Liz's Recommendation - Cream of Chicken Soup

One of my favorite things to do is cook. I would cook and bake all day long, if our financial situation allowed it. Another one of my favorite things to do is eat. I am not a health nut - far from it - but I do know that the fewer processed foods I eat, the better I feel. So I try to make as much as possible from scratch, and not use recipes that call for processed foods. I was getting discouraged a while ago when I kept finding recipes that looked yummy, except for the inclusion of canned cream of chicken soup. I also had a few of my own recipes I was reluctant to make on a regular basis because of this offensive ingredient.

Fortunately, Pinterest came to the rescue, as it so often had before, and I found a recipe for homemade cream of chicken soup. I've modified quantities only slightly, and am completely happy with the result. "But Liz," you may protest, "it's so quick and easy to just pop open a can of cream of chicken and dump it in a bowl with the rest of my ingredients. Surely making my own cream of chicken soup will increase the preparation time on my recipes?" I admit that this process takes longer than opening a can, but it can be done while other parts of your meal are still being prepared, so it really doesn't add to total preparation time. For example: I use this soup in a chicken enchilada recipe that I have had for years. I make the cream of chicken soup while the chicken for the enchiladas is cooking, and it doesn't add any extra time.

So without further ado, here is the recipe:

3 Tbsp. butter
2-3 Tbsp. flour (depending on desired thickness)
1/2 cup chicken broth or stock
1/2 cup milk

Make a roux out of the butter and flour (melt the butter in a saucepan, then whisk in flour). Let it cook for a few minutes to get rid of the floury taste, then add broth and milk. Bring to a bubble, stirring. Remove from heat. You can add salt or pepper to taste, or let it thicken for a couple of minutes before adding to your recipe. This recipe makes the equivalent of one can of cream of chicken soup.

That's it! Easy-peezy. Only four simple ingredients (and it's even healthier if you use homemade chicken broth), it takes just about 7 minutes to make, it's cheaper than buying cans of cream of chicken, and I think it is more appetizing and tastes better than the gloopy-gloppy canned stuff. In fact, every time I make my aforementioned chicken enchiladas, Mike asks excitedly, "Ooh, did you use homemade cream of chicken soup in this??" I don't think any canned cream of chicken soup could inspire that kind of excitement. So you know this version must be good.

Another family reunion info request

One more question for everyone regarding the family reunion. Last year, the family voiced desire to shake up the family reunion venue a little. An idea that was brought up was the idea of camping. Liz and I are exploring this idea for the family reunion this year, and would love everyone's candid feedback. The campground would be safe and would be relatively close to the home, just in case anyone got sick or there was bad weather. We would get a little canopy and tables for all the traditions, such as candy jars, bingo, etc. and we would still be able to do slip and slide, baseball, marshmallow wars, etc. Each family would still be in charge of one meal. The biggest difference (obviously) would be that we would be sleeping in tents and enjoying the outdoors. Liz and I could help find tents, sleeping bags, and other supplies if you guys don't have them. So what I need is you guys' opinions (everyones' would be great!). And we would really appreciate honest opinions. We think it's a good idea (and frankly the only affordable alternative to mom and dad's house) but we want to know how you feel. You can send your opinion to my email if you hate the idea so vehemently that you don't want to post your feelings on the blog. Lastly, I know I go into business mode with planning, but I love you all and think we have the best little Bean family there ever was! 

Family Reunion Dates

Liz and I are trying to figure out venues for the family reunion. Before we can do that, we need to have a date in mind. As such, I need everyone's help! If you could please post dates that you know right now you could NOT attend, that would be greatly helpful. We are looking at weekends from the middle of July through the middle of August. We understand that thing will come up and change, but we need to at least have some sense. If everyone could do this in the next few days, that would be great! Thanks!

Mike's Recommendation aka Conquering Cold Sores

So unfortunately I haven't found a lot of time to craft and write an expansive recommendation, so I'll make this one short and simple. This suggestion has made my life much easier. So here goes!

So how many of you have suffered from cold sores? Those painful, itchy eyesores that appear on your lips during the dry or stressful season of life. What could be worse than having herpes on your face? Nothing. So companies have gone out and created products to try and alleviate these painful symptoms.  Unfortunately, any and all remedies are very pricey (Abreva) and don't work nearly as well as you would like them to (Abreva). And no, I don't have an Abreva grudge, I just hate cold sores too much to have the patience for Abreva. So here is my solution. It is cheap and it is effective, the one-two punch for effective remedies. And this cold sore remedy is none other than Vaseline!

Now, you may ask, how on earth can petroleum jelly help my herpes of the face? To be quite honest, I'm not exactly sure how it works. But, from experience, I know it does. First off, it virtually stops all itching. If Vaseline is applied frequently and generously, my cold sores never itch. And they never hurt. Second off, it significantly shortens the healing process and decreases the size of the cold sores. In this area, it is much more effective than Abreva. It is cheaper than Abreva, it doesn't leave a gross white paste on your face, and it works incredibly well.

So what's the trick? Just put it on. As soon as you feel a cold sore coming on (and all of us who get them know exactly what that feeling is) cover it with Vaseline. And do it generously and consistently. If you do, your cold sores won't itch, they won't get as big, they'll heal faster, and your significant other will want to kiss you even more.

Enough said. Vaseline works wonders with cold sores. As these sores are the bain of my existence, and I'm sure the bain of many others' as well, I hope you try Vaseline and enjoy the gentle relief that petroleum jelly can bring to your face herpes!

Spotify

My brother-in-law asked me the other day, “What do you do to relax? What do you do to find a release?”  It was at that moment that I realized that, with the limited time I have nowadays, I have turned my attention from more time-consuming activities and have turned deeper into my love for music.

Seriously, music is basicly all I do right now.  From the moment I wake up, to the stretching hours at work, to just before bed, I have something playing on my phone or on my computer.  So, I am going to share with you my tool for consumption: Spotify.  

I have already shared with Brian and Mike, and I know a lot of you are Grooveshark users.  But I promise, if you invest just a little time in Spotify, you will love it.  Here are my reasons, including some drawbacks I have found (there are a lot of them, so if you don’t have the time, just know that I love Spotify):

Seamless Music

One thing that always bothered me about Grooveshark was that I would search for a song and I would get multiple hits for the same song, half of which were not at all what I was looking for.  I would also get multiple albums that were incomplete.  I would have to mix-and-match multiple sources to find all the songs I wanted. And songs seemed to fuzz out pretty often.

Spotify, while having a more limited selection than Grooveshark, makes sure that all the songs that are on an album are there where they are supposed to be.  I also know that I can click on an artist and find a more complete collection of that artists work.  It has been a great tool for me to discover lots of different types of music.

Easily organized playlists

This is the best reason to use Spotify.  It is so intuitive to create a playlist and start dragging music into it.  I can easily rename playlists and shuffle them around to make exactly the grouping I want.  Playlists sit right in my sidebar so that I can easily navigate.  Plus, if I am listening to Spotify radio on my mobile device, all I have to do is tap a button and I can add the song to my playlists instantly.  I found that Pandora made it difficult for me to keep track of the songs I heard and liked: I have that problem no more.

Plus it integrates your whole iTunes library into your collection.

Music sharing

Music sharing sounds better than it really is.  Unless you find someone that you have freakishly similar tastes with, sharing music can be frustrating (because the other person might not quite like that song as much as you did).  Spotify ONLY makes sharing easy with other Spotify users.  In fact, sharing Spotify songs outside of Spotify is a pain, and if I want to share on facebook, I always go back to grooveshark.  However, if you have a friend on Spotify, you easily send them a song that you like and attach a love note to it.

Also, Spotify has collaborative playlists, wherein multiple users can submit songs to a playlist in order to produce a robust collection.  Brian and I each have playlists of songs we think the other person would like.  It’s a very simple way to create a list of songs I think are perfect for Brian.  He can take them as he pleases.

Finally, when I am on, I can see exactly what Brian is listening to and what he is adding to his playlists.  I don’t know how many times I have snagged a song from Brian’s “New Oldies” playlist, but I know my “New Trends” playlist is populated heavily with them.  I like exploring new music through my family members.

Mobile features

I don’t know anything about Grooveshark mobile, but I know Pandora is mobile AND free.  That’s one up on Spotify, as you have to pay $9.99 per month for mobile Spotify.  But I love it (thanks Brian and Hayley!).  I can listen to playlists offline (which means I don’t get in trouble for streaming at work).  I listen in my car to and from work.  And I don’t have any commercials.  It’s sleek and smooth on your mobile device and its’ fun. Whee!!!

Stand-Alone feature

Spotify is a stand-alone program, meaning that you need to download it to your computer in order to enjoy it.  Some people may not like it, but I think it is a bonus.  I don’t ever have to rely on my browsers (which all seem to suck on a Mac) to listen to music.  Additionally, I never need to log on and I can unleash the full power of my already-out-of-date RAM.  Plus, I have a habit of accidently closing all my tabs in my browser when I only intend to close one, and it always threw off my Groove(shark).

Artist reimbursement

I recently conversed with a very low-key artist about reimbrsement from various media sources.  He indicated that the best bet for supporting your artist was to buy a CD or vinyl.  However, he indicated that, while he never saw any money from Grooveshark or Pandora, he did see money from Spotify.  I don’t know how Grooveshark works, but I have always felt it akin to the old Napster or Limewire, or Playlist.com.  I honestly don’t know how they get their music.  But I do feel better knowing that, to be on Spotify, you have to have a label and you have to go through the proper channels.  I like supporting the music industry (although I never ever buy CDs anymore; sorry music industry).

Apps

Spotify has in-program apps that can make your listening experience more enjoyable.  I love the lyrics app as it helps me quickly discard objectionable songs.  They also have music discovery apps, apps that keep track of your music, and apps that tell you what concerts around town you would like. Good fun.

Pandora-like radio, but more customizable

Pandora is awesome.  I loved how it would pick out the most perfect song for me.  However, sometimes I would “like” a song that would totally disrupt my perfectly harmonized station (for example, I only like one Shins song in the world, but when I liked it on Pandora, it started popping up strange songs I would never like).  I found it incredibly difficult to locate that song and remove it from my station, especially since I had literally “liked” 100s of songs.  With Spotify, I don’t have that problem.  I can easily sort all my playlists, find the offending song, and eject it.  I can start a radio station from any of my playlists and find music that fits just perfectly.

Anyway, this is long, but I don’t care.  I love music and I really enjoy Spotify.  And if you made it through all of this, you might just like it, too! Loves all!

Happy Birthdays!

Happy (Belated) Birthday to Jules, and Happy Birthday to Dane! Have a wonderful birthday today! :)

Acne is gone

So, basically, after I had Avery my skin has slowly gotten worse and worse.  I just put up with it until the last couple of months.  It got so bad that I was even embarrassed with my own husband.  Not your normal acne.  Just spreads like crazy on my neck and jaw and some on my cheek bones.  TMI.  Anyway.  I made a goal for myself to clear it up in 6 months or go to the DR.  I know that some in our family struggle with it too.  So here is what I have done to make it much, much better.  No Dr. for me. I don't even use cover-up anymore:)  These products I have found work just as good as any other.  Believe me, I have tried them all over the last four years.

Night Time 

Step 1 ~ Wash with the hottest water your hands can stand.  I use regular soap.  Nothing with micro beads (it will scratch your skin) and nothing with moisturizers built in (that will clog pores).  Soap with Aloe is ok. I prefer it because it helps with the adverse affects of the Benzo.

Step 2 ~ Use a cotton pad and dampen it with Deep Cleaning Astringent that is 0.5% Salic Acid (that's an acne medication). Wipe your whole face and neck with multiple pads until they come clean.  Believe me you will be surprised at the dirt and oil that will come off your face with this.  Even after a good washing.

Step 3 ~ Spot treat trouble areas with 10% Benzoyl Peroxide (another acne medication).  Benzo will dry your face out like crazy and may burn it if you use it too much, but I have a cure for that too.

Morning Time

Step 1 ~ Wash with the hottest water your hands can stand using your regular soap.
Step 2 ~  Instead of moisturizer (before make-up for the girls), use hydrocortizone cream all over your face and neck.  I like the .88 cent bottle from Walmart.  It seems to be thicker and more moisturizing.  Make sure you rub it all in just like a lotion.  Pay particular attention to the places you put the Benzo on the night before. It will prevent the Benzo from drying out or burning your skin.  Wait until completely dry and then apply make-up.

Other Things:

Don't touch your face during the day

Change your pillowcase often

Wash your make- up applicators every couple of days

*It took about three weeks for my skin to be very clear, but I noticed a difference in just one week. 

Good luck.  Let me know if you try it.*