I swear this is NOT a food blog post, but you never know where thrifty inspiration is going to strike. In this case, it happened in my kitchen. 🙂

Sometimes, the urge to cook a super-delish Sunday dinner for can’t be avoided. Coq Au Vin is one of my favorites. This classic from Mastering the Art of French Cooking is simply THE best way to prepare chicken that I have ever discovered.

One of the ingredients, other than chicken, cognac, mushrooms, carrots, and wine (hence the vin), are these little guys:

If this were a food blog post, this would be the part where I tell you to blanch pearl onions before trying to peel them, because they practically peel themselves. But of course, this is NOT a food blog post.

As I began cooking, I was filled with increasing dread at the amount of dishes I would have to wash later. Especially when I noticed the condition of my scrubby thing.

Ewwww.

Wait a sec…this looks vaguely familiar…

Do you see where I’m going here?

Those plastic onion fishnets were about to start a new life!

I folded each of them inside each other, and ended up with this:

A side-by side comparison

My Coq Au Vin turned out wonderfully.

Comfort food!

And thanks to my new scrubbies, cleanup was a breeze!

It did the trick!

Mrrrrph…ppphhhhhrmpth!

MUCH cleaner!

I’m quite happy with this sustainable solution to my scrubby situation.