The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

I am most definitely counting down the days until Christmas.  And mostly because it means 8 days off work.  On my most frustrating days at school, I remind myself that I do this so I can have those days off.  And also so I can make a difference in the lives of these little people in hopes that they can become functioning memebers of society... right?...

We I started decorating for Christmas last week.  Outside, I made Bob put up some lights, and he was none too pleased.  Then I was in charge of the inside decor. 

Adding this table behind the couch was one of the best things we ever did.  Our house isn't very original so we don't have many nooks and crannies to decorate.  So this has become my seasonal table, as you've seen in previous posts. 

My grandpa made those wooden reindeer and they make their appearance every Christmas :) 

 I got my inspiration for this on Pinterest.  They showed giant glass containers filled with a bunch of different shapes/sizes of ornaments, etc.  However, I couldn't find any big containers for under $20.  No thanks.  So I settled for these.  And I'm able to rotate and reuse them for different seasons.  I filled the biggest one with some sparkly red and gold ornaments I found at Pat Catan's on sale.  The rectangle one has vase filler cubes, also from Pat's on the bottom and small wreath ornaments on top.  My favorite is the one with candy canes.  Who doesn't love to use food as decoration??

Finally, I put some greenery I cut off from my big strand underneath and put it in the smallest container.  I added some pinecones I found in my Christmas stuff and some cinnamon sticks.  They make the house smell amazing (until they wear off).  I love that smell though so I may keep rotating with fresh cinnamon.






And here is the wreath I made last Christmas.

Everything was purchased from the wreath making section at...you guessed it...Pat Catan's!As you know, I love making my own wreaths.  It's not that it's necessarily cheaper, just more fun :)

A Happy Thanksgiving

It makes me sad that Thanksgiving is often overlooked by the general public.  The pilgrims put a lot of work into this holiday and I think that it deserves more credit.  I love Thanksgiving food.  I love the parade.  I love having 3 days off of school.  I love spending time with my family.  And I love Black Friday.  To a point.  I'm good for a few hours of shopping and then I wanna curl up under a blanket with a book. 

This Thanksgiving I tried out a brussel sprout recipe I found on Eating Well.  I slightly, barely adapted it to fit my circumstances. 

Ingredients:
1/4 onion, chopped
1 lb brussel sprouts
5 slices pancetta
1 tsp ground sage
1 tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper, to taste

Start by cutting the brussel sprouts in half and slicing the pancetta.  Combine them in an 8X10 baking pan. 

Mix in the chopped onion, sage, salt, pepper, and olive oil. 

I baked them at 350 until they were tender.  I have no idea how long because there was a lot of multi-tasking and over-stimulation going on at my mom's.  The original recipe says 450 degrees for 15 minutes. 

This was the only picture we were able to capture of the final product because everyone ate them.  They were SO good.  I would definitely use this recipe again.  My apologies if you don't like brussel sprouts--something is wrong with you.  Something about the pancetta mixed in there makes them that much better.

Even the dogs thoroughly enjoyed the holiday.

And now we've moved on to Christmas shopping, gift wrapping, and decorating.  Can't complain about that :)

Rice Noodle Stir Fry

Happy almost Thanksgiving!  We already had one feast with Bob's side of the family this weekend.  It was just a warm up for the big day.  Speaking of warm up, it's been a whopping 24 degrees all day.  The dreaded season of winter is upon us.  I am the biggest baby when it comes to snow and freezing temps.  Bob isn't a fan either.  So this year we decided that instead of hibernating and going to bed at 6:00, we're going to try to enjoy winter.  We're hoping that skiing, tubing, etc. will make it go by much faster....(crossing my fingers).

In the meantime, I have another quick, easy, and healthy meal.  Involving these bad boys.

They're a lot lighter than regular noodles and have a much more intriguing consistency.  I use them in place of rice to go with a stir fry.   Also, they only take roughly 2 minutes to boil.

Rice Noodle Stir Fry
1 lb. chicken tenders
Chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp grated ginger
1 package rice noodles
Baby bok choy

For sauce:
2 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp white vinegar
1 tbsp Sriracha hot sauce
2 tsp honey
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 tbsp corn starch

Start by cutting the chicken into bite size pieces.  Saute with a little oil, onion, garlic, and ginger until cooked.  Meanwhile, start boiling a pot of water for the noodles.

In a mixing bowl, combine ingredients for the sauce.  I added a whole tbsp of Sriracha to give it an  extra kick.  By the way, I swear that stuff is getting hotter with age.  Dump the sauce in with the chicken.

 Cook on medium heat until sauce thickens.  And don't forget to boil your noodles.  I always forget, so good thing these only take 2 minutes. 

Sidebar: Someone was patiently waiting for his own dinner...

 I also made some baby bok choy to go on top with the stir fry.  Bok choy is a Chinese cabbage that goes great with basically anything.

Chop it up and saute it with a little soy sauce and vinegar.

Serve the chicken and sauce over the noodles, with the bok choy on top.

It probably took longer to take the pictures than to actually make this meal.  Let me know how you like it :)

Simply Chicken Fajitas

The main thing my hubby and I have been working on with his diet is finding meals that are healthy, delicious, AND filling.  Kind of hard to do.  He told me the other day that these fajitas hit all of those points! The best part is that they are so quick and easy to make (definitely a plus for me).

I found these amazing low carb whole wheat burrito wraps at the grocery store one day.  I've learned that anything "low carb" is perfect for Weight Watchers, so I decided to try them.  They're so yummy!  We hate wraps that are too thick and inhibit the other ingredients from being noticed.  And Bob loves that he can eat 2 of them.  I love anything that has a few ingredients and is still flavorful!

Chicken Fajitas

1 lb chicken tenders
1/4 chopped onion
1 clove garlic
1 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp pepper
2 tsp lime juice
Whole wheat wraps
Lettuce
Shredded cheese

Heat up some oil in a skillet, then fry up the onion and garlic.  Cut up the chicken into bite sized pieces.  Add the chicken to the skillet and saute for a few minutes.  Then add the seasonings and lime juice.   Continue to saute until cooked through.

Pile a few ounces of chicken onto a heated wrap and add your preferred seasonings!  We only add lettuce, cheese, and some taco sauce.  If I had the time, desire, and a less picky husband, I would add sauteed red/green bell peppers.

Bob cuts up some string cheese and puts it on his to further decrease the amount of points.  

I, on the other hand, load on the shredded cheddar like nobody's business :)

In other news, we invested in a new camera!  It was time that we took the plunge.  We're adults now, right?  So hopefully I can take improved pictures of my food.  Hopefully.  Photography isn't one of my strong suites. 

Sorry for the disappearance

I never realized that anyone actually read my posts until I stopped doing them.  While I quit blogging for the summer, I had so many friends and family members ask me if I was going to keep going.  It makes me so happy that someone appreciates my thoughts and ideas in writing :)

So much has happened this summer/fall.  Here's a little snapshot:

-I had gall bladder removal surgery
-My grandpa passed away
-I started a new job (again)
-Bob started Weight Watchers

...and I think that's it.  I took the summer off to spend time with family, read a lot of books, and work on stuff around the house.  I'm so thankful that I did that because I was able to spend plenty of quality time with my grandpa before he passed.  Now that the school year is in full swing, I really miss summer :(  Bob would say, "at least you have a summer."  To which I would reply, "you should have been a teacher." 

Speaking of Bob, he has had so much success with Weight Watchers.  I started cooking a ton of their recipes and we pretty much have it down to a science now.  That also played a part in my blogging hiatus.  It took awhile to navigate diet food and recipes.  I was basically following specific recipes to the ounce--we had to buy a kitchen scale to weigh all the food.  But now we got the hang of it and I'm able to make plenty of things that we used to eat.  He's been really successful so far.  He looks good, right??

We celebrated our 2 !! year anniversary last month at Niagara Falls.  We went on a little hike and ended up at this amazing area where all the locals go to catch salmon. 

I mentioned above that I had my gall bladder removed over the summer.  In past posts I talked about my GERD and food sensitivities.  Well, after having some tests done, I found out I had gallstones and my gall bladder wasn't working properly.  While this wasn't a critical thing, my surgeon felt that it would help with many of the issues I was having.  So I decided to have it out.  Needless to say the surgery went great and all I have to show for it are a couple of tiny scars.  And they're seriously tiny.  This surgey is done laparoscopically now so they barely make an incision.  While it was definitely not a good time, the recovery was fast and relatively easy.  The results?  Last week I ate a piece of pizza AND fried chicken, with no stomach pain afterwards.  It doesn't sound like much but for me this was a huge deal.  I still can't eat a ton of fatty, greasy food (which is ok) but in small doses I can tolerate it. 

So that's what I've been doing for the last 6 months.  My new job has kept me extremely busy, with a longer drive, and later hours.  But I missed writing and am going to try to get back into it!

It's been awhile...

I'm back!  It's been way too long since I've posted anything.  I've been so busy lately with family, interviews, work, etc.  Tonight is the first night I actually came home right after work and stayed home.  Due to all the craziness, I haven't been doing a lot of cooking.  I honestly couldn't tell you what exactly I've been doing.  Weirdly enough, I think I've taken up "gardening."  I actually stopped at Lowe's last week, bought some flowers, and planted them without help from Bob.  And so far they're still alive! 

It was very cold over the weekend and I became overly concerned that they would freeze to death.  So, being the smart gardener that I am, I moved them into the garage for a few days.  If that isn't love, I don't know what is.   I've come a long way since the days of Spike.  That was the very first plant Bob ever bought me in college.  It was a succulent, known for it's ability to withstand all types of caretakers.  It met its match when it moved in with me.  These plants can supposedly go a very long time without water.  Apparently they can't go a long time without sunlight...  Poor Spike :(  I've recently found that gardening can actually be pretty therapeutic.  There is absolutely nothing stressful about watering plants.  If they die, you might be sad.  But most likely you'll just go out and buy a replacement plant.

In case anyone didn't know, it was Mother's Day this past weekend.  I always have such a hard time deciding what to get for my parents on these parent holidays.  This year, I had a brilliant idea.  I'm sure you've seen those before and after/baby to adult pictures floating around the internet.  I decided that my sister and I had to do one.  We planned it all out way in advance, and then took the picture the day before Mother's Day.  Procrastination is one of my strengths sometimes.  This is what we came up with.

My mom loved it.  At least, she said she did. 

I've also been doing some organizing.  I desperately needed some kind of shelf for our bathroom.  Being the girl that I am, I always had hair and makeup supplies covering the sink space.  Not only did I hate how it looked, but every time I cleaned the bathroom I had to move everything.  Why did I not just put everything under the sink?  Please.  I like convenience.  I can't put my makeup away EVERYDAY.  So Bob found this awesome spice rack as a quick fix.

I'm always seeing spice racks used in bathrooms on Pinterest but could never find one that didn't scream 'spice rack.'  Thank goodness for Target.  This holds everything I use on a daily basis.  And it's not hideous.

So, that's what I've been doing for the past couple weeks.  That, and reading The Stand by Stephen King.  Bob LOVES this book and I started it last year.  Why did I never finish it?  It's over 1,000 pages.  I prefer books in the 300 page range.  Which is about how far I am in The Stand.  Zero patience for this kind of thing.

More recipes to come soon!

Tangy Grilled Fish

I'm so sad today is Monday :(  My hubby and I had such a nice weekend and then it was back to reality.  One of the most exciting parts of the weekend was that I was finally able to get allergy meds from my doctor!!  I know I'm not the only one who has been suffering this spring.  In line at the pharmacy, everyone ahead of me was picking up some type of allergy medication.  I have been SO miserable for the past few week, itchy, sneezing, pounding headaches, and the worst part: nasal voice.  By some miracle, I called the doctor Saturday morning and they were able to get me in immediately.  Turns out all I needed was some nasal spray :)

Bob and I also had a date night this weekend.  We ate at Brio, spent a lot of time (and money) at Barnes & Noble, and got ice cream on the way home.  Just so you know how amazing my husband is, he sat through 1/3 of Les Miserables with me.  For anyone who saw this movie in the theater, answer me this: how??  It's so long that I still haven't finished watching it.  Also, I can appreciate a good musical just as much as the next girl, but there is no need to sing simple conversations.  There is no way I could have sat through that anywhere else except for my couch.  Props to anyone who opted for the theater version. 

Over the weekend I experimented with my favorite fish.  I've blogged about barramundi before with one of my go-to last minute recipes.  Since it's been so nice out, I wanted to try grilling it this time around.  I did some internet research and found out that you can pretty much do whatever you want with this fish.  So I busted out these spices:

Salt and pepper
Onion powder
Tarragon
Paprika
Thyme

I sprinkled all of them pretty liberally on the fish. 

If you can't tell, I love this grill pan.  I'm going to be grilling fish with it all summer. 

I grilled this for about 5-6 minutes on each side.  They turned out like this:

We put them on some toasted rolls and ate them as sandwiches.  It turned out a lot better than I expected.  My flavor concoctions don't always yield positive results.  This time it came out perfectly.  I think I might like this option better than breading and frying.  It's healthier, too :)  Once again, any white fish would work for this.  It had such a tangy flavor, which made a plain piece of fish way more exciting. 

Grilled Jerk Pork Chops

Hi friends :)  I hope everyone enjoyed this gorgeous weather as much as we did.  Bob and I planted some herbs and veggies we recently bought.  And by "Bob and I," I mean Bob planted and I played with dirt every once in awhile.  Gardening isn't really my thing.  It's probably directly related to the fact that my house is where plants come to die.  Ricky especially loves the nice weather.  He likes to run around with our next door neighbor and body slam into his legs at max speed.  He also likes to lay in this one particular spot in the grass.

This was a mere hour before Bob cut the grass, so don't judge us for the jungle look. 

In other news, our grill is finally up and running!  There was no way we were not going to grill tonight.  I made one of my favorite grilled pork chop recipes from my Fast Weeknight Favorites cookbook (slightly adapted).  This is also a really easy recipe to turn into a freezer meal (which I did, of course).

Jerk Pork Chops
2-4 thin pork chops
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp lime juice
1 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

To freeze: mix all the ingredients and pour into a freezer bag with the pork chops.  When you're ready to make them all you have to do is throw them on the grill.  How simple is that??  If you aren't on the freezer meal band wagon (which you should be), mix all the ingredients and brush on the pork chops.  Grill for about 15-20 minutes, until cooked to your liking.  The recipe suggests grilled pineapple as a side, which sounds delicious.  But let's be real.  Does anyone really have a pineapple lying around on a weeknight?  Thanks for the optimism, but I'm going to bypass this complication.  I opted for pasta tossed with olive oil, lemon juice, white wine, pepper, chives, and parsley.

So yummy :) 

Also, in case you didn't know, May is better hearing and speech month.  So always use ear plugs at the shooting range, use proper grammar, and do not strain your vocal folds (too often). 

BBQ Turkey Burgers

Happy Friday :)  It was a rough one at work.  Lots of distractions and blank child stares.  So I'm VERY glad it's the weekend. 

So, I mentioned my turkey burgers in the last post.  I not only choose turkey because of the health factor, but I love that you can add in whatever you want and really taste the flavors.   I decided to make (and freeze) some BBQ flavored burgers.  They actually turned out a lot better than I expected given the amount of guessing I was doing while making them.  It ended up going like this: (keep in mind these are rough estimates, more or less of anything won't hurt)

2 tbsp ketchup
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp vinegar
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
2 tsp brown sugar

Mix all the ingredients in with your ground turkey, chicken, or beef.  I was freezing them so I made patties and put them into freezer bags. 

As I said before, our grill was malfunctioning so I ended up half grilling/half frying them.  They didn't have the grill taste I was craving :( but they were still delicious.  We ate them on our yummy whole wheat hamburger buns with some cheese and spinach. 

For a side, I grilled some potatoes.  If you've never done this, you need to.  But don't ever just throw a whole potato on there or it won't be finished until next Tuesday.  Usually I cut them and wrap them in foil.  This time I wanted to use our latest grill purchase.

This tray is perfect for grilling fish, veggies, and of course, potatoes!  I cut the potatoes into quarters.  I used my butter flavored oil I've talked about 1029012834 times before and brushed it on the flat side of each piece.  I then sprinkled them with garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper, basil, and oregano.  I put them skin side up and grilled them for about 30 minutes.  I'm not sure why these cooked but the burgers didn't....?  Usually potatoes take a lot longer.  Our grill has an attitude problem. 

They turned out to be super tasty!  They were just charred enough to give them a good flavor without tasting burned. 

This was a cooking success.  Let me share something that was absolutely NOT a success.  Bob and I have the worst luck with purchasing things.  And I mean anything.  Blinds, furniture, electronics, you name it, we've had issues.  I think the problem is online shopping.  It's like these online people just ship you a piece of junk and make you deal with the consequences.  To make a long story short, I need to go to UPS and ship back a laptop and a camera.  Because that was number 1 on my list of things I wanted to do this weekend.  Ugh, people these days.  Here's to our official hiatus form online shopping!

Doggy Woes...

As I've mentioned before, my husband and I love to grill.  This weather is absolutely killing that dream.  The other day it was FINALLY nice enough to venture outside and fire up the grill.  Well, we soon realized that the stupid thing wouldn't get hot enough.  Whatt?? Maybe it's still angry that it fell over last week.  It decided to grill the potatoes but failed to do anything to the burgers except leave some char marks on them.  So I ended up having to finish cooking them on the stove.  I'm crossing my fingers that we'll be able to have a good grill meal soon.

The grill isn't the only thing that's been a pain in the you-know-what this week.  The four legged creature running around our house has become a little too sassy.  I took him to the vet the other day for a vaccination.  Since it was a Sunday the waiting room was full of other animals, some calm, some not so calm.  My dog was the one to go beyond not calm and turned into a psycho.  We sat in the waiting room for half an hour while he made noises similar to those of a warthog mixed with a fork scraping across a plate.  I get it, it's annoying.  But the woman sitting nearby proceeded to cover her ears and give me a look as if to say, "I can't believe you're dog behaves that way in public."  As if that wasn't bad enough, she then covered her dog's ears.  I'll stop right there and leave you to form your own opinions on that.  Strike 2 Rick.  Strike 1 happened last week when we came home to find barf on the couch cushion.  He must be fond of that couch cushion because we found another present on it the other day.  Strike 3.  In case you don't follow me on Twitter, Facebook, OR Instagram, this was his punishment.

I made sure he was humiliated on all social networking sites. 

As if all that isn't bad enough, he's been waking me up every night trying to jump up on the bed.  It was my life altering mistake to let him sleep with us a few times.  Now he thinks that it's his right.  I'll be peacefully sleeping when I hear his little footsteps storming up the stairs like a bat out of hell.  Where do you think you're going that you need to run so fast??  Bob says he does this because I'm not strict enough with him...probably true.  This doesn't bode well for our future children.  Well times are changing.

Nothing like a good evening rant to make you feel better.  I was going to post my BBQ turkey burger recipe but I didn't think it fit with the inappropriate dinner conversation above.  So it'll have to wait til tomorrow :)

Oh and if you think my dog is a nightmare, he's just having a rough week.  Normally he's really cute.

See?

Crockpot Ribs

I recently developed a love affair with Trader Joe's.  My mom has always been a big fan but I was holding out.  And I'm not sure why because I love unique + healthy things.  We went yesterday and Bob said he will never go back.  If I wasn't obsessed with groceries, I would feel the same way.  It is SO crowded in there!  I mean, it's half the size of a normal grocery store with the same amount of people (if not more).  We had to fight to get to the English muffins (and then we realized they're called "British muffins" there).  Here are a few of my favorite purchases:

I'm not trying to pretend that these aren't still cookies.  But I do feel better about eating them :)

....Again, still chips, but I have reduced guilt after eating them.

My mom introduced me to this yogurt last time we were there and she was not messing around.  This might be the best yogurt I've ever had.  Life changing.

 

Also, just so you know, Trader Joe's has the best steaks.  We're steak snobs over here and they have never disappointed us.  

 Well, as the title shows, I made ribs today.  I made them once before and they didn't turn out as tender as I would have liked.  Probably because I put them in the oven and got too impatient.  This time I decided to use the crock pot.  Thank goodness for the crock pot, by the way.  I would spend way more precious time checking on things in the oven. 

This recipe came from my grandma's favorite cookbook.  For the sauce you need:

1 cup ketchup

2 cups water

1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce

1/2 tsp hot sauce

1 tsp salt

The recipe calls for a huge amount of ribs.  I used the same amount of sauce no matter how much meat I had.  I feel that you can never have enough sauce.  

So then I ventured away from the recipe for the cooking part of it.  I sprinkled some onion powder on the ribs.  If you're normal, you could throw in some sliced onions instead.  I combined the ingredients for the sauce and heated everything up on the stove (per the recipe).  After that, I put the ribs in the crock pot and poured the sauce on top.  I let them cook on low for about 8 1/2 hours.

At this point, they were already very tender and about the fall off the bone.  I then popped them in the oven at 425 degrees for about 35 minutes.

This is how they turned out.

They were definitely an improvement from the first attempt.  Bob still isn't a huge fan of ribs in general, but his dad is.  And he said they were delicious.  So I'm going to take his opinion seriously.  I love the sauce in this recipe.  It's basic but really flavorful.  Never, ever will I make ribs outside of the crock pot again!  Dinner was cooked, eaten, and cleaned up by 5:40 tonight.  That almost never happens in this house.  (we tend to eat on the late side)  I couldn't believe I have all this extra time to write this post, do some lesson planning, and read my new book, The Art of Racing in the Rain :)  Quality Sunday evening.

 

Parmesan Potatoes & A Little Reflection

What a crazy week.  It's only Thursday and this country has been through 2 major catastrophes.  I've been praying for everyone affected by those horrible tragedies and just can't believe that this is the world we live in lately.  I do find hope in knowing that God has a plan, even though our tiny brains can't comprehend what it is.  There are so many things to pray for, but my main focus this week has been peace for everyone involved.  I pray that their hearts and bodies will heal from the pain. 

It's so easy for me to get caught up in the day to day and lose appreciation for everything that God has blessed me with. The reality is that it could all be gone in an instant.  Today, I made it a point to have more patience and love towards all of my students.  It was definitely not as easy as I thought!  After explaining how to play HedBanz 102892489239 times and having no one understand what you're saying, the last thing I had was an abundance of patience.

I think that we could all stand to take some time and enjoy the little things.  Like...watching your husband play fetch with your dog :) And the beautiful 80 degree weather we had today.  And putting the grill back together after it got blown over and killed your bushes.  Trying to get the cover back on the thing in gale force winds was probably very entertaining for our neighbors to watch. It's little things like this that make me realize that God is so good in so many ways.

Anyways, onto lighter topics.  I actually came on here to share one of my favorite foods again.  Potatoes!  This is a quick recipe I threw together a few days ago as a side dish.

You need:

3-4 potatoes, cut into bite size chunks
Salt and pepper
1 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
2 tsp butter or oil (I used Wild Tree butter flavored oil--I could drink that stuff, it's amazing)
1 tbsp shredded parmesan cheese (rough estimate)

First, cut up your potatoes.

Then toss in the seasonings and oil/butter.  Mix until all potatoes are covered.  Transfer to a baking dish.  Top with the parmesan.

Bake at 425 degrees for about 30-40 minutes.  You can add a little more cheese to them once they come out of the oven, too.

I know it's not very exciting, but we always need side dishes, right??  Coming soon: more re-organizing of my house!  I just bought some great organizational things on Amazon and can't wait to use them :)

Organizational Gems: Laundry Style

Happy Sunday!  Sadly, tomorrow is Monday.  That's horrible, but knowing that I have only 8 weeks left of school makes me want to go and get it over with. 

SO, what might come as a shock to many people is this--my husband is extremely organized.  Sometimes.  He's organized when it comes to his personal space: this being the basement and the garage.  I'm organized in theory, but I could use some work.  Being a wife requires one to take over the organizational aspects of things that were formerly only for moms.  Example: laundry.  I've been physically doing my laundry since I was probably 12.  But I all I had to do was run the machine.  The whole concept of where to hang the clothes, where the keep the detergent, where to keep dirty clothes, was all foreign to me.  Weird, I know.

My husband helped me tremendously in making the best use out of our laundry closet.  I call it a closet because it's literally a closet.  See?

I recently tried to do some spring cleaning and started with this room.  I tried to rearrange and organize everything the best that I could.  So here it is.

We bought these awesome hanging shelves from Lowe's when we first moved into the house.  My hubby was the one who chose them so I can't take full credit. 

The shelf that came with the house is way too high.  So I keep all my frequently used stuff here.  Note the oxi-clean.  Best stain remover ever.

Above that shelf is one of my favorite pinterest finds.  I used chalkboard paint on some cheap plastic bins I found at Wal-Mart or something.

Since the laundry room is so small, I always ended up with clothes overflowing into the kitchen.  Not cute.  So when I saw some rendition of this on pinterest, I had to do it.  I can start one load and put whatever is leftover into the whites or darks bin. 

Next to those are my massive amounts of laundry detergent.  Keep in mind that I'm a frequent wholesale club shopper so if I have a coupon for something, I'll buy it in enormous quantities.  And detergent and tissues are things you're always going to need, right?

Underneath are rags in an easy to reach spot.  The hangers are for any clothes I don't put in the dryer.  Which is actually more than I ever put IN the dryer. 

My hubby also found this great huge shelf at Lowe's.

(Ignore the nasty paint splattered laundry tub from the massive amount of painting we did  last year.)  Thanks to my reorganization, I now have a soap/dog shampoo self, towel shelf, and cleaning shelf.  I was so annoyed with having to carry all my cleaning supplies into the bathroom when I was cleaning.  (no room in the bathroom for storage)  So I got a bin that I can just carry in there.  Much easier.  And I used my good ol' chalkboard paint to label it :)

Up top I put the wholesale toilet paper and paper towels.  Those are also 2 things you never want to run out of.  And I've found it's way cheaper to buy them wholesale and just store them.  Although that is kind of a pain.  Next to the shelf is another great Lowe's find that I highly recommend.  It has hooks, levers, and a lot of other confusing looking things.  But it holds all our mops, brooms, and awkwardly shaped items. 
Speaking of which, I was mopping today and realized that I have the worst mop known to man.  I'm pretty sure we got it at Drug Mart. 

Finally, above the laundry tub I have the widest assortment of cleaning products that anyone could ever need (and light bulbs).

I honestly can't tell you why we have all of this.  I guess not all of it is for cleaning.  Some is shoe water proofer,  hair spray, etc.  Which brings me to my next point.

This is the best solution for getting ink stains out of clothing.  At Bob's last job, he was always putting uncapped pens into his white coat.  WHITE.  What a disaster.  Someone at his work once told me to try hair spray to get them out.  Cheap hair spray.  So I bought the cheapest kind I could find.  I sprayed it on the ink and used a toothbrush to scrub it.  I also put a little oxi-clean mixed with water on it before throwing it in the wash.  Seriously, this is the only way I could get these stains to come out.  Some of them were months old so they only faded.  But the newer ones came right out! 

Despite this solution, I will say that I'm very happy to not be cleaning those coats anymore :)

Well, I hope I didn't embarrass myself too much by putting this scary room out there.  The good news is that the laundry room doesn't have to be scary.  As a wife, I spend a lot of time going in and out of there and I can finally find everything I need!

A Crockpot Chicken

The worst possible thing just happened.  I accidentally deleted my first crockpot chicken post!!  It was one of those moments where you're like, "WAAAAAAIIIIITTTTT COME BAAAAACK!!!"  I tried hitting the back arrow a thousand times as if that would make it reappear.  I am so sad.  I came on here to write a post about organization and this demonstrates that I clearly have some work to do.  Can someone teach me how to operate a computer?

I guess I should move on.  But I can't stop thinking about it.  Ugh.  I can't stop being angry about this.  Don't expect this re-do post to be nearly as good as the first one (if you even thought the first one was any good). 

Once again, here are you ingredients:

1 small-ish roasting chicken
Salt and pepper
2 tbsp butter (or margarine)
2 cloves garlic
1/2 lemon
Whatever spices you like--I used paprika, rosemary, thyme, and onion powder

First, you have to deal with the chicken.  I prep it by rinsing it under cold water and drying it with a paper towel.  After that, peel one clove of garlic and leave it whole.  Peel the other clove and slice it as thin as possible.  I use this garlic slicer from Pampered Chef.  The garlic comes out paper thin!  And you don't have the risk of slicing your fingers.

Stick your whole clove of garlic and the lemon half inside the chicken.  Gross, but it must be done.  Then shove all the sliced garlic anywhere and everywhere.  I put some under the skin and tucked it under the legs and wings. 

After that, mix the spices with the butter.

Then spread that mixture all over the chicken.  It looks really appetizing, yeah?

So, I did all this prep the night before.  I kept the chicken in the crockpot in the fridge overnight.  I cooked it the next day on low for about 10 hours.  It was probably done sooner than this but I like it super tender. 

I put no water in with the chicken before cooking.  This is how much juice came out!  No joke, this is the best way to make chicken.  It comes out so tender that it literally melts off the bones.  It's actually kind of a pain to get all the meat out.  BUT we got another 2 meals out of the leftovers!  That's my favorite type of dinner :)