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• Go through & tossing (or upcycling) any that are outdated or unwanted.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: 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?

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! 

Sunday Social: Handbags

So, I have had the most awkward time with this post. I have now published it twice without it being complete! Some days, some days! Ha!



Today we are talking about something super girly: Purses! I love my purse organization, it's so easy to find things in my giant bags! I have such large ones because I live in a downtown core and walk everywhere so I need it to be able hold a water bottle, coffee mug, umbrella, heels...sometimes all at once! ;) I love handbags, but I'm not a handbag "dreamer". It's totally a spontaneous purchase for me when I get one! I love them, but don't love to "lust" over them! Anyway....read on:

1. What is your favorite handbag you’ve ever owned?
My favourite handbag is one of two:

2. What is your dream handbag you lust over?
Honestly, I love bags but I don't really have one I lust over, I'm not that into them! I had always wanted a coach bag and when I got the black one above that sort of satiated that "need". :)

3. What are the daily essentials in your purse or work bag? 
My daily essentials are my foldable flats, house keys (I don't drive everyday so I don't carry car keys on a regular basis), wallet, earbuds, phone, and "emergency kit". 

4. What’s in your purse (with pictures)?

The inside of my purse. Before I go anywhere I take a peek inside and make sure there isn't any "loose" stuff like receipts or whatever. That's how I make sure to keep it super clean ;)

This is everything inside (clockwise from left to right): foldable flats in the black bag, a diary for making lists, writing down cool stuff I see, etc, my "emergency" kit, house keys, ear buds, purse hanger, wallet, compact (was my grandmother's), and kleenex.

My emergency kit all packed up.

In my emergency kit: a mirror, bandaids, tampon, advil, babylips, perfume, dior glitter gloss (for days you just need a little extra fab ;)), two pens (one for regular writing, the other for marking important things), nail files (I have no idea why I have so many lol I did pair it down to one after this ;)), nail clippers, safety pins, bobby pin, carmex (I am from FL but have also lived in very cold climates I've learned you can never have enough glosses lol), a hair tie, a tiny note pad (incase I need to pass my number or email on to someone or take a short note), and two plastic bags (my daughter gets extreme motion sickness so the yellow bag is open and can be used for trash or sickness then tossed, the ziploc bag is in case we are on Transit and she gets sick we have a way to seal it up so it doesn't stink ;)).

So, that is my purse. I try to keep is super organized so I never have to "dig" for stuff. What is the #1 thing you can't leave the house without it in your purse (aside from keys and wallet ;))??

Homework Box Tutorial

As I've made very clear we live in a really, really tiny apartment. We live in an amazing city, but real estate is at a premium, so our apartment is pretty tiny. The kiddo has had a small issue keeping her school supplies organized in her desk drawer. She does a really good job, but she loves school supplies so sometimes they tend to take over a bit-especially when I find a good deal! :P So, I found a couple of cool ideas on Pinterest and decided to combine them. This is what I came up with:

I used a shoe box from a pair of shoes we had just bought my daughter. I covered it in duct tape and electrical tape (I don't discriminate I use whatever I have! LOL Then, I took some cute little stick on letters I had and stuck them on there!

The tape went on sort of smoothe. I actually had a worse time with get the electrical tape to stick than the duck tape! So, my suggestion is definitely use duck tape for the whole thing. I used some letters leftover from another project. As you can see that are very in season being all bright and neon. Flashback to the '80's anyone?!

Moving on....

This is the inside of the box. on the lid I just used a glue stick and glued on a set of sticky notes for taking notes and marking pages. To get it to stick to the lid I just turned the notes over to the last page and smeared a glue stick all over the back, then stuck it onto the lid. The long paper is for longer notes, or making notes and then marking a page. It is glued on the same way I did the sticky notes. I added the paperclip on the left just so the paper wouldn't be hanging when the lid is closed. The paper clip on the right is just so the design would be symmetrical! (Yes, that's my weird side coming out, welcome to my brain.)

A close up of the inside of the box. As you can see I decorated everything to coordinate in a non-matching way. Anything in a "holder" is from the recycle bin ;)

Here is the right side of the box. Crayons, markers, glue sticks, and paper clips.

I just took a small box out of the recycling bin, covered it in duck tape and "finished it off" with electrical tape. I then labeled it using some leftover letters I had in my craft bin. Both crayon holders were made the same way. These two little boxes fit like 500 crayons or something ridiculous like that!

This is just a cute little pouch I whipped up out of duck tape to hold the pencils and pens. In order to make the pouch just measure whatever you want the pouch to hold and make it twice as long as the item you want to fit in there, plus at least a half inch-two inches if you want it to have a flap so it will "close",  and at last a half inch wider than the object. Lay down the duck tape (for this pouch I just laid two pencils out and measured the tape that way for length) then just used two strips of duck tape for the width. You will have to now cut two more strips of tape and place the sticky sides together. Then, fold the bottom up and tape together with a coordinating tape (just so it looks pretty you could just use the same tape you had been using lol). If you added a top flap add a magnet or some velcro so it will stay down. 

This is the end of the roll of mustache tape. It was running out and so I just took some paper that had been printed on, but we didn't need anymore so I cut it up and stuck it in here so it isn't floating all over the box! This way she can work out math problems or whatever she needs and then just recycle the paper.

These are the markers and coloured pencils. They are being held in toilet paper tubes! I found these in the recycle bin and knew they'd be perfect! I just covered them in duck tape to make them coordinate.

This I whipped up to hold the tape, paper clips and eraser. I did it the same was as the pencil and pen pouch. I didn't really want anything "floating around" in the box to make it messy, so this did the trick! 

Here is the final product: 

I put in there some graph paper, some college ruled paper, some raw hazelnuts, raisins, and jelly beans (have to have something fun). I'll check it every now and again to see when it needs to be refilled.

I really like this because not only does it free up room in her desk and store nicely on her closet shelf, but it allows her to move around the house and do her homework on the porch if its nice, at the breakfast bar while I cook dinner, or even the park if we want to enjoy the sun while it is still shining. This is also nice for parents who have children that do after school activities and sometimes the kids need to do homework at the football field, soccer field, gym or wherever. 

Other supplies you may want to include: calculator, dictionary, other language dictionary if needed, small thesaurus, any special math tools that may be needed. 

If you'd like come check out my back to school board over on Pinterest! I've been pinning some great ideas to get you organized so the school year is off to the right start! We've only been in a week now, but if you've been in longer it is never too late to get organized! I have some lunch ideas posted here. Go check 'em out! ;)

Menu Plan Monday #20

Here we are, 'round at Monday, again!

We had a great weekend. Our new restaurant Friday didn't go quite as planned. We were quite tired and just wanted to relax, so we just got some take out and enjoyed just doing nothing. Then, Saturday the kiddo came home from camp so we did New Restaurant Saturday. We tried a place called the Tap and Barrel, it's just a 10 minute walk along the water from our house and it's new so we had to try it! They didn't have the crispy chickpeas I wanted, but the kiddo and I split a fantastic pretzel and then I moved on to a veggie burger with a side salad. It was quite delicious!

Isn't that tee tiny little mushroom adorable?!

 Hubby had the complete opposite of me, he made up for my missing bad fat content (as any good husband does ;))! It was all quite delicious and we had the most amazing view during our meal.

My picture doesn't do it justice, but it was a gorgeous day despite the clouds!

Also, here is a sampling of what I got at the farmer's market this week....

Now the beginning of the week is a bit off as the husband is off on business so the teen and I are doing it easy....

Menu Plan Monday Link Party

Breakfast
Monday: Peach cobbler oatmeal bake
Tuesday: Eggs with fruit and avocado
Wednesday: Leftover peach cobbler oatmeal bake
Thursday: Veggie egg scramble with oatmeal
Friday: Whatever is leftover or egg sandwiches
Saturday: Breaka (our fave coffee shop) or pick something up at the farmer's market
Sunday: Eggs, bacon/sausage, paleo pancakes

Lunch
Monday: Quiche with tomato soup
Tuesday: Homemade veggie subs with soup and salad
Wednesday: Leftovers from Monday
Thursday: Homemade vegan spaghetti o's
Friday: Leftovers
Saturday: Leftovers/light easy things
Sunday: fruit/popcorn/nuts just easy stuff

Dinner
Monday: Stuffed squash
Tuesday: BBQ Chicken sandwiches with salad and veggies
Wednesday: Leftovers (this is our D&D comedy night)
Thursday: Breakfast for dinner
Friday: Try Korean BBQ again (hopefully we will find a true BBQ place this time!)
Saturday: We are supposed to be having family in town, may go out with them, if not we will just do surf and turf (one big steak, then shrimp and lobster)
Sunday: Again, with family in town we will be going out either Saturday or Sunday so we're playing that by ear.

This is my prep:
Sunday make and bake the peach cobbler oatmeal, and the quiche.
My fruits for the week are soaked in diluted vinegar and cut up and stored in individual containers for the week.
Four salads are prepped and set aside, along with two relishes for my husband (diced cucumber and tomato).
I premade a honey mustard dressing for each salad.

Snacks:
Cacao nib granola bars
Fruit kebabs and paleo mini-blueberry muffins

Prep for these: I made about 10 fruit kebabs and just stored them  in quart size ziploc bags (2 kebabs per bag) so they are grab and go. At the same time as I was baking the cobbler oatmeal and quiche I whipped up the muffins, once cool stored in snack size ziplocs so they are grab and go. Same with the granola bars only I wrapped those in parchment.

This way there is no way I can deviate from my menu this week. We are back to school next week so I will be diligent about sticking to our eating schedule!

Well, I hope everyone has a great week!!!

Menu Plan Monday #19

Happy Monday!!! Ready to start the week off, right? I am! I am kid-free this week so I am going to be working on projects and getting the freezer and pantry stocked with homemade snacks and stuff for back to school! So....let's get to the Monday duty....

Org Junkie

Breakfast

Monday: Raw Buckwheat Porridge with fresh beet juice

Tuesday: Bon Chaz (tasty new coffee shop I've been wanting to try)

Wednesday: Raw Buckwheat Porridge with fresh beet juice

Thursday: Big Ass Pancake with Nut Butter

Friday: Cereal with Banana's

Saturday: Bacon, Egg, and Cheese Croissants with fruit salad

Sunday: Cereal with banana's and sausage

Lunch

Monday: Strawberry Chicken Salad with Simple Honey Dressing (this salad uses up leftover chicken from our dinner Sunday night and in the dressing I'll sub Champagne Vinegar for the white wine vinegar)
Tuesday: Same as Monday
Wednesday: Trying out a new food truck that only serves fresh, local ingredients in their food.
Thursday: Tuna Melts on Zucchini "buns" with the "meat" of the zucchini on the sides
Friday: Ham Sandwich kebabs with side salad (I'll probably make a few and go see the hubby for lunch)
Saturday: We'll just to a light spread of snacks: popcorn, ham, fruit, nuts
Sunday: Grilled Cheese, chips, fruit/veggies/salad, sort of whatever is leftover

Dinner

Monday: Flying Pig in Yaletown with friends.
Tuesday: Skirt Steak Fajita's with tequila marinade, peppers, and corn
Wednesday: Twice bakes potatoes with Green Beans and Corn (yes, my Mr. Loves corn lol)
Thursday: Paleo chicken fingers with home fries and squash
Friday: New Restaurant Friday
Saturday: Spagheti with Salad and Garlic bread
Sunday: Whole chicken with corn, squash, salad, and garlic bread

Snacks

• Fruit/cheese, fresh juice, nut butter & chia seed jam on pecans, no bake oatmeal bites, hard boiled eggs and squash/avocado, popcorn(scroll down for the recipe)

Dessert

• Chocolate Chip Cookies (My fave recipe is from the Betty Crocker cookbook) 
• Cosmic Brownies

Goodies to fix and freeze for back to school:

• Granola Cereal
• Granola Clusters
• Instant Oatmeal & toppers
• Popsicles
• Zucchini-Banana Muffins
• Sweet Cinnamon Cereal
• Cocoa Puffs

So, that's it for my week. Should be a busy one and full of delicious food. I am so looking forward to the Flying Pig, they have a delicious garlic bread...that may be my entire meal (don't judge :P) and the tequila marinated fajitas. What are you most looking forward to eating?

Meal Plan Monday #18

Linking up at: OrgJunkie!

Happy Monday, Everyone!! I haven't been blogging too much the past couple of weeks. With summer upon us it sadly went a bit by the wayside. Up here in Vancouver we have to take advantage of the beautiful weather when we have it otherwise we risk regretting it around mid-November! ;) We've been doing a ton of hiking, saw a real, very large waterfall, and some other beautiful scenery. But, we are on the countdown for back to school. The kiddo is in the last three weeks of summer filled with camps and other various back to school activities. So, that being said things should get back to normal so I can really get back into this blogging thing. I have tons of great posts coming up! But, that's not what we are here for without further ado....here is my meal plan for the week!

These are the items I got from the farmer's market...they are going the be the stars of my meals this week....

First, don't forget to clean out your kitchen and toss any expired or questionable food, leftovers make sure to make them the star of a meal Monday or Tuesday!!!

Snacks
Mostly consisting of fresh strawberries, cherries, and bananas, popcorn, almonds and creme frais (fresh cream cheese from the farmer's market), and ham

Breakfast
Monday: Egg and avocado sandwich with cucumber slices and strawberries
Tuesday: oatmeal raisin "cookie" overnight oats
Wednesday: cereal with bananas/cream cheese toast with pb and bananas
Thursday: Egg sandwiches with cucumbers and avocado
Friday: Creamy overnight oats
Saturday: Cereal
Sunday: Omelettes with bacon and muffins

Lunch
Monday: 
Me: veggie sandwich with avocado and homemade vegan ranch dressing, hard boiled egg, and cucumber slices
Kiddo: Ham sandwich, hardboiled egg, cucmbers
Tuesday: Leftover squash spaghetti, almonds
Wednesday: 
Me: Chicken salad served on zucchini "crackers" with vegan ranch for dipping, toasted almonds
Kiddo: Chicken salad with zucchini "chips" and cucumber "chips"; granola
Thursday: 
Me: Leftovers
Kiddo: Grilled ham & cheese (served cold), fruit salad, cucumbers
Friday: Leftovers
Saturday: Plate of: ham slices, cheese slices, fruit, cucumber slices, mixed nuts
Sunday: Just a basic plate of popcorn, fruit, cheese, nuts

Dinner
Monday: Grilled cheese, chicken & rice soup with carrots, chips/salad
Tuesday: BBQ Chicken Breasts with yellow squash boats, rice, and quinoa
Wednesday: Teriyaki beef with fried rice/fried quinoa (this will be made using the leftovers from Tuesday)
Thursday: Quinoa with roasted beets salad (using leftover quinoa from Tuesday...can you tell I'm the only one that really eats it ;))/breakfast for dinner for everyone else
Friday: New Restaurant Friday...somewhere teen friendly since she leaves for camp the next day we'll treat her ;)
***These next two recipes are from the Williams-Sonoma Steak & Chops Recipe book. It's a seriously amazing cookbook! A definite fave!

Amazon

Saturday: Pork chops with sherry gravy, farmer's market veggies (tbd), and roasted potatoes
Sunday: Pineapple-hoisin glazed pork ribs, broccolini, corn on the cob

Dessert
Soft batch coconut oil cookies

So, that's it for us for the week! I'm trying two new recipes, the soft batch coconut cookies and the pineapple-hoisin glazed pork ribs! Are you trying anything new this week?

P.S. Happy Monday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!