9/11 day

crazy to think that 9/11 has been 11 years ago.  it is one of those days that i'm sure like many others i will never forget. it is the day that changed our country forever.

when i heard of the  9/11 day tribute movement, i couldn't stop thinking what a brilliant idea. why not remember a day of such tragedy and sadness with good deeds and positive action?
 
do something for someone else tomorrow, i will.

laundry room makeover

before

while we don't spend a lot of time in our laundry room, we do pass through it every day getting to and from the garage.  so i decided it was time for a makeover and a little organization.

the first step in the process was to take everything off the shelves and then organize it. i put the cleaning stuff together, then the laundry supplies, the extra rags, etc. i then headed to target to get some cute bins to store everything.  i also picked up a large glass canister to store the dry laundry soap in. i also filled a mason jar full of clothes pins, just for an added touch.

the next step was a fresh coat of paint. we had some leftover paint from the living room so i thought it would be a brilliant idea to use that.  jared graciously offered to paint so after a couple of hours i decided to check on him.  well that's just say i hated it.  the color was way too dark for the little space and there was no way i could just "get use to it."  a quick trip to the lowe's and we had a new lighter grey shade that i ended up just loving.  also a shout out to my wonderful husband for painting it all over again with a smile on his face.

we then created wall art by spray painting a couple of clothes pins and gluing them onto a piece of burlap and throwing them into some frames i found at hobby lobby. 

the last piece of the makeover was a new light fixture.  i found a super cute one that matched perfectly at world market on sale for $17, what a steal.

now i have a brand new space that i just love!

after - the finished project

close up of the wall art we created

super easy cheap project

another angle of the finished project

weekly menu posting

happy sunday!  hope you all had a great weekend, the only thing that could have made mine better was the hawkeyes pulling off a win but oh well.  this week the goal is to eat all meals at home.  the new iphone comes out soon and in order to fit it into our budget we have to save somewhere, so last week we only ate out once and this week we'll be dining in all week.  hope you're worth it siri.


sunday: baked potatoes with broccoli and cheddar -- we had our hawthorn hill donation today, so i just threw in a couple extra potatoes and dinner was done. 

monday: cheese tortellini with spinach, peas and brown butter -- life group starts up again this week, so mondays will always have to be a quick meal. the recipe states this is only supposed to take twenty minutes, we will see. they tend to always be off on their timing or i'm really slow, not sure which.

tuesday: spanish chicken and rice -- i pinned this recipe awhile back and have been dying to try it, i'll have to report back and let you know how it was.

wednesday: brown sugar-glazed salmon with green beans and shallots -- the best part of this recipe, you take the leftovers and put it towards another recipe, later in the week, see friday's recipe.

thursday: slow-cooker chipotle beef tacos with cabbage and radish slaw -- so excited that fall is almost here, bring on more slow-cooker recipes.

friday: salmon fried rice with cabbage and chilies -- typically friday night we eat out so i thought this could remind us of a take out kind of meal for much cheaper.  i also discovered this week that the fresh salmon at costco is cheaper than frozen, yes please.

saturday: tortilla soup with pork and squash -- another slow-cooker recipe, can't wait to smell this all day while watching football.

weekly menu posting

back into the menu swing after

sunday: chicken & rice dinner -- we got home from chicago and needed something to eat.  i wasn't up for going out to eat once again, so i threw this together with stuff we had in our pantry.

monday: bbq at the murphy's -- celebrated labor day at greg and leslie's with a bbq.  we had a delicious steak dinner and these roasted balsamic sweet potatoes.

tuesday: baked ham & swiss sandwiches with oven roasted garlic brussels sprouts -- oh my goodness.  this dinner was so good, i can't wait to make it again.  instead of using king's hawaiian rolls, i used my mom's homemade sweet rolls. if you're looking for a way to fancy up a ham and cheese sandwich, i highly recommend checking this recipe out.  the brussels sprouts were fabulous as well, tons of garlic.

wednesday: steak salad with bacon, crispy potatoes & blue cheese dressing along with creme brulee  -- i've made this recipe before and just love it.  it's super filling for a salad with lots of different flavors and textures.

thursday: pretzel crusted pork cutlets with garlic roasted green beans with shallots and hazelnuts -- i love a pretzel crusted chicken recipe so this should be just as good.  for the green beans, i'm going to use pine nuts or almonds because i have both on hand.

friday: sakari -- we're only dining out once this week so sushi it is, pretty excited.  we're going to hit up sakari as they have amazing happy hour specials, including $4 rolls.

saturday: iowa/iowa state game -- tailgate food all day long, so excited that fall is here.