Trash to Treasure: Jewelry Holder

I found a cork board at a garage sale for $3. I brought it home and wiped it down. Next, I found a piece of felt at Pat Catan's craft store in black and I cut it to fit the corkboard. I was going to get a pretty pattern but then decided to stick with black to see my jewelry better.

Next, I used Mod Podge all over the corkboard. I then put down the felt and let it dry. Added some pushpins and jewelry, voila, very cheap but functional necklace holder to be hung in my closet.

Review: Macaroni Grill: Chicken Piccata

We had this meal this week and it has been one of our highlights! I purchased the box from Giant Eagle for @ $4 with coupon. I wasn't excited about lemon piccata because I don't like lemon chicken, but Larry wanted to try it.

So, you need to purchase 1 lb of chicken. I use the non-steroid, non-hormone nature's basket brand from Giant Eagle and it is pretty lean. It is sliced thinly to start and a 1 lb package contains about 4 or 5 think slices. The box comes with a packet of seasoned flour which you dredge your chicken through and place in a sautee pan with butter. I supposed you could use olive oil but I followed the directions on the box. In the meantime, you boil water for the little pouch of thin spaghetti they provide. While the pasta cooks, you brown the chicken, then add the provided pouch of chablis wine, 2/3 cup of hot water and the seasoning packet. It cookes for about 4 minutes more.

Voila! The pasta is done and you serve the chicken and sauce (which is very thin) over the pasta.

We loved it and it has earned a place in our rotation. It was not too lemony and it was very tasty. I highly recommend this meal!

Let me know if you try it!

Feeling Sentimental....

I wrote an email to my old friends from Mentor Harbor Yacht club today telling them how much I cherished the summers we worked and hung out together on Lake Erie. I almost cited Billy Joel's "These are the Times to Remember" in my note to them but I thought they'd think I was some sort of weirdo.

But it is true at most times in our lives, our childhood, our highschool, college, marriage, children and ever after...

This is the time to remember
'Cause it will not last forever,
These are the days to hold on to
'Cause we wont although we'll want to.

Spicy Citrus Glazed Shrimp with Angel Hair Pasta

We had this for a light dinner on Sunday. It was very good, better than the chicken. We bought a 1 lb bag of good shrimp from Giant Eagle, defrosted it overnight and then it took about 20 minutes to put this dinner together. The sauce was a little sweet for me, I would use only about 3/4 of it next time but I do recommend this dinner for something different on a week day night.

Tonight For Dinner...

Tonight, I am going to try Good Earth™ Mediterranean Chicken with Angel Hair Pasta for dinner. My neighbor has recommended the Good Earth products, but she specifically did not care for this one.

This is supposed to be restaurant quality food and I sure hope that it is. The box also says it contains no artificial flavours or preservatives and each serving provides 16g of whole grains, which is a third of your daily recommended allowance of whole grains.

Stay tuned for verdict later...

Larry actually made this for dinner and he said it was pretty easy. He cut up the 1 lb of chicken and followed directions adding milk and other stuff as instructed. The dinner was "fine". It wasn't awesome or taste like a restaurant dinner but it was good enough to eat. The rice sort of did taste like boxed rice but we ate it. Now, am I going to buy this particular box again? No. But I am going to try the Citrus Shrimp kit we bought as well from Good Earth and will follow up with a review of that sometime this week.

Slowing Down...On Purpose...Random Thoughts

I don't know about anyone else, but I need to slow down. I am running, running, running and although I enjoy much of it, it does have its down side. I'm tired, the bathrooms need to be clean and we're always doing laundry and grocery shopping.

Simplify. I need to simplify my life or I won't be able to enjoy this holiday season.

So friends, what are your ideas for simplifying your life?

"Unhealthy" Food is like Poison

Just got back from a weekend with my college girlfriends. I was all prepared to keep my hands busy with magazines and crafts, fit in a workout and make the healthy choices. I thought I had done okay until Monday morning when I weighed in. The scale tells me that I gained 3 lbs over the weekend. So I am wondering if I should start to teach myself that unhealthy foods that are mostly sugar and fat are actually like a poison for my body. Although they look harmless, actually, they look great, they are actually bad, bad, bad.

What did I do well over the weekend? Well, I did get up early and take a 2 mile walk and I refrained from diet pop the entire weekend.

What Next? I've got my water and am attempting to flush all that poison sugar and fat out of my body. And it is back in the saddle to try and get back to where I was before this weekend.