His and Hers Meatloaves

I bought a couple jars of pineapple salsa on clearance for 75c. As it turns out, they were on clearance for a good reason. It is nasty. I even tried cooking with it to disguise the flavor, but it still came through. Ugh. Hubby didn't seem to mind it though, so I figured I'd make some Mexican meatloaves in muffin tins for him. I didn't use the Rachael Ray recipe that I linked to, however I'm sure it's a good one (it is Rachael Ray, after all!)

I took two pounds of ground turkey, one pound of ground sausage, 3 eggs, almost 2 cups of cracker crumbs and some oatmeal to make up the difference, some pepper, and a chopped onion. I mixed well and divided it into two bowls.

To his meatloaf, I added 1/2 cup of nasty salsa and all the shredded cheese that was left (probably somewhere between a half cup and a cup). To my meatloaf, I added 1/2 cup of ketchup, almost a cup of chopped dill pickles, 3/4 cup of pickle juice, and a dab of brown sugar.

I put the meatloaf mixture into muffin tins and popped them in the oven for about 30 or so minutes at 350 degrees. Three pounds of meat makes about two dozen meatloaves. If we weren't such pigs in this house, we could pop the extras into the freezer. (We can eat 24 meatloaves lickety split).

What's your favorite meatloaf recipe?

It's Boy Month at "Made"

Woot, woot! I just wanted to share with everyone how sweet the month of February will be, now that it is boy month over at Made: A Creative Collection. There will boy tutes, clothes, giveaways, crafts, guest blogging... you name it, she'll have it! Yippee!

The Birthday Post

Earlier this month I turned 31. T-3 made me the most awesome birthday gift E.V.E.R. Check out this hand embroidered needle book. It has a rabbit on it! A rabbit, people!






Here's a birthday photo of me blowing out my candles. I made that cake, by the way. I was pretty proud of myself because usually when I make a cake, I make it in a 9x13 pan, and it stays in the pan. I actually ventured from my comfort zone and baked two round 9 inch cakes, successfully removed them from the pans, and stacked them on top of each other. Go me!

Thrifted Baby Fashion Show

I thought it would be fun to have a fashion show! These are all pics of my little one wearing thrifted outfits. I'll add prices where I can, though some of these outfits I bought awhile ago and have since deleted the prices from my file.

"File?" you ask. I keep a spreadsheet of all his clothes and the prices I paid so that when I'm out thrifting, I don't overbuy in any particular size. He's wearing 9-12 months right now, but I have his wardrobe nearly fully stocked up until 3T, and some things in sizes 4 and 5 as well. This is partly because I'm a freak, and partly because I'm banking on being unemployed and poor in the near future. I don't want to have to spend money on his clothes when I'm not working, so whenever I see things for 50c or less, if we'll need it eventually, I buy it!

This sweatshirt was a quarter; the pants were a splurge at 59c. Don't laugh. It really was a splurge since my usual limit is 50c! But I love them, so I bought them :)

This coat was a garage sale find for $2. My next door neighbor's high school aged son actually came over, knocked on my door and told me that they were selling some of his baby brother's clothes and that I should come on over and take a look. Good thing he did because my husband loves the Columbus Blue Jackets, and I was able to score this great heavy winter coat! Too bad the little one hates this coat though.

I don't remember how much the short sleeved polo was, but the jeans he's wearing here were 25c. I've layered a long sleeve onesie (which was a gift) underneath the polo for much added warmth.

Joel has five pairs of jeans in size 9-12 months. Two cost 25c, two cost 75c, and one cost 50c. I have no idea which pair this is. The hockey shirt is also 9-12 months according to the tag, but he outgrew this one pretty fast. It would have been better at 6-9 months. T-3 and I found this exact same Hockey Champ shirt while out thrifting last week, this time in size 2T. She made me get it. I'm talking full-fledged arm twisting here. At least this time I know that it runs small and that we should start putting him in it around 18 months.

Here's a slightly younger Joel. I have no idea how much this outfit cost, but my guess is 50c apiece! Oh yeah, and I thrifted that toy too.

We're moving backwards in time here. "My First Golf Game" was a family hit. My husband's family (especially his grandpa who passed away earlier this month) is really into golfing. It skipped my husband's generation, but perhaps Joel will be a golfer!

I don't know how much the shirt cost, but the exersaucer was $30 on craigslist. A week or two later I found the exact same one for half the cost at a garage sale. I hate that.

This was one of my favorite summer outfits of his.

I love this little sweatshirt. He can't fit into it anymore because it's 6-9 months :(

Accessorizing with thrifted goods :) This hat matches his Cleveland Browns onesie very well. Both were thrifted.

This tee was 50c. The onesie underneath was a gift.

Monkey PJs!

More hockey themed clothing! Did I mention that my hubby is a hockey enthusiast?

I lost track of the price of the polo, but those grey cargo pants were a score at 25c.

Wearing a "SuperWhy" mask that he received for Christmas with a thrifted long sleeve shirt and pants.

This short sleeved tee was 50c. I've once again layered it with a long sleeve onesie for warmth.

A hooded sweatshirt for those cold Ohio winters!

A "Batter Up if you like Baseball" tee with an elephant on it. Makes no sense to me either. But hey, it was 50c. You've seen the pants earlier. Remember? The 59c splurge?

Ohio State! I'm a sucker for all things Buckeye. This was a steal at 45c.

Blue and brown- one of my favorite color combos!

He has three pairs of 9-12 months khakis, two were 50c and one was 25c. The shirt was a hand-me down of my brother's from 25 years ago, and I believe the tie was 30c. The tie is my absolute fav. I almost forgot about the shoes! They were a little more than I usually spend on thrifted items ($4.50), but they do fit his fat little feet well so they were worth it.
One last pic. The tank top I'm wearing here was thrifted, and the baby carrier was a $5 garage sale find. I would not have survived our summer vacation without that baby carrier, so it was money well spent!

More Toy Storage

We have too many toys. It's a sickness really. I'm pretty sure that they're breeding when we're not looking. And you know what's really scary: he turns one in a few weeks, and you know what that means. More toys!



Please don't tell my mom that you saw my house look like this. I think she might throw up a little.

I've been trying to come up with solutions for all my son's stuff. You already saw the barn toy box WIP last week. Did I finish it? Um, no. Not yet. But I am making some headway. Too bad it's coming out kind of pink though!



I bought some 75% off red plastic storage containers at Target during their after Christmas clearance sales. They were only $2.50 each! Woot, woot!



I also dismantled a large wooden three-panel screen that I used to have blocking the sump pump from view. I figured that was probably a death trap now that our son is mobile, so I took it down. Now two out of the three panels are hung on the wall for more toy storage.



This last one's not toy storage, but since I like it, I'm including it anyway. I'd had these old Coke bottle boxes sitting around the house for eons. When Joel was born, we had to attempt to clear out part of the closet in his room so that he could have a little space. We weren't very successful in removing all our junk from his closet, however we did remove the computer related stuff and moved it to the basement. (The computer itself moved to the basement when creating the nursery, so it made sense that the paper, ink, etc. would also come down to the basement).



I can't remember for sure, but I think the Coke boxes were flea market finds. The hardware to attach them to the wall was around twenty bucks at Lowes. Do you have any other creative solution ideas for me?

And don't forget, those messy living room shots are our dirty little secret! Mum's the word!

The Barn

As promised, here are some photos of the barn before I started repainting it. In case you missed it, my grandpa built this toy box for my dad when he was a little one.


I've used this toy box as Christmas storage, as you can see. My Christmas tree fits nicely in the top part, which is hinged. The bottom part's doors never did work very well. When my brother and I were little, the doors fell off all the time, and so I don't think I'll put the doors back up. I'm thinking a cute boyish, little fabric skirt.


My grandpa painted some cute little windows on the side. I don't know if I'll put more windows up or not. (Um, probably not). I'm thinking about decoupaging some firetrucks onto it with a bunch of free sample wallpapers.


As you can see, the barn is in bad shape. Four out of the eight trim pieces were broken and a serious hazard to the baby, so I removed them and replaced them. This one looks like my rabbit chewed it!

So there you have it. I'm going to go downstairs and get painting right now. I want to get this project done this weekend!

P.S. Who's turning 31 tomorrow?! This gal!

Snow!

Wordless Wednesday Friday



Ok, so I just can't do a wordless post. This actually isn't our latest snowfall- this was back a few days after Christmas. We got several inches (6 maybe?), so we can't take the kid out in it. We'd lose him in all the snow.

In other news, I've been busy transforming my dad's old "barn" toybox. My grandpa built it for my dad about 50 years ago. My brother used it to store all his cars and trucks, and now Joel will be using it! (For the better part of the past decade, the toy box has been used for my Christmas storage. So now the question is where in the world am I going to put all my Christmas decorations and the tree?!).

The barn unfortunately suffered water damage when the basement was having water problems, and over the years half of the trim pieces were broken off. I figured nails sticking out and sharp shards of wood probably aren't the safest thing in the world, and so I ripped them off and replaced them. The wood cost less than $4.50. (On a side note, while I was at Lowes, they were having an awesome clearance sale. I picked up four cuphooks for 88c and.... drumroll please... one of those chain thingies to put on the front door for 19c! The cuphooks are to hang up sippy cups in the kitchen).

I also was able to cover up some of the water damage with wood from the garage. Cost: Free! The paint I'm using is also free as it's coming from my stash. I promise pictures will come in a few days. I'm away visiting family for the weekend, but when I get back, I'll post some.

Stay warm!

Recapping 2009 in Photos

January- when did I become old?!


February- what a great Valentine's Day gift!


March- Joel is a month old already!


April- His first Easter


May- Maid of Honor in T-2's wedding


June was a bad month for my son's scalp, but he eventually got better!


July- Joel's first trip to the beach. See his little t-shirt? That started out life as a long sleeve shirt but I made it short sleeved since it fit him in the middle of summer.


August- Joel's first vacation (Chattanooga & Lynchburg, TN)


September- Joel's getting to be a big boy!


October- Joel's first trip to the pumpkin patch.
He's wearing a completely thrifted outfit!


November- Hubby turned 30 this year too. I baked him a sweet cake! And I bought him a sweet thrifted birthday sign :)


December- Joel's first Christmas