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Kitchen QuickTip

I don’t know about you, but I’m always looking for ways to save time in the kitchen. Between work, football practice/lacrosse practice/youth group, making dinner, lesson plans, busy babies, and everything else that’s going on, I could always use a few more free minutes!

One way I shave off a few minutes of cleanup time every now and then is by putting a layer of baking foil down on a dish before I put it in the oven. This really helps if you ever cook bacon in the oven (try it! It’s so much less involved than cooking it on the stove!), or when baking chicken.

Ok, it looks gross but I’d rather peel that layer of foil off and toss it in the garbage than scrape that gunk from the dish!

I hope you liked my quick tip! Do you use foil on your baking pans? Got any other good tips to share? Leave me a comment! :smile:

Top Ten Dumb Things I’ve Done When I Didn’t Get Enough Sleep

The babies were unusually rough yesterday, then didn’t sleep well last night. It didn’t help that I was already up late testing this recipe. I woke up super tired and making some dumb mistakes as I was getting ready for work. It made me realize how many dumb things I’ve done out of sleep deprivation over the past few years. Here are some of the mishaps that incurred, for your enjoyment.

10: Massaged a big glob of Olay face wash between my palms and then put it in my hair

9: Peanut buttered both sides of the sandwich I was making

8: Shaved one leg but not the other

7: Couldn’t remember if what I was rinsing out was shampoo or conditioner so,quite possibly, re-conditioned

6: Forgot to put on a bra before going to work. You can imagine how *sexy* that was. I Wore my coat all day so as not to burn the corneas of my first graders.

5. Many times I’ve gotten out of the shower, not having washed my hair. I had to get back in, of course.

4. Almostput formula in my coffee instead of milk

3. Filled my coffee mug with milk instead of coffee. Giggled, drank it down, then did it again!

2. Poured coffee into my or my son’s cereal bowl

1. Put diaper rash cream on my toothbrush

That’s all for now! I’m glad I can end my list of dumb things there. In the comments, finish the sentence “I was so tired that I_________.” I’d love to hear what you have done while living in a state of exhaustion!

Before you go, click this image! For every click, I get one “vote” as a top mommy blog. Thanks!

Oh, Noooooo!!!!!

Dun-dun-dunnnn…

notification of jury duty

Does the state of California KNOW how long it’s going to take me to write lesson plans for a combo class substitute??!! I’m all for doing my civic duty, but what’s with assigning me jury duty so soon into the school year? Can I put it off until next summer? Let’s hope I’m not needed.

Wordless Wednesday

All clean bathtime babies!

Today I Choose Comfort

How much would you pay to stay cool on a hot day? What if you were given a choice: Use your AC and fans, or get a small monetary reward if you deal with the miserable heat without using very much electricity?

Our local electric company has a promo where they give you a small reduction on your electric bill if you reduce your electrical usage on certain peak-usage days (ie., miserably hot days!). Last year I stuck it out, sans fans. Every time there was a “reduce your use” day, I would unplug any and all things that use electricity. One day I didn’t even turn the lights on when I went into the restroom!

I liked being a part of the energy-saving community. I also enjoyed the reduced energy bill. All told, I managed to save about $35 over the summer.

Sunday was the first “reduce your use” day of the year so far. Mother Nature, I’m sorry. It was too stinkin’ hot to go without AC and fans this weekend. I did some errands so we could spend time in the air-conditioned car. But when we got home and it was still a zillion degrees outside, I had to turn some fans on in the apartment.

reducing energy usage during the summer lightbulb

Energy saving fail.

Do I feel bad? Not really. I brought my sleeping babies in to the apartment, and there was sweat dripping from their sweet little foreheads. Saving energy is important, but I couldn’t watch my teeny babies sweat it out. And we did “reduce”, it just wasn’t to the extent that I’ve done it in the past.

Do I feel comfortable? Yes, ma’am! And so do the babies. Next time I’ll hopefully be able to get someone to help me and we can all go to the pool to cool down.

It’s still summer. Let’s all enjoy what’s left of this season in moderate comfort.

Do you find that your energy cost is higher during the summer? What do you do to keep it down?

We’ve Earned This Day

Well, I certainly didn’t do anything worthy of a free day off… And maybe you haven’t either. But the collective “we” as past and present Americans are why this day is such a big deal.

100 years ago, uneducated men and women worked long hours for small paychecks. They risked on-the-job injuries which would result not in a lifetime of Social Security pension and disability insurance, but definite poverty with little hope of recovery. Mothers, fathers, and their children were working. They expected to work from daybreak to evening, from childhood to death.

50 years ago people of color were still suffering the same working conditions, with the same lifetime commitment to struggle.

And us? I don’t know about you but I recently went through a brief period of unemployment and now, happily, I have a job. There is air-conditioning where I work. In fact, someone came by last week to make sure it was working properly. Granted, I teach children and ultimately that guy was concerned with the comfort of the kids. Even so, aren’t we fortunate that our children’s comfort is such a priority? That they aren’t expected to join the workforce? And in 2013 we are fortunate that, if you or I accidentally get hurt at work, someone else is going to pay our medical bills and provide us with a small income.

I am not a political person and don’t want to take this to the level of being a political debate. My point is that we don’t suffer nearly as much as our ancestors did to make a living. The path to a college education is more possible today than it ever was before. For those who are motivated, the world is their oyster. We live in the country that many people dream of being a part of.

I feel very thankful today. For the opportunities that Americans have, for the comforts that we enjoy, and for the country that protected us all along. Let’s set aside our political ideas and be thankful for the men and women who fought for our day, for our country, and for our rights.

Quick Chicken Fajitas Recipe

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp. fajita seasoning mix
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into thin strips
2 green bell peppers, cut into thin strips
½ white onion, sliced
2 limes, cut into wedges
8-inch tortillas

Sides (optional):
Shredded, Mexican-blend cheese
Sour cream
Extra lime wedges
Avocado or guacamole
Rice
Refried beans

chicken recipe fajitas

Heat the oil in a large skillet. Add the chicken and cook for 5 minutes.
Add the bell peppers, onion, and fajita seasoning mix to the skillet. Squeeze the lime over the meat and vegetables. Cook, uncovered and stirring continuously, for another 5-7 minutes or until vegetables are soft and chicken is no longer pink in the middle.
Serve with tortillas and your choice of sides.

Easy, right? Is this how you make your fajitas?

Whose Great Idea Was This?

The last time I was at the store, I stopped on the baby aisle to get some more pacifiers. I saw that our twin girls’ preferred pacifier had a few different design options, one of which was a whole dollar cheaper than all the other designs! Decision made. I could see no reason why we should pass up the cheaper “nighttime” pacifiers for the dollar-more “princess” and “attitude” pacifiers. The nighttime pacifiers have cute little moons and stars and sleepy-eyed bears on them, which I found to be much more appealing than the “I’m cute and I know it” attitude ones. Cuz let’s face it, all babies aren’t cute all the time.

I don’t know why I never learn my lesson. If a deal is too good to be true, it probably has some kind of flaw. As in these pacifiers. You don’t get a good brand of pacifier for cheap unless there’s something wrong with it. These “nighttime” pacifiers glow in the dark. Glow in the dark pacifiers? You gotta be kidding me. Now in the middle of the night when a baby is fussy and I grab a pacifier for her from my night stand, she’s not going back to sleep. She’s hanging out in her crib, waving around her fun glowing “toy”. And these things stay all creepy-pale-green-glowy for a looooong time.

Apparently, someone with a great marketing pitch can get just about anything patented. Here are some more.

The Sausage Dog Leash

nydailynews.com

Face/Butt Towels

nydailynews.com

The Butt Cover

inventorspot.com

What did we learn? Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.

On the Completion of Another Year

Sorry, Mad Hatter, you only get ONE birthday. And today is mine.

Google knew it was my birthday!

I’m writing this post with my presents from my hubby wrapped (staring at me, thumbing their noses at me because they KNOW I can’t open them until he gets home), before my birthday lunch with a friend and celebratory dinner with the hubs…

I will peek at my presents, unless threatened by a note from someone I can’t take down.

Thinking to myself, “What do I want?”

Earthly things? These come and go. The next great cell phone is only fantastic for a short time, then it is quickly replaced by the next next great cell phone. Awesome clothes can get burned up, molded from flood, or (when I wash them) stained by bleach. I want a house and a new car but I know those won’t make me truly happy. Even if I had all the money in the world, I bet there are still things that I would want but couldn’t have.

Know what I want? Memories. Experiences. Time with loved ones. Treasures of the heart.

My wish is that this birthday wasn’t all about me. I want it to be a thanksgiving for all the wonderful people who are the reason for my joy.

Family. I love my mom. My back went out this week and she came through big time. She cleaned my apartment twice in 7 days and we immediately destroyed it both times. *cough* babies did it *cough*

And let’s not forget Dad. Together they are the voices of wisdom that I have always listened to…right before I did whatever I wanted anyway 🙂

My super awesome husband who is patient (important when you’re married to me!), thoughtful, and really hunky.

He hates this pic but what’s hotter than a man with a candy cane?

A big boy and 2 babies who I love to pieces.

3 sisters and 2 brothers who are, one and all, always there for me. We may have had our tiffs in the past, but as adults we’re pretty cool people. And, let’s face it, the rest of my family that I’m connected to makes me feel proud to be a Davis/Irwin/Stevens.

This is us without my brother Grg.

Friends. My friends are quality people. I consider myself blessed to know so many good people. We may not always talk or get together but each of my friends holds a place in my heart. One of the many treasures.

Instead of a happy birthday, I consider this my 33rd happy blessed day.

Have you voted yet?

Please vote for me! If you read my About Me page, you would know that I mostly blog about raising twins. Having twins got me into blogging. When I was pregnant with twins, I had SO many questions. Then the girls were born and I had MORE questions! I write because it is a passion of mine, but also because I want to be a resource to other twin moms. This Top Mommy Blog site is one way that moms of twins who want to meet other moms of twins can find me. They can’t find me if I don’t have votes, because without votes you’re taken off the site! No bueno!

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Thank you!

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