The Classroom Is Back!!

Finally,  I have my classroom back.  We have been doing our schooling on the kitchen table, or in the living room now for the past 2 years at least, maybe longer, I can't remember.  I am so excited, and so are the kids.  It will help tremendously in keeping some of the clutter and mess out of the main part of the house.  We spent an entire day,  arranging and organizing.  The kiddos helped a lot and I think they did a great job.  Here's a little peak!!

 The Library area, completely arranged by Mr Gamer.

 Dry erase board (I'm hoping to get a larger one) and the cabinet on the lower right of the picture has all our school supplies; scissors, glue, crayons, markers, colored pencils, etc...

 My desk, as well as the computer center.  This computer is simply for playing educational games or typing out their papers.  It is not connected to the internet at all. 

Looking into the room from the door.  Next year, I will shed a desk as the boys will be doing school at their desks in their rooms.  

I am so glad it's back and we have a place we can keep all our school stuff out of the way:)) Eventually the closet in this room that currently holds all the boys hang up clothes with have shelves built in for even more storage space .  Oh, I'm so excited!!!

Mahi Mahi with Mango Salsa

While I am not a big sea food eater by any means,  this recipe was delicious.  It was most definitely different from my normal meals.  I can honestly say the household was divided on it's reviews,  but I'm going to say we loved it, because the three that didn't were my girls and they don't like anything new.

Besides being delicious,  it was fairly simple.  Here's all the ingredients for the mahi mahi:
     2 tbsp olive oil
     1 1/2 tsp soy sauce
     2 teaspoons lemon juice
     1 clove garlic, crushed (I substituted the garlic powder)
     1 teaspoons red pepper flakes  (the original recipe called for 2, so if you like really hot?)
     1 tsp fresh ground black pepper
     1/2 teaspoon minced fresh ginger root
     salt to taste
     4 mahi mahi fillets

Whisk together the olive oil, soy sauce, lemon juice, garlic, red pepper flakes, black pepper, ginger, and salt in a bowl.  Add the mahi mahi and toss to evenly coat.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and marinate in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

Preheat the oven's broiler and set the oven rack in the middle of the oven.  Remove the mahi mahi from the marinade, and shake off excess. Discard the remaining marinade. Place fish in a large baking dish in a singer layer. Broil in the preheated oven until the fish flakes easily with a fork, 10-15 minutes.  If the fish browns too quickly, cover the baking dish with a sheet of aluminum foil.

The Mango salsa isn't your typical tangy salsa,  it's actually sweet,  but it compliments the spicy of the mahi mahi perfectly.

Ingredients:
     1 1/2 tsp butter
     1 1/2 tbsp sugar
      1 1/2 cups fresh mango, cubed

Melt  the butter in a skillet and mix in the sugar.  Once the mixture begins to bubble, stir in the mango cubes.  Cook and stir until mango is tender, about 5 minutes.

Serve the mahi mahi fillets over rice and top with the mango salsa.  Delicous!!

Little home improvement projects = Big time chaos

This past week has been a MESS!!  I mean literally.  It was so bad, I wouldn't even take a picture of it to post on here.  On the bright side, we have made some progress. 

About a week and a half ago, my oven gave up the ghost (actually it caught on fire, but who's keeping details?).   As usual though, one thing leads to another and the project is no longer just replacing the oven.  He decided to go ahead and add the cabinet/counter top by the table and the food prep area outside.  Then, cut out the cabinets where the new stove/oven goes, and finish the rest as we get time and money.  The rest being new counter tops throughout kitchen and a new sink and another dishwasher.

So, while I'm loving the extra counter space,  it sure did make a mess of my kitchen and dining room where I had to store everything until things were once again livable.  Plus, we'll not even talk about all the eating out since my cooktop was taken out on Tuesday and not replaced until Sunday!!   

Now, for some pictures.  Please keep in mind, it's not even close to finished. 

 This is a dead space in my kitchen.  There use to be a washer and dryer at one time I guess, but ours are downstairs.  Since there are cabinets above,  there's not alot you can do with this area except pile up clutter, which I was really good at.

 This is where they removed the cook top and cut out the cabinets (left side of pic) to place the new oven/stove top. Lost some good cabinet space there. 

The outside cabinets and counter tops for food prep and serving space.  Love it!!  The previously pictured dead space now has a cabinet(waiting to be finished) and counter top. Yay!!!!

Obviously there is a lot more to do, but it's a start.  The contractor won't be back until next week and hopefully the rest of the kitchen will have new counter tops as well, a new sink in the kitchen, and the old kitchen sink placed outside in the space out there.  We're also hoping for another dishwasher placed inside and one outside, for a total of 3.  Can anyone use three dishwashers, you ask?  I'm thinking I can give a good try.  The third one outside, will really only be used when we're eating/grilling outside, keeps from tracking in and out.  I can't wait til it's all finished.

Joining in the Fun! 2012 UBP

 


 I'm new to this,  but will give it a try!!  So, let me introduce myself.  My name is Jennifer.  I'm a thirty something housewife, mom, home school teacher, nurse, taxi driver, errand runner,  chief cook and bottle washer,  etc., etc., etc.  Well, you get the idea.  I wear a lot of hats as most moms do. .

That's me with the handsome hubby, my highschool sweetheart:)  We have 6 children (yes, you read that right SIX).  We didn't really start out saying we wanted a large family, 4 at the most, but here we go!! Do we want more???  Well, who knows?  I say no, but I've said that before:) 

 There's the whole crew.  Isn't that a good looking group of kids (I know, I'm a little biased)? I'll just list the current ages, though we have a birthday every month for the rest of the year, except November.  Mr Helper- 13, Mr Gamer- 12, Princess 1- 9, Princess 2- 7, Mini Me- 3, and baby Samuel is 11 months.  I'm not sure why everyone is nicknamed except Samuel?   

I started my blog as a way for family and friends to keep up with us as we don't live very close to  them anymore. My blog doesn't really have a special theme,  I'll just post about whatever I think of.  Although, it usually has to do with cooking or family events.  I love finding new blogs, as it gives me many new ideas, so leave me a note and I'll be sure to head your way. 

I would love for you to check out my blog.  I'm fairly new to the whole blog world, so any thoughts and ideas are greatly appreciated.  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!!