It's the little things...

I found myself the other day scrambling around the kitchen trying to find something quick to cook for dinner. I grabbed a bag of chicken wings and decided to try something a little different. Since they are the IQF type they were easy to thaw out. I then washed them up and patted them as dry as I could. I seasoned them lightly and heated up the fryer (this is my first of 3 times a year that I actually fry!) I dropped those suckers in (no breading) and fried them up til they were crispy and brown. I wanted to take these plain wings to another level so I searched around the fridge to see what I could come up with.

Is this a familiar image to you? The bag of condiments that you keep and think you will use some day.

Well I was lucky enough to find about 5 Chick-fil-a sauce cups (2 varieties) and I had a little Sweet Baby Ray's Chipotle Honey barbeque sauce. **I can just hear Dwayne screaming about the need for endorsement money lol!** I just mixed the 3 different sauces together and drizzled it over the freshly fried wings. Instant magic. My family went on and on about how it was the best chicken they have ever had. And I witnessed a couple of them licking the plate (don't try to act like it didn't happen, you know who you are!) They loved it so much you would have thought that they had steak and lobster! No matter how much the cook of the house can feel like they need to go the extra mile to make more interesting meals, it comes down to one thing. KEEP IT SIMPLE.

How many of you find that when you make a frugal meal or a quick, thrown together meal that your family seems to prefer that over something really fancy?

It's Friday!!!

Hey Y'all, it's Friday!! I hope you have a great weekend and I leave you with this 20 second video of your boy, "Ismail the Great". You know how he loves his money!!

*BTW, I did make him toss it in after the video. Cheap bastard!! Don't get me started before this turns into a Vent Day post!

Yoplait Kids prize pack winners

Our three winners were chosen through Random.org and here they are:

Mama Zen (22), Audrey (42), &
Mommyhood is Thankless (33)

Congratulations to you all and I know you will love your prize packs! Thanks to everyone for participating and remember you can print out a coupon here to save $1.50 off Yoplait kids yogurt. Check back soon for more fun giveaways and prizes!

Vent Day Wednesday

Welcome to this week's edition of Vent Day Wednesday. I am really starting to question the title of Vent Day Wednesday. You all know why. Enjoy the video and please hit us up in the comments with your vents!

Bleeding - Part 2

** Sorry I did not hyperlink Three Generations photo from Friday April 3**

Well back to Christmas. It was a weird event and very uncomfortable, yet fun at the same time. I think it was weird because I was 30-something and happy to finally have the traditional Christmas experience. Anyway, that was the seed planted that brought about a change. Later that evening I began to think deeply about the past, the present, and the future. I placed myself into the mind of a young man who discovered that he was about to be a father. That is a scary situation for any man. Then I looked back over my father's life and realized that his father (my grandfather) died when he was 10 years old. He immediately had to assume all responsibility for his family. My father never really had the teenage experience. He was the man of the house. This allowed me to give him some lead way, but it was not enough to allow me to give him a pass. My heart was still cold. My father was in the military visiting places like Germany, Korea, and France and I was stuck in the hood. Without a father I was left to learn from the streets, growing up in a rain of pain and the cocaine game in Miami, Florida. The FBI was at my grandmother's house every Christmas trying to catch my uncles. That was back in the days when they had those white and tan Topaz vehicles. I was the one in charge of taking 2 plates of food out to them. Like I said, my grandmother kept it real. My life lessons came from the pimps, pushers, prositutes, Tupac music, and underworld of our society. Anyway, that is another story for another day. My wife, like any good military strategist formulated a plan to have dinner again, again, and again. Through the food and conversation a fine medium was formed. However, my street teachers taught me to Trust No One. I was not about to let my father infiltrate my wall of defense that was created over a lifetime. As much as my wife tried to create a foundation, I was like "no way!" I looked at the relationship my father had with me as a child like the $100.00 allotment check the military took from his paycheck every month. Then one night while reflecting over my life similar to what I am doing now, I thought about my children. I thought about their futures. One day my children will want to know who they are, and they will want to know their purpose. I have learned in my life that history is a great place to start. However, when my children want to know about their grandparents I would have to admit that I kept them away from my father. I justified keeping them from him because I did not want him to hurt them like he hurt me. I was now taking my pain and placing it on them. That was not fair. What happened between my father and I was between my father and I. As parents we try to protect our children as much as possible, but really I was just trying to protect myself. Stay tuned for part 3 of bleeding on the blog.