Craft: Elf Clothes Line

I saw a cute embroidery pattern for an elf clothes line. I really wanted to make a real one!! It just so happens that I have some green/white cording that was leftover from an activity a few years ago that would be perfect!

I found some cute clothes pins at Marshall's

I worked off of a drawn gingerbread man  to come up with patterns.

All of the "clothes" items were cut out of felt and glued together with a hot glue gun.

The line was about 36 inches and the tallest item (pants and suspenders) was 6 inches tall.

I Love how it turned out!! I'll try to post the patterns later!

Carribean Pork Chops
Prep time:  10 mins Cook time:  15 mins Total time:  30 mins
Serves: 4 servings

Ingredients
4 pork chops, fat trimmed (1" thick chops, if thicker adjust cook time )
1 tbsp EVOO

Rub: 1/2 C. Dark Brown Sugar, 1 T kosher Salt, 1/2 t. red pepper flakes (less if you don't like spicy) 1/4 t. garlic powder, 1/4 t. paprika, 1/8 t. allspice, 1/4 t. cumin
(NOTE: for more flavor add more of each spice or of the ones you prefer, I kept it very mild because I was experimenting and hubby bought expensive chops!!)

1½ cups fresh tomatoes, diced (include liquid if cutting tomatoes produces a lot of liquid)
1 fresh mango peeled and diced medium
1 Med red onion, sliced

Instructions:

Coat each chop with rub on each side and set aside
Heat a large, heavy pan on high until warm.
Add oil and heat until shimmery (but NOT burning/smoking) about 20 seconds.
Brown pork chops on each side, about 1 minute each.
Reduce heat to medium, add onions.
Stir onions and flip pork chops after 2 minutes on each side.
Add tomatoes and mangoes.
Simmer until tomatoes are soft and sauce has set up- about 5-8 minutes.
Serve on a bed of rice or rice pilaf or brown rice or pasta.

Serving size: 1 pork chop + sauce

Adapted from another Favorite: Tuscan One pan Pork Chops!!
http://sweetcsdesigns.com/one-pan-tuscan-pork-chops/

Napa Cabbage Oriental Salad

I've  been trying to come up with a salad that will compliment our Kung Pao Chicken dinner. I had in mind the basics of the salad but needed some inspiration for putting it together. I found two outstanding recipes that I tweaked and made my own and LOVED the results!

For the DRESSINGS I have included both recipes. The first one is light and tasty, the second is peanutty and yummy and we preferred it! BUT....wait....After sitting for a while the peanut dressing got a little gloopy....so, I mixed the two dressings together and WHAM! Perfection! I do need to shake it before using now, but I think it's just what I was looking for as far as taste and texture.

Here are the two salad links:
http://www.dinner-mom.com/chinese-napa-cabbage-salad/

http://momspark.net/pantry-recipe-chinese-cabbage-salad/

Salad Base that I made:

Thin Sliced Napa Cabbage (I quartered one head of napa cabbage and put it through the cuisinart on a thin slice)
Thin Sliced Celery Heart (I used one celery heart and the same setting on the food processor as above-Probably about 4-6 large pieces of celery or 6-8 small. I wanted a good amount of celery in there for crunch and cause I like it!)
1 Grated Carrot
4 green onions sliced thin

Gently mix all together with clean hands
Set in Fridge with paper towel over top-I found the napa cabbage to contain a lot of water and this worked to help keep it from being soggy.

Crispy Topping:
In a non stick fry pan on Med/High add:
1 T. EVOO
1 T. Salted Butter
Melt and add in:
1 crushed pkg of Ramen Noodles (No Sauce Packet)
1/2 C. slivered almonds (or 1 C. if you like them a lot!)
1-2 T. Sesame Seeds

Fry till all are light brown and smell like heaven!
Set aside to cool

Dressings: (Below are the recipes from the above web sites adjusted to reflect what I did)
Recipe 1:

Dressing- Shake in a jar or plastic container

• ½ cup canola oil
• 3 Tablespoons Sugar
• ⅓ cup seasoned rice vinegar
• 1 Tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil

Dressing 2:
 3 T peanut butter + canola oil to equal 3/4 C
1/4 C. sugar
1/4 C. rice vinegar
2 T soy sauce

3. Prepare the dressing: Combine the dressing ingredients in a sauce pan over medium heat. Once combined, bring heat up to medium high and bring to a rolling boil. Boil for one minute and remove from heat. Let cool.

To Serve Salad
Top Salad with the cooled crunchy topping, add the dressing and enjoy!