Friday Five - April 11

Happy, happy, happy Friday, everyone!! Linking up with the Five on Friday party!!

1. I've been cleaning like crazy lately (spring cleaning bug?), and I really cannot rave enough about this little beauty that I found at Bed, Bath and Beyond:

It's a pure clean bath stone cleaning block, and it is AMAZING!!! If I had known how well it would work, I would have taken before and after pictures. We had this weird little blue ring around the drain in our downstairs bathroom sink that was there when we bought our home, and NOTHING could get rid of it. I thought it must be a permanent stain. Just a little scrubbing with this stone, however, and that ring was GONE!! Woo hoo!! There was also some kind of adhesive on the shower tile from the previous owners (not sure what they had glued on there), and once again, nothing else we tried worked, but this stone removed all of the adhesive with almost no elbow grease!! Oh yes, I am a fan!! :)


2. I ran across this little tip for peeling an orange. Whaaa....? I love it!!!!

3. Somehow I managed to catch a stomach bug this week (lucky me!!), and one of the few things that helped to settled my stomach was Sobe's Yumberry Pomegranate water. It's always been my favorite flavor, but I didn't realize that it has ginger in it!! No wonder it helped settle the rumbly in my tumbly! Thank you, Sobe! :)

4. Spring!!! I am deliriously happy that the weather is finally warming up!! This past winter was so brutal!

5. OverDrive Media Console - I am ashamed to admit how long I had a Kindle before I found out about this app!! How could I not know about borrowing eBooks from the library for free? Helllooooo?! And it doesn't have to be on a Kindle. It works with any eReader. Score! My assumption is that I'm the last person on the planet to hear about this, but I've talked to several people who were also unaware, so just in case someone else didn't know, I thought I'd share! :)

Santa Fe Chicken

One of my New Year's resolutions was to try some new recipes this year. Today I realized that I haven't tried any new recipes yet and we're halfway through March! Eeeek! So I pulled out a few cookbooks and magazines, and decided to try one called Santa Fe Chicken from a Taste of Home magazine. It was a hit with my husband, and bonus, it was super easy to make! Score!! Details below.

Yield: 4 servings

1 large onion, chopped
1 tablespoon butter
1-1/4 cups chicken broth
1 cup salsa
1 cup uncooked long grain rice
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (4 oz each)
3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
chopped fresh cilantro, optional

1. In a large skillet, saute onion in butter until tender. Add broth and salsa; bring to a boil. Stir in rice and garlic powder. Place chicken over rice; cover and simmer for 10 minutes.

2. Turn chicken; cook 10-15 minutes longer or until a meat thermometer reaches 170 degrees. Remove from heat. Sprinkle with cheese; cover and let stand for 5 minutes. Garnish with cilantro if desired (we did not).

Enjoy!

Show Us Your Life - My Favorite Apps

Good morning! The latest in the Show Us Your Life Series at Kelly's Korner is about our favorite apps. Here are just a few of mine. :)

1 - iXpenseIt - This app has not only helped me create our budget each month, but it's also been eye-opening to look back and see just how much we spent on, say, going out to eat. When we need to trim our expenses, this helps us to see where we can cut back.

2 - Shazam - I use this one a lot more than I thought I would. How often do you hear a song on the radio and wonder what it's called or who sings it? This will tell you. And if you really love the song and want to buy it, it links to the iTunes store where you can download it. I admit that every time I use this, in my head I hear Gomer from Andy Griffith saying, "Shazam!"

3 - Aviary - Just discovered this photo editor, but so far I'm loving it! It's so much fun! Soooo many options! I also just discovered Snapseed and am having a hard time deciding which one I like better. Previously I was using Camera+ for photo editing on my phone. Decisions, decisions!

4 - Nexercise - I LOVE this app! You can track your motion while working out or log a past activity and you get mPoints for everything you do. You can then redeem those points for gift cards! So many ways to stay motivated, whether it's going for the gift card or a little friendly competition between you and others using the app or trying to do better than you were doing a month ago (competing against yourself?). There are so many ways to get extra points, too. It's awesome!

5 - Tabata Timer - Another app that I just discovered. It cycles through four minutes of doing activity for 20 seconds and resting for 10 seconds. It makes sounds to alert you when your 20 seconds of activity are almost up and when the 10 seconds of rest are almost up. I've used it a few times for sprints, holding yoga poses, squats/lunges. You could use it for anything. 

6 - Emoji - It adds a fun little "picture" keyboard to your phone, so any time you can type, you can add little smiley faces or flowers or animals or food or whatever. 

So there you have it! There are more, and it was hard to narrow it down to just a few, but I tried. :) Have a wonderful day!