Packing List - Week End Getaway

Dear MGC readers,

The traveling season is upon us. Whether you are planning a trip to visit family over Labor Day, Thanksgiving or Christmas this year, you know all too well that packing can be a stressful affair.

You either pack too much or not enough, pack the wrong things or forget the essentials. How many times have you left the house only to return for the camera's charger or had to stop half way through your destination to purchase a bottle of Tums?

I have been there myself, and with two boys in tow, we not only have to pack for ourselves, we also need to pack for them, all the time maintening full time jobs! No wonder folks need a vacation to rest from their vacation!

So, to make things easier for everybody, starting with me this year, I made these two packing check lists. I think they pretty much cover everything you might need for a week end getaway or 4 days away from home (2 days travel, 2 days visiting). The first sheet includes a His and Hers packing check list as well as responsibilities before leaving. At the bottom of the sheet I have included all items which need to be packed specifically for the car.

The second sheet includes all that is needed when traveling with children including what you should keep in the car to keep your little ones entertained! I realize not everyone has children under two, but I still included the Diaper/Bottles check box to the list, to cover all the bases!

You may want to click on the printable to view a larger (readable) version. Click on the links to download.




Week End Packing List



 Children Packing list




As with all my other printables, these are FREE and yours to use at will. However, please be kind and provide the original link or mention My Great Challenge as the source should you wish to blog or vlog about them.

Thank you, and Bon Voyage!

Sophia, NJ.

Pesto you can freeze

Hi y'all,

MGC reader Bea, from Tassot Apiaries is sending us this awesome pesto recipe. If you get a chance, do check out Tassot 's shop and website, they have by far the best raw honey and honey products I have tried. You can also read about it from my earlier post Support Your Local Farmers.


So what is pesto anyway?

Here is the always oh so reliable definition from Wikipedia.org:

"Pesto (Italian pronunciation: [ˈpesto], Genoese: [ˈpestu]) is a sauce originating in Genoa in the Liguria region of northern Italy (pesto genovese),^[1] and traditionally consists of crushed garlic, basil, and European pine nuts blended with olive oil, Parmigiano Reggiano (parmesan cheese), and Fiore Sardo (cheese made from sheep's milk).^[2] The name is the contracted past participle of the Genoese word pestâ (Italian: pestare), which means to pound, to crush, in reference to the original method of preparation, with marble mortar and wooden pestle. However, the ingredients in a traditionally made pesto are not "pounded" but "ground" with a circular motion of the pestle in the mortar."

What can you do with pesto?

Traditionally, pesto is used on pasta and can sometimes be called a green sauce. It is rather potent as a taste and a little goes a long way, but most folks love the taste (and crunchiness) of pesto, so you may see a lot of it on a Linguine dish. My husband uses it as a base for pizza instead of tomato sauce. it is delicious as a condiment over a steak or a boiled potato...the possibilities are really endless, if you like the taste of basil and garlic, you are in for a treat.

What do you need?

• 3 cups packed of Basil, all kinds, purple and green
• 1/4 Pinoli nuts or walnuts
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 1/2 cup olive oil (the darker and thicker variety)
• 3/4 cup Parmiginao Regiano (I would recommend you buy a block and grate it yourself to ensure the best freshness)

This is more of a visual recipe than anything else, but it is so simple to make, it just makes sense by itself without much direction. Also, because Bea planned for freezing her pesto to use over the winter, she multiplied the quantities above by 8 (To make just about 8 cups):

Here Bea has gathered 3 full bunch of basil including one purple variety.
As you can see, some of her basil is already in bloom and that is
fine, making pesto is a great way to use all that leftover basil that
did not make it to the table on time.

Start separating your leaves and stems and throw away those leaves that
are not in a good shape, wilted or damaged.

Washing basil is just about as easy as washing lettuce, just let it soak in cold
water, either in a clean sink or a large bowl.

Do the same with the purple variety - No purple on hand? No worries, it
tastes just as good with all green!

Remove as much water as possible, you can also use a paper towel
to pat dry the leaves, just be careful not to bruise them.

Add three whole garlic heads, these are from Bea's farm in Milford, NJ. You
can tell they are fresh farmed garlic by the beard (roots) still hanging at the
base, your grocery store will clean that out for aesthetic purposes. Slice the
garlic cloves, they do not have to me minced.

In a stand mixer in the likes of Magimix, KitchenAid or Cuisinart, add the
basil first, then add your garlic, pinoli nuts, Parmesan and olive oil.

After mixing, it should look like this.

Pack your pesto in an air tight container and freeze! Voila!

Bea made 8 cups, that is a lot of delicious pesto and a great way to enjoy
your fresh basil all year long.

I wish I had a fresh steamy baguette right about now to dip in one of these bowls!

A big thank you to MGC reader, Bea from Milford, NJ. This is an awesome recipe and so simple to try!

If you have a recipe, organizational tip or how to you want to share with MGC readers, please join our Facebook page and message me your album and directions, or simply post on the wall.

Thank you all.

Bon appetit,

Sophia, NJ

Tassot Apiaries, Inc.
We turn flowers into gold!™

Don't forget to visit Bea's Tassot Apiaries Web site...It is great fun and very informational!

Link Parties Track Sheet - FREE template

Link Parties are a great way to reach more potential readers for your blog as well as to create an active network of other bloggers just like you.

I am not new to blogging but I am definitely new to Link Parties and though I have linked some of my posts on other sites, I already find it difficult to keep track of where I was featured and when. So I made this tracking sheet!

Link Parties Tracking Sheet

Here is how to use it:

Every time you publish a new post on your blog, immediately create a sheet with the name of that post (e.g. "DIY cosmetic bag" or " How I organized my shoe closet" (LOL, here's something I need to do).
One sheet per post.
Add the  publishing date.
Below, enter the date, site and category for each blog where you have linked your post.
For instance, I have featured my DIY Cosmetic Bag on the blog "Threading my Way".

So I would write in:

When: 8/12/12   Site: threadingmyway.blogspot.com   Category: Sewing-DIY



Why is it important to keep track of your link parties?

You do not want to link the same post twice on the same site. Further, the sheet is a reminder to link your posts and it also provides you with an at a glance list of blogs related to that particular topic.

Since I plan on writing more blogs about sewing, I will need to remember which link party blogs are "sewing" blogs. The tracking sheet from a previous sewing post will provide me with a quick list of where to link the new post!

All my templates and forms are free to use and reproduce. Be kind and mention my blog when referencing to this or any other template either on your own blog or youtube channel. Thank you.

Enjoy!

Sophia, NJ.