Menu Plan Monday-Week 55, +my evening routine!

Last week I told you all about my morning routine, this week I want to share with you my evening routine.

The night time is vital to keeping my home clean, organized, and keeps the morning from being too hectic.

Evening Routine

• After dinner: pack leftovers away, make sure all dishes are loaded in to the dishwasher, pots and pans are hand washed, dried, and put away.
• Pack lunches and snacks, layout breakfast items for the morning.
• Take trash out.
• Wipe out sink.
• Wipe down all counters and cabinets.
• Vacuum/sweep/mop as needed.
• After dessert: put dessert dishes in dishwasher and start.
• Make sure all laundry has been folded and put away.
• Everyone lays out their clothes for the next day.

This routine doesn't take an extremely long time to do, especially if you enlist the help of others. Even small children can help with tasks like wiping down the counters and cabinets, doing dishes, etc. My kiddo started scraping plates at 3 and was doing dishes by 6. So, as a mama or a daddy don't take on all the burden by yourself! 

I can't imagine my morning without this routine. I sleep so much better when I know everything is nice and clean and ready for the morning!

visit org junkie to party with the rest of us!

Breakfast Options:

Begin each day with Morning Lemon tea with lemon, honey, and cinnamon

Kiddo: oatmeal, cereal, pancakes, french toast casserole

Me: MWF: Big Ass Pancake topped with healthy fried apples, T/Th: Raw Buckwheat Porridge with banana and berries

Saturday: Eggs, toast, sausage

Sunday: Clean blueberry muffin tops with banana slices and faux fried apples

Meal prep: make individual oatmeal packets, the rest is in the freezer already; make 3 pancakes and a big batch of apples fried in coconut oil and cinnamon, prepare porridge and make parfaits. Make muffin tops and freeze at some point during the week.

Lunch Options:

Kiddo: Ham and Cheese Wrap with apple and chips, Th/Th: Sandwich kebabs with grapes and bread and butter

Me: Simple Healthy Chili with baked sweet potato(mwf), & zucchini pancakes

Saturday: Grilled cheese with apple slices

Sunday: Snack on nuts, cheeses, breads

Meal Prep: Make tortillas, and prep wraps, make kebabs and divide up grapes; make chili and bake sweet potatoes and zucchini pancakes

Dinner:

Monday: Omelets with toast or potato and broccoli

Tuesday: Taco salads

Wednesday: Glazed chicken with brown rice/zucchini pancakes and broccoli

Thursday: Teriyaki beef with homemade fries (regular and sweet potato) and veggies

Friday: Hamburgers/Spinach Burgers with brown rice and sugar snap peas

Saturday: Smothered chicken breasts with baked potatoes and 

Sunday: Treat day/Football day: Homemade pizza and chicken wings with leftover veggies and starch

Meal Prep: Most all my dinners are made fresh. I stay home and have that luxury. Plus, I recently learned if you marinate meat for too long it can break down the protein in it.

Snacks:

Kiddo: Fall trail mix, granola bars, fruit, hard boiled eggs, clean no bake cookies, 

Me: Hard boiled eggs and fruit, super food smoothie, chocolate covered banana slices, garlic Parmesan Chickpeas

Meal Prep: Make trail mix, and granola bars, cut up and divide fruit, boil eggs, make banana slices (cut bananas and dip in a mixture of cacao powder and coconut oil), soak and boil chickpeas and bake.

End each day with Sleepytime or Chamomile Tea with honey and cinnamon

I have it planned to cook each day this week as we will be in Rome next weekend and want to make sure I keep our eating in check...as I have a feeling Italy won't be nice to my abs ;)

So, what are you cooking up this week? Any new recipes I should try, leave me a link in the comments!

Menu Plan Monday #54 +a peek at my morning routine

Happy Monday y'all! So, I have been riding my bike so much more lately and this is how I feel whenever I pass someone:



hahaha Yup, I'm all like:

Credit

I even hear the music and cackling in my head...when I told the teenager about that the first time I thought she'd fall off her bike. All in good fun though. Riding the bike for errands makes them doubly fun, though!

Routine

A few months back, I wrote a blog about my routines. Well, since moving I have adjusted my morning routine a bit to fit our new life! I no longer keep my check marks on my iPad, I have switched over to a written planner as I prefer that. So, here is a peek at my routine:

• 6:45, pop out of bed and get dressed, I usually dress in workout clothes so after everyone is gone I can immediately workout, but some days I dress regularly if I have a meeting at the school or with a friend.
• Next, one of the first things I do is brush my teeth. I was told by my dentist a while back that whatever saliva is produced first thing in the morning can really damage your enamel making you more prone to cavities so I take care of that immediately, if I have a meeting I do my make up and hair during this time too. Otherwise I pin it back and throw in a headband to get ready for my workouts.
• By 7:15 while the Nespresso machine is heating up I unload the dishwasher and take out the lunch items for the teenager to throw in her backpack and if she is lucky I refill her water bottle for her ;) I also throw in a load of laundry.
• When she finishes her make up and hair we sit down together and have coffee and breakfast, usually by 7:30 am, when we are done we each throw our dishes in the dishwasher.
• 7:45 I see the teenager out the door, then spend the next 30-45 minutes doing blog maintenance, checking social media, and applying for jobs.
• 8:30 hubby gets up for work and I get him breakfast (which usually consists of juice, tough job I know lol), then he gets in the shower and I see him out the door.
• 9:15 Workout, then shower and get dressed. 
• Mondays: 9:15 I go to the grocery store, then come home and unload groceries, start my meal prep, and then I clean all the bathrooms. Workout starts about 1:15 pm this day.

My mornings are really full but super productive. I find that making sure I get the dishwasher unloaded and a load of laundry in my laundry is {almost} never over flowing and the dishes never build up.

I'm linking up over at Org Junkie, come check out the other menus!

Now, for the meal plan! I have been making sure that Sunday night and/or Monday mornings I get my meal prep done. I find this is vital to me making proper choices in my nutrition and me having food to pack the kiddo for lunch.

Breakfast Options:

Cereal

Toast with coconut oil and pb or nutella

Fruit

Oatmeal

Lunch Options:

Teenager: Leftovers, Ham and Cheese Sandwich with cucumbers and fruit-X2, one day she will come home for lunch, PB and banana wrap with apple slices and cranberries-X2

Snacks: Apple Pie Spiced Trail mix and orange X2, hard boiled egg and steamed sweet potato X3

Me: Creamy Caprese Quinoa Bake (I will make a few substitutions in the recipe), day kiddo comes home for lunch: Veggie loaded ramen, one day I am scheduled to have lunch out with a friend

Snacks:Almond-banana-cacao smoothie, orange-banana smoothie, cucumber-tomato salad

Afternoon Snacks

After school the kiddo and I love to have coffee and something sweet, I am going to make these Healthy No Bake Cookies or we will have some homemade bread with Nutella.

Dinner

Monday: Sausage and potatoes au gratin

Tuesday: Chicken and cheese crescent rolls with salad 

Wednesday: Baked spaghetti with salad

Thursday: Cheese panini's with soup

Friday: Pizza with salad (the kiddo has a friend sleeping over so I will probably have them make this it is so simple)

Saturday: Chicken Wings with macaroni and cheese and peas

Sunday: Homemade hamburger helper and salad and garlic rolls

What are you cooking up this week?

Menu Plan Monday #21

Img Credit

Today I know is a holiday in the US & Canada, so happy Labor Day, Folks! Sadly, that doesn't mean we can take a break from housework. Well, we could, but I'd hate to see what the destruction would be! :-/ We have had family visiting us all the way from Georgia and I have a fabulous weekend wrap up coming once they have left. I have lots great restaurants to share! But, with school starting back tomorrow I thought I would share my daughters daily routine in the even anyone needs some inspiration for keeping their kids on track and productive...

A Day in the Life of the Teen
Morning(wake up time to her own alarm: 6:30 am, 2 hours prior to departure)
Make bed
Get dressed
Pick up floor of room
Have breakfast & 12 oz of water (this is NOT optional)
Grooming (brush teeth, hair, makeup, etc)
Do morning bathroom chores
Gather lunch together, check for Key Fob, Leave for school

After School
Come straight home, unless staying for a pre approved after school programme)
Snack & 12 oz of water (again, not optional)
Talk with Mom about the day, have Mom sign any papers or permission forms
Homework in room at desk where it is nice and quiet
15 minutes of reading
Pack backpack for next day, put on hook in laundry room (which is next to the front door)
Check the next day's schedule to make sure nothing unusual is needed, or no money is needed
Pick up desk and make sure it is ready for the next day's homework
Do any chores that are needed

Evening/Before Bed
Make sure everything is prepped and ready for lunch the next day (if school day)
Take shower
Grooming (wash face, take off makeup, nails, etc)
Do evening bathroom chores
15 min of reading before bed

That is the teenagers routine on a normal school day. It seems like a lot, but the little routines that are set within this routine really help keep her organized, her room and bathroom are never really dirty, and she always has her work turned in on time and homework done early.

Now, onto other things that will help this first busy week back to school....

So, today is yet again, Menu Plan Monday! I know getting into a routine of this is difficult, but even just jumping in and having some sort of general plan can really, really help make the week run smooth and help save you money in the long run! So, without further ado....

Linking up at: Org Junkie

Breakfast

Monday: Elbow Room

Tuesday: Leftover's from Monday's breakfast turned into something cute and fun for back to school

Wednesday: Any leftovers/cereal

Thursday: Toasted granola cereal with bananas and almond milk

Friday: Fruit salad, with granola and yogurt

Saturday: Breka/Farmer's market fare

Sunday: Egg sandwiches with mixed fruit and veggies

Lunch

Monday: Leftovers

Tuesday: Leftovers/cherries/lunch out with family

Wednesday: Grilled cheese/cherries/cucumber

Thursday: Quinoa-veggie bowls

Friday: Lunch out

Saturday: Farmer's market salad

Sunday: Brunch (see breakfast above)

Dinner

Monday: Joe Fortes

Tuesday: Stir fry meat, rice, veggies

Wednesday: Pulled BBQ Chicken/Pulled BBQ Mushrooms, squash, mixed veggies, and corn

Thursday: Pork chops/chick pea patties, fruit salad, cucumber slices, leftover squash & corn

Friday: New Restaurant Friday

Saturday: Traditional spaghetti, vegan spaghetti squash, salad

Sunday: Surf n turf: Local rib-eye, lobster or crab, cheese fries/veggies

Snacks

Granola bars, fruit, leftovers, protein balls/shakes

Dessert

Chocolate chip cookies, figs and goat cheese, frozen grapes

This is our menu for the first week back at school. Mine is going up a little bit late, but better late than never! :)

What are you having this week? Also, do your kids have a daily routine or will you begin implementing one soon?