Kitchen Redo

You may have heard me say that I feel like I've been treading water since Christmas and, well, my kitchen is part of the reason why. 

Here we were, chugging merrily along. Sure my faux painted walls were getting old and ugly and we weren't fond of the black, granite-tile counter top. It showed every little speck of dirt and those grout lines were a pain. 

But we'd worry about that in a few years when we sold the house.

(See, there's always a pair of shoes laying around somewhere)

Then, the tiles started coming off. Not only was it very unsightly, working around it was a challenge. So we decided it was time to bit the bullet and move forward with new solid-surface counter tops. 

We studied the pros and cons of each, as well as price, and decided to go with the Silestone Quartz. 

And definitely not black.

Whoo-hoo!

The counter top would be installed and we'd be on our way.

Uh...not quite. 

When they installed the granite tiles, for some odd reason they used two layers of Hardy Backer. Which raised the level of the counter top. So when it was removed and the new installed, we were left with this.

Yep, about a one half to three quarter inch gap between the counter and the back splash.

Naturally, we had no spare tiles, and we would have needed a bunch anyway, so we searched different stores for similar tiles, hoping we could just fix it. After all, we liked our back splash.

After an exhaustive search (all during revisions and edits of my upcoming release), my husband looked at me and said, "Well, we may as well go ahead and get a new back splash, too."

Okay, maybe this is wrong, but inside I was doing a little happy dance when he said this.

So another search ensued for the perfect back splash. And mind you, we're selling our house in three years, so we had to look at things from a resale perspective. 

But, wait... This also meant I was going to have to paint the kitchen. Not just paint, but texturize, then prime, then paint. 

I love to paint. I really do. But since I had done the faux finish over existing wallpaper and I wanted a single color this time, I figured I'd add some texture. You know, smearing joint compound on your walls with some sort of spreading tool, hoping you get the right look.

Had I ever done this before?

No. But I'm a DIYer. How hard can it be? (You know where I'm coming from, don't you, Virginia?)

I know you can't really see anything but the white here but, personally, I think I did a horrible job on the texture. Maybe I'm my own worst critic, but it could have been better.

But, after four months, the kitchen is finally complete.

I don't usually have flowers on my island, but hubby gave them to me for Easter and they're so pretty.

Things are lighter and brighter.

It's kind of hard to see with all my stuff on the counters, but the mosaic is only solid over the stove.

The rest is a strip with subway-style tumbled marble above and below.

And best of all, this new counter top hides everything. I kid you not. Sometimes I can't tell something is there unless I run my hand over it or the light hits it just right.

In the end, it was worth it. Yeah, the timing could have been better, but at least it's done.

And hopefully, in a few years, someone else will love it as much as we do.

Serendipitous Saturday: Spring Smoothies!

One of my Kansas apple trees. I had to leave
them behind when we moved :(

Jan here, and I hate to say it -

 - I mean, I don't want to jinx anything -

 - but Spring may actually be upon us!

(Ignore that snow. It's spring snow - gone as quickly as it comes.)

And Spring means it's SMOOTHIE TIME!


I'm sure you all have your own favorite smoothies, but since I've become a Trim Healthy Mama, I've made smoothies a regular part of my day.







This one has berries in it, and what can be more springy than that?

Here are the ingredients I used:

1 scoop Swanson's Whey Protein Powder (I buy mine from Amazon)
1/4 cup 0% fat plain Greek yogurt
3/4 cup water
1 cup frozen berries (any kind - mine are a blend of berries from Walmart's freezer section)
12 ice cubes

Put all the ingredients except the ice cubes in a blender, and blend until smooth. Add the ice cubes and blend until it's all smooth again.

Easy-peasy, and so delicious!

I like to serve my smoothies in these one quart
canning jars. :)

The protein powder makes this snack extra filling, so fills in that gap between lunch and supper.

Another smoothie I LOVE is chocolate. Of course.

And here are those ingredients:

1 cup unsweetened almond milk
2 teaspoons (or packets) Truvia
2 Tablespoons cocoa powder
a pinch of salt
1 scoop Swanson's Whey Protein Powder
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional - my protein powder has vanilla in it already)
15-20 ice cubes

Blend it up the same way as the first one! (By the way, the more ice cubes you add, the thicker the smoothies get.)

July flowers along the Beartooth Highway in Wyoming

This last smoothie is so decadent, you'll never be able to convince yourself it's low-fat and low-carb!

One of my weaknesses is cake batter. I love licking the beaters, smelling that delicious vanilla flavor...please tell me I'm not the only one!

This cake batter smoothie satisfies my cravings. Oh, it's so good!

Here are the ingredients:

1 cup unsweetened almond milk
1/4 cup cottage cheese, 1% or 2% fat (you won't taste or feel the cottage cheese in the smoothie)
1 scoop Swanson's Whey Protein Powder
1 pinch salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon butter flavoring
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon (or packet) Truvia

Blend all of these ingredients, and then taste. Adjust if necessary, and then add and blend in 15-20 ice cubes.

The great thing about these smoothies is that they are all low-fat, low-carb, and delicious.

They make losing weight child's play!

So, on this beautiful spring Saturday, what do you have planned?

My youngest son. Being himself.

Serendipitous Saturday - Kitchen Things I LOVE!

It's no secret that I love to cook. There's just something about starting with a few ingredients that might not amount to much on their own and then ending up with something completely yummy.

Over the years, though, I've learned that the right equipment can make any job easier, even more enjoyable.

But there are so many kitchen gadgets out there, each promising to do something amazing. Some are worth the money, while others are just a waste.

So here are some of my favorite things from my kitchen. Things I use almost every day and really wouldn't want to do without.

I bet most of you have at least seen this. It's a Mix n Chop from Pampered Chef.

Now they give you all kinds of things you can do with this nifty guy, but he really only has one job at my house and that's to break up ground meat as it's browning. I've used forks and potato mashers, but if you want nice, crumbly meat, this fella gets the job done like no other.

I've always loved wooden spoons, but these are the bomb.

These spoons are made from olive wood. I picked up the one in the middle on one of my trips to Ouray. You wouldn't believe the really cool culinary store they have there. At any rate, I loved it so much and used it all the time, so I hopped on over to Amazon to find the other two sizes. 

Why do I like them?

Olive wood has a nice, smooth texture. No splinters here. 

And, with proper conditioning, they are made to last forever.

A fish turner?

You betcha. Once you try it, you'll be hooked (no pun intended :).

I'd seen chefs use these on the Food Network and wondered what all the fuss was about, so, in need of a new turner, I picked this one up on Amazon. Forget about fish, I use this baby for everything from cookies to hamburgers. It's flexible, yet sturdy, making it perfect for any job, tough or delicate.

Meet my addiction.

I love enameled cast iron. I bought the small black pot first to test the enameled cast iron waters and I fell in love with the way it distributed the heat to cook things evenly. But I needed something bigger than 3 quarts.

So I went to Amazon and, after looking at several and reading the reviews, I decided on the 6 qt. red one from Lodge. From the moment it arrived, I was sold. The Lodge enameled cast iron has the same features as some of the high-end enameled cast iron, but at an affordable price. I learned something about buying them on Amazon, though. Yes, their prices are competitive, but be sure to click on each color because the price will vary from one color to the next. That means, unless you have your heart set on a particular color, you might even save some more money. And who doesn't like that?

So what are some of your favorite kitchen gadgets and why?

Serendipitous Saturday

Jan here, introducing you to a new, temporary feature here at the café. Our GAL Julie is taking a short leave from her duties, so the rest of us are jumping in to cover for her.

So, why Serendipitous Saturday?

The Oxford English Dictionary defines serendipitous as, “Occurring or discovered by chance in a happy or beneficial way.”

I don’t know about you, but that strikes me as rather Wind in the Willows-ish.

You can buy this beautiful annotated edition here.

Remember that morning when Mole was spring cleaning? He suddenly couldn’t stand the same old routine any longer. He wanted Adventure in the Worst Way. And what was his meeting with the Water Rat, if it wasn’t Serendipitous?

The OED goes on to say that the origin of the word “serendipity” is from 1754. It was coined by Horace Walpole, suggested by The Three Princes of Serendip, the title of a fairy tale in which the heroes “were always making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity, of things they were not in quest of.”

In my research and in my daily life I’m always making discoveries of things I wasn’t in quest of.  Another term for it is “stumble upon.” Just in the last two days I’ve stumbled upon information on how to prune an apple tree, or how much it cost to homestead 160 acres of the South Dakota prairie in 1877, or the words to a hymn written by Bernard of Marlais in the 12^th century, or the history of the Morgan horse.

(Now that last one I already knew. But it was fun to remember the year my children and I read “Justin Morgan Had a Horse” by Marguerite Henry.)

This is a wonderful book if you haven't read it - you can get it here.

 The great thing about these serendipitous discoveries is that they lead to bigger things, like books. Or whole series of books. Authors quite often form an entire story from one overheard comment in the grocery store, or observing one parent and his child (right, Missy?).

Still available in Kindle edition here!

 I hope you continue to make your Saturday visits to the café. The coffee pot is always on, and we’ll have a snack to share as we chat about this week’s Serendipitous discovery.

What will next week’s post be about? Your guess is as good as ours. J