isn't it?). So, I organized my closet by color. All the shades of red were together and all the grays and blacks. I put bright colors near bright colors and neutrals near neutrals.

When that got old, I organized it by type. All the pants were together, all the sweaters were together and all the hoodies occupied the same space. I kept the button down shirts together and all the "fancy" tops in the same area. All the short sleeves mingled with their like counterparts. I know if I need a cardigan to go over a short-sleeved shirt to keep me warm, that I can choose the best color by seeing them all at one time. This system helps me know exactly where I need to go, depending on the mood I'm in.

• Some mornings, I build an outfit around an accessory. I choose a necklace or earrings that I haven't worn in a while and pair it with an outfit. I do the same with shoes. I have a cute pair of red heels I hardly ever wear, but it's easier to start with them and add black pants and a red top than it is to decide to wear the shoes...because I usually go for the old standby black "teacher" shoes that are comfortable and not really stylish.
• Now that my closet has a section that is hard to get to, I often pull items to the front area. It's usually stuff I haven't worn for a few weeks. It gives me a fresh peek and I can avoid leaving clothes in the back to wrinkle over and over again.
• I still have a lot of clothes that I rarely wear. I keep them thinking if I lose 5 pounds I will feel more comfortable wearing them. When I lost a lot of weight before, I made the mistake of getting rid of ALL my pants, since I went down 2 sizes. I won't do that again. Life happened and I gained the weight back....leaving me longing for those cute pants that used to fit so well. And the reverse doesn't seem to be working. I long to wear the cute smaller sizes, but it just makes me more upset that I worked hard to lose weight and gained it back. So despite what Dr. Phil or Oprah says...keep a few sizes around. I am not saying keep a size 2 if you are a 12...but if you fluctuate between a few sizes...don't part with them too soon.

Things I've learned as a substitute teacher

Well, it's been nearly two months since I left the YDR. I am learning something new everyday. Some are silly and some are serious, and I am sure there are more to come.


1. When you really have to go to the bathroom, there is no one there to relieve you.
2. Some students could care less about school and there is not much you can do to change it.
3. Teenagers know more about drugs, alcohol, etc. than I ever will.
4. Every day is different and when you least expect it....students surprise you.
5. Getting up at 6 a.m. isn't as bad as I thought, especially when I get to take naps now.
6. Eating lunch at 10:30 a.m. isn't as bad as it sounds.
7. Eating dinner at 4 p.m. isn't that bad either.
8. More time after work doesn't mean more motivation to make it to the gym.
9. Review games with food prizes don't carry as much weight as you think they do.
10. Teachers have a lot of meetings, too!

Mounds of clothes

It's no secret that I love clothes, shoes, handbags, accesories, etc. I've never really felt guilty about it because I spend so little. I do most of my shopping at Thrift Stores, Consignment Shops and sale racks of discount stores.
But a few days ago, I felt really overwhelmed. Nate and I don't have traditional closets...they are big, but have slanted ceilings and off layouts. I've been storing all of my clothes in my "dressing room," which is the spare bedroom. I had dozens of summer dresses, formal dresses and winter coats in the back of Nate's closet (which is the closet in OUR bedroom.) He wanted a place to store his firearms and asked me to give up my craft closet. I couldn't do it. So, he decided to use his closet. I've never seen the man so gung ho. He went to Home Depot, bought a bunch of wood and started turning his closet into a storage facility.
Unfortunately, I had to remove my clothes. Right now, they are laying on the spare bed. The stack is high. My wedding dress is partly to blame for that.
I don't know what to do. I could scale down my clothes, but I wear a lot of them, if not all of them. I am not really buying new clothes, so it's not like I am adding to the collection. I thought about storing the seasonal clothes in plastic containers in the basement, but you can't really fold formal dresses into plastic containers.
Any suggestions?

And the finished (well almost) dining room

Check out the photo to the right for a before glimpse, well, more of a during.
And look at the bottom to see the photos of the finished dining room. The photo on the left shows the natural light better, but Nate didn't install the new light yet. The second photo shows it at night with the new light, but without the beauty of the natural light shining in on the gorgeous floor. This dining room was a true test of our teamwork. I think we did a great job making it through together, even with a messy, dusty house for weeks. We are sitting down to eat dinner more!
*A special thanks to Ron Stiger for his help, advice and guidance!

Surprise -- the hutch

Just when I thought my camera was going to take the trip to the electronics graveyard, it some how resurrected. Not sure how, but I am done asking questions.
So, I can post the dining room photos. I wish I had a better before, but just think white walls, white carpet and1980s fixtures. Not to mention the ugly laminate hutch. Check previous posts in home projects to see the progress.

Anyway. Click here to read the background on the hutch. Here is the before, during and after of photos of the hutch.
I added little jeweled handles to the black doors. We only put two doors back on because there was the beautiful wood drawers that added contrast to the all black hutch. If you look close, you can see my amateur painting, but I don't think anyone is looking too close :-)

Before
During

After