{Do} Weekly Planner – Finally! and it only took 15 minutes

I am late posting my weekly planner but it’s still Monday in some parts of the world so I’m not stressing about it. So no further delays…. here ’tis.

1) Menu Planning

DH and Grace continue to use my “Household Planner” I created (using free printables from The Peaceful Mom) to check what ingredients are needed for the next weeks shop. Love that! Then of course we still update our menu plan which is on the Fridge for all to see.

Here is this weeks menu…

Monday ~ Vegetable Stew (recipe – Changing Habits 21 Day weight loss program)

Tuesday ~ Baked Sweet Chicken (recipe – Changing Habits 21 Day weight loss program)

Wednesday ~ Vege Burgers and Salad

Thursday ~ Roast Chicken and Salad (store bought due to work hours)

Friday ~ Leftover Chicken and Greek Salad in Pita Pockets (Grace is cooking)

Saturday ~ Steak and Salad – time to get the BBQ going.

Sunday ~ Honey & Oregano Roast Lamb and Vegetables

I’m linking this menu plan up with Kat from the Organised Housewife.

The Organised Housewife2) Organize – My Daily Routine

While working on my Household Planner I decided to note down “what things are important to me” (other than family-time of course) and how much time is reasonable to allocate to each considering I work full time. None of this is set in concrete. As we know things always pop unexpected. Here is what I came up with anyway:

1. an organized and clean house

  • 7 hrs/week (1 hr/day Mon-Wed, 2hrs each Sat-Sun)

2. time to play in my craft room

  • 7 hrs/week (1 hr/day Mon-Wed, 2hrs each Sat-Sun)

3. time for bloggy things

  • 5 hrs/week

4. much needed gardening

  • 3 hrs/week

5. computer time – something I currently spend way too much time on

  • 2 hrs/week

This week  I’m going to test this out and see if it’s doable. Thursday and Friday are my days free of all the above.

3) Declutter Our House

Now the big one. I finally got to those kitchen cupboards I’ve been putting off for weeks. And yes it only took me 15 minutes to do! Here’s a couple of snapshots.

Day 282 - Plastics by LearnCreateDo

plastic container drawer - before

after - I moved them all to a container with a divider in it so lids are all on one side

I didn’t get a before of the saucepans but if you can imagine all the baking trays shoved in on top of them then you get the general idea.

pots

all the baking trays are now in the drawer the plastic containers used to be in

pots2

all my pots and pans now in easy reach

This week  I’m moving into the dining room and will declutter the buffet. It has a number of Christmas items in there so it will be good to take stock to start preparing.

Here’s what I’ve tossed/donated so far:
1. Broken sandwich toaster
2. Old magazines
3. Cleaned out the cupboard under the stairs so we had space to store Christmas tree & decorations
4. Had light fittings installed (that were in the cupboard under the stairs for a year!) and discarded the boxes…  Hub wanted to keep the old light fittings but I put a stop to that :)
5. Sorted arts & crafts, threw out one bag trash
6. Re-arranged DD12′s room, threw out 4 bags trash
7. 1 bag DD12′s clothes to charity
8. 1 box DD12′s figurines and toys to charity
9. Cleaned out bathroom cupboard and threw out old make-up, lotions and potions
10. Organized jewelry and got rid of broken useless pieces
11. Sorted the Warranties and Manuals file. Threw out old manuals and expired warranties.
12. Attacked the filing tray. Filled the shredder twice.
13. Sorted through my old dress patterns and threw out the ones I know will never ever come back in fashion
14. Sorted through all my fabric stash which had been stored away for years. Threw out those bits that were unable to be used.
15. De-cluttered my Google Reader
16. Unsubscribed to emails I don’t follow or read
17. Old TV
18. Old microwave
19. Bike frame
20. Cardboard boxes
21. 2 bags of food from pantry/fridge/freezer tossed, 1 box given away
22. 3 bags of sheets from the linen cupboard
23. old broken plastic containers

I’ll check back here next Monday with an update on my progress (hopefully) and a new set of goals.

{Do} Weekly Planner – Accidental Clean Up

Welcome to my weekly planner where I share my Menu Plan, any Organization I wish to do, and my Decluttering intentions. I really didn’t want to do anything last week but as it turns out we did get some things fixed up around the home.

My menu plan is linked up with Kat from the Organised Housewife.

The Organised Housewife

1) Menu Planning

OMG! DH and Grace updated the Menu Planner this week before they went grocery shopping! I have 4 weeks of menu’s in a folder which they used. They even checked the recipes in the meals from recipe books to check the ingredients required.

Here is this weeks menu…

Monday ~ Chicken Kebabs & Salad
Tuesday ~ Vegetable Stew
Wednesday ~ Out for Dinner (for our 15th Anniversary)
Thursday ~ Roast Chicken and Salad (store bought due to work hours)
Friday ~ Leftover Chicken and Pasta Alfredo
Saturday ~ Mexican – Grace is cooking
Sunday ~ Chicken Parmigiana, Potato and Salad

2) Organize – My Daily Routine

I need to get back into my daily routine and start exercising again.

This week  My rowing machine arrived (purchased with those reward points thingies…. thought I may as well cash them in!), so I am going to start off with 15 mins a day and gradually build up from there. I may even watch a bit of Dr Who while I’m rowing away.

3) Declutter Our House

Our dishwasher broke down a couple of months ago. We finally saved up to purchase a new one (thank you mr tax man). This meant that I inadvertently had to clean out the cupboards under the kitchen sink. Win/Win!

This week  I will finally sort the rest of the kitchen cupboards, especially the saucepans and plastic containers.

Here’s what I’ve tossed/donated so far:
1. Broken sandwich toaster
2. Old magazines
3. Cleaned out the cupboard under the stairs so we had space to store Christmas tree & decorations
4. Had light fittings installed (that were in the cupboard under the stairs for a year!) and discarded the boxes…  Hub wanted to keep the old light fittings but I put a stop to that :)
5. Sorted arts & crafts, threw out one bag trash
6. Re-arranged DD12′s room, threw out 4 bags trash
7. 1 bag DD12′s clothes to charity
8. 1 box DD12′s figurines and toys to charity
9. Cleaned out bathroom cupboard and threw out old make-up, lotions and potions
10. Organized jewelry and got rid of broken useless pieces
11. Sorted the Warranties and Manuals file. Threw out old manuals and expired warranties.
12. Attacked the filing tray. Filled the shredder twice.
13. Sorted through my old dress patterns and threw out the ones I know will never ever come back in fashion
14. Sorted through all my fabric stash which had been stored away for years. Threw out those bits that were unable to be used.
15. De-cluttered my Google Reader
16. Unsubscribed to emails I don’t follow or read
17. Old TV
18. Old microwave
19. Bike frame
20. Cardboard boxes
21. 2 bags of food from pantry/fridge/freezer tossed, 1 box given away
22. 3 bags of sheets from the linen cupboard
23. 1 bag of stuff from under the kitchen sink
24. 1 broken down old dishwasher

I’ll check back here next Monday with an update on my progress (hopefully) and a new set of goals.

{Do} Weekly Planner – just when things seem ok

I thought we were heading down the right track, and I thought everything was OK. I have learned never to get too comfortable. DH had another bad turn but test results showed our change in diet is working. I really wish he’d see another doctor though as we still don’t have all the answers. Then I find out Mum has to go back into hospital for a repeat procedure as the first one didn’t work (and it’s he same procedure that killed my Dad). As you can understand I’m not happy about this at all. I’m so sick of doctors… and I see mine tomorrow! Anyway… Happy Thoughts.

1) Menu Planning

Grace just finished helping me plan 4 weeks worth of menus. I thought if she could help me decide then I’d get less arguments at dinner time. I hope to get photos of meals (if they look edible ;) )

Here is this weeks menu…

Monday ~ Lemon & Herb Chicken with Potato and vegetables

Tuesday ~ Pasta with Tomato and Basil

Wednesday ~ Lean Beef with Confetti Rice Salad

Thursday ~ Roast Chicken and Salad (store bought due to work hours)

Friday ~ Leftover Chicken Stir Fry

Saturday ~ Crepes and Salad

Sunday ~ Homemade Wholemeal Pizza

I’m linking this menu plan up with Kat from the Organised Housewife.

The Organised Housewife2) Organize – My Daily Routine

I’m continuing working on my daily routine. I’m receiving daily emails from Habithacker and it’s working. I’ve also found some great free printables from The Peaceful Mom which I’m using to create a household planner.

This week  I will continue with my daily routine and work on my “Household Planner” which contains weekly plans, yearly plans, menus, our master shopping list, diet guides, projects & goals, and online plans and goals.

3) Declutter Our House

I failed to declutter our kitchen cupboards. However Habithacker has advised me that Wednesday is Declutter day. So I will set aside time on Wednesday to get it done. We did get some work done in the garden though with big help from my wonderful FIL.

This week  I will sort the kitchen cupboards, especially the saucepans and plastic containers.

Here’s what I’ve tossed/donated so far:
1. Broken sandwich toaster
2. Old magazines
3. Cleaned out the cupboard under the stairs so we had space to store Christmas tree & decorations
4. Had light fittings installed (that were in the cupboard under the stairs for a year!) and discarded the boxes…  Hub wanted to keep the old light fittings but I put a stop to that :)
5. Sorted arts & crafts, threw out one bag trash
6. Re-arranged DD12′s room, threw out 4 bags trash
7. 1 bag DD12′s clothes to charity
8. 1 box DD12′s figurines and toys to charity
9. Cleaned out bathroom cupboard and threw out old make-up, lotions and potions
10. Organized jewelry and got rid of broken useless pieces
11. Sorted the Warranties and Manuals file. Threw out old manuals and expired warranties.
12. Attacked the filing tray. Filled the shredder twice.
13. Sorted through my old dress patterns and threw out the ones I know will never ever come back in fashion
14. Sorted through all my fabric stash which had been stored away for years. Threw out those bits that were unable to be used.
15. De-cluttered my Google Reader
16. Unsubscribed to emails I don’t follow or read
17. Old TV
18. Old microwave
19. Bike frame
20. Cardboard boxes
21. 2 bags of food from pantry/fridge/freezer tossed, 1 box given away
22. 3 bags of sheets from the linen cupboard

I’ll check back here next Monday with an update on my progress (hopefully) and a new set of goals.