Weight Watchers........down a little bit today!    At least it wasn't another gain!     My goal for this coming week is to walk 2 times during the week.   And make sure I track my points at least 4 days.   I have only 3 more weeks left in this session.   I would love to earn my next 5 pound sticker by then, but am doubtful. 

I had to laugh.....WisconsinMom Commented that I should teach a class in organization.   Actually one of my friends has a life coaching business and wants me to assist in organizing mom's!   I would love to do it....but I really can't take that kind of time away from my children, though the extra money would be helpful.   Maybe at a later date I will teach a few classes.  She wants me to teach on household organization and finance.   Both topics I have alot of ideas about.   

Today I finally had to buy a seaparate planner for home.   I tried to keep everything on my work calnedar, but it is getting too crazy.   I bought a Monthly/Weekly Student planner to use at home.   In the monthly section I have all our family committments, school, medical and church, etc.   I color code it by person as well with highlighters.     I list appointments I need to make and family birthdays.    I will now take that info off my work calendar.  

In the weekly section I jot myself notes for the day.  Like if I made a phone call about something insurance, bills, etc.  I write who I talked to and what was said.    I need better Doc of that stuff.   I also jot down a note of things I need to do, calls to return.    I also plan on putting all Erik's assignment due dates, etc. so we can plan on those.   I will call the homework hotline each night for him and I will write everything down in the family planner for his classes.  

On my work calendar I still have to keep my personal and business appointments so I don't double book, but at least some of the more personal details don't have to take up space.  

I will probably carry this family planner with me in my briefcase as well.  I have everything that is on it at home on the wall calendar that the kids and hubby follow.  

Adding one more child to my family has increased my need to be organized since he will need help with homework and my oldest hasn't needed any help in years.    I still have a few more things I want to get together.  I plan on taking the first two days of school off to be home when the boys get home, so I will work on organizing paperwork and stuff then!    I have a hard time keeping control of paperwork!   I plan on doing better with that this year. 

MONDAY

Hello - well it is Monday and back to work.   My daycare is back from vacation so Tommy will go see Auntie.    Sure was nice having mom here, she did laundry and stuff for me during the day.   I am all caught up though, so I just need to keep on top of it.   I still have to finish going through Erik's clothes for School, I think we have enough that is good enough for school.   Josh still needs a school bag I think.  We are going to Mall of America next weekend to Camp Snoopy to celebrate the end of summer and we will go out to supper, maybe a movie too..we will see!     We usually go away to a hotel for End of Summer, but we didn't get a place in time this year.   My BIL Steve is probably going with us as well.    So I need to buy some unlimited ride wrist bands today.  

HIGHLIGHTS OF TODAY - MONDAY

• Weight Watchers Weigh In


• One Homevisit

MONDAY- TO DO

• Work on one Dining Room Chair


• Laundry


• Supper - Chicken Wild Rice Soup, Rolls, Peaches and Cottage Cheese

I am off to shower and get to work.....have a great day!!

I will leave you with a couple of Josh's Graduation Pics.....

School starting soon and that means organizing....organizing......

I received my new calendar in the mail the other day and filled it out for Sept - December already.   I decided not to put stickers on the calendar for chore night, but put the chore rotation on a separate sheet of paper.  It is sort of like the graph below.

CHORES FOR SEPTEMBER

I did use stickers for dishes each night.   I hate to rewrite the same thing over and over so I use return address labels and print them on the computer.   So each night is a sticker about who's night it is to do dishes.  

It sure helps for us to be organized!!  Especially when you have a couple of people in your family with ADHD.  It helps everyone so much!

I also started a family planner that we keep on the table.  It is like a glance at our week.   I used the pages from Menu4Moms.com.   I am using the Menu4Moms Weekly Planner.  The one page has the menu for the week and the other has daily notes to the boys about things they need to do, etc.  

Well it is time to put Tommy to bed so I think I will get ready for bed.  hope everyone had a great weekend!!!

Kitchen Tips.........

Well I did a few things different this week and I hope it will make meal prep a little easier during the week when I work.    So I have  a few tips for you!!!  All things I learned from Menus4Moms.com

#1 -   Dried Beans.....you know you have a recipe and you need a cup of pinto beans ....who has time to cook those.   This weekend I cooked up a bag of pinto beans....I am going to do some black beans next weekend.  Though I do have alot of cans of beans in the pantry.  

HOW TO COOK BEANS:  Rinse beans in a colander and check to be sure there are no stones or other debris. Place beans in a dutch oven and cover with water so that the water is twice as deep as the beans. Heat to boiling and boil for 2 minutes. Turn heat off and cover, let sit for 1 hour. Drain beans in colander and rinse pot. Place beans in slow cooker and cover with water, making sure the water is twice as deep as the beans. Cook on Hi for 5 hours or Low for 8-10 hours.

Drain beans, reserving liquid (place colander on a lg. pan or bowl then pour beans in). Separate beans into 2 cup servings in freezer bags.  Cover beans in each bag with some of reserved liquid.

I forgot to reserve the liquid....hope they turn out ok!!

#2 - ONIONS AND PEPPERS -  I cooked up a bag of onions and about 6 peppers.  I froze them in 1 cups size in small bags. 

The same principle of bulk cooking can be applied to onions and green peppers either individually or together. If your recipe calls for a sauteed onion, instead of sauteing one onion, buy a whole bag of onions, chop them all and freeze in casserole-sized servings. When you have these meal-sized portions of meat and vegetables, it is a cinch to throw together a quick meal late in the afternoon.

#3 - FREEZER CHICKEN AND HAMBURGER

This is a way that we save prep time in the evening. When a recipe calls for ground beef, instead of browning one pound of ground beef, buy 5 lbs. and brown all of it, freezing the extra in 4 freezer bags. When you need cooked chicken for a soup or casserole, instead of cooking just enough for that recipe, boil or grill 3-4 extra lbs. for the freezer.

So this weekend I cooked 6 pounds of ground beef and three pounds of chicken.   So that is all stored in my freezer for future meals. 

#4 - CHICKEN BROTH -   I rarely make my own.  But hate opening a whole can of broth when I need just a tablespoon for a recipe or so.  So what I do with the remaining broth is I pour it into an ice cube tray and I freeze it.  So next time I need jsut a Tablespoon on broth I simply thaw a cube from the freezer.  No more waste!!   I do the same with Tomoto paste I have have any left over!!!

#5 - VEGGIE BUCKET -  I keep a veggie bucket in my freezer.  If we have left over veggies from a meal I throw them into the bucket and when it is full I make soup.   Works great!! 

Do you have any tips you would like to share???    Anything that makes your time in the kitchen more productive??   

Updated My August Menu.........I haven't been always keeping up with these.   It sure is helpful when I do!

http://jasmine1931.tripod.com/Cooking/menu.htm

Sorry I haven't updated much...been busy visiting with me mother and stuff.   We are taking her back today.     It was great having her with us. 

FRIDAY

My day off......so I got up and took Tommy to school.   Then I ran some errands.    Mom and I went to look at book at 1/2 price books and I took some checks into Health Partners.  Hopefully I have his dental bills all straightened out until the next appointment he has.   Then we picked up Tommy from his last day of daycamp at church.    We then rushed off to pick up Josh's Senior Pictures in Fridley.   I just love the outdoors ones.  I will post some later for you to see.....my boy looked so nice.

THen we waited for Erik's mother to come get him.  After Erik was gone we went to get groceries.   We went to Aldi, Rainbow and the bread thrift store. 

I did cook up 6 pounds of ground beef and froze it for future meals.  

I think that was most of our day......can't remember anymore!   I had gotten Tommy to go to bed early and I read my book for some of the evening and finished it.

SATURDAY

 Tommy woke up early!  We went to the Farmer's market and the library!    After lunch Tommy took a nap and my mother and I went through some clothes from the garage for my niece and took three garbage bags to good will as well.    Then we went shopping in goodwill and I found a couple of great deals!   Gotta Love that!    Found a new Spring jacket for Erik.  I hope it fits him other wise my nephew Nick will wear it.   I found shoes and a book for Josh.   I also found a pretty serving bowl, some glasses and a oil decanter for myself.   I bought three books of course too!    My book shelf is overflowing!!  I must get busy reading my own books instead of the ones from the library for a while.  

Afer Goodwill I came home and made some supper.   We had Mexican Rice Skillet and corn on the cob which was pretty good.   I had some pinto beans in the slow cooker that I cooked and bagged up and froze.   

Kristen my neice came over to play until about 9:00 or so.    My mother and I took apart the rest of my dining room chairs so I could finish refinishing them.   I have two done and four left to recover.     We did go and look at paint samples for my living room.   I want to paint an accent wall.    I als ofound new rugs at Home Depot for my living room too.   I want to have a few things done before Josh's graduation open house!  

I layed down with Tommy for a bit until he fell asleep and then I got up and read my new book for a bit.   I think Immax3 recommended it and so far I really am liking the characters.   It is a mystery by Earlene Fowler called Delectable Mountains.

SUNDAY

This morning I am going to cook up a bag of onions and green peppers for the freezer.   I have all the items recommended by MENUS4MOMS to have in the freezer.   I used the cooked ground beef last night and it was really easy and convenient.  I also have to cut up our purchases from the Farmer's Market and put in the fridge.  

We ahve to leave at about 11:30 and return one of my purchases from goodwill last night.   Then we are going to take my mother back to meet my dad in Hutchinson.   So it is another busy day for us.   

Another book done for August.....

The Great Husband Hunt - Laurie Graham - 3/5

Gone at a Transition PLanning Training all day........have a great day!

Had a good evening.....the kids were playing so nicely.    Tommy played with the big kids so I was able to watch a movie.  While watching the movie I paid bills, made my menu and grocery list for this next week.    I am going to try the Menus4Moms.    Well it is getting late and I am going to head to bed.   Hopefully tomorrow I will get up early and get to work early!     Hope you all had a great evening!