Pineapple Teriyaki Chicken Kabobs

This was so easy and delicious! You won't believe how good these are until you make them yourself. The ingredients are simple and cheap, but this is the kind of meal you'll want to go back for a second helping. Let's get right into it!

Kallax Door Hack

This is an extremely easy and affordable way to give your Expedit/Kallax more of a custom look. I realized while shopping at Ikea that one of the Kallax door inserts was the same price as buying one of their seagrass baskets. I thought instead of having four baskets that also having a couple of doors would look great. 

Painting a Bench with Chalk Style Paint

When my husband and I were building the table top for our dining room table, we knew we wanted a relaxed feel. I didn't want to buy six of the same chairs instead I wanted four chairs and a bench. Benches are great for children because they can be wiped down, and you can line up three kids!  It also helps save space since you can push the bench in when it isn't in use and get around the dining room easily. Everything I do has to be on a budget. Of course it would be so fun to go on over to Restoration Hardware or West Elm and pick out whatever bench I love, but realistically I just can't justify spending so much on furniture. I was looking at Ikea and realized all the benches were either too wide or too low. Next I checked out Target online and I found a great solid oak bench for under $70! The only downside was the finish. The legs were stained black, and the seat was stained an orange hue. I didn't love that look, but that's where homemade chalk-style paint comes in!

12 Frame Gallery Wall for $25

This is an easy way to style a wall if you're on a budget. My dining room really only has one wall that can make an impact. One wall is a big window with curtains, and the one across leads into the dining room and is very small. The wall behind the table is quite large and I knew I wanted a gallery wall. The only problem was even inexpensive frames from Ikea in the size I wanted are $12 each, and I wanted 12 frames so that's easily $144 just for frames alone. 

I found these Malma mirrors for $1.99 each at Ikea, and I saw on a couple of other blogs people printed pictures and used Mod Podge or other glues to adhere the pictures to the mirrors. I love the look of the chunky white frame and the small picture, plus I saved a lot of money because I printed six pictures on one piece of paper. You can use regular printer paper, but I have matte photo paper that is great for printing on. I chose 12 of my favorite pictures from tea parties that I've hosted, and I printed them in grayscale. I cut one picture until the size was perfect, then used that to trace and cut out the remaining 11 pictures. I didn't secure the pictures with anything because there is a gap between the frame and the mirror, so I sort of shoved the edges of the pictures in that gap and they stay put perfectly. As great as the idea is for this gallery wall, the way I hung the frames is really what is wonderful. 

DIY Crate Centerpiece

I wanted a centerpiece for my table where I could display some greenery. Vases with flowers are so beautiful when you have fresh flowers, but that doesn't happen all the time. And I didn't want a big bouquet of faux flowers because I really like the natural look of plants. I also didn't want to mess with real plants indoors because I can barely take care of my garden in the front and back yard! I had a crate from six years ago that I got when I ordered organic tomatoes online. I kept it and it was usually used to store cleaning products or whatever we had extra of at the time. It was just a plain crate, all I did was stain it with the same dark espresso stain I used on the dining room table, then went over it with the same gray stain. It absorbed the stain really well and I like the weathered look I achieved. I'll break it down here in steps.

Dining Room Reveal

When we originally viewed our house, the previous owners had the dining room painted tan with a dark brown accent wall. The crown molding was an off white color with little paint splatters on it. I saw so much potential and the thought of having a formal dining room was a definite plus. I say now that that room is finished, but I know I'm never really finished with a room. I'm so excited to share the changes we've made, so even though things will probably change in the future I'm happy with it right now.

This is what the dining room looked like for the past seven months. The table was tiny, walls were bare, and the only item with any style were the curtains. Here is what we have for now:

House Update!

I haven't updated much about the house, so I thought I would share some before and after pictures of a few rooms. If you have no idea what I'm talking about you can read a bit more about the house here. Honestly I feel like everything is taking forever. Dramatic, I know. I was so motivated right before we moved in, and right after we moved in. My husband and I would stay up late painting, cleaning, and unpacking. Then he got busy with work and school, and I kind of lost my motivation there for a while.

So far we've managed to paint the kitchen, dining room, living room, entryway, hallway, master bedroom, and laundry room. And I've pretty much, on my own, repainted the crown molding and baseboards as well as touched up the white molding around things like closet doors and doors. We also used a product to restore the hardwood floors. We did not refinish them; it would have cost too much, and we didn't want to take on that big of a project. So we basically cleaned the floors really well, stripping off any previous residue. Then we used microfiber bonnets on a couple of sponge mops to apply the product. The results were amazing and the floors are holding up really well. 

I'll go ahead and get into some of the before and after pictures. I, stupidly, forgot to take a before of every room before we changed anything. So some of the pictures were taken after painting had already begun.

Baked Ziti with Meat Sauce

Oh my goodness this is so delicious. This week was all about using up leftover ingredients. I had a big hunk of whole milk mozzarella, and a container of ricotta. I used some of the ricotta to make rolled eggplant, but had almost an entire container left. I didn't have lasagna noodles on hand, but I always have a few boxes of penne.

Ricotta Filled Eggplant

I'm on an Italian food kick this week, mainly because I bought a lot of eggplant and I have fresh basil in my garden! This recipe comes together fast and is really filling, would be the perfect dish if you do Meatless Mondays.

(sorry for the picture quality, snapped this right before sunset)

Zucchini Pasta with Roasted Eggplant and Mozzarella

I could eat this multiple times per week, it's that good! I finally bought a spiralizer after years of wanting one. I used to have a mandolin which seems to have disappeared, so I haven't been making any vegetable noodles. I got the spiralizer in the mail, and made this dish that same day for dinner. It was fantastic and very filling. Hope you enjoy!

Zucchini Pasta with Roasted Eggplant and Mozzarella
      serves 5

• 5 small Zucchini, spiralized or cut into noodles
• 1 Eggplant, peeled halfway or fully and chopped into big chunks
• 28 ounce can Crushed Tomatoes
• 2 Tbsp + 1/2 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 1/2 cup White Onion, diced
• 1/2 cup fire roasted Peppers & Onions (frozen, or just use 1 whole small onion)
• 2 tsp minced Garlic
• 8 ounces Mozzarella cheese, cubed (the vacuum packed type, not water packed)
• 2 Tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup fresh Basil cut into ribbons, or 2 Tbsp of the freeze dried kind
• salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. On a baking sheet add the chopped eggplant, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Toss together to coat the eggplant, and bake at 400F for 20 minutes. While the eggplant is baking make your sauce. In a large saute pan or skillet with high sides add 1/2 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions and peppers and cook for about 5-7 minutes, then add the garlic and cook and additional minute. Add the crushed tomatoes and season with salt and pepper. Simmer on medium-low while the eggplant roasts. When the eggplant is finished add to the sauce, and simmer and additional 10 minutes. 

The zucchini pasta is super easy. I used the spiralizer and made the zucchini into noodles while the eggplant roasted. To cook I actually microwaved mine for 9 minutes, although it can also be boiled or sauteed. I just wanted to cut down on clean up. Once the sauce has finished simmering add in the zucchini noodles (be sure to drain the excess water), the parmesan cheese, and the basil. Stir well to combine, finally add the cubed mozzarella. It will begin to melt into the hot sauce. Give it a good stir and serve immediately. 

I really enjoyed this with extra basil on top as well as hot pepper flakes, but I couldn't add those to the whole recipe because it's too spicy for my toddler. Who absolutely loved this meal by the way! Per serving: 323 calories, 19 grams of fat, 16 grams of protein, and 16 grams of net carbs!