I've got an open concept layout and after updating our kitchen, the adjacent living room fireplace stuck out terribly. The mantle was the same color as the old kitchen cabinets (brown oak).  My neighbor,  Lesley Lockhart, is the owner and creative designer at Artfully TLC. She turned me onto Miss Lillian's NO WAX Chock Paint. I was inspired by her fireplace update (see HERE) and how quick/easy it was. So, I decided to just go ahead and paint our mantle place. 

STEPS:

1. First, I cleaned the fireplace mantle with Miss Lillian's First Step Prep, a no-rinse formula designed to prepare high gloss and other ‘hard to stick to’ surfaces for repainting or refinishing. It cleans and removes dirt, grease, smoke, mildew, etc. Picture on the left.
2. Next, I did a first coat with Miss Lillian's Prevention, a shellac based stain blocking primer. It's perfect for blocking bleed through from old cherry and mahogany finishes, glues, and stains. Picture on the right.

Next I painted the mantle with Miss Lillian's Industrial Chock Paint. I loved the color, but I wasn't yet satisfied. It didn't feel done. It just wasn't enough!
I've never been a fan of the color of this brick so after thinking it over I decided to whitewash it. The following steps are...

1. ​I started by cleaning the fireplace bricks using Rust-Oleum's cleaner and degreaser before taping it off and putting a tarp on the floor. ​

2. To make the whitewash, I used the same white as our kitchen cabinets, Benjamin Moore Chantilly Lace OC-65. It's an oil-based paint, so I added mineral spirits to thin it for the whitewashing (50/50 mix).
3.  Whitewashing was pretty darn easy. I just applied the paint on using a paint brush, being careful not to drop. I started with a thin layer, wasn't satisfied with the pinkish color (see picture on the left) and applied a second thin coat (see picture on the right). It was nice and looked a little better, and yet... still not complete or good enough. I wasn't satisfied. I wasn't done yet.

We've been in this house 6 months and we haven't gotten around to painting the walls yet. I'm not a fan of the beigy/taupe color. I think it really hurt the look of this fireplace with white on the bottom and brown on top. It took a few days, but I talked the husband into putting a wall of shiplap above the fireplace! If you'd like to do something similar, rest assured this was only about a half day project. 

We went to home depot and bought five 1" x 6" x 12' Barn Wood Shiplap Pine Boards for $8 each ($40 total) and two 1" x 2" x 12' pieces of trim for the frame ($8). My husband cut all the pieces to the width of the fireplace wall. Then, he used his laser stud finder and line chalk to mark where the studs are (very important and helpful step when securing the boards!).

Starting with the outside frame, he applied construction adhesive before putting them in place on the wall and using his air compressor and nail gun to secure to the wall. We filled the nail holes with wood filler and sanded lightly.

Now we're getting somewhere...

The very last and easiest step was to paint the shiplap in the same white as the fireplace brick and kitchen cabinets (not the whitewashed mixture with mineral spirits, but solid Benjamin Moore Chantilly Lace OC-65). I let it all dry and cure for a few days before styling it and... pure statement piece wonder!!!!

When you enter our house, the fireplace is in direct line of sight. I'm thrilled with the resulting grandeur and sophistication this brings to the living room and our entryway. 

INGREDIENTS

• 4 pieces cod 
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 1/2 tablespoon melted butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons parsley (chopped)

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
2. pat the fish dry
3. season with salt and pepper
4. Warm the butter and olive oil over medium-low heat and add the garlic. Cook until fragrant 1-2 minutes.
5. Remove from heat and add the lemon juice and parsley
6. Drizzle the butter mixture over each piece of cod. 
7. Bake for 12-14 minutes

Our master bathroom was an eye sore that I couldn't stand for years. The flooring was faux wood panels in ebony that had a ton of bubbles and one area where they weren't feathered in, but in a straight line. The builder grade 1990's light fixtures and mirrors were bad... just bad. Oh, and look closely you'll see sea- shell shaped sinks. The white paint had yellowed as had the counter tops (not to mention several curling iron burns). The shower was tiny and the tub spray black flecks every time you ran it. Ohhh yeah... and the oil rubbed bronze shower and fixtures? They used to be 90's brassy brass and the previous owner spray painted them. Which, on fixtures that you move & touch, does not work. There was paint flecks falling off every fixture in that bathroom (the floor was constantly covered in paint flecks, daily).

​Here's the "BEFORE" pictures:

A Micro-History Lesson To Better Prepare for the Future
I'm not a doomsday prepper or anything, but I'd feel less anxiety about this coronavirus epidemic if I were confident my family was food-secure and self-sufficient. The initial food shortages we're seeing make me look back at other times in U.S. history when we've faced food scarcity and how we handled it. You know the old saying "Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it." I like to look at similar situations in the past to help plan for the future.,, 
 
​During World War I (WWI), America’s troops and their allies in Europe were facing starvation- Most of their farmers had enlisted in the war, leaving their farms to languish or be turned into battlefields. To meet the need for food overseas, the U.S. urged its citizens to reduce their personal consumption of meat, wheat, fats and sugar. Slogans such as “Food will win the war” compelled people to avoid wasting precious groceries and to eat more fruits and vegetables, which couldn't  be transported overseas. Likewise, promotions such as “Meatless Tuesdays” and “Wheatless Wednesdays” implored Americans to modify their eating habits in order to increase shipments to the soldiers. The U.S. also urged them to keep hens & raise chickens. As a result, food shipments to Europe were doubled within a year, while consumption in America was reduced 15 percent. 

During World War II (WWII), it became apparent that voluntary conservation on the home front wasn't enough. The U.S. set price limits and issued food ration books in order to discourage hoarding and ensure equitable distribution. Americans couldn't purchase sugar, coffee, meats, cheese, fats, canned fish, canned milk and other processed foods without food ration stamps. 

It's reasonable to imagine if this pandemic continues to grow and our world spirals, food shortages could worsen and rationing may become necessary. I'd rather be prepared and start increasing my self-sufficiency now before that happens. There's no negative to growing your own fruits & vegetables and canning some of them. Start bee-keeping for the honey or collect sap from your maple trees to make maple syrup and trade for other goods with neighbors. Raise your own backyard chickens and be sure of eggs/meat. We should learn from the past to help us better prepare for a potentially significantly different future. Up until now, our "homesteading" lifestyle of self-sufficiency has been just a fun hobby... but it could quickly become a real necessity and the new normal.


*Source: History.com

With the coronavirus changing life so drastically, I've found that our homesteading ways have really helped with weathering this storm. My penchant for cooking foods from scratch and resourcefulness has become a lot more essential. I've made a list of the times I've felt fairly well prepared for self-isolation and reduced food security:

• No TP! My husband's been to the store ~5 times in the last week and hasn't found any toilet paper. We've still got about 10 rolls left from last month's Costco trip, but I'm not stressed about potentially running out soon at all because... I've got cloth wipes from our children's baby years! We used cloth diapers on our babies and cloth wipes soaked in water and 2-3 drops of tea tree oil. They'd go in the diaper pail and get washed on our washing machine's sanitary cycle. Toilet paper is totally a luxury and we'll manage without it (if we have to). 
• Paper Plates: We stopped using paper plates just a few months ago. We were starting to feel guilty about the quantity of paper plates we were putting into our landfills. Plus, they cost money that I wanted to trim from our grocery budget. So we simply stopped buying paper plates and switched to dinner plates only. Now that paper plates are all gone from the grocery aisles, it doesn't affect us at all!
• Paper Towels: At the same time a few months ago, we also tried to trim paper towels from our grocery budget. I bought a bunch of cloth napkins for meals and some white cotton washcloths for home/kitchen clean-up jobs. Once we had those, we stopped buying paper towels entirely. We went a few weeks without paper towels and found that we only missed them when it came to cleaning up dirty jobs like pet accidents. Long story short- we reduced our dependency on paper towels by about 90% and facing the current shortage isn't the big deal it once would've been.
• Shortage of food staples!
  • Ranch dressing: I went to put out a veggie snack tray for the kids and realized we were out of ranch dressing. I've made it from scratch before (though I'll admit, I don't always) so it was no big deal to make it from scratch. But oh no- we were out of sour cream too! So I found a different ranch recipe that calls for mayonnaise and buttermilk instead. But guess what, we had no buttermilk either! So I had to make my own buttermilk first! No problem- I've done that before too. I felt very resourceful and proud of myself when I put out my delicious veggie tray with homemade ranch.  
  • Hummus: The store was out of hummus (the other dip I like pairing with my veggie tray) so I made my hummus from scratch. For whatever reason, that's not one I've made before. So I looked up a recipe and gratefully had all the ingredients. It was the most delicious hummus I'd ever had. I will NEVER buy store-bought hummus again!
  • Quiche Pie Crust: I made broccoli quiche tonight, my mom has an amazing broccoli quiche recipe. Homemade pie crust is one of those staples that I've inexplicably avoided. I've always used Pilsbury's pre-made pie crust when I make this quiche recipe. But this week- it's gone from the shelves! So I reluctantly made my own pie crust from scratch... and it was delicious! I'm a total convert. As God is my witness, I'll never buy store bought again! 
  • Bread: I love making homemade bread! I often make sourdough bread using live yeast, homemade cornbread or my banana bread. When my husband came home saying the bread aisle was completely empty, I didn't panic, because I'm completely comfortable making my own.  
  • Flour: Everywhere is out of flour! Imagine my relief at being able to make my own flour. Because those bulk bins of wheat grain have scarcely been touched!  You can learn how to easily mill your own nutritious flour from wheat grains in this blog post here.
  • Cow milk: Another staple food that's hard to find these days is cow milk. After watching documentaries like Food, Inc., Supersize Me, and Forks over Knives, we wanted to significantly reduce our family's intake of meat and animal products.  A few months ago we starting making primarily vegetarian meals and slowly weaned the family from cow's milk moving to almond milk. I'm glad we made the switch, it's been an unexpected relief not to have to search for scarce cow's milk in today's grocery stores. And if almond milk starts becoming scarce- no problem! It's so easy to make it from scratch with just almonds and water (see blog here).
  • Meat: When we tried to go vegan, I subscribed to www.ForksMealPlanner.com for their vegan meal plans and recipes. We've found the recipes to be a bit hit or miss, but the happy result has been that we reduced our meat intake by somewhere around 50-75%. We weren't militant about it- we didn't go all vegan. But cutting back on meat a few months ago has made today's meat shortage no big deal. I've tried & made a bunch of new vegetarian/vegan dishes in the last few months and am completely comfortable living with much less meat-based meals. Phew!

​  
Homesteading Fails that I'm seriously regretting!

• Fruit & Vegetables: We moved into our new home a few months ago and haven't built our gardens yet. I'm hoping I can find some fruits & veggies that are sprouted and ready for transplant at a local nursery soon- because if things get worse and grocery stores continue getting more sparse, I want to be self-sufficient! That's a stresser for me right now. 
• Chickens: We used to have chickens- in fact I successfully petitioned our previous city of Allen, Texas to reverse their anti-chicken laws. We had 4-6 chickens at a time and plenty of eggs. I loved it! Unfortunately, the new house we bought is within an HOA that doesn't allow chickens- UGH! I'd seriously prefer to be as self-sustainable as we can, especially during this coronavirus pandemic when food supply is less reliable/guaranteed.

​Worried about food shortages and preparing for the new-normal? Learn from the past to prepare for the future! Read my newest blog post Food Shortages and Rationing.

Warning: Once you make alfredo sauce from scratch, it's pretty much impossible to go back to jarred alfredo sauce ever again. This is what alfredo sauce is supposed to taste like. #LifeChanging

I've got two versions that I make, depending on what I've got in the fridge. The first version "Alfredo Cream Sauce" is faster and very rich.

ALFREDO CREAM SAUCE INGREDIENTS

• 1/4 cup (1/2 a stick) of butter
• 2 cups heavy whipping cream
• 1 1/2 cup  Parmesan cheese

ALFREDO CREAM SAUCE DIRECTIONS

1. Melt the butter and whisk in most of the cream over medium heat for a few minutes until it thickens a bit.
2. Reduce heat to medium-low, add the remaining cream and the parmesan cheese. Whisk and serve on your favorite dish!

I like to make a roast chicken (it's so cheap and easy!!) and make a big batch of chicken bone broth (aka chicken stock) from the leftover skin & bones. Those times when I'm short on time and I pick up a rotisserie chicken instead, I still make sure to use the leftover skin & bones to make my bone broth. It extends your dollar so much further. Waste not, want not and all that. 

Basically every ingredient listed below is optional besides the chicken itself and the water obviously. There's really no going wrong. 

INGREDIENTS

• 1 whole chicken (with the meat removed).
• Vegetables roughly chopped: whatever you have on hand-- onions, carrots, celery, etc.
• Garlic! Garlic is a must - I love garlic so I usually put in a good 2-3 tablespoons.
• A lemon if you have one - just cut it in half and throw it in.
• 2 teaspoons of salt and a bunch of fresh ground black pepper.
• Fresh herbs- whatever you have in the fridge. My usual go-to's include: sage, rosemary, thyme, dill, bay leaves, oregano, etc. If you don't have fresh herbs - just put in a tablespoon of dried herbs of your choice. 

• Water - fill your crock pot full.

DIRECTIONS

• ​Put all the ingredients in your crock pot and than fill it with water to the very top.
• Set the temperature to low and cook for 12 hours. 
• When done put a large mesh strainer over a really large mixing bowl and pour the entire thing in. Discard the bones/herbs.
• A layer of fat will solidify on top after cooling. I like to use my gravy fat separator to remove the fat, but you can easily just scoop it off with a large spoon or simply mix it back in for a richer flavor (but obviously a bit more... fat). 
• Store them in wide-mouth mason jars (leave the lids cracked until frozen through so the glass doesn't crack) or BPA-free plastic storage containers. 
• Freeze within 3-4 days.

The Brits call pop-overs "Yorkshire Pudding," which I think is a bit odd, since it doesn't look/taste anything like pudding... So I'm going to go with calling these pop-overs. They're my favorite "bread" side dish at meals and totally up your game so guests will think you're fancy. They'd never guess how easy they are to make!

​INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 4 large eggs
• 3 cups milk (divided 1 1/2 cups in two bowls)
• A few tablespoons of butter, bacon fat, or pan drippings- melted
• Optional: Grated Parmesan cheese, Italian herb or garlic salt (topping)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Whisk flour, eggs, 1 1/2 cups milk, salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Set aside.
2. Let stand for 30 minutes.
3. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 
4. Whisk remaining 1 1/2 cups milk into batter (it'll be the consistency of heavy cream).
5. Pour 1 teaspoon of butter, bacon grease or pan drippings into each cupcake tin. 
6. Place cupcake tin(s) in oven for 2 minutes - don't skip this step (it helps the pop overs rise up the hot sides and conveniently melts your butter/lard)!
7. Fill each cupcake tin with batter about 1/3-1/2 way. 
8. Optional: Sprinkle the tops with choice of salt and maybe some parmesan or herbs.
9. Bake ~30 minutes until puffy and golden brown.

I make a big batch of marinara sauce and can use it in 1-3 recipes that week (lasagna, spaghetti, pizza, etc).

INGREDIENTS

• ~1 Tablespoon of olive oil
• Green, red, or yellow pepper- chopped optional (only if you've got 'em on hand)

• 6 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 onion, chopped

• 2 Large cans of organic peeled tomatoes (or 2 lbs of fresh tomatoes)
• 2 cups of water
• ~1/4 cup organic maple syrup (more or less to taste)
• Optional: 1 lb of Italian pork sausage or ground beef
• Salt & pepper
• A large bunch of basil

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a large stockpot, add ~1 tablespoon of olive oil and saute the onion, garlic, and peppers (if using) in some olive oil for 4-6 minutes, med-high heat.
2. Add the tomatoes and water and bring to a low boil; simmer for 45-60 minutes until it's at your desired consistency. ​
3. Add the maple syrup in the last ~10 minutes.
4. If you're making it a meat sauce, cook the ground meat separately in a little olive oil until no longer pink for ~8 minutes and add to the sauce at the end. 
5. You should have ~6 cups of the world's very very best marinara sauce.