Summer Goal

Since many (all 6 of my readers...HI!) know, I'm a teacher so I have the summers off. I'm a planner and a goal setter so my summer goal is to clean. My motto has been to throw away 5 things a day...but even though I've been decluttering (big and small) and RE-organizing what I've already organized I felt cluttered. So if you've been following along, you know that I've been looking for organizing blogs. I'd still love some recommendations please. :)

Back story: In February this year, my hubs +2 kids and I moved in with my parents who have lived in their home for 30 years...do the math = LOTS of household combinations of jumk + toys :( No matter how much I re-arrange it looks cleaner than before but I've just stored it away somewhere else. My husband says I move the jumk from one room to another. I've always been a pack rat BUT I've turned over a new leaf. I'm a "thrower awayer" now.

The thing that convicts me the most to convert to a more organized and clean person is that I'm a mom now and I need to show my kids to be good stewards of their daily things. What do you think? I've always wondered why mom's were so good at that.

A friend of mine is totally wired to organize. She is the cleanest person I know and even her husband cleans when he's tipsy! AND I'm soooo blessed that she's in my life (in more than 10,0000 ways) and she was willing to organize my pantry...which led to our kitchen drawers...which led me to do the laundry room to the bathrooms...it's slowly happening like a chain reaction.

My clean team <3 Thank you for de-cluttering my pantry and my soul! I think I was the only one smiling for this picture :D it's b/c I was soooo excited!

The after picture...we all wished we had a before picture (We didn't do the very bottom but I did it today)

 

Bottom close up

 Top Close Up

My 5 things to throw away that day (5 trash bags which let to 2 more)

At the end I almost cried! I felt like I was the recipient of the "Clean House" show. When we started we had a pact: 1) NO judging the family 2) NO judging me 3) HAHAHA Laugh 4) I could not look through the trash during or after (I peeked once and pulled out just 1 thing out of everything! Don't tell, it was only 1 thing). It was a good pact. I was telling them that I felt naked while we were going through everything. What I loved about this experience is that we used storage with the things we had. I was willing to buy containers of any sort and $$$ but I didn't have to and if I had, it would've been more junk.

Tips that I walked away with:

Put liked things together

Use your containers to store liked things and partition

Move everything up to the front and try not to store anything behind

USE things that will expire

THROW AWAY THINGS: Medicine, food, books, CD's, tapes

THROW AWAY THINGS

THROW AWAY THINGS

THROW AWAY

and put everything away where it belongs IF you're not going to THROW IT AWAY

Now I have room to start my stockpile from couponing!!!!~ LOL. JUST Kidding

Eggless Cookies

Yes, you read correctly EggLESS cookies. Why did I even look this up? B/c I had no eggs and wanted cookies...it happens to be that everyone who wrote a review on it wrote the same exact thing! BUT I also looked it up b/c a good friend of ours has a daughter who has allergies to almost everything and is limited in what she can eat so~ I wanted to make something that she could have. In this recipe, I replaced butter with Smart Balance and our little friend had NO reactions to the dairy substitute and the eggless recipe! Hooray!

This cookie is so healthy I gave it to my lil' C right away and it was a hit with both the babies!

Eggless Oatmeal & Raisin Cookies

It was so~ easy to bake. I made them with a boy I tutor. He has Autism and we're working on life skills so for the past few months we've been doing kitchen safety and procedural reading of cooking instructions. We had a blast making these! This cookie received 4.5 stars on Cooks.com!!!

Recipe

EGGLESS CHEWY OATMEAL RAISIN COOKIES

Printed from COOKS.COM

---

This recipe calls for no eggs. If you have an egg allergy, or don't like eggs this recipe is right for you. No more buying expensive egg substitutes. The substitute is made with 3 simple common ingredients: baking powder, vinegar, and water. These cookies are great for those with an egg allergy!

2 sticks butter, soft (Smart Balance)
2 cups light brown sugar, packed (I did 1.5ish cups b/c all the reviews said that it was too sweet)
3 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups quick cooking oats
1 cup raisins, rolled in flour
2 1/2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
2 tbsp. water
2 tbsp. vinegar (YES, vinegar! weird but you can't taste it at all! I used rice vinegar)
1 cup chopped pecans (optional) (I passed)

Preheat oven to 350°F.Combine sugars and butter. Add vanilla, water, and vinegar; mix well.
In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder and soda, followed by salt. Combine the two mixtures together. Add raisins, which have been lightly rolled in flour, and oats; mix together well. Add pecans if desired.
Roll dough in small balls with about 6-9 cookies per ingreased cookie sheet.
Bake for 10-12 minutes. Cookies won't look ready at 10 minutes but take out and let sit for 5 minutes in order to be chewy.
Submitted by: Hannah Falls

With this cookie, I actually baked it for the full 12 minutes and it turned out perfect.

::Collage Credit: My lil Sister T-bone

Round 3, Scoreboard says I have the lead

Round 3 was a batch of Andes Créme de Menthe Chunk Cookies (fancy for:: Mint Chocolate)

Great recipe b/c it only required you to put the ingredients in one bowl! My sister and I kept thinking that I might be doing it wrong bu read the directions over and over again and the end result was yumilicious...so I must've done it right.

The pictures are not scrumptious looking but it was chewy, minty, goodness. Not as sweet as I expected but it was very yummy. This batch was also chilled in the frig for 1 hour.

Recipe: 
From the back of the Andes baking chips bag

1/2 cup salted butter-softened
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup white granulated sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1tsp. baking powder
2tsp. vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 package (10oz.) Andes Créme de Menthe Baking Chips (I only used 3/4 of the bag)
2 2/3 cups of sifted all-purpose flour

Blend butter, sugars, baking soda, baking powder, vanilla and eggs until mixed. Stir in Andes Baking Chips and then flour. Chill approx. 1 hr in frig. Measure out approx. 1 oz. of dough (I personally didn't measure) Form ball and slightly flatten. Raise oven rack one level above middle (oops...maybe for the next time I'll do this.)  and bake on non-stick baking pans. Bake at 350 degrees F for approx. 8-10 minutes (I did 9 minutes b/c a friend told me to always bake 1 min less than the max #. It was the best tip I've ever received on baking!!!!) Cool on pans for 2 minutes before removing (oops again. I cooled on a bamboo chopping block).

Makes about 4 dz.

2 out of 3 means that I WIN! :)

I won the cookie war! We had two more attempts and we had yummy, chewwwwwwy cookies! The kitchen aide mixer is so awesome and easy to use. :D

The trick: Leave in frig over night.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Published: July 9, 2008

Adapted from Jacques Torres

Related

Perfection? Hint: It’s Warm and Has a Secret (July 9, 2008)

Time: 45 minutes (for 1 6-cookie batch), plus at least 24 hours’ chilling

2 cups minus 2 tablespoons
(8 1/2 ounces) cake flour
1 2/3 cups (8 1/2 ounces) bread flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
2 1/2 sticks (1 1/4 cups) unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups (10 ounces) light brown sugar
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (8 ounces) granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons natural vanilla extract
1 1/4 pounds bittersweet chocolate disks or fèves, at least 60 percent cacao content (see note)
Sea salt.

1. Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside.

2. Using a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars together until very light, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. Reduce speed to low, add dry ingredients and mix until just combined, 5 to 10 seconds. Drop chocolate pieces in and incorporate them without breaking them. Press plastic wrap against dough and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours. Dough may be used in batches, and can be refrigerated for up to 72 hours.

3. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat. Set aside.

4. Scoop 6 3 1/2-ounce mounds of dough (the size of generous golf balls) onto baking sheet, making sure to turn horizontally any chocolate pieces that are poking up; it will make for a more attractive cookie. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and bake until golden brown but still soft, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer sheet to a wire rack for 10 minutes, then slip cookies onto another rack to cool a bit more. Repeat with remaining dough, or reserve dough, refrigerated, for baking remaining batches the next day. Eat warm, with a big napkin.

Yield: 1 1/2 dozen 5-inch cookies.

Note: Disks are sold at Jacques Torres Chocolate; Valrhona fèves, oval-shaped chocolate pieces, are at Whole Foods.

::Photo Collage: My lil Sister T-Bone

::Participation: A & Me

Complete Failure!

So~ IF you've read my summary below the title of my blog, I told you that I'd share my failures. Here is one of many to come.

I got a kitchen aide mixer which I borrowed from my sis-in-law. Thanks! :* but I've been intimidated by it and had it sit in our livingroom for weeks. Yesterday I finally mustered up the courage with the help of my sister and took the glorious machine out...but the results were thumbs down. :(

There's my new puppy.

Can you see where my first mistake happened? I knew it was down hill from here...I cracked the egg in, but slipped and the entire egg fell in and all the shells got mixed in. :(

Watch how nicely it mixes tho. No tired arm afterward and everything is so even!

but look at our results

:( flat, mushy, and we think it's also because we didn't measure very well. Baking is such a chemistry project. Everything has to be exact. I will never make that mistake again but the exact science is what my husband is better at. I'm better at eye balling measurements.

Who dared to taste our cookie? My hubs. My hubs even found an egg shell in his cookie. I told him that He WON!

Mental note to self: Be EXACT when baking.

Garage Sale! ->->

It's summer and it's around the time when most people like to clean house and purge from all of their winter goods. If you're a money saving mom then some would go and do a winter stock pile now while things are cheap but most of us just want to sell our goods for some $$$ and go on a vacation.  If you want to stockpile your seasonal clothes money saving mom has yard sale tips too.

 This weekend, my hubs and I were asked to help with a friend's garage sale b/c they're moving up north. We're gonna miss this family verrrrry much!!! and we were glad to help. We joined their neighborhood garage sale (which I thought was skeptical at first b/c of all the competition but it turned out fabulous with lots of buyers...in a way, I felt like the neighbors were just switching their goods from one house to another but hey, way to do it budget savvy right?)

I've held 4 garage sales prior to this one and some people have asked me how to do a successful garage sale so here is my post.

I've got no secret tricks but
1) make sure that you have at least one or two big ticket items: ie, game system or a furniture piece. The most I've ever sold brought in $600 and the least amount we raked in was $400. This past weekend we made $1100!!!!!
2) expect to sell cheap, even if you have tags and it's name brand. For example, clothes = $1 a piece and jeans=$5. Your authentic LV purses are NOT to sell at a garage sale, try Craigslist or eBay.
3) I found that this website was the best descriptive and garage sale friendly site: yard sale queen The directions are long to read through but it's very thorough and pretty exact.
4) Yard Sale Queen mentions that there are early birds at 6am for big ticket items and they stick around to purchase a lot of stuff. There is a big group at 7am and then a lull at 9am and another big group at 11am.
5) Keep some plastic bags and paper bags on hand so that your customers can put all their treasures in one bag. It's a great way to be green by reusing bags and clean out your clutter. Speaking of bags, you can also put out your old gift bags and tissue papers out for sale for $0.25.
6) It's safe to say that 1 pm is a good time to close shop if you're satisfied with what you've made in your pocket.
7) Most importantly, make sure that you have small change in hand before you start your garage sale.
8) Last but not least...(tip by my hubs the "All Time Garage Sale Salesman of the year") don't let a customer leave with just one thing. Suggest to buy more and give a good price. We had multiple people leave spending $30 at a time and come to think of it, there are always people who will spend between $50-$100 on a grip load of things at your garage sale. Small things add up....One man's trash is another man's treasure.

These are brief directions and tips but check out yard sale queen for professional tips.

Here are some pictures from this weekend. I should've taken pictures of the home made buttermilk pancakes from scratch that fueled us all morning. Sorry for no pictures...and the chef had a sealed lip when I asked about the recipe. :( Anyone have a good recipe to share?

 

 

This is A as Super Garage Sale Girl. You can also see my hubs riding a razor scooter while taking breaks between sales. :)

 You can tell that we were not the MoSt neatest sales people but it was organized in children's clothing, books/videos, toys, kitchenware/dishware, adult clothes, and furniture, etc. It was sorted out as neat as $1100 worth!!!!~At the end of day, I was amazed at how hard my husband worked at helping out our friends. :*

There's my C waving down buyers while eating strawberries.

A and her accomplice Batman.

If you're the super organized type you'll LOVE i Heart Organizing Blog She just did a garage sale and had EVERYTHING labeled, bagged, and even had a lemonade stand. I'm also trying to organize our home a little more and looking for more organizing blogs. Does anyone have any good leads?

Now...go out and make some $$$ and share your success stories. :)

Quick Egg dish...Korean Style

I've looked up youtube and all sorts of websites to make this egg side dish that is often a Korean favorite. My husband loves it but I have failed many attempts and yet to perfect it. In Korean it's called gehran jim (oh boy, try spelling that in English...help me someone. Leave me a spelling on my comment lol). Anyways. Before I went out with some girl friends I whipped up a dinner for my hubs and wanted to make it my mom's way. She has the simplest method and it always turns out great.

Crack 2 eggs into a microwaveable bowl and don't throw away the shells yet.

Use half of a shell to add the water amounts. I used two eggs, so I added 6 half shells full of water.

Then add a dash of salt (I used garlic salt, you'll see the picture later) and chives or whatever addition you want to add to this dish (shrimp seasoning or any type of roe).
Mix heavily with a wooden spoon vs. a metal utensil because metal utensils tend to tarnish when used with raw eggs. Mix enough so that the yolk, whites, and water mix together.

 Finally, put it in the microwave for 2 minutes.

Voila! Bon Appetit!










I made it twice and I had no sinking in the middle or overage of water. I'm sure you can substitute water with milk. Have you tried making this at home? What method do you use?

I've used the bowl over the bowl method, tightly sealed method, over the stove method and here...my mom had the simplest fool proof method right under my nose. Try it, let me know if you liked it.