September Blogging Challenge: Chores

Todays, prompt is your favorite and least favorite chores.....*sigh* I hate chores period really. I mean, let's be honest they stink. They are the few items in your life that never go away. They are always there, haunting you, taunting you needing to be done. There are daily ones, weekly ones, monthly ones, and yearly ones. They are always there, but, I suppose if you wanted to look at this positively you could see them as constants. They are always there for you, you can count on them needing to be done, I suppose if you have no other order, chores are the one thing you can bank on. So, we'll look at it more positively. Chores are our buddies, always needing tending to, they love us! ;)

So, my favorite chore I'd have to say is.....

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Yup, making the bed is my favorite. I just love how after you make it your room looks all beautiful and serene. There are lots of pillows on the bed, and it just looks fit for royalty. I also love how tight the sheets are when you go to crawl into it in the evening, it's like you cared enough to tuck yourself in, makes me feel very princess like with all my pillows and a nicely made bed. Makes me feel like I cared enough about my husband and myself to go the extra mile. Here's a graphic about making the perfect bed: 

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Here are 5 great reasons to make your bed every day:

1. Maintain order-I know if this gets done the rest of my room will remain clean and orderly.
2. Teaches responsibility-I had to make my bed everyday from a young age, I know there are certain things you just have to do.
3. Pride-it shows I care about my home and my room. Makes me happy to keep my door open and let anyone see how I care for my personal belongings. 
4. Thankfulness-There are many people who don't have a bed to care for, I am thankful I do and want to care for it in that manner.
5. Energy-if my bed is unmade that lets me know it's okay to crawl back in, I tend toward laziness and if I don't make the bed, I will probably not accomplish anything.

So, that was a long drawn out explanation on my favorite chore, but I was inspired! I didn't realize I loved making the bed so much and all the benefits it had for me! 

My least favorite chore is definitely...

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A few funnies about the dishes. I get a bit of help from my wonderful husband and daughter when it comes to the dishes because they know just how much I dislike them. They make my hands dry, they are dirty, plus they are never ending! We try to be as "no waste" as possible so I don't buy plastics and we try and keep track of our glasses so we aren't using a hundred of them and I try to reuse my breakfast plate for lunch when possible, but somehow they still multiply. Maybe I need to get my dishes condoms. LOL! 

But, I will say when they are done, I feel like a million bucks! I do love a glistening kitchen!

What are your fave and least fave chores?!

Meal Plan & Prep Monday #6

Happy Monday, Everyone!!!

We had a rather fun weekend on this end. It was a holiday weekend here as today is Victoria Day...apparently celebrates the birthday of Queen Victoria which is mostly a Canadian holiday, apparently. I have a lot to learn about Canada being a transplant and all, but hey any day the kiddo and the husband can be home with me I'm not going to complain!

We had a blast this weekend. Iron Man 3 Friday night with an amazing homemade meal of ribs, zucchini, corn, and pear sauce. I was originally going to do mac and cheese but when making my meal plan discovered I needed to use up some pears so I made cinnamon pears. Check out the pic, it was very delicious!

Hubby & the kiddo before Iron Man 3.

Ribs, cinnamon pears & corn. Such a delicious meal!

Saturday was a workout day and we worked on projects and just enjoyed being together. It was cloudy, but luckily we have an indoor pool so we were able to make great use of that!

Now for Sunday we have decided to forego our Sunday treat of donuts because it doesn't start our week off well and usually leaves us all feeling pretty crummy. So, a workout (since I missed Wednesday due to not feeling well), then a trip to the first farmer's market of the season! It was fun & I found some awesome greens, but I can't wait for the main one to start where there will be actual farms. This one was just a bunch of expensive retailers selling their "organic" stuff...guess that's what happens when it's sponsored by the most expensive hotel in town! Here are the green's though!

So, now that you know exactly what we've been up to let me share my meal & prep plan with you for this week. My goal is to make sure I really do all my prep because when I do we always have a great week...unlike last week! ha!

Breakfast

Monday: Carnation instant breakfast and banana/oatmeal parfait
Sunday prep: measure out 8oz milk in a mason jar, add in 1/3 cup carnation, shake & put in fridge (x2). Cook up oatmeal. I use Coach's oats for now from Costco so it's 8oz water to 1/3 cup oats. Boil 5 min. Let cool. In two mason jars put a thin layer of oats on bottom sprinkle with flax meal, layer with chopped frozen fruit of choice. Add another layer of oats, put some more fruit & flax meal or chia seeds. Top with a small dallop of yogurt (greek/soy/coconut whatever) & sprinkle with a little maple syrup. Store in fridge until ready to eat.

Tuesday: Cereal with bananas
Sunday Prep: For kiddo measure out 3/4 cup of cinnamon toast crunch (X2), measure out 1/3 cup of milk (X2) store in jar in fridge. Put cereal in bowl, cover with plastic wrap. For me, measure out 1 cup of nature's path, put in bowl covered with saran wrap. Measure out 1/2 cup almond milk. Store in jar in fridge. Put banana's on top of bowls.

Wednesday: Carnations with banana/egg white mug with iced coffee
Sunday Prep: see above for first one. Measure out 1/2 cup egg whites, throw in some spinach, grated cheese & sliced onion & a soy veggie patty. Store in jar until ready to heat in microwave. Premake coffee in mason jar 8oz coconut or almond milk, 1 packet of stevia, 1tsp instant coffee, 1tsp vanilla (X2). Add ice when ready to serve.

Thursday: Cereal with bananas
Sunday Prep: see Tuesday.

Friday: Protein plate/leftover cinnamon rolls that were frozen & hot cocoa
Sunday Prep: Boil eggs, when cool put in tupperware plate along with slices of cheese, half a banana muffin with peanut butter. Serve with iced coffee.

Saturday: Omelette's with leftovers from Wednesday's dinner.
Sunday Prep: None. All made fresh-ish.

Sunday: Homemade donut holes.
Sunday Prep: None, make fresh Sunday A.M.

Lunch

Monday: Ham & cheese crescents with fruit salad
Sunday Prep: Chop fruits for salad, sprinkle with lemon juice for flavor/preservation. Crescents will be made fresh since it is a holiday for us but if you want to pack them in a lunch go ahead & lay crescents on baking pan put ham & cheese in center. Roll up & bake at 350F (176C) for 8-10 min. Let cool & wrap in foil and store in fridge. Pack in lunch. They can be eaten cold or reheated! Hubby loves these because they are one of the few things that reheats very nicely.

Tuesday: Leftover ribs/apples, oatmeal parfait & raw spinach,/veggie burger & cottage cheese.
Sunday Prep: Prepare this burger recipe. It's excellent for freezing so you'll have many for days to come. Portion out ribs & tuck away in container in lunch bag & store in fridge with sliced apple topped with a drizzle of lemon juice for preservation. Portion out spinach & cottage cheese.

Wednesday: Leftover crescents/green smoothie
Sunday Prep: After lunch on Monday portion out leftovers into tupperware. In blender combine 8oz almond or coconut milk, throw in whatever leftover frozen fruit from last week (I have strawberry tops, pear, apple, and peach), throw in whatever green you have on hand, I have spinach, toss in a table spoon of flax and a tablespoon of nut butter. Blend up & freeze. Take out Tuesday night to defrost overnight.

Thursday: Subs with fruit
Sunday Prep: none I prefer my subs fresh. Fruit will be whatever leftover fruit needs to be used up.

Friday: "lunchable" for the kiddo, meet hubby for lunch
Sunday Prep: portion out crackers, cheese, and lunch meat for the "lunchable". In reusable juice box container pack a fresh juice, and send with a little piece of chocolate for dessert.

Saturday: Late lunch/early dinner: Mongolian BBQ Maybe...
Sunday Prep: None :)

Sunday: Just a light dinner with whatever is leftover.
Sunday Prep: None. Just raid the fridge. ;)

Dinner

Monday: Grilled cheese with chicken noodle soup & homemade veggie soup
Sunday Prep: Chop veggies for soup, store in bag in fridge.

Tuesday: BBQ chicken crescents/bbq chicken salad with side salad
Sunday Prep: Chop & make salad.

Wednesday: Breakfast for dinner: very vanilla vegan pancakes, omelette's, bacon and veg sausage
Sunday Prep: make pancakes & freeze

Thursday: homemade hamburger helper & salad.
Sunday Prep: mix together spices for hamburger helper.

Friday: bbq pork sliders and side salad/bbq pork salad
Sunday Prep: None. This will be made from the leftover ribs that were frozen after last Friday's dinner.

Saturday: Late lunch/early dinner
Sunday Prep: NONE!

Sunday: Baked spaghetti with garlic bread & salad
Sunday Prep: Salad will have been made already, otherwise the rest will be made fresh.

So, that's what we are having for the week! I hope everyone get's their meals prepped & ready to go so you can have just as relaxing a week ahead!

Meal & Fitness Planning

So, I've already talked to everyone about monthly meal planning. This is key to fitness, I think. Since after all abs are made in the kitchen! So, here is my monthly meal plan for April:

So, in my house my husband is a very, very, very picky eater! So, I often have to cook the same meal but a "regular" version for hubby and a "healthy" version for me and our daughter. I'll break that down a bit more on Sunday when I do my weekly meal plan with recipes.

Now, meal planning isn't the only important planning you should do for a month. It is important to plan your workouts. Whether you do it for a week at a time or a month at a time you should have a plan! I learned this when doing P90X and Insanity. Here is my workout schedule for the month of April:

Now, it just so happens I am actually restarting Insanity this week along with training for a half marathon. A workout schedule this rigorous is not for everyone. Please consult a physician before starting any sort of workout regimen. I have one down day during the week where I will be doing cardio recovery (which is a yoga-ish workout, not very intense) and running a fast hill run by our house. Sunday's are my off day. I can choose to do nothing on this day but, I typically don't because I usually need a good stretch after six days of hardcore workouts. So, Sunday's I will either go to the local Lulu Lemon to take them up on their free yoga offerings or I will get out the P90X stretch DVD and stretch my little heart out. There are also a lot of stretching video's on YouTube, just remember to stretch to keep your joints limber!

How to fit in a workout? Do you often find yourself saying you can't workout because you don't have time? Well, it is time to put the excuses to bed. Think about how many hours you spend watching TV a night, how many hours do you spend reading a night, how many hours do you spend having your evening wine? Well, if you took just one of those hours you could get in a workout. Or how many hours do you wake up before having to go to school/work/get the kids ready for the day and just whittle the time away drinking coffee and talking on the phone??? That is the time you could fit in a workout. The bottom line is if it means a lot to you you will figure out how to fit it in. For me it is extremely important. I took this last week off and I have been exhausted and not feeling well. But, when I do workout I have tons of energy, I get more done during the day, and am overall much more alert. 

So, what is your favorite workout? Mine is a run on a hot, hot day!!! 

Farewell...

Farewell. Yes, farewell. Farewell to junk. I figure while I am getting rid of junk in my house and making it the wonderful, glorious home we want I figure I will get rid of the junk in my fridge and pantry too! So, years ago we cut out processed foods and started eating a healthier diet. At the beginning of 2012, when hubby was finally on board we cut out the junk of eating out too. We literally almost didn't eat out at all unless we could go somewhere that had local, healthy options. Well, when we moved in July of 2012 somehow we lost track of what we wanted in our health and have been trying lots of new, delicious restaurants near us and have been late night snacking on our favorite desserts! Not good people, not good. Five nights a week of oat fudge bars, nanaimo bars, the best Belgian hot chocolate you will ever drink, poutine, etc., is not good for us. So, after gaining some unnecessary weight we just finished up all the junk in the house (yes, I know most people would toss it but I cannot waste food, I just can't), and are ready to start back on our delicious food journey.

When we first went on our food journey we cut out all sugar and sugar substitutes and we are doing the same again. Normally we only use stevia, maple syrup, brown rice syrup, raw honey, and agave. However, for the next 30 days we won't be eating any extra sugar aside from that which comes in fruit and veggies. This is very, very hard to do but it can be done (and should) be done for your health. 

So, over the next 30 days my family will be following a high protein, low sugar diet. Now what can we eat you ask yourself??? LOTS of things! Tomorrow I will post my April dinner meal plan. Thirty days of clean, dinners. 

Our goal for the month is to concentrate on fueling our bodies to get us through the day, not eat to just eat to eat. 

(Img credit: http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/food%20is%20fuel)

Remember fueling is good, junk is bad! I will see you all tomorrow with an amazing dinner menu!!! 

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor, nurse, dietician, etc I am just an everyday person looking to get healthy and share my ideas with the world. Before changing your diet make sure to consult with your doctor first to make sure you find the right eating plan for you!!!

Organizing the house: Master Bathroom

So, many, many months ago I joined an awesome organizing challenge on A Bowl Full of Lemons. It was the Home Organization 101.  Winter was busy for us and I was adjusting to all the rain up here in Vancouver and just couldn't get motivated. So I didn't do a whole lot. But, in January they decided to "revisit" the organizing so I jumped right in. However, before I go into my Master Bathroom let me give you some background....

Now, growing up I was a very, very organized person. Heck, my best friend and I when we would get bored would reorganize my drawers! How lame right?! Well, I got married at 18, had a baby at 19. Hubby was working full time as was I, and we were both going to school full time! That left the house typically neglected. It was never a pig sty, (well, okay, sometimes it was lol), but eventually it would get picked up. It was organized somewhat, never to my full standards though and it was always clean "enough". Well, slowly but surely as this hectic schedule became the norm we fell into a routine with cleaning and organizing. Well, about two years ago when we were on our, I think, 7th move across country I finally told hubby that I would find a job if after a year we decided to stay where we were, well that didn't happen so we moved again. So, I am on my second year of staying home and I am more and more perfecting my home. I am planning on going back to work soon but want my home to be "perfect" before I do and have a full on system in place so the house practically takes care of itself. This is where the Home Organization 101 comes in. I am a procrastinator by nature, but, if someone gives me a schedule or I get sick of it I'll take care of it. So, Toni, over at A Bowl Full of Lemons gave me a schedule. I have adjusted the schedule to my needs as I have areas that I felt were more needy at the beginning than at the end. I chose to showcase my master bathroom today because I just did it yesterday and I felt it was a beautiful transformation. Plus, I have a super fun tutorial!

So, I started with my tub. I made a paste of baking soda and vinegar and I scrubbed, scrubbed, scrubbed my grout. It is now a beautiful off white and matches the tile again, no mold or mildew to be found! Second, I took a little (maybe an inch or so) of rubbing alcohol and water (maybe 4 or 5 inches of water) and scrubbed the really scummy areas of tile to get the soap scum off. It worked like a charm, then I scrubbed the tub and got rid of any old razors and bottles. Then, I moved on and emptied and cleaned the trashcan (using the alcohol and water mixture here to disinfect). Then, I sprinkled some baking soda in the toilet with about 20 drops of tea tree oil and then sprayed it with some vinegar, let it bubble and scrubbed. Then, I sprayed down the toilet with my homemade all purpose spray (equal parts vinegar, water, 10 drop of lavender essential oil and 4 drops of tea tree oil). Then I moved over to the sink and put away all the toiletries organizing under the sink as I went (wiping down all the bottles and making sure all the first aid stuff was together). I then wiped that down with my homemade grout cleaner (1/4 teaspoon Dr Bronner's, 1/4 cup rubbing alcohol and 2.5 cups of water, I also added a few drops of lavender essential oil).

Then, it was time to organize the make up. I love make up. It is fun for me to play with it so I have quite a bit. I went through it all and took out my brushes and set them aside (you do this too because I have an awesome fast and easy tutorial at the end here). Then I wiped down all my make up getting rid of really old stuff and stuff I didn't like (if you use a lot of MAC then save those pods because you can turn them in for a free lipstick or a free eye shadow when you have 6). I then put it back in the storage container I use grouped by like items.

Here are a few pictures:

Now, here is the amazing brush cleaning tutorial.

Supplies:
Small bottle of Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap (you can use any kind here I had the unscented one on hand so it is what I used)
Water
Cup
Your dirty brushes

Fill your up about an inch or two from the bottom with warmish water, then add about 20-30 drops of Dr. Bronners. Take the back of one of your longer brushes and stir it to get the soap really mixed up in the water. Then, wet one of your brush a bit with warmish water then dip in the soapy water. Trace it back and forth on your palm. Do this until the water runs clear. You may have to do this a couple of times if you have a pretty dirty brush or if you haven't cleaned your brushes in a long time. Now, if you have a brush that has never been cleaned, fear not I have a short cut for you! Simply squeeze some Dr. Bronner's directly on your palm. Wet the brush a bit then rub directly in the liquid soap. Your palm will turn colors simply run your palm under the water, do the same with the brush and repeat until it is completely clean. (The single picture on the right, if you look on the left was completely pink it hadn't been washed in YEARS, it took 3 passes through the straight Dr. Bronner's, but it is 100% white again!) My brushes and my daughter's brushes look brand new! Just check out the pictures:

So, that is all I have for you today! Try the gentle brush cleaner and let me know how it works for you!!!