Can you believe that it’s already MONDAY?! Where did the weekend go? Can we get a restart on the weekend, please? Today’s Married Monday post is all about our top 5 kitchen essentials AND I’m even sharing with y’all one of my favorite recipes of all time…it’s definitely a recipe you’ll want to make for dinner one night soon…it’s SO good!
Whoever said that the kitchen was the “heart of the home” has never been over to our house. (& I’m not trying to diss that statement, because I believe it was my favorite Joanna Gaines quote…so she’s totally right in my book!) But our kitchen is SO small compared to most new kitchens nowadays. There’s no great big island, or lifted bar space. There’s no granite counter tops or stainless steel appliances, or a refrigerator with an ice maker. And let me tell you, I thought I’d died and gone to Heaven when I found out our house had a DISPOSAL AND a DISHWASHER! (Seriously y’all. I’ve NEVER had a disposal…and my last house HAD a dishwasher….but it was my TWO HANDS! 😉 ) Plus, our kitchen is also complete with a vintage PEA GREEN porcelain sink! It would be HIDEOUS in another house y’all, but in ours…it’s looks like home!
Here’s a before of what our kitchen looked like on closing day…(I STILL shudder at the sight of all that knotty pine!) 
Let’s face it — our kitchen isn’t up-to-date, but it certainly is quaint…and it’s one of my favorite rooms in our house. OK, so if you’ve been reading the blog for a while now, you’ve read that almost EVERY ROOM is my favorite room in the house…and that statement is SO TRUE. I literally walk around our house every night and just belt out how much I love our home! Ask Phillip! I do it ALL. THE. TIME. 😉
But like I was saying, I just love our kitchen. When we first bought the house, we went to store after store looking at granite and marble and day dreaming about new appliances, but soon after I gave our pine cabinets a fresh coat of white paint…I realized that our kitchen was so swoon worthy so a full kitchen reno could wait… (& our couldn’t have been wallets happier!) Now, mind you, while I would’ve LOVED to put money into a new kitchen renovation BEFORE we started LIVING in the house, I realized that I was completely content with the kitchen and I would stick with our quaint little kitchen for the time being. We’ll probably put some elbow grease into the kitchen within the next 2-3 years, meaning we’ll update the countertops, sink & faucet, and upgraded appliances, but we’re not planning on staying here forever….so we figured we’ll put in the money to help it sell later on, but in the meantime…we’re happy!
SO! There are some things that I simply LOVE about our kitchen and what’s inside it and I thought I’d share my top 5 kitchen essentials with y’all today! 🙂 Here it goes!
5.) OUR ISLAND I bought this white and butcher-block top island from Target a few years ago when it was on super sale! I had my eye on it for many months before I bought it, and LOVED the fact that I got it for $85 off original price! I simply LOVE this island! Even though our kitchen would feel and look A LOT bigger without it, I can’t give up it’s awesome counter space, the extra storage, and it’s just SO daggum cute! SO it stays! Currently, the island drawers house our storage things like plastic wraps, baggies, and tin foil and the cabinets hold all of our tupperware, lunch boxes, and two large glass tea urns for whenever I’m hosting anything! 
4.) LE CRUSET DUTCH OVEN This was one item that was for sure on the top of our wedding registry list! I have always wanted one ever since I started reading The Pioneer Woman’s blog…she literally uses it for EVERYTHING! (Which we’ll talk about all that later! 😉 ) I make lots in this pot and what’s so nice about it being cast iron is that I can use it on the stove and inside the oven! It’s VERY versatile and I love it! Plus, it cleans up pretty nicely too…it rarely leaves a mess…especially when I burn/overcook just about EVERYTHING. 
3.) RACHEAL RAY SPOONS I find it very comical that I have a love affair with spoons. YES…SPOONS!! But I absolutely LOVE my Rachael Ray lazy spoon set! Why, you ask? I simply don’t need to use a spoon rest with them and they keep my stove top extra tidy while cooking. There’s a little groove in the spoon handle that you just rest the side of the pot into and…viloa! It just hangs on the pot! No spoon rest required!! I have these in Orange and would LOVE to find another set!
2.) OUR MEASURING CABINET Phillip surprised me one day when I came home and had taken one of my Pinterest Projects and actually DID IT for me!! I wanted to hang measuring cups and spoons inside one of our kitchen cabinets by the stove so when I needed to measure something out real fast I could just quickly open the cabinet door and get what I needed. The best part? We have MULTIPLE measuring cups and measuring spoons, so when I need the same measurement for different things, instead of wasting time having to wash one and then use it again, I just pull out another measuring cup! I love it! We bought the cups and spoons at the Dollar Tree (they’re the red Duncan Hines kind!) and Phillip attached white hooks to the inside of the cabinet door and I arranged them and then labeled them with chalk. Oh yeah, about that…we have ALL of the insides of our cabinets painted with black chalkboard paint! We leave little love notes to one another and even write out our quick go-to recipes on the inside. It’s a fun little quirky way to make our kitchen OURS. Will I paint chalkboard on the interior of my NEXT kitchen, probably not. But for now, while we’re young and new homeowners, I thought why not?! 😉 
1.) KITCHEN AID STAND MIXER I ABSOLUTELY LOVE my stand mixer and I was SO HAPPY the day I got mine for Christmas one year! I asked for the white because it’s classic and I didn’t want to “grow out”of the color, but now that I see all these other cute colors, I’m really envious of the teal! I literally use the mixer EVERY CHANCE I get. Sometimes I really won’t even HAVE to use a mixer I use it just because to me, I fee like I’m a legit chef making something extra good when it’s on, but really I’m just whisking something simple like flour and sugar together! Hehe!
So I’ve shared with y’all my five favorite things in our kitchen and NOW I’m going to share one of our favorite recipes with you! We made this the other night when we had our parents over for dinner and it truly is such a hit! Everyone just loves it and when they ask for seconds…you know it’s good! It’s the World’s Best Lasagna Recipe…like….ever. I found it over on The Pioneer Woman’s blog but you can find it all over Pinterest too!
I make my tomato sauce in the big dutch oven pot and let it simmer for at least 50 minutes to an hour…sure, it takes a long time…but your house will thank you for it! It will smell like little Italy in your kitchen! So good! 🙂 Also, just another side note…I make this recipe with ground chicken or turkey instead of ground beef and you literally can’t even tell! It’s SO good!
Click to get the World’s Best Lasagna Recipe HERE!
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