4th of July Red/White/Blue Chocolate Strawberry Semi Fail / Semi Win

This was my inspiration for what I was attempting to do.  Rice Krispy Treat Sparklers! 

http://www.5minutesformom.com/57796/making-everyday-food-special-rice-krispy-treat-sparklers/

Except I wanted to add white chocolate so it would be a true red, white and blue dessert.  

UNFORTUNATELY we were running late for the party and I made a few mistakes.  

I let my mom make the Rice Krispy treats.  I forgot the fact that she likes them extra extra gooey, so they never hardened up.  (They were delicious to eat though!!!).  She also stuck them on a pseudo wax paper so they didn't come up easily and wouldn't hold their form.  So unfortunately, even though I had gotten star cookie cutters just for this project...that part didn't turn out.  

I heated up the white chocolate in the microwave, slowly while constantly checking on it.  It burns easily so I was careful.  I also needed it to harden up fast so I didn't want it too runny.  Unfortunately this made my creation slightly less "pretty" than I expected.  After they dried I stuck a blue berry on them.  I put them in a cool dollar store vase with red white and blue decorations at the bottom.   I had already gotten to this part  before I realized that the rice krispy stars would not be going on top.  So I was sad to say that they kind of looked like yummy medieval torture desserts. 

I ran out of room in my vase and realized I had a lot more chocolate, strawberries and blue berries and I had these little flag tooth picks so I grabbed a red white and blue plate and made mini versions.  

These were a lot easier to  make.  They also looked a lot less evil and painful to eat. 

Altogether people thought they were cute and fun.  So it was not a total fail, nor was it exactly a total success.  I learned from it and will probably try it again...but a little differently.  

I felt very much into the 4th of July spirit.  It was awesome! The awesome BBQ helped too. Notice my epic fail rice krispy treats in the back (Still delicious though! Thanks mom!) 

Bevan Chicken (aka Rice Crispy Chicken)

BEVAN CHICKEN 

(Aka Rice Crispy Chicken) 

I've been eating this since I was a kid.  Nobody makes it like my father (Bevan) does (even though it's REALLY SIMPLE, go figure!) So half the members of my family call it Bevan Chicken, while we usually call it Rice Crispy Chicken.  I don't cook much but I figured I'd try this easy recipe and see if I could make it as good as my father (Bevan) makes it. 

All you need is three ingredients.

INGREDIENTS:

1.) Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast 

(fresh chicken preferred, but frozen is fine) 

2.) A cube of butter 

(real butter preferred but you can use margarine)

3.) Rice Crispy's 

(brand does not matter)

Optional: Salt and Pepper 

AMOUNT OF INGREDIENTS: 

Note: The amount of chicken, butter and crispies needed will vary depending on how many people you are feeding and how much you want to make.  The pictures shown are: 

1 1/2 lbs of chicken.  

1 cube of butter 

(I had some left over which you can see below). 

And about 4-6 cups of rice crispies 

(I didn't measure it.  It was two full food processors full).  

My family can really chow down so this fed 

4 HUNGRY people :) 

PREPARATION: 

Step 1: Cut your Chicken up into small pieces (f not already that size).  About 2-3 inches by 1/2-1 inch

Step 2: Melt the butter in a bowl 

Step 3: Crunch up the rice crispy's in either a food processor OR you can use a zip lock bag and a rolling pin. If using the zip lock bag method make sure the zip is locked tightly! You can use a rolling pin or anything else that will crunch them up. 

Optional: You can put salt and pepper into your crispy mix.  (I did...we like it better that way).

Note: THIS is just the top of the crispies.  They are more finely ground and powdery underneath.  Make sure you don't OVER crunch them up or else you'll get mush.  This is supposed to be a crispy breading.  

Line a pan with tinfoil (this makes clean up easy!)  This is a 13x9 pan.  It was a "tiny" bit big for the 1 1/2lbs of chicken I used but that was okay.  

Put all your ingredients in one place so you can begin! 

CREATE:

Optional Additional Step One: Line the bottom of your pan with a thin layer of crispies (see notes on the bottom of the blog). 

Step 1: Dip each piece of chicken into the melted butter.  Try to get a decent amount of butter on each piece of chicken. (this helps adhere more crispies to the chicken and it's delicious)

Step 2: Place the buttered piece into the plate of crunched up crispies.  Roll it around really good.  When you grab the chicken make sure you also grab a small hand full of crispies with it.  (This makes it extra crispy as well) 

Step 3: Place each piece into the pan. Snug them up next to each other so they are all touching.  Do this until all of them are in your pan.  

Step 4: Use the rest of the crispies on the plate and pour them over your chicken in the pan.  This helps make the chicken taste really good and it also helps the chicken taste better and be chrispier.  

Once you're done it should look something like this: 

Look at those beautiful crispies all filled into that pan! 

Now onto baking! 

BAKE: 

Note: Baking degree and time will depend on the oven.   For this oven, and 1 1/2lbs of chicken in a metal 13x9 pan lined with tin foil the total cook time was 1 hour at 350 degrees.  

Step 1:  Set the oven at 350 degrees. Once heated go to step 2. 

Step 2: Place chicken in oven.  Set a piece of tin foil over the chicken (don't tuck it in, just set it on top).  This will help the crispies from browning too fast.  Set timer for 30 minutes.  (for extra crispy chicken) OR 40 minutes (for slightly less crispy chicken). 

Step 3: After timer goes off, go back and remove the tin foil and let the chicken continue to bake.  Total time should be one hour.  So set the timer for 30 minutes (if your first timer was only set for 30 minutes).  OR set your timer for 20 minutes (if your first timer was set for 40 minutes).   Let it continue to cook.  

VOILA: BEVAN CHICKEN/RICE CRISPY CHICKEN: 

All Crispy and Delicious! 

Pair it with anything you'd like! I added garlic bread and a fresh fruit salad.  It was DELICIOUS! 

The final Verdict: SUCCESS!!! It was good.  Not as good at Bevan (Dad) makes it.  But still really good.  Bevan has big man hands to get the crispies on the bottom.  When I make this again, i'll line the bottom with a thin layer of crispies before I start.  I'd also make sure I got a little extra butter on each piece.  I think that is the "Bevan" secret.  

CLEAN UP: 

The cool thing is that there really is not that much to clean up because it's so simple! Just this plus the pan! WOOHOO! Easy dinner! 

T-Shirt to Tank EPIC FAIL

I decided to try that cool, "T-Shirt to Tank Top" idea.  I chose a shirt that I never wear because I hate how it fits.  Then I followed the SIMPLE instructions provided here. http://pinterest.com/pin/46584177365992751/

I started slicing and dicing with these little midget scissors (I'm in the process of moving so they were the only ones that I had).  Not exactly like the picture I was following...but what are ya going to do?

Then I scooped out the back a little more.

Next I tried my creation on! It still fit horribly, so I went back and sliced and diced some more!

What did I get? An EPIC T-Shirt to Tank Top Fail.  It actually does not look that bad in this picture.  However, due to the poor fit to begin with and my unfortunate bust size, this was probably never going to be a great idea anyways.

I held the top together to show what a ribbon wrapped around it "would" look like and it would basically make me look like I was having a "back baby." Haha! 

Needless to say, if you want to try this I would HIGHLY recommend getting a bigger T-shirt that has really soft material. Then cutting it up with big girl scissors.  Also, I would recommend not having a hefty load up front because I think these types of shirts don't flatter bigger girls, BUT you have to wear what you feel comfortable in.  So if you like it, wear it! 

IT WAS FUN TO TRY....But this shirt is probably going in the trash :) 

EPIC FAIL - Scotch Tape Multi-Color Nail Fail

I've never been good at painting my nails.  I've always left my toes to the professionals and as you can see, while I'm a "cute enough" woman, I have very ugly hands.  Therefore I've always left my nails blank and I usually let my hands bask in all their ugly glory! Haha! I saw all the cool Pinterest nail art and I figured for someone who is a sloppy nail painter with ugly finger nails, I wonder what the end result would look like if I tried that? So here it is.

I went to Sally Beauty supply and dropped $50 on 4 China Glaze colors, a couple discount colors, and Orly top and bottom coats.  This was WAY more than I was expecting to spend.  If I'm going to spend this much time on my nails I'd like the color to last more than a day (So I figured I got the right stuff).  I also thought to myself...self, practice makes perfect so for this obscene about of money (in my humble cheapskate opinion considering I never spend ANY money on my ugly little finger nails), I might as well practice a couple times.

First I tried to take off all the oil on my finger nails with nail polish remover per the Sally Beauty Supply lady.  I washed my hands and dried thoroughly.  Then I applied Orly Bottom Coat Bonder and then let it dry.

THEN I did two tones, one in a cheap discount Sally Hanson yellow and the other in the China Glaze turquoise.  Then I let it dry (or at least I thought I did!)

Then I applied the middle color, a dark blue China Glaze.  Then let dry.  At this point I didn't think it looked TOO bad! 

I applied the scotch tape and wrapped it around my fingers (I forgot to secure near the edge of my finger nails though...) 

Then I painted pink! No, my 8 year old sister did not paint my nails here.  Yes, I painted them myself ! (Sad, I know).  I have no shame in my game though, you can see my funky nail painting job and feel free to laugh because I know I did!

Once the pink dried (at least I thought it did), I peeled off the tape expecting to just clean up the sides with nail polish remover.  However, what happened next was unsalvageable.  

The cheap yellow peeled off in places.  The Pink China Glaze was waxy and even though it felt dry it bubbled, rippled and peeled off in places too.  The colors I chose didn't exactly go well together and my tape strips seemed to be too big for the look I was going for.  So I removed it all and started over with something more simple.  

I just did pink with some white lines.  I let everything dry thoroughly this time! But then it chipped off less than 8 hours later.  

I plan on returning all of the nail polish (except the final sale discount ones) because while it ended up looking really ugly from user failure (aka my fault), I shouldn't have to pay that much for nail polish that does not stay on longer than a day.  I'm going to try to find some OPI nail polish (I think that is some of the best) and just get one or two colors and practice learning how to paint my nails to begin with before I attempt a wacky crazy design again.

The end result may not have been what I was looking for, but... I HAD FUN TRYING!!! The experience gave me a lot of laughs, hope it gave you some too.

Pink Tips With Medium Blonde Hair - WIN

I'm 29 years old and I'm currently studying for the CA State Bar.  I figured this was my last chance to do something funky with my hair before I left my 20's and eventually enter the professional world of law, where pink hair is generally frowned upon.

I bought some Splat Pink Fetish Hair Color.  I skipped the bleach step because my hair was already dyed blond.  I then went to town on the tips!

Normally I don't wear a plastic bag (in life or during the hair dying process), but I've never dyed my hair pink so when the box said it will get everywhere I took it's word. 

The pink REALLY did get everywhere! But it was pretty fun!

Then I waited 30 minutes making duck faces in the mirror while it seeped into my hair!

I FINALLY got all the pink out in the shower (that took a long time!) But it was worth it, I LOVE IT! However, when they say on the box that if you don't dry your hair first it will get on your clothes, it will.  My shirt only has a little bit of pink on it, it's not really bad and I have not tried to wash my shirt yet.  So I'm not sure if it will come out in the wash.  So REALLY make sure you use an old towel and dry your hair completely before you put on any light colored clothes or clothes that you don't want to get hair dye on!