Adam's Book Shelf

The 2nd project from spring break is Adam's book shelf. A weekend snow storm extended this project to this week. This was another hand me down item. I didn't take a before picture, but it was just boring brown wood.

The exterior & shelves are Olympic Star Spangled (Lowe's)

The back walls (top to bottom) are:

Pluto (Disney Color by Behr Home Depot) (this is more orange, less peach in real life)

Gilded Pear (Glidden Home Depot)

Corn Husk Green (Behr Home Depot)

It took 1 quart of the blue total for the bed & shelf. I just got paint samples for the other ones. I know they are all different brands, I seriously just walk through all the colors and pick ones I like. I'm not particular to brand for projects like this.

15 Bean Soup

Ingredients:

1 pkg. 15 bean soup

3/4 - 1 lb. deli ham cut in 1-2 slabs, cut into cubes (I like Prima Della Honey Ham)

1/2 large onion, chopped

1 - 15 oz. can diced or stewed tomatoes

1 tsp chili powder

juice from 1 lemon

1-2 cloves minced garlic

Directions:

Soak beans overnight.

Drain, and place beans in a crockpot. Generously cover beans with new water.

Stir in all other ingredients.

Cook on high 4-6 hours, or low for 6-8 hours.

Note:

You can omit the ham and make this really cheap. It comes with a mystery ham flavoring packet, but I never use it. I've found this at Walmart, Krogers & Albertson's. (This recipe is on the back of the package)

So good on a cold day!

Adam's Bed

During Spring Break I thought I'd get to some of those projects that I'd been neglecting. I've been wanting to update Adam's bed. This bed was given to us by family, and it is the perfect bed for a rough, little boy. It's solid wood so he can climb all over it and it's not going to fall apart. We love it. However, it's been through a couple of boys, so the finish has been taking a bit of a beating.

I thought I'd offer a before, during, & after tutorial for painting furniture. I'm no expert, this is the way that works for me.

Ideally, I would start by sanding everything, but someone stole my sander when I left the garage open. I wasn't up to sanding this beast by hand. It's better if you don't skip this step. (I slightly regretted it later when I got a few knicks.) Be sure to prop the bottom of the furniture to keep the legs from sticking to the floor when you paint.

2 coats of Glidden Gripper Gray Primer (Home Depot)

4 coats of Olympic Star Spangled (Lowe's)

topped with 2 coats of polycrylic (Home Depot).

Let each layer dry before adding the next coat. (Each coat took about 30 minutes, then hours for drying) Read directions on can for drying times. This took me all week to really make sure everything was dry before moving on to the next step.

The protective top coat is a polycrylic from Home Depot. I wasn't crazy about it. It was really runny, and showed all my brush strokes when dry. The satin finish was too shiny, so I'd try something else in the future.

Classic Chocolate Cake

This is the best chocolate cake recipe that I have. It has great flavor, and is really moist. However, I keep trying to add more to it just to make it that much better. Every time I mess with it ends in disaster. I need to learn to just leave it as is.

Chocolate Cake

2 cups sugar

1 1/3 cup flour

3/4 cup cocoa

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

2 eggs

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 cup milk

2 tsp vanilla

1 cup boiling water

1. Heat oven to 350

2. Boil water

3. Grease & Flour two 9" circle pans, or one 9 x 13

4. In large bowl stir sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder & soda & salt

5. Add in eggs, milk, oil, & vanilla

6. Beat medium speed for 2 min.

7. Stir in water. Batter will be thin and runny.

8. Pour into pans. Cook 30-35 min for rounds, 35-40 for rectangle.

(Do not use a bundt pan, batter will overflow. Do not add chocolate chips to the recipe they sink to the bottom of your pan and will keep your cake from releasing from pan.)

Frosting: I just use store bought frosting because I haven't found a good chocolate one I like.

Greek Salad

This is one of my favorite, quick recipes that my friend Diane M. shared a few years back. It's so good! We ended up eating it with some garlic bread that I forgot to cook up earlier last week. I wish I wouldn't have polished the rest of it off when I came home last night, it would have made a great lunch.

One day I'll be able to take beautiful pictures of food, but for right now you'll have to settle for quick shots that aren't always cropped or visually appealing.

-Good quality cherry or grape tomatoes cut in halves (splurge, it makes a difference)

- 1 cucumber cut into bite sized pieces

- crumbled feta cheese -about half a pkg.

- Greek Dressing or my new favorite: Mediterranean Sundried Tomato & Feta Cheese Dressing

- Sliced Black Olives, drained - optional

Put everything into a container with a lid. Put on lid and shake until ingredients are mixed together. (I never measure the dressing. I put on some, shake, and check. If it needs more to coat everything I add more.) Serve immediately, or refrigerate.

Juicy, Tender Pot Roast

Ingredients:

Red or yellow gold potatoes - chopped in large pieces

1 lb. of baby carrots

chuck roast

1 can of beef broth

Directions:

- Chop up veggies & put in bottom of crock pot. Salt & Pepper to taste.

- Place roast on top of veggies. Pour one can of beef broth over the meat. Salt & Pepper meat to taste.

- Cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Dinners for the week

I'm always curious what other people are having for dinner, so I thought if I posted our weekly meals that my friends might post on their blogs too. Maybe I can get some new ideas. We normally don't eat this much meat in one week, but I hit some great sales recently.

Sunday: Crockpot Chicken & Rice

Monday: Dr. Pepper Ribs & Coleslaw w/crescent rolls

Tuesday: Toasted Turkey Sandwiches w/sides of carrots, bell peppers, & apple slices

Wednesday: From the freezer - Previously prepared Chicken Pot Pie & banana slices

Thursday: Sweet Italian Sausage & Spinach Lasagna w/garlic bread

Friday: Dinner out