Slow-Cooked Pulled Pork

I have no clue where I found this recipe so I don't know who to give credit to. This was my first time making this recipe and let me tell you something...it was finger lickin' good!

Want to try this for yourself? Well here's how.

Printable version

2/3 cup worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup ketchup
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 tomato paste
1 medium white onion, chopped (optional)
2 tbsp yellow mustard
2 tbsp white vinegar
1 boneless pork shoulder or butt

In a 6 quart crock pot mix all ingredients except pork. Once combined add pork, turning to cover. Cook on low for 8 to 10 hours. Remove pork and shred with two forks. Return pork to crock pot and stir into sauce.

*Use extra sauce for dipping your sandwich into.

Just in case you need a close up. Now go make this!

"The Great Wall" {Molding Makes Everything Pretty}

Finally...finally...finally! I'm done with the big wall project in Levi's and Jaxon's room. I love the way it turned out. It was a lot of hard work and took way longer than I expected it would. Without further adieu I present to you "The Great Wall" of Dallas.

click on picture to see bigger version

So how did I create this wall? I did it as inexpensively as possible. I had the idea to save money that for the panels I would use old fence pickets. Matt drove around a few neighborhoods and found old pickets that people were throwing out. I needed 35-36 pickets for the whole wall.

I sanded each picket down and filled in all holes and gaps in the wood. Let me just say though that the new fence pickets sold at Lowes/Home Depot are thicker than the old pickets we found on the curb. But that's ok.

The pickets are sitting on top of another fence picket that Matt put on top of the baseboards. The longest part was all the sanding and filling in the holes. Because I would get so dusty sanding I could only work on the pickets on Saturday when Matt was home to help with the boys. But alas I finished them all and Matt nailed them up for me. He also cut off the dog eared edges on the pickets so they would be straight.

After all the pickets were nailed up Matt added 4 pieces of wood to divide the wall into 3 boxes. This wood was the most expensive part of the project. The wood is thin pieces of pre cut Aspen wood. For the 4 pieces it was $25.

At this point I filled in all the gaps between the pickets with caulk. Then I primed and painted all the wood that was up on the wall. After I was finished painting Matt added an "x" to each box.

I painted each "x" and caulked all around them. The original plan was to put just another piece of 3 inch wide wood on top to make a ledge. But we had extra crown molding in the garage and so Matt added that to the ledge. It gives the ledge more of a finished look.

After the ledge was complete the wall was finally finished. Take a look again.

Now I have a place in their room to put their art and any other pictures or trophies or just whatever on. I need to finish up the rest of the trim in the room and Levi and Jax will finally have a room that I'm happy with.

What do you think?

General Conference Coffee Cake

I love this time of year for so many reasons. We have the pleasure to watch General Conference this weekend and hear our Prophet Thomas S. Monson speak along with so many others.

A tradition in my husband's family is that every General Conference his mom always made coffee cake. I'm not sure where this recipe comes from but it is heaven sent for sure.

I thought I would share it so if you feel so inclined you may want to enjoy its delishishness (Is that a word?)

General Conference Coffee Cake 
Printable version

 

2 ½ cups flour
½ tsp salt
2 cups brown sugar
⅔ cup butter or shortening
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp ground cinnamon
1 cup sour milk* or buttermilk
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp nutmeg
2 eggs beaten

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Mix up first four ingredients until it looks crumbly. Set aside ½ cup of crumbs. Add in the rest of the ingredients to get cake batter mixture. Pour batter in 2 8 inch round pans. Sprinkle reserved ½ cup of crumbs on top of batter. Bake in oven for 25-30 minutes.

*If you do not have buttermilk on hand you can use sour milk. To make sour milk mix 1 cup of milk with 2 tsp lemon juice. Allow to sit for 10 minutes.

 

Fall Mantel Decorating

Hey there!

It's finally fall here in Texas!! I'm on the couch now with a blanket and the front door is open letting in all the cool air. A few weeks ago I changed out my summer mantel for my fall mantel. Just about everything on this mantel I already had. I only puchased the pumpkins, picture frame and picture. The rest of the stuff I shopped my house for.

So here's how it all came together.

The pumpkins are from the dollar section at Target. I love the shade of red on them. The ugly owls are from the dollar spot as well from last year. I think they are hideous little owls and they would look so much better spray painted a different color. Maybe I'll get around to it...maybe not.

Our friends down the street had some firewood they were getting rid of. I grabbed a log and had Matt cut it down for candlesticks. I think it adds a natural element to the mantel. (That's me trying to sound like I know what I'm doing or talking about)

The picture frame was an awesome Goodwill find a few weeks ago. It had a gold color on it but I sanded it down to the wood. Now it looks more rustic.

I love the red church picture. It's an Episcopal church in Alabama. I found the picture over at The Lettered Cottage. You can visit over there if you would like to download the picture. I had it printed at Walmart for $5.86 for an 11 x 14 print. It brings a bit of warmth to the room too.

All together I think it looks good. I love all the warm colors and the mix of the natural with rustic elements.

It's fall ya'll!

Food Storage {Beans}

Geez...I've really slacked off on my blog lately. I haven't posted any updates in a while. I've been busy with several projects around the house and trying to get them all completed. Mainly just Levi and Jax's room though. That has taken me way longer than I thought it would. The end is in sight...hopefully!

So a few weeks ago we had a Relief Society activity on food storage and starting our 3 month supply. Honestly, I don't have food storage except for what fits in my pantry which would not last 3 months. Our tiny 1500 sq foot house just doesn't have space for food storage. We maximize every inch of this house for storage of things we currently have and need. Trust me...I try to purge our stuff frequently.

Then on Pinterest I came across a wonderful idea for storing your food storage in small spaces.

You can go here to read the post about this idea.

Since we are soda drinkers in this house I'm going to start saving our 2 liter bottles. So far I have 3 bottles saved. You have to start somewhere right?

I took the labels off my bottles and then washed the bottles with soap and water. I let them dry over night. I purchased a 4 pound bag of beans and this is how much that will get you.

I put a bay leaf in the bottom of the bottle and then on top. I need to get some bees wax to seal them.

I can fit these bottles in many more tight spaces than big buckets. I'm super excited about starting my food storage now. I'll be doing a little at a time and soon enough I'll have a 3 month supply.

Exciting stuff!

DIY Floating Kitchen Shelves

For the 5 years we have been in our house I have always thought the space above our kitchen sink was weird. I've never known what to do with that space over the years. I've tried a few different things and didn't really like any of what I tried. Last year I put up EAT in that space and that's how it's been ever since.

Blah!

Until now! We had some left over wood from the dining room table that Matt built and I knew the solution.

Floating shelves!

There is exactly 3 feet between the two upper cabinets. So Matt cut the wood down to size. I then painted the wood the same color as our cabinets.

I measured out exactly where I wanted the shelves to go. I measured 7 inches down from the top and 7 inches up from the bottom.

We used brackets to hold the shelves in place. The arrows are pointing to the brackets. We used brackets on both shelves.

I purchased $5 worth of trim from Home Depot and Matt nailed it up. I painted the trim to match the cabinets and I painted the brackets so they wouldn't stand out.

I threw up some cook books and anything else I could find around the house and it was done.

I love these shelves and this space now. I can put all sorts of fun stuff up there for the holidays or different times of the year.

In case you want to see a close up of the little quote block here it is. I found the quote on Pinterest. I made my own pretty version and just glued it to a square scrap piece of wood.

I thought it was a very fitting quote for our family.

Have a great week!

Jaxon's 2nd Birthday (5 months late)

Back in February Jax had his 2nd birthday. I didn't write about it then and I wanted to post a few pictures of the happy boy on his special day. We love Jax so much! He is so energetic and loves to do everything that Levi does. Jax has his sweet and cuddly moments but you have to catch him in the right mood for that. I can't believe he is already 2!

I took Jax to the store and let him pick out the cake he wanted. He pointed to the chocolate and red velvet cakes. I pulled them both off the shelf and he then chose the red velvet. I'm pretty sure he loved it!