{Pinbuster!} Gallery Wall

I have pinned so many gallery wall configurations it is borderline unhealthy. I love the eclectic look of them and how they become a focus piece for a large or small wall space. However, I don't really have a natural knack for putting things like a gallery wall together. The event that pushed me over the edge was this discovery of THE PERFECT furniture piece. Since the day we moved into our house we had a very large, very dark, and very old china hutch on the main wall in our dining area. It had been there so long we kinda didn't even look at it anymore. That is until my obsession with creating a gallery wall in its place. We searched and searched for a buffet piece that wouldn't break the bank and would open up the wall space that I needed. I stumbled across a local company~ Carver Junk Company~ that refurbishes and re-purposes furniture in the most unique and beautiful ways for the most reasonable prices. It was here that I found THE PERFECT buffet for my gallery wall vision. Once the behemoth china hutch was out and the buffet was in I got to work! Thank goodness for Hobby Lobby (mostly) and this local "junk" company! I drew my plan out first and then over a few shopping trips over a few months, slowly gathered the items that would make up the "gallery."It took me weeks of having all the pieces laid out on my den floor until I felt confident enough to actually put a whole in the wall to hang it up.  Here is the final product!

The BEAUTIFUL buffet!

Most of the items were purchased at Hobby Lobby--that store will be the death of me! 

Several of the table frames are from Home Goods

Lamp is from Target

Metal letters are from Carver Junk Company 

Plants are from Home Goods

Canning jars are antique

Thanks for looking! 

Check back soon for my closet makeover!

Pinbuster~{Pantry Organization}!

When you are feeding a family of six, food is a big deal. It's expensive and takes up a lot of space. We are fortunate enough to have a walk-in pantry in our home to store all of our food items. However, the pantry is always a disaster and complete mess where I have a hard time finding anything I need. I find myself standing in the doorway, staring at mounds of food and saying with a sigh, "We have nothing to make for dinner." Ridiculous right? I vowed that I would conquer the pantry mess over our winter break. I scoured Pinterest for pantry organization ideas and was instantly overwhelmed. My budget for the whole job was about $150.00. I wanted new storage options, different garbage and recycling bins, and labeled containers so my kids and hubby would be able to easily maintain the storage I implemented. I "took the best and left the rest" of the Pinterest ideas and got to work. Here's the before:

No shame! We couldn't find anything in here!

Here are the steps I went through to organize this lovely mess!

1. Took everything out and got rid of any expired food.

2. Cleaned each shelf with a hot water and vinegar mix and mopped the floors. 

3. Purchased some large bins and containers from Ikea, Home Goods, and WalMart.

4. Placed remaining food and other items back in pantry using storage solutions.

5. Purchased chalkboard labels and chalk ink pen from Etsy. 

6. Labeled each container for easy use! Even had enough labels to do my baking cupboard too! 

7. Enjoy the new organized space!

Check out a few of the after pics! 

My chalkboard labels

All finished!! 

My baking cupboard got a mini-makeover too! 

Hope we have inspired you to take on an organization project. Get inspired on Pinterest!

Pinbuster: {Apple Pie Bites}

Apple Pie Bites
(Recipe found on Pinterest)

These were AMAZING!! I made a few (like 8) from one apple, and they were gone before my husband came home from work. My kids also had friends over who usually inhale anything I bake in an instant. (I swear, they have some sort of mama's in the kitchen radar)

I wasn't sure if I should peel the apple or leave the skin on, as the recipe didn't specify. So I left them on...I liked the texture and color it added. Next time I'll try without so I can compare the taste, though. I also wondered if the apple would be hard and uncooked baking such a short time, but they were very soft and tender, the crust crispy and golden.

I served them warm with ice cream....2 little pies a piece was just a perfect size dessert. I made only half a batch as I wasn't sure how they would taste cold or reheated.

I still don't know...... as they were gone in a flash.

But my kitchen smelled great all day.... apples and cinnamon...making me wish I had made the full batch!

Bite Size Apple Pies
Taste of Home
1/2 c. sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 pkg. (14.1 oz..} refrigerated pie crust
3 tbsp. melted butter, divided
2 medium tart apples, each cut into 8 wedges

In a small bowl, combine the sugar and cinnamon, set aside 1 Tbsp. On a lightly floured surface, unroll the pastry. Brush with  2 Tbsp. melted butter, sprinkle with remaining sugar mixture.

Cut each sheet into 8 one inch strips, about 8 in. long. Wrap one strip around each apple wedge, placing sugared side of pastry against apple.

Place on parchment paper lined baking sheet. Brush tops with melted butter and sprinkle with sugar mixture. bake at 425 for 13-15 minutes or until pastry is golden brown. Serve warm. Makes 16.

Follow this link to get to my Pinterest Page and the original recipe Apple Pie Bites

~Holly

Pinbuster: Copycat Chipotle Recipes

Who hasn't lost hours upon hours on the lovely addiction we like to call Pinterest? At its heart (does Pinterest have a heart?--hmmm--discuss amongst yourselves for a minute) Pinterest is a wonderful space to house your interests and loves. However, jokes ABOUND about how many things we pin and actually never look at, try, or do EVER.....

Well--Holly and I decided to put our Pinterest boards to the ultimate test! We each will choose something we have pinned and "intended" to do for awhile and we will actually DO IT. We are calling it PINBUSTER! (Like Mythbusters ya know!) We are stepping a bit away from the fashion on this one---Holly's up first with her Chipotle recipe!

While looking through some Pinterest recipes I came across this link for copy cat Chipotle Chicken burritos. I LOVE Chipotle! I had to try it! I was a little skeptical at first because Chipotle burritos are the perfect combo of sweet and spicy. YUM!! I double dog dare you to try it!

I just pasted the information from the linked site. My extra comments (time savers I found or substitutes that I used) are in RED.

source

 

I got all the recipes online from other fellow chipotle fans as myself, since I don’t have a clue when it comes to Mexican cooking.

I still managed to tweak the recipes to the ingredients I had, and it still turned out delicious! I give them 5 stars for being as close to chipotle as I can ever get, without leaving the house..

Enough with the chitchat and on to the recipes…

Chipotle’s grilled chicken marinade:

The original method of cooking the chicken is to marinate it overnight and grill it flat (lay a brick wrapped in foil on it).. Since it was a last minute decision (see: cravings above) it was already 3pm when I took the chicken breast out of the freezer, so I needed a plan B.

I made the marinade, added water. And threw it in a crock pot on high for 5 hours..

Let me just say I wish you were here to smell how good it was …..

If I'm in a pinch, I shred up some chicken breasts (or I have been known to use it from a can if I'm desperate) and just simmer it in the marinade while I put everything else together. It ends up being about 30ish minutes and the taste is still excellent!  I added extra cumin for a little more kick, too.  ~Holly

Ingredients: original recipe link

My tweaked version:

- 1 7oz can of chipotle pepper in adobo sauce. Remove the peppers and keep the sauce. (I left in one pepper)

- 6-7 dried red chili peppers

- 1 small onion

- 2 tsp cumin

- 2 tbsp dried oregano (all I had on hand)

- 2.5 tsp salt

- 1 tsp black pepper

- 6 chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces

- 1/4 cup canola oil

- 2 cups water

Throw everything in food processor, blend and cover chicken, throw in crock pot, check on it 5 hours later.

Since my chicken was still kinda frozen when I put it in, it took longer than I anticipated, so when Maghrib was approaching I moved everything to a pot and cooked it on the stove on medium heat for around 20 mins to give it a boost and make it really soft. 

Again, feel free to check the original recipe here and follow their directions as well. (I used recipe #1)





Corn Salsa:

This was super good and easy to make, and wouldn’t be a real chipotle dish without it .. 

Ingredients: original recipe
My tweaked version:

1 lb bag of frozen corn, cooked
1/3 bunch of cilantro, chopped finely
2 green jalapenos, finely diced
1/2 red onion, diced finely
Juice of one lime
Salt pepper to taste
1  pablano pepper, roasted in the oven, diced finely 
(I was too scared it would be spicy since I’ve never used it before, and it’s huge!! Let me just say the jalepenos were spicier…)

Chop chop chop, and mix all together. and your done

One time when I made this I didn't have lime juice on hand, so I used a lemon and it was fine. Lime is better, but lemon worked as well.
I also used a regular green pepper instead of the pablano pepper.   ~Holly

 

Pico de gallo : (original recipe found in the comments)

What I used:
6 ripe Roma tomatoes, finely diced..
2 tbsp chopped cilantro
1/2 red onion, diced finely
1/2 tsp salt
Juice of half a lemon
1/2 jalepeno, finely diced


Dice everything and combine.. And enjoy

Don't mess with this recipe! It is amazing just the way it is! ~Holly

You will also need shredded lettuce as a topping. So cut some up and put it in a separate bowl.

 

Cilantro lime rice: original (used recipe #2 and doubled it)

2 cup basmati rice
4 cups water
Bay leaf
1 tsp salt
Juice of a lime
2 tbsp cilantro, minced

2 tbsp oil

 

Saute the rice in oil until almost translucent.  Add bay leaf and water, bring to a boil.
As soon as the water begins to boil, turn the heat down low.
Simmer, covered for 15-20 minutes, or until all water is absorbed.
Turn off heat.  Leave covered for 30 minutes. This is the “steaming” part, this is what makes the rice fluffy.

Once done, It may be helpful to transfer rice into a mixing bowl for the next step.
Mix salt and juice of lime together until salt is dissolved.
remove bay leaf, pour it over rice, fluff with a fork.
Sprinkle in cilantro, and toss well to evenly coat with cilantro and lime mixture. And you’re done!

Again, I used a lemon and it was good...And I skipped the bay leaf, I couldn't tell the difference.  ~Holly

Sour cream sauce:

Just get sour cream, add some water to make it a smooth consistency, and mix well. thats it!

We used just regular sour cream to save time as well, but this is super easy.   ~Holly

Here is another recipe that was at the bottom of the burritos' recipe. It sounds delish, but I have not tried it yet. Let me know if you try it.    ~Holly

Espinaca (spinach and cheese dip) similar to Jose peppers… 

 

Ingredients:
16 oz 1/3 fat cream cheese
8 oz hot pepper cheese (not same as pepper jack) 
4 oz frozen spinach
1 onion, chopped
1 10 oz can rotel, drained
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup milk
2 Maggie cubes (equivalent to 4 small bouillon cubes) 

Add all in crock pot (or on stovetop on the lowest heat) until melted and combined (around at least 30 mins)  Stir and serve hot with chips.

 

 Just for fun i put it in a chocolate fondue bowl, to keep it from getting cold.

And that was our Mexican Chipotle dinner for that night.. hope you enjoyed it as much as i did!

HAPPY COOKING!!

~Holly