Sunday, January 8, 2012

Must Try Game Day Dip!

As we get closer to the Super Bowl I will be sharing great entertaining recipes that you can share with your Game Day friends and family, or indulge by yourself! Enjoy!


Best Hot Dip Ever

2 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened
1 (8oz.) sour cream
1 pkg. dried beef
1 tsp. Worcestershire
½ green pepper, chopped
2 Tbsp. onion, grated
¼ tsp. garlic salt & pepper
Slivered almonds

 Mix all ingredients in the Medium Deep or Large Deep Vent ‘N Serve. Top with slivered almonds and microwave on high for 3 ½ - 4 ½ minutes or until hot and bubbly. Serve with Frito’s.


Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Pork Chops with Italian Cream Sauce & Mushrooms

I made these tonight - and am so happy with the results! It took no time at all too!

Pork Chops with Italian Cream Sauce
6 - boneless pork chops
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Cup Mushrooms
1/2 Cup Heavy Whipping Cream
1/2 Tbsp Tupperware Italian Seasoning Blend
Salt and Pepper

Bake pork chops - I cooked mine at 350 degrees for about 40 Minutes. I recommend using a meat thermometor to make sure it is safe to eat. In a saute pan heat olive oil and add mushrooms. Saute until tender. Top pork chops with mushrooms. In same pan add heavy whipping cream and bring to a simmer, add Italian seasoning. Add salt and pepper to taste. Simmer until thickened. Top pork chops with cream sauce!

Pork Chops with Italian Cream Sauce and Mushrooms with a side salad

Get Organized...Starting in the Kitchen!

Come January 1st - it seems as though everywhere I look I see articles, and information on organization. Let's face it, come the beginning of the year it seems everyone has a fresh start, what better way to start out the New Year then by getting yourself and your family organized.

I have to admit I too have a goal of organizing my home and office, with the hopes of creating more time in my schedule so I can do the things I truly enjoy. But this year, my true motivation for becoming organized, and keeping my home in order is that my husband made an agreement with me that if I can keep my clutter and piles (I am a born pile maker) under control he will quit smoking!

So, in addition to my other goals for 2012 - one of my first priorities is to get our home completely organized. I started in my favorite room, which also happens to be the central point of our home...The Kitchen!

Of course January is also Kitchen Organization month for Tupperware. (What great timing for me right)?! Tupperware has put our very popular Modular Mates on sale! So I stocked up and re-organized my kitchen cabinets.

Here are some before and afters of my work so far!

 
Everything from my cooking cabinet!

BEFORE: Yes - Even a Tupperware Lady's Cabinets can get out of control!

BEFORE: I cringe at the site of the open box of pancake mix! Many people do not know that you can bring home small insects (weevils) home in your flour based products (flour, cereal, pancake mix, etc.).  Having an open box/bag like I have here can actually allow these tiny insects to infest the rest of your food. Modular Mates are virtually air tight, which means if you do bring home these food invaders they will remain INSIDE the container you place them in, keeping your other food safe from infestation! 
In order to organize all of my food, I took EVERYTHING out of my two main food cabinets. And then used Tupperware Modular Mates to organize and containerize everything.

Modular Mates are virtually air tight containers that keep food fresher longer, and can save you up to 40% more space in your cabinets! I have always kept my flours and sugars in Modular Mates, but this year I "modular-ized" my entire cabinet! I also used Tupperware Labels so we NEVER have to wonder what is in each container. I put all my loose spices into an open MM Rectangular 1 so all we have to do is take out the whole container to get to the spice we need.

                                                            Here are the After Photos!
AFTER: Spices in two open Rectangular 1. All of my tea is in a Super Oval 2. Coffee and filters are now in Tupperware Coffee Containers. Raisins are in a oval 2, which allows me to store peanut butter behind it.

AFTER: This is my favorite! I broke my food into three sections.
1. The bottom shelf is my Baking Center. I have all my flour, sugars, chocolate and common baking add-ins all on one easy to access shelf. Now I NEVER have to search for that one missing ingredient. And, with the clear Modular Mates I know exactly how much of an ingredient I have left (looks like I need to make a sugar run soon)!
2. The Middle Shelf is my Snack Center. Chips, cookies, crackers, popcorn and space for one more Rectangular 1.
3. The Top Shelf is my Pasta and Cooking Center. I have every pasta I could need for cooking. I am using a Rectangular 3 to store all the odds and ends pastas I have left over. I broke these 1-2 cup leftovers into sandwich bags and have them all in one container. This is a great go to when I am cooking a quick meal for one.
Modular Mates are an excellent way to get your kitchen organized and to help you easily make shopping lists as you can see exactly what ingredients you have or don't have. You never have to pour half a serving of cereal in your breakfast bowl because you didn't realize you were almost out. You will always know how much you have left! 

I am happy to help with a Free Kitchen Consultation (with purchase of our modular mate system). January is a great time to purchase these great products as they are on SALE right now! Contact me with questions!
763-442-3693 or allisonstrand@yahoo.com
Order directly online at: www.my2.tupperware.com/allisonstrand

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Two Week Challenge

My husband and I are notorious for waiting until the last minute to plan dinner, and as our solution to not being prepared we decide it would just be easier to eat out instead of taking the time to make something.

Don't get me wrong, I love a good night out on the town. I mean, no dishes, no clean up who could ask for a better evening. Since we have made it our goal to plan a trip to Europe we have decided we need to cut back on our extra spending. And that extra spending is in the form of cutting back on dining out. So we challenged ourselves to two weeks of only eating our dinners at home! Now, I am challenging myself to eating all my meals at home - since I work most days from home. Chris on the other hand likes to eat lunch with his co-workers which I support.

The Challenge: Do not eat any non-homemade meals for two weeks!

The Plan: This is where we will make it or break it!

1) Grocery shop for food that we like and can make last minute if need be. I started "couponing" as a way to save extra money, but we have found that my shopping trips do not always end in me bringing home full meals. So I have to do a bit more planning prior to my shopping trips.

2) Plan our menu. In the past, I have decided in the morning what our dinner menu will be. I pull out the specific protein from our freezer so it can thaw all day in the fridge (a thawing technique I learned in a food safety class when I worked in a hotel. If you learned what I learned in that five hours - you would never thaw meat out on the counter again)! When I would go back to the protein in the fridge of course it was still frozen and not ready to be cooked. What was our solution? Eat out of course.

This is why menu planning will be crucial to our challenge! So is grocery shopping, which if you took a peak in our fridge you would see that it as empty as the first day it arrived at our house.

3) Getting in the kitchen and cooking. You cant eat a dinner without getting in the kitchen! Bringing it back to a goal I had set for myself in 2011 of testing out two new recipes a week.

In this series of posts I will be sharing recipes that can be prepared in advance and then frozen down for later consumption. With only two of us to feed all week, I am hoping this will add variety to our life and keep us on the non eating out program! Here is to two weeks of homeade goodness! Wish us luck!

Monday, January 2, 2012

Happy New Year! Resolutions, Goals and Dreams!

We have officially rang in 2012!! For many people this means new beginnings, and a fresh start. So what are you going to accomplish in 2012? Get Organized, loose weight, live a healthier lifestyle, get out of debt, find a new job?

Whatever your goals are for 2012, I wish you all the luck in reaching them.

Today, I am writing some of my New Years goals for everyone to see. I have read that declaring, and sharing your dreams and help you become more committed to them. So hear goes:

1) Become a Tupperware Director by May 2012
2) Organize and Paint my house
3) Pay an additional $1500 on my Student Loans this year
4) Earn a trip to Europe
5) Become more crafty - I want to learn how to knit more than a scarf. (Which is the extent of my knitting talent).
6) Run a 5K
7) Loose the 10 pounds I have put on in my newlywed bliss!

Of course I know these can change and be altered with every new day, week and month throughout the year.

Good luck to you in 2012