Showing posts with label DIY. Show all posts
Showing posts with label DIY. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 14, 2016

Freezer Meals

I spent yesterday chopping, simmering, boiling, and stirring.  I put up 3 bags of spaghetti sauce, 3 pans of shrimp and grits, 4 pans of chicken spaghetti, 2 pans of poppyseed chicken, 3 pans of mashed potatoes, and 2 pans of vegetables to roast.  Making meals ahead of time makes the beginning of the school year so much easier!  Eating out constantly gets old quick, so pulling a meal out to stick in the oven is the perfect solution to a busy evening.




                            

                                                

Sunday, August 3, 2014

DIY in the Kitchen!

This project is certainly nothing profound, but after some YouTube inspiration by a few of my favorite channels missglamorazzie and Niomi Smart, I recycled and made something practical for my kitchen!

In our tiny one bedroom apartment, we had a shortage of space in general, but especially storage space (drawers, cabinets).  In order to contain all of our stuff, we bought several of these wire shelving units from Target and Walmart so we didn't have piles of junk all over the floor!  I had a shelf to hold my most often used cooking materials.  Though we have a house with lots of cabinet space now, I'm sticking with this open shelving idea.  There are a few reasons that I like open storage:

1.  Obviously, it provides extra storage if you're short on cabinets.

2.  If you are short on furniture, which we are in our three bedroom house, this shelving fills empty space on the walls.

3.  If you are short on decor, it provides some visual interest.  I use a lot of practical things in my kitchen as decor, such as coffee cups.

4.  It's super easy to look at a shelf and grab what you need, rather than rummaging through many different cabinets until you can find what you're looking for.

My containers:
-  I have a set of three canisters that we got as a wedding gift.  I have regular flour, sugar, and self-rising flour in those.  (On a side note, we received several sets of canisters for our wedding.  I guess it wasn't taking it off our registry when people purchased them. We returned all but one set, but I really wish we kept more of them!  I definitely would have used them.)
-  I have brown sugar and macaroni noodles in canning jars that used to contain green beans canned by my mama and Nannie.
-  Corn meal is kept in an old spaghetti sauce jar.
-  Powdered sugar and tea bags are contained in old candle jars.  Missglamorazzi taught me that if you put used candles in the freezer, you can break up the remaining wax much more easily and it will come right out!

As I collect more jars, I want to transfer other ingredients into them as well.

I found the little tags in a set of scrapbooking materials that I never used.  I labeled the back of the tags with the expiration date for the product.  They are tied on with pretty white and gold baker's twine that I got in the Target dollar section.  I've noticed chalkboard stickers in the dollar section before, which would also make for super cute labels.


Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Eva's Storybook Shower

Have I mentioned I'm going to be an aunt??? Christy, my sister-in-law, is going to have a baby girl in about three weeks, Lord willing!  Josie had the fabulous idea of throwing her a storybook themed shower, to which guests were asked to bring their favorite children's story instead of cards.  I loved this theme.  The concept was wonderful, as was the execution.  Here is some inspiration if you are planning something similar!



Alice's Adventures In Wonderland orange cupcakes- complete with "Eat Me" signs attached.
By Josie

Secret Garden no-bake berry cheesecake,
decorated with fresh berries and flowers.
By Josie and Angela

Winnie the Pooh "Tigger tails"
(Pretzel sticks dipped in orange-dyed white chocolate,
drizzled in milk chocolate)
By yours truly

Three Little Pigs sausage balls
Memaw's famous recipe :)

The Very Hungry Caterpillar sandwich tray
By Deborah

Peter Rabbit veggie tray
By Memaw and Aultie

Green Eggs and Ham tray with green deviled eggs,
cubed ham, and assorted cheeses
By Granny

The Ugly Duckling lemonade
By Josie

A candy bar for the kiddos (and adults).
Cones were made from pages of a storybook
By Deborah

I made the garland hung over the curtains which reads
Once upon a time
there was a little
princess named Eva
Crafted from scrapbooking supplies, an old paperback book, and baker's twine

Wreath made of the same rolled storybook pages.
Center reads "Once upon a time, Eva...."
By Deborah
P.S. Photo credits go to Josie.  Check out her blog, too!