Cooking Club

I forgot my camera! So sorry! The appetizers were all amazing and we had such a great time sitting in Mona's patio and enjoying the gorgeous fall weather.

 We had Leabanese wrapped chicken appetizers that you dip in homemade hummus. Yum! We also had an amazing taboule salad. I am totally addicted! Orange blossom lemonade, and Lebanese Mate.

I made Sun-dried tomato and goat cheese Palmiers. Courtesy of the Barefoot Contessa

Maureen made fruit kabobs with maple cream cheese dip and cherry cream cheese dip. So delicious! We had a great time. Join us next month for traditional holiday dishes and desserts.

Cooking Club

Some friends and I decided to start a Cooking Club. We get together once a month and bring a dish that we want to share. Every month we have a different theme. This month we are working on Appetizers. We are meeting tomorrow at Mona's house. Mona is my new friend and walking partner. She is an mazing cook and baker. She is so talented and kind and generous. I am learning so much from her. Tomorrow night I will post photos from our appetizer day.

October-Harvest
November-Appetizers
December- TBA

Careful Budgeting

This last month I have gotten back into careful budgeting of my food bill. I got out of the habit for about 2-3 months and ouch! I realized I was going over the food budget weekly. Menu planning is essential. This is a typical Wednesday shopping trip for me. I go to two stores and sometimes three. I know it sounds crazy, but it works. They are all close to each other and I can stay under my $150 weekly budget. This includes 6-7 dinners, afterschool snacks and lunches for one week, and 7 or more breakfasts. Its not always easy to stick to it. Last month I went over on one week because of Halloween treats.

For about two months I was trying to stay close to $100. It was extremely difficult to do. I was wondering why and I realized that it's because everything I buy is fresh. Believe it or not, it is cheaper to cook unhealthy and out of a box. Is that insane or what? I refuse to feed my family that way, even if it is cheaper.

I know it isn't easy to stay within a budget especially for a large family, but I know you can do it!

Don't people cook anymore?

I have talked to so many women lately who say they don't cook. They simply don't enjoy it. I don't always enjoy it, but we can't live on fast food or cereal. The occasional cereal night is welcome in our home, but it doesn't happen often. When I have seriously sat down with someone and asked more questions, they finally admit they just don't know how to cook. Well, I tell them, you have to start somewhere. I knew some basics when I got married and just experimented. Sometimes I burned food. Other times it just didn't taste quite right. It still happens. I made a recipe for chili yesterday and it was more like soup. Oh well! We still ate it and it was yummy.

 Basically, I want to encourage women to learn the basics. Don't be afraid. Just do it! And please teach your kids to cook too. It is such a valuable lesson! When they are teens, they can help. When they go away to college, go on a mission, or get married, they will already have acquired the basics.

Drab to Fab!

This project is one of my favorites so far. The girls have been in need of a new nightstand for some time. We have painted their old one twice, but it has no drawers and so things look messy and cluttered. I love that each of my girls has a drawer now. I chose the black knobs to match their white chest of drawers. I am really happy with the results and so are the girls.

Progress

Remember this lovely chair? The paint is done, but I'm stuck on the fabric. I want it to be as funky as the paint color. Definetely bold and bright. Let me know if you have any ideas. Some Amy Butler fabric or something fun like that is what I'm leaning towards.

Blue Blue Blue

The boys headboards are finally finished. I have had these a few months in the garage. I found these on the curb on the way to pick up Wes from Piano lessons. They had a yucky oak grain on them. I sanded and primed and had to put three coats of blue to cover the primer and grain. It took forever because I had to let them dry between coats. I let the boys choose the color. I think they turned out nice. I would have preferred a grayer blue, but this is what they wanted. What do you think? Fun, huh? The middle photo makes them look lighter than they really are. The are more like the other pictures.