Menu Plan Monday 2015 #8

So, I won't lie, I started this post Sunday, but didn't get past the first sentence and inserting a couple of images. I have been so incredibly ill since last Tuesday. All I really managed to do was boss around the husband and teenager, watch Netflix, and go see a couple of movies...both of which I was so tired I almost fell asleep during them...but honestly Jupiter Ascending was just terrible and even hubby ranked 50 Shades as the better movie :P

So, now that I am feeling a bit better I will say the kiddo and hubby have kept this place running and have done whatever I request. They have sat through a many night of cereal or leftovers from the freezer for dinner or picking something up. I really appreciate the break but I am so ready to feel better.

Last week I accomplished nothing outside of catching up on Mad Men, catching up on Downton Abbey, starting House of Cards, and drinking insane amounts of Sleepytime Extra tea.

The rest of this week here is what I would like to accomplish:

• Type up itinerary for a day in Brussels
• Get back into light workouts
• Cook dinner each night 
• Plan a fun, but easy date night depending on how I feel

Workouts

Since I got sick I only got in one workout from Week 2 of my Fit Tutor workouts so I will pick those back up and do some heavy walking and light jogging maybe.

Thursday: Walk around downtown with my friend, kiddo is out of school early so we will do a bike ride when she gets home to the forest

Friday: Day 1, Week 2 Fit Tutor, Walk

Saturday: Day 2, Week 2 Fit Tutor

Sunday: Day 3, Week 2 Fit Tutor, Walk

Breakfast:

Thursday: Currant toast with peanut butter and bananas for the kiddo, creamy oatmeal for me

Friday: Currant toast with peanut butter and bananas

Saturday: Omelettes, bacon, toast, fruit

Sunday: Cheese crescents

Lunch:

Thursday: Apple-pb wrap with orange slices and chips for the kiddo, I will eat out

Friday: Superfood Crunch Salad with a slice of chicken breast, kiddo will eat out

Saturday: Panini's with veggie soup and salad

Sunday: Easy snacks: baguette with a new dipping sauce I found, smoked meats, fruit slices, cheese

Dinner:

Thursday: Glazed Pork Chops/Lentil burgers with home fries and green beans

Friday: Steak bites with gravy/black bean balls with carrots, wilted kale or creamed kale and potato rounds

Saturday: Date Night! If I feel good we will go down to an area of town we haven't explored much and grab dinner and go to a comedy show that is in English, if I still feel like I should rest (which will most likely be the case) we will just grab dinner and go for a walk around the canals downtown if it is nice, if it is crummy weather we will see a movie and get dinner at a nearby pub.

Sunday: Chicken Wings/cauliflower "wings" with salad and root veggie fries

This week is coming at you late, but at least it is all planned out. What have you been munching on this week?

Check out the parties over at Mommy Run Fast, Jill Conyers, and I'm an Organizing Junkie!

Menu Plan Monday 2015 #5

So, do y'all realize this week is the last week in January?! Last. That means there are only 11 more months left in this year people. I need to check back over my goals and seriously reassess. Get some balls rolling as the year is just disappearing!

Life Goals

Speaking of disappearing, how is your goal planning going if you do that sort of thing? Last week I set the following goals:

• Last week
• Last week I reevaluated some business goals and instead of playing catch up I set new, more manageable goals. 
• Worked on Dutch 3 times-getting some of the basics. 
• Stuck to my menu 6/7 days, not too shabby...the one day I didn't follow the menu we really needed to use up leftovers!
• This Week
• Continue Dutch try and go for 5 times this week.
• Get Etsy shop designed and live
• Follow menu and go for 7/7
• Start to get some running miles in, despite the cold.

Fitness Goals

• Vertical Plyo +1 mile
• Back to core, 2 miles and relief
• Vertical Plyo and relief
• Speed and agility, 1 mile
• Game day, 1 mile, relief
• Rest/Relief
• X-Trainer (Asylum Vol. 2)

Anyhoodles. We are back at menu planning. I feel like I did great at sticking to my menu last week. I am pretty sure it is all due to the prep. Easy, healthy meals were had and there was no "oh-mi-gosh it is 5pm what do I eat now?!". So, that prep will be happening yet again.

Breakfast

• Apple banana quinoa cups with potatoes x3
• Acai bowls x2
• Apple and spice breakfast lentils
• Leftovers...we have a cheer competition so it will really all depend on the times there.

Lunch

• Me:
• I will prep these ahead then eat them all week changing out the protein and other additions on my salad all week.
• Make a big batch of kale and quinoa minestrone
• Big spinach salad and dressing 
• Kiddo
• PBJ on leftover sweet potato pancakes with chopped fruit and kale x2
• Leftovers x2
• Eat out one day
• Weekend
• Vegan pizza buns and salad
• Sunday will depend, I will try and bring stuff for us but if there will be restaurants nearby the venue we will just eat out.

Dinner

• I'm really going for cleaning out the pantry and freezer here so most of this stuff I already have on hand, grocery trip will be small and easy on the budget!
• Maple baked lentils
• Vegan fried rice  (this will use up any leftovers and any veggies that are about to go bad)
• Stamppot (I've been seeing stuff for this in the grocery store. It is a dutch dish that I will post more about later)
• Lentil-bean tacos with steamed veggies (this dish uses up the triple lentil soup I made two weeks ago and froze and some black beans I've had in the freezer)
• Soup and panini's...we will use up the kale and quinoa minestrone I made for lunches earlier this week
• Roasted red pepper pasta with spinach
• Sunday will be leftovers. Just raid the fridge and pantry and eat whatever, I doubt we will be hungry if we eat while we are out, so going simple here.

Well, that is it for me this week, what do you have going on?

P.S. Join the rest of the party over at Mommy Run Fast, Jill Conyers, and I'm and Organizing Junkie.

Menu Plan Monday #57

Wow! Last week was a crazy week....we took a long weekend in Rome and had a lovely time. I can't wait to share my trip with you all this week!

We ate some insane goodies as one only can when in Italy so this week it is time to clean it up and eat a bit lighter!

Party with everyone else over at Org Junkie!

Breakfast Options:
The kiddo wants to learn to cook some breakfast items over the break so each morning we will work together in the kitchen to make some good breakfast items!

• Apple sandwiches
• Overnight oats
• Smoothies
• Mini breakfast pizzas
• Saturday: Omelets with sausage and steamed pumpkin
• Sunday: Leftovers

Lunch:

My kiddo is on autumn break so I am going to have a solid plan. A few days we will eat out when we are exploring other areas of Holland.

• Monday: Picnic at Muiderslot will take whole wheat baguette, cheese, ham, oranges, apples, and fresh sugar snap peas. 
• Tuesday: Veggie stir fry...instead of noodles I will use sprouts!
• Wednesday: Leftovers
• Thursday: Eat something a bit traditional when we go to Zaanse Schans.
• Friday: Leftovers
• Saturday: Homemade chicken strips with corn & apple sauce
• Sunday: Snacks

Dinner:

• Monday: Ratatouille
• Tuesday: Chicken pizza's with salad
• Wednesday: Twice baked Cauliflower (if the husband is home for dinner he will have a twice backed potato) with zucchini
• Thursday: Fend for yourself
• Friday: Asian chicken with mixed veggies or leftovers from previous nights
• Saturday: Prosciutto with fresh mozzarella, Soy & ginger skirt steak with garlic potato wedges, warm fruit for dessert
• Sunday: Homemade pizza, chicken wings, and salad; game snacks for the hubby: chips, ice cream, and cheese

What are you cooking up this week?

Moving Menu Plan Monday +this week's workouts!

Boy, this last week has been crazy! Seriously we have completely emptied our house, sold all of our belongings except for clothes and shoes, shipped memory items off to my mother and doled a few things out to other relatives that probably didn't want the crap but I need them to hang on to it, so they were voluntold. Thanks guys!

Org Junkie

So, today for Menu Plan Monday I am doing something a little different. We are eating out everyday until we get to Amsterdam, but before this I continued to cook just about everyday using up the items in my pantry, so I am going to highlight those meals today:

Breakfasts:

• Egg Sandwiches and half a smoothie or protein shake
• Oatmeal with miscellaneous leftovers in it: nuts, dried fruit, regular fruit, milk, cream, instant coffee
• Smoothies
• Protein Shakes
• Cereal
• Granola
• Omelettes, bacon, toast
• Protein pancakes (1 cup canned pumpkin or sweet potato puree and 2 eggs, fry up & serve with nut butter)

Lunches:

• Leftovers
• Tuna salad with crackers or lettuce wraps
• Chicken salad with crackers or lettuce wraps
• Omelettes and toast
• Grilled cheese and chips or soup
• Salad

Dinners:

• Leftovers shmorgas board
• Baked potato bar (with regular & sweet potatoes nom)
• Chicken breasts with cheese and sugar snap peas
• Taco Salad
• Burgers with potato skins
• Spaghetti and salad
• Soup and grilled cheese or meatballs

These just about covered us the last two weeks we've been in Vancouver. Now that we are eating out though we had to figure out a way to not spend a ton while eating out. We are eating out just about every single meal now so that gets expensive.

Tip for eating out when moving

• Breakfasts: buy oatmeal in heat & serve cups & eat with plastic cutlery
• For coffee bring reusable mugs, all coffee shops & 7-11's I've ever been to give a discount for using your own cup.
• Lunches: look for things like tuna salad kits, easy mac, premade salads in their own containers
• Snacks: I like to have on hand things like nature valley bars, yogurt in individual containers, and string cheese. Those seem to do the trick and are pretty healthy.
• When going to a restaurant look for coupons or use sites like Groupon, Living Social, and Restaurant.com
• Places to look for coupons are in local papers, in the mail (I got some great ones for starbucks the other day lol I'm not a huge fan, but to save $ I will give in to the man for a bit :P), Entertainment book, online, facebook, twitter, foursquare
• Look for kids eat free nights, buy1, get1 nights, loyalty card deals, etc.
• Split your meal with someone at the table so you aren't taking home leftovers

Random tip: Moving can be difficult, make this time an adventure. I know with a 14 year old some days she is excited other days we are the worst parents in the world lol So, we use this time to divert any "sad" feelings. So, we each got to pick one meal we had to have before we left and then we picked a couple places we had really been wanting to try but hadn't gotten to yet.  

Now, my workouts for this week....this is a devilish routine. Muahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have started an event on Facebook, if you would like to join in come like me on Facebook and send me a message so I can "invite" you. I made it a private event so we don't get any creepers in there ;)

In any case this is the play list I put together:

Burpees & squats, burpees & squats....

Basically each day for 5 days we will be doing one squat challenge video & one burpee challenge video. Each video is between 8-10 min long, so 16-20 min workout each day or you can do it in addition to your current workout. Then, on the 6th day we will do a couple of stretching videos geared toward stretching the specific muscles used in burpees and squats. Then, on the 7th day we will take all the videos & do them all together...it is going to be a KILLER workout! 

So, get your stuff together and email me on facebook so I can get you into the challenge! 

So, that is my week...what are you up to in the week ahead? Any cool workouts I should add to my schedule for next month?

Aloha! Hawaiian Menu Plan Monday!

Aloha! I am writing today from Hawaii! I took last week off from blogging because, well,  I just needed a break-sometimes that happens. 

I arrived in Hawaii last Thirsday night, my best friend of nearly 30 years picked us up from the airport with beautiful lei's...here's a super unflattering picture of us with them...

We have enjoyed several delicious meals with our friends. I've had the enjoyment of watching my god daughter learn to swim and share my love of exercise with her. 

We've enjoyed some quiet days reading in the backyard & getting sun while lying in the hammock. I finished Divergent while here, that is an excellent, fast read. I highly recommend picking it up, if you haven't already. 

Sunday we went to a military resort here in Oahu. It was a really nice resort and the weather was perfect! They have a bar and snacks, a pool and beach access. 

We had a great seat to enjoy Mai Tai's, Lava Flow's....

This girl is enjoying some vitamin d! I'm tanning up quickly and I've been using an SPF 50 daily!

So, since we are staying at my friends house this is what our menu looks like for the week...

Breakfast Options:

Cinnamon Apple Oatmeal, eggs, English muffin with pb and bananas, leftovers, I'm sure we will eat out one morning

Lunch Options:

eat out once or twice, leftovers, sandwiches

Dinner Options:

Since we are on vacation we aren't really setting anything in stone....

Pork tenderloin in the crockpot with red potatoes and carrots, chicken tacos, grilled chicken thighs and veggies, spaghetti squash with marinara and bread, and I'm sure we will eat out a few times.

We always have on hand on vacation the supplies for a sundae bar, some cookies and othe treats, we will grab shaved ice this week as well as several other fun and delicious Hawaiian snacks.

What sort of goodies are you munching on this week?

I will be linking up at http://orgjunkie.com , and mommyrunfast.com

Organization: Weekly Deep Cleaning: Living Room and Dining Room

It is yet another week on the schedule. We have been getting signs of spring though so it is making the cleaning much, much easier. Last week I was in the entry, laundry room and porch; this week I am working in my living room and dining room. I do these two rooms together because we have an open concept house which means our living room and dining room are just one big space pretty much, as I think most homes are this day in age. 

So, here is what the schedule looks like on my iPad:

Here is what I have:

• Move furniture and sweep/mop or vacuum. Use the attachment or long duster (aka broom) if need be to get up all the bunnies. If carpeted, steam clean if need be. 
• Vacuum couch & cushions & dining room chairs.
• Wash blankets and fluff pillows.
• Dust ceiling corners
• Using broom wrapped with a microfiber cloth secured around it with a rubber band get cobwebs and dust being careful of the sprinklers.
• Dust baseboards & wipe down with a rag.
• If scuffed use peroxide to get them up, if chipped fill in holes with paint.
• Dust window sills & wipe down with a rag.
• If scuffed use peroxide to get them up, if chipped fill in holes with paint.
• Remove all books from book shelves, thoroughly dust shelves and place books back in an orderly manner.
• Go through & tossing (or upcycling) any that are outdated or unwanted. I know for some of you this is a travesty, but believe it or not if our kid is 14 we may not want Hop on Pop up there any more. ;)
• After placing books back on shelves replace any holiday decorations that may have passed and we just didn't get them put away.
• If there is any paperwork that got placed here "to be filed" file it now.

This system seems to work and keep things in order. Believe it or not these items each only take 15 minutes or less to complete. They are so simple and keep the house so neat and tidy, plus my holiday decor us usually fairly up to date with this system. ;) Anyone else a chronic "ooops why is this bunny from spring still here in ...August?!"

See more in this series:
Weekly Power Hour
Morning & Evening Routine
Deep Cleaning: Bedrooms
Entry, Foyer, Laundry Room

5 Ways to Make Your week smoother +Menu Plan Monday #42

Week days are hectic. Whether you are a stay a home mom/wife or if you work inside or outside the home weekdays are very, very busy. In order to keep my workouts, healthy eating, and house in order there are five simple things I like to do on Sunday:

• Wash all my workout clothes. 
• I read an article about this a few years ago when I was still working. It really does help to keep me on track and to get up on Monday and workout. If I have to dig through and search for a dirty workout outfit it just sort of lowers the morale.
• Gather the family to make sure anything they may need clean for the week such as work pants, work shirts, etc are in the laundry and ready to be washed and/or dry cleaning is by the door and ready to be dropped off. 
• Write your meal plan and go grocery shopping.
• For a lot of people this is difficult, but I find you have a basic outline of what you will eat & have the food in the house you are more likely to eat that food then stop for a fast food option.
• Some easy ideas for breakfast options are egg muffins, homemade muffins, cut up fruit, smoothies, granola and milk, overnight oats. 
• Prep the food.
• For exmaple, if you have salads planned for lunches and as sides for dinners make a very large salad for the week. Cut up toppings for sandwiches, go ahead and start marinating some meats if you wish. Cook up your breakfast options or prep them & have them in the fridge.
• I label any leftovers in the fridge for lunches and who will be taking them.
• Make a list of activities going on that week, phone calls that need to be made, and errands that need to be done.

I find these five simple things really help the week go smoothly. I rarely get a hon/mom, where is my ____________. But, it is there responsibility to get it to me, I just usually have to give a gentle nudge of "hey, get me your ______________'s you may need clean for the week. Also, with having breakfasts prepped ahead of time & lunches labeled in the fridge if we are running behind it is super easy to grab everything and get out the door.

Now for the weekly menu:

Breakfast options: egg frittata, paleo pancakes, paleo muffins, omelette for Saturday and Paleo Pumpkin Poppers for Sunday

Lunch options: chicken/tuna salads, leftovers, Sunday will be a brunch of scrambled eggs, bacon, and leftovers

Dinner:

Monday: bacon wrapped pork tenderloin with onions/mushrooms, corn and peas

Tuesday: burger for the hubs, fish for the kiddo & I with corn/broccoli/potato wedges

Wednesday: Pizza pasta bake with veggies and salad

Thursday: BBQ chicken sandwiches with salad and leftover veggies

Friday: New Restaurant Friday: We will finally be eating at the Calabash Bistro...almost beginning to think it wasn't meant for us to eat there! o_O

Saturday: Cheese burgers with salad

Sunday: Steak and shrimp with broccoli/corn/leftovers

This week I was looking in my freezer and pantry and going through and trying to clear them out. Every now and again I like to use everything up and restock so I know it is all fairly fresh.

What do you have planned for the week? We are in the countdown to Spring Break! Just 10 days until we leave for our vacation! Yipee!

Linking up at: Org Junkie, and Mommy Run Fast. 

Organization: Deep Clean: Entry, Laundry Room, Porch

Last week on my Deep Cleaning Schedule was the Bedrooms. This week on my cleaning schedule, since it is the first week of the month I am focusing on three small areas of my home: the entry, laundry room, and porch.

I can focus on all three of these areas at once because in my home they are small areas. 

• Dust ceiling corners: Using a broom with micro-fiber cloth wrapped around it and secured with a rubber band sweep around the top edge of the ceiling and get any cobwebs and dust that have accumulated the last month in all three areas.
• Wipe the baseboards: With a damp cloth wipe along the base boards. If there are any black marks use a magic eraser to get them off, paint over any scuffs or chips.
• Dust light fixtures
• Laundry room: clean lint traps, use vacuum if needed, wash reusable bags getting rid of old ones, stock up on any needed laundry supplies
• Porch: Wipe down furniture and dust railing, sweep.
• Foyer: Wipe down door, change wreath, wipe down door frame.

I love when I have these three areas all cleaned up and shined for the month. It makes it easy to have guests over and do my laundry in a tidy space. 

See the others in this series:
Weekly Power Hour
Morning & Evening Routine
Deep Cleaning: Bedrooms

Organization: Deep Clean: Bedrooms

Wow, first off how many colons do you think I could have used in that title...I was trying to see if I could fit anymore, but they didn't make sense, sadly. 

Anyway...I am talking more Organization today. Who would have thought one little stock app like "Reminders" would become such a great tool in my household organization. 

I started this series with my cleaning power hour and added to it with my morning and evening routines. I have had these two written down for years but often forget to do them because a written planner doesn't buzz for me. I need something that makes a noise and physically reminds me to do a task. So, in comes Reminders.

Today I begin breaking down the deep down cleaning I focus on each week. Years ago when I was a new homemaker I found Flylady. This woman really helped me get my butt in gear and figure out how to break household tasks down into manageable lists and get productive with them. So, I am going to share with you those tasks I perform each week to keep my house in what I call move out shape.

What is move out shape? Well, since we are renters and tend to be a bit nomadic, moving every 1-3 years if I were to box up our stuff and move it out tomorrow our house would be ready for an inspection and pass. Over the years I have found that 15-20 minutes everyday saves me hours upon hours in the future. 

Last week I was focusing on the bedrooms in the house. This list can be done for both bedrooms, at the beginning of each day I check the list and add whatever chore on to the kiddo's list of chores for the day for her room. She is old enough now that she can complete these tasks, plus they will help give her an idea of what will need to be done to keep her home clean someday.

I picked week 3 of the month to do my bedroom. Here is what is on my list:

• Monday: Dust Baseboards, moving furniture when possible
• Tuesday:
• Clean mattress
• Using a mixture of baking soda and lavender sprinkle over mattress and let sit for half an hour. Using vacuum attachment, vacuum up.
• Fluff pillows
• Put pillows, one at a time, in dryer on high heat with a dryer sheet to fluff and disinfect. After, spray with water/lavender mixture or tantra spritz from Saje.
• Fluff comforter
• Put comforter, with dryer sheet, in dryer on high for 20-30 minutes. 
• Wendesday: Dust ceiling
• Using a broom with a microfiber cloth around the bristles, held in place with a large rubber band, dust around the corners and edges of where the ceiling meets the wall.
• Thursday: Deep down vacuum, steam clean if necessary
• Vacuum at the edges of the baseboards, get in the corners, under the bed. If needed spot clean stains or drag out the steam cleaner for well worn areas of carpet.
• Friday: Project planning 
• Look around, what needs to be improved or worked on? 
• Saturday & Sunday: Project execution
• Declutter closets if needed, take clothes to donation, fix worn clothing, do any other organization type projects at this time.

Tuesday is a very busy day. I do all that stuff for the bedroom on Tuesday as that is the same day I wash all the sheets as part of my weekly "power hour" that I do a day late. Weird I know, but it works for me. 

It took me a long time to come up with this system and really figure out the best way to keep our small space spic & span all the time. It's still a work in progress but this keeps me a little more sane and focused. 

Menu Plan Monday #40

Happy Monday y'all!

I can not believe the weekend flew by so fast! It was a super fun, relaxing weekend though. 

Friday we had our New Restaurant Friday at Pizzeria Ludica. Afterword we came home and had a riveting game of Mario Party! It was a lot of fun.

Saturday hubster & I hit the town looking awesome...the only person caught on camera though was me...

The top right is early in the day...the flakes turned from small and light to large and fairly heavy-the picture captures it perfectly. None of it stuck luckily. I was fairly unmotivated to do my last workout for the week-Warrior-but, I managed and was super happy after I did it. I mean who wouldn't be happy with that shoulder?! Last, hubs and I were board after a day of cleaning and purging while it snowed so after the teenager left for her sleepover we got dressed up and had a nice dinner down at the Tap & Barrel at Canada Place...Tap Greens with grilled chicken breast is the best thing on the menu!

Sunday, was a seriously lazy day. 

We were woken up at 7 am to the cheering and hollering of many happy Canadians as Team Canada won the Gold in Men's Hockey...as you can see that was not our plan, but we rolled with it so we had some coffee, some cuddle time, some nap time. Cheerleading was mercifully canceled for the day due to snowfall warnings. Later in the day we whipped up some delicious cocoa and pretty much stayed in bed all day long. 

It was glorious.

Moving on though...through all that relaxation Sunday I still managed to get my meal plan done! YAY!

I'm linking up over at Organizing Junkie so stop by & check out all the menu's!

Breakfast Options

Cinnamon raisin bagels with coconut oil/peanut butter & fresh fruit

Green apple, pb, and half serving shakeology

Yogurt parfait

Lunch Options

Leftovers: paella, calzone, or soup

Shakeology

Tuna/chicken salad

Dinner

Monday: Kiddo will have pizza at girl guides, I will have whatever is left of the paella

Tuesday: Stuffed sweet potatoes and broccoli meatballs

Wednesday: Crockpot pulled pork with Italian coleslaw, carrots, and corn

Thursday: 

Friday: New Restaurant Friday-Calabash Bistro in Gastown. Was suggested to me on Twitter by another Vancouverite so can't wait to try it!

Saturday: Freezer meal for the little one while she babysits here at home; we are headed to game night at our friends house...hopefully if we all cook together will do some sort of kebab & sweet potato fries...(hint hint if you're reading this).

Sunday: Steak with sweet potato biscuits and peas

I am really looking forward to cooking my Sunday meal. I didn't get to it this last week because I was out of sweet potatoes and I was not going out in the snow to get them! But, this week it is happening those biscuits sound amazing. They are from my William Sonoma Steak & Chops book. 

What meal are you looking forward to cooking this week?

Organization: routine

This year, one of my goals was to institute cleaning routines soothe house basically takes care of itself with very little effort on my part.

My first routine was to institute my Cleaning Power Hour, so far this has been extremely effective and it only takes about 45 minutes to get through the whole routine, so not even a full hour! That routine hits all the high points people notice when visiting your house and the things that bother me the most when they don't get cleaned regularly enough!

Today I am introducing to you my morning and evening routines. 

Let's talk about the mornings first. I love mornings but wouldn't say I am a morning person. My brain is super foggy when I'm trying to wake up so having a routine is sort of like my caffeine. It gently gets my brain functioning and I get to start the day off checking stuff off a list and we all know how satisfying that can be! 

I have all my tasks listed in the order in which I will do them. 

The first seems silly: brush my teeth and get dressed. But, when instituting the routine I really wanted it to be authentic and give me a full guideline to follow. I have on here specifically to get dressed in workout clothes so that way once everyone is gone for the day I can immediately start my workout-No Excuses!

Unload dishwasher-start the day with an empty dishwasher, this way as you cook during the day you can throw everything in there and the sink stays empty!

Start coffee-I do this after unloading the dishwasher so it finishes percolating just as I am ready to sit down to breakfast.

Get lunches in lunch bags-when I cook dinner I prep/pre-pack lunches for my husband & daughter. I just take these & either toss them in the lunch bag or warm it up, put it in a thermos & then it goes in the lunch bag.

Make breakfast-it is the most important meal of the day, don't skip it! It's also a great way to spend some much needed time with the kiddos before the school day starts. This can be an essential time for communication and teaching them about proper nutrition.

Clean up breakfast-if you do it as soon as the dishes are empty of food it's easy and your kitchen is ready for the next meal! It keeps the counters & sink clear, plus it takes just a minute or two. Plus, if you have kids and work it right you can train them to take their dishes straight to the sink to rinse & GPS traight in the dishwasher! 

(Now, you may be wondering my it says my routine is 3pm. I am writing this while in the UK and I am 8 hours ahead of my normal time zone, so normally my reminder goes off at 7am. This whole routine only takes about 15-20 min to complete in total.)

This is my evening routine. It's short and sweet, but gets the whole house ready for the next day!

Load and start dishwasher-I clean as I cook, but there are always those few dishes at the end that still have to go in, I do this and immediately start the washer. 

Wipe down counters & table-I use my cleaning wipe & give all my granite a good wipe down & get the table ready for breakfast.

Sweep kitchen floor-just for maintenance. This take about 40 seconds to do and keeps the kitchen looking in tip top shape.

Make coffee-this is when I grind my beans & get the whole thing fixed up and ready to press start in the morning during your routine. 

Basic pick up around the house-walk from room to room putting away anything out of place & clearing off cluttered surfaces. Good time for the kiddos to pick up their rooms & bathrooms. 

This evening routine at first took 40 min because there was always so much out of place, but now it takes approximately 15-20 min. Fast and it helps make me happy when I wake up!

I love using my reminders app for this because I have a ringing renminder to do these chores. It's hard to ignore and these few steps help make my days so much easier! Plus, they help to give me a home I'm proud of and am not worried if someone drops by without calling first.

Do you have routines like this? If so, what is on your routine list? 

If you don't have routines are you going to implement some now? What will be on your lists?

Menu Plan Monday #38 +being away from the child

Happy Monday y'all!

So, I know today many people aren't happy about waking up to, but I am waking up in England!

Crazy right?! This is my first time in Europe and I am enjoying every second of it and already can't wait to come back!

As excited as we are to be here it sadly has taken us away from our not-so-little-one for a few days. These times can be so heart-wrenching! I love her to pieces and hate to miss any time with her, but I do think in the long run it is good for all of us. About once a year we spend a week a part. The teenager usually goes to sleep away camp and to stay with family and the husband and I get some alone time. It gives the teenager time to bond with her grandparents, aunts/uncles, and cousins and to learn to sort of be on her own. It gives my husband and I, who never really had that alone time couples have in the beginning since we had her so young, time to focus on each other. In the beginning I think we are all excited to get away from one another since we spend so much time together, but by the end we are all ready for it to be over and to be back together!

So, I guess what I am trying to say is as precious as these days are with our young children if you want to get away, don't feel guilty there are a lot of benefits! This time around our daughter is staying with two of her friends who have two very different parents. One set of parents is about our age and as easy going as us, if not a little more easy going. The other set is an older set of parents who adopted their child and they are pretty easy going and enjoy giving the kids their independence!

I feel like these times away from us as few as they are have such a lasting impression and really help her to find out who she is as we aren't there to help her make decisions and aren't easily contacted at the drop of a hat!

Anyway...enough about my ramblings...let's get to what you are here for...

Tue

Org Junkie

This is yet another weird week for us. We are out of town at the beginning of the week and have to go out of town for a cheerleading competition at the end of the week!

Breakfasts: cereal with banana, shakeology

Lunches: Shakeology, sandwiches (pb&j & turkey on whole wheat) with salad/grapes

Dinner: 

Monday: Out of town, something around London-fish and chips most likely if I haven't had it yet ;)

Tuesday: Pick up from the grill at the market or order in pizza & salad from an organic local place

Wednesday: Broccoli/Cauliflower/Spaghetti squash cheese bake with salad

Thursday: Burrito cups: mexican flavored chicken breasts, black beans, cauli-rice, tomatoes, onion, and lettuce layered in a cup

Friday: Eat on the road to cheer compeition

Saturday: Celebrate V-day by checking out an awesome restaurant in Tacoma after the cheer competition with my honey

Sunday: Get a meal from the market or order in something from a local place.

It is proving to be a seriously busy week but I think we can handle it! February will be gone before I know it!

Organization: Cleaning Power Hour

Tuesday has come 'round and I am ready for Friday already. Anyone else?

Today will be a fairly quick read, which is good since this is getting published much later than I'd like!

Today we are discussing what I like to call the "Cleaning Power Hour". I can't take all the credit for this idea. It came to me when I was doing some training to get my Beachbody Business up and running. It was suggested that we do a "Power Hour" or "Power Half Hour" where we take 30 minutes to an hour a couple of times a day to just work on our business. I said to myself this is genius! I am awesome under pressure so to get those dreaded weekly chores done I should create a "Cleaning Power Hour"!

So, I sat down and listed what chores are important to me to get done at least one time per week:

• Sweep
• Mop
• Dust (living room/dining room/bedrooms)
• Clean windows/mirrors
• Clean tubs
• Wash sheets

After this I said to myself ok, I have the list but I am terrible at remembering. When I was in high school I used to tell myself gosh it would be awesome if I had a device that would ring when I had something to do to remind me...then I said, "Oh snap, I do actually have that device now!" So, out pops the iPad.

I didn't buy any special apps as all the "routine" apps I've ever bought have been a let down. So I just used the "Reminders" app. It has great scheduling features and I can keep my lists separate.

See it down there...Monday Power Hour! I have lots to remember to do....and apparently never finished Christmas shopping for the teenager! hahahaha...moving on....

I then just added all my items line by line and put what time I wanted them due by. So every 10 minutes I get a ding that tells me to move to a new task. The 10 minute windows I have found are very accurate, if you do the chores every week. If you don't then they can take much longer. Which is why I like the cleaning power hour, one hour to complete 6 dreaded chores that, aside from sweeping & spot mopping I don't have to worry about for 6 more days?! YIPEE!

How do you schedule your cleaning? Do you use any cool apps for it?

Menu Plan Monday #35

Hi all! So, our weekend was rather uneventful all in all.

Friday night we spent visiting friends in the 'burbs so she could cut my hair, the guys had to put together a computer, and then we had dinner together and played games. They cooked us kebabs and sweet 'tater fries. I should have taken a picture but was afraid they'd think me a freak so I figure we should get to know them a bit more before I start snapping pictures of my food. Of course, if they read this then the ice is broken so I say I am free to snap all the photos I want of food.

Moving on...Saturday the teen & I spend the day at the mall after an early morning workout. We have been searching for clue...seems there has been a run on it as I can't find it anywhere! Seriously, what the heck?! Anyway, then we tried a new restaurant for our weekly New Restaurant day. You can read about it here. Then, the husband and I took some time to go out dancin'! That was fun, hadn't dressed up and done that in a few months.

Sunday was a very lazy day. It was spend mostly getting ready for the week and not moving from the couch. I did however take the time to do quite a bit of meal planning and prep...are ya ready?! Here we go....

Org Junkie

Breakfast: Eggs & bacon/avocado, Banana Muffins, root veggie hash & eggs

Lunch: Shakeology, leftovers, tuna salad, chicken salad, 

Snacks: Shakeology, banola & almond milk, 21DSD pb cups, nut mix, green apples & peanut butter

Dinner:

Monday: Shepard's pie and salad; for the hubby I will make him a burger with corn and peas

Tuesday: Sole with cauliflower soup/chicken soup for the hubby, with a side of quinoa/rice

Wednesday: Hot and sour ginger garlic chicken (I am going to adapt this for the crockpot), with cucumber salad and some leftover rice/quinoa (and corn for the hubby)

Thursday: Pork Chops with broccoli and whatever is leftover (soup, rice, quinoa, etc)

Friday: New Restaurant Friday: I have no idea where we will try yet, but it will be something yummy, but cheap lol Will be a challenge to find something in my 21 day sugar detox diet when we go out. :P

Saturday: Ginger-garlic beef and broccoli/corn (for hubby), with rice/cauli-rice

Sunday: Double pork tenderloin (basically a bacon wrapped pork tenderloin), green apple salad, and whatever is left of the quinoa/rice/cauli-rice.

Here is some of my prep work:

My 21 Day Sugar Detox Spaghetti Bolognese leftovers. This is the best recipe in the world. I am addicted to it!

Some hard boiled eggs, avocado, some coconut cream, and some cucumber and tomato salad.

This is my leftover bin. There is my homemade italian dressing, some butter, som green beans and rice, and some shakeology.

My apples I was about to cut up. They are so delicious with some fresh peanut butter!

So, that is what we have going on this week. If you didn't see it at the end of last week also make sure to go check out the super cute Valentine's Heart Garland Tutorial I put up!

Tell me, what are you all having this week? I am always looking for some delicious, healthy recipes to try...have any favourites I need to cook up??

Organization: Refrigerator

Living in the city means one thing: a small refrigerator. When we moved into our apartment here in Vancouver I was actually pleasantly surprised at the size of our fridge. I can store a full week's worth of food in there plus milk and almond milk. This wasn't always doable in our place in Santa Monica.

I am big on being prepared for the week when it comes to meals as you all well know from my Menu Plan Monday posts. I like to plan the meals on Sunday afternoon typically then shop that afternoon/evening or sometimes Monday morning if I have something lying around for breakfast already.

Anyway, a few months ago I got an info graphic in my email about the most effective way to organize your fridge....this didn't come close to resembling my fridge. In fact I was constantly having spoiled food, no one ever knew what was okay to eat or not which made everyone dependent on me before they could eat the food. It was also a disaster for getting ready in the morning. So, I decided to change that....

Let me start off by saying I have all my shelves lined with vinyl shelf liner from the dollar tree. This stuff is awesome. It was quick and easy to measure and cut and it keeps the shelves super clean. I have a few extra rolls in my storage in the even some get too icky, but I clean up any spills as they happen so I don't foresee that being too much of a problem. The liners make the fridge look nice as well. If you want to invest in something a little more durable these Fridge Coasters look awesome, maybe someday I will invest...maybe...hehehe

So here is the top half of my fridge. It includes the top part for large leftover containers like you see for my spaghetti sauce and my spaghetti squash. I also put my large glass containers up here when I am marinating meat or make a salad that won't fit in the veggie drawer. Second shelf I have two baskets to keep the small containers corralled. It just looks nice. The left one is my meal prep containers. This is where I put premade rice/pasta, premade sandwiches, or other small items that are for meals this upcoming week. On the right of this shelf is my leftovers bin. This is where I put the small containers of rice for lunches, leftover meat from dinner for lunches, etc. In this bin many times I put a sticky note on the jars and will write whose lunch they are for the next day so if I am not packing the lunch it can still get done by whoever is packing lunches and everyone gets what they like!  In the most middle shelf I keep our big bottle beverages, sort of lol I keep milk here usually toward the back. I keep my almond milk here & my can of coconut milk toward the back so I can always have coconut cream on hand! Then in the glass container is just coconut milk for my coffee. We don't drink soda so this isn't a packed shelf usually. Here is a close look at those shelves:

This is my fruit drawer. It is right under my drink section. I found it is the best area for the fruits so they are at a grab and go area, plus we never have a ton so it is a great place to keep them! 

Here is the bottom half. Under the fruits are the veggies. These are usually bigger since cauliflower is large, heads of lettuce are big, and bunches of carrots, etc. It's a humidity checked drawer so it can also extend the life of some of the veggies. Not that they last that long. Last is the meat. I used to keep this way at the top, that is dumb. I've had to throw out so much food due to cross contamination and packages leaking. Just like when you grocery shop meat should be at the bottom, same goes for your refrigerator! I keep our lunch meats in there and defrosting meat. I don't have a fridge mat in here because of leakage. I usually line it with paper towels, if I have them on hand. Otherwise I just wash it out with soap and water as needed. Here is a closer look:

Refrigerator door...

Top to bottom...

I keep my yeast, butter, and cheeses up here. They seem to keep much longer here than anywhere else. Not sure why, maybe because the lid thing keeps the cold air locked in so when the door is opened and closed they aren't constantly exposed to the elements.

This is where I keep my jelly and sauces and my husband's beloved bag of bacon. These are usually tall things and this is the area of the door with a lot of "head room".

This is full of condiments. I keep a can of full fat coconut milk in here too lol Can you tell I am a coconut cream fiend? I love it mixed with some shakeology or raw cacao & grade b maple syrup ;) 

As you can see all four of these areas are lined with little coasters. These have helped to keep these shelves so clean! They are vinyl so they are super easy to wipe off with a little warm soap and water if the condiments drip or leak. I highly recommend this, plus it makes it look nice. Here I have a cup of bacon fat for cooking (sounds gross I know, but we are switching to a paleo based diet and it's recommended and makes eggs taste oh so good. I am slowly becoming a bacon convert! I also have a little cottage cheese here and I guess my daughter decided her bottle of water was a condiment now hehe

Here is where I keep miscellaneous things like my flax meal and bailey's. Staples.

Here is where most households would store beer. I store water....hmmm.

So that is my fridge! I find cleaning it out every Sunday while I meal plan helps keep the food updated, I can label anything that needs to be used ASAP and work it into the meal plan, and it helps to have clear areas so I can pre-pack lunches for the morning and have a place to put that stuff so our mornings aren't as hectic. It also allows me to clearly see what is for breakfast in the morning without searching through tons of stuff!

I know this seems silly but when you are committed to eating at home almost every night and are committed to eating a healthy diet keeping the fridge clean and organized is key otherwise it can be overwhelming seeing a pile of stuff and questioning it's age, what to do with it, etc. With most things in life-organization is key!