Hodgepodge - A little bit of everything

Yes, I stood in the snow taking pictures of our chickens butts...

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I am so excited to share with you that I asked for and received my first free product. This paint sprayer from HomeRight! As soon as the weather warms up a bit, I'll be painting everything in sight. I can't wait to share the results with you. Stay tuned!

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More exciting news....

The floors are ordered. In about 3 weeks we will have new hardwood floors in our living room.

This was such a hard decision... as some of you know ;)

We have an existing floor (the dining room) that will join the new living room floor. 

There is not a floor on planet earth that matches the existing floor. 

Just so you know. 

I ended up picking a medium brown tone to pull the darker tones from the dining room floor. It looks good with the gray walls, the white curtains, black, my sofa, rug and the fireplace.... 

I cannot wait!

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You guys know how much I love my black and white kitchen floor. When it was first installed, it had some issues that the floor people said would go away with time... well, it's almost a year later and the issues are still there. There are bumps and lines in several places and I'm sad to say... it's going! They're going to replace it... again.

I picked out this marbly gray and tan floor. I decided for the long haul, I'd rather have something easier to keep clean. Hopefully, I'll be just as happy with this. I'll miss the black and white, but I won't miss the maintenance of it. I think the new floor will give me the light feel that I love but it'll be easier to maintain.

Tales of the Curtain Shuffle

Remember my dining room curtains? 

Well, now they're in my bedroom and bathroom.

I wanted to have the dining and living room curtains match because you can see both windows from each room.

I started out with white curtains. They were fine. But then I saw these really pretty curtains on clearance at Target. They were so nice but they felt too dark. 

I've learned one thing in decorating... if you have to KEEP looking at something to see if you like it, you don't. Stop wasting time and do something else.

I went back to simple white curtains in both rooms. 

I get on my own nerves with this....

I've got a rug coming this week from Overstock... it's a darker rug, hopefully it will keep the table from blending into the floor.

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A picture is worth a thousand words they say...

A bedroom re-do is in the works.

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Let me leave you with something pretty.

Our birds are so happy it's almost spring. They've been busy too. 

There will be baby birds everywhere in a few months.... 

Do you have a lot going on?

I hope you were somewhat inspired :)

Thanks for stopping by Thrift My House.

How to Add More Veggies to Your Diet.

With spring and gardening right around the corner, let's talk about vegetables. I love fresh veggies. Here are a few ways I've added them to my families menu lately.

This. is. the. bomb. dot. com.

Meet the Veggetti.

Zoodles, Squoodles, Cucumboodles... You name it. If you can twist it inside of this contraption, then you can get healthy noodle like spirals. A-Maze-Ing!

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Wash your vegetables. I used zucchini and summer squash for this recipe. Twist the veggie inside the spiral maker. The Veggetti comes with a top that is supposed to help twist the remaining end piece but I found that using a fork worked better.

Do NOT stick your fingers inside to pick out tiny pieces of vegetable. It will cut you! And how do I know this? Let's just say experience is the best teacher. Rinse the spiral maker under water and use a toothbrush to clean it.

I picked mine up at Walmart but I've seen them several other places.

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The noodles are so good stir fried in olive oil. Add some garlic and onion if you like. I added a can of chopped clams to these. Yum!

Another vegetable that is now a staple in my house is cauliflower.

I love it drizzled with olive oil, salt and roasted. But my favorite way to have it is- cauliflower rice. You can use a grater like this. It's a little time consuming but possible.

Or you can put it in the blender. Pulse it a few times and you have cauli-rice. Stir fry the rice and add whatever you like. The texture is so much like real rice... it makes me happy! 

I love my Ninja blender. It's a great blender and it's not expensive.

Also steaming the cauliflower first and then blending, you can make wonderful faux mashed potatoes. 

Add some garlic and cheese..... oh my!

Source

I use a sprayer for my olive oil. It helps to distribute the oil more evenly on my veggies plus I use less. It's a good thing!

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 Stir fried broccoli with garlic and shrimp. This dish is one of my families favorites. I usually serve this with baked salmon. 

Roasted veggies are great when you have the munchies.

Roasted brussel sprouts actually taste sweet.

Roasted broccoli, carrots and cauliflower make a great side dish.

 (pictures from my phone)

What's in your popcorn bowl? Spread Kale on a roasting sheet and lightly spray with olive oil. Make sure you do one layer at the time or your kale will steam instead. It's worth making a few single layer batches. Roast on 400 for 15 minutes. Salt and eat. It reminds me of how potato chips crunch in your mouth... surprisingly good.

I recently discovered coconut oil. I found this at Aldi. It smells and tastes amazing. There is so much good in coconut oil. You can read about it here.

When I crave something sweet, I drizzle coconut oil over sweet potatoes and roast. 

This. taste. like. candy. 

Instead of a resolution to lose weight etc... I've decided to just eat a more healthful diet. Eating more vegetables is a big part of it. 

Do you have an tips on how to eat more vegetables?

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I hope you were inspired!

Thank you for visiting Thrift My House.