Slow Cooker Corned Beef

Ingredients:
6 carrots, cut into 1 inch pieces
3-4 lbs corned beef brisket (with seasoning)
2-3 onions, cut into quarters
4 large potatoes cut into six pieces
1 small head of cabbage, cut into wedges keeping the core on each wedge so they stay in wedges
12 ounces Guinness stout
1 cup water
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper

Directions:
Place carrots and potatoes into bottom of crock pot.
Add corned beef brisket & onions.
Mix together beer, water, seasoning pack, salt and pepper.
Pour into crock pot.
Cover & cook on low heat for 7 hours.

Easy-peasy!

Free Webinar: The Courage To Purge

Last month I held a free webinar and received so much positive feedback that I’m doing it again!

I’m holding another Free  Webinar this Wednesday, February 24th at 8pm (EST): The Courage To Purge

This webinar will be an open discussion on why we hang on to our “stuff” and keep the clutter in our homes. Topics we’ll cover are:

• The reasons behind why we hang on to things
• What questions to ask ourselves when we are decluttering
• My process for decluttering any room and purging the clutter

To join me, simply subscribe to my list below and the webinar login details will be sent to you.

Note: If you are already on my list, there is no need to sign-up below – you’ll automatically get the login info!

First Name:
Email Address:

I hope to see you there!

Dinnertime Got You Stressed? Help Is Here!

So what’s your day like? If it’s anything like mine, it’s always rush, rush, rush and there are more things to do in a
day than there is possibly time for. Then dinnertime rolls around and you think, “Oh no! What are we going to have?”

The drive-thru is tempting. It’s fast and easy, but it’s also expensive and downright unhealthy. And although it’s a nice treat once in a while, we can’t do this every single day – or at least we shouldn’t.

And here’s the thing. Mealtime IS important. It’s not only important for adequate nutrition, but it allows our families to bond, is good for our children’s development and allows us to keep up-to-date on what’s happening in their lives.

In fact, there are studies that show having frequent meals together is one of the biggest factors of vocabulary development in young children. And for older kids, it can actually help reduce the risk of smoking, drinking, alcohol and other things we’d really like our kids to stay away from. But still, what do you do? Deciding to get the family together for dinners every day is often easier said than done. But there is help out there – thank goodness!

Make dinnertime easier, more enjoyable, healthier and save plenty of money with a unique menu planning service called “Dine Without Whine“. You receive a weekly menu with your kid-approved dinners planned for you and a categorized grocery shopping list to make it easy to zoom through the store. It even includes brunch ideas for the weekend and 2 weekly desert recipes. Take all the guesswork out of your weekly meal planning and grocery shopping by signing up. Everything is delivered directly to your email inbox each and every week. Just print and go!

All the details are here (including more information on the family mealtime studies I mentioned):

You can try the first week for only 1 cent – or choose a 3 month, 6 month, 12 month or lifetime option to save tons of money on your membership. Forget the stress of getting dinner together and enjoy your time with your family instead.

10 Quick and Tasty Family Meal Ideas

What are you serving for dinner tonight? How about lunch on the weekend? It can be a daunting task to come up with meal ideas especially if you have kids. Here are ten quick ideas for family meals try one tonight.

1.    Spaghetti – It’s easy to quickly boil noodles and simmer some spaghetti sauce. Spaghetti has so many add-ins your family will enjoy: Italian sausage, hamburger, diced vegetables and a variety of herbs and seasonings. For a low calorie meal, use spaghetti squash in place of traditional noodles.

2.    Tacos – Olay! If your family likes Mexican food, whip up a batch of tacos for dinner. Use hard and soft shells for variety. For family menu planning, dice the fixin’s ahead of time so you can just pull them out on taco night.

3.    Macaroni and cheese – What kid doesn’t like this as a dinner main dish? Spice it up with diced tomatoes, crumbled bacon, sliced hot dogs or hamburger.

4.    Pizza – This is not the store-bought or the delivery. Keep several prepared pizza crusts on hand (like Boboli for instance). On pizza night, let the entire family choose which toppings they want on their pizza. Prep time is fun so it doesn’t last long and it takes about 20 minutes or so to bake.

5.    Skewers – you can create tasty chicken, pork, seafood or beef kebobs quickly. Skewer the meat and your favorite vegetables and place them in a sealed container until meal day. This is the benefit of meal planning – getting prep work done early. Cook your tasty kebobs on a gas grill or use a grill pan indoors.

6.    Hot dogs – Nothing could be easier than throwing them in a pot of boiling water or grilling them up. For the health-conscious family, use light franks or turkey franks by Oscar Mayer or Ballpark.

7.    Chef salad – Salads are always quick to fix but they usually lack something in the taste department. With a chef salad you get your portion of protein from lean ham or turkey. The taste comes from the add-ins: bacon crumbles parmesan cheese, tomatoes, shredded cheese, black beans and cucumbers. Use others that your family likes.

8.    Grilled cheese sandwich – Dinner doesn’t need to be a four-course meal. For a new taste, add deli meat or a juicy tomato.

9.    Tortilla wraps – Create delicious quick sandwiches with your favorite flavor of tortilla. Glaze with mustard or low calorie mayonnaise. Add crunchy veggies and diced chicken, pork or beef.

10.    Leftover creations– Use leftovers to create salads, casseroles, sandwiches and soups. Don’t let anything go to waste if it can be used for new meals.

Let these ideas spark your interest in having a great meal with your family.
photo credit: Takanori Ishikawa

photo credit: WordRidden

Get Organized with Daily Routines

Apparently Americans are an unorganized lot because there’s a lot of talk, both online and offline, about how to get organized. You’ll find magazines with featured articles about it and television shows devoted to nothing but organizing your home. If you listen to many of these sources, you’ll find that one of the easiest ways to get organized is with a daily routine.

What is a daily routine and how can it help you get organized? A routine is another word for a habit. It’s something you’ve done much the same way for so long that you don’t even have to think about it anymore. You can easily create a routine for getting organized. Let’s look at the concept and see how it can be used to get your home organized.

Bedtime routine – Take 20 minutes to work in one area of the house:

• Kitchen – Waking up to a sink full of dirty dishes is enough to make anyone dread getting up in the morning. Before you go to bed, make sure your dishes are done. Either wash them by hand or start the dishwasher.
• Living room – Pick up anything that doesn’t belong in that room and take it where it goes.
• Bathroom – Make sure all clothes and towels are picked up off the floor and put into the laundry.
• Bedroom – Put your clothes into the laundry and pick out your clothes for the next day.

Take some time to plan your day. Think about what you have to do tomorrow and write down anything else you may remember. This will give you a chance to clear your brain and allow you to sleep better.

Morning routine – This will help you get your day off to a good start.

• Empty the dishwasher.
• Make breakfast, washing dishes as you go. When you’re done eating, put dishes into the dishwasher to start later.
• Check your calendar to make sure you’re aware of any appointments.
• Thaw a frozen dinner by putting it in the refrigerator.
• Start a load of laundry.

Afternoon routine – If you’re at home during the day, use the time to clean areas you may not have gotten to earlier. Dry, fold, and put away the load of clothes you washed earlier. You may want to take time to make a tentative schedule of when you’ll complete other weekly cleaning.

The more things you can create a routine for when cleaning and organizing your home, the better. Routines, when they’re done often enough, become second nature to you and you don’t have to think about what to do next. Take the time to create your own and then get organized with daily routines.

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