Egg and Bacon Cups

Came across a version of these via Pinterest and kinda did what I could with them! Pretty yummy, but I over cooked them a bit.

Bacon and Egg Cups 
Ingredients
6 Eggs
12 slices turkey bacon
6 slices bread
Nonstick cooking spray
Salt and Pepper

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 350
-Spray a 6 cup muffin tin with nonstick spray.  Using a large round cookie cutter, cut bread into circles and press into muffin cups.  Set aside.
-Cook bacon in whatever method you use (I prefer to bake it) and place two slices in each cup
-Crack an egg in a bowl and gently place an egg in each cup on top of the bacon.
-Season with salt and pepper
-Bake until eggs are done the way you like them!

Menu Planning Monday (er, Tuesday)

Time to get back on the MPM wagon with OrgJunkie! Our weekly menus now revolve around our CSA bag from Fresh Fork Markets and I am making breakfasts and lunches because of summer vacation, so I really need to watch our spending habits.   Which means...back on the planning wagon!  Especially after last week's dinners out and family gatherings because we had family in from out of town.  So, here it is!

Sunday: Chicken stir fry (used our pea pods and bok choy from the produce bag) 
Monday: Chicken patties/nuggets, fries, corn
Tuesday: Grilled chicken Caesar salads
Wednesday: Spicy black bean burritos and cilantro lime rice
Thursday: Grilled pork chops, au gratin potatoes, some sort of green
Friday: Pizza night!

What is on your menu this week?  Link up!

Main Bath: Where are we now?

So. Our bathrooms. I pretty much hate them. Actually, I hate the tile. Its the same ugly harvest gold as the outside of the house. Here is where we started.

Pretty hideous, right?

Then it became this:

I hated the color on the wall because it looked too pink and I felt my upstairs was too beige and I am not a beige person. Plus, the cabintry needed to be painted. So it became this, which was a little better:

At that point, I was ignoring the yellow instead of working with it.  Before Logan's baptism last year, OF COURSE I needed to take on some sort of project (duh) so I decided that I would try to become friends with the yellow.

Thus, this bathroom was born:

This print picked up the blue and yellow really well, so I was super excited with I found it at Michael's:

I still hate the tile, but at least I can live with it now, until I get the bathroom of my dreams (which will be never, in this house :) ).  And although the vanity is ginormous, I hate the brown.  But, like I said, livable.

Wall Color: Behr Smokey Blue

SJP Hair

This could be an epic failure. I will let you know how my attempt to get Sarah Jessica Parker curls goes.

The Girls' Room: Phase One Reno

When we moved in to our house, one of my favorite finished rooms was Jamie and Lexy's room.  I loved the colors, the brightness, the cute-ness of it...I just felt I did a great job putting it all together.  I never blogged about it, but here is what it looked like before:

I know SOMEWHERE I have pictures of their names above their beds (they were in white) and please note their nightstands became white shortly after, and we also got rid of their debunked bunk beds for just normal bedframes. It all came together wonderfully and I was super proud of it. 

Before Jamie decided to move home, Alexys and I had discussed redecorating their room.  When we moved in, I was able to incorporate their favorite colors.  Well, times have changed and I was certainly not going to 1) paint the walls lime green (even more limey than this), orange or black OR 2) paint the entire thing pink. 

We compromised.  I had a vision and I ran with it. And this is what it became:

 PLEASE NOTE THE PURPLE CHANDELIER!!!

 Zebra.  Sequined pillows.  Amazeballs.

 Their nightstands are painted with the same black metallic Rust-o-leum spray paint that their names are in:

 They each have one of these above their beds:

 Their chandelier lit up.  I will be attaching black beads/crystals eventually.

I worked my ass off to get it done before Jamie came home last Sunday.  I was working around all my end of the year stuff and in-between naptimes (Logan's, not mine).  I repainted the trim and everything.

Both girls are in high school now (9th and 10th grade...help.), so we are lofting their beds and building desks under each one so they have their own space.  They also need a zebra rug in between the beds, don't you think?

Overall?  I am IN LOVE with how it turned out.  Could not be happier and the girls were THRILLED.  I made Lexy sleep on the couch in the family room for a week so they could both see it for the first time together :)

Colors:
Top of chair rail: SW Grey Matters
Bottom of chair rail: Behr Victorian Iris
Trim/Chair Rail: Strait off the shelf Olympus in semi-gloss

Garden: Edition 2012 (or I sucked this spring)

Last year, I planted my first garden and for the most part, it was a success.  Although, I admit, at the end of the summer, I was pretty lax about taking care of it, and lost many tomatoes because of it, lol.   This spring, the plan was to double our garden space.  But, life got in the way and planting the garden was really pushed to the back burner.  So I ended up getting my plants in WAY late and didn't get as much as I wanted in.

The first major change I made this year was to plant my basil in the ground.  I never have success growing it in pots and since my flower beds along the side of the house get full sun pretty much all day, I planted them there and they are already getting huge!

 I also plant a small pot of mint every summer.  I like to use it in fruit salad and iced tea, primarily.


My other cooking herbs: parsley, dill, oregano, chives.

Getting to the actual garden, I definitely tried to be neater and better at spacing when planting and because of that, I seriously overbought.   I ended up only planting three types of tomatoes, jalapenos, green and red peppers, and zucchini.  I am keeping my fingers crossed that I didn't get everything in too late. 

We desperately need some rain. It has been like, 2 weeks since any substantial rain and this ground needs a good soaking.

CSA Week 1 Review

Last Friday I picked up our first CSA produce bag from Fresh Fork Market here in Cleveland. I was ridiculously excited to pick up for the first time, as I am working really hard to make wiser food choices for our family and include more veggies into our diet. Our contents of our first week were:
-pea tendrils
- Kohlrabi
-1 bunch radishes
-Green leaf lettuce
-Kale
-Collard greens
-Garlic scapes
-Whole free-range chicken
-Pint of strawberries
(I bought an extra pint of berries)

The berries were huge and delicious. Logan couldn't wait to eat one!

I macerated the berries and we had strawberry shortcake, as well as just snacked on them. We used the lettuce for BLTs and to go on other sandwiches throughout the week. To use the kale, I wanted to make a yummy pasta dish, so we browned some hot turkey sausage with oil and garlic and added some sun-dried tomatoes.  Then I blanched the kale and added it to the sausage mixture, then added whole wheat pasta and some Romano cheese.  SO YUMMY.

For the pea tendrils, I sauteed some in olive oil with the garlic scapes and served them with an Egg Beater and cheese omlette. I was surprised at how much I liked the pea tendrils!  Served with Frank's Red Hot of course :)

I roasted the radishes with some olive oil, salt and pepper and topped them with a browned butter/lemon juice mixture...they were okay.  Some of the radishes tasted really bitter. I topped them with some of the radish greens.  I would not be opposed to trying them again.

We still have our collards and kohlrabi left, along with some green leaf lettuce.  Oh, and our chicken! I am making a huge salad to take to my mom's tomorrow, so I will be using some of it then.

Here is the content of our Week 2 bag!

• 2 lb organic black turtle beans (using for black bean burritos and will be freezing the rest)
• 1 bag corn chips
• 1 lb bulk chorizo sausage
• 1 bunch green onions
• 1 bunch cilantro
• 1 head red leaf lettuce
• 1 bunch swiss chard
• 1 head jumbo white stem bok choy (going to make a stir fry with the peas, bok choy, and green onions)
• 3 red slicing tomatoes (using this and the cilantro for a fresh salsa)
• Snap peas
• Extras: This week I bought a bag of shelled peas because they are Logan's favorites.