Saturday, July 17, 2010

Stir-Fried Beef and Kangkong


Stir-Fried Beef and Kangkong

Ingredients: 250g beef, cut into thin strips

3 cups water

1 bunch kangkong

3 cloves garlic

1 medium sized onion

2 medium sized tomatoes

1 red bell pepper

2 tbsp. oil

3 tbsp oyster sauce

Pinch of salt and pepper

1. Boil meat in 3 cups water until tender. Season with salt, pepper and 1 tbsp. oyster sauce.

2. When meat is tender, stir-fry beef in oil until golden brown. Set aside.

3. On the same pan, sauté garlic, onion, tomatoes and red bell pepper.

4. Add beef and kangkong leaves. Continue sautéing.

5. Mix in the remaining oyster sauce. Remove from heat after 1 minute.

Serves 3-5 persons


Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Home Organizing Tips - From a Well-Organized Home to a Well-Organized Life

Home Organizing Tips - From a Well-Organized Home to a Well-Organized Life
There is nothing more relaxing and appealing than coming home to a well-organized and appealing home. If you have been seeing a big home organizing challenge ahead of you, don't be discouraged. You don't have to do them all at once, in fact, it would be important to prioritize, start with one room and then move on to the next. Read on for more home organizing tips that you might find useful.

1. Start small and set priorities. Tackling the challenge of organizing the entire house can be overwhelming especially if you do have a large house to take care of and if you have to deal with a fairly large amount of clutter. Before you start with the big tasks, start first with small things. This will help you avoid frustrations of not being able to finish one job. Start with your closet or your bathroom. You can also start from your kid's room, to your bedroom then to the kitchen, etc. depending on your priorities. Do something each day to help get rid of clutter.

2. More storage. Storage is important in finding a place for everything and keeping them off the counter top or at the table. One of the home organizing tips that can truly help you a lot is to add more storage and maximize the use of existing ones. However, you also have to learn to let go of things that you haven't used for ages and those that you don't really need.

3. Clear your closets first. Organizing your closet is one wise thing to start organizing your home. You may be still keeping those 10-year old dresses and you are not even using it or wanting to use it again, so the best way to start is to empty your closet, sort out things that you don't need anymore and donate it. Letting go is hard sometimes but you have to consider that you have to let go of some things to fully enjoy a spacious, clutter-free home.

4. Know what is truly important to you. Keeping everything even your pots with broken handles or those dresses that have been sitting in your closet for ages and you don't have plans of wearing it either - let go of them. If you are a shopaholic, also try to consider letting go of some of your old things as you bring in new ones.

5. Make your frequently used things readily accessible when you organize. Whether you are organizing a shoe, your closet, your home office, or your kitchen, this is one important home organizing tips to keep in mind always to avoid clutter and keep a well-organized home.

6. When organizing the kitchen, where most of the clutter can start and where many things are stored, use transparent containers so you will be able to see what is inside of it. You can also opt for stackable containers to maximize space and of course, for neat-looking storage. Even in organizing and arranging kid's toys and many other small items, using a transparent storage box, or labeling your boxes can be very helpful to maintain a neat and organized home.

7. Group things together. This is especially useful to make it easier for you to find things. To avoid clutter in your bathroom counter top, group all your accessories in one larger tub or small plastic basket and store it on cabinets if not in use. In the kitchen, group utensils together to make it easier for you to find what you need and group your foods as well, such as canned goods, pasta, condiments etc.
Start with these home organizing tips to help you start living an organized life and a clean, clutter-free home you would love to go home to.

Carolyn Anderson loves home organizing and designing. If you want to find great tips to start living an organized life, check out Definite Guide To Home Organization. Also check out Swimming Pool Maintenance Secrets, if you are looking for some ways to help you maintain your swimming pool.

Another fantastic article to read. I agree that clearing closets is a good start in decluttering your home. For me, clear closet = clear mind.  Once you have a clear mind. the next steps will become very easy.

A Simple Guide to Home Organization and Making a Stress-Free Home

A Simple Guide to Home Organization and Making a Stress-Free Home
One of the things that can make our lives stressful is living in a cluttered home or working on a cluttered office desk that will later send you scrambling for some things that you just can't find. To help you start living a spacious and refreshing abode, start with having a simple guide to home organization and be free yourself from more stress at home.

- Start with small steps and start now. Before you are overwhelmed with what to do and where to start, start in small steps towards organizing your home. Start by organizing shoes first, or your set of bags, or clearing the counter top in the kitchen, or organizing the bathroom after a bath. However small it may be, it can contribute a lot to being organized day by day.

- Have a place for everything. Of course, one guide to home organization is to have a place for everything in the house. Storage spaces are very important in home organizing and even from the start, consider having storage places in the kitchen, in the bathroom, in the living room, the kid's rooms etc. If you have storage for all the things you intend to keep, it will be a lot easier to put everything in their proper places.

- Set your mood to really like home organizing. Finding a motivation to do the task is also an important part of organizing. Of course, your attitude towards it matters. If you think there is not much enough time to do it, then you have to overcome this thinking as it can lead to procrastination. One tip to set your motivation is to browse some home organization images or articles in magazines or the internet to help you jumpstart your organizing plans. By merely looking at how clean and how pleasing a well-kept and organized home is, you can find great ideas on how you can organize your living space too.

- Make home organizing fun. Beat your thoughts and make home organizing fun and enjoyable. One thing to do it is to find someone who can help you with organizing - be it your partner in life, or your kid or a good friend who loves to put her creative juices on home organizing. It helps also to plan to give yourself a reward after you have done everything with the home organizing.

- Delegate some of the work to the rest of the family. Share and delegate the responsibility to keep your home clutter-free and organized. Teach your kids how they too can start organizing their room - from their toys to their books and everything else. This does not only take loads from you, it will also help teach the kids early on how to make their living spaces clutter-free and clean.

- Learn to let go. The more you cling to something that is not needed anymore, the more it can build up to be a clutter. Of course, you have to let go of dresses that have been sitting in your closet for years and years, and those pair of shoes that only gathers dust, and those broken kitchen utensils and the many things that haven't been used for ages. Letting go may be difficult but it is one good start in maintaining a clutter-free and stress-free home.

Find a great guide to home organization that will help you go into the details of how you can organize your home.

Carolyn Anderson loves to use her creativity in designing and organizing at home. To learn more about details on how you can maintain a clutter-free home, check out Guide To Home Organization. Also check out Declutter Fast, where you can find simple methods to de-clutter your home or office.

Learning to let go is a very difficult task.  Thank God, I'm finally getting used to it.  I admit, I'm a pack rat. I really love storing things, like old, really old ones for future use or just for the sake of "sentimental value".  But I noticed that I have no place any longer for the more important things, which resulted to clutter.  The result - more stress... everyday.  
Until one day, I finally decided that I don't want to feel stressed-out anymore- especially if it's because of my cluttered house. I started, giving out items that I will no longer use, or tried selling them on-line. And if needed, I just throw them in the trash.  
 With constant praying for God's help and guidance for me to have an open mind and clear decision, I'm finally making it!

Top 5 Benefits of Home Organization

Top 5 Benefits of Home Organization
Your life will improve if you just get your home organized. In five places in your life, you will see great changes when you just organize your home.

1. Improved relationships
This one is probably the biggest one. Think about all of the fights that you have with your spouse or significant other about your home organization issues. Maybe it is that the mail gets thrown on the kitchen counter every day. Maybe it is that you can never find the car keys when it is time to leave. Consider the arguments with your children about schoolwork that gets put in the entryway or kitchen counter. Organizing your home and getting your spouse and kids on board can have a significant impact in the quality of your relationships with them. I have found that less yelling and more quality time with my daughter is the biggest benefit of home organization for me.

2. Better health
Chronic stress over a long period of time can lead to significant health issues. Some ways that your body shows stress is: headaches, neck and shoulder tension, backaches, and upset stomach (source: webmd.com). Take an inventory. How many of these health issues do you have in your life on a repeated basis? It could be that they are linked to the state of disorganization in your home. Think about all of the home organization challenges that you have right now. Does just thinking about them have you tensing up? Think about how much better you will feel just by taking some time to organize your home.

3. More free time
This one goes hand-in-hand with number 5 (more money). Consider the amount of time that you waste each day looking for things in your home. That missing sock, those jeans your daughter loves that you can't seem to find anywhere, not to mention the car keys that get lost more times than you care to remember. Have you ever stopped to really take an inventory of the sheer amount of time that you spend looking for things? Use home organization to help you get that time back. At that point, you can do things that you want to do.

4. More space in your home
Because part of every home organization project is getting rid of stuff, having more space in your home is a natural result. If you're tripping over the stuff that you have in your home right now because it doesn't have a place to live in your space, getting your home organized will "create" space in your home that you never knew even existed. Just getting rid of the things you don't want or need anymore can create a wonderful new energy in your home and in your life.

5. More money
If you own your own business, this may be the biggest benefit of home organization for you. How much do you make in an hour? For the sake of illustration, let's say that you make $30 per hour. How much time do you spend in a day looking for your keys, your checkbook, the shoes to match that outfit, etc? Again, for the purpose of illustration, let's say you spend 30 minutes per day. So you not organizing your home is costing you $15 per day, $105 per week, $420 per month, and $5,040 per year. Pretty significant, isn't it? So a little home organization could potentially save you over $5,000 every year.
Are you ready to improve your relationships, have better health, have more free time, free up space in your home and increase the amount of money in your life? Get started today by getting free home organization help from a professional organizer at http://www.YourHomeIsOrganized.com
Getting organized is a challenge, but very rewarding.  Most families, especially the new ones are not exempted to this issue.  But if we really want our lives to be stress and worry-free, we should start acting NOW!
 

Monday, July 5, 2010

5 Quick and Easy Home Organization Tip

5 Quick and Easy Home Organization Tips
You can get your home organized easily by just taking a few small steps every day. Getting your house organized does not have to be overwhelming. These five home organization tips show you how to get organized in just a few minutes every day. Doing every one of these daily should not take you more than 15 minutes each time.

1. File 10 pieces of paper every day.
Now if more than 10 pieces of paper that have to be filed come into your home every day, you'll need to up this number. One of the biggest challenges in home organization is finding a place for the paper that comes into your home. You would be surprised by what a big difference it makes to take this small step daily. It will help that overflowing "to-be-filed" tray slowly shrink down and help you feel like your home is getting organized.

2. Toss one thing from your kitchen that you do not use.
Your regular everyday trash does not count here. It has to be something that has been hanging around your kitchen for a long time and is something that you know you do not use. I have included this home organization tip as a daily one because the kitchen is one of those places in the home that tends to collect things. Gadgets, spices and that great item that was on sale for such a good deal but is something that your family will never actually eat. If you do not use it or do not like it, toss it out or donate it. It is just hindering you in your home organization journey.
3. Find a lasting home for one piece of stuff in your house.
If you're like many people, getting your house organized has seemed like a big job because nothing in your home seems to "live" in one spot. Your kids' toys end up in the living room, kitchen, bedroom and sometimes even in your bed. One of the best ways to get your home organized is by just giving every item in your home a place where it "lives." Every day find a place for an item in your home that is currently homeless. And if you want to keep your home organized, then make sure that everyone in your home knows where that item's home now is.

4. Get rid of one piece of clothing from the closet.
The closet is one of those places that seem to defy all home organization attempts. Often because there is simply too many clothes for the space. The absolute best piece of home organizing advice I can give you here is this: downsize. Every day take one thing from your closet that either no longer fits you or that you know you would not be caught dead in anyway.

5. Organize one drawer or shelf.
For this particular home organization tip, I suggest that you start small. Begin by organizing a little drawer. If you have small drawers in your bathroom, that is a great place to start. Now when you get one shelf or drawer in your house to organize, make a point to really organize it. Take everything out, toss what you do not need anymore and put back the things you do need in some sort of orderly fashion that makes sense for you. There will be areas where you will want to reconsider how that entire place of your home is organized. Going through the drawers and shelves of that area separately will help you know what you have in that area and will help you get that part of your home organized more easily when you are available to take on that project later on.

Get more home organization tips to help you in your home organization journey at http://www.YourHomeIsOrganized.com. You can also get product recommendations from a professional organizer.

Well at least now we know how to insert simple organization techniques when we are in a hurry or we are lacking enough time to do house chores.

5 Simple Steps to Creating an Effective Home Organizing

5 Simple Steps to Creating an Effective Home Organizing Goal


Creating goals is one way of making empowered changes in your life. But how do you create an effective home organizing goal? Here are a few simple steps to help you.

1. Write it down.
Writing down your home organizing goal makes it more real to you. We typically stick to our written commitments more often than our verbal commitments. Saying you are going to do something is one thing. It creates more meaning for you and a better chance that you will stick to your home organizing goal if you write it down. Take it one step further and write it down every day until you actually accomplish it.

2. Make it a home organizing goal that will make you feel better about yourself.
Think for a moment about the primary thing in your home right now that if you got it organized, would make you feel 10 times better about your home. You know what it is, that one home organization project that would change how you feel about yourself today. Maybe it is getting your kitchen organized or that mess in the garage.
It needs to be something that will have you feeling better about yourself because you will be much more likely to actually DO something about that goal if it is something that will have you feeling better about you. It is one thing to be happy that your DVD collection is organized. It is a whole lot different to feel better about who you are as a person because you no longer have mice running through your pantry.

3. Make your home organizing goal specific.
Having a goal such as "I want to get my home organized" is not going to be beneficial. Get specific with your goal. The more specific you can make it, the better it is. A goal of "I am going to organize my kitchen" gives you a clear idea of what you will have in fact accomplished once you meet your home organizing goal.
The one warning I have here is to not make your home organizing goal too specific. An organizing goal of getting the kitchen utensil drawer organized would not be a good one. Setting home organizing goals such as this means you have to find a new one each day! Your objective here is to have an organizing goal which is broad enough so that you will be working on it for at least one month but it should be detailed enough so that you can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

4. Make your home organizing goal measurable.
This goes hand-in-hand with being specific about your home organizing goal. Having an exact timeframe is the top way to make your home organizing goal measurable. If the goal you set is to get the kitchen organized, then put a date on your calendar that shows when you will have that home organizing goal finished. Then circle the date on your calendar, put stars on it, do anything you can to make that date stick out for you.
My warning on this: make it a reasonable date. Do not overestimate what you can do. It is much better to overestimate how long it will take you to complete your home organizing project than to underestimate it. Yes, there is psychology functioning here. If you complete your home organizing project in less time than you thought it would take you, you will feel better about you and your home organizing project. This also keeps you motivated to do more!

5. Believe you can accomplish your home organizing goal and get excited about it!
If you do not think that you can finish your home organizing goal, guess what, you will not be able to do it. And if you are convinced that you can do it, that is even better. When you know, and I mean really KNOW you can do something, you get the power to do it. If this is a home organizing goal that you have tried to accomplish many times but you have not ever followed through on, ask yourself why. If it is a goal that is not very important to you, if you can't get enthused about finishing it, then do not even try to do it because you will not finish it anyway. The way that you keep motivated towards accomplishing any goal in life is to be excited about it. You need to be excited by how your life is going to look and feel different once that goal is finished. If you do not have some passion or excitement for this home organizing goal, then by all means, pick a different goal.

Home organization goals are important to helping get you on your way to an organized home. For more free home organization tips from a professional organizer go to http://www.YourHomeIsOrganized.com

It's good to know that  creative organization only needs few simple steps. For mothers or home buddies whose happiness is to organize their homes  for their family or loved-ones, these article is for you.  For you to have a good start, this is a must-read!