Healthier Onion Rings…an oxymoron??

(Sorry for the dark photo)

Is it possible to really make an onion ring HEALTHY?  Probably not…but thi is at least a lighter version of them.  No deep frying, for sure!

I love onion rings, but had never attempted to make them at home for two reasons.  1)They are deep fried, which means they are not something you should eat oven.  We’re trying our best to eat healthier these days.  2) They are deep fried.  And deep fried = a big mess to clean up.

Number 2 is the main reason I chose not to try these at home…I can easily talk myself out of the ”need to eat healthy” thing.  Sometimes too easily!

So, I wanted to try to come up with a way to make them at home, but in a way that they would be less artery-clogging, and in a way that I wouldn’t be cleaning up grease spatters for days on end.  Ugh.  I came accross a recipe in a magazine…Southern Living maybe?…about baking the onion rings.  But they didn’t really have a ‘batter’ on them, and they looked pretty puny.  So, I decided to just experiment a little.  Here’s what I came up with…

Healthier (maybe not healthy…but at least a step up from artery-clogging!) Beer Battered Onion Rings.  This recipe makes enough for 4 people…unless you’re me and my husband…then it makes enough for 2.    We loved ‘em!

You’ll need…

2 onions

2 cups buttermilk

2 cups flour

1/2 can beer

another 1/2 cup flour

vegetable oil

 

First you need to slice your onions.  I like to make them just a little under 1/2″. 

Then, seperate the slices into rings, keeping only the larger rings for this recipe. We’ll do something else with the inner portion later.

Now, place the onion rings in a larger, shallow container and pour the buttermilk over them.  You want to make sure that they rings are mostly covered in the buttermilk.

Let those soak in the fridge for at least one hour.

Now…preheat your oven t0 400 degrees F.  Line a baking sheet with foil and spray the foil with cooking spray…this makes it super easy to clean afterwards. 

Place the 2 cups of flour in a shallow dish.  In another shallow dish, combine the 1/2 can beer with the 1/2 cup flour, mixing well.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and add in a little vegetable oil…just a couple tablespoons.  We’re not really ‘frying’ the rings, we’re just…searing them.

Now…take your rings out of the fridge.   Take a ring, let the excess milk drip off and dip in the flour, coating both sides…

Then dip it in the beer batter, again, coating both sides…

Let excess batter drip off the ring and place in the hot, oiled skillet.  Repeat until your skillet is full.  Cook the rings about 2-3 minutes per side, until they are a light golden brown…

Place them on the prepared baking sheet and bake for about 10 minutes, flipping them over once halfway through, or until they are a nice brown, onion ringy color. 

And that’s it!  A little bit of a healthier version of onion rings!  And they were delicious…my 9 year old devoured them!  Give ‘em a try…I think you’ll like them too!

 

And what did I do with the inner portion of the onion that we didn’t use for the onion rings?  I simply chopped them up, stuck them in a ziploc freezer bag and tossed them into the freezer.  I can just pull out as much as I need in the future!

My boy’s room makeover…on a budget!

 

So, do you remember what my son’s room loked like before?  A sad excuse for a room, wouldn’t you say?  Well, I went thrifting a couple weeks ago and found a few things that I thought would work for his room.  Then they went to stay with Grandmom and Granddad for the weekend, so I took advantage of a kid-free house and got to work.  Here is his room now…

The pictures are a bit dark…it was like midnight when I took these (the kids were at Grandmom’s, remember?)

I barely spent any money on this room because I used things we already had around the house. 

The things I did buy:

• Bedspread – $5 at Goodwill
• Candleholders – $2 each at Goodwill
• Pillow – $2 at Goodwill
• Shower curtain – $2 or $3 at Goodwill (I will tell you how I used it later)
• 3 wooden stars – $3 at Mighty Dollar

So for a total of about $15 I made my kid’s room finally look like something!

Now for the ‘details’…

The only thing I purchased for this corner were the $2 candlesticks.  The chair was given to us by a neighbor a few years ago.  The ottoman goes with our couch, but we don’t use it b/c we have a coffee table now.  I recovered the pillow with fabric I had in my stash.  The bookshelf was my husband’s when he was a kid.  The picture frames were stashed in the garage.  The basket that holds the books was laying around in the garage as well. 

Not a thing was purchased for this area!  The dresser was my grandmother’s when she was a child.  I just hung a couple of his hats on either side of the picture, tossed a couple baseball items on the dresser and called it done!  Oh, and the curtains you see to the right I’ve had for a couple years…they were in his room at our previous house.

I just bought plain wooden stars at the Mighty Dollar for a whopping buck each.  Spray painted them and then painted on his initials. 

Remember that shower curtain I told you about??  I used it to make a ‘faux’ duvet cover.  I simply layered it over a comforter and placed it on the end of his bed.  I loved the detail in the ‘ribbon’ on the corners!

 

So there you go!  A bedroom for $15!

I’m linking up to Kimba’s DIY Day, so hop on over there and see what other bloggers are doing themselves!

Meal Plan Monday….on Saturday!

I’ll be out of town on Sunday, and I have other things I want to blog about on Monday, so I decided to go ahead and post my meal plan today…Saturday.  Although I’ve been doing my weekly meal plans for months now, I haven’t been blogging them lately.  But I decided to start doing that again, and I’ll be linking up to Organizing Junkie’s Meal Plan Monday.  Be sure and hop over there to check out more meal plans and recipes!   And I’ll try to share recipes with pictures as often as I can!

On to this week’s Menu:

SUNDAY:  Eating at the in-laws

MONDAY:  BBQ Ribs (they are really easy and delicious!) with Roasted Potatoes and Rolls

TUESDAY:  Pasta with Browned Butter Sauce (and regular sauce for the hubs)

WEDNESDAY:  Chicken Picatta Pasta – a quick dish that’s ready in under 30 minutes!

THURSDAY:  Steak Bites (a la Pioneer Woman) with cheesey mashed potatoes and steamed brocolli

FRIDAY:  Monterey BBQ Chicken with sweet potato crunch and rolls

SATURDAY:  Eating at a birthday party -  my best friend is turning 40!

SUNDAY:  Zesty Grilled Pork with homemade “Rice-A-Roni” and green beans

 

I’ll be sharing recipes and pics throughout the next week or so!  Have a great week, and be sure to check out more meal plans on Organizing Junkie!

Whiskey River Burgers…Mmm…Mmm…Good!

I was in the mood for burgers last week, but wanted something a little different than our ‘normal’ burgers we make.  So, I threw some ingredients together that I found laying around in the fridge and pantry and…voila!  Enter Whiskey River Burger…

And yes…it’s half-eaten.  What?  I was hungry!  I forgot to take a pic until it was almost gone.  And…yes again…those are homemade onion rings beside it…well, the two that were left at this point..and I’ll be sharing that recipe soon as well.   So are you drooling and dying for this burger recipe yet?  Alrighty…here ya go…

WHISKEY RIVER BURGERS – makes 4 burgers

1 pound ground beef

1 tbsp worchestershire sauce (did I spell that right?)

1-2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

3-4 tbsp Jack Daniels Whiskey BBQ Sauce

4 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled

**1/2 onion, finely chopped

Okay, mix all the ingredients together

and form into four patties. 

 **I didn’t put the onions in because I knew I was making onion rings and that I would put them on my burger, so I didn’t need onions IN the burger.  But if I dont’ make onion rings in the future, I’ll definitely put them IN the burger.

Grill or cook in a pan until done.  Place on a bun* and top with a slice of cheddar cheese, a dab of the BBQ sauce, and onion rings if you have them…cuz that’s just delicious…and any other toppings you desire.

I used  homemade english muffins for my burgers and boy was that good…but you can use regular buns, or bagels, or yeast rolls, or whatever floats your boat.  Be creative!

Home Tour: Outdoor Edition

Finally!  I’m getting the chance to blog the outside of our home!  We spend quite a bit of time outside…and now that we’ve made some improvements, we’ve been spending even more time out there!  I’m so excited to share our pergola with you guys!  I’m still on the lookout for some more/other patio furniture for the two patios, but I’m working with what I have right now.   

So,  first of all, here’s a look at what we had out here BEFORE:

This is a ‘breezeway that goes between our house/garage and the workshop:

Actually, I had accessorized it a little bit since this pic was taken…I had some plants scattered around and a couple little side tables here as well, but I can’t seem to find the pics with those this added.  Oh well.

On to the patio areas that are off the back of the house…

(The left side of the patio)

Pretty boring, huh?  The table/chairs were left by the previous owner.

(And the right side)

Very bland, I know.

DH and I spent a weekend and built a pergola over the left side of the patio.  We love it!

I ended up moving the chairs from the breezway and moved the swing over to this side as well.   I really want to find some different patio furniture for under the pergola so I can put the chairs back in the breezeway, but it will have to do for now.  I’ve had NO luck finding anything at yard sales or thrift store so far…and we just can’t go out and buy new right now.  I moved the patio table to the other side…

I hate the white plastic chairs, but again…have to make do with what we have right now.  I’m really happy with how the patio areas turned out. 

Here are some more detailed shots

Like I said, the table/chairs were left by the previous owner.  I like them but they really need to be revamped.  I not sure what to do though, b/c the glass in the table won’t come out, so that would make it hard to spraypaint.  And the chairs have a fabric-type seat, and I’m not sure if I could just spraypaint that or now.  Any ideas???  We got the umbrella at Aldi for about $30.

The chairs under the pergola.  These are the chairs I brought from the breezeway, I just placed some canvas fabric over the cushions.

And the swing I brought over from the other side.  Threw on a few pillows and put in a couple hosta plants. 

That’s pretty much it for our patio setup now.  And that finished off our home tour!

I have SEVERAL fantabulous recipes I’ve been creating and trying, so I’ll be sharing those in future posts, starting tomorrow.  Plus, I have a women’s meeting tomorrow and a reunion this weekend, so lots of cooking will be going on around here this week!   I’ll be sure to share all my dishes with you!

 

Have a great day!

DIY Coffee Table Rehab

I have been looking for a coffee table since we moved in a year ago.  But I wasn’t going to pay the price for a new one, so I’ve kept my eye out for one at yard sales and thrift stores.  FINALLY…a few weeks ago, I found this beauty…

What?  You don’t think she’s pretty?  Doesn’t this beautiful wear and tear make her just fabulous?

Well, don’t feel bad, I didn’t think so either.  BUT, she had great lines and was the perfect size for my living room.  So, for a mere $15 I took her home.  I started out by by giving her a good sanding…you know,  kinda like a massage for a coffee table…

I used an electric sander for the top, and a sanding sponge on the legs.  Wiped it down with a damp cloth to remove any dust.  Now, she was ready for paint.  I couldn’t decide between white or black…so I went with both.  Zebra stripes.  No, just kidding.  I did white on the legs and ’skirt’ of the table and black for the top.  And here’s how she looks now, in my living room. 

Pretend you don’t see the fish food flakes on the table.  Princess misses the bowl half the time. 

I’m still on the search for an area rug for under the table.  Who knows how long it will take for me to find one that I like that will fit my budget. 

***I’m linking up to Kimba’s DIY Party over at A Soft Place To Land, so be sure to check out the other great projects too!

Home Tour: Living Room Edition

**ETA:  I’m linking this post up to Nester’s Price My Space Party…so run on over there (by clicking the button above) to see all the other participants!

We’re almost finished with the tour of my little abode.  Today’s room is the living room, and although it’s not exactly ‘finished’ in my opinion, it’s well on it’s way.  As a reminder, here’s what it looked like before we moved in (this is the previous owner’s furniture):

 And after trying the furniture in several different locations, and moving some pieces in from or out to different rooms, here’s what it looks like today.  Wait, first let me say that I LOVE the red walls…but with a red couch (that is too new to replace) it’s just too much red.  So, we’re planning to paint all but one wall in a mocha-y color – maybe the window wall, or maybe the “gallery wall”. Okay, carry on…

This view (above)  is as you’re standing in the doorway to the kitchen.  I still need to get a rug to put under the coffee table, but I’m on a tight budget right now, so I’m hoping to find a decent one at a yard sale or thrift shop.  A girl can hope, anyway!  Speaking of coffee tables…that one was a STEAL!!  I got it at Goodwill for $15.00!!  Of course, it didn’t look like it does now.  I had to sand it down and give it 3 or four coats of paint to get it to look like this.  But I’m really happy with how it turned out!   The TV stand is actually a desk…we bought it as a temporary desk until we could get something better.  After my husband’s dad gave him a larger desk, I decided to repurpose this one as a tv stand.  IT works really well, actually, b/c the drawer holds all the Wii games and equipment, and the DVR sits nicely on the ledge below.  The rocking chair was my husband’s great-great aunt’s (or maybe great-great-great…I’m not sure), and we got it about 5 years ago or so.  I’ve recovered the chair a few times and it’s been in several different rooms, but I really like it in here now, with the toile seat.  That white table beside it…I need to paint it black b/c it’s in bad shape, but I’m out of black spray paint!  AKKK!!  EMERGENCY, EMERGENCY!!  I’m Out of black spray paint!!  No worries, I’ll be picking some up this weekend! 

And here’s the little “entryway” behind the couch…I’d like to get a narrow bench to sit beneath that wall quilt:

The wall quilt was made for me by my grandmother, and the candle sconces I got from goodwill for like $1 each…they were an ugly gold color, so I just spray painted them black.  The marble top table we bought at an antique store not long after we were married.

 

Now, for the pricing of my space…for some of these things I’m approximating b/c I’m going from memory!

• Couch-$500  – we got a great deal when the furn. store was going out of business.
• Pillows – the black ones were $4 each at HL on clearance, all others are pillows I made, so they probably cost me about $10 total.
• Rocking Chair – free
• White Side Table – @$20 from LTD Commodities several years ago. 
• Lamps – @$30 for the pair of matching lamps.  The small one on the marble top table was free from a friend.
• Vinyl Wall Word – @$12 – got it during a sale from Uppercase Living
• Picture Frames – free – all frames I had already, just painted them black.
• Coffee Table – $15 from Goodwill plus paint we already had.
• Finials – $8 for both from HL again.
• W on coffee table – $2 from HL.
• Black ‘bookshelf’ – it’s actually a CD shelf – $20 from walmart
• Throw – $4 from goodwill
• Marble Top Table – @$30
• Embroidered Quilt – Free, made by my Granny
• Sconces – $2 from goodwill
• Curtain rod – $5
• Other accesories – picked up at thrift stores/given to me – @$20 at most, I’d say.

That’s a grand total of  $686 – so a whole room for UNDER $700!!!  I think that’s pretty darned good!

And, that pretty much sums up our home, on the inside.  Please feel free to ask any questions.  Tomorrow I’ll be sharing the outside of our home!

Recipe: Mexican Pork Chops

I tried a new recipe a couple nights ago and my entire family loved it, so I wanted to share it with my blog family too!  Of course, you have to make it yourself, but it’s a REALLY easy recipe.   It’s a healthy recipe as well, so you don’t have to feel guilty eating it!  If you like hot and spicy flavors, you can use hot salsa and/or mexican style canned tomatoes to add some heat.

MEXICAN PORK CHOPS

4-6 boneless pork loin cutlets (depending on how many you need)

1 onion, chopped (I used chopped frozen onions)

1 green bell pepper, chopped (again, I use frozen)

1 can (14 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained

2 cups frozen corn kernels

1 can black beans, thoroughly rinsed and drained

1/2 cup salsa

1-1/2 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp ground cumin

 

Preheat oven to 350F.

Spray a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray.  Add the pork and brown for about 2 minutes on each side

You’re just looking for a bit of color on them, you’re not cooking them through.  They should look something like this…

Transfer the pork to a baking dish – I used a 9×13 pan. 

Now, spray the same skillet with more nonstick spray or a little vegetable oil and add the pepper and onion…

Cook the pepper and onion, stirring as needed, until they are softened and just start to get some color on them…about five minutes or so.  They’ll look something like this…

Now, add in the corn, black beans, salsa and tomatoes…

Mmmm…doesn’t that look divine?!?!  Now, add in the oregano and cumin.   Cook until heated through, about two minutes or so.  Pour this mixture over the pork in your baking dish…

Trust me, the pork is under there.  And it’s in heaven as it’s being covered by this delicious bean/corn/tomato yumminess!   Stick it in the oven and bake it for about 45 minutes, or until the pork is tender.

Here’s the finished result…although you’ll have to forgive me for the dark photo…my family was starving and didn’t want to wait for me to get the perfect picture!

The corn mixture is, of course, good with the pork, but it would make an awesome side dish by itself, or as a dip/salsa for tortilla chips. 

I hope you try this fabulous recipe, and let me know what you think!

Home Tour: Laundry Room Edition

***Sorry to be late getting this up, but I had to be at work at 6:30 am and didn’t feel like getting up even earlier than I HAD to.  I love ya, but…um…no.**

Today we’re going to take a tour of my laundry room.  Or, I guess you’d call it more of a laundry closet…it’s a little room/closet in my hallway right off the living room.  It’s gone through a few stages before finally getting to where it is now.  Here it is right before moving in a year ago (that’s the previous owner’s washer/dryer…and no, he didn’t leave them..very sad):

Okay, I’ve never been a big fan of the wire shelving, but you gotta work with what you got. And what I had was wire shelving and basically NO budget to put new shelving or cabinets or whatever in.  So, I had Mr. Organized Chaos cut the two shelves in half so there was an empty space on the right side which is over the washer now.  I had some small wooden shelves that we brought from our other house so I wanted to use those to take up less space.  So, here is what it looked like after the shelves.  And…don’t get distracted by all the dirty clothes…it was laundry day.  I mean, come on, this IS the laundry room after all!  Don’t judge me!

 

I am really embarrassed that you all saw that now.  But, it really only looks that bad on laundry day.  Really!  So anyway, one day I finally decided to do something about this room.  Mr. OC thought I was crazy because, after all, it’s only a laundry room…and it’s in a closet in the hallway – who’s really gonna see it, right?  Well, I’m gonna see it Mister!  Every day  I do loads and loads of laundry that seem to grow and grow no matter how much you try to keep it at bay!  But I digress…back to the laundry room…ahem, excuse me. 

SO…I still don’t have a lot of moolah to spend on decorating, so I knew I had to do this on the cheap.  I got out my spray paint, my basket of fabric and started from there.   I had some ‘candy jars’ that I wasn’t using for anything else so I spraypainted the silver lids with black and one of them now holds clothespins and I’m still trying to figure out what to put in the other one.  Any suggestions?  I also painted the lid to another glass jar black and I use it for my Oxy-clean (which I swear by!).  A nd tossed in a few other things found around the house – a finial thingy, a book thingy and a silver dish.  On the top shelf I have a basket that I spray painted black that holds my dryer sheets.  My detergent is on the top shelf too…it’s not pretty, but hey…I have to have it, so, what can ya do?  We use liquid detergent so I’m not sure there’s much more to do with it.  The fabric softer, Oxy-clean spray and stain stick are all behind the detergent.  The wire basket is one I bought on super-clearance at hobby lobby and filled it with some wicker balls I had already.  You see that tray in the left side of the photo?  That was an old, worn out silver tray…I spray painted it black, punched a couple holes, tied on a ribbon and it’s now a magnet board.  I just haven’t made the magnets yet.  One thing at  time!!  Oh, and I lined the shelves with a toile paper I bought at a yardsale…like 8 long sheets for $1.  Or maybe less, can’t remember!

The other shelves…again, covered with the toile paper.  We keep our cleaning supplies in a milk crate so it’s easy to carry them from room to room while we clean.  So, I just covered the crate with some gingham fabric (for the pics, I just wrapped the fabric around it, but I’m working on actually sewing a cover that will fit on kinda like a slipcover).  The black basket on the top shelf holds all those gypsy socks…you know…the ones that run off from their mates for a life of fun.  The other things are things I had around the house already – another finial thing (major super clearance find at Hobby Lobby again), a big W covered with toile paper, and a black vase that I filled with lilies from my flower garden.

 Here’s a full on shot of the room now…

 

I am SO Much happier when I do laundry now! 

So…back to the empty jar…what do YOU think I should put in it?

Recipe: Easy Chicken/Beef/Pork Nachos

I thought I’d share a really quick and easy recipe with you today and resume the Home Tour on Monday.  Why?  Well, because we love this recipe and I thought you might too!   This is a great way to use up leftover chicken..or beef or pork.

Here are the participants in today’s recipe:

• Tortilla Chips
• Salsa
• Black Beans, drained and rinsed well
• Shredded Cheese
• Avocado
• Leftover Chicken (or watever meat you have laying around) – you could also use canned chicken for this if you didn’t have any leftovers.

If you have them and you like them, use some tomatoes, onions, green peppers, jalepenos…whatever you normally eat on a taco can go in this dish.

Now…using a fork, shred your leftover meat…

Now, put a layer of tortilla chips into a baking dish – I’m using a 10″ stoneware piece, but any dish will work.

Next, heat up a saute pan to medium high heat, add a bit of oil or butter and heat up your shredded chicken, then toss in a few spoonfuls of salsa…

Heat until the chicken and salsa is well combined and warm.  It should look something like this…

Now, put the chicken layer over the chips in the baking dish…

Next, add  your black beans and cheese in layers…

 Make sure you cover the chips well with the cheese…if you don’t the chips tend to burn a bit around the edges.  At this point, you’ll add any other ingredients you have on hand that you like…tomatoes, onions, peppers, etc. 
Toss this into the oven at 350-F and bake until the cheese is nice and melty.

Dice up a nice, ripe avocado…

And toss it with a little bit of lime juice to keep it from turning brown and add this to your nachos when they come out of the oven. 
That’s it! 

EASY CHICKEN NACHOS!!!  Um…are you wondering why I don’t have a picture of the finished product?  Well, it’s simply because these nachos are SO freaking good that  I  my family devoured them before I had the chance.  So sorry.  I’ll do better next time, I promise.  Pinky swear.

I’ll be taking a break tomorrow for church, visiting the inlaws and Small Group Bible study, but be sure to come back on Monday for my next installment of the Home Tour!!  Remember…it’s gonna be a CLEAN room.  Any guesses??

And if you have any questions about the recipe, just leave me a comment and I’ll try my best to answer them!