Easy Crock Pot Chicken Burritos

Two words: Dee. Lish.

Serves: 8-10
Prep: 5 minutes
Cook: 6-8 hours in crock pot on low

Ingredients:
4 chicken breasts
1 jar salsa
½ cup water
1-15oz can of black beans (drain and rinse)
1-11oz or 15oz can corn (drain and rinse)
½ packet taco seasoning
-------------------
1 cup uncooked brown rice
8 oz brick cream cheese (low fat works well)
-------------------
Tortillas

Directions:
- Combine first 6 ingredients in crock pot. Cook on low 6-8 hours.
- One hour before you're ready to serve, add 1 cup uncooked brown rice.
- Half hour later, add 1 brick of cream cheese. Shred chicken and scoop into tortillas to make burritos.

Check out Life as Mom for more great crock pot recipes and WFMW for more summer recipes!

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Caterpillar craft idea

I'm trying to do more crafts with the kids as the summer comes to a close. Somewhere along the way, I got out of the habit and both of them really enjoy doing hands-on projects.

While Mike took Ryan on errands on Saturday, I let Kaylin paint at the easel for the first time. It seems like I do things with her much later than I did with Ryan because she always seems so young. But she's not...she's growing up quickly and is much more able than I give her credit for sometimes.

And yesterday, we recreated a little craft project Ryan did at VBS last week. I cut a cardboard egg carton in 1/2, let the kids go to town painting it green, poked holes to put the pipe cleaner anttenae through and glued on some leftover eyes we had and a little mouth. They're both so proud that they have them on their dressers. Too cute.

10,000 hits

I missed my 10,000 hit mark! I purposely checked my blog this morning (knowing that I was nearing 10,000...I know, I'm a dork) and my counter said 10,008. *sigh* SO I missed it. But happy 10,000 hits to ME!!! I read a few blogs who get 10,000 hits per day, but this is a huge milestone for my insignificant little blog. What's crazy is that I just celebrated 2,000 hits in March, but then again, I didn't add the counter until sometime in January, I think. I currently get anywhere from 50-100 individual visitors a day, which still blows my mind. (If you just did the math on that and don't get it, the number of "hits" is so high because every time someone clicks on a post within my blog that refreshes their screen, it's recognized as a seperate "hit." But my Cluster Map only accounts for each person who arrived on the site once per day, that's how I get the 50-100 number. 110 is by far my highest day. 50-75 is much more typical.)

The other day, I was still a little "high" from efficiently doing a 14 day meal plan using only food we have in the house (most of which will be fresh) and I starting thinking about how glad I am that I have a blog. Not because I need to share my accomplishment or even the great recipes I'm finding, but as a reference for myself. I love my blog. I love what I've chosen to include, I love the stories I've told, I love the pictures I've included, I don't feel like I've embarrassed anyone (or myself) with things I've shared, overall, I'm proud of my blog. Every few weeks, I'll get a whiff of nostalgia and click back a few months to see what kinds of things the kids were up to or what random things were on my mind at the time. And I always think to myself, "I'm so glad I posted about that," or "Look how little Ryan was," or "I forgot how quickly Kaylin's hair has been growing lately."

I love my blog. Thank you for caring enough to read about my world.

The secret to keeping a "clean" house

I was just thinking about posting about the topic of keeping a clean house and Simple Mom beat me to it. I am often told, "Your house always seems so clean..." but I never really know how to answer that because I don't spend much time cleaning. Really, I'm not neurotic. I'm not one of THOSE moms. But this post is the reason my house appears clean. (I'm not going to re-cap it, please go read it...it's worth your time!) Yes, I like a clean tidy house, but I don't like to clean, that's why I do things quickly to get them over with. I like the result, not the process. Believe me, I have piles of junk just like everyone else. Some of my piles just happened to be tucked away in drawers dedicated to piles of junk that need to be put away!

The reason I was going to post on this was because on Monday, I went to a neighbor's house who was not expecting me. She invited me in, but immediately said, "Sorry for the mess, I've been swamped with work." No need to apologize...you don't need to impress lil' old me! The house was pretty messy, but I didn't judge. What I did, however, was notice things that didn't need to be there. For instance, it was 8:15am and there were crumpled McDonald's bags and leftover food wrappers on the kitchen table. (I'm assuming from dinner the night before) There were empty containers of granola bars on the counter. And as she ran upstairs, she bent over to clear a path for herself by picking up scattered toys and stuffed animals and moving them to the side of the stairs.

In my mind, if you can pick it up to move it out of the way, why not continue holding it until you get to where it needs to go? Even by quickly tossing it onto her daughter's bedroom floor, she's up there anyway and at least the item is close(r) to it's "home." I was also confused about why, after dinner, the take-out-trash didn't make it into the garbage. What's a little sad to me is that she is (obviously) so overwhelmed with work and life, that the simplest of things (throwing a Big Mac wrapper into the trash bin 2 feet away) didn't seem possible. Or I suppose it just wasn't a priority for her. She is creating so much more work for herself by not taking the 25 seconds to do the "quick things" along the way. With her hectic schedule, she's now going to take a huge chunk of time this weekend to do a thorough pick-up job in her house when it wouldn't be that way in the first place if she would have done a few simple things along the way.

Great, now I sound like I'm judging. I don't feel judgemental, I just see an easier way and wish I knew her well enough to share my thoughts. I've been that busy. In fact, in a few weeks, I will be there again. I posted about "her side" of this issue a few months back (click here to peek at it) and on that day, I remember being furious with myself that I had lived among a pigsty for a week that was easily cleaned up one afternoon when the kids overslept from their nap by 30 minutes. I worked against the clock, knowing they'd wake up any minute, and everything was neat and back where it belonged in less than an hour.

It's all about priorities. For some, fresh flowers from the garden on the counter are a priority. Not for me. For others, finishing touches at dinner like a dollop of whipped cream or a sprinkle of fresh basil leaves make all the difference. That's not me, either. I even know people who iron their pillow cases. Not in a million years. As it is, I don't even iron my cloth napkins for fancy dinner parties.

I'm all about simplicity and efficiency. Lately, I've developed a "touch it once" rule. If I take time to read an email (or snail mail, for that matter), I do my best to "touch it" once. Read it and either file it, respond or delete it immediately. As it is, my emails pile up like crazy, I don't need to be reading and re-reading the same emails repeatedly. And the mail that Mike brings home after work gets sorted within minutes. Coupons are put with coupons (even if they need to sorted and put in proper envelopes later), magazines have a home, junk mail is put in the recycle bin, bills go in a pile to be brought upstairs to the office. Done. Things that make it to the abyss of the junk pile usually aren't seen for a month or two, so if it's important, needs to be paid or is going to expire, it needs to be handled right away.

One tip that I love is that I have baskets for stray toys in a few key places. The play room has open bins that the kids can toss their toys when they're picking up, both kids' rooms have a basket, and there's one in the family room. This is a huge time saver and makes each room FEEL clean because the smaller items are all containerized in a nice(ish) basket. Before I added a few baskets to the house, there were constantly toys sprinkled in the most random places. Now, if I see one lying on the floor, I throw it in a basket.

Wow - this was supposed to be a quick reference to Simple Mom's post about keeping a clean home! I just went off on a huge rant about me, me, me. Sorry about that. I hope something I've said will inspire you to simplify and declutter something this weekend. Don't we all need a little simplicity in our lives???

Mandatory Meal Plan

I've never participated in Org Junkie's Menu Planning Monday, but this week, I planned so well that I had to brag blog about it. I've been meal planning since March and it's significantly helped eliminate my late-afternoon stress while reducing our food waste and saving us money. I haven't thrown away spoiled food in months!!! Actually, when produce is overripe, I'll steam and puree it to freeze and "sneak" into meals later.

Since participating in the produce co-op last weekend, I have both drawers of both fridges OVERFLOWING with fresh food and because most of it is organic, if I don't plan my menus accordingly, I'll be wasting a ton of great food.

First, I took inventory of what I have on hand and prioritized my meals based on the foods that are going to spoil first. This meant pulling out my new, handy recipe binder and flipping pages like crazy. The good news for you is that most of my recipes will have links to them! In my boredom, I've been watching A LOT of Food Network and have been dying to try some of these new dishes, plus I have a few that I've found on other blogs.

Here's what I have on hand that's perishable...this quantity is excessive for our household plus we have a ton of stuff that I don't know what to do with don't normally use in my cooking (radishes, yams, eggplant, green onions):
Vegetables
zucchini
eggplant
tomatoes (at least a dozen!)
yams

red potatoes
radishes
corn on the cob
yellow squash
green leaf lettuce
1/2 a head of iceberg leftover from tacos last night
Fruit (every day's snacks will have to be fruit salad if we're going to go through all of this fruit!)
bags upon bags of peaches
plums

grapes

apples

mangos

cantaloupe

blueberries

strawberries

limes

a lemon

Herbs, aromatics, and other flavorings
white onions
red onions
green onions
jalapeno peppers
celery
cilantro
homemade salsa
shredded Parmesan cheese
shredded mozzarella cheese
shredded Mexican cheese blend

feta
Other perishable items
Chicken Mango sausage from Trader Joe's (YUM)
Turkey bacon
Tortilla
Taco Shells
Deli turkey
Bread

Cheese sticks

So here's what I came up with (and I'm starting this today, not Monday, because some of this stuff is on it's way out and can't wait until next week) and I planned our meals for 14 days. I just bought milk, bread and eggs today at Trader Joe's, so I won't need to go to the store for a single thing until August 7th. I literally have every ingredient I need and am on CLOUD 9 about the efficiency of it all!!!

Thursday
Dinner: Tomato & Spinach Pasta Toss (added eggplant and replaced canned tomato with fresh because I have SO many!)

Friday
Breakfast: Oatmeal with raisins (I double the serving size for the 4 of us to share and add 2 egg whites at the end of the cooking time - I also cook it on the stove. A great way to sneak in protein with breakfast and if you whip the egg white in with a fork, you can't even tell it's in there!)
Lunch: Salad for me, turkey sandwiches with cheese sticks and fruit for the kids, Mike has a lunch appointment
Dinner: Crock Pot Salsa Chicken Burritos

Saturday
Breakfast: Chocolate Cinnamon Swirl Bread Pudding (There's bread, eggs and milk - like French toast, right??? Okay, so there's chocolate...I don't care - it just looks too good not to try.)
Lunch: leftover Vegan Shepherd's Pie
Dinner: Crockpot White Chicken Chili with cornbread

Sunday
Breakfast: Whole Wheat Pancakes with fruit salsa
Lunch: Quesadillas
Dinner: Baked Chicken (from this Chicken Parmesan recipe) with Emily's Zucchini Cornbread Casserole and sauteed radishes (we're not into radishes, so we'll see about this one!)

Monday
Breakfast: Oatmeal
Lunch: Salad for me, turkey sandwiches and fruit for Mike and the kids
Dinner: Healthy Corn Soup with homemade bread

Tuesday
Breakfast: cereal and fruit
Lunch: Salad for me, turkey sandwiches and fruit for Mike and the kids
Dinner: Chicken on the grill with corn on the cob and Black Bean & Couscous Salad

Wednesday
Dinner: Rice, Bean & Cheese Casserole with leftover grilled chicken from Tuesday night, using remaining iceberg lettuce and tomatoes to top in the taco shells + the rest of Mike's salsa for him.

Thursday
Dinner: Spaghetti Carbonara with salad

I hope you get some good ideas from these recipes...I'm excited to try the new ones! What's really exciting is that I'll be using ALL of the listed perishable items except the red potatoes (which will keep for after the 2 weeks), yams and squash, which I'll puree this weekend since I know we're not going to eat them. WOO HOO! Have I mentioned that I love being efficient???

Food follow up

FYI: that Shepherd's Pie recipe from my last post was good. Really good, considering how natural and packed with veggies it is. (don't be scared off by the lentils...you can buy a bag of dry lentils for under $1 and constitute them in simmering water on the stove for 15 minutes - they're packed with protein and fiber) I didn't read in the post that the recipe serves 8, so next time I'll cut the recipe in 1/2. When I saw how much it made, I poured the filling into 2 pie pans and froze one (without the potatoes on top - I don't think potatoes freeze well) and we ate the other for dinner tonight.

While the oven was on, I also made peach crisp with the MASS of peaches that I bought at Sprouts this weekend. I'm going back tomorrow to buy more - they were SO sweet and 39 cents/pound! I'm going to peel and freeze them...gotta stock up while the prices are good. Quick tip: my mom has an easy way to peel peaches: cut a small X into the bottom of each peach and submerge them in boiling water for 1 minute. The peel will come right off. It's even easier if you use a slotted spoon to peel them, as I learned from my bloggy friend Emily today! (the timing of her post couldn't have been better!!) If you're local, the sale is only through tomorrow, so hurry.

OH - and I tried the "chewing gum while chopping onions" kitchen trick today and it totally worked! What's funny is that when I stopped chewing, my eyes would sting, and as soon as I started chewing again, they didn't bother me. It was some weird, magical mint thing. Like the mint overtook my senses or something.

Also, I just read that July 30th is National Cheesecake Day and The Cheesecake Factory's 30th anniversary. So they're offering $1.50 slices of cheesecake, limit 1 per person. Personally, I'm not a cheesecake fan, but I have to share the good deals with my loyal readers!!!

Healthy Blueberry Coffee Cake

I was a baking fool this morning. For breakfast, I celebrated the kids being at their grandparents' house with a huge, beautiful fruit salad, eggs and this blueberry coffee cake that I saw on "Healthy Appetite" the other day. There's only 2 T. of butter and the moisture comes from yogurt instead of sour cream...so good for you! While the oven was on and I had spotting bananas, I made banana bread, too. I posted that recipe because it's a must-have.

2 tablespoons butter, at room temperature

2 tablespoons canola oil

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup plain nonfat yogurt

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole-wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 cup fresh blueberries, or frozen and thawed

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray an 8-inch square cake pan with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, beat the brown sugar, butter and oil until fluffy. Beat in the eggs, 1 at a time, beating until fully combined. Beat in the vanilla and yogurt.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the all-purpose and whole-wheat flours, the baking soda and salt. Add the flour mixture to the wet mixture, in 2 batches, stirring until just combined. (do not overmix or your coffee cake will be tough)

In a separate small bowl, stir together the granulated sugar, cinnamon and walnuts.

Spread half of the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle half of the nut mixture over the batter and top with the blueberries, gently pressing them into the batter. Spoon the rest of the batter into the pan, smoothing the top. Sprinkle the remaining nut mixture over the cake, pressing gently. Bake until a wooden toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about 30 to 35 minutes. Let cool slightly and cut the cake into 2-inch squares.

Per Serving: (serving size, 1 piece) Calories 210; Total Fat 8.5 g; (Sat Fat 2 g, Mono Fat 2.5 g, Poly Fat 3 g) ; Protein 5 g; Carb 30 g; Fiber 2 g; Cholesterol 41 mg; Sodium 230 mg

THE BEST Banana Bread Recipe EVER

I alternate between about 4 banana bread recipes and EVERY time I make this one, I ask myself why I keep the other recipes. This is the moistest, most amazing banana bread you'll ever eat. I think it's because there's about twice as many bananas as the standard recipe. And there's hardly any sugar, yet they're perfectly sweet. Give it a try and you be the judge!

Combine:
4 very ripe bananas
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 c. melted, salted butter (cooled)
1 egg
1 t. salt
1 t. baking soda

Gradually add: 1.5 cup flour

Optional: Add 1/2 cup chopped walnuts and/or 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Pour batter into lightly greased loaf pan and bake at 325 degrees (F) for 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out of the center clean.

In Love with Co-Ops!

I participated in my first produce co-op this morning. I got a huge box full of organic fruits and veggies from Boutiful Baskets for $25. The frustration is that you don't know what you're getting until you get there and you can't order specific foods. Today, I got:

10 plums

1 bunch grapes

1 pkg strawberries

1 bunch green onions

1 head green leaf lettuce

6 tomatoes

10 huge red potatoes
4 yams

1 bunch celery

2 bunches radishes (what am I supposed to do with these? Suggestions? Ideas?)

I went to Sprouts last night and bought a gazillion peaches for 39 cents/lb to freeze and some zucchini to make these this weekend. I also bought wheat germ and pumpkin seeds that I was missing to make these pancakes for breakfast. Mike wasn't as fond of the nutty topping (he suggested I add pecans next time) but the whole wheat pancakes were awesome. The best recipe I've found for homemade pancakes yet, so that will be my standard recipe that I use from now on. Plus, when I saw Ellie Krieger make them (on her show Healthy Appetite on Food Network), she said not to over mix the batter or try to get the lumps out because it will make tough pancakes. Really??? I love the tips I learn from cooking shows. These pancakes were super fluffy and had just enough sweetness from the honey. And I'll definitely add apples again...they were soft and warm and the perfect touch. Delish.

The other co-op I'm in love with is my babysitting co-op. I wish I could get more people on board with starting a babysitting co-op with friends or neighbors. I'm saving so much money (and stress!) and Ryan is making great little friends. We exchange carnival tickets as "payment" and everything's even and fair. I've done all of the research and created all of the forms needed, and I'm happy to share everything for free. Just email me at ktksu(at)yahoo(dot)com and put "Babysitting Co-Op" in the subject line.

Canvas Art Ideas

Mike and Ryan are having a sleep-over in his bunk beds tonight, so I've wasted spent the last 2 hours surfing the blogosphere.

I got this idea from Simple Mom (from July 15th) who credited this post with the details of how she came up with the idea. I am SO doing this from my list of 100 things that make me happy list. I want to hang it in my craft room. I'm itchin' to go buy the supplies, but really should wait to see what sales come out in Sunday's paper. The biggest issue is that I don't like my handwriting and I consistently mess up words when I think too hard about what I'm writing...I guess I could paint over it if I mess up.

Then I noticed that Simple Mom was inspired to do this...

from Mt. Hope Chronicles who made this project...

I was all on board to do something similar to put above my bed (the blank wall has been bugging me lately) until I saw THIS on Nesting Place!!!! I think this will be cheapest and easiest of all with even better artistic impact. The circles are a little too modern for me anyway. Thoughts? Ideas??? I'll post pictures of the finished product when I get around to doing it.

New Signature

For those looking for new blog addition ideas, this is for you. I knew I'd forget where I found the site to do my new signature, so I have to post it right away! Click here if you want to bloglift this from me. (Has that phrase been coined yet or did I just make it up???) After looking through all of the fonts and staring at my name long enough over and over again...it became one of those words that looked really weird. Does that ever happen to you? I began scanning my desk for something with my name on it because I had convinced myself that I spelled it wrong. (that could be a "you know you're tired when..." joke)

If you're on blogger, go into "settings" then "formatting" - then paste the html code after scrolling down to the "post template" area. Can't wait to see your new signatures! I've LOVED all the new looks from those who bloglifted the TheCutestBlogOnTheBlock idea!!!

This is God

A personal message from God to YOU:

This is God.

Today I will be handling all of your problems for you.
I do not need your help.

Have a nice day!

Can I get an "Amen?" My grandmother had this up on her fridge for the longest time. Too true! God doesn't need MY help. Isn't that refreshing?

I'm not above hand-me-downs

I've always been a little scared to get started buying little girl clothes. When I go into the girls department of any store, the level of cuteness is through the roof! There are significantly more options for girls than there are for boys. Thankfully, from day 1, we've dressed Kaylin with gifts and hand-me-downs. I have purchased very little for our princess and I feel so blessed to have been given so many "previously loved" items from friends. I also recently purchased a ton of clothes for $1 each from another friend. We've been well taken care of!

The gap in age between Kaylin and our hand-me-down regulars is starting to get closer, so the hand-me-downs have been fewer and farther between. All of a sudden, Kaylin's feet have grown a ton, and she complains that the 3 pair of size 5 shoes I bought at the beginning of the summer "hurt." (*sigh*) But God is good! Just about the time I was realizing that she is down to ONE pair of shoes that fit well, I was sent a group email about a friend getting rid of all of her kids clothes and baby stuff. We received a huge storage bin full of 2T-4T clothes and another bin full of shoes. And when I say, "shoes" - I really mean SHOES! Check this out...

I spent about an hour separating out the shoes into sizes, so on the far left are size 3 shoes (that I'll pass on to someone else), then size 5 (some actually still fit Kaylin), 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11. There were even a few boys shoes tossed in there, one that fit Ryan perfectly.

I bagged up each size and put them with the larger sizes of clothes. This friend has 2 girls, so some of these shoes are VERY loved on and worn, but I really don't care about that. I hate sending the kids to play outside in new shoes...I'm so much more relaxed when the clothes aren't pristine!

Must-Have Kitchen Tricks and Tips

I was just told about a great blog and am completely in love. It's called SimpleMom.net and this lady is right up my ally. I fully credit her and her readers for the following kitchen tips and tricks. I'm going to print them out and tape them to the inside of one of my kitchen cabinets. These tips are ones that I don't want to forget and HAVE to share with my "people." I'm categorizing everything from her post so it's not just lumped together. (Gotta organize where I can...what? Don't look at me like that!)

Baking:

• To make buttermilk, add 1 tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice per 1 cup of regular milk.
• To make self-rising flour, mix together 1 cup of all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon of baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, an 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda.
• Before putting sticky ingredients in a measuring cup, give it a quick rinse with hot water. The ingredient will then slide right out.
• If your brown sugar is hard, try microwaving it for 10 seconds to soften. Or better yet, if you have a few hours, put a piece of bread in the bag and it will be just like new.
• To wake up to a loaf of fresh baked bread, put the mix in your bread maker before you go to bed and set the timer for the appropriate number of hours.
• Coat blueberries (or any other berries) lightly with flour before baking them in muffins or cakes. This helps prevents them from staining the surrounding dough and will help keep them suspended in the batter rather than just sinking to the bottom.

Cooking:

• Here is the best recipe ever for roasted chicken. I’m shocked with how easy it is. You can eat it as the main feature of your meal, or as I mentioned earlier, you can dice it, fill ziploc baggies with one cup of chicken, and freeze it for future meals like casseroles, enchiladas, etc. You can then use the juice for homemade chicken stock.
• Speaking of which, here is a fabulous recipe for homemade cream of chicken soup, which is used in tons of recipes. It’s very easy and much lower in sodium than the canned variety.
• If you accidentally put too much salt in a recipe, sometimes putting a slice of raw, peeled potato will soak up excess salt.
• For most recipes, it doesn’t take much more work to double it. Then you can freeze a second portion, and when you’re busier than normal, you can reheat it and have a homemade meal.

Food Prep:

• To hull a strawberry while still leaving most of the fruit, push a drinking straw through the bottom of the berry and push it through the top. Apple corers also work.
• Pre-package dry ingredients for recipe mixes that you use often. Put in ziplocks and label with instructions including what additional ingredients to add. This makes morning pancakes and waffles quick and easy without buying the overpriced, overprocessed, store-bought mixes.
• To minimize the tears when chopping onions, put them in the freezer for about 15 minutes before chopping. Don’t forget about them, though!
• To get the onion smell off of your hands, I rinse them with a bit of lemon juice after chopping the onion. It doesn’t even have to be fresh lemon juice. The store-bottled stuff works too.
• When you’re forming hamburger patties, rinse your hands with cold water, but do not dry them. The cold water prevents the fat in the burgers from sticking to your hands. Be sure and thoroughly wash with warm soapy when you’re finished.
• Here is how to cook beans: Soak beans over night (1 lb beans in 6 cups water). The next morning rinse beans and add to 8 cups of boiling water. Reduce heat to medium and simmer for 1 to 3 hours depending on the beans. Don’t ever boil your beans you just want them to simmer. Once beans are cooked they should be soft. Put about 2 cups in a bag which is about the amount in a can. Then you can pull them out and throw them in your soups or add them to salads.
• Overnight beans: Put dry beans in your crockpot on low all night with enough water to cover them. They’ll be soft by morning.
• Keep a garbage bowl on your counter for your food scraps while you’re cooking. It’s amazing how much more efficient this is than going back and forth to the trash can, and it’s such a simple idea.
• To get the most juice out of a lemon or lime, zap it in the microwave for 20 seconds or so, let it sit for a minute, and then roll it around on the counter a few times.

Food Storage:

• Store onions and potatoes separately. They both make each other go bad faster.
• Separate your bananas as soon as you return from the store. They’ll stay fresh longer.
• Put a piece of bread in your cookie jar. It keeps homemade cookies fresh and soft for days!
• Store nuts in the freezer and they will last much longer.

Reheating:

• When reheating bread goods (such as muffins, pancakes, and the like), put a cup of water in the microwave with it. It adds moisture to the air and keeps the bread soft.
• To peel a whole garlic clove, place the flat side of a knife on top of the clove and give it a good whack. The skin should fall right off.
• Get the smell of garlic or onions off your hands by “washing” them with water and baking soda. The odor slides right off when you rinse. I’ve also heard you can rub them on a stainless steel spoon under running water, but I haven’t tried it yet.
• To double the amount of your butter used for spreading, simply whip it with a small amount of warm water until it’s light and fluffy. This isn’t ideal for baking recipes that need a specific fat amount, but it’s great for spreading on your bread or corn-on-the-cob. Just keep it in the refrigerator, and it should stay light.

Cliff's Notes version of "Have a New Kid by Friday" book

Disclaimer: buy this book! I promised I'd re-cap the highlights, but this is going to be really tough. There is SO MUCH I'm not including here. There's just too much to re-type, so I'm going to whet your pallet a little to try to convince you that this book could help you. Each "step" goes on for pages and pages about how to institute things in your family, examples by age group and for-instances to aide in the process. It's not easy to condense a 300 page book into one blog post!

Introduction

* "It isn't always the big things that wear you down. It's the constant battles." (Can I get an amen?)
* "Homes should be based on the cornerstone of mutual respect, love and accountability." If you end up with kids who think they're in the driver's seat in life, they'll think their happiness is what's most important and that they are entitled to what they want, when they want it.
* "If you want your child to emerge as a healthy, contributing member of your family and society, [this book] is a game plan guaranteed to work. Every time."


Day 1 - "Why do your kids do what they do...and continue to do it? Your response has a lot to do with it."


What to do on Day 1:
1. Observe what's going on in the house. What areas in your relationship with your child really bother you?
2. Think about how you'd like things to change.
3. Decide to take the bull by the horns.
4. Expect great things to happen.


* "Kids do what they do because they've gotten away with it."
* "All children are attention getters. If they can't get your attention in a positive way, they'll go after it in a negative way."
* Power Struggles - "When you choose to do battle with your children, you'll never win. You have much more to lose than they do. Your teenage daughter couldn't care less if her shirt is too tight, but you care and she knows it. "
* If you want your child to take you seriously, say what you need to say (calmly) once and only once. Turn your back and walk away. If they don't do what is asked of them, there will be consequences. (B doesn't happen until A is completed - specifically discussed in the book)


Day 2 - Disarming the attitude

What to do on Day 2. Ask yourself:
1. Why is your child doing what he's doing? (is it for attention, etc.)
2. How do you, as the parent, feel in this situation?
3. Is this a mountain or a molehill? (there are examples of what to make a big deal of and what to let slide)

* "Attitudes are caught, not taught...The key to changing your child is changing your attitude."
* "If you have a 'This is what's best for you, and this is what you're going to do - and God help you if you don't' attitude, you're just asking to butt heads with any child who has a strong temperament."
* Sometimes parents make too big of a deal out of every little thing. Decide what's worth correcting (disrespectful attitudes and behavior) and what's potentially just a phase.

If you want your child to have a respectful, kind attitude, to have behavior that you'll be proud of and to have character that reveals itself even when you aren't watching, do 3 things:
1. Let reality be the teacher. Basically, don't "save" or overprotect your kids from life's consequences. (ex: staying up until midnight helping them finish a huge project because they procrastinated)
2. Learn to respond rather than react.
3. B doesn't happen until A is complete. If the child doesn't do what was asked of them, nothing else happens. No matter what the event is.


Day 3 - It's All In Perspective. Take a look down the road a few years. Who do you want your family to be?


What to do on Day 3:
1. What kind of parenting style do you have? (permissive, authoritarian or authoritative/responsible)
2. How does your child respond to this parenting style?
3. How can you adapt your parenting style to be more balanced?
4. In what ways can you emphasize relationship in your home?

* "What's Important to you? What 3 qualities do you want your children to have? What steps can you take now to encourage these qualities in them?"
* "If you are calm, you are consistent and you always do what you say you're going to, you will earn that respect and trust."
* "Your child wants to please you...They want to know you are a team...So much has to do with you and how you treat your children."
* "What kind of legacy are you going to leave your children? If you want them to be healthy, independent thinkers who are kind and giving to others, now is the time to start."

Day 4 - Your job as a parent isn't to make your child happy.

How to respect your children:
- Never do for them what they can and should do for themselves.
- Don't repeat your instructions.
- Expect the best of them.
- Don't praise them, encourage them. (he goes into a lot of detail about praising your kids vs. encouraging them and increasing their self-worth. Praise links a child's worth to what he does, encouragement emphasizes the act.)

The 3 pillars of self worth are:
1. Acceptance - your children deserve your unconditional love
2. Belonging - every child longs to belong somewhere. Will it be in your family or in a peer group?
3. Competence - empowering your children requires giving them responsibility. When they take initiative to get a job done, say, "Good job - I bet that made you feel good inside." That feel-good feeling will end up being the motivation for them to do something again, not their desire to please their parents.

Day 5 - Time to make some changes

Top 10 list of what to do to get ready for the big day...

10. Be 100% consistent with your behavior.
9. Always follow through on what you say you will do.
8. Respond, don't react.
7. Count to ten and ask yourself, "What would my old self do? What should the new me do?"
6. Never threaten your kids.
5. Never get angry.
4. Don't give any warnings.
3. Ask yourself, "Whose problem is this?"
2. Don't think the misbehavior will go away.
1. Keep a happy face, even if you don't want to. Go do something else.

Ask Dr. Leman - there are about 200 pages of situations and advice covering 100 hot topics parents face for kids of all ages.

I haven't read all of the situational stuff yet, but I wanted to get my notes to you before I forgot some of these highlights. I hope this was helpful for you in some way!!!

Mrs. Fields Chocolate Chip Bars

In my Mrs. Fields Cookie Favorites cookbook, these are called, "Chocolate Chip Butterscotch Bars." But they have no butterscotch in them and they don't even taste like butterscotch. So I'm renaming them because, well, I can.

I have eaten could eat the whole pan of these bad boys. They are SO moist...really just a bunch of butter, some flour and sugar with a few chocolate chips thrown in. A warm heart attack with a fork. Delish.

2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup (packed) dark brown sugar (light works, too)
2 sticks (1 cup) salted butter, softened
1 large egg
2 tsp vanilla extract
4 oz. chopped pecans (about 1 cup) - optional
9 oz. semisweet chocolate chips (about 1.5 cups)

- Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Spray an 8x8 inch baking pan with non-stick spray.

- Combine flour and soda in a medium bowl. Whisk together and set aside.

- In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to blend the sugar and softened butter. Add egg and vanilla, and beat at medium speed until light and smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then add the flour mixture, pecans and chocolate chips. Blend at low speed until just combined. Do not overmix. (does that sentence ever stress anyone else out?!?)

- Transfer batter into prepared pan, level top with rubber spatula. Bake in center of oven for 35-45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean but the center is still soft.

- Once cooled, cut with a sharp knife into 1x2 inch bars.

Makes 16 bars (or one PMS serving)

I made the mistake of sticking these in the oven with dinner, which was baking at 425 degrees. OOPS! They are not supposed to be this dark brown color but still tasted good. The edges were too crispy...such a waste of ingredients. It kills me that they have the same calories as the golden brown, gooey bars that I usually make.

Musings from the mall

This has been a LONG week for me. In the spring, I signed Ryan up at a nearby church for two VBS weeks (Vacation Bible School) and a morning camp. I spaced them out from each other with the intention of giving him something fun to look forward to since school is on break. I probably won't do this again next summer. I thought I'd have more to DO during his time away, but alas, I do not.

During his first VBS, I spent every day at the gym, then running errands to waste wisely utilize the time with just one child in tow. By the end of the week, I didn't have a single errand or chore left on my to-do list. It wasn't worth the time going all the way home, then out again to pick him up, plus with the cost of gas, I tried to stay in and around the area of the church.

This week it's been the same. I woke up pretty sore from my workout yesterday, but went back to the gym this morning because I couldn't think of anything else better to do! Isn't that sad? I'm out of errands to run again. But afterward, I went to the mall. I've been cut off from spending by Mike because one of our rental houses is currently vacant and we're a hairline fracture away from paying 2 mortgages until we find a decent renter. And since I've hardly been working for my mom recently, that money will come out of our savings. Ouch. We'd love to sell the house and get rid of this mess once and for all, but in this market, we would lose $50-75K of the house's true value because of all of the short-sales on the market right now. (*sigh*) We're feeling pretty stuck.

Wait...I was talking about the mall. Sorry. So I wanted to buy a long white skirt and I had a gift card to buy a new pair of jeans. First, the jeans: I got the gift card for Christmas with the intention of buying a 2nd pair of my favorite $100 jeans, but have gotten away with just wearing my one pair again and again. And again. I want them permanently adhered to my body, I love those things. During our photo shoot last month, I bent down too quickly to pick up one of the kids and tore a hole in one of the very-worn knees. Devastation! Although that hasn't stopped me from wearing them, it was time to get that 2nd pair, for sure.

After sweating profusely at the gym (HELLO humidity today!!! I loved the monsoon last night, but whoa mama...HUMID.) I took my smelly self and Kaylin to the mall. First, I got the jeans (I was considering titling this post, "An ode to Buckle jeans") and am on cloud 9. I love, love, love my jeans. I watched a show on Oprah about jeans once and the What Not to Wear girl said you might have to try on 25-30 pair of jeans to find ones that fit, but once you do, you'll never have to go through that pain again. And she insisted that you should spend the money to get the right fit. Of course, it took me 2 months to tell Mike how much these cost when I found them last fall, but still. After he inhaled all of the air in the room, he admitted how amazing they look and dropped it. (yeah, I know - MY husband!)

No more $30 pair of these-never-fit-me-right jeans from Old Navy ever again. My Buckle jeans fit the same before and after washing and they are the softest, softest denim ever. And I am complimented by complete strangers, not to mention that everyone I know tells me how skinny I look in them. SO worth the $100!!! And if you can't find a style that works perfectly with your body type, Buckle will even alter them for free. How great is that? I don't spend much money on clothes anymore, so I love that I have ONE item that makes me feel this good. Even talking about them makes me happy!!!

Have I mentioned that I love my jeans?

On to the skirt. I am what some might call "fashion challenged." Ever since I was pregnant with Ryan, I discovered just how FEW clothes I need. When I worked, I had work clothes, casual clothes, business casual clothes, fun dresses and dress up clothes for parties and showers and church...but when I had to spend money on 2 seasons of maternity clothes, I found myself with 7 shirts and 2 pair of shorts and I was fine. I had my Monday outfit, my Tuesday outfit...you get the idea. And no one knew but me. Mike didn't even catch on.

Even now I find that I have, again, 2 pair of shorts that I alternate between (one cute and one comfy) and my jeans. I won't go on about the jeans again, I promise. But I am starting to notice the other SAHM that pick their kids up from VBS and camp are cute and sassy. They're wearing a tank and flip flops just like me...but instead of shorts, they're in fun little peasant skirts. Hmmm...I decided I wanted a fun peasant skirt.

The first store I went into had a good selection...until I tried them on. When there's too much poofy-ness, a peasant skirt can quickly turn into a hoe-down, square dancing skirt. Not my style. Store #2 (where I also had some money leftover on a store credit from Christmas '06!) had a 75% off rack with a cute little white skirt. Once I tried it on, I looked like I was trying to be 12 (I didn't realize I was in the Juniors section) but I bought it anyway, because it was $6 - or free with my credit.

Once I bought my jeans and had found a white skirt, I still had 45 minutes to kill until it was time to pick up Ryan. So Kaylin and I strolled the mall together. I got her feet measured at Stride Rite (she jumped from a size 4 a few months ago to a 5.5W on one foot and almost a 6W on the other), we went on the elevator a couple of times, she decided to walk and we practiced having her hold one side of the stroller so she didn't wander off, we gazed longingly at the gumball machines, typical time-wasters.

There were a few things I observed today at the mall:

- Even later in the morning, there are an unusual number of mall-speed-walkers.
- And lots of families shopping together...don't these people have jobs?
- Everyone is having a "huge" sale. Maybe because the economy is bad, maybe they're getting ready to get the new season's stuff in, who knows. But if you need clothes or shoes, now's the time. Seriously, go now...everything's on clearance.
- There are already long sleeved shirts on display. I realize in some northern parts of the world, it might start getting chilly in a month or two, but in Phoenix, we will be holding strong to our 100+ degree temps well into October. How 'bout they keep out some summer clothes for us a little while longer?
- And is it 1977 or are we just coming full circle with the retro prints again? Cute styles, bad patterns people. I don't care how fashion challenged I am, I know ugly when I see it.
- The poor people at Russell Stovers and See's must be bored. Not many frivolous chocolate purchases going on in this economy. I watched as a 1989-banged gal's face lit up when a customer walked up to the counter. Like she hadn't had anything to do ALL day. That poor store.
- Do people really purchase stuff from Spencer's anymore? Have they always been so obsessed with skulls?
- Babies getting their ears pierced at the center kiosk can be heard screaming many, many stores away. Kaylin - "Mommy...baby sad. Baby sad, Mommy!" Again and again.

I can't believe how much I used to love the mall. Maybe because I spend so little on myself these days and most of what's there are wants, not needs. Except my jeans. I love my jeans...

Must Have Parenting Tips

Some of these ideas are sprinkled around in other posts, but for simplicity, I wanted everything listed in one place. I decided to combine all of the parenting tips that I've learned from books or borrowed from other mommies that work really well in our house. All for your reading pleasure. Wasn't that nice of me???

* Choices - Usually 2, never more than 3. I'm a big proponent of giving my kids choices. At breakfast, it's "What kind of cereal do you want today?" instead of "What do you want for breakfast?" (which has resulted in an answer of, "Um, brownies!") For snacks, I'll manipulate them into eating fruit by asking, "Would you like grapes or cantaloupe?" At dinner, I'll ask if they want the green plate or the blue plate? The meal stays the same (because I refuse to be a short-order cook) but it gives them a small feeling of control. Before bedtime, Ryan can choose to get his PJs on first or brush his teeth first. I know it doesn't seem like much, but I've come a long way from barking orders and refusing to switch out bowls at breakfast, all because I didn't give the kids any options.

* Pick your battles - I've learned not to die on every hill with my strong willed kids. I might try to convince Ryan to wear a different shirt with his shorts, but I consider that teaching the definition of what matches. That's a lifelong skill! But if he insists on wearing an orange shirt and spiderman pants, so be it. Except on picture day...if we're going somewhere that I know we'll be taking pictures for me to scrapbook, those are the times that I insist on approving his outfit before we leave the house. And since I don't care 360 days out of the year, that works out pretty well. I've sort of adopted Dr. Phil's philosophy of "choose your battles wisely, but if you pick a battle, don't lose." That makes me even more selective in the "battles" I pick!

* Tell, don't ask - I've tried to do this from the beginning. I say, "It's time to go to bed," instead of "Are you ready to go to bed?" Because really...what kid will ever admit to being ready to go to bed???

* "You get what you get and you don't throw a fit." I say this at least once a day. It eliminates the "she got more yogurt than I did" and I noticed at school that it nipped the "I wanted the cupcake with the pink frosting!" issue in the bud when celebrating birthdays. This phrase has saved my sanity more than once. And both kids finish the statement when I start saying, "You get what you get..."

* Let it out, but not here - When a tantrum starts or there is excessive crying for anything not related to pain, we send the kids to their play room. I want them to have feelings and let out their negative emotions, but I don't want to have to hear the meltdown, nor do I want to give the issue "an audience." And they're not being punished for being upset, hence surrounding them with toys if they need some time alone to change their attitude. They always emerge from the room with blotchy faces saying, "All done," we hug it out and all's well with the world again.

* "Yes Mommy" - Since I started encouraging the kids to respond to requests with "Yes Mommy," they suddenly seem to respond faster. There's something psychological about that phrase that commits them to doing whatever I've asked them to do. When I ask Kaylin to return a stolen toy to Ryan, she has a tendency to stare at me and smile, but when I leadingly say, "Yes Mommy..." and she repeats it, she hands the toy right over to him.

* "Coming..." - When I call someone's name and they're somewhere else in the house or have wandered down the aisle at the grocery store, I've gotten them in the habit of saying, "Coming, Mom." Same concept as "Yes Mommy" - it commits them to come when they're called.

* Explain the rules beforehand - This might seem excessive, but I explain the rules en route to almost everywhere we go. Especially play dates and public places. I've come to learn that nothing can be assumed with my kids. And what's bizarre is if I tell Kaylin not to take out her rubber bands and hairbow at the gym (they've warned me that smaller kids can find them on the ground and choke on them) she won't do it. 100% of the time, I pick her up and her hair is in tact. But the one time I don't remind her, she pulls out the ensemble and I get scolded. At the summer kiddie movies, every week, we go through the routine of "no talking, just whisper if you have something to say...stay in your seat...once the popcorn is gone, it's gone, I'm not buying any more...we will go potty before the show starts, otherwise, try to hold it..." This really works out well and everyone knows what's expected of them beforehand.

* Taking turns - I read somewhere that until 3 or 4 years old, kids don't get the concept of sharing. So I've tried to use the term, "Remember to take turns" instead of "You need to share." Pre-schoolers seem to understand that better. Then a few weeks ago, my friend Lee taught me the greatest phrase EVER, which I've had my kids repeat again and again. This has saved us from countless battles and kept things from escalating into a war zone. "When you're done, may I have a turn?" Even if child #2 answers "no" to be snotty, I always remind child #1 that the answer has to be "yes" because child #2 isn't going to play with the object for the rest of time. Period.

* Taking turns in the car - Somehow, we got in the habit of bringing small toys and books in the car. We never drive anywhere that far, but my kids love grabbing a toy for the ride and hoarding it. So I've come up with the idea to give the first child the toy on the way there (where ever "there" is) and the other child can have it on the way home. It works wonders for backseat squabbles which are very common in my car!

* Rotate toys - To keep our kids from getting sick of playing with the same toys, I pack up and rotate in (and out) toys every few months. It works really well and when everyone's particularly bored, I'll pull out the bin of old toys and suddenly it's like Christmas morning again!

* Interrupting - If I'm talking to another adult and Ryan wants to say something, instead of saying, "Mommy?" over and over, we have him put his hand on our arm to let us know that he wants to talk. We even take it a step further by putting our hand on his hand and giving it a gentle squeeze to acknowledge that we know he wants to talk. I have him do this when I'm on the phone, too. We've gotten out of the practice (and unfortunately, self-control is not one of Ryan's strong suits) but we're working on it. Next, we'll have to teach Kaylin!

* Blood and Safety - There is to be no tattling in our house unless it's a safety issue or unless there's blood. This has caused the kids to have to work things out between them and the loud bickering has decreased dramatically because they know no one is going to come "save" them.

* Helping hands - It's so much easier for me to make dinner by myself, but I usually try to build in extra time for one or both kids to help me in some way. They are so proud to taste what they "made" and to tell Mike about their creation. And I talk about this all the time, but this has to make the list, for sure: I'm a huge believer in the Accountable Kids program. (I really need to start getting some marketing kickbacks from those folks!) It teaches kids to be proactive in doing things around the house instead of being nagged constantly by us as parents. LOVE that system!

Comparing kids isn't always evil

I hate comparisons. Always have. Maybe because I'm an only child and wasn't raised being compared to siblings - who knows? I intentionally try not to compare my kids to each other or to compare either of them with other kids, but it's so hard NOT to compare sometimes, you know?

We have friends whose son is a year older than Ryan and is the most well behaved boy I know. When his parents tell him something, he complies every time. I met the kid when he was about 2 and a half and he was this way, even then. Could be his temperament, could be their amazing parenting ability, they could beat the tar out of him when no one's looking, the world may never know. Regardless, he's a great kid.

I noticed recently that whenever we're with this family, Mike is particularly hard on Ryan. I finally figured out that compared to this other kid, Ryan seems near-obnoxious. We have to repeat ourselves (often) to get Ryan's attention and there are so many rules to follow at this family's house, he often forgets them and is corrected again and again and again. The standard is set so high. We tend to forget that Ryan IS a full year younger than this other boy and has a stronger will; he's less mature and needs more direction. He's not a bad kid, just different. But it's tough not to compare when this other child is SO well behaved.

A few days after our last visit with this family, I found a book called, Have a New Kid by Friday: How to Change Your Child's Attitude, Behavior & Character in 5 Days. I'm telling you...I'm only on the 3rd chapter and I have seen major improvements already. I won't get through this book in 5 days, so we may not have a "new kid" until Friday, July 25th, but still. The author goes through common issues parents face, using examples from tots to teens, all showing disrespect to their parents in various ways. All I've gotten through so far is tackling your child's attitude. The thinking is that you won't change your child's behavior until their attitude changes. It makes complete sense. Oh, and by the way: he walks you through changing your attitude as a parent before working on changing the attitudes of your kids. Of course! What parenting book doesn't work on training the parents before the child???

I'll do a full post on the highlights when I'm done with the book, but so far, I'm lovin' it. I highly recommend it if you have power struggles with your kids or if you find yourself frustrated that they're not "getting it" or if you're sick of raising your voice to get their attention. The 5-day challenge seems to good to be true, but I'm already seeing results and we're only on "day 2." Very practical advice.

All that said, today we had an out of town friend come over to visit. My friend's daughter is just a few days older than Kaylin, so you'd think the play date would have been a piece of cake. Granted, she was out of her element, likely overtired from sleeping in a pack 'n' play in a strange house, missing her Daddy, and had spent a lot of time with her tantrum-driven older-cousin the week before. So she was testing the boundaries quite a bit. But I found myself comparing my kids again. Not in a "I'm so glad they aren't acting like that" way, but in a "I'm so proud that they're behaving so well despite the fact that there's another child breaking our house rules" kind of way.

It got me thinking: Do I expect too much from my kids? Are they just having a better-than-normal day? Were they "good" this morning because they were in their own home? Are the results from this book making the impact I'm hoping for with my children? Regardless, I was completely proud of the way they acted and behaved. Yes, there was some whining and a time out in there somewhere, they weren't perfect, but given the circumstances, my kids generally jump on the what-can-we-get-away-with bandwagon and take a joy ride. But not today. So is comparing my kids to other kids always a bad thing? I've decided: not necessarily. Today, it made me hug them a little tighter, gaze at them with a bit more pride and appreciate them a little more. And I was revived for an afternoon of potential meltdowns to come!

Celebrating 4th of July

We had an extremely relaxing Independence Day around here. I had wanted to have a pool party and BBQ all day, like we have the past few years, but another friend asked if she could have it this year. I was cool with that, until I found out on Wednesday that her party didn't start until 5:00! I could have still had people over all day! Oh well, we swam as a family and did piddly things around the house, which worked out just fine. And, of course, I worked in some red, white and blue activities to be patriotic!

For breakfast, we had blue pancakes with blueberries...











Then we made Jell-O in some star-shaped baking tins...

And made brownies in the same tins to bring to the party...

Then we did a little painting project... (I'm going to do canvas handprints with the kids each summer around their birthdays and hang them as a collage in the playroom)

And finally, we went to the BBQ. I had to take this picture of the kids (most of them) at the table eating dinner because they were so cute, all lined up like little ducks...

A sweet picture of Kaylin and her little friend Kaitlyn eating with the big kids...

I'm back and I'm SO pretty!

First and foremost, do you LOVE my pretty new blog??? I see so many blogs with cool backgrounds and title bars and in the (very) little research I've done to find out how I can get a cool looking blog (for free) I came up empty handed. BUT, my Queen friend's blog had a little bubble that popped up when she got a new look, so I shamelessly followed the link. SO pretty!!! There were some other cool ones, but they looked too busy with all of the other stuff I have going on, so I had to go simple. I'm a little miffed that the makeover messed up the alignment of my pictures from old posts. I'll have to completely re-learn how to line up my pictures neatly with this new setup. Blogger doesn't make it easy, unfortunately and it must...look...neat. (What? No, I'm not OCD...)

I almost made it all 48 hours without turning on my computer, but I must confess that this afternoon, I got bored and was overcome with the urge to make sure my emails weren't piling up too bad. I only had 18 new emails (which is nothing!) and it took me 20 minutes to clear them out and read 4 new posts from friends' blogs, then the computer was turned back off.

What's hilarious to me is that when I announced to Mike that I was going to turn the computer off most of the weekend, he stuttered a little and said, "Wool (you know that bummed "well" that kids say) I will have to check my email to see if any people are interested in the rental house. I have an ad out in several places." I thought he'd be thrilled...he groans that I'm on the computer way too much, but it turns out that he didn't want to have to live without it himself! Pretty humorous.

Useless information to discuss at your 4th of July BBQ

1. Money isn't made out of paper, it's made out of cotton.
2. The Declaration of Independence was written on hemp (marijuana) paper.
3. The dot over the letter 'I' is called a 'tittle'.
4. A raisin dropped in a glass of fresh champagne will bounce up and down continuously from the bottom of the glass to the top.
5. Susan Lucci is the daughter of Phyllis Diller.
6. 40% of McDonald's profits come from the sales of Happy Meals.
7. 315 entries in Webster's 1996 Dictionary were misspelled.
8. The 'spot' on 7UP comes from its inventor, who had red eyes. He was albino.
9. On average, 12 newborns will be given to the wrong parents, daily.
10. Warren Beatty and Shirley MacLaine are brother and sister.
11. Chocolate affects a dog's heart and nervous system; a few ounces will kill a small sized dog
12. Orcas (killer whales) kill sharks by torpedoing up into the shark's stomach from underneath, causing the shark to explode.
13. Most lipstick contains fish scales. (lovely)
14. Donald Duck comics were banned from Finland because he doesn't wear pants.
15. Ketchup was sold in the 1830's as medicine.
16. Upper and lower case letters are named 'upper' and 'lower' because in the time when all original print had to be set in individual letters, the 'upper case' letters were stored in the case on top of the case that stored the smaller, 'lower case' letters.
17. Leonardo Da Vinci could write with one hand and draw with the other at the same time, hence, multi-tasking was invented.
18. Because metal was scarce, the Oscars given out during World War II were made of wood.
19. There are no clocks in Las Vegas gambling casinos.
20. The name Wendy was made up for the book Peter Pan; there was never a recorded Wendy before!
21. There are no words in the dictionary that rhyme with: orange, purple and silver.
22. Leonardo Da Vinci invented scissors. Also, it took him 10 years to paint Mona Lisa's lips.
23. A tiny amount of liquor on a scorpion will make it instantly go mad and sting itself to death.
24. The mask used by Michael Myers in the original 'Halloween' was a Captain Kirk's mask painted white.
25. If you have three quarters, four dimes, and four pennies, you have $1.19. You also have the largest amount of money in coins without being able to make change for a dollar (good to know.)
26. By raising your legs slowly and lying on your back, you can't sink in quicksand (and you thought this list was completely useless.)
27. The phrase 'rule of thumb' is derived from an old English law, which stated that you couldn't beat your wife with anything wider than your thumb. (when I found this out in college, I purposely started saying, "as a general rule" instead of "rule of thumb" because...ew!)
28. The first product Motorola started to develop was a record player for automobiles. At that time, the most known player on the market was the Victrola, so they called themselves Motorola.
29. Celery has negative calories! It takes more calories to eat a piece of celery than the celery has in it to begin with. It's the same with apples.
30. Chewing gum while peeling onions will keep you from crying!

Rice, Bean and Cheese Casserole

I got this recipe from a friend a while ago and, thanks to my new handy recipe binder, re-discovered it to try for dinner tonight. Thanks, Kim! This was officially moved to the "favorites" category.

Rice, Bean and Cheese Casserole
(I added chicken and loaded the concoction into a taco shell, but I won't change the title)

Serves: 4
Prep: 10 minutes
Cooking: 10 minutes

Ingredients:
1 chopped red or green bell pepper
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 can (14 ½ oz) diced tomatoes and green chilies undrained
1 can (15oz) black beans, drained and rinsed
1¼ cup water
2 cups brown Minute Rice, uncooked (or replace with 1 cup slow-cook rice, cooked, but eliminate the 1¼ cup water)
¼ chopped cilantro
1 cup Colby & Monterey Jack cheese
1 cooked chicken breast, diced (optional)
tortilla chips or 10 taco shells (optional)
sour cream, guacamole, salsa (optional)

Directions:
- Cook and stir bell pepper and garlic in hot oil in large skillet or pot on medium-high heat for about a minute. Add tomatoes, beans and water; mix well. Bring to a boil.
- Stir in rice (either the cooked slow rice or uncooked Minute Rice). Reduce heat to medium-low & cover. Simmer 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
- Stir in cilantro; top with cheese. Serve with sour cream, guacamole, salsa and tortilla chips.

* I actually spooned this mixture into taco shells (because I got them on sale with a coupon yesterday for 50 cents a box!) and topped them with cheese. I'll bet you could also wrap this in a tortilla. I am going to try throwing in some frozen corn next time. GOOD STUFF.

Idea OVERLOAD

I have been sucked into a blogging vortex. I've mentioned my fears of being blog addicted and my love for Bloglines, which lets me know when there are new posts on my favorite blogs. That really makes it easy, I must say. Until I neglect my Bloglines list for a few days and several of the blog authors post a dozen things and I open it up and it says that there are 74 new posts for me to read!!! Are you kidding me?!?!? If I spent one minute per post (which I don't, it's more like 5-10 minutes) it would take me over an hour to read all of those. (*sigh*)

I haven't been caught up with my Bloglines in days. At this moment, it sits at 45 plus an additional 11 which are half-read. (I tried to glance through them, then realized these were posts that I wanted to go back and pay attention to when I was more focused) I try to click on them, glance to see if there's anything good, then move on, but these people just...keep...posting.

There are a few main categories of blogs that I peruse:

* Friends: I will always read my friends posts, even if they're long. (and you should always read MY long posts because you love me, right? RIGHT, JW???)

* Other SAHM moms: I've found a few moms of little ones out there that I like to read up on. It's inspiring and they have great ideas sometimes. So I always at least glance at those, even if I never comment.

* Other Christian moms: Totally inspirational. I try to glance, but usually need to read every word. How to be an intentional mom, creating quick teachable moments with your kids, making your house a safe haven for your family, honoring your husband, things like that. Need 'em all, read 'em all.

* Frugal sites: There are a handful of frugal moms out there who share their money-saving wisdom with the world. I feel obligated to read these to see where we can cut back and save. But whoa, a couple of these ladies post 5-10 things a day. It's so much to keep up with...OH the pressure!!!

* Deals and Freebies: I know of a few sites that are constantly having contests. It takes 2 seconds to enter your name and there are some really cool things out there to win. In fact, I just found out I won a $10 Starbucks Gift card! Of course, I'll give that over to Mike, my coffee addicted husband...

* Organizational sites: These get me out of my seat and keep me motivated. I love them! I love the pictures, I love the ideas, I love the challenges, and as you can see from the gazillion "she sure seems like she's throwing her productivity in our faces..." posts that I've written, these posts light a fire under my bum.

* Decorating sites: I only have a couple of these, but they're both frugal decorating ideas, which again, I love. If I can only look at the pictures, I will. I can't help but see what other people are doing out there who are also on a budget.

* Recipe ideas: This is what pushed me over the top, believe it or not. I see these recipes that others love and I want to try. The biggest problem is that a few of these ladies put these link options at the bottoms of their posts to see all of the other great recipes other people have put on their blogs. Too many recipes, not enough time! I have a little folder in my Outlook for emails of recipes that look good, but with blogs, I had no way of finding these recipes again once I finally decide to try them! Until now.

Last week, I got sick of printed recipes floating around my desk and kitchen. It was 8:30 at night and I needed a solution. I was done! I cleared out a 3 ring binder, grabbed my hole punch and put each recipe into one of five sections. I have a section of my cooking favorites, my baking favorites, recipes that I've tried and would make again, recipes that I want to try that I've gotten from other blogs and recipes that I've gotten from professional cooking sites (like Food Network or Cooking Light) that I want to try. (because I also am a Food Network addict and love to try recipes I see on those shows) This little project took me all of 10 minutes to compile and it has been a lifesaver!!! Because I've started meal planning, if I have extra time one week and am open to trying a new dish, I can flip through the binder and grab a recipe before making my grocery list. After I make it, it either gets moved to the "tried it and liked it" section, "favorites" if the family loved it, or thrown in the trash. Simple.

It's funny, because since I'm on this organizational kick, ideas like this suddenly just come to me naturally. I've been battling with stray printed 8.5x11 recipes for years, trying new things to keep them together and useful when I need them, and this concept is finally workable for me.

So now you have another idea to overload YOU! Hopefully someone out there will take this idea and run with it, too. It sounds complicated, but it's not. I'm going to go spend 15 minutes going through my Bloglines before people start getting axed from my list. It's a vortex, I tell ya!