I'm enjoying time at the lake this summer to catch up on lots of magazines with healthy and some not so healthy recipes to try - which made me think...I'd love to hear from you all to find out how you organize your recipes...add a note to comments or email me via the website and share your helpful hints!
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The kids finished up school last week and that means for most of us here in the South our kids are now home full time the next couple of months...I worked with a client last week to help prepare for the kid "invasion" and set up some systems to help with their items and projects over the summer. It's easy to tailor these ideas no matter where you are and what you have to work with...Big key is labeling for ownership and accountability :) Sometimes the only thing that stands in your way of parting with something is that you are not exactly sure where to donate it to if it's not a "Goodwill Type Item"....Here's a list of local (N. Atlanta) places that would LOVE to have your items - check each site to see what their needs are/what they accept and pick-up/drop-off procedures. Please message me through the website (contact tab) if you have any others I should add to this list - I am always looking for great sources for clients to be able to donate their items!
Provides housing/assistance to families in need www.thedrakehouse.org Provides housing/assistance to families in need www.homestretch.org Habitat for Humanity Store www.gwinnettrestore.org Collects women's business/dress clothes for women re-entering workforce www.dressforsuccess.org/atlanta The boys only have 8 more days left of school - I'm not sure where the year has gone but gone fast it has! Since October I've been doing the Crock Pot Mondays feature because 1) I love mine and trying new recipes and 2) I am convinced it's one of the best multi-tasking tools for anyone's home out there - let it cook dinner while you get to do other things:)
With that being said as we come up on high grilling season - I have to say I'm going to take a break from the Crock Pot Mondays and start back up in the fall...Mind you - I still use the crock pot all summer long. In the heat of the South the last thing I want to do is turn on an oven but ideally we do grill a good bit and I'll be trying to do that as much as possible. I've been working on some great projects with great clients recently and blessed to say Life is Good!! I'll still be blogging this summer about organizing and other household ideas:) Check out the Before and After pics tab for some new projects. If you are in the Alpharetta GA area and need help - I'd love to help you start gaining! Go to the contact tab to get in touch via the website. My family - even the kids love Indian food so I'm always on the lookout for a new dish...this one is actually the combination of two different recipes I found on the net and picked the pieces from each we liked and tweaked the rest to suit us. It came out fantastic!!!!!! Hope you enjoy it! Use a large, lined crock: 1 1/2 cups lentils (I use the tri-colored mix) 2 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, trimmed 1 tablespoon butter 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil 2 red onions, chopped 5 cloves garlic, finely chopped or generous squeeze from tube 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger or squeeze from tube 1 tsp. Cumin powder 1 tsp. Chili powder 1 tsp. Curry powder ½ tsp. Cayenne powder 1 tsp. Coriander Chutney (optional – found in Indian grocery or section of store) 1/2 cup red wine 1 14-ounce can low sodium diced tomatoes ¼. C. Tamarind/Date Sauce (optional – found in Indian grocery or section of store) 2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth Wash lentils in cold water in a medium bowl until the water runs clear; drain and spread in an even layer in a 5- to 6-quart slow cooker. Place chicken on top of the lentils. Heat butter and oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When the butter has melted, add onions and cook, stirring often, until soft and translucent, 4 to 6 minutes. Add garlic and ginger and cook, stirring often, until fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes. Add spices and chutney and cook, stirring, until very fragrant, 2 to 4 minutes. Stir in wine, scraping the onion mixture from the bottom of the pan, then stir in Tamarind sauce and tomatoes with their juice. Add the onion mixture to the slow cooker on top of the chicken, then pour in broth. Cover and cook until the chicken is falling-apart tender, 4-5 hours on High or 6-7 hours on Low. Stir the stew to combine. Some Italians call it sauce - some call it gravy - either way you'll call this delish! Use a large lined crock and plan to have containers ready as this freezes well. Also - this actually tastes better if you leave it a day after cooking to let the flavors deepen so great as a make ahead item and then ready to reheat on a busy night over your favorite pasta. Step 1: 1 lb. Good quality/Organic ground beef 85/15 2 links (take casings off) Italian Sausage - either mild or hot to suit your taste 1 yellow onion diced Brown meat and onion in large skillet, drain off fat, and add to crock. Step 2: Then add to crock: 2 cans Italian Style diced tomatoes with garlic/seasonings 2 cans tomato sauce 1 small can tomato paste 3 cloves garlic – crushed, pressed or cheat like me and squeeze from tube 2 carrots chopped fine (these give a great sweetness to the sauce) 1 red and 1 green bell pepper chopped fine 2 T. Italian Seasoning Herb dry mix ½. C. red wine (optional but deepens the flavor and alcohol cooks off) Cook on low 6 hours. Can be served then but better if you park in in fridge and reheat the next day. Freezes great and makes for a quick meal on a busy night. I'm calling this breakfast since you can put it all in late night right before bed and have a great breakfast ready in the morning but I gotta tell you this makes a great dessert served over ice cream as well... In a large lined crock place 4-6 Granny Smith apples, peeled and sliced. In a bowl combine the following: 1/3 c. brown sugar 1/2 c. flour 3/4 c. granola of choice (plain is fine but there are lots out there so pick what you like!) 1 T. Apple Pie Spice 1/2 pouch from 3.5oz box - butterscotch pudding mix Handful of raisins or craisins (optional) Combine these ingredients and the cut 1/2 c. cold butter into small chunks and cut into dry mix so it looks like coarse crumbles. Sprinkle this mix over apples. Cook on low 5-6 hours. If you are local in Alpharetta/Cumming GA area - please visit my Auburn friend Jenni Hilton's website www.forsythforfamilies.com where she gives you the 411 on all things going on in the area for families. This week we have been partnering to give one of her lucky readers a 4 hour closet clean out session to celebrate Earth Day - remember that donating your items for re-use is the best kind of re-cycling! Go checkout her website, follow her on FB, etc. and if you need help with a closet get registered to win as the entry deadline is tomorrow night at midnight.
It's tax day and whether you paid in or are getting paid out - we could all use a treat today! Why not make this yummy chocolate fondue to have for dessert tonight? Start this in a small 2-4 cup crock as you sit down to dinner so the items can melt while you are eating and will be ready at just the right time. A liner won't work for this small crock but hey who are we kidding here? You'll scrape every bit of chocolate goodness out to that crock making clean up a snap :) Add to crock: 4oz. semisweet chocolate chips (or any variation of chocolate/other chips that you care to - i.e. could do half chocolate and half peanut butter chips) and 1/3 c. heavy whipping cream. Cover and heat til melted, stirring occasionally. If serving to adults you could finish off by adding a tablespoon of brandy or other liquor to the choco mix to suit. (lots of great combos here - think Chamboard - raspberry liquor, Kahlua, Creme de Menthe) and dip whatever makes you happy into the mix - obviously great with all kinds of fruit, pound cake, sugar cookies - even pretzels. Enjoy! It's Earth Day later this month and although most of us don't associate Spring Cleaning with Earth day maybe we should. I had a big "aha!" moment yesterday while working at a client and going through clothes. (FYI: picture shown is grabbed from the web just to give you an idea of what happens if we don't take the time to clean out periodically!) We sorted, catalogued items for tax purposes and ended up bagging up 8 bags of clothes for donation. Donating those clothes is the best kind of recycling! My client has changed jobs/lost weight so now those clothes can be put to great use by someone else. Good for her, good for someone else and good for the Earth. Anytime we can re-use or re-purpose items it's recycling at it's best. Spring is a great time to do a proper closet cleanout and re-org since you can also change over for the seasons. It's also a great time to clean out and tidy lots of other areas of the house. This link has some good resources and lists for getting it done. https://brightnest.com/todos/spring-cleaning-101 Need some "hands on help" for tackling the projects? Contact me :) Every session with me includes taking one load of items (as much as can fit in my SUV) to Goodwill on my way home and I provide the tax reciept to my client. Some people may get the sorting and bagging done on their own but with their busy schedules sometimes never get around to getting the items out of the house. I take care of that by loading the items for you to my car and getting them out of the house promptly! |
AuthorJen Payne, CPA, Professional Organizer and mom to two boys: Brendan (17) and Ryan (15). Archives
April 2015
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