Menu Plan

7/31 - Sunday - Chicken Burritos and Mexican Salad

Monday -working late - Spaghetti/ Meat Balls

Tuesday - Katie's Party - Sandwiches - Potato Salad

Wednesday - Unstuffed Cabbage  - Biscuits

Thursday - Working Late - Chef Salad

8/5 - Friday - French Bread Pizza

Saturday - Pulled Pork Sandwiches (crock pot) and Fried Green beans and Fries

Sunday - Meatloaf - Mashed Potatoes - Green Beans

8/8 - Monday - Book Group - Taco Salad  

Tuesday-  Mexican Skillet Dinner and Cheese Broccoli (e 388)

Wednesday - Soup and Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Thursday - Lemon Honey Grilled Chicken . Rice - Veggie / Cukes

Friday - Ham Sandwiches - (2/16 - pg 60) ( bake at 350 for 20 minutes)/ Cucumber Salad

Ham Sandwiches

1/2 cup stick butter, softened
8 onion rolls, split
1 small onion, chopped
2 TBSP poppy seeds
1 tsp dry mustard
1 pound shaved ham
8 ounces sliced Swiss Cheese

Spread butter on cut side of rolls and reserve 1 TBSP butter. Saute onion in remaining butter in skillet until soft, about 5 minutes. Add poppy seeds and dry mustard. Mix Well. Layer Ham, cheese slices and some of the onion mixture on bottom half of each roll. Replace roll tops and wrap in foil. Place on baking sheet and bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

Saturday - BBQ Chicken Legs/ Corn on the Cob and Beans

Preheat oven 375 degrees F.

Preheat a grill pan or an outdoor gas or charcoal barbecue to a medium heat. Take a few paper towels and fold them several times to make a thick square. Blot a small amount of oil on the paper towel and carefully and quickly wipe the hot grates of the grill to make a nonstick surface.  Arrange the chicken pieces on the preheated grill and cook, turn once mid-way, and cook for a total of 10 minutes. Transfer the grill marked chicken to a cookie sheet and then place in the oven. Cook the chicken for 15 minutes, remove it from the oven and then brush liberally, coating every inch of the legs with the barbecue sauce and then return to the oven for 25 to 30 more minutes, basting the chicken for a second time half way through remaining cooking time. Serve with extra sauce

8/14 - Sunday - Smoky Grilled Pork Chops  - Rice - Veggie

Save Time and Money

 I must make a very non frugal confession.  I try to save money wherever I can as we pursue our dream of being debt free.   But last year Tommy ate hot lunch nearly every day.  I just could not get into the groove of making lunches and I would procrastinate each night.  I would then say, "Forget it, he will have to hot lunch I have to get to bed".

I am sure you are all thinking, well just make the lunch in the morning!! Well obviously you don't know me! I am not a morning person and I just go through the motions until at least  9:00.  It isn't pretty nor pleasant for those that love me.

But this year I am off to a great start at being able to make lunches everyday!  I discovered a new blog called Make 5 Dinners in ONE Hour, and the lightbulb went off after reading her article about Make Ahead Lunches.  Of course, I kicked myself for not having thought of this before.  I do everything ahead why would I not make lunches ahead.  DUH!!

I wanted to share with you my adventures in making lunches this evening.  I must say my oldest son (age 23) has already adopted this practice as well!   I made 4 lunches for Tommy, 4 lunches and 4 breakfasts for myself.  The money I am saving makes me giddy. I should have timed myself, but I didn't think of it. 

Our lunches include the following:

Tommy Lunches (4) : peanut butter sandwich, pudding, water, 100 calorie cookies and a peach.
Mom Breakfast:(4) bagel thins with strawberry cream cheese and blueberries.
Mom Lunches: Salad (2) and hard boiled eggs, 2 sandwiches, peaches and grapes for a snack.

Obviously the steps are simple, but you know me........I love to share pictures of the obvious, so humor me!

 
 Start by clearing a big surface to work on and gather all your supplies.

I make all the sandwiches at once - assembly line style.

 
 I put all the sandwiches, bagels and fruit into my bin and take everything to the downstairs fridge.  Now I have a shelf full of enough breakfasts and lunches to last all week!  Completed in less than an hour.  Life is good!!  (took me a bit longer as I was taking pictures)

I am feeling more organized and back on track for school to start.  It feels great to be blogging more again.  I always get excited about getting ready for school to start and organizing.  

This just makes me so happy for the time and money I am saving.  Still kicking myself that I didn't think of this on my own. ARGH!!

Happy Savings!!

I was reading an article on Flylady.net about how your bedroom should be an oasis.  Well, my bedroom is where I dump things without a home.   I decided on my last vacation day, I needed to spend time making our bedroom feel more like an oasis.  I still have areas I need to de-clutter in each room, but this is a nice improvement overall in the condition of our bedrooms. 

I forgot to take before pictures of my bedroom.   I actually woke up this morning and looked around my room and thought how my bedroom didn't feel relaxing at all.  I started thinking I would just take care of the pile of magazines next to the bed.   Then maybe I would just clean off my bedside table.....and on and on until my room was pretty clean.   I didn't clean hubby's shelves or bedside table.   Hopefully, I will be able to get him to do that soon. 

BEDROOM AFTER PICTURES:

 A manageable pile of library books on the bedside table
and the book I am currently reading on the headboard.   I do try
to make my bed each morning.  I changed my quilt and bedding.
I love the first night sleeping on clean sheets! 

Good thing I cleaned out the corner between the dressers. I found
a Vikings jersey that I had bought for Tommy's birthday last year,
which I forgot to give to him.   Luckily, it will still fit him. 

 
When I clean I totally clean off a area or shelf and then sort the items
into categories.  I use the categories of toss, donate, return to another
area of house, and belongs here!  This is my second "return to
another area of house" box from my bedroom.   I also had one garbage bag full
of toss items from my bedroom as well. 

TOMMY'S ROOM BEFORE:

 
The dresser is where I put things of Tommy's that I find in the house. 
I guess Tommy never got around to putting things away.

 
Actually, Tommy's room was not too bad. You can see alot of floor and
that is generally not the case!

TOMMY'S ROOM AFTER:

 
I cleaned the floor up and tossed alot of junk out the room.
I decided not to tackle the shelving unit today. I didn't want to
spend my entire day cleaning bedrooms. 

 
His dresser is still a bit cluttered, but he likes to display some
favorite things.

 
Bedding, including comforter all washed!! I don't think I have
shared pictures of the completed murals I painted in Tommy's room.
I am finally done painting them just in time for him
to want a MN sports themed room now.

 
4 bags of stuff to be donated! 

I love before and after pictures.  Makes me feel like I accomplished something.  I also look at the after more closely in a picture then in person.  I know I have more to do, but I am looking forward to spending some time in my oasis with a candle burning, reading my book! 

I hope you find your oasis from the chaos of day to day life.  We all deserve a bit of pampering to rejuvenate our energies!

Be Well...........

As a working mom, I find it hard to keep things as tidy as I want around my house and still relax on the weekend after a busy work week.   How do you balance it all??  

 I am counting the days down until school starts and we are back into that busy routine.   I am starting to get ready by trying to get my routines in place again.  They have all flown out the window with summer.  Who wants to scrub a floor when you would be outside?   But this weekend I am going to get things caught up around the house and start following my routines again.  

Every year I try to tweak my routines to keep them fresh and hopefully keep me following them.  This week I discovered "Clean Mama's" blog and I will be adapting her cleaning schedule to meet my needs.  I am starting simple!   I spent today getting my living room, dining room, kitchen and bathroom in order.  I had not scrubbed floors or cleaned in a month!    Now that these rooms are back in good order, I will implement my routines to hopefully keep them like that with little effort.  

Hopefully tomorrow I will dig out the bedrooms and get caught up on laundry! 

My infamous hot spot...............a constant struggle for me.

BEFORE:
 

AFTER:
 

Do you have an area in your home that by the end of the week it is a mess???   A hot spot that burns uncontrollably??   Mine used to be the coffee table, until we got rid of it.  Now, my hot spot each week is the kitchen table, which we use as our computer/office area. 

1.   Make Beds

2.   Do at least one load of laundry and put away/

3.   Take care of clutter on Kitchen Table, etc

4.   Wash Dishes Nightly

5.   Wipe down the Counters  

6.    Sweep Floors

Weekly Cleaning Schedule

I normally would just do all the cleaning in one evening, but I am going to try spreading my weekly cleaning over the week and see if that works better.  

Monday - Dust House

Tuesday - Clean Bathrooms

Wednesday - Wash Floors

Thursday -  Vacuum House

Friday - Menu plan/ Prepare Shopping List or Clean Bedrooms

Saturday - Wash Sheets and Towels  - Pay Bills/Budget Meeting

Sunday - RELAX

I hope to start implementing these new routines next week.  I am looking forward to having more order to our home again.   I enjoy having my house ready for guests at a moments notice.   These new routines may need some tweaking, but it is a start in the right direction. 

Do you have a daily and weekly routine??   I would love to hear all about them!!   How do you balance it all?

Blessings............

August Menu Ideas

http://whilehewasnapping.blogspot.com/2011/03/20-minute-teriyaki-chicken-rice.html#axzz1RfrNvijN

http://www.oursevendwarfs.com/2011/06/summer-spinach-salad.html  with Sandwhich??

http://onceamonthmom.com/broccoli-cheese-twice-baked-potatoes/

http://www.mommyskitchen.net/2011/07/turkey-stuffing-roll-ups-weeknight-easy.html - green beans and mashed Potatoes

http://www.mommyskitchen.net/2009/05/terris-potato-salad-just-in-time-for.html

http://www.mommyskitchen.net/2011/06/grilled-hawaiian-chicken-fathers-day.html

http://www.mommyskitchen.net/2011/06/cheesy-spinach-artichoke-dip.html

17th - (Saturday) Apricot Pork Ribs / Corn / Seasoned Tater Tots

18th - Sticky Asian BBQ Chicken (new) - Chinese Cabbage Salad

Marinade (makes 1 cup)

In a small bowl, whisk 1/2 cup sweet & Sour sauce, 1/4 cup hoisin sauce, 2 TBSP ponzo or soy sauce, 2 tsp grated ginger, and 1 tsp minced garlic. 

19th - BLT's and potato salad

20th - Chicken Caesar Salad

21st - Make Your Own Sandwhich Night - Chips

22nd - Ham Sandwiches - (2/16 - pg 60) ( bake at 350 for 20 minutes)/  Old fashioned Pea Salad/ Cucumber Salad

Ham Sandwiches

1/2 cup stick butter, softened
8 onion rolls, split
1 small onion, chopped
2 TBSP poppy seeds
1 tsp dry mustard
1 pound shaved ham
8 ounces sliced Swiss Cheese

Spread butter on cut side of rolls and reserve 1 TBSP butter.  Saute onion in remaining butter in skillet until soft, about 5 minutes.  Add poppy seeds and dry mustard.  Mix Well.  Layer Ham, cheese slices and some of the onion mixture on bottom half of each roll.  Replace roll tops and wrap in foil.  Place on baking sheet and bake at 350 for 20 minutes. 

Pea Salad

160z Frozen Peas, Blanched
1-3/4 c mild cheddar Cheese, diced
3 hard boiled eggs, peeled and diced
1/2 cup celery, diced
1/8 c. green pepper, diced
1-1/2 T. onion, minced
salt and pepper to taste
2 to 4 T. mayo

Gently combine all ingredients; cover and chill until serving. makes 4 to 6 servings. 

23rd - Marinated Grilled Steak (new)  (7/4 cookbook - pg 200) Country Fried Mushrooms, Vermicelli with Garlic (second marinade used for steak - Grilled Marinated Flank Steak with grilling directions)  - Both Marinades were good - add to online cookbook

1 Lemon
1/2 cup soy sauce
3 Tablespoons Oil
2 TBSP Worcestershire Sauce
1 Clove garlic, minced
Chopped Green Onion
2 lb Flank Steak

24th - Marinated Pork Chops (new) (Honey Mustard Rosemary)/ Macaroni and Ham Salad /Green Beans
makes 1 cup of marinade. (very good marinade add to site!!)

In a small bowl, whisk 1/4 cup olive oil, 1/3 cup creamy Dijon mustard, 2 TBSP honey, 2 TBSP apple cider vinegar, 2 TBSP minced shallots, 1 TBSP chopped rosemary, 1 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp black pepper. 

25th - (Monday - off) Grilled Tuna w/ Mediterranean Salsa  (new) (July 19th - pg 215) - Broccoli Salad

Grilled Tuna w/ Mediterranean Salsa

6 (1-inch) thick tuna steaks
1/2 tsp minced garlic

Mediterranean Salsa:
1 (4 ounces) can chopped ripe olives, drained
1 tomato, chopped
1/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup feta cheese
1 tsp dried basil

Sprinkle tuna steaks with minced garlic and 1/2 tsp each of salt and pepper.  In small bowl, combine ripe olives, tomato, oil, feta cheese and basil.  Brush Salsa mixture over tuna steaks and refrigerate any leftover mixture.  Grill tuna steaks over medium-high heat about 3 to 5 minutes.  Gently turn tuna steaks and continue grilling 3 to 5 minutes.  When serving, top each steak with remaining salsa.   

26th - Pancakes / Sausage / Scrambled Eggs

27th - Taco Salad

28th - Book Group - Brats with chips

29th - Hamburger -Fries

30th - (Jakes Grad party) - Soup and Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

31st - Chicken Burritos and Mexican Salad

Happy Grilling!!

Wed - BBQ Pork Chops / Rice a Roni and Corn on the Cob

Thurs - Easy Ham Bake/ Broccolli and Apple Sauce - E-Mealz 384

Friday - Echiladas, Chips and Salsa, with Spanish Rice