Operation Feed The Lambs Link Up

Have you read this post about the Operation Feed The Lambs 6 Week Challenge yet?  It gives you all the details on the challenge I issued you (yes you!) to see how much money we can raise in 6 weeks to donate to hunger relief for children world wide.

Today I'm hosting a link-up for you to give us a peek at your OFL fund-raising projects.  Are you planning a fun event to gather dollars for these kids?  Did you find a $20 bill on the street and want to donate it to the cause?  Are you too overwhelmed to organize an event but spend some time on your knees petitioning for these children instead (yup, that counts)?  Whatever it is that you're doing, or planning to do, write up a little post and link up below.  I'm sure we could all use a little inspiration and it's great to see what the community is up to!

At the moment, I'm trying to put together a fund-raiser of my own.  I'd really like to do a pot-luck (either with a love-offering or cheap admission fees) if I can find help organizing (I'm not much of an event planner).  It's a bit of a squeeze to get it in before the 6 weeks are up, as we've got a super busy June - but I'm praying about it!  If you've got any advice for me, please let me know!

So, fill us in - what have you been up to?


 

Recipe Of The Week: Chicken A La King

I love quick dinners that I can toss together in a few minutes before the kids get cranky.  Even better if the kids will eat them.  This dish is super quick to put together and my kids devour it.  Win win!

Chicken A La King

2 cups cooked chicken, diced
2 tbsp butter
1/4 cup flour (all-purpose or rice)
2 cups milk
1 cup frozen peas
1/2 cup spanish (green) olives, sliced thin
brown rice or toast

In medium sauce pan, melt butter.  Stir in flour then add milk, whisking till smooth.  Cook over medium heat until thickened and bubbly.  Add chicken, peas and olives and cook until heated through. Serve over rice or toast.

Variations:
1) Sautee onions in butter before adding flour
2) Substitute 1 cup chicken broth or 1/2 cup sherry for an equivalent amount of the milk
3) Sprinkle on smoked paprika before serving. 

 

Our McCormick Party

Once again Crowdtap has offered up an awesome opportunity.  I was thrilled to be chosen to host a McCormick Grill Mates BBQ party!  I was sent 1 marinade, 1 spice rub, 1 bottle of bbq sauce, and 2 seasoning blends and was told to invite some friends over for a fun barbecue.  They didn't have to ask me twice!

We love our charcoal grill and love any excuse for a get-together - but I'll confess - I rarely stray from my usual fixins of poultry seasoning, lemon pepper, and garlic.  I was a little nervous to try out some new flavors, especially when I'd be serving them to company.  And my nose wasn't thrilled by how the marinades smelled when I slathered them all over the chicken.  I was worried.  But then we dropped the food on the hot charcoal grill and voilà!  Something about these seasonings really comes alive when you mix them with a nice hot smoky grill.  The meat all tasted amazing, my guests were thrilled, and the food disappeared quickly.  I even had a guest mention that she was ready to pull out her McCormick items which had been sitting in her pantry just waiting for her to get cooking. 

So here are some photos of the big bash for you to enjoy!

Prepping the food!

Setting up the goodies

Kid-zone in the back yard - having a blast!

The menfolk hanging out by the grill

Yum yum!

 

Wednesday Wander: Blogs

It's Wednesday! Which means it's time for the Wednesday Wander!

This week we are linking up our blogs.  

Here are the rules:

 

1) Add your blog url to the linkup (specify if you want people to follow via LF or GFC).

2) Check out a few other blogs.

3) Leave a comment or two.

4) If you've got a sec, share the wander.

5) Grab a button if you've got somewhere to put it!

That's it!  Thanks guys!

<div align="center"><a href="http://www.babystuffilove.blogspot.com/search/label/Wednesday%20Wander" title="Wednesday Wander"><img src="http://i1227.photobucket.com/albums/ee435/mrscat206/WednesdayWander.jpg" alt="Wednesday Wander" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

Want to cohost a Wednesday Wander?  Email stuffilove.and.mimibaby(at)gmail(dot)com

Book Of The Week: M.O.M. Mom Operating Manual

 source

M.O.M. Mom Operating Manual  by Dorren Cronin is a book more appropriate for older kids and adults.  This hilarious how-to manual teaches kids how to care for their moms to keep them operating at maximum efficiency.  With tongue-in-cheek jokes and colorful illustrations, this book covers everything from feeding and dressing, to heavy-lifting and going out in public.  While much of the advice is written with an undertone of sarcasm, an astute child who pays close attention could learn a thing or two about how to keep Mom happy and going strong day after day.  I'll admit - my kids (4 and 2) lost interest by page 5.  But a grade-schooler or pre-teen should catch on to the running gags and might even pick up some of the advice.  If things have been a little frazzled in your house, or if tensions have been high between parents and kids, this book might be a great way to diffuse the situation and start a dialogue about how the family can run a little more smoothly.  Sometimes it's hard for kids to remember that Mom and Dad are humans with needs, too - and this book is a great, funny, objective reminder to take good care of those who care for us.

 

Tuesday Tutorial: Spice Rack Redo

I've become a little addicted to garage sales.  With the kids on break from preschool and Kids' Day Out, we have lots of time to kill.  Time that the kids are thrilled to fill with driving around town and looking at other people's junk.  Except, the crafting side of me shouts "That's not junk!  That's treasure!"  And a couple weeks back we hit the jackpot.  We found an estate sale brimming with vintage and antique items in need of a little TLC - for 75% off.  For $11 I walked away with a tiny vintage bench, a cute wooden crate, a gorgeous old magazine rack, and a counter-top sized spice rack. 

The only problem?  The spice rack was blue.  Bright blue. My kitchen accessories thus-far are white and stainless steel.  Not blue.  No problem - time for a little DIY touch-up and it would be good as new.  Easy peasy.  Almost.  Let's just say I learned a few lessons as I attempted this project - but I love the results.  Here's how it went:

1. Sand Off Old Paint 

I really didn't think this was going to be so hard.  It's just a little paint - right?  Wrong.  It was a lot of paint.  And it was powdery paint.  It got all over my skin, my clothes, the deck, the house.  My sand block was ruined.  And I didn't get off much of the color.  I gave it a good washing down and figured I'd just paint over it. 

Lesson Learned: Always sand off as much paint as possible.

2. Paint On Base Coat

So I got out a basic white acrylic paint to cover up the blue.  I thought a couple coats should do it. Not so much.  It was still very blue.

Lesson Learned: If your under color is dark, and you want your object to be light, use a thick primer paint, not something light and chalky like acrylic (which does much better on bare woods or when you want your dark base to show through).

 

3. Attempt Darker Base Coat

I wanted my final color to be ivory, and since my background was going to be a rust-colored paper, I figured a brown would be a good undercoat for the ivory.  That way, if it showed through the lighter paint, it would make a nice "shabby chic" effect that matched the backing.  Well, I was close.

Lesson Learned: Make sure your dark undercoat is the exact color you want to show through.  

After several coats of ivory paint, I decided there wasn't enough orange in my undercoat.  So, I mixed up a small batch of orangy-brown, dry-brushed on some streaks, then immediately blended with another coat of ivory paint. It's hard to tell in the terrible cell-phone photos, but the spice rack is now a nice "shabby" blend of rust and ivory.

4. Make Backing
5. Seal Backing and Spice Rack

To make the backing, I just used mod-podge to affix a piece of scrapbook paper to an old sheet of thin carboard.  I then gave both the spice rack and the backing a good coat of mod-podge to seal them up and make them easier to wipe down (this will be next to the stove after all).

Lesson Learned: Be careful with brushstrokes.  Make sure they go "with the grain" so they look natural.
 

6. Apply Backing


This step went exactly as planned.  Thumbtacks + rubber mallet = firmly affixed backing and no cracked wood.

 

7.  Enjoy The Finished Product


Not everything went exactly to plan, but I learned some important lessons, and I love my pretty little (cheap!) spice rack.  It fits just right on the counter, and I like the flowered background that peeks out at me when I remove a jar. 

Now I've got an even bigger project ahead of me.  Both boys have dressers that we snagged off Craigslist that are in serious need of refinishing.  Since they will soon(ish) have new rooms that I can actually decorate, I'm itching to give both dressers new coats of paint that match their new rooms' color schemes.  Keep an eye out for those before-and-afters soon!