Spinach Salad with Cranberries, Pecans and Blue Cheese

Yes, I've been posting lots of recipes lately but that's because that's what I've been doing - cooking :-)  This week, life gets back into "normal" and I have crafts to make and show off, organizing projects to share, home updates to blog about and more.  I took a break yesterday and didn't post anything but wanted to post this today :-)  Not sure if I'll get the craft started today that I wanted to share so . . ..this is my "craft" :-)  I have also started posting my weekly menu on the right side of the blog - just scroll down.  I'm still working on it but would like to post links to any recipes that appear on the blog.  I do have more to post from the last few weeks too.  If you haven't guessed, I like to cook :-)

I love Blue Cheese.  I made this recently to go with Sunday dinner despite the fact that I knew my husband wouldn't like it.  Why, you might ask?  He doesn't like salad with "stuff" in it :-(  So I made it more for me and it was SOOO good - I think I'll be planning this one for lunch soon.

This recipe comes from Food Network.

This picture doesn't really do it justice - it tastes so much better!

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound hickory smoked bacon slices, roughly chopped
• 1/2 cup pecans, toasted and roughly chopped
• 2 (6-ounce) containers baby spinach
• 1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced
• 1 cup dried cranberries

Dressing:

• 1/2 cup Danish blue cheese, crumbled
• 1/4 cup buttermilk
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1/4 teaspoon sugar
• Salt and freshly cracked black pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Fry chopped bacon in a medium skillet over medium-high heat until brown and crisp. Using slotted spoon, transfer to a paper towel-lined 1/4-sheet tray to drain.
Toast pecans in the oven on a 1/4-sheet tray until lightly golden and fragrant, about 6 minutes.
In a medium bowl mash the blue cheese with a fork. Mix in the buttermilk, sour cream, sugar, salt and pepper, to taste.
Combine baby spinach, red onion, pecans, dried cranberries and bacon in large bowl. Toss with the dressing immediately before serving

Notes:
*I did not put the dressing on the salad at all - that way, what ever was left, I could save (which I did) and eat for lunch the following day (which I did!). 

Welcome 2011!! (With a little Life on Purpose and Organization Thrown in!)

Did you make it to Mid-night last night to welcome in the new year?  We did!!  I usually enjoy watching the New Year's Eve shows but . . .some of the music is really getting out there for me.  I wish that the Contemporary Christian Artists did a special - wouldn't it be fun to listen to Christian Artists sing instead???  Shoot, I'd settle for some decent Country Music compared to what I saw last night!! 

What better way to start off 2011 than with a final Life on Purpose list and some links to some other blogs doing Organization challenges. 

For the other Life on Purpose posts click here and here.  Also for another post on evaluating your life for 2011 click here. 

This last Life on Purpose post focuses on setting up your weekly plan.  There are three main documents - a General Weekly Plan, A Specific Weekly Plan, and than the Ta Da List!  You'll be able to click on the documents at the end of this post.

The General Weekly Plan is just that, something general.  It is divided up into "early morning", "mid-morning",
"early afternoon", "late afternoon", "early evening", and "late evening".  Think about what things you want plugged into each square during the week.  This inculdes items such as "cleaning", "office work", "Family time", etc.  General titles - not specific line items.  Leave open blocks if possible so that if something comes up on Monday during the normal cleaning time, you can just move it to an open block during your week and never feel like you are behind. 

The Specific Weekly Plan looks just like the weekly plan when it is blank but now, each week, you will plug in the item(s) you want to get done.  For example, if you have "office" listed for early morning - on Monday, you would list "cut coupons and file" if that is the item you want to get done.  Or on Wednesday, during mid-afternoon cleaning time, you might write "clean bathroom".  This list you can post in your office, on your fridge, above your mirror - where ever you need it - to see your plan for the week.  Again, keep some open slots so you are prepared for things not going the way you planned :-) 

The Ta Da List is your daily To do List.  When you look at the sample provided below, you'll notice two sides to the list.  One side is a list of one item you want to get done in each "topic" that day (I just realized I didn't give you the document that you get this info from!  I'll include that below)  Not all topics will have something on a given day but it gives you something to work toward.  Than the other side is for all of those misc items that come up - a phone call, printing something off, looking something up, etc. 

A very important part to this whole plan is the "Dividing Your Time" worksheet.  I think I had meant to do this in its own post but . . . I'll include it here.  I would label this sheet your 2011 goals.  In studies that have been done by various groups, it has been observed that people cannot do more than 3 things.  So for all of us over-achievers that set 12 large goals a year; maybe this is why we can't reach them???  If you set goals and never reach them, try to pick the top three on your list and focus on those.  In the sample I've included as well as my own list - there are 6.  I couldn't narrow it down any further than that :-(   When you look over the sample - I think it is pretty self-explanatory.  The 6 areas of efforts would be the 6 "goals".  Notice that it includes family, work, and personal interest.  Than, under each item, make a list of the things you want to accomplish.  By doing this first, you can than plug those topics into your general weekly plan and the sub-topics into your specific weekly plan.  Than, on your daily Ta Da list, you include each of those "topics" on the left side of the list (as well as other items, as needed) and list that one item that you want to get done on a given day to help you accomplish the goal. Do you see how it works together??? 

How do you organize all of this?  I would get a three ring binder.  Personally, I would put the Dividing My Time list, first.  This keeps my goals up front where I can see them.  Behind that, I would keep a copy of my Weekly General Plan.  Than, behind that my Life Purpose List, 50 Great Dates, and other worksheets.  You can than keep your weekly specific plan in the binder or put them there at the end of the week so you can look back and see what works and what did not work.  I would personally put my Daily List right on the front of the binder so I can see it on my desk every time I walk by.  

So here are a bunch of documents for you:

Here is the Sample Weekly General Plan (please note, when you get to Google Docs, because it is in excel, you'll have to click to "download it")
Sample
And a Blank One (or you can create it in excel yourself)
blank

And a sample Specific Plan - the "blank" one would be the same as listed above
Sample

And a sample to do list (I do not have a blank one right now)
Sample

I'm not sure yet if I'm going to use the To Da list and Weekly Plan - I worked all year in 2010 on my weekly to do list until I finally found something that included everything for my week (all of my routines) and misc items on one sheet that I print every Sunday Night.  I like very specific lists so this works for me but I have made up a weekly plan for this coming week just test it out.  Here is a sample of my current weekly plan - this is from back in October and I have changed it up some but it give you an idea.

Sample

And finally, just for fun - here is a bunch of quotes for you :-) 

quotes


And Organization! (Whew! almost done!)

Sassy Sites is holding an Organization Giveaway during the whole month of January.  Just click Here to learn more and link up.  I'll be taking pictures of my bathroom that I'm planning on finishing up in January.

The Speckled Dog is doing a "Kick the Clutter in 2011" challenge.  Click here to see all posts related to the theme.  She is posting before and after pictures and wants you to also :-)  Last year my theme word was "declutter" so I have done a lot of this but this year my word is "Simplify" so I will continue to declutter, finish projects, and just make our home more . . simple, enjoyable, and just comfortable :-)

Welcome to 2011 - the year to be organized :-)

Christmas Post (Finally)

I'm a little late on my Christmas post but I just downloaded pictures today from Christmas weekend. 

This year, we decided to go to my parents house for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  We surprised my mom by showing up early since Darryl didn't work.  I called her to ask her to leave the door unlocked for us since she would be at the Christmas Eve Service but, than said "How about if you just open the garage door for us now"  She didn't believe us until she actually walked out and saw us unloading LOL

Josh - heading to grandma's.  Notice the shoes?  Yep, those are mine.  He refused to take them off and wore them the whole trip. 

Nate with his laughing frog - ready for the ride!!

 We all went to the Christmas Eve Service together.  Josh was not into sitting quietly through a service so he and I ran laps through the church until I finally locked us in my dad's office.  He drew pictures on Grandpa's white board and ate lots of cashews!!

Once we got home, we enjoyed our normal Christmas Eve Snack fest.  This year we had Shrimp, Cheese Ball and Crackers, Mini Crescent Dogs, and Chili Cheese dips.  Josh's favorite, though, were the peanut butter bars :-)

The last things we did that night was let the boys open their Christmas Eve gifts.  They each got new Pajama's and a musical book.  Nate's plays bedtime songs and Josh's is actually a piano.  After this, we did baths, put on the new PJ's and read "The Night Before Christmas" before putting them to bed.

 The boys each have a stocking :-) Which they don't get to open until Christmas Morning

Nate, waiting for Christmas breakfast, not sure about this look LOL

 Nate got into opening his stocking - trying to save his stuff from his brother!!

Josh loved the little flashlight that grandpa put in his stocking.

Josh got lots of presents.  He loves this sesame street bus.  And he got a big Thomas the Train set which he is figuring out how to put together.  Not to mention a little people fire house, a stuffed elephant webkin, matchbox cars and more.  He was THRILLED!!!

 Nate figured out how to open his gifts slowly.  He got this really neat musical stack able table, some trucks, this great little cow that makes noise when you roll it, a Weebles house and extra Weebles, and more.  He loved every moment of the day! 

We loaded up the car on Saturday night (loaded to the gills) and headed home.  Than we got ready for our little family Christmas.  The kids were in bed so we brought in their toy boxes and bean bag chairs and than put gifts inside the boxes.  We are thinking this will be a tradition - the week before Christmas, we'll go through all of their toys and let them pick out the things they don't play with.  Than, we will leave the toy boxes empty and the night before our Christmas, we'll wrap their toys and put them in their toy boxes. 

 Nate peering into his toy box.

 Josh got a new drum filled with all kinds of percussion instruments (yes, I bought him this LOL) along with a piano, and a 2 in one scooter.  He also got lots of little people stuff :-)

 Nate got a 2-in-1 scooter and a really cool bath toy, plus a driving toy.  And lots of little people things!

 Josh playing with toys as I got them put together - he had a blast on Sunday just playing!

 The train set - Nate loves to tear it apart quickly!! While Josh loves to play for hours with it going "Choo Choo"

The new bath toy - it makes bubbles and plays music.  Both boys love it!

So Christmas was a blast.  The kids were blessed with lots of things from the grandparents, for the church and from others.  My parents surprised us with some awesome gifts too (Like a Tassimo coffee maker!!)  Lots of fun memories and laughs were had by all :-)

Turkey Vegetable Soup with Stuffing Balls

We had this soup last night with the last of the leftovers from our Turkey dinner on Sunday.  It was pretty easy and very tasty. 
This is a Food Network Recipe.

Ingredients

• Carcass from one 12-14 pound roasted turkey, picked clean
• 2 large onions, one quartered and one chopped
• 4 peeled carrots, 2 coarsely chopped and 2 sliced
• 4 stalks celery, 2coarsely chopped and 2 sliced
• 6 garlic cloves, 4 smashed and 2 chopped
• 1 bay leaf
• 10 whole black peppercorns
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 large eggs
• 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour, plus more as needed
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more as needed
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 2 cups leftover stuffing
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme
• 2 cups shredded leftover turkey meat
• 1 cup leftover corn kernels

Directions

Put the turkey carcass, quartered onions, coarsely chopped carrots and celery, smashed garlic, bay leaf, and peppercorns in a large stockpot and add enough cold water to just cover, about 2 quarts. Bring the water to a boil, and then reduce the heat to maintain a gentle simmer and cook for 1 hour. Remove from the heat and strain the solids from the broth. Pour the liquid through a fine mesh strainer and reserve; you should have about 10-12 cups broth.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk the eggs, flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and some black pepper together until smooth. Add the stuffing and mix until well combined; cover and reserve.

Wipe the stockpot clean with a paper towel. Heat the oil in the pot over medium heat. Add the chopped onion and garlic and cook until soft and translucent, about 6 minutes. Add the sliced carrots and celery, thyme sprigs, and reserved broth and bring to a simmer; cook vegetables are just soft, about 10 minutes.

Roll level tablespoons of the dumpling mixture into balls with wet hands (see note) and drop into the simmering soup; cook until dumplings float, 3-4 minutes. Gently stir in the turkey meat, corn, and season with salt and pepper, and simmer until heated through. Serve immediately.

Note: Moistness of stuffing can vary; if the dumpling dough is too soft to roll, add flour a teaspoon at a time until it is firm enough to hold its shape while rolling

My Notes:
*I did not have a pot pig enough to submerge the Turkey Caucass so I broke it up a little bit and than just filled the pot up as full as was feasible and let the rest of the carcass stick out of the water. 
* I did not have leftover stuffing since I didn't make stuffing - I made a small box of Stove Top and it was just over two cups of stuffing.  Next time, though, I would make the stuffing in advance - I had to stick mine in the freezer because I didn't want scrambled eggs by adding the egg mixture to hot stuffing!!!
*This makes a ton of really good Turkey stock - for our family of four, in the future I will only use have the stock and freeze the rest for another batch of soup later.  I'm thinking of straining out my soup after lunch today and freezing what is left because there is a ton!!!

Potato Pancakes with Fried Eggs and Turkey Hash

On Sunday, I cooked a large turkey and the "fixin's" for our little Christmas at home with the kids.  I then went searching for some really good "leftover" recipes and tried this one tonight.  I'll be honest, I was a little scared as I was making it but, in my husband's words, "this is fantastic, I would order it in a restaurant" which means he liked it :-)  This recipe came from Food Network.

Ingredients

• 1 cup leftover mashed potatoes, at room temperature
• 1 large egg, plus 4 for frying
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon finely chopped sage
• Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 5 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 small onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• 1 small red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and chopped
• 8 ounces diced leftover turkey meat, about 2 cups
• 1/2 cup leftover turkey gravy
• 1/4 cup leftover cooked corn kernels
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh parsley

Directions

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F.
In a bowl, mix the potatoes, egg, and milk together until combined. Add the flour, season with salt and pepper, and mix until smooth. Heat 2 teaspoons oil on a non-stick griddle over medium heat; pour about 1/3 cup of the batter onto the warm griddle, gently spread it to a circle about 4" wide, and cook, flipping once, until golden brown, 3-4 minutes per side. Transfer to the oven to keep warm. Repeat with remaining batter.
Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a small skillet over medium low heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the red pepper and cook until softened, about 4 minutes more. Add the turkey, gravy, and corn and cook, stirring, until turkey is heated through. Season hash with salt and pepper, stir in the parsley, and keep warm over low heat.
Heat the remaining teaspoon of oil on the griddle over medium-high heat. Crack the eggs onto the griddle and cook until desired doneness. To serve, put a warm potato cake on each of 4 plates; top the cakes with a fried egg and divide the hash evenly among them.

Notes:
* I made the hash first, than the pancakes and eggs so I didn't need to really keep the pancakes warm.  If you cook together, one could cook the pancakes and one the eggs so they are both done at the same time
* The pancakes were REALLY good - and the yolk acts like the "syrup" so it isn't dry.  If you wanted you could use a little sour cream with chives to dip it in as well
*This would be an easy meal to do anytime - if you have a roast chicken and mashed potatoes - just make extra potatoes and make this recipe the next night.   I actually didn't have gravy left so I just used a packet mix to make some and it was the exact right amount for the hash. 

Song of the Week "Love Me"

Have you heard the song out by JJ Heller - Love Me?  The first time I heard this I had to sit in my car until the song finshed - I couldn't stop listening.  What a powerful message the song brings.  Just read the lyics!  Haven't we all uttered those words at some point - "Who will love me for me?" 

He cries in the corner where nobody sees
He's the kid with the story no one would believe
He prays every night, "Dear God won't you please...
Could you send someone here who will love me?"

Who will love me for me
Not for what I have done or what I will become
Who will love me for me
'Cause nobody has shown me what love
What love really means

Her office is shrinking a little each day
She's the woman whose husband has run away
She'll go to the gym after working today
Maybe if she was thinner
Then he would've stayed
And she says...

Who will love me for me?
Not for what I have done or what I will become
Who will love me for me?
'Cause nobody has shown me what love, what love really means

He's waiting to die as he sits all alone
He's a man in a cell who regrets what he's done
He utters a cry from the depths of his soul
"Oh Lord, forgive me, I want to go home"

Then he heard a voice somewhere deep inside
And it said
"I know you've murdered and I know you've lied
I have watched you suffer all of your life
And now that you'll listen, I'll tell you that I..."

I will love you for you
Not for what you have done or what you will become
I will love you for you
I will give you the love
The love that you never knew

Scroll down to the bottom to click on the you tube video - I wish I could add this to my player but it isn't out there so make sure and pause the player to listen :-)

Life on Purpose - Part 2

Welcome to part 2 of "Life on Purpose" - planning your 2011 with purpose so that you accomplish what you really want to do and not be taken over by the "little" things that seem to eat away at our daily lives. 

If you missed the first post or either of the first two documents just click here to see the original post. 

Next, is creating your task map.  You may want to open or download the document first by clicking here so that what I say makes sense.  On this page are two circles, the large circle should include everything that you do for your family or yourself.  The documents gives a few ideas to get you started but just list away.  The inside circle should include your "work" tasks - whatever you do for work.  (If you are a stay at home mom this may overlap or it should also be anything you volunteer for such as room mom, Nursery Coordinator, etc - anything that isn't home related)  Once you have finished with listing everything - take time to underline the 2 items in each area that cause you the most stress and circle the two things that you enjoy the most.  One project you can work on is how to make those two items NOT stressful - whether it be learning more about the item (such as finances, budgeting, organizing, ect) or delegating it to someone else - and another project is how to find more time for the two items that you enjoy the most.   I will admit that this one worksheet is one I struggle with the most - I already have my daily chores broken up into what I do on specific days so I had already done this step, just in a differant way.

Have you ever sat down and thought about your year in advance - making note of the important things each month.  The next worksheet I really enjoyed and I'll share both a blank one and mine (as much as is done now)  With this worksheet, list everything major that you need to do each month for example, Darryl's birthday is in February so in January one of my items is "Plan Darryl's birthday" so that I actually remember to plan for it.  Than I also add in February "Darryl's Birthday".  By doing this list, you can see at a glance the top items that you need to get done each month but it does something else.  One of our goals this next year is to paint the outside of our house so I can look at my month by month plan and see which month(s) I can plug this item into by seeing which months are the least busy.  Obviously, since it is painting, I need to look between April-Sept. and than take a month that is the least full so I know I won't have to work around other items to get it done.  You can see mine here.  This is also the place to write down the things you do once a year or once every three months  like clean out the garage, clean out the attic, change the screens, change filters.  This is a road map of your year.  You may notice that as I share documents, they start to get a little more specific - we started with just a brainstorm of ideas and now we are writing down monthly items . .. .so you can guess that we are going to get to goals, monthly, weekly and daily to do's. 

So, now, take time to fill out your task map and your month-by-month plan.  This is also a good time to pull out your 2011 calendar and fill out birth dates and any items that are already set - get those dates written in NOW so you don't double book yourself (and it can help you fill out that month-by-month document!)

Your Task Map

Month-By-Month Plan