Caesar Salad with Blackened Chicken

This is one of my favorite dinners. I started eating it when I first met my husband at a restaurant called Old Village Inn in Nyack, New York. They served a large Caesar salad with very spicy chicken and a side of bread and butter. So good!

This blackened chicken works well with any cool and creamy dressing. Serve with good, hot bread.

I purchase organic spices in bulk (4-8 ounces) and make large batches of blackened spice. Just store in an airtight container; even better to store in refrigerator of freezer.

Because of the dangers of raw eggs, I hard-boil mine and chop into dressing. This will make a couple cups of dressing and will be fine in the refrigerator for weeks.

A classic Caesar salad includes romane lettuce, croutons and anchovies. I omit anchovies, but use them in dressing. I add other lettuces and celery, depending on my mood.

Caesar Dressing

1 ½ olive oil/canola oil
2 T white vinegar
2 inches of anchovy paste
2 garlic pressed
3 T lemon juice + zest of one lemon
2 T Dijon mustard
2 t white pepper
½ cup parmesan cheese
2 hard-boiled eggs, chopped

Combine ingredients and whisk or blend in a blender

Blackened Spice Mix

1 cup Garlic Powder
1 cup onion powder
2/3 cup paprika
1/3 cup cayenne
2/3 cup oregano
1/3 black pepper
1/3 cup cumin
2/3 cup lemon peel
1/3 cup tumeric
salt

Mix all ingredients and store in an airtight container.

Blackened Chicken
4 ounces boneless, skinless chicken breast per serving
blackened mix
Slice chicken in strips and coat with spice mix. The heavier the coat, the spicier, so beware! If you like really mild food, don't cut chicken--just coat whole pieces and cut once cooked. Use canola or olive oil and cook in a skillet.

Plate salad with dressing tossed and mound chicken on top. Serve with hot bread.

Technorati Tags:
blackened chicken, blackened spice, caeser salad dressing, Nyack, organic spices
Add to: | Technorati | Digg | del.icio.us | Yahoo | BlinkList | Spurl | reddit | Furl |

Arugula and Frisee with Pecorino Romano, Bacon and Toasted Pecans

I made this salad the other night as a main course and ate it with hot, crusty bread. Delicious! Omit bacon and serve as a side dish. I eat only nitrate-free, free range bacon. For this dish, I used bacon from our local farm,For more information, go to: Hemlock Hills Farm. It is the best bacon I have ever eaten!

Arugula and Frisee with Pecorino Romano, Bacon and Toasted Pecans
Organic baby arugula
Organic frisee
6 slices cooked bacon, broken into small pieces
Handful toasted pecans or walnuts, broken into pieces
Handful pecorino romano or parmesan cheese
Walnut oil vinaigrette, see below
Combine all ingredients but cheese, then add cheese.

Walnut Oil Vinaigrette
2 tablespoons red or sherry vinegar
1 shallot, minced
Salt & pepper
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
6 tablespoons roasted walnut oil
Combine all ingredients and whisk until thick. Adjust oil or vinegar as needed.

For more recipes, go to: Harmonious Environment:Beautify, Detoxify & Energize Your Life, Your Home & Your Planet.

Technorati Tags:
baby arugula, frisee, hemlock hills farm, nitrate free bacon, walnut oil, walnut oil dressing, walnut oil vinaigrette
Add to: | Technorati | Digg | del.icio.us | Yahoo | BlinkList | Spurl | reddit | Furl |

Green Your Holidays

Buying less is a good start, but buying good quality products made from non-petroleum products is also key. This means avoiding plastic, and buying as locally as possible (saves on fuel used during transportation.) good quality products last much longer, meaning they won’t need to be replaced as soon and they remain out of landfill. For example, instead of purchasing 5 shirts made from a man-made fabric (petroleum based product) from China that will last through a few washings before falling apart, purchase 1 shirt made of organic cotton, made in the U.S. that will last for years.

The average consumer should look at what the material is composed of, selecting products that are as natural as possible and can break down in landfill without causing harm.

Technorati Tags:
buy green, buy less, eco-friendly clothing, good quality products, green christmas, green clothing, green holidays, green living, natural clothing, organic clothing
Add to: | Technorati | Digg | del.icio.us | Yahoo | BlinkList | Spurl | reddit | Furl |

Save Time Cooking

A large part of saving time with cooking is about saving preparation time. However, with this great tip, cooking time is also greatly reduced, as grating vegetables reduces cooking time by up to 95%.

Use a food processor to prep up to 5 days of veggies (excluding salads.). Use grater blade for carrots, zucchini, jicima, broccoli stems, squashes, potatoes and other hard veggies. Grate large batches at one time (no need to clean processor after each vegetable), seal and store in refrigerator. Combine these veggies or cook individually in a sauté pan in minutes, adding a bit of oil or butter, garlic or lemon and salt.

Add grated vegetables to meatloaf, stews, soups, stir-fry’s, pasta sauce and more. Even squash and potatoes take only minutes to cook with this method!

Technorati Tags:
grated vegetables, reduce cooking time, save time cooking, shred vegetables
Add to: | Technorati | Digg | del.icio.us | Yahoo | BlinkList | Spurl | reddit | Furl |

Free Yourself from the Tyranny of Dirt and Clutter Forever: Office

How to Clear Office Clutter and get Organized!

Buy a shredder and get to work!

· The IRS requires that you keep tax returns and attachments for five years and cancelled checks and documents for three. Shred the rest to prevent identity theft. This chore may take you into your attic, basement or garage. Go for it. If you have mountains of papers, try shredding while doing something relatively mindless, like watching TV.

· Papers that you need to keep should be organized and neatly filed. Review papers you have and discard what is no longer current.

· Organize your office supplies:

o Throw out dried-up and antiquated supplies.

o Next, determine how you want to organize your office. This is probably the only fun aspect of this job, so make the most of it. Shop online or in stores until you find containers that you like that are functional and well-made.

· Organize your books (a good opportunity to dust them thoroughly, too) and donate or sell books that you no longer want.

· Organize magazines and catalogs. If you save magazines, store them neatly. If there are only a couple of articles within each magazine, consider removing and organizing articles in a three-ring binder or file in folders.

· Purchase a calendar or notebook to organize the events in your life—now you can get rid of loose pieces of paper and stick-it notes.

· Remove people from your rolodex with whom you no longer have contact—unless you wish to reconnect. This is a good way to distance yourself from people that you no longer wish to have in your life.

Technorati Tags:
office clutter, oranize office supplies, organize office, removing clutter, reduce clutter, organize your home,
Add to: | Technorati | Digg | del.icio.us | Yahoo | BlinkList | Spurl | reddit | Furl |

Free Yourself from the Tyranny of Dirt and Clutter Forever

Today I will discuss tips on how to get rid of clutter in your bedroom.

Bedroom

It is important to keep your bedroom clean and free of clutter.

• If dirty clothes must be in the room, keep them in a covered hamper in a closet.
  

• There should be nothing but air under your bed! Energy must be able to circulate around the bed—and you—freely. The importance of this cannot be overemphasized. The stuff under your bed emits its own energy, so whatever is under your bed will affect you. For example, if you store old bills beneath your bed, you are sleeping on past finances. You might feel overwhelmed with excessive money issues, or obsessed with the past. Clear the underbelly of the bed and enjoy the benefits of vital life-force energy surrounding you.
  

• Closets should be neat and organized. Discard what you have not worn in two or more years. Repair or discard torn clothing and shoes. Try arranging like clothes together; casual shirts, work shirts, casual pants, etc. and discover how easy it is to find everything!
  

• Organize dressers, discarding unused or torn items and neatly folding what remains.
  

• Store only personal items in the bedroom, if possible. If you must store paperwork, keep it neat and hidden in a closet or drawers.
  

• Sort and organize jewelry. Sell or donate what you do not like.

Excerpt from:Harmonious Environment:Beautify, Detoxify & Energize Your Life, Your Home & Your Planet.

Technorati Tags:
clean bedroom, clear bed, clutter in bedroom, free of clutter, neat closet, organized closet, organize your home, clear clutter, clearing clutter, clutter control
Add to: | Technorati | Digg | del.icio.us | Yahoo | BlinkList | Spurl | reddit | Furl |

Free Yourself from the Tyranny of Clutter and Dirt Forever

Organizing

Cleaning, organizing and removing unwanted possessions are, undoubtedly, a chore. You can have a home with perfectly placed, absolutely lovely furniture and objects, but the energy will not flow properly if the space is dirty, cluttered or unorganized.

The payoff for a clean, organized home or workplace free of unwanted clutter is immense. The energy in your home or workspace will change—stale and negative energy will be replaced with positive, powerful, life-enriching energy. The space will feel lighter. And that good energy will make you feel more energetic and happier. When you know where to find your belongings, you will find yourself with more time—to be more productive or to actually relax. Finally, a clean home—one that is as free as possible from dirt, mold and allergens—is a healthier space.

Organizing and Removing Stuff

You can do it! And no, this does not mean throwing everything into a closet! If you are the typical American, you probably have a great deal of stuff. From clothing to collectables, photographs, CD’s and tapes (or worse, records and eight-tracks!), books, sports equipment, hobby supplies, tons of kitchen gadgets, a bathroom cabinet filled with old prescriptions and makeup and on and on…the list is endless.

Getting rid of things you no longer use or like is essential. You might be holding onto stuff for sentimental reasons. My neighbors have an ancient boat and an old Dodge Caravan that have been sitting on their property as major eyesores for years. My neighbor admitted to me that he is holding onto the boat for sentimental reasons—that it was his family’s boat. To that, I said nothing…but I have sworn that the next time the subject comes up, I will say: “OK, then fix it up, use it and have new memories—or, take a photograph of it and dump it!”

Actually starting an organizing project might be the toughest aspect of the job. I know people who have groaned about their messes for years, but are so overwhelmed by the seemingly insurmountable work that they are rendered incapable of doing anything.

Instead of focusing on your entire home, decide what single space in your house bothers you the most. What space haunts you in its need for an organizational overhaul? The space could be as small as a single junk drawer in your kitchen or as large as your two-car garage that is filled with several generations’ worth of cast-offs.

If the prospect of organizing is akin to a trip to the dentist, start with a small space. If cheap psychological tricks—like rewarding yourself for a job done—work, employ them. Conversely, do not try to organize a space so large that the project could take weeks—forcing you to look at depressing piles of things waiting to be organized or removed. Take that large space and divide it into easily managed projects.

Until you feel confident with the skill of organizing, focus on projects that you can complete in a couple of hours. You will feel good about your work and how the newly-arranged spaces feel, thus giving you a sense of self-assurance that will make your bigger jobs a welcome challenge.

The actual doing is pretty straightforward: keep and organize items that you like or love and that you use. Remove all items that you dislike, are broken and not fixable, items that do not fit and objects that are not used. If this is very difficult to do, have three piles: keep, throw out and undecided.

If there is an overwhelming amount of organizing and removing to do, begin with the most important rooms and go from there. The most important rooms to be clutter-free are your bedroom and the center of your home. Good energy in the bedroom is of vital importance; it is where you spend a great deal of time and get your rest. The center of your home affects the health and vitality of the family. Once these two areas are organized, move on to the rest of the home.

For more information, go to: Harmonious Environment:Beautify, Detoxify & Energize Your Life, Your Home & Your Planet.

Technorati Tags:
negative energy, organize your home, overwhelming clutter, removing clutter, removing stuff, unwanted clutter
Add to: | Technorati | Digg | del.icio.us | Yahoo | BlinkList | Spurl | reddit |