Chinese Chicken Salad

When the weather starts to get hot I always try to find recipes which don't heat up the house.  As it is already starting to heat up here over on the west coast,  I've started breaking them out a little early this year.  This recipe is super simple.  I also just love the colors.  What is it about summer recipes that make them so colorful?

 Chinese Chicken Salad

• Chicken breasts - grilled and diced  
• Head of lettuce 
• Mandarin Oranges
• Dried Cranberries
• Chow mein noodles or Won-ton strips
• Chinese Chicken Salad Dressing

The chicken can be grilled ahead of time or on the day of.  You can cook it on a grill during the summer, or we like to use our George Foreman grill on days it's a little cooler or we don't feel like getting out the charcoal.

I like to make my dressing from scratch, but you could use store bought to make the recipe even easier. The dressing that I make has a nice little kick which I think balances out the sweetness of the oranges and cranberries making a wonderful flavor experience for your taste buds.

  I didn't include any specific proportions because it's a recipe that's made very much based on your tastes.  Add a little bit of this, a bit of that and you have a very scrumptious summer salad.  Enjoy!

Spray Paint: DIY Matching Picture Frames

I've been trying to slowly buy frames to put all my family pictures in, but I was getting frustrated on how much it cost to buy solid frames.  I recently acquired some frames from a garage sale for free.  They were solid wood but this gold color which of course was not in line with my color scheme.  I then went to a thrift store and picked up several solid wooden framed pictures. I think I spent less then five dollars total on all of them.

I bought a can of matte black spray paint.  I then laid out some newspaper on my back patio.  I took the glass out and the backs off.  I then got to spraying my frames.

 I had to do a few coats.  The trick was spraying from different angles to make sure I got all the different edges and crevices.   After letting it dry, I had a lovely solid wood picture frame that fits my color scheme.

I  then spray painted all the rest of the frames.  For the price of a can of spray paint and a couple bucks at the thrift store I got 9 frames.  I probably spent less on all the frames then I would normally spend on one!  Awesome!

I was talking with my sister-in-law about my project and it reminded her that she had some frames she could do the same with.  She spray painted hers white instead of black though.

She now has some lovely frames for her ocean themed bathroom.

The other great thing about this project is how quick it is.  I was able to squeeze in painting a frame or two in between tasks throughout the day.  It was a great feeling of satisfaction being able to put all my pictures up at once.  I even have a couple left over ready for when we take a new set of family photos.  

Do you have some old frames that you could make new again?