Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Aloha

This is Hawaii:








This is Hawaii when your friend Karen goes there:


A whole lotta nothin'!

Just kidding! I have to give my friend Karen over at Shama-lama Mama a hard time about not posting her photos from her trip to Hawaii yet. Oh sure, she's got plenty of excuses. Something about packing, moving, taking care of 3 boys, and some other nonsense. Whatever! Get with it girlfriend! ;)



Although my friendly banter (aka pestering) did result in her mentioning me in her blog not once but seven times! She only mentioned her mom once. How cool am I?


However, pay no attention to the fact that my blog had not been updated in a couple of weeks. I could just say that I'm so deprived of photos of palm trees and endless beaches that I can't bring myself to blog. Yeah, that's it!

Friday, March 14, 2008

Frugal Friday: Tortilla Chips

Welcome to Frugal Friday!

Have you ever accidentally forgot to put the clip back on your bag of tortilla chips? Wait, don't throw out those stale chips! All hope is not lost! Spread them evenly on a baking sheet and put them in the oven at 350 and in about 5 minutes you'll have warm crisp chips. Bring on the hot sauce!

To find out how Frugal Friday got started go here. If you have a frugal tip you'd like to share, just let me know. I promise to give you full credit and I'll even link your blog.

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Wordless Wednesday: Frosty Comes To Texas

" Where's the corn cob pipe and button nose?"
Hey, you work with whatcha got.
For more wordless fun go here and here.

Monday, March 10, 2008

You Know You Wanna Cook This... You Really Do

Dinner challenge: Your friend calls you to have dinner at her house since both of your husbands are working late. You must find something that you can make by only using the ingredients you have on hand, it must be kid friendly, and it has to be gluten/wheat free.

Dinner Solution: Bar-b-que Weiners (or as my friend's daughter would say, Hot Dogs in Ketchup Sauce!)

So in Pioneer Woman fashion (if you haven't been reading her cooking blog I highly recommdend it) I bring you my favorite in a pinch recipe:



Bar-b-que Weiners


The cast of characters: Butter, Brown Sugar, Vinegar, Mustard, Ketchup, about 4-5 cut up hot dogs (use gluten free or turkey if desired), and rice. I tried to convince the rice to get in the picture but it wanted to be in it by itself. Whatever, I don't deal with Diva rice.




Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in large frying pan. I'm sure Pioneer Woman would have used twice as much butter, but whatever. Add cut up dogs. Cook a few minutes on some heat. You want more direction than that? They are hot dogs people, not lamb chops!




Add 1 cup of ketchup, 1 tablespoon of mustard, 1/4 cup of brown sugar, 3 tablespoons of vinegar, and 1/3 cup of water to the pan and you get this creamy mixture. I know what you're thinking. Water wanted to be in the first picture but vinegar said no. Those two just don't seem to get along.


Cook some rice while you were doing all that other stuff and then serve like this:



Notice no vegetables or other sides are needed. Don't even try to put some on the plate. I'm serious, the weiners will just get jealous. See that one heading to the edge of the plate? I just casually mentioned that I might heat up some rolls and that one took off. In the end I decided to let it go. That's what they say isn't it? If you love something set it free.

Bar-b-que Weiners (aka Hot Dogs in Ketchup Sauce)

(adapted from my Mom's recipe - ok, ok, I just left out the onions, it's really her recipe)

2 tbl butter

4-5 cut up hot dogs

1 cup ketchup

1/3 cup water

1/4 cup brown sugar

3 tbl white vinegar

1 tbl mustard

Cook hot dogs in butter until slightly brown. Add remaining ingredients and simmer until creamy mixture. Serve over cooked rice.

Enjoy! And please forgive me Pioneer Woman.

Saturday, March 8, 2008

Frugal Friday: Make Your Own Foaming Soap

Welcome To Frugal Friday! (a little late)

Reuse those foaming soap dispensers by adding 1 tablespoon of your favorite hand soap, fill up with water and shake. Because life is too short to lather up yourself.

To find out how Frugal Friday got started go here. If you have a frugal tip you'd like to share, just let me know. I promise to give you full credit and I'll even link your blog.