Works-for-Me Wednesday: DIY Recipe Card Holder

I have many cookbooks, cooking magazines, printed out recipes from blogs, and recipes in my recipe box neatly printed on recipe cards. I have a nice cookbook holder from Williams-Sonoma, but my recipe cards fall through the holder because they're too small.

I think I first saw this idea on Martha Stewart's website and I thought it was great...and I think it looks kind of cute.

You take a fork and place it tines-up in a glass or a jar. You then slide the recipe card between the tines and you have a recipe card holder. It's really slick, really easy, and doesn't cost a cent. And that works for me!!


For more Works-For-Me Wednesday tips head over to We Are THAT Family! Have a great day!!

Linky Dinks

Ok. I decided that I'm going to start keeping track of great articles that I've been reading and pass them along to you. My comments are in italics. Enjoy!

An Open Letter To the People In the Fashion Industry Who Design Clothes for Grown Women
~ Rocks In My Dryer (Friday, 4/17/09)
SO. TRUE. I completely agree with her on this topic. The cami. I don't know if I'll ever get used to it. You can check out more what I have to say about this in her comment section.

Sing Over Me
~ Vintage Mommy (Monday, 4/20/09)
I'd like to see if the library has this cd to check it out. Oh, and I love the verse from Zephaniah that she quotes. Would be beautiful for a nursery.

Baked Shredded Beef Taquitos
~ For the Love of Cooking (Wednesday, 4/15/09)
Mmmmm! This looks so yummy. I have some shredded beef in the freezer and thought I'd make BBQ beef sandwiches, but I'm changing my menu so we can have these. Yumm-O!

Menu Plan 4/26-5/23

May is the month of graduation parties around here. So I plan meals for Friday and Saturday night and see if there's any parties that will take the place of my having to cook. (Yay!!) It's also getting warm enough to start grilling. I plan on grilling most Mondays. If the weather isn't great, I'll move that meal to another day of the week when it's nicer out.

Week 1 - April 26-May 2
Sunday - homemade pizza
Monday - spaghetti, breadsticks
Tuesday - chicken salad sandwiches, chips, fresh veggies
Wednesday - breakfast
Thursday (Date Night) - chicken and rice, lettuce salad
Friday - leftovers (mom gone)
Saturday - graduation parties

Week 2 - May 3-9
Sunday - homemade pizza
Monday - grilled burgers, fried potatoes and veggies
Tuesday - meal at Growth Group
Wednesday - breakfast
Thursday (Date Night) - leftovers
Friday - graduation party
Saturday - graduation party

Week 3 - May 10-16
Sunday - MOTHER'S DAY - husband cooks? ;)
Monday - grilled brats, corn casserole
Tuesday - crock pot chicken & stuffing, mint peas
Wednesday - breakfast
Thursday (Date Night) - leftovers
Friday - crispy-baked chicken legs, egg noddles, salad
Saturday - Korean beef short ribs, rice, Chinese veggies

Week 4 - May 17-23
Sunday - homemade pizza
Monday - tacos, potato "oles"
Tuesday - meal at Growth Group
Wednesday - breakfast
Thursday (Date Night) - leftovers
Friday - wedding
Saturday - marinated pork chops, salad, corn

I will post the recipes as I make them.

Loads and Loads

I've been doing laundry all day. And this is not your catch-up laundry day...I've been caught up. Everyone's closets and dressers are full of clean clothes. But we're potty training. It's been going really well, until today.

We take our 3-year-old to the potty several times a day and hopefully he'll catch on and go by himself. He's been doing really well and only has an accident when I forget to remind him to use the potty.

Yesterday, we had one accident so those clothes were soaking in our bathroom. This morning he had another accident so I put those clothes along with the ones soaking in the washer with any other kiddie darks. Just as that load was being put into the dryer, he had another accident. So, I got another bucket ready to soak because I didn't want to do another load of laundry today (usually I do just a load a day and that's been working really well). But then he peed through his third set of clothes. So, I took the clothes out of the bucket added the new "dirties" and added all of the adult darks.

So, I'm folding the first load of darks and our 16-month-old wakes up. I go into his room to rescue him and the scent was awful!! Truly the worst smelling dirty in a VERY long time. It was all over his pants, his socks and his bedding - including his beloved blankie. So another load of laundry...all before 9am.

PLEASE, if you have any potty-training tips, I'd love to hear them. I am getting quite desperate at this time. He just doesn't seem to care, but I sure do and I'm really tired at the amount of laundry this morning. At least they were small loads.

Grown-up Peas and Carrots

...or Carrots and Peas

I never minded eating vegetables when I was growing up. But those flavors need a little updating. So today I give you "Grown-up Peas and Carrots".


Grown-Up Peas and Carrots
(I'm totally guessing on the measurements here)
serves 2

1/2 to 1 Tbsp olive oil
2 carrots, cut into sticks
1/4 onion cut into slices
1/2 to 1 Tbsp Balsamic vinegar
salt
pepper
1/2 cup frozen peas, thawed

Heat olive oil in a small skillet until shimmering. Add carrots, onion and Balsamic vinegar. Sprinkle on salt and pepper. Saute until carrots are tender and onions are caramelized. Add peas and heat through.

It's pretty easy. I didn't know what to make for a side dish to go with my Baked Cod so I just started putting stuff in a pan. Hope you enjoy!!

Works-for-Me Wednesday: Make Your Own Cake Stand for Only $2

I've been wanting a nice cake stand for a while now but it's not on my "need" list so I've been living without..or borrowing from friends (thanks!!). Until now.

My husband and I recently MC'd our good friends' wedding reception. I talked to her ahead of time and asked her how planning was going and what she planned for the reception. She said that the centerpiece on the table was going to be cheese cake on cake stands of different heights and that's when she told me her secret: a $1 dessert dish, a $1 plate from Dollar General and a little hot glue (you can use glue that's made especially for glass if you want it more permanent).

So, her mom gave me one to take home after the reception and here's all you need to do for your very pretty $2 cake stand:

Buy a glass plate and dessert dish and make sure you have a glue gun or some glass glue.


Tip the dessert dish upside down and apply hot glue to the rim.


Press the plate into the glue while centering it on the dessert dish. And there you have it!! A $2 cake stand. That totally works for me!


Here's how my friend's looked at her reception (notice the one closest in the picture; it's made with a sundae dish to give it more height):


For more Works-For-Me Wednesday tips head on over to We're THAT Family.

Works-for-Me Wednesday: Preventing Bikini Bumps

When I was a kid I loved watching the Miss America Pageant. My favorite was the Evening Gown Competition. They just looked so elegant. Several years ago they interviewed some of the Beauties and asked what their favorite beauty tip was and there's one that I've been following ever since:

using powder deoderant on your bikini area after you shave: it will prevent those nasty red bikini bumps

It really works. I use powder deo anyways so this was an easy addition to my morning routine. Just add a little deo to the bikini area. I have sesitive skin so I continue to apply deo for a few days after shaving. Really, this works!!

For more Works-For-Me Wednesday tips head over to We Are THAT Family!

Spanish Rice

I've been looking for a yummy Spanish Rice recipe for a while. I know that it's healthier to make fresh than to make it from a box, so I started digging around the internet. This was our favorite Spanish Rice recipe. It's a little spicy (our 3-year-old refused to eat it and our 15-month-old loved it...go figure) so you can adjust the spices to your liking. Enjoy!


Spanish Rice

2 tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 onion, chopped
2 green onions, sliced
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
1 cup uncooked rice
1 garlic clove, chopped
2 cups chicken broth
1 (10 oz) can diced tomatoes with chili's
1 cup frozen corn (can used canned corn)
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp salt
parsley
1/2 tsp cumin

Heat the vegetable oil over med-high heat in a large skillet. Saute onions and peppers until soft; add garlic and rice, browning the rice well. Pour in chicken broth, tomatoes with chili's, corn, and spices. Simmer on low for 30 minutes or until rice is cooked and liquid is absorbed.

You can omit the corn if you like, but it added much needed sweetness to the spice. Yumm-O!!