**This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links. ​  But, all opinions expressed are my own. ​

Happy Halloween! I hope it's an awesome day for all of you.

Today I want to share the last recipe that my family makes often, chicken and waffles! To be honest, I have never had traditional chicken and waffles. One day I would like to try these in the south. But I really love our version, which is really more like a sandwich. I hope you will enjoy them too!

You may be wondering why there's no waffles in my picture of chicken and waffles, this is something I will explain later.

This isn't as involved as you might think if you have the right tools. It also isn't the fastest dinner. But it is a satisfying and delicious dinner. And it's something the whole family loves.

​The waffles we make are always from scratch and they are so delicious. You can use box mix if you prefer but the recipe we use isn't difficult and is so flavorful. It uses sour milk or buttermilk if you have it. To make sour milk add 1 TBS white vinegar or lemon juice per cup of milk you need. In this recipe you need 2 cups of milk, so I add 2 TBS of vinegar and then fill the remaining volume with milk.This works best because then you won't have too much liquid. Allow the milk to sit for at least 5 minutes. I usually prepare the sour milk very first thing and then get everything out that I need and mix together the dry ingredients. Another tip for the waffles is that you'll want the batter to be slightly lumpy, don't let your batter get too smooth, your waffles will be sad.. If you can put it in the fridge before you make the waffles for at least 20 minutes, it really improves the texture and taste of the waffles. 

For making the chicken I have these tall food containers with lids that make breading the chicken so easy. In one container I have beaten egg. In another I have a mixture of flour and spices (taste a pinch of the flour mixture to make sure you like the flavor, I've done my best to approximate the amounts of spices but you can adjust according to taste). I put a few pieces of chicken in the egg container first and use a fork to make sure everything is covered with egg. Then I move the pieces to the flour container, out the lid on and shake. I've never had an issue with my chicken not being completely covered this way. It always turns out great, so I highly recommend these containers. They're also great for holding leftovers in the fridge, because they are taller, they utilize the fridge space better than low flat containers. I also recommend a pair of silicone tipped tongs. They make handling the hot chicken so much easier than a fork like I used to use. The chicken comes out so delicious and crispy. The last tool I am loving is my meat thermometer. I used to have an analog one but it broke, so I bought this new digital one and it has made checking the temperature so much easier. This way I don't have to break open my chicken to make sure it's cooked and I don't over cook my chicken. I love it!

I did run into some trouble when I was making this the other night. After I made my waffle batter, I plugged in my waffle iron and it didn't work! It never heated up. RIP my waffle maker, you served me well for the last 6 years. Therefore, you will notice a distinct lack of waffles in my pictures. I used my batter to make them into pancakes. It's what circumstances permitted. Waffles are better, but these worked ok. 

Chicken And Waffles

Let me know if you try these out! I love them, I hope you will too!

**I was compensated for this post.  This post also contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links.

     I went to Dollar Tree the other day to pick up a few things for Halloween, and they hardly had any Halloween stuff left! The shelves were stocked with Christmas items already and I realized that if I waited too long, these Christmas items would be gone as well.  If you are a crafter, you know that you have to get started early or nothing will get done. 
     If you have been following us on 3 Winks Design for very long, you will know that we like to make a big deal about the Holidays, especially Christmas.  Each year we try to make special memories during the time with our family and friends as we celebrate the birth of the Savior. So, right then when I thought I was shopping for Halloween, I started looking around at the Christmas products available from Dollar Tree!  Here are some of the things that caught my eye. If you click on the pictures, most of them will take you to the website. 

There was a lot of SPARKLE! 

     Since last year, I've wanted to do a sparkly silver and gold themed Christmas Dinner.  I have some ideas for the food and only vague ideas of what I wanted to do for the decorations.  Seeing all of the glitter and sparkle at Dollar Tree definitely pushed me in the right direction! With the mounted deer heads, I made sparkling place card holders.  With the star ornaments, I love the light-up chandelier I made! It adds a lot of ambiance over my table. Here is a video to show you what I came up with, thanks to my Dollar Tree visit. 

     After making the place card holders, I started playing with place setting possibilities to use them with. Not only did I do a silver and gold setting, but also a more homespun, homey look that kids would enjoy.  Take a look! 

          I think the little deer look at home in either place.  I used the Avery.com site to design my place cards.  There are so many possibilities, it just depends on your taste or style.  I 'll have to show you how to fold those napkins on another post.  I sure that there will be more silver and gold posts to come. 

         Take my word for it, now is the to go to the Dollar Tree website, or run to the store or both and get yourself busy with your own inspirations!  If you enjoyed my ideas, please let me know by leaving me a comment or clicking like!  The season of fun has begun! 

     If you liked these projects, you may like this one from last year: 

**This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links. ​  But, all opinions expressed are my own.    ​​​​

That's right!  Today is Frankenstein Friday, and Monday is National Frankenstein Day!  Isn't it amazing that this very strange story written by Mary Shelley two centuries ago, in 1818, has retained so much popularity and has so many versions of the story made? I wonder if she ever suspected it would become such a classic horror story.  Did you know that Thomas Edison made the first film version of it in 1910?
     Most people are more familiar with the 1930's Boris Karloff version, which is really nothing like the book.  That would be a great book to discuss on a From Cover to Reel podcast! (Don't miss the episode that covers Roald Dahl's Witches on there now!)

     Around our house, if we are given the choice of which version of the Frankenstein Movies to watch, we would probably all choose Young Frankenstein.  (We aren't really purists in this case! We love to laugh!)  

     So, today, in honor or Frankenstein Friday and National Frankenstein Day, we are asking this Friday Faves question: 

What is your favorite line from Young Frankenstein?

#2:  "Yes!  He was my BOYFRIEND!"  Cloris Leachman.  And who can forget her classic, "Ovaltine?"
#3:  "There wolf, there castle." Ha ha Ha Ha
#4:  And this is my favorite, "You take the blond, I'll take the one in the turban!"

     If you have no idea what we are talking about with these movie lines, then you definitely need to go watch Young Frankenstein this Halloween, or sooner! National Frankenstein Day is a great reason! Or, if hearing these lines is making you crack up, go watch it again.  And don't forget to go to the comments and tell us what some of your favorite lines from the movie are! 

     If you are really into Frankenstein, here are a couple more versions you may want to check out. 

​**This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links. ​  But, all opinions expressed are ​

Alicia back with another post on a favorite recipe of ours. This month I'm sharing recipes that my little family has loved and continues to come back to over and over again.

​Today, I have not necessarily a meal but a seasoning mix that will make your meal great! This taco seasoning is something my husband makes whenever we're having Mexican food. The flavors are not authentic Mexican but are inspired by his favorite Mexican and Ecuadorian food flavors. A blend of two tasty (well their food anyway) countries!

This taco seasoning is so flavorful but not spicy at all. So if you're worried about that, don't be.The flavor is superb, and takes your meal to another level. It can be used on beef, pork, chicken, veggies, beans, basically whatever you want to taste amazing, you can put this seasoning on.

It works great if you just put it directly on the food, but my husband adds the seasoning to water and then pours that over the cooked food (if it's meat he takes the fat and grease out of the pan first) and lets the water simmer away about 98% of the way. This leaves the meat tender, not dry, and full of flavor!

The one thing about cooking, though, is you don't always measure stuff out. You add a little here and there, and that's how this was originally made and has been made since. So we have tried to measure out the amounts of each spice for you to get the best results, but it's customizable to your tastes.

The most recent time we used this we made burritos. and they were scrumptious. Look through the gallery below to see the process and what we used in our burritos.

Best Ever Taco Seasoning

Mixing up a big batch of the seasoning and putting it in a container could be a fun stocking stuffer or gift for your friend that loves to cook!