New Planner

Even though it is not a new calendar year necessarily, I am no longer working in a school district, and my kids are not yet in school (although we refer to the daycare program as "school") I still feel like September is a good time to reorganize and get some fresh habits.

Maybe it is the cool weather coming in and the preparation for winter when I will be locked up in my house in snowy Buffalo.  Maybe it is the end of the care-free days of summer.  Maybe it is my OCD.  Regardless, I have this feeling that it is time to take a look at life and figure out what I can do to make it a little less stressful.

Back at the beginning of the year I started using a number of "planning" and "organizational" tools, all housed in a "Household Management Binder" of sorts.

I had a pre-printed grocery list I used weekly on which I checked off or jotted down the items we needed for the week. I had a pre-printed chore list, broken down by rooms in the house.  At the start of each day I picked one, two, or as many chores I would have liked to get done.  My goal was not for every surface to shine everyday, but for me to have a home I felt comfortable enough to have guests in at any given moment. In the past I found that assigning a chore to a specific day did not work for me...it was too rigid.  I had a daily planner that outlined everything from appointments, to dos, menu, things to absolutely get done, notes, exercise, bla bla bla.  That actually worked well for a while until I missed filling out a day. Then another.  Then another.  You get the idea.  I planned my weekly menu on Google Calendar.  Loved it because I could save the links to my recipes or ideas I would be using right there!  We even sat down and did a weekly budget...Thank you SK2.

Then came the end of pregnancy when I was lucky to get a single task--napping and chasing a two-year-old not included--done.

Then came a baby and I was lucky to get a single task--napping, nursing, changing diapers, rocking an infant, chasing a two-year-old, and potty training not included--done.

A planner?  Yeah right!

Well, now I am ready to be back on track with the intent to use everything as before...except the Daily planner. It is just too much to fill in all that stuff everyday when I am rushing around as soon as my feet hit the floor in the morning.  But weekly?  I can manage that.

So I spent a couple of nap times doing this...
Weekly Planner

I have my To Do (including workouts, work, or activities with Moira & Ronan); To Clean (where I can jot down what chores I will do from my weekly chore sheet); To Go (for appointments and errands); To Eat (dinner...and any other meals that need planning); and To Remember (any extra important stuff that week).  I can fill out the majority at the start of the week and fill in the rest on that day or as it comes up.

Less paper...less filling in.  I have even thought about putting this in a frame for a dry-erase calendar.  Not quite there yet.

Feel free to use for yourself.  I am happy to have some organized chaos in my life again!!!

:)
Anne





  

Spring De-Cluttering

Whether it be cooking weeknight meals or baking to fulfill my sweet tooth, I enjoy both trying out new recipes with new ingredients and returning back to those old favorites I will suddenly get a craving for (he-llo Hershey's Special Chocolate Cake).  If you are a Betty-Crocker wannabe like me, your pantry/cupboards are full of wonderful things to include in your recipes...and they are all in bags with some sort of twisty, clampy closure thingy...and they are all shoved into a corner of your pantry...and they may be a bit older than you would like to admit publicly.  Every time I open my cupboard I think to myself, "Geez, Anne, clean this out!"  Well today I got a start on it...

I have been following Simple Mom for a couple of months now because I like her ideas on simplifying and organizing life.  The past couple of weeks she has been presenting a new "Project: Simplify Hot-Spot" for her followers to tackle in their homes--cleaning, organizing, simplifying, decluttering, stuff like that.  This week's spot is the refrigerator/pantry. ( I am proud to say I cleaned my fridge out yesterday.)  Today I began tackling the the baking side of my cupboard.  I really loved how Simple Mom used recycled glass jars to store dry goods...goodbye bags with twisty, clampy things.  And since I just cleaned out my fridge, I had plenty to start with.  I printed some address-sized labels from Giver's Log, slapped those on my jars, and I am now one more step to being less cluttered (and I am reusing too!)

And when you clean out your baking supplies, what do you wanna do?  Bake!  I had some (not expired) ingredients in a bag here, a container there that I thought of using up to free some cupboard space and ended up making a much-altered-version of an old family favorite...Jumbo Golden Raisin Cookies.  But wait!  I don't have golden raisins, nor do I have walnuts...I have dried cherries, apricots, cashews, and honey roasted peanuts...oh, and some flaked coconut.  It will have to do!

The result was a chewy, large, breakfast cookie-type treat.  Mild flavor, hearty, and oh-so-yummy.  I really enjoyed them with my impulse (note: pregnancy) buy at Wegman's today--vanilla flavored almond milk.  mmmm...

 This is the recipe for Jumbo Fruit & Nut Cookies:
1.  Put 1/2 cup dried cherries and 1/2 cup dried chopped apricots in a small bowl.  Add enough boiling water to cover, and let them sit about 10 minutes.  Drain, then added a cup of flaked coconut
2.  Cream 1 cup butter, 1 cup white sugar, and 1 cup packed light brown sugar in a large bowl.
3.  Add 3 eggs, one at a time and beat well.
4.  Add 1 teaspoon vanilla and 1 cup chopped nuts to the fruit mixture (I used 1/2 cup chopped cashews and 1/2 cup chopped honey-roasted peanuts).
5.  Sift together 4 cups flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, allspice, and 1 teaspoon cinnamon (I used 2 cups all-purpose and 2 cups whole wheat flour).
6.  Gradually add to butter mixture and blend well.
7.  Stir in fruit/nut mixture.
8.  Drop by spoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet.  Sprinkle sugar on top and bake for 12-15 minutes at 350 (I used my BIG cookie scoop, flattened the cookie slightly, and baked on an ungreased stone for 20 minutes.  If left on stone too long, they will stick a bit).