Gone in a flash!

Periodically I buy a large round roast to use for several meals.  I trim it, put it in the crock pot, sprinkle a package of Liptons Onion Soup mix over the top and add about one cup of water.  Covered and cooked for 5-6 hours on high and I end up with tender, lightly seasoned meat.  One roast usually makes enough meat for at least 6 meals.  Some gets shredded, some is cut up into chunks, some sliced and some left in a hunk for a pot roast.  Then I put everything into zip lock freezer bags and freeze until I'm ready to use it.

Today was one of those roast-cooking days.  I went to Costco and picked up a 5 pound slab of meat.  After cooking it, I decided it was one of the best roasts I've ever made...tender and easily shredded but not dry.  I used some of it to make broccoli stir-fry for dinner tonight and it was perfect! 

Then it happened.  I transferred the roast into a 13 X 9 inch pyrex baking dish to cool in the refrigerator.  As I was moving it onto the shelf, the refrigerator door started closing and the dish slipped out of my hand, landing with a loud shattering crash on the kitchen floor!  Glass, meat and juices scattered everywhere!  For one tiny brief second, I though about trying to save some of the meat.  NO WAY.  It was gone.  Sigh...

Sometimes, our best efforts to save money and save time disappear in a flash.  Just glad no one got cut.  I'll be more careful next time!

You can do something!

My son posted this quote this morning and I liked it so much I made a sign of it.

Being a mom can feel so overwhelming, it's hard to know what to do first.  The best thing to do is just do something!  It's amazing what can be done in 10 or 15 minutes.  You don't really need a large block of time to do many things.  Usually the annoying tasks that we have to do regularly are fairly quick to accomplish.  Take advantage of those small blocks of time and just do it!

Frozen...food not the movie :)

Years ago, when I heard about the idea of making a month's worth of meals in a day, I was intrigued.  Then I thought about the practicalities...with a family of 10, that would fill up a HUGE freezer!  Also, the idea of spending an entire day planning and grocery shopping for those meals and another entire day in the kitchen preparing them sounded like torture!  The less time I spend in the kitchen, the better!

But...I came up with a compromise that worked for my large family and works even better for smaller families!  I don't prepare complete meals but I do make some things in large quantity for throwing together into a dinner later.  Things that take a relatively long time to cook, I'll make at least double and sometimes more to freeze for later.  It takes no extra time to make 8 cups of rice than it takes to make 4 cups.

Here's an example - I had a dinner in mind but my husband said he felt like Cashew Chicken.  He also said it probably would take too long IF we had all the ingredients.  I just smiled and headed into the kitchen.  I pulled out a quart freezer bag of cooked chicken breast cubes, a freezer bag of cooked brown rice, and a handful of toasted cashews from the freezer.  With the addition of a can of chicken broth, some Asian spices, chopped onion, garlic and celery, some thickener and soy sauce, my Cashew Chicken was ready to eat in 15 minutes.  Super easy, super fast and didn't taste like it had been in the freezer  :)

Some of the best things to make in quantity and freeze in portions are beef, chicken, and ham.  I'll take two fairly large beef roasts and cook them in the crock pot.  When finished cooking, I'll take one roast and divide it in half.  One half goes in a freezer bag as is...that will be for a pot roast later.  The other half gets cut in cubes for stew or soups and divided in more freezer bags.  The other roast I'll shred for BBQ beef, taco or burrito meat, and beef and gravy.  Again, it gets divided into several freezer bags.  Chicken is prepared similarly...several chicken breasts cooked or grilled then frozen for teriyaki chicken, stir fry, pot pies...you get the idea.  With the meat already cooked, the rest of the meal is easy and quick to prepare.  I also regularly freeze brown rice as it takes fairly long to cook and sometimes, I don't have that much time.  It freezes wonderfully. 

When freezing, I like using freezer bags because they are compact and stackable.  Rigid containers sometimes leave too much airspace and therefore, take up extra space.  Always label what is in the bag, how much and when it was prepared.  

Whatever you cook regularly is a possible candidate for making in bulk and freezing.  It saves on energy and time, which is a great help for a busy mom!  If unexpected visitors arrive just in time for dinner, it's so easy to pull out another bag of meat, thaw it and add to your meal.  What could be easier?  Ok, calling out for pizza...   :)

  

Lighten your load!

I grew up in Southern California where the temperatures stay mild throughout the year...no winter blizzards, ice storms or temps dipping below freezing for several weeks at a time.  But, I have to say, I really love the winters of the Pacific Northwest.  Not being inclined to spend much time outdoors when it's rainy and cold gives me lots of time to take care of procrastinated indoor projects.

Yesterday, I spent the day sorting papers. It's time to clear out 2014 and make way for 2015.  Tax receipts are now in a folder, ready to process once the W-2's come in.  Receipts are either filed or shredded.  New file folders are set up.  Other files have been sorted and/or disposed of.  It feels so good to have a fresh start! 

Next on the agenda is another round of clutter control.  Like paperwork, clutter has a habit of piling up  :)  It's not a one time process.  Kids grow out of clothes or get them so stained and dirty that they're no good for hand-me-downs.  Get rid of them!  Make room for new and current clothes.  Same with toys.  And how about the items gathering dust in the kitchen and family room?  If no one is using them, find them a new home!

January is such a great time to tackle paperwork and clutter!  It's a new month and a new year.  Put those dreary days to good use and free yourself and your family from the burden of piles (either paper or "things").  Lighten your load and you'll lighten your spirits!

Happy January!

Grandma used to say...

This well-known saying has been around for generations and is as appropriate now as it was when my grandmother said it. 

Do you really need it?
Can you live without it?
What would happen if you didn't have it?
Can something else work in its place?

If those questions were asked every time you went to the store or drove by a yard sale or saw an advertisement in the newspaper, would you bring home as many impulse items?  Would your closets be as full of duplicate (or similar) clothes?  Would there be more room in your home?

So much of what we own falls into the "I wanted it" category rather than the "I needed it" category.  There's nothing wrong with buying things we want unless we don't have the money for it or place for it or the money could have been spent more wisely elsewhere.

Bringing back some of our parents and grandparents values isn't such a bad idea.  It worked for them and it can work for us.  Worth a try, anyway!

A lazy cook

Who says I'm a lazy cook?!?

In a conversation with my husband recently, he casually mentioned that I was a lazy cook.  I immediately and indignantly responded that I was NOT a lazy cook!  While the conversation ended shortly thereafter, in my mind I continued to mull over his words.  Me?  A lazy cook?  How could he say such a thing?  I bake bread from scratch (even grind the wheat for flour).  I make pies, cookies, cakes and brownies from scratch and even make homemade noodles when making chicken noodle soup.  A lazy cook indeed! 

Then my thoughts turned to cooking in general.  I DO like using short cuts.  I like simple food.  If I find a recipe book and it's full of recipes with unfamiliar ingredients, I put it down and walk away.  My style of cooking is basic and healthy.  (Those pies and goodies I make from scratch?  I don't make them very often!)  There are so many other things I'd rather do than spend hours in the kitchen, cooking.  If that makes me a lazy cook, then I'll wear the label proudly.  :) 

Lazy cooks of the world, unite!

A Tale of Two Sewing Machines

Two totally different sewing machines.  One an expensive machine, bought new for several hundred dollars.  The other one bought used for $6.99 at Goodwill, missing a piece in front of the arm.  Guess which one I regularly use.  Surprisingly, it's the cheap little used one.   Although I love the expensive one, it's been plagued with mechanical problems and I've already spent several hundred dollars more getting it "fixed".  

I bought the used sewing machine for my children when I was teaching them how to sew.  It's been abused and mistreated over the years but keeps on working.  I suppose when it finally breaks, I'll "retire" it for good and fix the big, fancy machine again but that day isn't here yet.
 
Moral of the story - Expensive isn't always better.  
                        Or - Even if you can't afford the best, you might get along just fine with                                 something a little more humble.

Making meal planning easier

choosemyplate.gov

Menu planning and grocery shopping are not my favorite activities.  I often wish Purina (who makes cat chow, dog chow and other animal feed) would come up with People Chow so I didn't have to worry about planning what to cook.  :)   Not only do we have to plan and make meals, we have to be mindful of nutrition, budget and health.  Purina, where are you?!

Having studied nutrition and worked with families who needed education on planning healthy, inexpensive meals,  I found that the best resource for teaching these things is found on the USDA's website, choosemyplate.gov.  This is the latest guideline for health and wellness from the federal government, replacing the My Pyramid program.  Its name come from the visual representation of how the proportion of various types of food should look on your plate.

This website has information, recipes, and tips for planning and preparing healthy meals that are based on different families needs and lifestyles.  They focus on whole grains, fruits and veggies, lean meats and foods that are naturally inexpensive.  Included are charts and calculators for tracking your food input, weight, goals and exercise.  There is even a section for teaching children about food and nutrition which is quite entertaining and fun (well, however fun learning about nutrition is, anyway).   It is quite inclusive! 

I highly recommend this website and hope you take a look at it!  Anything to make the process easier is my type of program!

Tidy Tuesday - Books and DVD's...again

Bye bye books!

Let's face it.  De-cluttering the house is a never-ending job.  We are constantly bringing things into our homes but rarely letting things go and getting them OUT of the house.  It's no wonder we run out of space!  But space isn't the problem...too much stuff FOR the available space is.

My husband's and my weakness is books.  We both love to browse bookstores for fun.  We love looking at thrift stores and garage sales for hidden treasures. The result is obvious...too many books!

So, today I did one of my semi-regular brutal book trimming sessions.  It was raining outside, my husband had my car, so I was stuck in the house and the urge to purge (books, that is!) came over me. I tried to be honest with myself as I looked at each title and was able to pull out about 60 books and a stack of magazines to part with.  I know there's more but I think I did a pretty good job.

Eclectic collection, isn't it!

I did the same thing with our DVD collection with one exception.  I know my husband likes some movies that I don't and I don't want to risk throwing out something that he'll miss.  So, I went through the movies and when I came across one I could definitely live without, I put it on its side so he could look at them and decide if he wants to get rid of them too.  Whichever way he decides is fine with me.  If it means that I can get rid of even 5 or 10 titles, it's worth it. 

Tidy Tuesday - Battle of the wills

Face it - toys multiply!

Four year old Lilly is often my source of inspiration for blog posts.  She is an amazing, exuberant, smart, princess-loving little girl.  She also occasionally has an attitude.  :)  Right now, she is dragging her feet about cleaning her bedroom and her mother is feeling frustrated.

Parents and the cleanliness of their children's rooms are a constant source of friction from the time Baby starts to crawl (and pulls everything off shelves) to the time Lanky Teenager packs up and leaves home (hopefully, taking ALL his stuff with him!).  Wouldn't it be nice if we could just set up their room with a wonderful organizational system and that would be it?  Probably not going to happen.  In my entire life, I've only known one family where their two adorable children actually cleaned their own rooms without help, encouragement or nagging.  It was almost freakish  :)

Anyway, I digress.  Children's belongings are only going to multiply.  You can do one of three things.  You can...
1. Ignore the whole mess, keep the door to their room closed and try to keep everything confined to just their room (or toy room).
2. Set up an elaborate organizational system with bins, labels, and shelves.
3. You can trim down the amount of toys they have so there is less to clean up.

Option #1.  Chaos is not comfortable to live with and kids are no exception.  Toys get broken, lost and scattered.  Children probably will be overwhelmed and won't want to play with their things.
Option #2.  Looks good in the initial stages but children are notorious for shoving their toys in whatever bin or container is closest and it isn't long before everything is mixed up and there goes your nice, orderly system.  Tried that one  :)

Dream on!

Option #3.  Trim down the number of toys available and rotate them from time to time.  The more responsible the child (or children), the more sets of toys are available and vice versa.  Best combined with a smaller version of option #2...toys grouped, kept in bins, labeled and stored within easy reach.

I don't think option #1 is acceptable because it's important for children to learn how to respect and care for their things.  The degree of cleanliness and orderliness is also something that is an individual matter.  You might be fine with a relaxed system or you might be someone who is only comfortable with a stricter approach.

Stay calm, don't react to whining and make putting away toys part of the kid's daily routine.  At least it won't take over the entire house that way.  Good luck!  Oh, and Lilly, go put away your toys!

Catch-Up Day

Last night as I was trying to sleep, I started thinking of all the little projects, errands, and phone calls I needed to make.  Some of these things have been on my mind for several days (or weeks) and I just haven't gotten around to doing them.  So....

I just LOVE Costco hot dogs!

Today I got up with the resolve to tackle as many of these little nagging things as I could.  I got out my trusty spiral notebook, started furiously writing down all the obligations I needed to address and  set to work crossing off each item.  I paid bills, organized my financial papers so I could do my taxes, set up this year's files (so I'm a month late - I said I was behind!), made phone calls and wrote emails.  This afternoon I'm going to vacuum the furnace filters, clean out the fireplace and get a bedroom ready to paint.

Sometimes we just need a day to "catch up".  It's fairly easy to keep up with the usual routine of living but some things tend to get pushed aside.  Most of the things I neglect are little things that only take a short time to complete, which may be why I put them off.  But it feels so good to finally get them off my mind!  Maybe I'll designate an official Catch-Up Day every month and for dinner that night we'll have hot dogs, french fries and...catsup!

Here's to Catch-Up day!

Tidy Tuesday - Tackle the Kitchen!

"I don't have enough space!"  Does that sound familiar?  It doesn't take long for a home's available space to be filled to capacity and start to overflow.  There are two possible solutions.  One is a lot of hard work and usually involves spending a large amount of money - move to a larger place (until THAT place gets too small and so on...).  The other also involves hard work but doesn't require moving or spending much money - trimming down the number of possessions to fit the space you have.  It sounds so easy but acquiring things just seems to happen...much easier than deciding which things to keep and which things to get rid of.

A kitchen doesn't have to be large or fancy

One of the biggest "stuff magnets" is the kitchen.  Who wouldn't want tools to make food preparation easier?  But, do we really NEED to fill our kitchen drawers and cabinets with gadgets that we might use a few times a year?  Do you have any of the following - corn shucker (use a knife), burger press (two plates pressed together works too), pancake dispenser (try a measuring cup), meatball tongs (roll with your clean hands), onion goggles (REALLY?!),  microwave bacon cooker (two layers of paper towels, bacon, another paper towel on top), bagel cutter (a knife), strawberry huller (again, a simple knife) etc.  And don't forget the small appliances like cake pop makers, rice cookers, soda makers, rotisseries, pizza makers and so on.  These things take up valuable space.

Empty your kitchen of these space wasters and make room for the tools you regularly use.  You might even have room to put your food in the cupboards if you clear out enough space.  Wouldn't that feel good?

We have very little control over the space we have to work with but we can be creative in how we use that space and what we use it for. Even a small kitchen can hold the necessities of food preparation and service. 


PS...all those little gadgets and appliances are a pain to clean anyway  :)

Tidy Tuesday - Our job description

If you're a stay-at-home mom, you probably have a husband who works full time.  If your husband works full time, he probably is gone from the home several hours of the day.  His job probably has certain requirements and expectations that he needs to meet in order for him to keep that employment.

Being a stay-at-home mom has requirements and expectations too, although they are somewhat more...fluid.  Your hours are long and sometimes you don't get a lot of positive feedback.  But, that doesn't mean that you can shirk the basic requirements of your job.  You have to have more self-discipline because you are the one who plans how your "work hours" are going to be filled.

What are some of those tasks that are part of the job description of a stay-at-home mom?
1. Nurture, teach and care for your children.
2. Household tasks...laundry, cleaning, organization, clutter control, maintaining a neat and tidy home.
3. Budgeting to make your one income stretch to meet the family's needs.
4. Meal prep, menu selection, purchasing groceries.
5. Scheduling appointments (medical, dental, educational, home and car maintenance).

Those aren't all of the tasks that we do but they are definitely some of the most basic.  Someone has to do those things in a family and by the mere fact that we are the ones who don't work outside the home, those are our jobs.  We might not get the praise and applause of the person who works outside the home, but our work is necessary for the mental, emotional, spiritual and physical health of our family. 

When you fulfill your jobs and your husband fulfills his, there is true balance in the relationship and no one is left shouldering most of the weight or feeling resentful.  It is a system that works.

Annoying fruit flies

Every year at this time it happens.  It starts with noticing a few tiny insects flying around the kitchen and before you know it, they're all over the place.  I'm talking about fruit flies, vinegar flies, drain flies, gnats...whatever you call them (and they are different species) they are annoying. 

How can you get rid of them?  If you look on Pinterest, you'll see several different "recipes" for ridding your kitchen of the little guys.  Most are a combination of vinegar and sugar.  I tried following one of the "cures" and caught a few but in general, I wouldn't call it a success.  I then bought some old fashioned fly strips and again the same thing.  A few flies were caught but most just skirted around the traps and went on their merry way, reproducing and flying around my kitchen. 

In my opinion, there is only one way to get rid of fruit flies and other critters in the house.  That way is keeping your house (especially the kitchen) scrupulously clean.  Living creatures need food to survive and when you eliminate the food source, you eliminate the creature.

I'll admit, I sometimes leave a few dishes in the sink before washing a whole load.  Or I get called away before getting the kitchen cleaned after dinner.  When I do this, I keep the cycle alive.  By disciplining myself and making sure that there are no obvious food sources, the flies die. I am glad to report that my home is now fly free.  :)

Pretty soon it will be winter and all those nasty creatures will go into hibernation, dormancy, or die off.  In the meantime, keep your kitchen clean. 

Non-specific tasks

Don't you hate it when your husband comes home and asks you what you did all day and the best you can come up with is "uhhhh...I was busy but can't think of anything unusual." or "uhhh, housework?" That sounds so lame but what probably took up most of your day is what my daughter calls non-specific tasks. 

All those little things take up time even if they don't seem worth mentioning.  Things like making and returning phone calls, taking out the trash, clutter control, pet care, budgeting, meal planning and preparation, returning library books, reorganizing shelves and drawers, emptying the dishwasher, cleaning out the car...and this doesn't even start to cover tasks associated with child care or outside tasks like gardening or the big projects. 

It would be an interesting exercise to actually write down what you do in a "normal" day.  I think you'd be surprised.  Those "little" things contribute to the smooth running of your home and family and are important...as are you.

Tidy Tuesday - Household tips

 Just thought I'd share some household tips today.  Hope you can use one or two.  :)

The amount of laundry detergent your washer needs to clean clothes is actually quite small yet the measuring cup they provide is deceptively large.  By marking the correct line with a Sharpie marking pen, you won't waste detergent.  This is especially good if your kids wash their own clothes. 

 Binder clips ($3.79 for 12 at Office Depot) are great for closing bags (cereal, frozen food, chips, etc) and are extra sturdy.

I use a lot of fruits and vegetables and I love these compost container liners!  They are made from corn and decompose quickly in your compost pile.  Just throw the bag full of scraps onto the pile.  Hmmm...I wonder what they taste like  :)

You can buy wire racks at any store (like Target, Walmart, Home Depot) and they increase the usable space in your cupboards.  Great if your shelves aren't moveable.

Have a great day!

Thrifty Thursday - Back to School!

It's that time of year again...the Back to School sales!   Even if you don't have kids in school, the yearly sales are too good to pass up.  When else can you buy spiral bound notebooks for 19 cents, Crayola crayons for 49 cents, filler paper for 79 cents and find great buys on underwear, socks, backpacks, athletic shoes and basic school clothes.  Sometimes the prices are even lower.

I usually concentrate on socks and art supplies when the sales are really good.  Kids are so hard on socks...they get holey and stained even before the kids grow out of them.  And there's nothing quite like putting on a new pair of socks...soooo comfortable!  I get socks for the whole family and then go home and throw out (or recycle) the old ones. 

Art supplies are another group of supplies that suffer abuse during the year.  Crayons get broken, lost, chewed on and have their papers ripped off them.  Markers get dried out.  Paints get contaminated by being mixed with other colors.  But when prices are low, it's worth it to "retire" old supplies and refresh with new.  I usually take the old crayons and put them in a zip lock baggie for future craft projects that use melted crayons.  The markers get thrown away.  No use mixing the old with the new.  It's frustrating to reach into a box of markers and find the one you want, only to find out it's all dried up.  Get rid of the dead markers!

This is the time to make sure everyone is all current and up to date with basic clothes, shoes and underwear.  Inventory your family's clothing and school needs and keep your eye on the ads.  You probably won't find better deals than over the next month or so.

If you DO see an ad for something at a super low price, be sure to get to the store early.  Really good buys quickly sell out.  Often you can get a rain-check but that's up to store policy.

Happy shopping!

Tidy Tuesday - A losing battle :)

It seems like work is never done because it IS never done!

When I went into the bathroom last night to brush my teeth, I noticed that a certain someone (who will remain nameless) dropped his clothes about one foot away from the clothes hamper.  Really?!  Just 12 more inches and it would have made it into its proper place.  It got me thinking about all the homemaking frustrations we moms deal with on a daily basis.  It didn't take long to come up with a list  :)

1. Well, let's put my example as #1...not putting clothes in clothes hamper.  The hamper is NOT a decoration!  It has a function!
2. Not covering refried beans (or anything that isn't a solid) in the microwave and leaving an exploded mess to clean up.
3. Advertised cleaning products that don't perform miracles.
4. Recipes that don't turn out ANYTHING like their gorgeous pictures.
5. Tomorrow's dinner ingredients eaten as a midnight snack.
6. Putting damp towels in the hamper.  Isn't it funny that the dirty clothes end up on the floor and the wet towels are put in the hamper?
7. Burning a new pan or scratching a new non-stick pan.
8. Not using a cutting board on the kitchen counter.
9. Forgetting shirts in the dryer so they get all wrinkled.
10. Not noticing the gel pen in the pocket of the shirt going into the washer.
11. Not putting the lid on the blender!  And then not cleaning the splatter off the ceiling  :(
12. Produce that gets "lost" in the refrigerator until you come across an unidentifiable liquid mess puddling the shelf.
13. The "new, improved" design of Costco milk jugs.  Hint...transfer the milk to a gallon pitcher.
14. Sharpie marker in the hands of a preschooler.
15. And of course, the ever famous...stepping on a stray Lego in the middle of the night!  Ouch!

This list took only about 10 minutes to think up.  Given a little more time, I'm sure I could write pages and pages...

How about you?

Tidy Tuesday - My little Swiffer

This little Swiffer makes cleaning your floors easy and mess-free!

Ok, so everyone is probably using Swiffer and I'm the last one to join the party.  Typical  :)  My husband brought this little sweeper/mop home (while I was gone on a week long trip) and loved using it!  I still can't believe he actually went to a store, bought a mop and USED it!  However, he did and he couldn't wait to demonstrate it to me when he got home. 

I will never go back to a traditional mop or broom for my kitchen and bathrooms.  No more buckets or pans of dirty, yucky water.  No more mess.  It really is as good as it advertises.  Yes, it is more expensive to use than the traditional method but stores like Costco and Walmart make generic refills if you don't want to spend a little more for the brand name.  It's still worth it!  I actually don't mind cleaning my floors now.  :)

Oh, and I'm not getting paid to endorse this product.  Wish I was!  :)

Tidy Tuesday - Special rules for Summer

Kids are messy.  I think I can say that without reservation.  Moms want their homes to be clean.  I also think I can say that without reservation. Can the two co-exist?  Maybe not all the time but most of the time, yes.

Summers are especially hard because you have kids home all the time running in and out of the house multiple times a day.  There are things you can do to make it easier on both you and your children...even in the Summer.  Here are a few possible Summer rules you can implement in your family.

Oh yes, guns are for outdoors and NO aiming at people!

1. No wearing shoes in the house.  Leave all the muddy/dirty shoes outside, not inside.
2. No bugs or other living creatures in bedrooms.  Let them live in their natural habitat (outside).
3. Food is eaten in the kitchen.  Or, if it's a popsicle, eat it outside.
4. Bathing suits and wet towels are to be hung up immediately...in the bathroom or outside or wherever you designate.  NO wet clothes laying around the bedroom floor!
5. Dirty kids are subject to a hosing down before coming in the house.  :)
6. No practicing soccer, baseball, gymnastics or any other sport inside the house. 
7. Limit the number of pets in the family, especially inside pets.  And, a cockroach is NOT a pet. (see #2)
8. Even if it's hot, we wear clothes.  Nudity is not an option.

Can you think of any other rules for the Summer?  Most of them seem pretty obvious but you'd be surprised how creative kids can get!  :)