Pat's Run

Two years ago a day like this last Saturday would never have crossed my mind.  Never.  Husband and I had started to run so I could start losing the baby weight and help deal with stress of losing my dad a few months prior.  About two weeks in I broke my leg.  A stress fracture of serious proportions and I was subsequently diagnosed with osteopenia (the precursor to osteoporosis.)

What a crazy time.

I was just trying to heal, build bone mass back up, and gain confidence not only in myself but also in the bones that carry me along.

Finally, this last January I had enough.  I had to start doing something.  I was the heaviest I had been. Ever. Time do something about it. For my family is nothing else.  So, I started walking (Husband was still running and doing SO well) and we changed how we ate.  Good thing started happening. Husband ran in the Pat's Run  (4.2 miles) last year and wanted to do it again.  He encouraged me to do it, too.

I was scared.  For so many reasons.  But finally I said I would do it and stepped up my time working out.

My goal going into the run was to NOT have 20 minute miles.  Most of my workouts I averaged a 15-17 minute mile so I felt pretty good going into the race.  Husband and I started together but because he runs I knew I would just find him at the finish line. It was a good challenge. Husband beat his goal time of 40 minutes by 2 minutes!  I was so proud of him.  I finished in 1 hour and 7 minutes. YAY!!  I was pretty excited and may even attempt to do it again next year.

Our kids want to do the kids run next year.  That will be fun.  

Organized Home Week # 3: Pantry

I have been working on maintaining and thinking through the first two weeks of this challenge.  We are spending a few weeks in the kitchen which is a great thing!  The first week was counter tops.  That is hard right now with bottles and this and that on the counters.  So, my goal is to get it under control first and make it suitable for what it is doing right now.  In about a year I can reevaluate that again.  My cabinets and drawers for the second week are another thing.  I am trying to figure out what needs to take a hike and what really needs to stay.  I am on a purging binge right now so I should probably take advantage of that because I am such a just in case kind of person.

However, this week we focused on the pantry or food storage areas in our homes.  YES!  Mine was desperately needing a good makeover.  Stock-up overloads and just not thinking about putting thing away made for one big MESS.  One of those pantries where things just randomly fall when you move something.  Yes.  It was that bad.  I went through everything and put it where it belong and grouped things.  Tossed out spices galore.  Found a few food items that we will not eat before expiration dates and hopefully a couple of families I know will be able to make use of them.

Here's where I get vulnerable.  Before (UGH!) and after pictures of the pantry.

Shelf 1: I have to heel some pans and cutting boards here.  Not my favorite but it works.  The very top of the stacker needs some more love as that is where my cake decorating and cookie cutters are.  I have some containers that I will use up there and will hopefully have room for another box of cutters that I have up there.  That would be great!  Creating more room in other spaces and getting everything together!

Shelf 2:  The spice shelf.  Kill me.  Seriously, I think that I had some spices that were well over 10 maybe 15 years old.  Yes, really.  They are gone now.  There are some that still may be a little too old but we will roll with it.  Gone is the full bottle of Lemon Pepper that I have been toting around all these years.  You know, just in case.  I am going to look into acquiring some air tight containers and start buying spices in bulk unless I use it often enough to buy a jar, etc.  Over time the containers will all look the same and there will be less waste.  I may even remove the spice stacker that I have in here that causes a stadium effect here.  I think about a Lazy Susan but wonder if I will lose space?

Shelf 3:  This is where I keep most of my baking items and a coupe of random things.  I invested in some Tupperware awhile back and here it is.  I had some wasted shelf space and opted to make the most of it by putting some extra items that are completely sealed in the back of the containers (two bags of powdered sugar, and bisquick) and that helped some.  I can see it back there, too.  No worries of it being forgotten.  When I took the pictures I forgot two things on top of the containers that go on the spice shelf... oh well.

Shelf 4:  Drinks, grains, and canned items.  Not much here.  I took the bags of open rice, beans, and lentils and put them in an air tight container and the closed ones are out.  I need to move a bag of pasta back up to the top shelf but that's not a big deal.

Shelf 5:  Storage stuff, dry goods, baby food, and some miscellany.  Pretty simple and I finally can see it all!

Shelf 6 (the floor):  What a horrid mess, right?  Now it is clean and somewhat organized.  The bummer side is realizing we only have one bottle of Powdrell's BBQ sauce left.  Oh well.  We don't go through it too fast. We have time to restock.

Well, there it is!  My pantry is also where I keep my family calendar, some Scripture to encourage, and I think this is also where I will figure out a way to display my pantry inventory.

Inventory.  I had hoped to get to that today but a nap took precedence for sure.  So, maybe tomorrow.  I have the rest of the week to get that completed.

Do you have pantry tips or suggestions?

2012 Homemaking/Crafting Plan

I was reading a post over at The Modest Mom where she shared 12 things (I believe from her Pinterest boards) that she wanted to work on this year.  Some simple some not so simple.  Brilliant, right!?  Surely, I can do one thing a month.  I shared this with Husband and his response was not to over do it.  He knows me and he's right.  So, I am trying to keep them fairly simple and I am stating from the get go that if that month's "craft" doesn't get done... well... then... it doesn't get done.  I am just not going to get upset because I cannot foresee all that will happen this year, etc.  Plus, we have a new baby in the house and that always adds some random dimension to the mix of things.

So, here's what I am thinking I'll work on -- many are from my Pinterest boards but a few are not! :)

January

I have tried making my own foaming hand soap with a natural soap.  The foaming part does well we just don't like the soap.  So, I am going to give this one a try and the final verdict will be up to Husband.  If it doesn't go over well then I am just going to go back to buying soap.  I may give one brand another try but he's not been so impressed with my concoction as of late.  Oh well... neither have I.

February

I have two doilies that belong to my grandmother (possibly my great-grandmother) that I have moved around and shoved in closets here and there.  They are lovely but not my style to put out on a dresser or on the piano.  However, when I saw this I fell in love.  I thought I had more than just the two doilies but I think I know where I will put the two that I know that I do have.  I am pretty excited about this project. I just need to gather the supplies.

March

It seems like I am always on the look out for some fun words to put up here or there.  I like how these use a fabric.  So, I think I may put something up like this in my laundry room.  Although, someone mentioned putting the word rest in a bed room or the girl's names up.  I have some time to ponder exactly what I would like to do.  However, if you have some fabric suggestions I will gladly take them.  I am pretty much a disaster when it comes to fabric selection.

April

Pizza Dough.  So simple yet drives me insane.  Okay, really I am just too lazy to make my own generally.  However, I tried to go on the cheap one time and purchased a mix and the results were no bueno.  So, my bread machine has a recipe and we'll just go that route.  I like my bread machine because while I live in one of the hottest cities in the nation my house generally has cool spots and I generally don't get things to rise very well.  I am sure one of you has a solution for that so comment away.  My solution right now is my bread machine and I don't have to think about it much.  HA!

May

We got a spiffy new camera and I want to make the most of it!  (No, the above is not our camera - different brand and well, I just don't want to disclose what it is here... if you want to know... ask.)  :)  I would like to find a few websites to read for beginners to learn the basics as well as watch the other video that came with our camera.  Just learn more about it.  So, photography friends (ahem... I know you are out there...Heather) if you have suggestions on what to read, let me know!

June, July, August, September

So, maybe I am cheating by lumping these months together.  Hear me out here.  There are several projects here that I would like to work on for Christmas gifts.  However, I think some of these things may end up in the hands of some of my readers and I don't want them to know exactly what I am working on.  It will at least keep them guessing.  Maybe when we get here I can give you a sneak peak of things I am working on.  We will see.

October

I need to get the ornaments printed and colored or just get them printed at some place and then laminate them.  I want this up and ready to go well before the Advent season and this gives me plenty of time before things get crazy with Thanksgiving, etc.

November

Wouldn't you know that I just deleted the picture of a crochet project in progress that I wanted for this month's project.  Oh well.  I started a blanket for Husband oh-say about three years ago.  Yeah.  It's still not finished.  I think that it is lacking a few more rows and some edging.  I think the edging freaks me out the most.  Husband laughed when I told him it may actually be finished this year.  I hope to prove him wrong.  HA HA!! 

December

Well, I know that Pinterest was full of holiday goodies.  A few caught my eye.  However, when I went back and looked through more this one had drool factor for me.  Cappuccino Shortbread.  Yum, right?  I have had several recipes catch my eye that require instant espresso powder and I can never find it.  So, this gives me time to find it.  I have some ideas and have looked around online.  I should be able to nail it down.

52 Weeks To An Organized Home

I have a newborn.

I don't really need to take on any additional challenges in life right now.

However, my household still needs to function and it needs help in some areas.  But I also need discipline and training in what needs to happen in different areas.

I happened upon this website through Pinterest.  I decided to check it out.  AH!  It looks like something that I can handle at my own pace.  I can do what I can handle and if I miss a week... well, that's just fine.  I like that the woman behind this is very relaxed with a "jump in where we are" attitude.  I also just like the idea of purging things at this point in time.  Unload things that I haven't used in five years (or more).  There are people that would like to have or need these things more than I need to keep them in my closet, cabinet, or garage...you know...just in case.  If just in case hasn't happened by now then I don't think I need to worry about it much.

However, what I have loved most about searching though this site is all her stuff on organizing Christmas items. We are on ornament overload and we need pare down.  With some ornaments they just need to be set aside in another box and hang out until our girls leave to keep their own households and take their collections with them.  I just don't want to have to pull all of them out each year, sort through all of them as to what should go on the tree, and then put them all away.  I just want to pull out what we want each year.

So, the challenge began yesterday with kitchen counters and the kitchen sink.  It was the perfect place to start. This week's challenge ties into the next several weeks.  I am already thinking about things that need to be removed from our cabinets so I can make room for occasionally used items that are camping out on my counter.

Needless to say, there are things that will find their way to Goodwill.  I don't want them to hang around for a garage sale.  It just won't happen.

So, I have a good portion or motivation these days.  I hope it continues.  However, I need to heed my husband not to overdo it.  Because... you know.. I did yesterday!

I will post here with challenge progress as I think that I can do them.  Hopefully, I will remember to post photos.  Even if the before pictures are ridiculously embarrassing.

Freezer Meals: I'm Done...I think

I'm done.


It's officially December.  I'm huge (in my mind's eye when many others have said, "Oh you don't look like you are due in a month.)  I'm tired of cooking -- to an extent.  And in some sense we are running out of freezer space.  Not entirely.  But there are some other things I want to throw in there and not have to worry about it.  So, I am done.


Not much happened in November.  I technically made two Chicken Pot Pies but one was for that night's dinner and the other I froze.  My mother-in-law (the gem that she is!)  made a double batch of meatballs for us so those are in there.   Yep, that sums up the month.  HA!


However, as I sit here looking at the list there are a couple of things that I can just let the slow cooker take care of for me.  While I tend to use a different recipe for enchiladas I stumbled upon a friend's recipe that I loved while we were visiting with her family earlier this year in Texas.  I can just whip it up, freeze it, and then put it all together when we are ready for it.  Sounds delish.


That may be the only one I really go after from the list.  My cranberry chicken is super easy and really everything I need for it is in the pantry.  I just need to make sure that I am stocked up on everything times two for that.


I'll keep the other recipes around and close at hand for when I need to start cooking again.  I can double it up or some of them may just be easy.  Also, the burrito recipes may come in handy when I am scrambling for something to send with Husband to work for lunch.  He's not picky so I will look at that some more, too.


I need to work on my freezer inventory list as I have some things in there that I am sure that I will forget about when Baby#3 arrives.  You know, like vegetables and some other sides.


OH!  I will also add a few things from Costco.  Chicken nuggets (because the girls are gaga over anything chicken nuggets these days) will be used for lunches mostly but will probably make an appearance with dinner at some point, too.  Ravioli will feed our family 2-3 times depending on how hungry the girls are that night.  Fish for tacos (we love them!) or just to throw in the oven with a side if we are running out of time.


So, I think we have a good start to things.


What now?


Well, we wait for Baby#3.  We thought she might try to make an ultra early entrance yesterday but alas she is content to stay inside a little longer -- with the help of some modern medicine.


I have a lot of the ingredients I need for lactation bars so my mother-in-law has graciously offered to make up a bunch of those for me.  I can bake them up no problem.  I need to get that moving here sooner than later.  HA!


My dad has also said that he would help with Christmas cookies (ahem - I know you are reading this) and he can be bribed with dinner or the promise of chocolate chip cookies anyway.


Welp, here's the final list.  Not fully finished but I took a good whack at it!


Beef Stew x 1 (from Mom C)
Tator Tot Casserole x 1
Mom C's Meatloaf x1
Stuffed Peppers x 1 (from Mom C)
Husband's Lasagna x 2
Italian Stuffed Meatloaf x 2
My Chile x 2
Veggie Chile x 3
Ren's Chocolate Muffins x 2 (has good stuff like pumpkin, flax, etc -- it's not ALL sugar)
Chicken Pot Pie x 1
Fiesta Chicken x 2
Fiesta Chicken (Green Version) x 2
Spaghetti Sauce x 2
Spinach & Artichoke Mac & Cheese x 2
Green Chile Enchiladas x 3 (or more at the request of Husband)
Spaghetti Pizza x 2
Turkey & Vegetable Meatloaf x 2
Meatballs x 2 (17 in each bag) from Mom C
Brown Bag Burritos x 1 (makes 20-ish)
Chicken Spaghetti (Pioneer Woman) x 2
Pulled Pork x 1 (more if meat comes on sale again)
Breakfast Burritos x 1 (will probably make more - cranks out about 16)
Chicken & Rice (Quinoa) Burritos x 1 (makes about 8?)
Baked Ziti x 2
BBQ Beef & Bean Corn Bread Casserole x 2
Bacon, Egg, Cheese Biscuit Cups x 1
Ham & Cheese Pockets x 1
Sausage Biscuits x 1
Twice Cooked Mashed Potatoes x 2
Cranberry Chicken x 2
Broccoli & Cheddar Soup x 2
Healthy Mama BBQ Chicken x 2
Lactation Cookies x LOTS!


*That is not a picture of MY freezer.  Just so you know.

Freezer Meals: Update

UGH!  I am not making it through this list as fast as I would like to at this point.  The only thing I crossed off this month was Pioneer Woman's Chicken Spaghetti.  However, I can add that I randomly made a tator-tot casserole and doubled the recipe.  So, I froze half.  Also, my very sweet, kind, and oh-so-gracious mother-in-law made two meals for me.  I'll add those meals (and cross them off because it's fun) so I will have a running list.


I think I need to sit down and look at the budget with Husband to see if we can extend the budget a bit so I can make these extra meals while still feeding us.  I had been doing pretty well with that but it seems like all of a sudden the prices went up in stores and the good sales came to a grinding halt.  I anticipate some good sales on certain items with the holidays coming up so we will flex when that time comes.


Also, a sweet blessing in timing is that Zaycon Foods will be offering their yummy chicken to all lower 48 states soon at $1.49/lb.  We'll probably get two units this time around.  If you are interested in using my referral link please let me know.  :)  Can't beat that price these days!  It will be a good stock up item for us and as my husband says, "I like meat!"  He's been good in enduring my "meatless" meals from time to time but he likes to remind me that he is an omnivore with more carnivorous tendencies!  Anyway, once we get the chicken I think I will be able to cross things off a bit more quickly with the purchase of a few simple items.  YAY!!


Of course, I am always finding more recipes that I want to try... never enough time :)


Tator Tot Casserole x 1
Mom C's Meatloaf x1
Stuffed Peppers x 1
Husband's Lasagna x 2
Italian Stuffed Meatloaf x 2
My Chile x 2
Veggie Chile x 3
Ren's Chocolate Muffins x 2 (has good stuff like pumpkin, flax, etc -- it's not ALL sugar)
Chicken Pot Pie x 2
Fiesta Chicken x 2
Fiesta Chicken (Green Version) x 2
Spaghetti Sauce x 3 or 4
Spinach & Artichoke Mac & Cheese x 2
Green Chile Enchiladas x 3 (or more at the request of Husband)
Spaghetti Pizza x 2
Turkey & Vegetable Meatloaf x 2
Meatballs (not sure how many yet)
Brown Bag Burritos x 1 (makes 20-ish)
Chicken Spaghetti (Pioneer Woman) x 2
Pulled Pork x 1 (more if meat comes on sale again)
Breakfast Burritos x 1 (will probably make more - cranks out about 16)
Chicken & Rice (Quinoa) Burritos x 1 (makes about 8?)
Baked Ziti x 2
BBQ Beef & Bean Corn Bread Casserole x 2
Bacon, Egg, Cheese Biscuit Cups x 1
Ham & Cheese Pockets x 1
Sausage Biscuits x 1
Twice Cooked Mashed Potatoes x 2
Cranberry Chicken x 2
Broccoli & Cheddar Soup x 2
Healthy Mama BBQ Chicken x 2
Lactation Cookies x LOTS!

Looking Back: May

Why does the beginning of May seem like forever ago?  Wow.  At the beginning of May I had hoped to add some additional goals to the making of the bed, Scripture reading, etc.  I am glad I didn't commit to it because I would be feeling the pressure of not achieving those things right now.  I think I had enough foresight into what was coming my way to maybe hold off.  I did, however, commit to the Homemaker's Challenge from Joyful Mothering in correspondence with the book 31 Days to Clean.  About half way through the month that went right out the window.  I am okay with that and will probably resume this at some point as I thought that the heart challenges were good for me.  The task challenges we good and I have heard through the rumor mill that there are a new set of task challenges.  As I return to that I will probably blog more about it here.

As mentioned in a previous post I have a hard time recovering from trips.  We had a whim of a trip mid-May to San Diego.  Then about a week or so later we were on our way to Colorado deep in the San Juan Mountains.  We will be heading to Denver soon to celebrate with family a major milestone (will share about that later) and I think that will be all for travelling for a time.  I hope to recover before then but we will see.

Unfortunately, as of late, my bed making and Scripture reading have been...well...lacking.  I need to adjust back to a normal schedule and muster up motivation.  It's a challenge but I need to get there.  I guess, in a sense, those are my goals for this month.