Bagolitas Blog

Freezer Cooking!

One of the biggest time savers I have found when juggling work and home is freezer cooking. Some people shop and then spend an entire day cooking and filling their freezer with meals for the month. That is a pretty overwhelming thought for this mom, so I have found a way that works best for me. I usually have one night during the week where I make some sort of hotdish – casserole if you aren’t from MN like I am – and I double the recipe. We are a family of 4 and the kids are 8 & 6, so by doubling, I actually split it into 3 and then the servings are much closer to what we need for a meal. If you have the freezer space and containers, you can put the extra meals right in those. If you want to save on space, just use big freezer bags and then lay them flat to freeze and you can easily stack them.

I’d love to know if anyone else has tried freezer cooking and if so, what are your favorite recipes? My tried and true is Grandma Vonnie’s Chicken Cacciatore. I need some new recipes!

Have a great weekend!
Janice

Tell us what you think!

We want to know what you LOVE about Bagolitas? Is it the fringe, the fabrics, the sizes, getting noticed in a crowd, how it makes you feel, our charitable efforts, the blog....

Plus, we'd also like to know about the things we got spot on and also what's not so hot. As well as products, services, and incentives you'd like to see!

Leave your thoughts in the comments section and tell us what you think!

Are we having FUN yet!?

Topping off Spirit Week at Bagolitas is your basic Black and Orange Day. Jayne and I try to come up with something that even Ron won’t grumble about and orange IS one of his favorite colors. Now some of you may be thinking to yourself that you would love to work at Bagolitas and be part of the madness and others may be thinking no way, not for me! REGARDLESS, you just can’t deny the culture that comes from taking off those serious hats and infusing some fun into the office. Benefits include but are not limited to: reducing tension, bolstering creativity, the sweet sound of laughter and building relationships.

Corny, perhaps... But the office culture at Bagolitas defines the character of our organization, makes us unique and makes for a happy family. From office Olympics and the bra brigade, to scavenger hunts and messing with the phones, we’ve done it all. Now we’re dreaming about 2010 – tell us your culture ideas and if yours is chosen, you will receive a Blythe Hot Iron Holder. The winner will be announced next week!

 

Have a great weekend and don’t forget to set your clock back! Hooray for an extra hour of sleep!
Janice

Spirit Week: Day 4

Today is Hat Day at the Studio. Ron and Janice are in Chicago visiting the production facility today, but still participated in Day 4 of Spirit Week with some folks from CTC.

 

 

Thoughts on Spirit Week with Ron Meyer

So, it’s Spirit Week at Bagolitas.  It snuck up on me this year again, so I didn’t get my vacation request form submitted until last week and Janice denied my request (I knew that promoting her to CEO was going to cause some issues J).  Once I realized I was going to have to participate, I figured I might as well make the best of it.  Before we go too far, you should know that BB (before Bagolitas), I had only dressed up once in my adult life for Halloween.  I’m not sure how I was coerced into it, but back when I was around 25 or so, the folks I worked with had a big costume party for Halloween and I ended up as a great big white rabbit (if you’re thinking of that Harvey character from the old Jimmy Stewart movie, that’s the right vision).  Whether it was the Bunny incident or just my innate desire to avoid attention and embarrassment, I hadn’t dressed up again until last year (do you remember the green hair? I still do!).

So, this year, I decided to get with the program, but wanted to come up with a good costume idea.  Fortunately, I had some help from my kids.  We got a new puppy a couple weeks ago and of course, if you have a dog and the calendar says it is October, you must have a costume for he or she.  The kids got Bella a Bumblebee costume and I decided to team up and be a Bee Keeper.  Mary Rae was at an MDA Scrapbooking event all day on Saturday, so the kids and I went off on a journey to get what I needed for my costume.  The khaki pants, shirt, jacket, shoes and socks were easy – that’s my standard uniform for work; the women here really appreciate my fashion sense.  The screen for my “helmet” was easily found at Menards.  But I needed some “bees” to put on my jacket (not real ones).  So, off to Hobby Lobby.  Unfortunately, they didn’t have any stickers that featured bumblebees, but Evan thought perhaps I could use alphabetic “b’s” and Allison concurred.  The kids helped me put my costume together and here we are – I’m a b keeper.  And, you can see Bella also, my favorite little Bumblebee. I guess Spirit Week isn’t that bad J

 

Spirit Week: Day 3

Today is our Halloween Costume Contest and boy are there some creative people! The Studio Crew kids vote on the winner and it's always interesting to see who they pick. Who do you think will win?

Spirit Week: Day 2

Today was flashback to high school...tight-rolled jeans, flipped up collars, tie-dye, and great hair. Unfortunately, we are again missing a few people because of the flu. We may have to do a Spirit Week re-do!

Spirit Week: Day 1

Today was Ugly Shirt Day. Unfortunately, we had a bit of a small group to start the week out. A couple of Crew members are out sick and one of us (the schedule maker!) forgot!

Halloween Week at Bagolitas...let the fun begin!

Welcome to the start of Spirit Week at Bagolitas! This year is our 2nd annual celebration. Jayne and Janice come up with a fun theme for each day and all of us "Spirited Folk" at the Bagolitas Studio participate. Since we're such a small group there isn't a great deal of embarrassment involved and it's usually a very fun time. My favorite day is later in the week: Halloween Costume Day (although last year's PJ day runs a pretty close 2nd). This year is our 3rd Halloween costume contest. We take pictures of everyone in their costumes and take home the photos so our kids can vote. You'd think I'd have at least one guaranteed vote each year, but no way! My daughter shows no loyalties when voting for her favorite.The boys usually vote for Patrick or Ron.

This is also my favorite week of the year because the 31st is my favorite holiday (is Halloween even a holiday?)and my birthday. I love getting together with friends and family without the pressure of buying gifts or preparing a big meal. My only requirement is that everyone show up in costume. I loved dressing up on Halloween when I was little (most likely in a costume the same as or similar to my twin sister's and with a winter coat underneath because it was usually snowing in Northern Wisconsin). Luckily I've moved up from costumes with the hard-plastic mask and flimsy one-piece outfit. Do they even make those anymore? Some of my favorite past costumes: Tippy Hedron's character from  "The Birds," a Chinese take-out box and Cruella deVille (my daughter was a dalmatian). This year I'm hoping to be the coolest pirate ever! 

 

Janice's Fall Favorites

Fall is upon us and this is my absolute favorite season on the year! I am a Minnesota girl, so I love the cool crisp mornings, the changing of the leaves and the thought of hunkering down by a fire in the evening. I’m also a big fan of fall because I love what fall fashion brings to my wardrobe. As many of you know, I am a huge bargain shopper and I wanted to share with you some of my must haves at great prices for the season!

 

1. I am known for being hard on my shoes in the winter, so when I found these stylish and fantastically price boots at Kohl’s I knew they would be perfect!

 

2. So clearly I am a fan of Kohls, because I also found this delicious blue scarf. I’m loving scarves because they are similar to throw pillows for couches – you can change up the look of an outfit or an ordinary shirt with this inexpensive accessory.

 

 

3. My co-workers will tell you that I am a HUGE perfume fan. I wear it every day and tend to wear lighter, more flowery scents in the summer and a little heavier, yet still bright, perky and fun.

 

4. Vests! Another fashion staple of mine in the fall! While some people’s body temperatures run on the cold side, I run on the hot side so a heavy jacket is one of the last things I get out as we transition to winter. I sport vests until the bitter cold takes over and recently found this amazing faux fur vest at a SUPER price. Not surprising that I found it at my favorite store, Von Maur.

 

5. I would be remiss if I didn’t let you know what my Bagolita must have of the fall season is. We are BIG Hawkeye fans at our house and spending a Saturday at the stadium tailgating with friends and taking in the game is priceless. To make my day on foot as convenient as possible, I have always sported a Becca. Imagine how thrilled I was when the first official Hawkeye Becca arrived at the Studio!

 

What are your favorites for fall? I can't wait to read all your favorites!