October 5, 2012
September 28, 2012
Decorating for Fall
"Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower." - Albert Camus
Oh Fall... It's amazing how it seems to sneak up on me every year. One day I'm enjoying summer and soaking up the sun, and the next morning I wake up to news about the latest sale on school supplies. I go through my day listening to the sound of boots clicking on the floor and the smell of musty hoodies that have been in storage too long. When I check the news, the weather man informs me that the temperature has dropped two degrees since yesterday. For some reason, people have decided that 70 degrees is the breaking point between shorts and sweaters. Every year I am surprised by the world's rush to get fall started. Maybe it's because mothers are desperate to get away from the kids, or maybe it's because people want to trade in their ice cream cones for pumpkin pie. If anyone is like me, it's because they just want it to be Christmas already.
The great thing about the change of seasons is that it gives me an excuse to redecorate the house. The best part about the fall is its colors. There is something particularly calming about Autumn colors. It's as if the sunset exploded to remind me the sun is going into hibernation for the next six months, and I should do the same. Each color silently invites me to cuddle up and prepare for the coming winter. When I decorate for Autumn, I don't like flooding my home with spiders, witches, zombies, and goblins. The appearance is a little too creepy and cartoony for my taste. It makes me feel like I'm walking around in an episode of Scooby Doo. It seems as if I might get mauled by Scooby and Shaggy running frantically from a zombie, or catch Fred and Daphne kissing in my closet, or get hit in the head when Velma tosses a Scooby Snack. Needless to say, I prefer more natural, or shabby chic, decor. At the same time, there must be a balance. I've seen some decor go into hyper drive with gourds and pumpkins. That's when I discover I'm trapped in a live version of Veggie Tales. I start glancing over my shoulder to make sure the vegetables aren't walking around on the counter announcing that "You are special, and God loves you very much!"
For this season, I have searched the internet for several tasteful ideas for my Fall decorations. I want to create my own decorations for as little as possible, so they need to be fairly simple. Since many of necessary items are all natural, saving money should be relatively easy. My goal is to make great decorations while avoiding the Scooby Doo chaos and the Veggie Tale slogans. Here are some of my ideas. Hopefully they inspire you as well!
Get four small pieces of wood and brace them together with a piece of wood along the back. Hang two layers of twine around the front and hang letters to spell "Give Thanks."
Create a wreath from sticks and leaves to hang on your front door.
Try wrapping several candles in burlap. Then print a letter on each one to spell "gather" or "thanks."
Buy some cheap wine glasses from the dollar store. Place them upside down over gourds. Then place votives on top. Surround the setting with pine cones and leaves.
Add sticks, nuts, and leaves to a candle holder.
Don't forget the candy! Fill clear jars with Reese's Pieces, peanuts, and candy corn for an Autumn snack.
Try filling candle holders with nuts you find from outside. Or you can try filling a large glass bowl with apples and add a candle.
This is simple enough. Buy a large glass cylinder and fill it with dried leaves from outside.
Cut off the top of a pumpkin and carve a circle in the shell. Glue some sticks and leaves around the top and add a candle. Now you have a festive candle holder to light your porch or hallway.
Here is a similar idea, but with gourds. Cut holes in small gourds big enough for a tall candle. Then glue pine cones around the ends. Now you have a beautiful set of candles for your dinner table!
Another idea for the dinner tables is this one. Wrap your napkins in leather string. Then place a leaf over each place setting.
If you want to get a little fancier, create a napkin ring with acorns! Simply collect acorns from outside and string them around some wire and tie the ends together!
Modge Podge some leaves around a pumpkin and place it out on your porch.
Create a print with lots of different words signifying the new season. Put it in a beautiful frame to hang on the wall or add to the mantel.
A pumpkin book! Find an old paper back book. Cut the edges so it's rounded like a pumpkin. Glue the ends of the book together and add a stick to the center. Put a bow around the stick and voila! You may also want to try ripping the whole cover off the book. Depends on the book and size.
For the mantle, place some gourds on stands. Then print out letters spelling "FALL" and frame them. It's very simple, neat, and clean.
Glue burlap around a candle holder or a mason jar. Add a leaf. Wrap the whole thing in twine and make a bow.
Here is another idea for your dinner table. Use old pages from a book to cut out leaf shapes. Glue the paper leave on to a stick and add to glasses sitting at each place setting.
Make a wreath for your front door. Personalize it with some paper leaves and your monogram.
Frame some leaves and hang them on the wall or add them to your mantle.
Find some empty bottles or mason jars. You can color them if you would like. Print a letter on each jar to spell "FALL." You could also wrap the bottle in burlap and print the letters on the fabric. Then fill the jars with wheat, sticks, or leaves!
Glue twigs around a candle holder.
Find an old metal bucket and fill it with sticks.
Glue leaves around a candle and wrap it with twine.
Fill a candle holder with dried corn kernels and add a candle.
If you find a tall vase, find some beautiful sticks and glue them around it.
Here is an example of a beautiful wreath. I love the choice in leaves and the burlap bow.
And last, but not least, the chevron pumpkin! How awesome is that??
September 24, 2012
Chicken Taco Chili Recipe
The more I have explored cooking, the more I have come to realize that I LOVE using my crock pot. Crock pots are like the Genie lamps of the culinary world. Throw in some ingredients, make a wish, rub the pot a few times, and presto! You have a wonderfully delicious meal that required hardly any effort from you. Your wish is the crock pot's command. The Genie pot does all the work for you and gives you the meal you wish for. Crock pot meals are easy to make, require little clean up, and little preparation time. Not only that, but crock pot meals are often very cost effective. What makes it even better, is you can prepare the meals ahead of time, freeze them, and then just throw them in the crock pot when necessary. If you don't want to take up room in the freezer, you can prepare the meal that morning while the kids are asleep or in preparation of a busy afternoon ahead.
I recently tried a crock pot recipe that I found on Pinterest. I confess that I am an avid Pinner, so I am trying to put my Pinning addiction to use. One of the recipes that I found looked particularly delicious, Chicken Taco Chili. My husband and I love Mexican food, so I decided to give this one a try. The end result was a magical meal created by my kitchen Genie. It was tasteful, spicy, and completely gratifying. I found the original recipe on the blog, Photo A Day. I edited the recipe a bit to meet our personal tastes and needs. Try this recipe. You will love it!
Servings: this recipe makes enough for about 4 people, depending on how much they eat
Ingredients:
- 1/4 of an onion, chopped
- 8oz. canned black beans
- 8oz. canned kidney beans
- 8oz. can of tomato sauce
- 5oz. canned whole sweet corn kernels
- 14.5oz. canned diced tomatoes with chilies
- 1/2 a packet of taco seasoning (any brand you choose)
- 1/2 tbsp. of cumin
- 1/2 tbsp. of chili powder
- 2 boneless and skinless small chicken breasts
- chopped fresh cilantro (I only used about 1 tbsp. because I don't like using a lot)
- I also added black pepper, salt, paprika, and some extra chili powder and cumin. Season to taste.
Mix all of the ingredients in the crock pot, minus the chicken. Do not drain the beans, corn, or tomatoes. After you have mixed everything together, season to taste. Add the chicken breasts. Cook everything on low for 5 hours. You may need to adjust the time and power depending on how much you make and the size of your crock pot. My crock pot is relatively large, so it doesn't take as long for things to cook, especially since I make only half of the original recipe. Before you serve the chili, shred the chicken with a fork and stir it in with the rest of the ingredients. Your dinner is done! I like to serve my chili with corn bread, but you can serve it with whatever you like.
Since most of the ingredients come in 16 oz. cans, I only use half of the can at a time. The rest I throw in a gallon sized bag and stick in the freezer. That way I have the ingredients for another meal of Chicken Taco Chili ready for next time. When I prepare the Chicken Taco Chili for one meal, I prepare everything I need for next time and freeze it. I end up with two meals in the amount of time it takes to prepare one. It's delicious, cost effective, and time effective. Cheers to my culinary Genie!
Scrub-A-Dub-Dub
Have you ever wondered how to make things clean? I mean really clean? I almost wish that my windows would sparkle like they do in Windex commercials, but I have come to the realization that doesn't happen in real life. It gives me a sense of satisfaction knowing that I have organized and sanitized an area to the best of my ability. I am in no way OCD; I just like seeing the rewards of my hard work. I hate it when there is a strange residue over areas I've scrubbed, the glitter won't come off the carpet, or the strange marks won't come off the windows. It's discouraging after you have put so much effort in trying to scrub the place.
I have come to the conclusion that one of my favorite cleaning products is Dawn dish soap. As a matter of fact, I like it so much that I'm pretty convinced it could clean just about anything. Like many of you, I have seen commercials about Dawn dish soap saving animals from oil spills. At first I thought the commercials were just an exaggeration, but after experiencing Dawn's effects on grease in my house, I am pretty convinced the commercials are telling the truth.
One of my favorite uses for Dawn dish soap is cleaning my bathtub. Yes, my bathtub. In my experience, most cleaning products specifically made for the bathtub and shower don't adequately clean the area. They often leave a strange residue, create weird spots, or the chrome doesn't shine like it should. Dawn dish soap is the answer. It's super easy to use and cost effective. Only a small amount of dish soap is needed to clean the tub compared to the amount necessary amount of other products. When you are living on a budget, saving money is definitely a plus. I'm sure there are several methods you can use, but I'll describe what I do.
- Get some Dawn dish soap (any kind with do), a bucket, and a sponge. I use the sponges that have the green scrub pad on one side. In my experience, I have found the scrub pad can be helpful in cleaning certain areas of the tub.
- Thoroughly wet your sponge and add one small dollop of Dawn. When I say small, I mean small. It really doesn't take much to get the sponge sudsy.
- Thoroughly scrub the tub/shower, starting with the walls. If you start with the floor, the suds and grime from the walls will fall on your newly cleaned floor. After you have finished scrubbing one wall, rinse the sponge with water and then use the sponge to rinse the wall. You don't want the soap to sit on the shower wall for too long and dry there.
- Repeat steps 2 and 3 for the rest of the tub. If you find an area in your tub to be especially tricky, try using the scrub pad of your sponge. Also, you can sometimes feel the difference between areas that are thoroughly cleaned and those that need more scrubbing. (I've found this is especially noticeable in showers that are not tiled.) Your hand will easily slide over areas that are completely clean, but your hand with stick or feel the grime of areas that need to be cleaned more.
- Once you have cleaned the walls and floors of your tub/shower, concentrate on cleaning the chrome. Use the same technique you did for the rest of the shower.
- To make sure you have completely rinsed the shower, get your bucket (or you can use a spray bottle) and fill it with water. Pour/splash/spray fresh water along the walls of the shower to make sure you have rinsed off all the soap. You shouldn't need to do much to the floor because the water used to rinse the walls should be enough to rinse the floor as well.
- I like to add this step just for good measure. Get some paper towel and dry all the chrome in the tub. This leaves it dry, without any water spots, and extra shiny.
You're done! Now you should be left with a sparkling tub/shower and the satisfaction of knowing it is actually clean. I know my instructions seem long, but that's only because they are very detailed. The process is really easy. I hope this tip helps you as much as it did me! Happy scrubbing!
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Notice how shiny the chrome is after I've used Dawn. It's practically like a mirror.
If you look closely in the center of the picture, you can see a line down the middle of the tub. On the left, I have cleaned using Dawn. On the right, I haven't cleaned at all. You can see a noticeable difference between the before and after.
September 20, 2012
He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not
"The only real security is not in owning or possessing, not in demanding or expecting, not in hoping, even. Security in a relationship lies neither in looking back to what it was, nor forward to what it might be, but living in the present and accepting it as it is now." - Anne Morrow Lindbergh
Over the years, friends, women, and even men, have come to me with questions about relationships. It is only natural for us to look for advice about love. Romance is a central part of our lives. Nearly everyone, including myself, has experienced some sort of confusion, problem, or heart ache over a relationship. I was recently reminded of a piece advice that I often give women. I decided that I would write about it because I think it's something that every woman ought to know when considering a romantic relationship.
Never go emotionally where you haven't been led.
I have witnessed countless situations in which a girl really likes a guy. She thinks he is the most wonderful man in the world, adores his big eyes, knows she has finally witnessed a physical example of the Greek gods, and is convinced that the two of them should be listed as "in a relationship" on Facebook. Next thing you know, she is reporting several situations that have occurred confirming her suspicions that the feelings are mutual. For some reason or another, the glance of his eyes, the tone in his voice, the way he leaned in at the table, the particular question he asked her, must mean he loves her.Well, I hate to bust your bubble, but that is not necessarily true. He might not actually love you in the way you are convinced he does.I want to point out three common possibilities. First, this guy is a player and he is emotionally manipulating you. Second, the guy that you have fallen so hard over does not, in reality, have any romantic feelings towards you. He only considers you a friend. The third possibility is that he really is crushing on you, but he is not ready to move into a relationship, so he keeps his distance.
This is the point in which we women often step in and make this whole relationship process very difficult for ourselves. Women have a tendency to analyze everything, especially in relationships. When you like a guy, you start analyzing everything he does and says. It's as if you are trying to muster up something to prove he likes you back. Well, let me tell you something, the only person you are trying to prove his intentions to is yourself. No one else is trying to figure it out. Yes, your friends will indulge your fantasies, but when you're not around, they don't think about it. The more and more you try to analyze if he likes you, the more and more you become emotionally connected to him. As your emotional attachment increases, so do your expectations about the relationship. The guy does or says the smallest thing, and, because you are looking for it, you interpret his actions as proof that he likes you.Over time, you start to become discouraged about the whole thing. Your frustration is coming from your emotional attachment to a guy who has never given you any proof that he loves you. You have successfully allowed yourself to go emotionally where you have never been led. Maybe your relationship isn't Facebook official, but in your heart, you are dating the man. You are emotionally attached in a way that can only exist in a relationship. No wonder you're feeling frustrated; your heart and mind are living in a place that doesn't exist.
Instead of trying to analyze the situation and come up with proof that he likes you, just wait. I'm not saying you have to stop liking him, but that you should stop trying to move the relationship forward. If this guy likes you, he will make it clear to you, and you won't have to question or analyze his intentions. He will let you know when he is ready. Trust me, you don't want to get in a relationship with someone before he is ready. Until then, wait, be patient, and see what happens. If he doesn't like you, nothing will happen. Of course, that would be extremely disappointing, but at least you won't get yourself heartbroken because you allowed yourself to emotionally be in a relationship that doesn't exist. The other option is that he does like you, and he will eventually let you know. Maybe the relationship doesn't start when you want it to, but it will start when he is ready for it. You want to be in a relationship when you are both ready. If he does like you, you still need to be careful not to move emotionally where he has not taken you. Only allow yourself to go where he has clearly led you. Otherwise you will find yourself confused, frustrated, and irritated. Until then, be patient, use some self-control, and don't go emotionally where you haven't been led.
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