Saturday, October 29, 2011

Fall Decorating & "Give Thanks" Banner Download

I saw a Christmas commercial the other day and it made me anxious. The holidays are fast approaching and I don't think I'm ready.  I am hosting Thanksgiving this year and since time is of essence I decided to skip decorating for Halloween and just do fall decorations.  I allow myself 1 box of fall decorations because I have 17 boxes of Christmas decorations and storage space is limited.  This is the best I could do with the one box of decorations and pumpkins & gourds. It's not grandiose, but I think I did alright.

I thought it looked better without the feather wreath.
I glittered these nuts last year and they are holding up well.  I will probably use them for Christmas too.

 
We got this giant corn cob 90% off last year.  No one else wanted it - can't remember why I bought it either.

My one Halloween decoration. That Kisses were gone within the day. 



This beautiful banner is from At Second Street Blog.
I take no credit for creating the download. I actually saw it on Pinterest.
The only thing I did was glitter the border for my own personal touch. 

I added glitter around the border with Stickles Cinnamon.

 
The white box near the ceiling is our doorbell box. It is ugly. It makes me think of something from the 70s.  

I covered the doorbell box with a free download from Squidoo.com.  It is a public domain picture.

another free domain pic

I used the leaves that broke off the garland and taped them to the wall using poster tape. Poster tape is able to hold up to 1/4 lb weight without damaging the walls.  However, the leaves kept falling off and it was driving me crazy.  I tried removing the plastic vein of the leaf and scoring the back but nothing worked. Then  I realized that the leaf material would not stick so I glued tissue paper to the back of the leaves to stick to the tape on the wall.  This really works and it is cheap.


Measure your tissue and tear to size.



Press down & squish tissue so it won't show on other side.


Now tissue is stuck to tape.



I'm not a big gardener. My husband planted these for me a couple of weeks ago. 
 I've already blogged about my skills at killing plants.  
Please excuse the wild overgrown bushes in the background and our ghetto pot that I fixed with Gorilla Glue.


This project was shared at the following sites. The bloggers invite you to share your projects as well.

The DIY Show Off

Friday, October 28, 2011

Easy Beef Stroganoff (Budget Friendly)

Living on a budget is not always easy especially with the cost of food rapidly rising.  This recipe is very simple and cost friendly.  The most time consuming part of this dish is cutting the meat. 

I always try to buy as much T-bone or rib eye that can fit in my freezer when it's on sale, but sometimes we run out of meat.  Then we get stuck with sirloin tip, top round, or bottom round steaks. The problem is that these cuts aren't very tender. This recipe makes the meat tender with the long hours of cooking at a low temp. You can use any cut of beef for this recipe.

BEEF STROGANOFF
1 can cream of mushroom soup 
1 can French onion soup
1 pound bite size pieces of beef
4 ounces sour cream
6 ounces fresh sliced mushrooms (adjust according to taste)

In oven safe casserole dish mix the cream of mushroom and French onion soups and add cut beef. Cover with foil and cook for 3 hours at 325 F degrees.  30 minutes before done, add 4 oz of sour cream and fresh mushrooms.  Serve over noodles or rice.

Notes
1) If you like lots of sauce you can adjust the recipe to 2 cans of mushroom soup, 2 cans of French onion soup, 1-1/2 lbs of beef and 8 oz sour cream.  
2) Don't use fat free cream of mushroom soup.
3) Adjustment for Low Carb diet is to eat over chopped, cooked cauliflower. The cauliflower is rice substitute.



mix in sour cream

We like lots of mushrooms.



Thursday, October 27, 2011

Kroger Grand Opening

Oh AGE, what have you done to me?!?!  A tell-tale sign that I have been hit with that crazy thing called AGE is that I was excited about Kroger's grand opening.  There once was a time when I was excited about concerts, hanging out with my friends at clubs, and buying uber cool outfits (I still get excited about clothes) and a grocery store was just a BORING place to get food. These days I would dread going to a dance club and a grocery store grand opening is a beau coup event.  I suppose being foodies is what makes us love this stuff.

And as nerdy as I am, I am currently awaiting on the grand openings of Chipotle close to my home and Eatzi's which is a European-style eatery, where every day is another chance to create great food for great people.  Woo-hoo!

Eatzi's I can't wait for you to open!


I love small things - mini cart.
Free samples of smoked sausages.  
Hubby got a frisbee from Boar's Head and I got a back pack.

Pumpkins Everywhere!
Turban pumpkin                                                     We want a pumpkin chimenea.


Looks like Kroger is competing with Walmart now.

Entertainment
Sushi Bar
 
Turn your oranges into fresh juice.

Exotic Fruits
I like these colors.
Got to find a recipe with cactus.

On-site pineapple coring.
Mahi-Mahi and Shrimp
Ugly Monk fish
Not worth the $4.99/lb.


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