Everything Is Better with Bacon

Everything is better with bacon, right? According to my husband it is! When I saw this post on Pinterest I just had to try it.

I detest cooking bacon on the stove. It is stinky, greasy and let's face it I burn myself at least once every time. I actually had no idea this was even possible. I may be the only one in the world that didn't know but I tell ya it worked! I followed the directions per the original website and it worked like a charm.

Here are the step-by-step pictures:

First, I lined the cookie sheets with parchment paper.

I laid the bacon out trying to space them apart. Notice it took me two cookie sheets? I need new cookie sheets!

Half way through the cooking

The finished product

Now I know this does not look all that great but let me assure it the grease stayed in the paper and the cookie sheet. I had crisp, evenly cooked bacon. To top it off, all I had to clean up were the two pans and not a grease-splattered kitchen. I also had time to prepare the rest of our breakfast for dinner meal. It was postivitely wonderful!

I would highly recommend cooking bacon this way. My family loved it and I didn't have to be treated for any burns. It was a great night!

Closet Rehab

At the beginning of the new year, I started going through every cabinet, closet, storage-ish area I could find in my house. Mostly because I am about to put my house on the market and wanted to appear uncluttered however, after starting I could not stop. Then I ran across this post on Pinterest that someone repinned this year.

What a great idea! How many of you have items in your closet that you rarely wear? I hate to say it but I have tons of items. My closet is so full sometimes I cannot even find the one item that I am looking for. When I ran across this idea I thought that this would be more fun that the usual sort and toss. The idea is to turn all of your hangers around backwards and as you wear an item place it back in your closet (preferably clean!) the right direction. Then on June 1st pull out those times that have not been worn and donate them.

This is what my closet looks like as of January 15th.

Wow, I cannot believe I just posted pics of my closet! Welcome to my clutter :-)

Now, I am the first to admit that the separation from those items on June 1st gives me a little anxiety. Also, we have four seasons here in TN where I live. I cannot imagine having gone through a reasonable amount of my clothes by June 1st. With that said, I plan on assessing how many items I have actually worn every three months and doing a final sort and toss at the end of the year. I can already see a pattern in what I wear and I have to admit by doing this it is causing me to be a little more creative in picking out my clothes each day.

I few things I learned while recreating this pinned item:

• It's not easy to hang your items backwards. Seriously, you feel like you are doing something extremely wrong especially if you are OCD. And with my closet racks it causes the items not to glide as easily so you have to space your items accordingly.
• It's even harder when your vertically challenged! I forgot exactly how short I was then I started on the top row of clothes. Hopefully you are as lucky as me and have a wonderful husband willing to help you like mine did or perhaps a tall friend. 
• You will find items you didn't even know you had. Seriously, I found items that still had the tags on them. How sad is that? 

I hope by doing this it not only raises my awareness of my compulsive shopping problem but also how many items I actually 'need' verses want. How many of you have a system in periodically cleaning out your closet?

Southwestern Egg Rolls

Just hearing the name Southwestern Egg Rolls makes me want to go to Chili's and order some. I never thought that it was something that I could make at home until I found the recipe on Pinterest! I decided to try out this great recipe from Annie's Eats for a recent party. Turns out the egg rolls were a hit! Read on to see how I made them and my final review.

I read the recipe carefully and headed to Kroger for the ingredients. Having never purchased egg roll wraps before I wasn't sure where to locate these in the grocery store. Just as an FYI, I did locate them in the produce section.

I mixed all of the ingredients  according to the recipe and it turns out that it makes a whole lot! I actually purchased two packages of the egg roll wraps and was glad I did.

Next I had to actually wrap the egg rolls. Having never done this before I wasn't sure how this would turn out. I followed the recipe's instructions and it turns out that it really wasn't that hard. Here are some pictures to illustrate my steps (please ignore the non-manicured hands!):

I actually had three pans of these to bake. It was amazing how much this recipe actually did yield. I baked the egg rolls according to the recipe and look how great they turned out! They were a hit at a party and the next day for my lunch. 

My official review is WOW! These are wonderful if you like the Southwestern Egg Rolls appetizer at Chili's. They are easy to make and great to eat. Plus it made double of what I thought it would. I had around 40 egg rolls so I suggest buying two packages of the egg roll wraps. Simple, easy appetizer to take for a party! Thank you Annie's Eats!

Measuring Up

After seeing this pinned by several on Pinterest, I couldn't resist looking into this measuring cup organizing idea. After all, my husband has no idea what to do with those clean measuring cups and spoons once they are clean. Do you find yours just any where in your kitchen? Every time I go to find one it is never where it needs to be and of course I end up settling for whichever one is available. Maybe this is why my recipes always turn out weird?

Moving on...I thought this was genius so I visited Infarrantly Creative's site to see exactly what I needed. I made my list based on Infarrantly Creative's site and headed out for supplies. I have never been known to follow directions so I missed the part where she mentioned the size of hook as well as getting spray paint. Once I got all of the supplies I headed home ecstatic to get started.






First, I picked the perfect cabinet door. I noticed that on the original blog she mentioned that she converted from metal to plastic cups because of the noise. I personally prefer to measure with metal cups (I'm weird and spoiled I know!) so I picked a cabinet door that is near the stove but not opened a whole lot.














After I measured the width of the paint stirrers, I had my husband cut them. He used a hand saw and it did just fine. He also went ahead and predrilled the holes and sanded the edges for me.

I started painting the stirrers. Remember when I stated above that I don't follow directions very well? I missed the spray paint part and bought just regular craft paint and painted them. Four coats later I reminded myself of the importance of following directions!

Since I didn't read that direction I thought that it would be smart to go back to the original and read up one more time. I found that you could purchase the labels pretty cheap from an online supplier - Say it on the Wall.  I went ahead and ordered the labels for the measuring cups that was pictured. It arrived within 3 days and this was on a holiday week. Very cool!

Now I was ready to install so I started looking for all of my measuring cups and guess what? I couldn't find even half of them. So I couldn't very well not have a complete project so I just went and bought a complete set and I have to say it was the best decision I made yet on this project. I laid out the cups and marked my holes for the cup hooks. I also affixed my vinyl labels.

Then I summoned my husband to grab his drill one more time and get to work. He drilled the holes for all of the hooks as well as the ones to affix the two paint stirrers turned cup holder to the cabinet door. Once we got all of the hooks screwed in we hung the largest cup and spoon and marked the location for their final resting place. Once it was installed it was like a tiny miracle in my kitchen! I am so excited to have a location for all of my measuring cups and spoons. I even took a little time to walk my husband through how to hang them on the hooks just in case ;-)

Isn't it just marvelous?

My Review: I have to say that an amateur can do this. We did it without a power saw but did need a drill. The metal cups are noisy but I also don't open that cabinet door a whole lot. I spent around $35 with my largest expense being the new measuring cup set. Overall this was a great find on Pinterest!

Thank you to Infarrantly Creative and Say It on the Wall!