This recipe is easy, versatile, and delicious.
Ingredients:
2 1/2 pounds of cut up chicken, skin removed
2 1/2 cups crushed potato chips, any flavor you like
1 stick butter, melted
Directions:
Pour crushed potato chips into a plastic bag or large bowl. Dip chicken pieces in butter and then give them a shake in the chips. Place chicken in a baking dish and pour any remaining butter and crumbs on top. Bake uncovered at 375 degrees for about 1 hour.
Try a variety of chip flavors with this recipe. You’ll probably have trouble picking a favorite!
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N. Rene West
Fembellish Journal – Beauty thru fiber art
This make-ahead salad is easy to prepare and goes well with any meal.
Ingredients:
1 head cauliflower, cut into small pieces
10 ounce package frozen peas, defrosted
2 cans water chestnuts, drained and chopped
1/3 cup onion, chopped
1/2 cup mayonnaise (more if needed)
Directions:
The day before serving, mix all ingredients together. Season to taste. Cover and refrigerate.
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N. Rene West
Fembellish Journal – Beauty thru fiber art
This wonderful recipe makes its own mushroom gravy as it cooks, saving you even more time in the kitchen! With under three minutes prep time, you’re going to love this one.
Ingredients:
2 – 2 1/2 pound beef roast, boneless (choose whatever cut you like)
1 package dry onion soup mix
1 can cream of mushroom soup (10 3/4 ounces)
Directions:
Place roast in bottom of slow cooker. Sprinkle onion soup mix on top of meat. Top with cream of mushroom soup. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.
This recipe goes well with my Time Crunch Mashed Potatoes and plates beautifully with its self-made mushroom gravy.
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N. Rene West
Fembellish Journal – Beauty thru fiber art
I’m preaching to myself here. I look around at all the things that need to be done and wonder where I will ever find the time to do them. My problem is this: I’m thinking in the macro. In my mind, I figure this task will take at least 2 hours to complete and that task will take 4 hours, and I simply don’t have such large chunks of time available to me. Therefore. . .
That “therefore” can go two ways. Either “therefore, it will just have to go undone” or “therefore, I will have to tackle it a little at a time and eventually get it all done.” The latter is certainly the best choice and will be full of surprises when you actually develop that mindset.
Take laundry for example. Do you have a weekly laundry day? If you allow the laundry to pile up all week, what does the task look like at the end of the week? How do you feel when you look at that huge pile knowing what your day ahead is going to be like?
I adopted the philosophy when my children were small that one load at a time is easy, two is doable, but three or more is overwhelming, so one it is! As soon as there was enough clothing for one load, I quickly started the washer and went about my day. At my convenience I put the clean load in the dryer. I purchased baskets for each member of the family and put their clothing into the baskets right out of the dryer. By doing laundry “on the fly” so to speak, it was as if I never really did laundry.
Applying the micro approach to other time intensive tasks works just as well. Who says you have to complete every job to perfection in one fell swoop? So take a look around you and choose one large task upon which to focus. Set a time limit, say 10-15 minutes, and go at it. As soon as the time is up, stop and return to your normal routine. Do this every day and at the end of the week look at what you have accomplished.
Macro time is hard to find, but micro time is available to all of us. Begin small and start enjoying the rewards of accomplishment.
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N. Rene West
Fembellish Journal – Beauty thru fiber art
I’ve been making this recipe for years and my family still loves it. Not only is it easy to prepare, but it’s absolutely delicious. When you want a hearty meal but only have minutes to spend in the kitchen, try this one.
Ingredients:
2 – 2 1/2 pounds round steak
1 package dry onion soup mix
1 large (28 ounces) can tomatoes with juice, diced
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
Directions:
Cut round steak into serving size pieces and place in bottom of slow cooker. Pour dry onion soup mix, can tomatoes, and Worcestershire sauce on top of meat. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.
If you would like to thicken the sauce before serving, stir a scant tablespoon of corn starch in a few tablespoons of cool water. Pour into the slow cooker and stir. Cover again and let set about 4-5 minutes.
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N. Rene West
Fembellish Journal – Beauty thru fiber art
With your countertops all clean and tidy, keeping your bathroom clean on a daily basis is easy to do. Using Clorox wipes or a similar product, wipe down your sink every time you use it. Then with the same wipe, give the tub a quick swirl. Before throwing it away, wipe down the toilet seat. Next, use a soft cloth to wipe the mirror and faucets. (Plain rubbing alcohol on a soft cloth makes faucets shine!) Spray your shower after every use with my germ killing formula.
These simple actions turned into a daily habit will keep your bathroom in tip top shape.
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N. Rene West
Fembellish Journal – Beauty thru fiber art
I love Thanksgiving dinner, don’t you? This wonderful recipe brings a taste of the holiday into every month of the year.
Ingredients:
4 boneless chicken breast halves, skin removed (or equivalent turkey breast fillets)
10 3/4 ounce can of Cream of Chicken soup
1/2 cup sour cream
1 package Stove Top Stuffing Mix with seasoning packet
1 3/4 cup hot water
Directions:
Combine soup and sour cream in small bowl. Mix hot water, contents of seasoning packet, and stuffing mix. Place chicken or turkey breasts into slow cooker. Next, pour in soup mixture. Spoon stuffing on top of chicken (or turkey) and place lid on slow cooker. Cook on low for 6 – 8 hours.
This simple recipe holds lots of comfort food flavor, yet requires minimum time in the kitchen and little cleanup.
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N. Rene West
Fembellish Journal – Beauty thru fiber art
If you start your mornings looking for your keys, wondering where you left your glasses, and scrambling through your closet looking for something to wear, this tip is for you.
A smooth flowing, productive day begins the night before. Purchase a note pad that you keep near your night table. Before you retire in the evening, sit for a few minutes and think of all the things you need to do the following day and write them down. It helps to think through the day chronologically.
Next, set out the clothes you will wear. Make sure car keys, glasses, and other essentials are in your handbag. As you’re making these preparations in a relaxed manner, you will probably think of one or two additional things that need to go on your list.
By planning your day the night before, you will be able to spend the new day acting upon the things you need to do rather than planning them or wasting time trying to remember what it was you needed to do in the first place. As a side benefit, you will probably get a much better night’s sleep.
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N. Rene West
Fembellish Journal – Beauty thru fiber art
What’s the condition of your bathroom as you leave for work in the morning? Most busy families rush through their morning routines, leaving brushes, combs, hair products, toothpaste, makeup, and countless other items all over the bathroom in their wake.
Here is a great tip for singles as well as families. Purchase a plastic pail large enough to hold all your bathroom essentials but small enough to fit in a bathroom cabinet. For families, purchase a pail for each family member and put their name on it.
Not only will all your items be in one place, saving you lots of time, but when your done with each item it simply gets placed back into the pail and put away before you leave the bathroom. No more counter clutter! No more wasted time searching for misplaced items!
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N. Rene West
Fembellish Journal – Beauty thru fiber art
A real time saver when cleaning your home is to have all your cleaning supplies for a particular room stored somewhere in that room itself. This is especially helpful when blitz cleaning. If you have to gather supplies from around your house you lose precious time before and after the task is accomplished. You might consider purchasing a decorative basket with a lid or a similar dual-purpose accessory to store your supplies out of sight.
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N. Rene West
Fembellish Journal – Beauty thru fiber art
University of Arizona professor Charles Gerba, a professor of soil, water and environmental sciences, found three to four times more germs on women’s office desktops than men’s desktops. Even worse, the average desktop harbored 400 times more bacteria than the average office toilet seat.
Commissioned by Clorox Comapny, the research project revealed that 75% of women stored food in their desk as well as makeup and other germ transfer agents. Gerba said he was surprised by all the food found in the desks of female office staff, adding, “If there’s ever a famine, that’s the first place I’ll look for food.”
However, men won the prize for the worst overall offender: their wallets. Also, their PDAs hosted plenty of bacteria.
Gerba suggested using hand sanitizers and cleaning desk surfaces once a day in this new chapter on germ warfare.
Do you have a home office? Try using a small amount of my all-purpose cleaner on a soft towel to clean desk surfaces, keyboards, phones, and other office related surfaces.
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N. Rene West
Fembellish Journal – Beauty thru fiber art
Here’s a quick tip that will save you a little extra time in the kitchen. When loading your dishwasher or washing dishes by hand, stack like flatware together. Then when dishes are clean and dry, you can grab all like flatware items with one hand and put them away quickly rather than having to sort them one by one.
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N. Rene West
Fembellish Journal – Beauty thru fiber art
