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Quick and Easy Recipe Ideas

March 8th 2010 21:21
: How to cook when you are tired.
It's been a long day. You're tired. You really don't feel like cooking, but you know you have to do it. Everyone is hungry because it was another late day at the office for you. What do you do? There are actually several different techniques for dealing with days like this. Here are some ideas....

Slow Cooking

If you have just a few minutes to spare in the morning you can come home to a fully prepared meal. Dust off your crock pot and throw in some meat, vegetables, and maybe some chicken broth or a "cream of" soup (cream of celery, cream of mushroom, etc.). You may need more than one can of soup depending upon the size of your crock pot. I like to use "chunky' type vegetables that cook well for the crock pot. Examples are carrots, celery and potatoes. Allow to cook on low while you are at work.


Here is an example of a crock pot meal that my mother taught me....

Ingredients: A chunk of pot roast beef about the size of a football (Use chuck, brisket, top round, bottom round or rump, whatever is on sale), a one pound bag of baby carrots, 2 or 3 cans of cream of celery soup and two to three soup cans of water (depending upon the size of your crock pot).

Directions: Carefully dump all ingredients into the crock pot and cook on low for 8 hours.

This recipe will feed me and my husband for two days or more. I use canned or steam in bag vegetables for side dishes. They are quick and easy to fix.


Pizza, wraps or quesadillas

These are great ways to use up leftovers. I have written about these in a previous blog post, but I want to mention them again here briefly. These are my go-to "I haven't planned ahead and don't have time to cook" foods because they are so easy. You can find ready-made pizza crusts and sauce and flour tortillas in your local grocery store. If you are really pressed for time you can even find a loaf of pre-made french bread at your local grocery store's bakery and use that as a pizza crust.


Sub sandwiches.

You can create a buffet-style line in your household and serve sub sandwiches for a very quick and easy meal solution.

Freeze ahead meals

Meals such as lasagna can be pre-made, thawed and eaten. Do a google search for "freeze ahead meals" or "prepare ahead meals" for recipes, tips, tricks and suggestions.
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Organization and Time Management

March 8th 2010 02:21
: Plan ahead to save time
Have you ever found yourself wishing that there were more hours in the day? Are you frustrated because you are constantly losing your keys, cell phone, bills, television remote, etc? Have you started your car, ready to race to work because you're late again, only to find that you've used your last drop of gas? If so, rest assured that you are not alone. Many people have trouble with time management because they have not yet found a way to get organized.

Organization may seem like something out of a fairy tale to you right now, but bear with me. It's all about baby steps. Below are a few practical tips to get you going in the right direction.

Tip 1: Begin by stream-lining your morning routine.

Personally, I have found that when I start my day behind, I usually end it behind as well. It's hard to "make up" time during the day. Even trying to do so makes me exhausted which, you guessed it, puts me further behind.

Thinking about your morning routine helps you plan ahead for it the night before. Even simple things like checking the weather and choosing clothing ahead of time can make a big difference. If you need to be at work early make sure that your clothing is pressed, matched and ready to go the night before. Another time saver, one I use frequently, is pre-filling my coffee pot. Both of these tasks are easier to do during the afternoon or at night before I go to bed because I am more coordinated at those times than during the early morning hours.

Tip 2: Organize the things you use on a daily basis.

My two big "must haves" for every day are my cell phone (I don't have a house phone) and my car keys. My husband and I used to constantly lose our keys until we came up with an easier system to keep track of them. I put a glass Pyrex bowl from our kitchen onto our living room coffee table. It is very easy to simply drop our keys into the bowl as we enter the house. When we need them, they are right there. When company comes it is very easy to move the bowl out of the way. Having a regular place where you put important items is a tremendous help in becoming more organized and saving time.

Tip 3: Find a system that works for you and your family.

The internet, magazines, friends, family and television shows about home organization can all be great sources of inspiration for time management and household organization ideas. In the end, however, you may need a bit of creativity to modify them to fit your lifestyle. Don't be afraid to make a few customizations to plans that have worked for other people. Take small steps and make the plan your own. Find something that works for you.
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: Unemployment and Student Loans
You worked hard, finally made it through college and, at last, landed a job. That job, however, was short lived for whatever reason, or maybe not. Maybe the downward spiral of the economy just made you the victim of corporate downsizing. Whatever the reason, now you are unemployed and still have that student loan payment looming over your head. Well, don't worry. There is hope. You just need to know what to do in order to give yourself a little financial breathing room.

One of my favorite websites for navigating the mayhem of student loan repayment is youcandealwithit.com, a service of American Education Services. It details several options for repaying student loans when you feel like you are in over your head. You can find them here and here. American Education Services also provides helpful tools for getting back on track with your repayment here.

A common way to delay student loan repayment during a temporary unemployment situation is student loan deferment. It is important to note, however, that unemployment deferment is a temporary fix and is only available for a limited amount of time. Forbearance is a less common temporary suspension of payments. Check with your student loan lender for details. You can find a definition of deferment as well as a definition of forbearance here.
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: Money For College
The current state of the economy is making an already competitive job market even tougher. Many Americans, myself included, are taking a hard look at our workplace marketability and choosing to return to school. Limited financial resources pose a challenge for many, however. That is why several men and women who are going back to further their education are in search of financial aid.

What many people do not know is that you should apply for financial aid as soon as you finish your taxes, if not earlier. This is especially true of grants which have a tendency to be depleted very quickly


[ Click here to read more ]
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Treehugger on a Budget

March 3rd 2010 21:35
: Save the Planet and Your Budget
Most of us care about the limited resources in our planet. Not all of us, however, can afford to drive hybrid cars, install solar panels in our homes and the like. There are, however, small things that we can all do every day to reduce waste and pollution. Surprisingly enough some things can be beneficial to both the environment and our wallets.

Many of us have heard the slogan "reduce, reuse, recycle


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Who manufactures generic brands?

March 2nd 2010 00:15
: Generic Brand Product Lines
Product prices for generic brands are less expensive than those for name brands. Have you ever wondered, however, who manufactures generic, private store label products?

Today I was thinking back to the Wal-Mart Great Value brand peanut butter salmonella recall of 2007. (Click here to read FDA FAQ about the recall). Some of the peanut butter was manufactured by Conagra Foods, the parent company of Peter Pan name brand peanut butter. Yet, when I visited the Conagra Foods brand name page, I could not find the Great Value brand listed as one of the products they produce


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Many people have good intentions when it comes to meal planning, budgeting, and other financial and personal organization tasks. The task of household management can, however, be a very overwhelming task. Fortunately, there is a solution.

Most people who have a personal computer also have either Microsoft Excel or a spreadsheet program that is compatible with Microsoft Excel. Microsoft's website offers free templates to address these common personal finance and household organization needs. You can find the templates here
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Basic Budget

February 26th 2010 14:29
Having a budget can be more liberating than you may realize. A budget is much more than a bunch of numbers on a page consuming hours of your time. It is a tool to give you control of your money, not the other way around. A budget can show you where your money is going as well as where it should be going. It can help you plan for emergencies, pay your bills on time and even put a little money aside each month for that vacation you've always dreamed of taking. A budget can actually be your friend.

So, all this sounds great, but a budget is a lot of work, right? Actually, that depends. There are many different types of budgets. The key is to find the one that works for you. Below are some general tips to set you in the right direction


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Tired and Stressed? Read this.

February 24th 2010 18:55
Fatigue is a regular struggle for many of us - men and women alike.

For me being tired changes me in physical, mental and emotional ways. I am just not at the top of my game whenever I am tired. My personality suffers, which effects my relationship with my husband, friends and family. My mood changes. Even my desire to do both necessary and fun activities takes a hit. It seems like nearly everything in my life is, in one way or another, influenced by my energy or lack thereof


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Time Management

February 23rd 2010 20:24
There are twenty-four hours in each day. When you are busy, however, those twenty-four hours can seem more like two. So, how can you get more done in a day? Read on...

Prioritize!
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