Repurposed Nightstand

My husband is always poking fun at my picky great taste in decorating our little house. He finds it incredulous that I will live in an empty house rather than decorate it with anything I do NOT love. I am one of those crazy people that believes you should surround yourself with things you love, have meaning, are aesthetic, practical, and can be well loved. Which has made "decorating" really hard. I have shopped at ridiculously overpriced furniture shops, and have found things I liked... But not loved. So being me, a crazy DIY-er, I began buying up furniture a few years back off of Craigslist (Yes, there was a big DIY community in the blogging world long before Pinterest lol!). :) It had to be real, sturdy hard wood, with beautiful details, and the potential to be a perfect fit for my heart's desire. I now have a small collection of ugly brown antique furniture that has been just waiting for me to have the time and room to give them new life. And by the grace of God, I have recently acquired a little of both. My sweet husband is very relieved happy to finally start seeing furniture in the house. However, until I finish all the major pieces; I won't hang anything on the walls. This is probably the bane of his existence. Thankfully, he loves me more than picture frames. :)

This is the nightstand I scored for like no money, and it had no knobs.

Desperately needing some TLC

After some sanding, primer, paint, glaze, sealant, new hardware, and love... This is what I now have!

My taste exactly, loving it!

I LOVE it more than anything I could buy, even from potterybarn (and I freakin' love PB!!)!! It matches my taste perfectly! And that hubby loves that it cost him almost nothing except patience. Well, maybe he does mind all that patience. ;)

SO, all you picky awesome decorators; never underestimate the power of working with your hands to create something so perfectly you. :)

Organic Chipotle Shrimp Tacos!!!

This is possibly my husband's FAVORITE dish! And it's nothing fancy, at all. It's just shrimp tacos. But according to him, they are almost "other-worldly" haha! Well apparently my husband LOVES them SO much that I feel bad not sharing them with you all! Since we are a real-food family, this recipe is too, but I promise it tastes SO much better! 

I suggest making the sauce, slaw, and tortillas ahead of time; for saving time and letting flavors marinate. :)

MOUTH WATERING!

To Assemble: Fill tortillas with shrimp, cover liberally with sauce, and then toss on the slaw. Enjoy!

Basic Tortilla Recipe

• 4 cups of sprouted organic flour
• 1 teaspoon of organic salt
• 2 teaspoons of organic baking powder
• 2 tablespoons of grass-fed, homemade rendered lard
• 1 1/2 cups of water

Preparation Instructions:
Whisk the flour, salt, and baking powder together in a mixing bowl. Mix in the lard with your fingers until the flour resembles cornmeal. Add the water and mix until the dough comes together; place on a lightly floured surface and knead a few minutes until smooth and elastic. Divide the dough into 24 equal pieces and roll each piece into a ball.
Preheat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Use a well-floured rolling pin to roll a dough ball into a thin, round tortilla. Place into the hot skillet, and cook until bubbly and golden; flip and continue cooking until golden on the other side. Place the cooked tortilla in a tortilla warmer; continue rolling and cooking the remaining dough.

Organic Chipotle Shrimp

• 2 lbs. Wild Caught Fresh Shrimp
• 2 C. Pasture Raised Butter
• 1/2 c.Organic Worcestershrire Sauce
• 2 Tbl. Ogranic Minced Garlic
• 10 slices of Pasture-Raised Bacon, diced and cooked
• 1 White Organic Onion, diced
• Organic Cayenne Pepper
• Organic Mexican Seasoning Mix

Preparation Instructions:
Melt the butter in a large sauce pan over low heat. Add the worcestershire sauce, and then add the minced garlic. Stir the mixture, letting it warm up over low heat. Peel and de-vein your shrimp while stirring intermittently. Lay the shrimp out flat in a shallow baking dish and cover both sides liberally with the seasonings. After they are well coated to your taste pour the butter mixture evenly over the shrimp. Let the shrimp "marinate" while the bacon cooks.

In a large, deep skillet fry the diced bacon over medium-high heat until done. Remove the bacon to a large mixing bowl. Stir in the shrimp and chipotle chiles; cook 4 minutes or until done (this may take a few batches so distribute the chipotle chiles evenly among the batches). Remove and place the shrimp into the same bowl as the bacon.

Now add the diced onion and saute it in the pan before placing it in the mixing bowl also. Then toss the mixture until it is evenly distributed.

Organic Cole Slaw

• 1/2 head Organic Cabbage, sliced thin
• 1/2 head Organic Purple Cabbage, sliced thin
• 1 whole organic jalepeno, chopped finely
• 1/2 cup organic or raw milk
• 1/2 cup Organic Mayonnaise or Fermented Mayonnaise
• 1 tsp Organic White Vinegar
• 1 T Raw Cane Sugar
• 1/4 tsp Pink Himalayan Salt
• 1/4 tsp Organic Cayenne Pepper
• 1 bunch of Organic Cilantro, roughly chopped

Preparation Instructions:
Combine shredded cabbage and sliced jalepenos in a bowl. In a seperate bowl mix milk, mayonnaise, vinegar, sugar, salt, and cayenne. Pour over cabbage.  Add Cilantro. Toss to combine. Cover and refrigerate for a couple of hours before serving.
*By Ree Drummond

Organic Chipotle Sauce

• 1 organic chipotle pepper in adobo sauce
• 1 tsp. minced garlic
• 1 organic teaspoon cumin
• 4 teaspoons raw organic honey
• 1 cup organic plain greek yogurt 
• 4 tablespoons organic mayonnaise 
• 1 teaspoon organic salt

Preparation Instructions:
Place all ingredients in blender. Blend on high, until sauce is no longer lumpy. Store in a air tight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.