Last Spring MILLIONS watched as Oscar De La Hoya (my personal favorite) was stripped of his jr. middleweight title when in a split decision, Floyd Mayweather Jr. was crowned the winner. My husband purchased that ‘pay per view’ game, and we even hosted a party for he and his boxing buddies. Well, it looks like a rematch may be in the works for sometime next September, and that will be something my husband will be thrilled about. As of yet, the venue hasn’t been decided upon, but there is interest from the Home Depot Center, Dodger Stadium and of course, the MGM Grand.

Although Mayweather/De La Hoya tickets may be out of my price range, I would certainly love it if they held the fight in Vegas. I could plan a little trip to Vegas to get the Chef closer to the action–trip of a lifetime for him. I’ve never known anyone as into boxing as he is, so he would be in heaven. Even staying home and throwing another pay per view party would be really fun. I only feel bad that the dates move from early May back to mid September, but truly something well worth the wait!

I wrote on a different blog about something I’m really excited about! We have a cluster of cabinets that go from the refrigerator to the doorway into the dining room. They are just top and bottom cabinets and they make a great buffet. Ever since we moved in I had my eye on this wall, and knew exactly what I wanted to do with it. Glass tile!

The thing I love about glass mosaic tiles is the translucent light that you get with it. Normal ceramic tile is beautiful, don’t get me wrong, but glass tile just sparkles. The kitchen will eventually be tan and red–so I chose a little bit darker tile. It’s called Coffee Bean, and it looks like this…

Ever since I decided to use glass tile, I’ve been looking for it at local home supply stores and never found what I was looking for. So I went online and found GlassTileStore.com. Not only did they have a huge selection, but their prices fit my budget perfectly! The tiles are sold in 13 x 13 squares, secured with mesh and are currently $4.00 cheaper than what I was expecting to pay! I made my order on March 6th, and can’t wait for it to get here. I’ve already started pulling the wallpaper down between these two cabinets, just awaiting it’s arrival.

If you are looking for something to add a little ’splash’ to your kitchen or bathroom–glass tile is the way to go; and GlassTileStore.com is the place to get it. You can even pay using Paypal, which is what I did. This will help add to the surprise that I have in store for the Chef when he walks into the kitchen and finds that wall completely finished. I can’t wait! I will definitely put pictures up when my little project is complete!

***EDITED TO ADD***
My tile came today, and I wanted to show you just how beautiful it really is.

And this is where it will go…

Did you ever see the movie “Cocktail”? I LOVED it! I’ve always thought it would be so cool to be a bartender and to be able to make any number of drinks. Truth be told, I make a mean Pina Colada! Of course, mine comes from a freezer mixer, but hey, throw a mini umbrella on there and it’s a party!

My husband can tend bar anytime anywhere, and there’s not a drink he can’t make you! Mind you–he’s a Chef, but he’s also done time as a restaurant manager and on occasion has had to step in for the bartender. This would terrify me–but not him. He’s very knowledgeable about drink mixology but also very personable and can talk to anyone.

If you are like me and like the thought of being able to whip something up, but lack the know how of the Chef, then I have the site for you! It’s HappyHour.com and it is your one stop shop for beverages! They have drink recipes for drinks I’ve heard of, and some interesting sounding ones that I’ve never heard of! There is a drink dictionary defining everything from Aperitif to Zubrowka, and everything in between! There’s even a directory to find bars and social clubs near you.

So if you are looking for drink specials of any kind, HappyHour.com is the place for you!

Have you ever heard of DYMO? Of course we all have, you just may not have realized it yet. Christmas 2005-my sister in law got a Dymo labeler in order to help her in her quest for home organization. After hearing her talking about how amazing this little labeler was and how the system was working so well, I immediately headed out and purchased my own. I labeled EVERYTHING! What made it so nice was that my older kids could now help put things away, because they could read where things went. It was truly the best purchase ever. I need to get it out again since we’ve moved, and get everything organized and labeled again.

So why am I writing about this handy label maker on this little restaurant blog? Well, that’s easy! There is a new DYMO out there just perfect for the small business. This is no longer just a name for labeling things–you can now print your own postage stamps. When I was in the work force we had a postage machine that was in charge of all of our stamp printing, but it was HUGE! There would be no room for this mammoth machine in any of the restaurant offices that the Chef has worked in. But with this new DYMO, you can print all of your online stamps from a machine no bigger than a computer printer. Talk about convenience!

I am terrible at mailing things. In fact, I’m so bad that my parents didn’t get their Christmas gifts until mid-January, and I spent the day driving invitations around the city of Chicago because I had waited to long to get to the post office to buy stamps! This little gadget claims to help out the small business–but I really think it could also help out this dis-organized homemaker as well!

And look how cool it looks!!

Sauce:
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 tablespoons minced garlic
4 green onions, sliced
1 cup tomato sauce
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons chili garlic sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce

1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 chicken breast fillets
1 egg, beaten
1 cup milk
1 cup flour
peel from 1/4 orange, julienned (into 1/8-inch thick strips)

Prepare sauce by heating 1 tablespoon of oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add minced garlic and sliced green onions. Add tomato sauce and water quickly before the garlic burns. Add sugar, chili garlic sauce and soy sauce and bring to a boil. Simmer 5 to 6 minutes or until sauce thickens, then turn off the heat.

Prepare the chicken by heating 1/2 cup oil in a wok over medium heat. Slice chicken breast fillets into bite-size pieces. Combine beaten egg with milk in a medium bowl. Pour the flour into another medium bowl.

Coat chicken pieces by dropping them into the flour a few at a time, then into the egg/milk mixture and back into the flour. Arrange coated chicken on a plate until all chicken is coated.

When oil in the wok is hot, add about half of the chicken to the oil and cook for a couple minutes or until brown on one side, then flip the chicken over. When chicken is golden brown, remove the pieces to a rack or paper towels to drain. Repeat with the remaining chicken. When all of the chicken is cooked rinse the oil out of the wok with water and place it back on the stove to heat up.

When wok is hot again add julienned orange peel and chicken. Heat for 20 to 30 seconds or so, stirring gently. Add sauce to the pan and cook for about 2 minutes. Stir dish a couple times but do it gently so you don’t knock the coating off the chicken. Cook until the sauce thickens then serve up the dish with white or brown rice on the side.

I was writing the other day about how amazingly different things were when you live in the city rather than the suburbs. The first thing I noticed was how close everything was in the suburbs. In the city we had to drive 45 minutes to get anywhere. Whether it was a restaurant or a grocery store, everything took forever to get to. The best surprise I found after moving to the suburbs was that my Van Insurance dropped from $650 every 6 months to just over $300 for the same period of time! It was cut in half just by a change in zip code! I still had never had a claim, an accident or moving violation of any kind–so to see such a drastic difference was quite the shock! I guess the more urban the area, the more claims each insurance company receives, and those of us with great records who’ve never made a claim are the ones that have to pay for it! Honestly, had my car been damaged, vandalized or stolen, I would have been thrilled to have the complete coverage that I had for the price. But looking back, I’m glad I was insured–but a break in the rates would have been nice!

Insurance is something that you have to have. In most cases it’s the law, but in every case it’s important to protect yourself and your investments. As the old proverb says, Better safe than sorry! But do your homework when you are looking for coverage. Had I known how much cheaper it was to live elsewhere–we may have moved just a bit sooner!!

The other day I posted about life lock and the personal protection that it promises each and every one of it’s customers. They even back that protection up with a million dollar guarantee–now that’s protection. They are in the business of protecting consumers against identity theft and sometimes that protection comes at odds with the credit bureaus. Because LifeLock sets up fraud alerts for their customers and automatically opt them out of receiving junk mail–they are costing the credit bureaus money. It costs money to place the fraud alerts on your file–and it costs them money when they are unable to sell your information. But what they don’t tell you is that they offer the same protection as Lifelock, for more money. Because of this, Experian has decided to play the bully and is actually suing LifeLock so that they can legally make your life miserable! Wasn’t there a time we were told that the credit bureaus were on our side?

Because in this day and age, protecting yourself is of the utmost importance, don’t leave it to someone else! Take charge of your information today!

This site is all about saving money, right? Coupons, dinner ideas, restaurant deals–well I have a new one for you! How about being able to save on your internet service? We are currently with a BIG name company, and I have to say we hate them. In fact, as we pass one of their signs, or trucks all of my kids (even my 3 year old) will say, “Stupid **&*!!” Finding a good internet provider is so important these days. What can look like a deal can really turn out to be quite expensive when it comes to the individual fees and even their downtime. When we first moved into our house it took our internet/phone company 3 weeks to get our DSL up and running. For someone who works online, I lost nearly $1000 by not being able to get any work done during that time.

Right now there is a fun auction going on where you can literally bid on what you would pay for internet for life. How cool is that? Especially with all of the rate increases going on, if you are the winning bid–it’s yours for that amount–and you don’t have to pay again! You can also Click Here for a Chance to Win a Nintendo® Wii™! My kids got a Wii from Santa this year, and I have to say no one has enjoyed it more than the 3 year old who can set it up from beginning to end and be bowling by the time I make it downstairs to set it up for him. Even the Chef gets in on the action–especially when it comes to golf!

With two great opportunities going on right now, head on over to Charter.com!

1 brick Kraft Velveeta Cheese (2 lb.)
2 cans Hormel No-Bean Chili

Mix ingredients in a blender, heat over medium low heat or crock pot until melted.

Serve with heated corn chips.