Tomorrow my little thing will be making a list of all the little things I want to do!
A list is a great place to start.
Thursday, February 21, 2013
Check marks are good
I actually followed through on my one little thing. Of course, it was actually a finishing of 2 little things... But still!!
Tomorrow my little thing will be making a list of all the little things I want to do!
A list is a great place to start.
Tomorrow my little thing will be making a list of all the little things I want to do!
A list is a great place to start.
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
One little thing
Every bit of advice I read says the same thing - you have to do a whole whack of little things to accomplish any big thing.
You can't magically lose 30 pounds, deep clean the whole house, raise perfect children, or run a marathon overnight. These things take time. Baby steps. One little thing at a time to reach the end big thing.
So that's the goal. Do one little thing each day to end up with a cleaner, more organized home.
Today I took a couple Clorox wipes and cleaned the door knobs, light switches, and counter height plugs in the kitchen, laundry room, and dining room.
Yesterday I took my long handled puffy duster to the AC vents in the same rooms.
Tomorrow, I'll do both those things to the rest if the house, because I was a slacker.
Rome wasn't built in a day.
Lookie... Cute Thing baby hat - I made this for a friend who's friend is having a baby.
I should have been writing drug cards.
(See aforementioned Rome.)
You can't magically lose 30 pounds, deep clean the whole house, raise perfect children, or run a marathon overnight. These things take time. Baby steps. One little thing at a time to reach the end big thing.
So that's the goal. Do one little thing each day to end up with a cleaner, more organized home.
Today I took a couple Clorox wipes and cleaned the door knobs, light switches, and counter height plugs in the kitchen, laundry room, and dining room.
Yesterday I took my long handled puffy duster to the AC vents in the same rooms.
Tomorrow, I'll do both those things to the rest if the house, because I was a slacker.
Rome wasn't built in a day.
Lookie... Cute Thing baby hat - I made this for a friend who's friend is having a baby.
I should have been writing drug cards.
(See aforementioned Rome.)
Sunday, February 17, 2013
Fun with Fonts
I was playing around with my chore list in order to make it pretty enough to go into my Home Management Binder - and hopefully make me actually use it.
One hour later, I have not gotten any of the chores done... but my list is pretty!
I created it in Word using some of my favorite fonts, saved it as a .pdf and realized that Blogger doesn't let me upload a .pdf, or a .docx for that matter.
So... off to Paint I went, plopped it in and saved it that way.
I have no idea if this is usable by other people. Lemme know, K?
On tap for today: Church, Mom's, Supper, and cleaning up my Mess of a Craft Desk!!
Saturday, February 16, 2013
Chicken (from N' Biscuits)... no biscuits though.
One of my families favorites is Chicken N Biscuits. I used to strictly use Melissa D'Arabian's recipe because I feared change and it is really, really good. However, I did some tweaking and came up with some changes.
3 strips bacon, diced (or... 3 finger widths from the side of a frozen hunk of bacon)
2 T veg oil
1 whole chicken, cut up (skin on)
1 T house seasoning
3 carrots, chopped
2 celery, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 - 3 potatoes, diced
1/2 onion, diced
1/2 C Sherry
2 T Italian Seasoning
1 T flour
1 carton chicken stock
some water - usually about 2 cups
Add the bacon to a med-high pot, stir until the fat is rendered out. Set aside, leaving as much of the drippings as possible.
Sprinkle house seasoning on the chicken. Brown chicken 2 minutes on each side. Set aside.
Add oil to pot, lower heat to Medium. Add in vegetables, saute for 5 - 7 minutes. Stir in Italian seasoning.
Deglaze pan with sherry, scraping up as much of the browned bits from the bottom as possible. Sprinkle with flour and stir to combine. Yes - it'll look glumpy.
Add in the chicken stock slowly, stirring and mixing as you to to get some of the glumpy off.
Place the chicken on top of the veg in a single layer, nestling it in as best as you can.
Add in the chicken stock. Add water evenly around the outside of the pot, until the liquid comes up to almost the top of the chicken.
Lower heat to Low, cover, and simmer 30 minutes. Then uncover and simmer 15 more minutes.
Serve with your favorite biscuits.
This is really good as a soup the next day if you strip all the meat off the bone, add it into a leftover container with the remaining veg and broth. Mmm.
3 strips bacon, diced (or... 3 finger widths from the side of a frozen hunk of bacon)
2 T veg oil
1 whole chicken, cut up (skin on)
1 T house seasoning
3 carrots, chopped
2 celery, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 - 3 potatoes, diced
1/2 onion, diced
1/2 C Sherry
2 T Italian Seasoning
1 T flour
1 carton chicken stock
some water - usually about 2 cups
Add the bacon to a med-high pot, stir until the fat is rendered out. Set aside, leaving as much of the drippings as possible.
Sprinkle house seasoning on the chicken. Brown chicken 2 minutes on each side. Set aside.
Add oil to pot, lower heat to Medium. Add in vegetables, saute for 5 - 7 minutes. Stir in Italian seasoning.
Deglaze pan with sherry, scraping up as much of the browned bits from the bottom as possible. Sprinkle with flour and stir to combine. Yes - it'll look glumpy.
Add in the chicken stock slowly, stirring and mixing as you to to get some of the glumpy off.
Place the chicken on top of the veg in a single layer, nestling it in as best as you can.
Add in the chicken stock. Add water evenly around the outside of the pot, until the liquid comes up to almost the top of the chicken.
Lower heat to Low, cover, and simmer 30 minutes. Then uncover and simmer 15 more minutes.
Serve with your favorite biscuits.
This is really good as a soup the next day if you strip all the meat off the bone, add it into a leftover container with the remaining veg and broth. Mmm.
Sunday, February 10, 2013
The hardest part
The hardest part of owning a pet is saying good-bye. Yesterday was that day for our 8 year old kitty Chewie. He'd been sick for a long time, turns out to be diabetes. In a cat. Who knew?
We decided on a short beach trip yesterday afternoon for a little distraction, and that worked well until we got home. It's very quiet, even the dog is kind of depressed.
Today will be filled with Church, cleaning, crocheting, and cooking. All Cs. Huh.
Can you say distracted?
Yeah.
We decided on a short beach trip yesterday afternoon for a little distraction, and that worked well until we got home. It's very quiet, even the dog is kind of depressed.
Today will be filled with Church, cleaning, crocheting, and cooking. All Cs. Huh.
Can you say distracted?
Yeah.
Monday, February 4, 2013
Get to know the kids
I didn't know what Jakes favorite color was - that's what started it. Well, that and seeing this link on Pinterest: http://reavespartyofthree.blogspot.com/2011/06/morgan-3-years-20-questions.html?m=1.
I thought it was an awesome idea, so I made my own sheet and asked the questions. It was a great time getting to know the kids a little more!
After I was done, I hole-punched them and put them in my Home Management binder - forecast reference, and so I wouldn't lose them!!
I thought it was an awesome idea, so I made my own sheet and asked the questions. It was a great time getting to know the kids a little more!
After I was done, I hole-punched them and put them in my Home Management binder - forecast reference, and so I wouldn't lose them!!
Saturday, February 2, 2013
Random, on a Saturday Morning
The aroma of garlic and onion cooking in browned butter is one of my favorites. It is the start of a thousand different recipes and is full of possibilities.
It has been a crazy hectic couple weeks of studying, working, cleaning, and commuting. I have instituted a chore schedule for the kiddos and it's been working. I also instituted a chore schedule for me and that has been more of a challenge.
Here is my list of accountability
• I have kept up with laundry
• I made dinner every night except last night*
• I had a fast food lunch only once.
• I got a 72 on my first exam - not passing.
• I gained 5.2 pounds in the Biggest Loser competition at work.
(*we went to a concert last night and I slept when I got home, so we went to Chili's.)
Not my best week. However, it is a new week (almost), and so far this morning I did most of a rep of exercise (push-ups, crunches, plank, lunges, wall sit, squats - from Pinterest - ooooowwww!), got out chicken for supper, swept the kitchen, started laundry, and now did a blog post. Not bad for 5 hours sleep.
Today I'm meeting a friend from nursing school to teach her how to knit. :)
It has been a crazy hectic couple weeks of studying, working, cleaning, and commuting. I have instituted a chore schedule for the kiddos and it's been working. I also instituted a chore schedule for me and that has been more of a challenge.
Here is my list of accountability
• I have kept up with laundry
• I made dinner every night except last night*
• I had a fast food lunch only once.
• I got a 72 on my first exam - not passing.
• I gained 5.2 pounds in the Biggest Loser competition at work.
(*we went to a concert last night and I slept when I got home, so we went to Chili's.)
Not my best week. However, it is a new week (almost), and so far this morning I did most of a rep of exercise (push-ups, crunches, plank, lunges, wall sit, squats - from Pinterest - ooooowwww!), got out chicken for supper, swept the kitchen, started laundry, and now did a blog post. Not bad for 5 hours sleep.
Today I'm meeting a friend from nursing school to teach her how to knit. :)
Sunday, January 27, 2013
The Wisdom of Pastor Mark
At Church (BayLife) we're doing a series called "One Hit Wonders - 1 Chapter Books of the Bible". Today it was 2 John.
Pastor Mark spoke about moving forward in your walk with Christ, and with your life.
Pastor Mark could be Yoda. Except with more hair. And not green.
Anywho, one of the things he said stuck. Like I want it as a tattoo stuck.
On an almost-related note; Travis got me a whole whack of fonts installed for me to play with. I asked for a printed list so I could see what we have.
There are over 5,500 fonts. It was supposed to print about 120 pages front and back, but I ran out of ink. Twice. So, I have it in a .pdf - yay for slick husbands. :)
It's almost related because that up there ^^ was my first attempt at a cool saying in funky fonts. I like it.
Pastor Mark spoke about moving forward in your walk with Christ, and with your life.
Pastor Mark could be Yoda. Except with more hair. And not green.
Anywho, one of the things he said stuck. Like I want it as a tattoo stuck.
On an almost-related note; Travis got me a whole whack of fonts installed for me to play with. I asked for a printed list so I could see what we have.
There are over 5,500 fonts. It was supposed to print about 120 pages front and back, but I ran out of ink. Twice. So, I have it in a .pdf - yay for slick husbands. :)
It's almost related because that up there ^^ was my first attempt at a cool saying in funky fonts. I like it.
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Easy Peasy Crock Pot Boston Butt
I had a Boston Butt in my freezer taking up a lot if space and making my mouth water, so I made it for supper last night. I wanted to do crock pot since I had school and working and studying, so I searched Pinterest.
I didn't really find one that jumped out at me, so I made my own.
When all else fails... Fake it!!
Ingredients:
1 Boston Butt (4 lbs-ish)
1 T House Seasoning (Paula Deens recipe) + 1 t pepper
1 T Italian Seasoning
1 t sage
1/2 cup Beef broth
Directions:
Put the roast in a sprayed crock pot, fat side down.
Sprinkle with seasoning.
Pour broth around the edge.
Cook on low 8ish hrs.
It was So good... Didn't completely fall apart, but was very tender. Also - SO simple!
Tonight it'll be pulled pork Sammie's! :)
I didn't really find one that jumped out at me, so I made my own.
When all else fails... Fake it!!
Ingredients:
1 Boston Butt (4 lbs-ish)
1 T House Seasoning (Paula Deens recipe) + 1 t pepper
1 T Italian Seasoning
1 t sage
1/2 cup Beef broth
Directions:
Put the roast in a sprayed crock pot, fat side down.
Sprinkle with seasoning.
Pour broth around the edge.
Cook on low 8ish hrs.
It was So good... Didn't completely fall apart, but was very tender. Also - SO simple!
Tonight it'll be pulled pork Sammie's! :)
Saturday, January 19, 2013
Pressure Cooker Chicken Corn Chowda
One of our favorite meals is Chicken Corn Chowda. I got the recipe from the chef at Hyatt Coconut Point in Bonita Springs, Fl. It is SO stinkin good! But, it's time intensive and very rich and thick (read: fattening). Now don't get me wrong, this isn't exactly diet food... But it is better and faster.
First, some notes.
In the photo I've used leftover chicken, and 2 gigantic potatoes. I also tend to use any leftover veg in here. While the bacon is cooking, I cut up the veg. I also heat the cream separately so I'm not waiting forever for it to warm up when the pressure is done (never put milk in a pressure cooker!!) I love this the next day, and it gets so thick. I add some milk to thin it a bit after its out of the micro).
Ingredients
6 boneless skinless chicken thighs (roast at 350 for 35 minutes)
2 strips bacon
1T oil
3 Garlic cloves, minced
1/2 diced onion
3 diced carrots
2 diced celery
1C chicken stock
1t rosemary
1t thyme
1 T parsley
1t oregano
1t tarragon
1T Italian seasoning
1Q heavy cream
1Q half & half
1/2 bag frozen corn (or 2 ears)
Salt & pepper (more than you think)
Directions
In pressure cooker, over med heat, sauté bacon til crisp, remove.
Add oil if needed, sauté onion and garlic 2 minutes til fragrant.
Add other vegetables (except corn), stir, cook 2 minutes.
Add herbs and stock. Stir and cover, put heat to high.
In saucepan on med heat, add creams, bacon, corn, and chicken (cold or hot).
Once the pressure is up, turn heat to med-low (or lowest to keep top rocking). Let cook 6 minutes. Remove from heat and let pressure release naturally.
Once released, open top and pour in chicken/cream mixture. Add milk if you want a soupier soup (also good if its too hot instead of ice!)
Check the seasoning, add more salt.
That's it. I hope you enjoy as much as we do! (Pics show the cream pot, stove with both pots, pressure cooker contents after cooking, and yummy soup!)
First, some notes.
In the photo I've used leftover chicken, and 2 gigantic potatoes. I also tend to use any leftover veg in here. While the bacon is cooking, I cut up the veg. I also heat the cream separately so I'm not waiting forever for it to warm up when the pressure is done (never put milk in a pressure cooker!!) I love this the next day, and it gets so thick. I add some milk to thin it a bit after its out of the micro).
Ingredients
6 boneless skinless chicken thighs (roast at 350 for 35 minutes)
2 strips bacon
1T oil
3 Garlic cloves, minced
1/2 diced onion
3 diced carrots
2 diced celery
1C chicken stock
1t rosemary
1t thyme
1 T parsley
1t oregano
1t tarragon
1T Italian seasoning
1Q heavy cream
1Q half & half
1/2 bag frozen corn (or 2 ears)
Salt & pepper (more than you think)
Directions
In pressure cooker, over med heat, sauté bacon til crisp, remove.
Add oil if needed, sauté onion and garlic 2 minutes til fragrant.
Add other vegetables (except corn), stir, cook 2 minutes.
Add herbs and stock. Stir and cover, put heat to high.
In saucepan on med heat, add creams, bacon, corn, and chicken (cold or hot).
Once the pressure is up, turn heat to med-low (or lowest to keep top rocking). Let cook 6 minutes. Remove from heat and let pressure release naturally.
Once released, open top and pour in chicken/cream mixture. Add milk if you want a soupier soup (also good if its too hot instead of ice!)
Check the seasoning, add more salt.
That's it. I hope you enjoy as much as we do! (Pics show the cream pot, stove with both pots, pressure cooker contents after cooking, and yummy soup!)
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Home management binder
Through the power of Pinterest, I was able to find cutie patootie section covers, a pretty binder cover, and a whole whack of awesome free printables to go inside.
Deep Cleaning Printables
Weekly Cleaning Schedule by Day (Another great cover at that site here).
Binder Cover - there are a bunch of other things here, but I only swiped the cover.
From Organizing Home Life I got a whole bunch of really helpful printables. She has a whole lot more, hopefully you'll dig them:
Section Dividers
Bill Pay Schedule
Daily/Weekly Chore Schedule
Insurance Company Contacts - Who knew you needed this? Show of hands... not me!
Utility Contact Info - another awesome resource I SHOULD have thought of!
I stopped at Target yesterday and Walmart today and picked up Sheet protectors and Dividers with pockets that are wide enough to show the tabs with sheet protectors. Now I'm going to fill out all of my printables and see if it helps kick me into gear!!
Deep Cleaning Printables
Weekly Cleaning Schedule by Day (Another great cover at that site here).
Binder Cover - there are a bunch of other things here, but I only swiped the cover.
From Organizing Home Life I got a whole bunch of really helpful printables. She has a whole lot more, hopefully you'll dig them:
Section Dividers
Bill Pay Schedule
Daily/Weekly Chore Schedule
Insurance Company Contacts - Who knew you needed this? Show of hands... not me!
Utility Contact Info - another awesome resource I SHOULD have thought of!
I stopped at Target yesterday and Walmart today and picked up Sheet protectors and Dividers with pockets that are wide enough to show the tabs with sheet protectors. Now I'm going to fill out all of my printables and see if it helps kick me into gear!!
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Quick notebook tip
I am diligently working on my Home Management notebook and I stumbled on an idea. I'm sure I can't be the first to do this, but I think it's clever.
I 3-hole punched a paper bag for each section of my binder and put it last in each section. This one is for recipes I've written or clipped that I want to try! I also have one for receipts and project ideas so far.
I plan to use some coupons to get the Martha Stewart pretty sticker things to make cute labels.
I'll show it off and link to some sources when I'm done.
I 3-hole punched a paper bag for each section of my binder and put it last in each section. This one is for recipes I've written or clipped that I want to try! I also have one for receipts and project ideas so far.
I plan to use some coupons to get the Martha Stewart pretty sticker things to make cute labels.
I'll show it off and link to some sources when I'm done.
Monday, January 14, 2013
NuWave roast chicken
So I borrowed my grandfathers NuWave and went straight for a hard one - Sunday Chicken.
I modified a recipe from the book and it came out mostly good. Mostly good because it was only mostly done. The thighs and a few bits of breast were still blood tinged, so I'm modifying the recipe here by adding time to the thigh side down.
NuWave Sunday Chicken
1 whole, defrosted chicken - giblets removed
3 tsp/cloves minced garlic
1 Tbsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp oregano
4 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Tbsp House Seasoning (from Paula Deens recipe).
Rinse and pay dry the chicken.
In a bowl, mix oil, Italian seasoning, oregano, garlic and half house seasoning.
Sprinkle chicken with remaining house seasoning - inside and out.
With a chopstick or skewer, loosen skin.
Scoop in and massage oil mixture under skin in all 4 quadrants of the bird.
Cook breast side down HI for 25 minutes.
Flip and baste then cook thigh side down HI for 25 minutes.
Let sit then carve and serve.
There was about 1/2 cup of drippings I added to gravy, it was very flavorful.
The pics show bird starting to cook, what it looked at the 20 minute mark (that's where it should go a little longer), and how it looked done. Check with a thermometer for doneness... In the thigh. I checked in the breast and it tricked me!
Enjoy.
I modified a recipe from the book and it came out mostly good. Mostly good because it was only mostly done. The thighs and a few bits of breast were still blood tinged, so I'm modifying the recipe here by adding time to the thigh side down.
NuWave Sunday Chicken
1 whole, defrosted chicken - giblets removed
3 tsp/cloves minced garlic
1 Tbsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp oregano
4 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Tbsp House Seasoning (from Paula Deens recipe).
Rinse and pay dry the chicken.
In a bowl, mix oil, Italian seasoning, oregano, garlic and half house seasoning.
Sprinkle chicken with remaining house seasoning - inside and out.
With a chopstick or skewer, loosen skin.
Scoop in and massage oil mixture under skin in all 4 quadrants of the bird.
Cook breast side down HI for 25 minutes.
Flip and baste then cook thigh side down HI for 25 minutes.
Let sit then carve and serve.
There was about 1/2 cup of drippings I added to gravy, it was very flavorful.
The pics show bird starting to cook, what it looked at the 20 minute mark (that's where it should go a little longer), and how it looked done. Check with a thermometer for doneness... In the thigh. I checked in the breast and it tricked me!
Enjoy.
Sunday, January 13, 2013
Bigger and Better?
It's the 13th day of 2013, and I've been on a cleaning/organizing/cooking freakout. I ran out of anxiety meds yesterday, no insurance to get more for a couple more weeks, and apparently this is the result.
Well, to be fair, I think it started with a wee little Pinterest excursion and ended in the creation of a Household notebook, chore lists, month long menu, To Do and Done paper thingies (it's cute, I'll show you later), and a whole whack of recipes written down.
I did not make any Resolutions 14 days ago, but now that I've had a couple weeks to stew about it I think that I will now.
1. Clean the house, and keep it that way
A. Use the Chore Lists
B. Stop being lazy
2. Study (and study and study)
3. Cook more, go out less
A. Use your menu planning skills
B. Explore more recipes
4. Instill a better work ethic in the whole family
A. Chore lists... lazy.... everybody participates
B. Figure out a system of work/reward/punishment and use it!
5. Lose 50 pounds
6. Win the lottery, or the HGTV Dream House, or both
7. Work on ice cream and Coke addictions (not food groups!)
That's it. Also, those last few are just fluffy filler. The big 4 are my goal.
I've created this blog to share some of the tips, lessons, recipes, and successes that I have along the way.
me...
I'm a Christian, Wife, Mom, Daughter, Nursing Student, crafter, homeowner, part time employee, Crochet and Knit designer. I have way too many things on my plate, I have no sense of limits, and I don't often know how to say no. That is the path to crazy, my friends.
More later...
Well, to be fair, I think it started with a wee little Pinterest excursion and ended in the creation of a Household notebook, chore lists, month long menu, To Do and Done paper thingies (it's cute, I'll show you later), and a whole whack of recipes written down.
I did not make any Resolutions 14 days ago, but now that I've had a couple weeks to stew about it I think that I will now.
1. Clean the house, and keep it that way
A. Use the Chore Lists
B. Stop being lazy
2. Study (and study and study)
3. Cook more, go out less
A. Use your menu planning skills
B. Explore more recipes
4. Instill a better work ethic in the whole family
A. Chore lists... lazy.... everybody participates
B. Figure out a system of work/reward/punishment and use it!
5. Lose 50 pounds
6. Win the lottery, or the HGTV Dream House, or both
7. Work on ice cream and Coke addictions (not food groups!)
That's it. Also, those last few are just fluffy filler. The big 4 are my goal.
I've created this blog to share some of the tips, lessons, recipes, and successes that I have along the way.
me...
I'm a Christian, Wife, Mom, Daughter, Nursing Student, crafter, homeowner, part time employee, Crochet and Knit designer. I have way too many things on my plate, I have no sense of limits, and I don't often know how to say no. That is the path to crazy, my friends.
More later...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)