A Dream Come True

A couple weeks ago on Instagram, we revealed that we painted our kitchen cabinets! Quiet a few people messaged and texted me asking how we did it and what we used so I thought I'd do a blog post about it! As a cook and homemaker, it was very important for me to have a fresh and clean kitchen! It has always been a dream of mine to have white cabinets and feel so blessed we were able to make that happen!

We painted our kitchen cabinets the week before we moved in and so happy with it! It definitely took a lot of TIME and PATIENCE but well worth it. Well, worth my money! We bought the Rust-Oleum Cabinet Transformations Kit from Home Depot. As a disclaimer, we are NOT experienced painters and it was still simple enough for us to do! For our size kitchen, we bought 2 kits and we used about 1 1/2 for our kitchen and saved the other half for our bathrooms.The kit is super simple to follow. I took us about 5 days, only because we had to have babysitters and drive over to the new house every day for only a few hours that we had.

Anyways, WAY cheaper than hiring somebody to paint it for your-it just depends if you want to put in the work! It comes with a "deglosser" that you scrub on your cabinets and then wipe off. It acts as a "sander" so you don't have to be sanding till your arms fall off. The "deglosser" also cleans off all the gunk on your cabinets. After that, you just start painting! Be very patient with this part. Allow the cabinets doors to completely dry before you're ready to do another coat. After all the coats are done, you put on the protective coat (kind of like that clear nail polish coat you put on after you paint your nails), and you're done! *DON'T use the optional decorative glaze that comes with the kit. I think it makes your cabinets like an "antique" brown look-unless that's the look you're going for.

We also got rid of the old, scratched up, brass hardware and added new hardware and hinges and it made these cabinets look super brand new and professional quality! These handles were WAY cheaper than buying it at Home Depot! At Home Depot or Lowes, they were about $5 each handle. That would have costed us like $125 for just the handles! Eek! We bought enough for our kitchen and bathrooms for about $43. You can find the handles here and the hinges here

Before

During

We had to rip off old adhesive shelf liners that looked like they've been there for like 100 years. We relined them with clean white liners.

He's such a goof. Always trying to find the fun in things. One of the many reasons why I love him.

The kit said 2 coats but don't let that fool you! This is what 1 coat looked like. We did like 4 coats.

After!

When we were house hunting, one of the things that were on my "must list" was to have a window above the sink and when we saw this huge window with a plant shelf. I fell in love. How fun would it be to have Spring time flowers here at my window??

A little look into our unfinished dinning area! Scored this beautiful World Market table WITH a bench for $150 and all four chairs for only $150 so we bought our whole dinning set for $300 when it would have easily been about $600+ for the table alone! Gotta love those Facebook consignment sites!

Doesn't it look great?? Our next projects will be to update the sink, have matching appliances, and new floors! In all due time. I love waking up to my "new" kitchen every morning! We recommend the kit to anyone!

5 Tips to Becoming a Successful Menu Planner...and sticking to it!

Menu Planning...we all know how that goes. We all have such good intentions and then some nights we scrap the menu and result to having cocoa pebbles because you want to throw in the towel after a busy day at work or wrestling all day with your kids at home. I get it!
Menu Planning is essential and effective in the Boyd home! I'm here to share with you my 5 tips to become a successful menu planner. Menu planning doesn't have to be as stressful as it seems!

1. Spend Time Looking for Recipes: If you don't look for recipes, then that's your #1 problem! Start browsing Pinterest, blogs, cook books, Instagram foodies, etc, and make sure you have at least 7-10 meals you and your family would be interested in. Store them in a cute recipe box or a recipe binder (like pictured above) to keep safe and handy. As you and your family start trying these meals, you will pick and choose your favorites and have your "Staple Meals" always on hand! We have a "Staple Meals" list and over time, your list will become longer. 
2. Pick a Shopping Day and Check for Sales: A lot of the times, what we have for dinner during the week honestly depends on what's on sale that week. Here in AZ, my favorite grocery stores to shop are Sprouts, Trader Joes, and Fry's. I will price match other essentials I need at Walmart! I love that about Walmart. Pretty much the only thing I like about Walmart. I try to avoid the inevitable need of going to Walmart every couple days. Pick 1 shopping day to try to get it done in one day! That's still a challenge for me. Most of the time I bring both the kids on my big shopping trip for the week but sometimes I need (okay want) to go shopping alone without the kids (sue me) and wait for Josh to come home. So sometimes I have 2 shopping days.
3. Keep Your Menus Simple: Keep it simple simple simple! Make whatever works for you and would be easy for YOU. You don't have to become a Master Chef over night. Pick and buy simple ingredients that are versatile for many meals. I talked about this very subject in a previous post here. I usually try to have a fish dish, a soup dish, a salad dish, and a couple chicken dishes through out the week. You can even make it fun for you family and have Theme Nights! We like to have Taco Tuesdays or Stirfry Saturdays to keep it consistent, and easy for me.
4. Keep a Well Stocked Pantry and Fridge: I always try to have my staple items on hand in my pantry! These are items aside from what are in season or on sale. When I shop, I'll buy 2 or 3 of the same items I need because I know I'll need it in another dish in the future. Some of the staple items I like to keep in the pantry are cartons of chicken stock (the Costco Kirkland brand), cans of tomatoes, diced green chilies, nuts, coconut milk, tomato soup, brown rice, beans, old fashioned oats, etc. In the fridge, I always have minced garlic (the huge jar from Costco), lemons, eggs, almond milk, carrots, tomatoes, hot sauce (we like Chalula and Sriracha), balsamic vinegar, cilantro, green onions, hummus, etc.
5. Pick a Menu Plan Sheet That You Like: I recently discovered this super cute and effective menu planner printable from Little Coconutty and I love it! I've searched high and low for the perfect menu planning sheet and when I saw this, it was perfect for my needs! I love it because it has a spot to write your breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks-not JUST dinner. Also a spot for just Costco-how genius! Take time for yourself to sit down and PLAN. Usually for me, that's Sunday evening when the kids go to bed. I need peace and quiet when I plan! 

Once you have your outlined menu planned for the week, it makes your week run a little more smoothly. I think we all need that as wives and mothers right, am I right?? Even if the rest of your house is in shambles and your kids are running around in their underwear, at least you can feel like a super mom and know you have an awesome menu planned for the week! (insert flexing biceps emoji here)

Happy Menu Planning!

Boyds At Home: Our Humble Blue Bungalow

Sorry we have been absent for a couple months. I put our blog on hold as we were house hunting!! As of June 10th, 2016 the Boyd family became official home owners! Our first home. We are in love with our "Humble Blue Bungalow"! We feel truly blessed and are grateful to be in this chapter in our lives. The kids wake up so happy every morning and are excited to make memories through the halls and rooms of our house. O u r  H o u s e. That just feels so good to say!

I love filling the air with fresh baked cookies, the smell of the kids' bubble baths, loads of laundry, kisses from daddy when he comes home from work, singing, dancing, comfort, and love. I love making the home ours. As we were house hunting, I always visioned a sign that read "Love grows best in houses just like this" on the wall of our new home and when I found one at designed by Jaxn Blvd at Hobby Lobby, I just HAD to buy it. It's perfect. I want my kids to always remember our first house and to always remember to have LOVE at home.

Josh even carried me through the "threshold" and it was pretty hilarious now that I think of it. We love our home and hope you enjoy our many stories to come!

Asian Chicken Cabbage Salad

Because of New Years this week, it has gotten me in a certain theme for my cooking. Asian flavors always tend to make it's way into a lot of my cooking anyways! And as you have noticed, a lot of my mom's recipe's make it on this blog, and this one is one of her's too! Grew up eating this salad all the time, and it's still one of my favorite salads to eat!

Asian Chicken Cabbage Salad

Serves approx. 8

Make ahead and set in fridge over night or chill for about 4 hours

Ingredients:

• 1 Tbsp. sugar
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. pepper
• 1 pkg. Top Ramen Noodle seasoning
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 3 Tbsp. rice vinegar
• 1 tsp. sesame oil

• 1 head of cabbage, shredded
• 1 package of chicken Top Ramen Noodles, broken into little pieces
• 2 cups of cooked chicken
• 1 bunch green onions, chopped
• Toasted sesame seeds

Directions:

1. Whisk the first 7 ingredients in a bowl (or shake ingredients in a salad dressing bottle)
2. Mix cabbage, dry Ramen noodles, chicken, and green onions in a big bowl.
3. Pour the dressing over the salad and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Looking for more of my food diary posts? Go to Instagram and look up #jessiesfooddiary

*Please don't steal my recipes :) Always link or credit my recipes if you use it, thanks!

Brown Rice Fried Rice

Growing up, my mom made us fried rice all the time, seemed like a staple meal for our family! With my mom being Japanese, we grew up eating a lot of different kinds of Japanese food, we were spoiled! That honestly made all of my siblings and I to be good eaters! I was usually picky about onions and bell peppers, but now as I'm older, I don't mind as much.

This fried rice recipe is super easy! All items were things I already had in my fridge! You only need one skillet or pan and a wooden spoon, and don't need to dirty up other dishes.

There are so many "Better Than Take-Out" fried rice recipes all over Pinterest but this recipe really IS better than take-out! It's made with brown rice and I like to garnish it with green onions on top instead of putting chopped onions inside it. I like the flavor more that way.

Brown Rice Fried Rice

serves approx. 4-6

Ingredients:

• 1 Tbsp. sesame oil
• 1 12 oz. bag of frozen peas and carrots
• 3 eggs
• 2 cup of cooked shredded or diced chicken (or shrimp)
• 4 cups of cooked brown rice (we usually have this on hand in the fridge)
• 1/3 cup of lite soy sauce
• 1 bunch of green onions, minced

Directions:

1. Heat up the sesame oil in a large skillet.
2. Add in the frozen peas and carrots, stir for 1-2 minutes.
3. Crack the eggs right into the skillet and stir with the veggies until cooked.
4. Add in your chicken and brown rice, let it cook, or "warm up",  for about 4 minutes.
5. Pour in the soy sauce and mix till it's all incorporated.
6. Serve in a bowl and garnish with green onions.

Enjoy!

Looking for more of my food diary posts? Go to Instagram and look up #jessiesfooddiary