Hold the Press!

What, what?! A day time posting?! Why, yes. I'm breaking out of my shell. *crack crack tap tap*

In fact, I'm hoping for two posts today. This one here to make up for noting posting last night (I know you lot were awash with tears, as was I, but the damnable Internet bested me once more), and one tonight to cover the few things I'm aiming to accomplish today.

First of all, another transformation from my Salvation Army treasures. This little ditty came to me in the form of a beat up, particly molded piece of vintage art. Unfortunately, the art part of the whole kit and kaboodle was also the molded part. So it went happily into the trash to continue to grow its fuzzy brown bits and pieces from now until... whenever.

The frame and backing, however, got the Special Treatment. A bit of sanding down, polishing up, a few layers of spray paint, another round of sanding and - most importantly - a bath in "Chalkboard Spray Paint". Yes, my friends, you read it right. Not only have they turned chalkboards into a convenient can of paint you can pick up from the local Wal Mart, but you can now get it in a SPRAY CAN for just under $4. Hot Diggory Damn! (Hello, Harry Potter reference!)

The end result (with the addition of some floral bobs) was this::

& I'm In. Love! :D I positively BEAM every time I look at this chalkboard and that little picture there below it. (Another Salvation Army rescue, 99 cents - wooty woot!!!)

Shifting gears a bit, I felt just like Sandra Lee last night when I made dinner. I saw her show for the first time yesterday morning and was inspired. She annoys me a bit, with her constant chipper and upbeat attitude (really, who's that happy at all times - even if "all times" is only long enough for a thirty minute television show), but her ideas are both reasonably for the common household and inspired by real life pantries - or so it seems.

Besides, she hit on my weakness and made 72 cupcakes of 3 different flavors all from one box of cake mix. *jaw drops* Indeed, I was left impressed, Polyanna attitude aside.

In fact, she sent me to my own pantry to root about to find the center piece of my dinner meal. I already knew I was going to do Japanese-style zucchini (which I misspelled yesterday *le sigh* spelling tends to dominate me like a Mistress wearing skin tight leather from head to toe whilst wielding and constantly cracking a long and tethered whip), but I had no main course.

Wa-lah! and Hello, cans of condensed soup! The end results look a bit like goo, but I promise the taste is both worthy of the twenty minutes of prep-time required AND it allows room for personal taste preferences to shine through.

Chinese Chicken Casserole::

1 lb chicken, cooked & cubed
--- I tend to boil mine in a bit of chicken broth and seasoning to act as an addition flavor element

1 can each of:

-- cream of mushroom soup

-- cream of chicken soup

-- cream of celery soup

1/4 C sour cream

1 jar of mushrooms OR 1 lb of mushrooms, cooked down and/or sauteed

1 jar of water chestnuts

1/2 C chopped celery

1 C Chinese noodles (the hard ones that come in either a jar or bag)

seasonings!! (whatever stricks your fancy)

Mix 'em all together, stick them in the oven @ 325* for about 30-35 minutes and you have dinner!

I often use shrimp in place of the chicken, which I think really plays more to the "Chinese" flavoring within the title a lot more than the chicken does - in fact, when I use chicken, I tend to end up with a casserole that's a bit more 'Southern Comfort' than anything resembling Chinese. Still good, but totally wrong according to every map I've ever looked over.

Oh! & side note - that pretty tray there, all shining and looking gorgeous? 60 cents from the Salvation Army, same trip as my other treasures. I'm infatuated with that dinky collection of wooden pieces. As such, I can't decide where I want it or what I want to do with it, so for now, it's hanging out on my table, being used to showcase dinner whenever I remember to take pictures. :D

Tonight I'll have pictures of my end table, in place and being fully functional. (Turns out more than one day is best to let paint dry - who knew?! Thank, Google!) Also, I'm dreaming of bacon-chicken pot pie for dinner, with homemade crusts and everything. AND, just in case that wasn't enough, I'll be making my weekly chocolate chip cookies with... the s'mores bars on my goals list!

Now to get up and get busy... ;)