Swoon worthy #3

I want to take this edition of swoon worthy in a different direction.  So we are going to take a look at a few recipes that I've been swooning over that look a little too complicated to make! Some of these may end up on my next monthly meal plan schedule and then I'll come back with a little recap sharing my thoughts about the meal.  I'll let you know if they were tasty, if they were actually as hard to make as they sound and if would ever make them again.

Recipe #1: BBQ Chicken Pizza found over at The Busy Budgeting Mama

Natalie is a super busy mom and she makes some great meals for her family.  Her blog is the first place I found freezer meals!  She has some great tips and recipes there for freezer meals and she has a TON of ideas for fun kids meals.  She even makes fun little videos showing how she makes snacks and meals for her kids that are cute and make eating fun and healthy for them.  

What scares me most about this meal is making the dough.  I have never made dough from scratch, so it sounds intimidating! 

Recipe #2: Savory Crepes with Spinach, Caramelized Onions and Brie from Clare Cooks! 

Again, making the "dough" from scratch...scary!!  I have bought pre-made crepes in the grocery store before, so the idea of just buying those and making the filling is much more appealing to me.  But, if I'm gong to make these, why not give it a try the exact way this recipe shows?

Recipe #3: Cauliflower Breadsticks from Mama Grubbs Grub

I'm starting to sense a theme.  Are you?  I must need some carbs soon!  I could never be on a crab free diet! I wouldn't make it two days without.  These are a good alternative to a carb loaded meal.  Maybe with pizza instead of the usual breadsticks?  Who ever thought of that anyway?  Pizza and breadsticks?  Because just having pizza isn't enough bread?  So weird if you ask me.  I digress.  These seem like they would just fall apart.  But again, I'd have to try it for myself. 

Recipe #4: Banana Chocolate Chip BAKED Doughnuts from Sparkrecipes 

Doughnuts...they are my number ONE weakness in life.  I have to stay away from the bakery at the grocery store and don't even mention the fact that Dunkin' Donuts is one block from my house.  But these are supposed to be healthy, so maybe I found a great alternative?  Maybe.  They must be worth it if you ask me. I've had these pinned on my Pinterest "Let's Eat" board since I started pinning things.  It's about time I try to make them.  

So, there you have it folks.  Carbs, carbs and more carbs that I'm dying to try!  Stay tuned.  I think I may try all of these and all on the same day.  Now I'm off to find a snack and you better believe it's going to have bread of some sort in it! 

   

Organizing: The Bathroom Cabinets

Eeeekkk!  Did I really go a full month without posting?  I did.  Ooops.  Well, in my defense, we have been super busy.  We have been working on landscaping our yard, giving my oldest a "big boy room", visiting family out of state and enjoying the beautiful summer weather here in Wisconsin.  I've also been focusing on my little Younique business, which has been awesome!  Read more about that here.  The good news is that I'm not the only one, this seems to be a common problem with other bloggers out there in blogland at this time of the year...a few of my favorites have been MIA for weeks now:(

And now I'll get on track!  (Please excuse the poor iPhone pictures in this post...)  I don't know how it happens, but for some reason the cabinets my husband and I have below each of our sinks ALWAYS get messy, disorganized and cluttered with stuff that doesn't belong there.  It was high time I sat down (literally) and got them cleaned out and organized.  For the 145th time since we've lived here.  Our main issue with the items below our sink was the medicine box.  We could NEVER find anything in there. Oh and this turned out to be the perfect time to get rid of any expired medicine we had in there.

The before (under my sink):

The before (under my husbands sink) that's the medicine box piled high on the right, the cover didn't even fit anymore:

The first thing I did was take everything out.  As I was taking it all out, I set the items aside that I wanted to keep and I tossed the things I knew we didn't need into the trash.  This is my system every time I am organizing.

Then I took inventory of what type of organizing bins I would need and how many.  I decided to go "up" with my storage instead of "out".  This is something I always try to consider when I'm cleaning up a space.  I follow a few basic organizing "rules" and one is to maximize my space.  When I can go up, I do.  This works well in most closets and of course any room with high ceilings and wall space.  Our garage and basement storage area are two perfect examples of this.  When I don't have height to work with, I go out.  An example of this would be shoe storage in a closet.  Unless you have awesome built in shoe racks that run floor to ceiling, you have to use the floor.  So, in that case you are going "out", spreading out on the floor, using that available space.

Next up, the fun part.  Looking through my stock pile of organizing bins, baskets, containers, etc.  After looking at what I had I decided nothing at home would work so I had to bite the bullet and go to the store.  I thought that drawers would make more sense that what I had before.  I took a trip to target and $200 later I had these.  (No, they didn't cost $200, it was Target.  Need I say more?)  I did end up having to go back to get one more 3 drawer unit.  

Finally, it was time to put everything back into place.  I sorted my "keep items" into groups to determine how I would sort everything.  Under my sink I have drawers for hair accessories, hair products, scentsy items, extras (backup toothpaste, deodorant, that sort of thing), lotions and miscellaneous (whatever doesn't fit in the other categories goes here).  Then I stuck my Younique case and travel bag on top of one drawer unit. The green stack and carry case is filled with all of my gel nail items.  My light, polishes, files, cotton rounds, etc.  There were a few "extras" that wouldn't fit in the drawer, so those are sitting right inside my cabinet. The good news is that I can still open the drawers all the way, even with those bottles sitting there.

The after (under my sink):

Under my husbands cabinet I ended up with three drawers for the medical items.  All of our vitamins which are in the blue and clear striped container.  His shaving supplies in the green bag and his blood pressure monitor....yes, he's 30 and has to check his blood pressure:(  On the left of his cabinet is the gross stuff I don't like to talk about, but I'm keeping it real here, like the plunger and extra TP!  In the middle I did stick q-tips, toothpaste and saline for the nettie pot since I didn't really have a great place for those items to go. That's the only thing I don't like about organizing.  There is always something that won't fit or doesn't make sense in any other area of the house so it gets stuck somewhere.

The after (under my husbands sink):

I lived with the drawer units in place for a few days and decided they needed a little something extra...can you spot the difference?

I know this wasn't the most exciting post in the world, but I know there are some people who struggle with organizing *coughkatiecough* and I want to give tips whenever possible.  Next up will be my walk in closet...can't wait to share that one with you all.  It's even color coordinated! What do you like to keep organized?

Linking up to House of Rose this week!