My Second Treasury

I have finally created my second treasury on Etsy.com and it's full of beautiful items by my fellow Etsy artist.

View my treasury

before it disappears on May 2.

TODAY'S SPECIAL

50% off

Spring Whisper Coral Earrings

Were $18.00.  Now $9.00.

Earth Day Report

My 7 year old son's Earth Day Report:

If you have a big cardboard box you should never throw it out.  You should always play in it.

Reduce

Reuse

Recycle

Rethink

TODAY'S SPECIAL

50% Off

Black and Red necklace set

Was $25.00.  This week $12.50.

Kitchen Tip: Save time and money!

In our home we have a lot of stir frys since it's a great, quick way to feed the family a little protein and several servings of vegetables. Since my husband likes to eat low-carb, he can have the stir fry and the rest of us add rice or noodles. The money saving part comes in by buying large family packs of chicken or inexpensive cuts of lean beef at the supermarket or warehouse store and using small amounts of meat and a lot of vegetables in each stir fry. So, what do I do with those large packages and how does this save time?

I pop the whole package, as is, into the freezer for an hour or two to firm it up for cutting into very thin slices. When it is partially frozen, it cuts very easily. I rinse the meat and then slice the entire package and put the slices into a large bowl. I then add all the ingredients that I would normally add for a stir fry marinade. For a couple of our favorite recipes, look below.

Leave just enough in the bowl to use for that night's dinner. Cover the bowl and put it in the refrigerator to marinate for an hour or more. The rest gets divided up into quart size freezer storage bags in portions large enough for your family. Seal the bags carefully pressing out all the air and pat the bags flat so they freeze quickly. Freeze them right away. The meat will marinate as it thaws when you are ready to use it for a quick, healthy family meal. On a busy night, half the work of meal prep will already be done for you and you save time in general by prepping everything for several meals all at the same time.

Pictured above:  Citrus Chicken Stir Fry with yellow summer squash, white onion "petals" and delicate enoki mushrooms.

CITRUS CHICKEN STIR FRY MARINADE

adjust the amount of each ingredient according to the size of the batch and your family's taste

fresh orange juice

low sodium soy sauce

fresh ginger, minced

green onions, sliced

pepper, optional

small amount of fresh orange or lemon zest (for more citrus flavor)

SAVORY BEEF STIR FRY MARINADE

adjust the amount of each ingredient according to the size of the batch and your family's taste

low sodium soy sauce

small amount of rice vinegar

oyster sauce

fresh garlic, minced or sliced very thin

fresh ginger, minced

green onions, sliced

drizzle of roasted sesame oil

pepper, optional

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To Prepare Stir Fry:

Thinly slice vegetables of your choice and have them ready to add to the stir fry.

Heat a wok or large frying pan and quickly saute the marinated meat in a small amount of peanut or canola oil. Add vegetables one by one according to how long they will take to cook--for instance, the delicate, straw like, enoki mushrooms in the stir fry pictured above were added just before the heat was turned off. Do not overcook the vegetables. This can take some practice, but it always tastes good anyway. If you want to thicken the sauce with cornstarch mixed with water, do this at the end. Optional:  top with chopped peanuts, green onions or pepper flakes.

Serve with rice or noodles if you like. For a nutrition boost I usually serve it with fragrant brown basmati rice, brown jasmine rice or very quick cooking buckwheat soba noodles if I forgot to start the rice 40 minutes early (brown rice takes longer than white rice to cook).

Enjoy,  Sue

TODAY'S SPECIAL

This is such a versatile piece for your jewelry wardrobe.  Wear it with a crisp cotton shirt and jeans or khakis for a fresh, clean look. Wear it to work to showcase your classic taste or with a pretty summer dress for a little romance.

Traditional Pearl Bracelets

Normally $29.00.  This week $24.00.

My TaeKwonDo Belt Test

This past weekend I tested for my 3rd degree black belt in TaeKwonDo.  This is a video clip of me breaking a board.

This one is of a self defense move.

Happy Easter

Christ the Lord is Risen Today!

Green Tip: Window/Glass Cleaner

FACTS:  One of the largest contributors to indoor toxins in your home are your cleaning products. Makers of cleaning products ARE NOT required to list ingredients on the label. Commerical window and glass cleaners often contain 2-Butoxy-ethanol which is a suspected hormone disruptor as well as other suspect ingredients.  

We spritz these on our mirrors right over our toothbrush holders, mist them around our children and use them in confined spaces such as car interiors and bathrooms. And, let's face it: it doesn't smell that great either and it can actually build up on surfaces.

Make the switch from commercial window cleaners to CLUB SODA!  Club soda is fizzy water with citric acid and it's cheap, safe, colorless, odorless and every bit as effective as those icky blue cleaners. Flight attendants have been using it for decades to get spills out of clothing on airplanes. It does not streak and it stores very well even after it has been opened.  I've been using it for years.

TO USE: Put it in a spray bottle. I like the heavy duty spray bottles available in garden centers, but you can re-use another spray bottle. Let it go flat because it sprays better without bubbles. Use it like any other glass cleaner. It is safe to use around kids, pets, plants, fabrics and carpets: after all you normally drink the stuff (use sparingly around plants because of the mild citric acid). Kids can actually learn to clean using it. Let them clean their own smeary fingerprints off the sliding glass door!

If you are thinking you should try a green cleaning product, this is the one to start with. Nothing could be easier and you'll save money in the process. Share this one with your friends!

Check out my website for more free  GREEN CLEANING RECIPES.

TODAY'S SPECIAL

10% off of your entire order in my On-line Store

Use discount code HAPPY10 at checkout

(Cannot be used for Gift Certificate purchases)

No, this isn't an April Fool's joke ☺