Stick a Pin in it.

I dont know about you, but on vacations I love souvineers, a little something to remind you of the great vacation you had (besides the pics of course).  I love to get pins from Disney and the Hard Rock Hotel.  For a long time I had them on my camera strap but I started getting way too many to do that anymore.  For a while they sat in storage but I knew I wanted to display them somehow.  Finally I decided that a shadow box would be a great idea.  I found the PERFECT box at Hobby Lobby (I would give you a link but for the life of me I cant find it online).  This box comes in multiple sizes but the 2 I have are the larger 18x20 (I think) size.  In the box is this coarse mesh that you could easily use to stick the pins in, but I didnt love the color (tan) or the texture (think felt and burlap babies) so I decided that black felt would be awesome and make the pins pop.  I got a yard of black felt and went home to start pinning.

This is what 1 of the smaller pin cases looks like, I am sad to admit I have 4, two the large size and 2 the medium size (I think its 11x14).  This particular picture is of the Christmas pins I have from the past 2 years at Walt Disney World.  Its so magical and wonderful at the holidays I had a hard time not buying every Christmas pin in sight...believe me this is not even close to 1/2 of what they had to buy. 

A note on using the particular frame...give yourself enough felt to cover the edges so it doesnt slip down when you hang it.  These doors open like a door, which I like for easy adding but isnt as secure as a typical frame.  Also, adding the felt made the mesh pretty thick so not all the pin backings stay in place.  That doesnt really bother me because they are all staying just fine, but if you are a little more OCD than me you might get frustrated.  It does take some patience to get all the pins in, but once you are done I think its worth it.  Now my pins arent sitting in a bix but out in the office for me and guests to look at.  I mean why do you buy things if its not to display right?!

I wish I had a longer/fancier post for you today, but my lame-o computer at home didnt upload my new pics to picasa for me to get on my work computer (technology, love it and hate it) so for today I just have my shadow box quick and easy craft...hmmm maybe Quick and Easy Craft should be a new weekly theme?!  What do you think, I would love your thought?!

Project Housewife Out!

Foodie Friday!

HAPPY FRIDAY!  Im especially happy about this Friday because tomorrow we leave for Walt Disney World and the Christmas madness that only Disney can do!  So next week my posts will be about the fabulous expolits of our time in Disney.  We are going to be visiting the Wizarding World of Harry Potter also so prepare for the amazingness of that too.  In case you didnt know, I am obsessed with Harry Potter and Disney...I wish the Wizarding World of Harry Potter would have been bigger but Universal (which I loath) wasnt as smart as Disney and doesnt have acers of land that they can expand on.  Oh well, thats why Walt Disney World will always be the best!  Ok enough of that tangent, on to bigger and better things...FOOD!!!  Today I am going to share with you a Weight Watchers recipe that I happen to love.  Actually I love all the recipes that I have made from Weight Watchers, but this one is amazing.  This recipe calls for pork, but I dont love pork so we use chicken, but thats easy enough to figure out so here is the recipe.

Sweet and Sour Pork

(A Weight Watchers Recipe)

Points: 7               Servings: 6          Prep Time: 20min             Cook Time: 45min         Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

• cooking spray (1 spray)
• 1 1/2 lbs lean pork tenderloins, cut into thin strips
• 15 ounces canned unsweetened pineapple chunks
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/3 cup rice wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon table salt
• 1 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce
• 2 medium green peppers, sliced
• 1 small onion, sliced
• 3 cups cooked brown rice, kept warm

Instructions

Heat a nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat.

Add pork and cook until golden brown, about 8 to 10 minutes; remove from skillet and set aside. Drain any remaining fat from skillet.

Drain pineapple chunks, reserving juice; set aside.

Combine water, vinegar, sugar, cornstarch, salt, soy sauce and reserved pineapple juice in a small bowl; add to skillet and cook until sauce is slightly thickened, about 2 minutes. Add pork; cook covered over low heat until meat is tender, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes.

Add peppers, onion and pineapple chunks; cook 5 minutes. Serve over rice. Yields about 1 cup of pork and 1/2 cup of rice per serving.

Nutrition

Calories 343.4,Calories from Fat 44,13%,Total Fat 4.9 g,7%,Saturated Fat 1.5 g,7%,Cholesterol 73.7 mg,24%,Sodium 348.4 mg,14%,Total Carbohydrate 47.7 g,15%,Dietary Fiber 3.7 g,15%

Sugars 18.1 g72%, Protein 26.7 g 53%

I love this recipe and you can have so much fun with this.  When Im feeling lazy, I get the frozen 3 bell pepper mix from kroger and use that rather than the fresh stuff, or you can get the asian stir-fry blend and use that...with veggies you have so many options!  Like I said earlier I also sub chicken for pork, but you could also do beef if you wanted to, the basic principles of the recipe stay the same, the only big change is the nutrition/points value.

Have fun making this, and if you have some awesomely great variation share, I would love to hear what you did!

Project Housewife Out!