Grilled Steak & Chicken Cubes & Grilled Veggies Over Rice

I'm all about easy dinner options. This is one of my favorite things to make on the grill because it's so easy to prepare and once it's prepared, you literally throw it on the grill (and it cooks so fast!) We had all of the ingredients, so there was no need for additional items on my weekly grocery list :)

Ingredients:

- 2 Chicken Breasts (that I cut into cubes)

- Steak Cubes

- Bell Peppers

- Onions

- Rice

- Optional: Marinade for your chicken & steak 

(I used a McCormick Chipotle Pepper Marinade Packet)

- Desired Seasonings

1. If using marinade, follow the directions on the marinade packet to make the marinade. (You don't have to marinate your meats - but I love the extra flavor and spice it gives the dish).
2. Put your steak cubes in one bag with marinade, and your chicken cubes in another bag with marinade. I did this in the morning and let them marinate in the refrigerator all day until we ate dinner at night.
3. Cut up the veggies that you'd like to put in your rice. For this dish, I love using bell peppers and onions. 
4. When you're ready to grill - pull everything out and place them in grilling baskets on the grill (meat in one basket, veggies in the other). If you don't have grilling baskets - you can wrap them in tin foil. Season your veggies with your desired spices.
5. While the meat and veggies are on the grill, you can cook your rice on the stovetop or in the microwave. We used Eric's favorite jasmine rice - so yummy!
6. When everything is done, simply mix everything together, add your favorite sauce and you're done! I like to use Worcestershire sauce, and Eric used Frank's Hot Sauce. (You can also use teriyaki sauce, soy sauce, etc.)

I love reading up on everyone's favorite easy meals and dishes - keep the ideas coming! :)

DIY Faux Chalkboard Ornaments

Last year I made Christmas ornaments with glass ornament balls, twine, burlap, flowers, bells, and pearls. I love the way they turned out and it was fun making them (but such a process!) I definitely knew that I wanted to make ornaments again this year, and while scrolling through Pinterest one morning on my commute to work - I came across this super easy idea for DIY Faux Chalkboard Ornaments. The best thing about this project? I already had all of the materials!

Materials

- Computer & Printer 

- Scrapbook Paper

- Twine / Raffia / Ribbon

- Tape Runner

- Tacky Glue (depending on the type of scrapbook paper)

- Scissors

- Hole Punch

First, you'll want to print your free chalkboard PDFs. 

The post I found on Pinterest shared a ton of links for free printables.
Here are some of my favorites that I chose:

Christmas Printables

Cup of Cheer

Oh Holy Night

Tis The Season to Be Jolly

Oh Come Let Us Adore Him

Santa Claus is Coming to Town

Next, you'll want to cut them all out. Note - I'm planning on making quite a few of these for different presents or to give as little thank you gifts, so I printed multiples of each of my favorite designs.

Now that all of your mini chalkboards are cut out, you can choose your color selections from your scrapbook paper. I had regular solid scrapbook sheets, and thick cardboard sparkle sheets.

Take your tape runner and place a strip of tape around each of the sides on the back of your mini chalkboard.

Next, press your chalkboard firmly on the first layer of colored paper.

Cut around each of the sides to remove it from the sheet of paper.

Because I used thicker cardboard paper for my last layer, I used Tacky Glue to fasten my print out to the last layer of paper. Cover the back of your chalkboard print out with glue.

Press the chalkboard firmly on your last layer of paper, and cut around the edges.

Next, punch a hole in the top of your ornament.

Lastly, tie a bow with your raffia, twine or ribbon and 

you're ready to hang the ornament on your tree!

I finished two other ornaments (once all of your chalkboards are cut out, it literally only takes 2 minutes to complete the rest of the steps) - and I love the way they look on our tree :) Also - to personalize them, you can write a message on the back of your ornament if you're giving them away as gifts.

Have fun with them! I can't wait to make the rest of mine!

Budgeting, Budgeting, Budgeting (and tracking those expenses!)

An appropriate topic for around the holidays - but one that we should always keep in mind and be aware of throughout the year! Please remember - I am certainly not at all a financial planner or accountant (or wish to have any of those roles) - I'm simply sharing something that works well for my family.

Warning: This is not something that took an easy 10 minutes to make and complete. I did a lot of digging, research, etc. to come up and gather the figures that we used and recorded for the expenses that we have. And as you'll see towards the bottom of this post, you'll want to constantly update the figures and rows in your spreadsheet to keep up with your current situations and plans for purchases - as we all know that those constantly change.

We've always had a great handle (thankfully) on our finances and keep a good record keeping system to make sure we're staying on top of our bills, with the intention to put as much as we can into our savings and our retirement accounts/future children's college fund accounts, for much longer down the road. I wanted to share something that's so easy to create, and that makes such a huge difference and was (and continues to be) a great asset for our financial planning.

With plans for home improvements, future large purchases and future investment options that we are looking into - we want to always make sure that we know exactly what our financial situation is at any given moment. It helps tremendously for planning (something that all of you know I'm OCD about)!

I created this spreadsheet to track all of our finances and will give you a brief breakdown. Granted, if you could actually see the many rows we have, itemized calculations, formulas, etc. on our detailed spreadsheet, you'd see exactly how much every penny adds up, and how the little things that you don't consider while you're spending, make a huge difference in the end. You'd think I was crazy after seeing how detailed and specific ours is, but I'm thankful for the organization and the system that works so well for us - which is why I'm sharing, and hope that it will help you get a handle/snapshot  on your own individual finances - you can never be too careful or educated enough! (And it's never too late to start planning/tracking your finances - the sooner, the better!) No matter what stage of life you are in, it can only be beneficial - why not give it a try? :)

Below is the basic spreadsheet that I made and use:

Let's tackle this section by section:

First Section - Monthly Bills

Pretty self explanatory - but here, I made a list of all of our monthly bills. I looked at our past few months of bills to come up with an average monthly total for each bill. Some of the bills that I included here were things like our Mortgage, HOA fee, electric, water/sewer, cell phone bill, internet/cable, car payment, gym memberships, etc. Anything that we are financially responsible for and are billed for on a monthly basis, I put in this section. I also made an estimate for how much we spend per month for groceries, and put that figure in this section as well.

We'll come back to the last two lines in this section - "Average Annual Bill Costs & Average Annual Miscellaneous Costs".

Second Section - Annual Bills

Here, I listed any of our bills that we are billed for on a yearly basis - i.e. Car Insurance, private Life Insurance, etc. Here, I also factored in and estimated yearly costs for things like Tucker's vet bills, Tucker's food, annual costs for haircuts, transportation fees, etc.

For example, Eric usually gets haircuts twice a month at about $15/hair cut (for things like haircuts in these figures, make sure that your total includes your tip). If you can break down how many times a month you pay something, you'll be able to get a total for how much you'd spend for that, each calendar year.

Third & Forth Sections - Bi-Weekly Deductions from Paychecks

For these, I took a look at our last few paychecks to itemize what exactly is coming out of them. I like seeing exactly how much we are paying for our benefits, our retirement accounts, membership/union dues, etc.

Fifth Section - Monthly Income

Here, I recorded the average monthly income that our household brings in. On top of our base salaries, we also have overtime, part-time, etc to consider and factor in as well. For my spreadsheet, I only factored in our base salaries without overtime, and the part-time positions that Eric has a set schedule per month for. The additional time (which truly adds up throughout the year - I left out of the sheet, as those figures I do not consider to be guaranteed/expected monthly income).

Sixth Section - Annual Miscellaneous Costs

Here, I listed the following: Vacations, Holidays, Birthdays, Weddings/Other Parties. I made an estimate based on this past year, how much (average) we spent on holidays, birthdays, vacations, etc. To be safe, I was not conservative on my numbers - I wanted to write in a little more in each of these rows to be safe and get a true glimpse of how much we spend for these miscellaneous costs.

On top of the vacations, holidays, birthdays, weddings/other parties, here is where you will also want to write in averages for how much you spend eating out for breakfast, lunch or dinner each month, spending money per month that you're comfortable spending for clothing, make-up, crafts or just extra cash that you'd like to allow yourselves each month for other purchases. Also consider things like donations to charities, fundraisers, etc. Then multiply those numbers by 12 to get your annual figure.

What's Next?

Now that all of your sections are completed, what's next? Now - I want to revisit the bottom of the first section (that I told you to skip above):

"Average Annual Bill Costs" - Divide the total of your section 2 expenses by 12, and record that number in this row. This is how much you need to plan for to cover those annual costs that you recorded.

"Average Miscellaneous Costs" - Divide the total of your section 6 expenses by 12, and record that number int his row. This is how much you need to plan for to cover those miscellaneous costs that you recorded.

^ With the above figures totaled into your "Monthly Bills" - you'll again, easily see how much you need to plan for to set aside and save each month in order to cover those expenses that you know you'll have throughout the year.

When to Update Your Sections?

This shouldn't be just a one-time thing. You should keep on top of your spreadsheet, and update your expenses often. Key times to update your spreadsheets? Each time you get a raise, a bonus, a schedule change, a change or addition in an income source, a family status change - marriage, having (or planning for) a baby, etc.

Now, Budgeting!

Now that you have all of your figures specifically outlined, and your totals clearly identified - the hard part [the math and collecting of information] is over (and hopefully, you're not having an anxiety attack or panicking over how fast things added up in your "total" rows).

It's much easier to see now where you money is coming from, going to, being spent on, etc.

Now, that you have all of these figures, you can start adjusting those rows in each of your sections, to better meet your current plans for your current situation. Here is where you should note the difference in totals from Section 1 and Section 5. Are you happy with how much money you have left over? Is it the amount that you want to have to put away for savings, or other investment options? If so - great, and keep working at it! If not - it's easy to make changes to get you on the track where you'd like to be.

Example - Those bi-weekly or monthly manicures/pedicures add up, and was something that I quickly and willingly wanted to cut out of my budget. Sure, it's nice to have it done and I will still occasionally treat myself here and there (something that I budget for); however, for me - it wasn't something that I needed or really found necessary. I could easily do my nails myself and am happy to know exactly how much more money I'm putting back in to my budget to either spend on something else that we need or want to plan for - or knowing that the money is going to our savings account instead of the nail salon.

----

I hope that you all are still with me! Definitely tweak the spreadsheet to your household, as you see fit. There is so much that you can do to customize the spreadsheet to your expenses, and I strongly urge you to try this (at least once!) It's a huge help seeing the exact breakdown of your income and your expenses, and makes purchases, investment choices, and planning for thing like retirement or life events like purchasing a new home, having a baby, etc. so much easier and less stressful.

Good luck and please feel free to reach out to me if you're trying this spreadsheet out and have any questions on how I broke things down between sections. Happy budgeting!! :)

DIY Holiday Card Door Display

I wanted to find a new way to display our holiday cards this year. I typically keep them in a little basket in our living room and we love looking through them :) This year, I tried something new and it was so incredibly easy, and I had everything that I needed in my craft closet (even better)!

Materials Needed:

- Ribbon

- Tape

- Paperclips or Clothespins 

• To start, I cut a piece of ribbon long enough to run down the height of our pantry door. 
• I cut two pieces of clear packing tape, and taped each end of the ribbon tightly on the inside of the door, making sure the ribbon was tight and centered.
• I tied a bow to add to the top and fastened it with a paperclip that was hidden in the knot of the bow.

That's it! How easy? This is what it looks like with the cards we've received thus far. A suggestion for when you start filling your ribbon with more cards - you can either stagger the photos like shown below (with the clothes pins) or you can add a second strip of ribbon to the door, to display two columns of cards, instead of just one.

Hope that everyone is enjoying their December and that you're taking time to relax a little through all of the busy and craziness! :)

Mason Jar Obsession

I have an unhealthy addiction to mason jars. You'll see them all over my house - used for many different decorations, kitchen accessories and they were also one of the favors from our wedding. I love them!

With the different seasons and different events throughout the year, I like to change up my mason jars often. With the holidays approaching, I gave a few in our living room a facelift while also adding a few new ones to my collection from a few antique shows that I went to over the past few weekends.

I wanted to share a few, and also keep track of what's currently around the house to remember for next winter. I have so many more ideas and crafts for winter that I wanted to do this year - but if I add anymore, I'll run out of space in the house to display them all! :)

The regular sized mason jars below - I've had for a few years. Those are my favorite to spruce up every once in a while with new things. The two mini mason jars I actually found while antiquing with my in-laws a couple of weekends ago. I had a bag of small pieces of tree bark that was left over from our wedding that I used to fill the bottoms of the jars, then added little tea lights  (which while recently cleaning out a few of our closets and craft bins, I found a million of) to the top of them. I picked up the spiced cinnamon sticks from Big Lots a few weeks ago for $2 and they add the perfect scent to the house! I love the way they turned out, and think they add the perfect little wintery/cozy touch to our coffee table in the living room.

This past weekend, Spring Hill Manor (the farm that Eric and I got married at) started their holiday antique show that lasts through Christmas. While Mom, Mema and I were roaming, we came across this XL Mason Jar that had a candle holder on the inside - I love it! I added a little bit of the small bark chips on the bottom, added the candle and it was done! Also pictured is another mini mason jar that I found while antiquing a couple of weekends ago with my in-laws! :)

One of my favorite finds from this past weekend at Spring Hill was this mason jar chandelier. It came with 2 extra large hooks to use to hang from the ceiling, and on the inside, the hooks connect to the candle holder that dangles. I need to find 3 small candle sticks to put on the inside, and then I can't wait to hang this! Also pictured is another black and clear antique mason jar. (You can also see the size difference and how large the chandelier is compared to the normal sized mason jar). I love that it's so big!

Pictured below, is another XL antique mason jar that I found. I had these plastic shatter-proof ornaments from last year that I used to decorate, so I added those to the mason jar and tied a gold bow on top, that I also had  left over from last Christmas. 

I found two of these hobnail mason jars that I fell in love with. While they were on display, they were used as cups for a holiday place setting - and they looked amazing! One day, I'd love to invest in more and try to use them as drinking glasses as well. They are so fun in person! I used one of them on the shelves in our kitchen to hold our straws.

Another antique find that I have in our kitchen is this awesome XL white mason jar. I knew when I saw it that I wanted to use it as a flower vase. I love the way it simplifies a bouquet of flowers! (I'm just realizing that it actually looks pretty small in these pictures - but it looks much larger in person).

Along with my canisters  that hold my sugar, flour and brown sugar, I have a regular sized mason jar that holds chocolate chips. Every once in a while I like to throw chocolate chips in a baking dish, or in pancakes - so it makes it extremely easy to have right there next to the stove!

Also in our kitchen, I have these jars that I haven't taken down from my fall decorations. The mini mason jar has candy corn it in, and the regular sized jar has mini acorns that I picked up a while ago from Big Lots while they were on clearance. The others that were around the house for fall, I've put away - but these were stragglers that were left over! :)

Because my mason jar obsession has been in full-swing for years, my sister bought me these mason jar drink dispensers for my bridal shower two years ago. I love using them when we host parties or entertain friends and family. Here they are on the little beverage station that we have in our kitchen!

Here is another jar that my sister-in-law, Sharon, actually made for me out of left over materials from a craft day that we had together, and an extra mason jar that I had on hand. I added this one to our TV stand with the burlap garland (DIY instructions here in a previous blog post) - and I love the way it looks!

One of the many other places that we have mason jars in our house, is our bedroom - on one of our dressers. This one was actually a favor that was left over from our wedding (used for drinks), and we use it to throw our spare change in.

Throughout documenting all of these mason jars, I love remembering all the moments and memories that come along with each of them. They all have stories, places, people that I associate them with and along with my obsession with the actual mason jars themselves, I love recalling those memories while looking at them, the most.