from the same nest

Orange Juice Made Pretty

noreply@blogger.com (Maria and Michelle) — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 13:19:00 +0000

A few weeks ago, I hosted a bridal shower brunch for a sweet friend (Hi Amber!).

As I was planning out the menu, I knew that orange juice was a must have item. But I couldn't serve just "ordinary" oj. I needed to dress it up a bit. I was amazed at the sweet comments I received about the juice and how it was served, so I thought I'd go ahead and share with you!

I found some cute plastic flutes at Hobby Lobby. Before I filled them with juice, I simply added a thin wedge of orange... peel and all. (One orange gave me enough slices for around 40 flutes.)

It was very easy and added just an extra little touch that people really seemed to enjoy!

With summer quickly approaching, you could try it with lemonade. If you want to get a bit more "fancy" and toss in a couple of raspberries or strawberries!

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New Grocery Budget Plan & Weekly Dinner Menu

noreply@blogger.com (Maria and Michelle) — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 15:53:00 +0000

I'm not good at keeping track of our expenses. I try to be cautious on the amount I spend so that we don't go over budget, but the truth is... I never really track to see if I stick to our budget or not.

With that said, this is our first month to use Dave Ramsey's cash system to pay for our groceries.

My eyes have been openned wide. It's week 2 of the month and you'd have to pry my white knuckles off of the cash. I'm terrified to run out of money from our grocery "account."

I always try to use what we have in our pantry/freezer to create my weekly meal plan, but I'm taking this to an all new level this week. Here's what I've come up with using what we have. I still need to get a few odds and ends (milk, veggies, etc) but those things shouldn't total too much.

Monday- Husband & I are going to a local restaurant's "soft openning" for a free dinner. My daughter will have a grilled cheese sandwich with some other odds and ends.

Tuesday- TACO TUESDAY! Pulled pork tacos with cilantro/lime rice. (Be watching for a future post about these tacos.... they are so good!)

Wednesday- Grilled chicken and baked potatoes topped with cheesy broccoli.

Thursday- BBQ Chicken Pizza

Friday- BLT Sandwiches and chips

Saturday- Grilled kabobs

Sunday- BREAKFAST NIGHT! Omelets and hashbrowns

As you can see, our Tuesday nights are "Taco Tuesdays." This plan gives me the chance to use leftover meat that is from the weekend or in our freezer. And really, who doesn't love a taco? Sunday nights are "Breakfast Nights." I love ending the weekend with a very casual meal and I think that breakfast is just the thing for that. Plus, there are so many breakfast options that we really aren't limited to the same things each week.

I'm excited to see how this cash system works for us and keeps us more accountable! It's definitely inspired me to shop more carefully and cut out more of the "junk food" that we were wasting our money on.

Weekly To Do List

noreply@blogger.com (Maria and Michelle) — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 11:39:00 +0000

Do you ever feel like you haven't accomplished even the basic things on your weekly to do list?

image courtesy of lifehack.org

I frequently find that my days are filled with more and more to do's than before. And because of this, the things I really want and need to accomplish weekly are pushed aside and I am playing catch up later on in the week.

I often feel as though I am drowning beneath it all.

Not a pleasant feeling, but I'm sure most moms can relate in some form or fashion.

I've discovered having a plan ahead of time works well for me. I have given myself a couple of daily to do's to accomplish Sunday through Saturday. Knowing each day what is on my plate (that I really want to and must get done) has really helped me to stay better on top of things.

Also only assigning myself one to three tasks daily allows me to have more time in my day for other things and to not get overwhelmed as easily.

Here is my weekly to do list:

Sunday - clip & organize my coupons
Monday - wash bedding & vacuum my upstairs
Tuesday - clean bathrooms, wash rugs, & restock toilet paper
Wednesday - school & menu planning
Thursday - grocery shopping
Friday - wipe down appliances, steam kitchen floor, & wash kitchen towels
Saturday - pick up bedrooms & dust

Of course since I also work part time and my schedule rotates weekly at work, I find that there are weeks I must rearrange my to do's and also reprioritize knowing that I will not get to it all.

This list does however hold me accountable to getting the things done that I know I want to accomplish on a weekly basis.

It has been working well for me and I challenge you to also arrange your to do's throughout your week so you can attempt to accomplish it all without the stress of feeling like it all needs done at once.

Framed 3D Artwork Made Easy

noreply@blogger.com (Maria and Michelle) — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 14:45:00 +0000

I love making something out of nothing.

When the floating butterfly mobile was finished, I ended up having some extra butterflies that didn't get used as well as the paper that they were cut from.

I don't know if you're like me at all, but I just couldn't throw them away. There had to be someway to use them.... eventually.

It didn't take me long to decide that I should make some artwork for the bookshelf in the nursery.

Such a great decision.

I found a pink frame I had laying around the house (under my bed to be exact) and got to work. Using a plain piece of white cardstock, I put that in the frame first and on top added the pink paper that the butterflies were cut from.

The next step was to fold the wings of the butterflies so that they would stand out from the frame. Then I put a small piece of tape behind the body of each butterfly to secure it to the framed paper.

This project was absolutely FREE (yay!) and took less than 10 minutes from start to finish. I love how something so simple became the perfect touch for my little girl's nursery!

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Eat More, Spend Less Series

noreply@blogger.com (Maria and Michelle) — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 13:05:00 +0000

Image courtesy of invest-money-stocks.com

We are doing a major diet overhaul in our house, and I venture to say Maria is attempting something similar in her home also. It's been a slow process, but one that has been in the works for months, maybe even a year by this point. It's been a slow process, but one that takes time considering how large of a change we're undertaking.

The biggest change we're attempting to make is to eat real, whole foods instead of processed and packaged foods. We're trying to eliminate high fructose corn syrup, msg, nitrates, food dyes, hormones, and preservatives from our diet.

The process of doing this can be difficult, but we believe the health benefits our family will reap from it are well worth it!

What we've been doing over the past months is slowly weaning these items out of our house. I've been reading food labels and paying close attention to items at the grocery store before buying them.

It can be a pretty difficult task, in that, these ingredients are often found in even foods we assume to be "healthy".

Additionally I am learning how to cook, and how to make foods we can buy in processed form from scratch. Items like breads, baked goods, salad dressings, seasonings, yogurt... eventually these are all items I hope to prepare myself.

I am also trying to learn healthy alternatives to many items. Alternatives to sugar, oils, margarine, white flour... the list goes on and on.

Fortunately it's a task I'm excited for, and one that I am learning step by step.

One resource I have found is an amazing blog series that came out this week that I am trying to soak up. It is full of some great information on trying to eat better and healthier, all while staying within your budget.

Eat Well, Spend Less

These bloggers are already women that I read daily and that I find really know their stuff. There are many great resources within this series and I recommend you look around and consider the benefits of a healthier diet for your own family.

Transitions

noreply@blogger.com (Maria and Michelle) — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 16:12:00 +0000

To me, my life at the moment seems chaotic.

There are so many things that I want to accomplish, but I just can't focus. Some of the things that I want to do are: Start spending more quiet time with God, I want to get more serious about couponing, I want to cut out some of the processed foods we eat, I want to start baking more, I want to work on a "summer curriculum" that I can use with my 2-year-old this summer, I want to plant our garden.

Overall, I just need to finalize a way to be more productive.

What is holding me back from accomplishing this stuff? I'm less than 3 weeks away from having a 2nd daughter and soon after that I'll be transitioning into a new job with new hours at work.

The combination of those things is making it hard for me to want to start a new task because everything is so overwhelming.

Sigh.

I'm excited for a new schedule and can't wait to figure out what life is going to be like in the coming months! It makes me anxious to think about it because I'm ready to dive on in. Until then, I'm sure I'll keep adding to my list of things I want to do.

Sorry for the ramblings. :)

Any advice on how to tackle everything?

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A tour of my new home office

noreply@blogger.com (Maria and Michelle) — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 16:45:00 +0000

We use to live in a house without an office.

We have a decent amount of space, but between bedrooms, a guestroom, my craft closet, exercise equipment, a play room, and everything else in between, it didn't leave us with a place for an office. It can get pretty frustrating not having a space for all of the paperwork that comes in and out of our house, plus all of the random odds and ends that belong in an office space.

I've always loved the idea of having a command center on a wall in our dining room. It was a blank canvas across from our dining room table that we pass often. It in the perfect space for my mock office space.

Now the question came about what to put there.

Primarily it had to be fairly inexpensive, or at least well worth the cost. So, I scoured Craigslist, my go to resource for all things furniture related.

I looked at desks, I looked at buffets, I looked at dressers, I looked daily.

When I saw the piece I wanted, I knew it instantly. It was perfect.

I really like the style, but I also like the amount of storage it can potentially give me.

I started out by placing a couple of baskets on the top shelf. One holds receipts, and the other currently holds household remodeling items we've been collecting and want to keep together.

The next shelf holds a couple of really important items for us. These are our junk mail boxes. My husband has one, I have one. Any mail or paperwork that enters our house that doesn't immediately get shredded goes in to these large boxes. They hold quite a bit and when I have papers I'm not quite sure what to do with at the moment, they just get hidden away here until I have a plan.

The green plant container in the middle is where we currently toss our loose change.

The bottom shelf is still pretty naked.

Obviously our telephone sits there and our charging station for our cell phones. I have a couple of ideas for what else I need in this space, but since I haven't found it exactly, at the price I'm willing to pay, it remains empty.

I do want a filing shelf or holder for action items. A place where items that need to be addressed soon will live. Bills that need paid or filed, forms that need to be completed and returned, etc. I'm thinking The Container Store has some pretty cute items I may need to consider:
They even have cute matching pencil cups!

Continuing on with my new "office" the drawers are big and deep, things have a tendency to get tossed in there and lost. I've bought some dividers and have really worked purposefully to give items their own place. This is where we keep all of our office items from staplers, to pens, to paperclips... lots of little items. I definitely need to figure out how to store the little things within these drawers better.

I also labeled one drawer our "tool" drawer. Of course these aren't our only tools, but these are the ones we seem to need frequently, or that I use on occasion. I also housed our flashlights in there so I'll know where to find them if I ever need them.

Finally, the underneath cabinets are also useful. Unfortunately there is a shelf that does not allow for a file folder system to be placed in there, which would be ideal. I've considered removing the shelf, but that hasn't happened yet and may not.

Currently I have my coupon binder, my coupon insert file system, and my household notebook on one shelf. It's great to have a place to put these items away when I'm not using them! In the past they have just stayed out on the table, on the kitchen counter, or in a pile on the floor.

I've also claimed a spot for reams of paper, newspapers, and my husband's items inside the bottom cabinets. It just gives us a place to keep things hidden from sight, which makes me much happier!

I hope you've enjoyed the tour of my new office. If you don't have your own space and maybe suffer from uncontrolled office clutter because of it, I hope this inspires you to get creative!

Tis the Season for Garage Sales

noreply@blogger.com (Maria and Michelle) — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 15:00:00 +0000

Photo courtesy of garage-floor.org

I can not even tell you how excited I am that garage sale season is just about here. I have been scouring ads on Craigslist watching for sales starting up in my city and am beginning to think that this week I may have to start shopping.

Since we are on the "Dave Ramsey" plan and I know that I have a habit of buying items for no real good reason, this summer I have made a plan.

I've made a shopping list of items I'm really looking to score at rock bottom, garage sale prices. I can't wait to make it more of a "hunt" this season rather than the grazing I tend to do.

Some of the items I'm really hoping to find this year include: canning jars and supplies, children's clothing for the fall and winter, a table to put in my entry way, a coat rack, a coffee table/ bench/ lamps for my family room.

Of course this is a list that can be altered and added to at any time. I do however hope to avoid purchasing random items at garage sales just for the fun of it.

Photo courtesy of asmallvictory.org

We'll see how well that goes, right?

Another plan I have, and one that will be a bit more effective for me is to budget my garage sale spending on extras. Of course if I find the above items for a good price I'll buy... but for other odds and ends... I think I'm going to limit myself to $25 a month.

That should stretch plenty far at garage sale prices!

Heavenly Muffins

noreply@blogger.com (Maria and Michelle) — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 13:00:00 +0000

I love these pumpkin chocolate chip muffins.

They are moist. They are easy to make. And they even satisfy my late night chocolate craving.

My toddler loves them.... almost as much as me. She'll devour a muffin in minutes, but first she picks off the chocolate chips that are on top of the muffin and throws them a way. That makes me sad. Such a waste of perfectly good chocolate!

This muffin recipe is from the Tasty Kitchen. Check it out. Really. You won't be sorry.

I've made them twice, both times with whole flour. Once with vegetable oil, once with applesauce. There is no taste difference, so I definitely recommend the applesauce to make them a bit healthier.

Let me know if you try them!

Floating Butterfly Mobile

noreply@blogger.com (Maria and Michelle) — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 16:30:00 +0000

Several weeks ago I was working on the nursery for my 2nd daughter. I'm only a few weeks away from my due date, but feel (and look) like I could pop at any moment.

I can't wait!

Back to the nursery... I decided that she needed a mobile over her crib so that she could have something beautiful to look at. It needed to be something that would inspire her daydreams. I automatically knew that I didn't want something generic. It needed to be unique, fun and magical!

This is what I came up with.

I knew that I wanted the butterflies to appear like they were floating, so I needed to find something to hang them from. This beauty was found in the clearance aisle at Hobby Lobby for around $6.

Using my Silhouette, I cut out butterfly shapes in textured cardstock and vellum paper.

If you look close, you can see that the vellum butterflies curl up a little. Love it.

I simply used tape to attach the butterflies to clear thread that were tied to the frame. The entire process of cutting and hanging took approximately 1 hour. That's not bad for a one-of-a-kind piece that will make my daughter smile and laugh in the months to come.

And I must admit.... I love the shadows on the wall.

Since my balance is a "little" off these days, my husband hung the whole thing from the ceiling using eye hooks that he screwed into studs. Then we used fishing line to tie the frame to the hooks. He discovered that using some super glue to the knots did wonders to keeping them from slipping. (That stuff is amazing!)

I'm anxious to see my little girl giggle in excitement over her winged friends!

Breaking Down my Grocery Budget by Food Group

noreply@blogger.com (Maria and Michelle) — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 13:00:00 +0000

Let me start out this post by saying I know that all families, all circumstances are different. I am however on a quest to lower our monthly spending on groceries, and at the same time increase the amount of "real" food we consume in our diets.

My husband has always swayed towards eating healthy, where I, as the primary cook in our home sway toward convenience - which oftentimes does not make for the healthiest choices.

Since we have been attempting to get a better reign on our grocery spending (which for most families, including my own, is the second largest monthly expense next to one's housing), I have been carefully planning our grocery budget.

1. First and foremost I made a list of things we purchase on a regular basis and their costs.

For us that includes things like milk, eggs, bread, yogurt, shredded wheat cereal (my husband's daily breakfast) ...

By getting a feel for what we spend on our basics, I'm able to make sure we aren't overlooking anything.

2. Next I took a look at what we want to be spending our money on. I broke this down in parts according to the food pyramid: Grains, Vegetables, Fruits, Dairy, Protein, and Fats.

For the ease and simplicity of explaining, let's say our weekly grocery budget is $100. I have allotted a certain percentage/ dollar amount to each food area.

Grains - $15 or 15%
Vegetables - $25 or 25%
Fruits - $25 or 25%
Dairy - $10 or 10%
Protein - $15 or 15%
Fats -$5 or 5%
Misc - $5 or 5%

Of course these amounts can change drastically from week to week based on what I have in my pantry, my freezer, and what our menu plan is. It does however, help me to have a basis for how much I am going to spend stocking up each week with sales, and it holds me accountable to feeding our family healthy foods.

Let's take a closer look at these categories:

Photo Courtesy themarketsllc.com

As you can see fruits and vegetables make up our biggest spending each week.

I have recently realized that I consider purchasing fruits and vegetables as a large expense and often buy enough for my kids, neglecting the needs of my husband and myself. If I buy a large bag of grapes, I don't eat them. If I purchase kiwis, I buy enough that my kids can each have a couple, if I purchase citrus I buy what my children like instead of what I like.

You get the picture.

Now I feel like I have more freedom. I feel like I can be a bit more of a risk taker in what I buy. I'm giving myself flexibility to try new things - to feed my kids more than apples, bananas, and green beans.

The next largest area in our budget is grains. Technically this should be a larger portion of ones diet, but less so than fruits and vegetables combined. I find that purchasing in bulk at Costco, or using coupons can help me to keep this portion of our budget down. Also baking from scratch is noteworthy in being more cost efficient.

Meats make up the next section of our grocery budget. Since meat can be quite expensive, I usually stock up once a month at Costco for some basics: whole chickens, frozen ground sirloin, and frozen ground turkey. Then I take whatever money I have left for the month and carefully watch sales and stock up on other items. This seems to work well for us.

Next in line is dairy. Milk is our biggest purchase in this area. We currently go through about 1.5 to 2 gallons of milk a week. So in figuring out the price of milk at Costco, I was able to determine how much more I can spend in a week or month for other dairy products like cheese and yogurt.

As for fats, $5 a week is more than enough for a container of ice cream on sale, or ingredients to make cookies or another sweet treat. Using coupons in this area can definitely stretch the budget to cover all of the needs for a sweet tooth ;)

Finally the miscellaneous category... this includes randoms like baking supplies, seasonings, etc. Since I often don't buy these items on a routine basis, and when I do it is often in bulk, so it's easy to stay within budget limits.

I'm planning in the coming weeks to give some tips and ideas for stretching each of these food groups in order to make the most of each budget category. Do you have any particular way of organizing your grocery budget?

Getting Connected

noreply@blogger.com (Maria and Michelle) — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 16:15:00 +0000

With the Ultimate Blog Party in full swing, we decided to take this opportunity to expand our blog in a couple of ways. It seems as though 5 Minutes for Mom requires a Twitter account for keeping in touch with the party, as well as a way to win prizes.

Since we're jumping at the chance to win one of the many great party prizes, we joined Twitter.

You can find us @fromthesamenest

And because we were already feeling so connected, we decided to go ahead and create a Facebook account for our blog as well. We both spend a bit of time there each day, so this felt much more natural to the two of us!

You can find us on Facebook @ From the Same Nest

We'd love for you to join us either place, or even both! We'll be a bit more apt to update Facebook since we're both more than comfortable there and Twitter is new to each of us. It should be fun though and if you're connected either place let us know!

Lemon Chicken Summer Salad

noreply@blogger.com (Maria and Michelle) — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 14:00:00 +0000

The weather has been such a tease over this last month. We will have GORGEOUS sunshine and warm temperatures for a couple days, and then it turns cold and cloudy again... even snowing!

Last week I wanted to fix a dinner that was easy, cheap and reminded me of summertime.

Here's what I call my "Lemon Chicken Summer Salad".

What do you need?
Chicken (I used 2 large frozen chicken breasts, which fed 3 people)
Lemon Pepper Seasoning
Lettuce
Lemon
Orange
Strawberries
Oil & Red Wine Vinegar

Thaw the chicken and sprinkle with lemon pepper seasoning. Add a few lemon slices on top and pop in the oven at 375 for 15-20 minutes, or until fully cooked.

Once cooked, slice the chicken, orange, and strawberries.

Place it all on top of the lettuce and drizzle the oil & red wine vinegar on top.

Enjoy!

2011 Ultimate Blog Party

noreply@blogger.com (Maria and Michelle) — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 21:29:00 +0000

Welcome to the party, we are thrilled you are here!

Let us introduce ourselves… We are two sisters from the Midwest, who love to create. We love to create moments our families will cherish forever. We love to create a home of comfort. We love to create peace in our chaotic lives.

{And so you know, Maria is on the left & Michelle is on the right.}

For us, our blog is an outlet to momentarily forget the dirty dishes in the sink, the load of laundry that needs folded, the toilet that needs scrubbing…

You get the picture, right?

Basically this blog is our escape.

We love to share our interests with you: Cooking, Crafting, Homemaking, Homeschooling and Frugal Living. Hopefully you'll come back and see what we have planned for the future, but until then, check out what we've done in the past.

Cooking:

1. Peanut Butter Pie
2. Easy Tostadas
3. Asparagus

Crafting:

1. Sling Bookshelf
2. Newlywed Pillowcases
3. Easter Baskets
4. Alphabet Artwork

Homemaking:

1. Winter Closet Organizer
2. Daily Schedule
3. Magazine Ladder

Homeschooling:

1. Frugal School Supplies
2. Educational Toys
3. Hands on Learning
4. I Spy Bag

Frugal Living:

1. Thrifty Shopping
2. Couponing, Part 1
3. Couponing, Part 2
4. We LOVE Garage Sales

As you can see we definitely have a lot of interests.

And, we'd LOVE to hear from you, especially if your blog involves any of the topics we've shared with you in this post! We're always excited to find new blogs and get to know other bloggers who share our passions! So if you've stopped by for The Ultimate Blog Party 2011, please leave us a comment and we'd love to stop by your place for a visit soon.

Check out our UBP 2011 Prize Giveaway

UBP 2011 Prize Giveaway

noreply@blogger.com (Maria and Michelle) — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 21:28:00 +0000

As consultants for Discovery Toys and as moms who love and believe in the quality of these toys, we want to offer one reader a prize package in the 5 Minutes for Mom Ultimate Blog Party 2011. Our prize package contains the following:

$25 Gift Certificate to Discovery Toys (purchase must be through us)

I'm Going Green Music CD

Match Up Hide 'N Seek Book

We wish you good luck!

And so it begins…

noreply@blogger.com (Maria and Michelle) — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 16:19:00 +0000

I was introduced years ago to The Flylady, but I never really took the opportunity to get to know her. She has always been an acquaintance of mine though. I refer to her in conversation, I have read most of her book, and I have started to build a control journal.

With my major house overhaul of 2011, I’ve decided to invite her in to my home and really get to know her well. I’ve started her baby step “program” and am going to slowly but surely control the C.H.A.O.S. (can’t have anyone over syndrome) in my home.

Baby step #1 was a success yesterday afternoon.

I shined my sink :)

This really wasn’t too hard for me, as I’ve successfully kept my kitchen clean and neat most of the time for a week and a half now. This has been huge for me!

I just have to remember to clean as I go, and do a quick once over before bedtime.

Baby step #2 was easy enough today.

Get dressed to shoes.

Really, we don’t wear shoes in our house, but I have a warm and cozy pair of house boots that work great for wearing around our house. Her theory on this baby step is that having shoes on, makes a person feel ready to go and tackle anything…

We’ll see…

And even though I’m not supposed to jump ahead, I know tomorrow’s baby step is going to be reading her message board and testimonials of others who are using her system (as well as keeping my sink shined and my shoes one).

Other main points of her system is that she divides the house into “zones” and they are focused on one week out of the month. She encourages you to set a timer and do quick pick ups as time allows. And she has you do purges to get rid of items that are just weighing you and your home down.

These are only a few concepts, but definitely ones that I feel can be easy to follow.

It all may sound quirky, but I think I’ll be able to stick to this bandwagon and have a lot to show for it by 2012.

I’ll keep you updated throughout this year as to how it’s working for me.

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Big Girl Bed

noreply@blogger.com (Maria and Michelle) — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 23:06:00 +0000

We’re working on moving our toddler to a “big girl room” so that we can keep our nursery… the nursery. This involved getting a new bed for our “big girl.” She’s been sleeping in a toddler bed for about 5 months (and has done great!), so we knew that getting a twin-size bed would work well.

I searched online for beds, but finally decided I would not pay $200 for a bed. (And that doesn’t include a mattress or box spring!!)

My husband and I shopped some thrift stores and finally found the perfect bed. And it was only $40. Cha-ching!

We painted it black to match a dresser that she would be using.

It really is a great bed because you can adjust the height of the rails…which raises or lowers the height of the mattress. AND it came with a board-thing so that we didn’t need to get a box spring. This is great for a toddler! It’s low enough that she can climb in out and out easily… and we don’t feel the need to put up a rail.

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Daily Schedule

noreply@blogger.com (Maria and Michelle) — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 03:41:00 +0000

Do you often find yourself wondering what happened to your day?

There are many days each week that I am shocked when I look at the clock and realize the day has gotten away from me. I am disappointed with myself that nothing I intended to accomplish took place, that my goals are unreached and my plans did not come to fruition.

For some reason planning a daily schedule has always appealed to me, but it’s never been something that I’ve actually done.

Until now.

There are many things with my children that I want to accomplish each day. Planning our activities, keeping us involved in things other than television, making sure I succeed at my chores – these are all daily goals that I have – goals that will be much easier to achieve when put down on paper.

This definitely appeals to the side of me that likes lists, and checking things off said lists.

So I did it.

I made a daily schedule for both my two girls and myself. I divided the day up in to 30 minute increments and assigned us activities to keep us engaged and make the most of our time.

I left the categories pretty broad for now. I’ve listed things like activity time, art, chores, etc. But as I develop more a sense of what I want to fill our time up with, or actually make time to plan ahead I believe it will get more specific.

For now this is a starting point.

Of course I’m not intending for our schedule to be so black and white. There are always days that things will venture away from this set list. Days we may not even be home if we’re having a play date with friends… days that we have to get grocery shopping done if we intend to eat lunch… days that I just feel like being lazy and don’t want to follow any particular outline.

But on days that I need direction, it will be there. And I’m suspecting that may be more often than not.

I even put a time at the beginning of the day for us all to “get ready”.

Meaning no more changing out of our pajamas and fixing up just before daddy gets home.

That alone is priceless!

Pretty Vegetables

noreply@blogger.com (Maria and Michelle) — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 14:00:00 +0000

I used to keep my veggies in the fridge, but I often forgot about them. I also learned that they’ll last longer if they stay out on the counter. So, instead of making a mess out of my countertop, I use my cake stand to hold my fresh goodies from the grocery store each week.

This is a new kind of living artwork. :)

Mine & Yours Minestrone

noreply@blogger.com (Maria and Michelle) — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 18:58:00 +0000

One of our all time favorite soups is minestrone. We love that it’s hearty and healthy, and you can make it with just about anything you have on hand in your pantry.

Since the two of us recently both made minestrone, we decided we would share our recipes with you... because of course, they both vary slightly.

Maria's version uses the handy dandy crock pot. Isn’t a crock pot every mom’s dream come true? It's so nice to fill in the morning and enjoy the yummy smell the rest of the day!

This recipe was taken from “The Everything Healthy Slow Cooker Cookbook”, but Maria of course tweaked it just a bit.

Ingredients:

3 cloves garlic, minced
15 oz diced tomatoes
28 oz crushed tomatoes
2 stalks celery, diced
1 medium onion, diced
3 medium carrots, diced
3 cups chicken stock
30 oz kidney beans, drained and rinsed
2 Tbsp basil
2 Tbsp oregano
2 Tbsp parsley
1 1/2 cups fresh spinach leaves
1 zucchini, diced
a couple handfuls of small pasta (I used macaroni)
salt & pepper to taste
grated parmesan

Add the garlic, tomatoes, celery, onions, carrots, beans, spices and chicken stock to crock pot. Cook on low for 6-8 hrs. Add spinach and zucchini with 1 hour left. Add the salt, pepper and pasta with 20 min left. Once the pasta is cooked, your soup is ready to enjoy. Garnish with parmesan if you’d like.

Michelle's version used traditional stove top cooking, which worked well since she didn't start preparing until her kids were down in the afternoon for their naps. And since Michelle doesn't measure much of anything, this recipe is based mostly on estimation... which makes cooking much more fun anyhow.

Ingredients

3 tablespoons olive oil
2-4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 onions, chopped
1 pound ground sausage
4 stalks chopped celery
1/2 pound chopped carrots
4 cups chicken broth
2 cups water
3 cups tomato sauce
1 can stewed tomatoes
1/2 cup white wine
1 can kidney beans, drained
1 can green beans
1/2 cup chopped mushrooms
2 cups baby spinach, rinsed
2 cups red potatoes quartered and sliced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups macaroni pasta
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese for topping

Directions

In a large stock pot, over medium heat, heat olive oil and sauté garlic for 3 minutes. Add onion and sauté for 5 minutes or until soft. Add celery and carrots, sauté for another 3-4 minutes.
Add chicken broth, water, wine, stewed tomatoes and tomato sauce, bring to boil, stirring frequently. Reduce heat to low and add: kidney beans, green beans, spinach leaves, mushrooms, potatoes, oregano, basil, salt and pepper. Simmer for 60-90 minutes, until vegetables are soft
Brown sausage, drain, and add to simmering soup.
Once soup is nearly done, fill a medium saucepan with water and bring to a boil. Add macaroni and cook until tender. Drain.
When ready to serve, place desired amount of cooked pasta into individual serving bowls. Ladle soup on top of pasta and sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top.

Is your mouth watering yet?

Post-Holidays House Overhaul

noreply@blogger.com (Maria and Michelle) — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 16:59:00 +0000

There is just something about January that really gets me motivated to clean and organize my house. Whether it is the start of a new year, the chance to start fresh… or if it’s just the end of the holidays and the disaster they leave behind…

Either way, I enjoy the motivation and am putting it to work this week.

I began with the ceremonial tree tear down. Although it’s so fun to get our Christmas tree in place at the beginning of December, it’s even more exciting to get it out of the house and for our family room to return to it’s normal state.

From there I decided to tackle the kitchen.

Having a clean and organized kitchen is so refreshing.

I had been needing to clean out our fridge since we’d been gone so frequently these past couple of weeks, so I did a major clean out. Purged rotten food and salad dressing that expired last summer, wiped it out from top to bottom. Then I moved on to the pantry.

The nice thing about organizing a pantry, is that once you do it, and if you successfully make “zones” for particular foods, you never have much trouble keeping it organized.

Now if that mentality could just seep out to the rest of my house…

From the pantry I decided I may as well try and organize and rearrange all of the cabinets and drawers in our kitchen.

I was feeling motivated, so why not?

I weeded out my plastics cabinet… got rid of all the mismatched items. I also moved the large plastic containers that I rarely use to my basement, so they aren’t taken up valuable space in my kitchen.

Also, I FINALLY cleaned out my “kids” cabinets. This is where I keep all of their sippy cups, bowls, baby things. There hasn’t been a baby in this house for a while now. I tossed the unused baby food, I moved the bottles and baby sippy’s up into the cabinet above our fridge that never gets opened. I condensed all of this down from 6 cabinet shelves to 1!!! Talk about needing to reorganize!

The added space gave me two empty cabinets that I now have designated our snack cabinets. This is great as snacks are what I always get frustrated with trying to store… half empty chip bags, boxes, etc… I may see about eventually purchasing some containers to stack and store the bits and pieces left from different boxes to keep the space even tidier.

Overall I am thrilled with my hard work. I however, don’t want to eat or cook in our kitchen now that I’ve put all of this effort in to it… we’ll see how long that will last, I’m sure the kids won’t go for it long!

Next on the chopping block: the playroom…

If you don’t hear from me for a few days, send back up!

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Bagel Pizzas

noreply@blogger.com (Maria and Michelle) — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 14:30:00 +0000

Bagel pizzas are a big hit at my house. My toddler and husband both love them… and I love how easy and quick they are!

What will you need?

Bagels (I prefer Everything flavored bagels)
Pizza Sauce
Mozzarella Cheese
Toppings of your choice (for the picture above, we used pepperoni, Canadian bacon and olives)

How do you make them?

Preheat your oven to 350.
Slice your bagels in half.
Toast your bagels for 5 minutes.
Add the sauce, cheese and toppings of your choice.
Bake for 10 minutes or until cheese is melted.
Enjoy!

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Organization and a Control Journal

noreply@blogger.com (Maria and Michelle) — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 15:43:00 +0000

Every new year the resolution that tops my list ALWAYS has to do with organization.

You see, I’m a type A personality stuck in a type B world.

There is nothing I love more than a clean and orderly home, well planned days, and lists. The thought of such order really appeals to me and in my head I strive to be this way, but just haven’t seemed to pull off this reality yet.

An organized life is what my resolution for the new year happens to be.

It’s broad.

I believe a broad goal like this can encompass so many things, yet leaves me room for changing things up a bit, as well as my own timing --- no need to achieve everything in January.

Other than organizing my house post holidays, I’m working to start my very own control journal. I’ve wanted to have such a planner for a few years now, but have never really taken the time or made the effort to put one together. This is my year.

If you aren’t familiar with the idea of a control journal it comes from The Flylady, but you may also know it as a household notebook. (I must add I’d also like to really start using Flylady’s system this year, but we’ll see if and when that comes).

A control journal is a personal notebook for listing out and keeping track of your life. Really you can put just about anything in to this journal. It can be your calendar, your schedule, your to do list, but mostly it is your source for all things that keep you organized.

I’ve seen quite a few ideas and am gathering my thoughts this week. I’m hoping to get the skeleton of mine created soon and will keep you updated on it’s progress and use over the months ahead.

What resolutions have you decided on for 2011?

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A New Year, A New Playroom

noreply@blogger.com (Maria and Michelle) — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 16:54:00 +0000

I’ve mentioned before how my playroom, office and craft room all share one space. The room is great, but if I’m not careful…. this area becomes a HUGE MESS. Toys scattered all over the floor, bills tossed under fabric and my sewing machine hidden by piles. Needless to say, it’s not a fun room to spend a lot of time in when it gets so chaotic.

With baby #2 on the way, organization is a high priority for me. My husband and I decided to tackle the toy area of the room first. The first issue was that we needed a lot more storage, but we didn’t want to compromise space.

Easily enough we decided that vertical storage was what we needed. After pricing out the cost of what it’d take to buy shelves, we decided to make our own organizational system. I’m absolutely thrilled with how it turned out.

Oh, and please ignore the curtains. Those will be getting a makeover soon. :)

We started by putting up some shelves. My toddler can’t reach any of them yet, so they are a great way to keep things out of reach, but easily accessible for me to see what we have.

Next, my husband built a window seat. Eventually, it’ll be the perfect spot to add a cushion so the kiddos can climb on and read. Right now it’s the PERFECT height for a flat play space. I’m leaving it as is for quite awhile. Also, since there is no handle, my toddler can’t open it up to pull out everything that I’m hiding away. :)

Side pieces were added to hold some books and loveable friends.

On top of those, I’ve placed some boxes that I got for a great deal at Ikea (love that store!). They aren’t labeled yet, but these are for my toddler to have easy access for some of her favorite things. Hidden inside one of them are Mr. Potato Head and all of his accessories, in another I have coloring books, a travel sized magna doodle and travel sized aqua doodle. Another holds some snappy ducks from Discovery Toys and other small toys for us to practice matching.

I can’t wait to move on to the desk area of this room. With the start of the new year, I want to get everything organized as soon as possible so that we can stay on top of our budget and so that I can make more time to use my sewing machine.

I love having a fresh start every year!

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Linked to Metamorphosis Monday and the DIY Show Off.

Be Back Next Year

noreply@blogger.com (Maria and Michelle) — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 14:00:00 +0000

With the craziness of Christmas and the excitement of the New Year, we’ll be taking a short break so that we can enjoy this time with our families and friends. We hope that you’ll get to do the same.

On that note, we have a little song we’d like to sing for you…

“We wish you a merry Christmas, we wish you a merry Christmas, we wish you a merry Christmas and a happy new year!”

See you next year!

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