I will start with the organization. I have realized that cleaning, organizing and cooking (a.k.a. household chores) make me... abnormally (?) happy. I have yet to encounter others who enjoy doing chores as much as I do. Although, I have always known I enjoyed these activities. I used to say that I would have been in heaven as a 1950's housewife. But alas I live in the 21st century.
I think it would be really cool if I could be a professional organizer, but I have no idea how to start a business like that, nor am I really at a place in my life where I can take that kind of risk. In the meantime, I have been trying to do some organization projects around our apartment to make if feel more homey. My most recent project was to tackle the "upper level" of our walk-in-closet. We are so very fortunate to have a very generous walk-in-closet, but the upper shelf left a lot to be desired. Eric and I had just fallen into the habit of throwing piles of clothes and random stuff up there with no real rhyme or reason.
To try and gain some control over the madness I went to Walmart (I know this isn't necessarily ideal, but it's what I've got access to right now). I purchased these cute storage cubes some in the tan color and some in the gray pattern. Below is the result:
I was able to take the piles of random clothes and provide some order. I was also able to get the random assortment of goodies that we use less frequently and hide/contain them in the upright containers.
I know it seems a little unorthodox to have the "top" of container pointing outward, but it has forced us (me) to take the time to make sure everything is put away properly and neatly after we do laundry. Since I took this picture I have added another container, and shuffled a few things around, but this is still pretty much what it looks like. The best part? I was able to get this amazing organization for about $30 worth of containers and about an hours worth of time.
In addition to the upper level organization, I am also in the process of weeding out my clothes by applying a trick that I read about here from a pin on Pinterest. When Eric and I moved over the summer I put my clothes into the closet with the hangers backwards, so I am planning on going through in July to see what is still turned around.
Now on to my cooking adventures! I have been quite busy over the past month due to my ever growing confidence in the kitchen. I am not going to try and put these recipes in order, but just get through them.
Christmas Eve dinner: pork medallions with cranberry and pear chutney
First is our breakfast Christmas morning. The only real recipe we used to make these decadent eggs Benedict meals was for the Hollandaise sauce. I really enjoy the recipes that the Pioneer Woman uses and in many ways I look up to her. The recipe that she has for Hollandaise sauce in the blender was much, MUCH easier than the last time we attempted to make it by whisking the sauce by hand. The only deviation from a "traditional" eggs Benedict was that we used bagels instead of English muffins.
For the eggnog creme brulee, I had originally intended to eat it Christmas Eve, but my lack of time management resulted in us having it on Christmas instead. It was a very simple recipe that you can find here, and I really believe that anyone with ramekins and a brulee torch can make it without messing it up! This was the first time I ever made creme brulee and it turned out wonderfully! It was also nice to finally get to use our creme brulee set that my Mom had gotten us for our anniversary in August.
What I did manage to accomplish was a yummy Christmas Eve dinner despite a multi-state ingredient search that ended up in me having to change the recipe (something that I NEVER would have attempted even six months ago). The recipe I was following was for pork medallions with a cranberry and fig chutney from my favorite cookbook from Better Homes and Gardens. I spent a solid three hours on Christmas Eve trying to locate dried figs, but it was to be a futile search in the end. I went to more stores than I would like to admit, and even crossed state lines hoping that would help. In the end I had to admit defeat and replaced the figs with some diced pears. It worked quite nicely and still made for a great Christmas Eve meal that I was able to share with my husband.
After over eating for Thanksgiving, Eric asked that we eat more vegetables in the weeks that follow. Our first attempt at this was a very successful stir-fry (pictured below) that we threw together without a recipe. You read that correctly, we didn't have a recipe and it turned out great! I was so surprised and thankful, and this really helped my confidence in the kitchen.
Stir-fry: beef, snap peas, baby corn, bell pepper, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, carrots, and broccoli.
After Christmas vacation (see I told you these were out of order), it was back to the daily grind for me at work and that also meant that I became mostly responsible for picking out and making dinner for us (again I love this, remember the '50s housewife comment?). My first dinner of the new year was these wonderful lasagna rolls (below) that I found with a list of healthy recipe ideas from this website. Even Eric, who can sometimes be picky about these things really liked them.
The only adjustment I had to make was that I used regular lasagna noodles because I could not find whole wheat noodles (healthier versions of food are very difficult to find where we live).
After making the lasagna rolls I needed another meal, because I didn't want us to eat these three days in a row (plus I wanted to take them for lunch too!). We have been having bitterly cold weather for this area (the windchill as I write this is 14 degrees) and so to warm us up on a day similar to this, I made this quick and easy chili (recipe).
Mine is the one with cheese. Eric isn't a huge fan. I think we both would still rather have my Crockpot version of chili, but this had to do for a weekday.
As we get ready to watch the Patriots vs. Raven's playoff game I will leave you with a little bit of Christmas cheer (yes I know that Christmas is "over", but not here!). For the fourth year I made another successful batch of my great-grandmother's lemon butter cookies. The recipe has been in my family for a long time and when I make these cookies every year I always feel that I am connected with all of my family members near and far.
Lastly, I will share a collection of pictures of my Christmas decorations for this past year. Decorating for Christmas is one of my favorite things to do, and as we move to (hopefully) a townhouse, and eventually a house, I look forward to being able to decorate even more. The most exciting new addition to my decorations this year, was our stockings!
The bottom left picture is my pineapple plant! Everything got a touch of the Christmas spirit!
I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season filled with plenty of food, family, and love. May this new year of 2015 bring you and your families health and happiness, and of course plenty of new food adventures!
~C
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