Kitchen Progress in Pictures!

I finally cleaned up the kitchen enough that I'm not totally embarrassed about posting pictures of it. It still has a long way to go, but most of the prep work is finally done.

Just so you can all see how far we've come, here is a before picture.



And here's some with some progress!



It doesn't look like I've done too much for as long as I've been working on it, but the insides of the cabinets HAD to be painted too. They were this hideous orangey-peach color. Thanks to Kasey for the paint color - Cottage White :)



This is the trim we put in on the long wall in the kitchen. The plate rail came out of the Spittle's new old house. They turned their dining room into their school room and the bookshelves wouldn't work with the plate rail up. Lucky us!!!



And finally, a closeup of one of the lights that is going above the sink :)



Maybe in a couple of weeks I can post pictures of the final product!

Kitchen Progress

I've been neck-deep in paint, caulk, trim, paint. Did I say paint???

We started the kitchen re-do about 2 weeks ago. It feels like it's taking forever! Mostly because all of the stuff that used to be in the kitchen is now in the dining room. And all of the stuff that usually lands on the dining room table is now spread all over the rest of the house. And apparently, in our family, when one room is a mess, it becomes OK for the rest of the house to be a mess too. I feel like I'm living in chaos!!!

Anyway, so far I've painted the insides of all my cabinets. They were a hideous peach/orange before. All of the drawers are done and back in, but for some reason, the stuff that goes in them is still piled in the dining room :) One side of all the cabinet doors are done and the other side has one coat of paint. Britney has run the wires for the lights that will go above the sink and installed the trim to hide said wires. We also put up some trim on the long wall in the kitchen that resembles wainscoting. Part of this came out of a house some friends of ours just bought. They took it down and it was just sitting in their basement. Score for us!!

Tonight I painted the thing I've been dying to paint. I think it's what will make the room. The island that has been the thorn in my side since we moved in is now...BLACK! I love it. Love, love, love it. True, the function of it didn't change at all, but at least now it's pretty :) I also painted our window sashes black. It was dark out by the time I started painting those and they seem to just disappear. It's really cool!

I know you're all wanting pictures to go along with this much overdue post, but I just can't bring myself to put some up tonight. The kitchen is a disaster because I was also making cupcakes today for the picnic we're going to tomorrow and couldn't find a place for everything. So, it's all over the counter. Maybe tomorrow you'll get a picture. For now, I'm going to sleep!

Recipe Wednesday

As promised, two recipes today!!

Cheesy Nacho Bake
1 lb. ground beef
1 an (14.5 oz.) diced tomatoes, with juice
1 can refried beans
1/4 cup water
1 pkg. taco seasoning
3/4 cup sour cream
6 oz. tortilla chips (7 cups)
1 1/2 cups shredded Colby & Monterrey Jack cheese

Preheat oven to 350. Brown meat in large skillet; drain. Add tomatoes, beans, water and seasoning mix; cook 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in sour cream.

Place half of the chips in a 9x13 baking dish; cover with half each of the meat mixture and cheese. Repeat layers.

Bake 20 minutes or until heated through. Garnish with salsa if desired.


Quick and Easy Brownies

2 cups sugar
1 cup butter
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp. vanilla extract
4 eggs
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup chocolate chips

Melt the butter and mix all ingredients. Bake at 350 for about 30-40 minutes in a 9x13 inch greased pan.

I'd love to hear from you if you try one of my recipes!!

Happy Mother's Day!

Imagine my surprise when my normally up with the sun son and daughter let me sleep in until 8:00!! I couldn't believe it when I finally woke up. I came down and gave them both giant hugs and told them thank you so much for letting me sleep! It was the best Mother's Day present ever :) The only thing that topped sleeping was the homemade cards that they had been working on all morning. I love Mother's Day!

So, to Bebe and Nana, Happy Mother's Day to you too! We wish we could be there with you today. We love you!

It's been a very busy week here. With school winding down, spring finally here and another remodeling project underway, I've just felt a tiny bit overwhelmed. Sorry for no recipe Wednesday...Maybe there will be two next week!

My first Mother's Day in 2002 with Britney's mom, sister and my mom.