Clutter!

Clutter happens.  Even for the most diligent of us it creeps up and before you know it there it is.  A pile of crap!

How, what, when and why did that even happen?

Paper clutter is my biggest issue.  With kids bringing home stuff from school and a plethora of junk mail arriving every day it doesn't take long for it to pile up on my desk or the side table next to my recliner.  It drives me nuts!

I try my best to keep it at bay by going through my mail as soon as I bring it in.  Most of it ends up in the recycle bin and the bag I keep in the garage to collect "shreddables".  The rest is then placed on my desk to be dealt with.  Usually bills or important things that need to be filed.  On Sunday mornings I go through it all and deal with it.  I've gone paperless with most of my bills but I still seem to get a lot in the mail anyway.

When we get busy and our schedule is overloaded it is much easier to have clutter accumulate.  Lately we have been really good at staying on top of it so Mama doesn't lose her mind.  Every night each of us does a walk through the entire house to collect and put away our items that have been left out.  It really makes a huge difference.

Recently we've started going through all of our stuff and culling out the items we no longer need or want, bagging them up and hauling them over to the thrift store near our house and dropping them off.  Since are big purge and downsize I really don't want to fill this house back up again so we are doing our best not to accumulate a bunch of junk.

A lot of you have shared with me how you are clearing out and purging your houses of items and I love to hear about that.  To those of you still working on it I encourage you to keep at it.  And for those of you looking around your homes and thinking about it, just DO IT!  It will feel so incredibly good, you won't believe it.

For those of us that have completed the journey, the real work begins.

Now we have to keep it that way.  Every day, walk through your house and simply put things away.  Collect items that need to go in the trash or recycle bin.  Then every so often purge an area of your house and take a bag in to donate so you stay on top of it.  Good habits to develop that will keep you sane and make your home a sanctuary.

Last Week's Thrifty Moves

I woke up to snow on the ground Sunday morning!  I swear winter is hanging on with both hands while spring teases us with a few nice days here and there.  However, the sun did come out and melted away the little skiff of snow and the day turned out to be quite pretty.  After several days of windy wet weather it was much appreciated.

While I got my Sunday chores done and then did some writing the girls cleaned up their rooms and the upstairs bathroom, then went outside and spring cleaned the chicken coop.  I know the hens were happy to have their digs freshened up inside.

Our neighbors lost their big beautiful blue spruce tree when we had a
huge storm blow through the week before.  Sad to see it go, but so fortunate
it didn't land on their house or the next door neighbor's home either.

It was another very full week.  We figured out pretty quickly we did not have time to go to ShopKo to pick up a few things we needed that were on sale before the sale ended.  We decided Sunday afternoon was our only opportunity to go.

I wanted to treat my youngest to a new pair of track shoes, which happened to be on sale for $20 less than regular price.  Bless her heart, she insisted her current shoes, although rather worn, were good enough since I had just bought her a pair of canvas tennis shoes last month.  Not only did I buy her the track shoes, but another pair on sale for $28 (great price!) to replace her current ones as they are her everyday shoes.  I actually had to sit down with her and convince her it was okay to let me buy her two pair of shoes.  She is amazing.

ShopKo was also having a fantastic sale on bed pillows.  I have really needed new pillow as mine are shot and no longer hold their shape well anymore.  I found two really nice good quality pillows and a twin pack of Serta pillows (same ones I had on my bed) for the girls.  We were all due for a pillow upgrade.

Lastly, I treated us to three new freezable water bottles to take on vacations, hiking, and other outings we have planned this summer.

$4.88 each, regular price was $15.99 each
For a water bottle?!

Monday I got my hair cut and some new highlights added.  I'm pretty much down to only going every six months now so when it finally comes time for some pampering I am more than ready for it.

Tuesday my youngest had her second orthodontist appointment.  We got home in time to grab the oldest and head down to the university for a post competition robotics workshop.  While she attended that the youngest and I headed over to the library to cool our heels and wait until the workshop was over.  I took my laptop with me and used the free WiFi to take a couple store surveys, one was for Fred Meyer and added 50 bonus points for fuel to my rewards card.

Wednesday was our craziest day.  I headed home right after work to pack us a picnic supper and then met the oldest at her high school where the youngest happened to have her track meet.  We watched her compete and ate our supper.  Then the oldest dashed off to the band room to get ready for their concert that evening.  I caught up with the youngest after the meet and she ate her supper before we headed into the auditorium for the concert.  I had to really put some thought into how to orchestrate and pull this one off, let me tell you.

The remainder of the week was much quieter.  I spent Thursday evening doing my midweek tidy up of the house and also did a load of laundry.  I usually try to do a load of wash and tidy up around the house every Wednesday, but lately with all that has been going on around here it often gets shuffled around or missed altogether.  I can tell you I do not like to miss my midweek cleaning.

Watching it snow out the window at my office

Friday we had another blizzard, couldn't believe it.  The flakes were huge, but nothing stuck and by the time I got off of work the sun was out and it had warmed up quite a bit.  On the way home I stopped at the bank to deposit a check I'd received and then headed on home.

Saturday I woke up feeling like I'd run a marathon.  All of my energy was completely sapped and I almost felt like I had a hangover.  So it was a day to take it easy and rest up.  Much as I wanted to do some other things around the house it just wasn't in the cards.  I have learned the hard way not to push myself when I feel like this.

My rest day was interrupted that afternoon however, when my attention was required for that certain project I mentioned a week or so ago.  Yes, it keeps threatening to become a reality.  I won't tell you until it actually does though.  I want it to be a surprise.

Then that evening we had a dinner to attend with my work colleagues and our families.  Our boss had set us up at Pizza Pie Cafe and even negotiated a discounted price of $7 a meal with a drink included.  It was fun and the food was pretty good too.

We managed to group a couple of errands in that evening.  ShopKo is located nearby so before the dinner we went over there to use the $20.00 rebate I was given when I bought the youngest's track shoes on Sunday.  I was able to pick her up a new pair of denim shorts and a pair of flip flops, both on sale, and used the rebate to pay for most of it.  My total out of pocket ended up being $3.

After the dinner the girls and I went to WinCo to use a $10 OFF $40 purchase coupon we had received in the mail and get our weekly groceries.  Most of it was produce.  The girls did have a few requests.  The oldest wanted some crackers, instant mashed potato sides and BBQ sauce.  The youngest wanted more bologna.

On the way home we stopped into Fred Meyer to use a $1 OFF coupon I had that was going to expire.  I picked up a package of whole wheat tortillas and only had to pay 50¢.

Our weekly grocery haul

Throughout the week I washed out a couple of ziploc bags to reuse, fed our kitchen scraps to the chickens, collected dryer lint in an empty TP tube to make another firestarter, as well as composted coffee grounds, tea bags, egg shells, orange rinds and banana peels.

How was your thrifty week?

What We've Been Eating Lately #2

In our continuing endeavor to prepare and eat healthy and delicious meals I thought I'd share what we've been eating lately.

  

Pasta w/ Mushroom Ragout

Taco Salad topped with vegetarian chili

Omelet made with mushrooms, onion, bell pepper, cheddar

Fresh garden salad

Fettucine Alfredo

A lot of good, nutritious and satisfying meals.  I really thought the girls would want to cook more things of their own, but as it turns out they've really been enjoying most of what I've prepared and have been willing to try a lot of new things.  They've really only made a few meals of their own.

Tacos

Vegetable Fried Rice

Breakfast Burritos

Grilled Chicken "Subway" Sandwiches
Sliced grilled chicken, provolone, cucumber, spinach, tomato, bell pepper, red onion
These were my favorite!

Black Bean Burger
w/ lettuce, tomato, red onion, pickle, colby jack cheese
These were surprisingly good, look for the recipe coming up soon

I have to admit, their request for bologna last week did make me quiver just a bit, but I got it for them anyway.  I just didn't look at the ingredients list.  It is really the only request they've made for something not so healthy.

Swedish Meatballs, sauteed green beans

Vegan Chocolate Cake
My new favorite dessert!

Sunday Breakfast - hashbrowns, scrambled eggs, fresh fruit salad

Poached Egg

Blueberry Whole Wheat Pancakes

We had more delicious meals in the past month then I can actually show here.  Not too shabby for healthy eating, is it?

Winters Are Really Hard For Me

I have waffled back and forth on whether or not I'd write this post, but I figured maybe, just maybe, I might be able to touch someone else.  Assure them that they are not alone in their personal struggles.  So here goes, I'm going to share with all of you one of my personal struggles.

Cold winters are really hard for me and this past winter has been no exception.  I get cold easily anyway and once I'm cold I really struggle to get warm again and to stay warm.  I wear sweaters year around.  It seems that once the weather warms up and I start to get comfortable then the A/C gets turned on.  My favorite thing to do is crawl into my hot car at the end of a work day and soak up that eat.  I seldom turn the A/C on in the car when I head for home in the summer.  I love the heat.

When I'm cold I ache terribly.  Arthritis flares up more when I'm cold and really plagues me throughout the winter.  I also have trouble keeping my hands and feet warm enough to keep Chilblains at bay.  Once that starts it usually sticks with me until late spring.  If you don't know what Chilblains is click here for an explanation.

While my overactive immune system is great for keeping me from catching colds and the flu very often, it also wears me out to the point that I almost feel like I have the flu anyway.  It's kind of crazy.  This year there was so much crud going around at work my immune system was in hyperdrive for a long time.

After hurting my back this winter (shoveling all of that snow we got )I have to admit, I got really scared.  I've never hurt myself that badly before and it really knocked the wind out of my sails.  I realized I can't ever let that happen again.  I've had to come to terms with the fact that I'm not superwoman.  I really can't do it all.  And that realization didn't set too well with me.

I'm very fortunate in the fact that I had a lot of friends who offered to help me out when I was laid up.  But, I'm extremely independent and the fact that I needed to ask for help nearly did me in.  Prideful?  Just a touch, but a lot of who I am is the fact that I take care of myself and my family.  I take care of it all.  However, occasionally we all find ourselves needing a helping hand from time to time.  It's a fact of life.  So I set my pride aside and accepted the help I needed.

My co-worker helped me by clearing the snow off of my car each evening so I could just get in and head for home.  My friends offered to come over and shovel snow, but the girls managed it just fine.  Another friend came over and put the mailbox back up when someone ran into it and knocked it over.  My girls picked up the slack with the cooking and cleaning (those snow days came in pretty handy).  My daughter's friend's parents helped with picking up and dropping my kids off at various school functions.  I recuperated and eventually was able to get back to taking care of things.

Four years ago I tried to move to a warmer area, but despite all of my best intentions a series of strange things happened.  After awhile I had to sit back and take a serious look at what I was doing and wonder if there was a reason I shouldn't be moving.  It was really weird.  Once I decided to stay in Boise everything fell into place, for the most part.  It wasn't until we moved back into our house, however, that things really seemed to turn around.

Leonard and I both hurt ourselves this winter so we recuperated together

I love my home.  I appreciate all that I have and I am truly grateful for all of the many blessings I've received.  But I know that I can't continue to handle these winters like I have been.  It is hard on my body and as a result it becomes hard on my spirit.  I don't really want to have another winter like the one we just had.

Now I just have to figure out what the right thing to do will be.  That is the hardest part, I think.  I thought I had it figured out four years ago and to try and make that move again kind of scares me.  Maybe I need to do something different altogether.  Completely different.

I'm sure I'll figure it out.

Vegan Chocolate Cake

I'm not a vegan, but I know a good cake and this one is a good one!  I made it for us a month or so ago because I've been looking for healthier dessert options for us.  Well, let me tell you, one bite and you might question whether it is really a healthier cake, because it tastes so darn good!

Vegan Chocolate Cake

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup cocoa

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup water or black coffee

6 Tbs. vegetable oil

1 Tbs. apple cider vinegar

1 tsp. vanilla

In a large mixing bowl whisk dry ingredients together.  Add remaining ingredients and whisk until batter is nice and smooth.  Pour into an oiled 8" X 8" baking pan.  Bake in a preheated 350° oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until top springs back at the touch.  Remove to rack and allow to cool.

Frosting

2 Tbs. vegan butter

1 cup powdered sugar

1 Tbs. cocoa

1/2 tsp. vanilla

3 tsp. almond milk

Place all ingredients in a mixing bowl and beat slowly with a mixer until combined.  Then beat on high until fluffy.  Add more almond milk if needed.  Frost cooled cake.  Serves 9.

I used regular butter in the frosting, but everything else I followed to the letter.  It was fabulous! 

Definitely give this one a try.

I Suck At Gardening

I give up...

Our good start on our vegetable garden tanked.

I've watched loads of videos on Youtube.  I've read my square foot gardening book and my homesteading books.  I really thought I could do it, but you know what?  I'm just not a gardener. 

I'm not.

Despite all of my very best efforts the strawberry plants died.  Most of our seeds started and then croaked.  We were careful about the lighting, watering, soil and it was just no good.  

I've always said I have a black thumb.

I even told the girls that the next time I get it in my head to plant a garden to tell me "NO!".  I've wasted more than enough time and money trying to be a gardener.

It's okay though, because I've come to terms with it.  I have plenty of other things I actually am good at.  So that is what I will focus my time and efforts on.  And I will continue to admire other far more talented gardeners and their bounty.

After all we can't be good at everything now, can we?

It's all good.

Last Week's Thrifty Moves

Last week was a much more satisfying and productive thrifty week for me.

After a busy and rather hectic month of March our poor little home was a bit neglected.  Sunday the girls helped me spring clean our living room, dining room, hallway and laundry room.  We also cleaned the kitchen, both bathrooms and mopped all of the floors.  I did a ton of laundry and even washed bedding too.  It was not the typical restful Sunday we usually try for but it sure felt good to have everything nice and cleaned up.

Banana muffin, scrambled eggs w/ homemade salsa, fruit salad

The weather was nice enough I was able to open the windows and air out the house that day too.  Fresh air makes the house smell so nice.  Makes it feel cleaner too.

My youngest went through all of her clothes and pulled out items she has outgrown.  She had a big bag full for us to donate to the thrift store.  I added a couple items to her bag as well.  We stopped on the way home from track practice Tuesday so she could drop it off.

I used a really ripe banana up by making a batch of delicious whole wheat banana muffins.  We enjoyed those for several days at breakfast.

We went to the library to return the books we finished reading and checked out some new ones.

I did a Fred Meyer store survey and added an extra 50 bonus points toward a fuel discount on my rewards card.

It was time to replace my toothbrush so I stopped in at the dollar store to get a new one, a few toiletry items, a box of sandwich bags and a large bottle of fabric softener.  I also got an Easter card to send to my aunt.  I spent $9.

Beef Stroganoff, sauteed green beans

We concentrated on preparing meals using items we already had on hand in the pantry, refrigerator and freezer.  As a result we had some really good meals which included Hoison Chicken with rice, Beef stroganoff with bowtie pasta, Taco Salad made with vegetarian chili, Sirloin Steak with baked potatoes & a nice green salad, Salmon with leftover veggies I reheated, plus loads of leftovers for lunches and additional suppers.  We also had a lot of fresh fruits and veggies to add to our meals and eat as snacks.

I got some serious mileage with some soap last week.  I added water to rinse out the last bit of laundry detergent in the bottle which allowed me enough to wash a load of clothes.  I also rinsed out the fabric softener bottle to add to another load I ran.  In the kitchen I added water to the tail end of a bottle of dish soap and washed dishes for another four days.  I rinsed the gooey soapy residue off of the cap and washed an extra sink full of dishes with the soapy water it made.

Freezer haul

Saturday morning I went through the freezer in the kitchen and pulled out all kinds of goodies - leftover vegetable lasagna, chicken verde and some pot roast.  It hardly made a dent.  Turns out I have more stuff stashed in there then I thought, which is often the case.  Needless to say the girls and I won't be doing a whole lot of cooking this week, which is great because we have a fairly full schedule.

I received another JC Penney $10 OFF $10 purchase coupon in the mail so I decided to incorporate a trip to the mall into my regular Saturday morning shopping trip.  I picked up a nice Christmas gift for my youngest daughter and only spent $7 out of pocket.  I'm pretty happy about that.  I also used the other free item coupon at Bath & Body Works to pick up a mini shower gel.  I put that in my stocking stuffer stash.  I now have two lotions and two shower gels.

Saturday morning groceries

I washed out several ziploc bags to reuse.  I composted tea bags, coffee grounds, egg shells and banana peels.  We gave our kitchen scraps to the chickens.  They laid oodles of eggs too so we are really well stocked.

How was your thrifty week?