Color Block your Bookshelves with Klas

There is a line you can cross in this type of organization. I would dive over that line head first, but I have Mr. Klas to grab my ankle and pull me back.

For example, are you (and those you live with) willing to forgo genre grouping so your shelves look good? How do you color-coordinate books that have art on the cover and spine? (put them in the shelf spine first, so only the pages show) 





 
Alas, Mr. Klas can only go so far indulging my OCD tendencies, (only our sitting room books are color grouped.) but I am pleased with these results.

To add beauty to the bookcases organized by genre, (twitch twitch) I’ve put little touches from our Wedding on top, so my eye goes there…and not to the imperfection of the shelves.

 
Keep the edges of the books at an even space from the edge of the shelf and you're all set. Share your OCD pics with me! 

Store Your Bacon in the Freezer

The reason I came up with this, despite my deep love for bacon, and my compulsion to put it in any recipe possible, is I decided to make it last a bit longer and tighten our grocery budget.

Once I get home from the grocery store, I grab a quart or gallon freezer bag and separate the bacon into serving sizes. Most of my recipes call for 6 pieces of bacon, Mr. Klas usually eats 2 pieces at a time and I limit myself to one (at breakfast for example). Keeping 3 pieces stacked together works best for us. 

Keep at least a finger width between each stack and you can easily fold the bag, and put in the freezer, freeing up a lot of space (and time) Once you want to cook it it’s easy (and less greasy) to pull out of the bag frozen!

Let this sit for a bit before you attempt to fry or nuke.
 

My Feelings and the Truth

‘My feelings are not God. God is God.
My feelings do not define truth. God's Word defines Truth.
My feelings are echoes and responses to what my mind perceives. And sometimes -many times- my feelings are out of sync with the Truth.
       When that happens -and it happens every day in some measure- I try not to bend the Truth to justify my imperfect feelings, but rather, I plead with God: Purify my perceptions of your Truth and transform my feelings so that they are in sync with the Truth.’ A quote by John Piper

How hard is this to stomach? You do this every day! 
We use our feelings to justify our actions and inaction. We use the word 'feeling' to defend and tear down. We use it from early childhood, drag it into our marriages and beat people with it during debates. We make our feelings more than they should be.

My behavior cannot, should not be justified by how I was feeling at the time. I need to grow up and apologize and try to be honest…instead of trying to make an excuse.

Feelings do not define Truth.     I put this up in our home.

Spaghetti Night!

Have some fun with a classic recipe without taking up extra time. 

Spaghetti with Meat Sauce    

12 oz Spaghetti pasta (If you haven’t tried Wheat Pasta yet, sister, you are missing out! Put it on your shopping list) One full box (1lb) of dry spaghetti will feed approximately 4 to 5 people. One serving is equal to only 1/4 lb, so for every serving spaghetti to cook, add 1 quart (4 cups) of water. If you're cooking a full boxful, you will need 4 quarts of water to cook all that spaghetti. Bring water to a rolling boil.

Pour salt (1 tsp per serving) in boiling water.  Break spaghetti in half and add to water, use a fork to stir spaghetti until it begins to boil again. Turn heat down by half, to allow spaghetti to cook. Stir occasionally until spaghetti is soft. It will take at least 10 minutes for spaghetti to reach soft stage, continue checking every 4 minutes until it is soft and edible.

Add 1 lb ground beef  (or ½ lb ground beef ½ lb Italian sausage) browned. Drain grease.

Add meat into pot with 24 oz Ragu (our favorite is chunky green pepper and mushroom, but please add some tomato paste if you like thicker sauce) until warm.

Meatballs    

For Meatballs

    1lb hamburger

    ½ Cup breadcrumbs

    ½ cup milk

    1 egg

    ½ Cup parmesan cheese

    2 tlbs onion flakes

    1 tsp salt

    1 tsp pepper

For Sauce

    1 cup beef consommé

    ¼ cup sour cream

    ¼ cup dry white wine

Combine meatball ingredients and shape into little balls. Put 2 tlbs butter into a skillet and brown. Remove meatballs. I use these in the above spaghetti recipe with my Ragu meat sauce, but Mr Klas likes it best with the sauce recipe below over plain noodles. Just don't mix both sauces (yuck).

For Meatball Sauce: Add ¼ cup flour to butter then gradually add beef consommé, sour cream and white wine. Stir until it thickens, then put meatballs back in. Add salt and pepper to taste, cover and simmer for about 20 min. (can be served over noodles, rice or spaghetti)

Stuffed Garlic Bread    

I gotta say, this is a meal by itself. I found this recipe on Pinterest and the hubby and I flipped for it! It does take some time to stuff the stuff in the cracks, but it’s VERY worth the time.

    1 loaf  unsliced French Bread

    1/2 cup butter, melted
    1 Tbsp. lemon juice
    2 tsp. minced onion or onion powder
    1 tsp. garlic powder
    1 1/4 cup shredded cheese
    1 1/2 Tbsp. mustard
    1 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley (or parsley flakes)


Preheat oven to 375.  Cut "X" slices in your bread, not cutting all the way through, to make little squares you can stuff stuff around.  Wrap bottom of bread in foil and set aside. In a small bowl, melt butter.  Mix in lemon juice, onion, garlic powder, and mustard.  Whisk well until combined. Using a pastry brush, or small gravy ladle, spread butter mixture evenly throughout all the little crevices in your bread. Stuff cheese evenly in cracks. Place in oven and bake for 8-10 minutes or until cheese is well melted and a little bubbly.