Rainy Day Calories

"Use It!"
* Betty Crocker Cookbook, Bridal Edition -- used to make Chocolate Chip Cookies (actually, used the alternative directions for cookie bars).

Cookbook Challenge: 11 down/42 to go

Caffeine Free Free

"Lose It!"
* 21 cans of a 24 pack of Caffeine Free Diet Coke purchased, with best intentions, when I discovered I was pregnant with Little Bit -- I just don't like it, never drank it, and apparently never offered it to my guests. Now, it's been expired for over a year (did you know soda expired? we usually drink it so promptly that it's never been an issue). I just feel sad when I see a can of Caffeine Free Diet Coke, similar to the disappointment I feel when I see the Pepsi logo.

In penance for my wastefulness, I will be emptying each can to ensure proper recycling.

Do you have to let it linger?

"Lose It!"
* the four books featured in this photo -- two of them are from The Lingerers, that group of books I've been carting around for years without feeling inclined to read. I told myself I would use or lose them by year's end. I've decided to go ahead and lose Cloud Chamber by Michael Dorris and Blue Shoe by Anne Lamott, but not before telling you how highly I recommend Michael Dorris's A Yellow Raft in Blue Water and Anne Lamott's Crooked Little Heart. Please read those two books.

All of my "Lose It!" books are in one big box in the basement for now. So please, if you are interested in any of the titles, email me at mep at nottobrag dot net, and I can figure out how to get you the title that interests you.

Mirror, Mirror in the wall

"Use It!"
In our main room, we have a built-in set of three, deep glass shelves surrounded by and trimmed with mirrors. There's a light at the top of the built-in. I would not consider this built-in to be a selling point of our home, except for buyers who think it is still 1987. When we first moved in, I used these shelves to display pictures. It was not ideal because the shelves are a bit too deep and because the combination of the glass, the mirror, and the light made the fact that I don't dust my picture frames all that regularly VERY apparent.

Now, we use these shelves for storage and (attempts at) organization. The top shelf houses stuff that I need to keep out of Bub's reach like Desitin, scissors, Sharpies, postage stamps . . . just to name a few items. The bottom two shelves are filled with cardboard magazine holders that I use to store stuff like mail, catalogues, information related to Bub's school, Bub's coloring books, and other stuff that I think I might need but don't have another place to store.

I'm getting bored even describing these shelves so I'll wrap this up by showing you that I used my full-sheet labels from Staples to print free clip art from Dover Designs, which I then used to cover the ugly cardboard magazine holders. The result is some fancy magazine holders more worthy of the "beautiful" mirrored shelves.

Here are some photos.


Please note how the mirrors surrounding the shelves create the illusion of even more magazine holders than there are. Wow.

Receipts, Y'all

"Use It!"

I used my Charleston Party Receipts cookbook to make a Pineapple Pecan cheese ball. I can't give a verdict on it because I was too busy to really dig in. I will say that the two bricks of cream cheese called for made for quite a large ball of cheese, perhaps a bit too large to be aesthetically pleasing.

Cookbook Challenge Stats: 10 down/43 to go

Chick, Chicken, and Chick Peas: Part II

"Use It!"
* chicken -- grilled and consumed

* chick peas -- used to make Crispy Cinnamon Garbanzos. They were okay, but I think they would have been better if baked for five or so minutes less and if the sugar would have stuck to them better. I'd try them again with a shorter cook time and more sugar.

Chick, Chicken, and Chick Peas

"Use It!" (Almost)

You know how women's magazines and lifestyle experts give helpful tips about using just a "couple" of hours on Sunday to get your healthy meals all lined up for the week? With the best of intentions, I just did the following in just a couple of minutes:

* threw some frozen chicken breasts into a ziploc to defrost in the fridge -- took about two minutes, but this is a task that I rarely muster the motivation to initiate.

* rinsed two cups of chick peas and put them in cold water to soak overnight -- have two different recipes that involve chick peas that I have been meaning to try, and purchased said chick peas about three months ago with these recipes in mind.

Check back to see how this chick fares with the chick peas and the chicken.