I LOVE Salsa!!!

And, after trying every kind of salsa out there. I finally found the very BEST salsa at a Tupperware party that I went to last year. The Tupperware Lady (Michele) was talking about the Quick Chef and she said that she makes the best salsa in her Quick Chef and would be happy to give her recipe to anyone that bought one. I was all over that! As I said, I LOVE salsa and thought it would be so cool to make my own so that I could get it just the way I like it. Buying that Quick Chef was probably one of the best things that I ever got because the salsa is so yummy.

Tupperware Quick Chef

I've had a few people ask me for the recipe. I thought it would be a good idea to put it on here so, that way everyone who wants it can get it and if I lose my paper copy of the recipe, it is forever saved here on my blog. I'm sure that Michele won't mind me sharing this recipe as long as if you need a Quick Chef, order it through her. Here is a link to her site.


Quick Chef Easy Salsa

8 Plum Tomatoes - Quartered (I'm not knowledgable about tomatoes, but I couldn't find plum tomatoes the first time that I made this so, I just bought a package of "4 tomatoes" at SuperTarget. If you go to SuperTarget, you will see what I am talking about. I have no idea what kind of tomatoes they are, they just say "tomatoes" on the package and there is 4.)

1 Jalapeno Pepper - No seeds

1/4 Red Onion

Fresh Cilantro (She didn't specify how much, so I just put in....well....a lot. Again, if you are at Target, I buy the fresh cilantro in the package with the cilantro, in the dirt, and use about 1/2 of it.)


1 Teaspoon Sugar

1 Teaspoon Salt

1/2 Yellow/Orange Pepper

1/2 Fresh Lime - Juice (I use 2 Tablespoons of the RealLime juice)

Spin in Quick Chef periodically and then chill before serving.

It is really delicious with the Tostido's Lime Chips....Mmmmmmmmm......Ok, I'm getting hungry now. ;)

It's Not Easy Being "Green"!!!

***Edited to Add*** I saw on someone else's blog a great idea for recycling the plastic shopping bags...I can use them to put the disposable diapers in before I throw the diapers in the trash. LOL!! I think that goes against the idea, but I thought it was pretty funny.

Really, it's not (easy being green)!! In trying to keep up with what's "in", I've been thinking about what our family can do to be more "green". My family makes an awful lot of garbage. Since we have been in survival mode for the last 6 years, to say that we haven't placed 'saving the world' as a high priority is a bit of an understament.

I figured that we can start out with baby steps. I heard that disposable diapers have been outlawed in Vermont. We are sooooo not going there!! Remember...baby steps.

First of all, a few months ago, we finally got a recycling bin. How embarassing is that. When we bought our house, the old owners took the recycling bin with them and I never called to get a new one. Turns out, I can use an ordinary bin from Target...not like I don't have 30 of those in my basement! So, Step One ~ DONE!

Step 2, I decided that the boys and I would spend a day "goin' green" over spring break. I figured that if I got them involved, I would be more accountable and therefore, more successful. So, we all wore green shirts, I printed off "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" coloring pages, we colored them, we talked about what all of those words meant and how we what we could do in our lives to help the earth, blah, blah, blah. Yup, in one ear and out the other! That concluded my lesson on how we could save the earth....back to Webkinz and scooters. I really have no idea how people homeschool their kids, oh well, another topic for another day. Anyway, thank goodness real school stepped in with their Earth Day lessons. Since Earth Day, I have been reminded over and over again to recycle my milk containers, pop cans, waffle boxes and everything else. Yesterday, it was pointed out to me that Menards sells "Earth Day Lightbulbs". Which by the way, I already had at home(!!). And, my kids have actually been asking for the "paper with the writing on the back" rather than stealing my printer paper for their art projects. I love kindergarten!!! Maybe my family is not a lost cause after all!! It would be nice if kindergarten mentioned to turn off the water (all the way!) and to shut the lights off when leaving a room. Ironically, I spent 10 minutes trying to figure out where a strange sound was coming from tonight in my kitchen. It turned out to be the faucet that was not all of the way turned off in the boys' bathroom, directly over the kitchen. And, Jack left the bathroom today (a different time) without turning off the water AT ALL!! How does that happen?!?!? The water was running, full blast and he didn't even notice! Maybe we are a lost cause....Help Kindergarten!!!

My final baby-step attempt at "going green" is that I decided that I wanted to purchase some of those reusable shopping bags that I have been seeing more and more often. We go through TONS of those plastic bags and try to reuse them, but really collect more than we will ever use so a lot go in the trash. The reusable shopping bags look really convenient and of course great for the earth. So, I marched Charlie and I into Target to get some of those bags. I couldn't find them! So, I asked the guy, you know, the manager looking guy that works close to the registers and directs people. I told him that I was looking for the reusable red shopping bags that I had seen not long ago by the registers. He looked at me like I was from another planet...had no idea what I was talking about! He said something about them having bags like that around for the holidays? Huh, like Earth day? Nope, he meant like Christmas?!?! If this guy was that clueless, it makes me kind of wonder what the cashier would think when I handed her the bags for her to bag my groceries. Someone told me that the first time they used them, when they got home, they realized that the cashier bagged the groceries in the plastic bags and then put the plastic bags in the reusable bags. Ummmm, I guess that I am not the only one that is not "green". Since I decided to revisit the issue tonight, I thought that I would check online for reusable bags. I found the cutest ones from Walmart. There is a picture below. Aren't they cute! Here is the problem...I HATE Walmart! If I have to go to Walmart to save the earth, the earth is in BIG trouble!! I'll have to think about it. Maybe Charlie and I will make a quick trip to Walmart to buy the cool bags to use them at Target. ;)



So, that is our plan to save the planet. Any other suggestions for us?? I'd be interested in hearing what other people are doing...besides wearing green shirts and typing in a green font. :)

Roomba vs. Moonsand

I got a Roomba a few weeks ago and it is turning into my new best friend. I love my Roomba. It is a robotic vacuum cleaner. It is so cool. I turn it on and leave the room and it goes to work and when it is finished, it finds it's little home-base and recharges itself. I know that I got my money's worth out of it just in the boys' room. Their room is so taken up by beds that I can't even fit my regular vacuum between the beds. Not my little Roomba, it zigzagged back and forth under their beds for hours getting 2+ years of dust bunnies out from under their beds. An added bonus is that I am so productive with other household chores when the Roomba is working on a room. I guess I must feel a bit of guilt having the Roomba up there working so hard and me downstairs blogging or something. Pretty soon my house is going to be so nice and clean and organized. ;) So cool!!!

Now about the Moonsand, Ben wanted Moonsand for Christmas. From the moment I heard it, I knew it was a bad idea. Sand just does not belong in the house. Unfortunately, it was Ben that asked Santa for the Moonsand. I begged Ben to be naughty the last few weeks before Christmas so that Santa wouldn't bring the Moonsand. Unfortunately, Ben just doesn't have enough naughtiness in him and Santa brought the Moonsand. The boys used the Moonsand for the first time yesterday. I don't get how this can be advertised as "not messy". Of course it was messy. How do you play with sand, in the house and not make a mess? In fact, I had the boys play with the Moonsand in the basement because I was worried that sand would not be good for my newly refinished hardwood floors. After they were finished playing and finished at their attempt at cleaning up the Moonsand, they played on my computer for a while. This stupid stuff is so messy that the next time I went to use my computer, the mouse wasn't working well at all. I turned it over and the bottom of it was covered with Moonsand! I don't think that I am particularly anal about messes, but, on the other hand, I am not particularly fond of toys that require longer adult cleanup time than child play time.

Here are a couple pictures of the boys enjoying their new Moonsand...don't they look like they are having fun! Be sure not to miss the sand on the floor. Don't let the pretty color distract you, it is still SAND.

So, tonight there is going to be a battle of Roomba vs. Moonsand. May the best "toy" win!!!

Go Roomba!!!