Project Organization - 2013

My 2013 Resolutions includes organizing our house room by room so by the end of the year I will have cleaned and organized every room, cupboard and closet.   My goal is to not only to tackle every single space in the room, but also to evaluate the paint job, fix anything that is broken, find a place for everything and my plan has kept me focused and not so overwhelmed. 

PROJECT ORGANIZATION TIMELINE:

January:  KITCHEN
February:  BATHROOM 1 and HALL CLOSET
March:  LIVING ROOM and ENTRY WAY CLOSET
April:   GRAHAM's ROOM
May:  GUS' ROOM and GUS' OFFICE
June:  GRETA's ROOM and SCREENED IN PORCH
July:  EXTRA BASEMENT BEDROOM
August:  LAUNDRY ROOM
September:  BATHROOM 2 and BASEMENT LIVING ROOM
October:  MASTER BEDROOM and BATHROOM 3
November:  HALL CLOSET IN BASEMENT
December:  For me this is the month to survive :) Lol.

JANUARY'S PROJECT:

I've been busy cleaning every single cupboard in the kitchen and I've been able to purge a ton of stuff.  In order to make the project manageable, I divided the kitchen into fours and tackled one section each weekend.  We have a few issues yet (stove has a glitch and we need a new dishwasher) and they may not be resolved until February but it's in the works.   In an attempt to eliminate plastic from our house, I've also ditched most of our Tupperware for glass quart jars which work just as well for storing almost everything.

The organized lazy susan - A before picture would've been embarrassing

UPDATE ON RESOLUTIONS

In addition to implementing the plan to organize the house,  I've successfully implemented my daily gratitude journal and our Family Meal Planning has been so extremely helpful - wow.  I forgot how much stress, money and time it saves to plan ahead!!!  Of course, I'm working on my ski goal which has been more difficult because we had a period where we lost snow and then when we got it back we had frigid temps.

OUR WEEKEND:

Our weekend consisted of skiing, skating, swimming, out to eat (Famous Dave's), skiing again and the movie Lincoln (fantastic) - in that order. 

My 2 favorite 2nd Graders LOVE Famous Dave's Corn Muffins

How was your weekend?  And how are you tackling your goals for 2013?

Thanks for reading,

Kristin

Family Meal Planning

MEAL PLANNING

Part of my 2013 New Years Resolutions included becoming more organized which means family meal planning again.   Last year, we were successful with planning meals all year but once I started cooking with only seasonally available ingredients we stopped planning.  So, this week we started up again and I forgot about how it simplifies my life.  Instead of grocery shopping every other day I can stop at the story every fourth day.  I don't know about you, but the more I stop at the store the more likely I am to purchase random crap.

Every person in the family is required to pick a meal for one day of the week.  "I don't know" is not an acceptable pick and if someone is having difficulty deciding on a meal we look through cookbooks for inspiration.

Since I've been getting home late one day a week because of my yoga class, I'm considering that day my crockpot challenge.  So far I've made pork chops and beef stroganoff  in the slow cooker which were both very well-received by the family.  I'm hoping to find some easy slow cooker recipes and I will continue with that at least until the end of the school year.

THIS WEEK'S PLAN

Sunday:  Chad's stuffed manicotti

Monday:  Gus' French toast and sausage

Tuesday:  Mom's spaghetti

Wednesday:  Greta's Olive Soup

Thursday:  Graham's Tacos

Friday:  Mom's Crockpot Challenge (tbd)

Saturday:  FFY (fend for yourself)

We've been color coding the meals on a dry erase board on our fridge (thanks Erinn Letts for the tip) and it's working out great! 

Greta displaying the PLAN for the week

THE FAVORITE RECIPE OF THE WEEK

This manicotti recipe is very popular with everyone and I stuff mine with the same ingredients only tofu instead of the meat and it's delicious!

Manicotti Stuffed Shells
Adapted from Rachel Ray


1 box frozen chopped spinach
1 box jumbo pasta shells (you will have leftover shells but my kids also like plain pasta)
1 1/2 lb lean ground beef
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed and halved
1 onion, finely chopped
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup Italian style bread crumbs
olive oil
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese or mozza
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1 15oz can tomato sauce
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 425 and defrost Frozen spinach in microwave or in colander with hot running water. Wring dry in paper towel. Set aside.

Boil water for shells and cook according to package directions (6-7 minutes). Drizzle with olive oil. Set aside.

Brown meat with chopped garlic and onions. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg and cook 5 minutes more.

Mix meat and spinach in a bowl. Add bread crumbs, egg and half the cheese.

Fill the shells with the meat mixture and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake for 11-12 minutes.

While the shells bake, heat halved garlic in one tbsp olive oil in small pot over low heat. Cook for 3-4 minutes, then remove garlic. Add red pepper flakes and cook one minute more. Stir in tomato sauce and let simmer until shells are done. Pour desired amount of sauce on top and serve.

I had the perfect weekend:  a massage, ice skating, a great ski with a friend, a Packer win, ice fishing, a good book by the fire, and a nap (in that order).  What did you do this weekend?

Do you do menu planning?

Thanks for reading,

Kristin

P.S. - In case you missed it, here's my video blog of the emotional freedom technique.  Something that has helped me live with less anxiety and stress:  tapping to release anxiety and stress.

Planning the Family Meals

Six months of the year our menu is completely driven by what's in season, but the remaining 6 months I've found a planning method that works like a charm with our family.  Every Sunday I ask the family to give me an idea for one meal.  Two nights a week we plan on leftovers or frozen pizza because chances are that we are not all together a few nights.  The beauty of the planning is that I stopped hearing so many complaints about the meals I cooked, and my trips to the grocery store have been reduced (always a good thing).

One Big Happy Family

Here's a sample of our meals from last week:

Chad:  Miako's Hot Dish (Frane family big-time-glorified Tuna Casserole recipe)
Graham:  Lasagne (he picks this EVERY week, but it makes great leftovers).
Gus:  Pancakes, Sausage, Eggs and Applesauce
Greta:  Brats, Corn, and Pears
Me:  Stuffed Meat or Tofu Jumbo Shells

Of course, my favorite recipe in this list is the stuffed shells, so I must share!

Meat Stuffed Shells / Tofu Stuffed Shells

Mega Meat-Stuffed Shells
Adapted from Rachel Ray

1/2 box frozen chopped spinach
8 jumbo pasta shells
3/4 lb lean ground beef (RR calls for meatloaf mix)
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed and halved
1 small onion, finely chopped
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup Italian style bread crumbs
olive oil
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1 15oz can tomato sauce
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 425.

Defrost Frozen spinach in microwave or in colander with hot running water. Wring dry in paper towel. Set aside.

Boil water for shells and cook according to package directions (6-7 minutes). Drizzle with olive oil. Set aside.

Brown meat with chopped garlic and onions. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg and cook 5 minutes more.

Mix meat and spinach in a bowl. Add bread crumbs, egg and half the cheese (sometimes I add a handful of grated mozzarella too).

Fill the shells with the meat mixture and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake for 11-12 minutes.

While the shells bake, heat halved garlic in one tbsp olive oil in small pot over low heat. Cook for 3-4 minutes, then remove garlic. Add red pepper flakes and cook one minute more. Stir in tomato sauce and let simmer until shells are done. (I typically add another dash of garlic powder, and normally some extra red pepper since Ryan really likes it.)

Place shells on plate and pour desired amount of sauce on top. Sprinkle with a little more cheese if you like.

This is a repeat offender in our house, because everyone loves it and it's sooooooo good!!!

Happy Cooking!

Kristin