Last week I tried the bowl method and the reviews (all two) were mixed. I love being able to go in the fridge and mix and match. My husband, on the other hand, didn’t like having so many choices, especially at the end of the day. Sigh.

So this week we go back to more put together already stuff. On the menu:

Cauliflower Curry/Tofu/Rice
Red Beans and Rice
Taco Casserole
Pasta/Tomato Sauce
Broccoli Salad

For any miniature fans out there, I have two announcements:

First, I have a Jean Yingling Pitcher and Bowl and Chamber Pot on eBay.

It’s a gorgeous set, but I don’t seem to have a place for it and I am hoping it finds a new home.

Second, Mini Mod Pod has a great giveaway! Check it out!

Sandra

A little bit back, Scrumptious had a post over at In My Box about her Bowl System. The system involves making up a lot of goodies that can be mixed and matched throughout the week for meals. I thought that this was a great idea that fit in really well with my marathon cooking style.

So this week, I am doing my own variation on the Bowl System which should pretty much feed us for the week.

I’ll be making:

Vegetable Soup
Steamed Broccoli
Steamed Asparagus (just a little from what was left in my garden)
Pickled Beets
Hard Boiled Eggs
Sauteed Potatoes
Plain Cous Cous
Hummus
Baba Ganoush

Cheese Sauce
Curry Sauce

I may add some Baked Tofu for a little extra protein.

This sounds like enough food. We will see how it goes!

Sandra

It all started when I saw a mention on Mini Modern of an upcycled pallet coffee table in 1:12 scale offered at the etsy shop Artistique. The table was kinda cool, but with a price tag of $76 plus change and shipping, I thought to myself, I could do that! Okay, maybe my version wouldn’t be exactly the same, but it wouldn’t cost $76 plus change and shipping.

Then I started researching upcycled furniture and saw pictures like this one:

And I also saw the bench over at 31 and Change which I had seen mentioned at Mini Modern as well.

Well, the whole thing got me thinking about kit bashing which got me thinking about kits which got me thinking about Chrysnbon which resulted in:

So there you go!

Sandra

Being an empty nester (if you don’t include the 8 cats, the 2 dogs, and my husband), I find I don’t necessarily need to cook every day, but I am still cooking. Now, I tend to have cook-a-thons, mostly on Mondays. So, I thought, why not go back to Menu Plan Mondays.

My original personal chef post:

Even though I like to cook, I have always enjoyed Peg Bracken’s I Hate To Cook Book.

She knew how to keep it simple – a boon for busy moms that have to cook almost every day. Her book also contained many recipes (okay, not so many vegetarian ones) that could be done ahead in the event one woke up full of energy and wanted to get the cooking for the day done with the rest of the daily chores.

When I wake up full of energy and the stars are aligned right and I know full well that I will be occupied with tasks that are not kitchen related, I like to go a step further than Peg Bracken recommends. I become my own personal chef.

I take my menu in hand (assuming I have one!) and make two or three dinners at a time.

There are a number of advantages to getting multiple dinners done in advance.

I don’t have to worry about cooking after a long day doing something else.

I stick to my menu plan.

I am forced to clean out the mystery containers in the fridge to make room for the new meals.

I take advantage of the kitchen day to do things like make croutons or applesauce or a pot of vegetable soup (keeping with the cleaning the fridge theme).

The time it takes to make multiple dinners is usually less than making the same dinners separately.

Ditto with the clean up time.

Altogether, my personal chef cook dates are quite satisfying. I hope Peg Bracken would have agreed.

End of original post.

On my menu this week (and already made and in the fridge):

“Beef” Chow Mein
Brown Rice
Lentil Soup
Focaccia Bread
Egg Salad (for lunches)
Shells and Cheese with Peas

With some last minute Tofu Dogs and Vegetarian Baked Beans or Pizza, this should feed us for the week.

What’s on your menu?

To see all those old menu plans, go here.

You can get an idea of how small these rooms are by the amount of furniture that fits, which is not much.

And a big Mea Culpa to the poor little animal that gave its life to make the Elf Leather Couch. I have been a vegetarian for over 20 years and I don’t wear leather, but I couldn’t resist the couch on eBay. Sigh.

I was doing some looking around and happened on this sideboard. I want one of these in 1:12 scale!

Time for more playing!

Sandra

I actually had purple and lime green in my bedroom as a young teen. But it was an odd room with 1950′s furniture and 1970′s tchotchkes and a spray painted wicker chair. This room is much nicer. And MUCH neater!

Of course, I had to add a cat.

Sandra

We are having a beautiful spring. Some pictures from the yard of flowers that have come and gone:

Now, on to more important things! I finished the exterior of my Contemporary Ranch!

(Oops! I just noticed an edge I still need to paint.)

I left the interior mostly a blank slate to play with for now.

To make my life a little easier, I just went with the kit as is this time around instead of doing any major bashing. And I will have say, after the Fascination Station and the Eastside Townhouse, the rooms in the Ranch seem rather small. No matter. Now it’s time to play!

Sandra

I say extremely crude because the wallpaper and floor are only taped in place as are the wall cabinets. I still haven’t done any work on the house itself, but it has been fun playing with the furniture. I think I have something that is close to the picture in my last post. Without the pink. I am not a pink fan.

This kitchen is built from a Realife Kitchen Kit. I put together a number of the kits when I first started doing miniatures because they were cheap. What I had forgotten between that time and this was that they are cheap for a reason. The wood is very thin and quite prone to warping. I also opted to skip some steps which make the kits a whole lot more complicated than they need to be, such as making the front of the cabinets with pieces of strip wood and fussing with the refrigerator shelves (the fridge is glued shut). Overall, I am pleased with the way the kitchen turned out.

I really need to get to work on the house!

Sandra

Now on to the Contemporary Ranch.

I haven’t really gotten around to putting the house together yet. It’s been too cold or too wet to start my much loved textured spray painting for one thing. But in anticipation of actually building the house, I have been planning the interior.

After the black and white (mostly) color scheme, I feel the need for color. Lots of color. What better place for a serious color fix than the early 1970s.

For some reason my mother had these 1971/1972 decorating magazines around.

I gather she planned on redecorating at some point. Unfortunately, for me, she actually got around to all that redecorating a little later and we ended up with the dreaded avocado green/harvest gold. The worst part of the redo (My mom will never see this, thank goodness, since she does not own a computer.) was that we had the 1950′s turquoise cabinets with – yes – coppertone appliances in the kitchen. I kid you not.

Even if they did not inspire my mom, I can so see having some mini rooms like these. Who can resist that kitchen? The mediterranean furniture? The bentwood chairs?

Here are some pieces I have gathered up so far.

Peace!

Sandra

Some credits: mediterranean furniture – Old Concord from eBay (still looking for more of this!), modern chairs from miniatures.com., love seat is a modified Realife Kit, beautiful z-shaped shelf from minisx2, bentwood chairs are from Town Square.

And the big picture of the whole house.

My entry title has a double meaning. I think it is time to move on to other projects for a while. Of course, I fully anticipate that I will be returning to the black and white house occasionally to play with furniture and accessories. In the mean time, I need to find a place to put this big house so I can reclaim my dining room/work table. <grin>

Speaking of space, am I the only one who is getting a little crowded out with prolific dollhousery? I am hoping one day to have a dedicated minis room. Unfortunately I don’t have one yet and the spare space we do have can only be accessed by a spiral staircase. (See the one is my house above. Don’t do this in real life!) I saw that Mini Mod Pod is dealing with her space issues by selling a very cool house on eBay. I’m not quite at that point yet. I guess I could quit buying and building – NOT! Oh well, who really needs a sofa?

Sandra