A peek at my Kitchen Clean-up

Happy Tuesday - hope it's bringing you lots of sunshine! We had rain yesterday, but today the sun is out like a beautiful friend shining on my day. Going to go spend some more time outdoors but first I thought I'd give you a quick peek from when we did some cleaning and rearranging in the kitchen a few weekends ago.

It was one of those weekends where we were getting some jobs done around the old northwoods homestead and I just got it in my head I wanted to go through and clean up the kitchen.  I hadn't "thoroughly" been through the cabinets in a LONG time. And what actually motivated things was I have a little tiered tray shelf where I keep our bread on the counter, but it's so close to the big window and the light was making our bread go bad earlier than it should. So I decided I wanted to change things on the counters. And my hubby...who is more of a minimalist and would get rid of everything if he could (poor guy married to me - Lol)....was all for going through everything and purging and organizing. 

This corner was where we had the bread before. Now it's a cozy corner for our blue tooth music player, my zebra plant (probably likes rocking out to the music there) and this warmer. I was so excited when I was cleaning out cabinets as that's when I found this warmer I forgot I had and could put it out for the Independence Day season. 

I thought it would also be a perfect opportunity to put my mixer out now that it's been transformed.  Before it just hid in my island. I love it being out as it's actually pretty to look at since the change, plus much more convenient for when I want to use it! I didn't get into the details of the inside of the cabinets, as it's far less interesting. We ended up throwing out a lot of old things (old warranty papers to appliances, kiddos' old school things etc). Found some new treasures. And then did a little better organizing of things like the tupperware and leftover containers and bakeware cabinets and silverware and kitchen tool drawers. 

View out my kitchen window.

There is the bread tiered stand I was talking about. This is the far corner of the kitchen on the other side of the cook top and what used to sit here was a file holder with kiddos' school things etc and a caddy that held a jar for pens, and a tray for odds and ends. Well we decided to relocate the files and put the other odds and ends in a drawer so we didn't have to look at it anymore. Much better!

Here's where the pens, notepads, church envelopes, sunglasses & odds & ends went. In a drawer out of sight!

A kind of "before" photo of my kitchen at Christmastime (notice the snow outside, Christmas tree in the window and snowman on the cook top). You can see I had my bread up in that left corner next to the window and the canisters filled the other corner where now my mixer sits. Plus, our old kitchen faucet that was leaky and needed changing. That also got a makeover!

And a current photo of my kitchen with the new faucet and all cleaned up and more organized. 

Happy Homemaker Monday

Happy Monday All - and happy official first full day of summer!! It decided to show up here a little stormy, but some rain is a good thing. It was a lovely weekend here and flew by. I still didn't get to go visit everyone from last week but hoping to get more time later this afternoon. We celebrated Father's Day with my Dad (He's "Papa" to me but he's "Grandpa Whiskers" to my kids as he has always had a mustache & beard). Then celebrated Father's Day with my father-in-law yesterday. Of course we fit my hubby in there too! Lol Also, we watched my daughter's hockey games and she kicked some butt! She's really been loving hockey and she's come so far and does really well. It was a fun weekend and full of Dad Power!

THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS:

Gray and rainy. Woke up to thunderstorms, but I actually love that sometimes. I just wish I could have stayed in bed!!

ON THE BREAKFAST PLATE THIS MORNING:

1/2 of an onion bagel with light butter, raspberries, and iced coffee.

  AS I LOOK OUTSIDE MY WINDOW:

I see drips leftover from the last down pour. It's kind of between the drops now but know more rain is coming. It's still dark and cloudy.

RIGHT NOW I AM:

Talking with my MIL as we watch the morning news. It was so hard to get up and go pick her up this AM. I just wanted to snuggle in as I listened to the rain hit my window outside. My FIL leaves for work in the morning and then my MIL is on her own for a very short time. I always call to check in with her as soon as I get up and let her know I'm coming to get her. She doesn't remember how to call out on the phone but she still knows how to answer it. I know the time is coming before too long where she can't be alone at all, but so far she does o.k. for that very short time.

AS I LOOK AROUND THE HOUSE:

Threw in some laundry already. Just a few dishes in the sink. Still some games sitting out from when my Dad & step-Mom were over on Saturday and we all played some games together. Annie had a friend sleep over last night so still some of their picking up to be done, but overall pretty tidy. 

ON TODAY'S TO DO LIST:

Going to do a little more picking up and then this afternoon I think we'll go out for a bit of lunch and then go to the library. My daughter has been wanting to go and it would be something fun to do with my MIL too. Then I need to bring my daughter to her piano lesson she has Monday afternoons. 

CURRENTLY READING:

Still reading Annie's piano teacher's biography he wrote. 

ON THE TV TODAY:

I have some cooking shows and some of my soap opera (yes I watch Days of our Lives) to catch up on. 

ON THE MENU THIS WEEK:

Going to get groceries tomorrow (when it's not supposed to rain) and I'm thinking for one day for the in-law's I'll make my easy slow cooker ham & scalloped potatoes as I haven't made it in quite a while. We'll have parmesan breaded chicken dinner another night. Another night some kind of breakfast bake for dinner, or throw something on the grill. 

WHAT I AM CREATING AT THE MOMENT:

I've actually been helping Annie work some more on her first cross-stitch so been monkeying with that. I've also loved working on the new mandala coloring book that Annie & I have also been taking turns "playing" with it. I know that's kind of a new big trend...adult coloring books. But it truly is a wonderful as a sort of relaxation therapy. I will share photos at the end of this post. 

NEW RECIPE I WANT TO TRY THIS WEEK:

I've been wanting to make some homemade granola. I've never really done that but I would love to have some around for munching and even for breakfast cereal! Not sure if I'll get to it this week, but hopefully soon.

TIP OF THE WEEK:

If you haven't used parchment paper for baking - I highly recommend it! It's so wonderful when you're baking something - like I made more blueberry hand pies this weekend for Father's Day - and for something like that where filling might leak out and stick even to a sprayed pan, parchment paper works beautifully. Your food won't stick to it and you just throw away the mess! I always keep some handy.

FROM THE CAMERA:

platter of hand pies from this weekend's father's day festivities

the mandala I colored (I like colored pencils)

Annie's mandala - she prefers color crayons

PRAYER, INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE OR DEVOTIONAL:

I'm linking with Sandra of Diary of a SAHM for Happy Homemaker Monday.

Five on Friday:This Week's Scoop

Happy Friday to All!

For my five for this week I thought I'd give you the scoop this week from the northwoods.

ONE

The landscaper came and gave us an estimate and everything is a go! Yay! They won't be here until a little later this summer, but I'm excited and they had some great ideas for us. In the meantime we continue to do what we're able to around here. This was our service door to our garage, but now is our main entrance (we use the front door by the bench rarely) we use and comes into our house since our renovation last summer. I usually put pots of flowers by it but this year added the iron embellishment on the right and a welcome mat that I hope makes you feel welcome. 

TWO

Cleaning out the kitchen recently (a post about it to come in the future) yielded some rewards including finding things I hadn't seen in a while. This patriotic warmer was found and went out in honor of our future July 4th holiday. And these recipe organizers were found - by 2 of my favorite artists (Susan Branch & Mary Engelbreit) so I can finally take control of the loose recipes I have flying around! The one can be personalized with our name by stickers ("Anderson" is the example name).

THREE

This little guy came to visit and let me take some lovely photos of him. My daughter and I were out on the deck and she thought he was dead as he just sat in the patio chair with me perfectly still. He was just napping (or posing) as he hung out quite a while, but eventually did fly away. Living on the water we get a LOT of dragonflies in all sizes and colors & i just love them. 

FOUR

Annie decided she wanted to learn how to cross stitch. So we got a little kit and I showed her the basics. Look at that concentration! However, I seemed to have found some enjoyment in remembering my cross stitch days (however I need to focus on scrapbook catch-up) and I might have added some sections for her here and there. We can just blame it on the fairies, right?

FIVE

Worked on more fitbit miles this week! I'm determined to reach a small goal for weight loss and then set another small goal....and so on. So far a couple pounds have been lost that I will NOT welcome back. Ruby likes to help me on this mission with lovely walks on the bay. Some of the wildflowers on the way yield lovely rewards for my windowsill caddy.

ADDENDUM:

I have a couple of things I'd like to add this week. One is that I did hear from the other school Mom about the wild rice pudding recipe and I made the changes on it if you want to go back and check that out. There were some differences to what I had written down.

Secondly, I just want to say that this blog is my happy place and not a place I want to get into politics or anything like that. But I will say that I believe in the power of prayer and after recent events in Charleston and all that seems to continue to happen in this country of mine, I humbly ask for prayers. I ask for prayers that this country can be a place my children can grow up in that is free of guns and fear. Thanks for that.

I'm linking with the lovely Amy of Love Made my Home for Five on Friday.

Versatile Bars as Blueberry or Cranberry

Well, recently I was working on more cards for Annie's cookbook and I knew I had to include my MIL's recipe for cranberry bars - that she also often made as blueberry bars. I think it's wonderful to make the blueberry kind for summer and cranberry kind for more of the fall/winter holiday season. Imagine for the July 4th holiday making these "blue"berry bars with their white cream cheese frosting and then topping with some cut up red strawberries and more blueberries. A beautifully patriotic dessert that is DELICIOUS!

I was forgetful when I made these and didn't get photos of it being mixed up in my mixer. But it's quite easy as you just blend the wet ingredients first and then blend in the dry ingredients. It does make a thick batter and I wet my hands a little and press it into the pan with my fingers.

Top with some cream cheese frosting and you have one delicious bar! I wrote the recipe as a cranberry bar as that is the original recipe from my MIL along with her cream cheese frosting. So where it says 2 c. of  cranberries just use blueberries instead. For either fruit you can use fresh or frozen, both work beautifully. However, with the blueberries I reduce the sugar to only about 1 cup instead of the 1&1/2 cups with cranberry bars...obviously as blueberries are much sweeter already. When I make for my family I exclude the nuts (they don't like them), however, bringing it for a potluck I include them (I like chopped pecans) as it adds wonderful texture. When I make cranberry bars I even add some chopped pecans to decorate the top of the bars. So good!  Here's the recipes:

Enjoy!

Wednesday Wonder

Geraniums & Fairies in the Rain

Rainy day today

The fairies got twinkle lights & from above I think it looks like fireflies are visiting

The fairies can now have some parties at night (or in the gray rain) with their pretty lights.

Sending twinkly thoughts this Wednesday

Movie Party Favor Bags

A few weekends ago my daughter had her birthday party celebration with friends and she chose to go to the movies. Her birthday was a little earlier in May and we celebrated as a family then. But she wanted to see the movie Tomorrowland for her party with her friends and so that's what we did a couple of weekends ago, as the movie had finally come out by then.

After the movie we brought all of the girls back to our house for DQ ice cream cupcakes and at the end of the party I sent each Gal home with their own movie goodie bag.

I will share an easy "formula" for fast fun favor bags (say that 5 times fast!) in a minute. First a few more shots of the fun day...

Annie is blessed with wonderful friends! And her cousin even slept over - so all in all a great birthday weekend for my Girl. Now back to the favor bags.

One really easy way to do favor bags is with brown lunch bags. I always have these on hand for the kiddos' lunches for field trips, crafts, and gifting food to neighbors or friends. I took my round scrapbook template and cut out these fun pink circles. Then I used "thank you" stickers to put in the middle and a variety of movie related stickers (popcorn, ticket and candy).  Imagine, though, for any theme you're doing you could pretty much find stickers that could match it.

I then filled the bags with microwave popcorn (of course) and a variety of candy and the little things girls like: koo koo birds, fun pencils and colored "grippies", and chapstick.  Such an easy way to pick a theme for a party and filling it with some items that relate to that theme. You could be as creative as you want to be and still be fairly inexpensive (think dollar store).  Or even have your child color the outside of the bags for their guests and decorate it themselves. You can often buy packs of bags like these in white as well.

When the girls were done eating their treats on the deck I took my tote of bags and handed them out. They were a hit! Of course there was the usual trading of different flavored chapsticks and types of koo koo birds. Girls will be girls after all. 

Happy Homemaker Monday

Another week flown by and back to Monday! Hope you had a wonderful weekend. It was another pretty lovely one weather-wise around here. We ran lots of errands, accomplished a little more with the landscaping and even got my kitchen cabinets cleaned out and rearranged! Then had a little BBQ last night with my Mom and the in-law's over. All in all a pretty successful weekend!

THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS:

Lovely day! Supposed to be warm and sunny and upper 70's. We'll take that!! 

ON THE BREAKFAST PLATE THIS MORNING:

PB&J toast with a side some blueberries and banana. Iced coffee.

  AS I LOOK OUTSIDE MY WINDOW:

Sunny and bright! Need to get out there and water my flowers.  

RIGHT NOW I AM:

Watching the morning news. My MIL was watching with me and nodded off a bit. Teenager is sleeping yet too. Annie off to play with a friend. So enjoying a quick quiet moment.

AS I LOOK AROUND THE HOUSE:

Still a few dishes from last night's BBQ (got one load in dishwasher last night). Need to do another load of laundry. Otherwise pretty tidy! 

ON TODAY'S TO DO LIST:

WE actually got the grocery shopping done this weekend - especially since we knew we were having family over for BBQ, so no need to do grocery run. Will definitely do some outside time today. Maybe play with Ruby outside and have picnic of leftovers out on the deck under patio table shade. Go for a little walk if not too hot. If feels too warm later was thinking maybe I'd work on some scrapbooking and have my MIL "help" and she can look at some old scrapbooks and photos in the air conditioning. 

CURRENTLY READING:

I actually have a new little book to read from Annie's piano teacher. He wrote a book about his adoption story and is sharing it with me. Pretty cool! 

ON THE TV TODAY:

I finally watched the Outlander finale. I have yet to watch GOT finale. I have some cooking shows taped but think I'm caught up with everything else. My hubby and I watched the movie McFarland USA recently and it was really good! It's the true story about a racing team in California with Kevin Costner. 

ON THE MENU THIS WEEK:

We had BBQ last night: burgers, beer brats, hot dogs, beans, corn-on-the-cob, cold macaroni salad, jojo potatoes, watermelon & grapes,  and blueberry bars!  We still have leftovers so will eat that up. Then making tacos one night for the in-law's and might do a breakfast bake for dinner one night. I bought pork chops too but not sure what I'll do with them yet. Maybe throw them on the grill.

WHAT I AM CREATING AT THE MOMENT:

I didn't do much of anything crafty this past week but might do some scrapbooking today. I want to make some more cards too and need to get going on my Mom's heritage album!  

NEW RECIPE I WANT TO TRY THIS WEEK:

Not really new, but I have always LOVED my MIL's cranberry bars recipe and I did a version of them but instead used summery blueberries. I will share recipe later this week.

TIP OF THE WEEK:

It's one you've probably heard before but it does work so well: if you're planning to get up and work out right away in the A.M. have your workout clothes and shoes all set out and ready for you the night before. Have your water bottle all ready too & quick A.M. snack planned if needed. It'll help you stick to the plan when you don't have to get up and find all that stuff first before working out. Also, when I worked full time in my career I did the same concept with work clothes and would have everything planned out the night before and it helped so much to start the day out right and not wake up frazzled or running late because my clothes needed ironing or I couldn't find something.

FROM THE CAMERA:

pretty sunset from the deck last night after the BBQ

PRAYER, INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE OR DEVOTIONAL:

I'm linking with Sandra from Diary of a SAHM for Happy Homemaker Monday.