Easy Lunch of rice and chicken rice casserole

Image via WikipediaToday I wanted casserole so I decided to make chicken rice casserole with peas. It is a 1 pot recipe and the whole family loves it.

1 cup rice (I am using half white half brown)
2 cups liquid (water or broth)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can chicken (or left overs if you have them)
1 cup frozen or fresh peas
salt and pepper to taste

Cook the rice in 2 cups liquid until tender. Add chicken and cream of mushroom soup, stir over medium low heat until warm , add peas and let stand for about 5 minutes.

Takes about 25 minutes total.
I sometimes garnish with shredded cheddar cheese.

Clutter Rehab part 1

I was given a copy of Clutter Rehab by Laura Wittman to read and review on Amazon and am starting the journey and sharing with you all.
101 tips to concur clutter. I'm all over that.. My life is chaos and clutter all rolled into one. So I read through the book and realized we were already doing some of the things and a few of the things we weren't doing could be easily implemented to make life easier. The first thing we decided to try was the laundry baskets. I had each of the boys put their laundry in a basket and bring it into the laundry room. I will be giving each of them their own basket but wanted to start now and not wait to find color coordinated baskets (that is another idea from the book, color coordinate the kids. We already do this for school why not for household stuff too). Any way the boys each brought in their baskets. C started and put his laundry in the washer, about 30 minutes later I had N bring in his basket and switched the laundry. There is something about knowing the load in the dryer belongs to one person, makes the idea of folding and putting it away less daunting.  So the second load is in the dryer and should be done shortly.  I also don't sort except for reds (I did a red load earlier today because red no matter how old it seems always seems to bleed into something else..).
        So our next step will be to finish the color coordinating of the kids. C is blue and N is green so I will be getting a green set of bath towels and a blue wash clothe (We already have blue bath towels) and will also be watching for colored baskets or bins for laundry, something small enough for them to handle but large enough to make a load.
       I also liked the idea of limiting bedding to 2 sheet sets per person. I am going to purge the linen closet in our bathroom tomorrow and keep 4 sets (I like the jersey knit and M likes the plain cotton but will put up with the knit once in a while). As for the boys, I will make sure we have at least 2 fitted sheets per twin bed. I'm also going to try and limit the number of blankets each of the boys has to 3 not including their comforters.    
     There are so many great ideas in this little book that I decided to put post-it notes on my favorites and blog as we implement them..

Happy New Year and Happy de-cluttering.

Potato Bean Soup

I am pressure cooking my turky broth and turkey soup from left overs and decided to make soup for lunch. Thought I would share the 'recipe' for anyone that might be interested.

1 cup mixed dry beans (I used pinto, white, and kidney)
1 clove elephant garlic (you can use whatever you like)
1 small red onion (or whatever)
1/2 cup chopped carrots
1/2 cup chopped celery
2 small -medium potatoes peeled and chopped
2 cups broth and 1 cup water
1/2 cup milk or creamy soup
quick cook the beans ( I am totally cheating today and not doing the presoak method) in broth and water until tender. Add carrots , celery, and potatoes. Cook until all are tender. Add garlic and onion and simmer until onion is tender to your liking. (I like my onions not mushy in soup).  Add milk or creamy soup (I have cream of mushroom soup in a box in my fridge so that is what I am using today.)
Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with warm rolls for a light lunch.
Also works well with sandwiches for a fuller lunch.

Kiwi's Blogger Follower Swap #3

Welcome to my newer spot in the blogosphere. Thanks for following as part of the Swap-bot swap. I hope to post more thoughts and such soon.

Parchment Paper a wonderful addition to my kitchen

I'm not a creative baker, but I do like to bake. Tonight I made a batch of chocolate chip and walnut cookies (recipe off the bag of chips) and a batch of sugar cookies (Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook). Anyway, recently I started using parchment paper on my baking sheets and all I can say is WOW! I love using parchment paper, no greasing pans to start, clean up is crazy easy. and I can pull the parchment paper and cookies off the sheets on to the counter in no time... Where has this wonderful tool been all my life (ok that was a little too dramatic even for me)..

Paper Crafting, Scrapbooking, Etc...

I am currently purging my office... This is a project I have attempted and failed at so many times I've officially lost count. So far, I have managed to recycle, burn , or throw out 4 banker's boxes full of stuff. I'm working on 2 more boxes before the end of the day. Tomorrow's focus will be sorting to donate to our homeschool co-op as well as the boys' youth group and maybe the church's children's department.  I've decided to focus my supplies on papers that I WILL use on scrapbook layouts, stickers that the boys and I WILL use for either school or picture art, Vintage bits and pieces that will work for ATCs and finally things that will inspire me. If it doesn't fit into one of those categories then it is out of here... I need this space to inspire creativity and a sense of peace. I hope to have pretty things out where I can see them instead of crammed in boxes hiding.  So far, I am feeling better about this attempt then I have in the past so that should keep me going.