My husband and I made this recently, as a sort of experiment, and it turned out quite tasty! It’s a simple recipe for an inexpensive salmon dinner and a good way to use up leftovers. I wanted to document what we did so that we can recreate it, and maybe you’d like to try, too!

Ingredients

1. 2-3 (we used 3) salmon filets, skinless and boneless
2. 3 small red potatoes
3. about 1 cup of steamed rice
4. 3 tbsp cornstarch
5. 2 tbsp olive oil or canola oil
6. 1 can of sliced mushrooms
7. your choice of spices
8. optional: about 1/2 green bell pepper, diced
9. optional: about 1/4 cup onion, diced

Directions

1. Prepare your ingredients. Thaw the fish, chop the vegetables. I would suggest readying a non-stick frying pan with some canola oil in the bottom. In the canola oil, you will scatter the seasoning you wish to use on your fish. I sprinkled garlic powder and onion powder, because I was too lazy to use the real thing. This actually worked well and soaked in to the fish nicely. I’d recommend including a bit of savory and/or thyme, dill weed, black pepper, and seasoned salt. Regular salt should work if no seasoned salt is available.

2. Rinse your thawed salmon and pat dry with paper towel. Then, over a plate to catch the excess, pat on an extremely light coat of cornstarch. I read about this on instructables.com and have found it to work very well keeping the moisture in and keeping the desired spices on the fish. Without it, you’ll find you end up with a very dry piece of fish! Make sure to shake off the excess cornstarch, as it is meant to be just a thin coating. Place in your pan, on top of the spices.

3. On the top of your filets, add a light coating of oil with a brush or a spoon, and then spice the top. I did not use all of the same spices on the top, but I did add a coating of the big flavors: the seasoned salt, black pepper, and garlic powder.

4. Cook on medium heat for several minutes. You will know it’s ready to turn when the pink fish has turned white about a third of the way through, and the bottom of the fish will be a sort of crisp golden brown. Simply flip and wait. Remove from heat after the bottom is the desired color. The fish may be either cooked white all the way through, or with a thin line of pink through the middle.

5. We started the potatoes cut into pieces and microwaved to get them soft. Then, we chopped them up into more bite-sized pieces and added them to pan that the salmon was cooked in. By this time, the salmon should be set aside. You will want to add another teaspoon-or-so of oil to the pan. Add any vegetables that need to cook, such as your green peppers or onions. Add your mushrooms, including about half the water in the can. Black pepper and seasoned salt may be added to taste.

6. Lastly, add your pre-cooked rice. We used leftover rice we had in the fridge. Continue to stir and fry until the vegetables are softened and the rice is slightly browned, then remove from heat.

7. Serve the salmon on a bed of the rice and veggie stir fry, and enjoy! (Good for 2 large or 4 small servings)

Why should you drink coffee?

Because it’s made out of a bean, not a nut. Duh.

No, but seriously. I love coffee. I love it even though it give me terrible heart burn, and I have to take Prilosec OTC every day to counter it. It makes me tall! And strong! And smart!

No, but seriously. (What?) I find coffee to be a great social-interaction-maker. I don’t smoke, so when I worked at an office I couldn’t take smoke breaks outside with other people. However, I could go to the back and pour myself some coffee, and interact with the other coffee drinkers. We have something in common right off the bat! When I worked at the hospital on some days, I could go downstairs to the little snack shop, order coffee, and chat with the other customers about how much cream and sugar we use though we know we shouldn’t. And how expensive the coffee is, and how much better it is to buy it here than at Starbucks, where the prices are so outrageous.

Speaking of which, I think I’m in the minority here. I am a coffee lover who actually likes Starbucks. I don’t go there often because I’m a cheapskate, but if I get a gift card…I’m all over it! I love it. The atmosphere, the flavored coffees, the friendly staff. But that’s okay. Not everyone can be as classy as I am!

To sum it up: you should drink coffee because “it does a body good” – or is that milk? Hmm.

What do you think? Love it? Hate it? Drinking it since you were under the age of five, like me?

I’ve been not writing because I’m too worried about what YOU might think. Things keep running through my head, such as: You won’t think I sound professional enough. You won’t think I said anything interesting. You won’t think I write as well as those other blogs you read. You won’t like me. You won’t come back.

You know what?! I don’t care any more! You don’t like my writing? Screw you! You’re still here, reading, aren’t you? You disagree with me? Fine! Tell your friends, or don’t for all I care.

I’m going to write, and I’m not going to pretend to be anyone else. I’m going to write, and I’m not going to worry about anyone else. I’m going to blog whether or not I get any traffic. It’s going to be written in my style, in my words, as often as I like. Unless, of course, you have a friendly suggestion or request….

…Or something like that.

A couple years ago, my mom got me started reading a series of books by Beverly Lewis about the Amish. Despite the books being a little slower-paced than I’m used to, I quickly found myself hooked, looking for more and more of the books at my local library. There was something appealing about their way of life in those books. They had real, close relationships with each other, and they did work that bettered lives and fulfilled them. They worked together, studied together, lived together. I don’t know about you (though I can guess), but I often feel disconnected. I talk to my family on the phone sometimes, I email my friends, I work with near-strangers, and I shop at a huge supermarket with other strangers. It was during this time frame, while I was reading all these books, that I started talking to a few of my friends about my plan: I wanted to be Amish. Or something. Why not have a few of us move off to the middle of nowhere and live as a community. Grow our own food, build our own homes, sew our own clothes.

Well, life goes on, and we do what we must, and I read other books and forgot about the whole thing – until I was recently reminded of that desire. It’s an attractive idea to me, still! My husband and I watched a movie with our friends called Food, Inc, a documentary about where the majority of our food comes from. If you’re anything like me and wary of sitting down to watch a documentary, I promise this one shouldn’t put you to sleep. It had us riveted. It’s scary, too! It’ll almost scare you into growing your own food. Do you know about how they raise the chickens we eat, how many of them grow so fat, so fast, that they can only take a few steps before falling down? Their legs are too under-developed to hold up all the weight. Did you know that we’re feeding our cows massive amounts of corn, because it’s cheap, rather than the grass diets their bodies need, and that this is a huge factor in the outbreaks of E. coli we’ve seen lately? Did you know that a small handful of companies manage a huge majority of all of the meat sold and used in restaurants and grocery stores?

Sound related to Amish? Well, no, not directly. But it provoked one of our friends to say that she and her fiancé, my husband and I, and a couple other friends of ours should go live on a farm and homeschool our kids. And suddenly I was reminded of my idea.

And I still can’t say I think it’s a horrible idea. (Only – what would we do without the internet?)

While it may be a bit extreme to think that I’ll really go live on a farm and leave society completely, there are some aspects of a simpler, more natural lifestyle that I try to incorporate into my own life. We eat less fast food and frozen pre-prepared foods and instead try to cook our own meals more often. We try to DIY, when possible. (My husband just completed a new set of shelves for our bedroom on Monday!) And I’m starting to look for more organic produce at the grocery store.

But I want to do more.

And I can’t shake this feeling that maybe the Amish are doing it way better than the rest of us.

Have you ever been attracted to running away to a simpler life? What would you miss about your life if you did?

I love Avon’s Skin So Soft Gelled Body Oil. I started using it almost a month ago, and now I hate to go without it. You put it on after showering while your skin is still damp, it soaks in and stays put. Make sure you rub it in well! It has a soft scent that can be combined with body wash or other fragrance products to keep you smelling nice (and fresh) all day! It comes in all your favorite Skin So Soft scents. I’m currently using the Soft and Sensual Gelled Body Oil, Deodorant, and Body Wash.

When it dries, it leaves what I can only call a light, silky finish and skin that is smooth and soft to the touch. Last but not least, it doesn’t leave my skin feeling greasy, oily, or sticky!

My husband also says it makes my skin feel “so soft” – hehe. Look it up at my store, if you’re interested. It’s one of my favorites!

If you’ve never used roll on deodorant before, you may be a little hesitant to try it. I was quite hesitant, myself. I’ve only used regular old white powder deodorant ever since one negative experience I had with a liquid that left me feeling all slimy. It has taken some getting used to, but I am really learning to love Avon’s Skin So Soft Roll on Deodorant. It does go on wet, but if it’s used after a shower, it will be dry quickly – long before your hair dries, probably!

I love the scent and how it layers with the other products I use. (I use the Soft and Sensual deodorant, body wash, and gelled body oil.) Once it dries, my underarms feel dry, and it lasts longer than the old, powder deodorant I used to get from the drugstore. It never leaves a mark on my clothes, either, or leaves me feeling sticky!

Try it now if you never have before, or stock up if you already use it. Avon Roll-On deodorants are on sale now in several wonderful scents, such as Timeless, Sweet Honesty, and Imari. And the others are at their usual low prices. I highly recommend that you check it out at my store!

For now I just want to share a little bit of how I got where I am now. To me it is evidence of God working in my life!

My writing – I’ve always, always loved to write. I admit that in fourth grade I despised “Writing Wednesdays,” but that was just because I was being forced. The first stories I wrote (that I remember) were in second grade. Our teacher would staple together little booklets, and we would fill them in during class. I swear I filled in almost twice as many as other kids. I’ve also kept some sort of journal almost all my life, starting when I was probably in first or second grade until now.

I enjoy writing. I enjoy grammar and languages. I didn’t learn to enjoy it at school, but in a lot of ways despite school (I did not enjoy my composition or English classes very much). Now, I’m at the point of having participated in NaNoWriMo twice, winning both times, and dreaming about one day publishing a novel. But speaking of writing, this leads right into…

My blog – Blogging is something I wanted to get into because of how much I enjoy writing. It’s a thrill to move my fingers across the keyboard and have words appear, words that mean something. I enjoy trying to make my words flow and have a certain “sound.” In person, I’m quiet. After being so shy throughout my childhood, this quietness is sort of stuck in me, and I don’t really mind it. It just means that I usually won’t speak up unless I’m sure what I’m saying is relevant and important/useful. But it’s a different story here. Here, I can and will say what I want to, when I want to, and I know that only those who are interested will continue to read. And I’m okay with that! It’s a way for me to express my opinions, experiences, and thoughts that I might otherwise hold back, afraid no one is interested.

My art – I come from a very artistic family, on all sides. My father’s mother painted numerous landscapes, one of which is currently hanging in my living room! I have a niece whose drawings get better every time I see them. My mother’s brother, aunt, and grandmother are all very artistic, and even my stepfather brought in some income for a while by selling his art online. My husband is a whiz with a pen, with paint, with almost any medium he’s tried, so our kids may end up artists as well!

As for me, I never saw myself as an artist. I was just another kid who drew people’s faces. Until, one day, I decided to really try, and I impressed myself. I took an art class in grade school, and a tried a tutorial online one time, but other than that, I’ve been completely self-taught, and I’m proud of how far I’ve come.

Avon – I started selling Avon for a number of reasons. One, I had recently quit my job due to getting married, and I wanted to help bring in some extra income for our little family of two.

Second, I wanted the flexibility of a basically self-employed status because, as an army wife, my husband’s schedule can sometimes be unpredictable. I want the freedom to be able to work when my husband is working, so that I can be spending time with him when he’s not working.

Third, I wanted the challenge. I’m an opinionated person. I can be forceful when I need to be, as I demonstrated at my previous job when I had to speak with insurance companies regarding lack of payment on claims. And I’ve taught myself to be less shy than I used to be. But being a salesperson, developing relationships with strangers, and being assertive is another story completely. I didn’t know if I could do it, but I was and am determined to prove that I can. And you know what? I’m really loving it. Also, I get discounts on products that I’m growing to love.