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Wednesday, September 26, 2012

MEAL OF THE MONTH: SEPTEMBER

Chicken Cabbage Salad

1 head of cabbage shredded (Kathleen likes it chopped)
3 or 4 green onions (scallions), chopped
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup oil (vegetable or canola oil is best)
3 tbsp apple cider vinegar 
1 pack of chicken flavored ramen noodles
Cooked Chicken (Kathleen uses 2 breasts cut into small pieces)
1/2 cup slivered almonds
2 tbsp sesame seeds
1-2 cups green grapes, whole

Mix the the cut cabbage and green onions together and chill.  

To prepare the dressing, mix the sugar, oil, vinegar, and the season pack from the ramen noodles together.  Shake well.

At serving time, crush the dry ramen noodles and add to bowl of cabbage.  Add chicken chunks, grapes, almonds, sesame seeds, and  dressing.  Toss to incorporate.  

This salad is very hearty and holds up well for leftovers!


FROM THIS!

TO THIS!


Thursday, September 6, 2012

Sizzling Sisal DIY Decor Projects!!

Hello Faithful Followers & Web Wanderers Alike!

While most of the free world was spending its Labor Day Weekend eating delicious picnic and BBQ foods (like Kathleen)  Michael's was holed up away from the world working on some creative projects like a DIY UnaBomber (sans Sunglasses and Hoodie)!   Here are a few of the fruits of his labor using one of his favorite embellishment, sisal rope!

The Woven Sisal Accented Wire Basket

The former wire vegetable basket that Michael purchased from Pier 1 several years ago had found its home storing coffee table books in Michael's apartment since he doesn't make enough money to afford a coffee table (or vegetables for that matter).  The basket had become tired and boring, not adding anything to the room and he wanted to breath new life into it for little money.  In comes the always dependable, sisal rope!   Michael purchased his at a "junk" store for about $1.50 for approximately 20 feet of rope.  Harking back to his plastic embroidery mesh days, Michael wove the rope in a diagonal pattern through the openings of the wire basket.  Before determining this pattern, he tried a few other approaches such as weaving the rope in and out of the openings.  None of them had the same visual impact as the "cross stitch" method!  Michael decided to complete the look at three full rows, securing the ends with standard straight pins.  You could be industrious and do more rows but for this project the contrast between the wire and the rope seemed perfect at three rows.


It's A Wrap:  Over-Sized Decorative Vase

The four foot tall orange glass vase that had become a staple in his apartment decor had begun to bore Michael and he wanted to (like the basket above) spruce it up with little to no capital investment.  Once again, enter the ever handy sisal rope!  He simply took a length of the rope approximately 6-8 feet long and wrapped it tightly around the neck of the vase securing it in place with several straight pins in the top and bottom coils.  This allows him the flexibly to remove the rope if he decides to change up his decor in the future!



These are just a few of the ideas Michael thought up but the possibilities are limitless!  We would love to see your DIY decor project using sisal rope (or anything for that matter)!!!  Send them to: currenteventplanning@gmail.com   You might be featured in your very own post!