Treat Yo' Self Friday

It's always crazy to me that we start seeing spring fashions in the dead of winter.  Seriously - what crazy person is buying crop tops in January?  (Sorry to those who buying spring clothes now... but you are crazy.  Unless you live in Miami of course.)  I know I'm a little late to the game but I'm liking these oversize plaid coats.  Who doesn't love a big comfy coat with lots of layering possibilities?  And they're on sale: win and win.

Treat Yo' Self Friday

Welcome back Parks and Rec! In honor of one of my favorite shows, I'll be doing Treat Yo' Self Fridays.  And since I'm cheap, I'll only be covering products that I would actually buy.

Target's Designer collaboration isn't always a winner but I'm digging this crossbody bag - which is part of the 3.1 Phillip Lim Target line.  This yellow isn't available currently but still available in black and taupe.  I may have to make a little trip to Target...

Easy meals: Miso Juk (Porridge)

I don't especially enjoy cooking.  We used to do takeout quite a bit until we had our little one, which has forced me to cook more.  My favorite meals are ones that are quick, easy, nutritious, and kid-friendly.  And one that fits the bill is miso soup.  This meal is a juk (aka porridge) using leftover miso soup.

Miso soup is traditionally made with dashi broth, but I usually just use diluted chicken stock.  (Cuz I usually have chicken stock in the freezer.)  Because the hubby and Tuna both end up eating more of the stuff than the broth, we usually end up with some leftover broth.

Here's where it begins... leftover miso soup.  I put rice into the soup and leave it in the fridge overnight.  (White rice works but we eat brown rice at home and I think it actually works better.)  By the next day, the rice should have soaked up the broth and become a porridge.

You can now reheat the cold porridge and put in a little extra water or chicken broth, which ever you have on hand.  The amount of liquid depends on the thickness of the cold porridge.  If the porridge is lacking flavor, I add in a little miso as well.  As the porridge is reheating, I like to throw in some mushrooms and seaweed to the porridge.  About 5 minutes and it's done!  Sprinkle some sesame seeds on top and you have an easy 10 minute meal on a busy week night.

Security Envelope Cards

I hate buying cards.  I feel like its a waste of money.  I used to just buy a bunch of blank cards on sale at one of the discount stores but recently came across some very pretty cards using recycled security envelopes.  (Isn't Pinterest awesome?)  What can be better than crafting with stuff in your house?

I had some blank cards lying around and very quickly rounded up some security envelopes from our stacks and stacks of junk mail.  I just cut out triangles for flag bunting and even made a balloons for a kid's birthday card.  I love it when I can use what I have to make stuff.  I even used our wedding old thank you cards and pasted some flags on top to reuse.  I'll be making a bunch of these bad boys to use on a rainy day.