The Mommy Organizer

Won't You Join Me?

2010-02-22T14:40:00.000-08:00

to my new web address here..

I would be so grateful if you would change me in your reader too....

Organize Your Schedule

2010-02-13T08:05:00.000-08:00

When I was pregnant with my first child I was very nervous. I really did not have much experience with babies and there was so much stuff to know. Fortunately I had my mom close to me and talked to her on a daily basis. We were talking about baby bottles and feeding. I was getting so confused on how to feed, when to feed, how much to feed, and everything else associated with feeding. It was then that I admitted I was scared. Scared of messing up which I feared would then hurt my baby.

My mom was so good. She reassured me over and over and said what I was feeling was normal and she went through it too. She told me that everything I would need to know would come to me naturally. However I did remember one piece of advice she did give me. She told me "the best thing you can do is get organized." Now I was already a fairly neat and organized person anyway. But I still took the advice and realized that in order to keep my life in order I was going to have to ramp up the organization skills.

And that's how my organizing obsession started.

I have been with children for 17 years and I am still honing my skills to this day. I am always trying to think of ways to better organize my home, my life, my day to day activities. After all, with 4 kids things can quickly get out of hand if you are not on top of them constantly.

One of the areas that I have found that has been the most difficult to keep organized is my personal and job schedule. I cannot let that get away from me because if I do, things quickly spiral out of control. I forget appointments and key activities, meals get missed, and I start to lose things.

Over the years I have used many types of calendars and lists to keep my whole life straight and have finally created one that has stuck with me over the past year.

You can access it here.

It's really simple to use and I think it covers just about everything I need to do and remember over the next week. I usually fill it right as the weekend starts for the upcoming week. It takes a few minutes for me to bring up my work calendar and home calendar. Everything I need to remember and every place I need to be is right here to remind me.

Paper Clutter

2010-02-01T17:48:00.000-08:00

I don't know about you but a ton of mail and paperwork always flows through my house. If I don't have a system set up to handle it all, I can quickly become buried. But I am not perfect and sometimes have found myself buried. It is then that I reinforce my current systems and clean out.

The key to being free of paper clutter is to address it as soon as it enters the door of your home. For me that would be in the form of mail, kids backpacks, and email. Yes, email is a new form of paper clutter without being physical paper.

Here are a few ways I have set myself up to be as proactive as possible with this issue.

Mail

Sort through the mail over the garbage can.
Throw any junk mail away immediately. Shred if necessary.
Open up all bills and put them in the bill pile.
Throw the catalogs away (you can usually find them online).
Magazines that you truly want to read go into the read pile.
All other paperwork that you keep should be filed in an filing cabinet.

If there is not a place to put your particular piece of mail that you don't want to discard then find a place for it. The key to paper organization is finding a place to appropriately house your paper materials. The other key is knowing what you need to throw out.

Kids paperwork

I have four kids so I can quickly collect artwork, schoolwork, and other general paperwork from the school. I have set up a system to handle all of this paper that is fairly quick and simple.

I keep a folder for each child for artwork and schoolwork that I want to keep. This folder goes into the same filing cabinet as all of my other house papers. It's easy to keep it all in one spot. The easier the better. However the downside is that these folders can fill up quickly. To combat this, I purge these folders every so often. I have found that I tend to keep many of the papers that my child brings home from school but when I go back to look at these papers a certain time later I tend to discard more easily. The long term keepers are kept in a permanent airtight container that I keep in the attic for memory keeping.

To recap:

1. Papers come home from school. Some is kept and some is discarded.
2. Kept papers are filed in the child's folder in the filing cabinet.
3. After a few months, the folder is reviewed. More papers are purged.
4. The kept papers get moved to a permanent container in the attic.

Email

It's almost everyone's personal experience that email can quickly get out of control if you don't set up a system to handle it as it comes in.

This is why I really love email programs such as Microsoft Outlook. Outlook (and other similar programs) is great for many reasons. One of those is the ease with which one can create and save emails to various folders and subfolders. Create logical folders so that your emails can be stored and retrieved easily. As soon as you get an email that needs to be filed, file it!

I love Outlook because I can create a "rule". Rules are good because you can have an action taken on an email right before it hits your inbox. You can have that email filed, deleted, or something else automatically for you. This is good if you get repetitive emails.

Unsubscribe to lists you don't want to be on. This happens to me all of the time when I register for something and you give them your email address. Almost all of the time (unless you uncheck those default boxes) you will get placed on someone's email list for all kinds of ads and promotions. Most of them allow you to unsubscribe. Take the time to do this up front will help you on the back end.

Taking care of your paper clutter is about setting up systems that work and addressing the paper right away.

Find Lost Treasure

2010-01-26T12:35:00.000-08:00

I have been bugging my teen boys for weeks (months) to clean out their room. It wasn't until I was at the end of my rope that I realized that they have absolutely no interest whatsoever in cleaning out their room. And when they started telling me that I needed to buy them more black socks because they no longer had any did I decide to take over their room. I couldn't imagine where all of their black socks had gone. I took matters into my own hands.

I went in their room with a mission to find the 20 pairs of black socks that I knew lurked in there. I also was going to find shorts that they told me they no longer have as well. After all, clothes don't just walk away.

My approach was fairly straightforward and would work in just about any bedroom. I worked on the closet first and then moved to the bed area and then the TV area. Closet was the biggest challenge because kids notoriously do not organize or purge their clothes. I am sure there are exceptions but at least this rule is alive in my house. I start by pulling all of the clothes out of the closet. We make a few piles: one to give away, one to keep, and one to pass down to their youngest brother. The boys were a part of the process and as I held up the item we decided which pile it goes into. The decisions have to be quick and kids usually know which of their clothes no longer fit or is no longer in style. We went through the belts, shoes, and baskets. Every keeper got hung back up on the rod in an organized fashion grouped by type (shirts, pants, tshirts, etc). To my kids' surprise the baskets which contained shorts and t-shirts were crammed with shorts that still had the tags on and ended up buried at the bottom. What we also found were several pairs of black socks. I struggled to contain myself so as not to relish in what I knew all along (that the socks and shorts didn't just walk away).

When the closet was finished I moved on to the drawers under their beds. This is where they keep their underwear, pjs, and socks (which they say they no longer have any of). What I found hidden beneath the underwear were more socks! We sorted through these drawers and paired up all the socks, folded up all the underwear and threw everything out that no longer fit or was wearable.

While I was at the bed area I decided to take a look under the bed. I figured that surely I would find treasure there and I was not disappointed. More socks!

We moved on to their end table that they somehow has become a total junk drawer. I emptied the whole thing out much to their horror. The whining tone didn't sway me. We were not going to do a partial purge. Everything was emptied out of that drawer onto the floor. We went through old papers, candy wrappers, and overall junk that just needed to be trashed. I did find a few surprises that came from that drawer..money and gift cards that totalled $75 in value.

Only essential items were put back into the end table drawer and on that happy note we were finished with the purge. Lost treasure totalled $75 + the cost of black socks and striped shorts. Overall the mission was a success.

Thank You Notes

2010-01-16T11:34:00.000-08:00

I was flipping through my blog reader this morning. I love every blog in my reader and believe me, there are so many of them that it's a full time job just keeping up with them. So I found one blog post in particular here that made me think about the topic of thank you notes.

She touched on a subject that I feel is really an important art form that seems to have been lost in our culture. Why is it lost? Is it no longer important for kids and adults to write thank you notes letting the person who picked out the gift, paid for it, wrapped it up, and shipped it off to know that you appreciated their effort?

It's a subject that comes to the forefront whenever my kids get gifts. They whine and complain about having to write the notes. I don't let them use the gift until they write it. I always wonder if they will continue when they become adults and don't have me hanging over them nagging them to do it.

In generally discussing the subject with friends and co-workers I find out that many people don't get thank you notes from the person receiving their gift and frankly don't expect to. That's sad to me. It's common courtesy and we should be passing this courtesy on to our children. And let's lead by example by showing them how important it is to write those thank you notes.

Subway Southwest Sauce - Knock Off

2010-01-13T08:40:00.000-08:00

So after yesterday's post I started googling some of my family's favorite dishes that they order when we eat out. I am on a mission to try to recreate some of those favorite dishes at home in order to stick to my 2010 goal of eating out less.

One of the recipes I googled was Subway's Southwest Sauce. My husband loves to eat lunch every Saturday at Subway and he gets a sub with this sauce on it. I started thinking that I could probably make that same sub at home. I found a recipe for the sauce online and I am going to try it this weekend. Let's see if he agrees.

Subway Southwest Sauce

Ingredients

1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 ounce Dijon mustard
1/2 ounce freshly squeezed lime juice
1 ounce chipotle chile in adobo, pureed
1/4 ounce fresh garlic, minced
salt, to taste

Directions

1. Combine mayonnaise, mustard, lime juice, chipotle and garlic.
2. Add salt to taste.
3. Cover and chill before sandwich preparation, or before using as a salad dressing.

I am going to buy one of those squirter bottles from Target so if the sauce turns out good I can make a batch and keep it in a bottle for my husband to use every week.

Let's see if this does the trick.

Eating Out

2010-01-12T08:29:00.000-08:00

One of my New Year's Resolutions is to work hard at eating out less. In fact if I had my way we would rarely eat out. I don't have anything against restaurants. It's just that while they are convenient they host a whole other set of problems that I have to deal with.

One of the main problems with eating out is that it is difficult to get the same quality of family style dinner that I enjoy at home. The noise level is usually loud and we don't engage in the same family atmosphere as home. The kids behavior seems to be worse in restaurants and they lose all sense of responsibility such as setting the table, clearing the table, doing the dishes. At a restaurant the hired help does all that for them and they don't have to life a finger.

The second thing I find irritating about restaurants is that it seems that so much food goes uneaten and the quality of food isn't the same as I can make at home. The restaurants try to offer a variety but I find it's usually the same ole same ole when it comes to kids.

The third thing is the expense. Regardless of the reports I constantly hear about soaring food prices, I remain steadfast in my opinion that it is cheaper to eat at home. If you don't believe me go to this blog and you will see proof for yourself.

So that is my goal for this year...to eat out less and stay in more.

Car Organization

2010-01-10T19:59:00.000-08:00

I am pretty anal retentive about organization in my car. There is a good reason why I am like this. The main reason is that once upon a time I used my vehicle for business purposes and would often find myself driving other coworkers or even my boss around in my car during work. I never wanted to embarrass myself in front of my peers or managers by having a filthy car. Hence my ongoing habits about keeping my car clean stemmed mostly from that.

And I think that's a good thing. But it certainly is not easy always carrying 4 kids around. They do have a tendency to drop things, leave their toys or games on the floor, or just leave the car in general disarray.

But I have discovered a few tricks that I do all of the time that help to combat these issues.

1. Keep a small garbage bag in the car at all times. I found a neat one similar to this one
and hang it around the neck of the front seat headrest. The kids know that any and all garbage goes in here. I empty it whenever I get gas.

2. Keep a small towel under the seat of the car or in the trunk. You never know when you will have a spill or a sick child. The towel can be pulled out for easy cleanup!

3. I always keep a small box of wipes in the car for reasons similar to #2. If there are any spills and you need something wet to clean up then these are perfect. Your kids might need to wipe their hands for some reason. The wipes are great for this.

4. Keep a stash of quarters in the glove box. I religiously vacuum my car at the gas station using one of those mega-powered vacuum cleaners. They are great for crumbs or for the clay that my sons drag in during baseball season. Your car will always look great when you give it a routine vacuum and you will feel visually peaceful not to have to look at cluttered floors and seats.

5. Clean out the surface clutter in your car every time you go home. When my husband was driving and we would pull up to our house, he would always say "I will get my stuff later" and he would then never do it. Eventually after days, it would look like a pigpen with papers and junk everywhere. I finally got him into the habit of not procrastinating and that means taking your stuff with you from the car to the house as soon as you arrive home. Try to stick to that habit and you will see how much better your car looks because of it.

6. I keep a first aid kit in the trunk of the car. It's like insurance. Hopefully you will never need to use it but in case you do, you will be not be sorry you did it.

A lot of these ideas are not difficult or costly to implement but the benefits are so tremendous. You will soon find that your car is no longer a junk pile and will no longer be embarrassed to have people riding in it.

Being Organized Does Not Mean Perfect

2010-01-09T16:55:00.000-08:00

I am organized, yes it is true. But I am not perfect in any way shape or form. I know this for a fact as well. I don't pretend to be perfect but I do strive to be as organized as possible. It's a balance act because I have four kids and it is impossible to be clean, organized, and orderly every minute of the day.

To me, though, being organized is not being totally clean, totally decluttered and totally organized. After all, it's unrealistic to expect a 4 year old to never drop a cheerio on the floor or never spill his milk. It's unrealistic to expect two teenage boys to keep their rooms neat. It's the furthest thing from their minds and I am too busy keeping the house running to spend a lot of time trying to get them to comply with my organizational ideas.

For me organization is a state of mind. It's about me forming habits and systems in my home, car, and life that help me to get through my day a bit easier. It's about not wasting time looking for items that should be easily found. It's about filing important paperwork in an orderly fashion so that if I need to find an insurance paper or pay stub or tax return I don't have to waste precious hours looking for them. That's what organization means to me. As a consequence of the many hours I have worked toward having an organized life my home is generally neat and clean, not perfect though.

If you walked throughout my house today you would see clothes on the floor in my teens room. You would find too many stuffed animals on my daughter's bed. You would find about 50 hot wheels cars thrown about in my 4 year old's room. You would find a handful of old magazines in the basket of my bathroom (my husband reads those what can I say?). So indeed there is always room for improvement. But what you will also find is an attic where every box is in place and labeled for easy view. You will find a key rack inside the laundry room where my keys are always hung. Since hanging this key hook I have never lost my keys. Not once! What a huge time saver that one was. You will also find that my bed is made EVERY morning and there are NO dirty dishes in the sink. Those are two very important "non-negotiables" for me that help to provide visual peace when I walk about the house.

Organizing yourself and your life is not a one day project or even a one week project. It's a way of life. It's a way to plan and create habits within your life that work for you and that help to create some free time to do the fun things that we like to do. Isn't that what all of us are looking for?

Turkey Lettuce Wraps

2010-01-06T09:51:00.000-08:00

I must do this!

http://marthaandme.wordpress.com/2010/01/06/turkey-lettuce-wraps/

and will let you know what I think of it.

Christmas Storage - Declutter It All

2010-01-05T11:28:00.000-08:00

I spent most of yesterday putting away all of our Christmas decorations indoor and outdoor. It was a pretty big task but I try to go in with a strategy. I am a big advocate of organizing for a purpose and most of the times it is to make things easier for the future. So when it came to putting Christmas decorations away my main goal is to store it so that it is easy to take out next year. There is nothing most time consuming than going through cardboard boxes that you cannot see inside and that are thrown about in a haphazard fashion. I have also found that not using good, sturdy storage boxes leads to breakage and damage to precious heirlooms.

Before I start packing I take all of the containers down and clean them out. I throw (donate) away ornaments or decorations that are either broken or I no longer use or want. The remainder that I keep gets sorted out. If I am short of a containers I can usually find them on sale at Target, Walmart, or some other type of store. The containers must be clear and must have locking handles to be airtight and waterproof. I also buy packing peanuts for the breakable stuff. A little thought goes a long way.

Once the items are all packed up, they go back into the attic in an order such that I can easily retrieve them when next Christmas rolls around. The method is especially clutter free and I feel good that all of my items are well protected and useful.

Here are a few of the types of containers that I use.

Basic Ornament Box that keeps ornaments from breaking:

http://www.stacksandstacks.com/christmas-ornament-storage-box-iris-bcb-60

This is a basic container box for various decorations. I fill with packing peanuts to keep it safe from breakage:

http://www.stacksandstacks.com/iris-holiday-box-with-buckle-up-lid-iris-100800

This container is very nice for storing lights and keeping them separate:

http://www.stacksandstacks.com/holiday-light-box-with-wing-top-lid-and-4-dividers-wl-45f

A lot of organization is about how you want to leave things for the next time you need to use them.

Happy Organizing!

Birthday Organization

2010-01-03T13:19:00.000-08:00

I have a pretty good memory when it comes to birthdays so remembering them wasn't my problem. My problem was keeping them on my radar so that I would send a card or gift in time for the person's birthday. With my busy life it gets more and more difficult to keep things stored in my brain...things I have to remember. Forgetting is becoming more and more common.

I have been forced to turn to technology to help me remember many of these important dates. So for birthdays and other important dates I turn to my favorite program of all - Microsoft Outlook.

I love Outlook. It has every function I need all in one program. I can read, sort, delete and folder email all right there with one drag and drop. I can set up my calendar there and there are so many user friendly tools that go along with the calendar. I can set up a birthday on the calendar and have it recur year after year. I can set up a reminder so that Outlook reminds me weeks in advance of the birthday. I can color code the appointments so that I can glance the calendar weekly view and quickly see what is happening for the week...doctor appointments are colored in yellow, kids activities are colored in green, school activities are colored in blue, and so on and so forth.

I can also create a task list in Outlook. I love this feature because I can create a task and then assign it a start and end date. Outlook stores these tasks and I can view them on a side bar. When the task becomes overdue it turns red. This is a great function for keeping all of your more important tasks in order and stored.

I know there are probably more functions within Outlook. I cannot imagine it getting better than it is. I know that every program has its critics. Not everyone is sure to think it is perfect. But for my use I happen to love it. And I am sure to not miss a birthday ever again.

What do you use to keep your appointments straight? I would love to know. Send me a comment.

Social Networking : Using Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter to Enhance Your Business

2009-12-16T12:15:00.001-08:00

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Social Networking : Using Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter to Enhance Your Business

View more presentations from John Maver.

Mexi Beef Casserole Dish

2009-12-10T14:52:00.000-08:00

If you love freezer cooking then you will love this recipe.....

1 pound ground beef
1 15-oz can sweet corn, drained
1 cup mild, chunky salsa
1/4 cup sliced black olives
1 pkg cooked egg noodles
1 15-oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/4 cup taco sauce
1 package taco seasoning mix
1/2 cup tomato sauce

Cook egg noodles according to instructions, drain. Meanwhile, brown beef in a skillet until brown and fully cooked. Drain any grease. In a bowl, combine all ingredients, then pour into a freezer container or a 9x13 baking dish. Freeze (may want to allow it to come down to room temperature before placing in freezer)

On cooking day, thaw completely in fridge (take it out the night before or morning of). In a preheated 325F oven, cook for 30-45 minutes, or until bubbly and completely hot throughout. Serve!

This Is A Test

2009-12-09T13:45:00.000-08:00

DQTRRAXW2FTB

Hello technorati team! How are you all out there in blogging land?

Easy Email Organization

2009-12-09T06:46:00.000-08:00

There must be hundreds of blogs and articles that have been written on how to organize your email. They tell you to go to your inbox and create folders and then when you get an email put that email in the appropriate inbox just as you would a sheet of paper in a file folder. Ok....I get that. I think we all get that. But there are many other ways to be organized with your email.

Personally, I love Microsoft Outlook as my email manager for many many reasons. First of all, I love that I can sync the calendar with my el-cheapo Nokia cell phone. Just use the download cord and away it goes.

But the calendar is for another day. Today I am relishing in my emails and how glorious it is to always have a clean inbox.

One thing about my email that can quickly get out of hand is the junk email. I get so much of it because I shop and do many activities online and each time you have to create a username you must give an email address. I try to remember to uncheck all of those boxes that ask you if you want to receive information or promotions but I am sure I don't get it all. I make a concentrated effort when I get a junk email to go to the bottom of the email and unsubscribe to the list. It takes a few extra clicks but once you take this first few steps you can usually get rid of the junk right away.

The next tool in Outlook that I like to use is the Rule Tool. For me this works out great for my work email. You can have certain emails automatically circumventing your inbox and filed in pre-determined folders like your "to be read" or "action needed" folder. You can go crazy with this feature.

To get to your Rule Tool simply click on Tools and follow the instructions.

You can choose from many different options such as moving certain emails to folders. You can have emails sent directly to your deleted folder. You can have an alert sent to your mobile device when an email comes to your inbox. Play around in this tab and see all of the things you can do.

In addition to using rules you can also control your junk mail by using another tool that is found by going to the Tools tab and clicking on Options.

You can manage your junk email very nicely from this folder. You can designate safe email senders and senders that should be blocked.

Do you use Outlook to manage your electronic mail account? If not what do you use?

Freeze Corn On The Cob

2009-12-06T14:40:00.000-08:00

Did you know that you can cook corn ahead of time, freeze it, and then have it taste fresh on eating day?

For the prep work, buy the corn on the cobs remove the husks and wipe down the corn. Blanche them in boiling water based on the following:

Small ears - boil for 7 minutes
Medium ears - boil for 9 minutes
Large ears - boil for 11 minutes.

Immediately remove from the boiling water and submerge them in cold water to stop the cooking proccess. Once completely cooled, drain the corn and immediately freeze in freezer ziplocs or containers.

On cooking day remove corn early in the morning or the night before, so it has time to completely thaw. Boil corn in boiling water (just enough water for the corn to be submerged) for a few minutes until heated through, drain, butter and salt if desired, and serve.

How easy is that?

Menu Monday - Dec 7

2009-12-06T12:46:00.000-08:00

Good Morning Monday. Time for the menu of the week. How is your menu planning going? It's not too late to start. Share yours here with me.

Monday - BBQ chicken wings, french fries, corn on the cob

Tuesday - hamburgers and hot dogs, baked beans, green beans

Wednesday - Moroccan Chicken and Couscous Soup

Thursday - Leftover soup and sammies

Friday - Chicken tacos and yello rice

Saturday - BBQ chicken wings, french fries, http://tmorganizing.blogspot.com/2009/06/very-delicious-non-mayo-cole-slaw.html (yes I know this is a repeat but my older boys love wings and I got wings on sale at the grocery this week).

Sunday - Honey Baked Ham, mac n cheese, veggies

Add your own Menu Monday link by clicking below....

Another Meatloaf Recipe

2009-12-05T08:46:00.000-08:00

Finding more recipes for meatloaf which just happens to be my husband's favorite dish.....

Easy Meatloaf Recipe Ingredients
• 1 1/2 pounds ground beef
• 1 cup 2% milk
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon dried sage
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup ketchup or barbecue sauce

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all ingredients except ketchup in a large bowl, and mix well.

Place mixture into an ungreased loaf pan or shape into a loaf in an ungreased baking pan. Spread ketchup or sauce over the top of the meatloaf.

Bake uncovered for 1 to 1 1/4 hours until no pink remains at the center of the meatloaf. If using a meat thermometer, the internal temperature of the meatloaf should be 160 degrees.

After baking, let sit for 5 minutes before removing from pan and slicing to serve.

No More Rush Days

2009-12-02T02:00:00.000-08:00

I am always thinking of ways to help simplify my already chaotic and busy lifestyle. Earlier this year I was growing particularly frustrated by so many days where I would come home from work without having had one thought of what would be made for dinner that night. Needless to say just starting to think about dinner at 6pm was way too late for me, unless I was from a European country where everyone eats dinner at midnight.

So I started brainstorming and trying to come up with better ways to plan out my day. I thought of planning the night before which was still way too late for me because I usually would need something for the next day's meal. I backed up even further and started thinking about how to plan a week in advance. I created a list for each day of the next week and what my plan would be for dinner. Once I did that and got the habit going, I expanded on the list and started adding food items I would need to keep the weekly menu plan. I started to include a column for my kids and personal activities I had to plan for throughout the week.

I came up with a great worksheet that I now create on Saturday for the upcoming week ahead. I address the meals I am going to prepare and that allows me to identify my grocery list for Sunday grocery shopping. I incorporate my work calendar and personal calendar into my activities column. I also add in any other things that may affect the weekly plan. When I am finished with this worksheet I put it up on my refrigerator for the whole family to see. No more guessing what's for dinner. It's all planned out ahead of time. Of course there will always be those days where things don't always go to plan but at least I have minimized those days by trying to forsee what's up and coming.

I have attached a copy of my worksheet.

Weekly Planner

Feel free to download it and tell me if it works for you. Today just might be the end of rush days for you.

Yummy Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

2009-12-01T18:17:00.000-08:00

I love banana bread and have found a great recipe that is easy and delicious. I just had to share it with you. If you make it please leave me a comment and let me know how it turns out. So yummy and chocolately.

Ingredients
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup margarine or butter, softened
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas (3 to 4 medium)
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 to 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (depending on how chocolately you like it)
1 cup chopped nuts (if desired)

Directions

Place oven rack in lowest position. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease bottom of a loaf pan (9x5x3). Mix sugar and margarine in large bowl. Stir in eggs until well blended. Add bananas, milk, and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Stir in remaining ingredients (except nuts and chips) until moistened. Stir in nuts and chips. Pour into pan. Bake for an hour or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes. Remove from pan. Cool completely before slicing.

Chinese Honey Ginger Chicken Freezer Cooking

2009-11-30T14:36:00.000-08:00

Here is another easy freezer cooking recipe that you can make way ahead of time. Simply follow the directions and freeze. On the day you want to make the dish simply take out the baggie to thaw and follow the cooking directions. It couldn't be any easier.

6 chicken breasts
4 tsp chopped yellow onion
2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp fresh minced ginger
1/4 c chives

Combine all ingredients in a freezer container or Ziploc bag. Freeze.

Instructions from Freezer:
Allow to thaw. Pour Chinese style honey ginger chicken into a casserole dish. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and bake for 20-30 minutes. Serve. Great with rice!

Turkey Croquettes

2009-11-28T13:29:00.000-08:00

Wanna cute recipe for your leftover turkey and mashed potatoes?

I found a really great one that I tried tonight.

Ingredients:

1 cup cooked turkey meat, diced
1 cup cooked mashed sweet potatoes
3 large eggs
2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups seasoned bread crumbs
2 cups olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
(Makes 6 - 8 servings)

Directions:

In a large bowl, add turkey, sweet potatoes, salt and pepper, 1 beaten egg, mix thoroughly and form into oblong croquettes.

2. In a second bowl add the flour, and in a third bowl the beaten eggs, and finally in a fourth bowl add the bread crumbs.

3. Dip croquettes into flour, beaten egg mixture, then the bread crumbs, and set aside.

4. In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium high heat and fry croquettes, turning occasionally until golden brown. Serve immediately.

5. Heat leftover turkey gravy and serve with the croquettes.

The Easiest and Best Spaghetti Sauce Ever

2009-11-27T11:42:00.000-08:00

Being from an Italian background I believe I started eating spaghetti and sauce while still in the high chair. As I grew up past the high chair I remember standing on a chair to watch my grandmother make it every Sunday.

So as a busy mom with kids I have taken the sauce recipe and made it into a recipe that you can make in 30 minutes so that my kids can also enjoy the same spaghetti staple that I grew up with.

So here is my best and easiest spaghetti sauce recipe.

Ingredients

Olive oil, one turn of the pan
1 - 28 ounce can of whole tomatoes (puree in a blender)
1 - medium onion diced
2-3 finely chopped garlic cloves (you can substitute garlic with a few tablespoons of garlic powder to save time)
1 cup chicken broth or stock
1 - teaspoon oregano
1 - teaspoon sugar
salt and pepper

Method

Heat olive oil in large pan over a medium heat.
Add onion and garlic and cook for a few minutes until onions are translucent.
Add chicken stock and cook for about 5 minutes. The stock will reduce in the onion and garlic mixture.
Stir in the tomato puree and turn heat down to low.
Add sugar, oregano, garlic powder (if you did not add garlic cloves).
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Let the sauce simmer on low for approximately 20-30 minutes.
Add the sauce to cooked spaghetti.
Sauce is enough for 2 lbs of cooked spaghetti.

Have fun!

Easy Hamburger Garlic Rolls

2009-11-25T18:20:00.000-08:00

If you are like me your pantry always has leftover hamburger rolls from dinner the other night. To top that off, my husband does not like to eat day old hamburger rolls. I hated to throw away the leftover bread because it still seems useable.

So last night I decided to turn the rolls into garlic rolls with our spaghetti dinner. Here is how I did it....

Hamburger Garlic Rolls

Preheat oven on the highest setting or on broil.
Place halves of the rolls face up on a cookie sheet.
Spread the rolls with butter. Sprinkle garlic powder and oregano on top of the butter.
Cook the rolls on the middle rack of the oven for approximately 5 minutes until golden brown. ***
Serve immediately.

P.S. If you want to go crazy, top the buns with onion or mushrooms or cheese to create more variety.

*** All ovens are different so please monitor the browning process carefully. It is very easy to burn the rolls so keep a watchful eye on them.