Monday's Meal

Sometimes you want something that is so good, but not necessarily good for you. Spring is here and it has me thinking about the farmer's market and all the great things that are there. That got me thinking about onions. I really think they are delicious and you know what's even more delicious? Fried onion rings. Yummo!


Fried Onion Rings
3 large onions ( I like vidalia or spanish onions)
2 cups of buttermilk
2 1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 1/2 tsp pepper
1 1/2 cup of flour
1/4 cup of yellow cornmeal
oil for frying

Peel and slice onion to your desired thickness, 1/4"- 1/2" is probably good. Separate them into rings. Combine the buttermilk, 1 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tsp of pepper in a bowl. Add the onions and toss well, allow them to marinate for at least 20 mins, but an hour or two is better. In another bowl combine the flour, cornmeal, 1 tsp of salt and 1/2 tsp of pepper. Set aside for now.
Now heat up your oil to approx. 375 degrees F, it's best to use a dutch oven or large pot versus a skillet to avoid a lot of mess, but either works well. Next get a cookie sheet and line it with parchment paper. Now dip your onions into your buttermilk mixture and then your flour mixture. Allow them to set so that the coating isn't dripping off them. Place them in the hot oil without crowding, cook until golden brown about 2 or 3 mins. Remove to drain on a paper towel and sprinkle with more salt if desired.

Spring Sewing

I found this cool info online about Sewing with a plan. The idea is to make 11 interchangeable items to make up a wardrobe. I want to story board my ideas for the kids wardrobes, but I'm having a tough time figuring out how to do it(not the most computer savvy person around, lol). Nonetheless I'll just tell you what I have planned. So for each child I'm going to make 11 interchangeable items. For E & M. who are essentially the same size it will be like they have double the clothes. So I'll be making the following for each boy.
2 t-shirts from the Simple + 1 book
2 raglan t-shirts with color blocking or embroidery
2 double layer t-shirts/or campshirts
3 pairs of shorts (fabrics will be knit,denim and twill)
2 pairs of knit sweatpants

I do also plan to make a couple pairs of pj pants and some underwear for them too, but that's outside of my wardrobe plan.

For O. I plan to make
2 tshirts (from a favorite Ottobre pattern)
2 tunic tops
2 capris
1 skirt
1 sundress
3 pairs of shorts/skorts

I'll also make a couple of knit nightgowns and underwear for O. too.
This should keep me busy for a bit. I need to pick out the fabric, make sure it's been prewashed and then I'll will do mass cuttings. I'll probably work on one child's clothes at a time to keep from having too many ufo's at once and getting overwhelmed. I'll keep you up on my progress. So, there you have it, my personal SWAP. Ah, if only I was better with the computer. It would look so cool storyboarded. Maybe after I figure out the fabrics and all the patterns I plan to use I can get Mister to help me.

A little bloom in the air

I've had this fabric from Chez Ami curing in my stash for oh, I don't know three years. Finally, I decided it would make the perfect spring/easter dress for O. Here it is. I love the print with the pindots. I'm almost out of the green pindots and was reluctant to use it,but I think it looks great so I have no regrets. Oh and here's a strongly coaxed model shot. Now you understand why I just usually take a picture of the garment on a hanger, lol.

Work on it Wednesday

Well the kids are out for Spring Break so my schedule is much less demanding. As a result this entire week has been a bit of a work on it. I have a few quick things I want to work on. There's a book shelf in the alcove that I have some of the kids books on and since they generally put them away they are a haphazard mess, so I'm going to get those straightened up. I also think I have time to paint the half bathroom. I finally settled on color, it's a light yellow called "melting sun". I like it. I'm also planning a small vegetable garden and if the weather holds, I'm going to start preparing the area. I've been researching online to get the information about how to proceed since I haven't gardened in forever and then it was just a small herb garden. I'm excited. But, I better get started, I should be able to begin planting after the 15th. I'd also like to paint the second piece of the furniture from Mister's grandmother. I did put the poly on the other piece and it really looks nice, I can't believe I didn't do it sooner.
Of course the kids have wanted to go and do things this week too so we'll be doing a bit of running around too. Anyway, enjoy your Spring!

Monday's Meal

Still have a ton of chicken so I've had to dig through my recipe banks and think of some interesting things to make with it. I remembered I had this fabulous recipe for a Wonton Chicken Salad that was given to me probably twelve years ago by a co-worker. She was a fantastic cook so any recipe she shared I absolutely cherish. It's quick and delicious...oh and it has chicken in it.

Wonton Chicken Salad
1 head of iceberg lettuce, shredded
2 bunches of green onions, chopped finely
4 cooked chicken breast, cut into small pieces
1/2 pkg of wontons
1/4 cup of toasted almonds
Small ammount of powdered sugar for dusting

Dressing
1/4 cup of oil
2 tsp of salt
1/4 cup of sugar
1 tsp of pepper
1/4 cup of rice wine vinegar (or regular is fine)
2 tsp of soy sauce



Prepare the dressing right before you make the salad by combining all the ingredients for dressing in a carafe, mixing well. Set aside
Cut the wontons into strips, heat a skillet with a few tablespoons of oil and add them to the skillet and fry them. They only need to cook for a few seconds on each side to crisp. Take them out and while hot sprinkle a dusting of powdered sugar on them. Let them drain on paper towels to cool.
In a large salad bowl combine the iceberg lettuce, chicken, green onions and toasted almonds. Allow salad to chill. Just before serving add the prepared wontons and salad dressing, tossing it all together. Serve immediately.

I flip for this!!!

WooHoo! It's here my new flip video camera. It's okay, it was purchased prior to going no spend for April. I've wanted one for awhile and I've been stalking Woot forever. Finally last week they had a Woot off and I scored one. I got a pink one! Way cool!

Work on it Wednesday

Feeling better and ready to tackle some of this mess. It's amazing how a couple days of not staying on top of stuff can really add up. I have plans to do a room by room deep spring clean. First though, I need to tackle that Master bedroom closet. It's getting a bit crazy in there. In fact I really need to go through all the closets and purge some clothes. Luckily I should have more time since the boys don't have school and I can devote much of the day to this task. If I have time I also need to work on my couponing. I'm finding it a bit overwhelming to keep up with them and to remember to use them. Maybe I'm just not a coupon kind of girl. It was an experiment and while I'm not giving up yet, I haven't seen any big economic advantages to couponing for me. I still shop Aldi's and other loss leaders and do pretty well. We're spending about $600-700/month on food for our family and that includes paper goods and cleaning supplies. I'm sure others do better, but I'm pretty satisfied with that amount, it's about 50% less than I used to spend.
Last, but not least I need to sew up O.'s Easter dress so she can wear it to school for their program. I have it all cut out, I just need to stitch it up.
Wow...that's actually a pretty extensive list. I guess I have a lot to work on.
Oh and before I forget, today starts the April no spend challenge. I'm sure you'll hear me complain about it since I'll have to avoid the thrift stores. It's going to be hard, but maybe I can channel my energy into letting go of some stuff...yeah, that's it.