Blueberry Muffins

Below is the recipe for our favorite blueberry muffins. I went to a Taste of Home cooking show this year and this was one of the items they made. They are a family favorite so I try to bake a couple dozen at a time and get a least a few of them in the freezer for breakfast.

Blueberry Muffins - Taste of Home
2 cups Bisquick
3/4 cup suger plus 2 tablespoons set aside for later
8 oz (1cup) sour cream
2 eggs
1 cup blueberries

Mix the sour cream with the eggs. Add to the Bisqick and suger stirring until blended (this is a very thick batter) Fold in blueberries (if using frozen DO NOT thaw first). Drop batter into muffin tins and top with remaining suger. Bake in a 375 degree oven for about 20 minutes. Makes 12 muffins

Freezer Cooking

It's a Saturday morning and I actually have some time to myself. The husband is at the gym, my son is at work and my daughter is at a sleepover. I've brought my laptop home from work and I've gotten some work done (not enough but I feel a little better) and now I'm wondering what I should do with my couple of hours. Should I clean (we're going out with another couple tonight and their daughter is spending the evening with our daugher), prepare freezer food or just relax?

You guessed it, I have trouble relaxing so I think I'm going to do some food prep. The freezer in the garage is filled with apple slices, blueberries, cranberries, zucchini, tomatoes, rhubarb and strawberries. Here's my plan for the day:

Cranberry relish (grandma's recipe that I'll publish later)
Homemade applesauce
Blueberry muffins
Zucchini muffins
Rhubarb squares

A little aggressive since I only have about two hours but we'll see how much I can get done.

Update:
I did manage to get do the following cooked but not divied up yet due to additional cooling or marinading that needs to be done:

• Cranberry relish (enough to fill a That's a Bowl from Tupperware)
• Homemade applesauce (a large pot filled almost to the top - created quite a mess on my stove)
• Apple slices (I know it wasn't on the original list but my husband has been begging for them so I thought that would be better than rhubarb squares)

Mike got home from the gym before I could do the blueberry muffins so I needed to get ready to do our Saturday grocery shopping together. I may try to squeeze the muffins in yet this afternoon when I bake some cookies for the girls this evening. I'll let you know!

Discipline

I had the opportunity to attend a work/life balance seminar earlier this week. You know, every time I attend something like this I keep thinking that I'll be given a magic bullet so that I miraculously have balance in my life - doesn't happen! While there were no big revelations (it's like dieting, I know what I need to do I just don't do it) she did put up on the screen in big letters the word "discipline".

What's so hard about being disciplined? There are so many places in my life where I am that it frustrates me that there are areas where I am not. I am disciplined enough to get myself and my daughter up, dressed and to work/school on time. I am disciplined in filling up my gas tank before it runs out of gas - most of the time :) Why can't I be disciplined enough to leave work early enough for family dinners or to not completely crash on the couch every night when I could be organizing/cleaning/cooking ahead/exercising.

This is really where my not being wonder women complex comes in to play. Why can't I do it all? For the record, I have realized a long time ago I can't do it all but it still bugs me that I can't :) Some women seem to pull it off so easily and I always wonder why I can't. Lack of personal discpline really seems to be at the root of it (and the fact that I'm on the go so much that I'm completely exhausted by the end of the day)

Enough with the excuses! I have decided to make a few small changes to my life (I like to do things in small changes since I tend to do a little better) that will add some discipline.

-Modify my e-mail folders. I have known that Outlook has the 'rules' where you can tell your e-mails where to go but I don't utilize it to it's fullest extent. One of the women that I work with shared her style of prioritizing and I'm going to give it a try. Right now I get sooooo many e-mails a day and they mostly go into one bucket. Things tend to get buried and I don't respond as quickly to the important ones as I'd like. I'm going to set up folders by groups of senders so that the e-mails directly there. E-mails from other directors/VP's as well as my staff will have priority over the reports/audits and other miscellaneous reports. Hopefully this will work.

-Schedule family dinners on my work calendar. Due to our family schedule (dance, confirmation, son's work & social schedule, etc) we don't have a lot of days during the week to sit down together as a family for dinner. We do tend to have at least a day or two where we could make it work but I don't always manage to get home from work in time. I've decided to block out time on my calendar so I can leave on those days and get home to eat. I truly do believe eating together as a family is important so I'm hoping this will work. Now I'll just need to get disciplined about planning a meal!

-Make time for myself. As with all busy mothers I tend to be last on the list. This year I have really paid for it with weight gain. Last year I did so good with diet and exercise I felt like a million bucks. This year I've completely fallen by the wayside (or is that weighside?!?) so I'm hoping to be a little more disciplined in my 'selfishness'. I need to eat better, get regular massages (I know, a little extravagent but they really help me relax) and try to get some exercises.

As the speaker said, I'm the only one who can make my life be balanced. I'm hoping by trying to add more discipline to my life I'll be able to make this work. Life is to short to be stressed out and not enjoying those we care about.

Any tips?

Best Laid Plans

This morning I had my day all planned out. My daughter wanted to work the church bazaar, I was going to get some work done from my job, make a pot a chili that didn't get made the week before, do some cleaning, grocery shop and do my school work. You know what they say about the best laid plans....

I hopped in the shower about 7am to get ready to get my daughter to church by 8am. While I was in there I was thinking about the bazaar and I have to say I really felt a need to ditch my morning plans and help out at church. I can honestly say I don't get those strong of feelings very often but I definitely felt the calling this morning. Nothing exciting happened but they sure did need an extra pair of hands. Even though I still have a ton of stuff to do it really felt good to help out where I was needed and get to know some of the other woman. One thing I did get out of the day is there was a pile of Abercrombie clothes in the rummage sales. I don't typically do rummage sales because I don't feel like I get enough of it for my time, but we ended up with two pairs of sweats, two t-shirts and three pairs of jeans for $6 - quite a find especially since my daughter doesn't fit into anything from last year so we need to completely replace her wardrobe for winter!

I guess God's plans trumped mine. Now I just have to figure out how to get the rest of my stuff done :)

Freezer Cooking

One of my goals this year was to get more food into the freezer to make it easier to have family dinners. Unfortunately I've failed pretty miserably so far this year until this weekend. I decided Sunday was going to be my cooking day. Here was my plan:

3-4 pans of meatloaf
Bake and shred four chickens
1-2 pots of chili

Unfortunately I completely forgot that instead of going to my mother-in-laws after church like we normally do we were suppose to go to my sister-in-laws for a birthday party later in the day! We didn't realize our mistake until we showed up at my mother-in-laws house. We hastily shopped for a present and then spent the afternoon with the family.

Even with my faux paus I did manage to get some of the stuff done. Final result:

• 3 pans of meatloaf, two of which made it into the freezer (we had the other one for dinner). I need to give some kudos to my husband who knows how much I hate mixing the meatloaf. I had about 12 pounds of meat (what can I say, my husband and son are big eaters) which he mixed up so I didn't have to.
• 4 chickens baked and shredded - I like to shred my own chicken and then just freeze and use it for a variety of dishes (chicken tacos, quesadillas, chicken & broccali ring).

The chili didn't get made because I forgot to buy garlic at the store. I'm planning on leaving work early tomorrow so I can get that made up and in the freezer before the meat goes bad.

I know this doesn't seem like a lot in comparison to what some other families do, but I feel pretty good about what I accomplished. Every journey begins with a small step and this was mine =:)

Time Capsules of our Lives

After a year long break I'm starting back to school this month. I chose not to go to college right after high school due to the fact that I really didn't know what I wanted to be when I grew up. I accepted a full time job upon graduation at the company where I did my high school internship with the intention of going back to school within a year or two. Little did I realize that life happens and it would take a lot longer than I anticipated to get my degree.

For my first class back I really wanted to take one I would find interesting and enjoyable instead of one that was 'required'. The class I'm taking is a values and cultures class studying ancient civilizations. One of our first assignments is to create a time capsule of our lives, showing who we are in five pictures.

Boy - did you ever try to sum up who you are in five pictures? The assignment isn't due for a week and I must say that I've been struggling a little. Who would have thought that telling someone who I am would be so difficult but I do have to say it's causing me some angst.

The simple answer is I'm a wife, mother, employee, daughter and sister but that doesn't really sum up who I really am. What makes me tick and how do I want my dash to read? I've bounced this off of a good friend of mine who really helped me expand my thinking so I do have some ideas as to what I'm going to do.

Once I'm finished with the assignment I'll share it with you. In the meantime I'd love to know what your time capsules would look like.

Image - Dressing for Success

The image that we project at work can have a very positive or negative effect on a career. I've been very fortunate to have successful business people mentor me over the years and I try hard to do the same for others (both men and women). There are many facets to the image that you project at work, they include: Dress, how you treat others, preparedness and work ethic, confidence, etc.


I'm not going to profess to be an expert on these but I have witnessed first hand the positive as well as negative effects certain behaviors have had on careers and would like to share my thoughts below. Since the topics are many and varied I thought I'd break them down and cover each one in a separate posting starting with the dress code.


Dressing for Success

This may seem a little cliche but I believe this message has gotten lost in the world of business casual. I don't care if you are the file clerk or a vice president, appropriate and professional dress is imperative. Your outside appearance is the first thing people notice about you. As unfair as it is, there are people who won't see the fabulous person you are inside if you don't show it on the outside. These suggestions are for any position, you always want to dress for the position you want - not the position you have.


1. Tight clothes/skin do not belong at work

• I have seen competent females dressing in tight clothes and have to ask myself if she realizes the message that she's sending. Clothes that are to tight tend to show everything that shouldn't be seen at work. Hint - your co-workers should NEVER know what kind of underwear you wear unless you are changing in the locker room together. Unless your specific industry calls for provacative clothing, hot mama clothes (low cut shirts, push up bras, black leather mini skirts) don't belong in a work environment.


• Stripper shoes do not belong at work (unless you work in a strip club). There's nothing wrong with wearing high heeled, trendy shoes but please make sure they are appropriate for your work environment.

I would recommend that you find a female who has been successful in your company and emulate her,. Keep in mind that when you look good and feel good that usually shows in the way that you carry yourself, confidence goes a long way. I am not suggesting that you spend more on clothes than you can afford, however I am recommending that the money you do spend is the most appropriate and most flattering for you and your work environment.

2. Dress for the position you want - not the one you have

• When I first entered the workforce there was a strict dress code (am I dating myself?). Men had to wear a suit and tie (at minimum dress pants with a tie), women skirts or dress pants but nylons were a must. I actually was pulled aside by the HR manager for wearing a skirt and sandals without the nylons, I never made that mistake again while that dress code was in effect. We've come a long way but I still try to live by that dress code. I typically will wear either dress pants or a suit during the week. On casual Fridays I will wear either khakis or trouser jeans. For men I would encourage you to wear dress pants and a dress shirt, not the khakis and polo's you see a lot of men wear. As you walk the halls of your office you run into a lot of people, they may not know your work ability but they've certainly gained a positive/negative view of you based on the way you dress. Every environment is different but at the end of the day dressing a little better than average will reflect well on you.

3. Keep your clothes timeless and save yourself some money

• Dressing for success doesn't need to be expensive. I tend to shop end of season and buy timeless suits off the clearance racks for about $25 at major department stores. Unless you get something extremely trendy there is no reason your clothes can't last for years if they are properly taken care of. The trendier your clothes the more often they need to be replaced. That's not to say that if you can afford it you should buy a trendy blouse or two during the year. It keeps your wardrobe fresh and makes you feel good about yourself.

4. Your clothes should always be clean, stain-free and pressed

Regardless of your financial situation, the one thing that you have complete control over is making sure whatever you wear is clean, stain-free and pressed. If you look like you don't care about yourself others won't either.

Life isn't always fair and sometime extremely competent people are passed over or aren't given the proper attention because of the impression they give. Always putting the best foot forward that you can will only be good for you.