FLYLADY - Office

I'm not focusing much on the actual cleaning of the Office this week. Bob is home so not a lot of time spent in here. Also, the retired list for Stampin' Up! was released on the 9th so when I do get time in here not 'work' related, I've been trying to integrate retired items into the general populace of stamps/ supplies and making room for the items I'm pre-ordering in preparation for the new catalog launch in June.

I also have an 11-day trip planned just prior to the release so I need things in order so I'll be ready to jump in with both feet as soon as the catalog launches. That means A LOT of prep work before my trip. 

GOAL:

Keep the work surface cleared after each project

If I can accomplish that, then I can Enjoy the Journey!

What's your Zone this week? Any area you particularly would like to have in order before the outdoor activities call you away?

Enjoy the Journey

RECIPE WEDNESDAY - Pesto Pork Chops

When I saw THIS recipe for Pesto/ Parmesan Pork Chops I knew I had to give the recipe a try... with a couple of modifications.

The recipe comes from RealLifeDinner

Before I began, I knew there would be a couple of modifications. Number one, I'm not a fan of Parmesan cheese. As a base for Alfredo Sauce, yes. But not shredded on top of my pasta or just about anything else. The cheese has a sharpness I don't care for, much like Swiss or Sharp Cheddar. Just not a fan.

So I started with the Pesto. I do enjoy Pesto. As she points out in her recipe, there are many varieties. Everything from different labels to homemade. Making homemade just for me doesn't seem worth it, so my next best choice is Classico. Well-balanced in flavor and texture.

First step, cover my roasting pan with aluminum foil for easy clean up. Then I added two organically-raised, non-processed pork chops and spread them liberally with a heft 2-3 Tablespoons of Pesto.

Aside from leaving off the Parmesan, the other change I made was to cover the chops with aluminum foil. I was afraid they would dry out and I wanted to retain the juices. Boy, did they turn out juicy!

Look at the reserved juices in the bottom of the pan. 

I wound up not eating these for supper so recovered them and put them in the refrigerator over night.

The next day, I drizzled them in Ragu Alfredo Sauce:

I baked them uncovered in the toaster oven at 350 for about 20 minutes.

I was going to make fettuccine pasta but didn't have any in the pantry. (on my supply list now) but I did have a Knorr Alfredo pasta side dish. I fixed that up and served with green beans, basted in the juices from the pork chops.

Overall, a very yum,y recipe. I will fix this again when Bob isn't home. But when he is, I liked the Alfredo sauce on the chops and will probably fix them that way sans Pesto for him. 

What's on your table this week?  Whatever and however you choose to eat...

Enjoy the Journey!

FLY LADY - Master Bed & Bath

I smile every time I read this header. Yes, I love naps. Though now days it's more about either putting my feet up for awhile between the cool sheets so they'll stop aching or snuggling with the two cats that are pretty much banished to the bedroom during the day because they and Tabby can't get along.. and I can't sleep with them at night. Goddess, my nursemaid of a cat, has to sleep right up on m y shoulder. Breathing her dander all night about kills me - but we do okay for an hour or two during the day.

Oh, right, back to cleaning.
The bedroom has become more manageable since Bob built the laundry sorter tower in one corner. He hates when I find ideas on Pinterest but is more agreeable when he sees it is something that is really useful - not just a 'want'.

Okay.. so projects this week are:

BEDROOM
sort through the basket of pet sheets and eliminate that basket from under my nightstand
Clean my shoe shelves. They seem to become a catch - all :: sigh ::

BATHROOM
Under the sink orgnaized similar to the kitchen

Regarding the under the sink organization in both the Kitchen and the Master Bath - I have the drawer units I need to put in both of these places. Just a matter of making myself get down on the floor to do this particular task. Getting down is one thing, getting back up has become a bit tougher these days.

What's your Zone for this week? Is there a challenge spot you've been avoiding? Tell us what it is. Maybe we can help!

Enjoy the Journey!

WEIGH IN 4-16

175/ 166/ 135

No roller coaster this week. I've managed to keep an even keel. Of course, Bob may be home Wednesday night and I've not hit my goal of 165. We weigh in on Thursday morning so I'll be thrilled to have lost more than him - cash wise. On the other hand, he needs to win a few to get a motivation going. Competing against someone you truly love and want to see succeed is tough.

The step counter on the waistband has been working like a champ... literally. Know that I'm able to wear it from the time I get dressed in the morning until I switch to jammies at night, I'm seeing that while I thought I wasn't moving much, most days I'm getting in 6500 steps or more a day. That's over 2.5 miles - mostly just multi-tasking within the house and a walk to the mailbox and back. Seeing that I'm not as sedentary as I thought is a big motivator to keep going. 

Not sure how my week will go. In a couple of hours I'll attempt to load Bear into the back of the Suzuki. After the diagnosis from the vet to let him be happy as long as he wants to be, I discovered he has an abscessed canine. No wonder he isn't eating or barking and just lays around. If his abscess is anything like we get, then he is miserable to the core. Hopefully, this vet trip will put him on the road to at least being comfortable AND happy.

As I said, Bob is due home on Wednesday night. While I didn't accomplish much in the living room/ dining room last week - but did make strides on the office. My goal is to at least get the white folding table down and the holiday tubs moved to the basement. With that, I'll call that area a success for this month.

This week brings on a new area of the house but with Bob due home, my first three days will be more about finishing tasks I wanted done before he arrives.

What's on your plan for the week? Whatever your choices, remember to...

Enjoy the Journey!

RECIPE WEDNESDAY - Super Crock Pot Soup!

A few weeks ago I picked up a can of Beef in Gravy at Dollar General. I've been buying various types of their canned meats for storage. They are cooked, good for 1-2 meals depending on how you prepare them and have a long shelf life. While I'm not a SHTF Prepper, when I watch the news, I have to wonder and figure ANY preparation is better than none at all.

I did this meal in my 1.5 qt Rival Crock Pot. I purchased mine several years ago at Walmart and it's still going strong.

The whole concept behind this meal was to have everything in can storage for quick meals. Dollar General doesn't carry canned potatoes so I picked those up at Walmart. You can find them in any standard grocery store. I'm also going to check $ Tree next time I go and price compare.

So here are the ingredients:

That's it. I drained the vegetables and the potatoes but left the diced tomatoes juice.

I dumped everything into the crock pot, gave it a stir and set the temp on HI. Two hours later I had this:

At first, I didn't think there would be enough juice but as you can see, the cooking brought the juices out and the 1.5 qt is brim full. I barely had room to stir.

One very delicious bowl of soup. You might wonder why I added potatoes since there are potatoes in Veg-All. Usually the mixed vegetables are more carrots than anything and since I don't do crackers with my soup, I wanted the extra filler. I like potatoes. LOL

Beef in Gravy - $2.50

Diced tomatoes - .68

Diced potaotes - .68

Mixed vegies - 1.25 (maybe I should buy them at WM next time!)

COST - $5.11

SERVINGS - 4

Next time I want to add a beef gravy packet to the mix and see if I get more of a stew. That and a personal size loaf of Guiness Brown Bread should hit the spot.

Share your soup recipe! I don't think we're out of the cold yet. Even if we are, now is the time to begin preparing for fall.

Enjoy the Journey!

FLYLADY - Living Room

The living room is the one area of the house I see most of my waking hours when Bob is gone. Our living room/ dining room area is one open space  - 15' x 24'. When Bob is gone and my 'office' is set up on the dining room table, I can see it all! The living room isn't bad but the dining room needs serious work. I have two major tasks for this week:

LIVING ROOM:
Dust everything!
Put the items for the girls scrapbooks in a tote that I can keep in the office.

DINING ROOM:
The girls' old book case has become a catch-all for garden books and recently-purchased cook books. I want that shelf to be strictly garden books. I have shelves in the garden shed for my books/ magazines but I also have mice that are destroying them.

Dresser we had for Adrian when she lived here. I want to get that cleared out of accumulation so the girls can use it when they're here this summer. That's still kind of up in the air due to travel issues on Sue's end but we're sending good vibes all works out and we can have them again this summer.

This is the week Bob may be home (I'm typing this up on the 2nd). I'd really like to have this area looking sharp and at least less-cluttered when he comes home. We spend a lot of time in these two areas - either watching TV or playing cards. We shall see!

What's your focus area this week?
Whatever I'm able to accomplish, I'm going to Enjoy the Journey and I hope you do to!

WEIGH IN 4-9-18

175/ 166/135

Wheeeee! Down we go to the 166 mark again. I really would like to actually LOSE at least 1 more pound before Bob comes home. That would put me down two pounds since March 4th. I have somewhere between 1-2 weeks to accomplish that goal.

I talked about my step counter issues last week and I've solved the problem:

You can just see the large safety pin slipped into one of the holes on the band. When I get dressed in the morning I pin the Copper Step into place and I'm good to go. No  more taking it off to work at the computer and not counting steps while I'm multi-tasking around. I wore it yesterday and racked up almost 5,000 steps = 2.5 miles clearing off my work table, running the vacuum cleaner and basic errand stuff around the house. 

I'm sure I get a few extra counts during bathroom trips but I'm okay with that. I'd rather have those few extra jiggling the counter when I pull my pants up and down than not be getting any count at all because my wristband is laying on the table. 

At night, when I take it off, I note the steps in the designated spot on my planner.

I'm also going to be serious about getting on the Gazelle this week. Last week began a very sad journey for me.  My Great Pyreneese/ Chow mix is aging fast. Bear is almost 14 and after all the weeks of curling up in his dog house to avoid the rain (he prefers to lay out in his kennel), the damp, the cold, the ick has caught up to his bones. He's moving slow, some days chooses not to eat and bowl movements are infrequent no matter how much wet food/ olive oil/ warm milk & karo I give him. I had the vet make a stop by the house Saturday. He said Bear seems happy over all so just let him be happy as long as he wants to be.  I'm hoping the warmer temperatures will help increase his mood, act as a heating pad for his bones and make his last period of time with me at least somewhat comfortable. Bob is building him a bigger doghouse when he gets home. Nothing extravagant but something larger that he can really stretch out in. He fits in this one okay but it's narrow. Walking in then turning around to see out the door is hard for him these days.

So if my posts become irregular, know that I'm just spending extra time with my boy. 

Enjoy the Journey!

RECIPE WEDNESDAY - Chicken Parmesan

I've been buying these from Dollar Tree. They aren't bad for quick meals and comparable to any you will find at the grocery store.

One thing I did find out was that while the package count says 3, if you feel the package you will find that some contain 4 patties. At first I thought one of two things were happening.
 1- They packaged them by 3's so that you had to buy two packages to get enough for two people to have 2 a piece.

2 - They were just missing the packaging on the conveyor belt.

I later found out the packaging is for THREE - so if you find a 4-count bag, you're getting a bonus.

I bought several bags last week and froze them in Foodsaver bags in 2-counts. If I'm home alone, two is plenty whereas if Bob is home, pulling two packages is just as easy.

They make great quick Chicken Parmesan:

Here, I bypassed having pasta and just had the two patties topped with slices of ball Mozzarella and my homemade pasta sauce.

I did have a picture of one on top of pasta but inadvertently deleted it. 

Bob likes them as a homemade McChicken.

Overall, a great value for single or two-person meals.  

How would you use these patties?

Whatever your meal choices...

Enjoy the Journey!

FLYLADY - Kitchen & Laundry

We are back to the Laundry Room and Kitchen for Zone Deep Clean this week. Tasks I hope to accomplish include:

LAUNDRY ROOM:
Decorative Shelf above the washer/ dryer
Recyclables taken into town
Sanitize the cat counter

KITCHEN:
Create new storage for under the sink
Inventory the canned/ dry goods cabinets
Declutter the silverware drawer (I swear utensils multiply!)

I've already started a big box to deposit thrift store donations as I come across them in each zone this month.

There is one thing I'll need to wait on Bob for with the under the kitchen sink area. We bought baskets to hang on the inside of one of the doors for storing cleaning rags. We measured the basket with a cabinet at Menards only to find out when we got home that our door area is a bit wider. The basket will still fit, Bob just needs to put a piece in to screw the baskets to. I could do that part but his shop is such a disaster that I can't get to the miter saw or the small circular saw. Maybe I need to add a battery powered circular saw to my tool collection.

Speaking of tools, I bought a set of tools for my vacuum cleaner last week. I had a set that came with my small shop vac and we had a set that goes with the Kirby. Well, both my shop vac and the tool caddy for the Kirby were in Bob's shop and guess what... not a single tool to go with either of them. I swear I'm putting my shop vac under lock and key. As for the crevice, upholstery, and dusting brush I bought last week. I have them in a tool bag under my work station. They won't leave the office unless I am the one using them. Do you ladies have that problem with your tools?

Recap for last week, I didn't get anything done in the basement. I was too busy creating in the craft room. I'd lost my mojo earlier in the year but when the creating energy spark lit last week, I created card after card after card... well, you get the idea. I finally have enough cards to mail off to everyone with birthdays and anniversaries this month... something I failed to do in February and March.

I'm hoping the April Showers (that we've had in place since February) will pass soon so I can start working outside. Even  my Great Pyrenees is getting depressed. He is shedding his winter coat. When the rain stops long enough for him to come out of his dog house, he lays in his favorite corners -which are mud puddles most of the time these days and has become a matted mess. I can't wait for a warm day so I can get him brushed and clipped. That is going to be a task but he's a good boy and trusts me to do pretty much whatever I need to do. For now, he's so depressed he doesn't even bark. Poor baby. I'm hoping a few days of sun will turn him around.

What is your focus area for this week? Whatever it is, remember to Enjoy the Journey!

WEIGH IN 4-2-18

179 -168-135

Back up the hill I go. This roller coaster wouldn't be so bad if I understood what caused it. My eating habits haven't changed plus I did quite a bit of walking last week. I don't know how many steps because I've not been wearing my step counter. 

Steppy gets in the way on my wrist. I can't type with her on so I need to see if she'll fit around my ankle. I take her off to work then fail to put her back on when I'm up and moving around. Maybe I'll try that this week and let you know how it goes.

Sadly, this week I do have lots of time on the computer. First of the month stuff is always time consuming and I'm still trying to work ahead before Bob comes home. He's thinking sometime after the 9th. 

I did not get on the gazelle last week but I did get Youtube hooked up to the tv in the living room so I can get to the work out video without having to watch it on the laptop screen - aside from trying to make room on the entertainment center for the laptop to begin with.

Whatever your plans for this week, Enjoy the Journey