Life, Organization, Scrapbooking and Valentine’s Day

(Photo heavy post ahead)

2011 is already zipping on by.  We have been keeping busy with long work days, home organization projects and trying to fit in some creative/hobby time (usually late at night after the boys go to sleep.

Today’s challenge at ScrapTiffany was to use metal or wire. I ended up making 3 layouts using this challenge. This is the one I submitted to Tiffany for the design team layouts.

This layout was rolling around my brain since a few days after my mom passed away in December. The Orianthi song Courage came on the radio and I knew this was something I needed to make….

For this one I used some old metal flowers mixed with new. 

and this one I embossed a thin sheet of metal with the cuttlebug for the heart in the title and the photo corner. Pictures were from our photo shoot with Maggie Holmes.

We have been on a clean out, get rid of and organize mission lately.  Two weekends ago we attacked the pantry and the linen closet.

This is what the pantry looked like when we started.

And now, although I am not happy with a few things, so I have ordered some more of the larger baskets and will move some of the smaller ones to the laundry room cabinets. But it is nice to have a place for everything,.

This is the start of the new backsplash, behind the stove. I have one more piece on backorder that will fit below the shelf area down to the counter top. But this is making me very happy.

Superbowl Sunday was spent hanging around the house. Or climbing if you are Jackson…

Making some yummy treats…

Nicholas liked watching half time and the commercials more than the football game (just like his mommy)….

I was home early from a doctor’s appointment on Tuesday. Jackson was playing and then suddenly it was quiet….

Nicholas now knows how to play Daddy’s train game on the computer….

This past Saturday, Mike’s mom came to watch the boys so Mike and I could attack this disaster.  Our house has a 2 car and 1 car garage set up. The 1 car garage has become a dumping ground for everything….

We took out everything opened all the bins and boxes. Moved all the shelves, swept, and wiped down everything.  Then we added new shelving and a file cabinet. And we actually have a garage again.

In January I also did the larger garage. It wasn’t as crammed with stuff. This side just needed a better set up and a good clean out.  I guess I didn’t take a before shot, but here is how it looks now….

my favorite area is this one. We do most of our grocery shopping at Costco, saving money is great, but storing the bulk stuff is a pain. Now it is all in one place, convenient to grab when we need it and easy to unload after the Costco trip each week.

Nicholas in daddy’s shoes (showing off the closet that is coming up on the list of things to clean out).

Mike has been busy working on his radio project.

We celebrated Valentine’s with a few goodies for the kiddos.

my Valentine’s present will be shipping from Verizon soon….

After the kiddos went to bed, my Valentine and I spent the rest of the evening enjoying

Dinner….Greek Salad

Wild Mushroom Lasagna and Meatballs….

and a movie…

Have a great week!

Superbowl Party Food….

Our Superbowl Sunday tradition for years has been to make  some treats to enjoy during the game…honestly the yummy food is the best part for me. I get bored with the game and usually go scrap with the game on, just to watch the commercials and half time.

Last year the boys participated in the festivities, and we kept the food simple so they would like it.

Nicholas even cheered on the teams…..

This year we decided to up our “game” menu.  We haven’t settled in on the final menu, but I thought I would share a few ideas for more upscale appetizers for your Superbowl Party.

For New Year’s Eve we made several appetizers for our evening at home. We will  be doing something along the lines of these on Sunday, but they will definitely be of this caliber…

Grilled Stuffed Jalapeno Chiles with Grilled Red Pepper-Tomato Sauce(Bobby Flay Food Network)

Grilled Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms (myrecipes.com)

Next up were a couple of my recipes…

Parmesan Crusted Shrimp Bruschetta (recipe below)

and our favorite….

Filet Parmesan Crostini (recipe below)

Then of course we had to have dessert….

Coconut Cake (bakeat350.blogspot.com) 

Recipes…

Parmesan Toasts

• Long thin sourdough baguette
• olive oil
• cooking spray
• garlic powder
• fresh grated parmesan

Slice bread into 24ish  1/2 inch thick slices.  Spray cookie sheet covered in foil with cooking spray. Brush both sides of bread slices with olive oil, sprinkle with garlic powder and parmesan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 6-10 minutes until lightly toasted.

Parmesan Crusted Shrimp Bruschetta (makes 12 servings)

• 12 Parmesan Toasts (see recipe above)
• 12 large deveined cooked shrimp
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 12 parmesan cheese slivers
• 1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs
• 1 Tbsp fresh grated parmesan
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 2 fresh tomatoes
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1 garlic clove
• 12 torn fresh basil leaves

1. Heat up shrimp in skillet with olive oil.
2. Toss cooked shrimp in bread crumbs, grated parmesan and garlic powder
3. Finely chop tomato and garlic clove, toss with olive oil
4. Layer each parmesan toast with one basil leaf, a  spoonful of tomato mixture, a sliver of parmesan cheese and 1 large shrimp.

Filet Parmesan Crostini

(this was our favorite and is on the menu for Superbowl Sunday)

• 12 Parmesan Toasts (see recipe above)
• 12-16 oz thinly sliced filet mingon medallions (Whole Foods sliced it for me)
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 2 tsp butter
• 12 parmesan cheese slivers
• Horseradish Sauce Recipe
• 12 fresh parsley leaves

1. In a skillet melt butter and add olive oil. When butter is melted and oil is hot, add filet and sauté until desired doneness. Cut to 12 slices.
2. Layer each toast with sliver of parmesan cheese, slice of filet, drizzle with horseradish sauce, and top with parsley leaf.

Hope you have a tasty Superbowl Sunday!

Has it really been 2 weeks?

I guess so.  Life has been busy. I have been working a lot of late nights and time with the kiddos has been short, so I my time online has been very limited lately.  We have also dug into a few house organization projects, so that has kept me busy on the weekends.

It is time for a ScrapTiffany challenge. The first challenge for February was to use a yellow and grey color scheme.

Good colors for a Studio Calico kit. I think this was Napa Valley (November), with a few other things thrown in.

I have always loved this picture of Mike and Jackson.  Jackson is definitely Mike’s son. Jackson is very attached to his daddy. He is super grumpy when he is hungry, doesn’t like to be told he can’t do something, quiet at times and a chatterbox other times….which one am I talking about? Both.

I have been sidelined by heel pain. I was doing well on my walking for the 3 day Walk, but I am suffering from plantar fasciitis. My doctor has tried several treatments to let me keep walking, but I haven’t seen a tremendous amount of improvement, so I agreed begrudgingly to wear a boot for 2 weeks. Which means no walking, no extra things. Lots of rest. But hopefully it will be what I need to get over the hump and avoid physical therapy or worse, surgery.

Since I didn’t have to get up early to walk or go to work, I stayed up until 12:00 am on Sunday night and got 4 layouts done with January’s Studio Calico kit. I was struggling with this kit, so used a couple of challenges to get a start.

First was the Sunday Sketch at Studio Calico. I converted the sketch to a 12x12, but otherwise stayed pretty close to the original design. 

Studio Calico was hosting some CHA challenges this weekend, one of them was a self portrait, so this was my take.

I’ll share the other 2 and more soon.

I have lots more to talk about, but it’s getting late and I am trying to get more sleep. So it will need to wait for another day.

Have a great week!