Menu Organization – Preparing for School

Simplifying my life is starting to be a mission, especially at the beginning of school.

If you are a teacher or have friends that are teachers or even have children going to school, you know that the beginning of the year rocks your world with schedules and routines.

I decided that the last thing I wanted to worry about was menu planning or cooking, so I organized my recipes and created a menu board in the pantry.

I made some cute days of the week clothes pins and hot glued them on.

I then printed off my recipes on index cards according to different categories.

Fiesta, Italian, Casual, Slow Cooker, Breakfast, and Freezer Meals. I also have DIY cleaner recipes

(This was easy to do. Basically you set your margins to custom and then 5 by 3 in Word, reset your paper size in your printing options, insert index cards in your printer, and print. I then put those cards on the day we will be eating that meal.)

I like this in that if Ken is feeling frisky and wants to begin dinner before I get there, he will have a recipe to follow.

(Which I must stop and brag on the hubster. He was feeling really frisky and cleaned the house, mowed the grass, washed and put up a load of laundry, picked the garden, and had dinner going when I came home after a 13 hour day at work. Way to go Ken! I may need to have something to do every Thursday!)

I can  add recipes easily since I saved the recipe document in Word. 

I also have a somewhat monthly menu plan that we use as a guide to buy groceries for the month as well as a cleaning plan, grocery list, and freezer inventory. 

I also made a few freezer meals from here.

I am not saying that this works all the time. I am sure that I will get lazy and not put those cards on the day of the week.

It will happen.

Right now, this is just helping simplify and corral my life as an educator at the beginning of school when you don't feel like being a house wife and a working wife at the same time.

(I also have 5 outfits picked out for the week. I'm a nerd, I know.)

By September, I will be able to handle both again and then the holidays will start.

A woman's job is never done, unless she asks her husband to be on house-husband duty and he does an amazing job! 

Rewards for Working Yourself to Death!

I believe after all of that cleaning and organizing, you must reward yourself.

How you reward yourself, is your own business.

I would love to drive to the nearest Krispy Kreme and pray that the "Hot, Hot" sign is on so I can delight myself in a donut, but due to a possible beach vacation, I think I better stick to something else.

So ...

On our recent trip to Birmingham, I went to the beloved Home Goods to find these lovely things for a mini master bedroom makeover ...

I consider the new linens as part of sprucing up. I love the fact that I can wash these, unlike our current quilt which is dry clean only.

Oh, you are asking about that lamp ...

The lamp greeted me at the door, and said that it was going home with me. I let it be, made my rounds, and came back to pick it up. It will shine in the bedroom. Literally.

So excited!

Now the decision is to wait until after my spring cleaning to reward myself or use it for motivation ...

Happy Thursday!

Cleaning Schedules

 I know this seems like a lot, and I am sure that I am missing some things. My goal is to be finished before the end of March which is my Spring Break because I want to tackle this ...

And watch these lovely ladies ...

What all do you tackle during Spring Cleaning?

Creative Organization ... Using hooks

I have often said that our house lacks storage so I am always on the lookout for extra storage. These cup hooks have really helped with that recently. I bought the largest size they had so that it would hold more, and this is what I have done with them:

Organize my pot lids on the top of the cabinets.

Ken did have to pre-drill a hole before screwing them in, but it was well worth the time. 

To hold my rings and bracelets in my closet:

I got tired of always looking for certain things, so I decided to organize my jewelry so I could quickly find what I needed.

Granted, I realize that this is not the prettiest picture, but our closets are small. Mine is jam packed and is hard to wedge myself in there.

I also use them to organize my scarfs. I don't have a picture. See statement above.

This is what I am planning on using them next.

I found a picture on Pinterest to share.

Source: gallery.apartmenttherapy.com via Haven on Pinterest

We are in the process of remodeling, so once that is over, we will drill away!

The possibilities are endless! 

Creative Cleaning

While Ken and I were still dating, the topic of who would do the cleaning came up. I figured it was now or never and quickly said that the cleaning would be split. I waited for his reply that would forever seal my destiny in the cleaning world. He said, "Sounds like a plan," and we forever lived happily ever after in cleaning bliss.

Well not all the time, but it does help divide housekeeping up. 

I cannot complain, Ken does a great job on the floors on a weekly basis. I think a man looks so good sweeping the floor. I am blessed, I know. 

So how do we do creative cleaning? 

1. Have Music:

As a young girl, I quickly realized that music helps a job go by quickly. I mean my memories involve a BeeGee's record and watching my mother dance around in her nightshirt as she cleaned, because who cleans in real clothes, right?

So set your favorite station on Pandora. I like to do this on my phone so that I can carry it from room to room as I clean. My current favorite session to jam out to - Adele - followed by Classic Rock, Lady A, and Michael Buble.

2. Play a Riveting Round of "Would You Rather?"

When there is a lot to get done and not a lot of time to do, I like to play "Would You Rather ..." and ask Ken whether he wants to clean the entire house or go to the grocery store or do laundry or clean dishes. This works for us when we can divide and conquer, and I normally come home from the grocery store to a clean house! 

3. Play the ol' "Tag You're It"

I don't know about your shower but ours can pretty dirty at times. So once every two weeks it needs a good scrub down with an SOS pad. The best way to play this game is to wait until your spouse gets in the shower and then throw a SOS pad and a solo cup over the top. Instruct your spouse to turn off the water and scrub until their little heart is content. Then ask them to put the SOS pad in the solo cup and pass it over so they can continue their shower. It works so much better to have someone else do it!

What creative cleaning strategies do you have?

Spring Cleaning

Spring Cleaning is just around the corner, and I need some motivation and a lot of it.

For me, in order to motivate myself into some spring cleaning, I read and look at all things related to cleaning and organizing.

So this week, I will share some Creative Cleaning and Organizing Tricks that I do to make cleaning fun from time to time.

I would love for you to share your spring cleaning schedules and how you make cleaning fun.

So to kick off this week, here are some motivational cleaning pins from my Pinterest board.

Source: modernparentsmessykids.com via Haven on Pinterest

Hilarious article from How I Organized My Entire Life

Source: katheats.com via Haven on Pinterest

Source: creativeorganizing.typepad.com via Haven on Pinterest

Source: moneysavingmom.com via Haven on Pinterest

Source: blogs.babble.com via Haven on Pinterest

Source: apartmenttherapy.com via Haven on Pinterest

Source: modernparentsmessykids.com via Haven on Pinterest

See you this week!

Keeping Things on Hand ...

I mentioned during explaining my household and recipe binders, about stockpiling or keeping things on hand.

To me, having things on hand is:

•  not having to go to the store at the last minute
• having your own store in your home
• keeping your sanity when in the middle of a recipe or needing toilet paper

Do you remember the movie Blast From the Past?

I think that my favorite part is when Sissy Spacek is shopping her basement which was stockpiled with food!

If it was only that easy!

I am fascinated by people who stockpile and create their own stores in their home. When I talk about stockpiling, I am not talking about hording. I am just talking about having enough items on hand to last you a little while.

The first order of keeping things on hand is creating storage in your home. Remember our pantry remodel? We created a lot of storage there as well as the laundry room. These two places hold most of our food, cleaning products, etc.

The closet in our guest bath is very deep and holds all of our household items that deal with cleanliness.

Like most of you, I clip coupons and go to Sam's.

Right now I have a good stock of condiments, dish detergent, pasta, toothpaste, and soap, and I would love to learn more at shopping at CVS!

One thing that I learned over the last year, (thanks Lea Ann!), is that you can buy ground chuck in bulk, cook it, and then freeze it in quart bags. So, when you get ready to make a meal for a pound of ground chuck, just put it in the fridge the night before to thaw, and it is ready to go in your meal!

I love buying about 5lbs of ground beef, making hamburger patties, and then cooking the rest and dividing it into 1 lb bags. I freeze everything, and just pull out what I need throughout the month for our meals.

This may take a little time on the front in, but saves a lot of time on the other end!

What items are a must for you to keep on hand?

Recipe Binder

If you have come back after yesterday's post, HELLO and THANK YOU!

Oh, how I love food and everything about it - the flavors, the first taste of something scrumptious, and the recipes behind them.

Part of a home and a housekeeping is good food. This may be cooking, dialing, going, or taking out a fabulous meal! Whatever it is, to me, food brings people together! I'm Baptist, what can I say!

Normally, I plan my meals by the month. This mostly works for us, but I want to try a bi-weekly menu. The reason - I want to keep our menu fresh and varied (we have a lot of chicken recipes!) and to coupon/shop sales better. With this new goal, I wanted to try this approach:

Create a menu with different themes for each day. For example you could have:

Monday: Beef
Tuesday: Casserole
Wednesday: Chicken
Thursday: Slow Cooker
Friday: Mexican
Saturday: Italian
Sunday: Light (salad and loaded potatoes)

We don't eat at home every day, but we eat at home most days!

When researching better meal planning, I found creating a variety weekly meal plan helps in planning, helps keep your menu fresh and varied, and helps know what to expect each night.

Again, I am sure if you are not craving Mexican on your mexican, you can switch it up.

For me, being flexible while having a plan = sanity!

So in order to easily create a variety menu, I made these two lists:

List of Recipes

Quick glance at what recipes I have in our binder to create a varied bi-weekly menu. I compiled this list of recipes that we eat on a regular basis along with some new recipes that we tried this summer.

Actual Recipes

All 27ish of them.

• I like having the actual recipes so that I'm not constantly looking up or flipping to the recipes.
• I just have it and go or have it if Ken wants to start dinner. Ha! 
• It will help me to quickly create my shopping list as well.

I am very excited to be sharing these recipes that I have collected over the years!

I will also use our monthly calendar to plan the meals so if we are out of town, want to eat out, or have plans, we can plan our menu around that.

With this binder,

I feel that this will help me quickly plan our meals, so I will never have to wonder,

"What's for Dinner?"

Also, I wanted to share a blog Plain Chicken that has awesome, simple recipes that are very inspiring!

Household Binder

The Household Binder ...

 

I like organization. I like pretty. I like rhythm and flow to my schedule.

Please notice that perfection was not listed.

Perfection is not my strong suit. As much as I try my hand at this, something always goes askew.

Take for instance, the lovely vinyl that I made for our binder. If you were to open it up, you would notice something different. Ken said that the company just put the pockets on upside down and I did nothing wrong.

That's why I married him.

I however, know that sometimes excitement and passion about a project gets in the way of accomplishing perfection.

I know that I could probably just get some transfer paper and make it right. However, I am just going to leave it as a reminder that sometimes things don't always go the way that we plan. So we have to be flexible, much like creating a schedule for your household.

My household binder is full of lists and reminders. Lists of what I have in my pantry, freezer, and stock closet. It has reminders of birthdays, gifts, and what our monthly calendar looks like.

In fact, this month's calendar is on the very first page with next month's calendar behind it. I just went here to print off monthly calendars from now until next July. In our calendar, we have:

• Different appointments
• Family and Friends' Birthdays
• Holidays and important events

  Just the usual stuff. I will not only use this calendar as a visual reminder, but also for planning my menus. I will share my menu/recipe planning tomorrow.

 

Behind my calendars, I have our Weekly Schedule.

 

Now, I live for the weekends so our weekdays are jammed packed with work, household duties, and other events. We just want to have carefree weekends so we work hard for that to happen by completing our household tasks during the week. Here is what that looks like:

 

Sunday: Church, Prep lunches for the week, lay out clothes for the week, blog, get grocery list/coupons ready

Monday: Grocery (Bi-Weekly)

Tuesday: Stay after school

Wednesday: Laundry (there is only two of us!)

Thursday: Cleaning

Friday: Relax

Saturday: Family, Projects, Fun

 

Sundays seem like days where you are finishing up the weekend while preparing for the week! That can be very hectic at times.

 

• I like to put snacks and vegetables in bags, put salads in different storage containers, and lay out five outfits so that I can just grab and go without thinking.
• I like to go ahead and write my blog post for the week and schedule those so they appear on whatever day I choose.
• One of my favorite Sunday morning rituals is to send Tootsie out to get the paper so that I can go through the ads while watching CBS Sunday Morning! This helps with couponing and sales.

 

The rest of the week, I just choose one task to complete each day. Keep in mind, I am very flexible with this. I may get up and start my cleaning, like wiping down counters or mirrors, on Wednesday morning if I know that the rest of the week will be busy or we are headed to Mississippi.

 

I think this is the key to have a schedule: FLEXIBILITY!!!

 

Also, here is our Cleaning and Household Schedule just in case you are curious about what we tackle. When I say we, I mean we. Ken is in charge of the floors and the scrubbing of the shower while I do the other things. He helps me with the fall and spring cleaning. It is good to have your family on board and splitting up the duties. Be creative with this! Growing up, we knew if the BeeGee's record was on, cleaning time it was!

 

Now onto the lists! I am trying them for now just to see how well this will work. I am huge on having things on hand so that I am not constantly visiting the Publix.

 

I don't won't to be the 

 

or where everybody knows my name.  

 

I like to stockpile, which is a couple of steps under hoarding. I don't want to build a basement for my collection of 1,000 tubes of toothpaste. I will just put my three tubes in the stockpile closet and call it a day.

 

Although I have these lists in my notebook,

 

Pantry Inventory

 

Freezer Inventory

Household Inventory

I also put them in my pantry where I placed them in protective plastic and use a dry erase marker to tally.

I like having the dry erase tally marks, so when I get something out of the pantry to use, I can quickly erase a tally mark with my finger.

 I don't want to spend my time counting every can or seeing how much toilet paper I have. I just want to see what I am low on so I can prevent being the

 Of the Publix. So, I think my favorite thing on this board will probably be the "need" list (bottom right).

I also included a Birthday List so I can remember when to send out birthday cards as well as a Gift List.

 

With my birthday list, I purchased some birthday cards for each person. I wrote in them, addressed them, and put them in order according to their birthdays. This took about two hours from start to finish. Each month, I look to see when I need to send them out. I have been doing this since January, and only have missed one person. Sorry, James!

 

With the gift list, I just made a list of people that we normally send gifts to for Christmas and Birthday. I made two columns beside their name, and listed what we normally do along with what we could possible do for Christmas. This helps me to keep an eye out for that perfect gift, sales, and overall good deals.

 

I am not perfect with this, but it works for me for know. I am sure that there will be some adjustments!

Wow, this was a long post! So if you made it this far, please let me know what this post has inspired you to do:

a. I don't know, my head it spinning

b. Clean at least that junk drawer and call it a day

c. Create your own binder

d. Quit reading my blog posts

e. Other ________________

Happy Thursday! Happy Cleaning Day for me! Stay tuned tomorrow for Menu/Recipe Planning!

The Power of Housekeeping

I have just a few weeks left before things get really hectic, and I am afraid that my few weeks are going to be jammed pack. So, I am trying to create a little household binder to keep me organized when things get hectic. Hectic, meaning I PASSED MY SCIENCE TEST!!!!

Before I tell you about my current solution to hectic, I want to share a little story.

Last Friday morning, I knew that I could get my test results by phone (after paying a little more $ to Praxis. Yuk). I got up a little early to walk in order to make my phone call right at 7 o'clock. As I prepared for the day and began my walk, I felt very peaceful and calm. I just kept praying for GOD's desire to be my desire and this number 153 kept popping in my head. I just shook it off because I knew I had to have a 142 in order to pass, so a 153 would be awesome. As bad as I tried to shake it off, it just kept coming up.

I finally called to get my results, and the gentlemen on the other end said, "Congratulations! You have passed your test with a score of 153!" Imagine that! Talk about reformation! Thank you, Jesus! Now to just get a job!

Thank you to all of those that encouraged me, prayed for me, and cheered me on as I embarked on this crazy journey! I could not have done it without you!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So it will be hectic in about a month! Therefore, a household binder may come in handy!

 I find housekeeping very fascinating and often it relaxes me. Crazy right? I said often, not always. There are some nights I don't won't to follow the monthly menu and Ken has to dial, get, or create a meal for us.  Heck, there are times I don't even make a monthly menu, and that is quite interesting!

Housekeeping can be great when things are going right and fall by the wayside when things don't. I believe for me, however, that in order to make your house your home, you must do a little housekeeping.

I'm not talking about that you must-stick-to-routine-and-make-sure-everything-gets-cleaned-every-week. I am talking about creating a doable schedule or routine that fits you and your family. One that can be revamped as necessary. One that creates rhythm and flow so you don't sweat the small stuff.

For me, when my home feels stable, I feel that everything is right with the world. There are times, I can live with a little clutter. There are other times that I let the clutter build up until I just have to tackle it. I feel so much better once I have tackled it and can move on. 
Have you ever researched making a household binder? Oh my word, there are so many great ideas, some that would work for us and some would not. There are some women who are extremely organized. I just need a little organization to get me into a routine.

 I really do better with a routine. Without a routine, I may or may not find myself on the couch watching countless hours of Desperate Housewives. This would not be very Bree.

In my research, I have found several different blogs of inspiring women, different printables, and lots and lots of ideas of creating a homemaking binder. There are even places where you can get a membership to a company that will create lists for you. Right now, I am too cheap for that. I made my own.

I will be sharing what I did with my binders over the next couple of days.

Summer To-Do List

I am so ready for summer! Summer is just one of the many perks about being an educator. It keeps us going. It is so nice to get a break and start fresh in the fall, molding a new set of students into productive members of society. I also got a job! I will be teaching 6th grade in the fall! For those of you who don't know, I have done long-term substituting this year. I was very blessed in the process! I am so excited!

I was inspired by my good friend Brooke to create this post. It would be even better if we could help each other with our projects! Sometimes, I do wish I could hop a plane and be in Mississippi pronto. I miss my creative friends. Thanks goodness for email and blogs. Maybe, I just need to get some consultation as to one to do. Any way, I will stop rambling and just write the list. Here is goes:

Living Room:

1. Paint
2. Create pillows for couch
3. Make slipcover for ottoman (I know my mama is probably laughing, because this project would make me dust off my sewing machine, cry, and then call her to come and help!)
4. Make covers for cushions on hope chest (again see #3 explanation)
5. Incorporate some soft colors and texture

Dining Room:

1. Play with my china cabinet arranging my dishes

Kitchen:

1. Decide what I want to do to the cabinets - paint, no paint, de-gloss, help me decide!
2. Paint the walls

Front Bedroom:

1. Finish hanging things on things on the wall

Other:

1. Make window boxes
2. Make a birthday calendar so that I can be better at remembering birthdays
3. Organize, Organize, Organize, and take to Goodwill
4. Exercise - Walking and Wii Fit Plus
5. Try to stay motivated and not listen to the couch's beckoning
6. Start planning for my classroom!

Spring Cleaning

Oh it is that time again. I know most people probably have plans for Spring Break, but I just can't wait to get some spring cleaning done. It just makes me feel so much better knowing that everyting is clean and organized! Here are some tips that help my sanity!

Organizational Tips

I love to organize! It just makes my life more peaceful. Even better, is to help organize someone else. I blame my mother. You see, after a long nice week at Camp Garawya in Clinton, MS, I often came home to everything I owned being on top of my bed. My mother would simply look at me and say “Organize it.” Which I did, however, I have tried to figure out why the rest of my sisters never had to enjoy this activity. I guess my mother thought as long as she had one daughter who could do this, it would be fine. I guess it did work out, because I would often help my sisters organize their bedroom, pack for trips, etc. Then I got smart, and try to leave a list for them to do. I get lots of eye-rolling from them. I am also glad that my husband is like me and likes to keep things nice and tidy. Bliss, I tell you!

Organizing closets, drawers, rooms, etc, etc, etc.

• About once a season, I organize about every closet, drawer, etc. in my house. I have to tell myself to throw it away or that someone needs it worse than you, so I give it to goodwill. (I get my pack-ratness honestly; therefore, I do have to force myself).


• Start in a room, put the timer on if you must (I don’t), and clean out as much as you can. I work until I am satisfied. Start on a different room next time.


• Have a box for goodwill and one for “iffy” (what you want to keep, but don’t know IF you need to. Have someone go through that box with you to help decide.) Put other items away.

Find more space

• Draw out your house, kitchen, bathroom,or other rooms. Draw all the storage space down to the drawer, label what you would like to put in there. Make it happen.


• Organize according to how you live – dog lease by the door, silverware by the stove, glasses by the dishwasher, etc.


• Define space. Put linens in one closet for easier access.


• Find space in your house to create more storage. Add shelves to the sides of a closet on the bottom part for more room. Look around your house and just think of what you can use – baskets, and empty draw (very few of these at my house), or recreate or combine items in a specific place.

Lists

• Keep a notebook in the kitchen and write down grocery lists, store lists, and other important reminders.


• Plan a day in the week/weekend that you can shop.

Meal Planning and Couponing

• I select about 8 recipes a month to actually cook and then buy some quick foods such as pizza, chicken strips, Voila meals (we cook for two, so depending on your family, you may need more recipes).


• I think about all that we have going on that month, and may even sketch out when we will have certain meals.


• I try to do my big shopping once a month. I still have to go and get milk and creamer about once a week.


• Once I have my recipes, I plan my grocery lists, go to www.southernsavers.com, and see which store has the best deals for what I need. This is usually Kroger.


• I organize my coupons according to what I need and put them at the front of my coupon organizer. These are also organized in the sections that they match – grocery, frozen, meat, dairy, etc. (So I am a nerd. My great husband bought me the organizer probably as an encourager to save money.)


• Once I find the item, I put the coupon in my pocket so I will have all of them ready at check out.


• Here lately, I have been cooking several meals a night for the week. This really helps when you are tired and all you have to do is put it in the oven! If I can divide them into two meals, I freeze one for later. We are trying to watch our portion size, so this really helps us.

Other Helpful Tips

• Keep laundry sorted during the week. It takes no time to match colors, so that when it is laundry day, you know exactly what to throw in the wash.


• Get as much ready for the week the night before or the beginning of the week. Most of the time on Sundays, I choose 5 outfits for the next week. (Yes, I am a dork, but I am also really late to everything, so this helps me)


• Fix your lunch as much as possible the night before and put it in your lunch bag.


• Fix your coffee, water, gym bag, etc the night before. It will really save time in the morning!






Don’t stress yourself about being organized. Just do the best you can and enjoy life!

Cleaning Tips

• Keep laundry sorted during the week. It takes no time to match colors, so that when it is laundry day, you know exactly what to throw in the wash.


• It helps me to select a day to do certain tasks. Thursday is my cleaning day. I make sure that I have a quick meal to fix so that I can clean my house. I don’t want to do any of this on the weekends! It works for me.


• I make my own cleaner – ½ vinegar ½ water and lemon juice. This can be used to clean the kitchen, bathrooms, and I recently learned, mirrors. It is wonderful to have one cleaner to do all of this.


• Listen to music as you clean. Growing up, it was the BeeGees (we had a record player). Music makes cleaning have a nice fun flow about it!


• Have a routine. Even though I know it is probably better to vacuum first so that you don’t have to dust twice, I like to vacuum last because that is a chore to me. Unless, my husband does it for me, which he usually does.


• Routine: Mirrors, bathrooms, kitchen, dust, vacuum, sweep and mop.


• About once every 6 month, I clean windows, window jams, baseboards, walls, etc. Normally I do this in the spring and fall.


• Make sure you reward yourself for a job well done! This could be collapsing on the couch, blogging, or doing a fun craft project. Normally this means collapsing on the couch and watching a movie or going through the many seasons of 24.

Happy cleaning and organizing!