Adventures in Fundraising - Gourmet Meals for a Year

As some of my readers may know, I am the chairperson for the Mission Campaign for our youth choir, Pueri Cantores St. Bernard of Clairvaux, and my husband is the director.  We are raising money to travel to Rome on December 26 and sing for the New Year's Day Mass of Peace with Pope Francis!  It is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for 46 singers, ages 8 through 18, and it's even more special because we will be sharing the experience with 5,000 young singers from every continent!  I get the shivers every time I think of the trip for my 2 kids.

We had some pretty intense fundraising activity last Spring and are gearing up for our last push before we make our final trip payments in mid-October.  We did a number of "basket raffles," and made about $3,000.  As one of our "basket raffles," we raffled off 12 months of homemade gourmet meals, one per month.  Our winner was a nice couple in our parish choir.  I've made several of these meals and although it is a bit of work, it's fun for me.  I wouldn't call my self a gourmet cook by any stretch (don't tell them that!), but I can follow a recipe and enjoy trying new ones.

This month's menu includes:

Cucumber Ginger Sesame Salad
Honey Mustard Chicken
Rice
Garlic Parmesan Mashed Cauliflower
Meyer Lemon Pound Cake
Peach Raspberry Sangria

I've linked two recipes to the items above (none are original to me!).  The other items I found inspiration, but in the end changed them in favor of my own recipe.  One of those was the Cucumber Ginger Sesame Salad:

It's very easy - cucumber, carrots, edamame and toasted sesame seeds.  I used a store bought Asian Sesame dressing.  The best part of this recipe was cutting the cucumber.  Using a potato peeler, I worked around the top of the cucumber to make twists that are so pretty! Before mixing them with the other ingredients, I laid them out to dry a little.  I hate when cucumber salads are watery because of the cucumbers.

  

These meals are delivered on the third Sunday of every month.  I try to make extra of everything so I can feed my own family as well.  This month I started about 24 hours before delivery with the pound cake and sangria.  I will admit I'm cheating a bit, using a store bought mix. This one is from Krusteaz and if the smell while baking is any indication, this is going to be seriously yummy!

 






I have always wanted to make sangria, especially a white peach version.  For the fruit, I used 2 yellow peaches and 1 white nectarine with raspberries.  Then I added 1/2 c. of peach schnapps, 1/2 c. of brandy, 2 12 oz cans of 7-Up and 2 bottles of Moscato wine. That will make about 10 good servings of sangria. A good sangria requires at least 8 hours to mix and I'm gave mine 24. And oh, it was worth the wait!

I was also pleased with the Honey Mustard Chicken (see link to recipe above).  I served it over white rice.

Hey, if you appreciate this fundraising suggestion, the recipes or just my blog, we would love your support.  Our YouCaring fund is HERE and even the smallest donations are appreciated!

Cindy

College Week - Dorm Room DIY

I could not let the end of College Week go by without a DIY day.  There are some really cute college DIY projects out there, and I think my teen daughter and I will be trying a few for her room (not in college).  While I haven't tried any of these specific projects, here's a short list of projects that will personalize your room without compromising functionality.  Click on the title for the specific DIY instructions and be sure to visit the fine DIYer who brought you the product (and the picture):

1.     Storage cube ottoman - This is the cutest design from The Eager Teacher.  These would be ideal tucked under your bed for storage and brought out when you have extra guests or need a foot rest.  Two notes - make sure the store bought crates will support your weight and consider a fabric loop/tab to stick out on the side of the cushion so you can easily access the storage space in the crate.

2.     Frame jewelry/picture hanger - From the UK, Love Chic Living describes this as a way to make an easy photo collage.  I think it's cute as that, but would also be a great way to hang your jewelry, especially if you added a little background cork for earrings.  You can find the little "clothes pins" at Michaels.

3.     Shoebox Charging Station - I really liked this one from Country Living because (A) it's easy; and (B) it's functional.  One thing I would note - you should probably leave the lid of the box open when you are charging your items so it doesn't overheat and be sure to unplug fully charged devices (your manufacturer's instructions for your electronics will tell you that part too).  I also would not use this for a full-size laptop because the cords are bulkier and they definitely get hot.

4.     Frame organization/note board/calendar - There are a ton of variations of this project, but the concept is pretty simple - picture frame, paper/fabric background in frame and dry erase pen to use on the glass.  However, this one from Tangles and Tangents was super cute and had great instructions.

5.     Ping pong lights - I'm not a huge fan of the Christmas-lights-in-the-dorm-room look, but I know it's popular and this way of doing it from Say Yes is at least a little original. (I would never put these over a crib, but your bed is OK)

This is just a small sampling of DIY projects I found for your dorm.  You can see lots more on my Pinterest board "Dorm DIY"

Happy DIY decorating!

cindy

College Week - Don't Go to School Without These Apps

College students are so lucky today.  I didn't have apps in college.  Heck, no one had a cell phone.  In fact, no one at school had a PC, much less a laptop.  We had pencil, paper and books and we liked it!

Some of these apps may be on your radar screen, but if not, you really need to check them out.  Most have a website to describe them (click on the names) and many have YouTube videos.

1.  Evernote - This powerful app helps you keep and organize everything through the Cloud while synching to all of your devices.  Take notes, recordings, pictures and files wherever you go and access them on your laptop, tablet or phone.  It's free and available for Android or iOS devices.  There is a huge presence of Evernote videos on YouTube, but here is one specifically for college students:

2.  QuickVoice Recorder or Smart Voice Recorder - These two apps basically do the same thing - record - which is awesome for lectures.  QuickVoice Recorder works on iOS devices and Smart Voice Recorder is for Android.  Each has a few special features, and both are free.

3.  iStudiezLite or iStudiezPro - These are the same basic apps, but the Pro version isn't free.  iStudiez helps you stay organized, track deadlines, grades and more across Mac devices.  It synchs in the Cloud and integrates with iCal.  The Pro version is only $2.99.

4.  Quizlet or STUDYBLUE - Need some flashcards or other study tools?  Each of these apps offers a variety of study tools that you create to help you prepare for those big tests.  STUDYBLUE also synchs with Evernote, which is a plus.  Both are free.

5.  XMind - This is one of several free mind mapping apps that helps you brainstorm for assignments or even your entire semester course.  I'm not going to explain mind mapping here, but you can find MANY videos about it on YouTube.  Here's one specifically about XMind:

Some other notable mentions for college must have apps are EasyBib (scan ISBN tags on books to get full bibliographic information in proper citation for papers); Chegg (order textbooks and e-textbooks at great savings); and Wolfram-Alpha (compute ANYTHING instantly, including scientific standards of measurement and complex equations).

Good luck at school!

cindy