Menu Planner

Another busy weekend that included a trip to Charlottesville to see the Wahoos play the Hokies. Sad day for the Wahoos but nice to get away with Michael without C & C. Thank you, thank you to Michael's parents for watching them!

I am busy today preparing for an agent open house at my cute listing in Chester. More details here.

Here is this week's menu planner....

Monday....Chicken Piccata, Rice, Asaparagus
Tuesday....Casserole Queens Not Your Average Tamale Pie
Wednesday....Kickin Mini Meatloafs, Corn
Thursday....Kate's Italian Sausage Casserole
Friday....Chicken Rollatini, Salad, Bread

We decorated for Christmas yesterday. I have some finishing touches to do and then I will be back with pictures. Here are our decorations for last year. 1/ 2 / 3/ 4/ 5

Bead Board Transformation

My friend, Lindsey, emailed me last week asking for tips on painting and updating furniture. She shared with me some before and after pictures of her kitchen. I just love what she has done. Her husband, Chris installed the bead board under the bar and add crown molding both of which are great updates that will certainly help their re-sale value when the time comes. She is lucky to have such a handy husband!
Here are Lindsey's before pictures.....

And now the afters....

Doesn't it look great!? Thanks to Lindsey for sharing her pictures. Great updating!

If you have some before/after pictures of projects that you worked on in your home and would like to share. Send them to me at astoakley@gmail.com.

Menu Planner

Phew! I am behind this week. Had a great open house yesterday in North Oaks. Lots of potential buyers out and about.

I just got to the grocery store this morning and here is what is cooking this week.

Monday - Dinner out for my mom's birthday

Tuesday - Tacos with Ground Chicken

Wednesday - Roasted Chicken and White Bean Pizza

Thursday - Turkey Day! I am making Squash Casserole, Italian Sausage Stuffing & Chocolate-Filled Sweet Potato Cupcakes for my two Thanksgiving feasts.

Oh and I also learned that it a turkey wattle not a gizzard. See this post.

Gobble Gobble!

We are getting turkey crazy over here! We have made quite a few crafts involving that Thanksgiving bird!

We were running low on supplies, when we made these  hand print turkeys. Only red and orange paint and no construction paper. We used a cardboard box for the body and red felt for the gizzard. (Side note...gizzard has become the most fun word around here!)

This was my inspiration photo for the pine cone turkey. Everyone in the family would write what they are thankful for on each feather.

My sweet Camille is of course thankful for Mimi!

Camille kissing her very loved Mimi! She is the best Mom ever to that 10 inch stuffed elephant. And yes...Mimi is wearing a strapless dress and beaded necklace in the picture.

Cougar even got in on the action and she is most thankful for cat food and sleeping on Camille's bed. Yes...she also loves our bed....she gets around! ;)

More Master Bedroom Updates

I have made a couple updates to our master bedroom.

I received the dressing table stool in this post for free from a  family friend but I just couldn't figure out how to make it work. I wonder if I could do something with it now that I have my sewing machine but regardless I found the below stool at Diversity Thrift and snatched it up for $15.

I used the same yellow Garden Ridge fabric  from my bedroom pillow to cover the top.

For the paint, I sanded the entire stool, then painted one thin coat of Martha Stewart Living Metallic Paint in Vintage Gold. (I also used this on Camille's Tutu table). After drying, I took sandpaper and gently went over the painted stool.

I also found some great fabric on clearance at Garden Ridge...2 yards for $3! I really liked it better than the other two I put on the bench at the end of our bed. Read about those two here and here. It is sorta comical but the fabric from Garden Ridge is so cheap...I can change it out every month or two. ;) I used some of the extra fabric to make a pillow using the previous pillow form.

And my Love of Jesus Thrift find, made its way to the top of my dresser.

So we have come along way from this before picture when we moved in.....

Well I guess some things don't change, Cougar still loves sleeping on our bed and  I didn't bother moving her when I took this new picture. I had forgotten she was in my before shot from 2+ years ago as well!

Weekend Recap & Menu Planner

New listing....just hit the market on Friday. Cute 4 bedroom, 2.5 bath house in the North Oaks subdivision in Chester.

More pictures and details can be found here.

Here is this week's menu planner. I am posting last nights dinner because it was delicious! I also checked out Southern Living Complete Quick and Easy from the Library and three of our meals this week are from that book.

Saturday - Chicken Parmesan Burgers, Steak Fries

Sunday - Chicken Cannelloni with Roasted Red Bell Pepper Sauce from Southern Living

Monday - Marinated London Broil from Southern Living, Red Potatoes in Onion Soup Mix, Asparagus

Tuesday - Chicken Black Bean Salad from Southern Living (Can't find a link for this...if it is good, I will post the recipe).

Wednesday - Dinner & Shopping for Angel Tree with my mom and sisters.

Thursday - Not sure yet....

Bar Keepers Friend

After reading a post on Richmond Thrifter, I was inspired to try Bar Keepers Friend on my bedroom dresser pulls. A while ago, I tried Brasso on some pulls in my living room and I thought it worked pretty well. The bedroom dressers were given to us by Michael's grandmother and I have been trying to think of a solution for the pulls, should I paint them or just get new ones? Well it wasn't an easy task but Bar Keepers Friend shined them right up. I have only done three so far (18 more to go!) and you can see by the clock that it took me about an hour and a half. (Side note...I was interrupted probably 20 times in that hour and a half.) I may get the liquid cleaners because it seems easier. I made a paste with the powder and used a toothbrush. The key may be to have a wet surface and I kept getting the toothbrush wet. I also considered soaking the pulls in a Bar Keepers Friend liquid to see if that would remove some of the tarnish first before I started working with the toothbrush. I did a quick google search, and I also read that soaking brass in two parts white vinegar and one part hydrogen peroxide would remove tarnish. So I may try it!

I am really happy with the results. And the can says you can use it on stainless steel and ceramic cook tops, tile and grout. So I may have some other items to try to shine up. I found it on the bottom shelf in the grocery store and it was cheap!

Menu Planner & Weekend Recap

It was a low key weekend with lots of laundry, cleaning, yard work, straightening etc. Don't be jealous! Here are a couple shots of C & C in the leaves and a cute felt turkey Camille and I created out of felt shapes and feathers.

I checked out a few cookbooks from the library. Four out of five meals this week are from these books....The Casserole Queens Cookbook, Skinny Bitch:Ultimate Everyday Cookbook, and Good Housekeeping Cookbook: 1,275 Recipes from America's Favorite Test Kitchen.

Sunday - Casserole Queens Deep Dish Pizza Chicago Style

Monday - Casserole Queens Halibut Enchiladas with Salsa Verde

Tuesday - Good Housekeeping Ham Steak with Creamy Cheese Grits

Wednesday - Rachel Ray Crisp Gnocchi Pesto with Tomatoes and Goat Cheese

Thursday - Skinny Bitch Black Bean & Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese with Tomato & Avocado

Enjoy!

Love of Jesus Thift

On the same venture to Family Thrift, my mom and I also checked out For the Love of Jesus Thrift. I had heard about it on other blogs but needed to check the place out for myself.
Here what I found. I spent about $20.

And now to discuss the items in more detail....

First up, I found another frame just like the ones that I re-matted with my Diversity Thrift place mats. I really want to do a grouping of four of these frames since I have three more place mats. So now I just need to find one more frame. There must be one out there. Let me know if you come across it. 

$8 Frame from Love of Jesus Thift.

Free Frame from Family Friend

After with Diversity Thift $50 Placemats.

Next up the elephant.....I have seen elephant tables all over the Internet, Pinterest.com etc. And to continue with our elephant theme in Camille's room, I had to get this for $6. I am going to spray paint it, I just need to decide on the color.

There was something about the shape and design of this dish that I really loved. So for $3, it had to be mine.

And I couldn't resist the cow creamer for $2. I think it will be great on my kitchen counter.

The green pot is for the Amaryllis, I am planting and hoping for a bloom around Christmas. And I bought 3 little bowls for 10 cents each for my kids meals.

I will be back there...there is lot of stuff to look at. My mom got some dishes that she feels are the perfect size for lunch. ;) All kidding aside, she got 12 pretty off-white plates in great condition for $5.