Monday's Meal

Believe it our not I still have chicken in my freezer. What to make? What to make? Hmmm...how about scampi? Now, I would prefer it with shrimp, but since Mister is allergic to seafood and I don't want to have to take him to the ER, I'll just make it with chicken instead, but you could certainly make yours with shrimp if you prefer, it's good either way.

Chicken Scampi ala Mister

1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, minced
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 tsp of pepper
2 tablespoon lemon juice
4 boneless chicken breast halves, sliced lengthwise
1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese
1 sliced red or yellow pepper (optional)




In a large skillet heat the butter and oil over medium high until the butter melts. Add the parsley, basil, oregano,onion and garlic, pepper and salt and mix together in the skillet. If you are using peppers add them at this time too. Stir in lemon juice and the white wine. Next add the chicken and saute for about 3 minutes or until white. Lower the heat and cook for about 10 to 15 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and the juices run clear. Top with Parmesan cheese and serve over angel hair or linguine pasta.

Weight for it....

I love to sew, but I hate pinning when cutting out patterns. For years I've been weighing my pattern down with soup cans and other random household objects. But I had a light bulb moment and decided to start using washers as pattern weights. Ingenious I tell you and oh so cheap. Now I can cut out a pattern lickety split with my rotary cutter and not worry about the pattern piece shifting over the fabric, nor do I waste time pinning. These were super simple to make. I picked them up from my local Ace Hardware. They have all size washers to chose from. You can leave them plain or like me you can cover them with a bit of scrap fabric for a little more pizazz. I just attached the fabric using my glue gun, easy peasy. WooHoo...more time to sew.

Summertime Dress

I've been doing quite a bit of sewing lately and whipped this little round neck dress up for Miss O. who promptly proclaimed "This dress is perfect for hot weather, I'm going to wear it every day". I got a kick out of that. It is perfect for hot weather. I made it out of some lovely fabric from my stash and it just looks fun and fresh. Here's a few shots of my girl in her summertime dress.

Work on it Wednesday

Since my regular tv programs have ended for the summer I've been introduced to some shows I didn't know about. One is the television show Mad Men and I have been totally sucked in. Thus, I've also felt very nostalgic of late. Well, actually my nostalgia has manifested itself as a yen to sew up full skirts and prim little dresses. My mind is full of aprons, peter pan collars and pearls. I've been on the hunt for the suitable fabrics and patterns. I scored some awesome retro fabrics at the thrift store and can't wait to get stitching. I was thinking of something like this or this or even this one . I mean it's definitely a look right. Very feminine...yet maybe a little naughty too. I think it's the undergarments. All those slips, stockings with garters, gravity defying bras, I am just fascinated. Coming from a tshirt and jeans kind of gal, it's quite amusing really. So, my big plan for today is to sew up a dress. I've got my fabric washed and now I just need to get everything cut out and stitched up. Oh, and I get to break in my dress form. I'm super stoked! Groovy man!

Monday's Meal

Got something good for you this week. A great side dish that will be a great accompaniment to chicken, pork or beef. Now who couldn't love that?

Potato Gratin

2 cups of heavy cream
1 pkg of Boursin cheese
2 tbsp of minced shallots
2 tsp of minced garlic
2 tsp of olive oil
3 lbs of Yukon gold potatoes (peeled and sliced thinly, about 1/3" thick)
2 tbsp of minced chives
1/2 cup of shredded Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to the taste

Preheat the oven to 400 degree F. Prepare a 13 X 9" casserole dish by brushing it with the olive oil, set it aside. Place the cream, Boursin cheese, shallots and garlic in a medium sized saucepan over low heat. Cook until the Boursin is melted and the mixture is thickened, stirring constantly so that it doesn't burn. Arrange half of the potatoes in the prepared dish, season with salt, pepper and 1 tbsp of chives. Pour half of the cheese mixture over the potatoes. Arrange the rest of the potatoes as before and then pour the remaining cheese mixture over them. Top with the Parmesan cheese. Bake uncovered for approximately 45-50 mins until it is browned and potatoes are tender.

Work on it Wednesday

I really need your help, pick a color any color. I can't decide and thus am paralyzed with indecision. I'd like to paint the half bath and our master bedroom. I know I keep saying that, but I can't decide on a color. Currently our master bedroom is a sage green (Laura Ashley Olive #3 to be precise) and it's been that color for seven years. It's a nice calm neutral, but I really am ready for a change. My home is generally done in warm autumnal colors. I've been thinking about some shade of light blue though. I think I could pair it with accents of red or black for a fresh modern look. The color for the bathroom...I'm open. I just need to do something in there. It's used to have a wallpaper border but E. removed part of it, so I removed the rest of it. I think a solid wall color would be better. So, what's your opinion. What color do you like best? I'd definitely like to get it painted soon, I mean what am I waiting for...it's just paint after all.

I heart Micheal's

In my ongoing decorating journey I have rediscovered a great place to find little decor items on the cheap for your home. That place is Micheal's. Who knew? And better still, they take coupons. For example I currently have three 50% coupons I'm dying to use so I can get a couple of items I have my eye on. Also with a bit of imagination you can really personalize your place on the cheap and who doesn't love that? Also they just started carrying a new line of yarn that looks great and the price is so right! So get yourself to Micheal's and shop until you drop!