Meat-less Thursday Meal

I have been on a quest to drop 30 pounds and I was thrilled to see I have lost 8 pounds since my last weigh in which makes a total of 12 pounds since I had my son last August. I am in my old clothes but I have a long way to go. I decided that I would go meatless once a week and gradually work my way up to three days a week, this decision was not welcomed with the family - since I do all the cooking, that meant they would be meatless as well LOL! It seems no sooner did I decide to go meatless on Thursday, a recipe for 

Panera-Mac-and-Cheese appeared from the Heaven's (by way of annies-eats.com) that I just had to try. 

My daughter "Jai" Protested, my husband gave me the stink-eye and reluctantly accepted his plate (over on the right side of the picture above) and even waited until after I began eating to try the dinner. And then it happened... complete and utter SILENCE around the dinner table! Everyone loved dinner! 

You simply must give this recipe a try - I did add minced garlic and onion powder to the seasoning but that is all I added to the original recipe. My husband took the last serving to work on Monday and sent a text message stating how good the mac-and-cheese was and the flavors were still there and even better. 

Meatless Thursday's are in effect and so far so good!

Black Attack - A formal dining room update

Ever since I began following Mr.Goodwill Hunting's blog, I have been thinking of things that I could paint black and spruce up around the house- I hope I decided in the right piece...my dining room buffet 

(a bedroom dresser in another life)

I mentioned before, I purchased this dresser for 30.00 and had decided to paint it gold.

I went with a Martha Stewart paint, it was just so-so to me and I decided to leave the dresser alone until I really was ready to paint and give it some wow!

I am really hoping I made the right choice in painting the dresser black.

I decided to paint the dresser the same shade of black as the sewing desk I did for myself. I decided to do the pulls in a brushed gold versus the shiny gold from the desk.

I now have to find a perfect pull for that center drawer, the dresser had always been missing the pull and I have purchased a clear pull for it but now, I need something else.

Overall. I am pretty pleased with the update.

Painting the dresser was a great way to spend time out of the heat and working on something fun, what did you all do over the weekend?

OUR Family Rules

About two weeks ago, I was on etsy.com searching out a little something to add to my blank wall in both my formal dining room and family room. I had decided on some art that was really my style but I had not made up my mind regarding any one item. I decided I wanted something bible based for both rooms and selected some contenders. 

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I decided on this decal for the family room wall, I love this hymn and was so pleased to see it in a decal.

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Since I felt confident in my choice of decal for the formal dining room wall, I decided to try my luck with something for the family room. I loved the fact that even though I didn't know exactly what I was looking for, etsy had just what I wanted. Here are some contenders:

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Since we are a blended family, I thought this would be a really nice way to acknowledge everyone, this "What a Difference a Day Makes" print will still make an appearance in our home, only not in the family room- I have just the perfect spot for it.

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I decided on this print - I love this so very much!

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I purchased the template for 10.00 by asking the seller for a size larger (11x14) and had it printed for a mere 1.28 at my local Office Max (by the way they know me on a first name basis there now with all the printing I am doing for my little guy's first birthday party). I love that an 8.5x11 sheet print is .65 cents! I always email my request and pick it up later, they are very efficient and friendly.

 I lucked up on a beautiful white frame and matte border for the print and will be showing both rooms with a few more new looks and updates very soon.

Are there particular places you go for art or prints? Do you make your own?

Vanilla Bean Cupcakes

Hello Everyone! 

I apologize for the delay in posting, I have been under the weather and also keeping busy with things around the house. I wanted to share a recipe with you all that is by far the best I have made yet! If you love vanilla, this is a must try! 

I hope to be back soon with some projects that have been completed around the house! Not only have I been working on flavors for my son's birthday party that will wow the guests, I am also working on my decorating techniques! There are some chocolate cupcakes in the background of one of the pics and I will share that recipe soon as well. 

Have a great week everyone! 

Summer

Lemony-Raspberry Cupcakes with Raspberry Buttercream Frosting

Happy Wednesday Everyone! 

In the previous post, I shared with you my vision for my son's first birthday party. I have been away from the computer for a very valid reason, I have been baking my little heart out in an effort to create the perfect cupcake display and the most delicious, easy to prepare and super cute cupcakes for my son and his guests! 

This recipe for Lemon-Raspberry Cupcakes was just too tempting to pass up! I decided to give the recipe a try and it is amazing! I was really proud of myself for baking these with such ease and the butter cream frosting was fun and easy also. My goal is to bake the cupcakes twice before the big day and really work on the buttercream frosting so that it looks professional.

Since I know I will be making these cupcakes (after the family tasted and approved them) for the party, I decided to just do a lemony cupcake and simply omit the raspberry jam in the cupcake and still go with with the raspberry buttercream (colored blue since I have a little guy) simply for the sake of time while preparing the mini cupcakes. If you like tangy and sweet treats, this recipe is a must! 


I have been trying for over two months now to paint a dresser and show you all my updated formal living and dining room to no avail - the weather simply will not cooperate with me, I do hope to share a couple other quick projects with you all really soon!


Have a great day!