The Nifty Foodie

Amy

Our First Anniversary: Part 1 – His Gift

by 12 Comments

One year ago yesterday, I married my husband.

I can’t believe how fast the year flew by. I remember sending our invitations, shopping for dresses and the jewelry making adventures during planning.

For my gift to the hubs, I had to make it. I just couldn’t avoid crafts for this. For crying out loud, the first year gift’s tradition is paper. Doesn’t that scream craft me?!

Anywho, I went to Hobby Lobby, and picked up scrapbook paper (in our wedding colors and some lovey dovey paper prints) with a candy jar. I was on a mission.

The idea? To show the hubs that it’s the small things that matter. Tiny, small favors that brighten the day. I wrote down 52 small favors to do for my husband (one each week this year). These favors range from washing his car to cooking up his favorite meal to giving him “me” days in the house.

This week, he picked the one where I say I’ll do all the dishes this week. Ack!

Here are the 52 small favors all folded up.

Anniversary Gift

I know, duh. Pick one every week…hubs knows what he’s doing, but I couldn’t help it. I had to decorate the lid somehow.

Anniversary Gift

I wrote on the side “It’s the small things..”. Originally, I actually wrote “All the small things”, because that darn Blink 182 song was not getting out of my head. Thank goodness paint pen just scratches off.  Ugh…

Anniversary Gift

I wanted to wrap it up fairly special, so I put the jar in a box filled with teal paper and wrapped it, adding a cute tag that I won from this Etsy seller. I’m a little sad that this seller doesn’t have these gift tags listed anymore. They are gosh darned cute!

Anniversary Gift

The verdict? He loved it!

The hubs made me a cute coupon book with similar ideas, but of course, relating to things I would appreciate. 🙂 I’m really excited about it!

Next year’s anniversary gift theme is cotton. That’s definitely another one that screams crafts to me! Hopefully, my sewing skills will be more up to par next year. 🙂

UPrinting GIVEAWAY!

by 28 Comments

I remember when I had my first business cards. I purchased a pack of printing sheets, sized to business cards, and designed babysitter business cards. I felt super cool when I had those cards on me, but I was sleek about giving them out. Whenever I babysat, I left a little stack in the kitchen somewhere, and I’d like to think it helped me get work. 🙂

Business cards are so fun. Something about a business card makes you important and fancy. Plus, you can actually enter those lunch giveaways at your favorite restaurant for dropping your card. Awesome.

Thanks to the folks at UPrinting, one reader of The Nifty Foodie is going to win 500 business cards!!

Image source

Here are the details of the giveaway:

  • 500 business cards from UPrinting.com
  • 2 x 3.5”, 2 x 2” (square card) or 1.75 x 3.5” (slim card)
  • 14 pt gloss cardstock, 14 pt matte cardstock or 13 pt recycled uncoated cardstock
  • Full Color Both Sides; Offset Press; 3 Business Day Printing
  • FREE UPS Ground Shipping

To enter, just comment letting me know what you would use the business cards for. Do you have a home business? Using them for a project? Want to advertise your blog?

This giveaway ends on Wednesday, May 26th at NOON.

More ways to win (please leave a comment each time):

This giveaway is for US Residents only. Must be 18 years old and up.

This giveaway is sponsored by UPrinting.com.

UPrinting Links:
Color Business Cards
Printing Services

A renewed me..

by 3 Comments

I’ve been in such a funk lately, and I felt like nothing was going to change for me for a long time. Everyday was same ol’-same ol’ to me, and it was hard for me to see the positives and appreciate the little things. 

I think God realized this, and decided it was time to show me exactly how quickly I can change. I’m not super religious, so this isn’t going to be preachy, but it’s funny how things in life can be related directly to you. For me, it was our garden.

The same garden that no matter how many times I tried to water it to make it look better, it wilted.

Same thing went for my life, it seemed. I’d sew something, hugely mess up, and have to rip the seams, only to have the fabric itself rip…fail. The mess in our house was getting out of hand, and I had no motivation in me to clean it. I had no motivation in me to really do anything fun. I just wanted to sit on the couch and be lazy. Things were bad, and I needed an intervention.

Well folks, it rained Saturday…literally poured.  Sunday, it rained…Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday..all rain. It was getting a little depressing after a while, and I just was in a funk, until Thursday.

Thursday was a wonderful day. Thursday’s surprises shook me and made me realize that while things might look bad for a while, things can change for the better. It takes something drastic, like, say, a 4 day rainstorm, but things can most definitely change.

Staring at the garden yesterday helped me to realize just that. We have a tree full of baby lemons. That same tree last week had no flowers, full of dead/burnt baby lemons. The rain jolted it awake, and it’s just looking more alive than ever.

lemon52010

The first jalapeno showed up on our pepper plant. The same pepper plant that was looking fairly pathetic next to the bell peppers and tomatoes.

jalapeno52010

The tomatoes exploded in size, and the plants are thriving…pesticide free still. (Thank you companion plants).

tomatoes52010

The hydrangea that never bloomed last year is showing signs of life.

hydrangea52010

I even got a complete surprise in my garden. A begonia I never planted, in the middle of a garden full of dianthus. I thought it was a weed 4 days ago, but it bloomed into a little surprise. 🙂

begonia52010

Looking at our garden has made me realize that yes, things can look bad in life for a while. Just don’t avert your eyes away from the little surprises that are trying to give you a chance to change that outlook. 🙂

NOLA Food Giveaway Winner!

by 3 Comments

NOLA Giveaway

Wow! I’m so excited that there were 71 entries in this contest! You all definitely made me hungry with your comments about Louisiana food, and because of all of the positive responses to this giveaway, I’m definitely going to do one again in the near future! Stay tuned!

So, without further ado, random.org picked the winner and it is…

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

Congrats Katie!! Please email me at niftyfoodie @ gmail . com to claim your prize so I can send it out to you!!

By the way, Katie entered the maximum of 5 times, so that proves it really does help your chances to get extra entries! 🙂 Thanks again to everyone who participated!

Garlic Lemon Chicken Kabobs

by 11 Comments

Garlic Lemon Chicken Kabobs w/ Roasted Vegetables

I love the idea of food on a stick. It’s so amazingly convenient to not get your hands or utensils dirty. Popsicles, corn dogs, roasted marshmallows…and now, kabobs. I’ve never had a kabob before, and it’s not because I was intimidated, it’s just something I don’t think much about. I’m more of a comfort food gal.

Nowadays though, my husband and I have a friendly bet going on. We’re challenging ourselves to lose as much weight as we can in 6 months. The motivation? A $300 prize. We each put in $150 of our own “fun” money for this, and now it’s time to bring on the competition. So, because of the bet (and the need to eat healthier), we are looking for better food options to help with the weight loss. Bye bye comfort food!

I saw this recipe on Annie’s Eats, and knew this would be a good dinner to cook since it’s light, involves garlic and is something new to try (kabobs). This chicken turned out flavorful and moist. The marinade is so simple to put together too! I think this would be a great weeknight dinner, especially for the summer. I served the chicken with onion/bell pepper kabobs too as a side, although, for next time, I’m gonna need a better, more filling side dish. If anyone has suggestions, please give me some ideas!

Garlic Lemon Chicken Kabobs
Source: Annie’s Eats (adapted from Williams Sonoma)

Ingredients:

  • 3 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
  • Zest of 1 lemon
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
  • 1 tbsp. minced fresh parsley
  • 1 tsp. kosher salt
  • ½ tsp. ground black pepper
  • 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into ¾-inch pieces

Directions:

  1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the olive oil, lemon zest, garlic, parsley, salt and pepper.  Add the chicken pieces to the bowl and mix to coat with the marinade.  Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 8 hours.
  2. Prepare a medium fire in a grill.  If using wooden skewers, soak them in water for at least 20 minutes before use.
  3. Thread the chicken pieces onto skewers and discard the excess marinade.  Lightly oil the grill grates.  Place the kabobs on the grill, cover, and cook until the chicken is opaque throughout, about 8-12 minutes, turning once or twice during cooking.  Transfer to a warmed platter and serve immediately.

Do split ends attract crude?

by 2 Comments

So, in case you are living in a cave, there was an oil rig explosion right off of the Louisiana coastline. 11 people died and many were injured. Working in the oil industry is a scary, scary thing.

My own father works for an oil refinery, and I worry for him constantly. In 1988, his plant had an explosion and apparently, all that was left of his office were oil splattered family pictures. He was due for work a few hours later. It’s scary and incredibly sad, so I’m constantly praying for those families who lost someone that day.

Now, there are millions of gallons of crude spewing through the Gulf of Mexico. Sure, it’s not Hurricane Katrina, but fishermen are losing their jobs, wildlife is dying and our fragile wetlands are diminishing at a faster rate.

Oh, and by the way, it’s almost June 1st. Hello hurricane season, Have mercy on Louisiana, because the last thing we need is the crude stirred up and brought further into land.

Ok, so now that I’ve lectured y’all,  there are ways to help. We’re all really limited though. It’s not like we can all just go out to the Gulf and help wildlife or personally stop the oil spewing out of the ocean floor.

You can donate your hair. Weird suggestion, but in fifth grade, I got a quart of crude oil to do a science experiment. I used human hair (got a haircut for the sake of a science ribbon), bird feathers (we had a bird house in our yard and well, there were feathers everywhere), spanish moss (hello, swamp!), and plant leaves. In the end, human hair and bird feathers (sadly) were most absorbent of the crude oil.

So, yes, hair really works, and salons are donating hair to make mats to absorb the crude. Also, PetSmart grooming salons are donating pet hair too. (Millie definitely needs a trim, too!) I found a salon near me that will donate hair, and I haven’t cut my hair since last June. So, needless to say, I hope my split ends can absorb oil.

Hair Clippings

I had about 3-4 inches to donate (depending on the outgrown layers) and wow, it felt like a weight was lifted off my shoulders. I feel good about knowing that my hair, which is never long enough for Locks of Love, will actually benefit something so close to home.

Just ignore my 6th grader pimple face and focus on the meticulously styled coif. 🙂

New Hair Cut

Oh, also if you buy Dawn soap, there are codes on the bottle to enter online to donate $1 to cleaning birds. Easy enough..feel good about doing your dishes. I know I hate doing them, but heck, buying Dawn at least makes me feel sort of happy using up the soap. 🙂

Are any of you in the affected areas with the oil spill? Are you as worried as me?

Banana Chocolate Chip Bread

by 4 Comments

Banana Choc. Chip Bread

When I was a cashier in high school, we had to learn PLU (product look up) codes to ring up produce. The first code I knew was bananas (it is 4011 in case you are wondering…type that code in at a self check-out and see what happens). Why? Because almost every shopping cart has bananas. They are delicious, cheap and very nutritious.

Every week, I buy my husband and I a bunch of bananas. Most of the time, we finish them, but sometimes, I forget about them. Of course when I forget about them, they become this unappetizing brown color from overriping, but fear not, when they are that overripe, they are PERFECT for baking!

This past week, we had 3 bananas that got too ripe for snacking on, and I decided to made some banana bread. I’ve made it before, but decided to give Baking Illustrated’s version a shot, since they never steer me wrong. This was the winner. If you want to try a banana bread recipe from this blog, make this one first! It’s so unbelievably moist, flavorful and light (since I subbed the butter out for applesauce). Plus, this is another recipe that you don’t need the KA for. A simple wooden spoon and 2 bowls will suffice. Your breakfast will never be the same either.

Banana Chocolate Chip Bread
Source: adapted from Baking Illustrated

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the pan
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3 very ripe, soft, darkly speckled large bananas, mashed well (about 1 1/2 cups)
  • 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips
  • 1/4 cup vanilla yogurt
  • 2 large eggs, beaten lightly
  • 3/4 cup applesauce
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

  1. Adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle position and heat the oven to 350°F (175°C) degrees. Grease the bottom and sides of a 9 by 5-inch loaf pan; dust with flour, tapping out the excess.
  2. Whisk the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and chocolate chips together in a large bowl; set aside.
  3. Mix the bananas, yogurt, eggs, butter, and vanilla with a wooden spoon in a medium bowl. Lightly fold the banana mixture into the dry ingredients with a rubber spatula until just combined and the batter looks thick and chunky. Do NOT overmix! Scrape the batter into the prepared loaf pan.
  4. Bake until the loaf is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 55 minutes. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature. (The bread can be wrapped with plastic wrap and stored at room temperature for up to 3 days.)

Nifty Trick: Cutting Board

by 5 Comments

I love having a wood cutting board. My mother had one, grandmother had one, and now, I have one. It brings back memories of helping in the kitchen when I use one, so I don’t want to get rid of it. I only use mine for vegetables though, since I’m worried the meat juices will permeate in the wood (I have a Microban one for meat). However, if I cut an onion or garlic on mine, even if it’s waxed really well, the odor permeates into the board and it will not come off.

I finally found a way to kill the odor, completely. Simply baking soda and fresh lemon juice.

Cutting Board Trick
Wet your cutting board, generously sprinkle baking soda on it, and then, squeeze the juice of one lemon on top of the baking soda. It will be reminiscent of the volcanoes you made in 5th grade science class and fizz up. Using your hands, just blend the mixture into a paste and cover the board with it. Allow it to fully dry and then rinse off the paste. Voila! Instantly neutral smelling cutting board!

If you have any nifty tricks to share in the kitchen, feel free to comment. I might even feature yours in a future nifty trick post!

Babies

by 3 Comments

I love babies. I love kids. I want kids….someday. Just not today or anytime soon, for that matter.

Ever since the wedding, my husband and I have had the questions/subtle/not so subtle hints as to when we’re bringing a baby into this world. It’s almost expected that once you get married, you are expected to have kids. Most married people sympathize, understand and are rolling their eyes thinking of the last time it happened to them.

It’s not just relatives and friends. It’s sometimes even strangers…people who don’t really know us, but think, just because we’re married, I’m now basically a uterus. A body part that will incubate and grow a baby. At baby showers, my belly gets stared at, as if I’m about to burst out and admit that I’m pregnant. What I want to SCREAM is “Nope, there’s nothing in there but an excessive amount of fat, people!”

I might be considered selfish. Heck, I spent 5 years in college studying a field dominated by men. You don’t see too many women kicking ass and taking names in my field. It’s a newer IT field too, so currently, the more I know and the faster I learn it, the better off I am, career wise. I don’t really WANT to take a few months out of this career driven momentum that I have to take care of a child.

Also, I’m scared. I babysat for years, but to know that I’m 1 of 2 people who will carry the most potential influence in this child’s life, scares me. I mess up a lot, and I think I need a little while to mature and be fully ready for this. 

I’m also scared for my and my future child’s health at my current weight. I’ve been told that I would be high risk, very possibly develop gestational diabetes and heck, adding weight to my current frame, I would be VERY sluggish. I’m already fairly sluggish feeling. It would be wrong for me to carry a child at my current weight. I’d much rather be healthier, providing the most optimum conditions in my body to grow/birth a baby.

So, here’s my apology to the strangers, family, friends…I do not expect to be pregnant anytime soon. Trust me, I’ll let you know when the test comes out positive.

I Love New Orleans (GIVEAWAY)

by 71 Comments

Ahh New Orleans. I used to not appreciate the city at all. All I would relate to New Orleans were the potholes, the murders, and the questionable people walking around everywhere. I saw all of the negatives and it made me thankful to live in the suburbs.

2005 came, and the unimaginable happened. Katrina hit. I used to want to be a meteorologist in school, and would WISH for a hurricane to come near us so I could experience it like the Weather Channel people do (and also, take off of school). Well, Katrina devastated New Orleans. A lot of my family and friends had to rebuild and lost priceless items. My immediate family lucked out, since they live slightly West of New Orleans. (If you’re just west of a hurricane, you seemingly get less of a punch than if you were dead center or just east of it.)

After Katrina hit, all I longed for was New Orleans. The happy New Orleans that I was so blind to originally see. I remember tearing up listening to the 12 Yats of Christmas that December. That February, I went to my first Mardi Gras parade in 2006 since the storm. The city had a mildew-y odor, but I didn’t care. It was New Orleans, and things were coming back. Things still aren’t completely back, 5 years later, but the spirit is stronger than ever!

When I first read about Disney making an animated movie, called The Princess and the Frog, set in New Orleans, I was excited. When the movie came out on DVD (I haven’t gone to a movie at a theater in ages…$10 for one ticket…hecks to the no!), I watched like a giddy 6 year old. ::disneyfreak::

I would smile when I saw St. Louis Cathedral, drool when I saw Tiana serving beignets, tear up when her family shared gumbo with the neighborhood, and giggle when Tiana helped the VooDoo lady make her gumbo “the bee’s knees” with a little Tabasco sauce. 🙂

So, to kind of give a shout-out to this movie, which I highly recommend, I’m doing a giveaway. I know most of these items aren’t nationally available in stores, so I want to share some of the featured foods from the movie (with a little bit of lagniappe/something extra) to one lucky reader!

NOLA Giveaway

Included in this package:

  • Cafe Du Monde’s beignet mix (heaven on a plate, basically)
  • Cajun Gumbo Mix
  • Tabasco Sauce
  • Tony Chachere’s Seasoning (good in just about EVERYTHING)
  • Jambalaya Mix
  • Dirty Rice Mix

Want to know how to win? Leave a comment about what your favorite NOLA dish is or what NOLA dish you’re interested in trying.

You have until Monday, May 17th to enter. This giveaway is only valid to readers in the continental U.S.

More ways to win (and please comment each time you do one of these)

That means you have 5 chances to win this Louisiana Feast!! Laissez les bons temps rouler!!

**Products from this giveaway are provided by The Nifty Foodie.**