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Sunday, January 31, 2010

Bar Food Night!

What's for Dinner 1/31/2010

It was Bar Food Night in the Cupcakes & Combat Boots Household:

-Alton Brown's Buffalo Wings
-A Not-So-Awesome Recipe for Tequila Lime Chicken Wings {that I will not be sharing}
-Potato Skins




And of course, no good bar food night would be complete without beer in a leopard-print & pink feather koozie. What's that? Leopard print & pink feather koozies are not usually part of bar night? Well....they should be.

Spaghetti on Ya Head

Spaghetti on ya head,
Spaghetti on ya head,
Lookin' like a fool with spaghetti on ya head

Can you spot it?


Now you can.

The result of a dog who likes to lay on our feet and beg for food while we eat. And sometimes it ends up on her head instead of in her mouth....bummer.

Movie Review: Taking Chance


Alex put this movie at the top of our Netflix queue without me knowing much about it. I'm so glad he did...

The movie is based on the true story of Lt. Colonel Michael Strobl who escorted the remains of a fallen Marine, Lance Corporal Chance Phelps, across the country to his family. So yes, it's sad and it got me very weepy. But, I'm so glad Alex got me to watch it.

Everyone should watch this movie. It's non-political and extremely respectfully done. It is so moving to see the outpouring of support and the way this young fallen Marine affected the lives of the many people he came across, both when alive and posthumously.

So go put Taking Chance on your Netflix queue, or head to your nearest Blockbuster or Redbox and check out the movie. Let me know in the comments if you've seen it and what you thought of it.

Cupcakes & Combat Boots Rating: 5 stars.

**NOTE: I would say that the only people who should maybe NOT watch this movie are Army wives or family members who have a loved one deployed or who is about to deploy. But please watch it when they get home.

What's for Dinner? 1/30/2010


Last night we had planned on being lazy and cooking dinner at home, but then our friends Lori & Eric talked us into going with them and two other friends to Dave & Busters. I had actually never been to a D&B before so I didn't quite know what to expect. I think Alex put it best when he said "It's like a Chuck E Cheese for adults!"

We had dinner there and did the "Eat & Play Combo", which is actually a really good deal! With the combo you get to choose one of 8 different meals and you also get $20 worth of "play credits" for a total of $23.99. Which, as the boys pointed out, essentially makes your meal cost $4.00 {they were very excited by this realization...haha}.

I had the "Barbecue Grilled Chicken" which came with loaded mashed potatoes {yum! I'm a mashed potato addict} and super-skinny green beans. Hubs had the "Double Stacked Chicken Parmesan Sandwich" and fries which he gave two thumbs up.

As far as the games go, Alex and I pretty much S.U.C.K.E.D at them. Apparently arcade games are not our forte! We ended up with way, way, way less tickets than the other two couples, but we still had enough to redeem our tickets for a huge, plush "Gig 'Em" thumb. {Gotta love pointless prizes!}

I wish I had taken at least one picture to capture the night because it was so fun but, alas, I did not. I hate when I forget to take pictures!!! GRR.

Saturday, January 30, 2010

Product Review: LARABAR


I've been on more of a health kick as of late and I'd read a lot of good things about LARABAR. I tend to be super-picky about bars, but I saw some at my grocery store so I bought one to give it a shot.

The wrapper says "The Original Fruit & Nut Food Bar"...not sure what makes them "the original" but whatev. The back of the wrapper also says "We at LARABAR believe that a healthy mind, body and spirit are derived from what you eat - and that food is healthiest and most satisfying at its simplest, most natural state. Made from 100% real food {as opposed to fake food? WTF??}, LARABAR is energy in its purest form. A magical harmony of fruits, nuts and spices, LARABAR harvests the best natural ingredients to lift your vitality and sustain energy with every bite. Simple. Pure. Delicious."

So, my review of the bar is two thumbs up...YUM!! It tastes just like a cherry pie, only perhaps a bit "nuttier". This becomes even more impressive when you look at the ingredient list: dates, almonds & unsweetened cherries. What?!?!? That's it??? How did they make those three things taste just like cherry pie??

To make the bar even better, it's a good source of fiber (4g) and it's cholesterol, sodium, gluten, dairy & soy free. Plus, it provides 1 full serving of fruit! And I'm sure you're wondering about the nutritional facts: 190 calories, 8g of fat and 4g of protein. Not bad!

I definitely plan on snatching up as many of these bars as I can next time I'm at the grocery store. {So if you live in my area you may have to fight me for them!}

What's for Dinner? 1/29/2010


1/29/2010
Boston's Pizza

Typical fun Friday night out with our friends! I got an individual mushroom & pepperoni pizza . Hubs got a small roasted garlic & chicken pizza. I also got a Strawberry & Mango Mojito drink that I immediately regretted...it turned out it cost $8.00 {anyone else hate when restaurants don't list the drink prices?!?}! It totally wasn't worth that money and the extra calories. Don't you hate when that happens? I could have probably gotten a $4 glass of wine and been just as happy. Oh well....live and learn.

Friday, January 29, 2010

50 {err..25?} Books in 2010


So when I posted about reading 50 books in 2010, I was clearly not thinking straight. I was doing the math yesterday on my "50 Books in 2010" and I realized that in order to accomplish this task I would essentially have to read a book every week {or 7.3 days to be exact}. Uhhhhhh....I'm sorry but that's not happening.


Look, I have a full-time job, I go to the gym 4-5 times a week {as of recently}, I have a husband who I love to spend time with, and I am addicted to many TV shows. This doesn't leave much time for me to read! I mean, I have been trying to carve out 30-45 minutes a night to read but even that is pushing it. And as I mentioned in my first 50 Books in 2010 post, I am a slow reader.


All of these factors just aren't adding up to me being able to come anywhere CLOSE to accomplishing 50 books in 2010. Therefore, I am ammending my goal. I think "25 Books in 2010" is MUCH more doable, but will still be a challenge. 25 books in a year basically means I have to read 2 books a month. Now that I can {hopefully} do!


25 Books in 2010:


1. The Gastronomy of Marriage by Michelle Maisto {click here for my review}

2. Shelter Me by Juliette Fay
This is a novel about a woman who has just lost her young husband to a tragic bike accident. It tells how she and her two young children grieve and learn to move on from such a life altering experience. At times it was very sad {obviously} but in the end it was uplifting. It makes you realize that no matter how bad things seem sometimes, life will always go on. At times I found it to be a bit slow but I'm glad I stuck it out til the end.
Cupcakes & Combat Boots Rating: 3.5 stars

Thursday, January 28, 2010

What's for Dinner? 1/28/2010

Hubs is out of town tonight so I was on my own for dinner. He went to a bourbon tasting with my dad and is staying the night in a hotel there {since it probably wouldn't be a good idea to drive 2 hours home after a BOURBON tasting}. I would have gone with him but some of us have to WORK tomorrow. Hmmph!

Anyway, back to the point of this post! So since I was on my own for dinner and I stuffed myself with Mexican at lunch, I decided to go for a light dinner. I had no idea what I was going to make but I ended up throwing together a delicious salad and a twice baked potato {from half of a leftover potato}. It ended up being such a perfect dinner and it REALLY hit the spot.


1/28/2010
-Peach & Spring Mix Salad: Consisted of spring mix salad, white peach, pecans, blue cheese crumbles & balsamic vinaigrette. SO GOOD!
-Twice Baked Potato: All I did for this was take a baked potato and scoop out of all the "meat" and mix it with sour cream, cheese & green onions. Mix it all together well and then place back in the potato "shell". Bake at 425 degrees for 20 minutes.


{It's weird being home alone again for the first time since hubs got back from deployment. Brings back a lot of memories. And although it's nice to be able to eat whatever I want and catch up on all the TV shows that he hates, it also reminds me how GRATEFUL I am that he is home. Life is just so much more complete when he is around. /End of mushiness.}

What's for Dinner? 1/27/2010

1/27/2010
-French Onion Burgers (recipe below)
-Oven Fries
-Side Salad

Really yummy dinner! The burgers are juicy and the onion dipping sauce makes them even better. Definitely a make-again dinner!


French Onion Burgers

Prep: 5 minutes
Cook: 20 minutes
Serves: 4

These juicy cheeseburgers, served with an onion-seasoned dipping sauce, are as easy to make as they are delicious!

Ingredients:

1 pound ground beef
1 can (10 1/2 ounces) Campbell's® Condensed French Onion Soup
4 slice cheese
4 Pepperidge Farm® Classic Sandwich Buns with Sesame Seeds, split

Directions:

Shape the beef into 4 (1/2-inch-thick) burgers.

Heat a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add the burgers and cook until well browned on both sides. Remove the burgers from the skillet. Pour off any fat.

Stir the soup in the skillet and heat to a boil. Return the burgers to the skillet. Reduce the heat to low. Cover and cook for 5 minutes or until desired doneness. Top the burgers with the cheese and cook until the cheese is melted. Serve the burgers on the buns with the soup mixture for dipping.

Tip: You can also serve these burgers in a bowl atop a mound of hot mashed potatoes, with some of the onion gravy poured over.

Serving Suggestion: Serve with romaine salad tossed with fresh basil and Italian salad dressing. For dessert, serve orange slices.

Nutrition Information

Nutritional Values per Serving

Using Campbell's Condensed French Onion Soup: : Calories 497, Total Fat 22g, Saturated Fat 9g, Cholesterol 92mg, Sodium 1226mg, Total Carbohydrate 41g, Dietary Fiber 6g, Protein 33g, Vitamin A 5%DV, Vitamin C 0%DV, Calcium 11%DV, Iron 28%DV

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

What's for Dinner? 1/26/2010

1/26/2010 - Tuesday
Shrimp Fra Diavolo with side salad & garlic bread


This was a Cooking Light recipe that we had bookmarked and Alex decided he wanted to make it this week. The sauce was really yummy and you can't go wrong with pasta and sauce put together! Our only gripe was that it was little too "shrimpy" for us and I just wasn't really feelin' it. However that probably had more to do with either the shrimp that we used or maybe we didn't cook the shrimp long enough. Or maybe I just don't like shrimp and red sauce together. I found it kind of....odd. I'm not thinking this will make our "must cook again" list.

That being said, I still feel bad not recommending this recipe so if you're interested in giving it a try the recipe is below. And then comment and let me know what you thought!


Shrimp Fra Diavolo


Be sure to use inexpensive medium-size shrimp in this garlicky, spicy classic.

8 ounces uncooked linguine
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 1/2 tablespoons minced garlic, divided
1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
3/4 cup diced onion
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 3/4 cups canned crushed tomatoes
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained

1. Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain; keep warm.

2. While pasta cooks, heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic and shrimp; sauté or 3 minutes or until shrimp are done. Remove from pan; keep warm.

3. Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil and onion to pan; sauté 5 minutes or until softened. Stir in remaining 1 tablespoon garlic, pepper, basil, and oregano; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in tomato paste and lemon juice; cook 1 minute or until slightly darkened. Stir in crushed tomatoes, salt, and diced tomatoes; cook 5 minutes or until thickened. Return shrimp to pan; cook for 2 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Serve over pasta.



Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 cup pasta and about 1 1/4 cups sauce)

CALORIES 477 ; FAT 10.7g (sat 1.4g,mono 5.3g,poly 1.7g); CHOLESTEROL 172mg; CALCIUM 121mg; CARBOHYDRATE 59.4g; SODIUM 552mg; PROTEIN 33g; FIBER 5.4g; IRON 5.4mg

Cooking Light, JANUARY 2010

What's for Dinner? 1/25/2010


1/25/2010 - Monday
Marguerita Pizza w/ side salad


So simple and so yummy! Pizza crust, sauce, cheese & fresh basil. Doesn't get much easier or better than that!

What's for Dinner? 1/22/2010, 1/23/2010 & 1/24/2010

Sorry for the little blogging break. This weekend was crazy busy and full of lots of eating out.

1/22/2010 - Friday
We went to happy hour and dinner with friends at Texas Roadhouse. It was yummy as usual and super fun {minus the fact that Texas Roadhouse isn't exactly the best at accommodating huge parties}.

1/23/2010 - Saturday
We went to College Station for the night to see that Ags beat the hell outta Colorado in basketball and then we went to dinner at our favorite College Station restaurant, Veritas Wine & Bistro. It's amazing fine dining in the not-so-fine-dining college town. We did the Chef's Menu where the chef chooses what to prepare for you in a 5 course meal. One of which was the most delicious raw oysters I've ever eaten, and we also tried Beef Tartare for the first time ever {surprisingly tasty!}. After our scrumptious dinner we spent some time at College Station's most famous bar, The Dixie Chicken. It was great to be back in our old stomping grounds and we had a ton of fun!

1/24/2010 - Sunday
Sunday night was my friend Jennifer's 27th birthday so we all went out to a local Italian place for dinner. I got a salad with chicken though because by this time in the weekend I had my fill of rich, fattening food.


It was a really fun weekend but it was also one of those weekends when you get NOTHING productive done and you feel like you almost didn't get a weekend at all. When Sunday night rolled around I was pretty annoyed that the weekend was already over. :(

Thursday, January 21, 2010

What's for Dinner? 1/21/2010

-Venison Backstrap
-Sour Cream Mashed Potatoes
-Salad


Alex makes this backstrap the same way that my dad does...which means marinating it for TWO WEEKS in the fridge. Kinda freaks me out to leave meat in the fridge for that long but I've had venison made this way many times now and it's always well worth it {and has never gotten anybody sick}. Apparently the key to it is the marinating for a long period of time to make the meat tender. Otherwise, it will end up tough and not so good.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

What's for Dinner? 1/20/2010

-Grilled Mahi-Mahi with Sauce Vierge (recipe below)
-Pan-Fried Eggplant: dredged in beaten egg, coated in seasoned breadcrumbs (we used panko), pan-fried in a little olive oil on medium heat

Alex spotted this fish recipe and sauce in one of his Men's Health magazines and suggested we make it for dinner this week. The original fish suggested with the recipe was Tuna but we decided to go with Mahi-Mahi since that's what we had in the freezer.

It was DELICIOUS! The sauce is amazing and fresh and the eggplant actually paired surprisingly perfect with the fish. We had one leftover eggplant from the eggplant parmesan we made last week and were just trying to use it up. Definitely love this method of cooking it! I think I have a new found love for eggplant after two successful eggplant dishes in the past week!


Eric Ripert's Grilled Tuna (or Alex's Grilled Mahi-Mahi) with Sauce Vierge
Adapted from the November 2009 issue of Men's Health magazine

4 tuna steaks, about 1 inch thick (We used a filet of Mahi-Mahi)
4 tablespoons herbes de Provence
1/4 cup olive oil
Fine sea salt and freshly ground pepper
Sauce Vierge (recipe below)

Prepare the grill and, if you're using charcoal, let the coals burn through for 20 minutes. When the grill is ready, season the tuna generously with herbes de Provence, salt, and pepper. Drizzle the olive oil over the fish and place it on the grill. Sear for 2 to 3 minutes on each side for medium rare (an internal temp of 110ºF), and serve immediately with the sauce vierge. Makes 4 servings

Eric Ripert's Sauce Vierge
"I like sauce vierge because you can use it on almost any fish, and it can be flavored with almost any herb you happen to have on hand," says Ripert. "It also keeps well in the fridge for at least 3 days, and with a little acid can be used as a great vinaigrette."

Ashley's Note: This makes a GREAT salad dressing, too! I had a side salad with this sauce on it and it was really, really good.

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Zest of 1 lemon
2 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 pint cherry tomatoes, quartered
1 small shallot, minced
1/2 garlic clove, minced
3 Tbsp chopped parsley

Place all ingredients in a bowl and stir to combine. Season to taste with salt and pepper.


{On a non-what's for dinner note, I'm back in my gym routine this week after not having set foot in the gym since before Alex came home...way before. It feels good to be back to working out again but it means that I often don't get home until 7pm most weeknights. Hence, Alex is taking over on most (okay...all) of the dinner cooking on gym nights. It makes me feel a little guilty that I'm putting so much responsibility on him and not being a "good" wife, but at the same time he actually loves cooking and enjoys having the opportunity. And I must admit, it's kind of amazing to come home at night all sweaty and tired and basically have dinner waiting on me. I know, I know....stop gloating, Ashley. Anyway the point of all this rambling was to let you know that I basically can't take credit for most of the food you're seeing on Cupcakes & Combat Boots these days.}

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

What's for Dinner 1/19/2010

-Cashew Chicken (recipe below)
-Broccoli with Oyster Sauce (recipe below)
-Jasmine Rice


Yum, yum, yum! Better than takeout, healthier than takeout, cheaper than takeout. Can you say "winner, winner chicken dinner?!?" We stuffed ourselves silly on this meal. The only downside was that this meal does have a large amount of sodium in it, so if you're watching your sodium intake you may want to stay away. Otherwise, MAKE IT!

{And can I just add that I freakin' love cooking with my husband. This meal was a joint effort and it was so fun to be in the kitchen together. It totally brightened my day, even after a not-so-great day of work.}


Cashew Chicken

Source: Everyday Food

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 tablespoons dry sherry (or cooking wine)
2 tsp. minced, peeled, fresh ginger
3 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
coarse salt
1/2 cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 teaspoons sugar
1 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2/3 cup unsalted cashews, toasted
2 green onions, white and green parts separated and thinly sliced

Directions

In a medium bowl, toss chicken with sherry, ginger, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch; season with salt. Refrigerate 30 minutes. In another bowl, combine broth, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, and 2 teaspoons cornstarch. Set sauce aside.

In a large nonstick skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium-high heat. Add half the chicken and cook until golden and cooked through, about 5 minutes. Transfer chicken to a covered plate. Add 1 teaspoon oil to skillet and cook remaining chicken (reduce heat if chicken is over-browning). Transfer to plate.

To same skillet, add 1 teaspoon oil, garlic, cashews, and green onion whites. Cook, stirring constantly, until garlic begins to soften, about 30 seconds. Whisk sauce and add to skillet along with chicken. Cook until sauce thickens, about 30 seconds. Top with green onion greens and serve with rice or noodles.

Serves 4.


Broccoli with Oyster Sauce

Source: Everyday Food

  • 3 tablespoons oyster sauce
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 1 teaspoon cornstarch
  • Pinch of sugar
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 head broccoli (1 1/2 pounds), cut into florets

In a small bowl, whisk together oyster sauce, soy sauce, cornstarch, sugar, and 1 tablespoon water.

In a large skillet, heat vegetable oil over medium-high. Add garlic and broccoli. Cook, stirring occasionally, until broccoli is bright green, about 3 minutes. Add 1/2 cup water, cover, and cook until broccoli is tender but still has a little crunch, which took about 2 – 2 1/2 minutes. Add oyster sauce mixture; cook until thickened, about 1 minute more. Serve and enjoy!

Monday, January 18, 2010

What's for Dinner? 1/18/2010


1/18/2010

Steaks w/Blue Cheese & Baked Potatoes

Yum!

The Ranch

Since receiving my Digital SLR camera for Christmas, I've been getting more and more into photography. I love experimenting with photographing things and seeing something simple and uninteresting turn into an interesting and beautiful photo.

While spending time at my family's ranch over New Years, I had a blast taking photos of all the interesting things and beautiful backdrops. I was pretty happy with how some of the photos turned out but I was really wanting to learn how to edit photos.

That's when I discovered Picasa, which is a photo editing software that you can download for FREE! And it's super easy to use too. So since finding out about Picasa I've been going crazy with adding a few special touches to some of my favorite photos. I think the edits really take some of the photos over the top.

Here are some of my favorites:













The ranch is one of my favorite places in the world to be so I'm thrilled to have some photos to do it justice.

Comfy?

Libby's favorite place to sleep outside:


Silly dog.

{Excuse the brown grass and weeds!}

Alex's Awesome Gluten-Free Eggplant Parmesan

Alex made this DELICIOUS gluten-free eggplant parmesan last night for our party. It was a huge hit!! And we totally didn't miss the unhealthy fried coating on the eggplant. I think the thing that makes the recipe is the homemade marinara sauce so I definitely recommend taking the extra time to make it. It would also freeze well so make a big batch of it!

Alex's Eggplant Parmesan


• Eggplant, sliced ¼ - ½ inches thick
• Marinara sauce (recipe below)
• Mozzarella cheese (both the grated kind and fresh)
• Olive oil
• Fresh Basil
• Salt
• Pepper
• Garlic powder

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Sauté the eggplant in olive oil until softened and cooked, flipping at least once. When done set aside.
Cover the bottom of a baking dish with marinara sauce. Place a layer of eggplant slices in the pan. Cover the eggplant with sauce, grated mozzarella, and chopped basil. Repeat to make three layers, ending with the sauce. Finish with slices of fresh mozzarella and the remaining basil. Bake until hot and beginning to brown (approximately 45 minutes).

Adapted from http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/eggplant-parmesan-recipe2/index.html


Alex's Marinara Sauce:

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 ½ tablespoon balsamic vinegar
½ large yellow onion, chopped
6 cloves roasted garlic, pressed
½ jar roasted red peppers, chopped
3 (28-ounce) cans crushed tomatoes
2 tablespoons freshly chopped oregano
3 tablespoons freshly chopped basil leaves
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon fresh cracked pepper

Combine ingredients in a large pot and let simmer at low to medium heat for an hour, stirring occasionally.

Molto Bene!


Italian Night Menu
:

Appetizers:
  • Antipasto Platter {baguette, crackers, bagel chips, prosciutto, salami, grapes, giardinera, olives & mozzarella balls}
  • Italian Pesto Cheese Spread

Main Course:

Dessert:
  • Gluten-free Chocolate Canoli Cake (made by my friend Connie)

Drinks:
  • Wine & Beer

What's for Dinner? 1/16/2010 & 1/17/2010

1/16/2010

Saturday night we went out for Mexican food and bowling with two of our very best friends, Kim & Ricky. I have been best friends with Kim since I was born {literally} and we are lucky enough to live just 45 minutes from her and her husband now. We don't get together as often as we like but when we do it's a lot of fun!


And my Kimmy is about 6 months pregnant and SO ADORABLE...

See what I mean? Adorable! She's having a girl and she's due in late April.


1/17/2010

Sunday night we had a party at our house! We made some yummy Italian food {but of course I didn't get any pictures of the food} and played games.



And best of all, our good friends Lori & Eric announced that they are EXPECTING A BABY in September!!! Lori announced it to us by taking off her sweatshirt and revealing this t-shirt:
So cute, right?!? We're all so excited for another DS baby on the way!

It's so awesome to be at the time in our lives when a lot of our friends are starting to have babies. Alex and I aren't quite there yet so we'll just live vicariously through our friends for now. :)

Saturday, January 16, 2010

New Year Cleaning & Organizing


My Happy House {one of my favorite cleaning and organization blogs} is hosting a New Year Challenge to get people organized and clean. She has hosted a couple of these sorts of challenges in the past but this was the first one I decided to join in on.

As I've mentioned before, I'm not the best at cleaning or organizing. Yet another one of my New Year resolutions is to stay more on top of cleaning, and most of all GET ORGANIZED! I figured the New Year Challenge would be a great way to kick off this resolution.

The first weekly challenge was to organize and clean the bedroom. I just realized now as I was typing this that she actually said "bedroomS"...as in plural. I only got around to doing the master bedroom though. The guest bedroom will have to wait for another day!

Here's the list of tasks she gave us and how I did {green means accomplished, red means not accomplished}:

Closet & Drawer Systems
  • Empty
  • Clean Shelves & Drawers with all purpose cleaner
  • Sort Clothing- discard any unwanted items, my target number is 10-15
  • Put clothing back- I organize my hanging shirts by sleeve length, then by color. Pants go by color. Skirts, suits and athletic pants go in the bottom right hand side. Shirts in drawers get rolled as opposed to folded- fits much better that way! Sweaters are folded and place on the above shelves, again by color.
Emptied out drawer


All tidy and put back in the drawer...rolling the clothes really does make a difference!


Closet Before...cluttered mess!


Closet After...ahh organized and neat.


I made these hangers to divide different types of clothing.


My shoe area looked like a tornado passed through it before. Now it's muuuuuuch better!

Bed
  • Remove all bedding and launder
  • Remove everything under the bed- sort, giveaway pile, organize {we don't have anything under the bed}
  • Slide bed over and vacuum underneath
  • Dust & clean fan and or light fixture
  • Dust entire bed frame
  • Move bed back
  • Replace under bed items...or not if they found their way to the garbage!

Room- Clean from top to bottom (dust falls...)
  • Nightstands & Shelves- dust, organize, purge- keep them simple- treat yourself with a vase of fresh flowers!
  • Clean windows- including sills, frame, edges, etc.
  • Vacuum
The top of this dresser is a clutter magnet in our house. Now it's cleared off and sparkling!


All in all, I wish I had been able to accomplish everything but we had dinner plans yesterday evening so I was only able to get this far. I definitely plan on finishing what I started though over the rest of this long weekend.

The best part of it all was how I was able to go through and get rid of SOOOOOO much stuff. I'm terrible about purging my closets and drawers with any regularity because I get attached to things. But in this case I was just on a roll and I kept tossing into the trash or "give away" pile. I ended up with 5 bags of just MY stuff to give away...and that doesn't even account for the trashed stuff. AWESOME! So much more room now.

TONS of stuff to give away. Purging feels great!

Friday, January 15, 2010

What's for Dinner? 1/15/2010


1/15/2010
Domino's Pizza

We had planned on making steaks and baked potatoes for dinner tonight. But then, we just didn't feel like it. Just keepin' it real here! It's rainy and cold here tonight....pizza and a movie just sounded better. Doesn't everyone have those nights?

So, we ordered some pizza and popped in a DVD of The Ugly Truth. Normally we would have probably made the pizza at home but we didn't have all the ingredients on hand. So Domino's it is! Pepperoni & mushroom for me, pepperoni and jalepeno on his. We did the 2 medium, 2 topping pizzas for $5.99 each...

....And he ate A WHOLE MEDIUM PIZZA. By himself.

Oh how I wish I had the metabolism of a man. I hate them.

And I might be on Raspberry Mojito #3 tonight...damn my husband for being such a good bartender!!

Tomorrow night won't be any better....we're going out with friends for Mexican and margs...oops.

On another note, YAY for it being a 3 day weekend!! Happy Martin Luther King Day, dear blog readers!