Picked up a London Broil steak at the store this morning to BBQ tonight for dinner. I didn't feel like using my usual teriyaki marinade, that we all just love - old family recipe. I wanted to change it up a bit. So to the spice cupboard I went. This is what I ended up mixing together:
Greek Herb Marinade
1/4 cup olive oil, 3 medium sized cloves of garlic-minced (you could do this to your own taste), 1/8 tsp black pepper, 1/4 tsp salt, about 2 Tbspns Balsamic Vinegar (good stuff please) and 1 Tbspn dried Greek herbs. Put all of this in a heavy ziplock bag and mush it around to mix well, place your steak, chicken, pork or lamb in and zip up - pressing the air out. Place in the fridge to marinate for 3 to 8 hours. Then just BBQ to your desired doneness and enjoy!
To go with this BBQ's London broil, I'm thinking a nice cool pasta salad (recipe below) and a green veggie, either green bean or broccoli? With a little morning prep or the night before, this will be a quick to fix meal and hopefully we'll have some leftovers for Mark's lunch.
Tracy's Quick and Easy pasta Salad
Cooked, rinsed and cooled Salad Pasta - seashell, small elbow, etc, 2 cups dry, 1 can of Black Olives, sliced, 2 to 3 Green Onions - sliced, 1/2 cup Shredded Cheddar or a Cheddar Cheese mix, 1/4 cup each diced Red and Green Bell Peppers. Dressing: 1/2 cup Mayo, 1/8 tsp Black Pepper, 1/4 tsp Salt, dash or two of Garlic Powder. Mix all ingredients together, place in the fridge to cool for at least 1 hour and serve.
This Past Salad recipe can be added to and doubled easily. Make it a main dish salad by adding cooked, cubed chicken or tuna. Frozen peas are great in it too - especially with tuna!
Ocean Shores, WA
my favorite place
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Monday, June 18, 2012
Getting back on TRACK!
Wow I didn't realize how easy it was to just forget about my dear old blog - I did it again! Shame on me!!! My friend Tanya is so diligent about posting to hers once a week, good for her, always posting great pics of things they're doing or events they're at or even just nature's beauty.
I watched a show today that I've watched many times. It has a homely little gal host, who shows how to be "creative" around the house, cooking, gardening, etc. It's a good show, it's on PBS, so not quite cable quality. Everytime I watch this show I ask myself why, the ideas aren't any better than mine, the mechanics of her projects stink and she's really kind of annoying to listen too! Then I ask myself, why is she on TV and I'm not? I think having a TV show showing fun and creative cooking, arts and crafts, gardening and entertaining would be a blast! Yes a lot of work, but oh how much fun could I have coming up with things to do, cook and create!
So with this question in mind I'm giving a sort of re-birth to my blog, I am going to dedicate this blog to doing just that. Who knows maybe just the right person will read it and I'll have my chance in the spotlight?? How fun would that be! - OH I think that's a line from my favorite cook, Ina Garten from the Barefoot Contessa (her and Paula Deen are my heros).
I got an early birthday gift this weekend while camping at my fav place - Ocean Shores WA, my hubby Mark and niece Jamela surprised me with a new camera. So with this nifty little camera I'll be bringing lots of great pics of foods, crafts, gardening and more. I hope people will follow my blog, comment and share with me their ideas and thoughts.
I watched a show today that I've watched many times. It has a homely little gal host, who shows how to be "creative" around the house, cooking, gardening, etc. It's a good show, it's on PBS, so not quite cable quality. Everytime I watch this show I ask myself why, the ideas aren't any better than mine, the mechanics of her projects stink and she's really kind of annoying to listen too! Then I ask myself, why is she on TV and I'm not? I think having a TV show showing fun and creative cooking, arts and crafts, gardening and entertaining would be a blast! Yes a lot of work, but oh how much fun could I have coming up with things to do, cook and create!
So with this question in mind I'm giving a sort of re-birth to my blog, I am going to dedicate this blog to doing just that. Who knows maybe just the right person will read it and I'll have my chance in the spotlight?? How fun would that be! - OH I think that's a line from my favorite cook, Ina Garten from the Barefoot Contessa (her and Paula Deen are my heros).
I got an early birthday gift this weekend while camping at my fav place - Ocean Shores WA, my hubby Mark and niece Jamela surprised me with a new camera. So with this nifty little camera I'll be bringing lots of great pics of foods, crafts, gardening and more. I hope people will follow my blog, comment and share with me their ideas and thoughts.
Thursday, April 12, 2012
It's been a while since I visited and posted, me bad!
Wow I can't believe I haven't been on my blog in so long, just shameful! I have thought about posting things, but then decided better not to - a little to personal because of the deep funk I've been in.
You never know what life is going to bring your way and my life certainly hasn't been what I thought it would be at this point in time or shall I say this "stage of the game". You never know what the choices you make will actually make happen. Even when you think you're making a choice fo the good -who's good is it really for? Is it for you? For your "now" or for your future? Or is it really for someone else's good. In my case the choices I made ended up being for someone else's benefit and have done nothing but cause finacial hardship and marital issues for my husband and I. In looking back, I know it was not the best decision for me and my family, but for the selfiness of another.
But it's a new day, a new year and it's time to pull my act together and start functioning and working to achieve my goals and get my family back on track.
I finally got my daycare license at the end of 2011. While going through the process I had tons of calls from people looking for a daycare for their kids. Now that I finally have the license, I can't find any kids! I have 1, but his tuition doesn't do a whole lot to meet my financial goals and needs. So I am going to put a real push on for the next month to get my enrollment up, plus I am also going to continue looking for a 9 to 5 job and whichever comes first is what I'll go with. Bottom line is that I need an income and whatever route I have to take is what I'll do. I have also considered become a rep for a food product company. If I had contacts - friends and family who had money to spend and could get me leads to their friends and other family I know I could be very successfull. But as I have been out of the public for almost 2 years now, I have really lost contact with people and I just don't have many friends. My thought with possibly going this direction is because of my love of food and entertaining - which is what this company is all about! But I'm tired of fighting my way through and not sure I want to tackle another struggling effort.
I am also considering writing a food/entertainment blog??? 2 of the things I love doing and I feel I am very good at both. Maybe add some of my handcrafted decorations and invites as well - maybe a short little "how-to" video, I think that would be fun! I think using my skills in cooking, entertaining, crafting/painting and floral design I could have a very interesting little "show" LOL maybe I need to check out public TV?? I could be the next STAR!!! LOL
Not doing much with my glass painting right now. Shows are booking for vendors for late spring and summer, but I am just frustrated with doing all that it takes to get to the point of sale, then have none or very little sales - just makes it hard to stay inspired and want to do it. I'm the type of person I need some end reward and there hasn't been much reward this last year. I guess I should consider all the compliments I have received on my style and designs, but that is over-shadowed by the lack of income. my husband works so hard to help me pack-up, set-up, sit there and do it all in reverse when the show is over, I feel bad because he's as dissapointed as I am. I will be doing some painting for a couple of weddings this summer though. For 1 wedding I have 11 bride and bridesmaid's glasses to paint a design on - which I need to get done soon and the other wedding I will be doing the flowers and painting some paper mache' letters the couple is using for decoration.
You never know what life is going to bring your way and my life certainly hasn't been what I thought it would be at this point in time or shall I say this "stage of the game". You never know what the choices you make will actually make happen. Even when you think you're making a choice fo the good -who's good is it really for? Is it for you? For your "now" or for your future? Or is it really for someone else's good. In my case the choices I made ended up being for someone else's benefit and have done nothing but cause finacial hardship and marital issues for my husband and I. In looking back, I know it was not the best decision for me and my family, but for the selfiness of another.
But it's a new day, a new year and it's time to pull my act together and start functioning and working to achieve my goals and get my family back on track.
I finally got my daycare license at the end of 2011. While going through the process I had tons of calls from people looking for a daycare for their kids. Now that I finally have the license, I can't find any kids! I have 1, but his tuition doesn't do a whole lot to meet my financial goals and needs. So I am going to put a real push on for the next month to get my enrollment up, plus I am also going to continue looking for a 9 to 5 job and whichever comes first is what I'll go with. Bottom line is that I need an income and whatever route I have to take is what I'll do. I have also considered become a rep for a food product company. If I had contacts - friends and family who had money to spend and could get me leads to their friends and other family I know I could be very successfull. But as I have been out of the public for almost 2 years now, I have really lost contact with people and I just don't have many friends. My thought with possibly going this direction is because of my love of food and entertaining - which is what this company is all about! But I'm tired of fighting my way through and not sure I want to tackle another struggling effort.
I am also considering writing a food/entertainment blog??? 2 of the things I love doing and I feel I am very good at both. Maybe add some of my handcrafted decorations and invites as well - maybe a short little "how-to" video, I think that would be fun! I think using my skills in cooking, entertaining, crafting/painting and floral design I could have a very interesting little "show" LOL maybe I need to check out public TV?? I could be the next STAR!!! LOL
Not doing much with my glass painting right now. Shows are booking for vendors for late spring and summer, but I am just frustrated with doing all that it takes to get to the point of sale, then have none or very little sales - just makes it hard to stay inspired and want to do it. I'm the type of person I need some end reward and there hasn't been much reward this last year. I guess I should consider all the compliments I have received on my style and designs, but that is over-shadowed by the lack of income. my husband works so hard to help me pack-up, set-up, sit there and do it all in reverse when the show is over, I feel bad because he's as dissapointed as I am. I will be doing some painting for a couple of weddings this summer though. For 1 wedding I have 11 bride and bridesmaid's glasses to paint a design on - which I need to get done soon and the other wedding I will be doing the flowers and painting some paper mache' letters the couple is using for decoration.
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Watch for the signs!
I have learned many lessons thus far on my journey to finding my bliss. I know that in order for things to happen you have to be an active part of the process. You can't just sit and wait for something to come to you - it doesn't work that way.
I think visualizing and really thinking hard and true about what your dreams and goals are is a huge effective tool in getting where you want to be. You also have to stick to the goal, stay on track, do what you can do to keep feeding the dream or goal. Infact I think eliminating the word "dream" and concentrating on the word "GOAL" is a much more effective way of thinking. In my way of thinking a "dream" is just a thought, a fantasy, not a tangible or reachable reality. But a "GOAL" is something you work towards. You can break it down into small and achievable steps - it is obtainable, it can be a reality!
Too many times 'helpful' friends and family will give you guidance that isn't always in your best interest - it's in theirs. I have found that some people just don't want others to be successful or happy - at least not more than they are. Sometimes it's hard to distinguish that this is really happening. Because most of the time it's done in very subtle ways, little comments that make you self doubt and undermine your courage and abilities. These "little" comments make you ask yourself - can I do this? Am I worth it? Do I deserve it? The answer is YES YES YES, you do and you can. You deserve every wonderful thing in life you can achieve and enjoy. I guess the one thing I would say you have to realize is that it's not that these people really don't want you to be happy or successful. It's that they are not comfortable stepping out of their comfort zone to better themselves or their lives. Even though they may come across as they feel superior, they infact have low self esteem and can't bare to see a friend or family member being happier or more successful than they are. So with these people, we need to just look past and maybe be a little deaf to their comments and know that it's their problem - not ours.
There are so many tools around us that can be used to assist us in our goals. On Sunday, in church, Pastor Kevin talked about how God lays down the steps for us to take on our journey - how the signs for your direction are there - you just have to recognize and follow them. I started thinking about decisions I was trying to make in my life about which direction I should be following. I feel like I am to decide which business direction to go to. On 1 hand I have the home daycare I have been trying to start with my daughter. It's been a long and stressful process, we butt heads, don't agree on things, argue and because of this I believe I have been dragging my feet in continuing it. I'm afraid that it will ruin our relationship - certainly not what I want. On the 2nd hand I have my ACN biz - which I have been slow in my efforts - because of the daycare issue. I believe I have also sabotaged myself in not getting out and meeting new people to help grow my biz. I learned that you can't count on friends and family to support you the way you know you would support them. Again that's part of the "helpful" people syndrom -- always there to point out flaws, not supportive, etc. As I was thinking about this decision and Kevin's message I thought back to things that had happened prior to Sunday. 1) After sending many many job resume's out I finally got a response back from a company. 2) The licensor called and cancelled her inspection. 3) A friend at church out of the blue says he wants to sign up with ACN. and now 4) I recieved another email from a company I sent a resume to, requesting I call for an interview. So I first thought, ok the licensor cancelling was a good thing - it buys me more time to get ready. But then I started thinking maybe that it's a sign that I shouldn't do the daycare (I have been asking for some guidance or a sign as to the direction I should take), that I should get a job, which would give me more opportunities to meet new people/friends -- which would give me the opportunity to build my ACN biz, as a lack of people was my issue in not building it sooner or maybe it was just my excuse, "I just don't know anybody anymore". In reality I didn't want to get out of my "comfort zone", I was waiting for something to just "come to me".
Many times over the years I have heard successful people state that things "just fell together". I kind of feel like that is what's happening for me right now. I feel like another "step" was given to me through a magazine I purchased. I picked up a copy of a mag because the cover feature was something I was interested in. While reading through the magazine I came across a feature story about women who had created their own destiny through direct sales! I was so excited, I felt as though this was truly a sign to me.
I know it takes a lot of hard work, things don't really "just fall together". But I do believe that after you've put in the hard work and walked the steps needed, that things do indeed "just fall together". You are now reaping what you had already sown. All your efforts and hard work are beginning to pay off - fullfilling your dreams and goals.
I think visualizing and really thinking hard and true about what your dreams and goals are is a huge effective tool in getting where you want to be. You also have to stick to the goal, stay on track, do what you can do to keep feeding the dream or goal. Infact I think eliminating the word "dream" and concentrating on the word "GOAL" is a much more effective way of thinking. In my way of thinking a "dream" is just a thought, a fantasy, not a tangible or reachable reality. But a "GOAL" is something you work towards. You can break it down into small and achievable steps - it is obtainable, it can be a reality!
Too many times 'helpful' friends and family will give you guidance that isn't always in your best interest - it's in theirs. I have found that some people just don't want others to be successful or happy - at least not more than they are. Sometimes it's hard to distinguish that this is really happening. Because most of the time it's done in very subtle ways, little comments that make you self doubt and undermine your courage and abilities. These "little" comments make you ask yourself - can I do this? Am I worth it? Do I deserve it? The answer is YES YES YES, you do and you can. You deserve every wonderful thing in life you can achieve and enjoy. I guess the one thing I would say you have to realize is that it's not that these people really don't want you to be happy or successful. It's that they are not comfortable stepping out of their comfort zone to better themselves or their lives. Even though they may come across as they feel superior, they infact have low self esteem and can't bare to see a friend or family member being happier or more successful than they are. So with these people, we need to just look past and maybe be a little deaf to their comments and know that it's their problem - not ours.
There are so many tools around us that can be used to assist us in our goals. On Sunday, in church, Pastor Kevin talked about how God lays down the steps for us to take on our journey - how the signs for your direction are there - you just have to recognize and follow them. I started thinking about decisions I was trying to make in my life about which direction I should be following. I feel like I am to decide which business direction to go to. On 1 hand I have the home daycare I have been trying to start with my daughter. It's been a long and stressful process, we butt heads, don't agree on things, argue and because of this I believe I have been dragging my feet in continuing it. I'm afraid that it will ruin our relationship - certainly not what I want. On the 2nd hand I have my ACN biz - which I have been slow in my efforts - because of the daycare issue. I believe I have also sabotaged myself in not getting out and meeting new people to help grow my biz. I learned that you can't count on friends and family to support you the way you know you would support them. Again that's part of the "helpful" people syndrom -- always there to point out flaws, not supportive, etc. As I was thinking about this decision and Kevin's message I thought back to things that had happened prior to Sunday. 1) After sending many many job resume's out I finally got a response back from a company. 2) The licensor called and cancelled her inspection. 3) A friend at church out of the blue says he wants to sign up with ACN. and now 4) I recieved another email from a company I sent a resume to, requesting I call for an interview. So I first thought, ok the licensor cancelling was a good thing - it buys me more time to get ready. But then I started thinking maybe that it's a sign that I shouldn't do the daycare (I have been asking for some guidance or a sign as to the direction I should take), that I should get a job, which would give me more opportunities to meet new people/friends -- which would give me the opportunity to build my ACN biz, as a lack of people was my issue in not building it sooner or maybe it was just my excuse, "I just don't know anybody anymore". In reality I didn't want to get out of my "comfort zone", I was waiting for something to just "come to me".
Many times over the years I have heard successful people state that things "just fell together". I kind of feel like that is what's happening for me right now. I feel like another "step" was given to me through a magazine I purchased. I picked up a copy of a mag because the cover feature was something I was interested in. While reading through the magazine I came across a feature story about women who had created their own destiny through direct sales! I was so excited, I felt as though this was truly a sign to me.
I know it takes a lot of hard work, things don't really "just fall together". But I do believe that after you've put in the hard work and walked the steps needed, that things do indeed "just fall together". You are now reaping what you had already sown. All your efforts and hard work are beginning to pay off - fullfilling your dreams and goals.
Thursday, September 8, 2011
RESEARCH!
If you want to find out something - you have to do research! It's just that simple, you don't gain anything by sitting and waiting for something to happen. Since I decided to take control over my life and find the answer and solutions to creating my ideal business things have started happening! I subscribe to a women's magazine and just recieved the Oct issue. low and behold it has an article about creating your dream. This was one of the best articles I have ever read from a "how to" type of story. It gave actual steps that the women had taken to achieve their success. Needless to say I was impressed. *** I am working on an outline of my steps thus far and will be posting them soon.
Then, this morning I was checking my emails and read a post from a fb friend that I had just overlooked for the last few days. Kick myself now and hard! The message was about buying the best dog treats ever - it clicked in my head- hey silly you make dog treat jars!!!! Lightbulb moment! So I followed the link to a fb mall and read quickly on how to sell on fb. I'm so excited! I will need to download new pics of my items and get everything set back up - since my desktop hard drive crashed a few weeks ago. But this is exactly what I've been looking for. The days of paying to rent a space or table at an event and praying you get enough sales may soon be gone!!! Other than to do some advertising??? I will still hold my (at least this year) annual Santa's Helper Holiday Boutique the first weekend in December, but not having to haul, set up, take down and sit for a day or days to make a few bucks is an extremely awesome thought!
Well it's time to get some things done around the house. I should be able to finish up the clean up from the yard sale purging today and then move on to the next step of my journey.
So till the next time - remember, it's all in a day!
Then, this morning I was checking my emails and read a post from a fb friend that I had just overlooked for the last few days. Kick myself now and hard! The message was about buying the best dog treats ever - it clicked in my head- hey silly you make dog treat jars!!!! Lightbulb moment! So I followed the link to a fb mall and read quickly on how to sell on fb. I'm so excited! I will need to download new pics of my items and get everything set back up - since my desktop hard drive crashed a few weeks ago. But this is exactly what I've been looking for. The days of paying to rent a space or table at an event and praying you get enough sales may soon be gone!!! Other than to do some advertising??? I will still hold my (at least this year) annual Santa's Helper Holiday Boutique the first weekend in December, but not having to haul, set up, take down and sit for a day or days to make a few bucks is an extremely awesome thought!
Well it's time to get some things done around the house. I should be able to finish up the clean up from the yard sale purging today and then move on to the next step of my journey.
So till the next time - remember, it's all in a day!
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
It's a new day - and a new mission!
I learned in church Sunday that your talents are your gifts from God and that how you use them is YOUR gift to Him. So I am on a quest to learn how to use my "God" given talents to create the world I want to be in. I feel my talents are in my artistic abilities, my cooking abilities and maybe even in my comfort of speaking in front of people and instructing??? I've always had supportive people around me, especially my husband Mark, my Aunt Mary and my good friend Tanya. Their input and encouragement have always been invaluable to me. I also have received many accolades at events I've attended with my crafts and food items.
But even with all these wonderful compliments, I'm not running to the bank on Monday mornings with cash deposits to pay my bills with. Something has to change! So my mission is to be able to find/create a way to use my talents to have an income from these "talents".
So over the next few months or longer if needed, I will be blogging about what I am doing to get my name out there, what I'm doing to create this "dream" business that I've always wanted to have. After all, everyone says find your "passion" and go with it! So I'm ready to go for it - use my passion to make my dreams come true.
I hope readers of my blog will interact with me, give me suggestions and tell me about their successes and failures. I don't believe one can reach success with going through some failures - I think I've had enough of those, I'm ready for some success! Who knows maybe like my sweet friend Nancy (another very supportive friend)says I may be the next "Self Help" Guru.
But even with all these wonderful compliments, I'm not running to the bank on Monday mornings with cash deposits to pay my bills with. Something has to change! So my mission is to be able to find/create a way to use my talents to have an income from these "talents".
So over the next few months or longer if needed, I will be blogging about what I am doing to get my name out there, what I'm doing to create this "dream" business that I've always wanted to have. After all, everyone says find your "passion" and go with it! So I'm ready to go for it - use my passion to make my dreams come true.
I hope readers of my blog will interact with me, give me suggestions and tell me about their successes and failures. I don't believe one can reach success with going through some failures - I think I've had enough of those, I'm ready for some success! Who knows maybe like my sweet friend Nancy (another very supportive friend)says I may be the next "Self Help" Guru.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Wow where has the time gone!
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