Farmhouse Friday: Kitchen Ceiling

This Farmhouse Friday goes out to my dad who never seizes to amaze me! A couple weekends ago Anthony and I left the kids with my parents, at our house, while we attended a wedding in Paso Robles. Before we left, my dad wanted to know what projects I had for him to complete. (For anyone that knows my dad, he can fix anything and is extremely artistic) Jokingly I said, the kitchen needs to be painted and the ceiling needs to be fixed.  

Side note: After removing the cabinets from the ceiling, there were wires hanging down and a strip on the ceiling that needed texture and paint. In addition, the entire kitchen was still the original color and needed to be panted the same color as the rest of the house. 

Not only did he begin painting the kitchen, he also fixed the ceiling and transformed it into the farmhouse look I love!

Needless to say, when we came home Sunday evening, we were beyond thankful for all the work he had completed. 

Here is the transformation!!!

Little breakfast break with his granddaughter.

Stayed tuned for more updates on our kitchen renovation.

Portuguese Pasta

Having a Portugese husband means linguica is sometimes on the menu... Being it was his birthday, he had the request of linguica sandwiches and macaroni salad. With that being said, we entertained 35 people with his dinner request. 

As an Italian, I don't know how to cook without having leftovers. Therefore, I cooked enough linguica for an army. Since I do not enjoy it as much as Anthony, I had to add a little Italian spice to the linguica and make a Portguese pasta. To my surprise, the pasta was delicious! 

This recipe was a great way to use up some leftover linguica without eating linguica sandwiches all week.

Ingredients

* 1 large chopped onion

* 2 tablespoons

* 1 pound linguica (Portuguese Sausage)

* 1 - 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes Italian Style

* 3 tablespoons soy sauce

* 1 pound cooked pasta

* 2 tablespoons of garlic salt

* 1/4 cup chicken broth

* 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

* Salt/pepper to taste

* 1 teaspoon of chili powder

Directions

1. Cut linguica into bite size pieces and chop up the onion. Place the linguica and onion is pan with olive oil and simmer. Cook for 5 minutes. Once the onions are cooked, add garlic salt and mix together.

2. Add the can of undrained tomatoes, chicken broth and soy sauce to the sausage mix. Cover the pot and simmer for one hour. Stirring frequently.

3. When the sauce has simmered about 45 minutes, add chili powder, salt/pepper and Parmesan. 

4. Put on a pot of water to boil for the pasta. Cook pasta according to the directions on the box. Drain, and stir pasta into sauce. Let pasta and sauce sit for 5-10 minutes covered without heat.

5. Serve with fresh Parmesan on top and garlic bread.

Skywalk

This summer we have been busy with weddings, birthdays, playdates and other fun activities, but last Friday we went to Skywalk with a few friends and I now have a new favorite adult night out. The evening started with dinner at Wasabi on Fire. Wasabi is one of our favorite restaurants in Fresno and we were excited to try their new restaurant. They did not disappoint, as we had a delicious dinner. After dinner we headed to Skywalk for an hour full of fun. From the large foam pits to the obstacle courses, we were like kids in a candy shop! We had a night with great friends, lots of laughs and new memories!!!

DIY Kitchen Shutters

As I continue to remodel our kitchen, I came across the idea to add shutters to the kitchen window. Instead of spending hundreds of dollars on shutters, I decided to build my own.

I love them!!!

To build the shutters I took the window measurements and headed to Home Depot and played around with different wood sizes. I came up with a design that included two different sizes of wood and three slats of wood on each shutter. While at Home Depot I had them cut all the wood to the length I needed. This left me with only horizontal pieces to cut at home. I allowed 1/2" in my width measurement for the hinges and it worked out perfectly!  I also allowed 1/4" for the height measurement, but had to go back and cut off an inch so they would fit correctly. There was enough wood leftover to create two horizontal pieces for each shutter.

I used butt hinges to attach the panels together. I used other hinders we had from previous projects to attach the shutters to the wall. The butt hinges I bought were not strong enough to hold all of the weight once attached to the wall.

All said and done, the wood cost $25 and I used paint and stain I already had at home. 

Interested in the same look??? Feel free to contact me!

Crockpot Mashed Potatoes

With the heat during summer, I love a great crockpot recipe! I stumbled across this recipe, but tweaked it to my liking. These mashed potatoes were full of flavor and SO easy. 

Ingredients

* 2 pounds of potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes

* 1 cups chicken broth

* 4 cloves garlic minced

* 1 ½ teaspoons salt, plus more to taste

* ¼ teaspoon black pepper

* 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
* 1 teaspoon of garlic salt

* ½ cup unsalted butter, cut into cubes

* 1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, cubed

* 1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

* 1 (8 oz) tub sour cream

 Directions

1. Place all ingredients into the crockpot and stir to combine.

2. Cover and cook on HIGH for 3 hours, or until the potatoes are tender.

2.I used a mashed and left the potatoes a little chunky.

3. Re-season, if necessary

4. Serve and enjoy!

Jocko 2 Months

Jocko turned 2 months old on May 2nd and has sure grown in the last month! He weighs 10lbs 13oz and 21 1/2 inches long. He is now in the 25th percentile for weight, 5th percentile for height (short and fat) and wearing size 1 diapers. Jocko eats at 7, 10, 1, 4, 7, 8:30 and 10 and sleeps till 7:00. He now smiles back and loves to watch his energetic sister. Giada is still in love with her brother and mommies little helper when it come this feeding, changing diapers and putting his pacifier in his mouth. 

Two under two is keeping us busy, but I wouldn't change a thing! 

Happy 2 months handsome!

Farmhouse Friday: Galvanized/Metal Decor

I love all things Joanna Gains and the farmhouse style. As we have taken on a fixer upper of our own, I would like to introduce Farmhouse Friday! Please visit my blog for tips, tricks and DIY's on creating your own farmhouse look.

Today I would like to feature all things galvanized and metal. Adding a little galvanized bucket and metal accent pieces to your home will give it the perfect farmhouse look. 

Below are a few galvanized/metal looks I have added to my house! Click on the link for similar and reasonable looks.

Old Galvanized Bucket

Galvanized Pipe Desk

Metal Stools for Night Stands

Old Water Bucket

Metal/Wood Decor