ABCs of an Abundant Life

In our church magazine, the Ensign, the First Presidency Message for January was writen by President Monson. It is entitled "Living The Abundant Life." It was just what I needed to read. The whole Ensign for January was extra great, but especially the First Presidency Message. If you haven't had the time to read it, please do. It is so inspiring.

A is for attitude. “The greatest revolution of our generation is the discovery that human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives.”-William James

B is for belief—in yourself, in those around you, and in eternal principles. "Don’t limit yourself and don’t let others convince you that you are limited in what you can do. Believe in yourself and then live so as to reach your possibilities."

C is for courage. "There will be times when you will be frightened and discouraged. You may feel that you are defeated. The odds of obtaining victory may appear overwhelming. At times you may feel like David trying to fight Goliath. But remember—David did win!"

We are trying to incororate these ideas into our family goals this year. This month we all set goals for a better attitude. D is also working to remember  what the ABC stand for.

"At the advent of a new year, I challenge Latter-day Saints everywhere to undertake a personal, diligent, significant quest for what I call the abundant life—a life filled with an abundance of success, goodness, and blessings."

I am taking Presidents Monson's challenge to life a more abundant life this year. I would encourage other to do the same, and not only members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, but all people. This is a message to the world, an invitation to become happier and more fulfilled in life. I think that is something we all need.

Cafe Rio Chicken

I found a yummy looking recipe I just had to try on pinterest, where I find all my ideas. Yes, my name is Nicole and I am a pinterest addict. But I digress. Back to the chicken, Cafe Rio Chicken to be precise.

Source: chef-n-training.blogspot.com via Nicole on Pinterest

So I did the recipe a little differently. You can click on the pinterest link to find the original at chef-n-training.blogspot.com. The original is probably more spicy, but I changed it up knowing what D would eat. Anything even remotely spicy and he opts out of dinner. It really is one of those recipes you can change to your own liking.


Cafe Rio Chicken
Adapted from chef-n-training.blogspot.com.

• 2 lbs chicken breasts
• 4 oz Italian dressing
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1 pkt ranch dressing mix (mixed with 1/2 cup of water)
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 Tbsp. ground cumin

I put my chicken into the crockpot frozen. (If I have to defrost it, it is no longer a quick recipe for me.) I added the rest of the ingredients. I put it on high for a couple of hours and then lowered the heat to low for about 5 hours. When the chicken was done, I shredded it, placed it back into the crockpot and left it on low till dinner. 

An easy trick to shred the chicken is place it in your kitchen aid with the paddle attachment. Run the mixer on low for about 5 seconds. Perfectly shredded chicken. I know you have to then clean the bowl and attachment, but that is still less time than shredding 2 lbs of hot chicken. Note: Never do this with cold chicken. I have never tried it, but I heard it can break your mixer.

We used the chicken to make burritos. A tortilla, some rice, some beans, the chicken, and a little cheese. So yummy. I made about 18 burritos and still had chicken left. No, we did not east 18 burritos. But I probably could have. Yum yum! I wrapped the extras up in foil, threw them in a freezer bag and labeled them. Homemade frozen burritos. 

The chicken was great. D, the 4 year old who decided recently he doesn't like any meat, had 3 servings.  This is definitely going to be a freeze staple in my house. 

De-clutter Time

So, I am a person who makes New Years resolutions every year. Do they stick? Some years are better than others. I have started to think about what some of my New Years resolutions should be, and I have come up with one I want to try this year. It is my year to de-clutter! I go through these phases of wanting to save everything to wanting to throw everything out. This year I want to find a happy medium. That is when I found www.mysimplerlife.com, and her great 2012 Declutter calendar!

You can sign up here for her news letter with tips and hints to declutter your life and you also get a downloadable calendar with a decluttering task for every day during 2012. They are usually simple things, like clean out your spice rack or throw out any old or expired medications. Some are more difficult, like let go of a hobby you haven't done in a while and get rid of it. Sundays are reserved for making your life simpler mentally speaking.

I am really excited to try this out in 2012. We have always lived in very small apartments and clutter and "stuff" is probably the thing I complain to my hubby about the most.

So, here's to New Years resolutions and making them stick!

Merry Christmas

Gingerbread Houses....Done!

I always want to make gingerbread houses with D at Christmas time, but it never happens. As you probably gathered from reading my advent calendar  dilemma, I am not much of a planner and not as on top of things as I should be. That is why the only year we did gingerbread houses was when I bought a pre-made kit. Then, last year, I found this little baby for $2 at the Walmart Christmas clearance section:

I had to have it! I pulled it out last week, read the recipe for gingerbread cookies that it came with, and thought, "This ain't going to happen." Then I read the suggestions at the bottom. It was suggestions on how else to use the pan. Rice crispy treat! Wilton came through for me! I pulled out the half eaten box of fruity pebbles and a half used bag of colored marshmallows. With a little butter and the microwave, we were in business. 

 The next day we used the pan to make "gingerbread" house pizza. It was a blast!

And it tasted good!

Next, I am thinking either cinnamon rolls or maybe a sugar cookie. My gingerbread problems are now solved.

Santa

The other day my husband pointed out that D will probably only believe in Santa for another 4 years or so. That made me very sad. I remember the year that I stopped believing in Santa, and it did change some of the magic of the holidays for me.  Believing in Santa is part of childhood, something you can never reclaim. I don't look forward to the day when D no longer believes, but I know it will come. Since D is our only child, when he no longer believes we will be done with Santa. I do pray that the spirit of Santa, the spirit of giving and generosity, still continues after complete belief is gone.

Easy Advent

Every year I have big plans to make a fun advent calendar for D, but every year Thanksgiving ends and, next thing I know, December has come. This year I made something! I know, I didn't get it together till Dec 1st, but hey, it got done!

So it all started with an idea I found that I loved. It was a guest post on I Am Momma Hear Me Roar. Huge Fan Here!!!  It was a post done by Kojo Designs. She did an advent with 25 different names for Jesus.  on ordainments.

Source: iammommahearmeroar.blogspot.com via Nicole on Pinterest

Of course, it is Nov 29 when I finally decided to make an advent, so that wasn't going to happen this year. (I am definitely planning on making them next year!)  I continued my search for an easier and faster idea.  I found something simple on Pinterest. Paper Christmas trees.

Source: familyfun.go.com via Nicole on Pinterest

That was it! I could totally do that. So we did. I only used the smallest template. I placed a candy kiss and a small paper in each one. Each paper had a name of Christ on it.  I half glued, half shoved tissue paper in the bottom because I knew D wouldn't leave them alone and I didn't want everything to fall out every time he picked them up.  In true Nicole fashion, I ended up with an extra paper, so one is missing a name. It's on the fridge for when we find that one.

Mine aren't as pretty as the ones from Family Fun, but D likes them. He decorated them with stickers, markers, and crayons. "Mom, they look like a forest."  I am glad he knew they were suppose to be trees. Now, what to do with all those extra candy kiss??? :)