Using Macros in MS Word 2010

It had been a long time since I had a use for macros, but recently I found myself working on some transcription files that really needed them. Because of the formatting required and the number of participants, not using macros was really slowing me down. I looked up directions on various websites and no matter how closely I followed them, nothing worked. Finally, I figured out how simple it was on my own. Since I had so much trouble finding clear instructions, I thought I’d share in case there is anyone else out there confused.

In the 2010 version of Word, you’ll need to record your macro. Start by clicking on the “Developer” tab at the top of Word. You’ll see your macro options on the left-hand side.

Click “Record Macro” in the options. A box will come up. You can name the macro if you want, or leave it (it will automatically be named Macro 1, 2, 3 etc.). I wanted a keyboard macro, so I chose the “keyboard”.

A new box will open and you will be able to label your short key. You’ll need to use something like Ctrl and a letter or number. For example, I’m using Control W here. You can enter this command into the box by actually typing it out (hitting the control button and letter sequence at the same time). Then click the “Assign” button.

Once you’ve done this, close the box will close and you’ll be back to your normal document. This is where it got confusing for me. If you look at the top of your screen, you’ll see that you’re actually recording a macro now. That means that whatever you type will record in the command you gave it. For example, if I am using a macro to insert a name all in caps to identify a speaker, I would now allow Word to record this by typing out: BETH:

Once you are done typing out what you want y our command to do, you’ll need to hit the “Stop Recording” option in the upper left. Now test your macro by hitting the key sequence in your document.

If you want this macro to be document specific, you’ll need to choose the name of your document in the pull-down menu button under “Store macros in” in the first box that pops up after you choose “Record Macro”.

May 24, 2014 0

Where to find professional baking supplies in Ireland

In the past I’ve talked about where to find the best food and American foods in Germany and where to find bacon in Ireland. Today I want to talk about finding professional baking items for the home baker. In addition to my online work, I started baking cakes, cheesecakes, pies, pastries, etc. and selling them to local (Irish) restaurants, cafés, news agents and private individuals. The busier I got, the more difficult it became to find the supplies I was used to working with in the U.S. So today I thought I would pass along the locations I’ve found items and what I found. If you’ve been trying to shop for baking items in Ireland, you’re probably aware of the fact that you’ll have to visit multiple locations to get what you want.

It probably would have been easier for me to find these things when I lived in Dublin, but I wasn’t do this then. My kitchen and oven were too small in the last house and I had absolutely no storage. I moved to Co. Leitrim nearly a year ago and suddenly had the space to do what I wanted.

Here is my list of “always searching for” supplies:

Gel food dyes
Wilton cake pans
Buttercream frosting decorating tips and bags (quality)
Wilton Meringue Powder
Flower nails

Of course there are many other things needed when baking, but those were the things I found it most difficult to find. For starters, keep an eye on your local area Lidl and Aldi. They don’t always have baking stuff, but when they do, it’s generally decent quality for a good price. I purchased two of my favorite and most useful spring foam pans there a couple months ago and have been kicking myself for not purchasing more before they sold out ever since.

There are many shops throughout Ireland that claim to be baking supply shops. There is a shop in Cliffoney, Co. Sligo (about an hour and a half from where we live) that claims to be the largest baking supply shop in all of Ireland. They do have a good assortment of things, but not everything. I did find my flower nails and an assortment of gel food color. Unfortunately, their Wilton products (food coloring) were very limited, so I had to go with a brand I was unfamiliar with (which also works just as fine).

There are a couple of shops in Dublin too, but lately I’ve been finding the best shops seem to be shops that carry other products and don’t label themselves as baking or cake supply shops. I do a lot of shopping at Whispy’s and Quidsworth (Q2) in Carrick-on-Shannon. Be sure to check both locations for each (each has a downtown location, as well as a larger location in a different part of town). You’ll find a lot of cheaper baking pans, fondant tools, cookie cutters and so forth.

Heaton’s in Carrick-on-Shannon is another place that has a modest, but helpful, cake decorating aisle. There you can buy a cake decorating turn table, decorating nozzles and bags, frosting spatulas and so forth. You can also check your local Tesco.

Also in Carrick-on-Shannon, you’ll find a good amount of baking supplies (pans, etc.) at Woody’s DIY.

I was shocked to find a good deal of baking and cake decorating supplies at Providers in Longford (Co. Longford). Not only do they have some Wilton products, but they also carry a line of Cake Boss products. You’ll find gel food colors here too.

In Dublin, I was impressed with a shop in Blanchardstown called Inspiring Ideas (http://www.inspiringideas.com). This is essentially a large craft shop with a café in the back. They not only have a baking section, but they carry a good amount of Wilton products. They had quite a selection of specialty fondant tools and rolling pins, gel food colors, cake decorating turn tables, pans and so forth.

I’ve also been told that there is (or was) a baking supply house in Athlone and that I should go to Enniskillen in Northern Ireland (about 40 minutes from me), but I haven’t made it to either of those yet. You’ll find some moderate supplies in little shops in downtown Sligo too.

So if you’re in Ireland and you’re looking for a place to buy baking supplies, check out these places. If you know of a place I haven’t mentioned, feel free to leave it in the comments below.

If you’re curious about what I’m doing, like me on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/AmericanDessertsinIreland) or visit my website (http://www.letseat/AmericanDesserts).

May 23, 2014 2

Toning Down Spicy Food!

So I got this great idea that I was going to make crockpot chili. It’s been a long time since I had good chili and ground beef is cheap at Lidl. I found a recipe online and followed the spice measurements exactly. I was a little put off by the 1/2 a cup of chili powder, but I went ahead and put it in anyway. I smelled the mixture and thought that I could hardly smell any spice at all, so like like an idiot, I added MORE spice and THEN I decided to try a small spoonful. Well that hairbrained idea didn’t get me far. I mean, I like I spicy, but this literally scorched my mouth. Not the kind of spice I was looking for!!

After some research and talking with Tony (a professional chef), here are some tips for other people out there battling this very common problem.

You can add sugar. Of course, adding enough sugar to completely tone down the spice may make your dish gross. You can also add more vegetables and broth to try to spread the spice out. You can also prepare the same recipe, minus the hot stuff and mix it together with the spicy batch. This will create a much larger batch, but hey, it’s better than throwing it away!

Natural acids can also help neutralize spiciness. Try lemon juice and wine vinegar. Coconut milk or other dairy products can help.

Have you had a similar experience? How did you handle it? Leave your tips and tricks below.

UPDATE

I added coconut oil and honey to the chili and it was still way too spicy. I drained it and used coconut oil and honey as the liquid and left for about an hour. It was still too spicy, so I drained it again (saving the liquid) and rinsed with cold water thoroughly. I put the meat mixture back in the crockpot/slow cooker and added one can of condensed tomato soup, water and a small amount of the coconut liquid I had saved. It seems a lot better. There is still a kick to it, but I think with crackers, shredded cheddar and sour cream to serve, it will do.

November 3, 2013 0

Homemade Frozen Dinner Idea # 1: Breakfast Burritos

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I’m putting together homemade meals and freezing them to make my own TV dinners. Unfortunately, I’m already running out of freezer space and wish I had a second freezer. It’s definitely on my list of things to search for.

I just finished making eight mini breakfast burritos and I took pictures as I went through the process. Let’s start with the ingredient list:

7 strips of bacon

8 breakfast sausage links

4 eggs 8 slices of processed cheese

Shredded cheddar cheese

8 small soft tortilla shells

Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation: I started by frying the bacon on medium-low temperature (so as not to overcook it). I chopped up the breakfast sausage into small pieces and fried it on medium-low temperature as well. When the meat is done, I remove the pans from the heat and drain the bacon on paper towel. You can drain the sausage too, but I did not. I cut each strip of bacon in half lengthwise and then chopped into small pieces or bits. I scrambled the eggs in the same pan I fried the bacon in (drain any grease beforehand) and salt and peppered to taste. I added a small amount of milk to my scrambled eggs too.

Building a Burrito:

I laid everything out on the countertop and I built them all at the same time, so that the ingredients were evenly spread between each burrito.

I tore one piece of processed cheese in half and laid one near the bottom and one near the top of an open tortilla shell. Next, I added equal portions of egg on top of the cheese. Please note that you can sprinkle a bit of shredded cheddar around at this time as well. The cheese will help keep everything together. Finally, I spread equal amounts of bacon and sausage on top and finished off with more shredded cheddar cheese.

Folding: I started by folding the bottom up first.

While holding my first fold into place, I fold the top down.

While holding my first two folds in place, I carefully roll from one side until to the other and firmly press down (without breaking the shell) so the rolled burrito stays rolled when set down.

Storage:

I wrapped each burrito with tinfoil and then plastic wrap. I wrote today’s date on each one, along with what it was. I filled out this same information on a gallon size freezer bag and placed all eight breakfast burritos in the bag and into the freezer. All of my ingredients were cooled by this time.

Serving:

These can either be microwaved or baked. To bake, heat oven to 350 degrees and bake until tortilla shell turns a light golden color. You can bake in the tinfoil, but I would remove all wrappings. To microwave, remove foil and plastic wrap and wrap in a wet papertowel. Microwave on high 5-7 minutes or until cooked through.

October 26, 2013 0

Homemade TV Dinners: It’s Cheaper, Healthier and Tastes So Much Better!

There are not very many TV dinner choices in Ireland. Stores like Iceland have a decent selection, but Iceland stores are not everywhere and they are not where I am currently living. Even the cheapest TV dinners are not very inexpensive (in my opinion) compared to what you can pay in the U.S., but we have a lot of need for something quick and easy to throw in the oven or microwave, so I decided to make my own. And I thought I’d share what I did with my readers.

To start, I need to buy some foil baking containers. I had hoped to find some smaller, rectangular-shaped shallow containers, but only found deeper ones. I bought a five-pack of the deeper ones. I also cleaned out our freezer of any of the meat products we don’t seem to be eating. I’m either making recipes out of those products or baking them off in the oven to be re-frozen for later use.

Here are some of my thoughts on things I could make and freeze:

Meatballs: Tony’s mother gave me this idea a few years ago. She made some amazing Swedish Meatballs and would cook a bunch of them off and then freeze them so when they wanted something easy, all she had to do was heat them up.
Lasagna: Although, this takes a bit more preparation than some other ideas, homemade lasagna is much better than store-bought.
Spaghetti: Very simple, because you can get away with store-bought sauce (jazz it up a bit) and pasta is cheap and easy. When you’re ready to make it, butter two sides of sliced bread and sprinkle with garlic powder, pepper, salt and a small amount of Italian seasoning and bake until golden. Add cheese for cheese bread.
Meatloaf: Meatloaf is great, because it can be heated up with mashed potatoes and buttered corn or individual slices can be frozen and thawed for meatloaf sandwiches.
Pot Pie: You can make beef, chicken or turkey. I used a mini springform pan to make my pot pies, because I didn’t have any mini pie pans. Once the pie has cooled for 15 minutes, you can separate the springform and carefully remove from the bottom.
Various Chicken Dishes: There’s a lot you can do with chicken. You can season it various ways and bake it, stuff it with cheese, bread it—any number of things. Serve with frozen vegetables, mashed potatoes or more.
Potato Wedges: I had a bag of potatoes already and picked up some garlic potato wedge spice. I’m going to bake them off in the oven and use them as sides with my meat dishes.
Burritos: Burritos are excellent for the freezer. I’m making breakfast burritos, but you can also do enchiladas, baked chicken wraps and more.
Pizza: Who doesn’t love pizza? I guarantee your frozen homemade pizza will knock store-bought frozen pizza out of the park!

Since I don’t have enough baking dishes for everything, I’m going to create five meals using the aluminum pans, a few pot pies, homemade pizza and some breakfast burritos. I’ll be taking pictures of the food I make and posting recipes, so check back for more.

October 26, 2013 0

5 Cheap Meal Ideas

If you’ve been reading any of my other recent blog posts, you may know that I am currently on the 10-day master cleanse, so it may come as a surprise to you that I’m posting about food. I’ve been wanting to post this for a while and since I’m still able to think, talk about and look at food without feeling like an animal about to go for its kill, I thought it would be a good time to get it out of the way.

Times are tough for many people around the world. I’m an American living in Ireland and although I find the food to be quite expensive here, I’m also hearing how expensive food has become from my family back home. We have good weeks and we have bad weeks here and on the bad weeks, I have to get thrifty with the grocery cost. Here are some cheap meal ideas. They won’t win you any gourmet cooking awards, but they will help reduce the cost of your food bill. Also, I can tell you that you can buy all of the ingredients for these items in Ireland.

#1. Grilled Cheese Sandwiches and Condensed Tomato Soup: You can buy bread here for as cheap as 69-89 cents a loaf if you shop at stores like Aldi and Lidl. I spent 54 cents on a can of tomato soup from Tesco and you can be 15 slices of processed cheese for 64 cents at Tesco. Butter is actually your biggest cost here. In case you’ve never made a grilled cheese before, heat up a fry pan on medium heat. Lightly butter one side of two slices of bread. Put one piece of bread butter-side down in the frying pan and lay one to two slices of cheese on top of it. Place the second slice of bread butter-side up over the top. Cook each side until golden brown. Be sure to check frequently, because there’s nothing worse than an overcooked grilled cheese sandwich.

#2. Grilled Peanut Butter Sandwich: Grilled peanut butter sandwiches are delightful. There’s nothing better than that warm, gooey peanut butter in the middle and the fried butter taste that comes with it. You make these the same way, but put smooth peanut butter in between layers instead of cheese. I personally like Tesco brand smooth peanut butter. It tastes the most like Skippy or Jiffy in the U.S.

#3. Classic Hotdogs and Potato Chips/Crisps: You can buy a 12 pack of hotdogs from Lidl for less than 2 Euro. Hotdog buns at Lidl are only 99 cents for a 6-pack. A jar of pickles (can be chopped up for relish) can be purchased just about anywhere for 89 cents and condiments are also cheap (particularly at Lidl and Aldi). I also make sort of a homemade ranch dressing using Creme Fresh (89 cents at Lidl), 2 Tablespoons of chopped chive, 2 teaspoons of lemon juice, 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of garlic and salt and pepper to taste. This can be used as a salad dressing or on the hotdogs. I simply boil my hotdogs until they’re done.

#4. Garden Salad: I love to eat salad. Of course I don’t eat healthy salad, but if it is your only meal, it’s okay to incorporate all of the food groups. Everyone’s salad is different, but here is what mine consists of: Freshly chopped lettuce (lettuce is 89 cents a head at Tesco), chopped cucumber (69 cents a piece at Tesco), sliced green olives (I get a huge jar of green olives at Lidl for less than 3 Euro), ranch dressing (can buy in some Tescos in Dublin area or make recipe above), shredded cheddar cheese (I buy 500 grams of shredded cheddar for less than 3 Euro at Lidl), diced tomato (always cheap), diced onion (always cheap again) and cottage cheese (if I have it – can be purchased for less than a Euro at many local stores). You can make your own croutons out of old bread by tossing bread cubes with butter and seasoning to taste.

#5. Buttered Noodles: If you’ve ever gone into a Noodles & Co. in the states, you may have seen or even tried buttered noodles. Sounds weird, but can be excellent. Pasta is cheap in this country. You can usually buy a bag of penne for less than a Euro (particularly at places like LIdl and Aldi). Cook the pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, melt 1 cup of butter in a frying pan. Add 2 teaspoons of garlic powder, 1/2 a teaspoon of Italian seasonings, 2 teaspoons of salt and 1/2 a teaspoon of black pepper. Melt completely, but do not burn. Shred Parmesan cheese. To serve, fill bowl with hot pasta, pour plenty of butter sauce over the top and sprinkle generously with cheese. Again, the Parmesan and butter are going to be your most expensive purchases, but you should be able to get more than one of these meals out of a blocck of Parmesan. It depends on how much cheese you like and how many people are eating.

October 19, 2013 2

Fresh Cucumber and Bean Salad: Low GI Menus

Today was the final day in my fourth week of Sásta. I have successfully completed 12 sessions. I didn’t miss a day or a week and I’ve stuck to the low GI lifestyle as best I can. Of course, I still have a lot to learn and I’ve got a good ways to go before I’ve perfected my daily meals, but I’m doing great.

I knew going into this program that I probably would not see the same results as others. The program promises the loss of one pant size in four weeks. Because of my physical problems, I knew that this was not likely to be my outcome. I have two separate heart conditions. The first is heart block. Basically, one side of my heart does not communicate with the other and so my heart stops beating. Because of this issue, I have a pacemaker. I’ve had it since I was 22. I just turned 32 on Tuesday.

The second heart condition is rapid heart rate. Because of this problem, I’m on medication to keep my heart rate regulated. A doctor in Germany suggested that weight loss would be very difficult for me due to my heart problems. Because my heart rate doesn’t do what it is supposed to, I would find it difficult to lose weight. He wasn’t kidding. I have tried many things over the past few years and though I’ve achieved slight weight loss here and there, nothing stuck. For the most part, my weight stayed the same for a few years, but in 2011, it spun out of control and I packed on an additional 40-50 pounds. I did lose some of that weight on my own and even losing just it would not make me completely happy (although happy enough). I have a long road ahead of me, but I’ve come to realize that the time is going to pass anyway. I may only lose a little bit each week. I won’t see instant results, but as long as I am improving each week, I can’t ask or expect anything else.

Here are my current results. As of last Monday, July 15^th, 2013, I had lost just under 7 pounds (6.6 to be exact). As of Wednesday, July 17^th, 2013, I had lost 27.5 inches all over (measurements for tummy, hips, thighs, upper arms, forearms, neck, bust and calves). Do I wish I had lost more weight? Of course, but can I argue with 27.5 inches? No. I think it’s great. I am building muscle too and I have improved my weight and inch loss each week. As long as I’m continuing to lose each week, I will stay happy, although I realize that there will come times/weeks when I don’t show any loss. It happens to everyone.

My hope is that I continue to see the same inch loss each week through the end of August.

So, that being said, time for a recipe. I still haven’t perfected a second cucumber soup recipe, but I have discovered this lovely salad that I can eat unlimited quantities of and I want to share it with you.

Ingredients

4 cups of cucumber, peeled and diced

1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced

1 cup of red onion, finely diced

1 cup of black eyed peas or British peas (canned)

2 Tablespoons of black olives, chopped

½ a cup of crumbled feta or salad cheese

2 Tablespoons of lemon juice

3 Tablespoons of olive oil

½ teaspoon of Italian seasonings

Salt and Pepper, to taste

Toss everything together in a bowl. Refrigerate. Serve cold.

This recipe has been slightly adapted from the recipe here: Cucumber Black Eyed Pea Salad

About the Author

Beth Lytle works with The Site Gardener as copywriter and editor, project manager, and marketing director. She also works on several other ongoing projects, including Seen It Magazine, Transcription Connection, her Winded Gypsy expat blog and varying small projects. Beth is also a distributor of It Works! Body wraps for weight loss. Visit her site at http://slimmingireland.myitworks.com for further information. Connect with Beth on Facebook for constant updates to her projects.

July 19, 2013 4

The Great Bacon Hunt in Dublin

The Great Bacon Hunt in Dublin.

March 27, 2013 0

The Great Bacon Hunt in Dublin

By Beth Lytle

Hello Everyone! It’s been a while since I posted on here. When you visited me last, I was living in Frankfurt, Germany and I was busy telling you what it was like as an American living in Germany. Well, it’s been a busy year. Since then, I relocated to Dublin, Ireland.

Now that I’ve been here a year, I’ve decided there are a lot of things I have to say about Dublin. For one thing, even though I didn’t have problems getting around Frankfurt as an English-speaking person, it is, of course, much easier in an English-speaking country.

One thing my family has learned since being here is that we’re not big fans of rashers, the UK/Irish version of bacon. Since bacon is one of our all-time favorite foods, I began doing some research on the subject. I’ve also discovered where you can find bacon in Dublin. Even though there are not many places, you can actually find bacon all over Dublin.

Here’s a bit of background information about bacon. It will help you understand why an American might find rashers to be a bit off. In the United States, the majority of bacon is prepared from the pork belly. In other parts of the world, it is prepared from several different cuts of meat, usually from the back and sides.

So, let’s get on to where you can find the bacon you’re looking for in Dublin. There are three main places we buy our bacon from here. The first place is Tesco, but it’s not just any Tesco. In fact, many Tesco’s do not carry what we’re looking for. The Tesco we buy it from is the Tesco on Navan Road (next to the Maple Centre). What we buy there is actually called Pancetta. It looks and tastes like American bacon. The brand we get is Sol. It can be found usually in an end cap of a refrigeration aisle across from the deli section. Despite the fact that we always find it there and that we order our groceries from that particular store, it does not show up on Tesco’s online ordering.

Next, you can buy bacon from the Fresh Market in Smithfield. Sometimes they have it, sometimes they don’t. You’ll find it to the right of the refrigerated Polish section if they do have it. As far as I can tell, they stock two different brands. The brand names are Espina Bacon and Campofrio Bacon. We just found these brands, so I haven’t tried the Campofrio brand, but I cooked up the Espina brand yesterday. It claims to be lower in fat and was okay, but even when cooked at a low temperature, it cooked up pretty crispy. So far, my preference is the Pancetta from the Navan Road Tesco.

Finally, you can get bacon from Marks & Spencer. They have a couple of different types of brands. Unfortunately I haven’t bought any from there lately, so I don’t have the brand names or photos. We get it from the M&S at the Jervis Shopping Centre.

Have you found other places in Dublin that you get your American-style bacon? Post a comment letting us know where! I will make changes to this article as I come across more information, because, yes, bacon is that important!

About the Author

Beth Lytle works with The Site Gardener as copywriter and editor, project manager, and marketing director. She also works on several other ongoing projects, including Seen It Magazine, Transcription Connection, her Winded Gypsy expat blog and varying small projects. Connect with Beth on Facebook for constant updates to her projects.

March 27, 2013 0

2012 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

The new Boeing 787 Dreamliner can carry about 250 passengers. This blog was viewed about 1,800 times in 2012. If it were a Dreamliner, it would take about 7 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

December 31, 2012 0