Quote of the Week

The ear of the leader must ring with the voices of the people.

~ Woodrow Wilson

Clean & Green: Laundry Pre-Treatment

Laundry Pre-Treatment

1/2 cup ammonia
1/2 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup baking soda
2 Tbsp liquid soap or laundry detergent
2 quarts water

Mix in spray bottle. Spray spot.

or

1 tsp liquid laundry detergent
2 Tbsp ammonia
1 pint warm water

Mix in spray bottle. Spray spot, let site for 20 minutes.

Cashew Chicken

My wonderful hubby surprised me by making dinner. :-)

Ingredients

1 whole chicken breast (2 halves), skinned, boned, cut into bite-size pieces

1 tbsp. soy sauce

1 tsp. cornstarch

3 tbsp. vegetable oil
1/2 c. salted roasted cashews
1 c. sliced mushrooms
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup dry sherry
1 med. green bell pepper, seeded and cut into squares
1 med. onion, cut into 8 wedges, separated
1/2 tsp. finely minced fresh ginger or 1/4 tsp ground ginger

Directions

To prepare the cooking sauce, stir together soy and cornstarch; add chicken to coat; set aside.

Place a wok over medium high heat; when wok is hot, add 2 tbsp of the oil. When oil is hot, add cashews and stir until browned (about one minute). Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Add chicken mixture and stir-fry until meat is no longer pink in center. Remove from wok using a slotted spoon and set aside.

Pour remaining 1 tbsp of oil into wok; when oil is hot, add bell pepper, onion and ginger and stir-fry until pepper is tender-crisp (about 4 minutes); add garlic during last minute of cooking.

Stir cooking sauce and pour into wok. Add 1/4 cup dry sherry (not sweet). Stir until sauce boils and thickens (about 5 minutes). Return chicken to wok and heat through (about 2 minutes).

Stir in cashews. Make rice according to package directions and serve chicken with sauce over rice.

Recipe from: cooks.com

Quote of the Week

I've learned that mistakes can often be as good a teacher as success.

~ Jack Welch

Clean & Green: Liquid Laundry Detergent

Liquid Laundry Detergent

3 pints water
1/3 bar Fels Naptha soap, grated
1/2 cup washing soda
1/2 cup borax
2 gallon bucket
1 quart hot water

Mix soap in saucepan with 3 pints of water. Heat on low until dissolved. Stir in soda & borax until thickened. Remove from heat. Add 1 quart hot water to bucket, then soap mixture. Mix well. Fill rest of bucket with hot water, mix, and let sit for 24 hrs. Use 1/2 cup per laundry load.

Summer Over the Fireplace

The big guy bought me flowers. :-) Any special reason? Nope. Which makes them even sweeter.

I love how they make the fireplace look summery and bright. Just a small addition, but one with a big impact.

Quote of the Week

Many great ideas go unexecuted, and many great executioners are without ideas. One without the other is worthless.

~ Tim Blixseth

Clean & Green: Powdered Laundry Detergent

Powdered Laundry Detergent

1 cup grated Fels Naptha Soap
1/2 cup washing soda
1/2 cup borax

For a light load use 1 Tbsp. For a heavy/soiled load use 2 Tbsp.

Quote of the Week

The three great essentials to achieve anything worthwhile are, first, hard work; second, stick-to-itiveness; third, common sense.

~ Thomas Edison

Got Gills?

We knew it was coming. We planned, we figured out where everything would go. But we still weren't totally prepared for the reality. Well, I wasn't. Maybe the big guy was. Last week, I came home to find this in our third bedroom.

Our shark is in. I'll admit, I was a little scared. He's so angry. Not that I can blame him. I'd be kinda upset too if I'd been turned into wall art. Maybe a little flattered, but mostly upset.

This is the angle that seemed really scary. We're going to wind up scaring our kids' friends someday because they'll walk by this guy in the middle of the night during a sleep over. Or maybe there will be some made up ghost story about him. It could happen.

Even Loki was a little afraid.

Then curious.

Then not so afraid.

Once we got the shark, who we named Tyrone in case you were curious, out of the shipping crate he lost some of the scary factor. You probably weren't curious about his name, but now you know. And yes, it's a boy shark. Not exactly sure why, but it just made sense.

Now that he was out of the crate, it was time to find Tyrone a place to live on our walls. We decided to keep him in the office. Since we got him during the fishing adventure we took while in Florida for the big guy's sales awards trip, it only made sense. I liked the idea of the shark hovering over the desk giving a stern, but at the same time fun, reminder of the work necessary to go on that trip again. "Grrr, finish you paperwork!" Something like that.

We found a spot for him above  the tallest of our bookshelves in the loft. He actually sits between the two windows inthe room, and can now watch you as you walk up the stairs.

And that's how we got a shark in our office.

Clean & Green: Metal Polish

Metal Polish (copper & brass)

2 Tbsp salt

Add vinegar until you make a paste. Rub on metal with clean rag. Wipe clean.

Quote of the Week

Tricks and treachery are merely proofs of lack of skill.

~ Francois de la Rochefoucauld