Useful Tuesdays...er, Fridays?

Today's useful item is the lovely accordion file:


Do you get magazines and find one or two useful pages inside which makes you reluctant to keep the whole magazine? I certainly didn't want to keep scores of issues of the three magazines I subscribe to. So I rip out the pages and store them in different sections of this accordion file. It's very handy and makes you feel so organized. Well, it makes me feel organized at least.



I got this one at a bookstore because it was very pretty and not much more expensive than a plain one. I am currently in the process of ripping out the pages from about 4 months of magazines. Remember that organized feeling? Well, sometimes it's just a feeling :)

On a different note, I'm going to pose a question for you all (the handful of people who read this). How do you decorate your house after Christmas? Do you have a winter theme? Do you put your spring items up to fight the winter blues? Do you go all out for Valentine's day and/or Saint Patrick's day? I'd love to hear your answers.

Have a lovely, warm, safe weekend!

My excuse for my missing useful post

So I am trying this new thing. I'm waking up around 5:15.

Yikes!

This all started, actually, because my drive to work last year took about 10 minutes less than this year (because of the lovely fact that every dump truck/water tank truck in the whole state has moved to this area!) so I could not get to work on time for the longest time. So I decided to get up earlier - about 10 minutes earlier! - right after Thanksgiving. That worked out great, and I was getting to work on time or early.

Then around the new year I decided to start a Read-the-Bible-in-a-year program, and I was feeling too rushed in the mornings to really invest myself in my devotions and Bible reading. And then I stumbled upon this: The Five O'Clock Club. This club basically states that the members will get up early (however early it takes) to spend time worshiping and communing with God before their crazy, hectic days start.

So I committed. I still don't have the details worked out yet (like when I need to go to bed so that I don't feel like a sleep walker in the morning, and how to get my husband to go to bed early too, and how to best arrange my quiet time so that I'm alone...), but I am already feeling blessed by this.

Although today was not the best, I felt that God was with me. I know that He is always with me, but now that I'm spending more time with Him, I recognize Him places that before I would have been tempted to not even see Him. And I'm loving Him more than I have in a while. It's really jump started my growth.

And I'm also not quite sure of what to do with myself in the evenings because I'm so tired now! So until I get used to this 5:15 schedule, my Useful Tuesday edition may fall on a Useful... Thursday? or Friday... But I will try to keep posting one a week until I run out of ideas.

Because if I don't my husband will tease me mercilessly :)

Check back soon for another post!

Useful Tuesdays

In my quest to become a more regular blogger, I've decided to have a weekly post entitled "Useful Tuesdays" where I will feature items that I have found to be useful to me in some way. Some of the posts will feature a purchased item that I use as intended, and some will be items that I've put a new use to. And since I had a snowday today (ice day?) I have no excuse not to post! So here is my useful item for January 18th.



This is an antique key on a ribbon (and my cat, who decided she wanted to be featured on my blog as well). I used to have these keys hanging around my bedroom, but one day I was looking for something, anything, to tie back the curtains that I made. I did NOT want to make tie backs too. I like sewing, but I was done at this point. I also couldn't put any hooks or anything into the window trim because 1) we rent, so the less holes we put in the walls now, the less holes we have to putty when we leave... and 2) our trim is dry rotting and doesn't hold anything in it anymore anyway. So when my eyes fell on the keys I had a eureka! moment. They very much fit my decorating style... or they would if I actually had one. And I like how it turned out.




And I hope you do, too!
Happy Tuesday!

A New Year

Since the new year started, I have been sick with a cough and sore throat. I love my family and saw them all over Christmas. Many of them had colds, sinus infections, etc. so I am not surprised that I contracted one as well. Although I hate getting a cold (who doesn't?) and particularly despise coughs (mine usually last about a month), I try to tell myself that "this too shall pass," and that there are people out there suffering from much, much worse right now. It doesn't bother me too much at this point, but it does put a damper on one of my goals for this year: to be healthier.

My husband and I have read a lot of things lately about high fructose corn syrup, and although we know that we can't believe everything we hear and read, we are doing our best to only have moderate amounts of this... product. Since HFCS is in practically everything these days, and we have no desire to go completely organic (mostly because of the astonishing price differences), in order to eat several of our normal foods I have to make my own versions.

For instance, these granola bars:



I found the recipe in a magazine even before I knew that my beloved and trusty granola bars had HFCS in them and had wanted to try them, so when I realized that the only granola bars I could find without HFCS were organic and pricey, I decided it was a good time to try the recipe. I'm glad I did, because I like them better than (almost) any granola bar I've ever had, and they are easy to make. Here is the recipe with some alterations according to my taste:

3 1/2 cups quick cooking oats
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 egg lightly beaten
2/3 cups butter, melted
1/2 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup sunflower kernels
1/2 cup flaked coconut
1/4 cup dried apples (if available)
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Combine oats and walnuts in a 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 15 minutes or until toasted, stirring occasionally.

In a large bowl, combine the egg, butter, honey and vanilla. Stir in the sunflower kernels, coconut, apples, cranberries, brown sugar and cinnamon. Stir in oat mixture.

Press into a 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 13-18 minutes or until set and edges are lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack. Cut into bars. Store in an airtight container. Yield: 3 dozen.

The original recipe called for almonds instead of walnuts, but I liked the taste of the walnuts better. Also, it called for more cranberries and apples. But I don't really like cranberries all that much, and I don't like chopping up dried apples at all, so I lessened the amounts. This recipe is very flexible, so I might end up playing around with it even more. We'll see.


Also, I wore two different shoes yesterday for the first (and hopefully the last) time in my life. I didn't even notice it until halfway through the day when my curiosity as to why one foot was louder than the other prompted me to check the bottom of my shoe for a paper or something else that was muffling the sound. I am now going to move my brown heels so that they aren't next to each other, as they are apparently the exact same color and height.

Christmas on our own

Yesterday I decorated the house for Christmas. I was very excited as I pulled my four boxes of Christmas decorations out of the basement clutter and trudged upstairs. Then I opened them.

What? This is it? One box full of Christmas cards I got on clearance last year during the post-Christmas sale season, one box full of Christmas ornaments, and the two smallest boxes filled with candles and lights. I have two wooden-crafted wall-hangings, and a bag of cinnamon pine cones. And one (granted, large) nativity set. Really? I was a little depressed.

See, I always spend a lot of time crafting Christmas decorations or cross-stitched projects, but they're always gifts for my family or friends. And by the time post-Christmas clearance items come around I'm pretty much out of money due to my love of giving Christmas gifts (My grandma's the same way, so I do get it honest).

Maybe this year I will save some money specifically to find Christmas decor for my little house so that next year when I get my boxes out I will be singing "Joy to the World" while bustling around the house deciding where to put it all. But I did make two items that will stay in our house for as long as they last (or as long as the cat decides they aren't worth ripping apart). So here they are, in all their glory. Ribbon Christmas Trees. Part of the very limited Christmas show at the little white house with black shutters. They're very easy to make and can be found on Michaels' website under projects - Christmas.


Happy December!

Adventures in Poultry

A few weeks ago I made my first roast chicken, all by myself (well, I did have to call my mom for one thing, but still... mostly by myself). It was pretty yummy. I got the recipe from a magazine, which listed a bunch of meals you could make with the leftover chicken. I am a big fan of leftovers recipes. So I made the lemon-garlic chicken, which called for stuffing the skin of the chicken with a lemon, garlic, butter mixture. The recipe also had you cook potatoes in with the chicken and as I am also a huge potato fan (meat & potatoes, ya know?) I added those as well. Here is the chicken pre-roasting. Notice the cell phone hanging out so I could call my mom and ask where the giblets are located :)
And here is a picture of the end result. We thought it tasted pretty good, although next time we're putting less lemon in the chicken. And my husband thought it was way too good to leave leftovers for another meal. He had the rest of the chicken for lunch the next day, so I guess I'll have to make it again and hide the leftovers if I want to make the other recipes!



In other news, only 39 days until Christmas... Yikes!
Happy Tuesday!

Letters to Friends

Well, today is the perfect kind of day to write letters. It's rainy, but not depressing, because the sun peeks out every once-in-a-while. So there's no risk of writing an overly gloomy letter. It's not too cold in the house, so I don't feel the need to stay under a blanket or glued to my husband - the human heater - to keep warm. Today is also a great day for writing letters because I should clean the bathroom. Therefore, I can postpone cleaning the bathroom in order to write letters because - I argue - my answering letters are sadly overdue. And I have clam chowder on the stove and hot tea in the pot. It's a fantastic time for writing letters.

I love writing letters and sending them snail mail. I feel more myself when writing a letter than any other time. And getting letters back is also a wonderful experience. I have the joy of writing letters to supplement my phone calls from my best friend who now lives in Mississippi. The only positive part about that situation is that I now have a reason to spell Mississippi. (Didn't everyone grow up reciting the M-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P-P-I chant?) I miss her very much. We lived together in college, and I got so used to having her around for a heart-to-heart almost anytime I needed one that this separation is a killer. We've been apart for over a year, but I'm just now starting to really feel it. I guess the newlywed fascination is wearing off! :)

I also love sending birthday cards. I'm not great with people. My social skills, while not bad enough to get me a diagnosis or therapy, leave a lot to desire. I often think back and realize that I should have said this to so-and-so, or I should have encouraged this person to hang out with me more. Sadly, I have left several starts of friendships die out, especially in college. I'm naturally a loner, but for some reason I don't really want to be. So I maintain my few remaining contacts by snail mail and thoroughly enjoy it!

So I'm going to go relish my clam chowder and biscuits, watch the end of Harry Potter, drink some tea, and write some letters.