Fried Cheese

Don't make these if you're looking for a healthy snack*. It's not. It's fried cheese... but it's SO good! If you have children at home there's a good chance you have all of the ingredients in your kitchen already. I cannot give you exact measurements but I can share with you what I did.

You'll need to gather:
4-6 mozzarella cheese sticks (you know, string cheese)

2 eggs, beaten

about 1/2 c flour

about 1 1/2 c seasoned breadcrumbs (or panko if you've got it)

oil for frying

Heat the oil to med-high. Cut the cheese sticks in half and dredge in flour. Dip floured cheese in egg, then roll in breadcrumbs, back into the egg, back into the breadcrumb. (This gives it a nice thick coating. You'll be glad you did it!) Leave your cheese sitting in the breadcrumbs until you're ready to fry them so they all go in at the same time.

Carefully place breaded cheese in hot oil and cook for a minute or so. Turn and cook for another minute or so. They really don't take very long... don't walk away!

When they're golden, remove and drain on paper towels. Serve with pizza sauce or dipping sauce of your choice.

Math is hard work! This monkey deserved a little snack break.

*A healthier alternative would have been to coat a sheet with oil and bake them instead of frying them. You'll need to do some research on your own for oven temperature and times. ENJOY!

First Day of... Spring?

In the Pacific Northwest the weather can be unpredictable. And crazy! This really is one thing I love about living here. It's supposed to be spring. Well, actually, officially, TODAY is the first day of spring but it sure doesn't feel like it. I've put off starting any seeds and wish more and more that I had a mini greenhouse to get things started. (I just don't have enough space in my kitchen!)

While it may seem as if I've vanished over the weekend, we've actually been pretty busy with family! Our cousin graduated from nursing school. We are so very proud of her.

CONGRATULATIONS, JEN!

The monkeys got to spend some much needed quality time with their cousins. What do you think? Do they look happy???

I am thankful that knitting is portable. While on the road I was able to work on this hat (a test pattern for a friend) and managed to finally get it completed. It was a fun project to work on and I'll let you know more about it when the time comes. If you're a knitter, you'll want to have this pattern in your collection!

Our Snow Day

That's it, I'm afraid. Just the one day. It took us until March but we got it!

Just last night it was blustery and raining, so much so that our play area was flooded. Looks like some ducks would be quite cozy here, wouldn't you say?

Only a short 12 hours later the same spot mostly covered in snow! No, it's not a LOT of snow, but a couple of inches for us is something to mention.

The monkeys and I got ourselves bundled up and went for a walk in the neighborhood. It was a quiet and peaceful morning walk. By using our master tracking skills we could see where some dogs had been taken for their morning walks, and even saw where a bird was hopping around, possibly looking for the occasional worm for breakfast. They should have looked on the next street over as there were MANY worms wriggling around on the surface of the snow...

V E R Y S L O W L Y - Yep, bird food!

There's nothing better than coming in from playing in the wet snow than changing out of your wet jeans and sitting in front of a heater so nice and warm and dry. I'd say I've got a couple of happy little monkeys today!

As I write this, it's snowing again. The boys will spend some time at the kitchen table coloring and cutting out their plants and zombies and I'll be working busily on some more rubber stamps. I hope you're enjoying your day, too!