Organizing-Scrapbook Bag

Hello Friends--Its 1:55am and I cannot sleep...must have been the guilt from not having blogged in 2 days! Really, its probably because I fell asleep on the couch from 5:30p-7:30pm...nothing like a good nap to get you ready for bed! Anyway...its football season which is my busiest time at work and today was a football Saturday (we lost an abysmal game...very depressing!) so I was at work most of the first half of the day. Anyway---that is my excuse for not blogging...so sorry!

So anyway...down to business...This is a bag I just got today for my birthday (my birthday was a few weeks ago but this was a late arriving present). I LOVE it! Its a bag for organizing stuff....the purpose of it is for scrap booking but I am going to use it for my church bag as well because I love all the compartments and there is a perfect pocket for my lesson manual for my Primary class. Plus, I usually have a little craft for my class and this makes it perfect to tote that stuff around too. I will post a picture tomorrow of the craft we do, its nothing earth shattering but its still cute and they really like to do the little crafts....plus, I admit that it is total bribery, because they know that if they do not behave in class then they don't get to do a craft. That is probably morally wrong...but I don't care.

Anyway--here is my new bag!

Recipe-Asian Chicken Salad

I have played with this recipe from the original one I was given (by Marissa Hill, one of my favorite cooks) and it is such a versatile recipe. You can make any number of substitutions and still come out with a great salad. I have tried to cut down the calories by changing it from fried won tons to chow mien noodles (plus its much less effort to just open the bag and pour instead of cut up won tons and fry) and you can substitute splenda for the sugar and there is hardly a difference. You can also make it hotter or give it more of a kick by adding Tabasco or some of that Asian pepper paste. The nuts are interchangeable, if you prefer slivered almonds, use those, I happen to be a Southern girl who loves a good pecan (pronounced Pah-kon). I have also thrown in extra veggies, like chopped up broccoli, green peppers, peas, etc...whatever floats my boat that day or whatever is in the bin in the fridge.

Asian Chicken Salad

4 Chicken breasts cooked and diced (large can of chicken is okay)
1 bags of lettuce or 1 bag of shredded cabbage(coleslaw mix) or broccoli slaw works too
1 cup of pecan halves (slivered almonds can also be used)
1/2 bag of Chinese noodles or 1 bag of Ramen noodles broken and sauteed in butter (butter is optional but yummy!) or won tons fried up in strips


Dressing for Asian Chicken Salad
This dressing is so good you will want to sop it up with some crusty bread!

2 tsp of Mrs Dash Original
4 Tbsp sugar
1/4 cup of oil
4 Tbsp vinegar (I usually use cider vinegar)
1 tsp salt

Add chicken to lettuce/cabbage and set aside. Combine the dressing ingredients in a jar with a tight lid. Shake well before pouring on salad. Next add noodles and pecans. Toss and serve.

HFPE Idea- Saving pennies!

My sister's ward just had an HFPE that covered 2 topics: saving pennies and "your favorites". The first part they had someone offer suggestions on ways to save money and find freebies. Below are some of the suggestions (thanks to Lindsey, Tonya, and Cori!) I think you could also go further if you needed more classes or time to fill by adding a class on budget cooking ideas.

Ideas on saving big with just a little effort

• Go to freebie web-sites, Tonya suggested checking out the freebie groups on yahoo (Heart of Texas Free-cycle)
• MyPoints.com -If you know a member of My points, be sure to get a referal from them so they get extra points! But you can join either way. *Printable coupons*
• Craig’s List is a local classified adds, look for the “free section”
• Go to the specific web-sites of the companies who make your favorite product On-line surveys often reward you with free items or coupons
• Coke bottle caps can be redeemed to give you spending money at the Coke store
• Cash in your rebates (Office Max & Office Depot often have these available)
• Sign-up for Newsletters and Birthday Clubs (Sonic, Dairy Queen, Chuck E. Cheese) AFullCup.com is “a freebie Mecca”
• Target.com (look for Super Target.com at the bottom for coupons)
• Mr. Ink Jet is good for printer ink savings
• TotallyFreeStuff.com
• Wal-Mart free samples (go to WalMart.com main stores now offer free sampler)
• Hobby Lobby.com gives a weekly coupon & for Michael’s on-line as well
  

Thanks for these great tips!

Then they also had the sisters bring something or somethings that were their "favorite things", like show and tell. I think this was similar to Oprah's favorite things...except less screaming and not free stuff for all. This was a way for sisters to share things they love with other sisters and you learned something about the sister as well.

Here is a sample of some of the things that were shared by some sisters. (I think this is a really fun thing, I have to think about what I would have brought!)

People's "Favorite Things"
-Pampered Chef mini-whip, Johnson & Johnson’s Soothing Naturals Baby Wash/Lotion
-National Geographic Magazine, Tabernacle CD, “Love is Spoken Here”
-One sister loves information, so she shared some research on heart attacks and second degree smoke
-Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight book series
-SA8 Pre-wash for spots on laundry (only available on-line), Color care Shielding Shine Mist by Biolage, Zero Frizz for hair
-Sketcher shoes ordered from endless.com where you can ship it back for free if they don’t fit.
-Facing the Giant (movie), Harry Potter book series
-Stampin’ Up!’s table top cutter (ka-chunk), Special K’s Chocolaty Cereal, 101 Meals to Cook in a Slow cooker, amazon.com for books, & usps.com for mailing stuff from home
-Feminine Screwdriver with changeable head

I have to agree with many of these items listed...the Stampin Up Paper Cutter is also one of my favorites, I just found Special K Chocolaty Cereal and am such a fan....and the Feminine screwdriver is something I have and love. I have a matching tape measure to go with it. It is my personal "tool set" and I keep it where I can always find it....plus its way to girlie for my hubbie to want to use it! Here is a picture of mine...

This is the hammer with all the components inside.
And this is the hammer once you unscrew the handle and take out the 3 different screwdrivers with different heads and sizes. This was given to me by my boss for Christmas a few years ago and I LOVE IT! It is a great gift for the girl who has everything!

Let's see....my favorite "things" would be chocolate cake, Estee Lauder Foundation ( I have a really hard time finding foundation that matches my PALE skin color and Estee Lauder is the ONLY one that works for me...believe me, I have tried TONS of products because I was in search of a cheaper brand...but I give up and will only wear Estee from now on...its true to me so I will be true to it! It was a bummer one day when I realized my real skin color was "translucent!")

Another favorite, I love Stampin Up Products for Scrapbooking and Card Making because everything matches...the paper matches the ribbon color, matches the buttons, etc. I really hate it when I buy lovely ribbon and paper and the reds do not match so now I just buy SU products because I can trust them and the quality is superb. You can view their catalog online http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/stampwithlinz/ and Lindsey is a great demonstrator and I am not biased at all!

I also love whole wheat pastry flour. I have been trying to substitute whole wheat for white wheat in a lot of my recipes and I have found that the ww pastry flour makes a good substitute on many things!

So, post a comment on your favorite things! I would love to hear some!

Make every day beautiful!

Heather