LIfe Changing Magic of Tidying Up

***Don't forget to enter my giveaway for your choice of 6 white porcelain ramekins or a copy of 400 Calories or Less by Our Best Bites. You can have 4 entries, but be sure to enter by Monday, March 7, 2016 by midnight PST!***

Have you read this book? The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing by Marie Kondo.

I'm a little bit obsessed with it since I read it last week. I've been feeling like we have SO much STUFF in my house. The rooms aren't cluttered with furniture, but the closets, cupboards and drawers and holding so much stuff that we don't need. And I get tired of walking around and picking up stuff all day.

I was talking to a friend who loves simplification and being minimalistic and she told me about this book. So I read it. Then a one day last week I started the process that she talks about in the book. I put all my clothes in one place and went through them one by one and decided if the clothing brought me joy. If it did, then I put it back in my closet or dresser. If it didn't bring me joy, then I either threw it away or put it in a donate bag. I ended up with three garbage bags of clothing that don't bring me joy. And I feel SO much better having them out of my life. No regrets at all.

I can't wait to go through my whole house using what I learned from the book. It's such a great feeling to be free of so much stuff. Aah, I love it! It's made me think about the things that I have in a different way.

And, I love her method for folding clothes in drawers. Instead of smashing them all on top of each other in a pile, stack them vertically. So smart!

Have you read it? If so, did you "tidy up" your house? I think everyone should read this book. I'm having my 11 year old daughter read some of it. :)

P.S. I didn't actually thank my clothes for bringing me joy individually. Some of the ideas are a little extreme for me, but overall it's a great method to use!

One Hour Rolls

These rolls are amazing! I've been making these rolls since 2001 when I was a newlywed and my sister-in-law shared the recipe with me. The rolls are light, fluffy, easy to make and they only take one hour! And delicious too! I've made these rolls more times than I can count, so I've perfected the art of making them. Here are some step-by-step instructions with pictures for you. Here's what you'll need. I buy pretty much all of the ingredients in this recipe at Sam's club, thus the huge containers. You need warm water, yeast, oil, sugar, salt, egg and flour. In the mixer bowl, add warm water (not hot), oil, sugar and yeast. Mix together. After ten or fifteen minutes the yeast mixture should be puffed up like this. Time to add the salt and beaten egg. Then mix in the flour. (I've used a mixture of half wheat and half white flour successfully.) Keep adding flour until the dough is manageable. It will be a little sticky, b

Don't like your house to smell like food? I've got a kitchen tip for that!

I have a smallish, one story house and if I cook food that is kind of smelly, like onions, the smell tends to linger in every room. This is a pet peeve of mine and (also my husband's). Over the years I've found a few ways to cook smelly food without smelling up the kitchen. Use your garage! I use my garage quite often to cook things in. I open the window and it airs out, especially when you open the garage door. I'm sure my neighbors wonder what I'm cooking. I've used two different kitchen appliances in the garage: my crockpot and my food dehydrator. Crockpot - I did this very thing today since I'm simmering chicken, onions, carrots and celery to make chicken noodle soup tonight. I don't want my house to smell like onions all day, so I plugged it in on my husband's workbench. Food dehydrator - when I make jerky, I plug the food dehydrator in in the garage. I don't really want my house to smell like meat for hours

Chicken Angelo

Don't forget to enter the Whirley Pop giveaway . It ends tomorrow! Am I the only person that asks their friends what they're making for dinner all the time? That's kind of why I started this blog, because I want to know what my friends are making for dinner. The other day I asked my friend, Juli (who is great cook), what she was making for dinner. She told me she was making Chicken Angelo. Then she told me what's in it. I knew I had to try it too because she has some picky eaters at her house like I do. I figured if they'll eat it then maybe it was worth a try at my house. This Chicken Angelo pasta has my favorite things, artichoke hearts and mushrooms in it. But don't be fooled into thinking that my family likes these things too. Because they don't. They won't touch an artichoke or mushroom with a ten foot pole. That being said, my family loved this pasta dish. They even gave me the go ahead to make it again. They loved the ch

What is on your menu this week?

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