Kitchen Arrangement 2/3 ~ Even More Counter Space

Yesterday I did my Kitchen Arrangement 1/3 ~ Moving Around for More Counter Space, and I really like the way it looks!  The counter is more spacious, and now I have plenty of room to cook!

I finally did find a way to put my drying mat away!!!

On the left of the sink is a narrow drawer.  I was using it for the spatulas and... well, some Chinese sauces... 
~I know, pretty messy in there, but I've been waiting on all my kitchen supplies and boxes to come up from in FL, and I didn't know where to put them for now...~

Kitchen Arrangement 1/3 ~ Moving Around for More Counter Space

I really like spending time in the kitchen.  I enjoy just sitting down at the table, reading articles from my iPad ~ok, more like going on Pinterest or my fav blogs!~ or drinking coffee, but most of all, I love to cook!  

The problem is, I like to have and need a lot of counter space when I cook.  Unfortunately, the kitchen in our cute rental house isn't very big and there is not enough counter space for me.  Especially not when the microwave and the oven/toaster oven are there taking so much room! 

I also had my drying mat right in between the sink and the microwave.  So, pretty much no room at all for anything else on the right side of the sink!

Under-the-Kitchen-Sink Cabinet

The cabinet under the sink in the kitchen is where I store all my cleaning supplies, as I am sure many of you do, right? Honestly, does anyone store anything else in there? Other than garbage or cleaning things, what else can we put there?! ~If you have any suggestions, please share!!

So, in my old condo in Florida, I used to have a little shelf in there which was really practical because it enabled me to use the full height of the cabinet: under the self were all my little items in bins (e.g., sponges, gloves...) and on top were all the product in bottles.

Here, in the house, no shelf. So I was wasting so much space ~in height~ and was a big need of a solution before I ran out of room!

Here is what it looked like before!

Yes, I know!!! Kinda messy! Sponges pilled on top of each other, bottles I didn't even know were what nor where... And look at all the space between the top of the bottles and the top of that cabinet... Such a waste, and I can't stand using spaces to their full potential!!

About the blog and its title

      I wanted the title of my blog to illustrate its content.  Since it resembles a journal about the little things I do to make my life a more positive and enjoyable one, I thought about “positive-ness” or “positive attitude”.   I quickly put the two together, added “life” and came up with the phrase “Life in Positudiness”.  I shared my new title with my husband who was as enthusiastic as I was, and so I decided this was it!

I did some research on the Internet to make sure that the same title didn’t exist already as well as the word I had “created”, and well… I found out that a similar word does exist. “Positude” is the abbreviation for “positive attitude” ~as defined by the www.urbandictionary.com~ and the adverbe “positudeness” is apparently used across the web.  I was not able to find a definition for it, but it probably means the goodness of positude, right?!  I had honestly never heard of the word before... ~ what can I say, I’m French after all!! I still have a little bit of work to do toward my bilingual abilities!~

So, no, to my disappointment, my brain did not completely “make up” my title!! But since I like much better how “positudiness” sounds compared to “positudeness”, I’m keeping it my way!!  J

      Then, I was playing around with a description of the title.  I just got married, so I was having fun looking at my new initials ~S L B R ~ and trying to form new words with them!  The perfect combination came up!!  

These 4 words perfectly describe a Life in Positudiness!!  To achieve a life with positive attitude, it is important to:

·        1st - See what you want to do in your mind: envision it;

·        2nd - Live it: take action;

·        3rd - Believe that you did/accomplished it: be proud of yourself no matter how big or small the action was; and finally…

·        4th - Remember it: share it with your family and friends. 

Munchy Bites

The new treat I go nuts for is Dark Chocolate Munchy Bites by A&R.
It's soooo delicious! It's actually addicting!

The clusters are made with Pepita, Cashews, Almonds, Pistachios all nicely packed into little tiny bites and bound by a nice layer of dark chocolate!

Broccoli and Asparagus Quiche + Lettuce and some Real French Salad Dressing

Ingredients:
1 pie crust
3 eggs
1 zucchini
2 cups of broccoli - broken into small tiny bunches
1 bunch of asparagus (about 12)
shredded cheese
a pinch of Salt
1/2 teaspoon of Pepper 
2 teaspoons of Seasoning ~ Kirkland Signature Organic No Salt Seasoning

Quiches

I loooove Quiches! They remind me so much of France!

Quiches are really easy to make and are healthy and delicious! My hubby is a fan of them. One entire quiche usually lasts us the night ~although, I try to be reasonable and keep a serving for my lunch the next day!~ The left over holds perfectly and is pretty transportable for a lunch on the go!

As my Aunt Flo once taught me, you can make a quiche with any kind of vegetables/flavors that you want. Plus, whenever you don't know what to cook for dinner, or don't have much time, quiches are the perfect solution! They only take about 10min to prepare, then just let it bake in the oven for approximately 45min!

I prefer to make mines with lots of veggies because it's an easy way to eat your serving of greens for the day! And, I always have a few vegetables that sit in my fridge for a while, so before they go bad, I just throw them in a nice little quiche mixture. It's perfect!!

All you need is one pie crust, some eggs ~2,3 or 4~, a bit of sour cream, cheese, and any kind of other fresh ingredients you like.
Just mix everything together, put it on your pie crust, bake it in the over et voilà!

Since I kinda make quiches regularly, I might share with you my favorites whenever I make one!

Feel free to share your combinations of ingredients! I'm always up to trying new yummy meals!

Enjoy Healthy Meals For a

Life in Positudiness!

~Sandie

About Me

Bonjour tout le monde! 

~Hello everyone!~

I am a twenty-something French girl ~born and raised in France~.  Six years ago, I decided to leave my entire family and country for the US!  I fell in love with the "American Dream" and well... especially with a handsome and amazing American boy!

The past 6 years have been a bit hectic, especially because I was living in a foreign country far away from home and family.  But, being an Au Pair ~a live-in nanny from another country~, going to school for 4.5 years while continuously learning English as a second language, moving to different states twice, traveling, meeting extraordinary people, marrying into the American Life, all are experiences that shaped me into the person I've become.  I have learned so much from all these situations, and I am grateful for each of them.

Last December, I graduated college as a Special Education teacher, moved to another state (from FL to NJ), and married that American boy! :)
Life gets better each day!!!

We are now happily living in a rental house in NJ close to his family, but still far from mine...! 

This little piece of the Internet is my secret place to share with you ~family, friends and readers~ some of what I learn, create, cook, experience throughout my French-American journey, and what I aspire for: little steps to making life more positive and enjoyable each and every day!

**Here is more on why I started this little blog! ;)
**Looking for more info about the meaning behind the title: Click here! 

The Jersey Shore - Seaside Heights after Sandy

We were finally able to go down to the Jersey Shore, our first time since Hurricane Sandy.
For quite some time the bridge was closed for visitors. My husband's family have a shore house a few minutes north of the famous Seaside Heights. Of course, as everyone knows the whole area had been evacuated. Two months after the hurricane, they were finally allowed to go to their house to assess the damages, but they had to drive down to a certain area and then take transportation made available for all inhabitants of the island. Now, the island is re-opened to everyone, but there is still a curfew and police officers are very strict on what visitors can or cannot do.

Last time I was there was July 28th 2012 when my brother came to visit us from France. This is a restaurant called The Dock where we had breakfast that morning. After we ate, we took a walk all the way to the end of the dock, it was beautiful (I'll have to steal  my Mother-In-Laws's pics of that day!). There were fishermen, families going on their little boats, children running around. I can just remember the joyful happy feeling floating in the air.
When we were there 3 days ago, it was a completely different scenery...

Here is a little Before/After picture of the beach by my In-Laws summer home. Huge sand dunes formed in front of all the houses along this beach. It doesn't seem that bad on picture, but in reality it's pretty impressive! Especially when you're on top of them, and it used to be as flat as a crepe! (sorry, that's probably a very French analogy...)

Before ~ July 28, 2012

After ~ February 10, 2013

Here is another one... Let's see if you can tell the difference!!

Before ~ October 28th, 2012 ~ My crazy Hubby was the last person on the beach that day, while it was being evacuated!

After ~ February 10, 2013 

Yes, the sky is blue on the After picture! But no, that's not the only difference, nor is the snow!

Yes, the little house is GONE... :( It used to be the guard house...

And now for Seaside Heights:

Of course, it's been months now since the hurricane. A lot of work has been done already. And with the snow, it almost kinda somewhat looks... ok... I'm just saying that these are not right-after-the-storm pictures but, for us, it was still a big shocker...

Although we weren't really allowed to and cops were constantly yelling at us to get off, we were finally able to walk on the "Board Walk" or whatever is left of it and see more of the disaster caused by the hurricane.

Left over of Funtown Pier... 

I passed it so many times, wanted to go in it so many times, never went in and always said, "oh it's alright, we'll go next time". 

Not anymore I guess..

. 

This is where the Board Walk ends...

Casino Pier:

 I really wanted to go on the sky lift/sky ride... I've gone on so many in sky resorts with snow under my feet in a very cold air and being bundled in layers of warmth. I wanted to see so bad how it felt to be on top sand, on a nice summer day, wearing not much more than a bathing suit...
Not sure when that will be possible...

Still so much clean up to do...

There were mounts of garbage everywhere we looked (furniture, documents, machines, appliances...).

It just gave us a really weird feeling being there... Sad feeling I guess... "Down the shore" will never be the same anymore...

So... It just made me realize...
We never know what will happen tomorrow, so why always wait or push things back for the next day or even later on ???

Seize The Day For  A

Life in Positudiness!

~Sandie

To a new beginning

Here I am!! Finally...

I have dreamed of this day for so long!

I am not a writer, and I don't think I am great at it, but funny as it may be, I dream of living the life of one of them! Well... to some degree that is! ;) I sometimes day dream that I am sitting at a tiny round table in a coffee shop, with my laptop in front of me. It's Fall outside, and it starts to get colder. The cozy coffee shop is filled with the warm smell of coffee beans roasted in pumpkin spice ~ my favorite flavored coffee! ~ As I am slowly sipping my coffee, I glance at my surroundings, waiting for an inspiration. Then, there it is... The words start dancing in my mind, and so I start typing on my little keyboard.