A Productive Weekend

First of all... I am SORE.

It is a good sore. And not as dramatic as I am making it out to be. But don't tell Kev because I love the attention.

He thinks I should rest.

Ok. Sounds good to me.

However, we just happen to be right in the middle of the "BIG KITCHEN REORGANIZATION EXTRAVAGANZA OF 2011". So, resting is not necessarily an option.

If we want to eat.

It all started yesterday afternoon when I was standing in my kitchen staring in to space and mumbling some unintelligible words. This "project" has been weighing heavily on me because my kitchen is just not functional. Which is ridiculous as I spend more time in that room than any other room in the house.

Unless I am NOT suffering from insomnia. And then I am known to sleep an hour or forty.

It seems that when we moved in three years ago.... I just closed my eyes. Opened some boxes. And threw all the contents in to the air.

I have no idea what I have. Where every thing is. Or why I can't seem to throw out a box of corn flakes from 2005.

So, during my ramblings, Kev suggested we head up to Lowe's and see what ideas we could get for organization.

A trip to Lowe's? Together? On a Saturday afternoon? ABSOLUTELY! It's a date!

It is good to get out and go on a date every once in a while. Even if it is a trip to Lowe's.

We went. We got ideas. We bought stuff with our Christmas gift cards. We fist pumped as we climbed back in the truck.

This reorganization seemed promising.

But before I go in to any MORE detail.... I would rather show you what we had for dinner. Because, as I'm sure you already know, I would rather do a big reveal. And show you before and after pictures and let you marvel at the difference. And let's face it. I still have a TON of work to do.

My idea and recipe for dinner came from Jessica. I have gotten so many delicious recipes from her lately.... but this is now officially my favorite! Crispy BBQ Chicken Fingers. Not only were they so juicy, and crunchy and yummy... but they were healthy! And very easy to make! They would be an excellent substitution for any of you that have children that won't eat anything but chicken fingers.

For the record, I never was "that child". I always ate EVERY THING! My plate always looked fresh out of the dishwasher it was so clean.

Anyway. Moving on to the pictures....
I served them with a side of Alexia onion rings. The healthy-er version and ever so scrumptious. And as you can tell by the picture, I served them in the dark. On a tv tray. Because the situation in my kitchen was out of control. It was easier for me to pretend like we were "camping out" in the entertainment room while watching movies.

Kev felt like a kid again. And I didn't have to stress him out with the disaster I had created.

It was a win - win.

But I couldn't forget the condiments. He has to have lots of choices. I think these bottles are his imaginary friends because they always seem to bring him comfort.



And then I chose one. Just one. Because I'm not high maintenance. ( yeah, right) I decided to try some thing organic....

The maple flavor made it sweet and reminded me a little of pancake syrup. It was good - but seriously, you could just eat these chicken fingers plain and be the happiest girl in the world. (Or guy - in case a guy is reading this)

We went to bed around 1 am. I took this picture at 4am. Because I couldn't sleep. Because of what you see in this picture....

I was organizing through the night. The kitchen is the heart of our house. If the kitchen is in disarray - so are we.

And then because I felt the need to add one more messy project to my already messy kitchen. I tried a new recipe for pancakes.

How the griddle even fit on the counter... I will never know. I got this recipe from here.

I have been following Monica's blog for about a year now. Her recipes and pictures are amazing!

She gave some great tips on how to perfect the pancake. All of which I followed. But alas, my pancakes did not turn out as beautiful as hers. They still tasted amazing, though. A little salty, which I LOVE. I also used low fat buttermilk instead of regular.... just because it is all that I had on hand.

Look how fluffy they were....

Add some blackberry syrup and set the plate in a room that will prevent Kev from seeing the bigger mess that I made in the middle of the night.... and breakfast is served!

Picture facts:

1. I promise they are not burned. The lighting and flash (lack of?) made them look that way.

2. I was too loopy to realize that I gave Kev two forks. And he never mentioned it. I guess he is used to things like that by now.

3. In my cleaning out of cabinets, I came across a Ronald McDonald plate. From my child hood. I don't think it is supposed to be at my house.

4. Right after I took this picture, Kev walked in to the kitchen to get something to drink. And then he ran and hid under his bed proclaiming that he would not come out until every thing is in order.

5. I better get back to work. I miss my husband.

I hope you enjoy the rest of your long weekend!!