November 15, 2006
The Monthly Organizer
December 2006
Monthly Motivation
 How Full Is Your Bucket?: Positive Strategies for Work and Life
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When life hands you lemons, make lemonade.
This is one of my favorite sayings, but it can be easier said than done. Turn this into your mantra. Repeat it over and over again to yourself when times get tough. Learn how to put a positive spin on negative situations.
By doing this you will learn that you have the power to create your own happiness. The more you do it, the easier it will become until it is your natural reaction to difficult situations.
You do not always have control over the cards you are dealt in life, but you do have control over how you play your hand.
Make the best out of what you are given and create a happy life for yourself.
Monthly Organization Tip
The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.I was forced to remember that valuable life lesson this month.
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On November 3rd I encountered technical difficulties that made it impossible for me to post entries for several days. My first reaction was frustration and panic. This has always been my instinctive reaction to stressful situations, but that is not how I want to live my life.
That is why I taught myself, and continue to teach myself, to stop and think when I feel that frustration building. When I take a minute to think about the situation I remember that there is nothing I can do to control the situations around me. All I can control is how I react to those situations.
I decided to be proactive. While I waited for my technical difficulties to be resolved I spent time reworking my Countdown schedule. When my blog was up and running again I was ready to go with a newly revised plan. There was no permanent damage done and I remained calm.
When it comes to organization, It is always a good idea to have a plan. What you have to remember is that you cannot set that plan in stone.
True organization means knowing that your plan has to be flexible. We never know what is going to happen next in our lives. People change, situations change and we have to be able to constantly rework our plans to suit the ever-changing path we are on.
Whether you are planning something as small as what to have for dinner tonight or something as big as saving for retirement, learn to use your plan as a guideline. Keep the ultimate goal the same, but allow for variations that may arise while working toward that goal.
There is no need for panic. Be organized. Be flexible. Be happy.
Money Saving Tip
If you work outside the home you are probably spending a lot more money on food than you realize. Have you ever taken the time to add up how much you spend on that fancy morning coffee and danish and eating out for lunch every day?Now take a few minutes and think about what would happen to that money if you invested it instead of spending it.
Why do we spend money to eat out instead of bringing lunch from home? Because it's convenient, of course.
What is the answer? Make it more convenient to bring your lunch from home.
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If you are like me, you always have leftovers when you are finished with dinner. When you are packing up those leftovers to store them in the refrigerator, don't just put them in one big bowl and cover them up to be forgotten about and probably thrown away at the end of the week.
Take the few extra minutes to grab individual serving size plastic storage containers and fill each one. In the morning, if the portion is already separated, individually packed and ready to go you will be much more likely to grab it on your way out the door.
Don't like to eat the same thing for lunch the next day that you had for dinner the night before? No problem. Just get yourself some freezer bags or plastic storage containers with tight fitting lids (be sure not to fill these more than 3/4 full to allow for expansion) and freeze your leftovers. Most meals can be frozen easily and reheat beautifully.
If you have a refrigerator in your office you could even bring in a week's worth of frozen lunches every Monday and let them defrost in the refrigerator throughout the week. When you are ready to eat them, a few minutes in the microwave and you are good to go.
While you are sitting in your office lunchroom enjoying a meal brought from home, think about how much money you are saving and feel proud of what you are accomplishing just by eating lunch.
Recipe of the Month
The holidays are a busy time of year and it is not uncommon to have many gatherings to either host or attend. This year make it a little easier on yourself to have something on hand that you can bring with you or serve at every function this year.This delicious appetizers will be the talk of the party and nobody will believe that you made them ahead of time and froze them until you were ready to serve them.
Ingredients:
- 1 pkg. refrigerated pie crust (contains 2 crusts), thawed per package instructions
- 1 portobello mushroom, finely chopped
- 1/2 lb. crimini mushrooms, finely chopped
- 2 Tblsp. unsalted butter
- 1 Tblsp. extra virgin olive oil
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- salt & pepper, to taste
- 1 cup shredded swiss cheese
- 1/4 cup freshly ground parmesan cheese
Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Spray 2 mini muffin pans (24 muffin cups) with nonstick spray (I prefer Pam for Baking which contains a combination of butter and flour to be sure nothing sticks).
Unroll pie crusts and cut into 24, 2-3" circles (if you do not have a biscuit cutter or round cookie cutter, do what I do and use a drinking glass or mug with a 3" opening). Gently press the mini crusts into the muffin cups and bake for 12 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside.
In a skillet, over medium heat, melt the butter in the olive oil. Add the mushrooms and cook until mushrooms are soft and all liquid has been evaporated.
In a bowl, combine the egg, cream, salt, pepper and cheeses.
Spoon the mushrooms evenly into the pie crusts. Carefully pour the egg mixture into each crust being careful to stay slightly below the top of the crust. Bake 45-50 minutes or until the egg mixture is set.
Cool completely. Freeze in a single layer for 24 hours or until solid then transfer to freezer bags.
To reheat, simply place tartlets directly from the freezer onto a cookie sheet and bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 15 minutes.
December Entertaining Idea
Last year my co-workers and I decided to spend a day with the residents of a local nursing home in lieu of exchanging gifts with each other. We pooled our money and used it to purchase decorations, food and small gifts. We went to the nursing home on a Saturday afternoon, decorated for the holidays, handed out gifts and spent the afternoon chatting, playing cards and visiting with some very wonderful people The staff told us that the residents, who didn't get very many visitors, looked forward to our visit for weeks. What a wonderful feeling that was.This holiday season, spend some time with somebody who could really use the company even if it is just having a cup of coffee with neighbor who is all alone. What you might think is a small act could mean the world to somebody.
No act of kindness is small.
Happy Holidays.
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