Last week got a little messed up because our plans got jumbled.  But for the most part, I stuck to our menus.  We ended up with doctor apointments on Friday, later in the day, so we ate out that night.

Here's our menu for this week:

Monday: Quiche, French Onion Soup, Caesar Salad, Bread

Tuesday: Baked Honey Mustard Chicken, Roasted Yukon Gold Potatoes, Green Beans & Garlic, Bread (to spread the garlic on)

(I'm rolling the chicken into Wednesday night dinner)

Wednesday: Chicken, Spanish Rice & Black Beans dish with Tortillas & Salad

Thursday: Baked Beans, Corn Muffins, Fruit Salad

(Rolling beans and fruit salad into Friday night dinner)

Friday: Hamburgers, Baked Beans, Fruit Salad

Saturday: Potato Veggie Chowder, Fresh Baked Bread

Sunday: Pancakes, Fruit Smoothies

For more menu ideas and recipes, check out the Organized Junkie at www.orgjunkie.com!

WOW!  That week went by fast.  They're right when they say, "the older you get...."  And I am feeling old these days.  Must need some more vitamins, eh?

We had a full weekend.  Housework on Saturday morning, hair appointments in the afternoon, then we headed down to Costco and Food for Less.  Costco has their coupon for organic canned tomatoes this month.  If you use tomatoes, I recommend you stock up.  I did.  We were completely out of them.

I'd never been to the Food for Less we have in this area.  It's big and kind of scary, if you don't download the store map before you go.  (Thanks, Mom!)  But they have a very good natural foods section.  I was very impressed.

As with any other store, you need to know your prices before you go.  Never assume someplace has the lowest price just because of their name.  Keeping a price book can come in handy, especially when there is just SO MUCH to look at.

Sunday, we worshipped at church, came home for lunch, and did some paperwork.  Then I baked cookies for an event we're having at our business this week.  I'll be busy this week getting ready for that.  Today, I meet with someone about the sandwiches for the lunch we're providing and bake  more cookies.  Of course, when that's over, I'll have Thanksgiving to think about.  It's never ending!

Blessings today,

Kris

WOW!  That week went by fast.  They're right when they say, "the older you get...."  And I am feeling old these days.  Must need some more vitamins, eh?

We had a full weekend.  Housework on Saturday morning, hair appointments in the afternoon, then we headed down to Costco and Food for Less.  Costco has their coupon for organic canned tomatoes this month.  If you use tomatoes, I recommend you stock up.  I did.  We were completely out of them.

I'd never been to the Food for Less we have in this area.  It's big and kind of scary, if you don't download the store map before you go.  (Thanks, Mom!)  But they have a very good natural foods section.  I was very impressed.

As with any other store, you need to know your prices before you go.  Never assume someplace has the lowest price just because of their name.  Keeping a price book can come in handy, especially when there is just SO MUCH to look at.

Sunday, we worshipped at church, came home for lunch, and did some paperwork.  Then I baked cookies for an event we're having at our business this week.  I'l be busy this week getting ready for that.  Today, I meet with someone about the sandwiches for the lunch we're providing and bake  more cookies.  Of course, when that's over, I'll have Thanksgiving to think about.  It's never ending!

Blessings today,

Kris

Here's my plan for this week.  What's your plan?  I tell ya, it sure takes a lot of stress out of my day when I'm faithful in my meal planning.

Monday: Beef Enchiladas, Spanish Rice (from freezer inventory)

Tuesday: Lentil Stew (from freezer inventory), Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Wednesday: Stovetop Frittata, Sourdough Toast

Thursday: Clam Chowder, Tossed Salad

Friday: Eat at Costco

Saturday: Stromboli & Sauce, Tossed Salad

Sunday: To Be Determined

For more menu ideas, visit the Organized Junkie.

Sunday is traditionally family day at our home.  We try not to do much work on Sundays, to leave the day for rest and time together.

We just got home from church, and the children are headed outside to construct Bamboo forts, with Daddy's help.  They are kept busy with schoolwork and chores throughout the week, and don't get a lot of time to spend on outdoor projects after the time change.  So today is a good, dry day to do it (so far).  I am feeding the baby his lunch, and I may head out there soon, myself.

Yesterday, I took apart my kitchen and reorganized it.  Should I say reorganized?  I never really organized it much when we moved in last month.  What organizing I did was not kept up by the person who puts away the dishes.  This person shall remain nameless for the time being .

Anyway, I have my appliances, but no cabinets or countertops.  This is the first time I've gone without cabinets in a kitchen, but I seem to be adapting pretty well.  I have one 8 foot workbench and my flat topped stove for work surface.  I have my refrigerator/freezer side by side combo, and I also have my 14 cubic foot freezer and my dishwasher and a trash compactor in there.  Oh, I also have two three-drawer units underneath the bench with my Tupperware, dishtowels, bread, and plastic wrap, foil, etc., in them.  On both sides of the stove, I have a large chrome shelving unit purchased from Costco.  Love Costco.  And that's my kitchen right now.

With Daughter's help, I removed everything and unpacked boxes that have been sitting and set everything up in a way that made sense.  I decided to put smaller items in bins, since I don't have drawers and cabinets to put them in.  So, I made a list of what I need and how many, to make sure everything looks neat and organized.  Then Daughter and I took a trip to Walmart to buy bins and Bi-Mart to buy half pint canning jars (for my herbs and spices).

I came home and put everything away in the bins and then discovered my labeling machine needed a new cartridge.  Oh, pooh!  I hate it when that happens.  If I had known, I could have gotten it at Walmart when I was there.  So, we ran by Staples just now to get it so I can finish my job.  When I've got everything labeled, I will be very happy.  I love it when things are labeled!

So, now my shelves are looking very neat, and everything has it's place.  I have yet to finish cleaning off my workbench, but I'll have to finish that tomorrow before or after school.

My next project is organizing an armoire in the room I plan to do school in.  We've been sitting at the kitchen table so far, but I have other plans....

Right now, I'm off to make the weekly menu before I do anything else.  Have a wonderful Sunday!

Kris

This week has been a little strange, so far.  Today seems a little more normal.  I've been having some lung issues, and had to take time yesterday to explore the cause.  Ended up needing an inhaler.  So I basically didn't get anything else done except a few loads of laundry and one load of dishes, and some beds changed.  No school, or anything else.

Oldest son, "P", also had to see the dentist yesterday, as he had something strange popping up under his tongue.  Turns out it's a tooth!  Uh, oh!  He needs to see an orthodontist.  Honestly, I thought we had a few more years before we'd need to see one of those.  After our consult, we'll decide with our dentist how we'll proceed.  But we'll likely have to pull his baby tooth to see if the new tooth will end up where it's supposed to be.  If it doesn't?  Who knows?

Today, we got some schoolwork and housework done, and then went off to the Grocery Outlet and the Dollar Tree.  We participate each year in the Samaritan's Purse Operation Christmas Child.  If you aren't familiar with this project, click here to find out more.  Our children enjoy filling up the shoeboxes with hygiene, school, candy and toy items.  It's a challenge, sometimes, to get it all in there!  And it's fun!

Some of the items we like to include are: Hotwheels, hairbands/clips, crayons, pens, pencils, paper, soap, washclothes, bathpuffs, toothbrushes, toothpaste, hair brush/comb, playing cards, and of course, candy.

At the Grocery Outlet this week, they have organic BBQ sauce I normally buy at a local market for between $4-5 for .99!  Obviously, I stocked up!  That stuff is good and guilt free, since I know I'm giving my family a high quality product and I am being a good steward at the same time.  I also got Coconut water in shelf stable packs for .50 each!  Wow!  That stuff is great to have around, especially for baby.  So I bought a case of that for my food storage. Also got some good deals on organic crackers and some Annies products.

If you have a Grocery Outlet, check it out.  I've been there on and off over the years.  Never got into the habit of going much.  Now that we live in town, I plan to go more.  If I see a great deal, I will stock up for my food storage.  It's kind of like going to Costco.  You don't know how long they're going have it, so you better get it now.

Well, my children need some guidance, so I better go.  Thanks for stopping by!

Well, I never posted again after my menu plan last Monday.  I'll try harder this week to post something besides my menu.  Here is our menu for this first week of November.  I stuck with my menu last week, except on Friday.   I ended up getting pizza takeout.  What can I say?  I got tired and lazy.  But it sure was yummy!

Monday:  Homemade Macaroni & Cheese with Smoked Sausage and Tossed Salad

Tuesday:  Vegie Pot Pie, Fruit Salad

Wednesday:  Baked Chicken Breast with Curried Brown Rice & Peas, Baked Apples

Thursday:  Beef Soft Tacos, Spanish Rice

Friday: Homemade Pizza or Stromboli, Tossed Salad

Saturday: Spaghetti, Garlic Bread, Tossed Salad

Sunday: TBD

Back to Organized Junkie

Okay, so I am going to jump back into my old routine.  Here's my menu plan for this week.

Monday: Chicken Caesar, Shrimp Caesar, Spinach Fettucine with choice of Marinara Sauce or Butter and Parmesan Cheese, Sourdough Bread

Tuesday: Roasted Pork, Roasted Acorn Squash, Sweet Green Beans, Apples, Biscuits

Wednesday: Pork Burritos with Spanish Rice, Romaine & Carrot Salad with Pumpkin Seeds, Apples

Thursday: Sloppy Joes, Caesar Salad, Mandarin Oranges

Friday: Homemade Veggie & Cheese Pizzas, Caesar Salad

Saturday: Beloved is making Crepes at Children's request!  Yum!

Sunday: Some Kind of Rice Casserole, To Be Determined

Yeah, that's a lot of Caesar Salad.  But I bought the large package of Romaine at Costco over the weekend, and my family LOVES Caesar Salad, so we're going to enjoy it this week!

Also, we don't normally eat pork, but we've slipped in the last year or so and have been eating some.  After this pork roast is out of our freezer, we're going to go back to not eating pork again, for health reasons.  We do eat occasional shellfish (well, my family does, I don't), hence the Shrimp Caesar Salad.  But that's maybe about once every few months at most.  We'd prefer to stick with a diet closer to Old Testament guidelines, for health reasons only.  But we're not perfect.

Notice I am rolling items from one dinner into the next dinner a few different times this week.

Happy cooking!

Kris

Back to Organized Junkie

Hi all!

I have really missed writing here in the last months.  It's been so long, I feel like I don't remember how to write!

We have been so busy.  I wanted to share with you all what's been going on with us.  We were unable to keep our home in the country, and have recently moved into town.  We are so blessed to have another home to move to!  It's been a difficult time, but our children have adapted so well. 

We have gone from a 2800 square foot home with 1100 sq. foot garage, to an 1800 sq. foot home with no garage.  Now, 1800 square feet is not really small, but when you're used to something much larger, it's definitely an adjustment.  We've had to scale down and trying to figure out what goes, what we keep and what goes into storage is, well, a lot of work.

Also, we left five acres for 1/3 of an acre.  But it is really much more manageable for us.  We have TIME to spend with our family the way we want to.  Actually, in many ways, this has been a very good move for us -many advantages.  We would not have CHOSEN to do this on our own.  But God has a way of working things out for our GOOD, and we can definitely see Him in this.

He knows our hearts.  Our hearts are with our children.  The country house was a financial burden and time eater.  We've spent the last 3-1/2 years living there not realizing what we were sacrificing.  Now we see it clearly.  Hindsight is 20/20, right?

So, we are enjoying living close to town, but still having a little bit of land to grow food on.  We don't have any neighbors, which is nice.  We live about a mile from our office, so Beloved comes home for lunch most days.  We are a mile from the park and only a few miles from the library.  We're saving A LOT of money on gas.  I could go on and on...

I so appreciate those who come by and read my log, and I'm sorry I haven't been here in a while.  I am hoping to post at least once a week, now, probably on Saturdays.  I will be limiting my time online for a while until I get better organized.   But I'll be around.....

Blessings today,

Miss Kris

It's hard to believe it's been so long since I've written you.  Let's say that 2009 has been a year of trials and tests for us and it's not over yet.  I haven't wanted to burden my readers with all of the details, so I just stayed away from my blog these months while trying to keep my act together during a difficult time in my family's life.

But I would like to pop in here and share a salsa recipe with you that I created to make from items I can keep in my pantry.  This recipe makes one quart.  I hope you enjoy it as much as we do here!

1 -30 oz. Can Whole Peeled Tomatoes (I use Muir Glen Organic)

2 t. Chopped Garlic

5 Slices of Jarred Nacho Jalapenos (plus a little of the juice)

Approximatelyy 1/2 t. Kosher Salt

Dash Black Pepper

2 t. Lime Juice or 1 t. Apple Cider Vinegar

Optional: Sliced Green Onions & Cilantro

Whiz first 6 ingredients in food processor until well blended, careful not to let your tomatoes get bubbly looking=two much blending.  Pulse optional ingredients in until broken up, but not pureed.

Fills a one quart canning jar and keeps for about 4-5 days in the frig.

Enjoy with our blessings!