February 2010 Menu

Anyone who ever visits here probably wondered if I was ever coming back. Yes I love doing this little blog. I will be back. The Holiday Season and my 3 little ones tugged at my time. Admittedly I did not enter this past holy season prepared as I would have liked. This doesn’t happen every year for me. This year will be better. I will be done with the gifting ideas by Halloween so I can truly enjoy the season. While I was gone I put together this Februrary menu with all new recipes which I am excited about. Being a bit lazy with it, however, in putting it together, I basically sat down with my latest copy of CL magazine, (heard they were nitpickedty about copyright rules on blogs and such but I know you can figure it out), and used all their recipes because everything looked so yummy.

More Wisdom for Creating that Greeting Card Binder

As it’s been mentioned in passing before, I keep a binder for my greeting cards and I find it to be very helpful.

In the front of my “Greeting Card” binder is a list of all the birthdays and holidays that require a greeting card purchase, (or kid created greeting card), by month. Behind the list I keep 12 heavy-duty clear sheet protectors that are labeled at the top right corner with the months of the year. Then there are more sheet protectors labeled by occasion, “thank you,” “blank,” “friendship,” “sympathy,” etc. Shopping for cards seems to be one of my biggest mommy challenges. My kids do not have much patience for watching me read card after card looking for the perfect witty choice for a friend. When I am hurridly searching for a funny birthday card for my father-in-law but in the process come upon the perfect card for my girlfriend, Anne, I will buy it even though her birthday isn’t for several months. When I get home the card I found for Anne gets filed under January for her birthday. So, you get the idea.

I thought I was just so nifty with my little Greeting Card binder until my friend Anne called me with some ways to perfect it. She is my go-to bargain hunting friend so she always has the ins and outs on how to get the most out of retail stores which I just tend to try to avoid but sometimes fail. American Greeting stores are having a buy 3 cards get 3 free sale right now. (An even cheaper way to go is to have your kids make your cards for you of course but sometimes you want an actual greeting card.) If you can put aside an hour or so without kids, take a list of all your greeting cards dates with you to your local American Greeting store, or any bargain card store that you prefer, and buy ALL of your greeting cards for at least an entire year and file them in your greeting card binder. While you're reading a zillion cards, be sure to poke around in the congratulations, thank you and other card categories and find some that you'd like to file away. They aren’t likely to have Mother’s Day and Father’s Day cards or other holiday-specific cards but you can have your kids make those. Also, with everyone using online bill pay it seems more likely that you are without a stamp for a greeting card. Just tuck some forever stamps in the front of your greeting card binder and you can eliminate that problem as well. These are two tips I know will definitely eliminate my forgetting a card event or scrambling around at the last minute to get one.

Healthy Chorizo! No, seriously, really it’s healthy.

Get this. I have no menu for November. No kidding! I am flying by the seat of my pants. Aside from weekend plans to make large batches of freezer-friendly meals, I haven’t even pulled my November 2008 menu to copy. We will be out of town and there's an abundance of things in the freezer and pantry to work with. So, anyway, I asked Shirley, a very health-conscientious gal who runs the child care at my gym, what my family should have for dinner tonight. She is full of good, healthful ideas and even teaches people in her home kitchen how to cook without fats, dairy, meats and still enjoy yummy food. Shirley used to have diabetes and suffered a stroke several years ago and completely reversed the direction her health was taking with some major dietary modifications and exercise. She said to try the Mexican Chorizo Sausage at Trader Joes that is made from soy and is completely vegetarian. She said the spices in the chorizo will flavor a whole stir fry dish of veggies, (She also suggested adding diced tofu), and we could have them with whole wheat wraps. Simple. Sounds good. Sounds healthy. I was in.

When we arrived at Trader Joe’s, my 2 year old pointed at broccoli slaw. I took it as a sign and grabbed it. Why not? So with some onions and peppers I already had at home, broccoli slaw, mushrooms, Soy Chorizo, turmeric rice (for my carb-loving husband), and whole wheat wraps we had a delicious dinner. Get this - the Chorizo was only $2 and I only used ½ of it and threw the other half in the freezer. Thank God I had the sense to taste it before adding the whole package because I found out that it was quite spicy. The veggies were plenty to dull the spice along with some mild salsa so my kids could eat it with no problem.

Mexican Soy Chorizo Wraps

1 onion, chopped
1 yellow bell pepper, chopped
1 orange bell pepper, chopped
½ bag broccoli slaw
4 oz finely diced mushrooms (less complaints by children)

1 can black beans, drained
6 oz Mexican Soy Chorizo
Salsa
1 cup rice – cooked with 1 tsp turmeric

Warm a little olive oil in a skillet. (Shirley only uses water). Cook onion and peppers for approximately 4 minutes, add crumbled Chorizo. Add a few TBs of water if needed to prevent burning, then add broccoli slaw, mushrooms and black beans. Add a little salsa if desired to the vegetable stir fry. Wrap a good layer of rice, veggies, salsa and light sour cream, (if desired), in a whole wheat wrap and enjoy!

Ambitions – Live and Learn

Never again! Unless I can devote an entire 2 or 3 days to baking, never again will I think it is a splendid idea to pick two bushels of apples with my family. I have been baking like a mad woman. My laundry has piled up, social engagements have become stressful, my organizing appointments have not been as enjoyable as they should be and my son STILL doesn’t have his cub scout uniform -- all the while $48 of apples slowly rot in my basement fridge and call my name. They want to be more than just rotting apples. They call me to be made into more applesauce, more pies, more apple hermits, more scalloped potatoes and apple gratins. I have already made several batches of applesauce which my kids have devoured, I have 5 or 6 pies in the freezer and several have been consumed, we have eaten batches of apple cookies and apple / potato gratins with two gratins in the freezer. But STILL there are more apples! So if you have ever contemplated getting TWO bushels instead of one because one seems to disappear too quickly DON’T DO IT.

I did come up with a fabulous new cookie recipe though so I will share that with you. I modified an Apple Hermit cookie recipe I found on allrecipes.com to make them more guilt-free:

Apple Hermits

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 ½ cups whole wheat flour
Handful of flaxseed meal
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup softened butter
¼ cup FF plain Greek yogurt
¾ cup cups packed brown sugar
¼ cup agave nectar or honey
1 egg, beaten
1 cup chopped walnuts (chopped fine so undetectable to kids)
1 cup chopped apples
1 cup raisins

1. Soak raisins in hot water while mixing other ingredients.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
3. In a medium bowl, sift together flours, flax seed, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and salt. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter until light and fluffy. Mix in yogurt, sugar, agave or honey and egg. Stir in flour mixture, and mix thoroughly. Fold in nuts, apples, and drained raisins.
4. Drop by rounded teaspoon onto prepared cookie sheets about 1 1/2 inches apart. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes. Cool on wire rack.

YUM!

Thank you!

Recently, I was invited to speak at the local MOPS group about home organizing. I was a nervous wreck with anticipation of talking in front of the group but I survived. The women were very nice and thankful that I came. They even gave me a cute little rose plant. I just want to say thank you in return for having me there to speak. My kids had a blast in the sitting room and I enjoyed praying with a new group of moms. I hope I left the group with some organizing ideas and and not just an impression of "that crazy lady." Feel free to e-mail me with any questions.

I am not a Pickle Jar Wiper!

You know what a “Pickle Jar Wiper” is although you may not have thought of it in those terms before. I am describing a kind of person that is an anomaly to me. The kind I often want to be like but just never really can be. You know the type. Their houses are always immaculate and everything is in order and they always possess a sense of calm, even when kids enter their lives. They seem to live in a magic world of dustless order where things never get messy and certainly not sticky. They always wipe the bottom of their pickle jar before returning it to the refrigerator (so have I have coined them “Pickle Jar Wipers”) as well as the tops of their ketchups. Their good habits are too many to list and include always wiping their shoes on the doormat before entering the house. I am not a Pickle Jar Wiper. It just is not me even though I realize that people think this is the kind of person I am since I am so fond of organizing topics and other household workings. I think I enjoy organization because it is something I HAVE TO DO. (and rather enjoy), and not something that comes naturally. My house gets messy like any one else’s with three young kids. I have recently come to the realization that I have stopped having people over as often as I used to because I seem to have developed this reputation for having that perfectly orderly appearing house. It has been brought to my attention by my wise friend, Tracy, that my house ought to be messy because it means that I am spending time with my kids or doing something more valuable with my time than scrubbing my floors every day. This idea goes right along the same thought as my husband's who never wishes to have a perfectly maintained house. He says that is NOT how he plans to spend his free time once he has it and is retired. It is an impossible image to try to keep up as a Non-Pickle Jar Wiper. Now, it’s true, my spices are always in alpha order and my budget is balanced and I seem to have eliminated paper chaos from my life but my house gets messy and I need to start being ok with that. I hope my friends will be too. My good neighbor-friends who stop in regularly, already know about my frequently messy house but I just want to get it out there to all my friends so that I might feel better.

DO IT NOW!

Doesn’t everyone strive for a joyous stress-free Christmas Season filled with the true meaning of Christ-mas? An entire season dedicated to celebrating God’s gift to us should not be bogged down with tons of “to dos", rushing around and stress. So often this is how our Christmas goes no matter how hard we try. You CAN have a wonderful joyous Christmas filled with baking with the kids, feeding the hungry, adding to your Church’s "needy family gift tree", or doing whatever generous act the Holy Spirit calls you to do without worrying about your Christmas cards, shopping, beating post office deadlines and scheduling get togethers by doing it NOW! That’s right, in October! Give yourself a Halloween deadline to get your Christmas card address list updated, select your family photo or take it to be copied for your cards, purchase your cards or schedule the portrait for your cards NOW! NOW NOW NOW! How can I motivate you to set a deadline of Halloween to be ready for Christmas? Only you can do it. I know a few people who have mastered this skill for years. If you know someone similar, just think of the peacefulness they seem to enjoy during the Christmas Season. Don’t you want that? Don’t you want to be able to show your kids the TRUE meaning of Christmas? Recruit some friends to take on this challenging goal with you and check in with each other regularly. Think of how much more fun Halloween will be to celebrate this year!

October 2009 Menu

October 2009 Recipes

I am not finished posting the recipes but I will get it done. I feel bad that I haven't been on top of it since I promised some people I would have them up last week. I'm getting it done. This is what i have so far.

1st Grilled Chicken w/ Spicy Orange Marmalade sauce & cous cous & Brussel sprouts


3rd Meatloaf, mashed potatoes & corn/green beans

Pick your favorite meatloaf recipe. Aren't there hundreds of versions?


6th Mac & cheese spaghetti w/ veggie & salad

7th Taco Soup w/ cheese quesadillas
Cheese quesadillas are just flour tortillas grilled in a little oil in a non-stick pan with a cheese of your choice in the middle. It's really just a grilled cheese sandwhich made with tortillas instead of bread. I usually use a mild cheddar and sometimes I'll throw in some Mexican cheese mix if I have it.

9th Grilled Flank w/ Granny Smith & Smoked Cheddar Gratin & Salad

11th Pork Noodle Salad w/ Soy-Buttered Sugar Snap Peas

13th Crockpot Orange Chicken w/ Brussels

14th Chicken, Red Grape & pesto pizza

15th Grilled Salmon w/ smokey tomato salsa & yellow rice

17th Classic Minestrone Soup w/ hearty bread

18th Cranberry Pork roast w/ side veggie & rice

19th Spaghetti With Best Ever Bolognese Sauce & Salad

21st Chicken Paprikosh w/ salad

22nd Crockpot Flank Steak Stuffed with Apple, Feta & almonds w/ broccoli

23rd Jerk Spiced Shrimp & pineapple w/ skewered grilled veggies & cous cous

25th Tangy Sirloin strips (allrecipes) w/ salad & pesto pasta

27th Crockpot Jamaican Salmon w/ leftover pasta

29th Pineapple Pork Tenderloin w/ rice & side veggie

30th – Stuffed Jack-o-Lantern peppers x2 to freeze

More Great Uses for Binders

The usefulness of binders is nearly endless when it comes to keeping order with just about any kind of paper. I thought I had exhausted all possible uses for binders in my house until my friend, Denise, said to me, “Now, you DO have a binder for each of your kids don’t you?” I said, " No,” and thought that I wouldn’t know what to put in a binder for my kids. She explained that she keeps schedules and activities and medical information in her kids’ binders and I thought that was great but I didn’t have a need for such a thing. Shortly after that conversation the school year truly commenced. Oh boy. Papers from school were flying! Then, I recalled the kids’ binder idea and got some old binders out and organized some of the kids’ papers. My two school aged kids now have a binder with their name on it. In the front of their binders I put academic reference materials that are helpful to both them and me concerning how their teacher wants homework completed and returned and a letter and number chart, home address, phone number, etc., for my kindergartner to glance at. The binders also have tabs for each subject that they study in school and I have put some math, reading and writing sheets that I printed out for free from online websites behind each subject tab and some “Parent Tips” sheets that have come home for a few subjects. I now have a place to put all the religion papers that we can review regularly. I even put a tab marked “$$” so they can keep track of their bank accounts and such all in one place. Behind a “Misc.” tab we can find girl scout fliers, boy scout papers and flag football information. (A list of team members and plays their coach wants them to learn). All the papers are easily visible in those handy-dandy clear sheet protectors. It is one of those organizing projects that brought me such peace and when I showed my husband where he can find such things he didn’t laugh at my organizing for once. He nodded so as to say “Good! Now I know where to look for those things.”