DIY Filing Cabinet Redo

Have you ever bought a filing cabinet? 

If you have, you KNOW how incredibly expensive they can get! 

We have been using a little pitiful excuse for a filing cabinet that I bought while I was in college. it is a little two drawer, vertical cabinet that is so awesome that when I try to open the top drawer, the metal bends like a piece of card stock. Seriously it sucks. I'm sure it doesn't help that I have STUFFED it full...

I was talking to Jackie one day about wanting to get one but how expensive they are - she suggested I check a Habitat for Humanity Re-store. I did and was pleasantly surprised to find that I had a choice from three different cabinets. I'll admit, none of them LOOKED great but two of three were in good condition as far as functionality is concerned.  All I had to do was pick one.... I went with a four drawer brown vertical cabinet.... If I would have purchased one at an office supply store, I would have easily paid over $150.  I paid $20 ... yes TWENTY for one at the Re-store. 

I knew I could make it prettier with some paint and new drawer pulls. So I bought it on the spot - and let The Husband know we had one! I was VERY excited; probably more than I should admit =) Once my parents picked it up for me - THANKS MOM AND DAD! - I went about making it look nicer. Enter some pretty pretty spray paint of choice and some time...have you figured out yet that I am willing to spray paint JUST about anything?! 

Here is the before and after:

To achieve the after, we bought 2 cans of black spray paint and 1 can of 'Tiffany Blue'; I already had the metallic silver for the hardware from a previous project. 

  

I pulled out all the drawers and removed the hardware.  After wiping down the entire cabinet and all the drawers, I sprayed the body of the cabinet with the black and the drawers with the blue. Yes - it was that easy. 

After removing the drawer pulls, I realized those needed to be replaced in a bad kind of way.  I took a pull and one of the bolts with me to the home improvement store and picked out four pulls that were the same length and matching bolts. 

 

I am so happy with the way it turned out! Now we have a 'custom' filing cabinet for under $40!!!  We are so happy with it and as 'nerdy' as this may or may not sound, I can't wait to get organized and have it all set up!!! 

Friday Adventure: Food Truck Bazaar

Last Friday night, The Husband and I met some friends for dinner. It wasn't just a normal dinner - we were going to a food truck bazaar!!! We were excited and then we did some research and found that they were expecting at LEAST 1000 people! sheeesh! AND that the trucks run out of food...bummer =/

We still thought it could be fun, so after work, The Husband and I met up at the truck bazaar. 

It was fun - we met up with our friends and picked a line to stand in....thirty minutes later, we literally hadn't moved. The Husband was really hungry and starting to get a little grumpy, so we went to find everyone to say 'good-bye' and go somewhere else. As we were finishing up seeing everyone, The Husband saw a truck with no line! So he ended up eating there.  He had a Jambalaya Po' Boy sandwich.  He said it was very tasty.  I wasn't feeling any of the food at the moment so we just continued wandering until everyone else was ready to leave. 

   

We all left together and actually went and hit up a local eatery. It was fun - a HUGE group of us smooshed into this place but it was awesome. I love going to more 'intimate' style places where the atmosphere is casual and laughter is welcome because we do a LOT of that =) 

There was a cupcake truck there with amazing cupcakes! my sister bought 6 and Christy's mom bought 6. Her mom ended up sharing with everyone.  The Husband and I split a cupcake called The Pineapple Princess. It was definitely THE BEST CUPCAKE EVER!

Pineapple Princess

The Pineapple Princess is the perfect summertime treat! Our sour cream pineapple cake (made with real pineapple) is topped with an Italian Coconut Meringue and freshly toasted coconuts!

I want another but apparently the cupcake company ONLY runs at events like this. BUT I did find out that they cater...they may have to cater this cupcake to me because it is Monday haha =) 

All in all - I probably won't attend another food truck bazaar unless we pre-eat before we go so that standing in line for an hour and a half doesn't make me too grumpy =) It was a fun Friday night event and our super-not-so-awesome phone service kept us from being interrupted while we were at the bazaar...literally we had ZERO service...as in circle with a line through it! Annoying on any other day, but that night I was thankful to that we could give each other undivided attention; without interruptions. 

What did you do this weekend?
Have you ever been to a food truck Bazaar?

Happiness Is...

Listening to Christmas music on the Baby It's Cold Outside Pandora station

If you aren't ready to listen to Christmas music 122 days before Christmas day then check this out

You are going to need about an hour to just sit and watch this video.  it is outtakes from ALL seasons of Friends.  so so funny and entertaining! If you don't have like an hour to do nothing - go to youtube and at least watch some of the shorter clips. It makes me love the show and the actors all over again! 

I hope you have an awesome weekend and fabulous Friday!

Anyone have big plans this weekend???

Another New Recipe

sooo with The Husband working as much as he has been, I have been morphing into a real Suzie-Homemaker! I'm working very hard to come up with new recipes. I am SO tired of eating the same stuff all. the. TIME! I am constantly looking for different things to cook - allrecipes.com is my new best friend. of course you can always find some pretty yummy ideas on Pinterest - but I reserve my pinterest recipe finding for drinks and desserts =)

Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

Ingredients

·   2 cups chicken broth

·  1 cup water

·  1 cooked, boneless chicken breast halves, shredded

   1/2 (4.5 ounce) package quick cooking long grain and wild rice with seasoning packet

·  1/4 teaspoon salt

   1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

·  1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

   1/4 cup butter

·  1 cup heavy cream 

via allrecipes.com

Directions

1. In a large pot over medium heat, combine broth, water and chicken. Bring just to boiling, then stir in rice, reserving seasoning packet. Cover and remove from heat.
2. In a small bowl, combine salt, pepper and flour. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Stir in contents of seasoning packet until mixture is bubbly. Reduce heat to low, then stir in flour mixture by tablespoons, to form a roux. Whisk in cream, a little at a time, until fully incorporated and smooth. Cook until thickened, 5 minutes.
3. Stir cream mixture into broth and rice. Cook over medium heat until heated through, 10 to 15 minutes.

 Where do you get your new recipe ideas??

Kiwi Strawberry Tartlets

aaaaaaaaaaannnndddd welcome back!!!! 

I hope you had an amazing weekend =) 

The Husband and I had a couple over for dinner on Friday night.  This couple lived across from us at the old house and we haven't really been able to get with them since we moved.  SO we planned dinner well in advance so we knew we could get together.  

I decided to try a yummy new recipe:

Kiwi Strawberry Tartlets

1 premade roll of Sugar Cookie Dough (Pillsbury)

2 squares (1 oz each) white chocolate for baking

2 tablespoons milk

1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup powdered sugar

Kiwi and Strawberries for Garnish 

1. Preheat oven to 350. Spray cups of Brownie Pan with non-stick cooking spray. Slice ¾ of the roll of Sugar Cookie Dough into equal slices and put one in each well of the Brownie Pan. Bake 12-14 minutes or until edges are set. 

2. Remove pan from oven but leave cookies to cool for approximately 10 minutes; they will make their own indentations as they cool. Loosen edges and gently remove the brownies from pan. Cool completely. 

3. Microwave white chocolate and milk, uncovered, on high for 1 minute; stir until smooth. Cool slightly. Combine cream cheese and powdered sugar; mix well. Gradually stir in white chocolate mixture until smooth. 

4. Spoon mixture into cooled cookie cups. Arrange strawberry and kiwi slices on top.

The recipe uses an individual brownie pan:

I know you can get one a Macy's, amazon, and Pampered Chef.  You could probably get similar baking results using a cupcake pan =) 

These were so delicious and REALLY simple =) You should definitely try them! 

My New Favorite Kitchen Thing

*The opinions of this post are solely my own. I was not approached by Pampered Chef nor did I receive compensation for my review

A couple weekends ago, my mom hosted a Pampered Chef Party.  It was the third one I have been to this year.  The first party piqued my interest in the product again but I wasn't in a position to buy anything. BUMMER! My Seeeester had a Pampered Chef party a couple months later and a I just bought 1 item.  My mom just hosted one a couple weeks ago and I ordered this little beauty! :

The Small Baker! 

To say I LOVE this thing is an understatement! The best part?! I can use this baby in the oven OR the MICROWAVE! SHUT UP!!! No really!  I can! I'm so excited.  

Now I know what you are probably thinking - or your significant other is thinking - no WAY am I eating microwaved meat.  I was skeptical initially too.  But then at the 3 shows I recently went to, the rep used it so I had first hand taste-tested the food prepped in it. AND My mom and sister had purchased one and SWEAR by it.  I ordered it and could hardly wait to get it in! 

Well it arrived on Tuesday night! My mom brought it to my yesterday morning and I used it last night!!! People - before you walk away from this post, I HAVE to tell you how amazing this thing is!! 

I have been with The Husband now for nearly 5 years and he has ALWAYS been the one to make any meal using fish. I had never been around much fish until I met him. The man is truly a hunter/gatherer! He loves to fish and, well, being the amazing significant other that I am, I learned and participated in his hobbies. Who knew I would grow to enjoy and love them so much?! I don't clean the fish (ick!) and I have never cooked any of it...until LAST. NIGHT! 

We were both REALLY impressed - ANNNNNNNDDDD it only took FOUR MINUTES! in the microwave. It was DELICIOUS.  I am so so glad I bought this and it is DEF my new favorite piece of kitchen-ry.  

I guess all I ever needed was a rock and a microwave ;) 

Do you have any Pampered Chef ware?

{Recipe} Jalapeno Popper Grilled Cheese

I LOVE making new recipes.  I hate when they don't work out.  This one did work out and I'm SO glad that I decided to try it! I call it the Adult Grilled Cheese. It was so easy to make - literally I think it took a total of 20 minutes...which is perfect because that was the estimated time on the original recipe. 

• Ingredients
• 2 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1 tablespoon sour cream
• 10 pickled jalapeno pepper slices, or to taste - chopped
• 2 ciabatta sandwich rolls
• 4 tsps butter (I didn't measure this out lol)
• 1/2 cup shredded Colby-Monterey Jack cheese
• 1 chicken Breast

Via

Directions

1. Cut chicken into small pieces.  cook through on medium heat in pan on the stove. 
2. Combine the cream cheese, sour cream, and pickled jalapeno in a small bowl. Set aside.
3. Slice each roll in half horizontally, then slice the rounded tops off the ciabatta rolls to make a flat top half. 
4. Spread 1 teaspoon butter on the bottom bun and 1 teaspoon butter on the now flattened top bun.
5.  Place half of the cream cheese mixture on the non-buttered side of the bottom bun. Put the cut up chicken pieces on the top of the cream cheese mixture.  Add half the shredded cheese on top of the chicken.  Place the top half of the bun on the sandwich and place the sandwich on the hot skillet. Repeat with the second sandwich.
6. Grill until lightly browned and flip over, about 3 to 5 minutes; continue grilling until cheese is melted and the second side is golden brown.

This was so delicious! I can't wait to eat it again! Seriously - there isn't anything we would change. Actually I did deviate from the original recipe - I added the chicken.  The original recipe can be found here.

While cooking, I explained to The Husband how much I enjoy new recipes. He agreed and we decided on Monday night when we tried this recipe, that we are going to attempt new recipes more often.  AND it is even better when we cook together!

OH AND P.S. - I am really bad about taking pictures of my food because I am so excited to try it - I have a very hard time remembering to actually take a picture of the food we make!! 

have you tried any new recipes lately??

Taking Off in the Middle of the Week

hey hey!!!

Last week The Husband decided he wanted to take a day off in the middle of the week to go fishing. He invited me to go along too. We found a groupon for a head boat (fishing charter that takes out between 70-100 people) and decided to buy one.  The Husband decided he wanted to see how many people we could have in our group...so it became quite an ordeal.

Yesterday was the day we took off...that's right! We took a Wednesday off of work and decided to go off shore. Yes - it was quite random but i am SO happy we did it.

The Husband and I went, my sister and her husband, Marc and Christy, my daddy, my father in law and one of his friends...for those keeping count - that is NINE people total we had in our group to go fishing yesterday. NINE! The boat was filled to basically max capacity on a WEDNESDAY so I guess that means that a LOT of people had the same idea as we did.

Needless to say we had an absolute MARVELOUS time....we didn't catch a TON of keeper fish; in fact a good amount of fish caught by our group (and the boat) were fish that were under sized or out of season. I WRECKED the fish but it was such a fast pace for everyone that we only took pictures of ONE fish when we were actually on the boat...the rest of the pictures were taken in between fishing spots.

  

  

 

In addition to the fishing trip (which included breakfast AND lunch on the boat) we were also given $10 EACH in vouchers for the local bar and restaurant.  Needless to say, after our day of fishing, we hit up the spot with $90 in vouchers and partied it up...probably a little more than we SHOULD have for a Wednesday but PEOPLE it was so much fun!!!! We ordered more beer than we should have and THE BEST. JALAPENO POPPERS. EVERRRRR!!! as in the ever - like the history of the world!!

 

Definitely the way we should be living it up on our Wednesdays =) .... I will say that making through my Thursday was a little ROUGH - especially this morning!! But my SUPER SWEET friend picked me up a DP (dr. pepper) to help get me through til lunch =) 

I love days off with The Husband and family =)