This One's for the Girls

Works for Me Wednesday: Kitchen Edition

Shannon's asking for kitchen tips this week and so I was wracking my brain to think of something I haven't already shared.   Let's see--  I've already shared with you that I keep my spices in alphabetical order.  Some might say that's a little OCD-- but it really does make my life a whole lot easier.     I think I've already told you that I only go grocery shopping once a month-- with a monthly menu and a grocery list that is made in the same order as the aisles at the grocery store.  I think I remember telling you that I add baking soda to my famous Cajun Bean recipe--  to make everyone's tummies rest a little easier.  And I've actually had several of you comment on my sock-mopping ploy.  What else could there be? 

I was about to give it up and tell you that I had already exhausted my wealth of kitchen tricks when I remembered THE COOKBOOK.  Of course, like any other housewife in America, I keep a recipe box.  All of the cool recipes that I snag off of all of your blogs...the ones that I cut out of Southern Living...those all go in the box.  But if I cook it a few times and it actually makes it into my cooking repertoire, then it goes into THE COOKBOOK.  I also photocopy any recipe from my plethora of cookbooks that I use on a regular basis and those go into THE COOKBOOK as well. 

THE COOKBOOK is a photo album with magnetic pages that I've made subject dividers for.  (Appetizers, Chicken, Beef, Soups, Cookies, Pies, etc...)   All of my regularly used recipes go into the COOKBOOK.  It makes is super easy to find my recipes and I figure it will be nice for my daughters to go through it one day before they get married.

Alright--  there it is Shannon.  But I think that's it for kitchen tips for me.  Hope this one works for someone...it sure works for me.  :)

WFMW: Turning Tank-Tops

I was perusing our local consignment shop yesterday for some winter things for baby.    I had just done the summer/winter closet clean out for Julianna and realized that though we had received oodles of hand-me-downs from friends and relatives, we were short on winter items in the 24 mo/2T size.  Lucky for me, I found some really great deals on the dollar rack.  The name brand stuff goes for $4 - $8, but anything that was originally purchased at Wal- Mart or Target always goes to the dollar rack.  Julianna will be sporting her new, red-knit outfit tonight and never realizing that she's going shabby chic.

As I was digging through the piles of ugly things looking for the one or two cute items, I started wishing that I could still buy my teenager's clothes at the consignment store--but alas--the modesty issue has made that nearly impossible.  The only thing harder than finding cute baby clothes on the dollar rack is finding modest clothes for a teenager...  ANYWHERE.

Which reminded me of my Works-for-Me-Wednesday idea:  Turning tank-tops backwards.

You're thinking, "Huh?"  In case you didn't know it, layering tank-tops is the current fashion rage among females falling between the ages of 13 and 25.   It's a cute little trend.  Often, one will see someone wearing 2 tank-tops of different colors under a button-down or a cardigan.  The combinations are endless--teal and magenta, black and gray, orange and chartreuse.  These kids are having as much fun as all of us post-80s folks had layering our socks.  (You remember that fashion disaster, don't you?) 

The only problem is that the new tank-tops are cut low.  Real. Low.  And while somehow Elizabeth Bennett  got away with showing half of her bosom, it's not working for me.  So, I have instructed my 14 year old to simply turn her tank-tops around.  Now she's fully covered and trendy at the same time.

So, turning tank-tops!  Works for Me!  Don't forget to check out all of the other great tips over at Shannon's.

Works-for-Me-Wednesday

I've been all tipped out lately--and apparently so has Katherine.  But she's not so tipped out that she can't write a super cute poem.  T'was the Night Before Wednesday.   She mentions me, y'all, so go check it out!  :)

WFMW: Cool Beans!

I shared my red beans and rice recipe a while back--but now that Works for Me Wednesday is a weekly event, I'll share all of my tricks about this little dish.

The truth is, I can really make a mean dish of Cajun red beans and rice.  We absolutely love this stuff and eat it about twice a month along with a huge side of southern cornbread.  (No sugary, Yankee cornbread, PUL-leeeze!!)  Besides being super yummy, it's super cheap and frugal mamas everywhere should learn to incorporate this southern staple into their menu repertoire.

The only problem with beans is, well you know, the gas...  You can buy a product called Beano, but it's a little pricey and you have to embarrass your guests by telling them it's available and asking them to put a little droplet on their first spoonful.  Uh, no.  OR, you can do this little trick that really WORKS FOR ME.

1.  Soak beans the night before in a stock pot of water and dump about 3 or 4 tablespoons of baking soda in the water.

2.  The next morning, pour beans in colander and RINSE THOROUGHLY.

3.  Place beans in crock pot or whatever it is you cook them and cover with fresh water.   Voila!  No gas.

If you forget to soak the beans  the night before, don't panic.  Just put your beans and baking soda on to boil for 10 minutes.  Then cover and let them sit for an hour.   Follow the rest of my directions above.

Here's the recipe, in case you're hungry now.  :)

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MICHELLE'S FAMOUS RED BEAN AND RICE RECIPE

1 bag Red Beans (NOT pinto beans--NOT Kidney beans)  I use 2 bags for our family. -Soak the beans overnight.  Put a few tablespoons of baking soda into the water. -Rinse the beans the next morning and put them in the crock pot. -Fill the crock pot to the top with fresh water.

Spices:
1.  CREOLE SEASONING (Zatarain's or Tony Chacere's)--(I dump quite a bit of this in--  maybe *12 shakes from my big 17 oz shaker jar of Creole.)
2.  GARLIC POWDER--(I dump quite a bit of this in as well, but not as much as the Creole.  Maybe *6 shakes from a regular sized Garlic Powder jar.)
3.  CUMIN POWDER--Only *two little shakes
4. SALT--To taste. Go easy on the salt. You can always go back and add salt, but once you use too much, the dish is briny and ruined. Cook on high all day long.

30-60 minutes before serving, add a chopped up Polish Kielbasa Sausage (These cost between $2.50 - $3.00.) If I'm leaving the house and my crock pot behind for the day, I will chop the sausage up (in little pieces-- slice the sausage in half, slice in half again and then in pieces) and leave in a Tupperware in the fridge. Then, when I get home, I will microwave the sausage pieces for a few minutes before dumping them in my bean pot.

30-60 minutes before serving, add 1-2 cups of COOKED white rice.

Serve with hot, buttery Cornbread made from Martha White buttermilk, self-Rising, enriched white corn-meal mix. Of course, this tastes best if baked in an iron-skillet. The next best thing would be in a Pampered Chef stoneware casserole dish. I always make 2 pans of cornbread for our family.

Enjoy!

WFMW: Birthday Signs

 

I have finally completed the summer goal of getting all of my photos in albums and in chronological order!  Oh my, it has been a job--albeit a fun one.  I have relived our entire 15 year marriage, the births of all five of our children and all of the life that has happened in between; and I have just one thing to say:

"Who are these children????"

 

Seriously, ya'll, who are those people?  Anyway--one thing I realized as I was organizing ALL 22 ALBUMS OF PHOTOS, is that one of my little birthday traditions REALLY helped me in trying to decipher which date certain photos were taken; and so I thought I'd share it with all of my Works for Me Wednesday buddies.  Here's my tradition:

Every year on each child's birthday, I cut out construction paper letters that say:  _(Child's Name)_    is    _(Child's Age.)  So for example, when 8 year old Ava who recently had a birthday  woke up on her special day, she saw "Ava is 8," cut out of pink construction paper and hanging from our fire-place mantel.    Tru is our next birthday boy and so his sign will say (in green or orange or some other manly color)  "Tru is 13."  (Ack!  I can't believe I am going to be the mother of two teenagers!!)

I'd show you a picture, but of course, we use our kid's real names for their birthday signs.  :)

p.s.  Since I'm talking about organizing photos--I'll give you a freebie this week.  I bought one of those hand-held electronic label makers and at the bottom of each photo album, I placed a label/sticker stating the beginning date and the ending date for all of the photos placed in that album.    For example, my first album says 12/90 - 11/91.  The second album says 11/91 - 06/92.  I bought matching red leather albums with the slip-in pockets that look like this, only of course I didn't pay that much!  I got mine for $5.99/each from Hobby Lobby!   All 22 labeled albums sitting on my bookshelf sort of has that encyclopedia-set-look, which I totally love! Again, I'd show you a picture, but my camera battery charger broke.  Sorry!

All of this organizing and labeling really WORKS FOR my slight ocd tendencies ME!  Be sure to check out our gracious WFMW hostess, Shannon, and all 100 gazillion WFMW ideas!

Sock Mopping

I am always trying to figure out better ideas for getting my kids to work (cheefully.)    Some ideas work better than others.  Here's an idea that works great with my younger children.  I call it:

  Sock Mopping 

Sock mopping is just what it sounds like:

• First, I fill the kitchen sink up with warm, sudsy water.   
• Next, I take a bowl and pour quite a bit of the warm, sudsy water all over my kitchen floor.
• Then I snag 2 or 3 children and tell them to go put some socks on, 'cause it's TIME TO SOCK MOP!
• Then we all rub our socked feet all over our kitchen floor until it sparkles!
• Lastly, we take our socks off and I give everyone an old bath towel.  Everyone stands on their towel and we "dance" all over the floor until it's dry.

And that, my friends is called sock mopping.  Your kids will think it's great fun.

(The first one or two times you ask them to do it; after that, they're on to ya.)

Welcome and Works for Me Wednesday: Teach Your Kids the Presidents!

Oh, I'm so glad you're here!   If you made it from my old blogsite, would you please leave a comment?  I don't normally ask for comments, but I'm a little nervous about all of this.  I was going to wait to invite everyone over to Typepad until I had the place cleaned up a bit--but as the saying goes--"People come to see YOU, not your house."  Right?  At least I HOPE that's the case with you, because it's going to take a while to get this place in shape.

Blogger wouldn't let me post my Works for Me Wednesday video without covering half of my text-so I've made the plunge today.    Thanks so much to Jules at Everyday Mommy for helping me move my pink background and toile' header.  At least I've got the welcome-mat out!

Alright--now onto my Works for Me Wednesday idea. 

TEACH YOUR KIDS THE PRESIDENTS!

One of my favorite parts of homeschooling over the years has been all of the classical chants that we've learned.  Chanting is an intergral part of the grammar phase of Classical education and my kids have learned a plethora of information this way--the seven continents (sung to the tune of London Bridges,) the water cycle (sung to the tune of  O My Darlin',) and tons more.  Things that couldn't easily be set to music were chanted out.  I created this chant of the 43 (then 41) presidents, ten years ago when I was teaching my older two children--and it was so catchy that even my then-3-year-old-son learned them.  (Oh and wasn't he cute reciting all of them with his little lisp.)

I realized this past school year that my youngest student had never learned them and so I made it a summer goal to GET THE JOB DONE!  This time, my computer-techno-son helped us by downloading all of the pictures of the presidents off of Wikipedia, and then he set the chant to video.

Chanting really works for us!  Hope it works for you too.

p.s.  It really pained me to let everyone in the blogosphere hear my twangy voice--but that's just how much I love y'all.  So won't you please show the link-love back by changing my link in your template to www.thisonesforthegirls.typepad.com.  And as Southerners always say at the end of the call--"Appreciatcha!"