Amy Houts Blog

Benefit Dinner for Family Brings Something More

9/30/2013

United Methodist Church

As soon as my husband and I walked in the church door, I smelled the spicy-sweet aroma of chili wafting up the stairs from the fellowship hall. This huge basement room, which was equipped with a professional kitchen, was filled with people eating at tables, both round and rectangular. After we gave a free-will donation, we stood in line at the potato bar, filling our trays with large baked potatoes, butter, sour cream, cheese, and chili. Passing the eight-foot table brimming with desserts of all kinds, we took our seats by a grade-school age girl we didn’t know who was sitting by herself. I said hi and introduced myself. I found out Jenny was in fourth grade.
  “My dad is helping,” Jenny said pointing to a man with a beard standing behind the counter placing a potato on each person’s plate. “I’m supposed to stay here.”
            Jenny and I admired each other’s glasses and she pointed out a friend. I realized how much I missed “girl talk” since our daughters are grown. As I looked around, I saw some people I knew, but many that I didn’t, yet felt akin to all. We were all there for the same reason—to support a family in need where the mother of four children, ranging from preschool to high school, has an inoperable brain tumor. There are lots of expenses, not only medical, but personal. People had donated time, food, money, and more for this event, the culmination of many hours.
            Besides food, many people donated items for a silent auction. It was a real coming together, an outpouring of care and support. I was happy to be a small part of this event, just one person, but a contributor. I thought about how food played a big part in this event. The reason for the event brought us there—to help a family—as well as more than 300 others. But the food, breaking bread, eating together, brought us closer as a community. I went to give, not expecting to receive anything other than a meal. So I was surprised by what I felt that evening. I tried to put it into words, but ended up searching for others’ words. Artist and fashion designer, Elsa Schiaparelli said: “Eating is not merely a material pleasure. Eating well gives a spectacular joy to life and contributes immensely to goodwill and happy companionship. It is of great importance to the morale.” Schiaparelli’s “eating well” for me meant being a part of something more, something greater than myself, a member of humanity.

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A List that Motivates!

9/15/2013

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What To Do--Front and Center

Because I work at home, people often ask, “How do you stay focused when you are pulled in a thousand different directions?” Like you, I have family, work, house, and other commitments. To stay on track, I write a list, but not just any list.
Maybe you’ve used lists before, but they haven’t benefited you. Did you know there’s a specific way to make a list so that it motivates you? Here are some tips for making lists that help you get things done.
1. Be specific. Using a basic, everyday activity as an example—don’t just write, “Clean the Kitchen.” Break this basic activity down into specific steps such as: clear the table, wipe the table, empty/fill the dishwasher, complete hand washing, sweep the floor. Once that’s completed, I can begin working on another task on my list.
2. List vertically. Notice how hard it is to read and check off the list above. So, don’t use paragraph form. When you write your list vertically, you can easily scan to see what you need to do. Write the steps in a logical order. So this is what your list might look like:
• clear the table
• wipe the table
• empty the dishwasher
• fill the dishwasher
• complete hand washing
• sweep the floor
Note: Actually, I can keep this list in my head, so I don’t need to write it down. Only write down what you can’t remember.
3. Check it off. Once you complete a task, check or cross it off. This way, you don’t need to do them in the exact order they are listed. You can use different colored ink to write and cross off, but I like to keep it simple—either blue or black ink.
4. Use a notebook (or other tool). I used to make lists on scraps of paper, but they were hard to find and keep track of. Now I make my lists in a spiral notebook. That way they are all together. I date my lists, too. I can look back on them, if needed. If it’s on my list, it WILL get done. Like the photo above, you can use a frame and dry erase marker for your lists.
5. Add to your list. Did you complete a task that’s not on your list? No problem! Add it to your list and cross it off. There’s no better way of feeling productive. This type of list can be used not only for your basic housework, but also your bigger goals.
6. Have a goal. Research shows that there’s something in your brain that helps you accomplish a goal you’ve written down. That’s why you read about people who have done everything on their “bucket list,” a list of bigger goals people want to accomplish before they “kick the bucket.”
7. Break it down. While these bigger career or life goals take longer to accomplish, there is no limit to the possibilities. Just like the course assignment, break down a bigger goal into steps. For me, that big goal was getting published in a magazine. Breaking it down into steps look like this:
• Enroll in a writing course
• Observe children in my target age group
• Study the elements of writing good fiction
• Practice writing for my target age group
• Read several issues of the magazine
• Study magazine for the types of stories they publish, the tone, voice, etc.
• Write a story for the magazine
• Write a cover letter geared to magazine
• Submit story and cover letter to the magazine
• If story is rejected, write another story

Taking those necessary steps at the beginning of my career helped me reach my goal. Now, hundreds of articles and over 60 books later, I am living proof that writing specific lists helped me stay on task and succeed. So write a list that motivates you to accomplish your goals, big and small, and you’ll be on your way to making your dreams a reality!

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Main-Dish Steak & Tomato Salad

9/7/2013

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Tomatoes from our garden

I have to admit, I didn’t like tomatoes when I was a child. Now that I’ve been a grownup for a number of years, I appreciate the juicy, refreshing taste and texture of tomatoes on a sandwich or in a salad. (Never alone--always in combination with food that complements it.) There’s nothing like the delicious blend of salty bacon and sweet tomatoes on whole-wheat toast in a bacon and tomato sandwich.

Because my husband, Steve, is a gardener, we enjoy tomatoes everyday in September. So, besides freezing tomato sauce when we have a bumper crop, I have collected a number of recipes to use them fresh. Here’s one I included in my cookbook, Mealtime Magic: Delicious Dinners in Half the Time. Intentional leftovers in this cookbook create completely new meals. So when you are grilling steak, add an extra to use in this hearty, main-dish salad.

Steak & Tomato Salad

1 cup penne pasta or macaroni
1 head Romaine lettuce
2 ribs celery
2 tomatoes or ½ cup grape tomatoes
½ cup petite baby carrots
1 cup cubed Cheddar cheese
1 grilled 16-oz.steak such as Kansas City strip, T-bone, Porterhouse, or filet mignon
Bottled red wine vinaigrette salad dressing

Cook pasta according to package directions; drain and cool. Meanwhile, place lettuce on a large cutting board. Using a serrated knife, cut into 1-inch strips. Gather lettuce into a large bowl and cover with cold water. Use your hand to stir the lettuce so dirt can fall to the bottom. Gather the lettuce, carrying it up out of the water and into a salad spinner, rotating to dry (or pat dry with towels).

Rinse and trim leaves and ends of celery; cut in half crosswise. Cut lengthwise into sticks, then crosswise to dice. Rinse tomatoes, dice, or for grape tomatoes, cut in half. Slice steak into ¼-inch strips. Cut strips in half. Toss pasta, lettuce, celery, tomatoes, carrots, cheese, steak, and salad dressing in a large salad bowl. Divide salad onto 4 plates. Good served with multigrain crackers. Yield: 4 servings

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Benefit Dinner for Family Brings Something More

A List that Motivates!

Main-Dish Steak & Tomato Salad

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