Anniversary Get Away: Block Island, RI

For our second anniversary we decided to relax and make the ferry ride over to Block Island. The sand and water is so clean and clear there, it is really a great place to visit! We got a 3 day package so lodging wasn't too expensive, but once you add in meals and other activities it can get very pricey!! A day trip is also just as fun! You can even pack a cooler for lunch and not even spent a whole lot.

That is what I did. I packed some yogurts, apples, cheese and protein bars for snacking and/or breakfasts. It really worked out nicely.  We rented bikes and rode to the lighthouse and bluffs, hung out at the beach exploring tide pools, walked along the shops and had some very yummy fish and chips!! It was a very nice trip all in all with my dear hubby and best friend!!

                                                         Sunset at North Lighthouse

                                                                     Beach combing...

                                                        

Lesson in Leftovers

The dreaded word... "What's for dinner mom??"  Her reply, "Leftovers!" Dun, dun,duuuun....
Growing up, my mother never, ever wasted food. Even if it had green fuzz on it. Surely there was something we could still do with it! No, I'm just kidding!!!! (We never ate anything with green fuzz!!!!)

But rest assured, if you didn't scrape that bowl of batter until it was sparkling clean again or get every micro crumb of cookie dough onto that last scoop of cookie you'd hear about it! And rightly so. She was trying to teach and train us not to be wasteful. And for that I am extremely grateful.

See my mom went to a very special school, it was called "Mommy School." That is where she learned alllll these incredible, highly secretive techniques and information about...everything in life! Hahaha!! Well, that is just a joke me and my mom have. Because when I was little, every time she'd do something incredible or clever after I had tried hopelessly to do it, I asked her... "Where'd you learn how to do that??... Mommy School or  something??" And her reply would always be, yes! What can I say folks, God gave me the most awesomest (Yes, that's a word for right now!) mom in the world!!

But back to leftovers. In my VBS lesson with my (late) friend Porgie and the story of Jesus feeding the five thousand, a verse stood out to me.. about leftovers! I've read and heard this verse many a time I'm sure of it, but I guess now was when the Lord really wanted me to see it!  That verse is John 6:12 "...Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost."  I don't really need to elaborate but Jesus is telling us not to be wasteful and eat your leftovers!! I am going to use this with my kids if they ever whine about not wanting leftovers!

I know a lot of people are not keen about leftovers. I personally don't mind leftovers. Except for maybe leftover pasta with sauce. It just never tastes right. Pasta should fresh and hot right out of the pot to plate within seconds!  But anyways...

You just have to be creative!! I've made many an interesting dinner from leftovers. Maybe not all great, but hey, it took Thomas Edison a 1,000 ways of trying before he invented the light bulb!
You can use up leftovers in several new and fun ways.

Here's a few ideas I've tried that you can create with any variety of leftover meats and vegetables or whatever other fragments you have in your fridge!

• Fried Rice
• Quesadillas
• Burritos
• Pizzas
• "Antipasto" Salads
• Quiches or Fritatas
• Soups
• Calzones
• Pot Pies
• Baked Pasta Dishes

Leftovers are your "oyster"! Happy Leftover-ing to you and yours!!

Let me know how you use your leftovers in a new or fun way!

Porgie. It's What's for Dinner!

Porgie! Now that is just a fun word to say, admit it. At VBS (Vacation Bible School) this year at our church, I taught the 3-5 year old's class. In preparing for my night to teach, my lesson was on Jesus feeding of the 5,000 and the boy who gave his five loaves and two fishes.

In an effort to grab the kid's attention I decided to bring in 5 real loaves of bread and 2 real small fish-or porgies!! Working in the restaurant business has its perks. So, I asked our seafood salesman for, well, two small fish! He gave me two porgies. For free! Even better. I think the kids thought Porgie was neat at any rate as they poked at its eyeballs! I filleted one so they could see what part you eat and left the other one whole. It was a fun lesson to teach! I find that I personally always learn better with visuals so hopefully they might remember this when they are older.

Porgies are described as a "good eating fish". It's basically a white fish. I'd never had porgie before. Let alone gut and fillet one...or many other fish for that matter. But here I had these two porgies that needed to be eaten and there was only one way to do that!

Gutting and filleting is a messy business. And smelly. So, I wrapped my face with a dish towel, put my gloves on and placed Porgie inside a trash bag on my cutting board. I started by scaling the fish, which produces scales flying every which way on you and around the room! Hence, the trash bag. Next, I cut the head off. This is where it starts to get smellier...pulled out the guts. By now I can still smell it through my fabulous dish towel of a bandanna.(Gag.) I quickly discarded all the guts and head in a Ziploc which cut back on the smell. Then following the bones/backbone carefully and slowing filleted the first piece of porgie! The last piece is left with all the bones and tail. This one is slightly easier to fillet because now you can see the bones and just follow it all the way down to the tail.

I left the skin on the fillets just because it's easier. Skinning fish is no biggy but because they were so small it's a little harder to skin. This was my first solo gutting/filleting of a fish so I didn't want to push my luck!

Now to cook them! I made a Greek mixture of olive oil, lemon juice, oregano and fresh garlic and poured it all over the porgie and broiled them. It was quick, easy and very tasty! Hubby approved as well.

I'd definitely have porgie again!! Here's some pictures of Porgie before and after. Yum!

                                                          The before and after of Porgie.

Greek Style Porgie! Olive oil, lemon juice, fresh garlic and oregano!

Tag Sale Loot!

My sister and I went out tag saling Saturday morning...and afternoon! It was a great time together, alota laughs and memories made! One of them being going to the same tag sale TWICE, thinking it was a completely different one! We ran back to the car laughing before they even knew we had been there...again! And then "Tag Sale Guy" who basically gave us a mini tour of his house and said he "could work something out" and sell us his house even though he was closing the sale Monday! He was a very nice gentleman though. (It was a very nice home though, complete with a pool that looked like a pond, deep enough to dive in!)
Also found some great deals! The double sided quilter's cutting mat(brand new) sells for $15-$20 in stores! I got it for $1! Can't beat that!
Here's the rest of the loot I found:

Vietnamese Venture!

Recently my hubby and I ate at a teeny tiny Vietnamese restaurant a few miles from our apartment. It was soo good! I'd never really had Vietnamese before, but I figured it'd be close enough to Chinese that it couldn't be too scary.  We ordered the Crsipy Spring Rolls, Grilled Pork Vermicelli and Lemongrass Chicken. It really was ALL delicious but what we loved the most was the Pork Vermicelli. Which was angel hair rice noodles, lettuce, cucumbers, carrots, basil, crushed peanuts and served with a side of traditional Vietnamese home made sauce! It was all so WONDERFUL.
 The flavors all just joined hands together in your mouth and skipped around in circles! The cool rice noodles, the crisp carrots, lettuce and cucumbers, the nutty, crunchy peanuts, the tangy-sweet and crispy pork and the sauce was light, but had a little kick of heat(just a dab) and sweet undertones, without being too sweet. And there was fresh mint also, which I'm not usually a huge fan of but it worked so well with all these other flavors. 
So. I just HAD to try and duplicate this dish! I did a little research and found out I needed fish sauce for the meat.(I substituted chichen thighs for the pork. And I don't see why you couldn't try beef as well.)Well I didn't have fish sauce. So I used oyster sauce. Which, come to find out is completely different then fish sauce but, work with whatchya got, right? It worked very well. The traditional sauce is so easy to make might I add. A perfect meal for a hot summer day with the cool rice noodles and crispy veggies. I will have to try this again with the fish sauce next time! It came out wonderful! Best of all, hubby loved it!

Two Year Anniversary!

Wow! Can't believe it's been two whole years since we got married!! It really does not feel like that long. I wouldn't trade these last two years for anything with anyone else. The Lord has blessed me with a wonderful, loving husband! I love you Mike! xoxo  And now we're off to our anniversary get away!  See you soon!

Tag Sale Hutch

Tag sale season is upon us! Tag sale, garage sale, yard sale whatever you call it. (Here it's tag sales.) Tag saling is so much fun.Trying to spot those little hand written signs nailed or taped to telephone poles, or stuck in the ground. Hoping it's not from the week before and someone just forgot to take it down, crushing your hopes. Or that the "HUGE Multi-Family Tag Sale" isn't really just three card tables of knick knacks after following sign after sign after sign! Although it can be tiring...make sure to bring snacks and water! This is serious business! And it DOES help if you have a large vehicle. Or, just make sure you have a best friend whose mom doesn't mind coming with her van to load the dresser and hutch you just bought! Haha!

Which is exactly what happened! I found this adorable hutch that just needed a little t-l-c for $15!!!!!

I cleaned it up, sanded it and painted it 'Whimsical Fairy Lily' yellow. I spent more on paint then I wanted to, I ended up having to get another quart. I used a paint with primer in it already but I think because I was painting a lighter color over a darker one it took a few more coats. I also replaced the back because it was warped and cracked, and gave it a quick sanding for a "distressed" look and now it's beautiful and in my kitchen and I love it! A great tag sale find! Here's the before and after pictures!