Mom's Many Projects

Menu Plan–Week of June 12, 2011

Mom's Many Projects — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 16:01:07 +0000

The Omaha Steaks order came in last week and I was so tempted to try some of them that I pushed back several of last week’s meals to this week (or next).

This week will be a combination of both the Omaha Steaks order, some pre-made food, and some last minute changes I’m sure!

Menu Plan–Week of June 12th

Sunday: Salsa Chicken
Monday: Steaks, Potatoes, Veggies (Steaks and Potatoes are from Omaha Steaks)
Tuesday: Crockpot Turkey Breast w/Cranberry Sauce
Wednesday: Chicken Stir-Fry
Thursday: Beef Enchiladas (pre-made from freezer)
Friday: Marinated Chicken Breasts
Saturday: Eat out/take-out dinner in

What’s your menu plan?

Be sure to visit OrgJunkie.com for more weekly menu plans:

Menu Plan–Week of June 5, 2011

Mom's Many Projects — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 13:30:42 +0000

Putting together the make ahead meals last week was a wonderful idea! Though we ended up not trying everything yet. I finally made the Ham and Cheese Quiches yesterday. I think we’ll try to eat everything I pre-made for the freezer this week (even if we eat something twice this week), so I can try some other new meals next week! I also have another turkey breast in the freezer for the crockpot, and a huge order of fish, poultry, and meat coming from Omaha Steaks hopefully this week.

Menu Plan–Week of June 5th

Sunday: Ham and Cheese Quiche
Monday: Cheddar Beef Enchiladas
Tuesday: Chicken Stuffing Casserole
Wednesday: Crockpot Turkey Breast w/Cranberry Sauce
Thursday: Pasta and Sauce
Friday: Ham and Cheese Quiche
Saturday: Cheddar Beef Enchiladas

What’s your menu plan?

Be sure to visit OrgJunkie.com for more weekly menu plans:

Make Ahead Meals

Mom's Many Projects — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 01:54:42 +0000

I got a new book so I decided to try out some of the recipes.

Cheddar Beef Enchiladas

Chicken Stuffing Casserole

Ham & Cheese Quiche

Menu Plan–Week of May 29, 2011

Mom's Many Projects — Tue, 31 May 2011 23:03:45 +0000

I’m a little behind with my meal plan this week because of the holiday weekend. Well, I know what I want to make, and I did all the grocery shopping, but I didn’t write it all down until now.

Sunday and Monday were pretty much washes with the meals. Sunday we were munching late so hubby pulled out some leftovers, the kids made up their own lunchables on a plate, and I think I made a french bread pizza found in the freezer. Monday we had friends over for a barbecue for lunch and we were so full that we really didn’t have dinner at all!

Tonight I’m making a quick meal, but tomorrow I’ll be doing some advanced freezer cooking and making dinner in the crockpot. The elementary school had a book fair recently and I bought Taste of Home Freezer Pleasers Cookbook. I found a whole list of make-ahead meals that we will like. So I decided to make some this week.

One is supposed to be made that night with another for the freezer and a future meal. But I’m going to take three of the meals tomorrow and make all of them to put in the freezer for a total of six meals! The frozen turkey breast I have will go into the crockpot in the morning and I’ll use a cranberry sauce recipe from the cookbook. I’ll take one of the freezer meals each night to make this week and have the other three for another week.

Menu Plan–Week of May 29th

Sunday: Leftovers
Monday: No dinner…too full!
Tuesday: Pasta w/Sauce
Wednesday: Crockpot Turkey Breast w/Cranberry Sauce
Thursday: Ham and Cheese Quiche
Friday: Chicken Stuffing Casserole
Saturday: Cheddar Beef Enchiladas

What’s your menu plan?

Be sure to visit OrgJunkie.com for more weekly menu plans:

Thyroid Update — May 2011

Mom's Many Projects — Thu, 26 May 2011 21:04:03 +0000

I finally had the next appointment with my endocrinologist. I was supposed to have it in March, but I put it off until hubby’s new job provided health insurance on May 1st, then I had to postpone it again a couple week’s ago because I was too sick to go get blood work in time for the appointment. Sheesh!

I don’t have my lab results this time…for some reason they didn’t send them to me. I’ll have to get a copy from the doctor’s office the next time I go. He did mention that my levels looked good. My liver profile looked a little high, but he wasn’t concerned based on my age.

I also had an ultrasound and the two nodules are shrinking a little bit! That’s the first time they’ve changed at all!

Basically, he ended up leaving all my medication the same and told me to come back in September. Thank goodness the lab sheet will only require 2-3 vials of blood instead of the 9 vials they took this last time! And no fasting! Yay!

Menu Plan–Week of May 22, 2011

Mom's Many Projects — Mon, 23 May 2011 23:09:52 +0000

My family loved last week’s menu! My husband said to make sure I keep the Pesto Shrimp Pasta recipe because it was restaurant quality! I have it all saved on my iPod Touch using the All Recipes app. It was pretty quick and easy to make so it’s definitely a keeper!

The only meal I didn’t make last week was the Shrimp Etouffee so I’ve moved it to this week. Also I’m trying to use what I have so I’m substituting chicken for the pork chops in the Pineapple Pork Chops from last week to make Pineapple Chicken so I can use the rest of the pineapple I have in the fridge. I only had to buy a couple of bags of veggies and some hoagie rolls to complete this week’s menu.

Menu Plan–Week of May 22nd

Sunday: Leftovers
Monday: Shrimp Etouffee, Rice
Tuesday: Pineapple Chicken, Broccoli, Rice
Wednesday: Spaghetti w/Sauce, Garlic Bread
Thursday: Chicken Stir Fry
Friday: Italian Meatball Sandwiches w/Mozzarella Cheese
Saturday: Leftovers or Dinner Out

What’s your menu plan?

Be sure to visit OrgJunkie.com for more weekly menu plans:

Organizing Plans

Mom's Many Projects — Tue, 17 May 2011 13:00:49 +0000

Now that I’m done with school I have to start doing some serious decluttering, cleaning, and organizing! For a little help getting started, I got Erin Doland’s book, Unclutter Your Life in One Week, from the public library.

Of course, I have no intention of cleaning everything in one week.

For me that’s just impossible and if I tell myself that’s what I’m going to do, then I’ll get overwhelmed and never do it! But the book did help me to break down each section of my home into manageable pieces.

This is what I want to do with each area taking as long as I need to in order to get it done right:

Master Closet – I’ve already purchased a couple of items to organize the clothes better. I needed more hangers that are smooth all the way across without the cutouts for straps so I picked up a pack of 18. I also got a 2 pack pants hanger now that I’m acquiring more dressy pants for working.

I’m going to start by removing everything from the closet including the wire shelves/rods. They don’t provide the type of organization that we need in there.
I want to patch up the holes, then maybe I’ll paint the walls. I’m still on the fence about this because if I get the closet system I want, then a majority of the closet walls won’t be seen anyway.
Buy and install the wood closet system. This could get expensive since we have a pretty big closet so I may have to either buy it piece by piece, or change my mind and go for a track system or better wire closet organization. I would really prefer the wood though with drawers to keep our clothing protected, organized, and unseen.
Purge old, worn out, non-fitting clothing
Re-organize everything back into the closet

Office – I expect that the bare minimum will be done with the office right now. Other than a quick clean-up, most of this will be done when I have more defined office space that we’re thinking to add onto our house.

Remove everything. Put papers in pile for another step.
Rearrange furniture, if needed
Clean all surfaces
Replace old equipment
Label and bundle cables
Organize supplies, books, binders, etc.

Foyer — This will probably be the quickest and easiest area to clear out!

Clear out the foyer and clean everything up
Set up place for backpacks, shoes, umbrellas, etc. Need a bench (preferably with storage), hooks to hang things, and some baskets to hold items

Bathrooms — I’ve combined the master bath and the boys’ bath here, though not much needs to be done in their bathroom (they don’t have as much clutter). I’ve already started to buy some new bath and hand towels for their bathroom.

Clear everything out, clean surfaces, sort everything together based on its purpose.
Purge any old, expired, and outdated items, then re-organize in the bathroom. Use dividers, clear boxes, etc. to keep items neat and organized.
Go through old towels and donate any that are worn to the Humane Society. Buy new bath and hand towels.

Papers/Filing — This is definitely the biggest project I have here!

All the papers need to be sorted into piles: to scan, to file, to shred, trash
Once items are scanned they can be shredded or trashed
Important documents need to be scanned for back-up, then kept in fire safe
Computer needs to be backed up in at least two places (one for easy access if computer crashes, and one to be put in the fire safe in case of fire/natural disaster)

Kitchen — Lots of work to be done in here! I’d also like to get a new dining room table, replace the washer/dryer, and upgrade the fridge, but I think some of those will have to wait a while.

Fix structural issues (floor, pantry shelves, wiring, leaky faucets)
Purge expired, unused, and unwanted items
Replace worn Tupperware/plastic ware
Organize everything based on purpose

Living Room — We have quite a bit of structural issues to deal with here. I need to finish painting, rip up the carpet, repair the concrete floor, paint/stain the concrete floor, buy a new sectional couch, find closed storage solution for one wall, close up cut-outs, find an area rug, etc.

Gather everything together that does not belong and either return it to the proper place or get rid of it.
Organize remaining items into new storage units

I didn’t include the bedrooms because the boys are responsible to clean their rooms and purge their unwanted items (with encouragement from me, of course). The master bedroom does have some issues, but I want to wait until we decide on the home addition because the entry will be in our bedroom and it will get rid of some of our current bedroom uses such as hubby’s telecommuting work area.

I’m hoping to end all this with an organized home with many items thrown out, donated, or sold, and anything left that we are keeping has a specific place to be stored. The end may take me a couple of years…lol…but I’m hoping to get as much done as soon as possible so we don’t feel overwhelmed by the clutter any more!

Menu Plan–Week of May 15, 2011

Mom's Many Projects — Sun, 15 May 2011 13:00:02 +0000

My weekly menu plans are back! Do you know what happens when I’m sick or don’t make a menu plan? Hubby brings home every meal in a take-out bag! UGH! I just can’t do that all the time even though I’m not always thrilled about cooking.

Menu Plan–Week of May 15th

Sunday: Pineapple Pork Chops, Broccoli, Herb Noodles
Monday: Pesto Shrimp Pasta, Salad
Tuesday: Beef Stroganoff, Wide Noodles
Wednesday: Haddock, Herb Noodles, Cauliflower
Thursday: Pasta and Meatballs
Friday: Shrimp Etouffee, Rice
Saturday: Salsa Chicken, Rice

What’s your menu plan?

Be sure to visit OrgJunkie.com for more weekly menu plans:

Finally!

Mom's Many Projects — Sat, 14 May 2011 14:26:27 +0000

Things are finally calming down a little. I know it can’t last, but we’ve been so busy that I’m just glad to be able to breathe a little.

I went away for a little while to finish up my classes. Well, that’s done and I’ve technically graduated with my Bachelor’s degree! I don’t think it will totally sink in though until I have my degree physically in my hands.

I was planning on coming back to my blog then, but I got really sick with a bacterial infection in my throat. My temperature peaked at over 103 and I was just wiped out! Thankfully the antibiotics wiped the infection out and I’ve been spending this past week trying to get back into a normal routine. I’m still getting a little worn out earlier than I usually do, but I’ve been able to get back into a steady schedule again…just have to get things done earlier so I can crash earlier!

I’m starting to work on a few things now so you’ll be seeing some more posts. There’s organizing to be done, genealogy, and menu planning that has to be picked back up!

Sorry!

Mom's Many Projects — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 22:36:13 +0000

Sorry for not posting much lately. This is the last week of my college classes before the term ends and I graduate! I have a bunch of things to write about, but not much time to do it. I’ll catch up soon!