Project 333

Rachel at TheMinimalistMom brought up Project 333 and I was wondering how many pieces of clothes I actually wear.  (PJ's, under clothes and workout wear don't count, shoes do.)
Hmmmmm....... So let's see what's in my closet/shoe shelf:

1. Shoes:  Black ballet flats
2. Black SAS shoes
3. Adidas tennis shoes
4. Pants:  grey-light
5. grey-dark
6. grey-striped
7. black-striped
8. black- striped
9. jeans
10. black yoga
11. grey sweats
12. black skirt
13. Fleece:  black
14. pink
15. Long sleeve T-Shirts: pink v-neck
16. dark green
17. coral
18. purple
19. maroon
20. red
21. pink
22. pink
23. white
24. white
25. white tank
26. white short sleeve t
27. Sweaters:  pink
28. blue
29. black cardigan
30. red cardigan
31. green
32. Coats: black pea-coat
33. purple/pink winter coat

This is certainly not all the clothes I own, but honestly, this is basically what I wear, and if I were to do this project this is what I would "choose", since there's not a whole lot left that isn't totally out of season, things I only wear on special occasion, or items that don't fall into the "don't need to count" category.  That was a very long sentence.  So why did I list my clothes for you?  To take stock for myself how much I have, how much I wear, what I have that I didn't count, and to assess what I have that I don't need.  Have you ever taken a really hard look at what you have?

Swapping Dinners

I just joined a meal swap.  What a genius idea that I am so excited about.  We'll meet once a month and each bring 5 of the same meal to trade with the others (there's 6 in the group).  Obviously these will be frozen until ready to serve.  Also, we'd like to not eat only lasagna.  What's your favorite freezable meal?  I found a few good websites but would like other ideas from you :)  Have you ever done one of these?  Any tips/tricks/things to watch out for? Was it as awesome as I'm expecting ;)
PS- Only rules are no peanuts or pork.  And it can't be too difficult to make (but you should have assumed that last part ;)

shopping from home

Harris Teeter is having a week of FREE "Express Lane" pick-up, their online shopping.  If you have the option in your area, and especially if you've never tried it, now is the time!

Pop Pop Pop

I LOVE popcorn.  Love.  It.  I have been making the lazy AND cheap (hooray!) homemade version of it (click here for how) and spraying on it Pam Butter Spray and adding salt.  According to Sparkpeople.com, 3 cups of plain popped popcorn is 92 calories, 19 carbs 1g fat  3g protein.  Heaven.  Obviously not for the low-carbin' girls, but for me, when I need SOMETHING to chew on, this is much much much better than most alternatives.  Love.  It.  Tell me if you try it.  And, seriously, the staples don't explode in you microwave.

Egg-celent Dinner

 Click *here* for a recipe I found on allrecipes.com.  I, of course, didn't really follow the ingredient list at all, but instead just dropped into my pre-made (a la Betty Crocker or whoever in the world makes pie crusts that you buy in the freezer section) crust the required number of eggs (3), some sausage I'd cooked this morning, a handful of shredded cheddar and some fresh baby spinach I have left-over from not eating nearly as much salad as I told myself I would this week.  Oh, and I dropped in my triumvirate of perfect seasonings, of which I put in almost everything:  onion powder, garlic powder, and Italian Seasoning.  Even with "help" from the TinyTwo, it took me 10 minutes from "hmmmm, I think I'll make a quiche" to quiche in the oven.  Now we're waiting an hour but I'm not counting that time because, obviously, I'm sitting here at my computer, writing to you, and, obviously, not cooking.

Actually, I doubled the above and froze one of the pies in the freezer for a time that I, a) want quiche/eggs but are out of them or b) want to bring a meal over to someone but don't have the time/ingredients for it.  I wrote the directions on the top of the foil, because you can be certain I've already forgotten them and will not want to look them up when it comes time to cook it or I'll forget to tell whoever I give the quiche to.

So, if you get a quiche from me someday soon, you'll know I made it today ;)

Geranium's in the sink

This is what I commented to "this post" about "Terrific (non-thing) Things".  I am a weirdo.  I know.  But I thought I'd share anyway ;)

I bought Mrs Meyer's Geranium dish soap yesterday and I am close to intoxicated by it.  What a difference it makes in cleaning!  You're brilliant!  I tend to do a lot of cleaning with a vinegar/water/few drops of soap mixture, so I (albeit wastefully ;)  poured it out and made it again with the Mrs Meyer's and now my entire house smells wonderful :)  My husband, yesterday, commented, "What's with your cleaning today?"  I couldn't get enough.  Of cleaning!  When has THAT ever ever happened!    

I LOVE it.

My little secret

I have a secret.  I don't separate my laundry.  GASP!  But how do you get your whites as blinding as Tom Cruise's smile?  I don't.   Whaaaat?  That's right.  I don't.  I occasionally will soak whites in biz or bleach or help them get their sparkle back.  Most of the time though, I don't tend to care if my white's glow in the dark.  For me, what's more important is just getting it done.   If I do laundry everyday, starting a load while my coffee is pouring itself (I love my Keurig) then my laundry gets done.  If I worry about sorting everything, then it doesn't.  Don't worry, Mom, I will add this disclaimer:  my mother is horrified at this and wants you to know she taught me to do laundry "correctly".  She also tried (very hard) to teach me how to make a pie crust, yet there are 2 store-bought ones in my freezer. Some lessons just didn't take I guess.  I suppose one day I'll return to sorting laundry, most likely when the kids are big enough to do it themselves and I will be compelled to teach them the "correct" way to do it.  Until then, if you see me with socks that are more "mother of pearl" than "white as snow" you'll know why.