Budget Back Door Shoe Rack

by Mimi

Skill Level: Newbie
Time Needed: 4 hrs total (it's all about watching paint dry- so plan on letting things go overnight to ensure it's good and dry)

The need for this project popped up due to all the "man" sized shoes that accumulate at my back door in my kitchen.  And since I don't have a mud room yet (hint, hint), I need to keep this high traffic area clear from shoe debris.  In winter it seems that all people in my house try to keep most of their shoes in this area. But we have a small area and that is simply NOT possible. So my solution (which I think is being VERY generous) is that you can keep a pair of boots and one other pair of shoes in this area. 
One day while estate sale-ing with my co-conspirator Megan, we came across some wire magazine racks, 2 for $.50! Now these are not petite magazine racks they are about 21" long by 12"wide and about 5" depth (at the widest part).  Which is perfect for me because the smallest shoes that go in them are mine (sigh). Did I mention that my 9 yr old's foot is my size?

Let's jump in and get started.

Materials needed:

• wire magazine racks
• spray paint (I used hammered silver by Rustoleum)
• Wire brush or sand paper (meant for metal)
• paper towels or work cloth and water
• drill & drill bits
• screwdriver
• Level, pencil
• ClosetMaid 1770 Support Bracket Clips (wall mounting for drywall)
• 10x12 plastic tarp

Directions:

1. Start by taking the racks and seeing where you are going to position them on the wall. Take pencil and make marks where they will hang.
2. Use level and draw line from 1st hole to 2nd hole making sure that the line is indeed "level," by using your level to draw the line between the 2 holes. Make sure you have adequate space between the 2 racks for the shoes to fit.**ClosetMaid suggests 12 inches between brackets but on ours it is 7".
3. Next take wire brush (or your sandpaper) and gently scrape at any rusty areas.  We are not going to be too worried about the rust here just want good prep so the paint will adhere to the surface of the rusted out parts. **If these are brand new and you just want a different color, no sanding necessary just skip to step 5 (most of your paints have primer in them now anyway).
4. Take paper towel and dampen. Wipe the surface of all your pieces and let dry.
5. Lay racks on tarp.  I like to prop mine up a bit on pieces of old 2x4s so I can get around and see different angles while I’m spraying.
6. Spray the racks evenly.  At first the previous color of the rack will show through a bit.  Wait to semi-dry before 2nd coat.
7. While you are waiting drill your holes for your securing brackets and gently tap them into place.
8. Time for your 2nd and 3rd coats of spray paint. You want to ensure that your racks are well saturated with paint and that there is no drippage or unevenness. Let dry for a overnight and depending on the temperature.  (if it is cool out it will take much longer to dry)
9. Once dry, hang the racks on the support brackets and start cleaning up those shoes!

Noteworthy:

I noticed that during winter the shoe racks accumulated hats and mittens too.  Which is fine because I mainly just want to keep the back door area clean and tidy.
After I had finished this project I went and looked at reviews of the support brackets by ClosetMaid and there were some mixed reviews.  If you are concerned that your shoes or items are too heavy you can:
Remove the nail/tack out of the bracket and saw off the plastic back wall insert and use regular screw type "mollys" to anchor in the drywall.  
Mine have been fine and have been up since November so I will keep you posted though if anything changes.
Now go be Experimental DIY-ers!

Mimi’s Lasagna

by: Melissa Hanley

Type: Main Dish

Serves: 4-6

I first tried a version of this recipe about 20 years ago. It was originally a Weight Watchers Lasagna that tasted good but needed a lot of tweaking to pass the picky taste-buds of my husband. I think eventually it kind of came full circle and is pretty much where traditional lasagna started. You will notice that I try to cut calories, fat or cholesterol where I can without sacrificing taste.

Let's get started making a mess!

Ingredients

• 1 box of lasagna noodles
• 3 cups of ricotta cheese
• 1.5 cups of parmesan cheese
• 3 cups of shredded Mozzarella cheese
• 3 egg whites or 9 tbsp of box egg whites
• 1 lb of ground pork or turkey
• 1 pkg of turkey pepperoni
• 1 jar of spaghetti sauce
• 1 tsp of salt
• 3 tsp of pepper
• 3 tsp garlic powder
• 3 tsp of dried chopped basil

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Spray non-stick onto bottom of 9 x 13 baking dish.
• Brown the ground pork or turkey in a skillet with 1 tsp of pepper, 1 tsp of salt, 1 tsp of garlic and 1 tsp of basil. If you use ground turkey you will need to add a touch of olive oil to the skillet because there is not a lot of fat in turkey to help it cook and not stick.  If you use the pork you will need to blot or drop onto a plate covered in a paper towel to get excess grease off. Set aside.

• Next is the cheese mixture. combine 3 cups of ricotta (I used 2 cup Fat free and 1 cup whole milk in the hopes that it would be a little healthier) with 9 tbsp of egg white, 1.5 cups of parmesan, 2 cups of shredded mozzarella, 2 tsp of garlic powder, 2 tsp of dried basil, and 2 tsp of pepper. Mix well with spoon.

• Now we begin layering the ingredients.  Place 1st layer of noodles on bottom of greased baking dish. Next spoon cheese mixture onto noodle layer and spread around,  Pour a generous amount of Spaghetti sauce on top of cheese (about 1 cup) and spread around.  Last comes the browned pork/turkey, place about 1/3rd of meat onto the sauce layer.  Repeat until you have 3 layers.

• Last layer follow the same procedure as in step 4 but top your meat layer with the turkey pepperoni and the remaining cup of shredded mozzarella.

• Cover lightly with tin foil and place in oven covered for 35 minutes.

• After 35 minutes remove foil (contents should be bubbly) and continue cooking for 12-15 more minutes (depending on the level of desired browned edges you like).

For printable recipe click here

Noteworthy:

Vegetarian (not Vegan) Version

If you would like to increase your health factors this can be made without ANY meat.  Up the taste by adding a bit (around 2 tsp) of dried onion into your cheese mixture.  Also add fresh spinach in each layer as well.  

Gluten Free alternative

Substitute regular lasagna noodles for very thin sliced green and yellow zucchini.  Please note that cooking times will vary with this substitution as the layer of zucchini on bottom could burn and stick to dish.