Mariannes Motifs

Baked Rotini with Homemade Meatballs

I made homemade meatballs with panko bread crumbs, egg, parmasean/romano cheese, italian herbs, fresh garlic, and onion powder. (I didn’t have any fresh onion)

Baked in a casserole dish with sauce and the meatballs and covered with low fat mozzarella cheese. Yum.

See more progress on: Cook a healthy dinner.

Bush's Last Day - 14 days and counting

Here is the countdown clock to Bush's last day. It's been a long time coming, baby.

On the Boardwalk

For me wintertime is time to dream about going to the beach.  We would like to plan a summer beach vacation this year.  There is nothing better to me than staying on the beach, strolling down the boardwalk, and dipping my toes into the water.   Well maybe watching the kids tire themselves out splashing at a water park.

A resort town like Wildwood, New Jersey, has a lot of benefits to offer.  The funky Do-Wop archetecture of the classic 50's style motels, the water parks and amusements of Morey's Pier, and the close proximity to New York city, make the Ocean City are a great pick for a summer vacation.

I have discovered that Morey's Pier is currently having their annual holiday sale.  The sale runs until January 9, but by planning ahead you can saved nearly 40% on a Season Pass to both of the companies water parks.  Wow - for people looking at a Jersey Shore beach vacation, or living in the area, that is a fantastic deal.  The Morey's Pier season pass gets you access to two huge waterparks, countless events, and lots of special goodies as well.  Here is the page for more info on the sale on season passes.

I personally love classic amusement parks, and Morey's pier is one of America's classic parks, with the "Great White" old wooden roller coaster, and other great Wildwood attractions and roller coasters.  The DoWop style of Wildwood brings up memories of Cadillacs with fins, lollipop colored neon signs, and 50's Art Deco beach style architecture.  Its a great slice of Americana, and the town has preserved that feel and is very proud of its unique style.

Coming Soon - Adgitize review

I am going to give blogging advertising network  Adgitize a try.  If you are familiar with Entrecard, it looks like Adgitize has taken some similar ideas and expanded upon it by adding an affiliate component, as well as the ability to pay for ads on their network on a monthly basis.   The price for one month of ads on blogs all over the network is just $14.00, or you can try it out with a 7 day ad for just $7.00 or 14 days for $10.00.  It's a low cost way to advertise your blog.  Blog writers can get points for writing blog posts as well as from clicking on the ad on other bloggers blogs, so you can get some blog traffic this way.  (Although a lot of the traffic might be "drop by and run" quick hits)

I am planning a blog redesign for Marianne's Motifs, so this might be a good time to try Adgitize.  I have a little bit of sidebar room to spare for a 125x125 ad. Here's an example of what the ad might look like.

I think this guy has a great idea in that he is charging a reasonable fee for the ability to advertise on lots and lots of blogs.  I haven't wanted to pay the money to advertise with AdWords from Google because they expect you to start at paying about $50.  But I think I could get my feet wet with $14.00.

Easiest Buffalo Chicken Strips

I did this semi-homemade style. In homage to the Vikings playoff game and with fond memories to the yummy Buffalo Chicken Dip I made on New Years Eve I decided to do Buffalo Chicken Strips. I sliced organic chicken breasts into strips and then used Shake and Bake on them and baked them in the oven. Half stayed like that for the kids and the other half got tossed in Franks Red Hot Buffalo Wing sauce. Yum! Add some cut up celery and carrot sticks, rice pilaf side dish, and blue cheese dressing and it was tasty and easy meal.

See more progress on: Cook a healthy dinner.

The Game you Play on Your Butt

I got the coveted Wii Fit balance board for Hanukkah and I am just about ready to try this thing out.  When the football game is over (Go Vikings!) I want to set it up and give it a shot.

I think the Raving Rabbids game looks like a fun way to make use of the balance board - I love the commercial where they are skiing down a hill on an upside down cow by sitting on the balance board on their butts.

I have to figure out how to set the Wii and Wii Fit up in relation to the tv stand.  I need space for stretching out for the yoga moves, you know.

Free Intuit QuickBooks Simple Start Edition 2009 (Download)

I found this freebie on Slickdeals.net posted by user "godbreath."  I am going to give it a try for managing any contract work I do, as well as any freelance writing.  I used to mock up invoices in Excel so this will be an improvement.

FREE Download of Intuit QuickBooks Simple Start Edition 2009 Intuit is offering a free download of QuickBooks Simple Start.

Note: This is a download, so there is no shipping fee, nor rebates

Amazon has QuickBooks Simple Start for $70.



The FREE bookkeeping software solution for small businesses that want the basics. It's so easy to use, it will give you back your time. You'll spend more time growing your business and making money, not bookkeeping.

* Track sales & expenses for up to 20 customers
* Instantly create invoices, pay bills, & print checks
* Organize your finances in one place, tax ready

Secrets to Successful Leftovers

This is #17 in my series of Life Advice in a Nutshell.

Leftovers are a tricky business.  Done correctly they are a delicious home made lunch, tasty dinner, or even an additional ingredient to a whole new meal.  But if you don't manage your leftover situation well you are likely to end up with a science experiment to throw away and a pile of plastic dishes to wash.

Throughout my career as a cook and kitchen owner I have probably made every mistake in the book when it comes to leftovers.  I have saved things I really didn't intend to eat again, let interesting molds flourish in my fridge, and wasted a lot of good food.

In this journey I have also learned some secrets to successful leftovers that I now want to share with you.  If you keep these rules of thumb in mind as you are doing your menu planning, you will get some use out of your leftovers, keep your fridge nice and clean, and have some lots of yummy fresh food to eat.

1.  When in doubt, throw it out.  Let's face it, some meals are good the first time, and really don't want to be leftovers at all.  If you can't picture yourself or your family eating it again, dump it.  This also goes for tiny amounts of things, unless you have a particular use in mind like an additional ingredient for a soup or casserole the next day.

2.  Package your leftovers attractively.  I like to use a divided lunch plate container, and put a serving of each part of the meal in each compartment.  Then its all set for tomorrow's lunch.  Sometimes I can set up each part in a different side of one bowl as well.  If it looks attractive and fresh, it's going to be eaten.

3.  The perfect time to eat a leftover dish for dinner again is 2 days later.  The next day you might be a bit bored from having had it the night before.  Any more time than 3 days later and it might suffer from being not so fresh.  The 2nd day is your golden opportunity. 

4.  On that 3rd day warm up your leftovers and add it to your previously scheduled dinner.  Use it as a side dish.  If it gets eaten, great.  If not, chuck it out.

5.  Keep a clean fridge.  If you had better intentions than stomach for leftovers, throw them out.  You did your best to save the food, and now its time to let it go.  If you keep sketchy stuff out of your fridge you will have enough room for more fresh groceries and new leftovers.  I like to clean my fridge out the night before the garbage pickup.   It's also a great idea to clear old leftovers out of the fridge before you go to the grocery store.  That's the perfect time to make space and also do a quick visual survey for things you may be out of.

Online Enrichment Classes for High School Students

Did you ever think that you could take a high school writing course taught by a teacher wearing a chef's hat?  Well you can - with Brightstorm, you can take high school courses on video, and they make it fun.

Yesterday I blogged about Open Courseware, where you can download class materials from major Universities all around the world.  Another form on online education is paid courses.   It's a question of "You get what you pay for" just like most things in life.   If you want the whole package, with professional quality course ware, you are going to want to go with a full package.  Today I am reviewing an online education website with courses geared towards high school students.  Brightstorm charges $49.00 for which you receive a full one year access to the course and all its materials.  The courses are video classes with fantastic production value, great content, and engaging teachers. 

I viewed the sample class session for the course titled Decadent Devices in Rich Writing.  Taught by Jennifer Strickland, who is really engaging and cute.  She was wearing a chef's hat and working on a set made up to look like a cooking show.  The class I viewed was all about writing an introductory paragraph and how it should have ANTs in it.  (Attention getter, Necessary Information, and Thesis statement)  To tell you the truth, as a blogger, I really can use this basic information to write better blog posts.   Yes, I have a college degree, but it never hurts to review the basics.

Speaking of review, Brightstorm offers SAT prep and review courses, as well as a course to prepare for the AP American History exam.  Very handy.  You can even sign up for a free Brightstorm account and watch a free sample of each course.

You Can't Make this Stuff Up

I came across a funny blog today called thinkingthelions.com. Today the writer posed the question of whether the word pumpernickel is related to the word pumpkin. 

Thus I felt compelled to exert my Google-Fu skills, and Googled

"pumpernickel etymology"

By which I discovered that Pumpernickel bread is named after the German for "makes you fart like the devil."

"Etymology: German, from pumpern to break wind + Nickel goblin; from its reputed indigestibility."

Which just goes to show you that you can't make up stuff as weird as the truth.