Monthly Archives: October 2010

Menu Plan Monday 10/18/10 & New Recipe for “Texas Chicken Vegetable Soup”

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Fall is definitely in the air and I’m loving it!  The trees have just a hint of changing colors which means that in two or three weeks the colors should be brilliant…hopefully!  The crackling sound of walking in piles of fallen leaves on the grass plus the coolness of the air is so refreshing.

When it’s fall weather then I like good, homemade soup.  And that’s what is on the menu for this week:

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MONDAY: Soup & salad

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“Texas Chicken Vegetable Soup” 

INGREDIENTS:

  • 2 cups cooked chicken, bite-size pieces
  • 2 cups chicken broth, fat drained off
  • 1/2 cup chopped onion
  • 1/2 cup sliced carrots
  • 1/2 cup frozen peas
  • 1/2 cup frozen corn
  • 1/2 cup frozen baby Lima beans
  • 1/2 cup salsa (we use medium hot)
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon parsley flakes
  • 1/4 teaspoon pepper
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil

Bring broth with chopped onion to a boil and reduce heat to medium.  Add remaining ingredients, cover and bring to a boil again and then lower heat to simmer.  Cook just until the carrots and veggies are tender.

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TUESDAY: Leftover soup & another salad

WEDNESDAY: Rotisserie Chicken (a staple when I’m working), baked sweet potatoes, salad

THURSDAY: Leftover Rotisserie Chicken and veggies

FRIDAY: Chopped roast (rump roast cooked in crock pot first) with Bar-B-Q Sauce on buns, carrot sticks, chips

Product Review: Airwear Lenses From Essilor

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* Update:  I’ve had my Airwear Lenses for way over a year and a half now, and I love them.  They are durable and light weight which makes them so comfortable to wear.

I was given the opportunity to review Airwear lenses recently.  I sent my eyeglass frames to them, they put in Airwear progressive lenses for me, and I received them this week.  They are great!   I was noticing before I received these lenses that when I drove at night, the glare bothered me.  Now when I leave for work in the morning before the sun comes up, the glare from lights doesn’t bother me anymore.

The reason that the glare doesn’t bother me now is because these lenses are made with Scotchgard Protector, the most technologically advanced No-Glare lenses available.  They also have exclusive scratch-resistance technology, are lightweight (they are so lightweight that I don’t notice I have them on sometimes), and provide 100 percent UVA and UVB protection.  How awesome is that!

Here are some facts about Airwear:

  • Airwear lenses are tough and durable. They are so tough that NASA uses the same material to construct visors for astronauts.
  • Airwear lenses are 43% lighter and 25% thinner than regular lenses, and 12 times more impact-resistant than standard plastic lenses.
  • Airwear lenses offer safe, durable lenses for those who like to play sports.
  • 100% of the production waste from Airwear lenses is recycled, greatly helping the environment during the manufacturing process.
  • Airwear lenses are manufactured using 100% recycled water which conserves millions of gallons of water annually.
  • Airwear lenses provide 100% protection from harmful UVA and UVB rays.  Over 12 million people develop blindness from cataracts annually, and about 20% of those cases may be caused or made worse by sun exposure.

Here are some additional eye-care tips and facts on choosing lenses and a video demonstration of Airwear lenses impact resistance.

* Airwear provided me with lenses for this review. However, I did not receive any monetary compensation for this review.  This is my honest opinion of their product.

Books

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There’s something about books that’s appealing to so many people.  As an educator, I enjoying looking through children’s books and have a small collection from my years of teaching.   I especially look for children’s books with wonderful illustrations.  Being a visual learner myself, I think pictures can capture the imagination of a young child and help them to fully enjoy a story and want to look at books on their own.   And I can’t think of a better gift to give children than a book they will enjoy for a long time!

Christmas Shopping

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A lot of people are already thinking about Christmas which is a little over three months away.  They’re thinking about what gifts to buy and all the planning that goes with the holidays.  We’ve been so busy that I haven’t had a chance to give it much thought, but I know there’s no one who uses cigars humidor so that’s not on my shopping list.  Our schedule is going to be busy until I’m off a week for Thanksgiving, so that’s probably when I’ll start planning.

Annual Children’s Clothing Resale Event

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Our daughter, Christi, loves the children’s clothing & items annual resale event out where they live.  It’s held at a convention center and is a very popular event.  She has to price all of her things she wants to sell and enter them into the computer beforehand.  Then at the time of the event, every item has been tagged and can be scanned with a barcode scanner.  I don’t know if they use a Symbol LS2208 or what type of scanner they use, but I do know that it makes this huge event run much smoother.  Check-out time is greatly reduced, and each person selling items is more assured of getting the money they are due to get.

T-shirts

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My favorite things to wear if I’m at home or out running errands are jeans and a T-shirt.  I either wear a solid color T-shirt or one from where I went to college or maybe one I bought on vacation somewhere.  Some really cute vintage t shirts are available that look like they would be fun to wear, and someday I might get one of those.  There’s just something so comfortable about T-shirts!  I guess they’re a favorite of a lot of people and will always be in style.

Friendly Friday 10/15/10

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Welcome to Friendly Friday!

Remember, YOU can host the link list on your blog too! Just click “Get the code here…” at the bottom of the list. The code is different every week, so be sure to get the new code when hosting Friendly Friday on your blog. Hosting the list is a great way for everyone to get even more traffic to their blog.

Thanks for joining the Friendly Friday celebration hosted by Christi at Frugal Novice, Xenia at Thanks, Mail Carrier and Charla at Healthy Home Blog! We invite you to join us every Friday to make more friends in blogville, get more blog followers and follow other great blogs out there.

To join in the Friendly Friday celebration, include your family-friendly link in our list, follow the hostesses in the first 3 spots and then start blog hopping! Visit other blogs on the list and comment to give them some blog love. Then take a minute to follow them through Google Friend Connect – this is a good way to keep up with other blogs, but also lets us show support to each other! Please DO NOT list your giveaways here, links must be to either your homepage or your Friday posting with your blog title. All others will be deleted.

When people comment on your blog and let you know they’re a part of Friendly Friday, return the favor and follow them back. This way everyone gets traffic and followers out of participating, and it’s a win-win situation. We would love for you to also grab our Friendly Friday button and post it on your blog and/or in a post – the more bloggers that find out about Friendly Friday and participate, the better!

Spotlight on Friendly Friday Followers! We love your participation and want to show it! In addition to gaining followers, each week we’ll select three blogs at random and will feature links and a write-up for those blogs in the content of next week’s Friendly Friday post. There are so many seriously wonderful blogs out there, and this will be a great way to highlight some of those each week. Say hello to the lucky chosen 3 for this week (and feel free to stop by and give them a little extra love):

Kara at Ramblings of a Marine Wife and her husband have two children, “little man” who is four years old and “baby girl.”   She loves her family, friends, coupons, freebies, and sweepstakes, and she shares her passion for saving money with others.  What makes her tear up?  Any song having to do with the military.

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At Fabulous Finds by NimblerGrove, Tiffany writes about her “Island Boy” husband, Sean, and her “Island Girl” daughter, Jasmine, who inspires Tiffany every day.  She enjoys photography, doing crafts, gardening, fishing, traveling, cooking, and riding roller coasters.  Tiffany also has an etsy shop and would love to have you stop by!

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Having a passion for shopping and finding great deals, Jessica at Inspiring You to Save likes to share this info with others.   She has two young boys, is married to the love of  her life, and enjoys reading.  Jessica readily admits that she is a shopaholic which enables her to share about great coupons and grocery deals.

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Wardrobes

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Now that I’m working full-time, I’m glad I already have clothes that are perfect for wearing in a school setting.  Back when I was a stay-at-home mom and did volunteer work at a food pantry, I wore jeans all the time.  Now I wear nice pants and tops, shirts and vests.  I have no need for special occasion dresses, but I do wear dresses to church sometimes.  However, when the weather turns cold then I tend to wear pants most of the time.  That’s the extent of my wardrobe.  What does your wardrobe consist of?

How to Prevent Bed Bugs

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Since there is a bed bug epidemic in the US now, what can we do to help prevent bed bugs from entering our homes?  These bugs can be anywhere including nice hotels, dorm rooms, apartments, and other places where there is a frequent turnover of people.  They can be on new clothes, new sheets, new towels, etc, because these items are often made in countries where bed bugs are a problem.

Here are some good tips from various sources on how to prevent bed bugs from being an uninvited guest:

  • Check out the  BED BUG REGISTRY before staying in a hotel.
  • Keep suitcases off the floor in hotels.
  • Wash all clothes as soon as you return home from a trip.
  • Vacuum luggage as soon as you return home from a trip.
  • Do not purchase clothes and hang them in your closet! Always wash new clothes or send to the cleaners first.  (It doesn’t matter how much the item cost!)
  • Always wash new sheets and new towels which most of us do anyway.  But also wash new curtains or any new fabric where these bugs could be hiding.
  • Cover your mattresses with a plastic mattress cover.
  • (Maybe put stuffed animals in the dryer for 20 minutes?)

Here are a few sources for more information:

eHow

Good Housekeeping.com

WebMD

Wikihow