I’ve been making a menu every 1-2 weeks for meals to make (off of my list of 220 to try that are all Eat-Clean).  I had two desserts left to make this week, so decided to make them both today and have them out of the way and I’m so glad I did because they’re both really good!

The Oatmeal Cookies are the best I’ve ever had.  I will admit that Oatmeal Cookies wouldn’t be my first choice.  Give me a regular old Chocolate Chip Cookie any day, so I can’t say I’m the best connoisseur of an Oatmeal Cookie.  Even looking at the ingredients of the cookie, there’s no way it seems like it’s “clean”, but hey, it’s in the recipe book, so I’m making it (and will make them again and again).   I only made a half batch due to not having enough butter on hand.  The recipe calls for raisins and chopped walnuts, but we’re not fans of either, so I opted for no raisins and substituted chopped almonds for the chopped walnuts.  Pretty good, if I do say so myself.

The Applesauce Pumpkin Muffins are pretty good too.  Had I not tried them the same day as the Oatmeal Cookies, I think I would like them even better, but the cookies are definitely topping the muffins today.  The muffins were very easy to make.  I put dried cranberries in only half of the batch (as my husband does not like cranberries).  I think the cranberries add a nice touch, but also add texture to the muffin, which some may not like.  They have a great flavor to them, although not as “sinful” tasting as the cookies.  I will definitely make both again.

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Last night for dinner we had Szechuan Chicken Strips and Garlicky Couscous with Roasted Peppers.  Both were very simple to make and done in no time (that is when you have your husband involved helping to cut up the chicken for you).  We both loved the Szechuan Chicken.  It has a lot of flavor and just plain seemed healthy.  The Couscous was very good, but to me, it needed a little extra spice.  It was a little bitter tasting to me.  My husband really liked it though, so maybe it was me. I’ll definitely make both dishes again, but maybe add a little something more to the couscous (at least for me).  Another great meal.  It’s a keeper!

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Tonight we had Whole Wheat Casserole. This is one of our favorites and one we make often. It’s so simple to make and tastes so good.

FYI: If you’ve never had wheat berries before, know that even after simmering for an hour, they are still somewhat hard (almost like pasta that’s almost done, but not quite). It’s not a bad thing and the texture of it is actually something both my husband and I love about this meal.

The photo looks horrible (it’s not an appetizing meal), but I assure you, it tastes much better than it looks.

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I love walls having something on them, but I also like the art to be unique. In our master bathroom, I took the same sepia photos (different pictures, same technique) that I used on our bedroom walls and put them in glass frames (no matting), so the wall color could show through, making it appear that I got custom matting for my frames to match our walls. I found the frames at Michaels on sale for 50% off and the artwork inside the frames were photos I took myself. The total cost per picture was $6

In my office, I found three floating frames (what they were called) on clearance at Linens N Things. I went online and found some photos that looked “tranquil” to me, but also matched my office area (browns, oranges, reds, greens, and whites). They were simple to put together and the total cost per floating frame was $8.

In our guest bedroom, I used a very large frame (originally purchased to go in the guest bathroom to frame out the mirror, but was an inch too wide, so got re-purposed in the guest bedroom). The size of the frame matched the width of the dresser, so to me, it made sense to center it over the dresser. I had no clue what to put inside it and had a rod iron mini piece of art that I was planning to use in that room. I hung the mini piece of art inside the large frame and now it looks like an over-sized frame with a massive matting in it and 3-D art in the middle. The cost for this creation was $20.

When redecorating our guest bathroom, I had a hard time coming up with an idea of artwork to use on the walls.  The easy option was to use the cute artwork found at so many places that have the picture of a faucet, sink, tub, etc…. and are meant to be placed in a bathroom setting.  BUT, if you know me, you know that I don’t always like to go with the flow and sometimes like to step out of the box and do something different.

I found simple square frames on sale.  I purchased three of them and figured I would use them in the bathroom somehow.  I then started buying some accessories for the bathroom and when I got to the towels, I started looking at the designs and texture in the towels, which gave me an idea.  What about framed towels as artwork.  Sure, I’ll give it a try.

I purchased two hand towels (one in a blue shade that matched the blue shade used in our guest bathroom and the other towel was a dark brown with a blue design on it).  Perfect!  I then cut them to size and framed them.  Easy!  The total cost per picture came to about $4.50.  They’re unique to the space, one-of-a-kind, and create a conversation piece.

I’ve used canvases in a couple of rooms in our house. They are so cheap and the skies the limit with what you can do with them. I watch a lot of HGTV and have noticed designers either painting a block of color on a wall or using painted canvases as a block of color on a wall (which adds a little more texture in a 3-D fashion).

In our master bedroom, our accent colors are red and dark brown, so I painted three canvases these colors. I went around the house and took close up photos of items I thought were interesting. I then changed them all to sepia, which made them all have brown tones and go well in our room. I printed the photos in a 5×7 size and then used spray adhesive to glue them on the canvases, creating instant art. The cost for each piece was $3 and a little bit of time.

In our guest bedroom, I chose to paint canvases again. I decided on some more interesting sizes and painted them with the colors placed throughout that room. I left them as just plain painted canvases. I’m not sure how I like them yet. I feel that something should be added to them (they look too “blah”). Thoughts?

Painted canvases serve as very reasonably priced (one-of-a-kind) artwork for your walls. The cost is minimal and it’s something that most people don’t have on their walls (making a nice conversation piece as people ask how you came up with that idea).

While decorating my house, I have placed several different wall words throughout. I do get compliments on many things, but one that always stands out to others are the wall words I have in various places in our home. We have four sets of wall words in four areas of our home.

The first two were purchased on eBay from EZWordArt and went into our master bedroom and bath.  In our bedroom, it reads, “Together…A great place to be.” right over our bed.  We have a vaulted ceiling and that wall is so big.  I needed to come up with something to break it up and this worked well.  In the bathroom, I chose words such as, “Calm”, “Soothe”, “Relax”, and “Tranquil”.  I placed them surrounding the bathtub.  They create a “spa-like” atmosphere (ok, so the only spa-like thing is in my mind as I read the words, close my eyes and play imagination), but they do make a great addition to that space.

The second two sets of wall words were purchased on Etsy from Right On The Walls.  One went into my new office and the other into our newly decorated guest bedroom.  The one in my office says, “Creativity – the use of the imagination or original ideas, esp. in the production of an artistic work.”  I love this saying on my office wall.  It encourages me to be creative and that’s what I want to use my office for….creating new things.  The saying in our guest bedroom says, “Our lives are filled with simple joys and blessings without end.  But our single greatest joy in life is a home filled with family and friends.”  Behind this saying, it says, “Blessings”, “family”, “friends”.  We thought this was a perfect saying for a guest bedroom (gives a “homey” feeling).

The sayings add so much to each room that they are in.  It’s also nice to have on the wall to take up space without having to put yet another picture to fill the space.  Sometimes over use of pictures on walls are just too much.  Wall words match perfectly with any decor.  They come in several colors, sizes, and fonts, so you can pick what works best for your space.  There are so many businesses out there that sell these wall words.  Most companies can do custom sayings, so you can make yours even more unique.

If you’ve ever used a rub-on in scrapbooking, that’s exactly how these wall words are applied to the wall (they’re just on a much larger scale).  They are revoable, but are not able to be used again, so if you decide to move and the next owner doesn’t like them, they can easily be taken down.

While searching on Etsy yesterday, I found a great business card holder idea (for the craft-minded people). The business cards are in a “matchbook” style holder. When you open up the matchbook, you’ll see a stack of business cards inside. Each one is perforated, so it’s easy to tear out. Now whenever I need a business card (and I have gotten asked a few times in the past month), I actually will have one on hand and have a very creative way to “dispense” it to the person asking. It shows my creativity as well. I love this idea!

A friend emailed me the other day to ask if I could make some “take home” favors for a “Girls Night Out” event at her church.  I quickly jumped on Etsy for some ideas and came up with Matchbook Notebooks (a little larger than the size of an actual matchbook) and Bookmarks. 

To save money, I used scrap paper (left over from past envelopes made) and regular printer paper to make the inside area of the notebook to write on.  Leftover from making the notebooks, I used that paper to make the bookmarks (gluing them to card stock paper so they were more sturdy).  They’re not a big WOW factor, but the Matchbook Notebooks will fit great in the ladies purses and the bookmark will serve use in anything needing a bookmark.

No, I didn’t forget to weigh in yesterday.  I purposefully skipped weighing in.  I was going to post to say that when you join Weight Watchers, they even give you a “no weigh in” pass that you can use for one week.  I was going to pretend to use that yesterday.

Last week I didn’t do so well with my eating or exercising.  I didn’t exercise at all due to awful foot pain (a pain I’ve never experienced on the ball of my foot called Sesamoiditis….sounds like more of a fungus than a foot pain).  We also went out to eat at my favorite Mexican restaurant, stopped by Starbucks for a Grande coffee favorite and dessert (larger than life size), and also ate various other junk related food throughout the week.

I always seem to do well for a week or two and then fall off the wagon.  In the past, I would completely quit, then gain the weight back, plus more, but I’m determined to change those bad behaviors.  So, I stepped on the scale today and thought that I needed to be truthful with myself and keep myself accountable (even if I gained weight).  To my surprise, I lost a half pound, which I’ll take.  And with that small encouragement, I’m jumping back on that wagon and getting back on track.

I’m a subscriber to Oxygen magazine and love it!  I read it from cover to cover, including what the Editor-in-Chief and the Publisher have to say.  In the October 2008 issue (yes, I know, it’s only August and I already have the October issue….I don’t quite understand it myself), the Publisher reminds us all about making our New Year’s resolutions in January and asks how many of us have stuck to them.  Well, I for one have had the same resolution for the past 10 years (to lose this weight once and for all).

The Publisher continues on by saying, “It’s not New Year’s, but our resolution, starting now, is to weight train all body parts regularly, to keep to three to four cardio sessions a week and to eat clean 24/7.”  He then goes on to say, “I’ll do it with you and we won’t need to make our usual New Year’s resolution.  We’ll already be where we want to be.  Let’s make it happen.  No excuses!”    I do find that very motivating.  How awesome would it be to be at goal weight (or at least close to it) by this coming January.  How awesome would it be to not have to make that resolution once again.  It doesn’t have to be an “all or nothing” plan.  So what, that I didn’t stick to this in January this past year or the years before.  I’m accountable right here and right now for my actions.  I can’t change the past, but can make a change to do something about it NOW!  I’d like to try to stick with the cardio and weight training sessions each week and do my best to eat clean 20/6 (instead of 24/7….hey, I can’t expect to be perfect all the time).  So, that’s the plan for now.  Stay tuned for my journey.