Dining Room

I have slowly been working on one room at time in our home. The living room is pretty much done. I need a new rug for the living room. I will look for one during sales this year to complete that room. 

The dining room has taken the longest to get to this point.  When we left California we got rid of our dining room table. My cousin so graciously said he would build us a table. I sent him the legs that I wanted and a picture from Pinterest. He made the table exactly like the picture I sent! The table turned out AMAZING! I love it! 

We picked up the table in February. I had plans to buy chairs, but Covid happened. Overstock was having a sale over Memorial Day on chairs I have been watching. I finally pulled the trigger on them. It took about 2.5 weeks to get them. 

The entire room looks so much better!!! I absolutely love these chairs. I am so happy with the look and quality of the chairs! 

Table: custom made by cousin

Chairs: Overstock

Clock: TJ Maxx

Gather lazy susan: Nutcracker Market 

Cash sit at the right end of the table, so I keep that chair to the side under the light switches. There is plenty of room to keep the chair there until he is done with his high chair. We eat breakfast and lunch by the island in the kitchen. We just move the high chair to the table for dinner and put it back by the kitchen for the rest of the meals. Cash can move it himself and puts it in his spot for dinner. All I have to say is time to eat, off he runs to get the high chair and he stands there yelling for us to put him in. That boy doesn't mess around when it's time for a meal. 

Daily Essentials at the Dollar Tree

Do you shop at the Dollar Tree?  I go about once every other month to stock up on our daily essential things we need around the house. I realized about 15 years ago that the Dollar Tree carries a lot of stuff that is used on a daily basis at a much cheaper price. 

I buy all the ziplock type baggies at the Dollar Tree. There have been times I have purchased them at Target or Costco. When I compare the prices it is so much cheaper to just go to the Dollar Tree. I normally buy the off brands of baggies, but they were out this last time. Pandemic hoarders shelves must be overflowing lol

On my trip to the Dollar Tree here are some of the items I get:

1. Snack baggies - 1
2. Sandwich baggies - 3
3. Quart baggies - 1 
4. Gallon baggies - 3
5. Rubber gloves - 2
6. Sponges - 3 
7. Flossers - 2 
8. Napkins - 3
9. Paper towels - 2
10. Parchment paper - 2 

I usually have to go to the Dollar Tree because we need more baggies. We haven't been going through as many now that G isn't in school. For the most part I try not to send a lot of baggies in lunches. It is usually cheaper to buy things in bulk and put them in a baggy. I also freeze a lot of food, so I use baggies to freeze stuff. 

The only time we use paper towels is when the cleaning lady comes, so 2 rolls last us 2 months or more. We use cloth towels instead of paper towels. I have probably 20 towels that last me a week. We use them to dry our hands, clean up messes and wipe up any water. I didn't grow up with paper towels, so it feels wasteful to me to use paper towels. 

I wash dishes in rubber gloves otherwise my hands get so dry. I like the pink ones! One pair will last me awhile! I just like to have a second pair in case I get a hole in them. I don't always buy these. If I have a second pair under the sink I don't buy anymore. 

I use sponges to wash dishes, clean the stove, and wipe off counters. I know some people hate sponges. I like them. You might like paper towels and I don't. So let's just agree to disagree on the sponge situation ok. lol

I keep flossers all over the place. I got into the habit of flossing my teeth and now I need to do it a few times a day. I keep them in my car, purse, kitchen drawer and bathroom. I don't want to be running all over the place to take care of my teeth lol
The dentist told me on my last visit they haven't seen teeth this clean. I said well it's because of the preschool pick up line! They were puzzled. I said I floss my teeth every day while I am picking up G from school. 

I also like to buy all our party supplies - plates, napkins, utensils, decorations, gift bags, cards. These things are just as good as buying them from Target, but the price is so much less. There are times I will order specific themed decor for the boys birthdays from Amazon, but for regular colored decor I buy it from the Dollar Tree. 

I try to stock up, so I only go every 2-3 months. It saves me time and money. I tell the kids they can pick out 1 item while we are there. They can pick ANYTHING in the store they want. This of course makes G VERY happy! lol One day Cash was insistent on 2 balls...not 1 he picked 2 favorite balls. At first I was like no, you need to pick just one. Then I thought come on Becky it's $1 LOL

Check out your local Dollar Tree the next time you are near one for your daily essentials! 

Monday Thrive!

I decided to change the title posts of my Monday posts to Monday Thrive! I didn't really like the last name, but I couldn't come up with anything else. lol 

1) I have struggled to find a pancake and waffle recipe that all of us will eat. G and I will eat most of them. I just wanted a pancake that tastes similar to what I use to eat, but that is Paleo. Recently I was at Sprout's and they had the Birch Benders buy 1 get one free. I decided to give them a try. All of us LOVE them! If you don't have a Sprout's near you Amazon also sells the mix. 

2) I have been struggling with my concealer under my eye creasing at times. I hate the way that looks. It makes you look like you have wrinkles and old eyes. I recently watched a blogger put on her make up. She mentioned she used powder under her eyes to avoid creases. I have had the Mattifying Powder by BeautyCounter in a box sitting in my house for months. I wasn't sure what to use it for or even why I would use it. Oh boy! 

I pulled it out to try it and let me just tell you it is a total game changer! No more creases and granny looking eyes! I put my concealer and cream blusher on my face. Then I take a brush and put the powder over the concealer and blush. It really helps set it to stay all day long. 

I then put on my eyeliner on the top of my eyelid. I have been lining the bottom with black eye shadow. I then take the powder and brush it over my eyeliner to help set it. I haven't ever had luck in the past keeping eye shadow on as an eyeliner! It always would wear off and look terrible by noon. Well with the Mattifying Powder it stays set ALL DAY LONG! 

I really like my eyes now that I started lining my waterline. I had to learn I have to do a thin line of eyeliner in order to not feel like a raccoon with my waterline lined. 

3) Do you buy much online? Have you signed up to use Ebates? I signed up with Ebates maybe about 5ish years ago. I will admit I don't always remember to use them. I kick myself when I make a purchase and don't use them. Over the years I have earned over $330.00. They will deposit the money into your Paypal account. Right now I have earned over $35 for the next payout. I downloaded the app to my phone, so it is easier to make purchases. I also log in when I make purchases on my computer. Use this LINK to earn $10 to sign up. Free money is always fabulous!

4) I love Target Tee's!!!! I feel I buy different styles and colors every season. They are just so comfy plus they are a great bargain. I bought the one below for $5. They have a purple color that I just LOVE! I have been looking for a purple tee for a long time. Regular price they are only $8. 

You can get the tee for only $8.34 with tax if you use your Target Redcard since they offer free shipping on all Redcard orders. I also used Ebates, so I will get 1% cashback. While the 1% isn't much it does add up over time. 

Find it HERE! 

5) I bought the Rubbermaid Reveal Spray Mop on Amazon recently. I buy too much stuff on Amazon! It is my go to place. I can usually get things within 2 days for a good price. I love this mop because I can fill it with non-toxic cleaners to spray on my floor. It's great for mopping your entire house or for a quick clean up. When you have a toddler you need to be able to mop areas quickly without having to drag out a mop, bucket, filling it with water, blah blah blah. This mop is fabulous! Sometimes I spray my entire kitchen with cleaner, let it sit then I go back into the room and mop it. My kitchen could be mopped twice a day. Now I feel I need to go mop my kitchen now. lol

I linked up with Hello Monday Linkup

Carylee & Jenna

Disclaimer: All thoughts and opinions are my own. The post Monday Thrive appeared first on Because Chocolate Can't Get You Pregnant. 

Paleo Instant Pot Beef Stew

My mom makes this amazing stew that I love. It's so simple, but it's not paleo. I have been wanting to recreate it for awhile. The one ingredient I was stuck on was dry ranch dressing. Well I found a recipe online. I have been wanting ranch dressing to go with veggies too. I make this ranch dressing in double batches because we go through so much of it. I didn't take a picture of the stew from the other night because it was gone quick!

1 onion chopped
4 cloves of garlic
1 tablespoon of tapioca flour
2 pounds of stew meat
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 cups of bone broth
1 tsp cumin
1.5 tbsp dry ranch dressing
1/2 small bag of baby carrots
1 small bunch of kale
4-5 small potatoes sliced

I sprinkled the tapioca flour all over my meat along with salt. I put a little oil in the bottom of my IP and turned it on sauté. I put the onion, garlic and meat in the IP to sauté for about 5 minutes. When it started to turn a light brown I turned it off. I then poured in the bone broth, cumin and dry ranch dressing. I turned it on high pressure for 30 minutes. When the timer went off I manually released the pressure. I put the veggies in the IP under high pressure for an additional 5 minutes. I manually released the pressure again.

It took about 60 minutes total to cook. It was AMAZING! We had plenty of leftovers too. The flavors were amazing! The meat was so tender it just fell apart.

You could easily make this in a crockpot. I would throw everything in the crockpot on low for about 6 hours

The flavors of this stew are just like the one my mom makes. I quickly wrote down all the ingredients I had used, so I wouldn't forget. I felt it was a very easy dinner to make. I love the IP! I love that I can throw things in there and go do something else while dinner is cooking.

Let me know if you try this recipe!

Disclaimer: This recipe was created by Becky Post. The post Paleo Instant Pot Beef Stew appeared first on Because Chocolate Can't Get You Pregnant.  

Kitchen Cabinets

While Danielle visited we repainted my kitchen cabinets. Danielle did 75% of the work and I did 25%. While I was working one morning she took off all the cupboard doors and hinges. We had to replace all the hinges, since the previous owners painted over the tops of the. 

Boy do my kitchen cupboards look like a nightmare! lol

We placed plastic wrap on the floor and painted all the drawers. Then we moved all the drawers to the garage to dry. 

Laid the cupboard doors on the plastic wrap and painted all of them. 

Danielle putting the hinges and knobs back on the doors. 

AFTER - these are pictures with my cell phone

The cupboards look soooooo much better! I can actually wipe them down now and get dirt off them. I have NO idea what type of paint the previous owners used, but if you got something on the door it was stuck there!

Kitchen

Kitchen project #1 with #43948 more to go. lol

When we moved into the house there was a big open area of the kitchen. It looked like it was missing a cabinet.  In one of the houses down the street the former owners put in a cabinet. We have talked about adding a cabinet to the area, since we bought the house. We had priced out cabinets at Lowe's and it was added to our To Do List.

One weekend I was out of town and Art went to Lowe's. He found 2 cabinets for $25 each. They were on clearance because they had damage to the back of the cabinet. Art bought both of them. I was super excited with the great deal he got! One would think that we installed these cabinets as soon as possible in our kitchen....oooohhhh noooo. They have sat in the garage for a year or more.

This past Fall we went to Lowe's again...this seems to be our favorite place to go on the weekend. They had a counter top on clearance for $10.  Art said let's buy it for the cabinet we want to install. I didn't want to buy it because it didn't match the other counter tops. Plus we had driven my car and it wasn't going to fit in the car. Art made a very good point it was only $10 bucks. We want to replace all the counter tops eventually. We could put the cabinet in for now until we can afford to replace all the counters.

2012 comes along and Art informed me those cabinets are getting put in. Uh Huh! Well he got to work. Why is it a project takes a lot longer than you anticipate? We planned to knock it out in a weekend. Nope it took us about 2-3 weekends. 

DISCLAIMER: Art did 90% of the work on this project!  I always say WE when HE did the work. :)

Art & Sammy trying to find the studs in the wall.

Art screwing the cabinet into the wall. Art asked me if I wanted to put bead board on the side of the cabinet. I jumped for joy! YES!!! I have been wanting to put bead board on the side of all my cabinets. Again we just haven't done it. One reason some of this stuff doesn't get done is because it costs $$$$. $$$$ unfortunately doesn't grow on trees for us!

Me painting the bead board! 

Finally after things going wrong we were able to get the lower cabinet installed. We need a 3rd person to help with the upper cabinet. It is a corner cabinet that will fit very nicely above. :::cough cough who wants to come help?:::::

When I took this picture Art said send it to your mom because I can help decorate cakes now. bahahaha

WA-LA!

Finished project

How sweet is that bead board? Oh I just LOVE it!!!!

Our new home for our lunch boxes!  I love our new cabinet! We had a cart/butcher block type thing in the corner before with baskets underneath. I hated how you could see everything. Now the baskets are under the cabinet. The cabinet helps the kitchen look less cluttered.

Additional Sprucing in the Kitchen

I decided to finishing sprucing up the kitchen window.  I asked my MIL to save the Starbuck bottles for a future DIY project.  I had bought some 1, 2, 3 #'s from Groopdealz that have been sitting in the craft room.  I put the #'s on the mini bottles.  Here are pictures of the kitchen window.

Sprucing up the Kitchen Window!

Groopdealz had a deal recently where they sold the Nest vinyl for a couple bucks.  I bought one and have been on the hunt for a plate to put it on.  I found a plate at the thrift store for a couple bucks.  Once I had the plate decorated then the tea pot next to it looks rather blah.

Earlier this year I bought the love bird vinyl from Groopdealz.  It has sat in my craft room for months.  I couldn't fit love & the birds on the tea pot. I put the birds on the tea pot and add the love to a small plate I bought at the thrift store. 

The window in the kitchen if finally getting a little spruced up!

Sassify your Kitchen Aid!

Remember my post on Sassy Kitchen Aid Mixers found HERE?  I have wanted the subway art sassy mixer vinyl to put on my Kitchen Aid.  I decided after the first of the year I would buy one, since I forgot to put it on my Christmas list. 

My friend Krystal had mentioned how much she liked the Curley Sue vinyls. I wanted to send her something for Christmas and remembered she had mentioned she liked the KA vinyls.  She was very surprised when she received her vinyl in the mail.  Check out her KA with the Curley Sue vinyls HERE.

I am part of this wonderful group of women who all got married in April 2008.  Over the past 2.5 years a large group of us have all stayed in contact and chat daily.  These wonderful women live all over the United States.  Some I have met and others I hope to meet in person one day.  Each year at Christmas we participate in elfster.  Each person gets a secret elf they send a gift too. 

I came home one day and had a package on my door step.  I was so excited to see what my elf had bought me for Christmas.  I was COMPLETELY shocked to find the subway vinyl for my KA.  My wonderful elfster Elisa had stalked my blog to get an idea for Christmas.  I was so excited that I almost started crying that I had received a gift I wanted so much. 

This past weekend I finally cleaned my KA and added my vinyl.  I <3 it!!! I think it turned out adorable!!!! Isn't it adorable????

If you want to get your own vinyl to sassify your KA check out Wonderful Wordy HERE!  Shelley from Wonderful Wordy is one of the sweetest business women!