5 Ingredients or Less

Shannon is sponsoring a themed Works for Me Wednesday this week-5 ingredients or less.

I have a yummy, healthy pancake recipe-full of protein and low in fat. They are made of ingredients that you wouldn't expect to be good together, but they are DELICIOUS. We eat them every week. Actually, we eat them pretty much everyday. I mix up the batter and store it in the fridge.

I LOVE this recipe!

12 egg whites
2 cups cottage cheese
2 cups oatmeal (dry cooking oats-regular kind, not instant)
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp (or a little more!) of cinnamon

(I also recommend some splenda-but I don't want to go over the 5 limit. Consider it part of the recipe, though, really.)
This makes a double batch, so you might want to half everything when you make it the first time. You'll probably double it every time after that-if you eat them as much as we do!)

Just pop all the ingredients in the blender until they are batter consistency. I spray the pan (or griddle) and cook on medium. You can eat them plain with butter and syrup (we use "spray butter" and sugar free syrup) or add some blueberries or strawberries when they are on the griddle. You can also put sugar-free jelly on them. Yummy!

Check out other simple recipes at ROCKS IN MY DRYER!

Kool-Aid Fun

For the first time in....a year(?), I've finally thought of a Works For Me Wednesday tip!! (and I'm home in time to post it!)

In an effort to be healthier and spend less money, we haven't been going out to eat as often as we used to, but when we do go out to eat, I take along Kool-Aid single packets. Sometimes kids' meals don't include a drink, so I just order them water and then pop out the singles. I don't let the kids have them any other time, so it is a special treat for them, and I don't have to pay an extra $2-5 bucks for the drinks (hey that can go toward the tip--take care of your servers-we have families too!). Sure, just plain water would be even more affordable, but lets be realistic-the kids have more fun with kool-aid! (Who doesn't, really?)

They have plenty of flavors (I usually have two kinds to chose from in my purse), in both sugar- free and full-hyper flavors. Try it! You'll like it!

WFMW-Peruse Blogs

Tino Buntic is making a blog with 2000 pictures/links of bloggers on it. It is amazing to look at. I've had lots of fun clicking on the different pictures and reading a variety of blogs. I submitted my two blogs; see if you can see my pictures (they are near the end).

Why don't you go take a look and add yourself as well!!

Another fun site is Top Momma (click on Keira!!). There are lots of fun "mommy blogs" to check out!

For other Works for Me hints, visit Rocks in My Dryer!

WFMW-Photos

*Sorry if this takes a long time to load, I put in a lot more photos than I normally would in one post!!

Last night, I was working on a photo project for my photoblog and wanted to display the photos that I had taken during my "lesson." Since there were so many of them, I decided that it would be neat to make one of those flickr badges that so many people have in their sidebar. Since it was a project-specific collage, I wanted to put the badge in my post.

You can't put those flickr badges in your posts. Did you know that? I didn't! I spent a good 20 minutes making it perfect, just to get an error that said something about not supporting javascript or something like that. WHAT?! After doing a search on "help", I found out that indeed, there is no way to put it in the post itself; it has to be in the template.

Well, that didn't help me with my project! Since I had taken about 10 photos, I tried to figure out a way to display them without having to put each one in separately. Then I remembered photobucket.

I have used photobucket in the past-when my free flickr account was full or when I wanted to make videos for my blog. I don't know why-I just never really looked into it very closely.
Whoa! They have some of the coolest slideshows available! FOR FREE! It only took me about 3 minutes, and I had it all set up. This morning, before work, I put these samples together. It took me less than 5 minutes for all of it; I'm not even exaggerating!!

These photos are of Christmas at my in-law's hotel room (cat allergies-they can't come over to the house-ever!!). Take a look at the site for yourself. There are a lot of options that I didn't put in this post.

Does anyone else have any thoughts about photobucket vs. flickr? Experiences? I feel like I've found a new toy, even though I've had it all along. I still love flickr, but now I can use more options for photo sharing!

So, photobucket Works For Me! For more helpful hints, check out Shannon's blog!

Coffee Coffee Coffee

I'm a little addicted to coffee. I think it is one of the most wonderful beverages in the world. This being said, my husband and I go through at least one pot of coffee a day, usually 23. To be more prepared for the next pot of coffee, once the first pot is finished brewing, I take out the used filter, put in a new one, and add the coffee. If I know we will be having another pot soon, I will also fill it up with water-that way all I have to do is push the button.

A simple hint to make your coffee special? Add just a little bit of cinnamon to the coffee grounds before brewing. Yummy!

For more hints to make life just a little bit easier, visit Rocks in My Dryer for the weekly get-together of Works for Me Wednesday!

Question about Water

After writing my post for WFMW, I was told that sparkling water isn't as good for you as "flat" water. Does anyone know for sure? I can't find any real information about it. Just wondering!

Works For Me Wednesday-Diet Edition

This week, WFMW has a diet theme. I think I'm supposed to post a healthy recipe, but I'm going to post about water instead. I love having my own blog-I can make up my own rules!

Anyway, we all know that we are supposed to drink water, but I really don't like drinking it. At all. Here are three things that help make it more bearable.

• 1. I buy the sparkling flavored water, drink one, then fill it up again with water. The flavor is still there for the second and third bottles, which makes 6 of the 8oz much easier to drink!
• 2. Here's a recipe from a Rachael Ray magazine: To a gallon of water, add slices of orange and a sliced vanilla bean. Refrigerate overnight. In the morning, your water will taste like a creamsicle! You can garnish it with fresh mint if you are feeling fancy!
• 3. When I am at work (the restaurant), I put a lemon slice on the bottom of my cup and then fill it up with soda water. For some reason, water with lemon is no where near as yummy as soda water with lemon.

By the way, I've moved my photos for the 365 day project to a new blog:
Franklin Foto
Anyone interested in being on my blogroll, let me know, I'd love to add you!

Look What I Found!

Since today was such a boring day at work (who wouldn't want to be at the dentist's office during the Christmas season? It makes no since!), I had lots of time to explore-

I found an avatar that you can send to your cell phone or myspace (or both). It is totally customizable and really easy. I sent it to my myspace account, but I never use it, so that isn't as exciting as it could be...
But, then I sent it to my phone. Very cool. It looks kind of like me, which is you know, cute, and I picked from the list of pre-recorded voices. The one I picked has an Australian accent, which is cool. It is a bad accent, which isn't as cool, but kind of fun to make fun of! You can make up your own phrases and record stuff from your phone too, but I wasn't feeling all that creative, so I didn't!!
Go check it out at U-DOO.com!

So, when trying to spend time avoiding work, U-DOO.com works for me!!
For more WORKS FOR ME WEDNESDAY ideas, check out Shannon's blog.

Udo sponsors this post and my crazy ringtone fun!!

Works For Me Wednesday

Okay, I am cheating this week. I'm actually a really big cheater. I didn't find my WFMW tip, I haven't used my WFMW tip, and I didn't even write the WFMW tip. It does, however, look very cool, and I do plan on using the WFMW tip, so I think that should count for something!

We have tons of pictures-we both love taking pictures and experimenting with our cameras to come up new "looks." I have a really cool lomography camera that I don't use as much as I want to. Josh has some old cameras that we bought at garage sales and flea markets. When it comes to displaying the pictures, we aren't so good about this. So, we have piles of really cool pictures that we don't display, partly because it is so expensive to buy nice frames, and partly because our walls are MADE OF STEEL and I can't hang them using my favorite (yet Josh's least favorite) way of hanging things: thumb tacks. :)
Josh found this really cool DIY project that is cheap and will allow us to hang lots of pictures. Check it out. The flickr pictures are great! I envision lots of really cool pictures hanging all over our house, just as soon as I get my butt over to the store to buy the stuff.

Check out Shannon's blog for more WFMW hints!

Works For Me Wednesday

This WFMW post comes from my wonderful husband Josh. When we were getting ready for our trip to Austin, I was packing the cooler, full of sandwiches, snacks, and drinks. Rather than just putting ice in the cooler, Josh told me to put it in ziplock baggies-this way when they melt, there isn't water everywhere. I filled several baggies so the ice could be dispersed properly. Maybe this is what everyone does, but I hadn't thought of it!

For more WFMW hints, go to Shannon's site Rocks in My Dryer!

Christmas Traditions- WFMW

Even though my family is fairly messed up (Josh would use a different description, I'm sure), I do have nice memories of our Christmas traditions. If the kids weren't awake yet (ie-we were teenagers!), my dad would run through the house yelling, "Merry Christmas!" in his underware (not such a fond memory). Then, we would all get dressed. We were not allowed to be in pjs for opening up presents. Sometimes we got creative and dressed up in mismatched clothes, which was fine, as long as they weren't pjs. My mom would make homemade donuts and we had to wait until everyone was finished with breakfast before opening presents-even (this was the worst part) the coffee. From there, either Dad or one of the kids would pass out presents, one to each person then everyone would open them at the same time.
I think it is important for my kids to have good memories, so I am always trying to make special days special. Here are some of the traditions I have come up with thus far:
*Christmas pajamas. Going the opposite of my parents, I like to stay in my pjs, and I think it is neat to have special Christmas pjs each year. Josh doesn't participate (he can if he wants to, though), but everyone else gets a new pair of Christmas pjs each year, to be worn for the first time on Christmas Eve. We can wear them after that too.
*Christmas Pickle. I don't remember what country it is, but there is a country that people hide a pickle in the tree for other members of the family to find. My mom got us a glass Christmas pickle that Josh and I have been hiding back and forth. It is problematic trying to find hiding spots on a fake tree...but this is a tradition I want to carry on with my kids too.
*Christmas Crackers. When I was in Australia, we had Christmas crackers, and I thought it was so fun; it was originally a British tradition, but then again, wasn't everything?? So, every year, we put our crackers under the tree and snap them before opening presents. We then wear our hats until we get tired of them, which is all of about 2 minutes.
*Last year, we decorated and put out cookies for Santa. That was fun too, so maybe that'll be our tradition too.

So, Christmas traditions work for me! For more Christmas Works for Me Wednesday ideas, visit Shannon's site Rocks in My Dryer!

Works For Me Wednesday

My son and daughter share a bedroom. There is a clothes storage issue in the room. They have a small closet and a dresser. Night (my son) has the closet-two rods; all of hanging clothes go in the closet. He gets the bottom two drawers of the dresser-for pjs, socks, and underware (he's a big kid and wears big kid underware). My daughter has the top drawer for her socks and bibs etc.
We were having a difficult time with storage for my daughter's clothes. Instead of having a fourth drawer, the dresser has doors and a shelf. So, I folded all of Keira's clothes together in outfits and piled them on the shelf. In theory, this was fine. In reality, when my son or husband (okay-I admit: sometimes me) got clothes for Keira, they would pick two halves of two different outfits, leaving the dresser a mess, with Keira having no matching clothes.
So, I put the outfits in gallon freezer bags, one outfit per bag. Anyone can pick a matching outfit; then the empty bag goes in Keira's dresser drawer so I can find it when I put away clothes. I know that some people use this technique when travelling, and now I've found that it works at home as well!

Sorry-no photos: I'm at work and didn't think about taking a picture when I was at home!
For more WFMW hints, visit ROCKS IN MY DRYER!

It's Works for Me Wednesday Time!

Well, I don't have anything to post, but my friend Anna does-so here's her hint:

(Almost) Chemical free surface cleaner:

Boil water in a saucepan with fresh rosemary and mint to make a very strong tea.

Let it cool and strain, retaining the tea, discard the herbs.

Fill a spray bottle with the tea and add several drops each of Lavender and Tea Tree Oil (or any combination of antiseptic oils), a splash of white vinegar, and a small squirt of washing up liquid.

Much nicer on the nose than chemical cleaners, and suprisingly effective on most cooking/kitchen mess.

I haven't tried it yet, but it sounds like it will smell nice!!



By the way, we (Anna and I) have started a blog about our biphasic sleeping experiences, which was my WFMW hint last week, so if you are interested, stop by!


For more fun/interesting/helpful hints, stop by Shannon's blog.

Works For Me Wednesday

I have been experimenting with biphasic sleeping for the past few weeks, and it is really working for me! The idea is to take a nap sometime during the day then sleep for less time at night. It is based on making sure you complete a sleep cycle during the rest period so that you feel fully rested. Glen Rhodes has some interesting things to say about it!
I have been sleeping for 1 1/2 hours at my nap (10pm*) then 4 1/2 or 6 at "night," which is around 1am. I am leaning towards the 4 1/2 more than the 6 because being awake gives me more time to get things done around the house, letting me spend more time with my family. It also gives me time to be alone with Josh and just plain alone. I have actually had more energy during the day since I've started my experiment.
You can read my blog for more of my thoughts on it. If you google "biphasic sleeping," there is a lot of information out there. Another approach is polyphasic sleeping, where you sleep many times throughout the day, half an hour at a time. It doesn't seem practical for me, though.
I had been feeling run down and tired (for years, it seems), and by sleeping less and making sure my sleep is more quality sleep, I feel a ton better. I recommend trying it if it fits into your schedule.


*I chose 10pm because it gives me the most time with my children after work. My daughter goes to bed around 8:30 and my son doesn't go to bed until 11pm (stay at home husband is a night owl). By going to bed at 10:00, I can sleep until just after Night goes to bed so I don't disrupt their bedtime routine, but I also maximize my time with both kids. It'd be more ideal to take my nap around 6:00pm so my time awake would be better spaced, but then I wouldn't be able to see Keira.

This is what works for me! Check out Shannon's blog for more works for me wednesday ideas!

WFMW

My dentist (I'm a dental assistant) seems to think that our scrubs should be ironed. I don't really wear other clothes that need ironing on a regular basis, so I don't have a stack of ironing to do at once. (I doubt my 3 year old would appreciate my effort!) Instead of dragging the ironing board out everyday (wish I had the luxury of leaving this out!), I sometimes use the wet towel from my shower. I just fold the towel over and lay it on the floor (or a table) then iron as usual. The wetness creates steam, so it doesn't take as long to get the scrubs ironed, and I don't have to spray water.

It Works For Me!

WFMW

WFMW
Originally uploaded by mari_ickes.

When using a matchbook, instead of striking it the usual way, I fold the cover back and put the match in between the cover and the strike surface then squeeze as I pull the match out. The friction makes it light everytime, and I feel like I have more control over it than just striking it the normal way.
I tried to take a picture, but since I am the only one awake, I had to do it with one hand and couldn't show the "striking action." Hopefully, you can figure it out, though!!
For more hints, check out Shannon's blog: Rocks in my Dryer.

It is WFMW Time!

Visit Shannon's blog for more helpful ideas this week.

I am being a rebel. Shannon said to resend your first WFMW hint for a "Classics" topic. I have two reasons for not following directions. The first is that I actually have an idea and I feel it should be shared... The second is that my first WFMW post wasn't very long ago, so I don't consider it to be a classic. I feel kind of bad because I am usually one to follow rules and I hate when people think they are above the rules. Rules are there for a reason, and the reason is not "to be broken!"

Anyway, a sad but important website that everyone should visit is: http://www.childsafenetwork.org//

It is kind of annoying because it takes a while to log in, but once you do get it, you can put in your address and find the sexual predators registered in your area. It includes a map with your address and little dots where they live. You can click on a dot and a picture comes up with a listing of the offense(s). It is called Child Safe Network, but it isn't only sexual predators of children, so everyone should take a look.

I'm not saying that you should go throw things in their yards or anything. I do believe that they deserve a second chance, and we don't know the circumstances that led to the arrest; however, I also think it is a good idea to take a look at your neighborhood and know if your children will be around them or even if you will be out for a walk by yourself. Just be safe!

I don't know any international sites, sorry! I hope this hint helps keep everyone safe!

Tag: works for me wednesday

Works For Me Wednesday

My hint for today is about saving money by finding deals on-line. With the internet, there are so many ways to get free coupons and free samples that it is hard to keep track of everything. DealofDay is a forum where people post different money saving ideas and links. There are a lot of coupons and links, even some phone numbers to call, but I haven't tried that before. It is worth a look if you are the kind of person that enjoys saving some money! I grew up on "no name brand" food, and I hated it, so I want to buy "the good stuff" but still not have to pay too much. DealofDay helps!

By the way, my son Night told me last night that I had a good idea, so I maybe I should've posted that one instead... He and Josh (my husband) were having a little tiff (okay-Night was screaming) because Night wanted to lift the whole dog food bag to pour it into the bowl. Josh said it would be better to put the bowl in the bag because the bag was too heavy. Since the bowl is glass and Night is three, he needed help. Night did NOT want help, so he ran out to "tell on" his dad. I told him that I had an idea-put a cup in the bag so he could scoop it out whenever he wanted to feed the dog. He did and then he ran out and told me, "That was a great idea, Mari."

For more helpful hints, take a look at Shannon's blog. She has heaps of new ideas posted every Wednesday, thus the name: Works for Me Wednesday (brilliant).

Works For Me Wednesday

My WFMW tip this week is something I've never actually used, so I guess it technically doesn't work for me, yet... It is very facinating, and I do plan on using it someday...
Freecycle.org matches people who want to give away stuff with people who need the same stuff. It is a great idea to cut down on waste and save money. It has many different branches and is in many different countries. You just sign into your area and read what is offered, contact the person, and pick it up. Conversely, if you have something that you no longer want, you post it to Freecycle and wait for someone who wants it. They will pick it up-so you don't even have to worry about delivery.
Since I'm breaking the "rules" and giving a tip that hasn't actually worked for me, I might as well go all out and break another one. I am ASKING for a WFMW tip: can someone please help me survive all the pet hair that is overtaking our home? We have two cats and a dog, all with dark hair that has infiltrated every nook and cranny: our bedspread, our carpet, our hardwood floors, tile floors, bathroom counters, the washing machine, you name it, there is hair. I'm ready to give them away. Any suggestions?

Check out Shannon's site Rocks In My Dryer for more helpful hints!!

Works For Me Wednesday

My wfmw hint today is all about my son Connor Night. He is 3 1/2 and doesn't like hot food (spicy hot, okay; temperature hot, very bad), so when I make dinner, I set out his portion first then put his plate in the freezer until everyone else's is ready. This way, he doesn't have to wait for it to cool down before he gets to eat. We have a side-by-side freezer/refridgerator, so he can get the food out of the freezer himself.