Healthy Choice Cafe Steamers

I just had one of these for the first time today. I had Grilled White Meat Chicken & Roasted Red Pepper Alfredo sauce with linguini and broccoli Florets.

I must say, this was FABULOUS!! I was VERY pleasantly surprised. I normally hate microwaved food, but this wasn't bad at all.

Now, I'm not a food snob, but I was raised by my grandparents and my Mommy (yes I called my grandmother Mommy)cooked 3 hot meals a day. FROM SCRATCH!!! So, I didn't get a lot of microwave stuff until I was out on my own and realized my mistake in racing from the kitchen everytime she tried to teach me to cook. You could tell the Cafe Steamers was a micro meal, but it was as close to gourmet/homecooked as a micro meal can get.

The meal was filling and not too hard on the budget. Now, I only bought it for today cause I have 4 kids at home for Fall Break and they ALL like PB & J sandwiches and that's just not a favorite of mine nor is it on my diet. So, this isn't something that I would normally buy, but on a rare occasion when the schedule demands quickness, I'll know that for less than the price of most kids meals at the local drive thru fat factories I can have something nutritious, delicious and FAST!!!

Window Inspiration

I hate curtains. Really I do. I have a serious aversion to them. I think it's because my mommy, God rest her soul, LOVED those horrid frilly curtains. You know the grandma curtains. We had them EVERYWHERE in our house. So, that's lead to my house have ZERO curtains. Well, 2, but they are just plain white sheers. Mommy had LAYERS upon LAYERS of curtains. So my 2, in her opinion would equal zero.

Now, I know. You all are sitting there wondering why I've gone off on such a tirade over curtains. Well, today I flipped it over to HGTV and saw the neatest idea for window treatments.

Shutter Valances

Here's the link. There's a video to show you the steps on the link, but I've pasted the directions below. If you scroll down to the bottom of the link they also give you instructions on making a pot rack valance, but I don't care for it.

http://www.hgtv.com/dc-windows-valances-swags/unique-valances/index.html

Materials:
paint (Cinnamon Sprinkle #SW1348 for base coat, Rare Wine #SW1279 for middle coat and Leatherleaf #SW1167 for top coat)
paintbrushes
2" x 2" pine piece
table saw
3" drywall screws
3/4" thick pine boards for sides
brad nails
hammerdrill

Steps:

1. Apply the base coat by starting at the slat edges on about 10 rows of slats. Brush across to fill in the slats. Do a final stroke across to lay them off nicely. Paint the shutter frame carefully and let dry.

2. Apply the second color sparingly using little paint and a dry brush. Don't cover the base coat completely as this is a highlight color.

3. Apply a heavier layer of the top coat. In order for the other colors to show through, don't paint over some of the areas.

4. Make a cleat to secure the shutter to the window and to establish its pitch. Cut the 2" x 2" piece to the width of the window. Rip it on a vertical bias at a 45-degree angle using a table saw. Attach the cleat to the wall just above the window frame with screws. Put the shutter in place and temporarily secure it with a single center screw into the cleat.

5. To create the side support pieces, hold the 3/4-inch thick pine painted in the same manner to the side of the shutter and trace a profile of the side angle. Cut out the triangular shape and repeat for the other end.

6. Remove the shutter and attach the side supports to it with brad nails. Then secure the entire assembly to the cleat with more screws.

Tips:
Be careful that the angle is sloped enough in corners where two shutters meet to avoid hitting each other.
Mount the shutters high enough so that people won't hit their heads on them.

I just love this idea. It's a great way to salvage old shutters. Reminds me of the girls at A Soft Place to Land and Behind the Picket Fence. I'm definitely going to give this a try soon. I just have to find a table saw and the shutters, as I refuse to buy either. At least at full price. LOL!!

Working Out!!

It's working!! Imagine that. I weighed in last Saturday with 4.6 lbs of weight loss. Yesterday, I put on a pair of pants and noticed that they fit much better, but the best thing has been the Country Boy's comments. Since, this is a PG site we'll leave it at that. LOL!!

It can happen so, if you need help getting started, let me know. I'll tell you where to start!!