What We Had For Dinner Tonight

Stove Top Apple Pork Chop Skillet

1 TBL Oil

4 boneless pork chops, 1/2 inch thick

2 Granny Smith apples, chopped

1 cup apple juice

2 cups Stove Top stuffing mix for chicken in the canister

Heat oil in large nonstick skillet on medium heat. Add chops and apples; cook 4 minutes on each side or until lightly browned. Remove pork chops from skillet.

Add juice to skillet. Stir in stuffing mix just to moisten. Top with chops; cover. Cook on low heat 10 minutes.

This is a super yummy dinner that is super easy to make. I usually have all the ingredients in the pantry/freezer so it is a great last minute dinner idea.

Enjoy!!!

CCG

Mr. Crafty Camper's First Post, The "Scotty Potty"

So now for his first guest appearance Mr. Crafty Camper will give his tutorial on our favorite latrine accessory. (When you camp as much as we do you like to have a few creature comforts!!) So Mr. Crafty Camper adapted an idea from a friend of ours and made us this little gem!!!


The "Scotty Potty" - in honor of our friend.

First start with a tube framed folding chair like the one above. I found this one at Goodwill for $3. Turn the chair over and remove the screws from the seat. Once the screws are removed the tabs pull out and you can remove the padded seat.





Go to your local hardware store and pick out your favorite toilet seat. For added comfort you could pick the padded version. :) To reduce the number of purchases, cut the existing white tabs from the bottom of the seat. You can see in the picture were I made my cuts. Keep the screws and white plastic tabs for later use. The top of the seat can be tossed (or decorated if you enjoy toilet seat decorations). If you don't want to cut the white plastic tabs, then you will need to find shorter screws to attach the seat to the chair frame. The last thing you want is to be poked in the bottom when you use this contraption.

Take the toilet seat and line it up over the tube frame. Use the metal tabs that the seat came with to secure the new seat. You may need to slightly bend the tabs prior to drilling or screwing to make sure the seat fits level. Decide where you want to attach the seat to the metal clips and then after everything is level, drill the holes in the metal clips only. Line the toilet seat up again and mark the holes from the tabs on the toilet seat so you pre-drill the toilet seat in the correct locations. Drill about 1/4 inch into the toilet seat. Be careful not to drill to far or you will go all the way through the seat.

Use the original screws and the white tabs from the toilet seat and screw them all together. The screw should go through the white plastic tab, then the metal tab, then into the pre-drilled holes in the toilet seat. Make sure they are firm, but do not over screw them or you could break the plastic tabs (spacers).

You are done. Clean up the mess so Mrs. Crafty Camper doesn't get mad at the mess you left for her to clean. Either dispose of the left over parts, or keep them around for some unknown upcoming project.


I hope you enjoyed this funny tutorial from my sweet husband, Mr. Crafty Camper!!! We took this contraption to Girls Camp with us and it was a huge hit!!! The girls thought it was so funny but after they used it they loved it (especially the padded back)!!! I think we are going to have to make another one for camp next year.

Let us know if you make one and send us pics!!!
Also check out the "Bathroom Box" post, it is the perfect companion to the "Scotty Potty"

CCG

Chicken Chinese Salad

I brought this salad to a little pot luck dinner last night and everyone loved it!!!! I got this recipe from my college roommate Heidi K.'s step mother Susan L. and adapted it for my families preferences. It is soooo very yummy and a great lunch or dinner during the hot summer months!!! Enjoy! (I did not have a pic of the salad but found this one that looks a lot like this recipe, I just don't like to do a post without a pic!)

Chinese Chicken Salad

Salad:

1/3 pound maifun rice noodles

2 chicken breasts

1 head lettuce (shredded)

3 green onions (sliced at an angle)

1 cup celery (thinly sliced)

1 small cucumber (seeded and thinly sliced)

3 TBL spoon toasted sesame seeds

3 TBL spoon toasted almonds (slivered)

Dressing:

6 TBL spoons sugar

7 TBL spoons rice vinegar

2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp white pepper

1 tsp lemon juice

1/4 cup oil

Directions:

Break apart rice noodles and deep fry a small amount at a time in hot oil. Noodles will fry within seconds and will be white and crisp when done. Drain and set aside.

Mix all of the dressing ingredients in a bottle, shake well and set aside.

Cook chicken breasts. They can be steamed, boiled or roasted which ever you prefer. Cool, shred, and then add about 1to 2 TBL spoons of the dressing mix to the chicken and set aside.

Toast almonds and sesame seeds. (Be careful, they will brown quickly)

Cut up all the veggies and place in a large bowl. Refrigerate all the veggies, dressing and the chicken till cold. Just before serving, lightly mix fried rice noodles, veggies, chicken, toasted sesame seeds, and toasted almonds. Pour dressing over salad and mix again.

Enjoy! CCG

My Best Teacher Gift Ever!!!

My adventurous son had the coolest teacher this year, Mr. C., who is a HUGE Star Wars Fan. Mr. C's classroom had tons of Star Wars stuff everywhere!!! We were soooo excited because we are Star Wars fans ourselves. So for Mr. C's teacher appreciate gift I thought I would make him some really cool Star Wars hall passes. I came up with the idea of a wall board with lanyard passes. Here is what I did.

For the wall board I got some MDF, Black and Gray paint, some kitchen knobs on clearance from Lowe's (not pictured yet) and some custom vinyl (in Star Wars font I might add!!!) from my friend Shelly at simplywordsonline.com Thanks Shelly it turned out great!!!!!

I painted the base coat black and then flecked gray paint with a tooth brush to make it have depth and look like outer space. After it all dried I added the vinyl letters, measured and drilled the holes for the knobs and attached them.Now on to the lanyard hall passes. I got some Star Wars stickers (which were really hard to find!), some clear ID Badge covers from Office Max, some black gross grain ribbon (there was no Star Wars ribbon to be found anywhere, bummer!) and some clips.

I cut the ribbon into 30" pieces and burned the edges so they wouldn't fray.

Then I sewed the ribbon around the clip.

I downloaded the Star Wars font off the Internet (there are tons of these fonts on the net!!!) and made the inserts for the ID Badge holders. I liked the black background best!!!

I embellished the passes with stickers on the front and die cuts on the back.

Taa Daaa!!! Didn't it turn out great!!!! Mr. C. really loved it and asked me to make a few more passes for him. I am really happy with this teacher gift. The teachers at school said I might be setting myself up for some high expectations. Now all my sons teachers will be expecting something just as cool!

Also Mr. Crafty Camper asked for an extension on his post, so hopefully next week I will feature his post!!!

CCG