Happy Valentine's!! What Is On Your Menu For Today?

Here at our house, the traditional meal for Valentine's Day is homemade heart-shaped waffles with strawberries & whipped cream and bacon.

Last year, Valentine's Day was on Sunday and we enjoyed our special meal for brunch.

This year we are having our heart waffles after school at 4 pm before the troops scatter for hockey and skating practice.

Both my kids asked if we were having our waffles and whipped cream and bacon yesterday, so

I think it's a tradition they look forward to.

{The picture is from our brunch last year.}

Do you have a family tradition of a special meal for Valentine's Day?

A Baked Treat For Valentine's Day....

So tonight I am invited out for a girls' dinner and a scrapbook evening. {smile}.

I wanted to make something for little hostess gifts...and this is what I came up with.

Homemade cookies in a pretty package.

It really looks like a jar of preserves...but surprise.... cookies.

I have been saving these jars to use for some kind of food project.

I could use canning jars...but I like to save those for canning.

These jars are free.

I peeled off the labels and washed them with hot soapy water and an SOS pad.

It took a little elbow grease...but I got these nice clean jars.

I took the lids and spray-painted them black.

Then I got out my scrapbooking supplies and played around to make some bands to pretty up the jars.

This is what I built for bands...

I used scrapbook papers cut into 1.25 inches wide X 12 inches long strips to go around the jars.

{I pre-measured and it just worked out that 12 inches in length was perfect...lucky}

Red ribbon was attached to the top of the paper strips and punched flowers and foam hearts from the dollar store added the final touch.

Then I made chocolate dream cookies...a favourite at our house.

{You can find the recipe here.}

I decorated the cookies with Valentine's Day sprinkles.

Then the jars were filled with freshly made cookies...each jar held a half dozen.

I placed a square of red tissue paper in the bottom of the jar before the cookies went in.

{And really...you could just use goody bags to put cookies in, but I find that the cookies always get crushed.}

The lids that I spray-painted earlier in the day weren't dry and still smelled like paint at 3pm.

Drats!

 I decided not to stress over that....so I improvised.

I used tin foil and elastics to close up the jars....hence the homemade preserves 'look'.

I think they still look pretty swell.

I made 6 jars in total.

I plan to give out a few tonight as hostess gifts.

And I will take some over to a friend who was in a car accident yesterday and is feeling really sore today.

Hunter would like to give one to her skating coach too.

So poof...the jars of cookies will be gone by tomorrow.

But it made for a great day of fun...except I missed my mother...who is 3000 km away.

If she were here, the cookies would have tasted better and the packages would have looked prettier.

Cause to me....SHE is the original Martha.

This post is linked to:















Weekend Wrap Up Party @ Tatertots & Jello

The Absolute Easiest Way To Track, Pay & Organize Your Household Bills...No Filing Involved!

For years, I kept our household bills filed in file folders in a file box..... just like hundreds of other people.
Let me also confess that I have gone through periods in my life where bills were 'filed' in a grocery bag hanging on the back of the bedroom door.
Yep. Sad but true.
I have seen many examples of how to organize & 'file' bills around blogland lately.
But I want to share with you a different way.

 Two years ago I switched to this method...and I like it much better.

And here's another dirty little secret about me....although I love to organize... I HATE, with a capital 'H',  filing!

I like not having to go through different files to find things or put them away.
This system helps me avoid that!

Let me introduce the Household Bill Binder.

It's a simple method..... it's fast and it works.

I just get out the binder when I am ready to sit at the computer to make on-line payments with our bank.
And then I put the binder away. No filing!

***
All that is needed is a 3 or 4 inch 3-ring binder.

 A few other things are handy to have in the front...a calculator, a pen, a red pen, a pencil and eraser. I have these stored in a  3-ring pencil case in the front.

Dividers are placed inside with labels for all the types of household bills.

When bills arrive, I place them in a box on my desk. Once a week I schedule time to open them.

As I open each bill, I write down the amount due and due date on a calendar page for the current month in the front of the Household Bill Binder.

The calendar page provides a great visual of what the month looks like.

I keep the unpaid bills in a pocket at the front of the binder until it's time to pay the bills. I pay the bills on the 1st and the 15th of every month.

As each bill is paid, I write  'paid' in red pen with the amount and date, punch 3 holes in the bill and pop the paid bill into the binder in the appropriate section. I also use the red pen to cross the bill off the calendar so I know that it's paid.

Easy Peasy.

And then I put the binder away.

That's it.

No filing. None. Zilcho.

At the end of the year,  I clean out the binder, and keep only those things we need for income tax.

I store those items for a whole year in a file folder labelled with the year.

For example, everything from 2013 goes into ONE file at the end of the year.

Another thing about this method  I like is that when my husband and I want to look at and discuss bills, I just get out the binder.

 I don't have to spend time rifling around files. I just flip pages.

And I like the simplicity of the calendar pages in the front for tracking. I print off 6 months at a time to have in the front of the binder to record bills as they arrive.

{You can find free calendar pages to print HERE.}

The calendars pages can be formatted in whatever way you like.

They are the pages that I use...just simple black & white.

I hope if you hate filing, like me, you find this method a little more helpful in rounding up those household bills.

Super simple.


If you liked this post, you may also like these posts:
Organizing A Kitchen Into Zones
The 10 Best Ways To Save on Groceries Without Couponing
5 Easy Steps To Packing School Lunches
Revolutionize Your Laundry Routine

And these full-of-ideas boards on Pinterest:
Organized Homes
Organized Bathrooms
Organized Kitchens
Freezer Meal Ideas to Love

Everyone Needs A Little Mu Shu...

I just love this meal. It comes together so fast and everybody likes it.

I am talking about Mu Shu Pork.

My kids laugh when we talk MuShu' for dinner.

I think there's even a Veggie Tales song with Mu Shu in it...can't remember the name of the song though.
{oh yeah...it's called Do the Mu Shu}

Mu Shu Pork

1 large pork tenderloin {about 1 pound}, cut into 1/2 inch strips

1 tablespoon Asian chili-garlice sauce

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

8 oz. shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and sliced thin {I have used regular mushrooms}

1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger

1 14 oz. bag coleslaw mix

1 cup hoisin sauce

2 tablespoons dry sherry

3 scallions, sliced thin for garnish

1 pkg. bean sprouts for garnish

8 8-in flour tortiallas, warmed

1. Pat pork dry and toss with chili-garlic sauce. Heat 1 tb. oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook until pork is no longer pink-3 to 5 minutes. Transfer to plate and tent with foil.

2. Add remaining oil and mushrooms to skillet and cook over medium high heat until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Stir in ginger and cook until fragrant...about 30 seconds. Add coleslaw mix and cook until wilted...about 3 minutes. Stir in pork, along with and pork juices on plate, 1/2 cup hoisin sauce, sherry and cook until sauce in slightly thickened..about 1 minute.  Spoon pork mixture onto to warm tortillas. Sprinkle with sliced green onion and bean sprouts for extra crunch and flavour. Pass remaining hoisin sauce at table.

***

On Sunday night, I opened the fridge and found this:

Yes. It says 'TOUCH & DIE'.

Hunter developed a special cupcake recipe as part of a project for school and these are the samples that she is taking to school.

I think she was worried that they would not survive the night!

They do look yummy!

A Sweet Treat for Teacher...

Can I just say first how much I LOVE this project?

Small, little gifts are just the best....in my opinion.

But alas, I cannot take credit for this idea....I was inspired by this post over at Eighteen25 Blog.

Those girls are just amazing! 

Doesn't your brain just swim with possibilities for this idea?
Wouldn't it be a great treat box for a birthday party with brightly coloured candies inside?
Or office supplies? Or hair accessories?
Or costume jewellery? Or a 'Barbie' theme? Or Lego? Or Hotwheels?
Just so fun!

***

This project starts off with a trip to the Dollarama for these boxes...

And while there, grab some little chocolate treats and office supplies.

I went with a RED theme for Valentine's Day.

Inside are Certs, paper clips, mini erasers, chocolate hearts, hersheys kisses, a large paper clip, & push pins. I also tucked in a small emery board and anti-bacterial hand gel from Bath & Body Works.

 You will need some scrapbook paper. I chose Valentine paper to go along with my theme.

A corner round is a good thing to have too...for trimming the corners for around the box.

 Stickers are great for adding a name. I always look for stickers with lot and lots of vowels!

Then play with your papers to cover the top of the box.

If you scrapbook already...this is so easy.

A few quick measurements and a few quick cuts.

Add a name too if you wish!

I finished up my projects with a  RED ribbon and a pencil.....cause to me...it's all about the packaging!

I just love PRETTY.

 I made 3 of these for each of my son's teachers for Valentine's Day.

I hope they enjoy their little teacher 'goody' boxes!

A Journal Project That Will Tickle You Pink....

So the Craft & Hobby Association Show just concluded in California this week.

That's where all kinds of new craft and hobby products are debuted for the first time.

There has been lots of buzz about this new product from K & Company/EK Sucess.

I just adore it!

It's a journal for all your special little things of life.

The journal is hardcover with a coil binding and comes with a dual-tip pen...one end for writing and the other end~ glue~ for putting stuff in.

I think every teenage girl I know is going to get one of these for her birthday or for Christmas this year.

In her favourite colour of course!

I hope you LOVE the video as much as I do!

For more info, visit the blog at http://www.smashstoriesblog.com/


And just to let you know....these are not available until April 2011.

I Am Guest Posting At Tatertots and Jello today...

I am so happy to be able to share this project with you over at Tatertots and Jello today!

A Valentine's Day 'Tree of Love'...

Here's a little sneak peek:

I invite you to go over to Tatertots & Jello to have a look!

Have a wonderful day!