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The Ultimate Blog Party 2009

March 20, 2009 63 Comments

Ultimate Blog Party 2009

Hello, and welcome to my party post for the Ultimate Blog Party 2009. Please sit down and make yourself at home. While you’re here, you should enter our Lavender Cottage Jewelry Giveaway. I also invite to check out my fabulous sponsors and vote in our latest poll.

And I hope you’ll consider subscribing to my RSS feeds and newsletters, and come back each week to check out my featured recipes, my monthly dessert carnival, and other great features. And don’t forget to drop me a line, so I can come to your party too!


For those of you who are new to my site, let me introduce myself. My name is Jerri. I’m from the great state of Alabama, and I’ve been married to my college sweetheart and best friend for 2 years. We just moved into our first house last fall and are making plans to start a family in the near future.

My blog is called Simply Sweet Home, and I write on a variety of topics for housewives and moms. My most popular feature is my Recipe of the Week, which I submit to several great carnivals each week. I also post a lot of housekeeping and organizing tips, as well as craft and decor ideas, money saving tips, and product reviews. And I participate in Menu Plan Monday over at Org Junkie each week.

Each month I host my own dessert carnival called Sweet Thursday . And I’d love for you to join me. To participate all you have to do is send in a photo of a dessert you’ve made, and I’ll include your photo and link in my round-up post. My next carnival is April 9, and I’ll be featuring Easter & Spring desserts. If you’d like to participate, come check out the details.

And speaking of desserts, let’s get back to our party by “having” a little food.

You can start off with our special appetizer: Black Bean Spirals:


Or go straight to our main course: We have Easy Chicken & Dumplins:


Or Chicken Cordon Bleu this evening:


And of course, you have to save room for dessert! We have a lovely Coconut Cream Cake.


And Pistachio Dessert Salad …it’s an old family recipe!

And if you’re still hungry, check out some of the items in our left sidebar!

Now for the UBP prizes…If I should be so lucky as to win a UBP prize my favorites are the Kitchen Aid Mixer from Moms Who Think (USC 28), a $100 gift certificate to Pedal Cards & Retro (USC 1), or a $50 gift certificate to Target, being offered by more than one blog, but I’ll link to Agoosa (USC 21).

Thank you so much for partying with me. Don’t forget to leave a comment, and please consider becoming a follower or subscribing to my newsletter and RSS feed. And on your way out, be sure to take a balloon for the kids!

-Jerri

Filed Under: announcements

Lavender Cottage Jewelry Giveaway

March 18, 2009 187 Comments
Hello everyone! I’m happy to announce the start of a new giveaway. Cheryl from Lavender Cottage is giving away one pair of her beautiful handmade earrings to one lucky winner.

The winner will get to choose between Cheryl’s two best sellers: The City Lights Large Hoops OR The Petite Wrapped Hoops. These are valued at $28 and $20 each, respectively. These are handmade by Cheryl with fine silver, and they go perfect with any outfit!

Here are the photos of your two choices:
The City Lights Large Hoops:

The Petite Wrapped Hoops:


This giveaway is now closed. The winner will be announced shortly. Thanks for entering!
-Jerri


Filed Under: Giveaways, Sponsors

Spring Cleaning Poll

March 17, 2009 15 Comments
I’ve added a new poll question to the left hand side bar. It’s nderneath the followers section and just above the blog archive.

And here’s the question and answer options:

Do you have a big spring cleaning project planned?

  • No
  • Yes, the whole house.
  • The closets
  • The garage
  • Yard/garden
  • Bathrom(s)
  • Kitchen
  • Other

Personally I’m going to be cleaning the whole house and the yard. I don’t have all the specifics yet, but I am in the process of making an extensive list of cleaning and organizing projects. And I confess that my husband will be doing most of the yard stuff, but I’ll be helping in anyway that I can.

I’m also starting to do some more decorating in the house (finally!). I just bought some new rugs for the kitchen, and I’m planning to put up new curtains in the bedroom, bathrooms, living room, kitchen, and possibly the office. Decorating isn’t really the same as cleaning, but it does improve the look of the house, so I guess I can count it in with my cleaning projects.

What projects are you guys planning to tackle this spring?

-Jerri

Filed Under: cleaning

A Foreign Invasion of My Washing Machine

March 17, 2009 1 Comment
Today I’m sharing an article that was sent in by Michael Brown. It’s a story that a lot of you moms out there will surely relate to, and it’s a very relevant article to read during tough economic times.
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Washing machines are for washing clothes, not your children’s toys. Adults know this but sometimes kids have to find out for themselves. I have five year old twins and I’d like to think that I’m a pretty good parent, but my little angels occasionally get themselves into things that they’re not supposed to, like my washing machine. Here’s my story about appliance repair.

My boys like to play army when they’re stuck in the house on a rainy day. They take these little green men and hide them all over my house and then hunt them down with some jeeps and plastic tanks. It can be an annoyance when I’m cleaning up and finding army men everywhere but its fun to watch them strategize and have fun. They have been warned though about hiding their toys in appliances or under appliance parts of any kind. I guess they didn’t think that this meant the washing machine.

If you’re a parent, you can probably guess the rest of the story. The jeep and the tank somehow ended up in the washer and the washer got turned on mysteriously. Both boys came pelting up the stairs and Mom had to go down and shut her very loudly banging machine off before the damage got too extensive. The appliance itself was okay because the toys weren’t in there that long but the agitator had gouges in it. That plastic they make those trucks out of is tougher than it looks.

I did have a brief moment at this point where I feared that I would have to buy a brand new washer, but common sense took over. I could see that it was just the agitator that was damaged and it looked fairly simple to replace. As a single mom, you have to learn how to be handy with tools and raising two boys you need to be able to fix things that are broken without calling in professional help.

Taking a neighbor’s advice, instead of calling for an appliance repair guy I went online to http://www.appliancepartspros.com/ and ordered a new agitator for $29.07. They have Whirlpool parts for washers, dryers, refrigerators, ovens, stoves, and appliance parts for just about everything that you can’t find in a hardware store. All in all, there are over 1,000,000 appliance parts at Appliance Parts Pros and you can order them shipped the same day. It was a great option for someone like me who has more time than money. The installation was fairly easy and the washer works great now. The kids are still grounded.

Filed Under: Home/Garden, saving money

Recipe of the Week: Pistachio Dessert Salad

March 16, 2009 24 Comments
pistachio dessert salad In the spirit of St. Patrick’s Day I wanted to post a green colored recipe. My mom used to make this Pistachio Dessert Salad every year at Christmas. Actually she called it Congealed Salad or Pistachio Salad. As a kid I always called it “that green stuff.” Actually I still call it that, but I think Pistachio Dessert Salad sounds a little more inviting.

 

In some cookbooks it’s also listed as Watergate Salad. In case your curious about this name origin I looked it up (proving once again that I’m one of the biggest nerds on the planet), and I found an article at Life123.com. It said that pistachio pudding was introduced by Kraft in 1976, and customers began making Pistachio Pineapple Delight. Then a Chicago food reporter named it Watergate Salad in her column. So there you go.

 

Today I’m sharing the recipe that I use and some variations on the recipe.

Recipe for Pistachio Dessert Salad:

 

 

Ingredients:

 

1 (8 oz.) tub Cool Whip, thawed
1 (3 3/4 oz.) pkg. instant pistachio pudding mix
1 to 1 1/2 c. miniature marshmallows
1 (15 oz) can crushed pineapple (drained)
1 c. chopped pecans (optional)

 

Directions: Combine pudding mix and Cool Whip. Add other ingredients and mix well. Chill 1 hour before serving.
Tips & Suggestions:

 

-This is a very easy recipe to customize for different occasions or for your own tastes. Here are some examples and suggestions:
  • Add a splash of color and flavor by mixing in OR topping with Maraschino cherries.
  • Substitute a can of fruit cocktail for the pineapple. Or if you like a lot of fruit, mix in the fruit cocktail in addition to the pineapple.
  • Another great item to subsitute or add to the mix is mandarin oranges.
-You can also change the recipe completely by using a different flavor of pudding or jello mix.
  • My mom makes a red/pink version of this using cherry or strawberry jello and Maraschino cherries.
  • If you want a green salad, but you don’t like pistachio, you can use lime gelatin instead.
  • Another version I’ve heard of uses orange jello, mandarin oranges, and/or pineapple.

Personally I love this pistachio version. What do you guys think?

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Please visit the following sites for more great recipes & other ideas:
Tempt My Tummy Tuesday is hosted by Blessed With Grace.
Homemaker Mondays is hosted by 11th Heaven’s Homemade Haven.
Making A Happy Home Monday is hosted by As For Me and My House….
Kitchen Tip Tuesdays is hosted by Tammy’s Recipes
Make Something Monday is hosted by Go Graham Go! and Jolly Mom
Tasty Tuesday is hosted by Forever Wherever.
I Am Blissfully Domestic is hosted by Blissfully Domestic.


-Jerri


Filed Under: desserts, Misc Holidays, Recipe of the Week

Menu Plan Monday for March 16

March 16, 2009 4 Comments

I’m having a hard time getting organized for this week. First of all, I’m just not in the mood for anything in particular. And also I just went grocery shopping, and I have a ton of stuff to choose from. Plus I already have a fridge full of leftovers. (I know, it’s usually a good practice to have the fridge cleaned out before going shopping, but I wanted to get it done today, and there was too much food to clean out in one meal, so….here we are.)

And then my husband is going out of town to an academic tournament this weekend, so that’s two days that are basically open. (I don’t really plan for anything when it’s just me.)

Then my mom had a big cooking day and gave me a whole bunch of pork meat to take home, which sorta compounded the situation. Now the fridge is filled to capacity. (Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate the extra food, especially pork. I love pork!) But when I have a lot of stuff to choose from, it makes it harder for me to plan for some reason.

I’ve placed a bunch of the pork meat in a ziplok and put it in the freezer for later, leaving out enough meat for two or three rounds of sandwiches. So the good news is that I don’t have to cook anything for the next two days. Yay! Actually I’ll only be cooking two or three times this week.

I love that there’s less work…but it’s so hard to make a structured plan on weeks like this. Does this make sense to anyone, or am I just strange?

Oh well, here’s this weeks tentative plan…

Breakfasts: Carnation Instant Breakfast, cereal, toaster pastries, and muffins

Lunches: chicken & pasta (we have two leftover plates from Applebees), sub sandwiches, pork sandwiches, leftovers from dinner

Dinners:

Monday – Leftover Buffet
Tuesday – Pork Sandwiches, deviled eggs, mac & cheese, pork & beans
Wednesday- Lemon pepper chicken
Thursday – Sloppy Joes
Friday – Husband’s out of town, so I’ll be having something quick and simple.
Saturday – Ditto.
Sunday – possibly Buffalo Chicken Fingers & fries

Visit Org Junkie for more menus, recipes, and fun.


-Jerri

Filed Under: menu plan Monday

Camera Critters: Rebel at Work

March 14, 2009 9 Comments

Camera Critters

I had so much fun showing off pictures of Dixie, the amazing blog assistant, that I had to introduce my other assistant as well.

This is Rebel. He is a very sweet and gentle cat. Isn’t he cute? Today Rebel is going to give you a tour of his office.

This is Rebel’s desk and computer where he does most of his work. And on the computer screen is my Rebel’s blog.

This is his napping er-um thoughtful spot beside the computer.

And here’s Rebel reading over the blog and checking for errors.

Rebel also wanted to show you that he can pose for the camera just as good as his sister.

And here’s Rebel over at his daddy’s desk, where he does some part time consulting. And as you can see, he has a name tag too. It says “Jhonny Rebel Rivers.” (I asked my husband why he spelled it like that. He seemed to think that Rebel preferred this spelling. lol.) And then it says, “Handsome Man Cat Esq.” and “Under The Door Cat Serenade Specialist.”

Before Rebel could finish the tour Dixie showed up and demanded to be in a picture. (She’s a bit of a spoiled-y cat.)

And finally Rebel wanted to show off his organizing skills and his other “thoughtful spot.” This is a little cubby hole on my desk, and he’s actually curled up in a little bin where I keep notepads and papers when I’m not using them. As you can see Rebel is very busy examining the back of his eyelids and getting ready to file.

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Rebel would like to thank you for stopping by and taking his tour.

If you have a little “office assistant” of your own, you can show them off at Camera Critters. Have a good weekend!

-Jerri


Filed Under: Pets

Sweet Thursday: St. Patrick’s Day Edition

March 12, 2009 4 Comments

I had a couple of things lined up for this month’s post, and they seem to have disappeared, and so I scrambled around the internet at the last minute to find some cute things to share with you.

And on Monday, I’m planning on sharing something that I made today, which would be perfect for St. Patrick’s Day or any spring/summer occasion.

Also, next month I’ll be featuring desserts for Easter and Spring. If you’d like to have your dessert featured here, just send an email to simplysweethome@hotmail.com.

I’ll be doing the post on April 9 (the Thursday before Easter), so please send in your stuff before then. For more information on Sweet Thursday, click here.

Pot of Gold St. Patrick’s Day Cookies from Nina’s Culinary Creations

Irish Treasure Cake from Familyfun

St. Patrick’s Day Cupcakes from Family Corner

Irish Soda Bread Cookies from AllRecipes

Chocolate Mint Brownies from AllRecipes

To be featured in next month’s Sweet Thursday round-up, contact me at simplysweethome@hotmail.com. For rules and guidelines, click here.

-Jerri


Filed Under: desserts, Sweet Thursday

The "You Are Not Alone/WE Surround Them" Project and Viewing Party

March 11, 2009 6 Comments

Although I follow politics and current events very closely, I choose not blog on these and other serious issues. I thought long and hard about posting on this program, because I hate to go to a recipe blog or an organzing blog, only to find articles on global warming or some other political issue. But since this is an independent/nonpolitical project, I’ve decided to promote it, so please indulge me for a moment.

I’ve been concerned about the direction things are going in, and I’m happy that Glenn Beck is trying to bring together people that are feeling alone, people that are concerned about the country, and people that feel that the government no longer represents the will of the people.

Glenn Beck is a talk radio and television host who is politically independent with conservative leanings. His You Are Not Alone project is encouraging people who believe in the same basic principles (listed below) to come together and work together for the sake of the country and demand that government be accountable to the people again. He’s asked people that believe in at least 6 of the 9 principles below to send in their picture to the program at wesurroundthem@foxnews.com.

The Nine Principles
1. America is good.

2. I believe in God and He is the Center of my Life.

3. I must always try to be a more honest person than I was yesterday.

4. The family is sacred. My spouse and I are the ultimate authority, not the government.

5. If you break the law you pay the penalty. Justice is blind and no one is above it.

6. I have a right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, but there is no guarantee of equal results.

7. I work hard for what I have and I will share it with who I want to. Government cannot force me to be charitable.

8. It is not un-American for me to disagree with authority or to share my personal opinion.

9. The government works for me. I do not answer to them, they answer to me.

The project also centers around 12 core values.

12 Values
Honesty
Reverence
Hope
Thrift
Humility
Charity
Sincerity
Moderation
Hard Work
Courage
Personal Responsibility
Friendship

If you believe in these principles and values, I encourage you to visit his website and tune in to the program Monday though Friday at 5 PM Eastern Time. Also, this Friday, March 13, he’s hosting a You Are Not Alone Special. I’m not sure what all the program will entail, but I’m sure it will be very interesting and worth watching, so if you believe in these principles and values I hope you’ll tune in and/or DVR it, and get your friends and family to watch too.

A lot of people are hosting viewing parties at their home, but instead of doing that I decided to spread the word through my blog. I figure we could have an “online viewing party.” So if you tune in to the program, I’d love for you to come back and tell me what you think, either by commenting on this post or sending an email.

For more information on this program, visit WE Surround Them.

-Jerri


Filed Under: announcements

Business Giveaway

March 11, 2009 Leave a Comment

Today I visited a new blog (new to me anyway) called Family Traditions…One Story at A Time. It seemed like a pretty cool place. And this month she’s giving away a free business kit to one lucky visitor. Since I’m always interested in learning about new business opportunities, I thought I’d give it a shot. If you’d like to enter, head over to her site and check it out.

-Jerri

Filed Under: Uncategorized
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