Cream-Topped Tilapia

A few weeks back I shared my new recipe binder & menu planning board. I also promised to share the recipe to one of my favorite seafood dishes--cream-topped tilapia. This is a super easy, low-cal recipe that I like to whip up when I don't have much time to cook--it really only takes 10 minutes total (5 prep, 5 cooking!). Tilapia is my favorite (non-battered/fried) fish, because it doesn't have a very fishy taste. I usually pair this dish with rice and veggies.

I based the recipe off of this one from AllRecipes.com, but tweaked it because I wanted to use some of our light swiss Laughing Cow cheese. We buy packs from Costco, which comes in 4 containers of 8 wedges each--thus we always have some on hand. 

Here's how you can make your own!

Ingredients:

• 1 tilapia fillet
• 2 wedges Laughing Cow light Swiss cheese
• 1 tablespoon softened butter
• 1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese
• 2 teaspoons mayonnaise
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice 
• Pinch of dried basil
• Pinch of ground black pepper
• Pinch of onion powder
• Pinch of garlic salt

Instructions:

1. Preheat your oven's broiler. Line your broiler-safe pan with aluminum foil.
2. In a small bowl, combine all ingredients except tilapia, then set aside.
3. Place the tilapia fillet on the prepared pan, then broil a few inches away from the heat for 2-3 minutes. Flip fillet, then broil for 2 more minutes.
4. Remove fillet from oven and top with the cheese mixture. Broil for 2 more minutes, or until the topping browns and fish flakes easily with a fork. Serve with wild rice and lightly buttered vegetables.

Mmmm. Looking at this photo makes me want to eat it right now! Delicious!

Let me know in the comments if you try out the recipe--I'd love to hear if you like this dish as much as I do!

Linking up to Serenity Now's Weekend Bloggy Reading!

On the menu, week five

Last week's new recipes were a mixed bag. One new fave, one big fail, and one so-so.


Let's start with the good! Crispy Cheddar Chicken. It was SO. GOOD. The topping was delicious, the chicken as nice and moist, and the sauce was a breeze to whip up! I forgot to take a picture of the finished dish, but here's the chicken before I popped it in the oven:


My only change: I halved the recipe since it served 4 and we're only 2. The halved recipe called for one sleeve of Ritz crackers. I found I had a ton of extra cracker crumbs left over, and sadly I couldn't save them for future use since they'd gotten raw chicken on them (and there was shredded cheese interspersed with the crumbs, too). So I would use a half a sleeve for 2 people, then crush up more if needed.


Now on to the fail. It was the bowtie pasta with feta, veggies, & cream. I think that I screwed this one up somehow, but it ended up tasting really nasty. The noodles were sort of...sweaty. They had a strange taste. Maybe I let them linger too long in the boiling water? I dunno. I made a variation of this a few weeks back as a quick side, and it was so easy and delicious that I figured this would be the same! Alas, it was not....but look at how tasty it looks when others make it!


And now the so-so: melt in your mouth chicken breasts.


I liked this one, but Ryan wasn't a fan. He ended up scraping the topping off the chicken. I enjoyed it, but it was basically Miracle Whip, parmesan cheese, and some salt and pepper, so in a way it was kinda just like hot mayo, haha. The meat itself was very moist and delicious, but obviously that's just the cooking method, not really the sauce or the recipe...So it seems like I won't be making this one again, especially since the crispy cheddar chicken was super delicious!


This week, I'm sticking to a lot of familiar recipes and only trying out one new things...BORING, I know, but I'm facing some busy times in school for the next few weeks, so I want things at home to be easier. As always, I have class on Wednesday nights, so I don't make dinner.


Monday, March 12: Fish sticks & mac n cheese! Gotta love kindergarten-style dinners!


Tuesday, March 13: Orange chicken and chow mein


Thursday, March 15: Turkey chili


Friday, March 16: Chili leftovers


Saturday, March 17: Paprika chicken with noodles. This is my one new recipe, selected from Rachael Ray's Look & Cook book. I hope it's a winner!


Sunday, March 18: Breakfast for dinner. I have a mad pancake craving now.


What are you making this week?

A memo station for our dining room

We have boring blonde cabinets in our kitchen. Since we're renters, it's not something we can change. And since our kitchen opens up to our dining room, I see the blonde cabinets every time I sit down for a meal at our table. I was getting a little tired of looking at the back of our blah island cabinet, so I decided to spruce it up a little.

First, I brainstormed. I wanted the space to have a function. What did I need in the dining/kitchen areas? (You know, besides a Kitchenaid Mixer, a Margaritaville blender, beautiful vintage Pyrex, and all the other things on my kitchen wish list that are lovely but can't really help with the cabinets).

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After my daydreaming about material goods ended, it came to me. Not only was I tiring of the blonde cabinets, but I was also getting annoyed with digging through my cookbooks to find recipes that I frequently make. I do mark them with post-it notes, but I also mark recipes I want to make in the future, and I have so many cookbooks that I often forget where a recipe is from. So I thought, why not make a little memo station where I could keep a list of where to find those cookbook recipes? And I could also stash recipe print-offs in there and before transferring them to my recipe binder! Perfect!

Enter iHeartOrganizing. I hit up Jen’s fab blog for her free “Family Recipe Tracker” printable (get one here). I just filled out the form to keep track of where all my favorite real-life (aka not Pinterest or Epicurious or Recipes.come) recipes come from.

Next I turned to organizing maven Martha for her fun new line of office supplies from Staples. I’d been droooooling over the whole line for weeks, so it was great to finally find a reason to buy something :) Here are some of my favorites:

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I got two of the Blue Shagreen Double Pockets. Love the color, and the price was good because I snatched them up with a 40% coupon and used Staples Rewards money that I gained from their ink recycling program. I measured to get them centered, marked lightly on the cabinets with pencil to match up the spots, then used command strips to adhere them to the back of the cabinet (even though they come with a heavy-duty adhesive already attached to the folder—again, since we’re renters, I didn’t want the folders to stick forever). I popped my recipe references in one of the folders, and placed our Freezer Inventory sheets (also by iHeartOrganizing) in the other folder. I laminated that printable so I can use wet erase markers to update the list as we use up our frozen foods!

Then I decided the cabinet still needed some cheer. So I traced pennants onto some bright scrapbook paper, cut them out, taped them to baker’s twine, and tied the banner on to two command hooks that were already on the cabinet (I used them to string up tinsel at Christmastime.)

Finally, I added a mini bulletin board (made of fabric-covered styrofoam, just like this one) to the side of the cabinet so that I could pin up my grocery list and any coupons. I popped the our grocery list notepad in one of the double folders so that it's handy whenever I need to make a new list.

I love how sunny and fun the cabinet is now, and that it serves a purpose. Whenever I make my weekly meal plans, I just grab the recipe index, my recipe binder, and of course pull up Pinterest. It makes it so easy for me to pick out what to make now that I have an inventory of my favorite cookbook recipes. And if I pick out any printed out recipes from my binder, I just snag the pages and slip them in a pocket. Easy peasy!

Have you taken on any small projects with big impact lately? And what Martha products are on your I must have this! list?

On the menu, week four

This week's meal plan contains a lot of recipes I've been excited to try! But before I share them, I'll first recap what I made last week. As usual, there were some switch-ups as I adjusted the plan--sometimes I just get too busy and resort to a more familiar or easy recipe.


On Monday, I made Cider cream chicken with cous cous. As usual, it was delicious! It's an old favorite of ours that never fails to disappoint.


See the link above for the recipe.

On Tuesday, I FINALLY made cheddar beer chicken! And it was worth the wait. I used the leftovers from Sunday's dish, broccoli cheese soup (sans broccoli because Ryan is so picky). That was also a delicious recipe, so I had a feeling the cheddar beer chicken would rock, and it did!

It was so easy to make and the chicken was perfectly cooked! I would definitely recommend the recipe!

On Thursday I made Tuscan pasta with tomato basil cream sauce. It was an incredibly easy recipe, because it was really just about combining canned/frozen stuff. I used spinach & cheese ravioli from Costco and Classico's Sun-Dried Tomato Alfredo sauce (our favorite!)

Okay, on to this week's plan! As always, I don't cook on Wednesdays because I have class from 3-10.


Monday, March 5: Crispy Cheddar Chicken. Very pumped for this one. Crackers + Cheese + Chicken must = Love.





Tuesday, March 6: Bowtie pasta with feta, veggies, & cream. I have been wanting to make this for three weeks now! I need to get on it!





Thursday, March 7: Melt in your mouth chicken breasts. I hope it's true to its name!





Friday, March 9: BBQ Salmon (Ryan) & Broiled Parmesan Tilapia (me).


Saturday, March 10: Eat out or bring food in.


Sunday, March 11: Parmesan crusted chicken piccata with creamy noodles. This recipe is from my Rachael Ray cookbook. If it's a winner, I'll share how to make it!

What are you cooking this week?

Linking up to http://couponingncooking.blogspot.com's Meal Plan Monday!

On the menu, week three

Another Monday, another weekly menu! We had some successful meals last week that I'll share first:

Tuesday, February 21: Creamy chicken & stuffing casserole. This is an old favorite of ours. Here's the recipe! We always cut the chicken into pieces and we add some sour cream to the cream of chicken soup to make it more creamy!

Sunday, February 26: I had planned to make cheddar beer chicken, but after finding some Velveeta in the pantry that was due to expire soon (yeah, what? Velveeta expires???!?! Apparently) I changed plans and made this delicious cheese soup! MMMM. So creamy, so cheesy. So good.

Here's what's on the menu this week:

Monday, February 27: Cider cream chicken with cous cous. I didn't get the chance to make this last week, and I'm craving it!

Tuesday, February 28: FINALLY I will make cheddar beer chicken. I swear it. I plan to use the leftover cheese soup from Sunday in the recipe!

Wednesday, February 29 (Leap Day!): No cooking, I have class.

Thursday, March 1: Tuscan pasta with tomato basil cream sauce.

Friday, March 2: Turkey meatloaf. Mmmmm.

Saturday, March 3: My night off. We'll go out or order in.

Sunday, March 4: Spinach & artichoke cheesy pasta with Olive Garden breadsticks--I hope they're as good as the real thing!

What are you cooking this week?

Linking up to http://couponingncooking.blogspot.com's Meal Plan Monday!

On the menu, week two

Last week I decided to challenge myself by posting our menu and promising to share how the new recipes tasted. Well here I am, back to share!

Monday I made Cornish game hens.

The verdict? They turned out pretty good! They were nice and juicy. Not as flavorful as I would have liked, but that could be because I halved the recipe since I was only making 2 hens. We did come to the conclusion that we aren't the biggest fans of hens, because they take a lot of effort to dig out the meat and eat. Haha! I did kinda make up a sauce recipe for the pasta side, and Ryan ended up loving it. I just made the pasta, poured it back in the pot, added a little olive oil, about 1/2 a cup of milk, 1 wedge of Skinny Laughing Cow Swiss cheese, a sprinkle of parmesean cheese, and a sprinkle of mozzarella. I think it'll be a new go-to side for us, since I usually have those things on hand! Mmmm.

Tuesday was our big Valentine's day extravaganza featuring FOUR new recipes. What? I thought that it would be overwhelming to cook it all, but it was actually quite great! I just started prepping hours beforehand so that it wouldn't get too stressful.

The main dish, Filet Oscar, was delicious, even though I did not master the bearnaise sauce--that's on my to-do list :) I didn't cut the butter into slices beforehand, and it was supposed to be added one tablespoon at a time, so I think the yolk and vinegar mixture had some time to separate...thus the sauce was not as creamy as it should have been. But other than that, the steak, crab, and asparagus were perfect! The creamy brussels sprouts were SO GOOD. Like, I would eat them every day good. Like, Ryan never eats his sprouts but he ate these good. Definitely a repeat. Same with the smoked gouda mashed potatoes---MMMM. They look deceptively gross/goopy in the photos, but they were GOOD! I added more gouda than the recipe called for, but in my opinion it was called for, haha. The faux-Red Lobstah biscuits also turned out great!! I used my heart cookie cutters from Gabriella to make them Valentine's appropriate :) I would add a pinch of garlic salt to the dry mixture--the recipe just called for you to add spices to the butter that gets brushed on top, but the inside was just a little bland to me.

Thursday I was supposed to make cheddar beer chicken in the crock pot....but life got in the way and I fell back on a familiar recipe, Chicken Tortilla soup. I plan to make the cheddar beer chicken this next week, though, so I can share the verdict!

Here's what's on our menu this week:

Monday, February 20: Thanksgiving food! Yeah, we're both having major cravings, and we have some frozen turkey and some taters...I won't go all out and make green beans and sweet potatoes or anything (Ryan doesn't eat 'em), but the T-Giving trifecta (turkey, potatoes, stuffing--and gravy, too, but that's a given with the potatoes) is calling our names.

Tuesday, February 21: Creamy chicken & stuffing casserole (using leftover stuffing from Monday). This is a recipe from Ryan's mom that we love! It's delicious. I will share the full recipe in my verdict post.

Wednesday, February 22: I have class all night, so I don't cook!

Thursday, February 23: Bowtie pasta with feta, veggies, and lemon pepper chicken. This one looks very promising!

Friday, February 24: Pizza night! I have to take a night (well, besides Wednesday, haha) off sometime.

Saturday, February 25: Another old favorite, apple cider chicken with cous cous.

Sunday, February 26: Cheddar beer chicken.

I'll let you know how the next batch of recipes turns out!


Linking up to http://couponingncooking.blogspot.com's Meal Plan Monday!

On the menu

I decided to try a new method to motivate me to do 2 things: 1. blog more and 2. cook more new recipes. So I'm going to share what's on the menu in our household for the next week. I will make at least one new recipe per week, then share what I liked and what I didn't!


Sunday, February 12: Breakfast for dinner (pancakes, cheesy hashbrowns, sausage links, bacon, eggs).


Monday, February 13: Cornish game hens with garlic and rosemary. Also, it's our one-month anniversary :)

Tuesday, February 14: Special Valentine's Day Dinner! I'm attempting to make Ryan's favorite dish, Filet Oscar, which is a filet covered in crab, bearnaise sauce, and asparagus. Along with that I will make these smoked gouda mashed potatoes, these cream-braised brussels sprouts, these imitation Red Lobster biscuits, and some dark chocolate Ghirardelli brownies. Mmmmmm! This is a really ambitious meal plan and all are new recipes...crossing my fingers that it turns out okay!!

Wednesday, February 15: I have class from 3-10 on Wednesdays, so I don't make dinner those nights.

Thursday, February 16: Cheddar Beer Chicken. I'm going to use Boulevard Wheat for the beer--should be yummy!!

Friday, February 17: BBQ salmon for Ryan, Parmesan broiled tilapia for me. (I don't really dig salmon and he doesn't really dig tilapia, so I just make us two kinds of fish.)

Saturday, February 18: I'm hosting a Jurassic Park movie marathon, so we're being bad and eating lots of fried appetizer type foods.

Sunday, February 19: An old favorite, Chicken Tortilla Soup. Mmmmmm!

I'm excited to try all these new recipes and share my verdict with you!

Pinned there, done that!

Sorry for the cheesy title. I love puns!

For the past few weeks, I've been challenging myself to actually TRY the things I pin! (Gasp, I know!) So I thought I'd share the results of several Pinterest recipes, tips, and projects that I've tackled. (There are a lot of recipes on here...don't judge me, I like food!)

Pin #1: Easy Masumun Curry from Shugary Sweets.

The verdict: DELICIOUS! To cut down on calories I used the low fat coconut milk and it was still great! I was happily surprised that Ryan enjoyed the dish, too. I added a little bit of sriracha to the recipe because I love it, but other than that followed the recipe. I'll definitely make it again--it could probably be made in the crockpot, too.

Pin #2: Mississippi Sin Dip from Plain Chicken

The verdict: Another winner! I have a reputation for being the dip queen at parties here. I love to make "grandma dip" (my grandma's recipe), cheese dip (the typical rotel + Velveeta mix--why mess with what works?!), and spinach dip especially. But for a post-reading reception last weekend I decided to try out this Mississippi Sin dip, so named because it contains hot sauce (again, I used sriracha) and is sinful (i.e. not for the dieting sort). Judging by the amount I brought back home (not a ton), it was a hit. And I didn't mind munching on the leftovers, either.

Pin #3: Crispy Southwest Chicken Wraps from Mel's Kitchen Cafe

The verdict: A pattern emerges--yes, another yummmmmy recipe from Pinterest! I made this for lunch today (and another to heat up for lunch tomorrow) and oh my goodness it was delish. It satisfied my huge Chipotle craving (minus the lime rice, of course--now I just gotta try this pin) and it was pretty easy! I added a little salsa to the wrap, but it would've been great without it, too. Definitely repeating.

Pin #4: Easy way to clean the microwave from Crafty Little Gnome (what an adorable blog name!)

The verdict: :( I was so hoping that this would work. The blog suggested combining water and a dash of vinegar, then heating it in the microwave for 5 minutes. The steam is supposed to loosen up stuck-on foods, making it super easy to wipe away messes! Unfortunately it didn't work all the way for me. I tried 5 minutes and wiped and a few smaller stains came out, but most were still stuck. So I did 5 more minutes and tried again--same sort of thing. Some of the more stuck-on ones came off, but not all. I ended up dipping my rag into the hot water/vinegar mix and using it to scrub off the stains, so it didn't go to waste, but I still had to use some elbow grease. Alas!

Pin #5: Yarn wreath from Decor Chick

The Verdict: Judge for yourself!

I love my wreath and plan to change it up for different holidays. Of course I'll probably retire it after Thanksgiving and put up a more wintery wreath, but I definitely see myself pulling it out in the spring and adding some Easter-y embellishments, then some summer-y ones after that, and maybe some Mizzou ones for football season next year! The leaves, pinecone thing, and Thanksgiving bunting are all detachable. Decor Chick's is still more gorgeous, but I like my version too!

Cider Cream Chicken

When I saw that the fabulous Caroline at Good Times Never Seem Sew Good was hosting a fall recipe party, I instantly knew what I wanted to make! It's one of our favorite dishes: cider cream chicken. MMMM. Who doesn't love cider in the fall?


Lemme tell you, the first time I encountered this recipe I was skeptical that it would be good--cider and cream and onions? What? But trust me, it's veeeeerrrry good. Just thinking about it makes me want to eat it up! Since I just made it on Tuesday night, I'll have to hold off for a while--so you all need to make it now so that I can live vicariously through you!


The best thing about this recipe (besides its deliciousness, of course!) is that you only need 6 dishes to make it: one dutch oven, one spoon, one knife, one cutting board, and two measuring cups. I don't know about you, but the less dishes to wash, the better!


If that isn't appealing enough to you, here's a picture:





Looks good, right?



So here's the recipe (serves 2):

PREP TIME: 10 minutes


COOK TIME: 40 minutes





INGREDIENTS:

• One large thawed chicken breast. Make sure you thaw it, or you'll go to cook the dish at 5:30 and then realize that you didn't thaw the chicken and you'll be very upset that you can't eat the delicious food that night!
• One medium onion
• 1 tbls minced garlic
• 3/4 cup of milk (or heavy cream or Half and Half if you want it a little creamier). We're on a diet so I made it lighter by using milk.
• 3/4 cup of apple juice or cider
• EVOO
• Pam cooking spray
• Tarragon (or Thyme will work, too. I've used it in a pinch).
• Salt
• Pepper

DIRECTIONS:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

• Spray the dutch oven with Pam or other cooking spray and drizzle the a little olive oil in there, too. (I started using Pam as a low-cal sub for olive oil per HungryGirl's suggestion and it usually works so well! Olive oil has a ton of calories, ick. I still add a tiny bit of oil to this recipe, though, because once I did all Pam and the onions stuck a bit.) Place it on medium low heat.

• As the cooking spray heats up, halve your onion, then cut both halves into 6 pieces. When you've cut it all up, throw the onion in the dutch oven along with a little salt and pepper.

• While the onions cook, prepare your chicken. Cut off all that nasty fat and dispose of it, and then cut the chicken up into pieces, around 1.5 inches long, until you have 10-12 pieces.

• Return to the onions. By now they should be a little golden brown. Add the minced garlic and stir. Move the onions to one side of the ducth oven and give the free side another spray of the cooking oil. Turn the heat up just a tad over medium. Wait around 2 minutes for the oil to bubble.

• Transfer the chicken to the dutch oven. Cook for around 3 minutes each side, until golden brown.

• Pour in the juice/cider and let bubble for 2-3 minutes. Then turn off heat and add the milk/cream.

• Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and thyme, then pop it in the oven for 40 minutes.

I like to serve it with couscous and buttery brussel sprouts. The cider cream sauce and sweet onions taste delicious on the couscous!


Now hurry up and grab yourself a jug of apple cider--you can drink some of it and make my recipe! :)


Linking up to Caroline's recipe party--head over there to check out some more delish dishes :)

From cooking to craigslist, this week's experiments

One thing I always challenge myself to do each week is try something new. I like to call these new things my "experiments." It could be something small, like testing out a new work-out video or trying a different dish at my favorite restaurant rather than opting for my recurring favorite. This week, my experiments included cooking a recipe that I made up myself and purchasing two things from craigslist for the first time!

Experiment #1: Chile Tortilla Chicken. If you know me well, you know that I am obsessed with Chicken tortilla soup, this delicious and incredibly easy-to-make dish that my mom picked up from one of her co-workers years ago. I love to make this for friends, whether it's Cinco de Mayo or a big football game. Well, I decided that with the proper alterations, the soup could be made into a yummy sauce that could be ladled over chicken breast, making it a healthier

version of my favorite dish! This is especially important in my family because my dad is working on making his goal weight (he has already lost 50 pounds! YAY DAD!) and since I am the designated cook (seeing as I have no job this summer - it's my lazy pre-grad school summer) I have to follow some guidelines when I cook. So, my lovely sister and I set about creating this chicken concoction Thursday night. I am proud to say that it was a hit! We prepared the meal for 5 people, but the recipe could easily be altered for any group! Here's all the info you need if you wanted to recreate it:

Ingredients: 1 can Campbell's Cream of Chicken Soup (I avoid the healthy version of the soup because it changes the taste...but if you like the healthy kind better, go for it!); 1 packet of McCormick Chicken Gravy; 1 can Rotel tomatoes, mild; 1 can chopped green chiles; 1 bag Tostitos tortilla chips (I love the hint of lime!)

CHICKEN: Thaw chicken and prepare for oven by cutting off excess fat; lay on pan covered in foil and add salt/pepper on each side for flavor; bake at 400 for 45 minutes.

SAUCE: In a saucepan, combine 1/2 can soup and gravy packet. Stir.

(If you are altering to make recipe for more/less diners - the gravy adds the thickness to the sauce, so try and keep the proportions the same. So for every 1/2 can of soup, you need a whole packet of gravy.) Add Rotel and chiles. Let simmer. When the chicken is done, let your diners ladle the desired amount of sauce over their meat! We garnished ours with hint of lime chips.

This is the perfect dish if you've had a long day and want to relax as you cook - just pop the chicken in the oven, mix up the sauce ingredients, and chill out as your meal cooks for you. I do love tackling complex recipes from time to time, but I know that I'll definitely be making this meal for Ryan and I after I've had long days on campus. (And he'll help me, too - he likes to cook!) My next culinary-related project: compiling our favorite recipes into a binder (especially the specialties of both of our mothers, since we'll be far from home and in need of comfort food). This will be so much better than hauling clunky cookbooks or ripped magazine pages to Montana!

Experiment #2: Bargain hunting and goods acquisition on craigslist! I had browsed the website many a time, just to see what goods were up for grabs or what digs were up for rent, but until yesterday I'd never bit the bullet and bid on anything! Now, let me tell you something about my shopping and spending habits: I am an extremely impulsive buyer. I see something like a movie or a dress or a picture frame and then the thing wheedles into my brain until I'm saying "Oh, that's not a bad price! Oh, I can just see that on my shelf..." and on and on. And I usually buy the thing and get instant gratification.

Well, I am trying very hard to stop this habit. I have been getting much better about it recently. I ask myself "Will I be using/wearing this in the next 5 years, or will it end up in my give away pile? Do I really need this? Do I have a place for this?" Then I buy accordingly. I also just had a major garage sale to get rid of old high school/college things, and I've always purged my stuff to give away to the Council of the Blind Thrift Store, which makes convenient pick-ups in my neighborhood.

Anyway, back to my point: though I've been slowly improving

on my spending/hoarding habits, I am still programmed to the instant gratification that most retail experiences offer me. Thus, craigslisting kinda freaked me out! I had to wait in agony for the owners of the media stand and bedside tables to email me back and affirm that their items were still available for purchase! It was a nail-biting experience for me, but I managed to snag both items for $35 combined - $25 for

the media stand (which will go oh-so-nicely with our dark wood futon and end table) and $10 for TWO bedside tables, one for me and one for Ryan! I will strip and re-paint the tables when I have my "Crafternoon" with my sister and her hubby, when we will paint my chairs, shelves, and now, the bedside tables!

My newfound thriftiness doesn't end with my craigslist gems....I also did some hunting with my sister and the bro-in-law and managed to snag two pieces of furniture - a dining room chair (also

to be painted, probably a sunshine yellow) and another end table for the living room (to be painted chocolate brown or, if I'm feeling bold, lime green or aqua to match the futon!)

The price tag for these used-but-totally-not-junky pieces?A meager $1.99 for the chair and $0.99 for the end table, both from our local

Goodwill. Seriously! I'm planning on swapping out the drawer pulls on the bedside tables and the end table, most likely with some fun knobs from Anthropologie - and it looks like the knobs will cost me more than the actual furniture itself! Gotta love a good deal. Even my mom, who keeps saying I

shouldn't buy more furniture before the 22-hour move, agreed that all the stuff I snatched up was too good to pass up.

Speaking of good deals, saving moolah, and purging stuff in preparation for my move: yesterday the sis, bro-in-law, and I also hit up Half-Price Books with three boxes of old books I wanted to sell. It was a good mix of hard and paperbacks, most teenage novels I'll never read again. I got $45 bucks for clearing out two whole shelves in my built-in - and I couldn't be happier! As someone who was just going to give them away, it's awesome to hear that I can actually get money! WOAH. They're smart, though - as they are sorting through your goods to determine an offering price (based on store needs, customer demands, etc.) they require that you stay on the store premises. That means that during your wait time (anywhere from 5 - 30 minutes, depending on how many other sellers are there) you are browsing their really large selection of books, magazines, CDs, and movies. Needless to say I found some awesome books and movies for - you guessed it - half-price (Funny Face! Audrey Hepburn, Fred Astaire - who couldn't love it?!) and these items were deducted from my $45. But as I said, I was planning on giving away the books for nada, so I felt as though the store had given me my books & movie for free, and given me some cash money to boot!

My favorite thing about selling all those books and a big chunk of my junk

in the garage sale: I used that cash to buy many of my thrifty furniture finds, including my dining room table (shown in the post below), the Goodwill end table and chair, AND my craigslisted media stand and bedside tables. So I got a major bang for my buck, essentially exchanging unnecessary clutter and silliness for the fun, functional, economical, quality (barely-looks-used!) furniture that will populate my new adult apartment!

In addition to Half-Price books, thrifting, and craigslist rendezvous, my sister, brother-in-law, and I spent the rest of our day eating yummy pizza at d'Bronx, seeing Shrek Forever After, and playing some favorite card games! All in all, I had fun with my latest experiments and now can't wait to add the chile tortilla chicken to my recipe binder, and to start breathing fresh life into my used furniture with some fun paint colors.