A Beautiful Pantry Reveal (If I do say so myself….;0)

OMG!  I am so happy to finally show you the full look of the pantry.  I have nothing more to say, other than I am so so so so so happy with the transformation and can’t stop staring at my beautiful new pantry. 

A Nice Little Addition

Well, our hunt for the perfect little side table left us empty-handed.  Finally we gave in and decided to just make out own table.  We ran to Lowes and picked up some supplies and got right to work.

I traced a design onto the top of the table that I thought would compliment our little chair and I filled it in with black paint.

After I finished the top design, Hubs put together the pieces of the table.

We stained the top of the table right over the black painted design.  I thought was that this would make the painted design appear much more subtle.

After the stain dried, we applied a coat of polyurethane.  Hubs applied multiple coats and wet-sanded between each coat to get the desired thickness and smoothness of the surface.

I love the subtle look of the design and think this little table complements our up-cycled chair pretty well.  I do think it is a little tall, but actually is perfect height for us when we are sitting in the chair.  It will do for now. :0)

Now, That’s Easy! Easy Creamy Pasta

Finally, I made a super simple recipe that Joe said, “you better keep that recipe!”  This one is so easy that I am not even going to give you detailed pictures….

Ingredients:

• ½ box ziti pasta
• 1½ c heavy cream
• ½ c milk
• 1¼ t salt
• ½ t pepper
• 1 c Parmesan cheese

Prepare pasta as package directs; drain. Warm cream, milk, salt and pepper in medium saucepan over medium heat. Add cooked pasta and Parmesan cheese.

You….Light Up Myyyyy Liiiiife!

We are really getting down to the details of the pantry, but it is the little details that make all the difference.  We installed these little diddys into the pantry and I can’t wait to show you how awesome it looks when they are all lit up!

So these cool little battery powered LED lights are so stinkin’ awesome!  They are even cooler because they are hung with magnets, so if the power ever goes out you have 4 super-powerful flashlights right there and ready to go!

Yummy Enchiladas!

I know I don’t have to tell you how much we love tex-mex. ;0)  These enchiladas were not looking so yummy in the making, but let me just tell ya that they were a HUGE hit.  My brother-in-law was skeptical because of the spinach, but as he ate he kept saying, “this is so good!”  Yay!  Another hit recipe!

Ingredients:

• ½ lb ground beef, cooked, drained
• 1½ c salsa – divided
• ½ pkg frozen chopped spinach, thaw & drain
• 2 t cumin
• ½ t salt
• 4 oz cream cheese, cubed
• 4 - 5 flour tortillas
• 1 c shredded cheddar

    

In saucepan, heat cooked ground beef, 1 cup of salsa, spinach, cumin, salt, and cream cheese, until melted and heated through.

Spoon ⅓ cup filling down center of each tortilla.

Roll up and place seam down in lightly greased 8x8" casserole. Spoon ½ c salsa
over enchiladas.

Bake uncovered @ 350°, 25 minutes, or until hot. Add cheese on top; return to oven to melt cheese.

A Special Touch for a Special Project

You have seen how we refinished the door, added color and new shelving, organized with baskets and labels, and even how we added frosting to the pantry door, but this little touch to the new pantry is the most special to me. 

A few months ago we visited an antique store in Braselton and I saw a booth with various antique door knob kits and I fell in love with them.  I would love to change every door knob in my house to a different antique knob! 

 

We picked up this particular set because we thought the slightly cooper color would look beautiful with our new pantry door.

 

I couldn’t get a picture that really showed the beautiful color, so you will just have to come over and visit to see it in person. ;0)  I just love all the detail, and the little space for a skeleton key.  It really makes a big impact on this door and makes it so unique!

For the Love of Pinterest ~ Strawberry Cheesecake Fluff

Mmmmm…Pinterest is such a wealth of yummy recipes!  We were making a yummy dinner while in Florida at Momma’s house, and this was on the list of light-but-delicious summer recipes to try.

Hell on Heals Housewife had an amazing pin for this Strawberry Cheesecake Salad.  OMG – I am in love with this!  Joe ate like ten helpings (which is good because it makes a ton!).

It is so simple!!  (go the the HoHH blog to see the original recipe).

The night before you will mix together 12 oz. whipped topping, 1 small package cheesecake pudding, 3 (6oz.) strawberry yogurts, cover it, and put it in the fridge overnight.

 

Right before you serve the salad, mix in 1 lb. fresh sliced strawberries, 3 sliced bananas, miniature marshmallows (approx. 1/2 bag).  Keep refrigerated and serve cold.

Toasted Butter Pecan Cake – OMG!

I have avoided making too many sweets this summer since we can’t take them to work to have others help us eat it all. :0)  I did cheat a little and make this little piece of heaven in anticipation of company.

Toasted Butter Pecan Triple Layer Cake

If you like pecans, you must try this out for a special occasion!  I originally found this recipe through Pinterest, but then followed the pin over to the Laura’s Sweet Spot Blog.  Just like she said in her post, the cake was slightly dry but not enough to make us skip another piece!  Yummy in my Tummy!!!

Beautiful Frostiness

We are getting closer everyday to the big reveal of the pantry and I can’t wait to show you the finished product.  One part of my vision, that turned out to be much harder than it looked, was to frost the glass on the pantry door.  Let’s be honest, all that organization that I worked on for the inside with my baskets and labels is probably not going to ALWAYS look that good, so I needed something to hide the inside of the pantry for those times when it doesn’t need to be seen.

We picked up a few supplies from Lowes, and thought it should be easy enough…I mean, even the box said “Easy as 1,2,3”….I should have known better!

I cleaned the glass very carefully with the provided cleaner and even scraped off any slight evidence of paint with a razor blade…and added a few blisters to my fingers in the process.

While I cleaned the glass, Hubs cut the “frosting” to the exact size of the window.

Then we just popped it on there and it was perfect and beautiful and all done….yeah right!

Well, I am not going to include pictures of the air bubbles, the removal of piece after piece, the re-cutting, the re-applying, the crying, the yelling, the pouting, the half-done door that was about to stay that way.  We finally figured out a few tricks, like cut the piece a slight bit smaller than the glass (even though the directions say bigger), completely soak the piece of frosting in the provided liquid before applying to the glass, and if there is a tiny bubble in the sheet around the edge just let it go!

In the end I am THRILLED with the final look!  Come back on Sunday and Tuesday to see some tiny little touches we added to the door that made a huge difference.  Then finally, come back next Friday to see the whole look all put together!

Veggie Cresent Pizza

Pizza!  Pizza! Pizza!  I love pizza!  It is so easy to make homemade and this recipe makes it even simpler!  And let me tell ya…the white sauce that is used on this pizza makes it out of this world!

Ingredients:

• 8 oz can refrigerated crescent rolls
• 1/4 cup mayo
• 4 oz cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 c sour cream
• 1/2 pkg dry Ranch dressing mix
• 2 c shredded mozzarella cheese – divided
• 1/2 green pepper, 1/2 cup onion (or any veggies of your choice) chopped

Spread crescent roll dough on a cookie sheet and press seams together. Bake as directed until golden brown.

Combine mayo, cream cheese, sour cream, Ranch dressing mix and 1 c cheese;
spread over semi-cooled crust.

Top with green pepper, onion and remaining cheese.  I did half onions and peppers, and the other half mushrooms for Hubs!

Pre-heat broiler; place veggie pizza under oven broiler until cheese melts. 

Open Face Turkey Melts

Replacing red meat with any type of ground chicken or turkey in this house is nearly impossible.  Hubs just looks at it and gives me the death stare, “How dare you try to trick me in such an evil way!?”  So for dinner this night there was no trickery, just up front honesty and some pleading to “Just try it, please!”

It turned out to be pretty darn yummy.  I really enjoyed it!  Hubs probably wouldn’t ask for it again, but he ate the whole thing, so I guess it was at least edible. :0)

Ingredients:

• 1 T butter
• 1 small onion, thinly sliced
• 4 oz mushrooms, thinly sliced
• 3/4 lb ground turkey
• 1 T steak sauce
• 1/2 t thyme
• 1/2 t salt
• 1/4 t pepper
• 2 slice whole grain bread, toasted
• 2 slices provolone cheese

 

In a large skillet, melt butter over medium heat.  Add onion and mushrooms and cook for 8 minutes, or until tender.  Remove veggies from the skillet and keep them warm. 

 

Combine turkey, steak sauce, thyme, salt, and pepper in a small bowl and blend well.  Shape into 2 patties.  Cook over medium heat for 6 minutes per side, or until done.

 

Top bread slices with the turkey patties, cover with the onion mixture, top with a slice of cheese and broil the sandwiches until the cheese is melted.

A Labor of Love ~ The Pantry Door

The antique door was the must-have piece to my pantry make-over.  Finding the perfect door was actually what made the hold up for starting on this project.  I had found doors online that I could order but they would cost me hundreds of dollars and they were not antiques.  Well the light finally shown down on us one night while we were at the Flowery Branch Auction.  As we were walking in, Joe looked to some doors (what looked like junk!) leaning up against the outside of the building and said, “There it is!”  We were so excited.  He got the door from the seller for $20 and I was so tickled!  He took off the old, plain door and made sure that the antique door would fit….how lucky were we that it was a perfect fit!!??!!

Now here comes the not-so-fun part…I had a vision for this pantry door and sometimes Joe doesn’t see the same vision (or maybe he just doesn’t want to put in the extra work to make the vision come true :0).  He wanted to just simply paint the door black or dark brown, hang it, and be finished.

Well….I had my heart set on staining the door to show off the beautiful wood.  I mean what’s the point of an antique door to just paint it?  The problem was that this poor door probably had 3 million coats of paint on it.  It didn’t matter…I was going to find that beautiful wood!

We coated the door in paint stripper, scrubbed, scrapped, got a couple of chemical burns, sanded, and even cried a little. 

In the end I compromised and we only stripped the front of the door, stained it, and painted the back of the door the same color as the inside of the pantry.  Joe even convinced me to paint the inside lip of the windows on the front.  It was just so hard to get all that paint out of those crevices!

You can tell that this part of the project took a few days to complete (longer than any other part of the project!) by seeing that Joe has different clothes on in each picture :0).  Speaking of pictures, I think now is a good time to mention this.  I hope you know that I also do as much work as Joe does, you just always see him in the pictures because he doesn’t stop to take pictures of me. :0)  I am the only one who thinks to grab a few shots!

In the end I am extremely glad that we put the effort in to get that paint off the front of the door!  It is such a beautiful door!  Come back on Thursday and Sunday to see some special touches that we added to our door, and then next Friday is the big reveal of the whole finished project!!

A Quickie

Get your mind out of the gutter :0)  I came home this afternoon and decided that I was  fed up with fighting the heat from the direct evening sun into the back of the house.  I absolutely LOVE all my windows, but this summer has proven that although they are beautiful, they allow that pesky sun to heat of the house.  While Joe went out and bought light-eliminating blinds for our bedroom windows (we only had sheer curtains on them), I grabbed my tape measure, a painter’s drop cloth, and my sewing machine and worked up a quickie of a project.

In less than 30 minutes  I whipped up a curtain for the back door, and a mini curtain for over the kitchen sink.  This tied the kitchen area together and blocked out the direct sun from the back yard (which shines in from about 12:00 – 7:00 pm every day!).  Oh yeah…and Joe picked me up some magnetic curtain rods for the back door while he was out….those things are STOUT!

(sorry for the dark pic…guess the light blocking is working :0)

I know they aren’t fancy, but they serve their purpose.  Also, I will probably take them down when the cold months approach because I will actually enjoy the sun heating up the place…and helping out the gas bill. :0)

For the Love of Pinterest ~ Greek Yogurt Cake

Today I am actually going to share a simple recipe that has been floating around Pinterest.  It is so easy and cuts the calories of a cake/cupcakes down a ton!  I am so glad I pinned this one!

Here is the original link from my pin on Pinterest:  http://www.hungry-girl.com/newsletters/raw/1543/

You must check out the link above because it actually has a lot a variations for low fat, one ingredient, simple cakes!  For example:  add canned pumpkin to spice cake, or applesauce to vanilla cake.

I had read the post and wanted to try the Greek yogurt, but I know Joe doesn’t do chocolate.  I picked up a box of spice cake mix for less than a $1 on sale and a container of plain Greek Yogurt.  I added one cup of water, mixed it all together, and cooked it as directed on the package. 

I did frost the cake with a whipped frosting, but I think it would have been just as divine as muffins with no frosting.

I was surprised at how delicious and MOIST the cake was!!  Now I keep boxed cake mix and Greek Yogurt on hand for surprise company!!  You must give it a try!

Update:  We also tried this with devil’s food cake mix and Greek yogurt when we visited my mom.  She made cupcakes (with NO frosting) and they were to die for!!  They were all gone in 2 days!