Saturday, August 25, 2012

How to Stock a Pantry





Let Us Help You....


The Bare MinimumThese are the essential six staples to always have on hand.

Salt
Pepper
Olive oil
Vegetable oil
All-purpose flour
Granulated sugar

Canned Goods
Chicken broth and beef broth are good to have if you make gravies or sauces in which liquid is cooked down, or "reduced." The salty flavor of broth gives these dishes extra punch.

Chicken stock or broth
Beef stock or broth
Canned tomatoes
Tomato sauce
Tomato paste
Can/jar of marinara sauce
Canned beans: white, black, kidney
Tuna

Starches and Dry Goods
Does your family eat a lot of pasta? Do you prepare stir-fries and other Asian dishes? Stock up on what you like to eat.

Pasta (in various shapes, strands, and tubes)
Long-grain white rice
Jasmine or basmati rice
Lentils
Split peas
Dried bread crumbs

The Root Cellar
Store these in a cool, dark, well-ventilated area--never in plastic bags or in the refrigerator.

Potatoes
Onions
Garlic


PLEASE CLICK HERE FOR THE REST OF THE ARTICLE

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

You Probably Have Too Much Stuff - We Can Help

Let Us Help You....






Carl Richards is a certified financial planner in Park City, Utah, and is the director of investor education at BAM Advisor Services. His book, “The Behavior Gap,” was published this year. His sketches are archived on the Bucks blog.
When a man named Andrew Hyde began an adventure in minimalism, he only owned 15 things. It eventually moved to 39 and now it sits around 60. It all started when he decided to take a trip around the world and sell everything he didn’t need. As Mr. Hyde noted on his blog, it changed his life after a brief period of befuddlement:
I’m so confused by this. When we were growing up, didn’t we all have the goal of a huge house full of things? I found a far more quality life by rejecting things as a gauge of success.

CONTINUED.... 

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Boxed in, wanting out


Let Us Help You....



A new study of American families reveals troubling trends: Too much stuff, too little time


Jessica Pohl of Weston has kids who have largely outgrown their toys, but she can't give them away. "I'm saving them for my grandchildren," she said.



Tell me about it. That sums up Boston parents’ reaction to new research by UCLA-affiliated social scientists concluding that American families are overwhelmed by clutter, too busy to go in their own backyards, rarely eat dinner together even though they claim family meals as a goal, and can’t park their cars in the garage because they’re crammed with non-vehicular stuff.

CONTINUE READING...

Thursday, July 26, 2012

The New Era of Hired Help


Let Us Help You....




Excerpt from Sky Magazine June 2012 p. 73


"Today it's possible to pay someone to take on seemingly any task that you don't want or prefer not to do yourself."

"This working couple's turn to outsourcing personal tasks illustrates a larger trend of everyday Americans unloading duties that they have historically done themselves- relying on services that were once relegated to the rich. Today it's possible to pay someone to take on seemingly any task that you don't want or prefer not to do yourself: There are people who specialize in ironing, others who will assemble the coffee table you bought from IKEA and still others who will wait for the cable guy on your behalf, buy and place flowers on a loved one's grave, plan a party for your 7-year-old or make a weekly run to the dry cleaners.
In her books All the Money in the World: What the Happiest People Know About Getting and Spending and 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think, author Laura Vanderkam is an advocate of using outsourcing services, which she says liberate us to spend time earning more money and enjoying our free time on things that matter most to us. "Between two-career families and people raising children on their own, we're very busy these days," Vanderkam says. "Because of that, we like to spend the free time we do have on the things that are most important to us. That might mean nurturing ourselves, our relationships or our careers. That doing loads of laundry is not time spent eryoyably is one of the key drivers of this trend."