Pallet Bookshelf DIY

This is by FAR one of the easiest, and coolest projects I have done to date. It was something I thought about just having my husband do, but decided that I would spearhead the project. I even got to use power tools! I will admit my husband did cut the top of the shelves, and hang them, but that was it!

First, you start off with a pallet. You cut across the pallet, but where you would like your shelf to end. You will need to pull a board off of the pallet, to nail to the bottom. This will hold the books, and keep them in place.

From there I sanded the pallet, and got it smooth enough to stain. Since this pallet was very rough, I did what I could to make it workable.

Although my sanding efforts helped, they were not perfect. The staining process took forever. With the wood being so rough, the staining did not go on very smooth. This was by far the most tedious part of the project.

After the staining, I nailed the extra board to the bottom. Once it was nailed in, we put it up on the wall.

This shelf is in our oldest son Isaac's room. He got books for one of his baby showers. We have tons and tons of books that needed a home. They now and a perfect place to stay.

We are making a little reading corner. We are still in the process of looking for small chairs, but plan to have that be a focal point in his room.

I would highly recommend this project to anyone with leftover pallets!!

Enjoy!

Henry Turns 1

For both of my kiddos 1st birthday parties we kept it simple. Nothing fancy, just a friends and family gathering with a delicious cake!

We are so blessed to be surrounded by kind and generous people. Henry was showered with gifts, and loved all of the attention.

We continue to go to an organic bakery in Appleton called Happy Bellies. We got Henry a banana cake with chocolate frosting. As Henry was eating, his Daddy was anxiously waiting behind him to 'help' him eat his cake. This party we added some cupcakes to the mix, and they were delicious!!

Yes, I could have gone all out with decorations, party favors, and what not, but it wasn't worth it this time around. We will save that for when they have lots of friends from school over. :-)

How do you keep it simple for your parties?

Cauli Rice - 21 Day Fix Approved

This is one of the easiest way to re-do a veggie in place of a carb. This is one of the easiest ways to replace rice, without giving up the consistency.

Not sure how to increase your veggie intake? Time to get creative!!

This goes well with anything that you would normally eat rice with. This was made when my husband was out of town. Jason is really not a cauliflower fan, so I need to try things without him around before I serve it to the family. Isaac was a fan, and ate the bowl! I think that is a start..

It is a simple as cooking, and mashing.

Here it is!!

Ingredients:
1 head of cauliflower

You will wash and break up the cauliflower. Separate it from the leaves and stems. Use a steamer and put it in a pan. Fill the pan with water, to just below where your steamer bowl sits. Boil the water, and put the cauliflower into the steamer.
Once your califlower is cooked, but not mushy, take the steamer out of your pot. Pour out the water, and dump the cauliflower back into the pot. Take a potato masher, and mash up your cauliflower, and serve.

You are welcome to add whatever you would like to the rice. I added Balsamic Brown Sugar Chicken to it.

Enjoy!

Spinach Crust Pizza - 21 Day Fix Approved!

You will notice that I only have two pictures for this recipe.... I have to be honest with you, when I made this I did not expect it to be so good. I was not planning to put up the recipe. I judged this book by it's green cover, and wrote it off before we even tasted it.

It is CSA time, and we got a TON of greens in our box for the week. We needed a NEW way to eat our greens, as we were feeling rabbits... We had enough salads, and it was time for Pizza!!

Have you tried the cauliflower crust? We have too. My husband despises cauliflower, and he cannot even stand the thought of eating it, no matter what form it is in... So there was this one amazing site called Pinterest, and I took advantage of it!

My husband and oldest son were asking for more.. I didn't double the batch as I figured they were going to choke it down with a smile. When they asked for more I panicked!

Needless to say we have had pizza 4 nights in a row. We really just used toppings that we had in the fridge. We just used what we had to save ourselves a trip to the grocery store.

I would HIGHLY recommend this recipe! It is easy, fast, and delicious!!

Crust Ingredients:
2 cups raw spinach leaves
1 egg
1 cup cheese blend of your choice
Spices - I used some garlic scapes, as we got TONS of them in our CSA basket

Crust Instructions:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Blend all ingredients in a Magic Bullet or Food Processor. I used our Magic Bullet. It was a lot less clean up, and went very quickly.
Put parchment paper on a pizza pan. This will save you!
Once you have all of the ingredients blended well, pour on to parchment paper. Spread evenly.
Bake the crust for 15 minutes or until the edges are brown.

Add all toppings, put back into oven on broil for 2-3 minutes or until the cheese is melted.

Let cool for 3-5 minutes, cut and serve.

Enjoy!!