steamed fire ants with a side of spring greens

On one hand, these things are evil. They leave nasty, red bumps that itch and burn something fierce. On the other hand, as I tell the big kid, God created them to bite so they could protect themselves. If they are in my yard, they are fair game. Okay, so this is actually the neighbors yard, just over the fence aka too close to my yard.

I wish I would have taken a photo of the true before. This was after 3 pots of boiling water and a few days. Oh yeah...you should have seen me on my tip-toe trying to dump a stock pot of water on this mound of fire ants.

They are hard to see in this picture but the brown patches are acutally piles of dead ants from the previous attempts. Here they are, pot number four, steaming away. I doused them with one more pot and haven't seen any activity since.

my pre-lent economic stimulus

I went on a bit of a spree the past couple of weeks, which inspired my no-frivolous-spending-for-Lent decision. To inspire others to do a little stimulating of their own and to prolong my shopping glow by just a bit, I thought I'd share my recent purchases.

I already posted about the Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day book I received last week. To supplement this new love I also bought the following; Oxo Good Grips Pastry Scraper, a Cambro 6qt storage container and lid, and a Polder oven thermometer. I also took advantage of a free shipping code at Williams Sonoma and picked up the All Clad measuring cup and spoon set. This is something I really needed. I went with quality in the hopes of never needing to replace them. I learned it is hard to find good quality (highly rated on Amazon) kitchen products that are made in the USA. The Cambro was the only item out of these that wasn't made in China. Boo.

I ordered the girls Easter gifts (shhh, the wee one is playing with them now but they are going to be put away before the big kid gets home) from Gifted Imaginations. They were offering 25% off and free shipping over $65. This was the best price I'd seen on the Haba stroller. I was happy to replace the broken (after just a few months) junky Walmart kid's shopping cart with this cute Plan model. I figured I could put the standard chocolates, PJs, and books in these rather than inside Easter baskets.

sorry, mr. president

I dug through old posts and found the people who commented to get in on the Pay it Forward project. I have a list of names and a general idea of what I'm going to create for each person. I'm excited to finally get started on this.

I'm giving up spending money, for Lent. I'll buy the essentials, but no more frivolous spending. I feel a bit guilty after the lovely address the President gave last night, but we've got financial goals that need to be met. So, good-bye Amazon. So long, Ebay. I'll miss you, dear Slickdeals.

Much of my time (wasted) online is spent scouring for deals. Now, I'll have all the time I need to complete my project list. Wish me luck!

another hodge podge

I decided to go with a wrap rather than a sandwich this time around. A little turkey, cheese, avocado, smidge of cream cheese, and of course, sprouts!

This nasty fellow was under my desk, in the toy room, the other day. He was crawling along, minding his own business, when he suddenly found himself in the great outdoors. A sheet of paper and nerves of steel got the job done without anybody having a breakdown.

This little beauty is my first result from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. I bought the book after having an online discussion about cookbooks. I was amazed at the success I managed with so little effort. Crispy outside and chewy inside, this was a little slice of heaven. It was made only more unbelievable once dipped in olive oil, roasted garlic, salt and pepper.