So, I won’t be needing a menu this week (we’re heading to Nashville to spend time with family), but I thought I’d spend a few moments drooling over my keyboard, thinking about what I would want to eat if I were to actually be in charge of dinner this year.
Starters
(aka: what everyone would eat while wondering “what is taking her so long?!” Umm yeah…I’m languorously licking all the bowls! No interrupting!)
Spanakopita
Bruschette with Chickpea Puree and Arugula
Pinto Bean, Tomato, and Butternut Squash Soup
Main Meal
Roasted Turkey
Corn Casserole
Southern Green Beans
Golden-Crusted Brussels Sprouts
Sweet Potatoes
Baked Mashed Potatoes
Deviled Eggs
My Mom’s Angel Biscuits (sorry, don’t have the recipe!)
The Best Part
Chocolate Chip Sour Cream Cake
Nutmeg Maple Cream Pie
Coconut Layer Cake with Homemade Frosting
Bread Pudding with Apples, Raisins, and Figs
Oh my word. Have you ever licked your computer screen? Me neither.
I’ve been participating in Cherry Menlove’s new forum (lots of kindred spirits over there!), and Karin of Madrekarin posted her “recipes” for cleaning products. I requested that she post them on the web somewhere where I could link to it, and she graciously agreed. Check ‘em out on her blog here.
Doesn’t look too hard, once you gather the ingredients. And I really like the fact that you can customize the scent with essential oils and that they are all natural (and cheap!).
I mean before Scrooge had his change of heart. Making meals on the cheap seems much harder now that food prices continue to rise. What’s a (empty-pocketed) gal to do?
Well, there are lots of things — coupons, buying in bulk, moving back in with your parents…but to use your food to its economic potential, you also have to figure out what meals are cheapest to prepare. I mean there’s beans and cornbread and Ramen noodles, but beyond that, who knows?
That’s why I thought this site was so cool (via Wisebread). It’s intended for people who need to use food stamps to feed their families. You can search the recipes via ingredient, ethnic origin, cost, or category. Each recipe includes a cost analysis that lets you know how much the entire recipe will cost to make, as well as cost per serving.
I can think of so many good uses for this — when you need to feed a crowd on a budget, when you’re down to your last few grocery dollars, when you’re trying to spend less on food so that you can afford that brand new iPhone. (Priorities, people!)
These days, I am much more interested in playing games with my kids and getting ready for Thanksgiving and Christmas than I am in cleaning my house. So I do what I can, when I can. If I can spend two 15 minute sessions a day cleaning, then usually things can stay sane, and I have more time to do things that are actually appealing to me. But to get enough done in 15 minutes, I’ve found that I really have to stay focused. And here’s how I do it.
I’ve mentioned before that I follow David Allen’s Getting Things Done system to organize my life. It’s very simple, and one of the premises it operates on is a list of “Next Actions”. This is NOT a daily to do list. It is an ongoing list that carries only the “Next Action” for each project you have on your plate. So when you get a minute, you just do one of the things on that list.
I have created one of these lists that is JUST for cleaning so that I know exactly what comes next when I start one of my daily 15 minute sessions. When I get ready to clean, I look at my list. I look at number one, and if that is done, I move on to number two. If that is done, I go directly to three…and on and on. I work like this for 15 minutes (using my oven timer to keep me on track), and when the timer beeps, I’m done. Off to bigger and better things!
Here is the first list that I use (pdf). It is a general cleaning list that hits all of the major stuff. I’ve also got a more detailed list (which I’ll be posting later) for when I run out of things to do on the first list. Ahhh…I love things that make life simpler.
How’s the curb appeal? Does it need renovations?
I just read this post on LifeGoalAction, and I was so intrigued that I had to share. The title is priceless — If your life was for sale, would you buy it? Well…would you? It’s a little scary looking at my life this way, but it definitely helps me to pinpoint areas that need changing.
It’s also empowering to realize that you CAN change. You are completely in control of your choices. You can choose to work on a relationship or drop it. You can find a way to get motivated to [insert goal here] or decide to let it go. You can react to someone else’s annoying habits with grace or indignation–it really is up to you.
When it comes to housework, I’ve tried to sum up what is important to me and what simply is not. These help me to figure out how much time I’ll spend on a particular thing. I run this website about The Home — people probably imagine me with a duster in one hand and a vacuum cleaner in the other. But go ahead, ask my friends — that is NOT me! I spend half an hour a day on housework on most days (habits like picking up after myself not included). My house is not immaculate, but it’s generally clean. If people drop by on an afternoon unannounced, I don’t mind. It’s definitely a lived-in space with two creative adults, two kids under the age of three, and a dog, and that’s what it looks like.
But there are definitely areas in my life I do want to change — relationships I want to develop (and those that I want to distance myself from), time I want to spend doing creative, life-giving, memory-making things, attitudes I want to correct (in myself). I’m finding that it’s important to create the life I love NOW regardless of the circumstances I find myself in.
And at the risk of sounding trite for quoting a pop song (okay fine…cliche and cheesy, as well) “because it’s not who you knew, and it’s not what you did, it’s how you live.” That’s some high-falutin’ philosophizing right there. 
I am a list-o-holic, so I’m surprised that my gift-giving plan this year has been haphazardly mapped out on index cards, sticky notes, and the occasional grocery receipt. I started to feel anxious about it today, and my cure-all remedy for that is, of course, to make a list.
Here’s a handy printable doc I created for just that purpose. (With inspirational quote to match!)
The plan is to save on shipping costs by bringing our gifts to John’s family while we’re there for Thanksgiving. I’m pretty much all ready, except for wrapping (and that darned watercolor! Still no paint has touched the paper…sigh.). Then it’ll just be friends and my family from that point on.
Since this is our first year making all of our Christmas gifts, I have no idea what to expect from the recipients. I am hoping for warm fuzzies. Anyone have any gift ideas that a two-and-a-half year old can handle putting together?
(Oh yes, and don’t forget to take a minute and drop a comment in the suggestion box. I’m feeling kind of lonely over there. )
Alright, so if you know the saga of TodaysHomemaker.com, you know that it originally was meant to be a website with useful, fun home-making info that would be big on the inspiration factor. Except that was kind of overwhelming, so it turned into a blog. I personally love the transformation…I feel like I’m talking with friends rather than trying to be some kind of “guru”.
Seriously though, I do want the site to be helpful and not just a collaboration of “here is what I’m doing today” posts. Even though those posts are fun (and will continue!), I’m trying to figure out how to make the site more useful, while still keeping it in the blog format. Any input is appreciated! If you don’t have any ideas for me off the bat, here are some questions for you to ponder (and perhaps share your thoughts about):
- What is the biggest obstacle you face in your house? (And I don’t just mean cleaning. Taking charge of your house does NOT mean that you become the maid. Think of your house as a place where good things happen…kind of like a vacation spot — except it’s your daily life we’re talking about, so it’s much more important. What is the biggest thing keeping you from making your home a place that comforts, encourages, and inspires?)
- If you were to do a Google search to find information to help you get your house together, what would you hope to find?
- What practical information would help you on a day-to-day basis?
Ready, set…go! (Okay, I’ll start.)
John officially got me in the organizing mood yesterday. Which is just great timing because I am SORE…body sculpt class kicked my butt last night. But anyway, my goal for today is to get all of the kids’ too-small clothes out of their closets and into boxes to be put in the attic. Yesterday we got all of the too-small clothes out of the piles in the laundry room (which was a huge chore) so that John can organize his tools in there.
However, the kids are sleeping in their rooms right now, so I’m going to straighten up and then sit down to paint. It’s a gift for someone, so I can’t go into detail, but all I can say is that I’m terrified of it! I have it all drawn out, but my plan is to do watercolor, and it just freaks me out.
I am a person who needs structure and control and detail. Watercolor is the opposite of that. I hate how the paint just decides where it wants to go. I hate how pastel it is. But mostly, I hate how inexperienced I am with it. I shouldn’t be, given all of the instruction and books and hints I’ve been given, but I am. Because I procrastinate. I don’t like to play around, and I guess that’s what you have to do to get good at it. I want to know what I’m doing before that brush ever soaks up any color.
So why am I doing watercolor? Good question. I guess because I know that the giftee would be absolutely thrilled by it. It’s the Perfect Gift. So here goes nothing.
I have a feeling my day-to-day menu items are going to be pretty simple throughout November and December. After all, I’ve got a lot of presents to make! I’m sure come January I will feel more like experimenting with trickier, fun dishes.
MONDAY:
Breakfast: Whole grain waffles, applesauce
Lunch: Oven-roasted chicken with sharp cheddar cheese on french bread, barbecue potato chips
Dinner: Leftover lumpia.
TUESDAY:
Breakfast: French toast made with leftover french bread from the weekend
Lunch: Tortilla pizza
Dinner: Grilled teriyaki chicken salad
WEDNESDAY:
Breakfast: Cinnamon brown sugar oatmeal with raisins
Lunch: Tuna salad sandwich, barbecue potato chips
Dinner: Some kind of chicken-y something wrapped in phyllo dough, scalloped cabbage
THURSDAY:
Breakfast: Cinnamon brown sugar oatmeal with raisins
Lunch: Tuna salad sandwich, red potato salad
Dinner: Garlic cheese chicken roll-ups, baked sweet potatoes
FRIDAY:
Breakfast: Pancakes
Lunch: Leftover chicken, leftover red potato salad
Dinner: Pasta lasagna
SATURDAY:
Breakfast: Cinnamon rolls
Lunch: Leftover pasta lasagna
Dinner: Bean burritos, rice
SUNDAY:
Breakfast: Cinnamon toast, applesauce
Lunch: Potluck at a friend’s house
Dinner: Whatever’s left over
Yesterday was awesome, as far as anniversaries go. We spent the morning at the Handmade Parade, the afternoon vegging out on our laptops (because admit it, you do it too) and getting gussied up, the evening eating splendid pretentious food at The Swan Terrace, and the late evening devouring a (handmade!) white almond anniversary cake with buttercream icing. Delicious.
My thrifty self admits that the really wonderful part was that our pretentious dinner cost us exactly $6 (we had a $100 gift certificate from my boss) and our custom cake cost $20 (my good friend Carol, owner of Not Just Frosting, makes beautiful cakes for a very reasonable price). We are so spoiled!
So if I’m allowed to be self-indulgent for just a minute, let me share how I met my best friend. He was 18, I was 16. We were both invited to a Nashville Predators ice hockey game by my then-best friend Dawn, along with several other people. We didn’t really talk to each other for most of the game, but then the funniest thing happened. I got broadsided by a package of Ritz Bitz crackers (you know, by one of those guys that shoots things up into the stands for the fans?), and I guess John was hungry because he asked for some. We spent every day together after that, until we got married a few weeks after I turned 18.
And there’s a story about the cake. I’m sure my friend Carol would have much rather made a flouncy, swirly cake for our special day, but I wanted to commemorate The Box. John and I used to go out driving around in my car, trying to get lost, and stopping to pick wildflowers whenever we happened to see them on the side of the road. One day John surprised me with a box that he made for me to put my dried flowers in. It pretty much looks exactly like this cake (except for the shape…the box is your classic rectangle shape). So the cake is perfect.
Happy seventh anniversary, John. You fill up my world with your funny, off-beat self, and I would pick this life exactly again if there were do-overs.
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