September 2016 – SimpleSolutionsDiva.com

A Round-Up Of The Diva’s Favorite Household Tips

September 30, 2016 / Simple Cleaning Tips, Simple Ideas, Simple Video / 0 comment

In honor of her LIVE appearances at the 2016 Fall Jacksonville Home + Patio Show, the Diva is sharing her favorite, simple household tips! Come out and say “Hi” on Sunday, October 2 at 11:30 a.m. – The Diva will be cooking things up on The Jacksonville Magazine Cooking Stage! If you plan to go to the Jacksonville Home + Patio Show, use promo code DIVA to get a discount on your tickets when you buy online! Buy Tickets HERE.

How To Fold A Towel For Easy Stacking: Tired of your towels flopping over when you try to stack them? The Diva makes it easy! Check out the tip – Click Here

How To Get Your Dryer To Dry Faster: Is it taking forever for your clothes to dry? Try this little tip from the Diva – Click Here

What To Do With Dryer Lint: If you do laundry, you know it always produces lint! You can leave the lint (along with old thread) out for the birds to use in their nests! Or check out this simple tip from the Diva – Click Here

The Secret Way To Make A Room Smell Great! – Try adding a Febreze Car Vent Clip to your air conditioning vent in a room – rarely do people look up when they enter a room, so it is a great way to make a room smell great, without being too heavy a scent! Available at Pubix, Target, Walmart and more. Or, you can also add a few drops of your favorite essential oil to your air conditioning filter when you change it out every month.

Simple Way to Clean Blinds: Tongs & Microfiber cloths! Wrap a microfiber cloth around each end of tongs, secure them with rubber bands, and you have a simple tool to clean those blinds! Toss the cloths into the wash when done!

How To Clean Large Amount Of Silverware: This is my FAVORITE Simple Holiday Survival Tip! Click Here to see how to go from tarnished to clean, without having to do all that hard polishing! (And you have to watch my Simple Holiday Survival Series before the holidays!)

How To Clean A Wooden Cutting Board: Lay the board on a clean work surface. Sprinkle the cutting board with salt. Using half of a lemon, place cut side down on the board and rub in a circular motion, combining the lemon and salt. The salt gently removes any built up grime, and the lemon naturally sterilizes the wood.

How To Clean Your Hair Dryer: Prevent your hair dryer from blowing up with this SIMPLE tip! Click Here

Thank you to WTLV-TV’s First Coast Living for having me on to share these tips!

Chicken Enchilada Green Chili Soup

September 26, 2016 / Simple Recipes, Simple Video / 0 comment

I love a good bowl of soup, especially on cool fall evenings! I find this soup, so thick it could almost be a stew, really hits the spot! A little spicy, a little Mexican – all my favorites in one dish!

I think when you try it, it will become a family favorite, too! Serve this up with some tortilla chips, a little sour cream, cheese, and maybe a little hot sauce to taste! Enjoy!

Crockpot Chicken Enchilada Green Chili Soup

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Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

4 hours

Total time

4 hours 10 mins

This soup is perfect to come home to on cool nights in the fall or winter! Leave it in the crockpot all day and it will make your home smell like a Mexican fiesta!

Author: SimpleSolutionsDiva.com

Recipe type: soup

Cuisine: American/Mexican

Serves: 8 servings

Ingredients

1 can green chili enchilada sauce
4 chicken breasts, boneless
2 cans diced green chilies
1 can fire roasted diced tomatoes
4 teaspoons chili powder
1 T. cumin
1 teaspoon paprika (if you use smoked, this would add a smokey flavor!)
1 T. cilantro, chopped (optional)
2 cans black beans, drained & rinsed
1 can white beans, drained & rinsed
16 oz. chicken broth (you can use more for a more soupy, soup!)
salt & pepper to taste (optional)
8oz cream cheese, cubed

Instructions

Pour half the can of green enchilada sauce on bottom of crockpot, then add chicken breasts.
Top with remaining green enchilada sauce and all other ingredients, except for the cream cheese.
Cover and cook on low for 8 hours, or on high for 4 hours.
A half hour before serving, take 2 forks and shred the chicken. Add in the cubed cream cheese. Stir and cover, allowing the cream cheese to melt.
Serve when the cream cheese is melted - enjoy!

Serve This Chicken Enchilada Green Chili Soup with Tortilla Chips, cheese and sour cream!

Simple Fall Decor For Your Home

September 23, 2016 / Simple Decor / 0 comment

Happy Fall Y’all! I LOVE the cooler weather! Now is the perfect time to start decorating for the season, so I thought I would share some simple ways to bring a little fall into your décor!

Decorate With Mason Jars! You can buy mason jars in bulk at Publix, Walmart or other stores. They are very plentiful now because people are canning their summer produce.

Distressed Can Be Good! Check out these cute, painted & distressed mason jars! I used Krylon Flat White Spray paint from Michael’s, sprayed the clean mason jars, then, when they were dry, I used a fine sandpaper to lightly distress the jars. I finished them off by wrapping natural twine around the top and added fall hydrangea! So simple!

Get Leafy With It! If you like the look of fall leaves, grab a few, use glossy Modge Podge to affix the fall leaves to the mason jars – I use silk leaves when I do this project!

Love the Mercury Glass look? Grab a can of Krylon “Looking Glass” spray paint (I found it at a Michael’s Store) and spray the INSIDE of your mason jars. Add an LED candle inside and you have a cute candle! (Another Great Idea: You can also use the paint on the inside of one of those glass vases that come with flowers! I always have a few around the house! Or buy a simple glass vase from the Dollar Store!)

Bring A Little Nature Into The Home: Grab some pine cones from outside and use them in your decor! (But first be sure to dry & “debug” them with this simple tip from TwoitYourself.com)

Pine cones & Flowers – Now check out this cute Flower display – it looks like the flowers are sitting in a jar of pine cones! (the Trick is, you have 2 vases – one small, one large. Put small inside the large, then add pinecones in between the two! Flower stems go inside the smaller vase!)

Shop Your Home! Using pine cones and items around your home, you can create a Fall Tablescape that can take you from early Fall, Halloween on through to Thanksgiving! The tray is one that has been sitting in my bedroom. I had the three glass jars. I got the pine cones from outside, and then I just added items appropriate for the season – orange berry sprays for Fall, glitter pumpkins for Halloween, and I can add small gourds & mini pumpkins for Thanksgiving! The only thing I bought were the candles!

Dollar Store Deals – If you want to decorate for the fall, you’ve got to check out dollar stores NOW! They have all their products out for fall and Halloween! (And even a little Christmas now, too!) I found cute little mini pumpkins, felt placemats in the shape of fall leaves, and forms for wreaths!

Special Giveaway! I will be cooking things up on the Jacksonville Magazine Cooking Stage Sunday, October 2, 11:30 a.m. at the Jacksonville Home + Patio Show. I have 4 pairs of tickets to the Jacksonville Home + Patio Show, September 29-October 2. The first four people to email me at info@simplesolutionsdiva.com will win the tickets.

If you don’t win, don’t be upset because I have a coupon code you can use to get discounted tickets at the Home & Patio Show – Use the code DIVA!

Thank you to WTLV-TV’s First Coast Living for inviting me on to share these simple tips!

Getting Creative With Veggies – Carrot “Pumpkins”

September 19, 2016 / Cooking With The Kids, Simple Kitchen Tips, Simple Video / 0 comment

I know from experience it can be difficult to get kids to eat their veggies! For some reason, two and three year olds just don’t care when you explain that veggies are good for them! But like all good parents, we try to sneak vegetables into their diet – some with success, some without!

So I knew when I saw these adorable carrot “pumpkins” they would be a perfect fall treat for kids – and something a parent can feel good about giving them!

I hope you like the cutting demonstration in the video! Disclaimer: When using a big knife, I don’t recommend letting the kids cut the carrots! If you want to get them involved, give them the job of peeling and washing the carrots!

A close-up of the cuts you need to make on your carrot - So cute! — A close-up of the cut carrot – So cute!

What kid could refuse these sweet & crunchy “pumpkins” – especially if they are served with dip! Or add them to chicken noodle soup for a Fall or Halloween theme!

However you serve them, you and your child are sure to love them! (FYI – Even my teenagers happily munched away on these – before I was done filming!)

How To Propagate Succulents

September 12, 2016 / Simple Garden / 0 comment

I was thrilled when my succulents began to send out little offshoots, but then I thought, “What do I do with them now?”

But after some research, I found the process was simple:

1. Clip the offshoots and let the ends dry out for a week or two until the cut hardens, forming a “callous”.

2. Lay the offshoots on top of a thin layer of cactus potting soil. Add a little water and then leave it in a bright area, but not in direct sun. After a few weeks, you should see little roots grow!

3. Plant the rooted offshoots into cactus potting soil and place pot in a sunny spot -but not direct sunlight- until they take hold. Water weekly until the plants take hold and thrive! Enjoy them!

You Can Freeze Fresh Ginger

September 6, 2016 / Simple Kitchen Tips / 0 comment

I was tired of buying large pieces of fresh ginger, only to have it go bad before I could use it all!

Month: September 2016

I was tired of buying large pieces of fresh ginger, only to have it go bad before I could use it all!