Food? We have food?

This is sort of how I've felt about the way our pantry and fridge have been (dis)organized lately. I don't know what to make for dinner because I don't even know what we have. So we fend for ourselves or Leif makes dinner. How sad!

I feel like parts of my life are out of control, so I just want to control things. I want to have my craft room clean and in control. I want to have my food storage under control. And when they aren't and I feel overwhelmed by them, I turn to junk food and eat badly. It is momentarily comforting, but when the pounds start coming on again, I feel out of control and the cycle starts over again!

Leif asked how he could help me get things under control over the weekend. I said I'd like to get caught up on the laundry and get the fridge cleaned out. So he helped me and those things are done!!

My project for today is the pantry. I want to clean it out and organize it so I know what we have, what we need, and what I can make for dinner.

I'll tackle the craft room another day.

Routine Maintenance

I am not very good at routine maintenance. But today I did a little:

Vacuum mattress - CHECK
Rotate mattress - CHECK

Woohoo!

How does it happen so quickly?

It seems like every time I get the house clean it gets dirty again!

I was going to go into Belgrade and buy groceries so I could make a cake and some frosting for Taylor's shower on Saturday, but Leif took the car with the carseat today, so I won't be going anywhere.

Instead, I'm using the time to catch up on the little cleaning projects I've been neglecting lately... You know, dishes... laundry... And because Ellie's diaper leaked on our bed this morning, I'm changing the sheets, washing the comforter, and I might even vacuum the mattress and rotate it while I'm at it! All of the rooms need to be vacuumed - for real, too. Not just a Roomba job. It's time for the Kirby.

So maybe I can get those things done this afternoon when Ellie goes down for her nap. The dishwasher and washing machine are running right now, but I'll put another load in the washer and empty the dishwasher when they're done. I also need to go for my C25K run as soon as Ellie goes down, too. Maybe I can get a load in the washing machine and let it go while I run. Then when I'm done I can pull out Kirby!

That's my plan, anyway... we'll see how it goes.

Menu Planning

In 2007 I used the Body Clutter Menu Mailer. A year's worth of recipes, all relatively healthy, planned for me week by week. It was a great plan and I came away with a bunch of great recipes. But it's been a year now, and I've been slacking on printing out the recipes each week, and I'm not really using it now. In fact, I've sort of slacked on meal planning in general. So I guess it's a new year and time for a new plan.

So for 2008, I'm stealing Dana's idea!! I'm even going to plan out breakfasts, snacks, and lunch. I think that will help me give Eliana a better variety of foods, as well as think about the balance of my own foods. Here's what I've got so far:


It'll be a 5 day flexible rotation, so if we want to do something else that night, no big deal. The lunches are for Ellie, not me. I'll have to figure out what I'm doing for lunch based on what we're having for dinner, what I had for breakfast, and how many calories I have left for lunch. But I will follow this basic plan for breakfast and dinner, at least.

Christmas Clean

Well, it looks like we might just come home to a clean house for Christmas yet!! Leif is in the bedroom putting away laundry (thanks, honey!!) and I am cleaning up the kitchen. In fact, I just swept and mopped the floor! It's been a while. So right now I'm listening to the purr of the dishwasher and the hum of Roomba while I wipe down the table and put a new tablecloth on it.

Tomorrow we leave to go to Roundup, so when we come back Christmas Eve we will return to a clean home! Woohoo! If we play it right, we might even keep it that way until New Years!

Where, oh where...

... have my routines gone? It has been so long.

In fact, it's been so long that I found Ellie cleaning the toilet today. Now that's embarrassing!

(Actually, the toilets are quite clean - I've discovered the great world of Chlorox drop in tablets!! Yes, they sort of conflict with my green side, but the clean side is winning right now.)

Kirby, oh Kirby....

For the first time in a long time, I pulled out Kirby yesterday. Not to vacuum (I've been letting Roomba - or 'mba, as Ellie calls it - do that.) but to shampoo. Yes, ladies and gentlemen... I shampooed my living room carpet. Wooo-Hooo!!!