projects for your soul
The first year I wasn’t working full-time at Christmas, my husband and I tightened our belts in every way possible, including trimming our Christmas gift budget.
As I tried to figure out how to still spread holiday cheer, it dawned on me the most meaningful presents I’d received weren’t things that could be purchased at a mall: [Read more...]
We have been doing the dating challenge this month and when I asked you for your top reasons why you don’t date – time was at the top of the list.
The irony? Some of the first people who answered were my friends on Facebook – one of my biggest time suckers if I’m not careful. (Anyone else? Or am I alone in this?)
I know you are going to expect me to say things like “Give up 30 minutes of TV,” and for some of us, that may be required, but I also know that your 60 minutes of Glee may be the only real downtime that you have. (And by downtime, I mean watching Glee, folding laundry, paying bills on your laptop and packing kids school lunches in the next room…)
So here are a few things that have been working for me lately. (As technology changes, so does my list of how to save time.)
Q4U – What is the best time-saving tip you have been using lately? Please share your wisdom in the comments below. I would love to put together a resource of all the best ideas – won’t you contribute your brilliance?
I has been a long week. I have had the flu and after feeling super-yucky for a while, I came home after a speaking engagement on Thursday and (if I were living in a Jane Austin novel,) took to my bed.
I will announce the winners of the Husband Mini-Project on Wednesday. (I will let my super-assistant Sunnie handle the details – otherwise I will start sending out books to people randomly.)
It the meanwhile, I would love to spend this week sharing and collecting great slow cooker recipes. This is so the time of year to be dragging out the Crockpot! Plus, if you share a recipe that I love, it may be included in my upcoming book, The “What’s for Dinner?” Project.
So please, share your best slow cooker recipes with me and check back each day for something new and yummy.
Here is the first recipe from my agent Rachelle Gardner (if you are interested at all in writing, be sure to check out her award-winning blog.)
Salsa Tri-tip Sandwiches
1 bottle beer (can be non-alcoholic)
1 jar salsa (mild to hot, your choice)
2-3 lbs tri-tip roast
Sandwich rolls
Mayo
Put the tri-tip in a crock pot and cover with beer and salsa. Cook for about 6-7 hours on low. To serve, slice it thinly or shred with a fork, put on sandwich rolls with mayo. Use the extra sauce in the crock pot for dipping (as “au jus”). Easy and the whole family loves it!
If you don’t have a crock pot, you can put the meat, beer and salsa in a baking dish, cover and bake in 400 oven for about 3 hours.
this is one of my favorite go to recipes – super-easy and everyone in the family loves it.
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 6 hours
Total Time: 6 hours, 15 minutes
Ingredients:
•3 lbs. bone-in chicken thighs, skin removed
•14 oz. can diced tomatoes with Italian seasoning
•6 oz. can tomato paste
•1 cup chicken broth
•1 onion, sliced
•4 cloves garlic, minced
•1 cup sliced mushrooms
•1/2 cup dry red wine
•1 tsp. dried Italian seasoning
•1/8 tsp. pepper
•1/2 tsp. salt
•2 Tbsp. cornstarch
•3 Tbsp. water
Preparation:
Put all ingredients except cornstarch and water in your slow cooker. Cover and cook on low 6-7 hours until chicken is thoroughly cooked and tender.
For a thicker sauce, combine cornstarch and water in small bowl and mix well with a fork to remove lumps. Stir into slowcooker; cover and cook on low 15-20 minutes until thickened. Serve with hot cooked pasta, if desired. 6 servings
I guess I am hunkering down for winter – here is my second recipe in a row that is for the crock and is all about the beef…
And who can blame me – I made the tri-tip on Monday and let it simmer all day in the slow cooker. It was the warmest, coziest day I’ve had in a long time. There is just something about the smell of dinner in the pot in the late afternoon that is a very good thing…
SLOW COOKER BEEF STROGANOFF
2 lbs. beef (round, sirloin or stew meat)
2 med. onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 sm. can mushrooms
2 1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 c. bouillon
3 tbsp. tomato paste
1 1/2 c. sour cream mixed with 4 tbsp. flour
Brown beef; add onions, garlic and mushrooms. Sauté until onions are golden brown. Put in crock pot with the remaining ingredients. Stir thoroughly. Cover and cook on low 6 to 8 hours. Serve over pasta or rice.
Please share your favorite crock recipes here. Who knows – you may be included in my next book, The “What’s for Dinner?” Project.
Hi, ladies -
According to the feedback I’ve received on the project, many of you, if not the majority, love seeing what other women are doing to make it work for them.
I have the privilege of being in the email loop of three great and funny girls who are holding each other accountable. Here’s a rundown from S about what she had in store for her guy this week and some very cool changes she is experiencing:
“Last week I arranged for a babysitter and B and I went out on a real date!!! [Read more...]
By Paula Friedrichsen
Cut roses are kept in cold storage at floral shops to keep them from blooming. This way, once they are exposed to warmth and a little natural sunlight, they will open with glory. The lovely fragrance fills your home, and the spectacular color of the flowers impresses all who enter.
Acceptance, appreciation, and validation are the warmth that will cause your husband’s personality and true self to bloom. [Read more...]
Hi ladies -
We have a Winner!!! Our first prize-winner for the Husband Project Kick-Off has been notified – as soon as she gives me the OK to publish her name, I will tell the world. She has won “The Man You Always Wanted is the One You Already Have” by our own Paula Friedrichsen. (You can check out the book here at Amazon!)
So – gearing up for the 10th – it is time to get two other ladies on board to plan and scheme and bless the socks off your men. SO – go ask a couple of friends to do the Project with you. Have them sign-up for the daily e-mails (that way they can be eligible for the drawings over the next week!)
Here is a recent posting I did that has a great letter to ask your friends to do the project with you.
Secret Contest
Only for the wives who are signed up on the daily e-mails. I want this blog to be a fun exchange of idea between all of you. SO , in that spirit…
Everyone who comments on a blog each week will be entered into a drawing for a $10 Starbucks Card. (Have you gotten the idea that I am a Starbucks fan?!?) The more times you comment, the more times you are entered. Ask a questions, offer an idea – whatever. Our first drawing will be next Wednesday, so get those fingers typing!
Now for the post:
One of the tenants of The Husband Project is that every job is more fun when your friends are involved. One of our wives, Sugga-Lamb, (love the nickname, teehee) gave me a sample of the letter she sent to get her friends on board.
“Hello ladies, I’m participating in a secret experiment called the 21 Day Project. It is actually a ‘husband’ project and it is to be kept secret from our husbands. I’m going to give extra love and support to my husband for the next 21 days, unconditionally. Sounds easy enough, right? Well with the busyness of our everyday lives it will be easy to put the project to the side…something I don’t want to do. To keep me on track I’m required to have 2 accountability partners. I’ve emailed 4 people that I feel will be the best supporters of this project for me. That’s where you come in. Please check out the website at http://www.thehusbandproject.org & let me know if this is something you’d like to do with me. If you’d like to participate as well, great! The more the merrier! Thanks, ladies!”
Feel free to copy this letter and pass it along to the women you want to do The Project with. Have fun!
I have a giant purse. Huge.
I was even given the cocktail napkins at a retreat after people heard me talk about my undying devotion for oversized bags.
I remember one time telling Roger that I needed a purse with wheels to lug around all my stuff.
Roger told me, “That’s called a suitcase and you have a problem.”
I will always have a giant purse (because I love them and see the napkin above…) but I don’t need to have the back and shoulder pain that go with an overstuffed purse.
So once a week I do my three step method (I use this all over the house, but here it will apply to handbags,) to keeping my bag from overflowing.
1. CLEAR IT OUT I simple take my purse and dump it out in a grocery bag.
2. PUT IT BACK Anything that belongs in the purse, stays in the purse. This includes
Wallet (I like the kind that has a place for a checkbook because I still have to write a couple of checks a month, plus, it keeps my business receipts better organized.
Make-up bag
Sunglasses case
Cell phone
Keys
Emergency kit
3. KEEP IT UP If I do it once a week, it really is easy to stay on top of it.
Also, have a small bag for makeup, and an emergency bag, it makes it easy to transfer the contents of the purse into my computer bag.
So tell me – do you have any fab tips for keeping your bag clean and light?
First off – the winner (who was randomly picked) of last week’s give away is:Susan Bringard. Please send your mailing address to Sunnie @ kathilipp.com by Wednesday and we will get the book in the mail to you.
Impromptu Husband Project 5 day challenge:
Each day this week, I will post a little challenge here on the blog. If you actually DO the challenge, let me know by putting it in that day’s comments, and you will be entered to win that day’s giveaway. All winners will be drawn on Saturday, so you have a couple of days to finish each task if you need it, but really? I am going to keep them so simple you will be able to do them with no problem (hey, isn’t that what The Husband Project is all about?
Project #1 YOU D’ MAN – Spreading some great gossip about your man.
In this project, all you have to do is do a little bit of bragging about your guy. (And no, bragging in the comments here on the blog to a bunch of people your husband doesn’t know does not count…)
I want you to tell someone you both know how great your husband is (or maybe that he is super sexy because he did the dishes without being asked.)
And bonus? You get double entries if you brag about him to either of your mothers or kids.
So post in the comments what you said about your man and to who, and you will be enterend in the drawing for Red Hot Monogomy! (But really, the real reward? Making your husband feel like a Rock Star…)
Join us for 5 Days of
THE HUSBAND PROJECT CHALLENGE!
