Lent....

I've been slacking lately due to Spring Break for the kids and lots of things that needed to be done, like getting the AC fixed in our van and poor DH and the car accident. At any rate. Everything is fixed now so hopefully I will have more time to blog to my faithful followers ( Hey ya'll).

We are full blown into Lent now. This year me and the hubs decided to give up fast food together, DH is also giving up soda and trying to eat more chicken and fish rather than red meat. I'm just making a commitment to eating better and not eating fast food. I can't do no soda. I love it. I am addicted. I'm hoping cutting out fast food will be a more permanent thing. I don't mind it once in a while but it seems lately like it was every day.

I've been experimenting with fish recipes and the hubs really likes the one I made recently. I hate frying/pan frying fish and I hate fish smell, so alternative is to bake it. but I hate the mess. Enter Foil. This is my new best friend. I have 2 recipes for you all tonight.

Fish recipe.

4 pieces of white fish of choice ( i used frozen tilapia from Costco in vacuumed sealed bags)

4 pieces of foil large enough to fold over fish.

half an onion cut into chunks.

cherry tomatoes ( this is up to you how many you want I did about 5-10 halved in each packet)

1 yellow squash cut into chunks

salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, old bay seasoning whatever you like

EVOO ( my nod to Rachel Ray there)

grab your tin foil, sprinkle whatever seasonings you like on the bottom, place fish on foil. top with veggies and seasonings, drizzle with olive oil. fold up foil. place on baking sheet. ( at this point you could refrige them till you are ready to bake, great make ahead, you could also fold without the olive oil and then before you bake add the oil and refold) bake at 350 for about 30 min or so ( or until they are done) if you are using frozen/partially thawed fish. Bake time however depends on thickness of filet and frozen/thawed status.

This a great recipe because it pretty much takes no time and is nearly fool proof. You could also simply slice some lemons and put them on top drizzle the OO and bake. so have fun add your own veggies, use what you like. Enjoy.

Recipe number 2 came about when I was wanting tacos, but didn't have ground beef. I did however have some frozen chicken breasts ( again a la Costco what don't they have there??) and a jar of salsa.. hmmmm

2 cups of salsa give or take ( or homemade whatever you prefer)

4 chicken breasts

4 pieces of tin foil

taco shells

Grab your foil, season the bottom of it with salt and pepper place your fresh or frozen chicken breast, dump about 1/2 cup salsa over the top of it. Wrap up your foil place on cookie tray ( again here you can refrige them till you are ready to bake. how simple!!!) bake at 375 for around 35-40 min or until chicken is done. open packet shred chicken. fill taco shells. have full belly.

happy cooking!!!!!!!

Crafty Thursday!

I decided that today I was going to get these 2 mirrors my mother in law gave me about a month ago. They are very pretty, but weren't in line with my design scheme. I have a lot of black and iron stuff going on and these were bronzy gold ( btw the same reason my MIL gave them to me was because she also has a lot of black and iron happening and no longer went with her scheme lol). But I figured I could find a stain or paint to give them more depth. Off to the store I went.

I started with Lowes ( hello home improvement.. yeah not so much) and didn't want to spend 10-15 dollars on a teeny can of paint that I wasn't going to use a ton of anyway. Then DING!!! Duh Hobby Lobby has crap like that. Off we went. Success!!! I boughta bottle of black acrylic paint for about 2.50 and a 3 pack of brushes for about 3 dollars and I was in business. I know your thinking hello PICS!! no worries here they are.

Before ( only 1 because I started before documenting it)

After

and bonus I found this adorable birdcage on clearance for 15. Now I just need accessories for it. No pictures of that yet because the 2 I took are terrible and well too lazy to take more.

I did have some craft fail today too. I am working on my 2 middle kids ( i call them the twins even though they aren't... they could be as much as they act alike and are only 3 months apart) Tilma's for their first confession this Sunday. Yes yes I know procrastination, but that's not the point. Anywho I bought some tracing paper and Iron on pencils, where you draw then iron the paper and the pencil transfers to the fabric, so I could start. However, since the Tilma's are felt, i can't use the iron on the heat it needs to be so I can transfer the design or else I melt the felt. This is a disaster. However my husband had a good idea ( hey everyone gets at least one right LOL) use cotton then glue the cotton fabric to the felt and be done. GENIUS!! On tomorrow's agenda go back to Hobby Lobby, get some white cotton fabric and start decorating. Lets hope its successful, otherwise i'm stuck.

Oh and tonight's dinner I made anything goes chicken soup. After last night's disastrous honey chicken in the crockpot ( This lead to a fight between me and the spouse.... totally his fault btw :D) I decided the only way to salvage my chicken was to shred it and throw what I could find in a pot and make soup. Thanks to my avid Top Chef watching I remembered I have to give the soup time to develop its flavors. So dinner in about 45. Happy eating/crafting!