Home Inventory Spreadsheet

Every year end I post this link. What better time than to take inventory of all your possessions. Because you never know when disaster will strike.
This is one of the best deals - it's free.

The Inventory Spreadsheet includes some of the common locations and items that you might want to consider when creating your own inventory list. Some of the descriptions in the inventory list, like "Electronics", are just placeholders to remind you to include your electronics. For insurance purposes, it would be better to list each item separately so that you can include the price, serial #, and model # for each item.
Taking photos of your property for your home inventory will make working with your insurance company go a lot smoother. You might even want to do a walk-through video. Now-a-days, most digital cameras have video capture ability, so you could record a quick video clip of each room in your home, and store the video clips and digital photos on a flash drive with your inventory.
When you have completed your home inventory, you should store a paper copy and a digital copy in a secure location outside of your home and/or in a fireproof safe. A safety deposit box or even a locked drawer in your office would probably work for an off-site location.

Download Vertex42.com  inventory spreadsheet.

Farfalle Bow Tie Pasta Chicken 30 minutes to table

Bow Tie Pasta

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FARFALLE BOW TIE PASTA CHICKEN

Ingredients:

• 1 box Bow Tie Pasta
• 1 1/2 pounds of chicken
• 2-pound bag of frozen broccoli (fresh is better)
• Garlic Cloves - to taste I use almost the entire bulb
• 1 cup Olive Oil
• Sea Salt
• Fresh Ground Pepper

Instructions:1. Prepare pasta following the directions on the box - al dente

1. Prepare pasta following the directions on the box - al dente
2. Chop Garlic
3.  If using frozen broccoli - gently run cool water over broccoli in a colander to defrost - pat dry
4.  Cover the bottom of the frying pan with Oil Olive - add in a few sliced garlic cloves
5.  Medium high heat Add chicken - salt - pepper. You want the chicken to brown
6.  Add broccoli - salt - pepper - add more olive oil making sure all ingredients have some oil.
7.  The dish is cooked when the broccoli is wilted and a few pieces have been browned.
8. Add the chicken and broccoli mix to the pasta - add salt - pepper to taste
9. 30 minutes to the table. Piping hot.
10. Serve with grated Parmesan cheese and toasted garlic bread.

Serve with Garlic Bread
Garlic Bread

1 freshly baked Italian stick
1 stick butter
Parsley
Salt
Pepper
Garlic Power

It's all to taste from here.

Pre-heat over to 375 degrees

Slice the breadstick horizontally.
Place on baking pan 
Melt the butter add in, parsley, salt, pepper and garlic power - brush on the bread stick - bake ar 375 about 15 minutes or when slightly brown and crispy.

Spend Well - The Budget Envelopes

Budgeting using the envelope system has been around for decades. Then Dave Ramsey came up with his system. I've tried several myself and then in 2019, I decided to really take it seriously. I was using my own kinda flimsy system. I wanted something simple and there are hundreds out there I knew I wouldn't stick with. There was always some annoyance (excuse) and I'd give up.

I stumbled on this Spend Well system.  Unlike the many other systems,  it's handmade and that's a plus for me. Extra stickers are provided so you can use it over and over, just slap a new sticker on a new goal or a new year or whatever...

 It's simple, you make the rules. That won me over.

I don't use these budget envelopes for everything this because I like the convenience online banking and bill paying. What I found was money I was putting aside in my bank account almost always got commingled with money for bills. I didn't want another bank account.

 Also, provided are a few extra goodies you can download.
So far so good for me!

Charcuterie - Cheese Board

Charcuterie (pronounced "shahr-ku-tuh-ree") is the art of preparing and assembling cured meats and other meat products. But, many people use the term charcuterie to refer to an assortment of meats that are paired with different accompaniments, such as toast, fruit, cheese, and sauces. OR an over the top cheese board. 

I made this in less than an hour - during Christmas madness. I wanted the hors d'oeuvres on the dining table and I didn't want a lot of small plates. This was a hit. It can get expensive depending on what you put on the board. But your imagination is the limit.

On my board, I used a new cutting board. You don't have to go buy a board I just happened to see this board when I was out shopping at a bargain price. I had planned on using an old one. Either could have worked just as nicely.

For the meats, I used hard salami rolled around mozzarella cheese, regular salami, rolled ham, and pepperoni.

Cheeses, I used medium-hot pepper jack cheese and cheddar cheese sliced. In two cups I used sharp cheddar cheese spread. In two cups I use spinach, artichoke, and parmesan spread. 

Then I added mixed sweet pickles and hummus in cups.  I have 3 types of crackers. Red and green grapes, blueberries and raspberries. Some fig preserves and some HOT jelly.  A handful of Hershey's chocolate and a little parsley for garnish. 

  

Wearing Silver Jewelry

Silver remains quite a popular choice among the masses as it is inexpensive when compared to other precious metals like gold and platinum. The metal is capable of adding dazzle and spark to any given outfit.

Silver is neutral and gels well with grays, whites, peaches, beiges, browns. reds, purples, violets, greens, blues, yellows, oranges and looks incredible with black. An outfit is incomplete without metal.

The look and feel of silver and white gold are different. White gold can be quite flashy and may not always fit with the look of every outfit. Silver comes to your rescue. 

Silver is elegant, sophisticated, chic, modern as well as classy. Many timeless or classic pieces will always be in style and can be worn with modern pieces for a new twist. A brooch or scarf pin with some studs or beautiful semi-precious stones etc is fun and eclectic.

Silver does lose its sheen over time. In contact with air and water, the metal reacts with sulfur to form a grayish layer on the surface. Tarnished silver ornaments give a feel of timeless antique pieces. But, the clean and shiny ones rock. So, take proper care of your silver while you wear it and store them properly.

Silver is softer and less dense than other gold. This makes it more prone to scratch and damage. If worn carelessly the ornament may also distort in shape and look ugly.

Inside Here Lies... Everything Binder Grab and Go

For about two years I've been attempting to make a bullet binder, home organizer binder, or whatever you want to call it. I did a lot of research on what other people have done, and what's for sale. But nothing I tried seemed to fit. For me, it must be uncompleted - simple a kind of all-in-one binder. I wanted something that I could use to keep track of finances, bills, and have those important documents in one binder. I'm so lazy about keeping up with paperwork that my filing cabinet literally ends up with everything in one file!! That's my next organizing project.

Nothing like a disaster to get you motivated. In September 2018, Columbia Gas literally blew up my community and took 2 others out as well. We're still trying to get our home back to where we were pre-blow up. And Columbia Gas is coming back to inspect (again) all the appliances they had to replace and work on fixing all the outside issues they created.

On that fateful afternoon, I was sitting at my desk right outside the closed-in area where our gas furnace and hot water heater, and gas dryer are located. So, yeah I could have been blown up. What saved me was a post on Facebook from my friend down the street stating strong order of gas. I headed upstairs and the smell of gas was overwhelming and then I heard sirens - all kinds of sirens. We were all told to evacuate our homes. Then we were told we had to leave the city. And I thought I'm screwed I don't really have all my stuff together - I don't even know where I put my homeowner insurance policy.

So here it is six months later and I've done enough research, collected all my paperwork and I'm ready to finally put together my all-in-one binder.

I purchased the binder at staples, it was on sale for 5.00!  I purchased this trading card plastic protector for $4.99 for 10 sheets to store copies/original of drivers licenses, social security cards, insurance cards, credit/debit cards, etc.

And then I found a great site Moritz Fine Designs Life Management Binder to download forms that would help me keep track of everything and things I never thought of.  That cost was $24.00. And it's a bargain. It's a PDF download and it's mine forever. I can reprint sheets forever. 

Each sheet I place in a sheet protector. For example the insurance tracker - behind that I store my insurance policy. 

Here's a sampling of those tracker sheets I am using. Although I am not finished I'm making progress. This is a bigger job than one might think.

Utilities and Services - Bank Accounts

Home Maintenance Contracts and  House Update Tracker

Bill Tracker

Password Tracker

  

Birth Certificate, Drivers License, Credit Cards.

Donation Records

Insurance Personal Records

Take your time - do it right.  As I make this binder, I have found there are a few forms I need that were not available in that download and I'm going to ask the company to make those for me. 

So for about $30.00 I have my all-in-one binder!  And while my binder is not 100% complete yet, I have peace of mind. 

Update:

And here we are in September 27,2019 - we have another gas crisis. A smaller section of the city! A gas main was punctured. At about 3:30am those first on scene reported a gas plume rising out of the street. We received a call from a family member and were told to go outside and shut our gas off - there is a serious gas leak. For several minutes it felt like September 13,2018. My grab-and-go binder was ready and in a bag. I actually had it on the kitchen table - ready. It was a small comfort. 

In 2018 we had access to the police scanner and we knew what was going on - that was our only lifeline. The police scanner for the city has been encrypted. For police safety, we're told. I do not believe that is the reason for one second. If that were true then New York and Boston to name two cities that had terrorist attacks would also be encrypted. In this city, it's all about 'controlling the message.'   Just like this last gas leak - we're told was the fault of Columbia but... it seems at this point

They set up a 'Code Red" App - which did not go off.  So... again they controlled the message.  

Updates when/as needed. 

Sausage Red Skin Potatoes and Onions

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup olive oil
• 3 large onions, thick chop
• 4 1/2 pounds of sausage
• 4 pounds potatoes
• 1 cup mashed potatoes
• Salt and ground pepper (to taste) 
• 2 tablespoons garlic powder
• 2 tablespoons parsley
• 3 tablespoons turmeric

Pre-heat over 400 degrees

This is a large batch. I used a 12"X16" X3" pan. 

This recipe is to taste and you can use more or less of any ingredient. 

I use Red Skin potatoes but Yukon Gold tastes pretty good as well. I wash the potatoes and do not peel them.

Slice sausages and potatoes into bite-size pieces add thick slices of onions

add olive oil and spices and mix together in a large baking dish.

Cover with foil and bake for 1 hour 30 minutes.

Take foil off and bake for 30 minutes or until browned and potatoes are soft.

Periodically mix.

~CG