Kabob It


I am channeling Cher from Mermaids for this one.

My mother has been telling me for forever that I should serve more food kabob style for my girls.  Kids like food that is fun, and I tend to be very boring in the dinner department.

I took my moms advice and started with this recipe.

My girls loved it and had a blast helping me in the kitchen.  It also sparked some great dinner table conversation.

We decided to come up with a list of other edible items we could put on a stick.

My girls came up with the following list.

  • fruit
  • sandwich fixings
  • meatballs
  • vegetables
  • marshmallows
  • candy
  • cake
  • sausage
  • chicken

Marshamallows always seem to find their way into food conversation into our home.  That, and ice cream.

I looked around and found a few other ideas.

kabob collage1.  Fruit and Cheese Kabobs

2. Grilled Shrimp and Veggie Kabob

3. Gluten Free Chicken Skewer

4. Strawberry Shortcake Kabobs

 

Kabobs and skewers are a great alternative for lunch and dinner for the upcoming hot summer months.  They also are a good excuse to use the grill.

Did I mention that you could make all the pieces equal sizes.  Yep, perfect bite size pieces.

Yum!

 

Future Homemaker Of America


Do they even have that organization in high school anymore?

Anywhoo.

My little bit and I had a great time yesterday.  It started with brunch at Cafe Brazil with some ladies from work.  I had chicken fried steak with two eggs over easy, and roasted potatoes.  I eat this meal once a year, and it is so good.  If you are ever in the Dallas area, I recommend visiting the one in Deep Ellum.  It has tons of atmosphere, and if you do go, you really need to eat the chicken crepes.  Seriously people, they will change the way you view the world.

A visit to the flower shop, then home to make some cookies.  I realized that it had been ages since I made cookies from scratch.  Everything comes in a tub or a tube for convenience these days,so it was just easier to succumb to the peer pressure.

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This little girl did not want just any cookies, she wanted homemade cookies.

023I grabbed all the ingredients, and we spent the next 15 minutes destroying my clean kitchen, and had an absolute blast.  Please excuse the corn starch, I do not know why I grabbed it, it does not belong in my combo chocolate & peanut butter chip cookies.

026_edited-1You must be fashionably prepared to cook in my kitchen.  My mom made aprons for all the girls this past Christmas.  Too cute!

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Little bit had to do every little thing by herself, down to the cleaning of the dishes.  So, being the  lazy wonderful mother that I am, I obliged.

036She rinsed all the dishes, and put them in the dishwasher.  Now if  I could just get all the girls excited to clean dishes, I could spend more time drinking margaritas, and eating Nutella.

The cookies were a success, and Mr. Kell even liked them.

It got me thinking about baking other goodies for my kids.  There are so many healthy snack recipes out there, and I really do like to bake.  It would also be something to keep me busy, and give me a reason to buy a few new things for the kitchen.  Which is the best reason of all.

Another reason would be…..

028aGetting to cook with this sweet girl again.

p.s.  I used this recipe for the cookies.

Have a great Thursday!

 

Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy


My sweet pea says this all the time.  Today after school she was trying to find a new word to say instead of dang it.  You see, dang it is her favorite word.

The vegetable soup is simmering on the stove,  we just got done rocking out to Jesse’s Girl, and now it is time to get ready for gymnastics.

Two hours of gymnastics.  Yeah me!

Anywhoo, back to the title.

Art for your home can be very easy.  All you need is the following.

  1. A frame from the goodwill.
  2. Scrapbook paper
  3. A cute card or small print like one from here.

Put all those things together and you get this……

Happy Friday everyone!

What To Do With My Okra


I bought some okra a couple of weeks ago from a local farmers market, and I have no idea what to do with it.

I bought it for my husband for some extra lovin points.  He loves okra, and I thought I would get out of my vegetable comfort zone and make some for him.

Here are some options I found searching the internet.

You can fry it.

You can fritter it.

You can sautee them and mix with some tomatoes.

via marthastewart.com

If none of those make your tummy grumble, there is always the option of pickling them.

Last but not least, if you are like me and do not eat okra. You could turn them into the most awesome craft tool.

An okra stamp.

via thisisloveforever.com

You can find the tutorial here.

Who would have thought that okra could be so interesting?

 

Things To Do With Left Over Chicken


Every weekly menu I create for my family includes a rotisserie chicken.  The kids love it, and it is easy.  I usually add a salad and some veggies, and can then scratch one meal off my list.  All of us eat like birds, so there is always left over chicken which is awesome, because I get two meals out of something that cost $5.

What to do with the left over chicken?

I scoured the interenet, and found a few easy and yummy meals for my leftover rotisserie

1.  Spring Vegetable Chicken Pot Pie

2.  The Waldorf Salad, Revisited

3.  Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

4.  Lighter Chicken Enchiladas

5.  Buttermilk Chicken Caesar Salad

There are so many options for left over chicken.

Enjoy!

Pancakes, Pancakes, Pancakes


via slashfood.com

I LOVE pancakes!

I really think it is one of my favorite things to eat.

This week February 19-25 is National Pancake Week.

I made pancakes for my girls this morning.  They were box pancakes, but I put sprinkles on them.

I have never made homemade pancakes.

I may have to turn in my mom/woman/housewife card.

If I make some this week, will you forgive me?

Question is, how am I going to make them?

Betty Crocker makes them like this.

Ina Garten has a recipe here.

Here is a recipe from good ole Martha.

Are you eating clean?  Then try these.

There are endless options when making pancakes.

If you have never made a pancake, there are some good tips here.

That hunky man above makes some killer pancakes.

No, I am not pregnant.

I probably ate too many pancakes.

So, if you have a little time, eat some pancakes.

They are good for the soul.

And…..

Happy Tuesday!

Seriously Sassy Mama

 

 

 

Hard To Say, But Oh So Yummy To Eat


That’s right, I am talking about quinoa.

Is it qui-no-a, or keen-wa?  I hate when words do not sound like they are spelled.  The world would be a better place.  Kids everywhere would not have to worry about spelling bees.  We would all be on a level playing field.

Quinoa (play /ˈknwɑː/ or /kɨˈn.ə/Spanishquinua, from Quechuakinwa), a species of goosefoot (Chenopodium), is a grain-like crop grown primarily for its edible seeds. It is a pseudocereal rather than a true cereal, or grain, as it is not a member of the grass family. As a chenopod, quinoa is closely related to species such as beetsspinach, and tumbleweeds.

definition via Wikipedia.

I have seen many recipes on Pinterest, and my sister eats it all the time, and since I am on a quest to being a hippie, I thought I would give it a try.

IT IS SO YUMMY!

The first time I ate it, I included the following.

  • 1/4 cup already cooked quinoa
  • chopped fresh spinach
  • 1 tbsp. Parmesan cheese
  • Half and apple (I chopped it up into small chunks)
  • Salt & Pepper to taste.

There was something about the sweetness of the apples with the Parmesan that was awesome.  I became eager to see what else I could do with it.

Quinoa nachos via vegnews.com

Warm and Nutty Cinnamon Quinoa via 101cookbooks.com

Quinoa salad with walnuts and dried cherries via williams-sonoma.com

Breakfast quinoa via marthastewart.com

As you can see, there are many wonderfully delicious ways to eat this pseudocereal.

Won’t you give it a try?

Next, I am going to try it with some walnuts, raisins, and brown sugar.  Yummy yum yum!

The links to the recipes are below.

  1. Quinoa Nachos
  2. Warm and Nutty Cinnamon Quinoa
  3. Quinoa Salad
  4. Breakfast Quinoa

I Got A Little Crazy


First, can I discuss a dream I had last night?

All I remember is that there was a very nice looking man on a stretcher and I was protecting him.  We were in my old high school gym, and from what I could tell, someone was trying to kill him.  The man on the stretcher.  I am unsure why he was on a stretcher.  Anywhoo, my partner was Adam Levine, but he was not around all the time.  It was just me and stretcher man (who kind of looked like Hugh Jackman). I remember telling him “I am going to get you out of here!”

I am laughing out loud while I type this.

I do have an idea where this dream came from.

  1. I was watching some boxing documentary on a trainer, and the husband told me that Sugar Ray Leonard trained Hugh Jackman for the Real Steel movie.  It stuck because the husband was all “That wolverine guy”, and I was all ooooooh yeah!
  2. I listen to Maroon 5 when I clean the kitchen.
  3. Before I went to bed, I was reading a Harlequin novella on my phone about a forensic scientist who in one part of the book was trapped in her office building by a psycho and he was trying to kill her.  The hot guy she worked with came in to save the day.  In my dream I was the bad ass.

I woke up before I saved him.

I hope he was ok.

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I got creative in the kitchen last week and wanted to share what I made.

Ingredients

  • Shrimp
  • Spaghetti Noodles
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • Olive Oil
  • Zucchini
  • Mushrooms
  • Onion
  • Garlic
  • Diced Tomatoes
  • Parmesan Cheese

Preparations and Instructions

  1. Chop up 3 cloves of garlic, and one onion.  Place in a pan with some olive oil and cook till they are soft.  I coated the bottom of the pan with the olive oil so there would be enough to coat the noodles.
  2. Julian half of the zucchini (with or without skin) and add it to the pan along with the can of tomatoes, and mushrooms.  The amount of veggies and what veggies you add is up to you.  This is what I had on hand.
  3. While all of this is cooking, boil some salted water and add the noodles.
  4. When the noodles are aldente, add them to the pan of veggies and mix making sure they are getting coated with all that yum.
  5. I then boiled my shrimp in the salted water I cooked the noodles in.
  6. Once they were done I cut off the tails and added them to the mix.
  7. Viola!
  8. Sprinkle some parmesan, and salt/pepper to taste, and there you go.

I was actually surprised how good it taste.  The husband really liked it, and he is very honest about what I cook.

I love throwing things together.

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Sassy Night Out

 

I really like this sassy outfit I put together.

Chicken And Dumplings


Before I talk about this yummy dish, I want to talk about this.

I went to Starbucks this morning.  I never treat myself to Starbucks. If I am going to by myself a treat, it is usually in the form of knitting needles.   What I really need to treat myself to is a new bra.  Just sayin.

That is a cheesy quote on the cup.  I like cheese.

Speaking of knitting needles, I finished this last night.

It is a Jane Richmond pattern that I bought from her etsy shop.  Finished up two others last night also.  I was on  role.  Only four  more to knit for the teachers.  I love this yarn.  I found it at Michaels.  It was on sale 2 for $9.  It is made in Canada.  I love the purple, and think a certain besty of mine is going to L-O-V-E  LOVE IT!  I just hope she skips this post and does not see it.

I once was scared of the cable stitch, but now I have mastered it.

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via pauladeen.com

Chicken and Dumplings is on the menu, and I am super in love.

I have memories of the husband and I eating at Applebee’s in Denton.  We were newly married, and I was in nursing school.  That is the first time I ate chicken and dumplings.

The first time I cooked it was last year.  Now, let me mention that my husband comes from a family that knows how to cook.  I mean good ole country cookin.  I am from the midwest.  Anywhoo, I attempted to make some chicken and dumplings, and I do not think the husband was impressed.  I thought it was great.  I made a dumpling with corn meal, and I think it just pissed him of.  He said they were not like any dumplings he had ever eaten.  Oh well, I am going to try again, this time with some old fashioned dumplings.

The two recipes that I like are from here and here.

All that yummy chicken, and dumplings.  I am drooling.

I put together a little something you can wear while eating chicken and dumplings.  I am sure your other half would love to see you across the table wearing this.

Chicken And DumplingsHappy Thursday, I am going to buy my husband a new shirt and sweater. He is going to L-O-V-E LOVE IT!

Photo Challenge, My Yummy Spaghetti Sauce, And I Will Not Be Wearing This


via positivelypresent.com

I found this great photo challenge today on Pinterest.  This one speaks to me.  First because it involves my favorite application Instagram, second it involves gratitude. November is the month of Thanksgiving.  It is a time when each and everyone of us can reflect on things we are thankful and grateful for.  You can read more about it here.

What really interested me about this is that I want to see if I can stick with it.  I tend to start things and never finish them.  Maybe with each picture I take, I will put a little “to do” with it.  Nothing big and overwhelming, just something small like put away clothes on dresser.  It is an idea.

picture via pinterest

Here is my number 1.  My favorite food is fried chicken.  I like it with mashed potatoes, gravy, and a side of corn.  Do not forget the corn bread and coca-cola.  I am already having fun.

Don’t worry, I am not going to blow up the blog with daily pics, but I am going to post groups here and there.

Pictures with a purpose.

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Last week, I made a yummy spaghetti sauce.  Spaghetti was on the menu, and the husband said make it chunky.

Here is how I did it.

Ingredients needed:

  • 1 can diced tomatoes (I like the Italian seasoned ones)
  • 1 – 8oz can of tomato sauce
  • 2 cloves of garlic diced
  • 1 red onion (use whatever onions you have, I had red)
  • 1 green pepper
  • 4 mushrooms diced
  • 1tsp. salt
  • 1/2 tsp. pepper
  • 1 tsp. Italian seasoning
  • 1 bay leaf
  • tbsp. olive oil
  • I also added some zucchinni and spinach because I needed to clean out the fridge.
  1. Place diced onions, green peppers, and garlic in pan with olive oil.  I cook this on low till the onions, peppers, and garlic soften.
  2. Add canned tomatoes and tomato sauce.
  3. Turn heat to medium.
  4. Add mushrooms and in my case zucchini and spinach.
  5. Add Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, and bay leaf.
  6. I continue to cook this on medium till it starts to bubble, then I place it on low till I pour it over the noodles.

Note:  As I am cooking my sauce, I continually add the seasoning to taste.  I use the initial measurements as a guide.  I am a dash here and there kinda gal.

To make the sauce even more chunky, I added ground turkey.

I also like to add a little ricotta every now and then.

The husband said it was my best yet.

I have noticed that I tend to make my own sauce instead of buying store bought.  It makes me feel like I can cook.

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This is something I will not be wearing tomorrow.

Classy Vintage Funk


I will not be wearing this because I have to go grocery shopping, go the the library, finish laundry, and then I will finish the night with a girl scout meeting.

Nothing like wearing a sparkle shirt at the grocery store.

This outfit makes me want to go dancing with my girlfriends.

I want a yellow coat.

I want a pumpkin spice latte.

I watched Jane Eyre again last night.

I love that movie!

I love my husband’s laugh.

He loves Tom Landry.

Pk, I am finished.  I hope you will try the photo challenge, or do something every day that reminds you what you are thankful for.

Have a blessed weekend.

Necole