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Pork & black bean soup~Slow cooker Sunday Blog Hop

September 23, 2011 by · 3 Comments

Yes, I’m joining in on all the Slow Cooker frenzy going on online. Welcome to the “Slow Cooker Sunday” blog hop. Bloggers and food enthusiasts everywhere are encouraged to join this Blog Hop to find and use new recipes for your Slow Cooker.

Here’s how it will work–every Thursday or Friday, I’ll make a post and publish it. For those two days, I’ll just promote it amongst bloggers, although anyone will be able to view it. Saturday and Sunday I’ll promote it publicly so that all of our readers can see the recipes. Your recipe does not have to be new or original, it can be an older post. There are just a few rules. One, please make sure that any content you include is family and workplace friendly. Second, what makes a blog hop successful is traffic–so link up, but make sure you check out the other links. Lastly, please as a courtesy, use one of my methods-Facebook, Twitter, Google Friend Connect or Blog Frog as a way to follow me as your hostess.

I love using my slow cooker, particularly on Sundays. I get it all ready in the morning, then I have the rest of the day to do what I want and not worry about what’s for dinner. On Sundays during football season and during the winter, I love the warmth and the smells…….yummy! It makes our house feel more like a home on those days.

Slow cooker pork & black bean soup

For this week, I’ve chosen a recipe I’ve never tried before. It’s in my latest Woman’s Day. So I can’t tell you how it is yet. It certainly looks good!

Recipe Ingredients

  • 6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
  • 1 Tbsp chopped canned chipotle peppers in adobo, plus 2 Tbsp adobo sauce (I hope you can find this, I had to go to a Mexican market)
  • 2 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 lb dried black beans, rinsed
  • 1 large red onion, chopped
  • 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • 1 1/2 lb boneless pork shoulder, trimmed of excess fat
  • Kosher salt
  • Sour cream, fresh salsa and cilantro, for serving

Recipe Preparation

  1. In a 5- to 6-qt slow cooker, whisk together the chicken broth, chipotles and adobo sauce, and cumin; stir in the beans, onion and garlic.
  2. Add the pork and cook, covered, until beans are tender and pork easily pulls apart, on low for 7 to 8 hours or on high for 5 to 6 hours.
  3. Transfer pork to a bowl and, using a fork, break it into large pieces. Using a handheld immersion blender (or a standard blender), purée half the soup.
  4. Stir the pork back into the soup and season with 1 tsp salt. Serve with the sour cream, salsa and cilantro, if desired.

Thanks for looking and please join us! Please note, if you’ve never commented on my blog before, it has to be approved. It’s just a one-time thing, but it will appear shortly. If you miss the deadline for joining us this week, join us next week.



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Refresh Your Nest Friday-cleaning out closets

September 23, 2011 by · 2 Comments

I’m joining up with another local blogger’s blog hop called Refresh Your Nest. It’s to encourage us to make an effort to “refresh our nests.”

For this week, the refreshing of my nest was all about my boys’ closet. I went through every drawer and every inch of the closet, plus all the bins in the basement. I took out everything that is too small for both Kevin and Brian, and separated that out. It went into a giveaway bag and what really just needs to be tossed–not nice enough to give away. Mind you, I love both giving and getting handmedowns, but get really annoyed when I get total crap. I have a frenemy, and she used to give me tubs of stuff and in it I’d find dirty socks, single shoes, girls clothing….I mean WTF? I’m not your garbage dump. Free is free, but take the time to weed out what is truly junk. So I did that.

Then, I had to go through and take out what is too small for Kevin, but still too big for Brian. That’s in a bin in the basement. I picked out everything that is appropriate for both of them to be wearing right now and sorted that nicely in their closet.

Being unorganized costs money, did you know that? When you don’t know what you have, or can’t find it, you buy more.

We’re having a rainy weekend here in the northeast, so tackle those closets! Pick out what you could possibly take to a consignment shop and make money, what needs to be donated and toss what needs to be tossed. As we head towards cooler weather, you’ll be aware of what cool weather clothing you already have and won’t double-buy. Next on my list is my own closet, then I’m hitting my pantry and lazy Susan. I did my desk/office on Wednesday. I found a photo CD that I have been looking for for six years!

Making Lemonade

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{Product Review} Scrubbing Bubbles One Step Toilet Bowl Cleaner

September 23, 2011 by · Leave a Comment

Well, I’m here to talk about my toilet. This is awkward.

Bzzagent sent me a free Scrubbing Bubbles One Step Toilet Bowl Cleaner to try and review. So here I am. I was skeptical because I had previously purchased their automatic shower cleaner thing, and while some people love them, I am not one of them. I also wasn’t exactly sure what I was getting or how it worked until I studied the box. I was merely interested because I think that anything that results in me cleaning toilets less often deserves a second glance.

First I’ll tell you what I do not like about it. I do not like the way it hooks up to the toilet and then the base sits on the floor. While I can’t really think of a design that would work better, I’m not interested in having more clutter in my home. And to me, this makes my bathroom look a bit cluttered. I hope that makes sense. I also am leery of the setup, because yeah, right now it’s all shiny and brand new and clean. But fast forward six months or so, after this thing has been clipped to the side of the toilet…….how is it going to look then? Eeeeeuuuuwwww. I hope that it’s out of range of anything gross, but, I do have three males in the household and males aren’t known for their good aim. I have visions of me calling in a hazmat team to remove it from my bathroom in the near future.

Also, if I use it with the lid up, it sprays the cleaner on my legs. Yuk. But that may be user error, I should try to adjust the thing.

But……..it does work. I’ve had an ongoing problem with mold growing in my toilets and this has fixed that problem. For some reason, no matter how much cleaner or scrubbing or bleach I would use, mold and mildew would start growing in  my toilet. It would start right at the water line and then just grow wildly for a few days until I would scrub it off. I haven’t had any mold since I started using this product.

It’s very simple to install and very easy to use. It’s just a foot pedal that you depress and it sprays cleanser into your toilet. It also makes the bathroom smell better. I use it every time I go to the bathroom, mainly because I know that I’m the only one who is using it. I’m not really interested in showing my 2-year-old and my 5-year-old how to use it, or obviously all of the cleanser will be drained out in one day. And my husband doesn’t use it, I’m assuming because he doesn’t notice it, nor has he scrubbed a toilet in 15 years, so he can’t appreciate how nice it would be to cut down on some of that.

Overall, yes, I recommend it. Only time will tell if the unit becomes gross after sitting on and next to a toilet for a few months. Hazmat teams may begin applying now, I’ll keep your information on file.

Coupons.com has printables available for the Scrubbing Bubbles product and since it’s a new product, expect to find it on sale & promotion at many stores. If I see a deal, I’ll let you know. You can also contact SCJohnson via the banner below and ask them to send you coupons, or use that link for printables.

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{Recipe} Healthy, easy, frugal~pasta and bean soup

September 19, 2011 by · Leave a Comment

I’m trying to get myself out of this same old, same old rut that I’m in, as far as what meals I prepare for dinner. And you know how I said I’m a magazine junkie–well now, I’m actually clipping interesting recipes that I find in magazines, and trying them. Instead of just, you know, flipping past it and saying “That looks good, I should try it.” Plus, if I’m using the recipes over and over, I’ll feel less bad about the environmental impact of buying all those magazines. I’m going to post them for you in case you want to try them. Right now my goal is to try one new recipe each week and it has to meet the following criteria–relatively easy to prepare, budget friendly and healthy. By healthy, I’m specifically trying to increase the amount of protein and fiber my family takes in, I don’t think we get enough.

Today’s recipe is from Woman’s Day, one of the many magazines I get.

I love making soups & stews on cooler days.

 

Italian Pasta & Bean Soup

Recipe Ingredients

  • 1 Tbsp plus 2 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 2 Tbsp minced garlic
  • 6 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
  • 1 1⁄2 cups farfallini (small bowtie pasta), tubettini or other small pasta
  • 2 cans (about 15 oz each) cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes in juice
  • 1⁄2 cup chopped parsley
  • 1⁄4 cup grated Parmesan

Recipe Preparation

  1. Heat 1 Tbsp of the oil in a 3-qt saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion and sauté 5 minutes or until light golden. Add garlic and cook, stirring for 1 minute.
  2. Add broth and bring to a boil. Add pasta and cook 5 minutes.
  3. Stir in beans and tomatoes; cook 4 minutes or until pasta is tender. Remove from heat.

I think that all of the ingredients for this will cost me about $7-$8. It’s low fat and the beans give it fiber and protein. The house smells good, hopefully this will taste good.

If you have a recipe you’d like to contribute as a guest post, contact me.

To order Woman’s Day for yourself, click below.

MAGAZINES.com

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