Sometimes I just want to say....

I am sure some of you will not be surprised to know that this post is about my dear husband Dwayne. He gets these ideas in his head sometimes and because I am a great wife, I humor him. We live on a pond and he LOVES to go fishing as often as he can. Our pond has all kinds of fish in it although we have never eaten any out of there before. I took him to the store so he could buy some new fishing supplies. He was going to wait until it cooled down a bit this evening to see if he could catch anything. That was all he was supposed to do.

How about an hour before he went out there he starts rummaging through MY kitchen looking for items to cook fish with. He went on and on about how he was going to catch the fish and get it straight into some hot "grease" as he calls it (country ain't it?). I'm sorry, when we lived in Miami we used to catch fish and eat it all the time. Here in South Carolina, we just go up to Publix or Kroger and buy it ready to cook. I will spare you all the gross details of his stanky fishes he caught. I cleaned the 3 fish he brought in and cooked them. He sat at the table feeling like a King, bragging about his catch. Then all of a sudden things got quiet. Very quiet. I asked him if everything was okay. He looked at me out the corner of his eye and said next time he wants fish he will just send me to the store to buy it. I just giggled a bit and almost said "I told you so". He knew he lost this one. I am going to talk about him for a very long time. Sometimes men get into this "manly-man, I want to conquer the world" state of mind and as a good wife you just have to let them have their fun. I am quite certain Dwayne learned his lesson! Now I am off to go get the fish funk out of the air :)

Time to get it together

School is officially out for the Summer. This does not mean anything to me since my kids still have busy schedules. Chardie got a job at the law firm her dad works at a couple days a week. This should be a great experience for her and I am sure she will learn some valuable life lessons along the way. Both girls have volleyball twice a week. They also have 3 books each to read over the break that have assignments to go along with it. They have tons of other reading and writing~ AP European History for Brie and AP US History for Chardie. They both have doctor, dental, orthodontic, orthopedic and chiropractic appointments in between. Something tells me they won't have time to breathe!

I am going to have to buckle down and get William potty trained (I hope). It has been so up and down. Still no poo-poo in the potty yet. I just try to go with the flow and encourage him. I keep telling myself not to stress out and that he will get it [one day]. I also really need to have a more organized teaching style. He is learning how to use the computer mouse but I still prefer to teach him the old-fashioned way with paper and pencil and out of books. I do not think I will be putting him in pre-school. If I did, it would be for "other people" who think I should. I am going to buy some colorful bins to pack away all of his random toys so he has a neater area to do his school work. I will refrain from frequent social networking and more than likely fewer blog posts. My kids are the priority and they need me now more than ever. I also want to have some fun time with them before school starts back. We have a couple short out-of-town trips planned as well as some pool time at a friends house as much as we can. The Summer will be busy but we will be sure to take time to enjoy it.

So is school out in your neck of the woods? Do you have any big plans?

Father's Day The Greener Good way {Giveaway}

** Contest Closed**
Winner is #91 Melissa R~ Congratulations!

Father's Day is fast approaching!

In honor of Dad's special day, The Greener Good will be giving away a handmade picture frame made out of recycled bicycle parts (a $36 value) to one lucky winner per day during the week leading up to Father's Day. To be entered to win, post a photo of yourself with your dad on The Greener Good's Facebook page . I think any dad would love this rugged and manly picture frame!

There will also be coupon downloads available on The Greener Good's Facebook page for a FREE solid shampoo bar (while supplies last) and recycled bicycle chain bottle opener key chains to be given away sporadically. I love the idea of the shampoo bar since it can be used from head to toe and there will be no spills like traditional bottled products. Great for travel, camping or even everyday at-home use.



My friends at The Greener Good have also offered a one lucky Momfiles reader the chance to win a pair of Tuba Herringbone Men's sneakers valued at $60! They are made from natural fiber, recycled plastic and other renewable resources and come in 3 colors (black, charcoal and rock grey). They come in sizes 9-12 including half sizes! I think they are very stylish and rather cool. They are a cross between preppy and sporty.


*Mandatory: To enter just let us know what Greener Good item do you think would make a great Father's Day gift?

For additional entries:
~ "like" The Greener Good and Momfiles on Facebook
~ Enter The Greener Good's Facebook contest by posting a photo of yourself and your dad on their wall (3 entries) Be sure to leave a link to your photo.
~ Follow The Greener Good and Momfiles on Twitter
~ Tweet about this giveaway (once a day) and leave a link to your Tweet:

Enter @momfiles to win some eco-cool men's shoes from @TheGreenerGood http://tinyurl.com/3o4bmkq #fathersday #green #giveaway

~ Follow Momfiles via GFC
~ Grab the Momfiles button and place it on your blog

This giveaway is open to US Residents only and will end at 9:00 PM EST on June 15, 2011. One winner will be chosen at random and will be contacted by email to claim prize. If you do not have a Blogger profile then be sure to leave your email address in your comment. Good luck!

I have received no compensation for this post and all opinions are 100% mine as always.

Sweet & Spicy chicken and cabbage {recipe}

I posted a photo of this dish on Facebook and got several requests to post the recipe. I will start by saying that I am not a recipe person unless we are talking baking. I am a 'throw in a little of this and dash in a pinch of that' kind of home cook. I will do my best to average the amount of ingredients you would need and of course you can alter it to your taste.

Sweet & Spicy chicken and cabbage

What you will need:

~1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast sliced thinly into strips (I recommend slicing while still a bit frozen for precise strips)
~1 small head of green cabbage sliced into strips (not thin like coleslaw)
~1 tbsp of very finely minced fresh ginger
~sesame oil
~canola oil
~1/8 tsp of Chinese 5-spice powder (omit if you don't have it)
~Mediterranean sea salt
~freshly cracked pepper
~any type of blended seasoning (I use Badia Complete Seasoning)
~few dashes Worcestershire sauce
~about 1/2 cup or a scooch more of Frank's Red Hot Sweet Chili sauce
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All you do is take your sliced up chicken and lightly season with your dry seasonings being VERY careful with the salt. I don't think I used any on the chicken since the other seasonings had some salt in it. I then heated about 1/2 tsp sesame oil and 1 tbsp of canola oil in a pan. I threw in 1/2 of my ginger (don't brown it) and then my cabbage. I seasoned cabbage with a little of the dry seasonings and the few dashes Worcestershire sauce. If you freak out because it is too dry then add a few tablespoons of water. I topped it up and let it cook on medium heat. I heated a non-stick frying pan on high heat with 1/2 tsp sesame oil and 1 tbsp canola oil. I threw in my seasoned chicken breast strips and let it cook until it was very brown. I turned the heat down to medium low and added my Frank's Red Hot Sweet Chili sauce and a few tablespoons of water. Be VERY careful because when that sauce gets hot it pitches out at you and burns! I tossed it around for no more than a minute and added the chicken to the cabbage. I tossed it up and tasted for seasoning. Serve with rice (I prefer Jasmine).

Please let me know if you try this! Enjoy :)

The finished teacher gifts

I spent the morning baking up these lovely little mini-loaves of blueberry crumb cake for the girls' teachers. By the way, the cake tastes even better the next day! I wrapped each cake (once cooled) in plastic wrap before putting them in the cello-bags. Brie chose the color and although it does not match the tags she did not seem to mind. Actually the whole family thinks it looks cute this way. The girls wrote their own personal message in the cards.



We even stuck a plastic knife in the bag just in case the teacher wanted a little snack. I sure hope they like them.


I can't believe this is the last week of school. I hope you all had a great Memorial Day weekend.