Recip-ease

I love to pull recipes out of magazines.  Sometimes I actually even try them!  I have tons of magazine pages stuck in a file or folded in the back of my recipe book.

  Then one day I realized that the recipes are on the magazine's websites!  So now, I just cut and paste the recipe into a word document and store it in a recipe folder on my computer.  Less paper, less clutter, less space.  It works for me!  Want more tips?  Head on over to Rocks In My Dryer for more Works For Me Wednesday ideas!

It's Grate!

This week's Works For Me Wednesday is themed:

 "Kitchen Organization".  

Two words in my mind that don't really go together naturally!  

I have a cookbook stand, but most of my go-to recipes are on cards- which usually fall or get lost under the ingredients while I am trying to cook.  Solution?  I took an old cheese grater that I found at an antique store and hung it over the countertop where I do most of my food prep.  I attach the recipe card I am using with a magnet and I'm good to go! (And it's cute to boot!)

It works for me!  Head on over to Shannon's for more Works For Me Wednesday tips.

There's a Wocket in My Pocket

I have shoe organizers on the inside door of almost every closet in our house.  We really don't use them for shoes, though-that would be WAY too much trouble.  Most of the members of my family find that throwing shoes in the bottom of the closet (or even better, the middle of the floor) is a much more effective storage solution.  In the office closet, I use it to store office supplies-much easier than searching through a drawer or bin full of other things.  Especially when I'm looking for something bulky like the three hole punch or the paper cutter.  In the playroom it holds barbies and action heroes and even some craft supplies.  In my sewing room the organizer has boxes of safety pins and buttons to cover and measuring tapes, etc.  The clear pocket ones are especially good for kids.  It works for me! Now head on over to Shannon's for more Works For Me Wednesday tips.

Pigs In A Blanket

(image lifted from Wikipedia!)

Pigs in a Blanket are a favorite around here for breakfast (and sometimes dinner, if I forget to take something out!)  The problem: if you put the cocktail sausages in the freezer (which is the ONLY way I would have them on hand in a pinch) they all freeze together and you have to defrost all of them for just one meal.  What works for me? When I buy a package of cocktail sausages, I divide them up into baggies of eight to match the number of crescent rolls in the can. When we decide to have pigs in a blanket, I pull out a baggie or two and a can or two of crescent rolls and everything matches up.  It works for me!  Now head on over to Shannon's for more Works For Me Wednesday tips.

When I was stealing lifting borrowing the photo from Wikipedia, I was amazed at all of the different variations of pigs in a blanket.  Cabbage? Seriously?!?

Nothing But the Blood

My daughter has nosebleeds.  Almost always at night.  Which means that there is usually blood on her pillowcase, her sheets and blanket, nightgown... it looks like Halloween II.  This is my laundry BFF:

Hydrogen peroxide gets out bloodstains.  Pour it liberally over the stain (you'll see it turn white and bubble up) and then wash the item normally.  It's like magic!  Now if I could only find some magic potion that would take out grass stains and spaghetti sauce this reliably I would be set!  It works for me!  Now head on over to Shannon's for more Works For Me Wednesday tips.

5 Ingredients work for me!

Shannon is hosting a themed Works for Me Wednesday today:  Recipes With 5 Ingredients or Less.  Are there any other kind?  This is my kids' favorite meal-requested at every special dinner and at least once a week.  As an added bonus, they always talk about it and it makes me sound like a gourmet cook.  (hahahahahaha!)

Easy Chicken Cordon Bleu

2 cans crescent rolls (I use low fat for the irony)

1 1/2 cups cooked chicken, chopped

1 1/2 cups deli ham, chopped

1 cup shredded Swiss cheese

1 egg, beaten

Heat oven to 35o degrees. Combine all ingredients except rolls.  Separate dough into eight rectangles and firmly press perforations to seal well.  Distribute mixture between rectangles.  Pull up corner of rectangles around mixture to center and twist.  Pinch edges to seal and place seam side down on baking sheet.  Bake 20 minutes or until golden brown.  

Accept hugs, kisses and thank yous from your kids.

You'll Get Up and Look!

Have you ever tried to pull off a piece of aluminum foil or even worse, saran wrap and the roll falls out of the box? Have you ever used it when it DIDN'T? I received an email the other day with this tip: there is a tab on the end of the box that you press in to lock the roll in place! Who knew? (Hopefully not everyone BUT me!) Even the generic boxes have it. I got up and tried it and sure enough it worked for me! Now head on over to Rocks In My Dryer for more Works for Me Wednesday tips.

Socks Galore

With three kids, there is ALWAYS laundry being done at my house. I may get everything washed and folded in one day, but it seems like it is NEVER completely put away. And the sock basket? Ugh. There are so many socks! And they are almost all white. My boys are close enough in size that it is nearly impossible to tell which socks are whose (for Dad at least!) I've tried several different methods. I've written their initials on them with a sharpie but it eventually fades. I've tried to only buy completely white socks for Christian and socks with a colored sole for Coleman. Unfortunately, most packages come with a mix of both. So my latest try is this: I buy one brand for Christian and a different brand for Coleman. The manufacturers are nice enough to put the brand name on the toe. And I did the brands in alphabetical order (Fruit of the Loom for Christian and Hanes for Coleman) so that I can remember which is which. So far so good! Now if I could only get someone ELSE to match them for me! It works for me-now head on over to Shannon's for more Works For Me Wednesday tips.

Go green-paper recycling

I have a stack of partially used (on one side) printer paper under my computer printer. Clean paper on the left, previously used paper on the right. When the kids are creating art, they know that they may get as much paper out of the pile on the right as they want, but they must ask to use the clean paper on the left. The scrap paper is also handy to throw in the printer to print things that are just for me, like directions or lists, etc. Since it's right under the printer, it's easy to put the used paper into the stack when I am finished with it. It's simple and it's good for the earth! Now head on over to Shannon's for more Works For ME Wednesday tips!

An oldie, but a goodie

Apparently, this is a busy week for everyone! Shannon has decided to have a Greatest Hits Edition Works for Me Wednesday. Here is my oldie, but goodie:

I keep different tote bags packed for our regular outings. We have one for the library, my Bible study, book club, etc. The library bag has the receipt for what books were checked out and when they are due. As the kids finish their books, they put them back in the bag and all I have to do is check that we have them all and go. Since I have different bags for each thing, I don't have to switch out and possibly forget something. The bags are hanging on hooks in the coat closet so I can just grab and go! What is your favorite organizing tool to help get out the door faster?

Now head over to Rocks in My Dryer for tips from everyone else!

Art on the Go

My kids love to draw and color. Especially in the car. It had gotten to the point that every time we tried to get in the car to go somewhere, we were waiting on someone while they ran back in the house to get paper. or a pencil or something. So I bought supplies to keep in the car. In the seatback in front of each child I put a small notebook (each a different color, of course!) that I bought from the dollar store. I also bought a pencil bag and filled it with pencils, colored pencils, washable markers, and a pencil sharpener. No crayons in the car...but that is a post for a different day! Now the kids have supplies for drawing a picture, or playing tic tac toe, etc.
It works for me! Now head over to Rocks in My Dryer for more Works for Me Wednesday tips!

Plan-ner of Perfection!

In my B.C. days (this is Before Children...not to be confused with my age) I was a sales rep for a large clinical laboratory. I called on doctors all day and had scads and scads of paperwork to deal with. I had an AWESOME almost briefcase-sized planner. It had my address book and calendar in it, all of my project and to-do lists and was even large enough to put the folders of info I needed to take to my clients' offices. (I know, I am dating myself...this was before PDAs!) However, it was a great system to keep everything I needed together.

Then I became a stay-at-home mom. Which, as we all know, involves very little "staying at home." My ginormous planner was no longer practical, but neither was the calendar on the side of the fridge. Or the mini-address book in my purse that I couldn't keep updated. Or the numerous lists on the backs of receipts and scraps of paper or even written in crayon on a clean diaper...

So I got a normal-sized planner. It is too big to fit in my purse (but who wants that added weight, anyway?) I keep it in my car and it has EVERYTHING in it...phone numbers, insurance info, my calendar (I HAVE to have a paper calendar-month at a glance!) my address book, a page of phone numbers for all of the stores I frequently shop at, sports schedules, coupons, fabric swatches...anything I might need as I am running around. Now everything is in one place and since my car is almost always where I am, I can reference/update easily.

It works for me...now head over to Rocks in my Dryer for more Works For Me Wednesday tips!

Discipline Job Jar

At our house, we have a job jar. It's used for discipline and also as a reminder that our family is a team and we all need to work together. The jar is full of jobs that always NEED to be done, but are so far at the bottom of the list they don't USUALLY get done. Like sweeping the basement stairs. Or cleaning the baseboards. It also contains lots of jobs that ALWAYS need to be completed. (Even if I just did them yesterday.) Like sweeping the kitchen floor or vacuuming the upstairs hall. Whenever someone needs a "gentle" reminder of how he/she is expected to behave or a lesson in gratitude, they draw a job card out of the jar. Our job jar also contains a card that says "grace" because God gives us grace, even when we don't deserve it. The jobs are chores that should take about 15 minutes to complete. Long enough to think about your wrong doing and hopefully change your heart!

Discipline and child labor...because I like to have my cake and eat it, too!

Now head on over to Shannon's for more great Works For Me Wednesday tips!

What's for Lunch?

Today is a backward edition of Works for Me Wednesday, where I get to request a tip instead of posting one!

Here is my question...

What can I put in here?

My daughter takes her lunch to preschool every day and I am in a rut! What can I pack that is relatively healthy and is NOT a sandwich? There is a no peanut butter policy at her school. I would love to send something warm, (like mac 'n' cheese) but I haven't figured out a way to KEEP it warm. Any ideas?

Head on over to Rocks In My Dryer for more Backwards WFMW!

Magnet Boards

We hung magnet boards in all of the kids' rooms. They love having a place to hang all of their art and treasures...and I love that there are no tacks to fall on the floor and get stepped on or vacuumed up. We bought ours fairly cheaply from IKEA and they are nice and large. In my daughter's room, we jazzed it up by painting a frame around it. It works for me! Now head on over to Rocks in my Dryer for other great Works For Me Wednesday tips!

A Time To Kill

I love timers. Because of my C.A.A.D.D. (Child Activated Attention Deficit Disorder), I use them everywhere! The kids each have one in the bathroom for brushing their teeth. Set it for three minutes and mom doesn’t have to stand there and tell them when they may stop brushing. We have one at the computer for taking turns and limiting time.

I use the oven timer when Mommy, I mean the kids need a time out. Sometimes I even set it when I am afraid I will forget to go pick someone up! It works for me! Now head over to Rocks in my Dryer for Works for Me Wednesday and see what works for everyone else!

I just bought a MAC DADDY laundry sorter. (Oh, the things that make you happy when you have three kids!)

As you can see, the old one was in bad shape.

Such bad shape that the mountains of dirty laundry were the only thing holding it upright. (Perilously!)

Isn't it BEAUTIFUL?

And it has wheels. That roll. This is one of the best time saving devices in my house. I do ALOT.OF.LAUNDRY. With three bags (darks, whites and colors) the laundry is already sorted so all I have to do is throw in the load when I have a minute. And since my new one is so heavy duty I am able to roll the whole thing to the laundry room instead of toting the basket or bags. My kids have been sorting their own laundry since they were two or three. When they were really small, I attached a tag to each bag that had a picture of a child dressed all in white, all in blues and in all different colors to show them which bag was which. They almost always got it right. It works for me! Now head on over to Works for Me Wednesday (hosted by Chili this week while Shannon is out of the country!) and check out the other great tips!

Favorite Online Store

Shannon over at Rocks in my Dryer is sponsoring a themed Works for me Wednesday today: favorite online stores. I have several. (Other than Amazon for books, of course!) My boys play lacrosse (a "Yankee" sport!) Because we live in Georgia and the sport is still up and coming there are not a lot of stores (count: one-almost an hour away!) to get gear and T-shirts, etc. I love Chalktalk Sports. They have fun and practical items for all sports, including lacrosse. And great T-shirts. Like THIS and THIS.

Another favorite is J-Caroline. They have the MOST. FABULOUS. FABRICS and trims. I adore the Michael Moore line.  Look at THIS and THIS!

It works for me! Now head on over to Rocks in My Dryer for other great shopping spots!

Doesn't it seem like everything has a detachable cord? I have 47 cords in my desk drawer all with different ends that belong to...what? I don't know! Not to my cell phone, because I tried every one of them this morning when I realized my battery was dead and my car charger was in Jim's car. And you can't throw them away, because THEY MIGHT BELONG TO SOMETHING IMPORTANT. So a few years ago, I started writing the item's name on the cord. I have a black and a white paint pen on my desk just for this purpose. All of those cords to computers, MP3 players, cell phones, annoying toys that have to be recharged...(okay, maybe not THOSE!) are all labeled with the product that it belongs to. Except of course, the cache in my desk drawer. Those will, I'm sure, still be in my desk drawer when I die because you can't throw them away. THEY MIGHT BELONG TO SOMETHING IMPORTANT!

It Works For Me! Now head on over to Rocks In MyDryer and see what works for everyone else!

Lost My Marbles

I was tired of yelling and I was tired of threatening and I was tired of spankings. And I was tired of always being the bad guy. So we started the marble jars. Each kid has a jar. When they do something good they get to put a marble in. When they do something wrong, they take a marble out. When they reach the magic number of marbles (25 for my 11 year old, 20 for my 7 year old and 15 for my 4 year old) they get a treat, usually a book from the book store. Although I must admit, I am quicker to have the kids lose a marble than gain a marble, I am working on praising them more. Yesterday was a great day! No one lost any and everyone gained at least two. The marble jars have curtailed the whining and yelling (me!) and the whining and crying (them!) It works for me! Now head on over to Rocks In My Dryer for other Works for Me Wednesday tips!