Menu Plan Monday...for Once

So, I don't normally do the Menu Plan Monday thing publicly, but I have been doing really well with planning and executing the menu's that I decided to link up for this week.

I start my week on Sunday, so here goes.....

Sunday - Steak, Salad and Brussel Sprouts with Figs  (Mark Bittman recipe - amazing!)

Monday - Talapia, Couscous with Olives, salad 

Tuesday - Challah French Toast, Turkey Sausage (me) & Bacon (DH)

Wednesday - Leftovers (We both have commitments that night)

Thursday - Crock Pot Chicken with Stuffing (there are about 1 million recipes - just pick your favorite!)

Friday - Dinner out - Date Night!

Saturday - Pasta with my homemade gravy, Cesaer Salad

Thanks it for this week.  Please visit here for many more Menu plans!

If it's January, it must be Weight Watchers

Well, once again I thought I could track points in my head and still lose weight.  Once again I was incorrect.

Funny how that pattern repeats itself eh?

So what is a gal to do?  Rejoin Weight Watchers and start on the new plan and actually count my points.  For real, like write them down.  Or post them on line.  or use my smart phone to record them.  or some freaking thing that is not my head!

I have been secretly doing this for two weeks now.  And I have lost 6 pounds.  Think what may happen now that I have gone public! 

When I went skiing with my DS about two weeks ago I realized I needed to gain so upper body strength and to lose this weight once and for all.  So, I have a goal and it has much to do with my age.  I have said this goal out loud to many people and now I need to live the goal.

So I am maybe the only person right now thankful for the snow that has fallen lately here, why?  It gave me the opportunity to go skiing and well, I get to shovel (no snow blower for this gal) and shoveling equals lots of activity points.  Which helps me to lose weight. 

Which is of course the goal here! 

As I once again go (or continue) down the road to better health and eating habits, I will keep you posted of my progress.  This time you won't have to wait.

Because, if it's January, it must be Weight Watchers....

My Happy List

I like to find challenges and this weekend I found this "Happy List" and thought it was a great idea.  So....


1) Skype - I love to be able to see my DS at college, in his dorm and have a conversation with him.  I think that this is the best invention and the closest thing to a Jetsons moment for me.


2) My Keurig coffee maker, but more than that - Nantucket Iced Coffee Blend.  This is my way of saving money - as the k-cup is about .60 each and I can brew an almost perfect DD Iced Cafe Mocha.  Skim milk and Dark Chocolate syrup give me the same taste, a third of the cost and 1/2 the WW points plus!  Perfection.

3)  I love my Copco Iced Beverage cup.  It has a great straw that can mix the drink (perfect when the chocolate syrup settles) and is as big as a medium DD size.  Plus I am doing the environment good.  Wish I had know about the purple one sooner!!!!

This is my Happy List.  What's Yours?......

Cookie Lee Jewelry - An Opportunity

I don't talk about my Cookie Lee business a lot on this blog, because I have so many things to share, but this year the company has introduced a new consultant program that is just awesome!  I loved my Quick Success program when I joined, but I have to tell you that this improved program really is improved!

If you are looking for something to do, that you can earn a terrific profit , that does not require any minimums ($300 in jewelry per year to stay a consultant - that's it!) and is such a good price point that it almost sells itself (many, many items under $30) then Cookie Lee is for you!

Check out my website, ask me a ton of questions (I have supplies and can get you started at little cost) and join up - trust me it is well worth it!

And while you are there - you can always place an order...lol.

Cookie Lee Jewelry....an opportunity.

Just Sayin.....

 I was visting some of my favorite blogs and came across this one and realized the Zits cartoon has mirrored my life - we have many saved over the years - and well, isn't this just my life right now?

I think this explains it best!

Zits......

Storage, Storage and more....

As anyone who has read my blog knows, I am a big fan of storage boxes.  I love the idea of hiding all my messes in something that is pretty and decorative.

In several of the staging jobs I have done, decorative boxes have been the thing that made everyday life possible.  In the family room, they can hold (or hide!) remote controls or children's toys. 

In the kitchen, cookbooks or counter top items such as scales can be place inside. In the bedroom, they look lovely on a nightstand and can hold notepaper, books or hand creme and tissues.

These are uses that are very practical for staging , but also can be practical in everyday life.  The key is not to use them as dumping spots for junk! But for me there are two totally practical uses for these decorative boxes - Photo's and Cards!

Use these boxes to sort and organize cards - thank you note, birthday, anniversary - all those cards you need that you can never find.  I did this project Card Organizing and it has worked out great.  Not only do I know that I have a card for an occasion, but I also know when I need to go buy more due to a low supply.  This is a cost savings as well!

I mean really, how many time have you gone out and purchased a birthday card when you just knew you had one at home - somewhere!

However, the best reason for decorative storage boxes?  They can update your decor in just five minutes.  You can go out and get red boxes for holiday time (or Valentine's season) or Pink/Green flower boxes for spring or a modern design to change the vibe of a room.....

The list is endless.  and the cost is reasonable....and you get....

Storage and more.....

Recipe Organizing - Finally Done!

I have been working on my recipe organizing since the day I started this blog...and I had been getting nowhere fast.  As you can see from the picture below, the mess was taking over my 10 foot dining room table! I needed to get this done and I had to determine a system that would work for me and my family.

Too many magazines reap too many recipes!

 This was the book I used for handwritten (passed down) recipes, plus things I had found on the web or from old cookbooks that I did not want to keep.  Why keep a whole cookbook if you only like 3-4 recipes in it?

Well, I finally sat down this weekend and decided to finish this no matter what! So whilst watching the Eagles lose, I spread out on the sofa and entertained my father in law and husband with my organization.

The pictures below are the finished result!

Above are two pictures of the handwritten book, all organized by recipe type and including some detailed directions.  No more scraps of paper in this book!  Note my Mother in law's famous ravioli - very delish!

Below are the three notebooks I created with all of the other keeper recipes.  One for Breakfast/Drinks/Desserts, one for Vegetables/Soups and one for Main Dishes. 

 Each note book has inserts with recipes put together based on type, and there is lots of room to grow in each notebook. 

So, you may be asking?  "Debie, how did you decide what recipes to keep?"  Well, this is where my husband and father in law helped.  I read the title of each recipe to them and if they did not like it - out it went.  If it was something I really liked it stayed - but since I cook for everyone, I did not want to keep something my husband had no interest in eating!

I am really excited - this is a project that had to get done and did.  In an organized thoughtful way!  Yea me - finally done!

Pictures of a Winter Wonderland

I just wanted to share some photographs I took today of the winter wonderland outside my home.  I especially love the ivy and icicles....what do you think?

Do I Really want to Eat Foam?

As I sit here this evening and flip mindlessly though the televisions channels, I have landed on Food Network's "The Best Thing I Ever Ate - Appetizers"  and there was a dish recommended called "Hot Potato - Cold Potato". 

While it looks very interesting, it is no more than a freaking mouthful of food!  AND to top it off, it is like $9 bucks! 

Now, I am on for paying a reasonable amount of money for well made food, I certainly appreciate the hard work, the fine ingredients, and everything else that goes into fine restaurant food.  But, I cannot bring myself to pay that much money for a mouthful of food! 

I realize that it tastes wonderful and I am a big fan of Tapas and the idea of small plates, but even small plates have more than one mouthful of food.  Maybe three or four - but not ONE!

Maybe I am a food snob in a different way.  I am not interested in eating foam - I don't care if it's duck fat foam, I want to chew my food.  I don't want my food to disappear when I close my mouth. 

So please don't charge me an outrageous sum of money for a single mouthful of food and please make my small plate worth the money.  Because as good as you may claim it taste....

do I really want to eat foam?

The Office Project

 I continue to redecorate my office, moving away from the carpeted dumping ground that it had turned into and making it a place I can work happily.

This is my desk and credenza area (please note the old curtain/valances - updates coming) and while it does look messy, it is much more organized than before.  Yes I still have some work to do, but I wanted you to see the progress to date.

 Next is my beautiful, fun new flooring.  I went with a vinyl flooring because we do have some leaking issues when we get a heavy rain

after a thaw.  Plus I feel that the brightness of the floor really brightens up an otherwise darker basement space. The colors are great, all light and muted shades of blue, gray and beige - this palette gives me a chance to pick a bold color as an accent in any complementary tone.

The curtain fabric was actually first, about 5 months ago on a trip to Ikea with my bestest.  I fell in love with the pattern and colors and knew it was just the way I wanted to go with my office.  I think these colors work so well together and go very well with the other colors I have in our home.



My new curtains




Wall Art

Last picture is of my wall art, again combining Ikea fabric with interesting words and empty frames.  I like how the black ties in the furniture and I especially how the written numbers on the canvas juxtapose with the block words on the shelf.  I still want to find a few more interesting frames (which I can spray black if needed) to add to the mix.  This is between the windows and can be seen from my family room, so I wanted to make it interesting and eye catching! 

More pictures to follow as the work continues (curtains, more furniture...).  What do you think...

of the Office Project?

Random Thoughts - January 2011 Edition

Let's start the year off with some Random Thoughts and a few goals for 2011sprinkled in ......

1)  I have no willpower over certain foods.  The just call to me and I cannot resist.  Therefore I am dressing my husband as a big Raisinet......just joking about that part, but I am rejoining the WW world on Wednesday!

2)  I had a pretty good year last year with Cookie Lee Jewelry and this year I plan to work at it even harder.  With my home staging business in fits and spurts, I need to focus on both but also to realize the limitations of each.

3)  I miss my son every day that he is away at college.  I try not to dwell on it, but I find that I think, talk, text, Skype or meditate on this almost every day.  There is no goal here, just the facts, ma'am.

4)  Time to finish some projects - office and living room are the two that pop right up.  You will be seeing progress on those fronts.

5)  Time to work on the full debt reduction plan.  I cannot let this continue to be a cloud over our heads.  Hopefully, my darling, handsome hubby will find that accounting job he really wants and we can slam bang even more money into the plan.

6)  As part of the WW world, and the need to better budgeting, the meal planning will begin again.  Maybe combine it with the couponing (I do struggle with that), but I am planning the weekly meals and doing the weekend cooking it requires.

7) Finish the recipe notebooks, cleaning up those we will never eat again (oops!) and getting them organized.  This is a project I started when I was retired (from the life sucking corporation) and some how lost my way. 

8)  I would love to be blogging more regularly so I can get my followers and commenters back.  I hope to regale you with my witty stories and how exciting my life is, or just keep doing what I have been...lol.

So, your Random Thoughts?