Tile Job

I can't even tell you how many times we've done a home project and in the end we say "why didn't we do that sooner?!?!"  Usually the end result is great and we were "over-thinking" it to begin with.  Yes, I choose to end that sentence in a preposition.  It is my blog.  I. Don't. Care. (I sure hope my high school english teacher doesn't read this because I really loved her!).
In efforts to get our home spruced up for selling we decided to use some left over tile that Eric's parents had in their basement.  This project was FREE...even down to the grout, again we ask "why" did we wait?  We had talked about it for a long time since the tile has been there for nearly four years.  Eric was thinking up some fancy design and was debating cutting the tiles into triangles; however, we came to the conclusion that simple was better.  It is a basic fiberglass insert type bathroom and doing too much might look out of place and leave one wishing for more.  So in one evening we (meaning Eric doing all the work and me handing him tiles) went from this:

 To this:

 

I did buy a new curtain rod (the curved kind) and it is amazing how much more spacious it makes the shower feel! I highly recommend them!

Another home project we did within the last year (that we wished we had done sooner) was our laundry room. The folding table/ledge and extra cabinets to hold detergent are pure bliss!

The cabinets and counter top were from a discount home improvement place and cost under $100.  Besides paint and some brackets this was a pretty cheap make-over!

Pasta with Asparagus

Where did March go?!?!  Things have been a little nutso around here.  We bought a house and sold our house in the month of March.  The week that we listed our house we had three showings and the week after that we had three or four (with three little kids that turns into an all day event).   However, that paid off because in just two weeks we accepted an offer!  We still have some inspections to wrap up, but so far so good!  Given this economy we really saw God's hand in all this!

We also have a great realtor if you're interested click here!!

Ok, so what does this have to do with pasta and asparagus???
It's quick, easy, and healthy.   Three key words I craved this past month! ;)
Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds fresh asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces 1/4 cup chicken broth (or beef broth) 1/2 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced

8 ounces angel hair pasta 1 tablespoon olive oil 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1.	Cook pasta according to package instructions.
2.	Heat the olive oil in a nonstick skillet. Saute asparagus (crushed garlic - 2 cloves) in the pan over medium heat for about 3 minutes. Add chicken broth and mushroom slices; cook 3 minutes more.
3.	Drain pasta, and transfer to a serving dish. Gently toss pasta with asparagus mixture; sprinkle with Parmesan and crushed red pepper.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © 2011 Allrecipes.com

Printed from Allrecipes.com 4/4/2011

This recipe is from the allrecipes.com website - which I love!  I enjoy reading the reviews and seeing how people adapt the recipes to their own style and I usually find people out there that think like I do!  In this case, someone added garlic.  I. Love. Garlic.  I also added the noodles to the saute pan and let them cook for a minute or two with the veggies.  It really made them soak up the other flavors.  I did not have parmesan cheese on hand, but I did have an enormous block of pecorino romano cheese from Costco (everything from Costco is enormous, I like that place).
I also added the crushed red pepper in during the cooking time and I only used a dash or two and that was plenty!
This whole meal took about 15 minutes from start to finish and it would have been quicker if I wasn't waiting on the bread.  That is faster than you can get through a drive through restaurant!