Vegetable Tacos

I have been looking for new ways to get more vegetables into the families' diet. I have a hard problem with this because I am the picky eater in the family when it comes veggies. But I have found a great new recipe that it so tasty and also great for the vegetables. All you need is...
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1 & 1/2 tsp olive oil
1 red onion slivers
1 zucchini diced
1 & 1/2 cups sliced mushrooms
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1 & 1/2 cup frozen corn kernels
2 TBS no-salt-added tomato paste
3/4 cup mild salsa
15 oz can black beans, drained
3 TBS chopped fresh cilantro
8 inch tortillas
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1. In a large skillet, heat oil until hot (not smoking) over medium heat. Add onions, zucchini, and mushrooms and cook until onions are tender and the juices are flowin.
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2. Stir in chili powder, cumin, and corn... cook for about 2 mins.
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3. Stir in tomato paste, salsa, black beans, and cilantro. Cook until heated through, about 2 mins.
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4. Now you can fill you tacos... top them off with sour cream and cheddar cheese.
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This is one of my new favorite recipes. Really easy, super tasty, and low calorie. YOU CAN"T GO WRONG! :)

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Magic Eraser

Ways to Save Money And Energy Around The House

WFMW
I will be honest, I.......am a tight wad. I will always choose Kirkland over name brand, Old Navy over Gucci, and even day old half-off donuts over fresh warm ones. I have a hard time spending more money on something that I know I can get for less. Don't get me wrong, I am willing to pay SOME money for good clothes, but there is a limit...for example. I wear Silver jeans, they are long enough for me (which is a struggle), they make my butt look great (which is near impossible), and they are in an acceptable price range. So I don't mind spending $50 on them because they cover all my jean needs. But I am also sensible enough to not spend $20 on pants that only look okay because I know I wont wear them, so I am basically flushing $20 down the toilet.

At the same time I have continued to place a pair of amazing Citizen jeans on sales now for about 3 years. Every once in a while I will find my size, drool, try them on, realize that I will never again look this good, and place them on hold. I have even gone to the extent of buying them and returning them with out even wearing them. I can never own them too long without having huge guilt that I spent THAT much on jeans. I have done this several times....I think the longest that I have ever owed a pair has been three days.

You may all be asking yourself, "If I want something this bad...why don't I just buy them and get it over with?" and I would answer, " Because they are $130-$180 DOLLAR JEANS!" I don't even enjoy wearing them, cause all I can think is, "Don't fall, don't spill, don't rip!". I have a hard time enjoying jean that cost 3 times the amount of my $50 dollar jeans that look great, have lasted, and don't give me an aneurysm from worry.

So as you can see I have already mastered my money saving skills when it comes to clothes and what not, but I have been doing some research trying to find the best ways to save money around the house....mainly with the utility bill. Maybe if I save enough, I can finally justify buying me some jeans :)

Wash in Cold Water
Up to 85% of your energy can be coming from your washer, mainly washing clothes in warm water. Simply picking cold as your choice can seriously save you some money, especially if your family does a lot of laundry. My husband and I usually don't even hook the warm water up because he never use it.
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Lint Filter
Cleaning your lint filter every time after use is not only safe, but helps your dryer to dry your clothes faster. Lint build up can actually cause fires in your home also dramatically drying clothes faster.
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A/C In Shade
Place your window A/C in the shade to help keep the temperate for the A/C accurate. The shade will keep it from working too hard and at unnecessary times. Plus, will also help your unit stay it better shape for longer.

Water Heater
Just simple limbo it.... how low can you go.... how low can you go?! It is suggested that 120* is a fine temperature. High effect to sanitize dishes for the dishwasher and for hot showers, but not high enough as too waste money maintaining its temperature.

Door Breezes
Opps....I see crack. So many doors have cracks and gaps. You can easily buy product that are meant to lay next to your door spotting the breeze from coming into your home, while allowing your door to still open with ease.

Cover Food
Covering your foods that you place in your fridge will help keep your fridge from working too hard. Also letting foods cool first will help save energy as well.


Toilet Level
Put a brick in it! If you have an old fashioned toilet, put a brick in the tank above the seat. This’ll mean you use less water every time you pull the flush handle. This will not only help you not waste water, but also electricity. One of a cities biggest use of electricity is for supply water and cleaning it up. So this will help you with both.

Outside Lights
If your family leaves a security light on overnight on your deck or door step, change the bulb to a compact fluorescent one, which cost more, but last 6 times longer and use less energy. Some compact fluorescent lamps ever come in yellow so they won't attract bugs, which is something I am ALL about!

Shower Heads
This is a tough one cause I hate a weak shower head, but you can save some money with a water saving shower head.


Blocked Vents
Move furniture away from the heater vents . Blocking the heat source forces the system to work harder because the house is not being heated like it should be.


I love these tips because most of them don't mess up my life too much, but also helps me save money. So maybe, just maybe, after a few months of bricks in toilets, lower water heaters, and florescent bug-free patios, I might be able to give myself and break and get my butt into the convented jeans. Just maybe :)

Magazine Holder Craft

My friend Anna Dawn is one of the most amazing crafters I have ever met. She is just one of those people who can look at something and just know how to do it. Or will see something that is being wasted and think, "how can I use that"? Seriously, she has a gift.

Well, I am tired of scratching my head and thinking how the crap does she do it?! I sat down today and challenged myself to try and find a use for an empty box we have had sitting upstairs in our family room for 2 weeks now, besides its obvious use of collecting cobwebs. And what I came up with was a simple magazine organizer. All you need is...

scrapbooking paper

cardboard

hot glue gun

paint

sandpaper

First you need to cut out the shapes. The easiest way is to trace a magazine holder that you already own onto the cardboard, but if you don't happen to have one to trace (which would explain why you are making one) then you will need to cut out 5 pieces. The front piece will be 7.5in x 4in. The two side pieces will be 9.5in x 12in. The back spine piece will be 7.5in x 12in. And the bottom piece will be 9.5in x 7.5in.

Now that you have all 5 pieces cut out, take the two side pieces and get ready to trim them. Place the side pieces down and on the left 12in side mark about 4in up from the bottom and on the 9.5in top about 2.5in from the end of the right side. You will now connect those two marks with a diagonal line. You can now cut them out to have them look almost like a right triangle. This is a great time to use your 5 cardboard pieces to help you trace and cut out your scrapbook pieces.

With all your pieces cut out you can now start sanding all the cardboard edges to help give them a softer and rounded look. When they are to your satisfaction you can now start hot gluing the pieces together with your glue gun. Try really hard to not use too much. Using an old pencil to help clean up extra glue spilling from the sides really helps. When it is glued together you can paint the inside and the open edges.

Your structure should be built now and it is time to attach the scapbooking paper. Make sure that your paper and cardboard match up really well and you have glued the edges down smoothly. Again, try not to use too much glue, but smooth it out if you can. When all is glued and attached feel free to run sandpaper on some of the edges again if you are needing to sand off some hardened glue or scrapbooking corners.

You can use any cardboard box to make these. The first one I did, I used a hardy cardboard box, but my second one I used a Costco cereal box and even that lighter cardboard did great. The tutorial used for this magazine holder is a fairly large one. You can easily shrink it down to a slimmer or smaller size. I made a CD holder for my husband's desk with an old cereal box and it turned out great.

These were really easy to make and I pump out two this afternoon pretty fast. Not only is it a easy craft, but it is a great way to spruce up an office and to also recycle some materials. Cereal boxes are great for some slimmer ones.