Stupid Bowl Dip

Hey folks!  This month has flown by in a rush of blurred memories!

It's just been a little over a month since my daddy passed on and things have just been crazy.  We have had the crud for the last 2-3 weeks and are finally getting over it (thanks to some high powered antibiotics).  I still lack the energy I had before this mess hit us, but everyday is better than the last.

The weather in Oklahoma has been insanely unpredictable.  One day, it's 60, the next day, 20.  No wonder we're all sick!

I had to put off the organization on the house for a bit.  My side of the closet is still a mess and I am hoping to get it done in the next few weeks.  And the office just keeps getting worse!  This has to be done by March, so I really need to get things moving.  My motivation has went on vacation...too bad it didn't take me with it.

On a positive note, though, I am going to be a grandmother again!!!  My wonderful daughter and her husband announced Christmas they are expecting another bundle of joy!  She is due sometime in July/August.  We are super excited about this new addition to our family.

This weekend should be a great one.  Yes, it is gonna be nasty, wet, and cold, but the Super Bowl is on Sunday.  We don't actually watch the game.  We watch the commercials.   I usually prepare our "Stupid Bowl Dip", which is a meal in itself.  Sometimes I will make pizza rolls. 

For today's blog post, I will share my "Stupid Bowl Dip" with everyone and hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

"Stupid Bowl Dip"

2 cans refried beans
1 lb. ground beef (or turkey)
1 packet taco seasoning
1 container sour cream
1 head of lettuce
1-2 tomatoes
1 small white or yellow onion
1 can black olives
1 jar salsa
1 large package of Mexican cheese

In a 9x13 baking dish, spread the beans.  In a skillet, brown the ground beef (or turkey) until no longer pink, drain.  Add the taco seasoning to the meat and simmer for about 10 minutes on low.  Layer the meat on top of beans.  Add 1 cup of cheese on top of meat.  Place in a 350 degree oven and bake for 5-10 minutes or until cheese is melted.  While this is baking, chop lettuce, tomatoes, onions and olives.  Take bean/meat mixture out of oven and let cool for about 10 minutes.  Top with sour cream, salsa and cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, onions and black olives.  Serve with tortilla chips.

Enjoy!

Cleaning Out the House

Have you ever felt like this???

OR this when cleaning the house?????

That's the look I've had for a week and a half.  I'm not just cleaning the house, I am cleaning OUT the house!  I've got years of...junk that needs to GO!  and now!  So far, I have cleaned out the living room, the kitchen and I started today on the master bedroom.  That one may take a day or two to get done.  In my house, my bedroom is the over flow room for the office...meaning, once the office is full, it goes into my bedroom.  Well, that ends...today.

I began in the living room, which wasn't too bad.  Just mostly trash.  One day, tops to do that room.  Then, I moved into the kitchen.  That took a few days.  Thank God we had a 'snow day'. DS and DH was trapped at home, so I put them to work helping me clean out the kitchen cabinets and going through all our junk.  I ended up with 8 boxes of...JUNK..or treasure, however you see it. :)

Since our bedroom is the over flow area, and my office is now a storage room, it was beginning to wear on my nerves.  I don't know about you, but I can't sleep in a cluttered room.  So, today, I began the process of cleaning it out.  I got a lot done, but no where near done.  I have an entire side of the closet to go and I am not looking forward to dragging everything out.  But, I know it has to be done.  And, I know I will love it because I will sleep better.

The last room I will go through is my office/storage room.  That one is gonna take all of us, working together, for at least a week to get it all cleaned out.  Then I can proudly say I have a really clean house.

Sometimes I think it would be easier and faster to bull doze it down and start over.  But  I love my home.  It was my grandparents home and where I spent most of my childhood.  When I am done with everything I want to do, it won't look the same, but the feeling will be the same; full of family, full of love, full of life.

Do you ever just go through each room and clean out all the hidden treasures?  Share with us your experience in cleaning out your house. 

White Kitchen Cabinets

A few minutes ago I would have swore I did a blog post on our kitchen remodel a few years ago.  I was apparently wrong, because I can't find it if I did. :(

Anyway, a few years ago we did a kitchen remodel of sorts.  We took the doors off the upper cabinets and painted them and the lower cabinets white. We sanded down the hardware and sprayed painted them a cracked bronze.  I am not exactly sure what I was thinking when I told DH to do this but I do remember the look I got.  It was not pretty.  But, he did what I asked anyway.  Do I regret the white painted cabinets?  OH MY GOD! YEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSS!

White painted kitchen cabinets are great if you never use your kitchen.  Seriously.  You can not keep them clean and everything shows!  Even with my poor eye sight, I can see the crap on them.  And it is not for a lack of cleaning them.  I scrub them weekly, but once they are stained, forget it.  It stays. I have spots on my cabinets where I have actually scrubbed the paint off trying to get them clean!  And the kitchen, to me, always looks dirty.

So, I was expressing my unhappiness with my cabinets to my DH the other night.  We discussed ripping out the cabinets, and getting new ones.  We discussed just painting the ones we have a different color.  The cost of each and how we would go about doing this.  The floor needs to be taken up joist reinforced, and new flooring laid down. We discussed our options.  We have not decided on anything yet. but either this year or next year, the kitchen will have something done to it.

My advice: NEVER, EVER paint your kitchen cabinets white...unless you NEVER use it...then go ahead.

Since my dad passed away Christmas Eve, a LOT has been going on and more is yet to come.  However, I have decided to declutter the house.  I started today on the living room.  I can not believe how much trash three people produce!  I got most of it done, except for washing the curtains.  It's super cold here right now, so that will just have to wait until it warms a bit.   I finally got all the inside Christmas decorations put up.  DS and I went through all of the decorations and got rid of a lot of it.  Tomorrow, I will start on my kitchen.  Sometimes it's just a good idea to reassess what you have, what you love, what you can part with and scale down.

I will try to keep up with the blog posts, but if you have Facebook, go check out my page!

https://www.facebook.com/crafterscountry