Nature Bright to the rescue again!

I love my little Mercedes girl. I really do. She's so precious. But she's so nasty. She is the messiest child we've had. I know she's 4 1/2, but boy do I sure contemplate putting her back in a booster & slapping a bib on her.

Say hello to her somewhat new Gap tank. Good Lord, I have no clue what she got all over it. I can't keep up with her messes anymore. Nonetheless, I sprayed it with Nature Bright, let is sit (but not long at all - maybe 20 minutes, if that) & threw it in the washer. Though much better (would have been satisfactory for anyone but me), I could still see some spots. I was not giving up. So, what the heck, I saturated the now-set spots in Basic H & Nature Bright. Those spots were coming out, darn it! After I saturated the shirt, I folded it up to let it sit. Well let me tell you, I forgot about it. For like, 5 days. Ha!

Ah, whoopie. Nothing some all-natural H & Nature Bright can't handle!



So funny. Not one spot. It's almost like a challenge for me now to find something Nature Bright can't get out. So far I've failed. And I'm using it everywhere! It's currently in the hall bathroom toilet. I guess I better go take care of that.





Shaklee. What a blessing!

Homemade granola 'bars'.

These actually turned out really well & my entire family loves them! The recipe is super easy, too!

(I don't sprinkle chocolate chips on top - I only did it for the photos. ;o)



Ingredients:

4 1/2 cups rolled oats.
1 cup whole wheat flour or spelt. (I use whole wheat flour.)
1 tsp. baking soda.
1 tsp. vanilla.
1 cup butter, softened. (I use 1/2 cup of real butter & 1/2 cup of peanut butter.)
1 cup honey. (Spray your measuring cup with nonstick spray before adding honey & the honey won't stick.)

Add-ins: 1 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used regular milk chocoate chips), 1 cup chopped walnuts, or try any combination of 2 cups or less of dried fruits, sunflower seeds, coconut, nuts, etc. I also add marmallows, craisins, raisins, etc. Really, you can add whatever you like!

Directions:

First, while hands are clean, place parchment paper in 9 x 13 pan.

In a large mixing bowl combine butter & honey.

Then add all ingredients except add-ins. Beat hard until combined.

Stir in add-ins. (I mix with my hands, but it's messy!)

Press mixture into pan - be sure to really jam it in there so your bars don't fall apart.

Bake at 325 degrees for 15-20 minutes, until golden brown.

Let cool for at least 10 minutes before cutting into bars. (I let these sit for hours, not 10 minutes. They are very sticky! Sometimes I put them in the frig.) When cool, I dump pan upside down on foil & pull off parchment paper. Otherwise, it's a mess. This works great!

Done! My family eats the entire pan in one night!

Shaklee's incredible disinfectant - Basic-G.

Ironically, as I was compiling this post, one of my Shaklee team members posted this information today:

"I just got back from an early morning appt with my 3 year old. We noticed his hands were blistered last night after his bath, so I called and they rushed me in this morning. Turns out my little guy has chemical burns on his hands from ONE Clorox wipe. My husband said that he found him with it after he had wiped the counter down, but didn't think anything of, and then he put him in the bath, so he thought it would take care of any chemicals. He thinks he got it out of the trash. Protect your babies, don't wait to use up all the other stuff like me..."

Pediatrician confirmed "chemical burns". Her little guy is three years old.

I love G - oh goodness, I love it! Not only does it disinfect, it cleans amazingly well! Here are some items I use my G on:

All floors (mixed with H)
All kitchen counters
All bathroom counters
All bathroom hardware/faucets
Tub/Showers
All toilets, in & out
My SUV
Kitchen table
Kitchen chairs
Hair/makeup brushes
Trash cans
Keyboards (piano, computers)
Treadmill
Dog crates/bowls
Doorknobs/light switches
Refrigerator, in & out
Outside microwave & oven
Phones/remotes
Vacuum filters

Basic-G has a 3 year shelf life, which is great because the bottle is huge! Its residual effectiveness lasts up to three days after application. Chlorine (bleach) used as a disinfectant is effective no more than one hour. Great wherever disinfectants are used! Kills up to 99% of bacteria.

Basic-G kills 32 pathogens while Lysol only kills 8 pathogens.

Basic-G Germicide is effective against the following pathogens:

Streptococcus pyogenes *Vaccinia

Salmonella choleraesuis *Rubella (German Measles)

Candida albicans *Adenovirus type 4

Acinetobacter calcoaceticus *Feline picornavirus

Bordetella bronchiseptica *Feline leukemia

Chlamydia psittaci *Canine distemper

Fusobacterium necrophorum * Rabies

Listeria monocytogenes * Pseudorabies

Pasteurella multocida *Infectious bovine rhinotracheitis

Salmonella enteritidis *Infectious bronchitis (Avian IBV)

Enterobacter cloacae *Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)

Enterobacter aerogenes *Transmissible gastroenteritis virus

Proteus vulgaris (TGE)

Salmonella typhimurium Escherichia coli1

Shigella flexneri Proteus mirabilis

Salmonella typhi Streptococcus faecalis1

Staphylococcus aureus Staphylococcus aureus1

(methicillen resistant) Klebsiella pneumoniae1 Shigella sonnei Pseudomonas aeruginosa1 Serratia marcescens Staphylococcus epidermidis2 Trichophyton mentagrophytes Aspergillus niger *HIV-l (AIDS Virus)

*Influenza A/Hong Kong 1 ATCC & antibiotic-resistant strain

*Herpes simplex type I 2 Antibiotic-resistant only

*Herpes simplex type II * Virucidal



Love it. Will never again clean without it! It's a concentrated (all-natural) cleaner, so you add 3/8 teaspoon to a 16 oz. spray bottle of water. That's it! Click here for Basic-G! If you don't like it (haha), you get your money back! Click here to visit my entire Shaklee shop!

** 3/8 teaspoon is more than 1/4, but less than 1/2. I pour G into a 1/2 teaspoon, but don't fill all the way to the top edge. Or, 1/4 teaspoon & then half of that. Or, pour 1/4 teaspoon of G into a 1/2 teaspoon, then add a little. There. I think that's enough options for converting 3/8 tsp. :)

Homemade pancakes!

I make the best homemade pancakes ever, I'm telling you! My family gobbles them right up! Last week I added chocolate chips - although personally, I could do without 'em. The angle of the camera is making them look bigger than they are. I make the best pancakes, not the biggest!



My Black Bean Chicken was a big flop. I'll only post recipes that our entire family enjoy - so I've decided to post my pancake recipe instead. :)

Easy peasy:

1 cup flour

2 tblsp. sugar

4 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

2 eggs

1 cup milk

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder & salt. In a separate bowl, wisk eggs & milk. Add to flour mixture & wisk until lump-free.

You can add a dash of vanilla and/or cinnamon if you like. Sometimes I add chocolate chips, blueberries, whatever, to taste.

Makes approximately 16 pancakes, so I usually double.

Dig in! Yum.

Black Bean Salad - amazing!

You know what a finicky eater I am. Very much so. So I'm only posting recipes that rock my world. This one - now an absolute favorite!

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Black Bean Salad

2 cans black beans, drained, about 30 ounces.
1 (15 oz.) can corn, drained.
2 Roma tomatoes, diced.
1/4 cup diced red bell pepper.
1/4 cup diced red onion.
1/4 cup diced green onions.
1/4 cup diced pineapple.
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro leaves.
1 jalapeno, seeded & minced.
4 tablespoons sherry vinegar.
Juice of 1/2 lime.
3 tablespoons honey.
1 tablespoon salt.
1 teaspoon black pepper.
Pinch ground cumin.

Directions:

Mix all ingredients in a bowl & refrigerate for 1 hour.

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Very simple recipe. It also contains many ingredients, which I prefer. I followed the recipe to a T, except I used Red Wine Vinegar versus Sherry Vinegar & I did not double the pineapple. I also drained and rinsed my black beans.

I doubled the recipe because we had many guests. I served this with hamburgers on the grill, but think it would be equally as good with chicken, pork chops, etc. Everyone loved it & took home leftovers.

10 actions that kids learn from their parent’s marriage.

Powerful! Yes, yes, yes & yes! I love it!

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10 actions that kids learn from their parent’s marriage:

1. Affection: Cathy & I are very affectionate and I like having my kids see me holding their mom’s hand, hugging, kissing, cuddling, etc… as often as I can.

2. Saying “I’m sorry”: I want to be quick to use this phrase and I want my kids to hear me say it (and I have to say it a lot more than Cathy).

3. Affirmation: this is my primary love language so it’s easy for me to dish out encouraging words. My kids get a lot of verbal affirmation, but they also hear me directing it toward my wife (which is really easy).

4. Attraction: I think Cathy is hot… and, I make it known around our family. I’ll regularly say, “Isn’t your mom beautiful?”

5. Time: our kids know that we like to spend time together. When they see us steal time away to sit in the backyard and talk, or go in the hot tub, or go on a date night, or sneak away for the weekend…that’s a good message I want them to see.

6. Laughter: we laugh a lot in our house and my wife’s cute sense of humor cracks me up. I like having my kids see that my wife makes me laugh.

7. Respect: opening the door for Cathy, saying “thank you” and “please” and showing her simple signs of respect.

8. Faith conversations: we’re not always praying in front of our kids, but they hear and see our faith conversations and know that we’re always talking about Jesus and what it means to be a follower.

9. The value of friends: our house is well worn from the traffic of friends in/out of our house. We love having people over and the Fields’ house is a regular hangout for some incredible friends.

10. Servanthood: I know my kids have had a better example in Cathy than with me because she’s the ultimate servant. Always asking, “How can I help? What do you need to make life better?” Serving one another is seen in the daily, little things and there’s many opportunities to serve.

Full article here:

http://www.dougfields.com/posts/marriagemodeling/

Couch to 5K?

You know, for a while now, I've seen 'this' here & there. Had no clue what it was or what it is. So today, I googled. And I am very, very intrigued. I did the outside thing. Then, I did the inside treadmill thing. Then I just quit, even though I didn't desire to & I knew better. But this exercise program is 30 minutes! That's doable outside in Texas, isn't it? 30 minutes?

I need to read more on this tonight. Are you c25k'ing it? I'd love to know!