I don't know what happened.

While I will freely admit that I am doing everything in my power to procrastinate on making my daughter's Halloween costume, I don't think even THAT can explain what happened today.  Maybe it's because I thought my laptop was dead (turns out it wasn't, thank goodness!) and I wasn't sure what to do with myself.  Maybe it's Nony's fault (I started listening to her podcasts yesterday).  Maybe my body was overtaken by aliens.

At any rate, I woke up EARLY this morning.  Way too early for a Saturday.  Like, 5:45 or something silly like that (which would be sleeping in if it were a weekday - my hubby had to work today, and he usually works Monday - Friday, so maybe my brain was confused).  Got up, made my coffee, and sat down at the computer to do my usual Swagbucks routine.  

Went to get my second cup of coffee and realized that the dishwasher was still full from last night's running (on the weekdays hubby usually empties it but he had to leave an hour earlier than his usual, so he didn't take the time today).  So, I unloaded it.  Then, after breakfast I put the breakfast dishes in it (turns out this is a pattern that would continue ALL DAY LONG - what the heck?). 

I sat down at the computer again and decided I didn't want to be there.  So I went in the bedroom and folded a load of laundry.  Then I did another one.  Then I went to put some towels away and realized the first aid box from last night's decluttering session was still on the kitchen table.  So I put it away.  And cleared a little bit off the bathroom counter and put it away too. 

Then I looked at a big pile of stuff that has been sitting on my bedroom floor for goodness knows how long, preventing me from fully closing my closet door.  So I went through that.  Turned out most of it was stuff needing to be donated.  Then I pulled down the bin of winter hats/gloves/scarves/misc. stuff off my closet shelf and went through that.  Gave my girl the elbow-length fingerless gloves I think I wore to junior prom (!) and a silk scarf for dress-up, and much of the rest also went in the donation pile.  Pulled a few things out of my closet that I know I'll never wear again and added those to the pile too.

Then I remembered that I wanted to start carefully weeding out some of my daughter's board books that she was never really into.  So while she was busy watching My Little Pony, I snuck in and snagged five of them.  Added to the donate pile.  Then I sent her out to her shoe bin to pull out all the shoes that are too small for her (kids' feet DO stop growing so fast someday, right?).  Donate, donate, donate.

Wrote down all that donation material for our tax records and, by 10:30, I had already filled two big black trash bags and one box with items to donate. 

Took a break, and then started tackling the laundry - washing, drying, folding - seven or so loads, several of which were already washed and just waiting to be folded.  As I folded, I sorted out more clothes that were either too big for me or too small for my daughter, and added them to the pile. 

Then I went grocery shopping.

THEN I decided I'd better get off my tush and start working on my daughter's Halloween costume.  I suppose if I sewed more often I'd get faster at pinning and cutting, wouldn't I?  Got two pieces cut out but I have to go to the fabric store to get a fabric pen before I can cut out the other four.......

Made dinner, and put the prep dishes in the dishwasher as I went.  Finished eating and washed out the pan.  The dishwasher is ready to be run at bedtime.  Did a couple more loads of laundry, folding as I went.

VERY productive day.  I have no idea where it came from!

Purging Purging Purging

I'm happy to report that I stuck to my purging plan for FOUR WHOLE DAYS!!!  That might be a record for me.  During that time, I donated/tossed/recycled

• 10 books
• 8 magazines
• a canning jar wrench
• a candy thermometer
• two meat thermometers
• the "stick blender" attachment for my hand mixer that never actually worked
• 2 oil bottle spouts
• 2 paring knives
• a tea ball
• a grease mop
• a pair of outgrown child's shoes
• 12 documents (scanned and shredded)

Not a bad start, right?  And, then life happened.  Why I decided to start this little change the week of our biggest event of the year at work I'm not sure, but I had to work late two nights in a row, so I stopped, and then I forgot to start again. 

So yesterday, 10 days later, I decided to take on a couple of boxes while I sat at watched Ghost Hunters (because I can no longer just sit and WATCH Ghost Hunters, I have to be doing something else too, so I'm not sure why I bother).  I snagged a box that has been sitting in my living room for, oh, I don't know, four or five years, maybe.  Figured if I haven't needed whatever was in it in all that time, well, it could probably go.

From that box, I managed to eliminate:

• 11 picture frames
• 2 decorative oil lamps
• 2 crystal penguins
• teacup and saucer set

And then I went into our bathroom closet and pulled out the "First Aid and Medications" box which hadn't been opened, well, in a really long time.  From that, I purged 15 expired medications and two children's thermometers.  

I've also started flipping through one or two magazines each morning while I drink my coffee.  Hopefully this means that in six months or so, my giant basket of magazines will no longer exist.

So I think my activities last night may have completely made up for my little break there.  Onward and upward! 

Punch

I needed a punch recipe this weekend.  This happens once or twice a year, and each time I need one I think "how did I make it last time?  Something to do with pineapple and orange juice, right?  And then I scour the internet for one that looks good.

I ended up making this one (a riff on a recipe I found), and it was delicious.  I froze orange juice in plastic tubs to make the ice blocks, so it wouldn't dilute the way plain ice would.

This recipe exactly fills my punch bowl.

1 2-liter bottle ginger ale
1 64-ounch bottle pineapple orange juice
1 can passion/orange juice concentrate, undiluted

Mix well and serve.  Delicious and refreshing!

Got Swag?

Disclaimer - contains referral links

Swagbucks bills itself as "the web's premier rewards site", and as far as I'm concerned, they're right.  I've done MyPoints.  I've done multiple survey sites.  And Swagbucks is, by far, the most consistent, easy way I've found to get rewards.  I've been a member for over four years and, in that time (usually with little to no effort on my part), I've received over 80 free $5 Amazon.com gift cards. 

How it works:  You earn points, called Swagbucks, for doing things online - watching videos, doing internet searches, completing surveys and special tasks, looking at offers, etc.  Then you can take those Swagbucks and cash them in for gift cards, merchandise, "Swagstakes" (sweepstakes entries purchased with Swagbucks), etc.  I'm a purist - I stick to the $5 Amazon gift cards.  Without trying, I can get one a month.  If I make a little effort, I can get one a week.  I mainly use them to feed my Kindle habit.  I have a serious Kindle habit, LOL.

Want to sign up?  Here's my referral link:  swagbucks.com/refer/kbeeps

How I do it:

First, I get a point (aka Swagbuck) a day just for having their toolbar installed.  I use it for all my searches.  When you use their search tool (which, last I heard, was powered by Bing and Google), you will be randomly awarded Swagbucks.  I get between nine and 40 Swagbucks a day from searching.  I rarely go to a website without searching for the name first (for example, instead of typing in the Facebook URL in the address line I search for "Facebook" and click through that way).  It's an extra step but it only takes a second. 

Second, I answer their daily poll, found on their home page.  I get another point for this.  Then, I do their "No Obligation Special Offers" (aka NOSO), also on the home page.  I just click through them all for two quick points.

I also run videos.  I spend a lot of time on my computer, reading through blogs, pinning things, etc.  During these times, I have my internet open on two screens - one is running Swagbucks TV, the other is for whatever I'm doing online.  For every 10 videos I watch, I get three Swagbucks. As I type this, I'm watching the "Uzoo" channel, which has tons of interesting videos about animals. 

On my iPod Touch, I run Swagbucks Mobile.  You can do just about anything on this that you can do on the regular Swagbucks site, but I mostly use it for videos.  On the mobile app, you get two points for every five videos, but on this you do have to go through ads also.  I like to turn on the music channel and use it as my background music at work. 

My last regular way to earn is through "encrave" activities.  You can find these through the little blue "e" button on the Swagbucks Toolbar.  These are a series of videos and articles that you can look at to earn bucks.  Some take as little as a minute, others might take three or four.  You get between one and three for each activity.  I've found some really interesting things there - clips from TedTalks, interviews with popular chefs, information about different health-related topics, news, etc.  These are quick and easy ways to earn a few bucks.

I also try to get referrals.  When a new user signs up using your referral link (here's mine again! swagbucks.com/refer/kbeeps), Swagbucks will credit you with a match for their first 1,000 points.  That's 2+ Amazon gift cards right there, folks! 

Swagbucks also offers points for online shopping at certain retailers, as well as points for redeeming manufacturers coupons for groceries and such.  I sometimes do these, if they're things I would be doing anyway. 

Things I don't do unless I'm desperate for points?  Surveys, special offers, and most of their activities.  I have found that surveys take too long for the rewards I get (they'll give you a point if you don't qualify, but often you are five or more minutes into the survey before you find out you're not qualified).  Special offers that don't require a credit card or a lot of personal information are few and far between, so I skip those, though if there's something I'd be doing anyway, I certainly take advantage of it, because you can rack up a lot of points that way.  I haven't explored their "Activities" section fully, but from what I've seen, it's similar to Mechanical Turk and more work than I want to do for the points I would get. So I skip it.

Each day they give you a daily goal (today mine is 90), and if you reach that goal, they give you a 10% bonus for that day at the end of the month.  The more consecutive days you rack up (starting with seven in a row), you get an extra bonus, up to 300 if you meet their goal every day of the month.  I aim for 50 - 100 Swagbucks a day.  It takes 450 Swagbucks to earn an Amazon gift card.  They have tons of other options as well - Target and Starbucks are two others I've contemplated if I ever reach the five Amazon cards per month limit. 

So what are you waiting for?  The rewards are waiting - and they couldn't be easier to obtain!

Five a Day

I'm going to come right out and say the five little words I never thought would leave my lips (fingers?):  my clutter is annoying me. 

Now, I'm not saying I'm going to suddenly turn into a neat freak overnight, but I do feel the need to do SOMETHING.  Lately my kid can't even lay on the couch with her head in my lap because there's only room for one butt on the couch (mine).  I need to make her Halloween costume but there's no room on the kitchen table to lay out fabric.  We did clean a bit before we went on vacation, so it's not as bad as it used to be, but still...

This isn't the first time this has happened, and from time to time I step up my efforts.  But now we're kicking around the idea of moving to a better school district before our daughter starts kindergarten next year, so I'm thinking I should get myself in the moving mindset, even if that doesn't happen.  So I'm coming up with a plan to clear things out little by little, one thing at a time.  Yesterday I cleaned off most of the kitchen table (and will finish today because I HAVE to start on that sparkly purple superhero costume!) and my hubby cleaned the kitchen.  I also somehow found room in the pantry for the 40 pints of applesauce I canned last month. 

I also went through my bookshelf and picked out seven books to donate to the library.  Let's face it.  If it's not on my Kindle , I'm not going to read it.  Lately, I read a paper book once a year, when we're camping.  Otherwise I rarely have time to just sit and read a book.  I read in bed at night in the dark, and the Kindle with the light just makes things so much easier. 

So here's my plan.  Every day I'm going to get rid of five things, either to donate or pass on to a friend or just throw in the garbage or recycle.  If it's paper, it'll be five inches (wow, that's a lot of paper - so maybe one inch of paper and four things?).  And I'm going to stay on top of the mail (that seems to be how my table gets cluttered up so fast!).

I'll be reporting back here from time to time so check back to see my progress!

Chicken and Broccoli Skillet Casserole

Whipped this little number up when I got home late from work tonight.  Helped that I had frozen cooked rice on hand (I always try to make extra and freeze it in two-cup portions). 

Oh, but first, I have to give a little "squeeeee!" about my new toy!  Well, new in that I just used it for the first time today, even though I bought it about six months ago.  It's a microwave steam cooker.  This is the one I bought.  Chopped up my broccoli, threw it in the microwave for three minutes, and voila!  Perfectly steamed.  Microwave steam cooker - where have you been all my life???  I see lots of microwave steaming in my future - I wonder if I could cook rice in this thing???

Anyway, as I was saying, I got home late and hubby didn't want pizza for dinner for the third night in a row, so I knew I had to come up with SOMETHING.  I didn't menu plan this week - I'm flying by the seat of my pants.  I stocked up on chicken at Costco over the weekend, so I threw this together.  
 
2 T. olive oil
12 oz. chicken tenderloin
1 tsp. season salt
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups chopped cooked broccoli
2 cups cooked rice
1 cup chicken broth
1 can cream of mushroom soup (we like Pacific Natural Foods)
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
cracked black pepper, to taste
1 cup shredded cheese (I used provolone and parmesan tonight - cheddar would be better)

In a large skillet over medium heat, brown the chicken in the olive oil (sprinkle one side with the season salt).  After the first side is browned and you turn it over, add onions.  Once chicken is cooked through (about four minutes on each side), cut into bite-size pieces and return to the skillet (I cut it up right in the pan with my spatula). 

Add all remaining ingredients except cheese.  Bring to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes.  Stir in cheese until melted.  Serve immediately. 

Simple, quick, and tasty!

How My Family Did Disneyland

My family recently returned from a week-long trip to Disneyland.  My daughter is 4 1/2 now, the perfect age to experience the magic for the first time.  We're not extreme frugalites by any stretch, but we did do some things that saved us a bit of money here and there.  There are tips and tricks all over the internet for maximizing your Disney experience, but here are some of the things we did:

1.  We booked a package deal that gave us some really fun extras.  I went through AAA, and we got to schedule a character call ahead of time, so Mickey and Minnie called my daughter the day before we left and told her how much they were looking forward to seeing her.  We also got a Vinylmation character, which was a fun souvenir for her to have.

2.  We went during the off season, and during the week.  Granted, we didn't have a whole lot of choice because we took our vacation when our daycare provider took her vacation, but it worked out that it was the first week of the "off season" and the crowds were noticeably smaller than when I have been there in, say, June.  My daughter refused to wait in any line longer than about 25 minutes (other than to meet the princesses), which was fine with us, so there were six or seven rides we never made it on (plus I wouldn't let her go on California Screamin' or Tower of Terror).  But that's ok with me - I'd much rather miss some stuff than be stuck in a long line with a cranky preschooler!

3.  We stayed at a hotel that provided meals.  We stayed at the Residence Inn in Garden Grove.  Not only do they provide the most impressive in-house free breakfast buffet I've ever seen, but on the weeknights you can also get dinner, if you want to eat what they're serving.  We ended up only taking advantage of this a couple of times, because we either didn't want what they served or didn't want to leave the park, but we did get two "free" dinners this way.  The week we were there they had nacho night, sloppy joe night, BBQ (hamburgers and hotdogs), and chili and cornbread.  There is also a kitchenette in every room and they have a free grocery shopping service, so we had them pick up some things so we could eat lunches and dinners in the room when we chose to.  We also had shuttle service to and from Disneyland, I believe because of our package deal, because other people were paying $5 a day for that (the hotel is about a mile and a half from the park).

4.  We made our daughter earn her spending money.  In the weeks leading up to our trip, she had the choice to earn her spending money by doing one extra, special chore each day for a dollar.  She didn't always choose to do it, but by the time we went she had about $30 to spend on pretty much whatever she wanted.  We also bought her mouse ears for her (I would have bought her a t-shirt, too, but she wanted extra fancy mouse ears).

5.  We didn't buy any of the PhotoPass pictures.  Our package included one attraction photo (Splash Mountain, Radiator Springs Racers, etc.), but because of some misinformation I received from one of their employees they ended up giving us a regular PhotoPass picture instead.  Other than that, we had the PhotoPass photographers take the same pictures with our camera that they were taking, and in the end we ended up with basically the same pics, so we skipped it (I have heard from people that they sometimes Photoshop extra effects into the pictures, but we didn't get any of that).  I ordered some souvenir photo items from Shutterfly when we got home, using a coupon I found online.

We had a great, though exhausting experience!  Five days was a bit much for all of us, next time we'd probably only go for four, but we have so many amazing memories and I'm so glad we went! 

Butter Chicken

I ran across this recipe in an online cooking school I signed up for a few years ago.  I've had butter chicken (Chicken Makhani) in a local Indian restaurant and this isn't really anything like that, but this is good in its own way.  I've adapted it from the original to fit our family's taste.  For example, the original recipe doesn't blend the tomatoes, but my girl is currently trying her darndest to become a picky eater, so so no longer likes chunks of cooked tomato in her food.  So I put the tomatoes in the blender.  No biggie.

Butter Chicken
Serves 6
Adapted from Stone Soup Virtual Cooking School

2 T peanut or canola oil
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, diced into 1/2 " pieces
1 cup minced onion
2 T garam masala (I use the punjab style from Penzey's
2 t. chili flakes
1 14.5 oz. can roasted diced tomatoes
1 14.5 oz. can petite diced tomatoes
2 - 4 T heavy cream
salt
ground black pepper
Hot cooked rice

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add chicken and onions.  Cook until chicken is lightly browned on one side; flip and brown the second side.

While the chicken cooks, put tomatoes in the blender.  Whir until smooth (if you want a chunkier sauce, you could leave both cans whole or just blend up one).

Once the chicken is browned, add garam masala and chili flakes.  Continue cooking for one minute, then add tomatoes.  Bring to a simmer, and cook for 10 minutes.  Stir in cream, salt and pepper to taste.  Continue cooking until cream is heated through.

Serve over hot cooked rice. Enjoy!

Comfort Food (Homemade Wiener Wraps)

I keep seeing recipes all over the internet for wiener wraps, aka pigs in a blanket.  Been wanting to try them, but hadn't yet.  My original plan was to use some of the pizza dough in the freezer...

Today was a less than stellar day at work.  I came home exhausted, made myself a margarita, and proceeded to think about dinner.  I should have made broccoli beef, since the broccoli is on its last legs, but the last thing I wanted to do was chop vegetables, even a stalk of broccoli.  So, I decided to try out the wiener wraps and serve them with Tater Tots.  Kid friendly comfort food, as far as I'm concerned.  Only problem?  The pizza dough was still in the freezer.

Then I remembered seeing this recipe for Homemade Pigs in a Blanket, using a quick yeast roll dough.  So, I decided to give it a shot.  Yes, that's right.  I didn't want to chop vegetables but I made dough from scratch.  Don't look for the logic there, people, you won't find it.  At least I have a mixer.

Anyway, I made the dough as directed, except I used all white flour.  I decided to mix things up a bit and added a small slice of cheddar cheese into each one.  As you can see, that didn't work out so well (other than the cheese got all crispy and delicious, so maybe it wasn't such a bad idea after all!). 

Bonus...I had enough dough leftover to make some breadsticks, which we'll eat later on this week with spaghetti!

Dinner Recap and Menu Planning Update

We stuck to our menu plan pretty well last week.  There was one night I had to work late so we picked up burgers (I had planned to make a casserole in the morning but hubby had already told our girl that they'd go out since I'd be home late, so that was the end of that idea!).  Now, let's see, what did we eat...

Spinach and Artichoke Pasta
Fried ham with Zucchini Fritters
Chicken and Stuffing

And honestly, I don't remember what else!

Saturday we went to the beach for the day to watch a Civil War reenactment.  I packed steak sandwiches in a cooler for lunch, and then we went out for seafood for dinner.  Today I spent some time in the kitchen, making roasted vegetable sauce and baked beans for the freezer.  Tomorrow I'm canning apples.

And now, for this week's plan.  Here's what's on the list, in no particular order (as usual):

Butter chicken (I use a recipe from Stone Soup Virtual Cookery School)
Chicken Gyro Sandwiches
Queso Fundido
Buffalo chicken strips
Ham and Bows (ham instead of chicken)
Enchiladas

Have a great week, everyone!  And remember, orgjunkie.com has more menu ideas than you can possibly imagine!