Mom News

06.18.

Getting along and not losing any hair in the process!

This summer has been kind of tough for me “creativity wise”.  I was very ambitous the week before school let out for the summer.  I had all these great plans.  I was going to get craft supplies, I was going to get organized, and I was going to figure out ways to MAKE my children get along and not fight.

I am already losing hair from the constant bickering back and forth and the screaming.  We are only the second week in and I was figuring that if things kept going at this pace, I would be completely bald before the end of the summer!

This is usually how it goes.  Kid #1 starts yelling and complaining about Kid #2 licking her.  Then Kid #1 slaps Kid #2.  Then Kid #2 slaps Kid #1 back.  Then Kid #3, who is going through his “flashing” stage, decides it would be a good idea to run around the house showing parts of him that shouldn’t be shown.

I finally cracked and said to myself, “SELF!  We are going to the craft store and buying some stuff!”

So, self and self’s offspring piled up in the car and headed out.  I went without a plan.  Just grabbing anything and everything that I thought would work.  Probably would have been better to go WITH a plan because taking a 3, 6, and 8 year old to the craft store is like taking them to Disney World.

“Mom!  Can we get this?”  “Mom!  Can we get that?”  “MOM!”  “MOM”!  “MOM!”

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

Anyhoo!  I got out the door for about $80 and after I forced the uncontrollable urge to throw up from price shock back down, we walked to the car and headed home.

Getting home was chaotic at first.  They seriously wanted to do every craft we bought within the first 5 minutes of being home.  After they realized they were going to lose that war, they settled down and we finally came up with a game plan.

We will try to do atleast one craft a day and hopefully mommy won’t have to spend $80 a week on crafts, resulting in financial ruin. › Continue reading

06.14.

Lime Pickles

When Mom and Dad visited last week, they brought me 8 lbs. of cucumbers from their garden.  That could only mean one thing for me!  PICKLES!!!!

I had found this “Lime Pickles” recipe a few years back and it was great.  I figured if it wasn’t broke, I wasn’t gonna fix it, so I used it for these too.

*Just to warn you, this post has A LOT of pictures, so get ready…..

Here is what I did:

Take a pickling crock and fill it with water.  If you dont have a crock, you can use a plastic food grade container or some type of enamel ware.  Just dont use an aluminum pot because the lime could stain it. › Continue reading

06.11.

Dad’s Fish Fry

 

Well, my Mom and Dad visited this weekend and I was sooooo happy to see them.  They only live 3 hours away, but 3 hours is still 3 hours no matter how you look at it and I was tickled to be able to see them.

The last time they came down, we had a fish fry and it was absolutely amazing!  My daddy sure can fry some fish.

SO!  We decided to make that a tradition from now on when they come down.  Mom made her corn cake fritters to go along with it and it was perfect. › Continue reading

06.10.

Barbecued Chicken drumettes with Hoisin Sauce

Let me just start by saying that I love chicken drumettes.  Those itty bitty little chicken legs that look small enough for a baby to hold.  Why yes, I love them.  They are perfect for a starter at a party or in my case the other night, perfect for dinner.

Now, the ‘ole hubmeister and me are a “little different”.  We prefer our chicken wings, drumettes, ribs (etc.) charred on the outside.  There is nothing worse for us then going to bite into a piece of barbecued chicken and the texture be soft, or lord forbid SLIMEY!  Ewwwww!

Anyway, I wanted to do a twist on barbecue chicken this time.

I have been wanting to try Hoisin sauce lately and figured this would be a great opportunity.  It’s basically a Chinese barbecue sauce or glaze.

Now, normally I would try to give step by step pictures as to what I did, but alas, I wasn’t that smart this time to take them during the process.  Instead, I’ll just have to give you the recipe and hope you don’t get mad at me.

Here it is:

Recipe:  Barbecued Chicken drumettes with Hoisin Sauce

Ingredients:

– 2 small packages chicken drumettes

– salt/pepper to taste

– pam (olive oil)  spray

– 3 tablespoons hoisin sauce

– 1/2 cup sliced green onion

Directions:

– Preheat an outdoor grill to 280 – 300 degrees.  Coat chicken with pam spray and grill until chicken is a little charred and extra crispy.  Around 20 minutes.  *Note:  If you choose to cook in oven, set temp to 400 degrees and cook until crispy (about 40 minutes), turning a couple of times during process.  Everyone’s oven is different, so watch closely. 

– Once chicken is done, heat the hoisin sauce in a large pot on medium heat.  Once sauce is melting and bubbly, toss all chicken drumettes into pot and cover with lid.  Carefully pick up pot and while securing lid, swirl and shake pot to coat chicken with sauce.

– Pour chicken onto a serving platter or large plate and top with sliced green onions.

Enjoy!