A Smarter Kitchen

When I begin the task of organizing the house, I always feel like I should start in the kitchen. It is one of the most used rooms in the house and it has the most "stuff" traffic. I am not one of those super frugal extreme couponing moms but I do try to be smart about how I spend our money. Especially as I watch the cost of grocery items rise. I try to take advantage of sales (particularly buy one get one free) and coupons (combined with a sale).

Note: Buying groceries in bulk or on sale only saves you money if you actually use them!!

I have had an ongoing struggle with mealtime at my house. I think it is related to my tendency to get focused on "what needs to be done right now?" because I have been so busy playing catch up that I don't take the time to plan ahead.

Unfortunately, once I get all of these great cheaply purchased groceries home, I get busy. I have not really gotten into the habit of planning out my menu ahead of time and so, as I'm trying to get the kids to do (or not do) something or get one more thing done, I suddenly realize that it's almost dinnertime and I have NO idea what to make for dinner!

The other part is that, I not only have picky eaters, I have infrequent eaters. If I do make an actual meal, sometimes I am the only one who will eat it. I never know if J will like it, if B is having an eating day (some days she will only drink) or if Mike's stomach will let him eat that day. How do you shop for that? I used to shop as if we were all going to eat full meals throughout the week. Yeah, not so smart. Now I am trying to relearn shopping. Instead of getting everything at once, I shop for staples I know J will eat for breakfast and lunch and one meal. If I'm the only one who will eat it, that one meal will last all week.

In the meantime, before I changed my shopping habits, I had built up an impressive stock of goods...that we will never eat. So, part of my reorganizing of the house is also adjusting how I do stuff.

The first thing I did was wash and put away all my dishes, etc. so I could see what I really have. I went through all my "tupperware" and realized we have enough containers to store food for four families. Why? I kept the "good stuff" and the sets that stack inside of each other (wise space usage) and gave away the rest. There's probably still an extra family's worth in there, but it's better than it was.

The second thing I did was go through my pantry and cabinets. I tossed anything that was expired and I donated anything that was going to expire in the next two months. I figured that people relying on free food will definitely eat it whereas it may just expire and go to waste if I keep it.

For anything left, I grouped them by food type (cereal, fruit, meat, lunch sides). Big stuff like large drink containers go on the floor. I put the breakfast items and lunch sides on the bottom two rows so that J can see them and get to them easily. Now he can get these for himself. I put stuff I use to make dinner on the next shelf up and dessert stuff he might be tempted by at the very top, not that that would actually stop him if he really wanted something. Our pantry is not that big, so soups, drink mixes, baking ingredients and spices are in the cabinets. Here is what J's pantry shelves look like:

Once everything was in place, I labeled any storage containers (I got cheap all purpose labels at Walmart) and wrote the expiration dates on everything big enough to see easily with a Sharpie. Some of them are really hard to see otherwise. I figured if I'm taking the time to look now, I may as well make it easier for next time.

As I was going through doing that, I also created an inventory with expiration dates. From this inventory, I made a list of the foods that need to be used first. This way, as I plan my menu, I can try to use foods from the "Need to Use" list so that nothing else gets wasted.

If I do this pantry clear out and inventory every 2-3 months, I can be sure that all of those great deals that I bought will get used instead of wasted, either by our family or one in need.


I did a similar make over of my refrigerator and freezer.
1. Now that J is able to do more kitchen things for himself, I rearranged a bit to make sure that the items he will most likely use are within easy reach.
2. The day before garbage day is becoming, "Leftover Night" and whatever leftovers aren't eaten are tossed (I don't want anything growing in my containers!) and check for outdated condiments, overripe fruits & veggie, etc. night.
3. My freezer shelves are now designated by food type (Breakfast, Meat, Veggies, Prepared Meals, Breads & Desserts), which helps ensure I do not buy too much of one type of food and not enough of the others (although there may be a bit more dessert than we need).
4. I am also making sure that I label anything I repackage to freeze with a Use By date (if I buy in bulk, I can put some in the refrigerator and freeze the rest).

One last thing:
Since our pantry is sort of a skinny walk in, we can only have shelves on one side. So what do you do with that little bit of space at the end? I put our stacking recycle bins there. It has been so convenient to be able to just stick the empty boxes/cartons while I'm standing there replacing them! You can see by the overflow that we didn't put the Paper bin out last trash day (it was raining-sloppy cardboard-yuck!).

I still have some work to do in the kitchen, mostly with our family "calendar and control center" but this will get me going on the goals of cooking more at home and being a better steward of our resources.

If you have any tips or ideas, I'd love to hear them!

The Little Things

Today has been a very busy day, so this will be a short post but I had a thought I wanted to share.

You know the expressions "it's the little things in life..."? Usually that expression is used as an abbreviation for "It's the little things that make life worth living". However, the expression "the straw that broke the camel's back" shows that it is also the little things that can get to us. You can use this knowledge in your favor!

When you are having a rough day and lots of little things are wearing on your patience and adding to your stress level, remind yourself to deal with one at a time and let each go as you do. If you do that, they cannot build and build until the dam that holds your sanity intact breaks.

If you are facing a very large trial, project, or mess, remind yourself that this mountain is made up of little mole hills. If you can identify those smaller pieces and work on one at a time, you will be halfway done before you know it! Don't try to deal with the mountain as a whole. It will seem impossible and overwhelming and that is what defeats so many of us before we get started.

The other thing that we can do is to look for those little things in life that make it worthwhile: a beautiful sunset, a smile or hug from someone you love, a moment of peace after the chaos, the song of a bird after a storm, a good book, a warm mug of hot cocoa when you come in from the cold, a song that lifts your spirits, a Bible verse that reminds you God loves you and hears you.

His mercies are new every morning

At our house, I have had to use all of these this week.
If you have been following, you know that we have several major (work intensive) projects going on for the house. Partly because they are all interrelated and partly because I have to stop when the weather starts changing and refocus on the farm. If I think about them all at once, it becomes very difficult to figure out what to do next and the amount is overwhelming. If I stop and choose one task and focus on the simple details of "What goes here? What must I do to get it here?" then I can see a path toward completion.

 How B thinks the puzzles should be kept

In my last post I mentioned that the kids had been out of school for three days (and they got half a day yesterday for weather). In those three and a half days, we have had three major meltdowns which ended up in discipline (as I tell J, even when you are upset, you are not allowed to be disrespectful and disobedient) and they all started over something minor! Then B decided that she did not like things being all organized and put away and every time I put something away, she would pull it out. I had been working on the kitchen and we have a couple of shelves for puzzles, coloring stuff, playdoh and cards. I had finally containerized in what we thought she wouldn't be able to open. When I saw everything pulled out for the fifth or fiftieth time, I really felt like giving up. This is where the "deal with one thing at a time and let it go" came in handy.

And in the midst of all of this, I saw a beautiful sunrise and two magnificent sunsets. My SWC wanted to cuddle with me after apologizing for his behavior. My horse gave me an extra nuzzle. I heard several messages and songs on the radio that reminded me that God is near, he loves me and he will get me through.

Another reminder that this is all in God's hands

God is near. He loves you. He will get you through. Take it one step at a time and don't worry about the rest.

Schedule Your Priorities

In our country today, we have become very good at being busy. We schedule so many things in our lives that we don't really have time for any of them. Of course, if you've been reading this blog, you know that this is something I have struggled with as well. As I try to organize the house, which is going to take several major projects, and catch up on the farm work, I must be careful not to neglect the things that are most important.

Regardless of whether my projects are complete or not, my family and my friends still need my time and attention. If I do not take the time to develop those relationships now, I will miss my chance. Friendships develop or fade as you share thoughts, feelings and experiences. Kids will continue to grow and will move on, whether I spend the time to be close to them or not. And if I want my marriage to be as strong (hopefully stronger) when they have grown up and moved out, then I must devote time to my husband and our relationship. You hear about couples who were so busy taking care of the house and the kids that, when their kids are gone, they have nothing left to talk to each other about. I do not want that to be what's in store for me and my Mr- that's not what I married him for.

Similarly, if I do not take time to know God more and get my focus on Him, then I may miss his guiding as I go through my day. It is all too easy to become caught up in the daily tasks and trials. If we want our lives to be about more than the mundane of the day to day, we must have a focus and a purpose that is greater than what is in front of us.

One thing I have learned about myself: if I don't purposefully schedule something, it's not likely to happen. The thing that "I'll do it when I get a chance" will stay just that because there will always be just one more thing that needs to get done. That was what led to my post about making time to ride my horses, which is a pretty high priority for me that I have rarely gotten to do in the last ummm three years. I have to schedule time to meet with God and to be with my friends and family. If I don't, it will either be very infrequent or not happen at all. My mom and I took action on this several months ago when we realized we only saw each other when they were babysitting. Now we have a standing weekly lunch date. We still occasionally miss one, but we see each other a lot more than we did before it was on our calendars. Now I just need to find time to do that with my hubby (sans kids) and friends (we may Have to bring the kids!).

With that in mind, this week I have "scheduled" time to read my Bible (I also like to listen to some of the programs on the radio) and I took some time while my kids were out of school (they got Three days for MLK!) to just be with them and play with them and love on them. And, since part of my greater purpose is trying to raise my kids to be people of character, we have also been introducing (or continuing) some lessons to help them become self-sufficient adults who are compassionate and generous with others. Some of these for J involve simple work and giving him responsibility for a share of the household tasks. I have told him that, in a family, we all help each other. We work best as a team. Of course, B isn't old enough for all of that yet, but we are even teaching her. She is old enough to hang up her own jacket (we have low hooks she can reach) and pick up her toys and put them in the bin. Now we just have to figure out sharing...

Take some time today to spend with the ones you love!

The Great Bread Experiment: Whole Wheat Bread #1

We are continuing our experiment with making our own bread at home. Next up: whole wheat bread. I got the recipe for this one from my Better Homes and Gardens cook book. I think it just may be our sandwich bread but then, there are so many others to try first.

Find the recipe and read my full post about my first homemade Whole Wheat bread on Time to be Mom in the Kitchen.

Ready to Ride!

What is most important to you?  What are you willing to die for? What are the things that you ache without? The people you long for when they are not there? Do you live your life in a way that shows these people or things are important to you?

If you say God is the most important thing to you, you should be spending time in His Word, learning about him and how he wants you to live. I'll give you a hint: it's all about loving people, especially those we don't think deserve it, because they are the ones who need it the most.

If you say your family is the most important thing to you, you should be spending time with them interacting with them. Being in the same room but concentrating on something else doesn't count. Spending your life at the office to provide a big house that you're not at with them doesn't count. And men, hear me on this: your wife does NOT need a big house. She needs a relationship with her husband! Your kids do NOT need more toys. They need a father! (I realize that women do this too but men tend to be more goal/work oriented)

I am assuming that most people put these and maybe friends first on the list of things that are important to them if asked. They even say they would die for them; but are they Living for them? Fighting for them? People don't say career or success is the most important thing to them. They just live like it.

Now, assuming that you are spending the time to show God and your family where they rank in your life, what's next on your list? For me it is riding horses. It has been my source of joy (aside from God and family) for 30 years now. When I haven't ridden in awhile, it's almost physically painful to watch someone else ride or even to go feed my horses, knowing I will not ride them that day either. I ache inside for it, almost like I do for Mike when he's out of town.

The funny thing is that's supposed to be my job but I enjoy it so much it seems like just fun. When I get a chance to ride, I start thinking of all of the things in the house and around the farm that need to be done and I feel guilty. I feel guilty that I'm not keeping up with all of the other stuff because I want to go have fun. Never mind that I have two horses that I need to finish training so that I can sell them because that's supposed to be my job. More often than not I give in to the guilt and go do something that feels more like work. And the horses get left out in the pasture.

Now I'm sure they don't mind hanging out with their buddies, playing and eating hay, but if I don't work with them, the young ones will never be trained and the older ones will start getting out of practice (and patience with my students). They will not be useful to anybody. And if I am not using them, why should I have them?

So, along with my commitment to take more time just to be "mom" and play with my kids (which has helped J alot), I am also making a commitment to take the time to really do my job as a horse owner and trainer and Ride these magnificent animals I have the priviledge of owning.

To make the time to do this, I am going to have to become better organized and a better manager of the time I have. One of the things I have done this year is to step down as the leader for some of J's activities. I will still be there of course, but now I can use that time for planning. I believe this will also help J because now I can just cheer for him and be a helper in the background instead of being the one who is telling him what to do all of the time but that's a side note.

The other thing I really need to be better about is planning. I have done a pretty good job of keeping track of our schedules but would often lose little things like what to make for dinner. If I plan out enough of those little things, I think I will be amazed at the time that saves. Plus, if I plan out my schedule, I can schedule in riding rather than wondering if I have time to between other tasks. If I know there is time for it, I think I will feel less guilty. I'll feel even better if I know I am taking care of all of those other things that need to be done, even if they aren't going to be done today.

So, tomorrow I am going to wake up, spend some time with my God (He Is first, after all), cuddle with my kids and kiss my husband before we leave for work & school and then get to work. It's going to be rainy, so the riding won't start then, but I can work on some of those guilt inducing projects so that when the sun comes back out, I will be ready to Ride!

Update: I have to brag on My Mr. for a minute. When he came out of his office last night, I was writing this post and he could tell I was emotional. He came and sat with me and read it. His next concern was my note to husbands at the beginning. He wanted to make sure that we didn't feel like he was putting work before us. To be fair, that is something we have struggled with in the past because he does work a lot. However, he has since made a noticeable and concentrated effort to be available and involved, which has done wonders for our whole family. When he finished the post, his response was "Don't worry about me and the house. Go ride. It's what you love to do. I knew that when I married you." This from the man who bought me my first horse (after 18 years of riding). Could he be any more supportive? I am so blessed to have him as the person I get to spend my life with!

My Home Management Binder

Despite Mike's valiant efforts to help me embrace all that this digital age has to offer, I'm just a paper girl at heart. I guess it's just how my brain works. I do take advantage of technology. I read books on my kindle, although I still have a hard time finding the page I want if I need to go back and look at something I've already passed, and I use the calendar feature on my phone, mainly for the reminder alarms; I never could get into the habit of checking it every day to see what's on the agenda. So, even though I can Use the technology, that is not what comes naturally to me.

Something I've learned about myself: if it's too fancy, it's too hard to maintain and I'll stop using it. This is true of organization, discipline, communication, technology and just about everything else. So I'm going back to something I know I'll use: a planner that I can write in and erase and highlight!

This year, since I'm in a big push to purge, consolidate and organize, I thought I would try making a "Home Management Binder" like some of the ones I've seen on Pinterest. There are some great products on the market, but none of the ones I saw in the stores had the layout or categories I wanted. Erin Condren even offers attractive personalized planners on her website but I couldn't rationalize spending $50. If you are on Pinterest, there are LOTS of links to sites with free printables. Some even have tutorials on how they put their binders together!

With so many options available for free, it hardly made sense to spend $30-$50 on something I could create to be exactly what I want. I looked around a bit and decided that I liked the printables available on Organizing Homelife the best. Ginny not only had dated monthly and blank daily pages, but MANY extras like menu planning, chore lists and maintenance record pages and title pages for the various sections. Even so, I still added a few pages of my own, which I will type up to look nicer eventually.

She also had some good ideas to make the binder work a little more efficiently. Here are a few that I used:

Problem1:
Wasted paper & ink and possibly a Really big binder if you have daily schedule pages and weekly menu planning pages, etc.
Solution:
Print out enough pages for one week and put them in page protectors. *Use WET erase markers, rather than dry erase, to prevent items from accidentally being erased or smudged.
Note:
It may be the type of page protectors I used but the markers didn't want to write well on the pages at first. They worked better after I had wiped down the pages. My mom suggested using waxy artist pencils as an alternative.

Problem 2:
If you use page protectors, the dividers don't stick out far enough and get lost in between the pages.
Solution:
Cut a sliver off the edge of a page protector and put the divider inside with the tab sticking out! Why didn't we think of this before?
The pictures are of the first one I did, so it wasn't too pretty. I made the others a little neater. The sheet protector is a little hard to see, you know, being clear and all, but you get the idea.

Line up your first divider with how it would be once inside the sheet protector.

Snip the edge on each side of the tab, then cut out a narrow strip in between them.

Then all you have to do is slide it in! I didn't label the tabs themselves. I put the title pages in the same sheet protectors as the dividers, so I felt it was unnecessary.
My final divider fix:

Problem 3:
What do you do with all of the little schedules, calendars and invitations you get from various sources?
Solution:
A non-tabbed divider with pockets at the end of each section. I used clear ones so they wouldn't distract too much from my section dividers.

Here is how I organized my binder:

First is a pencil pouch for pens, wet erase markers, etc. I discovered that "Window Markers" from Crayola work just as well as the Vis a Vis wet erase markers and you can get a box of 8 for about $4 at Walmart. The only drawback is that the package does not include black. I also included a small notebook in case I need to write a quick note to J's teacher.

Section1: Schedules & To-do List

In this section, I have a daily chore list and enough blank daily schedules for the week, both of which I downloaded from Organizing Homelife. Here is a sample of what mine usually look like.

Section 2: Menu Planning

The first page in this section is the weekly menu planner from Organizing Homelife, which has three spaces for each day. She also has sheets for "Recipes to Try" and "Freezer Inventory". I wondered why there wasn't a planning/shopping sheet to list the ingredients for the recipes you are planning to cook, so I just added a sheet of notebook paper for that. I also made a Pantry Inventory sheet and a sheet of ingredients that need to be used soon for the freezer and the pantry. For now, I just used notebook paper. I'll make a prettier version later. I keep the school's menu for the month and a grocery list in the pocket at the back of this section to help with menu planning.

Section 3: Calendar

Obviously, this is where the calendar is. ;)  At the front, I put the birthdays and anniversaries sheet from Organizing Homelife. Then the 2 page per month calendar. In my calendar, I color code appointments and events by family member, church (since I'm on several teams) and horses (since that's my "job" and needs to be well documented). At the end, I put my school contact info, health & insurance info and babysitter info. And I keep invitations, sports schedules, and any other calendars in the pocket of this section.

                                  As you can see, I'm just getting started on filling it all out!

Section 4: Maintenance

For this section, I just used the printables at Organizing Homelife. I used the one that shows all of the home maintenance things that should be done, broken down into quarterly assignments. She also has a sheet for auto maintenance, but Mike keeps track of that stuff on his computer, so I'll leave that to him. I'm going to include home projects in this section, but have not made up sheets for them yet.

Section 5: Goals and Projects

I don't have any official pages in this section, just notebook paper so I can scribble ideas and plans.

The best thing about making your own binder is that you can tailor it to your own needs. I used the Avery brand since it was inexpensive and offers Boxtop points for the school. There were a lot of printables that either didn't have what I needed or had things I did not need. I also made some of my own sheets. It doesn't take very long to make your own excel sheet if you cannot find what you want. I made my own School Contact Info sheet and will be making some for my Menu Planning section. 

I also used a separate binder for recipes. I used one that was already made for recipes that I got cheap at Ollie's. I have tons of cookbooks and sometimes have trouble finding a recipe I know that I like. In the spirit of organizing, consolidating and purging, I am only putting recipes that we have tried and liked in this binder. As we go through our cookbooks and magazine recipes, etc. the "approved" recipes will be recorded and then the actual book/magazine can be donated or given to a friend.

One last thing. I do not intend to carry my big binder everywhere. I will keep it at home as a reference. I have a 5x7 inexpensive planner that I carry in my purse so I can write down appointments, etc. and then I can transfer them to the big binder when I get home.

So there you have it. That's my Home Management binder. Feel free to use or ignore any of the ideas you want. Just do what works for your family/life/schedule.

The Sun IS Still Shining

The last couple of days here have been grey and dreary. Yesterday morning, it was so dark that J thought he had woken up too early and went back to bed! This morning, as we drove to school, J noticed that we couldn't see where the sun was.

Now, he's a smart boy. Of course he knows the sun is still there but this gave us an opportunity to talk about God and life. We talked about how, even though we can't see the sun, it is shining just as bright today as it is on sunny days. The clouds are just in the way. And eventually the clouds will move on and we will be able to see the sun again.

Similarly, there will be clouds that come in our life; times that are dreary or difficult when we can't feel God there. That doesn't mean he isn't there. He is just as powerful and loves us just as much on days that are hard as on days that are fun and easy. And if we concentrate on the knowledge that he IS there and that he DOES love us, then we can get through those hard times until the clouds pass and the sun comes out again.

So, if you are having a cloudy, dreary, rainy season in your life, just remember:
God is still there.
God is still powerful.
God still loves you.
The clouds will pass.