Menu Planning

Okay, brace yourselves. Here is a very exciting topic. You might not be able to contain your excitement here....its about Menu Planning. dun, dun, dun, dun!!! :D I've done it many different ways - having a list of basic meals and picking what I wanted to make each day as it came (I'm pretty sure that phase was pre-kids ;D), planning my dinner menu for each week, for each month and probably several other ways that I can't remember at the moment. I don't remember any particular way being a horrible way to do it. It worked for me at that phase of my life.

We are blessed to have four kids (praying for more!) and if I went back to having just a list of dinners and deciding each day what we would have, my world would be in chaos. That would never work for me right now. But that's just me and how I work. Everyone has their own system and way of thinking. If that works best for you, go for it! The trick is to find that way and do it. You will save time and money by having a plan.

Personally I think that planning at least dinners out for a week or more at a time if a really good way to go. I like to be able to look ahead and know that if we're having Pot Roast on Thursday, I should take it out of the freezer on Monday or Tuesday to get it thawed out. Find your perfect method and run with it.

I started a Home Management Book a couple of years ago using the ideas from 'Large Family Logistics' by Kim Brenneman. It took me almost a year to get it to where I wanted and using it effectively. I made some snazzy dividers using construction papers (yupp, I'm a homeschooling mama hehehe) and have a section titled 'Menu & Recipes'. In this section I keep my grocery lists, my basic meal plans for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks, and recipes. The recipes are mostly for household products - laundry soap, deodorant, toothpaste....

Using my Home Management Book to help out, I create my menu. This is what my fancy menu calendar looks like. I tape four pieces of printer paper together, measure out my squares using a colored marker, then I turn it over and trace over the lines that I can see through the other side. Next I write the days of the week at the top, then date all the squares using the month and day. I just run the months together so I can see it all laid out. My oldest daughter and I just finished planning out our menu from today (01-22-13) all the way through March 16th! The front side goes up through 02-16 and the other side is from 02-17 through 03-16.

I don't normally plan out all three meals, but for my last calendar I did and it was wonderful!!! I still have no idea what motivated me to do that, but I'm so glad I did. It made the day so much easier just being able to look at the calendar and know what was for lunch. Took away all the stress of standing in front of the fridge 30 minutes (or 10-15 because we got caught up with school) trying to brainstorm something fast and simple to eat. I'm hooked now. By planning out all three meals, I can know the day before if I need to do breakfast or lunch prep for the next day. I keep highlighters in my Home Management Book and I highlight the notes that I wrote down that say "make bfast for tomorrow" or "take roast out of freezer"

Do you have a Menu Plan? Whats your favorite way? Do you have a special calendar you use or keep  your menu on your fridge? I always love to hear how others do theirs so maybe I can snitch some ideas. :D

Freecycle.org

A blog I follow, thefrugalgirl.com, had a post about using freecycle .org to recycle your unwanted junk...I mean stuff!!! :D I was very intrigued, so I went to the site to check it out....and then pretty much promptly forgot about it. Now, several years later, I was reminded of it because I held a very unsuccessful garage sale and still had the stuff sitting in my closet. I just wanted it gone, but didn't necessarily want to donate it to goodwill. I have no problem donating stuff to thrift stores, but I wanted to find a better way to recycle my stuff. So I looked into freecycle again. There are several groups in my area, so I thought I'd give it a whirl.

I put up several items and made different posts with boxes of different size baby clothes. Within 3-4 days, it was all gone. wahoo!! I loved being able to help someone out by just giving them something they needed or wanted.

I'm hooked.

I go through phases (usually after birthdays or Christmas) that I feel we have too much stuff and want to purge and downsize. I was feeling that way before christmas and the feeling just few after christmas. :)

What I'm doing it sorting my unwanted stuff and putting it on freecycle. If no one wants it after a while, I will delete the post and put it into my box of odds and ends to be donated to a thrift store. The box of stuff has no rhyme or reason to it, so its not really worth posting on freecycle.

One of my favorite things about it is that I don't have to leave my house. I love to stay home. I don't mind doing errands, grocery shopping, library trips....but add extra stuff in and it wipes me out and I just don't enjoy it. So its a great resource for me to use. You can also made wanted ads if you're looking for something. I'm in need of hangers, so I'm going to see if anyone has any laying around they want to get rid of. Happy freecycleing and downsizing! :)

Homemade Baby Wipes

I've used store bought baby wipes for all my kids and just recently switched over to making my own....and I'm in love with it!! I usually buy the bulk box from Walmart and every single time I bought yet another box I'd sigh and think about the money and about the chemicals I'm purchasing to put on my little ones. :-/

It really hasn't been that long that disposable wipes have been around, and yet its a pretty foreign concept to make your own reusable wipes or to use cloth diapers. Even my grandmother, who used reusable diapers and wipes, is totally amazed that I would do this to myself! :) She is very supportive of me, but it still amazed in a slightly impressed/she's crazy way. :)

I generally take my time about doing something new. I like to research my options, read what other mama's have used/done and learn about their methods. So I probably took close to a month before actually making the switch, but its what works for me.

My husband likes to wear shirts till they are dead...sometimes longer. hehehehe He had one shirt that he would pull out every now and then and wear....even with my encouraging him to not! It didn't have holes in it or anything like that....but it was way past dead. So one day, I turned it into rags. :) My stock pile was running sadly low, so instead of purchasing some more, I decided to be thrifty (which he loves) and use his shirt. Since I was being thrifty with his money, he had to love it....or least appreciate it. hehehehehehe :)

So! Instead of buying materials to make wipes, I decided to once again be thrifty...using his dead shirts. Just a warning ladies - I'd run it by your husband before cutting up his shirts. The first shirt I cut up, he knew it needed to die (for real), which is why I felt free to cut it up without asking him. The other shirts though, I ran it by him first. :)

By using old t-shirts you're, of course, being a thrifty wife, but because they have been worn so much, they are soft enough to be used on your little one.

                                            The dog toy is not needed to make baby wipes :)

Now that you've got your supplies ready, start cutting! I ended up cutting some of mine a wee bit too small....okay a lot too small, but now I know for next time. :) I store them in a plastic wipe box and pour my solution over it, which consists of:
2 cups water
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons Dr. Bronner's Unscented Baby-Milk Pure-Castile Soap

After using the wipes, I take them into my laundry room and put them into a largish tupperware that I have no lid for. I keep a mixture of vinegar and water in it for them to soak in till I'm ready to wash them. Generally I wash them with some towels, just to make me feel better. :)

Counting my blessings.....

Its been quite a while since I've been on here. A lot has happened to our family lately. Toward the end of October we found out we were expecting our fifth Blessing and we were soooo excited!! I knew right away that I was pregnant, but tried to talk myself out of it so I wouldn't get my hopes up too much. :) I was over the moon when my pregnancy test came back positive. I also knew from the beginning that I wasn't going to get to keep this sweet baby. I kept telling myself I was just being dramatic or something. But that feeling stayed strong with me, even after I got the positive test. I took a test the next morning and it was negative. :( The LORD saw fit to take our sweet one home to be with Him. We were heartbroken. I clung to the knowledge that "the LORD gives and the LORD takes away, Blessed be the name of the LORD!" I had a rough two weeks grieving and recovering. It was such a comfort to see the love and hear of the prayers from family and our church family and friends across the country, and even the world. I had people in Cambodia praying for me! The LORD was gracious though and I am doing so well, as is the rest of the family.

November 16th brought a big event in our house. Our oldest turned 8! EIGHT!!! sigh. Time certainly flies. We tried to convincer her to just skip her birthday this year, but she wouldn't buy it. :D We are so blessed to have our sweet Abby! Her servants heart is a joy to see, as is her love for her Saviour.

For Thanksgiving we were able to go to my mom's this year and had a blast! All six of us siblings were together for the first time in a long while. And I got to see cousins I hadn't seen in over ten years! Such fun!! The food was delicious and the visiting was wonderful!!

This past week all four of my youngin's have been sick. :( It made for a very long week and even longer nights sometimes. But we are alive to tell about it...Mama is a little sleep deprived, but hey! I'll live. :) I made a batch of Elderberry Syrup and its almost gone now. Its amazing the power of herbs. I saw a big difference in how they felt when they did take it and when I forgot to give it to them. They were so much more miserable when they didn't get it on time. Gotta love herbs. :) Thankfully neither Mama or Dad have gotten it - we felt like we were, but haven't yet. yay!!

A week off!..sorta =)

For our homeschooling we do three weeks of school and then take one week off. I love this! It gives me a chance to catch up housework that I've had to let slide because of teaching school and it gives me a break as well. By the beginning of the third week of school I'm starting to feel a little burned out and that I'm not teaching as well. Having that week off energizes me and I feel so ready to tackle another three weeks of school! 

For our week off this time, we are doing some really (much needed) deep cleaning. I wrote out what rooms I wanted done for each day of the week. Today we cleaned and organized the School Room, I cleaned the Kids Bathroom really good and took everything off my bar counter thingy, wiped it down really good and put only the things back that are meant to be on the bar. =)

Monday's are also my Laundry Day. I have to do laundry almost every day, but Monday's I focus on laundry. I catch up on laundry if I've gotten behind, wash bedding and rugs if needed and clean my laundry room. I somehow got behind this past week, so I did three loads of laundry on Saturday, so I was in pretty good shape today! =) I washed my older girls bedding and did two loads of laundry. But, sigh, I didn't clean my laundry room. But its okay because its on my list...for Thursday I believe. =) 

In my School Room we rearranged some of the shelving, did lots of cleaning and vacuuming, threw away papers and stuff, and organized our books. It looks and feel sooo good in there!!! I'm actually looking forward to making my lesson plans later in the week! 

During our week off, my kids play like crazy!! I do expect them to do their regular chores as well as help when asked too. Here is Felicity, 3.5, helping by wiping down her desk and her brothers desk. 

This is a terrible picture! My oldest, Abigail, 8 next month, is always on the move and I have a horrible time getting pictures of her doing stuff. If I ask her to pose, boy does she pose! But just random pictures of her....she's hard to get! One of her jobs was to wipe down our little drawer storage things, which badly needed it. :-/

We were almost done cleaning and I was sharpening pencils and putting those little eraser things on the ends, because somehow my daughter kills all of the erasers that come with the pencil. =) Micah, just turned 2!, is helping Mama by handing the erasers to me. He took the job very seriously. =)

Josie, 8 months yesterday, just got to play all day. =) She is teething and has been quite fussy, which isn't normal at all. I'm so looking forward to having my happy baby back!! As long as she had a cold carrot to gnaw on, she was pretty happy then. =) A cold carrot is my version of a teething ring. =)

The kids bathroom looks so nice and clean!!! I'm horrible at getting the bathrooms cleaned. sigh. I don't like cleaning them, which doesn't help, but I love having a clean bathroom! You'd think I'd be more motivated to actually clean them on the days assigned to them. grrr. Anywho, the kids was done today!

My other big job assigned for today was to clean off my bar counter thingy. I took everything off, wiped it down really good and put only the items that are meant to be on the bar back. =) I refilled my flour and rice jars and it just looks so nice! I realized later that I failed to refill my Coconut Oil Mason Jar. oops. I'll have to put that on my list so I don't forget.

Tomorrow we will be tacking Micah's room, the older girls room (including wiping down the fans), the Play Room, Laundry Room and cleaning/wiping out all the lower kitchen cabinets. Stay tuned for more exciting adventures of getting my house back in order!! =)

Elderberry Syrup

My kids have all had colds in some form for the last couple of weeks. Nothing bad, just enough for it to be bothersome to them with icky noses. Then I found out we had been exposed to Whooping Cough. bleh. So I started doing research on Whooping Cough, what it is, how to prevent and treat it. We tried a couple of different antibiotic/cough syrup recipes involving garlic....and not one single member of my family could take it. :-/ I had complaints of headaches, upset tummy, and just general not liking it. So we moved on to plan B. =) Making homemade Black Elderberry Syrup. I was buying it from my local health food store, but its not cheap, so I was thrilled to discover I could make it for myself for a whole lots cheaper...plus I knew exactly what was going into it. I found a wonderful new blog to follow (deeprootsathome.com) and she told and showed me how to make Elderberrry Sryup!! I found another site (wellnessmama.com) with a slightly different recipe. I didn't have cinnamon sticks or cloves, so I did a combination of the recipes. =)

1.) Add 1 cup fresh or 1/2 dried elderberries to your saucepan.

2.) Add in 3.5 cups of water and 1 tsp of powdered cinnamon

3.) Bring to a boil, then turn down and let it simmer for 30-45 minutes, or until the liquid is reduced by about half. Next you pour your liquid through a strainer and smash the berries to get as much juice out of the berries as you can. Discard or compost your berries.

4.) Let your liquid cool completely before adding in 1 cup of honey. I used deeprootsathome note that she only used 3/4 cup of honey and I did the same. Mix the honey in well then pour into your jar of choice. It will keep in the fridge 2-3 weeks....although I've seen other sites that say it keeps a lot longer, so maybe its just best at the 2-3 week mark...I need to do more research. =)

Just for fun I thought I'd throw in this picture. =) This is what my 7 month old was doing while I was making this. I teach my kids to love vinegar starting at a very young age. :-P

5 easy ways to live simpler, cheaper and healthier

Here are 5 ways that our family lives cheaper, simpler and healthier. What are some things your family does?

1.) Use Cloth Napkins
We have been using cloth napkins for several months now and the only time it was an issue was towards the beginning....when I didn't have a good stock of them. =) I buy a pack of rags from Walmart that has different colors in it. I don't particularly like using the white ones as napkins and now that I'm building up my stock of them, I am starting to use the white ones for cleaning purposes and keeping the colored as napkins. I just bought a new pack and they have some beautiful fall colors!! I'm going to have to get some more of those. =) Its so nice to walk past the napkins and know I'm saving close to $4 on something that will just get thrown away. Now, if we are having a big dinner party, I will gladly go out buy some for that. =)

2.) Re-grow your Green Onions
Instead of throwing out the ends (roots) of your green onions, put them in a pretty jar, add some water and they will start to grow again! Attempt to remember to change the water every 2-3 days. =) Not only do you save money, but its fun and decorates your kitchen counter.

3.) Make Your Own Cleaning Solution
Vinegar is my best friend when it comes to cleaning! I bought a spray bottle for about or less than (can't remember exactly) $2. I fill it about half full with vinegar, finish filling it with water, shake to mix it up and get to cleanin'! You can add your favorite essential oil if you'd like. I love to add 10-15 drops of cinnamon or lemon. Lemon is wonderful to use as its a natural disinfectant. I think my favorite place to use lemon is in my fridge. mmmmm!! You could get a second spray bottle, fill it with water, add 20-25 drops of your favorite essential oil and spritz about the room for a natural air freshener. My kids have a blast doing that job. =)

4.) Make Your Own Scrubbing Powder
I found this simple recipe here - http://www.thenewhomemaker.com/dishwasherpowder
Simply add 1 cup Borax, 1 cup Baking Soda, 1/4 Salt, 1/4 cup Citric Acid to a jar, shake/mix up and you're ready to go! This can also be used as dishwasher detergent. I didn't want to spend the money on citric acid, so I used the suggestion she gives of getting Lemonade flavored Koolaid. Worked great! My dishwasher died, so I only use it for cleaning purposes right now. I use it for cleaning sinks, toilets, and tubs. Smells super yummy! When I was pregnant with my fourth, I actually wanted to eat it. :-/ Don't worry! I didn't! My husband bought me a steak to ensure I wouldn't try it. (I'll have to remember that for the next one hehehehehe)

5.) Herbs!!
We rarely use medicine - prescription or over the counter meds. I think the only kind of medicine I have in the house is Tylenol. Our family LOVES to use home remedies! And we've had great success with them. This is my herb basket that I keep stocked with some handy herbs. Some of the "staple" herbs I keep in my house are Garlic Tablets (odorless :-P), Echinacea, Vitamin C, Black Elderberry (I just found a recipe to make my own, so I'll let ya know how it turns out), Magnesium, Papaya, Arnica (tablets and cream) and Calcium/Magnesium. These are the herbs we use the most for everyday things. I've recently done some research on Red Raspberry and I'm thinking its going to become a staple too. =)