One Pot Homemade Mac n' Cheese

I first got this recipe idea from my cousin. This is a much healthier version of boxed mac n' cheese that's full of nasty additives. This will take you no longer to make than a boxed version. Best of all, only one pot to wash! I am still experimenting a bit with it, but here's the recipe so far.

One Pot Mac n' Cheese

1 1/2 cups whole wheat macaroni
3/4 cup water
3/4 cup milk
2 Tbsp butter
1 cup shredded cheese
salt, pepper, paprika to taste

Cook the macaroni in the water and milk on medium heat until tender. Stir frequently or it will get stuck to the bottom. You might need to add a splash or two of milk if it absorbs to much before the macaroni is cooked. Stir in butter and cheese until melted. Sprinkle on some paprika to taste.


*Linking up to Raising Homemakers

Menu Plan Monday

Our staycation is officially over, so I'm back to menu planning. I think I'm going to scrap the breakfast and lunch planning for now as I seem to not follow it anyway. Since there's usually just me and Ellie home for lunch, I find there hasn't been much of a point in planning lunches as we usually just have leftovers. No need to over complicate things, so until I find there's a real need, I will just be planning our supper meals and having breakfast suggestions to gain a little more variety than our usual toast & fruit

Breakfast ideas: toast & fruit, scrambled eggs, oatmeal, banana oat chip muffins

Sunday, April 10
Sausage, perogies, mashed sweet potatoes

Monday, April 11
Leftovers

Tuesday, April 12
Taco salad (using leftover taco meat in the freezer)

Wednesday, April 13
Firecracker grilled salmon (NEW), Rice, stir fry veggies

Thursday, April 14
Homemade pizza & Caesar salad

Friday, April 15
Leftovers

Saturday, April 16
Crockpot bbq beef on a bun, tossed salad

Alternate Meals:
One pot homemade mac n' cheese
Tuna casserole

Desserts/Baking/Other
Honey Whole Wheat Bread
Some type of cookie (not sure yet)

*For more great meal ideas, visit Menu Plan Monday hosted by orgjunkie.com*

Staycation and Thrift Finds

Yep, I'm still on "staycation". Of course we're not exactly staying home every second of every day, but for the most part, we've been home or visiting family. I'm loving it! It's been so good to chill out at home, order pizza in, hot tub at my parent's house, go out with my hubby while my sister babysits one night, etc. We've even tackled the disaster in our basement. We've got a long way to go yet, but it is slowly coming together. I would love to get more organized. It is an ongoing process.

I went shopping for a bit today and was super pumped to buy 2 pairs of shoes for a total of $3 at Liquidation World. I also found a really nice white purse for $5 on clearance. Maybe I'll share some pictures sometime. Too much work today though - I'm on staycation, remember?! :-D I really like finding great deals. For a long time, I've been wanting to put together a "love box" to store me and my hubby's keepsakes such as love letters we wrote each other, special cards and notes, etc. Things that are just a testament of our marriage and love. I happened to find a memory box for $5 at Liquidation World the other day and finally bought it today. I'm hoping it will work for a "love box".

Oh yeah, and this afternoon we attempted to switch Ellie out of her crib and into a toddler bed. Wow. That didn't go so well. Um...4 1/2 hours later, she finally was sleeping in there. Yeah, not so much fun. I have to find a way to become more stubborn than her. My theme verse right now is definitely Galatians 6:9 "And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart." The other night we were visiting some family and I spent 2 hours putting her to bed. Yes, 2 hours. 2 miserable, challenging, and tiring hours. I needed to win this battle, however. And I did. Finally. There may or may not have been some silent tears shed by this frustrated and tired mother. Galatians 6:9 kept me going.

And now this post has morphed into a bit of a random post. I need to get off the internet and back to my staycation. HUGE kudos to my sister for putting Ellie to bed 10 minutes before we got home from our date night supper!! THANK YOU!! Now, I'm off to start on a sewing project I've been wanting to do for a long time now... this toddler ruffle skirt here.

Menu Plan Monday (April 4, 2011)

We are on "staycation" this week, so I'm keeping things flexible for menu planning. I am going to cook when I feel like it and eat out when I don't. Sometimes I find it is less work and less stress to eat at home than it is to go out, especially with a toddler. Choosing when to cook and when to go out? Now, that's a holiday! :-). When I do cook, it'll probably be pretty quick and simple. This is just my thrown-together menu plan of meals I can make if we stay home.

Breakfasts:
Toast, oatmeal, scrambled eggs, fruit, homemade egg mcmuffins, buttermilk pancakes

Lunches:
Leftovers, homemade one pot mac n' cheese (recipe to come), simple pasta in marinara sauce (recipe to come),

Suppers:
Fettuccine alfredo, sausage & perogies, black bean chili soup & cornbread, tacos (using taco meat from freezer)

*For more great meal ideas, visit Menu Plan Monday hosted by orgjunkie.com*

52 Weeks of Organizing - Week 13

Since I finally finished painting and making over our old dresser, I decided to tackle some drawers. Yikes. They are so unorganized, it is embarrassing. Here are a few of the drawers I got done this week.

Technology Drawer Before:



After: (I used a Dollarama drawer organizer that did not fit properly, but I figured out a way to bend the organizers a bit. Not the prettiest, but it works and things are organized now.







Makeup and Hair Drawer Before:




After: Still does not look the greatest, but it is better than it was. I went through my makeup and threw out ancient stuff I never wear anymore and expired stuff.





*Linking up to 52 Weeks of Organizing Challenge*

Schedule Adjustments

My head is spinning. I feel like I have a million and one things to do but just can't seem to get any of my projects done. In my home management binder, I have a cleaning schedule that was working really good for me. Notice I said was. Here is the beauty of life. As kids get older, your family dynamics change. Your needs change. I am finding that having a toddler is much different than having a baby. Much different! And I am finding I am way busier and probably more tired now than I was with a baby. Don't get me wrong - I love it! I love having a busy toddler. Yes, it's busy, but it is SO much fun! Of course there are hard moments, hard days, but the joy in having a little one outweighs all the trials. Now...where was I. Oh yes, schedule adjustments.
So, I've decided to tweak my cleaning, projects, and laundry schedule. There probably won't be any earth-shattering changes, but I am looking for more efficiency. And yes, I'm still trying to get on some sort of daily schedule. Here is my proposed new weekly schedule. I hope this makes sense.

Basic Weekly Schedule
*Each day immediately after breakfast, do a quick 15 minute whole house tidy. Go from room to room making beds, putting things away, quick wipe of main bathroom, clean up breakfast. Do a whole house quick tidy right before bed, too.*

Mondays
Basic Cleaning: Floors (vacuum & mop)
Laundry: 1 load darks, 1 load lights, 1 load delicates (dress clothes)
Projects/Errands: grocery shopping, bake cookies/treats

Tuesdays
Basic Cleaning: Clean tub/shower, thorough bathroom clean
Laundry: 1 load dark bedding, 1 load Ellie clothes, 1 load kitchen/dishcloths
Projects: 1st Tuesday of Month - photos
2nd Tuesday of Month - baby/memory books
3rd Tuesday of Month - Home management binder
4th Tuesday of Month - Ellie's closet

Wednesdays
Basic Cleaning: Floors (up & down), Wipe couches, spot clean windows
Laundry: 1 load dark towels
Projects: 1st Wednesday of Month (every other month) - alternate window tracks & baseboards
2nd Wednesday of Month - Dust light fixtures
3rd Wednesday of Month - Kitchen cupboards

Thursdays
Basic Cleaning: Dust (including window sills), wipe dressers & bookshelves
Laundry: 1 load light towels
Projects: Baking (breads, buns, pita, make ahead meals (such as pizza pockets, pop tarts, etc.) )
Organizing projects

Fridays
Basic Cleaning: Floors, bathrooms, fridge, stove, microwave, washing machine, dryer
Laundry: none or miscellaneous (hand wash, delicates, etc.)
Projects: Menu planning, sewing, organizing, special projects

One more thing. Do you have a mile long list of projects like I do? I find that I seem to never accomplish anything off of that list. I read somewhere that it is better to pick just 3 projects to do, and do not attempt anything else until those 3 are done. So, I'm going to try that method. I have way more than 3 projects I'd like to do, but I'm going to try this strategy to see if I can actually accomplish even 1 thing for once! Ha ha. Here are my top 3 special projects to complete, in no particular order. I'll add my top 3 projects to my sidebar and switch them out as I (hopefully) complete them.

1) Make a his/hers keepsake "love box" (for love letters from my husband, cards, special notes)
2) Try sewing this ruffle skirt from old t-shirts
3) Hang up pictures in master bedroom

Dresser Makeover - Love It!

I think I may have discovered a new hobby - making over cheap furniture. I really, really, really wish I would have taken a better before and after picture. The ones I have just don't do it justice. Honestly, the difference is amazing. We bought this 9 drawer dresser for $25 from the people we bought our house from. It is cheap veneer and not very solid. It had gold handles and was quite the eye sore. After making over my cheap $5 pine nightstands, I decided to try my hand at a bigger project and tackle this dresser. I am beyond thrilled with the results because now our bedroom has "matching" furniture...2 nightstands and a dresser (all painted in Benjamin Moore's Decorator's White)! The white looks so good with the Moonshine (Benjamin Moore greyish blue paint colour), but it's hard to tell the true colours in the pictures.

If you want to know how to paint almost any piece of furniture, check out my instructions here.

Here's how it went down:
I saved a lot of money by spray painting the gold handles instead of replacing them. If you like the style of your old hardware, I highly recommend doing this. The spray paint only cost me $10. I used Rustoleum metallic spray paint in satin nickel. Buying new hardware would have cost at least $5 per handle for $45 total instead of $10. We had looked for new hardware, but the holes were a weird space apart and we could only find one style that was the right size, and it was ugly. So, instead of having to fill in the holes and then sand it down, I opted for spray painting the original handles. I am very happy with the results!

I did the usual sand, oil primer/sealer x2, Decorator's White latex paint x2. That's really all there is to it. For painting the mirror, I used painter's tape to tape newspaper to cover the whole thing. This worked great and left me with clean lines.


A close up of the drawers and handles:



Here's what our master bedroom currently looks like: (umm...ignore the bad bed-making job!). Now I just need to hang a few prints above the bed and hang up our wedding pictures!



Quite a difference from before! To see the very first before picture, you'll have to check out the tour of my home and find the master bedroom (a greenish colour before!)








Once I have the master bedroom completed, I will do a post and a breakdown of the decorating process. And yes..it is a process!

*Linking up to Blue Cricket Design show and tell


*Linking up to House of Hepworths