Yearly Archives: 2010

Exercising

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Now that it’s warmer weather, I see a lot of people out exercising in this awesome spring weather.  Some people may be trying to muscle up by exercising and reading muscle supplement reviews to find the best supplements to take.  Others may simply be taking a nice walk to get some form of aerobic exercise while enjoying the beauty of springtime.  That would be me.  I’m not big on exercising a whole lot, but I love to take a walk outside by a nice meadow and enjoy the beauty of nature.

Things I Love Thursday: “Antique Broom Closet” Pantry

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One thing that my kitchen didn’t have that I really wanted was a pantry or an abundance of storage space.  I looked several different places such as Pier One, Target, Walmart, and other places.  All of the cabinets I found were too wide for the space.  I was so excited when I found this antique broom closet at an antique mall.  It was just the right width, was unique because it was an actual broom closet, and caught my attention as soon as I saw it. I knew that it was what I wanted! It was the perfect fit for what we needed.

It had small ledges on the inside walls, and I discovered that a cookie sheet turned upside down would fit on those small ledges to make a strong shelve that would easily support the weight put on top of  it.  I bought two more cookie sheets so that my “pantry” would have three shelves.  And if I ever decide to actually use this as a broom closet, I can easily take out the cookie sheets in just a few seconds.  It has quite an assortment of things in it as you can tell and ended up being a place to put things I didn’t have room for instead of being an actual pantry.  Someday I plan to reorganize (and update our kitchen but I still want to keep the broom closet).

Here’s another picture that I like that shows the authenticity of the broom closet.  It’s the actual company plate at the top of the cabinet.

Like I mentioned, someday I want to update our kitchen but still keep the broom closet.  So far, all we’ve done is to replace our microwave.  At least that’s one step in redoing our kitchen.  And you know what?  At this point in my life, that is at the bottom of my priority list.  With all of the poor people suffering in Haiti and other places, I’m  thankful to have a kitchen that has everything I need.  What a blessing!

Here’s one more picture from a couple of years ago showing the entire broom closet from top to bottom. I took down the wallpaper border soon after that.  (You can barely see the microwave, our only update so far.)



Acne!

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It’s so hard being a teenager or young adult and not knowing which acne products work and which do not.  And just because a person thinks they outgrow acne doesn’t mean they won’t get an occasional pimple (or zit) from time to time.  As women’s hormones change, they are particularly susceptible to getting one of those unwanted pimples on their face.  I guess acne is something we just have to live with!

UBP10 After-Party!

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For those of you who are not familiar with UBP10, that stands for the “Ultimate Blog Party 2010” which is hosted yearly by 5MinutesForMom.com and involves hundreds of people.  It’s a great way to meet new bloggers, discover a lot of great blogs, and also have a chance to win some awesome prizes.  I’ve discovered several new blogs that I’ll enjoy visiting again, and here are three of them:

Homemade Sugar-Free Mint Lemonade

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INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 lemon (riper lemons are juicier) for each large glass of lemonade
  • Stevia – we use KAL brand Stevia (natural sugar-free herb which is considered by many to be the best choice for sugar replacement)
  • Water
  • Ice
  • Mint leaves, fresh off the plant (I used leaves from a Peppermint Plant)

DIRECTIONS:

Juice the lemons.  First, roll the lemons on the kitchen counter, mashing them as you roll.  This helps make juicing easier.   Cut the lemons in half and take out all the seeds you can.  Here are a few suggestions on how to juice a lemon:

  • The old fashioned way:  squeeze, squeeze, squeeze each lemon half
  • Use an inexpensive juicer as pictured below.  (I bought mine in a resale shop years ago, and it’s probably considered an antique now.)
  • Use a Le Creuset Citrus Juicer (Christi, I listed this one for you)
  • Use a more expensive juicer (they range anywhere up to $549.00 – I don’t recommend this)

After you juice the lemons, add sweetener to taste (Stevia is what we use).  Pour over ice with mint leaves.

NOTE:  The Peppermint Plant is the very beginning of our garden this year.  I’m excited to finally start one because we had a huge garden during all of my childhood.  Our garden this year will start small.  I will be posting the progress with it under “Gardening.”

Get a Second Opinion

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There are a lot of new procedures and surgeries available today that I don’t know much about, for example bariatric surgery.   Any type of health procedure or surgery should be researched to some degree by the patient or their family so they have some knowledge about what is going to happen.  That is what our family does.  And it’s always an excellent idea to get a second opinion which is also something we have done.  On one occasion, the second opinion revealed that the procedure was not even necessary, and the professional who gave the first decision agreed with the second opinion.  So my advice, try to always get a second opinion!

Four Foods on Friday 112

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From Val's Kitchen

Val says, “Hi everyone.  What can you make with meat or poultry, rice, cheese and a vegetable?   Val’s answer:  Cook rice. Add in cooked boneless chicken, cream of chicken soup, broccoli and cheddar cheese. Season to taste. Heat in oven to set or serve as it is.
Here’s my answer, and it’s almost like Val’s.  This is a quick & easy meal that is very satisfying, and it’s called:

Chicken & Brown Rice with Broccoli & Cheese
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INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 cup brown rice
  • 2 1/2 cups water
  • 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2 cups cooked chicken, bite-size
  • 1 can 98% fat free cream of mushroom soup
  • frozen broccoli
  • freshly ground salt & pepper
  • 1/2 cup sharp shredded cheese, reduced-fat

DIRECTIONS:

Cook brown rice in water and olive oil according to package directions.  As soon as it’s done, add the chicken and soup.  Stir.  Add just a little more water if necessary.  Place the frozen broccoli on top (break it apart), place the lid back on top of the pan, and cook on medium low for 10-15 minutes until broccoli is tender.  Add shredded cheese, salt and pepper to taste.

FREE Mr. Jim’s Pizza on April 15th with Code

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Go to Mr. Jim’s Pizza on Facebook, to “Pizza Offers” at the top and then to “Get My Code.”  You will be given a code to write down.  Then on April 15th, go to mrjims.com to place an online order.  Just type your code in the coupon box.  It’s that simple…& it’s FREE!  Yay!

Central Market In-Store Coupon for FREE Mushrooms & Gourmet Baby Cucumbers

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This week at Central Market through April 13, 2010, if you buy a container of Organic Baby Spinach for $5.99 with an in-store COUPON then you get mushrooms (regularly $1.99) and Gourmet Baby Cucumbers (regularly $2.79) for free.  Since regular spinach usually has a high amount of pesticides on it, I love being able to get a good deal on organic.  So using these fresh ingredients plus organic carrots (another veggie usually high in pesticides), broccoli, green olives, and Hormel Natural Turkey slices cut and cooked in EVOO (coupons for Hormel Natural Turkey), we had a delicious meal that was super healthy!  Here’s our salad:

Menu Plan Monday: 4-12-10 & Recipe for Chicken Rotisserie Soup

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This is actually our menu for last week that I never finished.  It was a crazy week, so I wanted to go the easy route for this menu.  My menus are for two people right now, but when our son comes home from college in May, they will be for three people or more if he has friends over.    Last time, he had six friends over making nine of us at the table.  It was fun!

Monday: Savory Rotisserie Chicken from Krogers with corn (organic, frozen) and baby lima beans (frozen)

Tuesday: Leftover Rotisserie Chicken with peas & carrots (frozen) and salad made with Romaine lettuce & tomatoes

Wednesday: “Almost Homemade Rotisserie Chicken Soup”   This spur-of-the-moment recipe was a hit with my husband who commented several times saying, “SOUPerb,” etc.  It just happened to be the right blend of spices, chicken and veggies, that tasted good to us and was very satisfying.  I’m guessing at some of the amounts because I didn’t measure anything.  I think most of us do that!

INGREDIENTS FOR SOUP:

  • 1 can chicken broth
  • 1/2 medium sized onion, chopped
  • 1 1/2 cups bite size pieces of chicken from Krogers’ Savory Rotisserie Chicken (Remember that whatever seasonings are on the chicken will affect the taste of the soup.   “Savory” seasonings work well with soup.)
  • 1 can Progresso Light “Roasted Chicken & Vegetables” soup  (or left-over pasta and extra broth)
  • 2 cups of favorite frozen veggies – I used left-over corn, lima beans, peas & carrots from Monday and Tuesday nights (plus I used 1/2 cup canned french-style green beans, cut into 1-inch strips,  which my husband really liked)
  • 4 teaspoons parsley
  • 1/2 teaspoon thyme
  • 1 teaspoon minced garlic
  • 2 tablespoons EVOO
  • 1/4 -1/2 cup salsa, depending on how spicy you like it

DIRECTIONS:

Cook the onion in the chicken broth for 10 minutes.  Add the remaining ingredients, bring just to a boil and then simmer for 10 more minutes.  Quick and “easy as pie.”

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(I wonder how that saying originated, “easy as pie.”  I’ve heard it all my life.   OK, I just googled it, and the earliest reference to it was in a Rhode Island newspaper in 1887.  I read in another article what it probably means is “easy as eating pie.”  Big difference!  I think a lot of cooks would agree that making a pie is not always easy and simple.  Except for my mom, cousin Sherry, and a friend of ours, Jackie K, who could probably make pies in their sleep.  Actually, those of you who make pies a lot probably think it’s pretty easy.  Hmmm…I need to put making more pies on my list of things to improve on.)

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Thursday:

Homemade Salmon Patties,  black-eyed peas (frozen) & fresh tomato salad

Friday:

Tired on Fridays!  Bring something in!