Kim in the Kitchen

I had a major 'Fail' in the kitchen this week. It seemed like I followed the recipe to make fried flounder and whole wheat pasta, but it tasted awful. I am really still not sure what went wrong, but it ended up in the garbage and pizza was delivered.

I have to give a HUGE thank you to Ashlee at http://ashleescooking.blogspot.com/! I made her Asiago and Provolone Mac & Cheese with a crock pot recipe for Ribs. What a fantastic meal!! So good! We had a guest for dinner and he loved it too. This might become my 'go to dish' for family parties.

I also made a simple meal using some items from the freezer and pantry. I picked up some Skirt Steaks that were on sale, marinated them in some garlic and olive oil. With that I steamed string beans and made a box of scalloped potatoes. Easy meal yet delicious.

Lastly, for Super Bowl Sunday at home- I took the easy way out. Wings from Uncle G's with mozzarella sticks and beer. Greg was happy and I didn't have to do much work!

House Hunting & HGTV

As I mentioned January 20, Greg and I decided to look into buying a house instead of a condo. We thought that the town we saw was right for us, then after more researching decided that it in fact was not right for us at all. We received a pre-approval from our bank for a mortgage and viewed six homes this past weekend. Four of those homes were in that town we were origionally looking in. The other two were on the same block in a town a few miles away. One home had some one squatting in it! The other I really liked, it is just a bit more than what we can spend and it looks like the price was set by the bank. We are going to keep looking and saving. We are not in a rush to move out of our current rental place and luckily don't have a lease being that it belongs to my Father in Law. I just don't want the right home to pass us by, so I am keeping both eyes open and stalking the internet sites daily.

When I was wedding planning (feels like ages ago!), I was stuck on all the wedding shows. Bridezilla, Rich Bride - Poor Bride, My Fair Wedding etc... were my life! Now I am all about HGTV and their home buying and renovating shows. It does also make me want to pick up and leave Long Island. As much as I love it here and our families are here- we would get so much more for our money in other states! I love Property Virgins on HGTV it makes me feel good to know that we are in the same boat as many other people. We are ready and would like to make that next step, but a little scared. I have fallen in love with being a wife and working and getting things done while Greg is at his second job. I always thought I would be working and not really doing the house work, cooking, cleaning and planning, but I love it! I would rather not get a second job, but if it means we can afford a great home, I am not opposed.

There is still part of me that thinks..... what if we moved?

February Goals

1. Get all album Art work for iTunes. (This drives me crazy that it is missing)

2. eBay MORE items

3. Find knitting class or tutorial videos

4. Work out 3 times a week

5. No texting/tweeting/Facebook while driving

6. Read 2 books

7. Clear out our stuff from my Father In Laws garage

8. Pay off vacation

9. Spend less!

10. Make 4 new recipes

January Goals Recap

1. 12 days at the Gym (or working out)
Booooo!!! Hisssss!! I did not even come close. I had a good start and then, life happened!
2. Clean up and Organize work desk
Check! Looks good and has some new pictures on it too.
3. make 2 new recipes this month
Done :) I think I did 4 new recipes. I posted some on the blog. I did have 1 complete cooking nightmare this weekend. It was the kind of meal that you don't bother eating and order pizza! LOL
4. Organize the living room closet
Check! My hubby (Greg) really did most of the work and I finished up parts of it.
5. eBay 5 items
Cha-Ching! We made over $100.- by selling some items that were lingering around our place.
6. Blog weekly
Done ;) I am happy with my blog post for the month and plan on doing more on this blog and the Book Blog I have also.
7. Stick to spending plan (record spending)
Cha-Ching (again!) I did very well by doing this. I really saw where I could cut back and pay off some more bills and our pending vacation.
8. Organize and scrapbook more
Half done. I managed to organize the area and look forward to diving into scrapbooking again soon.
9. Print Disney pictures
Incomplete. I didn't print them, because I didn't start scrapbooking again. However, I did print other pictures for my desk and for some family members.

DYI Vision Board & Decorative Flower Box

I really like the look of flowers in a small vase, but couldn't find something that was not overly valentine's like but still red and white. With 2 Micheal's Craft store coupons and 15 minutes, (yes that is it!) I was able to make a nice decoration for my living room.



I wanted something pretty for a Vision Board. The book The Secret talks about having visuals for for your goals and desires and posting them in your home (or at work), this way you can see them daily.

I had this large picture frame from Ikea, that I LOVED but I couldn't find the right picture for it. I had an idea and lucky me, my Husband Greg was able to make it into reality!

I am really happy with these 2 DYI projects. I think I am going to have to try something diffrent next month!

Kim in the Kitchen

Wahooo! I have been keeping up on trying new recipes and cooking more at home. These are some of my goals for the year. Here is what I made:
I attempted Sheppard Pie for the first time and it was a HIT! The recipe was right off of Food Network and was from Rachael Ray.

I did my own version of Scalloped Potatoes and Pork Chops. I used a bit of olive oil and a packet of Lipton Soup mix to make some "Delicious" (as my husband described them) potatoes.

I also used the Food Network website to make Homemade Mashed Potatoes (Paula Deen), Lime Talapia (Bobby Flay) and edamame.


The cookies I made 2 weeks ago came out really nice! I made 50 Crosses for my Church Coffee Hour that I was hosting with my Grandpa. I also made Onsie cookies for a surprise Baby Shower for one of my girlfriends.

Nervous Nell

I am a bundle of nerves right now!
Greg and I have seen about 10 condo's at this point and are thinking that we are going to go in the opposite direction and get a House instead! Saturday we took some time and drove down to a neighborhood where I have seen a lot of homes online that are in our price range. We have heard mixed reviews of the neighborhood and were not sure what we were going to see. As we drove into the neighborhood, we saw charm, families and lots of opportunity! Of course just like any other town or village, there is good and bad parts, but the homes that we saw were located in the good. It was like a sigh of relief! So after almost an hour and a half of driving block by block and looking at homes we decided that, YES we are going to keep looking in this area and see what we can do with our money.
Today I am calling the bank to see about getting a pre-approval letter for a mortgage. Hopefully we will be approved for an amount that will meet our needs for these homes. We don't want to get in over our heads, but this could be just what we are looking for. Fingers Crossed!