Friday, February 25, 2011

52 Weeks: #8 Office Tablescapes

This is what my office looked like a couple weeks ago before I decluttered it. To see my post about Organizing My Office click on the link. You can see the little tablescape I have in the window and on the small bookshelf in the corner of the desk before the declutter.















After I cleaned up my office I put together this tablescape in the window rearranging and using what I already had.















I wasn't sure that it was completely what I wanted and I thought it look too heavy and pink. I went to Walmart and found a flower bush that had red Hydrangeas in it for $1. I cut off one of the Hydrangea stems and rearranged things a little.















I wanted to include a tablescape on my desk also so I used a plate that I had in the kitchen, the green flower pot with candies, and a small cardinal that I got for 50 cents at the thrift store.

The flower arrangement was one my daughter had in her room that she put in a bag to be donated, it had a fairy pick in it. I took the fairy pick out of the arrangement and added one of the Hydrangea blooms.















It was fun rearranging and adding a few new thing and it only cost me $1.50 and I still have an almost full bush of flowers to use for something else.















I like to change up my decorations, move things around and buy a few new things to perk up the house every now and then. It brings a smile to my face when I walk by and see the changes and the extra attention I have given to my space. I usually don’t spend much or nothing at all just a few changes to make me feel good and this little redo hit the spot.
Submitted to:
I'm an Organizing Junkie 52 Weeks of Organizing

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Cake Mix Recipes: Chocolate-Peanut Butter Mallow Bars













1 pkg. devil's food cake mix
1/2 cup butter, melted
2/3 cup milk, divided
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1 jar (7 oz.) marshmallow crème
1/2 cup salted peanuts
6 squares semi-sweet shocolate, coarsely chopped

Heat oven to 350°F. Mix dry cake mix, butter and 1/3 cup milk until well blended; press 2/3 onto bottom of 13x9-inch pan. Bake 12 to 14 min. or until center is almost set; cool 3 min.

Combine peanut butter and remaining milk; spread onto crust. Top with small spoonfuls of the marshmallow crème and remaining cake mixture. Sprinkle with nuts and chocolate; press gently into cake mixture. Bake 18 min. or just until center is set. Cool completely before cutting into bars.

Makes: 32 Servings
Calories: 190

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

52 Weeks: #8 Activity Bags Part 1

I have several Activity Bags for different things that I am involved in that needed to be reorganized. I am sharing the pictures of each bag and the contents of what is staying in the bags since it would be to much to show before and after picture of each bag.

Library Bag

In the library bag I have books to return, change for fines, paper for bookmarks, and a winter reading program booklet.




















This is the bookshelf that I store all the books on after they are brought home from the library. I organize them by subject to make them easier to find. I also put the ones that I have to return the earliest on the top of the stacks so I can look at them first. The top shelf is my sons and he stores all his computer stuff on it. The other two are for the library and at this time I am the only one who has any books checked out. You can probably tell by looking at the picture that I am into baking, organizing, tea and planning for summer projects at this time.















Yoga Bag


This is what I have in my Yoga Bag: Knitted Cloths (to put over eyes for relaxation exercises), an Old Necktie (for stretching exercises), Workout Clothes, Deodorant, Water Bottle, and a Yoga Mat





4H Bag
In the 4H Bag I keep the current years 4H project books, green folders (each persons club papers & notes), and paperwork.


In the 4H Box that is in the basement I keep past years 4H project books, projects, and paperwork.


Quilting Bag

This is my new Quilting Bag that has fabic and batting in it.  I just joined a Christian Quilter Club last month that makes quilts for charity groups to give away and this is one of my projects. Since I am new to quilting they gave me a easy project to do. I basically have to sandwich the pieces together and then quilt along the lines of the picture and then bind it together.


Submitted to:
I'm an Organizing Junkie 52 Weeks of Organizing

Monday, February 21, 2011

February 21-27 Menu Plan




















Monday: French Bread Pizza, and Salad

Tuesday: Pizza Casserole, Peas, Salad, and Fruit

Wednesday: Cheesy Chicken & Rice Casserole, and Green Beans

Thursday: Tomato Soup, and Ham/Cheese Pita Pocket

Friday: Mexican Pot Roast, Rice, and Corn

Saturday: Leftovers

Sunday: Tuna Noodle Casserole, and Carrots


Submitted to:
Visit I'm an Organizing Junkie to see more menu ideas.

Friday, February 18, 2011

52 Weeks: #7 Office Bookshelves

The bookshelves in my office hold craftbooks and notebooks. They are pretty organized but there were a lot of books that I don't need or use anymore and they were overfull.

This is before the purge.

These are the items that I collected off the shelves that will get boxed and donated.

These books will go in another locations in the house.

 This is what the shelves look like after I took off all the things I didn't need any more. I also rearranged my categories a little.

My Categories:

Top Shelf: (L-R) Country Style Crafts, Fabric Crafts, Drawing, and Kids Crafts
Middle Shelf: (L-R) General Crafts, Soapmaking, and Papercrafts
Bottom Shelf: (L-R) Seasonal Notebooks, Personal Interests Notebook, and Homemaking Notebook

So far in my organizing adventures this year I have not purchased or been tempted to purchase anything. But I do have a few things I would like to get for the kitchen when I move on to that area of the house.
Submitted to:
I'm an Organizing Junkie 52 Weeks of Organizing

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Cake Mix Recipes: Raspberry Oatmeal Bars



















1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix
2 1/2 cups quick cooking oats
3/4 cup margarine, melted
1 cup raspberry jam
1 tablespoon water

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a 9x13 inch pan.
In a large bowl, mix together oats, cake mix, and melted margarine so that it makes nice clumps and there is no dry mix left. Press 1/2 of the oats mixture evenly into the bottom the prepared pan. In a separate bowl, mix jam with water, and spread over the crust. Sprinkle the remaining oat mixture evenly over the top.

Bake in the preheated oven for 18 to 23 minutes, or until the top is lightly browned. Cool before cutting into bars.
 
Servings Per Recipe: 24
Calories Per Serving: 210

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Apple Cinnamon Snack Mix















3 cups apple cinnamon toasted oats cereal
3 cups honey graham cereal
1 (8 oz.) box cinnamon-flavored bear-shaped graham cookies
1 (4 oz.) bag dried apples
1 (10 oz.) bag chocolate-white swirled chips
1 cup peanuts
1 cups vanilla yogurt-covered raisins
1 cup raisins (lightly coated in powdered sugar)

Stir together all ingredients in large bowl. Store snack mix in an airtight container.

Monday, February 14, 2011

February 14-20 Menu Plan



















Monday: Italian Breaded Pork Chops, Roasted Baby Potatoes with Rosemary, and Seasoned Vegetables Italiano

Tuesday: Cheesy Chicken & Rice Casserole, and Green Beans

Wednesday: Mexican Pot Roast, Rice, and Corn

Thursday: Chicken Breast, Broccoli & Noodles Supreme, and Corn

Friday: Leftovers

Saturday: French Bread Pizza, and Salad

Sunday: Salsa Chicken, Rice, and Peas

Submitted to:
Visit I'm an Organizing Junkie to see more menu ideas.

Cheesy Chicken & Rice Casserole

1 can (10 3/4 ounces) cream of chicken soup
1 1/3 cups water
3/4 cup uncooked regular long-grain white rice
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 cups frozen mixed vegetables
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (about 1 pound)
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Heat the oven to 375°F. Stir the soup, water, rice, onion powder, black pepper and vegetables in a 2-quart shallow baking dish. Top with the chicken. Cover the baking dish. Bake for 50 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and the rice is tender. Top with the cheese. Let the casserole stand for 10 minutes. Stir the rice before serving.

Serves: 4
Calories 410

Seasoned Vegetables Italiano

1 3/4 cups chicken broth
1 tablespoon canned diced tomatoes, drained
3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning, crushed
4 cups cut-up vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, celery, carrots)
1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese

Heat the broth, tomatoes, garlic powder, Italian seasoning and vegetables in a 2-quart saucepan over high heat to a boil. Reduce the heat to low. Cover and cook for 5 minutes or until the vegetables are tender-crisp. Drain and sprinkle with the cheese.

Servings: 4 (1 cup each)

Calories: 43

Broccoli & Noodles Supreme

3 cups uncooked medium egg noodles
2 cups fresh or frozen broccoli florets
1 can (10 3/4 ounces) cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup sour cream
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

Cook the noodles according to the package directions. Add the broccoli for the last 5 minutes of cooking time. Drain the noodle mixture well in a colander. Return the noodle mixture to the saucepan. Stir the soup, sour cream, cheese and black pepper in the saucepan and cook over medium heat until the mixture is hot and bubbling, stirring often.

Happy Valentine's

Friday, February 11, 2011

52 Weeks: #6 What Type of Magazines?

I posted about my Magazine Storage  and Magazines Organization projects and I thought it might be fun to show what type of magazines I have.

These are the boxed magazine's stored in the basement.

These are all the types of magazine I have stored in them

Since I am showing my magazine I thought I would show other area I have some stored besides the basement. These are my cookbooks, cooking notebooks, file box, coupon box, and cooking magazines in my kitchen.

These are the type's of magazines I have stored here.

These are my bookshelves in my office.

I only have a few in here but these are the types that I have.

There is definitely a patten in the types of magazines that I like.

Submitted to:
I'm an Organizing Junkie 52 Weeks of Organizing

52 Weeks: #6 Magazine Organization

Last week I took the magazines in my office to the Magazine Storage  in the basement. Afterwards I decided that I couldn't wait to get rid of some of the magazine and organize them. This project took a couple hours to complete but I am pleased with the results. I still plan to weed through them each week and cut the number by half before the end of the year.

Magazine Storage Before



















This is the beginning process of sorting the magazines into groups.















This is the start of the discard pile.















This is when I started boxing them up.
















This is all the discarded Magazine boxed and ready to be dropped off at the Clothes Closet.

Magazine Storage After
These are the magazines that I am keeping all boxed up. Notice that I still have 6 boxes but that they are not over flowing like before.

Submitted to:
I'm an Organizing Junkie 52 Weeks of Organizing

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Cake Mix Recipes: Banana Cream Trifle










4 cups cold milk
2 pkg. (4-serving size each) Banana Cream Flavor Instant Pudding
1 tub (8 oz.) whipped topping, thawed, divided
1 baked 9-inch yellow cake, cooled, cut into 1-inch cubes
3 Sliced Bananas

Beat milk and dry pudding mixes in large bowl with wire whisk 2 min. or until blended. Gently stir in 1 cup of the whipped topping. Place half of the cake in 2-qt. serving bowl; top with layers of half each of the pudding mixture, remaining whipped topping and bananas. Repeat all layers.
Refrigerate at least 1 hour. Store leftovers in refrigerator.

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Café Party

I hosted a Café Party with a Classic Game Night Theme. I served a pasta dinner to my guests and then we enjoyed games along with dessert and coffee.




























The games we played were CRANIUM® and Poker which were provided by COFFEE-MATE.































 
I served a Starbucks Coffee Cake (with blueberries) along with Chex Muddy Buddies for dessert. I also served coffee along with these flavors of COFFEE-MATE: Café Latte, Peppermint Mocha, Vanilla Caramel (Sugar Free), White Chocolate Caramel Latte.
















COFFEE-MATE has a new Café Collection of flavors such as Café Latte, White Chocolate Caramel Latte, and/or Caramel Macchiato and I was pleased to try two of them as they were very good.

We also played who could make the best whipped cream tower on your coffee.















It was a fun evening and everyone enjoyed themselves especially since most people don’t play games much. It was a great get-together on a cold winter evening to help break cabin fever.

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