Cook a turkey!

I cooked a turkey this week. I decided I could endure the heat in the kitchen for a little while to have the benefit of having a few heat-free meals. I discovered a salsa chicken wrap recipe that was fabulous and served it once for a neighbor coming for lunch and another time last night for our foster girls. Everyone liked it! I served it with fruit and green beans.

I'll use some more in a summer dinner salad and again in a pasta salad. I'll do chow mein, too - a quick cook. If I don't use it all, I'll freeze it for recipes later in the summer.

Here's my adapted version of the chicken and salsa wrap recipe from www.recipegoldmine.com:

Chicken and Salsa Wraps recipe

8 burrito-size flour tortillas, warmed

2 c. grape tomatoes, chopped

1 (2 1/4 ounce) can sliced black olives, drained

2 tablespoons diced canned green chiles

1/3 cup sliced green onions, including tops

1/2 cup black beans, rinsed and drained

1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro

1 pound cooked chicken or turkey, chopped

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

2 t. taco seasoning

Combine all ingredients except tortillas. Place 1/2 cup filling on each tortilla; roll up. Slice diagonally.

Decluttering and Donating

Keep a box in your laundry room or elsewhere in which you can toss items you no longer need, clothes you no longer wear, toys that are outgrown, etc. It declutters your house, and you're ready for the organizations who come by for donations.

Papaya salsa with swordfish

I tried a new recipe tonight when we had guests for dinner and it was great!! We had swordfish with a papaya salsa. Just grilled the swordfish 6-8 minutes on each side (oil the grill or fish basket first). Papaya salsa: finely mince one ripe papaya, 2-3 green onions, 3 T. fresh cilantro. Mix together with juice from one lime. Prepare this less than one hour before you serve it and let it sit at room temperature. Serve over the swordfish and the rest on the side. Really good!!

Check out our fun stuff!

We've added some new items on our fun stuff: books to help you write your family history and to write your family cookbook, and some beautiful notecards. Check it out at www.1-2-3GetOrganized.com.

Quick summer meal

If you have an herb garden or buy fresh herbs, try this quick summer meal! As an experiment, I picked a handful of various herbs - cilantro, parsley, chives, and basil - and chopped them finely. I sauteed them in butter for a minute or so and added tilapia fillets, salt and pepper.

These fillets are so thin they cook in just a few minutes. When you turn the fillets over, they are covered with those yummy herbs and look wonderful. If you're not a big fish fan, tilapia may be for you - it doesn't taste fishy. We first discovered tilapia when we lived in Kenya, where we bought it from fishermen who fished in Lake Victoria. And now we can find it at Sam's! (www.samsclub.com)

To complete the meal, I had put a couple of potatoes in the microwave, cut some watermelon, and served some fresh veggies.

I'm going to try the same routine with chicken tenderloins today. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Finished the Garage!

We finished the garage yesterday. All told it took two of us about 5 hours, and we did it without having to buy any organizing products - my specialty. We just used what we had on hand to organize. One item that really helped was a tall rectangular wooden box in which we stored rakes, brooms, and other things that had long skinny handles. We had originally thought we would need to mount all these on the wall, but our one box solved that problem. We got our box in Kenya - it was given to us as a goodbye gift by our friends who worked in the tea company and it was filled with the most wonderful tea in the world! But I digress. Any tallish, sturdy box could do the job.

Chopping Big Chores down into Bite-Sized Chunks

If a cleaning, decluttering or organizing chore seems too huge to tackle, break it down into small chunks. Set a time limit of 10 minutes to an hour - whatever you can handle - and tackle one aspect of your project.

Yesterday, my husband and I decided to spend one hour cleaning out and organizing the garage. We started by breaking down all the cardboard boxes for recycling. It was amazing how that cleared out a lot of the clutter! Then we took all the things we had stashed in the garage that really needed to go into the attic above the garage. That took another significant amount of stuff away.

We still haven't finished, but we can sure see the progress! We "accidentally" spent two hours out there - it seemed a lot less because we were so encouraged by what we were accomplishing.

Apply this same principle to your area of greatest need. Break it up into small tasks and determine how much time you want to spend on it each day. For example, spending 15 minutes a day for the next five days will allow you to make significant headway as you see task after task completed. Celebrate and congratulate yourself on the accomplishment of each task! Even if the task is huge, over time you will be able to chip away at it.

For more on cleaning and decluttering, check out our 1-2-3...Get Organized series at www.1-2-3GetOrganized.Com.

Decluttering Tips

I read a couple of good decluttering tips the other day:

1. If it takes less than two minutes to complete a task, do it and get it off your mind. Examples: cleaning out or filling the dishwasher; dusting a room, wiping down the sink in the bathroom.

2. Never go to another room empty-handed. Look around and see what doesn't belong in the room you're in and take it to its home. This takes care of clutter a little at a time without taking a lot of time

Helping Your Kids Pack for Vacation

Before you start packing for vacation, do some preliminaries first:

1. If you are flying, check with your airline for current luggage allowance/weight and carry-on restructions.

2. Count how many days you are going to be gone (including travelling days).

3. Knowing how often each child is likely to spill something or get dirty, add an appropriate number of outfits.

4. Consider where you are going. Check the weather ahead of time, if possible, so you know if it will blazing hot, rainy, or have some cool temps. My first trip to Montana in May required me to buy a coat, closed shoes and long pants for the snow!

5. Make a list for each child and for yourself or a generic list which can be used by everyone. Whichever you choose, each person should have a list. Create your list on your computer, so you won't have to reinvent your list for every trip - just update it, if needed. We used to travel quite a lot, and having a packing list kept us from forgetting important items.


With list in hand, each child can put together the appropriate number of outfits, including socks, underwear, hair accessoriies, and jewelry as needed. Have your children stack each outfit on their beds so you can check to see if they match and don't have holes or stains.

Armed with gallon ziplocks, place each outfit, socks, underwear, and accessories in one bag. Squeeze all the air out to save room in the suitcase, and mark the bag with the child's name on it. Sure makes it easy when it's time to get dressed - the entire suitcase doesn't need to be rifled through to find an outfit for each child! And you don't end up at the end of the week with non-matching outfits.

Make sure you leave one outfit out for the day you begin your vacation. :-)

For those with children still in diapers, you can toss an extra set of clothes in the diaper bag and use the ziplock for soiled clothes if needed.

Have a backpack for each child in which they can pack items to entertain themselves. Make sure they realize they must carry their own backpacks so they don't overload them and make them too heavy. I always tried to purchase some small toys, games or activity books - one for each child for each day - so they would have a surprise to look forward to and reduce the boredom factor, especially on long car trips. Bring along some Dramamine just in case someone might have a tendency to get carsick.

I aslo tried to have some car games in mind to make time go faster - alphabet/sign game (look for letters of the alphabet on road signs), 20 questions, etc. One summer my brother and I made a list of all the Dairy Queen, Dairy Marts, Dairy Kings, Dairy-ettes, etc. on our vacation. We could rattle them all off for years afterward!

Audio children's books are a lifesaver! We listened to many children's classics on our long trips - Tom Sawyer, Gulliver's Travels, etc. Children's music is also fun. And if you have a DVD player in the car, it makes time fly. Just don't overdo it - you want to have some quality time as you travel with your family.

If your children are old enough, buy a small scrapbook for them to fill with postcards and mementos of their trip. Buy them disposable cameras to document their vacation adventures, if you wish. Or bring along crayons or markers so they can draw pictures of their activities each day.

Happy travelling!

Graduation time

We went to the high school graduation of one of our former foster children last night. It was so nice to see the product of her good choices! She received a free ride for the first year at the college she will attend in the fall! Go Heather!

We gave her my CD titled Three Steps to Time Management for the College Student plus some money. If you're looking for a practical gift for high school graduates going to college, this mini-book not only walks students through creating a plan that allows them to live according to their priorities and passions, but also includes a section of study tips.

If you're looking for a college graduation gift or a wedding gift, our Hassle Free Dinners gives step-by-step instructions on cooking quick, balanced meals. It includes dinner menus for 52 weeks, plus grocery lists for each week, streamlining time in the kitchen as well as time at the grocery store.

You can find these at www.1-2-3GetOrganized.Com. How's that for shameless promotion? :-)

Organizing Your Magazines

Isn't it amazing how quickly paper accumulates? Our magazine rack was overflowering and my husband went through it and got rid of a bunch. It was hard to throw away some of mine because I felt I should read them, but when faced with reality, I knew I wouldn't. When he had culled down the number, he put them back in our rectangular wooden magazine rack standing up, rather than lying one on top of the other. Now we can leaf through our magazines with ease when we want to find a particular one. I thought that was a clever idea!

Spring Organizing

I organized my pantry/laundry room and office yesterday. I like to do it every few months (not usually on the same day, though!) to clear out the clutter. New things come in and stuff that seemed important isn't anymore.

I like to organize my canned goods according to food colors - all the red stuff together, all the green stuff together. I put all the carbohydrates together (pasta, rice, couscous), baking items together, drinks together, etc. It's easy to find stuff and easy to put things away.

My pantry is open shelving in my basement laundry room, so I'm able to use height - the space above the top shelf - great place for paper products, large serving pieces, large baskets, etc. I tried to organize things according to how often I use them - those serving pieces/appliances I use less often I placed in less accessible places than those items I use more often. I also made summertime stuff more accessible than wintertime stuff.

In the laundry section, I organized all the cleaning supplies together and all the laundry paraphernalia together. Got rid of outdated supplies. Cleaned off the drier of accumulated stuff - a clean surface!

Went through all the drawers and shelves in my office and sorted according to categories, tossed lots of paper, and filed. I have a few hanging files that contain the things I work on most. If I'm faithful to drop them into the files, my desk stays cleaner! By the time I went through the sorting process, I found things I had been looking for and even ended up with an empty shelf! I placed things I used most often closer to me and those I use less often on high shelves.

It feels so nice to have things organized and neat. It's also helpful to be reminded of what I have, where it is, and how I can maintain it.

Organizing your garden

This year I decided to try planting herbs and flowers from seed. Some worked and others didn't. I was laughing at myself this morning while I was replanting some of the flowers. I forgot to keep the seed packets for the flowers, so I'm planting all these flowers and I have no idea what they are! Lesson for the day: keep your seed packets - that must be why people put their seed packets in the garden next to what they planted!!

Garage sale time!

According to a recent Ebay, Inc. survey, the average household has $3000 worth of clutter! Now that the weather is turning nice, you may want to cash in on that clutter with a garage sale or selling on Ebay (www.ebay.com).

From personal experience, unless you have some furniture or large items, it may not be worth your time to have a garage sale. Take a tax deduction instead, and donate it to your local charity.

If you are up for a garage sale, start collecting clutter! Put an ad in the paper, listing any special items that may draw buyers. Make sure you register your garage sale if your local officials require it. Your local newspaper ad section usually has the info you need to do so if it is required.

Put up signs on busy intersections near your house. You can find signs already on a stand at your local Home Depot (www.HomeDepot.Com). You just fill in the pertinent details. Make sure you take them down afterward.

If you have large items or lots of stuff, arrange with a local charity to stop by the afternoon of your sale to take your unsold items off your hands.

Make it easy for your potential buyers to see your stuff - if they can see it as they are driving by, they are more likely to stop. Use card tables and other raised surfaces for display rather than placing things on the ground.

Arrange items attractively to entice buyers. My mom even puts jewelry on the hanger with an outfit she's trying to sell, with shoes below.

Group like-priced items together. Have a $1 table, a $3 table, etc. This eliminates having to put stickers/prices on each item. Make a list for yourself of items on each table. Sadly, people will switch stickers or lie about the price. This will give you a reference point should this happen or should things get placed back on the wrong table.

Display jewelry on plastic mesh canvas you get at the craft store. It's easily seen and less likely to be stolen. For pierced earrings, attach the backs through the holes in the mesh. Use twist ties to attach bracelets or necklaces.

Have your garage sale items organized so all you have to do is set it up in the morning. Be prepared for diehard garage salers to arrive early. Be prepared to haggle. Make sure you have plenty of change and plastic bags.

After your sale, make a list of all the items that didn't sell and immediately load it into your car and take it to a charity if you didn't arrange for it to be picked up. Don't let it go back into your house!

Check out Mom2MomConnection

I've discovered a great website for moms: Mom2momconnection.com. Heather Ivester is a mother of five, and committed to parenting, writing, and Christian living. Her site contains links to sites that match her passions, a plethora of book reviews, and inspiration for mothering. You'll enjoy her humor and her insight. Hope you enjoy wandering around her site. You'll find us mentioned on her recent blog:
http://mom2momconnection.com/2007/05/17/summer-organizing-goals/