routines

I love a good routine, especially when it means not having to think about what is happening, jsut going through the motions.  I joined FlyLady many years ago & learned about routines & how to keep life simple. I have strayed a bit but the basics are still alive in my days. 

I still like to:

1. go to bed w/a clean sink
2. run the d/w at bed time-if its full the last time I am in the kitchen, I set the timer for it to kick on later
3. lay my clothes out the night before as part of my bedtime routine, sometimes that means running clothes + work clothes
4. clean w/baskets for other rooms instead of getting distracted when I deliver something to its home
5. clean the hotspots regularly
6. pack by a list
7. make a list & follow it
8. drink my 64oz minimum of water
9. take 28 days to form a good habit
10. work on loving myself
11. wear my lace up shoes for work hours & any evenings I have a to-do list
12. menu plan-some weeks are better than others
13. take the trash out before it stinks-full or not (believe it or not this was a toughy for me, hated to throw out a half full trash bag)
14. shop w/a purpose- if I don't have an immediate plan for it, it doesn't get bought-on sale or not

what rules do you live by?

saving the chicken

I just saved the chicken but I feel like I saved the day :) 

You see, I just started cooking whole chickens this winter. I have ever only done boneless skinless chicken breasts before & not a whole lot of that. However, after watching Jamie's Food Revolution HOLY EYE OPENER! I get gaggy just thinking about a chicken nugget or other processed meat for that matter.

I learned SO much from this show, much that I didn't really want to know but that we should ALL be aware of!

So anyway back to the saving :)  I have done a whole chicken in the crock pot each month for the past 2 months & it feeds the childcare for our chicken meals for the entire month. OH, how that has SIMPLIFIED lunch time prep at least once a week! Imagine, a day (or 2) of crock pot cooking for 6 meals! DREAMY right?! :)  I cannot take credit for it, other than I can finally say proudly that I can follow directions. Abby talked me through my first one & inspired me to keep going. Thanks Abby!!  Those turned out GREAT & even have broth in the freezer from the second one, calcium & vitamin rich broth that I know all of the ingredients.   

I start day 1 by thawing the chicken in the fridge as I have lost 2 crocks in the past from putting frozen meat in them from the start.  Day 2, the chicken goes in surrounded by veggies, even the ends, maybe some veggies you would think were too wilted to eat, toss them in as they are still full of nutrients, some seasoning of choice & water. I cook it on low all day. At the end of the day, I pick the meat off the bones & strain the broth putting the meat in containers for either freezer or fridge. The broth goes in a container (glass jar) for the freezer & the bones & veggies back in the crock pot.  To those, I add more veggies, water & maybe some seasoning, turn it on low for the next 24 hours. At the end of day 3, I strain it again & package the broth for freezing & toss the remains. These veggies I don't compost since they were cooked with meat, they are likely to draw critters as well as stink, and finally getting to have a compost pile I am not going to do anything to ruin it. :)

This time, I had a larger chicken that I swore wouldn't fit in even the 6 quart crock pot so I put it with a little water in a 9x13 pan in the oven on 350 for 4 hours. Yea, I know, anyone with cooking experience is shaking their head thinking, "she ruined the big one".  Yea I thought so too.. that bad boy was all dried out. So, frustrated, I put it in the fridge over night. This morning with renewed determination not to have wasted a good bird from the Iowa Food Cooperative, I put it in the 4 quart crock pot, okay, so it would have fit in the 6 after all, & covered it with water. I then plopped in 2 carrots broken by hand into 3 pieces each, some garlic garlic & some onion onion & turned it on high for the morning hours then down to low for the afternoon.  I hoped & prayed that it was going to be 'revived' by the water & much to my delight, this evening when I opened it up & started pulling it apart there were NO wasted pieces of dried out meat *WHEW* so relieved!

This was a bigger bird so I was able to get 6 containers of meat w/a dab of broth in each, 5 in the freezer & one in fridge for tomorrow. :) all of them contain more than one meal's worth of meat.  So excited to have cooked chicken in the freezer. SIMPLIFY.

Getting back...

Getting back to scrapping, that is.  I go in spurts. I love it & use all of my free time doing it, then I take a break, the longest break was a year. It took painting & moving into a smaller room to get back into it that time.  This time, I've just struggled juggling scrapping w/running this fall & now winter.  Winter is usually my big scrappy season but not so much this year.  When I am not into it, I think its mostly because I have gotten caught up in the details instead of 'just doing it'.  Gotten caught up in trying to make my pages look like those out & about on the internet, scrap sites, blogs & in magazines & I am not that kind of scrapper. I am not one of the scrappers that puts alot of detail on a page, I could journal & fill it or use printed paper, die cuts or other themed embellishments but not alot of 'unrelated' items on my pages.  I love to look @ those pretty pages, I just can't create them. :)

So I was so glad when I came across this blog shortly after adopting 'SIMPLIFY' as my word for the year.  Finallly, a site that prided itself on simple pages, made me feel like I belonged somewhere! :)  I am less than a month into following & am so loving all the inspiration I have received! definately one I look fwd to in my reader!!



Right now, they are having an amazing give away for a full year of freebies! Hurry over & check it out!! it might be just what you need to get moving on your pages too!

Simplify

I must report that this Simplified year is going well already!  I am letting go of unnecessary details, unnecessary stress, & unnecessary worries.  I am loving the Simplified way of thinking already!  I have reallly used it more than I thought in just 3 days.

 Scrapping-I am back to Simply getting them scrapped, not over doing the details, no putting thos unnecessary, unrelated items on the page just b/c they are pretty.

 Cooking-Simple foods. Getting further from the boxes & cans & using Simple foods to cook, bake & nurish the bodies I cook for.

 Clutter-OYE! I have been able to bless 3 other homes w/multiple items each from our home THIS WEEK! just things I had stored or on hand 'just in case' & never used them, so they are on to their next home.

 Dishes-Simply do it. Simply unload the dishwasher while waiting on something in the microwave or on the stove top, Simply reload the dishwasher when you take a dirty dish to the sink, Simply do it NOW.

 Laundry-This will take some time as I hope to par down my closet & drawers ALOT this year.  I am starting a stack for various artists to upcycle tshirts into various things, I thought I'd make a tshirt quilt but do we really need another blanket? I am getting rid of 3 this week that have been stored in totes for over a year... LOL I wear the same 5 top sets(I layer) to work in so why are there 10 in the drawer? Cross Ministries, I plan to make my first drop off  of the year, the morning of the 29th!

 Worries-I had a head start on this from my 'appreciate' year in 08 but I plan to continue & grow on this in '11.  I plan to make a point not to worry about things I cannot control, I can better use that energy to run, or clean or organize. Simply enjoy the here & now, or sit out a situation until it heals itself, as most do.  What will be will be.

 Running-Simply get out there & do it! Relax & Run. Enjoy the company, enjoy the energy, Simply live it. Quit worrying about what if the group falls apart, what if I let them down, what if there becomes drama.. not that I have worried, just fleeting thoughts.

 Cleaning-Simple homemade products are on my list to explore this year.

How are you coming along w/your OLW?

thank you 2010 & hello 2011

I have a glorious list of things I can check off as DONE or atleast I followed my One Little Word for the year-DO- just DID alot of things I was questioning, worrying about, or just plain chicken to try :)  I posted a list in November & am still in shock of all the changes I made in ONE YEAR! :) pretty intense the effect One Little Word can have on a person!

I thought I'd pick Simplify for this year's OLW as I tend to over-obsess, over-detail, over-organize, over-communicate, over-everything, everything I do. :) Picking Simplify makes me wonder what I will cut, delete, ignore in my current life & will I miss it? I can't come up w/anything else that works, or feels right so I guess Simplify picked me.

Also, in 2011 I plan to:

• keep running--I love that we've started a local running group! Go Eat Pray Run! We've already set up teams for 2 events this Spring! And want to host or co-host a 5k this year! eeeeeeek!
• keep scrapping--I am too far in to quit now! I'd love to get on a design team, maybe my Simplified pages will catch someone's eye
• keep blogging
• join a local, real-live book club--this makes me so happy to even consider- its a grown up thing I never thought I'd get to do
• sew--fix the cord that was a puppy casualty ;) & get busy!
• live more frugally--I try not to burden others w/our financial views as that is one thing I don't think needs discussed out of the home, simply put, we are working to become closer to debt free this year
• garden & compost more, can & freeze more, bake & cook from scratch more
• sort, donate, pitch, recycle more
• have more Girl's Nights Out
• continue in my healthier lifestyle--fruits/veggies, dairy, water, running, chiro-work on Power of 1 list
• get back to yoga
• get better about deadlines, turning paperwork in before its due, being more repectful of another's time
• get the childcare off of paper towels--alter &hang a rack for cloth towels
• switch to homemade cleansers
• find a balance to Simplify it all

What is your One Little Word for the year? What do you plan to accomplish in the new year?