Hope these work for me

393! Three hundred and ninety three bloggers posted 5-ingredient-or-less recipes yesterday and linked to them at Rocks In My Dryer for Works for Me Wednesday. Lots of them shared more than one recipe.

Here are the ones I want to try...

Margarita Chicken - Confessions of an Apron Queen
I love lime. I love chicken. This one sounds like a winner.

Vegetarian Chickpea Sandwich Filling - MeMarie Lane
I have some big cans of garbonzo beans I'd like to use. I've heard this is a lot like tuna salad. I think hummus tastes like cheese. If this tastes like tuna, cici beans prove to be very versatile. They have 3 names, what could be more versatile than that!

Zucchini "Crab" Cakes - MeMarie Lane
The zucchini in our CSA box are getting bigger and bigger. This looks like a main course way to incorporate them into our menu plan.

Easy Egg Casserole - Nerd Family Food
I love eggs. I love cheese. Another winner.

Strawberry Spinach Popsicles - The Thrifty Green Baby Guide
Grom and I have been making a lot of popsicles. Here's a tasty way to get some greens in him.

Easy Baked Ziti - Doodles' Place
Strawberry Chicken - Shalee's Diner
I think Grom will eat these up.

Buffalo Chicken Dip - Fried Chicken and Cheesesteaks
This sounds delicious, and... no bones.

LemonLimeAde - Jumping on the Bed
We want to stop drinking soda. This sounds like a refreshing alternative.

Works for Me Wednesday - Five-Ingredients-or-Less Edition

It's summer and cooking should be simpler. Who wants to be slaving over a stove when you could be enjoying a lovely late afternoon at the beach or in a park? This week Works-For-Me Wednesday is all about simple (5 ingredients or less) recipes.

Here's mine...
Crockpot Shredded Chicken for Tacos

Ingredients
3 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 T. chopped garlic
1 wedged onion
2 T. chili powder
2 T. cumin

Directions
Put all ingredients in a crockpot. Cook on 4 hours HIGH or 6 hours LOW or until chicken is cooked through.
Cool chicken and shred.

Reheat chicken for tacos. Set out "salad bar" style toppings for make your own tacos - shredded cabbage, shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes, salsa, avocado, guacamole, chopped onions, chopped cilantro, hot sauce, lime mayonaise... the sky is the limit. Ole!

Find more 5-ingredient-or-less recipes at Rocks in My Dryer this week.

My Strawberry Secret

It's strawberry season!

I love this time of the year.  When Farmer's Market smells wonderful, the air is full of strawberries.  I go from farmer to farmer to see how much they are charging, how big the berries are and who is offering pesticide free berries.  

Organic strawberries at my local Farmer's Markets are rare and very expensive.  A few of the local growers offer berries they advertise as "unsprayed" or "no pesticides" as a piece of cardboard is cheaper and easier than organic certification.  I know that conventional strawberries are on the list of fruits to eat organic - buying locally and "no pesticide" seems to be a reasonable (for my budget and health) compromise.

We mostly eat them raw - washed and sliced.  Sometimes in a bowl of cereal, sometimes with some vanilla ice cream, sometimes on a waffle with whip cream.  We buy them by the 1/2 flat (6 baskets) and even the flat when we want to put some in the freezer.

While strawberries are delicious they are also fragile.  One day gorgeous and ready to eat, the next mushy and moldy.  I have discovered how to help them keep.  

Here's how...

When you get them home put them into a sealed plastic container - air tight.  Don't wash them.  Don't fuss with them.  Just get them into a tuperware type container as soon as possible and then store them in the refrigerator.  Most will keep a week or more.

Enjoy those strawberries while they are at their glorious best.

photo by: jslander (Flickr)

Mt Washmore - more thoughts

I'm on my second day of being diligent about laundry.  Big deal, you say.  I say, I have to start somewhere and here I am - day 2.  Don't worry, I won't be posting every day about my laundry.

Today I found a kindred spirit - a woman who like me doesn't enjoy doing the laundry; a woman who dreads doing laundry.  If she likes chocolate and coffee, I know we could be great friends.  This Flourishing Mother, Andrea recently posted about Textile Management.  (Make it sound fancy and it's still washing dirty clothes - sigh).  

She shared a heart changing quote...

Even so seemingly non transcendent an act as putting clothing away can be a gesture of memory or of hope. We put laundry away in drawers and closets in the expectation that another day or season will come when we will need those things again. We pack away baby clothes in boxes in the hope that another child or grandchild will be added to the family or that an opportunity will come to pass things along to others who will use them. We save articles of clothing that belonged to a loved one who died, remembering the body that used to be clothed in these things and hoping for the day when our bodies and theirs will finally be truly, gloriously clothed.

~Margaret Kim Peterson 

Keeping House: The Litany of Everyday Life

and then Andrea summed it up so beautifully...

Doing laundry is symbolic of hope in our family. Hope that a body will be here tomorrow to wear the folded garments. After reading this quote, I see laundry for my family is a privilege, not a burden. I may still not enjoy it, but I will see the good in it.

Finally... hope.

How I didn't spend our stimulus check...

When Gigi passed away, we were left with an empty room. It's right off our dining room and the perfect place for a school room / play room.  I think Gigi would be happy.  

My plan was to take our stimulus check to Ikea and really stimulate the economy.  Wait! Ikea is a Swedish company.  And Surferman thankfully has more common sense then I do (at least sometimes) so it was decided that I'd scrounge to outfit and decorate the room.

Here are some pictures - not quite "before" shots.  I'll post "after" shots after I'm done.

We have cleared Gigi's things and furniture.

We've painted the walls.  Grom chose this great shade of blue.

I've been gathering furniture - from Gigi's house, yard sales, and I'm even looking at the curbside mall (those sometimes scary, but full of potential things sitting on a sidewalk with a "free" sign on it).

I think these cupboards are going to be for school supplies.

I see a big chair for reading in this corner.

The room gets great light from a sliding glass door.

I'd like a desk where this table is.  I'd have a straight view of it from the kitchen.

I'm waiting on carpet.  I bought some carpet squares from Flor to make an area rug.  They are on back order so I'm waiting patiently to put the room together.  I still need some sort of a desk or table - preferably kid sized with room for growth.

Any ideas for me?

Mt. Washmore

The day

The Laundry

Almost Won

Laundry is my nemesis.  It's never done - D O N E - done.  There is always something more that needs to be washed and dried and folded and put away.  It's unending!

There are also so many ways to save money when doing laundry that there is always something I can feel guilty about not doing. 

• Hanging the laundry on the clothesline.  
  
• Fighting stains to keep that shirt wearable.  
  
• Making your own laundry detergent.  
  
• Washing and drying clothes at the right time - we have a time of use meter and sometimes are definitely cheaper.
• Moving the clothes from the washer to the dryer at the right time to prevent mildew.

It's a chore and since I don't plan on giving up clothing any time soon - I have to get over it.  

How do you make laundry more enjoyable?

Baked Tofu

Baked Tofu is really yummy. It's chewy and almost meaty. Tofu is versatile and can take on many flavors.

INGREDIENTS:
Firm Tofu
Marinade - teriyaki, italian dressing, dijon mustard & herbs, your imagination is the limit



DIRECTIONS:
Drain the liquid from a package of tofu.
Slice the block of tofu into 1/2 thick slices.
Line a baking sheet with a tea towel or clean kitchen towel.
Place the tofu in a single layer.
Cover tofu slices with another tea towel and a smaller baking sheet to press as much liquid out of the tofu as possible.
Let tofu sit for 30 minutes (or so).
Put pressed tofu in a swallow container for marinading (is that a word?)
Cover the tofu with choice of marinade.
Cover dish and refrigerate 2 hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 350F
Arrange tofu slices in a single layer on a sprayed baking sheet.
Bake about 1 hour until firm.

Serve hot or cold.

Honey Baked Lentils

A new family favorite from Frugal Families.

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup lentils

2 cups water

2 T honey

2 T soy sauce or tamari

2 T olive oil

1 inch fresh ginger - peeled and minced

1 clove garlic - minced

1 small onion - diced (I used 1/4 cup dried onion)

salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

Mix all ingredients in an oven proof dish.  Cover with lid or foil.

Bake at 350F until tender - about 90 minutes. 

Tofu Ranch Dressing

Finally! A healthy way to enjoy ranch dressing. 2 tablespoons has about 30 calories.

Surferman loves it. Grom thinks it's better than "real ranch"

Ingredients:
6 ounces silken tofu (or soft tofu, drained) (comes in a box)
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon canola oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon chopped fresh Italian parsley (I used dried)
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 1/2 tablespoons cider vinegar

Instructions:
Combine all ingredients in a blender container. Blend until well mixed.

Adapted from a Dr. Weil recipe.

Christmas 2007 - The Debriefing

Merry Christmas! Here's the good, the bad and the ugly of our Christmas 2007. Also my plans to improve next year. No particular order.


GOOD! - Gingerbread House kit from Costco. Inexpensive. Everything is included. Box lid forms the base for the house so it's easy to assemble. Grom, Surferman and I had a great time decorating it. Grom and Surferman had fun snatching candy off the house thinking Mom didn't know what was going on. And the candy doesn't tempt me (much).

Next year - no changes.

BAD! - No Christmas Card. I blame my computer switch around Thanksgiving, but truth be told I don't think I've ever had a Christmas card go out on time. One year I sent 3 years worth of letters at once. I manage to get the letters done, but not sent.

Next year - Order Christmas card by October 15th. Mail at Thanksgiving.


GREAT! - Grom and I made and decorated sugar cookies.
The Best Rolled Sugar Cookies and Sugar Cookie Icing were foolproof and delicious. These were the best sugar cookies I've ever made. Mixing the dough was fun. Rolling was challenging as Grom wanted to help more than I wanted him to. I rolled and baked the dough on parchment paper. The parchment paper made it easier and faster. When the cookies came out of the oven I slid the paper off the cookie sheet and onto the counter to cool. We made stars, hearts, Jesus stars, Christmas trees and BIG hearts. Icing and decorating the cookies was a lot of fun and went better than I expected. After my frustration with rolling the cookies, I decided I needed more control over the decorating if I was going to keep my hair. We did the cookies by type and kept the decorations simple. All of the Christmas trees were green with multicolored dot sprinkles. All of the stars were white with multicolored sugar sprinkles. Etc. The big hearts we glazed white and after they were dried I used a food marker to write "Happy Birthday Jesus" on them.

Next year - Roll and cut one sheet of cookies with Grom right before naptime (I realize I'm dreaming that a 4 1/2 year old will still be napping, but a girl can dream right?). Do the rest of the cookies while he's occupied.


BAD! - Advent Calendar from Trader Joe's. The calendar wasn't bad. I was just out of my mind when we started it. I had the brilliant idea to start the calendar with the highest number and move down (as a sort of countdown). But if you forget (and how Grom forgot to get me to give him chocolate is beyond me), you have to try to figure out how many doors you have to open to catch up and it's all backwards. If you're confused reading this, I'm sure you'll understand the confusion. The best part of being forgetful with the advent calendar is that we had a couple of days where Grom was able to share candy around the house. The joy we experienced with him sharing made it all good.

Next year - I plan to do a Jesse Tree and use that to countdown the days until Jesus' Birthday. My friend Stacey is going to organize an ornament exchange, so we should have beautiful, wonderful ornaments to display. I'm going to look for a little tree when I shop Target tomorrow morning.

OK! - We went to Christmas Eve service at my parent's church. It was a very nice service, but it wasn't our church and I missed my "family".

Next year - I hope to be able to attend service at our church.

GREAT! - For family Christmas gifts, Surferman and I agreed on 3 gifts each. One to wear. One to consume. One for fun. We budgeted and did very well at using only money we had set aside. Surferman turned all the change in his mug into a Starbucks card for me. Lattes are on me for quite a while.

Next year - No changes except to shop more throughout the year.

GOOD! - Our family tradition for stockings is that we each buy 2 items for everyones stocking. Grom and Gigi buy one item. Our stocking are great fun. We had some last minute racing around.

Next year - Collect stocking stuffers throughout the year. When I'm out somewhere and see something that would be great for brother-in-law I'm going to buy it.


BAD! - We never made it out to look at Christmas lights.

Next year - Set a date early and make a night of it.

GREAT! - I made some more cloth gift bags. I bought the fabric on sale last year. I didn't wrap a single present in paper! All reusable.

Next year - I have quite a stash. I think I can get away without making anymore next year.

BAD! - No caroling. No visiting neighbors.

Next year - Make cookies earlier and take them to our neighbors with invitations to Christmas Eve Service. Not sure what to do about the caroling, but maybe friends with kids would like to go early one evening. Caroling with church was a little late for us.


GREAT! - Grom and I rang a bell for the Salvation Army with a friend and her boy (Grom's buddy). We did it right after Thanksgiving. It helped jump start my Christmas spirit and also set us out helping others rather than focusing on yourself. Plus, after whenever we saw someone ringing bells and collecting money for the Salvation Army afterward, Grom and I had a memory to share and another opportunity to talk about helping others. I don't think I've given so much change ever to the Salvation Army. In our community, the Salvation Army is the first stop for people in need.

Next year - I want to encourage my friends with kids to take some time and ring a bell. I'm also going to encourage the volunteer who schedules ringers to consider one hour shifts for moms and kids.


GREAT! - I didn't know how Santa was going to play out in our house. I knew I didn't want Grom thinking Santa was a real person who was going to bring him presents, but I also didn't want to kill Santa either. We let him be a fun thing that is a part of celebrating Christmas, the birth of Jesus. Grom had a couple of funny conversations with Mimi (my paternal grandmother). She asked him if he had made his Christmas list for Santa yet and he asked why - like why would Santa bring him anything. And then today, she asked him if Santa had been here and he said, "No, but he's coming to town".

Grom and I have had some great conversations about Jesus during this season. His questions make me think, make me appreciate all that Jesus did for me, make me appreciate my God who would humble himself and come to the world as a helpless baby just for me (and you too!).

Next year - I want to read more stories with Grom about Christmas and look into some of the ways Christians celebrate Christmas in other parts of the world.

I'm sure there could be more...

If this was Emeril's recipe I'd be yelling...

BAM!

But it's Bobby Flay's recipe. What would Bobby yell?

I was assigned Sweet Potatoes for our family Thanksgiving dinner. I didn't want to make the usual marshmallow laden - sugar filled dish.

I found Smoked Chile Sweet Potatoes at the Food Network. I used half and half instead of heavy cream. I love my family after all.

They were a hit. Zippy but not too spicy. Delicious!

Next time, I'd use yams - for the color - the light yellow color of the sweet potatoes was bland. I might also try adding some jack cheese for an au gratin version.

LG = Life's Good

It's here!

We have a new refrigerator. It's a French Door refrigerator with a bottom drawer freezer. Ours is white to match our other appliances. We moved our old side-by-side out to our utility room.

It's no where close to being organized.

It beeps when the doors are left open. Probably good in the long run, but now while I'm trying to move in, it gets really annoying.

Grom thinks it's really cool and has shown me where we should keep the yogurt pops and Popsicles.

I'm not sure I like it. But am praying it will grow on me.

I don't know where to put the salad dressings and mustards. My baskets don't fit.

And yet I feel so blessed.

The only way to start a week...

I know it's not Saturday, but I like the idea of Lara's Smart Habit Saturday, I just have an awful time of getting a post done on Saturday. I'm going to add it to my Sunday night post that helps me organize my week.

I feel like a habit creating failure. I've managed to set ONE habit and it's pretty silly in the grandness of life.

Habit 7 - Wear earrings daily - HABIT!

I am not abandoning my desired habits, I'm just regrouping and starting over. Here's what I'm working on this week...

Habit 3 - Lights out by 10 pm nightly.

Habit 2 - Drink 3 qts of water daily.

Here's what we're eating this week...

Monday
Leftover Chicken and Stuffing - Salad

Tuesday
Enchiladas (freezer) - Salad

Wednesday
4WD Club Meeting - eat at meeting
Grom has cKc - PB&J

Thursday
Ham and Cheese Strata (freezer) - Salad

Friday
Fish and a Movie Night

Saturday
Date Night with Surferman (Eat out!)

Sunday
Lunch = Leadership Meeting at church - Making 3 kinds of Chili - Cornbread - Salad
Dinner with my folks

My Commitment to Loveliness wasn't much of a commitment last week.

I'm back with the same tasks this week.
1. Clean out and organize the drawers on Grom's bed.
4. Spiff up guest bathroom.
7. Have a tea party with Grom and Gigi.
8. Pack Surferman's lunch 3 times this week - add love notes.
9. Organize Gigi's bathroom drawers.

As soon as I'm done here, I'm going to go do something off this list. Must... stop... the... procrastination.

101 Things to Do
Still working on #3 - Memorize Psalm 8.

Oh Lord, our Lord. How excellent is your name in all the earth...

I hope to have more next week.

Have a great week!

Works for Me Wednesday - Storing Comforters

We love down comforters. They are the greatest. We can turn the heat way down in the winter and still stay toasty warm. My favorite comforters come from The Company Store. (I should've posted this tip back in August because that is when they have their annual comforter sale). Sorry.

During the winter, Surferman and I each have our own comforters and then we put one of my quilts on top to seal out the cold air. Separate quilts remove the problem of air gaps created by strong broad shoulders (Surferman's, not mine).

We have gathered quite a collection of comforters in different sizes and weights - twin, twin x long, queen, warm, warmer, warmest. Storage was a problem. They were always a mess and Surferman was always pulling out the wrong comforter.

Here's the tip. Roll the comforter like a sleeping bag and then tie it together with a piece of riboon. On the tail of the ribbon, write the size and weight of the comforter. Voila! Organized.

Have a great week! Get more tips at Shannon's.

Marvelous Monday

I have a couple of things that I post on Mondays so I thought I'd combine them together.

First the menu...

Monday - Zucchini Soup - Croutons - Salad (Chicken Nuggets for Grom)

Tuesday - Bread Soup (we will eat it this week!) - Salad

Wednesday - cKc and Bible Study - BBQ Chicken Sandwiches - Cucumber Salad

Thursday - Chicken Olive Soup (I'm making this one up as I go - using up leftovers) - Spinach Salad

Friday - Fish and a Movie Night if we're alone.
Chicken Tacos if guests come.

Saturday - Harvest Party - Macaroni and Cheese
Surferman will make pizza that night.

Sunday - My folks are cooking "Sunday Family Dinner"

A Commitment to Loveliness is about increasing feminity and beauty in our lives. I think of it as a way to make my life more pleasant and prettier. My number is from when I started a few weeks ago.

1. Clean out and organize the drawers on Grom's bed.
4. Spiff up guest bathroom.
7. Have a tea party with Grom and Gigi.
8. Pack Surferman's lunch 3 times this week - add love notes.
9. Organize Gigi's bathroom drawers.

I guess I need to introduce Gigi. Gigi is my 90 year old grandmother. She is a piece of bread if I'm of the Sandwich Generation. I feel blessed (usually) to be able to be her girl.

Loveliness #2

I enjoyed working on my commitment to loveliness last week. I didn't get everything I wanted to do done, but it was great to have the motivation of trying.

1. Clean out and organize the drawers on Grom's bed.
4. Spiff up guest bathroom.
6. Visit a friend who just placed her mother with Alzheimer's Disease.
7. Have a tea party with Grom and Gigi.

Check out more commitments at Charming the Birds from the Trees.

Loveliness

I've been following Emma's Commitment to Loveliness for a couple of weeks and have decided to give it a whirl this week.

From Emma... This is a fun way to increase femininity and beauty in our lives each week without even trying! All you have to do is choose five things that you would like to work on or do during the week that will increase the loveliness in your life!

Here's my list for this week...

1. Clean out and organize the drawers on Grom's bed.
2. Re pot African Violets.
3. Pair up socks from the loose sock bins.
4. Spiff up guest bathroom.
   
5. Clear out and off cabinet in bedroom.

Check out more commitments at Charming the Birds from the Trees.

Crockpot Whole (Sticky) Chicken

Easy, cheaper and faster than picking up a rotisserie bird from the market.

Crockpot Whole (Sticky) Chicken

Ingredients
Whole Chicken
Your choice of seasonings (some ideas)
Garlic - cloves, powdered, salt
Onion - chopped, whole
Italian Seasoning
Dill
Lemon Pepper
Mrs. Dash
Aluminum Foil

Directions
Spray the inside of crock pot with non-stick cooking spray.
Take a length of aluminum foil - loosely form into circle that will fit in the bottom of your crock pot.
Wash chicken and remove giblets.
Generously season.
Cook in crock pot for 6-8 hours.
Chicken should reach internal temperature of 180F
Remove chicken and let sit prior to serving.

Save broth in crock pot for a soup later in the week.

We can get 3 meals out of one bird. The first night we eat the roasted chicken. The second night we have a casserole with chicken in it. The last night the carcass becomes soup. This recipe is a great starting point.

What's for Dinner - Week of June 25th

Organizing Junkie hosts Menu Plan Monday. Click over there for more menu ideas. Here is what's cooking at my house this week. Our "healthy" eating continues... We are also at the end of the month and the food budget is basically spent. I'll be looking to my pantry to get me through.

Breakfast - Strawberry (Fruit) Smoothies
Snacks - Hardboiled eggs and raw veggies
Lunch -leftovers from dinner the night before
Dessert - Strawberry (Fruit) Smoothies


Monday - Chicken and Veggie Soup - Spinach Salad

Tuesday - Ground Beef Zucchini Pasta-less Spaghetti - Salad

Wednesday - Crockpot Sticky Chicken - Green Beans

Thursday - Chicken, Rice and Bean Chili- Watermelon

Friday - Steak and a Movie Night - Steak, Salad, Veggies

Saturday - Shredded Chicken Tacos in lettuce leave "shells" - Fruit

Sunday - Dinner with my folks.

I've been winging it while I'm cooking. I don't have recipes to share as I'm just putting things together. I want to start writing down what I'm doing and posting them, so that I'll have a source of ideas down the road.

HAVE A YUMMY WEEK!

What's for Dinner - Week of June 11th

The weeks just seem to fly by. Summer is almost officially here. Our eating seems to change as the days get longer and lighter. Dinner becomes less important than after work trips to the beach. Dinner becomes simpler.

We are looking for a new refrigerator. The one we have is old and starting to have problems. Any recommendations? We have a definite condiment problem in our old refrigerator. We seem to collect salad dressings, sauces, pickled things and the such. Surferman has issued the "Condiment Challenge". I'm supposed to see what I can do to get rid of some of the condiment clutter in our fridge. Wish me well.

Monday - LO Steak, Zucchini, Mushroom and Egg Scramble, LO Broccoli, Cherries

Tuesday - LO Chicken, Sweet Potato Potato Salad, Green Salad, Watermelon

Wednesday - Chicken Caesar Salad, Garlic Bread, Fruit

Thursday - Pasta with Veggies and Red Sauce, Green Salad, Fruit

Friday - Steak and a Movie Night - Steak, Baked Potatoes, Salad

Saturday - Bread Soup, Salad

Sunday - FATHER'S DAY

For more menu plans's check out Menu Plan Monday at Organizing Junkie.