Building My Dreams One Beer Bread at a Time

Catching Pre-Spring Fever!

2012-02-17T10:11:00.000-08:00

I can't wait for Daylight Savings. I like my darkness later in the day and I don't care if the sun is up before 8am. Since we have had a very mild winter, I have already decided that Valentines Day was the last day of winter. Now it's pre-spring.

I'm going to look into trademarking that one. It's not the doldrums of winter, it's "Pre-Spring" TM. Speaking of savings, I had to survive several internet-less hours over the past few days due to The Man switching us over to XFINITY.

I wonder if we will actually save much money when we get the bill--with all the fees added on to it. Have you perused a bill telecommunications bill lately. You would think with all the fees added on, and how no one can live w/o phone/cable/internet/cell phones in this day and age, that our Government would be in the black due to the monthly Govt Fees.

Fees. Eric Northman Does Not Approve.

With all the fees, we all need to find savings everywhere we can. Savings Star is coupon company that you sign your store loyalty card up with and when you purchase certain products you get the coupons as cash. It's like Upromise, but you aren't saving up for college. They have a nice Quaker Products deal in Feb. See Below.Do you belong to Savings Star? If so you can get $5.00 back

Spend $15.00 on Quaker products in February, and get $5.00 back all at once or in many trips!

Free Health Full Bread Already Gone

2012-02-09T14:27:00.000-08:00

The man already ate our free loaf of bread from the bzzagent campaign. Jewel in our area carries Brownberry and I got the 10 grain because that was in stock. I want to get the flax & fiber next because The Man is a fan of Flax Seed.

What I really liked about the bread is that unlike other hearty widepan breads, this is sliced thin. It comes in at 80 calories a serving and one slice folded over with two slices of Sara Lee Honey Ham, didn't fall apart and wasn't way too much bread for the kids.

60% of the time when I give Bryce a sandwich, it comes home uneaten. The days he had Brownberry Health Full, he actually ate the sandwich. A victory!

Next time I get the bread, and it will be soon, since it is currently on sale at Jewel for $2.49, I want to try this recipe. The Greek Goddess.

* My disclosure: As I mentioned above, I got a free Health Full Bread coupon for a free Brownberry/Arnold or Oroweat and coupons for discounts off bread from Bzzagent . Join Bzzagent and you can be the first to try new products!

Some great freebies from around the net!

2012-02-09T10:05:00.000-08:00

Free Sample of Ecover Laundry Soap! Via The FB page!

Nice earth-friendly products!

There was a giveaway for Betty Crocker Members, but those are all snatched up. You can still go to Betty Crocker's Website and become a member. As a member, which is free of course, you get access to member only coupons, recipes and a monthly free sample (limited to the first 10,000) Next month's free sample is going to be Cheerios, the new peanut butter ones.

This is a pic of a Members Exclusive Recipe for Veggie Enchiladas. Yum.

You can also head on over to Facebook, as if you don't already have a tab opened to Facebook right now and like Quaker Oats Squares and get a free cereal sample!
Thanks to freebie shark for the scoop!

I need to find a website devoted to catchy blog post titles.

2012-02-08T20:15:00.000-08:00

Aside from setting aside the time to put together a blog post, the hardest thing for me is the damn title. Mostly I look at the blank title line and think: 'I got nothin'. Today is no exception. Tomorrow we are going to get our taxes done, then off to open a new checking account because we have finally given TCF Bank the heave-ho. I also need to get in a run, or in my case, more like a slow jog. Ideally, I will manage to carve out time to run 5 miles. It seems that there is something else I need to go do tomorrow, but I am not able to recall at this point.

What I would like to do is sit around, watch a movie and have one of these. As I said on facebook, this dessert is completely pinterest-worthy.

It's made up of : layers of chocolate pudding with Kahlua, vanilla pudding with Bailey’s Irish Cream, crushed Truffle Fudge Brownie bits and roasted almonds.

Even better than the above would be to hear that we'll be getting some money back on our taxes this year. That would be lovely. The Man is sure we will, but I am not convinced, it was a weird year.

He is working with an outplacement firm that specializes in helping corporate types such as he transition to a new job or career. Today I suggested he try beekeeping. It was a no go. Though he did suggest that I could feel free to give beekeeping a go. Why beekeeping? Honestly, I don't know. I saw that the Cook County Farm Bureau is having an Intro to Beekeeping Class. It sounds interesting. Then I can sell Honey right? I wonder how often beekeepers get stung.

Good stuff I got in the mail this week.

2012-02-04T18:29:00.000-08:00

So I say why talk about bills and more bills. Let's talk about the good freebies I found in my mailbox this week. When TMOTH (The Man of the House) has been downsized, a family find that their income is seriously downsized! With that, I do a little happy dance for all the freebies and income I bring in to our household.

First off I'd like to say, if you haven't checked out Smiley 360, you should! Smiley 360 Be heard. Be Happy Smiley 360, you sign up and they have promotions where they provide you with a nice free sample and some high value coupons. You try the products and then share with your friends if you like them. Easy peasy! This week I received a free package of Knorr Homestyle Stock and $2.00 a package coupon.

I have been wanting to try the Knorr Homestyle Stock so to get to try it for free is awesome! My free full size package equals 4 meals and saves me about $4.50. With the package from Smiley 360, I also received a recipe guide. I am looking forward to making the Slow Cooker Pulled Pork!

SERVES 10

PREP TIME: 10 Minute(s)

COOK TIME: 4 Hour(s)

INGREDIENTS

3- lb. boneless pork shoulder
1 tub Knorr® Homestyle Stock - Chicken
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
2 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
10 Kaiser rolls or hamburger buns

PREPARATION

Arrange pork in slow cooker. Combine remaining ingredients except rolls and pour over pork; turn to coat.
Cook covered on LOW 8 to 10 hours or HIGH 4 to 6 hours or until pork is tender.
Remove pork; reserve juices. Shred pork with fork, then stir into reserved juices. Serve on rolls.

See nutrition information for sodium content.

NUTRITION INFORMATION per serving
Calories 410, Calories From Fat 90, Saturated Fat 3g, Trans Fat 0g, Total Fat 11g, Cholesterol 80mg, Sodium 900mg, Total Carbohydrates 45g, Sugars 15g, Dietary Fiber 1g, Protein 31g, Vitamin A 2%, Vitamin C 6%, Calcium 10%, Iron 20%

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I also got another full size product and coupons from Smiley.360. Children's Advil. This one is liquid medicine for kids ages 2-11. Our box from Smiley 360 came at the perfect time as we were babysitting my niece and nephew (twins age 4) and my nephew had a fever and an ear ache. When his dad came to pick him up, we gave him the Children's Advil, and he was able to administer it to his son, and the poor kiddo was able to fall asleep without pain.

But wait there is more!!! I had a great Tastefully Simple party last night so that paid for this weeks groceries AND I earned a nice drink bucket scooper! More good free stuff! I can't wait to scoop some Margaritas this Spring!

PLUS here is another great site that let's you try something free and then tell your friends about it, if you like it--and give them coupons! For this one you could scroll down on the left hand side and find the link for bzzagent.com or you can click the link here and check out the campaign I am doing now. Today I picked up a loaf of the Brownberry healthfull, free from the Jewel! This is super handy because I had a super limited budget and The Man like a nice hearty bread that isn't loaded with calories. So this totally fit the bill. He has already had about 3 ham sandwiches.

For the finally income for the week, I received a little secret shopping check today! This means the kiddos can have the fried chicken from Jewel feast for Superbowl tomorrow.

It's Tuesday, let's talk about food.

2012-01-31T19:26:00.000-08:00

Since we are in the throws of reduced income due to The Man's current unemployment, there is no eating out. Now if I could eat out tonight, I'd love to grab some lemongrass chicken. I'd go over to Chi-Tung in Evergreen Park, IL and get that along with a tossed salad with their amazing ginger dressing and big Mai-Tai. I hope your mouth is watering! I know mine is now!

Clearly I don't get out much because when I went to their website to grab the link above, I see that they have built a Hibachi Steakhouse since I've been there last.

All is not lost however, I can start a "Going Out To Eat" fund with money I earn from reorders and make plans to go to Chi-Tung in February. In the meantime, I found a relatively easy recipe at Food & Wine Magazine for Lemongrass Chicken that I will share below Wish me luck, I think I will attempt to pull it off on Saturday this week, or maybe even on Superbowl Sunday. We don't have plans for the Superbowl. We'll just stay home.

Turns out Americans take in an average of 2700 calories (which includes an average of 6 beers consumed) at a Superbowl Party. I'll just take a pass on that and save those calories for another day or two.

And in the world of Stuff-Kids- Like-To-Eat, I got a great email from Psst..from General Mills. It is something I signed up for and they send out newsletters and coupons for General Mills products. In today's email it said:

"Moms know that "Trix are for kids," but now she can give them a snack that she'll feel good about too. Yoplait Trix yogurt has been reformulated and now has no artificial colors, flavors, sweeteners, or high fructose corn syrup. "

Great news for me. The kids love the Trix yogurt and I don't like buying food chock full of artificial colors, flavors, sweeteners, and HFCS. Plus I think there was a link to print a coupon! Wahoo! Yogurt is on the top five favorite snacks at this house.

LEMONGRASS CHICKEN FROM FOOD AND WINE MAGAZINE

Ingredients

2 tablespoons Asian fish sauce
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tablespoon mild curry powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons plus 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1 1/2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken thighs, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
3 tablespoons water
3 tablespoons canola oil
2 fresh lemongrass stalks, tender inner white bulbs only, minced
1 large shallot, thinly sliced
3 serrano chiles, seeded and minced
5 cilantro sprigs
Steamed rice, for serving

In a bowl, combine the fish sauce, garlic, curry powder, salt and 1 1/2 teaspoons of the sugar. Add the chicken to coat.
In a small skillet, mix the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar with 1 tablespoon of the water and cook over high heat, stirring, until the sugar is dissolved. Cook without stirring until a deep amber caramel forms, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the remaining 2 tablespoons of water. Transfer to a very small heatproof bowl.
Heat a wok over high heat. Add the oil and heat until shimmering. Add the lemongrass, shallot and chiles and stir-fry until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the chicken and caramel and stir-fry over moderate heat until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce is slightly thickened, about 8 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and top with the cilantro. Serve with rice.

The little things

2012-01-29T15:27:00.000-08:00

Sometimes it is the little things. The little things that you can scribble down in your gratitude journal. The little moments you just want to box up and put on a shelf and open up a grey day down the road.

In the laughter department, here is something that just makes me laugh and laugh--in my head. I really should correct the kids on this; however, I don't. For no reason, Anna and the B Man think that the word for nipples is nibbles. This comes upfor example when one of the kids wonders why boy have nibbles since they don't need them. I mean nipples. Kids, as we all know, say the funniest things.

In the awesome deals department, Jewel had special coupons in the paper today that you can use to double your coupons. Double Coupons! It never happens at Jewel. This is huge. The question now is, what should I use the special coupons for? Chocolate or Prego Spaghetti Sauce? *Sigh* it's going to have to be the Prego.

In the TGIM department, that would be Thank God Its Monday, The Man has an appointment with an outplacement firm. Wahoo! Hopefully this will help him to uncover the next phase of his career. I have been giving him all kinds of motivation advice and goal setting books to no avail. I'll bet if the outplacement firm tells him the same stuff, then he will try it. Men.

In my work department, I'm wrapping up a good January sales and parties-wise. This is really good because January can set the pace for the year. If you don't have sales in January, it's much harder to reach your sales goals the next month.

And lastly in the yummy department, I've discovered a new breakfast:

Take 2 corn torillas, warm them in the toaster oven for 4 mintues.
spread liberally with Peanut Butter. We have Smart Balance Creamy Peanut Butter on hand because it is on sale this week, plus there are coupons for it as well. Just click the link above this and you can get some coupons as well.

And top it off by spreading on the Tripleberry Fruit Spread! It's delish and much more filling and lasting than when I have oatmeal. Oatmeal doesn't stick with me. I'm hungry in about 1 hour if I have Oatmeal for breakfast. Weird, right?

Veggies, Veggies, Veggies

2012-01-27T09:41:00.000-08:00

Before I go into my 3 veggie related items, I have to share excited news! I got this email today:

"Welcome Victoria701,

Congratulations and welcome to Top Mommy Blogs! Please take a moment to read over this email."
and then there was a bunch more stuff, but the point is my blog was accepted! Yippee! I have a link on the left where you can click to 'vote' for me if you like this blog and also you can check out many other great blogs by moms!

Now back to Veggies X 3:

This morning I got my daily email from Freebies 4 Mom and she shared that you can get a coupon good for a free can of Red Gold Tomatoes when you go to their facebook page and like them! Here is the link to her post.

Veggies #2
I was on Pinterest and thanks to Glenda of Busy-at-home.com I found the most wonderful site for starting a garden. On a scale of 1-10 this website gets an 11 for ease of use. It's called Sprout Robot . You put in your zip code and tell the site if you want to have a container garden, a small garden or a large family sustaining garden. Next you pick what you want to grow in your garden and it sets up a time line detailing when to plant and how to plant based on your zip code. Best part, step by step illustrations!

Simple, Easy, Do-able! Yesterday I added "cultivation: vegetable garden in 2012! Arugula,Herbs and more!" to my 2012 Vision Board, so finding this site was perfect timing!

Finally on my Veggies theme, Last night I made Roasted Brussel Sprouts with a super simple recipe from Ina Garten. Click or read below!

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds Brussels sprouts
3 tablespoons good olive oil
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Cut off the brown ends of the Brussels sprouts and pull off any yellow outer leaves. Mix them in a bowl with the olive oil, salt and pepper. Pour them on a sheet pan and roast for 35 to 40 minutes, until crisp on the outside and tender on the inside. Shake the pan from time to time to brown the sprouts evenly. Sprinkle with more kosher salt ( I like these salty like French fries), and serve immediately.
Serves: 6; Calories: 109; Total Fat: 7 grams; Saturated Fat: 1 gram; Protein: 4 grams; Total carbohydrates: 10 grams; Sugar: 2 grams; Fiber: 4 grams; Cholesterol: 0 milligrams; Sodium: 269 milligrams

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Frugal and Green

2012-01-26T10:39:00.000-08:00

I was reading the blog Busy-at-Home and she did a review and is doing a giveaway for a great product that is all the things I love:
1. Locally made in the USA by a working at home woman! (and she is from Hoffman Estates, IL!)
2. Frugal,the wool dryer balls last for years and helps not only get rid of the dreaded curse of static cling--but it also reduces your dryer dry time! Thus saving you $$ on your electric/gas bill and reducing energy consumption.
3. Its all natural! the balls are made from wool sheared off sheep. A renewable resource!

So click below to check out the review of this product and enter her giveaway. You could win some nice woolen balls. *insert giggle here*

Maple Hill Wool Dryer Balls: Our Review and Give Away!!! @MapleHillDryer

Two weeks from tomorrow, I'll be at the only thing I look forward to in the dreadful month of Feburary. Tastefully Simple On Tour! This is where we get to see other consultants we haven't seen in ages, get great training to help increase our income and the most fun thing of all--we get to try the new line of Spring/Summer Products! I can't wait! I love the Spring/Summer unveilings, it makes me start getting so excited for Spring and Summer. Remember when it used to be sunny outside and you could have a nice salad with chicken kabobs off the grill. Ahhh yes. And frosty drinks..

Wahoo Wednesday!

2012-01-25T17:02:00.000-08:00

Today is Wednesday! Wednesday is my favorite day of the week. Why? Because on Wednesday I schedule my life so I don't have to leave the house. Many people, such as The Man, don't like to spend the day at home and like to go out at some point during each day no matter what the weather. That is so not me.

Now just because I am home all day and wearing 'loungewear' doesn't mean I don't do anything. Earlier today, I clean out all my file folders in preperation for taxes and set things up for 2012 paperkeeping. This evening I will make business calls. I make most of my client calls during the day, but make it a practice to make calls one evening a week. The reason for this is common knowledge says that more people are available to talk in the evening. Mostly I leave messages, I think that common knowledge may very well be outdated. No one answers their phones much anymore.

I also spent some time today trying to figure out how people earn money via their blogging. I have to say, I wouldn't mind making some money for blogging. We could use it, The Man is still job hunting and career re-thinking. So that is why I put a coupon.com link on the top of my blog. I like coupons, maybe people who read my blog will use the link and I'll make a few cents. Speaking of alternative ways to make money, here is one for you.

On Facebook I belong to a local buying and selling group. It's a brilliant idea, and I'm sorry I don't know who to thank for it. The group covers a smaller geographic area and people post albums filled with pictures of items they are looking to sell, such as clothes, toys, appliances, etc. It's perfect for stuff you have laying around that is worth too little to list it on ebay or craigslist.

Then members post if they are interested in an item and make arrangements to pick it up from you the seller (for the most part). Payment is cash, no shipping fees and less 'stuff' taking up your space. Via this group is how I bought my last 2 pairs of shoes and how we got our latest washer and dryer. There is no overhead for the group, it's easy to participate, earn some money, you can also post "In Search Of" for stuff you need.

Oh, plus it is green! Gotta love that! It's reusing and repurposing!

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So far this week the mailman has brought me 2 freebies--coupon for a free Twix bar and a free Schlick Razor. Want something for free? You can click below and get a free mini pack of Kleenex and give a pack to a friend at the same time. Perfect if you and a pal are going out to see "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" or is it "Incredibly Close and Extremely Loud"?

Send a Pack, Get a Pack

Gluten Free SOTU

2012-01-24T20:39:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned on Facebook already, I like a good State of the Union (SOTU). I was actually looking forward to enjoying it with a nice cheap glass of Cabernet Savingnon this evening. My opinion is that it's nice to have the President, whether Democratic or Republican, give a rousing speech focusing on what is going right and what we are going to do next. To be sure, much of what the President says is going to happen most likely won't, however I like a good dose of flag waving when the gloom of January is upon me. To that end, I think we could all do without the rebuttal speech that follows the SOTU.

You might say, "Please, you are only saying that because you are a democrat." Tis not true, I didn't like when the democrats came on and bashed George W. Bush's SOTUs either. It's a real bummer to have the opposing side knock down all the positive spin. It's so much the worse when it is an election year. I wonder if anyone in the Congress will figure out that we the people are tired of the fighting and not getting anything done. It's not looking good.

Another thing that I find myself doing at the beginning of most years, is trying something dietarily (is that even a word) different. A couple of weeks ago, when I was researching Patrick's allergy to cold, I noticed that some thought there is a link between gluten intolerance and this weird allergy to cold. I decided to try and eliminate gluten from Patrick's diet as much as possible. Basically just reading labels and if a produce contains wheat, I don't offer it for his consumption. This is not a big deal for him as he doesn't like bread, cookies, cake, pasta and mac & cheese. Coincidence? Probably not. Good thing we have an appointment coming up with the allergist.

When I decided to eliminate gluten from Patrick's diet, I thought it would be good for me to do the same, so I would get a feel for what contains gluten and what doesn't. Guess what? It's so not easy for me! I like bread, pasta, cookies, cake and mac & cheese. I am giving it a go however, maybe I'll lose weight as a result--or go completely off the gluten-free thing and start an all pizza diet.

Of all the shows on Television...

2012-01-23T18:32:00.000-08:00

Of all the crap on TV, why I am letting Anna and Tom watch The Bachelor? I should really put a stop to this and change the channel. The Bachelor is not only lame because the relationships are just set up for failure in 'the real world' it also and more importantly does a disservice to all women everywhere. I don't think that is an understatement do you? Okay, channel being changed.

On a completely different topic, Patrick has to go to an allergist and the soonest we can get him is 2/10. In the meantime, we are supposed to keep Benedryl on hand and the doctor advised that he not drink or eat cold drinks/food to avoid anaphylaxis. I know. I'm a bit freaked out and he is bummed he can't have any Sprite. Good news on the Sprite front is that since we are working on budgeting and living on less--no restaurants + no fast food x I stopped drinking reg and diet pop= Patrick hasn't had any opportunities to drink some nice ice cold Sprite.

Friday was the biggest snow of this winter *so far* so I made a nice Pantry Vegetable Soup (Pantry as in I used what I had in the Pantry) Here is what I did:

1 tbsp Tastefully Simple Roasted Garlic Infused Oil in a nice stock pot, heat on high and then turn down and cook for a few minutes 1 chopped onion, 4 stalks chopped celery, 4 chopped carrots. Then add 2 cups choppped potatoes. Then I added 6 cups of vegetable stock (just bullilion and water) and 2 cans of diced tomatoes. The diced tomatoes I had were fire roasted and diced w/basil/garlic & oregeno.

Mixed that all together and then added 1 1/2 tbsp Garlic Garlic and 1 tbsp Seasoned Salt . Then I added a new secret special ingredient...ready for it? 1/4 cup mild Giardinera. Simmer for 45 minutes and serve in bowls with bread if you please!

Renew Your Intentions

2012-01-19T18:15:00.000-08:00

I signed up to get a Conscious Box you can click that link to see more about it and here is a blurb from the company:

Conscious Box is a monthly delivery of pure and sustainable products that are handpicked from businesses that care for the planet—just like you.

It's a box full of cool samples of green/sustainable products I wouldn't likely run across and it was great fun to open the box. It's like when you have a stocking full of goodies on Christmas. I signed up to get the box because I had a discount from a blog or a webpage, or mamapedia or something. However, I can't remember where the heck I found it...

In the box was this card, I share the words of wisdom now with you :-D

January is a time for celebration, reflection and renewal. Take the month to acknowledge the accomplishments & challenges you experienced last year. Create new intentions for a future filled with your dreams of today--manifested into the realities of tomorrow.

"Live with intention. Walk to the edge. Listen hard. Practice wellness. Play with abandon. Laugh. Choose with no regret. Appreciate your friends. Continue to learn. Do what you love. Live as if this is all there is. --Mary Anne Radmacher.

Patrick

2012-01-18T16:37:00.000-08:00

When the fall was here, Patrick went to the nurse's office during Gym because he broke out in hives. I figured it was a laundry detergent reaction. Then it happened a couple more times, and both times he went inside (because Gym was outdoors) and down to the nurse and was better in about 40 minutes. Time passed, Patrick complained the he didn't like walking to school because he got super itchy and when he got to school kids would make fun of him because of his face being red. Tom lost his job, and needed stuff to do, so he began taking Patrick to and from school.

Then we went to Georgia over the holidays. While we were there, we went on a family hike. Patrick didn't want to go, but we told him he had to go with us. So he did, and it was about 48-52 degrees. This time I got to see the hives first hand. He wasn't exaggerating at all. He had hives on his face. We had some Benedryl in the car and gave him that to help quell the itching. I didn't 'make' him go outside too much for the remainder of the trip. Some going outside and playing, but I didn't tell him he'had' to go outside.

This past weekend, I thought to google 'hives in children from cold' and guess what? It's a real condition--and serious. Here is a link to the info on cold hives: I'd link to the Wiki page, but Wikipedia is dark today!

Tommorow Patrick has a doctor's appointment, to make sure I am right, but I know I am. Have you ever heard of such a thing? Allergic to cold. Hopefully he will grow out of it, as that is a possibility.

Good Freebie from Suave!

2012-01-17T07:50:00.000-08:00

I got this in an email from Freebies 4 Mom today: Suave Beauty is giving away 50,000 full-size Suave Professionals Keratin Infusion line products . You just go to Suave Beauty on Facebook and click on the giveaway button after you 'like' them. It took a little while to load, but I filled out the form and looks like I am good to go. So they are not at the 50K limit yet!

Subscribe to Freebies 4 Mom for more

And Speaking of saving money, my copy of "The Money Saving Mom's Budget" has arrived and guess what chapter one is all about? Setting Goals. How timely! That is what I am working on right now. So my goal is to implement a budget for our family for 2012.

If you go to her webpage today 1/17 she has a post up to enter to win a copy if her book! I got mine by clicking her link and ordering it from Amazon with my $25 gift code for Amazon I earned from using My Points--so my copy was free, woo hoo!

I need to work on getting together meal planning, lately I have been trying to figure out a way to organize my coupons....

And yesterday I found a great way to organize recipes, goals and things I want to look into online. It is called Pintrest. Online bulletin boards, fun to make, fun to use, and probably a big time waster...

Here is my page. I do hate the clutter of recipes cut out of magazines, so Pintrest can definitely help with that, as well as keeping an accessable list of books I want to read. So many ways to waste time, so little time to waste.

2012 Giving a Dream a Deadline--That makes it a Goall

2012-01-10T21:31:00.000-08:00

Do you do resolutions? I like the blank slate of possibilities that a New Year brings. I have found that resolutions dont' seem to work very well for me. For me, I like a Vision Board to show what I want more of in the coming year. Now writing that reminds me that I don't have a Vision Board.

Note to Self: Do a Vision Board.

What is a Vision Board? Well it can be anything you want that is a visual representation of your goals. For me it is a 12x12 collage with labels showing what I want to focus on in the coming year. It encompasses Family, Business and Personal Goals.

This year I've got a big big goal to reach with my business. The goal is a promotion to Team Mentor. I've been 'trying' to reach that goal for several years..without success--and that I believe is because it's been a goal w/o a focus. So this is the year! My team and I are moving up! We will have fun and much success. I mean really, when you sell great food, everyone is always happy to see you.

Some freebies to start the week!

2012-01-09T09:22:00.000-08:00

Grab the freebies before they are gone.

If you like Crystal Light on FB you can get a free sample of the new Crystal Light Energy! Only 8043 more samples remain as I type this.

Free Crystal Light

Coffee more your thing? You can like Hills Bros Cappuchino on FB and get a free sample from them --flavored instant coffee. Free Hills Bros Sample You can also give a sample to a friend via their FB page.

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Today is National Clear off Your Desk Day! If you are up for some organizing this 2012, you can score a free ebook ! I heard about this from Freebies 4 Mom The book is available on amazon for the kindle as well as some other formats. Absolutely Organize Your Family!

Isn't it Swell? It's 2012!

2012-01-08T19:01:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow begins a long awaited day. The children finally return to school! This has been the longest Christmas Break, or Winter Break if you prefer, ever. To be sure, we did do a ton during the break. We drove down to North Carolina & Georgia to see my family. Then we caught a cold for the New Year, drove home and still had a few days left of break! The kids have spent the rest of their break, ahhh fighting. Super glad they go back tomorrow. Super. Glad. Of course this is tempered by the fact that the kids have an early dismissal on Wed and are off of school on Friday --and Monday.

What I don't think anyone can complain about is the amazing weather we've had up here. It's a Christmas dream come true for me, one who doesn't care for winter. I'm not going to focus on the inevitable below zero temps to come. Is it too early to countdown to Spring? --the days are getting longer! Only a little over a month and it will stop being dark out at 5pm. WooHoo!

While we were driving home from our trip, to pass the time I was thinking up a motto for me for 2012. I don't know that much rhymes with twelve, so my rhymes are a bit off. Here is what I came up with:

Things are gonna gell in 2012!
Don't Dwell in 2012!
Life is Swell in 2012!

or What the Hell, it's 2012!

Free Books! A Little Giveaway!

2011-12-13T17:46:00.000-08:00

A while back, on a budgeting blog, which one I don't recall? Maybe it was Money Saving Mom (TM) or Dealicious Mom? I am not sure, anyway, I saw that you can join Harlequin Ambassadors and they will send you free books to read and share. I like books and I really like happy endings. I know that when reading a romance from Harlequin I'm going to get my happy ending, guaranteed. So I signed up a while ago and forgot about it.

Then yesterday, I was walking out to the mailbox, hoping that I'd find chocolate. Well, I didn't have a package of chocolate, much to my dismay. I did have a delivery from Harlequin Ambassadors. A book called "A Cold Creek Secret" by RaeAnne Thayne (USA Today bestselling author). The book is from "the special edition series featuring contemporary romances where heroines juggle life and relationships on their way to true love." It's a short easy read, great for a respite from the holiday mania, or good for having on hand when you are stuck in a waiting room at an appointment. I have four copies looking to find a good home. Want one? Just leave your email in the comments and I'll contact you for your mailing address. I'll be shiping these media mail so it may take a few days longer, but free is free!

Oh before I forget here is the link for Harlequin Ambassadors. Now I am off to find some more freebies, and yes I really should be working on Christmas presents...

Say, Have You Seen My Christmas Spirit?

2011-12-06T09:05:00.001-08:00

How many days is it now? Christmas is two weeks from Saturday! I am completely unprepared. As I wrote in a previous post A Preowned Christmas , my plan for this Holiday Season was to purchase items that were made from repurposed items, bake some gifts, and check out ebay and resale shops for great deals on new to me stuff. Great idea, right? Turns out it's a bit harder than I imagined, and really if I want to do Christmas that way, I should have started looking for presents back in oh say, June.

Maybe it is the lack of shopping, and my skipping of Black Friday that has stymied my Christmas Spirit. Maybe it is because the weather has been 'too' warm for December (but great weather for running!). Maybe it is because I have been busy doing craft fairs, ladies nights and open houses selling Tastefully Simple and this has cut down on my Lifetime Holiday Movie watching. I imagine you are thinking what I am thinking: D, All of the Above. Yep, that sounds about right.

Of course the big Scrooge event of December first did not help at all. That is the day that my husband's corporate job was lost in end of the year downsizing. He is very positive about the future, but I have been freaking out. Given that it has been a week, I've decided the time to freak out needs to end. Time to build a bridge and get over it. We've got some things going for us. First, I'm my own boss, so I already had a talk and requested extra hours from myself . Secondly, I can take advantage of health insurance offered through Tastefully Simple. Lastly, the kids only want three things each for Christmas, which is very doable, and I was quite relieved that no one is looking for a new gaming system.

That settles it, we will decorate the tree this weekend, make some Christmas cookies and watch Christmas Vacation, a surefire recipe for Christmas spirit finding.

Looking for a Special Gift for that Hard To Buy For Person? Consider this..

2011-11-11T10:54:00.000-08:00

For the nominal fee of $1 you can purchase a copy of Patrick Hamel's 1 page story: The Golden Sword and The Sword of Darkness. Each story is illustrated with a pencil drawing and each of the 10 copies thus far printed of the story has a unique picture. Shipping for each story is .44 per address.

"Behold the story of mideval times about the most powerful swords in the Universe!"
-Patrick Hamel

"It's two stories rolled into one!"
-Patrick Hamel

One of the illustrations .

********************
So this is what Patrick worked on this morning. Now he has the copies of his story in a folder and is looking for an outlet to sell them. He asked if he could go sell at the Speedway Gas Station. Obviously I had to say no to that idea. I wonder if he could technically list it on amazon.com....

How to make your Thanksgiving Feast A success by Patrick Hamel.

2011-11-09T18:34:00.000-08:00

Tips on planning your Thanksgiving from Master Patrick Hamel

Today we were in the car going to pick up The Man from the Train and I flipped through the radio station and found that WLIT 93.9 has turned on the Holiday Lite. This means from now until 12/26 it's all Christmas Music all the time. Patrick does not approve:

What You Should Be Doing Now by Patrick:

Well you know they shouldn't be playing Christmas songs now, and like, you shouldn't be focusing on buying presents for Christmas now.

You should be focused on food. What kinds of food you are going to buy? Get dresses and clothes if you are going to be fancy for Thanksgiving. Don't forget to get silverware and Thanksgiving decorations like pictures of pilgrims. You should invite family members and people over for Thanksgiving and get everyone nice and clean for it.

*****
On the Turkey front I see that Target has turkey for 79 cents a pound (Limit 2) and wait here I have a flyer for a small local supermarket, Fairplay, and they have Premium Butterball Turkeys (and a mighty fine website) for 98 cents a pound. (Limit 1).

Or you can go totally organic and free range with your feast, by having a special Thanksgiving Box of Organic Fruit, Veggies, Herbs and a plumb free range turkey delivered from Timber Creek Farms out of Yorkville. We get an organic produce box delivered from Timber Creek and it's always full of great stuff to play with even if I don't know what the heck it is that I going to be cooking with before it arrives at my door.

Mystery Squash from a Timber Creek Organics box. I roasted it with just a sprinkling of Seasoned Salt and it was delish!.

Grocery Shopping Woes

2011-11-07T15:30:00.000-08:00

I need to go grocery shopping, not the grab a few things kind, but the overflowing cart kind. A shoebox stands in the way of me shoppping. Why you ask? Well the shoebox is full of all my coupons which need to be gone through and organized and I need to match up the coupons with the deals. I can't go to the store and buy a few items knowing that in the shoebox is a coupon for say 50 cents off. I just can't!

And then there is the Thanksgiving factor! When can I get 'the best' deal on a Turkey? That time is not here yet. But it is coming, I know it! I love a yummy turkey dinner, so I'd like to plan my shopping to allow for purchasing two turkeys at rock bottom prices. And then I've been thumbing through the beautiful chock-full-of-awesomeness that is the Food Network Thanksgiving issue. So many sides and so little time!

This leads me to rant-like statement. You know what I don't get? Meat in stuffing. Why put sausage (for example) in stuffing? It's a side dish. Side dishes should be meat-free--only exception being the addition of some bacon. Bacon is always welcome.

Lastly I have one major wrinkle to consider in this weeks shopping, and that is that the microwave has gone kaput. Poorly played Kenmore Microwave. Just when it's your time to shine as we make our way through the whirlwind that is holiday cooking, you go and kick the bucket!

Quick Recipe
We had a couple uncarved decorative pumpkins so today I cut the top off one and Anna scooped out the guts and we made a batch of late-season Roasted Pumpkin Seeds:

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds Totally Tastefully Simple
1 batch of washed pumpkin seeds
2 tbsps of Our Roasted Garlic Infused Oil
a sprinkling of our Seasoned Salt

Mix the first 2 ingredients in a small bowl then take a cookie sheet sprayed with Pam and spread out the pumpkin seeds. Sprinkle on our Seasoned Salt and roast in an oven for about 15 minutes at 425. The seeds are done when they are golden brown and a little crunchy. Watch time, do not let them overcook because they are so much better before they are burnt. :-D

How's Your Holiday Shopping going? Of Grandmas and Applesauce

2011-11-05T20:00:00.000-07:00

But before I chat about shopping, I would like to share a picture from my recent trip to see my Grandma in Youngstown, OH. If we are friends on facebook or you are a subscriber to my Gabby Gourmet Newsletter then you have probably seen my 2011 Four Generations picture, so please bear with me.

Thinking about this picture showing 4 generations of women in my family, I have two thoughts. The first is, I really should have done something with my hair.

The second is that I am reminded of late summer 2004. Why then you ask? Back then my mother organized a little party for my parents wedding anniversary and at that time Anna was an infant, and we have another one of these pictures. A casual picture outside the restaurant where the Wedding Anniversary party was held.

The day before the party, other pictures had been taken as well. My mother declared that for her wedding anniversary she wanted a family portrait and scheduled a photo shoot. My mom doesn't frequently make requests, so obviously it was important to her. During the shoot, I remember several unruly toddlers on the scene. Oh yes, they would be my boys. I also recall that Anna was a couple months old and I didn't have any non-maternity clothes that fit. Icing on the cake of the ill-fated family photo was that my brother Karl wasn't able to come in town to be part of the picture.

Now here we are 7 years later, and I realize, I've never seen the family photo shoot pictures. Since they have never seen the light of day, hanging over the mantle at my parent's home, I can only assume they much be terrible pictures.
**********
How is your holiday shopping going? According to a news report I glanced at, most shopping is done during November. Last week I was at a large shopping event in Evergreen Park held to benefit Christmas 4 Kids . As you know, I'm commited to a preowned Christmas, so I stayed at my table and shared the Tastefully Simple with everyone who stopped by and avoided shopping myself. Well, except for one purchase, and I think you'll be with me on this.

Have you ever heard of Chicago's Finest Applesauce? It's made by Officer Jim Mullen, he was injured in the line of duty and paralyzed. Being an amazing entrepreneur, and creator of one most awesome applesauce, he is the owner of Mullen Foods. His's very enthusiastic marketing director was at the event sharing samples of the all-natural applesauce. One little spoonful and I knew I had a grab and jar and do some kitchen experimenting.

Now the Man-of-the-house got ahold of my jar and helped himself so when I made the recipe below I had about 1/2 a jar left. So we know it is acceptable to even the pickiest of palates. If you want to try some for yourself, you can check out the retail locations that carry Chicago's Finest Applesauce on the website for Mullen Foods.

Baked Butternut Applesauced Squash

1/2 a jar of Chicago's Finest Applesauce
1 med to large butternut squash peeled and diced, feel free to make the chunks the size you like.
1/2 a teaspoon ground nutmeg
1-2tbsp Tastefully Simple Caramel Cinnamon Sprinkles

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees, my oven runs cooler, so if your oven runs hot, try cooking at 375.
Spray 8x8 or 9x9 baking pan with Pam.
Mix the first 3 ingredients right in the pan and then bake for 15 minutes.
Take out the pan remix, enjoy the delicious smells wafting in your kitchen, sprinkle the caramel cinnamon sprinkles on top and bake for another 10-15 minutes until the squash is tender.

Serve with a nice pork chop.

Heading Out Of Town

2011-10-28T12:04:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween, almost. Well I think we can all agree that most of the festivities for Halloween will be had this weekend, so let me say Happy Halloween!

Above is a Jack O Lantern Tastefully Simple style. It is a cheeseball rolled in crushed doritoes with a Blue Aztec Corn chips face and the stem of a green pepper for the pumpkin stem.

I am getting ready to head out of town with Ms. Anna to visit my grandma. We are leaving today, just her and I, and heading over the river and through the woods all the way to Youngstown, Ohio. Looks like we will have good weather and I've taken a nap. Plus the Tollway in Ohio upgraded to Starbucks so I see an evening latte in my future.

The boys will be here this weekend and I am hoping the homework will get done any maybe when we get back Sunday night there won't be a pile of dishes. I have so many things I feel I should be trying to do before we leave in a bit that it's very hard to put together a nice blog post. Yet here I am! I'm clinging to my lappy as in about an hour I will be heading out and w/o any of the technology--except a very basic cell phone for over 48 hours. *sigh* how will I survive. :-D

Driving Driving Driving

Tales from the Frugal Side

2011-10-22T09:12:00.000-07:00

If I had a dollar for everytime someone I saw in my daily travels remarked upon how bad the economy is currently; I'd have a nice Christmas fund at this point. Maybe I should get a portable credit card scanner, see if I can collect on that "if I had dollar for everytime." Much to my dismay, I'd have to say the odds of collecting those dollars would be very slim. So let's get onto my patent pending Tales From the Frugal Side.

This week in Frugalville* had it's ups and downs.

1. Once again this year, I used a few coupons and purchased Halloween candy well in advance of the holiday. Once again I planned to hide the candy. Once again this year, the candy I bought is gone before Halloween. The lesson here is that planning ahead when it involves chocolate or Twizzlers is a bad idea. Procrastination has its place.

Score on purchasing Halloween Candy with coupons: C

2. I met The Man for a fine dining secret shop at a steakhouse downtown. The requirements for what needed to be ordered were not in line with the reimbursment. I will only be reimbursed for about 50% of the total cost of the meal, which is not the goal. The goal is to be reimbursed for the meal as a payment for a detailed report. Icing on the cake was that the steak wasn't good and the service was subpar. We could have had a fantastically yummy meal at Coopershawk Winery AND Chucks Southern Comforts Cafe!

Speaking of Chucks, clear your schedule and set the DVR! Chucks Southern Comforts Cafe will be on Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives Monday October 24th at 9pm! If you have ever been to Chucks you know Guy Fieri is going to love everything!

Score on secret shop steakhouse: D

Score on Chucks being on Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives A+!

3. Making bread from scratch. Many a frugal living blog talks about how much cheaper and awesome it is to make your own bread. I was looking in the cabinet and saw that I had 2 packets of active dry yeast that were fixing to expire. Normally I don't say fixing, but making your own bread will turn you all kinds of country. I googled 'easy homemade bread recipe' and I was off to the races. All went well until I noticed my bread wasn't rising. At this point I could have thrown in the towel and threw out the dough, however, since I had spent 10 minutes kneading the dough, I wasn't ready to quit. I returned to google 'my bread won't rise.' and found out that if your bread won't rise it can be salvaged! You have to take more yeast, one or two tablespoons and mix that with a teaspoon of sugar and 2 oz of warm water and mix that together. Next wait 10 minute to make sure the yeast gets foamy, that's how you know it is active. It was active! The next step was to mix that into the dough. This step was gooey and icky. But it worked!

Score on Baking Bread: B-(great sense of accomplishment, but time consuming!)

*Frugalville where are the women are Couponers, the men cut their own grass, and the children wear hand-me-downs.

Hallo-Win-A-Kindle and More Giveaway Time!

2011-10-18T21:41:00.000-07:00

I have teamed up with Jennifers Savings and Angela Newsom, author of the Coupon Quick Start Guide, to provide you with this wonderful giveaway of many prizes! The Grand Prize will be a Kindle, a free eBook of the Coupon Quick Start Guide, and a $20 Amazon.com Gift Card!!! The blogs participating in this have provided $25 Restaurant.com Gift Card, L'Oreal Youth Code Serum Intense, $25 Paypal Cash, $25 Restaurant.com Gift Card, Fully-Stocked Coupon Binder, Conair Purple 1" Curling Iron (new in box), Starbucks reusable tumbler and gift card, $25 Amazon.com gift card, Avon watch-Mother of Pearl face and "diamond" accents, $15 Target Gift Card, Cozy Comfort from Tastefully Simple, and 4 more of Angela Newsom's eBook: Coupon Quick Start Guide!!!!As you can see, we have got some great prizes! This giveaway will run from October 19th through 12:01am on October 31st. Good Luck to everyone! Make sure to do the mandatory entries first, then do all of the optional entries too for your chance to win one of these great prizes!

It's almost time for the Hall-O-Win a Kindle and More Giveaway! My first blog hop!

2011-10-18T19:53:00.000-07:00

Very soon the little halloween'y button will be active and you can click and enter to win a Kindle as well as a bunch of other prizes including my contribution to the the giveaway, some yummy Tastefully Simple . So click and enter, the odds are way better than the lottery!

Chilly outside, Chili inside!

Today was good chili weather so I threw together a veggie chili with what I had in the house:

Here is the easy peasy recipe:

In the Slow Cooker:

2 small onions chopped.

3 nice red bell peppers chopped

1 tomato chopped.

1 can chili beans

2 cans roasted diced tomatoes.

1 can light red kidney beans (rinsed)

1 capful of Wahoo! Chili

and our Seasoned Salt to taste.

Cook all day and serve over noodles if you like or add in meat if that is your thing or top with sour cream and shredded cheddar cheese.

Wahoo! Chili is a complete must have in my kitchen, it is the key to a great chili around which I build my everchanging chili meals.

We have finished Olivia!

2011-10-18T07:00:00.000-07:00

You had a chance to see the before pumpkin pic...and I have a reprise of that picture below.

And after some supplies picked up from WalMart during a mad dash through the store last week while Bryce was at Cub Scout Den Night....along with zealous assistance (aka nagging) from Anna... we have created our pumpkin version of the much beloved book character Oliva!

There she is hanging with her biggest fan!

Perhaps you view the pumpkin and think, really that's it, how hard was that? Let me tell you, I'm feeling very good about this achievement. The literary pumpkins aren't even due until next week, We finished way before the due date! But wait there is more! So far this month I have managed to get Bryce his Weblos uniform and even put the patches on in the right places. Patrick finally got a haircut and we even got him a few blue highlights. Both boys finished their book report projects and turned those in on friday. Tonight I ironed-onto Anna's brownie sash the troop numbers. And last but not least, I have everything ready for Patrick to make his Diary of a Wimpy Kid pumpkin this week as well as the carving supplies for Bryce to carve his pumpkin.

Most of the time, I am thisclose to feeling completely overwhelmed with all that I should be doing and with that, some of the little things get over looked. Something like an optional school project would fall to the wayside and that would make Anna, Bryce or Patrick disappointed and meal feel like 'the worst mom ever'.

I have no clue how so many parent manage multiple activities for multiple kids. I'm happy to tread water with school and one outside activity per kid.

pinked out.

2011-10-17T22:06:00.000-07:00

It's October and we are in the midst of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. I suppose one could say that it is great so many companies have jumped aboard the bandwagon and are offering so many different promotions seeking to raise funds for Breast Cancer Awareness.

For me, I am finding this preponderance of BUY PINK, makes me very cynical. Especially now that the football players are wearing neon pink. It doesn't ring sincere. Let's say there is a player whose mom is a breast cancer survivor. Him wearing pink shoes, what the point. Him sharing in a post-game interview that he wants to give a shout out to his mom who is a 20 year cancer survivor and showed him what determination means--now that is impactful and true cancer awareness.

What's the difference between the two? Pink paraphernalia, driven by a nameless/faceless corporation that in my opinion is more driven by free PR=more sales OR a unsolicited testimonial.

Give me the unsolicited testimonial any day of the week and keep the pink gear.

Don't even get me started on the guilt-inducing "Save Lids Save Lives" campaign run by Yoplait. Look, how about instead of asking people to mail in their aluminum foil lids that they licked clean, how about if you just give 5 cents from every sale to the SGK foundation for a cure. If I was in charge I would happily give 5 cents from every sale of my yogurt during October. Then I'd ask everyone to recycle the aluminum little tops. I'd even have a contest to aware a year of free Greek style yogurt for great crafty ideas on how to reuse the yogurt containers.

Hmm how to reuse the yogurt containers...how about, put glue on them sprinkle em with glitter, add a hook and use them as ornaments.   And then let's go out an give proper homage to the women out there who have kicked cancer's ass!

Patrick gets a hair cut.

2011-10-14T21:10:00.000-07:00

Finally got the kid a haircut!

He went with Beiber inspired layering and I said OK to a three blue foils. So he is rock some blue hair for the Fall Season. His fav. baseball team is the cubs, his fav football team is the Dolphins and Stagg HS's colors are Blue and Orange. So I guess it works. Now what do you call his hand guestures. He isn't trying to flash gang signs, he's not down with the rap and the hip hop, LOL he is doing the heavy metal rock out, but I think he is actually flashing ASL for I love you.

Think how much he is going to love this picture when he is 15. :-D

Happy Friday Night! Hope you are rocking out tonight too!

Officially Busiest Weekend of October!

2011-10-13T22:47:00.000-07:00

This is Anna's pumpkin, the picture of it is here mostly just for ambiance. It's also a before-shot. Tonight we ran over to Wal-Mart to get crafty supplies to turn this nice pumpkin which only cost $2.49 into her much beloved fav book character "Oliva" Glen Oaks school is having a pumpkin decorating contest for their students. The rules only require that you can't carve the pumpkin and it has to represent a character from a book. Today I googled "Olivia Book Character Pumpkin" and found a school that had a similar contest. You can check out all their great work when you click this link.

Tomorrow I have a Ladies Afternoon Shopping Event over at Trio Bar & Grill . Trio has some nice appetizers and I like my fellow vendors so it's a nice afternoon once a month AND they have free Wi-Fi so I bring my trusty lappy. In my opinion this is plenty to have going on for a Friday night, but this is the crazy busy weekend--so we also have Cub Scout Pack Night. Bryce loves to go. Me personally, I get overwhelmed with just my 3 kids, so pack night is a lot of boys. Honestly, the Den Leaders are awesome, they do a great job just because they care.

Saturday I've got a home taste-testing with a great host and then I am hoping to be able to swing by and see my newest team member. On the home front, The Man is looking to golf, natch. But I think I've talked him into going on Sunday.

Sunday I'm looking forward to St. Patricia's Oktoberfest Vendor Craft Fair I'll be there at my table and my sister-in-law is coming for backup so I can work and the kids can enjoy the fair. Psst, free games for the kids! Anytime the kids can go to an event and have fun without me having to spend a bunch is great. I have found that over the last few years we've skipped many fun activities due to cost. It doesn't seem like a bad deal to spend $18 for a day at a water park, but then when you times it by 3 or 5 for all of us to go there goes the budget. A family activity can easily cost $100 or more so we don't do much.

Cost is typically why our 'date nights' are few and far between. When you add the cost of a sitter and the cost for dinner some place nice, ouch! It's great that deal sites like Living Social, Groupon and Plum District have arrived. Another way I've found to make getting out more affordable is mystery shopping. What's that you say? Secret Shop?

Yes. I go on assignment to various locations and I pose as an average shopper. After the shop I submit and online reports. In return, I get a bit of money for my time and if it is a restaurant shop, I get reimbursed for the meal. Bonus part is that 9 times out of 10, the company wants you to go with a guest. Guest= Date Night or a much needed night out to catch up with a friend. Being located in Chicagoland is a huge bonus as there are so many secret or mystery shopping opportunities to be had. I've got a nice lunch planned with The Man coming up I have to leave it at that, I have to keep my anonymity.

Are you interested in secret/mystery shopping? Comment if you have any questions! I'm happy to share what I've found and the best place to start is Mystery Shop Providers of North America you can look here for shops in your area. You sign up with the companies doing the shops individually and there isn't a fee to become a shopper.

Running the Chicago Marathon, 9 months pregnant? Hey!

2011-10-11T21:02:00.001-07:00

Last year I ran the Chicago Marathon on 10-10-10. I'm a former Tinley Park High School Cross Country Runner and even though I was lousy in HS, running stuck and doing the Chicago Marathon was on my bucket list, and the date last year was sublime.

I *had* to run and I had to finish the damn thing once I started it. It was a crummy run, I was working full time in the 2 months leading up to the race and didn't get in quality training as a result. But I finished, I walked most of the 2nd half of the race. I had ginormous blisters, but I had my bragging rights for life. Right?

And then here comes the big story this year, Women gives birth after running Chicago Marathon 39 weeks Pregnant. Well great. Just what marathoners and woman who have ever been pregnant need. A totally overacheiver. So not cool! I want my bragging rights. I ran a marathon, that's 26.2 miles of body taxing, mental fortitude toughness. I could hardly walk the next day. I've been pregnant, growing a human for 9 months, it's hard work. I don't appreciate someone coming along doing both with aplomb. It's bad for pregnant women, it's bad for long distance running. Makes this stuff look easy, common place.

I don't know about you, but life can be hard, full of stress. I need my props! So for the record, how do I feel about women running marathons while growing humans? Not cool. Don't give 110%, give like 75%. Stick with 1/2 marathons (13.1 miles) and make someone rub your feet and give you chocolate when you finish. Let's keep that curve intacted, we dont' want people saying :

"Hey nice shirt, did you run the marathon?"
"Why yes I did..."
"Did ya finish?"
"Yep, yes I did!"
"So were you, like pregnant? That would be really hard, to do it while pregnant."
"Well, no, I wasn't pregnant, but it was still really difficult, I hit a wall."
"Oh sure, it's not easy, but I figure if a someone who was 9 months pregnant can do it, it must not be that big a deal."
"Grr. Arg...Ack"

Heaven on 163rd & Lagrange Road

2011-10-07T10:59:00.000-07:00

Last month I severed my ties with my iPhone. Well, I should rephrase. Last month I severed my ties with my cell phone service. I still have my iPhone, and it still does wondrous things such as, play music, act as my kindle and allows me to play games--I just can't text or play Words With Friends on it anymore. After many contentious years together, My provider and I came to an impasse and we agreed to disagree on how expensive the service cost. I am now without a cell phone. Couple nice bonuses with that are that I don't have to worry about getting a TWD (Texting While Driving) ticket and we have $130 per month more in the budget.

Which leads me to Heaven or more specifically what Heaven must be if Heaven was a Fitness Facility. In the words of Ned Stark (and Tom Skilling) "Winter is coming." I hate winter and am actively seeking out winter survival techniques now. That lead me to begin a search for a Fitness Center. Currently I have a one-month membership at a small, local bare-bones gym that I won at a craft show. Before deciding to move forward with that gym, I decided to tour a couple other locations. I toured one nearby Fitness Center which is affiliated with a hospital. It was very nice, posh really, and filled with lots of ah...septuagenarians. Which is awesome! Rock on to them for working out. However, the whole retirement home atmosphere was too much for my already fragile ego and I forged onward.

Yesterday I had to spend the entire day in the car doing errands and acting as an unregulated taxicab. After spending the morning driving around a dodging cars with texting drivers, I went to Lifetime Fitness in Orland Park to tour the facility and see if I could get a free guest pass to test drive the equipment. It was amazing. Spacious, open 24/7, nice staff, peaceful and not full of people around lunchtime. Indoor pool, outdoor pool, free towels everywhere and wait for it, a kids' club.

Heck there is even a climbing wall. Not that I have any desire to climb a wall. Wait, I may take that back. I've climbed enough walls figuratively, might be fun to do it, literally! Especially with the kids, which you can do there! Did I mention that the women's locker room is sparkly clean. Yes, yes, it is. Nothing like a really clean locker room.

I need to join, for my mental health this winter. Also I like to think it will help me focus on growing my business. Anyone know if health club membership is a business write-off?

Yes, right now, as the primary member of this household AKA Girl Who Juggles Bills; I'm running the numbers and trying to see how I can get myself a membership ASAP and what I've come up with is that a membership would be less than half the cost of our recently canceled cell phone service.

Trying to soak in nature from the car.

Need Help! What is this? Cooking Conundrum

2011-10-04T10:34:00.000-07:00

Is it a fruit? Is it a vegetable? I thought it might be some sort of squash? Is anyone familiar with this? I want to see how to prepare it, but am not sure what I am working with here. Thanks for the help!!

You've Been Ghosted!

2011-10-04T08:20:00.000-07:00

After a wonderfully motivating and inspiring* Success Event last night, I came home to find this note at our front door accompanied with a treat bag of candy and a print out of a Ghost saying Boo.

You've Been Ghosted!
(abridged version because I don't feel like retyping the whole thing)
Keep Ghosting It Forward!

"The Phantom ghost has come around
To leave you goodies I see you have found.
If you do not wish a curse to fall
Continue this greeting, this ghostly call.

First, post this ghost where it can be seen
On a door or window until Halloween.
This will keep ghosts from visiting again.

Make 3 treats, 3 ghost, 3 notes --just like this.
Take them to 3 neighbors who may have been missed.
Don't let them see you, be sneaky, no doubt.

Happy Halloween! Keep Ghosting it Forward to 3 people within 1 day!"

Click here to get the details to start ghosting in your haunted hood!

Now when it comes to anything of a chain-letter nature, for example, those emails that promise money to show up magically if you forward said email to 10 people in 10 minutes; I can't delete or throw those away fast enough. In this case, however, I'm going to go ahead and participate. Why? Cause my little half-demon kids were so tickled to get ghosted and are excited about the mystery of it all. Most of my time these days is spent, cleaning up, dropping off, and politely asking children to take showers*and I am parched for a dose of fun. So I am grabbing on to this chance to have some good old-fashioned family fun, call me the Clark Griswold of Halloween.

*The Internet needs a shorthand for when someone is being tongue in cheek. should we start putting TIC after wording such as we all tend to do with LOL? IMO (in my opinion) I think we should.

Once in a while, it's good to be selfish.

2011-10-02T11:54:00.000-07:00

Selling Tastefully Simple is like farming. Our busiest times of year are spring and fall. Now that October has arrived with a glorious not-a-cloud-in-the-sky Sunday, a quick review of my schedule shows that I am booked up every Sunday into December. Therefore, today I am being selfish and calling this day: All about Me Day.

I'm wearing my favorite PJ bottoms. I've got a pile of coupon inserts from today's Chicago Tribune and my scissors handy, the most current Women's Day magazine, and I rented the first DVD in the Dexter TV series from Blockbuster. (only 49 cents to rent on Sundays). Later I am going to take some time and read.

Right now I am reading The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane. It's a bit of a departure from my typical to be read (TBR) pile of Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy reading, but I was wandering a used book store and it put me in a nostalgic mood.

As part of my Christmas Challenge, I visited Bookies Paperbacks over in Beverly to check out their kids books selections. Did I buy any kids books? No, I bought two books for myself. In any case, let me share with you what I liked about Bookies. First, Bookies is filled with the alluring scent of old books. Secondly, they have a public bathroom. Thirdly, they have a really nice variety of gently used and some new kids books which are shelved by reading level. Often when shopping secondhand, you begin to feel that the amount of time needed to sort through disorganized piles of goods is not worth the savings. This is not the case at Bookies, which is good, because there are only 84 more days until Christmas.

Last night I was at Jewel where they had on clearance blanket throws for $1.24 each. Yes, I know, a crazy good deal and a great gift for almost anyone. I reached over to grab five, and then I stopped and remembered my challenge. This, I thought to myself, is going to be harder that I suspected.

My Christmas Mission: Operation Preowned Xmas

2011-09-30T08:31:00.000-07:00

I've been mulling something over, and I am ready to commit. As you all know, I'm like super green. Neon Green, so green the Sierra Club calls me for advice on how to reduce their carbon footprint. In all fairness though, my greenness is, in a large part, due to a lack of green backs!

What I have decided to do, as part of my green initiative, is not purchase anything new for Christmas. Everything we give this year will be preowned/used/swapped for/crafted. I will be going to resale shops, hanging on etsy, ebay, paperback swap, thredup and so forth. To keep me on track and on target, I am setting down some for my challenge and will post updates and picks on how it goes.

What about the people I give gifts to this year? How are they going to take getting someone else's treasures as a gift? Good point. On my side of the family, they won't mind--they are all pretty crunchy. My kids? To be honest, let's see if they notice! The man? really he shouldn't get any gifts anyway as he has a well documented history of buying everything he wants and then asking me to return whatever I get him. For everyone else, I will have to make sure to put more time and effort into picking a gift than I would normally and that is why this is a challenge, right? Can't make it too easy.

Rules:
1. Buy no new stuff for Christmas. Would something NIB purchased off Ebay be OK? I say yes because it isn't new from the store. It is still preowned.
2. What about crafts? If it is a craft that is primarily re purposed then yes it is OK.
3. What about making a craft? Same as purchasing a complete craft.
4. What about like giving cookies? This is a great question, I am going to say that if I am making cookies to send to school or b/cause I am going somewhere this isn't a 'gift' and doesn't count.

Am I missing anything? Let me know! Do you know of a great resale shop? Brick & Mortar or Virtual? LMK!

The hardest part will be not doing Black Friday. Oh I am so going to miss BF this year. :-(

And so how was your Tuesday?

2011-09-27T20:38:00.000-07:00

If I was a crafty sort of girl, I would make a couple of these and use them around the house. This was the featured craft project in my Martha Stewart email today. Everyday there is some amazing and allegedly 'easy' craft. Easy for Martha Stewart perhaps. For me, no so much.

Today I was mentally exhausted all day from the pleading, bargaining, and crying from Miss. Anna who was not happy about her consequences from the scratches all over the TV incident of yesterday. According to Anna, who's story changed several time over the course of the evening and today, she didn't draw on the TV. Anna was frustrated with some part of the Wii game she was playing on Sunday and scratched the Wii remote on the TV. According to her, we never told her not to take objects and scrape/rub them against the TV screen.

Long night, and Anna was one sad panda

The weather was meh again, so I went for a run and enjoyed the cool weather. On my run I made a mental note to go check out the local resale (and antiques) shop. I've been making said mental note for about 8 years now. Today was different! I actually went it, it was a perfect storm. I had dropped Anna off at Brownies and the store was opened and as I drove by, debating on stopping, I saw people walking into the store. So I figured, I could go in and check it out, without being the only shopper in the store, less pressure, since I have no extra money to purchase anything.

I thought of it more as a nice opportunity to daydream about my Coffee Shop/Thrift Store. What I learned was, as far as I could tell a bunch of different people have a small section of the resale shop and what they resale varies widely. I also came to the conclusion that the owners of the shop should not smoke in or near the store for a couple of reasons:
1. It's tacky and doesn't speak highly of the goods in the store if you have a few large ashtrays on a ledge at eye level right outside the door to the business.
2. Used stuff is already not going to have the brand new smell, why compound it with the smell of cigarettes.

I still enjoyed my store daydreaming and came up with a few notes for my store.
1. no cigarette smells.
2. Unlike this location, I will allow returns for store credit.
3. I will have a public bathroom.*
*not that I needed to use one,I am just of the opinion that if you are going to have a store, I am sure the store has a bathroom, so why not keep it decent enough for shoppers to use.

There were also many notices that the store employees hidden cameras to deter thieves. As a potential shopper, after 3 notices, I'm just starting to think you don't trust me.

Did I find any of my garage sale items at the local shop? Not yet, though I wouldn't be surprised! I practically gave away some items that would definitely have fit right in with the shop.

Another day is over, The Man is snoring, and all the kids are asleep. What's on the agenda tomorrow? I'm doing a secret shop at a local sandwich chain!

This picture has nothing to do with anything above, I'm still reading the latest from George RR Martin and Jaime Lannister is my current favorite redemptive character. :-D

Man Sometimes being the Mom Sucks

2011-09-26T10:03:00.000-07:00

Someone in my house drew on the TV screen with a pencil. I spent a few minutes searching my brain trying to recall when we had a preschooler visiting because surely no child in this house still draws on surfaces that are clearly not for drawing upon.

Yet someone did draw on the TV screen. The not cheap old school TV but a TV with some sort of matte looking screen. I bet you are wondering why would a second grader deface the awesome magical device that bring in to our home such amazing shows as Victorious, iCarly, and Dan the Dino. You are no alone. I don't know either.

I do know that someone who is in 2nd grade, knows better than to scribble on a TV or a wall or a table or in books. So that someone is going to have to learn about the sort of consequences one might face when one decides to engage in property defacing.

Most unfortunately for both of us today, I am well aware of what the most effective consequence is for this behavior. The 2nd grader in question, who has been writing lists and using a calculator to figure out exactly how many books she can get with her $18 at the book fair this week, is not going to go to the book fair.

Some people are going to be miserable today. The second grader who is going to miss the bookfair and me, I know this must be done and we'll both be better for it in the long run.

It still sucks.

With that, I'm heading out for run in the rain because I can! And then I will have to head over to the Jewel and figure out what I'm making for dinner. I'm feeling like a pork & root veggie stew would be quite nice today!

Garage Sale! Everything Must Go!

2011-09-24T07:52:00.000-07:00

The theme of this summer for me was Reduce/Recycle/Get Rid. I have ebay'd what we had that was of value. I craigslisted the boys outgrown bikes. I thred'd up boxes of kids clothes and I am now on the last day of Garage Sale-ing.

The Man just came back from his parents house. He went over there to get a few boxes of items for the garage sale, to sell. However what is happening right now is that he is going through said boxes and picking out items he thinks we can use. Which is the complete opposite of my purpose.

Just between you and me, whatever he is putting in our house will be going into a box when he is at work next week. Then that box will go to Amvets, Purple Heart or Goodwill. I really should have made sure The Man was golfing. I broke my own rules. You can see my handy rules for reducing junk in your house below:

My patent pending rules to getting stuff out of my house:
Step 1:
1. While cleaning cull items to be re purposed. When I say re purposed I mean:
A. Can I sell it as part of an ebay lot?
B. Can I swap it on Paperback Swap or on thred up ?
C. It is a potential Garage Sale Item?
D. Decent enough to donate?

NOTE: very important to do while kids are at school and spouse at work.

Step 2:
Put items in boxes organized by if it is an ABC or D item.

Step 3: Leave items in my office. Garage Sale stuff is usually in my office for 4-6 month before it is actually sold. So, if anyone has a need or attachment to the item they have had a good several months to take it out of the box.

Step 4: Have a garage sale. We are only allowed to have one garage sale per year in Hickory Hills. So in this area it does make sense to consider a flea market space for say $20 if you have a fair amount of quality stuff. Of course, it can be hard to know if you do have 'quality' stuff. One mans treasure is another's trash!

Step 5: This one is key. To make your life easier and to help ensure family doesn't start secreting junk back into the house, try to have your garage sale when family members are not home!

Here is hoping that the sun shines for another couple hours!

Bee Invasion at the Little Red Schoolhouse

2011-09-20T19:36:00.000-07:00

By the time the second graders from Anna's class and another class whose teacher's name I don't know were done squirming on wooden benches listening to a naturalist give very brief history of the Little Red Schoolhouse the sun was out. My group of Anna, girl S and boy J and Lucy's Mom's group of three quickly blazed through the Nature Center and were ready for hike.

Unfortunately, the gate to Black Oak Trail (aka the long trail) was locked. Apparently, road construction occurs in nature as well as on all our highways. So we hiked (aka the kids ran ahead and used their outside voices) on the White Oak Trail (aka the trail not long enough to tucker out those kids). Sixty kids on two trails on a goregeous almost fall day. From time to time, I was able to hold their attention with my limited and slighly embellished knowledge of Nature. Other times I could have used an Advil--or two. Overall, I thought it was a great day for a hike, the kids enjoyed the Little Red Schoolhouse and I made plans to return for long walk...by myself.

Before getting on the bus to go over to the picnic grove for lunch, we went into the Vistor Center for a pitstop. A group was crowded around the help desk and one of the teachers was on the phone. A couple of boys had their shirts off, a couple of girls had ice packs. My first thought was that someone must have fell on the trail and tripped the kids behind them causing a kid/wildlife trail pile up on the White Oak Trail.

Nope. A couple of the groups were at a small pond across from the beehives (the white boxy manmade kinds) and the scoop is a little swarm of bees came along and blamo! Parents and kids running willy-nilly swatting screaming and getting stung. Luckily no one was allergic, and all the stingees were troopers. They dried their tears and everyone got on the buses and we headed over to the picnic for lunch.

The kids were starving, the sun was shining, and the picnic area was shaded. The kids were skipping with joy. Everyone sat down to tuck into lunch. I brought a lunch for Anna and I to share. We had yogurts and no spoons, carrots, crackers with cheese, and pretzels & cut up apples with caramel sauce. The kids I was chapareoning had their lunches, J had some pringles and S had a cheese pizza lunchable. S was just putting together her little pizza and J had eaten 1 pringle when the Bees Attacked!

Fresh on the heels of kids (and parents) getting bee stung--Bees descended everywhere. You couldn't sit and eat. The poor kids who'd already been stung were crying, Anna was being over-the-top dramatic. S tried leaving part of he food at the end of the table as an offering for the bees. J packed his lunch up and ran around with other boys. We loaded up the buses after a short lunch filled with bee-dodging and headed back to the school. As Oragami Yoda would say: Comical it was.

Those kids won't forget that field trip. Neither will the teachers. Heck the bees might not forgot today for a while.

Emmylicious Cooking Day

2011-09-18T13:42:00.000-07:00

For the last 1/2 hour I have been going through old blog posts trying to find my favourite soup recipe: Golden Winter Soup. There has to be a way to search my blog w/o paging down all the posts right? Well whatever that is, I don't know it.

So below you will find the recipe. It's all made right now and so so good. It's part of my Emmylicious cooking today. Can you guess what show inspires Golden Winter Soup?

Right! Game of Thrones. "Winter is Coming" for the Starks of Winterfell and Golden for the Lannisters of Casterly Rock!

Next I am making Cabbage Soup, that is a play on the required super thin figures actresses and actors have to keep in order to stay employable. The recipe I found at all recipes required a bunch of stuff I didn't have like french onion soup mix, tomato juice, but I forged ahead anyway see below.

I also made Cabbage Rolls, why two cabbage dishes? That is because 2 cabbages were included in our organic food delivery from Timber Creek Farms ! I have no Emmy tie in for the Cabbage Rolls. Wait, I am making one up right now. During Prohibition, cabbage rolls were a popular dish. Boardwalk Empire on HBO is nominated for some Emmys!

Next up I am making Nana's Apple Cake. Nana's Apple Cake is an ode to Mags Bennett on Justified--cake because I don't have any moonshine on hand to make Apple Pie Shots.

Lastly I am making Bountiful Corn Bread because it calls for creamed corn and I accidently purchased a can of Green Giant Creamed Corn instead of reg. corn when they were on sale last week at Jewel. Corn bread matches the tone of my formerly fav. show True Blood which was ridiculously corny this season.

Golden Winter Soup

Ingredients

2 tablespoons butter
5 cups (1/2-inch) cubed peeled butternut squash (about 1 1/2 pounds)
2 cups (1/2-inch) cubed peeled russet potato (about 12 ounces)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 cups sliced leek (about 2 medium)
4 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1 cup half-and-half
12 ounces baguette, cut into 16 slices
3/4 cup (3 ounces) shredded Gruyère cheese
3 tablespoons chopped chives
Freshly ground black pepper (optional)

Preparation

Preheat broiler.
Melt butter in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add squash, potato, salt, and pepper to pan; sauté 3 minutes. Add leek; sauté 1 minute. Stir in broth; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes or until potato is tender, stirring occasionally. Place half of potato mixture in a blender. Remove center piece of blender lid (to allow steam to escape); secure blender lid on blender. Place a clean towel over opening in blender lid (to avoid splatters). Blend until smooth. Pour into a large bowl. Repeat procedure with remaining potato mixture. Stir in half-and-half. Cover and keep warm.
Arrange bread slices in a single layer on a baking sheet; sprinkle evenly with cheese. Broil bread slices 2 minutes or until golden. Ladle 1 cup soup into each of 8 bowls; top each serving with about 1 teaspoon chives. Serve 2 bread slices with each serving. Garnish with freshly ground black pepper, if desired.
Wine note: This is one vegetable soup that can easily handle a lighter red wine. Stick with the French theme and look for bargains from Burgundy, like Louis Jadot Pinot Noir 2005 ($20). This wine has pretty red berry fruit, great balance, and gentle tannins that make it ideal for lower-fat dishes. The underlying earthy, leathery flavors bring out the rustic nuances of the potatoes and squash. —Jeffery Lindenmuth

Barbara Kafka, Cooking Light
JANUARY 2008

Original Recipe Yield15 servings

Ingredients

5 carrots, chopped
3 onions, chopped
2 (16 ounce) cans whole peeled tomatoes, with liquid
1 large head cabbage, chopped
1 (1 ounce) envelope dry onion soup mix
1 (15 ounce) can cut green beans, drained
2 quarts tomato juice
2 green bell peppers, diced
10 stalks celery, chopped
1 (14 ounce) can beef broth

Directions

Place carrots, onions, tomatoes, cabbage, green beans, peppers, and celery in a large pot. Add onion soup mix, tomato juice, beef broth, and enough water to cover vegetables. Simmer until vegetables are tender. May be stored in the refrigerator for several days.

Had one of those A Ha Moments

2011-09-06T20:04:00.000-07:00

Of course Oprah has A Ha moments, I on the other hand, have D'Oh moments a la Homer Simpson. This afternoon in the middle of another day of feeling completely awful even after having taken allergy medicine, I thought, maybe I have a cold. Maybe, my allergies aren't really this bad, maybe, just maybe, I am sick. Wouldn't be the first time, this happens..usually around the time the kids go back to school.
Oh Hell, I have a cold. So now that I have, changed up my self-medication I feel much better. If you like to know about good deals and giveaways, like I do, you have to check out the site "Deal"icious Mom she has the scoop on lots of good stuff! So I put a link to her page down on my page if you scrooollllll down.

Last night I watched the series premiere of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. I don't know if I am going to watch it this season. I find I can't relate to the RHOBH, which is strange because I've always felt that even though their lives were quite different than mine-I could easily relate to the other Real Housewives. I've been watching the original housewives (Real Housewives of Orange County) since the first show. I remember Bethanny before she was 'the' Skinny Girl (Real Housewives of New York). I went on the crazy ride that was New Jersey the first season. However when it comes to the RHOBH, something is missing. Are they too slick? Are the other shows better at acting like they are not acting? I don't know and the promo showing "Coming up this season..." gave me the feeling the RHOBH don't like each other either.

The man will be super happy though, not suprisingly he doesn't care for any of the real housewives shows and I do have to catch him on a good day if I plan to watch it while he is in the room!

Storage Wars, on the other hand, is a show we can both agree on watching! Who knew they could make a show about resale shops so interesting. Everytime we watch it I start dreaming of my shop.

Trinkets & Treasured Tales.

That's my resale shop that also has new and used books and a small coffee shop where I have coffee shop drinks, yummy pastries and light lunch fare. We live either in a house on the same property or above the shop, and we have a great mountain & lake view.

Upgrades on Labor Day

2011-09-05T19:01:00.000-07:00

I don't know if you can tell but, on my end here in the post editor, it's a whole new layout. It's pretty nice. How was your labor day? Mine was a bit sucky. High Weed Pollen. Kids were pretty cranky too. Lastly, it was one of those days where Patrick needed help with a project he should have done a couple days ago, so his deadline became mine. This involved me nagging him to finish the project and lots of explaining why most of his questions I can't help with because they aren't questions about the project they are him asking me to do the project. *sigh* homework on a holiday stinks!

Tom just got home a bit ago from taking Anna and Bryce with him up to the hospital to see his dad. I was very suprised to learn that children are allow to visit at the hospital on Sundays and Holidays. Who knew.

Basically today was a very ho-hum kind of day. The highlight of the day was using the new Tastefully Simple Tender Pot Roast Sauce to make a nice pot roast in the slow cooker. Yum. Would have been even yummier accompanied with some nice crusty bread and a glass of Merlot! To bad for me, yesterday I decided to go back to using sparkpeople to track what I eat and so fun stuff like crusty bread is not in the 'calorie budget'. Boooorrring Right? I know! Just a funny kind of day.

I am looking forward to my Tuesday, I'm going to go out and run even if the weed pollen is high and my office is almost back to usable space after serving as a resting area for potential garage sale items all summer! Woo Hoo!

So what is everyone up to this fine day?

2011-09-03T18:35:00.000-07:00

Right, I know if you are in Chicagoland, it did rain, and now it's dark so maybe not so much a fine day. On the other hand, it's Saturday and many people had the day off.

Around here, we have Anna's friend spending the night and the boys had to spend an agonizing amount of time today w/o media. I know right? The horror, I made them read and go outside. I am terrible.
Hubs spent the early part of the day golfing and then he went up to the hospital to see his dad for several hours. Now he is on the phone with his mom. He is now officially part of that tween generation. What's that you say? Tween Generation? That is when you have kiddos at home and you are also dealing with parents as well as working full time. Woe is me, how can I whine about the man when he is working hard to help out his parents. It's not fair I tell you!

Okay enough with that sad tale. Since I am on a vacation, a self declared vacation, Tom picked up some Wendy's value menu food items for the kiddos and our sleepover guest and we are trying some chinese food tonight. Something spicy. Hopefully it is yummy. Today I had Artichoke & Spinach Dip , from Tastefully Simple, with Pretzel Crisps for lunch. Two thumbs up on that lunch. I would have had some watermelon, however all our watermelon was gone due to the kiddos!

So along with the whole "I had to walk 2 miles to school" thing, recently Patrick was giving me grief about tiny white seeds in watermelon and how that clearly showed that 'seedless' watermelons were not truly seedless. I shook my head, he has no idea about what a true watermelon eating experience is at all! '

Now the kids are settling down and soon I will tell them to go to bed. I know the boys are ready for sleep, they were up at the crack of dawn today, but I imagine it is too early to get Anna and her friend to settle in for the night. Tomorrow I have no specific plans for the day time --wooo hooo!! The man is going to go golf and hopefully he will make it home in time that we will perhaps be able to go to the Naperville Last Fling!

Still waiting on my Chinese Food!

Labor Day Weekend.

2011-09-02T18:34:00.000-07:00

Hola.
Before I start typing my upbeat it's the last blast of summer little bloggy thing, can I complain for one moment?
Great thanks!
You know what is annoying? Many things true. Here is something I find annoying. I've been devoting much time to going thru all the misc. stuff around our house and selling off what we don't use that has value left, swapping boxes of gently used stuff via thredup.com (click this and you'll go there w/my referrer code) as well as boxing up a good 3 cubic yards of misc. stuff for Purple Hearts. Everyday people who live here, come home to beds that are made, swept floors and laundry that has been put away. I am sure you can appreciate how lovely that is to come home and see, right?

Ah but what do I get but someone acting a bit huffy about a basket filled with laundry that isn't washed yet. It's 8pm on Friday night--I'm on my labor day weekend break.

I think I'm going to run with that one. I'm on vaca til Tuesday! Home Coordination Managers Unite! We get the weekend off too!

Im done with my whining now--wait, I do have one pretty uncharacteristic thing to say--if you know me you know I highly prefer summer to winter and like to wear flip flops as long as possible. Nevertheless, this little heat wave we've had around here the past few days has me watching the weather maps and counting down to the precipitous drop in temps from high 90s to high 60s we have been promised. Give me that cold snap. I'll happily throw on a hooodie. I suppose I would be complaining less about the heat if I had gone ahead and put on the air conditioning....(stop laughing! LOL)

Tomorrow afternoon Al Gore is coming over to give me an award for being super environmentally friendly. Really, he is...it's because we've been line drying our laundry. And instead of buying new clothes from China for the kids for school, I did swaps via thredup. And we only have one car instead of 2. And I gathered up all the unused pencils the kids had all over the house from last year (christmas pencils, halloween pencils, and so on) sharpened those and sent them to school with those. --funny how being environmentally friendly can be pretty close to the same as being frugal eh? But what has pushed us over the edge from being environmentally friendly to being AWARD Winning Super Environmentally Friendly with the Al Gore seal of approval is our backyard.

Our backyard is home to a very unique Natural Weed Species Refuge and Bug Sanctuary. How did we achieve this one-of-a-kind landscape feature that balances our suburban aesthetic and forward-thinking? Well I didn't plant the garden before we went to GA for a couple weeks (back when summer had just begun) because I didn't have anyone to come water while we were gone. When we got back seemed too hot to start a garden, and the man only mows grass on a very as needed basis, so the garden became filled with native species of many plants AKA weeds. So there you have it. We are super green over here.

What's for eats this weekend? I don't know, but the man said something about burgers on the grill and that sounds like a job for me and the Tastefully Simple !!! The rest of the weekend I'll be reading A Dance with Dragons by George R R Martin.

Game of Thrones, Southside Chicago

2011-09-01T19:04:00.000-07:00

Anna: ohhh it's hot in here. It's so hot, it's a heat wave.
Me: It will cool off after tomorrow. What are our words?
Anna: Winter is coming, Go Bears!
Me; Aye! Winter is coming.

And speaking of Game of Thrones. Thanks to the FB group Florish & Botts. for turning me on to this website!

In the Game of Food You Win or You Wash the dishes.... Inn at the Crossroads

Gratitude App

2011-07-19T10:14:00.000-07:00

To the side is what I am reading now. Im in the midst of the second book.

On my dreadfully slow old iphone (it's 2 years old that's like 200 in cell phone years) I have an app called Gratitude. The idea is you type 5 things you are grateful for each day and then as a result you are a happier person. So I do it on and off, more off lately b/c it is taking too long IMO for apps to load on said old phone.

Here is what I have down for today:
1. That the kids are too old for 'The Wiggles" (This one is a result of hearing an ad on the radio for an upcoming Wiggles show in Chicagoland--so glad the wiggles is no longer part of my daily life!)
2. That our air conditioning works, it wasn't working until about July 10 when Tom was able to get it fixed.
3. Bryce is washing the dishes and I only had to tell him it was his turn to wash them once.
4. Aldi sells a variety of their brand of philly swirl italian ice-y products and they are $1.89 a box
5. We are going swimming in a friends pool today

What's for dinner?
Tom defrosted a skirt steak, so I took in and rubbed it with Tastefully Simple Garlic Pepper Seasoning, Fiesta Party Dip MIx and Roasted Garlic Infused Oil covered it and stuck it in the fridge to be grilled later and then served with corn tortillas, Tastefully Simple Corn & Black Bean Salsa, and corn. Should be delish!

Back from Vacation!

2011-07-11T17:24:00.000-07:00

Well we got back on Friday from our trip down to the fantastically goregous and very laid back Lake Chatuge area of Northern Georgia/Western No. Carolina.

One highlight of the trip was the amazing Shrimp and Grits I had at The Ridges Resort and other highlights would be the kids playing 24 /7 with their cousins. Bryce jumping off a diving board and swimming sans life jacket, the fantastic cooking of my bro, SIL and her awesome mom.

And the big highlight of the trip my brother adopting his step son. Woo Hoo! Congrats to the whole gang!

The kids in historic and artsy Berea, KY whilst Tom was on a conference call for work.

I wish this was the view from back yard!

Sunset ahhhh

Patrick and Uncle J at Anna Ruby Falls

A pic of one of the falls at Anna Ruby Falls

Tom make a new friend.

While we were gone Tom's dad was hospitalized and since we've gotten home, Tom has been at the hospital or talking to his dad or his brothers and other family members non-stop. He is giving his dad a peptalk right now on doing his breathing treatments and concentrating on getting better and getting out of the hospital. He is a very good son.

Hopefully when he gets off the phone, he'll enjoy a new recipe I found in Real Simple magazine yesterday. It's Spiced Chicken Salad with Plums and Chickpeas now the recipe calls for Garam masala. Garam masala is a seasoning blend typically composed of black pepper, cadamon, cumin, nutmeg, etc. I didn't have any of that on hand but I though it was the perfect time to pull out my Tastefully Simple's Flavors of India Seasoning and it worked really nicely!.

Restaurant.com: 80% Off Certificates ($2 for $25)

2011-06-23T15:43:00.000-07:00

Restaurant.com: 80% Off Certificates ($2 for $25) A link from a blog I follow called the discount queens.

The other day I found a recipe in the Fresh Summertime Fun Booklet from Jewel and I have to say it was quite good. I splurged on a big package of Fresh Express Tender Ruby Reds Salad which was on sale for $3.99 which seems pricey IMO, but like I said splurge. Anywho so that was my mixed greens in the recipe below, which was really good.

Tarragon Chicken Salad
Ingredients
1 cup Dannon All Natural Plain Yogurt.
* I had a coupon for Yoplait Greek Yogurt so I used that and I have to say if you are going to try this recipe, get the greek yogurt. It rocks and has lots of protein.
1 tsp. dry tarragon, I didn't have dry so I used some fresh minced tarragon like 1 tbsp
1 tbsp Dijon Mustard. I used Gulden's yep that's right I had a coupon so the other week I paid 35 cents for it.
3 cups of cooked diced chicken
2/3 cup mined celery --I had used all the celery a couple days before so I had to skip this ingredient.
2/3 cup scallions--I didn't have any scallions so I sub'd 2 tbsp of dry Onion Onion from Tastefully Simple
1 1/4 cups halved cherry tomatoes
salt and pepper to taste (didn't use)
6 cups of the aforementioned Fresh Express salad.

Directions
1. In a bowl combine yogurt, tarragon and mustard. Let stand for 10 min.
2. To the yogurt mix add chix, celery, scallions, tomatoes and seasoning (skip the scallions and seasoning and use Onion Onion I say) to taste. Let stand for 15-20 minutes.
3. Serve over mixed greens.

Super good and healthy. Pairs well with a glass of Savingnon Blanc (sp?).

***Today Anna took purple eyeshadow and put it all around her right eye. Said she wanted to make a black eye.

Me: Why did you want to make it look like you have a black eye?
Anna: Cause I wanted to.
Me: But why did you want to?
Anna: So Dad would think I had a black eye.
Me: Oh.
Anna: Then he would think the brothers did it and they'd be in big trouble. I like when they get in trouble.
Me: hmmm how to respond. That's not very nice Anna.
Bryce: Anna that's not very nice. Now move it's my turn to play the game.

Happy bday to Anna

2011-06-16T07:42:00.001-07:00

Its a very exciting day here at the house. Miss Anna is celebrating her 7th bday. I didn't sleep well or much last night so I would like to celebrate her birthday with a long nap, she wants presents and cake---currently I am undecided on cake, I have Dukin Hines devils food cake but I will need to go buy frosting and like I said I am so so tired.

Speaking of sleep and lack thereof, I heard on the radio yesterday that a study was done that showed if the woman in a relationship doesn't get enough sleep there are more quarrels. This just proves, women need there beauty sleep.

Let the summer begin!

2011-06-07T07:25:00.001-07:00

Right now I at the local high school gym. The kids are in the lovely cool water having their first real swimming lesson. I am in the stands above the pool sweating. It's about 1000 degrees up here. Wait I just thought of a positive spin... Along with the swim lesson, moms get free sauna treatments. It's like a BOGO deal.

Today it is going to be in the mid 90s with a heat index of 102. What to have for dinner? I'm thinking Smoothies? Or ice cream?

Back to the pool, when the lesson started I could see Bryce was clinging to the instructor (they are in groups of 2-4 kids per instructor (aka High School or college? Student). A mere 25 minutes later Bryce is jumping in the pool.

LEAN CUISINE, Asiago Cheese Tortelloni

2011-04-12T08:36:00.000-07:00

LEAN CUISINE, Asiago Cheese Tortelloni Lean Cuisine sent me a coupon for a free meal. I think it was because I had trouble with a promotion they were running for free soft sided lunch bags. Yesterday I redeemed the coupon for one of the new Market Creations. The Market Creations is a single serving meal that comes in a steamable bag that you pop in the microwave. I went with the Asiago Cheese Tortelloni. It was scrumptious. Now Lean Cuisine is my fav frozen low cal meals. and if they keep innovating with stuff like this, I'll def. keep buying. I was really pleased with the flavor of the meal and that the pasta wasn't all mush as can tend to happen with frozen meals. Now I wish I had another to eat for lunch today! Our stove needs a new part so right now it isn't functioning. Given that Im thinking grilling again tonight and frozen veggies for a side. Tomorrow crockpot for sure. Im thinking of making this:

Italian Beef

Submitted by Stephanie Fager (GA)

Ingredients

4 Tbsp. Italian Garlic Bread Seasoning (divided)

1 Tbsp. Onion Onion™

1 Tbsp. Garlic Garlic™

1 tsp. salt

2-3 lb. beef roast

2 (12 oz.) cans beer

Italian bread or rolls

Directions

Sprinkle 2 Tbsp. Italian Garlic Bread Seasoning and Garlic Garlic™ in bottom of slow cooker. Place beef roast on top. Sprinkle remaining 2 T. Italian Garlic Bread Seasoning, Onion Onion™, and salt on top of beef roast. Pour beer around roast. Cook on high for 4 hours; reduce heat to low and cook an additional 4 hours. Remove roast; cool slightly and shred into pieces; return to slow cooker and simmer on low until ready to serve. Serve on Italian bread or rolls. Makes 8-12 servings.

2011-04-10T12:22:00.001-07:00

Shamrock Shuffling

I'm all reshowered and I am ready for the best post race activity. A nap. In fact, I'm too lazy to get up and use the laptop, so I am texting this entry from my phone.

This year the Shamrock Shuffle was the biggest 8K race in the universe. 40k runners waiting to run, rounding up 5 miles. Today is also possibly the warmest 4/10/11 on record.

In a nutshell the race was hot. I don't know how I did timewise, I know it wasn't a PR , but so what. I'm sure the race coordinators are going to hear from many runners because it took a ridiculously long time to get to the start line--almost an hour. We actually were lined up to start by 845, so the H corral waited over an hour to inch up to the start line. That's way too long, especially considering the unseasonably warm weather, twas a mass of dehydrating!

On the plus side, it is a beautiful day. The shirts are super cute this year. Also,
I got to go with some other girls who were running their first Shamrock Shuffle and they did great! Thanks again to Kim P for inviting me!

Now off to my nap. I hope no one here thinks I am cooking lunch, it's my off day!

Friday Friday

2011-04-08T14:50:00.000-07:00

Foggy and raining. I'm not sure what the temperature is, but let me tell you my idea to break of the flip flops left me will super cold feet. I sure hope Tom Skilling is right on the money and that temps will rocket up tomorrow and we'll be in the 70s for Saturday and Sunday.

Tonight is the Father Daughter Dance at Anna's school. She is very excited and here she is practicing her dance moves. During the holidays, I bought Anna a dress that came with leggings and a pair of black boots. She got lots of use out of the outfit and the boots were her go-to shoe apparel all winter. The dress and the boots have seens much better days. Nevertheless that outfit was what Anna was going to wear to the dance. She even wore it to school.

While she was at school, I went to target to see if I could find a dress she could wear to the dance and this spring and summer along with some shoes that sparkle. Above is what I found. The dress was on clearance for $5.18, the leggings on sale for 5 and the flip flops $6.99 the flip flop straps are sparkly rainbow colored. Anna says I'm the best Mom ever. LOL

Totally Distracted.

2011-04-05T19:20:00.000-07:00

All day long I've not been able to focus. I don't know why, I'm feeling very ADD. Too much caffiene? maybe. Too many kids talking to me at once? maybe. Lack of Vitamin D? A very distinct possibility.

This morning, when I walked back into the house after the bus picked up Anna. Yes that was me sporting my bathrobe at the bus stop. The sun fooled me, I thought that my bathrobe would be warm enough, however I was chilly. Back to me walking back into the house, the first thing I see is Anna's Illinois Packet. The packet should be in Anna's backpack to turn in at Daisy Scouts.

I put the packet on the kitchen counter so that I could bring it with when I pick Anna up from Scouts. I washed dishes and saw the packet repeating to myself that I was going to bring it with to Daisy Scouts. I walked by the packet as I did laundry, made lunch, and went through the mail.

When it was time to get Anna, I grabbed my jacket and my purse and headed over to the school. I thought, "Anna will be happy to see I brought her packet and she can get her badge." Parked the car, and opened my purse and looked for the packet. Looked again and then dug through my purse, it wasn't there. I forgot the darn thing. Jeez.

Note to self, should have put the packet in my purse, not left it on the counter.

***good stuff in the mail today***
Rec'd some coupons and a book from Paperback Swap. "Fool Moon" by Jim Butcher. It is the second book in his series about the cases taken and solved by Harry Dresden, the only professional wizard listed in the phone book. Making it extra juicy for me is that Harry lives in my fair city, Chicago. Also the reader for the audio version is James Marsters aka Spike from "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." Perfect voice for the character. I listened to the first book so while reading this book, I'll be hearing Spike's voice albeit w/o Spike's English accent.

A Guest Blogger, a young author named Patrick

2011-04-04T17:56:00.000-07:00

Patrick wants to have a blog. So I said he could post on mine. He wrote a story for school so he is posting it here. I hope you enjoy it!

Young Cowboy

Hi I'm Sam and this is the story of how I became a cowboy. It was June 1st, the first day of Summer Break. But not just any Summer Break . This was the Summer Break that would change my life.

It was noon when Black Eye Joe, the meanest outlaw in town was robbing the bank. Someone called the sheriff. The sheriff came running out of his office to fight Black Eye Joe. They fought for hours until Black Eye Joe snuck up behind the sheriff and killed him. He started laughing maniacally and then he went to the jail cells and freed all the outlaws.

Soon the city was filled with danger. The outlaws stole all the money and horses except for the ponies. I told my Dad that the town was crazy dangerous and that we needed someone to fight Black Eye Joe and the outlaws. My Dad said, "I know son, and you're going to be that someone because I'm going to train you how to be a cowboy.You can't fight Black Eye Joe and the outlaws by yourself. Go get your friends and meet me at 7:00."

So I went and brought my friends. Oh and by the way, my friends' names are Patrick, Brenden and Katelyn. Then at 7:03 we were all at the cave to meet my Dad. I said, "So, Dad, you said you're going to train us how to be cowboys. How's that possible?"
"Well you see son, your Grandpa used to be a cowboy. When I was your age, he taught me how to be a cowboy. Now I'm going to teach you and your friends how to be cowboys. But first you must pick a pony. "

I picked a brown pony. I named him Lightning. Then Patrick picked a white pony. He named him Water Wave. Then Brenden picked a black pony. He named it Lucky. Katelyn picked a white pony. She named it Princess.

After that my Dad taught us how to ride ponies and handle cowboy weapons and the skills all cowboys need. Then he gave each of us a cowboy weapon. I got a gun, Patrick got a lasso, Katelyn got a whip and Brenden, a boomerang.

The next day we all got on our ponies and then we all split up and took down all the outlaws one by one. The only one left was Black Eye Joe. I was looking for him, but he found me first. He said, "So you're the one who caught all the outlaws."
Then I said, "Yah, so."
Then he said, "Well you're out of luck kid."

Right when he was about to shoot I yelled, "Now!" Katelyn knocked the gun out of his hand with her whip. Then Patrick tied his lasso around his arm and I said, "Looks like you lose."
"Did I?" he said. He grabbed on the lasso, pulling Patrick. Then he got his knife out and threatened to kill Patrick. That's when I got my gun out and shot his knife. I said, "Now!"
Brenden threw his boomerang at Black Eye Joe knocking him out.

Finally we brought him to jail and saved the town.

THE END

Spring Open House 2morrow

2011-03-31T20:35:00.000-07:00

It's the home stretch of Spring Break, or so I've decided that is how I am looking at it. Tomorrow is my Spring Open House (no fooling) and then saturday is our 12th anniversary. How are we going to celebrate? My DH is picking up his nephew (he lives in a group home) and his other nephew and they are coming over here for the evening. Great way to spend our anniversary, I say with very very little enthusiam, but w/o going over the line into seriously crabby saracasm. I am very proud of my restraint.

Now back to my open house. Turns out as I review the recipes for posting below, I accidently left out a step on my cake lollipop making. I was supposed to put in the sticks before chilling, not wait until tomorrow. Hopefully the darn things will stick on the sticks.

Wish me luck.

Pop Quiz:
Do you think that I realized that April 1st was part of Spring Break when I picked that day for my open house?

Answer: Of course I didn't. I thought April 1st would be good because Spring Break was in March not April, not realizing that Spring Break started in March but end in April. Good thing the basement is ready for the children's banishment.

Awesome Pulled Chicken

3lbs boneless chicken
½ bottle Awesome American BBQ Sauce

Add chicken to slow cooker pour BBQ sauce over the top and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Then shred chicken re-mix w/juices and serve on buns.

Honey Teriyaki Bacon Bites
Submitted by Jo Wolanski (NJ)
Ingredients

2 lbs. boneless, skinless, cubed chicken breasts
1 lb. sliced bacon
Honey Teriyaki Sauce

Directions
Wrap each chicken cube with 1/2 slice bacon; slide onto skewers. Brush generously with Honey Teriyaki Sauce; marinate 20 minutes. Grill until golden brown. Makes 4-6 servings.

Tempting Taco Pinwheels
Submitted by Rosemary (MN) HQ Resident Chef

Ingredients
Tempting Taco Cheese Ball Mix™
8 oz. softened cream cheese
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
6 oz. pkg. deli-sliced smoked turkey, diced
6 flour tortillas

Directions
Combine first 3 ingredients; fold in turkey. Divide mixture evenly among tortillas; spread to edges. Roll up tortillas; wrap in plastic wrap. Chill at least 2 hours. Cut into 1-inch slices. Makes 8-10 servings.

Instant Ole Ole Fiesta Dip
Submitted by Rosemary (MN) HQ Resident Chef

Ingredients
8 oz. cream cheese
3-4 Tbsp. Olé Olé Fiesta Sauce
3 tbsp sliced green onions
1 Tbsp. sliced black olives

Blue Aztec Chips or tortilla chips
Directions

Place cream cheese on a small serving plat; drizzle with Olé Olé Fiesta Sauce. Sprinkle with tomatoes and olives; serve with Blue Aztec Chips or tortilla chips. Makes 8-10 servings.

Cutie Cake Lollipops
Submitted by Rosemary (MN) HQ Resident Chef
Ingredients

Absolutely Almond Pound Cake Mix™
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) melted butter
1 cup water

16 oz. container cream cheese frosting
Sprinkles or sanding sugar for decorating
1 lb. 4 oz. package white almond bark

60 lollipop sticks

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°. Combine first 3 ingredients; stir to blend. Pour batter into a greased 9x13 baking pan. Bake for 25-35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean and top is nicely browned. Cool completely.

Break pound cake into crumbs with a fork until you have small, uniform crumbs (the smaller the better for smooth lollipops). With a sturdy spoon, stir in 3/4 of the cream cheese frosting; stir until a stiff dough forms.

Roll dough into 1-inch balls; insert a lollipop stick into each ball. Place on a foil-lined baking sheet. Cover; chill 1 hour.

Melt almond bark as directed on package; pour into a small deep bowl. Dip each lollipop into the warm almond bark. Set on wax paper-lined baking sheet. Continue with the remaining lollipops. Decorate each with sprinkles, sanding sugar or a drizzle of melted brown almond bark. Makes about 5 dozen (60) lollipops.

Spring break day 2

2011-03-29T14:45:00.001-07:00

Well here I am at PGN, mini golf, arcade & indoor playground. I tried, obviously unsucessfully, to get out of having to come here.

Maybe you are thinking, Victoria don't you enjoy spending time with your children? Of course I do! Well mostly I do. The begging for tokens and French fries I can do without---and the piercing screams of preschoolers not wanting to leave.

It's still too cold outside to believe that Spring is here. I heard the weatherman say no above average temps are in our future for at least the next two weeks. Then I threw out the radio. No not really---did turn it off though.

Just told Patrick I am going to keep track of how many times he tells me he is hungry or asks why we can't get food from here and when he gets to 10 we are leaving. So far the count is 4.

*****
Yesterday I was on thesookieverse.com and saw that Charlaine Harris author of the books I was talking about yesterday, is doing a book tour and found she is coming to Chicagoland. Yippee!!! I'm going to get the new book Dead Reckoning signed! Also saw there is an excerpt of the new book (release date 5/3/11) on the publishers website (penguin) It's the whole chapter 3. Oooo ahhh love it!

Here is Patrick now...I'm ready for whining about nachos...

Cold Cold Spring Break

2011-03-28T09:23:00.000-07:00

Alright, I need to take a moment and complain about the weather. That's what we do here in Chicago. Forecast is in the 30Fs all week. Being that I could spend all winter huddled in bed reading books and sleeping, this weather isn't conducive to me changing out of fleecy pjs.

The children however, need to get out and should have some activities going on during their week break from school. In retrospect, I should have seen about going down to GA to visit my family. That would have been fun for the kids and refreshing for me. Temps in N. Georgia this week, well shoot the weather isn't very good there either. Well back to our Spring Break here. Since I know how I am about going out doing stuff in the cold, I talked with the kids and planned an activity a day for Mon-Thurs knowing that their nagging would get us out of the house. Today's activity is a trip to the library--nice free activity.

What am I reading now? After re-reading Club Dead over the weekend, I want to dive into re-reading Dead to The World as I go through the Southern Vampire Mystery/Sookie Stackhouse Novels on my personal countdown to book #11, Dead Reckoning which will be out on 5/3. Nod, yes, you are correct I am way to into the series--and a total Sookie/Eric shipper. Much to my current dismay, Dead to the World is checked out of my library. Boo. Now I have to wait.

What's for dinner? I've been meal planning and it should be Garlic Roasted Chicken with mashed potatoes and green breans. But since we weren't home last night--we didn't have Sunday's dinner of pizza set-ups from S&T's--so it's Pizza Monday.

I've held out as long as I could and now the natives are running around outside yelling and chasing each other, time to head out to the library.

Talk about Mondays

2011-03-21T18:44:00.000-07:00

I have been working on having systems and routines to get my life and our household more organized. So for example, we have a electronics ban from after school until 5pm daily. The kids come home and we get right to a snack and homework. Another one was to start a bath or shower) schedule. (Tues, Thurs & Sat) now there is way less drama from Bryce on the horrors of having to take a bath.

I was feeling pretty good about the schedule, feeling like I was on top of things. Then Patrick walked up the front steps today after school, and he was wearing his Phineas & Ferb PJ bottoms.

Yep that's right. He went to school wearing his pajama pants because he forgot to change them this morning. All day in the pj bottoms in the 5th grade. Oh I feel bad. I know it's not my fault really, he is quite old enough to manage to put on clothes and go to school. He remembered his lunch and forgot to change his pants.

I still feel bad because I didn't notice this morning!

Sometimes living in Illinois just blows.

2011-03-10T15:40:00.000-08:00

As if the crappy winters weren't enough, and the higher property taxes/lower property values AND the increase on state income tax from 3.5% to 5%...now this...

Hello,

For well over a decade, the Amazon Associates Program has worked with thousands of Illinois residents. Unfortunately, a new state tax law signed by Governor Quinn compels us to terminate this program for Illinois-based participants. It specifically imposes the collection of taxes from consumers on sales by online retailers - including but not limited to those referred by Illinois-based affiliates like you - even if those retailers have no physical presence in the state.

We had opposed this new tax law because it is unconstitutional and counterproductive. It was supported by national retailing chains, most of which are based outside Illinois, that seek to harm the affiliate advertising programs of their competitors. Similar legislation in other states has led to job and income losses, and little, if any, new tax revenue. We deeply regret that its enactment forces this action.

As a result of the new law, contracts with all Illinois affiliates of the Amazon Associates Program will be terminated and those Illinois residents will no longer receive advertising fees for sales referred to Amazon.com, Endless.com, or SmallParts.com. Please be assured that all qualifying advertising fees earned prior to April 15, 2011 will be processed and paid in full in accordance with the regular payment schedule. Based on your account closure date of April 15, 2011, any final payments will be paid by July 1, 2011.

You are receiving this email because our records indicate that you are a resident of Illinois. If you are not currently a permanent resident of Illinois, or if you are relocating to another state in the near future, you can manage the details of your Associates account here. And if you relocate to another state after April 15, please contact us for reinstatement into the Amazon Associates Program.

To be clear, this development will only impact our ability to continue the Associates Program in Illinois, and will not affect the ability of Illinois residents to purchase online at www.amazon.com from Amazon’s retail business.

We have enjoyed working with you and other Illinois-based participants in the Amazon Associates Program and, if this situation is rectified, would very much welcome the opportunity to re-open our Associates Program to Illinois residents.
Regards,

The Amazon Associates Team

Fat Tuesday

2011-03-08T17:00:00.000-08:00

And so today is Fat Tuesday, and around Chicagoland it is all about the paczkis. Paczkis are not pronounced like it looks. According to Wikipedia it is pronounced paunch-key. But I've also hear it pronounced more like punt-key. In any case, it's big jelly or custard filled doughnuts people eat on Fat Thursday (thurs b/4 lent) or Fat Tuesday (day b/4 Ash Wed.). Cept here in Chicagoland people eat them on both days because, hey who wants to turn down the opportunity to have a nice big filled doughnut, right?

Personally I've never had one, I don't like filling in my doughnuts. Instead to celebrate Fat Tuesday, I gave in to my chocolate craving and bought chocolate easter eggs. Yum.

We have to pick Tom up from the airport tonight, he is on his way home from NYC. Last week when we were talking about him going out of town it seemed like a fine idea to pick him up from the airport vrs. having a cab bring him home. Now that the time is here, I really don't want to go to the airport, and there is no gas in the car. So I have to stop and get gas b/4 going to the airport. Blah.

Am I going to fill the tank up? Oh no, I can't deal with putting more than $20-25 in the gas tank at a time. I would cry to see how much it costs to fill it up, at least we get good gas mileage. Still would have been better to encourage Tom to take a cab, it's cold outside.

Pulaski Day

2011-03-07T14:35:00.000-08:00

Here in the Chicagoland Area, kids get Casmir Pulaski day off school. Who is C. Pulaski, he is a polish Revolutionary War hero. Im sure you can find out more about that on wiki. So now thanks to a 3-day weekend, all 3 of the kids have declared that they don't want to go back to school. *Sigh* this will make tommorrow morning a bit harder. Even Anna is on the No School Forever bandwagon, which is a suprise b/cause she loves her teacher and wants to be a teacher. I better go reminder her of that...

And speaking of Anna here is a little something she wrote at school.

I wish it would rain kittens.
I would grab one and take care of it.
I would buy a leash.
I would buy food.
I would take him for a walk.

Too funny I don't know if she thinks people take cats for walks or if she started writing got distracted and switch her thoughts from having a kitten to having a puppy.

I'm voting for neither. Too much to clean up around here already.

This recipe popped up on my facebook news feed from Food & Wine Magazine, so I am just about to go make it. It's a crummy late winter day here, one with gloomy skies and cold temps. This recipe pairs well with this weather.

Winter-Vegetable Shepherd's Pie
2 lbs baking potatoes (about 4 potatoes) peeled and cut into large pieces
1 1/2 tsp Seasoned Salt
1 cup heavy cream (I don't have any of that so I will improvise)
6 tbsp butter
2 large onions, sliced
1 tsp Garlic Garlic or 1 clove garlic, minced
4 cups sliced mixed winter vegetables such as celery, turnips, brussel sprouts, parsnips, fennel, cabbage or celery root.
2 carrots, sliced
1/4 tsp dried thyme...I think I am going to put in a wee bit of rosemary.
3 cups chix broth or veggie broth

Directions

1.Put the potatoes in a medium saucepan of salted water. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer until the potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes. Drain the potatoes and put them back into the saucepan along with 1 teaspoon of the salt and 1/4 teaspoon of the pepper. Mash the potatoes over very low heat, gradually incorporating the cream and 4 tablespoons of the butter. Cover and set aside.
*Like I said I don't have any cream on hand, I'll use some milk.

2.Meanwhile, in a Dutch oven, melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter over moderately low heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in the sliced mixed vegetables, carrots, thyme, and the remaining 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and pepper. Mix well.
* I am going to use the Tastefully Simple Roasted Garlic Infused Oil instead of butter to sautee.

3.Stir in the broth and bring to a simmer. Cook over moderate heat, covered, until the vegetables start to soften, 5 to 10 minutes. Uncover, increase the heat to moderately high, and cook until the vegetables are tender and almost no liquid remains in the pan, about 10 minutes longer.

4.Heat the broiler. Transfer the vegetables to a 9-inch pie plate, spread the potatoes over the top, and cook until lightly browned, about 5 minutes.

.

What's new?

2011-03-01T20:17:00.000-08:00

Woo hoo, February is over! Meterogical Spring is here! Okay so it is going snow and ice for the next 10 days or so, but at least February is over. I saw this on the rightathome.com website and thought it was a good idea, so I wanted to share:

Magically Self-Sorting Socks

When the whole family has socks in the same load of laundry, trying to find matching pairs takes forever. Instead, get each family member a different color mesh laundry bag suitable for the washer and dryer. When socks need laundering, each person places both light and dark socks together in his or her own bag. No need to separate them because when you toss the bags into the washer, an added Shout® Color Catcher® sheet will absorb any dyes in the water. When the socks are dry, return the bags to their original owners for sorting.

___
A mesh laundry bag for socks who would have thought!

*** March 1st is not only the start of Meterological Spring but also the start of the new Tastefully Simple Spring Line ! Tonight I used some of the new products in Chicken Enchiladas. I took refried beans and mixed them with some of the Simply Southwest Seasoning & Rub (can't wait to try that on grilled chicken!). I added some cooked chicken , diced red bell pepper and onion. Put that in tortillas, dolloped on the Vine Ripened Salsa and rolled them up for Tom's mozarella topped enchiladas. For mine I added a couple tbsp of prepared with cream cheese Hoppin Jalapeno & Bacon Dip and then over the top I pour my new favorite Tastefully Simple Sauce the Ole Ole Fiesta Sauce . Pop that in the oven and 1/2 hour later dinner is served and it's even better than the Enchiladas I could go get from Pepes Restaurant.

Another bonus to Chicken Enchiladas is it's so easy to make plenty for dinner and have enough left over for lunch too. So that's what for lunch 2morrow.

What's for dinner tomorrow? I'm not sure yet.

Shamrock Shake Time.

2011-02-20T18:59:00.001-08:00

Another sure sign of spring! Patrick informed me about 10 times before breakfast the other day that he'd heard of their return. Then everyone wanted to run down to the McDonalds and get a shake stat. Fortunately I was able to remind Bryce and Anna that they don't even like them before we got to the drive-thru. But wait there is more, we actually got our order right, the Shamrock Shake was plain.

I don't know why McDonalds decided they need to add whipped cream and a cherry on top of their shakes. Totally overkill. I bet there is an easy way I could make Shamrock Shakes at home now that I think about it...

Thinking about frosty treats reminds me that in a week, Bryce's Diorama of a Tundra Habitat is due. Ugh I am not a fan of projects that need my assistance to get done. And the tundra? Ugh what should it even look like? A mound of cottonballs is not likely to cut it.

Have kids? Need a smile?

2011-02-20T18:34:00.001-08:00

If you have kids and you need a smile, go get the game Just Dance or Just Dance II for Wii. It is so funny to watch them dance their little butts off. You know, now that I think about it, it's funny to watch kids of all ages dance their butts off, so if you need a smile get Just Dance today!

Tonight was my Italian Feast & Wine Pairings Open House, thanks to those who came! And for those who didn't make it...
1. What about hosting your own Tastefully Simple Party? Fiesta time is coming March 1st!
2. Below is the menu w/recipes for what I made--and it's was all simple and very tasty!
3. Im having a a Fiesta Freebie Friday April 1st. For this open house I'll have recipes from our Simple Starters recipe booklet, Slush Buckets and Coupon Swapping!

Amy's Amazing Artichoke Mushrooms Paired With Pinot Noir
Submitted by Amy Freund (PA)
Ingredients
1 packet Artichoke & Spinach Warm Dip Mix
1 cup shredded Swiss cheese
8 oz. softened cream cheese
8 oz. jar artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
2 (8 oz.) packages fresh mushrooms, cleaned and stemmed

Directions
Combine first 4 ingredients and mix well. Arrange mushrooms, rounded side down, on greased baking pan. Mound filling in mushrooms, press to compact slightly. Bake mushrooms at 350° until tender and filling begins to brown, about 15-20 minutes. Serve hot. Makes 6-8 servings.

*NOTE: Jewel had a sale on wonton wrappers so since this recipe makes a ton of the filling I made about 2 dozen appetizers w/the filling in wonton wrappers. (baked at 425 for 10min)

Salad:

Panzanella Bread Salad Paired with Pinot Grigio
Submitted by Rosemary (MN) HQ Resident Chef
Ingredients
2 large tomatoes, cut into chunks
3/4 cup chopped cucumber
1/4 cup sliced red onion
6 cups (about 1/2 lb.) day-old crusty peasant-style bread, cut into 1-inch cubes
1/2 cup Balsamic & Basil Dipping Oil
Seasoned Salt
Shredded Parmesan cheese

Directions
Combine first 5 ingredients in a large serving bowl; toss to blend. Season with Seasoned Salt to taste; garnish with Parmesan cheese. Serve immediately. Makes 6-8 servings.

*NOTE: I had a small head of butter lettuce from my Timber Creek Farms Organics delivery so I put lettuce in the salad.
Entrée:

Baked Pesto Rigatoni paired with Cabernet Sauvignon
Submitted by Rosemary (MN) HQ Resident Chef
Ingredients
1/2 lb. ground beef
3 Tbsp. Dried Tomato & Garlic Pesto Mix
28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
8 oz. prepared rigatoni pasta
8 oz. shredded mozzarella cheese
Italian Garlic Bread Seasoning
Directions
Brown ground beef in large skillet until no longer pink; drain. Add next 2 ingredients; simmer 20 minutes. Stir prepared hot pasta into hot sauce; pour mixture into a greased casserole dish. Top pasta mixture with shredded cheese and Italian Garlic Bread Seasoning to taste. Bake at 375° for 20-25 minutes or until cheese melts and is lightly browned. Makes 2-3 servings.

*NOTE: I doubled this recipe and it makes a TON!

Entrée:

Tuscan Chicken & Artichokes Paired with Sauvignon Blanc
Submitted by Rosemary (MN) HQ Resident Chef
Ingredients:
4-6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/3 cup Dried Tomato & Garlic Pesto Mix
28 oz. can crushed or diced tomatoes, undrained
1/2 cup white wine (optional)
14.5 oz. can artichoke hearts, drained
Directions:
Combine ingredients in a greased slow cooker. Heat on low 6-8 hours. Serve over angel hair pasta or rice. Makes 4-6 servings

Dessert:

Absolutely Almond Biscotti Paired with Moscato
Submitted by RoxAnn Mannuzza (MN)
Ingredients
Absolutely Almond Pound Cake Mix™
1/2 cup (1 stick) softened butter
2 eggs
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
2 - 3 Tbsp. flour

Directions
Combine AA Cake Mix and butter; blend until crumbly. Add eggs; blend dough with hands if necessary. Stir in white chocolate chips. Knead dough on a floured surface until no longer sticky. Form into two loaves on greased baking sheet; pat dough to 1-inch thickness. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 15 minutes. Cut into 1/2-inch slices; bake an additional 10 minutes. Cool completely. Makes about 24 biscotti.

Victoria Hamel,

Yourtsconsultant@aol.com

708-598-9415

Looking for a good read?

2011-02-20T18:33:00.000-08:00

This weekend I read a fantastic book. Its one of those books where you find yourself a little sad at the end, not because the ending is sad, but because you are going to miss hanging out with the characters. The book is set in Chicago and Las Vegas; which is fun for me since Chicago is my town and I've been to Vegas more than a couple times.

What's the book like? It like a yummy blend of action, history, thriller, and sci fi with just a dash of romance. To even call it romance is not quite fitting. If you liked that book, The Davinci Code, you'll love The Thousand because it is like 1000 times better. :-)

Now my friend K and I read Kevin Gulfoile's first book, Cast of Shadows, and honestly we were worried--how would he be able to follow up on his first book. But he rocked it with this sophmore effort.

I always have trouble thinking up titles for posts

2011-02-11T07:54:00.000-08:00

Well, is it just me or has this week been a long week? It has certainly been very cold, does cold weather make the day seem longer? I know it makes the Nicor Gas bill bigger. The weather experts are hinting at better weather ahead. I heard the word fifties mentioned. If it hits the 50s, I think we'll see people breaking out their shorts and sandals! Not me though, I am in serious need of a pedicure before any sandals can be worn. My toes are still not the same since the Chicago Marathon back in October.

If you hear the wailing of schoolage children, it's probably mine. Our Cupboards are bare! What can they possibly eat for a a snack after school today! Does this happen often at your house? We *never* have anything to eat here at Casa Hamel. I'm fairly hopeful they will survive this afternoon since my mom sent us Cheryl's Cookies the best cookies every. Ahhh except Girl Scout Cookies of course! Feel free to contact Anna to find out where GS Cookies are available in your area.

Anna's Auntie K is coming over tomorrow night so I am going to pick up this month's wine from Coopershawk Winery in Orland and then I am going to test an entree for my Italian Feast with Tastefully Simple that is coming up a week from Sunday.

Here is what I will be trying out this Saturday:

Baked Pesto Rigatoni

Submitted by Rosemary (MN) HQ Resident Chef

Ingredients
1/2 lb. ground beef
3 Tbsp. Dried Tomato & Garlic Pesto Mix
28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
8 oz. prepared rigatoni pasta
8 oz. shredded mozzarella cheese
Italian Garlic Bread Seasoning

Directions

Brown ground beef in large skillet until no longer pink; drain. Add next 2 ingredients; simmer 20 minutes. Stir prepared hot pasta into hot sauce; pour mixture into a greased casserole dish. Top pasta mixture with shredded cheese and Italian Garlic Bread Seasoning to taste. Bake at 375° for 20-25 minutes or until cheese melts and is lightly browned. Makes 2-3 servings.

****Ooooo I think I found my other entree...and it's a slow cooker recipe!...even better!

Tuscan Chicken & Artichokes

Submitted by Rosemary (MN) HQ Resident Chef

Ingredients
4-6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/3 cup Dried Tomato & Garlic Pesto Mix
28 oz. can crushed or diced tomatoes, undrained
1/2 cup white wine (optional)
14.5 oz. can artichoke hearts, drained

Directions
Combine ingredients in a greased slow cooker. Heat on low 6-8 hours. Serve over angel hair pasta or rice. Makes 4-6 servings

Superbowl Sunday

2011-02-06T13:35:00.000-08:00

Snowing today. So not cool! Tom is one the phone worrying about his Mom and Dad. His mom just returned from a 4 day stint at the hospital where she had her gallbladder removed and is now on the phone because she feels Tom dad doesn't feel well. Yes things are back to usual.

Over here at our Casa I am looking forward to my Italian Feast & Wine Tasting Tastefully Simple Open House in a couple weeks. This means I have to test recipes. We don't have any wine for tasting, at present, but I did whip up a nice salad dressing with our Sensational Caesar Veggie Dip. So that will be on the menu.

As far as food here is what I made this afternoon:

I took some ground sirloin and cooked that & drained the oil & made:
1 cup prepared Trader Joe's Organic Quinoa, prepared w/chicken stock

Then in a pan I sauteed 1 thinly sliced shallot, 4 garlic cloves minced, & 1 red bell pepper sliced. After a couple mintues of cooking I added 2 diced plum tomatoes, 10 leaves of fresh basil chopped--along with the quinoa and ground beef. It needed some flavor so I added 1 tbsp of the TS Garlic Pepper Seasoning and sprinkled some TS Seasoned Salt.

It's a grey dreary cold day outside. Lucky for me Im not 100% filled with Seasonal Affect Disorder because I had a 2 days shot of dreams of spring and summer tastes at Tastefully Simple on Tour. All the delicious new products are still underwraps. I do think it's safe to say that Im looking forward to Fiestas!!!!!!

And Im so glad that the BLANK and the fBLANK and the awesome BLANK is coming back. It's going to be great. I can't wait!

How many days til spring? 42 more days ahhhhhhh 6 weeks? Hmm where is that darn groundhog???

Take 2

2011-02-03T21:14:00.000-08:00

Ah ha here it is! My picture worked!

Blizzard 2011

2011-02-03T20:54:00.000-08:00

I was all set to post some pics from the big blizzard yesterday and the day before, but for whatever reason Blogger isn't in the mood for pics. I'd try and figure out why it's not working but it's 1045 and I'm thinking I'll skip it for now.

It's a funny picture of anna becoming one with snow. I don't know exactly what she was trying to do. I think she was diving into the drift like into a wave at the beach.

Right now it's ridiculously cold and we have a ridiculous amount of snow piled all around everywhere, including where the turn lanes are located for most of the roads around here. All this snow snow snow has me looking very forward to going to the Tastefully Simple On Tour event tomorrow where they will be unveiling the Spring Summer line. You know what that means? Hours of people talking about Sunshine, Vacation, Grilling and Warmth.

Ah I can't wait. Now how long til Spring? 6 weeks and 4 days I believe. Maybe 6 weeks 3 days? In any case, I'll bask in the imagined glow of Sunshine 2morrow.

Third Monday in January.

2011-01-17T17:37:00.000-08:00

Turns out the 3rd Monday in January is also know as the most depressing day of the year. Shocked?

Ya me neither.

I had the day off work, so I spent the day cooking and cleaning. In retrospect, I should have skipped the cleaning and watched Love Actually. Since watching the Golden Globes last night and seeing Colin Firth win for The King's Speech, Im in the mood for a Colin Firth movie marathon and why not kick it off with Love Actually. Not only does it feature Colin Firth but also Liam Neeson, Hugh Grant AND Professor Snape. Yes I know, it's very strange that I harbor a crush on Professor Snape. But there it is.

And then were do we go from Love Actually ? Pride & Prejudice. Of course. Probably best to watch that a couple times---and then watch the 2005 version with *sigh* Matthew MacFayden. Now that would have been a proper way to spend my day off.

On the food side:
For dinner I had salad topped with shredded chicken cooked in the slow cooker yesterday. I took the chicken breasts and poured Corn & Black Bean Salsa over it and cook it on low all day & then shred the chicken. Then it is good in enchiladas, tacos or on salad. So Chicken Slow Cooked with Corn & Black Bean Salsa (from Tastefully Simple, natch.) on top of salad and then I topped it with light ranch dressing mixed with our Pomegrante Chipotle Sauce. You can't beat the smokey chipotle mixed with cook ranch.

Now in the Slow Cooker is a Spicy Seafood Stew. It's my first try on seafood stew, so I'll have to try it and then let you know if it is worth giving it a go!

Know anyone who needs Girl Scout Cookies? Yes Anna is on a mission to sell 125. I think she is 1/2 way there....
I've got this Spicy Seafood Stew going in the crockpot, let's see how that turns out

My goal for my day off.

2011-01-13T14:16:00.000-08:00

Today I am off work and as such I have one goal. Not to leave the house. Well except to walk to the busstop. Other than that I'm not going anywhere. Just call me Green, no driving anywhere, no buying anything. Earlier I decided it was a good day for making soup. Chicken Soup. I didn't want Chicken Noodle Soup, just chicken soup with vegetables. So I went over to foodnetwork.com and I search for recipe. After about 10 minutes, I decided that I was wasting time searching for 'the one.' LOL

Here is what I did:
1 tsp Garlic Infused Oil

2 turnips peeled & chopped
1 cup baby carrots chopped
2 red potatoes peeled & chopped
1 parship peeled & chopped.
1 shallot chopped
1 leek sliced
3 stalks of celery chopped.

8 cups chicken broth
1 boneless chicken breast

Heat the tsp of oil in the bottom of your pot, then add the leeks & shallot saute for 2 minutes then add all other veggies & saute stirring frequently for about 6 minutes. Add broth & chicken breast and cook on med low for 1/2 hour. Take out chicken breast & shred it. Taste & add salt/pepper/paprika to taste. Serve hot in bowls.

In a different pot I cooked some brown rice. For dinner I'll put some brown rice in a bowl and pour the soup on top and have Chicken & Rice Soup.

The whole recipe is low fat, low cal, full of lots of veggies. And you could put noodles in it if you want. I didn't feel like it today!

Now it is 4:14pm and the kids are downstairs unwinding after a hard day at school by watching some TV. This is the start of their 4 day weekend. Did you realized it's just about 2 weeks into the new year already?

Next thing you know, it will be Spring. Yep that is what I keep telling myself!

Slow Cooker and What the kids are reading

2011-01-12T08:01:00.000-08:00

Yes the boys and I are reading the Strange Case of Origami Yoda. They love it. And Patrick is trying unsucessfully to make his own Origami Yoda.

The end of the Jewel-Osco Cookware for a penny with reward stickers was right around the bend, so Sunday night I went and spent my whole paycheck at Jewel. Well, not really the whole thing, it wasn't as if I was at Whole Foods, but I stocked up and earned enough stickers for my grill pan.
Since it was a Sunday and I had time to plan my purchases, I got everything needed to make a slew of Slow Cooker Recipes. Tonight on the menu is Chicken Cacciatore, which is a big fave of 4 of 5 members of our household and honestly, that's as good as it gets. I should start putting a star on the calendar anytime everyone likes dinner simultaneously. I splurged on Butoni whole wheat refrigerated linguini noodles for dinner. I will report back and let you know how that part of the meal goes---since I am too cheap normally to pay for the refrig. pasta.

I have been thinking for a good 2 years about how I would like to put together a Wine Pairing list to go with Tastefully Simple recipes. To that end, I really need to host a night at my house to practice and to get feedback on what I come up with for the pairings. Why am I writing that here? Now I feel more compelled to actually work on getting that together.

Now if you are looking for a good pairing. Try a nice Charles Shaw Merlot or Coopershawk Shiraz with this recipe from http://www.tastefullysimple.com/web/vhamel

Merlot Beef Stew

Submitted by Dodi Kuehl (WI) Modified by me.

Ingredients

2 lbs. cubed boneless top round steak (or chuck roast,it's cheaper)

1/4 cup flour

~~1/2 cup (1 stick) butter~~ Just use a tsp of olive oil to brown the meat.

4 medium peeled, sliced carrots

8 quartered small red potatoes

12 sliced mushrooms

1 chopped medium onion

I'd use a sliced parsnip as well --that's how I roll

1/2 cup Merlot Sauce

~~2 Tbsp. Bacon Bacon™~~ Shrug I's skip this and throw in a TBSP of Onion Onion (TM)

1 Tbsp. Garlic Garlic™

4 cups beefbroth

Directions

Coat beef with flour. ~~Melt butter in pan;~~ Put Oil in pan heat up the pan and oil just a little then sauté beef in batches (don’t crowd), ~~add butter as needed.~~ Layer carrots, potatoes, mushrooms, onions and beef in slow cooker. Sprinkle Garlic Garlic™ and Bacon Bacon™ over beef. Combine Merlot Sauce with beef broth, pour over slow cooker ingredients. Cover; cook on low for 8 hours. Makes 6-8 servings.

2011-01-11T20:13:00.001-08:00

I was starving and really looking forward to my dinner tonight. I tried out a new recipe a slow cooker corn chowder, a healthy recipe. Much to my complete dismay it wasn't very good at all. Such a bummer. Cold crappy weather and bad food. I would like a redo or a big bowl of Creamy Wild Rice Soup OR wait better yet, a big bowl of chocolate ice cream.

And after my most subpar of dinners, Tom has on Frontline's Haiti documentary , I like interesting TV I'm interested in learning more bout the state of the world-- tonight however I'd rather be read a good Urban Fantasy.

Speaking of Urban fantasy, I have figured out how to reduce the unemployment rate. Encourage employers to offer job sharing. I like to share. I'm happy to give 1/2 my job to anyone who'd like it. I'll even throw in access to health insurance-- I have good coverage thru Toms job.

Please leave a comment or write ur congressman if you'd like to share like me!
;-)

New Year, so well whatcha gonna do?

2011-01-01T12:22:00.000-08:00

How was your NYE? The kids were really rowdy so there was lots of
"Stop it"
"Move Over"
"Can't we watch Nick?"

I guess making the kids watch the consistently really bad TV know as Channel 7 in Chicago's local NYE show, wasn't the best way to keep their attention... Tom I go got plenty of laughs out of the show.

The big excitement of my NYE was pre-ordering Shadowfever by Karen Marie Moning, I have been re-reading her Fever Series in anticipation of 5th and Final book...she seems to have off'd one of my favorite male characters at the end of Faefever--she better have figured out how he isn't dead in the final book.

Tom is off at Walgreens looking for discounted holiday merchandise we don't need. We are going over to his Aunt's house for a New Year party a bit later. As aways I'll have to say a few times in the car.

"You better eat while we are there, We are not stopping at McDonalds on the way home." Don't even ask.

I don't know why I have to say that whenever we go to a party, there has not been a precedence set that we stop at a fast-food drive thru on the way home from family parties or any parties. Yet somehow, it keeps coming up.

Each year I ask everyone in the family what their resolutions or goals or dreams for the new year are and here are some for 2011.

Patrick: Earn a Homework Pass, Go Bowling, Go on Vacation to the Nick Hotel and Participate in my school's talent show.

Bryce: Take a Lego Class at Moraine Valley in the Summer, Go Camping with Cub Scouts, have a cell phone
*that last one ain't happening!

Anna: Take swimming lessons, be rich, go to the beach and take a gymnastics class. Spend more time with my family and friends.
*LOL like she has a job and doesn't get to spend time with her family.

Tom: Stop Worrying, Exercise more, Avoid white bread, be more positive.
*Id have liked him to put down yell less over trival matters involving the kids.

Me: I wasn't feeling resolutions last night so all I came up with is, Be caught up on our bills. Im sure Bank of Evil --errr I mean Bank of America is all for that goal of mine.

2010-12-26T11:11:00.001-08:00

I'm on my lunch right now at work. How do I like working on a Sunday? Well I don't care for it. I like to sleep late on Sundays and not leave the house.

Did u have a nice Christmas? Mine was OK. The boys were disappointed with the amount of presents the received. Anna had more items to open, and that was a big problem. Of course the money spent was the same for each kid. *Sigh*

Moneywise there was no use of credit cards, and I had mypoints and debit card points I was able to use which stretched the funds--good thing imagine what the disappointment would have been w/o the freebies.

I think I am going to make a quiche with the leftover ham tonight...no idea on the recipe yet for that.

2010-12-17T20:34:00.000-08:00

I ordered this book from me to me for Christmas. I would also like cute shoes, a gift card for Modcloth.com and a necklace from Tiffanys. Yes, I know I could purchase knock off Tiffanys. Shrug, don't know why but I like to keep dreaming about the real thing.

News from first grade class Room 8.
The whole class was on yellow. The teacher 'thought' they were all talking in the hallway. Hmm she just though it, really? really Anna? I guess they are all giddy with anticipation of next weeks 3 day week. Listen to this, Monday Gingerbread houses, Tues Class Party, Wed hot cocoa and the Polar Express. How fun is that. I want hot cocoa at work on Wed, I don't even need the movie..

Are you done Xmas shopping? Ya? Not me. Though I don't know if I am going to shop much more. I'm done shopping for Tom, as I mentioned he wants nothing, so that is very easy shopping. Anna wants everything she sees, Bryce just wants legos, and Patrick would be happy with a box of Andes Mints.

I'd like to just give out cash, well if I had some to give out, because I really really really am not a wrapper. I don't like wrapping presents and it shows. My wrapping looks like a 6 year old has done it. Actually Anna is better at wrapping presents.

Its like a heat wave

2010-12-16T07:23:00.000-08:00

The high for today is 31 F. After the coldness this past week, 31 is a heat wave. Warm enough I am going to go run today. I don't like running in the winter. Given a choice of going out to run and braving the cold, unshoveled sidewalks and patches of ice OR running on a tredmill, I'll take the elements.

Being that it is Thursday, I was getting all giddy about tomorrow being Friday and the whole weekend coming up. And then I remembered, I'm working Saturday. Actually Im done with work 2morrow night at 7:30 and then will be back at work by 7am on Sat. I like the actual work I do, it's interesting and challenging. I personally am just not a fan of leaving my house and going into work. I could take a pass on all that. I think the office we have in the basement is more posh for sure than my cubicle. And the commute would be much better. Overall, it would be better for the Environment, if I could work from home. Really me going to work is a disservice to Mother Earth.

I wonder if I could get Michele Obama to push for more people to work from home, like she is working on childhood obesity? We could have tax incentives for employers and all the work at home people could pledge to snack on healthy fruits and veggies from their kitchens. I think I am on to something here.

Best Cookies Ever

2010-12-15T21:14:00.000-08:00

Got the most lovely of gifts recently...Cheryls Cookies. Man they are just the best cookies every. And it's really good that they come individually packaged. That way they are very portable and its much easier for me to not accidently each a bunch at one time. The frosted sugar cookes are my faves...Oh they are so good. You have to try them. There is a link to get a sample pack of 6 for just the shipping of $6.95

Cheryls free sample

Speaking of gifts once again this year Tom has said that he doesn't want me or the kids to get him anything for Christmas because if he wants anything he just goes and buys it. This is such a pain, and no fun. Christmas is about giving and I'd just like to be able to get him a few things for Xmas. I guess he is trying to be helpful, but it's just a killjoy. Maybe I should wrap up some of his existing stuff so he has stuff to open on Christmas. Yep That's what I am going to do!

Look Mom Zombie Intestines!

2010-12-13T21:51:00.000-08:00

I know it's been ridiculously long since I posted. I meanted to post about 500x in the past 2 months. I even downloaded an app to do blogging via my phone but I can't get it to work w/blogger so much for that.

Yesterday in the wind and snow it was time for my holiday work party. The party is geared toward kids so not only was there a visit from Santa but also a wandering Magician (actually 2) and a balloon lady. While I was getting a plate of food from the buffet. I love brunch, esp where there is bacon and chocolate upon it--while I was off grabbing food the Balloon lady visited the kids.

I sat down to eat my food and Anna was quick to show off her balloon Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. "Look it's Rudolph! Rudolph really looks like a poodle, should I show him to Santa? Sure Anna, you can show him to Santa. No you can't have my bacon...

And then there was much eating, kids playing, raffle prizes and even a DJ. Anna and Bryce were tearing up the dance floor. They also played very nicely with a couple of younger girls that were at our table, which was nice to see them being so well behaved as to be mini babysitters. Gave me warm fuzzies.

And then as we drove out of sight, due to low visibility based on the snow and wind, Patrick pipes up from the back seat. "Okay I still have 10 math problems to do...and my Art Project, " Bryce chimed in with dibs on the Nintendo DS, and Anna had the last word with...

Look Mom my Rudolph came apart! Now it's Zombie Intestines!

Running Running Running

2010-10-03T20:00:00.000-07:00

I picked up this book from a used bookstore because I thought Patrick might like to read it. The main character is a girl, and so he has no interest in reading it. So I'm going to take it to work and read it at lunch. This weekend we didn't have any big plans so I caught up on some work around the house and spent this evening cooking. I made chili, as I like to do on Sundays during football season. Now I'd like to share my recipe; however, I make it differently each week--depending on what I have on hand. For example today it has Peppy Papaya Salsa in it, Wahoo Chili (the only staple in each batch) and some of the Flavors of India Seasoning Salt. Then I chopped up an onion, three stalks of celery, added a lb of ground turkey, one big can of Red Gold Diced Tomatoes and 1 can of great northern beans because that is all I had besides garbonza beans. Next week it may very well be totally different.

Then again no chili next week, as next Sunday is 10/10/10 and that means I'm gonna go run the Chicago Marathon. Now between not having the kids in day camp this summer and going back to work 9/1 I haven't been able to run as much in preparation as I would like for the marathon. Therefore my only goal is to finish the marathon before they close down the race. ( that would be after 6 1/2 hours). My other goal is to be able to walk the next day w/o crying. I can't wind up all super sore for a few days, so if anyone has any advice on how to avoid being sore after the marathon, PLEASE let me know!

I can't believe it is almost time for the marathon, well actually, I can I signed up to run it ages ago.

End of September Already

2010-09-28T18:20:00.000-07:00

Went right from work to get Anna from Daisy Scouts then home and then we went over to the Family Night at Bryce school. It was Book Fair night so the library was crowded with lots of kids looking for books. And a few parents. I picked up Ruined: A Novel. It takes place in New Orleans and I love reading stories set in New Orleans.

Im going to say that I think in general, reading is better than doing dishes. So that is why my sink is full of dishes right now. It's a statement not sloth. :-D

It's been really bad allergy weather for me the last few days, but today I 'gutted it out' and didn't take a Zyrtec, it helps with the symptoms but man does it make me spacey. I really should get around to going to an allergist one of these days, right.

Anyway, here is my thought for the day. $100 bucks is the new $20.

Still looing for 8 days a week.

2010-09-22T06:27:00.000-07:00

Yes wouldn't that be nice? work 5 off 3 still have 52 wks in the year, we'd all be younger. Heck it could probably save Social Security, b/cause it would be longer b/4 we hit our 60s, 40s would be the new 60s LOL.

This month has been major time juggling, and I am still waayyy off. I know this will come as no suprise but working out of the house really takes up a lot of time. LOL. And the house doesn't clean itself, much to my dismay neither does the laundry. So really I think I need a wife.

This week I started my getting up early and running plan only to be twarted by Tom's work on day 2 of my getting up early and running. I decided that the best thing to do was to get up and run anyway. So I got up at 530 and ran 3 miles instead of getting up at 530 and running the nice 6 to 8 miles I planned on running.

Basically this week I discovered I have to get up before the dawn, which I am not a fan of, in order to get anything done. This is why women are tired and cranky and have to invest in lots of undereye coverup!

K gotta run off to work now!

Golden Winter Soup

2010-09-05T19:36:00.000-07:00

Saw Butternut squash at the grocery store and thought that soon it will be time to make my favorite soup ever. I was sure I blogged about it, but I just ran thru my posts and darn it if I couldn't find it. So I looked it up on-line and there is the link for it above. It's super super good. You must try it! From Cooking Light magazine!

I have the ingredients to try some new recipes I took from Food Network Magazine and some old Women's Day and Rachel Ray magazines. Here is the problem, I took out the recipes and put them in a blue file folder. And now I can't find it anywhere. Tom swears he's seen it, but tis no where to be found. Grr. I need the recipes to go with my ingredients! They were all new recipes and I have no clue how to make them w/o the recipes! Ack!

So tomorrow I am going for a long run, I need to get in 10-12 miles for sure, I haven't run since Tues! Good thing I ran 15 miles on Mon and 5 on Tues, never the less, not enough running. It's totally Tom's fault he golfed alllllllllllll day on Sat and golfed until 5pm today.

So then tomorrow much running, some BBQ and then everyone needs to get to bed early b/cause we all have work or school in the AM! I'll be starting week 2 at my new full time job where it is very quiet. And they pay me for my time. Quite different than my time at home rearing children. When you are raising your kids, it's very loud and you don't get paid. You don't get any vacation time either. Oh sure, your spouse may think when the family takes a vacation that you the mother is also having a vacation, but we know better don't we stay at home parents? Yes, a family vacation should be paid at time and a half and you should get PTO (paid time off) for every hour of the vacation!

Never the less, the kids are adjusting well to me working, and they only started crying when I answered the question, so will you be at my halloween party?

No, I won't.

But considering there is 1 of me and 3 of them at 3 different schools all of which have their halloween parties on the same day and time--two of them would be losing out anyway, so at least now they don't have hurt feelings that I didn't 'chose' to come to their party.

Golden Winter Soup Frm Cooking Light Magazine
Ingredients

2 tablespoons butter

5 cups (1/2-inch) cubed peeled butternut squash (about 1 1/2 pounds)

2 cups (1/2-inch) cubed peeled russet potato (about 12 ounces)

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 cups sliced leek (about 2 medium)

4 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth

1 cup half-and-half

12 ounces baguette, cut into 16 slices

3/4 cup (3 ounces) shredded Gruyère cheese

3 tablespoons chopped chives

Freshly ground black pepper (optional)

Preparation

Preheat broiler.

Melt butter in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add squash, potato, salt, and pepper to pan; sauté 3 minutes. Add leek; sauté 1 minute. Stir in broth; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes or until potato is tender, stirring occasionally. Place half of potato mixture in a blender. Remove center piece of blender lid (to allow steam to escape); secure blender lid on blender. Place a clean towel over opening in blender lid (to avoid splatters). Blend until smooth. Pour into a large bowl. Repeat procedure with remaining potato mixture. Stir in half-and-half. Cover and keep warm.

Arrange bread slices in a single layer on a baking sheet; sprinkle evenly with cheese. Broil bread slices 2 minutes or until golden. Ladle 1 cup soup into each of 8 bowls; top each serving with about 1 teaspoon chives. Serve 2 bread slices with each serving. Garnish with freshly ground black pepper, if desired.

Wine note: This is one vegetable soup that can easily handle a lighter red wine. Stick with the French theme and look for bargains from Burgundy, like Louis Jadot Pinot Noir 2005 ($20). This wine has pretty red berry fruit, great balance, and gentle tannins that make it ideal for lower-fat dishes. The underlying earthy, leathery flavors bring out the rustic nuances of the potatoes and squash. —Jeffery

Anniversaries and Birthdays and Weddings

2010-08-24T16:33:00.000-07:00

Happy Belated Anniversary to my Parents! They got to celebrate this year in their scenic new hometown of Blairsville, GA.

And Tomorrow is my Favorite Virgo's Bday!

Oh Ah! Such a Handsome Viking Vampire!

Wait, I just remembered Tom is a Virgo...So Happy Birthday to my second favorite Virgo!
Snap, our friend Rocci's bday makes him a Virgo too.

Alright, Happy Birthday To My Third Favorite Virgo! *chuckle*

**************************
Late Yesterday I received my Fall/Winter Catalogs and the first bottle of Wahoo! Chili I've had in two years. I wept with joy. While it is still August--and def. not Chili Weather, I couldn't help myself and I made Wahoo! Chili in the crockpot. :-D

What I did:
2 tbsp Onion Onion
2 tbsp wahoo chili
1 tsp Garlic Garlic

about 2/3 lb of ground beef cooked and drained
1/2 a big green bell pepper chopped
3 stalks celery chopped
1 28 oz can of stewed plum tomatoes, which I had to chop up b/cause I thought I had diced tomatoes and it turned out I sure didn't!

Put all that in the crockpot til dinner time. Now I like my chili over macaroni noodles and I also love shredded cheddar cheese, but alas, there is no cheese in our house.

There is no cheese, no wine and no chocolate. I know! How am I surviving? Am I dieting? Nope Just need to get to the grocery store.

Here it is simmering in the crockpot

As for Weddings, next Friday Tom and I are invited to an engagment party, downtown somewhere, with Club in the title of the place. So we need to bring a gift, yes? And what is a good engagement party gift?

Shameless Plug, by my Bro's album!

Dinner Talk

2010-08-19T19:00:00.000-07:00

Now that school has resumed I'm making more of an effort to have family dinners because they say that family dinners help kids to get better grades and avoid drugs. And because I want a good routine with kids who get enough sleep to learn and behave at school.

Tonights dinner was very interesting. I say how was school today Anna. Anna says, I saw K. on the playground and she said her little brother said the A word.
Patrick says what's the A word?
Anna replies "A*^h(le. "
I foolishly say: what did you say?
Anna says "A*&h)le.
Patrick says what is an A**h*le?
I explain and tell them it is a swear word and a very mean thing to call someone.

Then Anna says and then K. said her sister said the S word.
Bryce says oh I know what that word is, "Stupid" I say that is not a nice word. That isn't the swear word though, if you listen carefully your dad says it too much.
Patrick: "oh you mean Shut it."
Me: No that's just rude, it's not a swear word.
Anna (did I mention this is her 2nd day in 1st grade)says: the s-word is Sh*t.
Patrick, age 10 and a fifth grader says: What is sh*t?
Me: Pooh
Bryce: LOL
And then Bryce said what is a swear word?
I elaborated on inappropriate words and how they shouldn't be used and how grownup say them but they shouldn't. So on and so forth.

Then Anna says the Fword is really bad. And I say yes it's really important not to say that one.
Patrick: what's the Fword? Fart?
Me: no, not that.
Anna: F&*K that's the Fword. Reem said I am a F*&K.
Me; that is extremely rude and not true and it's not appropriate for Reem (also a 1st grader) to say.
Patrick: F*&k, F(*k
Bryce: F*&k, ?
Anna: F(*k, Like you know you say: "I hit my head on the door, I'm such a f*&k.
Me; Anna don't ever call yourself that, don't be mean to yourself.
Patrick: What does f*&k mean?
Me; You guys have to stop saying that word it's really inappropriate and not something kids should say.
Patrick: Well what does it mean?
Me: Sex, it's a rude way people use to say sex.
Bryce: That's when a boy is naked and the girl has their clothes on and they kiss and stuff.
Me: Well the girl would probably be naked too. Sex is something you want to wait on till your older.
Bryce: If you have Sex, you do it to have a baby, so if you want to have 3 kids, then you have sex 3 times.
Me. Some people have sex because they want to have a baby and some don't want to have a baby they just like it.
Bryce: ohhh
Patrick: how do they have sex and not get pregnant.
Me; well a girl can take a pill
Bryce: you have to be careful because you could have a baby if you have sex right?
Patrick: gross eww gross eww
Me: Yes
Anna: sometimes girls like girls.
Me: Yes
Patrick: so if a girl was in love with a girl then how can they have a baby.
Me: They could use artificial insemination or a girl could have sex with a boy.
Patrick: Then when the baby is born, she could say to the boy, OK leave now, I love the girl and we'll take care of the baby.
Me; Well I suppose but that wouldn't be a very nice thing to do to the boy right?
Bryce: what about if 2 boys have sex where does the sperm go?
Patrick: maybe one of the boys would turn into the other boy?
Me: No, nothing happens you have to have a sperm and an egg.
Anna: what if a girl didn't have eggs and she had sperm.
Me: No, girls have girl parts and eggs and boys have boy parts and sperm that's what makes girls girls and boys boys.
Patrick: gross, ewwww, gross
Bryce: So if you and Dad have sex then we could have a baby?
Me: no your dad had an operation he doesn't have any sperm anymore.
Bryce (looking worried) does that happen a lot?
Me; No, it's up to the man. You can have sperm your whole life.
Bryce: phew.
Anna: Can I be excused ? Can I watch Zoey 101 now?
Yes go ahead.

Pizza

2010-08-10T19:07:00.000-07:00

So today is my birthday and I'm waiting on some pizza and red wine. That's all I want, well actually I would like a couple say 2 or maybe 6 cupcakes devils food with white buttercream frosting and some sprinkles. But the cupcakes aren't happenning because I didn't feel like going to the store today and getting any. Plus it's only Tuesday and Jewel's Crazy Cupcakes is on Friday. On Friday the cupcakes are $2.22. On a Tuesday I think they are $3.99 or more. They are $2.22 good not $3.99 good.

For several hours today the boys got along famously and were talking and talking about the E-rated video game they are going to create that involves, Patrick Starfish becoming a werewolf, Zombie Sea Bears, Plankton having radioactive powers and minions and much much more. That was a nice bday surprise a few hours w/o kids fighting.

Okay don't tell anyone--but frankly I'm more excited about Wed 8/18 than I am about my birthday. You know why?
Nod. You guessed it, First.Day.of.School!!!!!!!!!! Wooo Hooooo!!!!!

Coinciding with Anna's first year of full-time school is that Tom and I decided it would be a good idea for me to find a full-time job and then maybe in a few years --if he didn't get laid off like so many others out there--we would be able to save enough $$ to move down South, where it is beautiful and the winters aren't so dismal.

For the last month I've been submitting resumes and doing phone interviews and personal interviews and getting "Thanks but we've decided to go in another direction" emails from said interviews. Looking for a job for lack of a better term, blows. I've gotten many phone calls from companies looking for 'employees' to work 100% commission--who can do that? Thank goodness for the internet and sites like jobvent.com, turns out several of the companies I interviewed with are shady and their treatment of employees makes Wal-Mart look like employee of the year. All of you out there looking for a job, I totally feel your pain! It's brutal out there!

Right now I'm backing away from this whole "work full-time do Tastefully Simple on the weekends". It makes much more sense for me to take the extra time the school year will afford me and rededicate myself to my Tastefully Simple business. No cubical, no boss, no madatory overtime and I don't have to ask for time off to chaparone a field trip. I've learned I really really have it good, I can work on my own terms. I don't think I appreciated what a life sucking entity a job in 'corporate america' can be these days. I tell you, if I could hug my business I would. Maybe I'll hug a beer bread? Or my team members...Look out Team hugs coming your way! I'm very excited approach my business this fall with this new point of view

And I'm excited to share our new Cinnamon Syrup and Flavors of India Seasoned Salt with my friends, why? Because they are all natural. And different and fun to play with in the kitchen! I had the Cinnamon Syrup on a Fit N Active multigrain waffle from Aldi this AM. I gourmet'd up frozen waffles!

Im working on reading a fun book for my next review on thesookieverse.com Carpe Demon: Adventures of a Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom. AND I'm looking to have an epic fall! Lots of TS parties, the Chicago Marathon and I signed up for National Novel Writing Month :-D

Exciting News!

2010-08-03T15:53:00.000-07:00

Now when you see that, does it make you think Im gonna have another 1/2 demon child?
Nooooo. Tho, I do love babies and dont mind newborns.

The exciting news is that I was asked to write book reviews for a blog! I'm a contributing writer.

I review Urban Fantasy, Paranormal stuff. The fun books I love to read. My Book Review

Kewl, huh? And I have 96 followers on twitter, which I am actually managing to use more frequently, not as much as Ashton Kutcher, of course.

Today I made my favorite under $5 bucks dinner. Cheese and Bean Enchiladas.
1 can Enchilada sauce, red.
1 can fat free refried beans
1 package of tortillas
1 can of mexi blend corn
1/2 cup of the new Tastefully Simple Peppy Papaya Salsa
1 tbsp TS Fiesta Party Dip
1/2 to 1 cup shredded cheese

I mix the beans, corn, salsa, and fiesta party dip together put it in the tortillas, drizzle on some enchilada sauce, sprinkle some cheese then roll up the tortillas put them in a a stoneware baker then pour the rest of the sauce over all the enchiladas. Lastly I sprinkle cheese on the top and bake it in the over for about 40 minutes at 375.

My future home.

August begins.

2010-08-01T12:33:00.000-07:00

Right now I am biding my time waiting for the golf lover AKA my hubby and Patrick to return from a trip to best buy and the golf store. It is probably more like they will be going to a few golf stores until Patrick gets whiny and Tom decides to come home. Once they do I'm hitting the road and going for a run. A long run. Time will pass quickly today on my run as I'll be listening to Midnight's Daughter by Karen Chance. Midnight's Daughter is about a Dhampir which is a 1/2 human and 1/2 vampire individual. I know very odd. How would a dead person procreate? Maybe that will be covered in the book.

Today I realized that if I had $1.00 for everytime I thought, I should go blog, I should really try and blog everyday if I am going to have a blog, then I could hire a maid. Ahh how nice that would be for me!

I have a little confession, I accidently bought a Calvin Klien dress off ebay. See it was my size, looked cute, and was NWT (new with tags). You could have knocked me over with a feather this AM when I won the dress for $15.51.

On the food front, Friday I made the new Tastefully Simple Homestyle Beef Noodle Soup, or at least I think that is what it is called, I'm not looking at the box. Anywho , the directions call for 1 lb of sirloin cut into bite sized pieces and water. For me, I thought that was too much sirloin. So I went to Jewel and they had 2 6oz Filet Mignon (sp?) for $7.00. So I got that and used one of the filets and I added about 1.5 cups of frozen peas. I also added 1 extra cup of water and 1 beef bullion cubes to stretch the meal out more. IMO, the soup worked out very well. The 6 oz of filet was the perfect amount and the noodles didn't overcook and get mushy. Today (Sunday) I had a bowl of the soup and by gosh, it tastes even better as a leftover! Yum. I think I'll be making this when the weather cools off this fall.

Now Tom has arrived home and I am off for a run!

Much going on

2010-07-11T19:18:00.000-07:00

Went to a baby shower today, it seems like all of a sudden a plethora of people I know are having babies or getting married. Such fun times, tho in this weather it's a tough time to be in the last trimester of pregnancy for sure. It's been now 6 years since Anna was born and I am amazed at all the new stuff they have for babies, all kinds of gadgets and gizmos. And along with that I rec'd an email today from an author who wrote a set of books called The No Cry Solution as in The No Cry Sleep Solution and the No Cry Potty Training Solution. Her name is Elizabeth Pantley and you can go to her website to find out if the books are for you, and find out how to enter her book give away as well as a chance to win a $500 gift certificate to Babies R Us, you can get a lot of gizmos (or one fancy stroller) with that!

We were able to go down to visit my brother and his wife and children including the cutest baby ever, my nephew B. We also made our first visit to my parents new home. had german food in Helen, GA, climbed Brasstown Bald, swam in Lake Chatuge (sp?) and visited the lovely Ridges Resort . At the Ridges they have a wonderful chef AKA my bro. :-D
See some pics below!

Free Ice Cream!

2010-06-23T09:27:00.000-07:00

Saw this in an email, wanted to share w/anyone who might be in downtown Chicago:

Stop by the Tribune Tower next to WGN Radio's Showcase Studio (435 N. Michigan Avenue) for free Carvel Ice Cream Cake cups at 12:00 Noon on the following Friday's throughout the summer. Quantities are limited, so be sure to get there before they run out!

July 2, 2010

July 23, 2010

August 6, 2010

August 20, 2010

I have been working on writing fiction, so I have sorely neglected my blog. I shall endeavor to post more tout suite. :-D

What I am reading now: The Cassie Palmer Series by Karen Chance. It's great fun! I am super glad that I downloaded the 3rd books as an audio otherwise I'd never know the correct pronunciation for one of the main characters. Mircea. It's supposed to be pronouncec: Meer-cha. I was thinking it was: M-er-so.

One of those priceless things, 190 mycokereward points= one free game rental from Blockbuster=kids playing Toy Story 3 on the Wii and getting along!

Summer, how I love you!

2010-05-31T08:53:00.000-07:00

"Then followed that beautiful season...Summer....

Filled was the air with a dreamy and magical light; and the landscape

Lay as if new created in all the freshness of childhood."

- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

One of the best things about Summer is a nice breeze and a book at the beach. While I haven't made it to the beach yet, since it is Memorial Day weekend and you know with it being hot yesterday 90s and humid today, the beaches are packed. We are going to wait for a weekday. The beaches are pretty empty during the week. Wahoo!

I have found time to read, and am currently just starting book 6 of the Black Dagger Brotherhood. Now it is not my fault I am in the midst of reading an action packed series of books w/Vampires and what not. It is the fault of the girl I have been emailing with in Austrailia. She said I would love the series, so it's all her fault. LOL Most of the books I have been able to p/u at the library, which is great b/cause it is free and books 3 and 4 I *had* to download onto my phone.

The bummer part of the kindle app for iphone is 1. having to pay for books that I can't trade w/anyone. the big plus is when I read on the phone I can read in the dark. No book light needed.

When I picked up the black dagger brotherhood book from the library, I also grabbed a bunch of movies, cause again, FREE to borrow! So far with it being a much nicer than typical Memorial Day weekend, we haven't watched much TV. Tonight Tom will be all about the Blackhawks. He needs to wear a heart monitor when he watches the games. He is a high-strung mess!

I'm looking to make another run to Jewel today as they have this crazy good deal on Coke Products. 4 12 packs for 8 bucks plus then they have a coupon for a free pack of Hillshire Farms brats and polish sausage (value $.350) So I am stocking up on the diet pop that I love, as well as Minute Maid Light Lemonade. Plus I collect mycokerewards points, so every 12 pack is 10 points for free stuff like movies tix.

The other crazy good deal is I have a coupon for by 2 pkgs of Lays Potato chips and get $3 off produce. And now thru Wed the Lays chips are BOGO for $3.99, so I grab 2 bags of chips 1 plain and one bbq and get some produce (like yesterday I got potatoes and today I am going to get a watermelon --watermelon is on sale for 3.48. So that means:
4 12 packs of pop $8.00
1 pkage of cheddar wurst sausages free
2 bags of chips $3.99
1 watermelon $.48
So all that for $12.47 and I have a $5.00 off your next order coupon so my out of pocket for this stuff is:
$7.47 plus tx.
:-D Love the Memorial Day sales at grocery stores!!!

Well I am just waiting for the storm that is coming our way to hurry up and rain on us and move on so I can go for a long run since Tom is home!

House in Ogden Dunes, Indiana

2010-05-19T15:02:00.000-07:00

House in Ogden Dunes, Indiana

how awesome is this vacation home. Anyone want to start a collection for me? I'd love to stay there!!! I will need a vacation soon, school is just about out for the summer. Yikes! On the plus side the weather around here has taken a turn for the summer, which I am all about. Love summer. I also love the Indiana Dunes. wink wink. LOL

Today Anna informed me that yesterday her teacher Mrs. Z was scratched in the eye by her dog and had to go to the ER where they took out her eyeball and gave her a new eyeball. Hmmm, are you sure Anna?

Wide-eyed she nods her head, "ah, yah."

Man I feel like Crap on Toast

2010-05-15T11:15:00.000-07:00

I feel like crap on toast. I woke up this morning with a pounding headache and a stuffy nose. Either I have what Anna had, which I don't think I do b/cause she had a sore throat and a fever OR it's the cursed cottonwood trees that are spewing all over around here.

A nap is about all I want to do at this point, and if I am going to take one I really need to get on that, as I am taking the children to Bryce's Cub Scout Crossover picnic thingy. This AM even though I don't feel good, I made Bryce's little sailboat for the Rain Gutter Regatta. Are you thinking, why did you make it, why not Bryce? My answer is, you are right he should have made it, but I wasn't in the mood to work with him, and Tom was going golfing, so I slapped it together and told him to decorate it with a permanent marker, by all appearances it looks like an 8 year-old made it.

The house is feeling very quite since Patrick's 3 overnight guests have left. Now if it was clean in addition to being quiet that would be a little slice of heaven. I should not complain. Life is short and one day I'll be whining about how my house is always too quiet and how I miss when the kids were little and liked being around me.

Ooo, I thought of something very positive. There is food at the Crossover thingy, so I don't have to cook dinner. I will have to force the children to sit down and actually eat instead of run around playing the whole time (it's like a picnic=y kind of event); because if I have to hear children asking me what we are having for dinner when we leave the Crossover, my head just might explode.

Because of some really good cereal deals we have 8 boxes of Kellogs cereals in our pantry, so if they do start asking for food, I have my answer ready: Cereal. Cereal. Cereal.

There is a change in the background an a few words highlighted in this post, but I am too lazy to fix it. Off to nap!

Anna is quiet today

2010-05-13T16:25:00.000-07:00

Hotel for Dogs (Full Screen Edition)She has a sore throat, otherwise she'd be her usual loud and rambunctious self. Right now we are watching Hotel for Dogs, she says it is the Best Movie Ever! I'm not paying attention so I don't know what is going on only that Emma Roberts is in it.

This morning when I walked into our pantry, I got a most wonderful surprise, Tom had clean and organized it. Circle today on the calendar, that doesn't happen every day, every week, every month or even every year!

It's so clean I can share a picture:

And I am almost caught up on the Laundry, and basically that is an oxymoron. Is anyone ever really caught up on laundry. I got a new/old washer on Mothers Day that I bought with part of my pay from my Tastefully Simple party the night before. I love it. It is about 8x as old as the one we had, It has about 1/3 the capacity and no electronic panel. What it does have is all your basic washing machine parts that work and have worked for a long time. While our 'old' washing machine:The Kenmore Oasis with Canyon something and a whisper package and no agitator, that is only 3 years old is broke again.
Sears would like $75 to come out and more to fix it again, or we can buy a repair package that is good for a year for $225. Ya sounds great, We did that when it stopped working about 16 months ago. So I went on Craigslist last week, looked up garage sales and called around until this nice lady in Alsip said she had a washer that worked but was nothing to look at and she'd take $75 for it.

On Sunday we picked it up. It was my Mother's Day gift to me from me. Then Tom and I tried to move it into the basement by ourselves and I had visions of the washer sliding down the stairs and landing on Tom. The washer is just too heavy for me, I called Tom's brother and let them move it down the steps.

Other exciting news around here is that our strawberry patch is bursting with strawberries. They are not red as of yet, but when they are, fresh organic strawberries are the best!
+

So tired!

2010-05-05T20:41:00.000-07:00

It's been one super busy day. First off, I didn't sleep well last night, and then Patrick woke up with a fever and a sore throat. Again. This seems to be happening every few weeks. I've got to call the doctor, maybe he had some kind of strep thingy, ugh. Or it's the power of mind over matter, and his desire to stay home from school. As he tells me all the time and usually in tears on Monday mornings, he hates school.

Why does he hate school? He can't do what he wants. What does he want to do? Oh you know watch TV, play video games, write stories, eat a lunch at home.
Only 17 more days of school and he'll be one step closer to being done with school. I'm going to have to try that one on him. He's already logged just about 5 years of school, might as well finish it up ( in 7 more years plus college-but who's counting!)

Tomorrow morning is the Teacher Appreciation Breakfast at Patrick's school. I have been coordinating it with help of the PTA Pres, and this will be my first assignment as the new Hospitality PTA person. I hope it goes well, of course my biggest worry is:
1. not enough food
2. not enough coffee.

I was cooking all day to complement the items that are being donated by parents and a few businesses. I used a couple recipes from pillsbury.com because I needed breakfast-y caserole type options and then I found a recipe in the coupon section of the paper from sunday for a Cheesy Bacon Egg Bake. So I've got that along w/ Bacon and Cheese Tartlets (made with bacon bacon, so the muslim staff can eat it) and Bacon and Cheese Biscuit Quiche Type things. (made with turkey bacon) I also washed and cut up fruit, and made 3 different bagel spreads w/Tastefully Simple Products: 1. Bacon Bacon Spread 2. Sweet Strawberry Spread and for a veggie spread, Sweet Bell Pepper Spread. And I went to the local Jewel a few time today to get additonal supplies.

The exciting thing is that 1. all the stuff I made fit in the fridge and on one shelf, so everyone knew not to eat it tonight. The neverwracking thing is getting 10 packages of turkey brown and serve sausages all heated up and in the crockpot w/o the middles being cold.

Wish me luck that is goes well and we have happy full teachers! Don't tell anyone but I am hoping to get in a nap after the breakfast is over :-D

Cancun Continued.

2010-05-03T21:13:00.000-07:00

Black Magic Sanction (Rachel Morgan, Book 8) have to remember to go over to my library and pay the fine I owe for forgetting to return a kids cd-rom then I can finally get Black Magic Sanction book 8 in a series. This series of books rocks. I really love it, thax to Barbara who clued me into the series when she posted that the first book was free for kindle.

I'm also looking forward to the next book in the Mercy Thompson series. I love heroines!

Okay back to Cancun. The picture of me outside our room is right before we went to dinner on Friday night. We stood in line for the most popular/exclusive restaurant at the resort, which just means we had to wait in line, it wasn't like we couldn't get a table unless we knew someone. So we wound up have dinner with a bunch of other people at this restaurant that was called like Mo No Mama or something. The restaurant has Japanese/Asian Cuisine. They have chopsticks, if you want a fork, you've got to request it. Somewhat strangely in keeping with the Asian theme, the Mexican hostess has to wear a kimono. At least she doesn't have to bind her feet, she was pretty crabby already. I just looked at the chopsticks and tried to hold them like a couple pencils, and thought about trying to stab the maki rolls on the table. Lucky for me, my wonderful Tastefully Simple Sponsor, showed me how to hold the sticks and better yet explained to me how to hold them. So there I was grabbing sushi with my chopsticks, I am worldly now, I am wielding chopsticks.

I took a second roll and popped into my mouth with out dropping it. Quite exciting. I held back from eating more sushi to make sure I had plenty of room for my entree, something that sounded like Beef Gideon. The waiter gave us our plates with some flourish and the entree sizes were reasonable vrs. the usual 4 servings on one plate you find at restaurant here in the States. I even had a most yummy Mai Tai with my meal. Then all of a sudden , I was done. I couldn't take one more bit of my entree and I broke out in a sweat when asked about dessert. I felt terrible. So terrible I was afraid I'd puke on the way back to the room. I was in bed with the covers over my head by 930pm.

The next night we went back to the same restaurant because it was the best one at the resort, IMO, and Tom wanted to go back. When we were seated Sat night, I looked at the maki rolls on the menu and realized why I was sick on Friday night. All of the sushi rolls they serve, include avocados. So the food their is great, it was me with the allergic reaction. Tom was relieved to find out it was me and not the food.

Actually on Saturday night we were supposed to eat with the same fantastic crowd as the night before, but we didn't make it to the restaurant to be seated with them because the door fell off our room. The humidity had rotted the wood around the hinges and the door was almost completely off. It is the door's fault I fell for the second time. With the door broken we could close our door and in between the time when the door broke and the maintenance guy showed up to fix it, which he couldn't, he thought it was a lock problem not a wood problem. Whilst we were waiting for him, every surface of our room became slick with moisture from all the humid air now streaming in to it. This fact was made clear to us when I got off the bed, and on my second step to the dresser. Splat on the floor goes me. Tom was dumbfounded. One second I was standing, the next I wiped out. That is when we noticed our room floor had turned into a hockey rink. This was completely apropos, as Tom was watching Blackhawks highlights on the laptop. Just in case you were wondering if it was the floor or mai tais, I don't need any drinks to fall, apparently I am super good at falling w/o any help.

They couldn't fix our door, so we moved down the hall to a new room, which was nice, the bellman moved our stuff and we got fresh towels and soap. Because of the way the resort rooms angle out, maximizing any views for the guests, our room was just a bit different from the previous one. You see each room had a big stone column, which gave a sense of separation between the bed and the bathroom. In the middle of the night, I used the restroom and when I walked back to the bed I walked, wait for it,
yes! right into the column. Can you believe it? Tom is on his laptop right now taking out some additional life insurance on me.

Sunday I was ready to come home, not because I wasn't having fun and memorable times, but because I missed the kids and home. Being the incredibly caring wife that I am, I sat in the middle seat on the way home. Fortunately I was able to fall asleep and not notice in was in the middle seat for most of the ride.

We arrived home to rain, temps in the 50s, but that was alright because I knew that we have the rest of spring and all of summer to enjoy.

Now that it has been just over a week since our trip, the getting sick and injuring myself parts of the trip are already fading in my memory into just a funny story and what remains is the first vacation Tom and I have had together in 11 years. We spent more time together and talked to each other more than we have in a good 5 years.

Now I have to do the mastercard thing.
Trip to Cancun: free cause I earned it, walking into a column: one knot on my forehead, finding out that I still like spending time with my husband: PRICELESS!