Spring is right around the corner! That means it’s time to start planting! If you have plans to plant in containers and pots this season, you are going to love this simple garden tip!
LauraMorey
What To Do With Leap Day
What Do You Do With That Bonus Day?!
Leap Day: That odd day that shows up every four years to “fix” our imperfect calendar! (Thanks, Pope Gregory XIII!) So what should you do with that wonderful Bonus Day? Simple Solutions Diva has the answer!
Meet The Diva At The Jacksonville Home + Patio Show!
Simple Solutions Diva will be at the Jacksonville Home + Patio Show on Thursday, March 3 at 1:30 pm! You can find her on the Jacksonville Magazine Cooking Stage, cooking up one of her simple recipes!
Get your Home + Patio Show tickets online (vs. box office) and save $2 per ticket ($9 VS $11) Click HERE!
Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps
I love going to a restaurant and ordering those light & tasty Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps! This makes a perfect amount for an appetizer or light lunch – just double the recipe if you want to feed several people!
Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps
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These are just like what you get in your favorite Asian Restaurant! Double the recipe for a dinner!
Author: SimpleSolutionsDiva.com
Recipe type: Appetizer or Light Meal
Cuisine: Asian
Serves: 2.5
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 2 cooked boneless, skinless chicken breasts, chopped into small pieces
- 1 cup water chestnuts, chopped into small pieces
- ⅔ cup mushrooms, chopped into small pieces
- 3 tablespoons chopped onions
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- ASIAN SAUCE:
- ¼ cup sugar
- ½ cup water
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons ketchup
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- STIR FRY Sauce:
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon rice wine vinegar
- CONDIMENTS:
- 1 tablespoon hot mustard, watered down with 2 teaspoons water
- 1 -2 teaspoon garlic and red chile paste
- 4 -5 leaves iceberg lettuce leaves (I used butter lettuce)- rinsed & dried
Instructions
- Prep the Asian Sauce and Stir Fry Sauce first: For the Asian Sauce - In a medium bowl, combine the ¼ c. sugar, ½ c. water, 2 T. soy sauce, 2 T. rice wine vinegar, 2 T. ketchup, and lemon juice. Set aside until ready to serve the wraps. Stir Fry Sauce - In a small bowl, combine the Stir Fry Sauce Ingredients (soy sauce, brown sugar, rice wine vinegar).
- In a large fry pan, heat oil over medium heat. Add chicken, mushrooms, water chestnuts, onions, and garlic. Cook until the onions are translucent and garlic is fragrant. Add in stir fry sauce. Stir and cook until sauce is absorbed.
- To Serve: Divide the asian sauce into small bowls. Use the condiments (hot mustard sauce and chile paste) to spice up and add heat (to your taste preferences) to the asian sauce.
- Fill leaves with the chicken mixture, pour asian sauce on mixture and then roll up! Enjoy!
Make Your Own Fizzy Bath Bombs
A hot, warm bath and a fizzy bath bomb, along with a wonderful glass of wine, make a perfect evening in! Here is a recipe to make those fizzy bath bombs, using whatever essential oils you like! These make the perfect little hostess gift, or a gift to friends or family, or even just for yourself!
Now, will someone please pour me a glass of wine? I’m going to go use one these right now!
The Fix For Those Hard Water Deposits
After 16 years in my home, I finally got a water softener a month ago! I have the hard water deposits on my faucets to prove it! Years of this build up made my faucets look awful! Recently, I was lucky enough to win a basket of products from Bar Keepers Friend (I do love their original powder!). There were a few products in the basket that were new to me, so I thought I would test them out on the hard water build up!
This video shows you the steps it took to get the hard water deposits cleaned. Personally, I am thrilled with the results!
Thank you to Bar Keepers Friend for the free basket of products! I am looking forward to trying out the other products in the basket! (FYI – There was no expectation of me reviewing their products!)
Game Day Recipe Round up: Sliders, Sliders, Sliders!
When it comes to Game Day Foods, there is nothing better than a slider! These petite sandwiches are jam-packed with flavor, yet they are easy to handle with one hand (as you sip your favorite game day beverage with the other hand!).
This is a round up of slider recipes from my site and around the web! I think they are PERFECT for the Big Game!
Roast Beef and Swiss Sliders: This recipe is currently blowing up Pinterest! I’m getting around 200-300 visitors to my site just to view this recipe! So enjoy it – it’s a good one! Click HERE to go to the recipe!
Grilled Veggie Sliders With Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto Spread – Click HERE.
Ropa Vieja (Cuban Shredded Chicken) – This Slow Cooker recipe is perfect for serving on slider rolls! Click HERE.
Click HERE to see even MORE Super, Game Day Recipes To Feed A Crowd from SimpleSolutionsDiva.com!
And here are a few other slider recipes from around the web (Click the name of the site to be directed to the recipe):
Turkey Bacon Ranch Sliders from Wine & Glue.
Smokey Baby Portobello Sliders from VegetarianTimes.com.
Slow Cooker Corned Beef Reuben Sliders from A Southern Soul.
Philly Cheesesteak Sliders from Home. Made. Interest.
Chicken Parmesan Sliders from WillCookForSmiles.com.
Thank you to WTLV-TV/NBC12 First Coast Living for inviting me on to share my favorite slider recipe!
Grilled Veggie Sliders With Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto Spread
With the Super Bowl coming up, I wanted to create a flavorful vegetable slider that would be tasty enough for both my vegetarian teenage daughter and my carnivore friend and family! This hits the spot! Best part about it? You can grill the veggies and make the cheese spread the day before, and then just reheat the veggies and assemble ½ hour before guests arrive!
This recipe is chock full of beautiful grilled vegetables! I used red, green and yellow peppers, onion and portabella mushrooms, but you can use any kind of veggie that will hold up on the grill – maybe yellow squash or zucchini, asparagus and more!
Grilled Veggie Sliders With Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto Spread
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Perfect slider recipe for the Super Bowl or any game day party! Hearty AND Healthy!
Author: SimpleSolutionsDiva.com
Recipe type: Vegetarian Sliders
Cuisine: Vegetarian
Serves: 12 servings
Ingredients
- 12 Slider buns of your choice, sliced in half
- 1 onion, sliced into bun-size pieces
- 1 red bell pepper, sliced
- 1 green bell pepper, sliced
- 1 yellow bell pepper, sliced
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 2 teaspoons brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- 4 large Portobello caps, stems removed and quartered
- 8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
- 3 Tablespoons (or more) of sun-dried tomato pesto (or more to taste)
- 2 cloves roasted garlic
- 3 Tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
Instructions
- (You can grill the veggies and prep the spread the day before to make it easier on you the next day!)
- Preheat grill to high.
- Using a vegetable grill rack or tin foil pan (I like the foil pan for easy cleanup!), spread the vegetables in a single layer. Keep the mushrooms to the side of the pan (they will cook faster than the rest of the veggies).
- Combine in a small bowl 2 Tablespoons olive oil, balsamic vinegar, brown sugar, salt & pepper, paprika. Mix thoroughly. Pour oil mixture over the veggies, stirring to coat.
- Grill the veggies until slightly charred. (Reminder – keep your eye on the mushrooms! Remove them from the pan when they are done). Set aside in warm oven to keep warm.
- In a food processor or blender, combine the cream cheese, tomato pesto, 1 tablespoon olive oil, roasted garlic, and Parmesan cheese. Blend thoroughly. Add more or less tomato pesto based on your taste preference. (I actually used 4 Tablespoons of the tomato pesto sauce to 8 oz. cream cheese).
- Now build your sandwiches! Take a split roll, spread the bottom portion of the roll with the sundried tomato spread, add a selection of grilled veggies, drizzle with a little balsamic reduction and put the lid (top part of roll) on top! Arrange on an oven-safe serving platter. Place platter in a warm oven until ready to serve.
Don’t know how to make a balsamic reduction? Check out this easy recipe for a balsamic glaze from Allrecipes.com!
What To Clean After You’ve Been Sick
I’m sure you can think of a few things you should clean after you have been sick with the cold or flu, but the video above shows you some places & things you may not have thought of!
Clean Those Pillows! I mentioned in the video to clean your pillows after you’ve been sick – here is the link on how to do just that: How To Clean Your Pillows
Simple Organization Ideas Around The Home
When people think of organizing, they tend to think of big organization projects they need to do around the house – like clean out the closet. But sometimes, organization can be very simple! Decluttering a little and having simple ways to store items may be all you need around the house. With just few items, for as little as $1, you can have simple organization!
Hair Band Holders – As the mom of girls, I can attest that hair bands must be related to rabbits – they seem to multiply fast and are everywhere! Try this simple trick – use a carabiner (or some call them D-Rings) to hold them together and keep them in one place. Easy to hang on a hook in the bathroom!
My daughter also uses one as a key chain that easily can attach to her purse!
Bathroom Storage – A trio of glass candle holders on a small long platter make the perfect storage for Q-tips, cotton balls and small personal items.
Baskets, either wooden or plastic can also work for larger items like towels or toilet paper storage.
School Supply Storage – The kids need supplies like pencils, crayons, scissors, but those can get messy really fast! Try using wire tea light holders for storing them on a worktable or shelf.
Jewelry Holder – I love my earrings, but they can get tangled and separated in my jewelry drawer. Try using ice cube trays to store pairs of earrings together – they are stackable in a drawer!
Pantry Storage – Simple plastic storage works perfectly for open goods like crackers, rice or dried beans that need to be protected from humidity and bugs. Or use stackable plastic storage for spice packets, napkins, Potatoes or onions makes things neat and organized.
Beach Toy Storage –Use a mesh laundry bag to carry kids beach toys to and from the beach. The mesh allows you to rinse off the toys for easy clean up and you don’t take the beach home with you!
Simple Car Cleanup –Turn a small plastic cereal holder into a trashcan perfect size for the car! (This can actually fit between two seats!)
Thank you to WTLV-TV, NBC 12 First Coast Living for inviting me on to share these simple tips!
