Gnat Happening

I'm a firm believer that every creature on Earth has a purpose, some reason for their importance to this life, a contribution, destiny, and overall reason for being alive. But some are a little less clear than others. Pests such as gnats or other irritating little buggers don't seem to have a clear purpose like most other creatures and I would be lying if I said I didn't wish we could rid the world of things like gnats or flies lol! The only clear purposes a gnat has to me is testing my patience and haunting one's home!! Seriously....what does a gnat really do other than drive you bonkers and make you swat at the air repeatedly like a crazy person?!

Moving on to the destruction and massacre of these irritating little pests. They can live peacefully outside in nature, but they are most definitely NOT welcome to dwell in my home. NOPE, not happening gnats. Problem is...I have many houseplants and like to have some sort of fresh fruit in my home on a regular basis which quite often results in these lil jerks thinking they are welcome to linger uninvited in my domain lol!

 I decided to do a little gnat destruction research on Pinterest (which when all else fails folks look on pinterest, seriously, people are ahhmazingly creative, crafty, and ingenious at times, and it is like an ocean of ideas, handy tips, and just plain awesomeness). Needless to say I found many o' different hints, tricks, ideas, and different concoctions for desolating gnats! Problem was... I didn't have all the same ingredients as most of these gnat traps called for and some seemed a bit over the top ie unnecessarily complicated for bug slaying. I like to keep things simple, but effective and that is why I'm sharing this method with ya'll. It's simple and it works. Even my fiance was rather impressed, surprised and pleased since the gnats were driving him batty as well. Honestly, he doesn't always have faith in my crazy concoctions (can't say I blame him, can't win em' all right lol), but once he saw the cup full of pesty dead gnat bodies and noticed the interior peace had been restored, he gave me MAD PROPS :) and he said I should blog about that lol!

So here I am....blogging my simple, but way effective gnat trap, hoping this provides easy relief for somebody else in the world that is way over those little jerks buzzing around in their kitchens. Most traps I found on Pinterest called for covering a cup with plastic wrap, poking holes in it, apple cider vinegar and soap and really a much larger production, and a way more specific ingredient list than really necessary! Gnats or fruit flies as some call them are clearly attracted to fruits or sweet sugary stuff. So give them little pests what they want mwuahaha, bait them in with juice or a lil fruit mixed with water that is on the verge! Its that simple.

I used an old personal sized container of apple sauce that had been in my fridge FOREVER, okay not forever, but it was no longer a safe bet for human consumption lol! I mixed in a dash of dish soap and white vinegar and by the next morning I had at least 20 to 30 dead gnats in the cup! I placed it by my houseplants, away from my kitchen counter, where they seemed to be lingering about and BAM, my kitchen was gnat free within a few days. It's a tad gross aka a bit of an eye sore, but know what's even grosser?? Going to get a drink of your coffee and seeing a gnant floating in it URRGH/ICK!!

What you need:
~An 8oz cup or larger
~Something fruity and sweet~ a little juice, applesauce, old piece of fruit or something similarly sweet to bait them suckers in
~They can't swim so a sweet liquid will attract them to the cup where they shall be doomed, I used a little white vinegar, but water would have worked fine mixed with the ol applesauce. Or you could use a dash of fruit juice and water.
~Fill the cup about half way  and put it in a place where it isn't in the way, where you'd like to attract them to or where you notice them lingering most. I put my gnat trap on my plant stand by my houseplants to steer them away from my counter area and it worked extremely well. Either way, it will attract them if it is a sweet and fruity liquid and they will fall in and cease to be a problem in your house forever more. No need for a funnel, plastic wrap or super fancy ingredients, just a sweetened liquid of sorts, a cup and for good measure a DASH of soap and WHALA gnats no more! Don't go overboard on the soap because the bugs aren't attracted to the dish soap they want the fruity sweet stuff and adding to much might steer them away. Hope this helps you as much as it helped us, it's really gnat a problem and my pleasure ;)

Chicken Cordon Bleu ala' Grilled Cheese

Chicken Cordon Bleu Grilled Cheese

 So yesterday I was scrolling around on Pinterest looking for easy leftover chicken recipes. I had left over shredded chicken that needed to be used up or go to it's rightful home in my belly in some sort of delicious way. Waste not, want not right!? Really not feeling the obvious cold chicken salad choice, and the produce in my house was a little lacking at the moment so soup wasn't gonna work either :/ Because really what is chicken noodle soup without some carrots or a chicken salad without crisp veggies of some sort lol?! I was trying to find something that really squawked at me to make for dinner and of course the choices were anything, but limited!!! Then I started envisioning what I had in my fridge and cupboards that could mesh into any of these dishes, and my choices become quite a bit more bleak lol...

 I wanted something warm, hardy and comforting, but still easy and HEY....I just so happen to have shredded chicken, Swiss cheese slices, and sliced ham! WHALA!!! One of my ABSOLUTE FAV MEALS EVER is Chicken Cordon Bleu. I would probably eat it out of a boot, okay that's pushing it, but you feel my drift; that stuff rocks my boat in a very good way LOL. Normally, Chicken Cordon Bleu isn't made with shredded chicken, but this recipe has all the same yummy elements and is SUPER EASY so its a dinner winner for me and I hope you enjoy my simple twist on these great classics! Extra Bonus: minimal dishes and clean up required here, your welcome folks hehe!

 Sorry for my horrible kitchen mood lighting! It's good for relaxation, energy costs, and not feeling like your in a hot seat, BUT NOT SO HOT for pic taking lol! I'm working on it though folks so bear with me kapeesh

 As you can sort of see (lol) I have about two cups of shredded chicken, a stick of margarine, sliced ham, thick white bread (from the future hubbies bakery) and Swiss cheese slices. Not too many ingredients, not to complicated.

 I placed four slices of precooked ham in with the leftover (fully cooked) chicken in a frying pan and poured about a half cup of the leftover broth (I made in my last post) in the pan. This was mainly because I didn't want the chicken to be dry and chalky, but you could use a little olive oil, butter, or any other liquid agent you prefer (FYI my broth is purdy good though and it helps unite the dish lol) I also sprinkled a little lemon pepper seasoning, Italian blend seasoning, and red pepper flakes on the meats for a little extra umph! But you can keep it pretty basic or add whatever seasonings your lil taste buds desire to suite the family's likes or dislikes, I know how that goes, my fella is a bit of picky eater at times. It'll be delicious whatever way you decide to go about it! All I'm really doing is heating the meats up on medium/low heat so we don't have a mixed up temperamental sandwich. We don't want the outside to be hot while the inside is like the arctic lol.  

 Once the meat is nice and warmed up (it's already cooked so it should only take a few minutes to heat), I removed the chicken from the frying pan back into the leftover chicken container and mixed in approx. 2 tablespoons of mayo (or use enough to lightly coat the chicken amount your using) and I squeezed a tiny squirt of basic yellow mustard in and gave it all quick stir. This gives the borderline dry chicken even more moisture, creaminess, extra flavor, and will help hold it all together better! Otherwise, your probably going to have a heck of time keeping it in decent sandwich form and that's no fun to flip or try to eat lol.

 Then using that same pan I used to warm the leftover chicken and ham up in, I constructed a gourmet chicken cordon bleuish grilled cheese. I buttered one piece of thick, Texas style white bread and laid it butter side down in the pan on low/medium heat. Then, I topped it with 2 slices of ham. On top of the ham, I spooned about a half a cup of the warm chicken salad mixture and than topped it with a slice of Swiss cheese and another piece of the buttered bread, butter side out (for anyone who may be unfamiliar with the grilled cheese process). By the time you get all the layers on, it will be about time to flip the beaut, I'd suggest two hands while attempting the flip. Because this is a beastly, hardy sandwich, but hey if you've got mad flipping skills go for it lol. I'm just a better safe than sorry sort of gal sometimes! Cook for about three minutes on each side and you should be good to go and ready to enjoy your Chicken Cordon Bleu Grilled Cheese Sandwich. I served mine with homemade garlic and green onion topped mashed potatoes, but this sandwich would go great with a soup or salad too. It is such any easy sandwich, but with a dash of fancy. Hope you enjoy it as much as me and the fiance did!!!

How to make Homemade Chicken Broth (Soupa' Savings)

 I have always loved how the Indians or Ol' School folks always utilized every part of the animal i.e. they didn't waste a thing. The animal wasn't just killed for their meat, their fur used for garments, blankets, and warmth; their bones used for weapons, jewelry, and a wide array of other purposes I'm sure like making STOCK OR BROTH.

Let's brace ourselves because winter is coming. There is no avoiding it here in the Midwest, the winter doesn't play around round' here lol! One of the few things I do really enjoy about the winter is a good soup. Which generally involves some sort of broth or cream of something or other! How great would it be to not have spend extra bucks on broth or know what ingredients are all in your soup??! It'd be grrreat, I know right! Truly it doesn't get much simpler than making your own broth, which is talking my language EASY,CHEAP, and MINIMAL EFFORT are my bag so to say :) Moving on to the recipe I used which produced at least 2 quarts worth of freezable broth and that's probably quite the underestimate, IT WAS A BUNCH lol!Granted I had a large bird somewhere around 6lbs so yeah....

 Most recipes I scrolled through called for carrots and celery which were for added flavor and disposed of afterwards. I don't like to waste and didn't have those items in my fridge so I winged it and it turned out like broth lol. I used two sliced lemons, pepper black and red, a large onion, a few sprigs of fresh dried tarragon, garlic powder, a dash of Italian seasoning, and little salt. You could really use what ever kind of seasonings you prefer, that was just my combo and what I had handy.

 Place your bird in a large stock pot with flavoring ingredients to your taste preference, traditionally this is w/ carrots, celery, and onion,salt and pepper, but I'm not a traditional orthodox gal lol! I like to try different things and I love lemon pepper chicken so I thought why not make a lemony peppery chicken broth and my lemons were on the verge of badness so I figured I better use them puppies for something stat lol! Simply pour enough water over the chicken to completely cover it and a little extra just to be safe the bird has a nice full bath and bring it a boil. Once it comes to a nice boil, lower the temp to simmer or lowish and cook for another hour and a half to 2hrs on low. When the leg feels like it is about to fall off or tear away from the bird with minimal resistance, it is done or to be safe you can pull out the thermometer and go the legit route lol! Let the chicken rest a while after it is done before pulling it out and shredding the meat from the bones to let the juices redistribute and because it is hot as heck and you will likely burn yourself, don't do what I did being overly eager about the broth or situation LOL! Once cooled strain out the large chunks of onion or whatever you choose to add and WHALA, you have broth. You could take this further and make stock by re-adding the bones to the liquid and really get some intense flavor. I didn't do this yet, because it was my first time making broth and my fiance got home and we were starving, but next time I'll give it a whirl and compare flavors then. As for now, hope you enjoyed my simple, vague broth making blog and cut costs and improve flavor for your next bowl of soup. Cheers and think outside the box or can! :)