TIP

I always buy the large cans of spaghetti sauce, but since I'm only cooking for two (and a toddler) I hardly ever use the whole can so I store it in a tupperware and use it in another meal later in the week.

Have you ever come across the problem of tomato sauce turning your tupperware orange? Try this tip to help prevent this from happening:


Spray your tupperware well with cooking spray before you pour in your sauce. It works great for my tupperware, and hopefully it will work well for yours too!

Stuffed Peppers

While grocery shopping last week I found the biggest, most gorgeous green peppers and the best part...they were on sale for 59cents! One of my favorite dishes is Stuffed Peppers, so that's what they became. This recipe is so simple and so good! I created this recipe for two but it can very easily be adjusted to feed a whole family.

You will need:


2 large or 4 small peppers, any color
1/2 pound sausage
1/2 onion
2 cloves garlic or 1 tsp garlic powder
1 can mushrooms drained
1/2 can spaghetti sauce
1 cup minute rice uncooked
1/2 c cup water
1 cup cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cover a casserole dish or bread pan with foil then grease foil with cooking spray.

Cut the tops off of the peppers, cut out the center and remove any membrane from inside. Place in a large pot, cover with water and bring to a boil for 5 minutes. Drain water. Season the peppers with salt and pepper to your liking, then place peppers in your prepared pan.



Brown sausage, add garlic, onion and mushrooms. Cook until onion is tender then add spaghetti sauce, rice, water and 1/2 cup cheese. Stir until combined.


Fill peppers with filling and top with remaining cheese, then cover pan with a piece of foil that has also been greased with cooking spray to prevent the cheese from sticking.



Bake for 40-45 minutes or until rice is tender.



ENJOY!

Possible substitutions:
red, yellow or orange peppers
ground beef, turkey or chicken
cream of mushroom soup instead of spaghetti sauce
mozzarella cheese instead of cheddar

Possible additions:
olives, crushed red peppers, parmesan cheese, or try adding cream cheese to your filling for a creamy sauce.

Gone But Not Forgotten

I have neglected this blog for some time now, but with the start of this New Year I have many new goals, projects, and aspirations to conquer. As I thought about the things I hope to accomplish in my life I decided to make this blog a place where I can record them. I have many friends who achieved so much in their lives and I truly admire them. They have inspired me to do more and be a better me, so while I was doing my pondering how I could do this I started thinking of all the things I love to do: being a great mom and loving wife, cooking, cleaning (yes cleaning-I feel proud of a clean house), crafting, and decorating. These things make me happy, and I believe that the best way to be our better selves is to truly be happy. I look forward to sharing these things and hope to possibly provide ideas or advice that can be beneficial to someone else as my friends have for me. Happy 2010 everybody!

What a day...

Laura, thank you for your post-I think I'm going to do that tonight! I feel like you can always read my mind even when we're miles apart. What a day I had...

Today my co-teacher, Alex, and I had 16 kids!! I just got home and finished cleaning my house. I finally have time to sit, and I am in desperate need to vent... I find myself saying the same things over and over during the day and it makes me feel like a mean old broken record.

"SIT ON YOUR POCKETS"; "CATCH A BUBBLE"; "GET DOWN FROM THERE"; "1...2...3...TIME OUT"; "IT'S TIME TO CLEAN UP"; "YOU'RE NOT GOING TO GET A TREAT"; "I'M WAITING..."; "WE DON'T HURT OUR FRIENDS"; "JERICCA TAKE A BITE, JERICCA YOU NEED TO EAT, JERICCA I'M SERIOUS,"; "BRITTON DO NOT HIT! BRITTON TIME OUT, BRITTON DO NOT KICK! BRITTON TIME OUT, BRITTON DON'T SPIT, BRITTON TIME OUT"...and the list goes on and on.

My days are not usually like this, but every now and then I feel like these kids are conspiring against me. I love them all to pieces and the only thing that keeps me from losing it is by giving them hugs and kisses. It works quite well. Whenever one of my kids is driving me absolutely nuts I pick them up, give them a squeeze and a kiss and my stress seems to go away-usually. Even though I got lots of hugs and kisses today I think I still need some brownies, a bubble bath and my bed in order to get up and do this again tomorrow. So, Laura I will take your advice. It couldn't have come at a more perfect time. And Laura...do you ever feel this way too? I don't know how you do it. You're amazing.

Need to Relax?

Send the kids to bed early.

Tell your husband you are having a "me" night.

Make some brownies. Eat them.

Take a bubble bath by candlelight (add some soothing music if you wish).

Go to bed early.

That's my advice for the day. :)

Laura's Laundry Tips

This is our goal right?

I never dreamed that an empty laundry basket could bring me such happiness. I have been thinking about sharing my strategy for keeping up on laundry. So thanks to my friend for bringing it up. :)

I say "keeping up" on laundry instead of "getting it done", because...let's face it...Laundry is NEVER done. At least in my house. So, to keep my husband from getting frustrated every Sunday morning, because his white Sunday shirt is either dirty or wrinkled or both, I use a little schedule.

It goes a little like this:

Monday: Mind the Blues (darks)
Tuesday: Toss in the Towels
Wednesday: Wash the Whites
Thursday: Think Light (light colors)
Friday: Find the Jeans
Saturday: Save the Sheets
Sunday: NO laundry...free day.

Someone used this cute little motto: A LOAD A DAY KEEPS THE PILES AWAY!

The goal for me is to toss in a load to the washer first thing in the morning, throw it in the dryer before I leave and then fold the clothing on my lunch or when I get home. Sometimes I forget to change it to the dryer before I leave, but oh well, the fact that they are clean is what matters right? I also try to do any ironing, etc, IMMEDIATELY upon removing them from the dryer, that way I save time later. Besides, let's not forget that the whole system revolves around my husband's happiness with his white shirt.

This whole laundry routine when added together takes about 20-25 minutes total (5 min. to sort out the colors, 5 min to load/start washer, 2 min to switch from wash to dry and about 10 min (give or take, depending upon the load) to fold.) So in reality it only takes about 20-25 minutes total to do your laundry instead of spending an ENTIRE WEEKEND catching up. Creating more family time!

Now, I can't really take all the credit for this little system. A website that has helped me get my routines down as a working wife is FLYLADY.NET. I don't do everything she says, mostly because I am not that obsessive about perfect clean house. But a lot of the tips and tricks that she suggests help me to keep a little sanity.

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And...some great crockpot recipes? Try this website, I have never tried it myself, but as a self claimed expert she seems to have the crockpot scene down.

What? Working Mom??

So, I never planned to be a "working mom", but here I am working at a Day Care teaching preschool and caring for sweet 2 1/2 and 3 year old kids. I love my job and I feel so blessed because I get to bring my baby with me so I don't feel like I'm neglecting my mother duties, but boy am I busy now! This is how my day goes:

7am-Wake-Up and get myself ready
7:30am- Get Emily ready (cute outfit, hair done, diaper bag packed, shoes and coat on)
7:55am-Out the door. I have to get out before 8:00 because there's a school bus that stops right in front of my house at precisely 8am, and it successfully holds up traffic for atleast 5 minutes so I can't get out of my driveway.
8:30-4:30pm-Work
5:00pm-Get home, make dinner, do dishes, clean up the house (because it's always a mess after our hectic morning)
7:00pm-Emily's Bedtime Routine. Bath, book, prayers, songs
7:45/8:00pm- I finally get to sit! Steve and I watch a movie and have some us time
10:30pm-Bed. I know it may seem early, but in reality I start getting tired at about 9:00pm and I have to force myself to stay awake so I can spend time with Steve. Then it starts all over the next morning.

Now, I'm not complaining. I actually feel like I have a lot more energy since I started working because I never sit and I'm constantly on the go. When I stayed at home and had extra time to lounge I found myself feeling tired all the time. So, this is a plus but I still have the problem of trying to accomplish everything in my day. I'll be able to start working only 2 or 3 days a week soon, so that will remedy just about all my issues, but for now there are 3 main things that are getting me through my crazy days:

1. The Crock Pot. I can prep all the ingredients and put them in the crock pot the night before, and then pop the pot into the fridge. Then in the morning all I have to do is put it in place, turn it on and go. This works very well, but I need more good Crock Pot recipes!

2. Frozen Food. Now, I love to cook. It's probably my favorite thing to do, but sometimes I just don't have time or I'm just plain not in the mood. Because of this I am so grateful for frozen food! I know it's the easy way out, but let me tell you-it's nice to be able to pop in a Digiorno pizza, Fish n Chips, chicken nuggets, or whatever and have dinner ready in minutes. Plus, the clean up is usually just a baking sheet, not bad!

3. Steve. My husband has been such a big help. He gets up with me in the morning to help get Emily ready (I have to pick out her clothes though. I swear, some of the outfits he comes up with...). And when he comes home in the evening he changes her diapers and helps with her bedtime routine. He is amazing! I don't know what I'm going to do without him when he leaves for Nevada this summer.

I feel like I've got a pretty good handle on just about everything except LAUNDRY. No matter what I try my laundry piles up. I guess washing the laundry isn't the problem-it's FOLDING the laundry. I hate it. It takes forever, so I avoid it but then it piles up so by the time I get around to it I have a MOUNTAIN to fold. Oy...what to do, what to do.

So, if any of you have some laundry tips, quick dinner ideas, or anything else that might help I'd love it! And KUDOS to all your working women out there. I'd forgotten how hard it is to work and be a housewife at the same time.