Crab Cakes

These are so easy to make and taste delicious. Sadly, they are not really budget friendly, so my husband and I only have them on special occasions and I do not usually make them when we are entertaining (I know, so selfish).

It will be hard to write out a recipe, as I usually do not use one and just throw in what I have. Over the years I have followed many different recipes while making crab cakes and have just taken what I liked from each one and sort of do my own thing.

Ingredients:
Unshelled Crab (1 lb.)
1/4 cup of Mayo
1/4 cup Dijon Mustard
1/2 diced yellow pepper
1/2 diced red pepper
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 large egg
Garlic salt
Pepper
1 cup Panko
1 cup Corn Flake crumbs

In a bowl, mix crab, mayo, mustard, peppers, onion, beaten egg, salt, pepper and Panko.

I usually mix with my hands. Clump the crab meat into cakes with a 2-3 inch diameter depending on your preference. Put the Cornflake crumbs on a plate and coat each cake. Once the cakes are formed and coated, cover and place in fridge for a about an hour.

Meanwhile, you can mix the spicy mayo sauce. Mix 1/4 cup mayo, 2 tablespoons of Sirracha sauce and a tablespoon of lemon juice. Place in the fridge until ready to serve.

When the crab cakes have been refrigerated for about an hour, heat olive oil in a non-stick pan. I will usually take a crumb from the cornflake crumbs and place in the hot oil. If it sizzles then it's hot enough to cook the crab cakes. Place crab cakes in oil, about 3 minutes on each side or until browned. Remove from pan and place on a plate lined with a paper towel to allow the oil to soak up.(This usually makes up about 10 crab cakes)

Serve with sauce and ENJOY!

Project Dream List

1. New Floors (this project is actually in the works)
  
 June 2nd is the day I am hoping for. We are doing all of the prep work ourselves which is a bit      daunting. I am going to start packing up the downstairs tomorrow so we don't have to cram all of the work in to one day.

2. Label my children's library (probably with book plates)

3. Finally finish the guest room

4. Finish the yard

5. Repaint the molding downstairs (if you look closely in my previous post, you will see why)

6. Make over my hutch (my hutch currently has no glass in the doors. However, it does make reaching in for the sugar so much easier)

 Photo courtesy of Better Homes and Gardens

7. Start shopping on a budget again, which means meal planning and attempting to coupon

8. Plan a fabulous baby shower! I already have compiled some brilliant ideas, however, those must stay secret so the mommy to be will not find out.

Photo Collage 2

It has been a long time since I have been able to Blog and I am happy to say, that from here on out I should be pretty consistent. With summer approaching, my list of home projects is growing (much to my Husband's dismay).

Since Thursday afternoon my Husband and his friends have hijacked our downstairs and have been playing a computer game for four days! I, of course have been trying to be the perfect  good wife and stay out of their way while still providing them with delicious food when I can.

To keep me busy while they click away in their own little world that I do not have even the slightest understanding of - I decided to tackle a project that has been on my to do list since we moved in: A photo wall going up the stairs with a collection of old family photos. Here is the play by play of completing this mission.


Compile the supplies:
Since I am a shop-o-holic, I already had quite the collection of picture frames laying around, however, a trip to the craft store was still a must. I was dreading this project because I am aware of the insane price of custom framing. I am fortunate to have some fabulous old photos from both sides of my family, but sadly - they are not standard photo sizes. I went to Michael's and was happy to hear I had a few options aside from custom framing. I had the option to purchase a frame and get matting cut to the right size. If I chose this option I could "float" the photos on top of the matting. I have seen this done before and it actually looks quite good. The option I chose was to buy a floating frame, with no matting. You tape the pictures in between the double glass and the color of the wall behind it will show through. I also purchased a wooden "W" and some light blue paint to add some color.

Arrange:
Yikes! I hate this step. I am such a visual person and it's hard for me to imagine what the outcome will be without actually hanging them on the wall. I did the next best thing which was arranging them on the carpet to get somewhat of an idea how the layout would look.

Templates:
This step is certainly the most tedious, but it's so necessary! You trace all of the frames on newspaper or paper bags and cut them out.

After you trace each frame, you flip the frame over, place the template against the back of the frame and mark where your screws will go. This honestly makes hanging the frames a piece of cake! And come on, who doesn't love cake?

Practice:
Next, I taped all of my templates on the wall. This allowed me to move anything that did not look right. I also traced templates for two to three extra frames just in case I saw some spots that needed filled (I ended up using all of them).

Nails:
 When the wall looks just how you want it...put nails in all of the spots you marked!

Finish:
 Once all of your nails are in, start hanging everything! I just rip each template off the wall as I replace them.

I am so proud!

Mission Organization: Fridge

Organizing the fridge is something I have not placed a lot of importance on in the past. Let's face it, no one ever looks in your fridge but you...so what's the point?

Well...the point is...I see it. And when it's messy it makes cooking stressful. Also, if you are trying to save money, having a clean and organized fridge helps you determine what foods you have and what you need to eat before it goes bad. Since my fridge has been organized I have definitely noticed less waste happening.

I wanted to have a lot of healthy options for drinks so we are less likely to drink soda. The entire top shelf is filled with liquids (ignore the Cherry 7up in the back). I also LOVE my Anthropologie egg crate and berry crate, they make the fridge look so pretty.

The blue tub is filled with snacks for the week; Yogurts, baggies of chopped vegetables, the sort of stuff you can just grab and go.

Cheese...we love cheese. Currently in my fridge I literally have at least ten types of cheese. We have so much cheese, we had to dedicate one whole drawer to the delicious food! 

 I am waiting for us to go through our condiments, as of now we have multiples of a LOT of items.

Every other weekend, I have been removing MOST items from the fridge and scrubbing it out. It's amazing how quickly the inside of your fridge get grungy and icky. Since I have re-organized, I haven't had to dedicate any time to cleaning out old food...which has been wonderful!


Below is my pantry which I have previously mentioned in a post. I have since made more progress, check it out:

A Little Sanity Never Hurt Anyone

With my new busy schedule I must find small things to keep me grounded. Taking our sweet puppy on walks has certainly been a wonderful break from reality and has been a productive activity for my husband and I to do together. We usually walk him around our house, through the neighborhood and in the forest nearby.

To mix things up a bit, we have been going to an off-leash park near our home that is absolutely FABULOUS! The park is called Thousand Acre Park and it is off of 84 before you get to any of the falls, Exit 18 I believe. It is so beautiful and so vast that it would take quite some time to have explored the entire park. Sampson loves it because he gets to roam free and meet dozens of sweet dogs who can't wait to play.

In the summer we like to ride bikes on the trails. It's a little bumpy but quite the adventure. Beautiful view of Mt. Hood and a fun little tribute to the Lewis and Clark expedition. Seriously guys, check it out...especially if you're a dog owner!

It's the Small Things

My newly (somewhat) organized home and meal planning have been the only things getting us through this crazy time. I recently started Student Teaching and YIKES teachers have a hard job! The hours are long and you are on your feet most of the day, most of the time with no break. These last two weeks have been the most exhausting weeks of my life! It will all be worth it though, and I absolutely love going each and every day...even if it means I have to wake up around 4am every morning.

The meal planning has truly helped so much! Dinner is never stressful and my Husband can easily help out if need be. I have been continuing on my quest to get creative with vegetables!

This meal was beyond easy: Mesquite pork loin kebobs with roasted root vegetables (Rutabaga, Zucchini, Butternut squash and Purple onion) with sauteed Kale and Garlic. So easy, so delicious, so healthy! They leftover veggies were great in a soup the next day. Just puree, heat on the stove, add a little salt, pepper and brown sugar (especially if you didn't have any sweet veggies in the soup like Butternut squash) for flavor and you have a delicious soup on your hands - or in your tummy. If it's too thick you can add in some vegetable broth.

Soups made like this are my favorite. They taste so rich and creamy, yet they are super healthy and full of great nutrients! Perfect for this cold, wet weather. You can basically do this with any left over roasted veggies as well as potatoes!

Bedroom Organization: Closet

This was a very hard task for me, as I get incredibly attached to my clothes and have some overly optimistic reasons for holding on to them ("I WILL lose that weight"). While it's good to be positive, I threw that mind-set out the door for a day, which allowed me to get rid of TONS of clothing.

Step One: Get 3 bins/boxes; Garbage, Goodwill, Give away/Sell

Let's face it - some items you may find are beyond salvaging; stretched out, stained, ripped, or just plain icky. Throw those away. Any clothing that may have come from an upper-end store and is in great condition can be re-sold, yay for some extra money! Lastly, donate everything else to Goodwill or Salvation Army.

I went through the "get rid of" process before I began organizing my closet and dresser, and after.

Step Two: Sweaters
I know, I know, you are supposed to fold sweaters NOT hang them. I have just had a lack of space to make this possible. Since I knew I would be completely cleaning out my dresser as well, I collected all my sweaters from the closet and put them aside.

Step Three: ROY-G-BIV, and short sleeve to long sleeve.
Putting my clothing in color order makes my closet look nicer, and makes it easier for me to find what I am looking for.

Step Four: Shoes!

You can organize your shoes in the most convenient way for  you! Using shoe racks, hanging shelves or stacked shoe boxes are some ideas.

Step Five: MORE DOWNSIZING

Once I was completely finished, I noticed my closet was still a bit crammed. Because of this, I went through the second "get rid of" cycle. This time around was even harder. I got rid of clothes I have held on to and still like, but for whatever reason I do not wear very often.

Yay for clean closets!!! Do you guys have any tricks or amazing storage items that help keep your closets under control?