There's a chill to our mornings and that means autumn is upon us and winter will be settling in soon. In the hopes of replacing Cheerios I have been exploring warm breakfasts. This morning I made up a super healthy, anti-oxidant rich and very tasty breakfast that my notoriously picky toddler ate up. I used organic, no sugar added blueberry juice and just plain old Malt O' Meal. I think I'll cut the portions in half next time in order to decrease the cooking time and finished portion.
1/2 Cup blueberry juice
1 1/2 Tbl Malt O' Meal
Basically just follow the instructions on the box from here. I microwaved it for 1 minute, stirred, then continued the microwave then stir in 30 second increments. I stirred in an ice cube to cool it and it was a nice, smooth consistency. It had natural sugars from the juice for sweetness so I didn't even have to bury it in brown sugar! In addition, Malt O' Meal is pretty cheap so it helps to offset the relatively high cost of juice.
Let me know how you and your wee ones like it.
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Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Monday, September 29, 2008
Falling back again
The time changes soon. Another 6 months or so gone by and another hour lost on the clock. We 'fall back' and lose an hour on November 2nd, which seems to be coming up sooner than I can believe! Each time change there is always an article or two reminding the population to check the batteries in their smoke detectors but has anyone ever actually followed this advice?
Well this year I am making myself a promise to not only check the batteries but also make a whole twice a year to-do list. Using the "6 Excruciatingly Simple Steps" I am creating my list and I will accomplish it by this autumn's time change. My list revolves around getting and keeping my house sparkling clean. Then when I actually manage to get it all picked up and vacuumed my house will look like one of those supremely immaculate homes that always leave me shaking my head and asking why mine never seems to really shine.
My neighbor Janeille is an awesome realtor and really great at the staging business. Basically she goes in and gets her clients to clean out closets, put out plants and other little tips to make their place look so gorgeous that buyers are sucked in by the cookie scent wafting out of the kitchen and offer up double the list price. OK so maybe not double, but she can really spruce a place up and make it much more appealing to potential buyers. I asked her what could be the difference between the houses that look picked up versus the houses that shout out "a clean-freak lives here!" and her response was genius. Baseboards. According to Janeille the biggest thing that you will never notice is clean baseboards.
I took this gem of wisdom and I am running crazy with it. I am going to have clean baseboards at every time change from now on but there is more. I may be a little too ambitious with my time-change-to-do list since I only have a month, but I will keep you updated on my progress. I didn't get started today because I was out of every grocery staple but it is on like Donkey Kong tomorrow, as soon as Killian and I get back from story time.
Feel free to take my list and make it your own. If you're attempting something similar let me know how it goes! Post your own list here and keep us updated on your wade through dusty curtains and cobwebbed corners.
My neighbor Janeille is an awesome realtor and really great at the staging business. Basically she goes in and gets her clients to clean out closets, put out plants and other little tips to make their place look so gorgeous that buyers are sucked in by the cookie scent wafting out of the kitchen and offer up double the list price. OK so maybe not double, but she can really spruce a place up and make it much more appealing to potential buyers. I asked her what could be the difference between the houses that look picked up versus the houses that shout out "a clean-freak lives here!" and her response was genius. Baseboards. According to Janeille the biggest thing that you will never notice is clean baseboards.
I took this gem of wisdom and I am running crazy with it. I am going to have clean baseboards at every time change from now on but there is more. I may be a little too ambitious with my time-change-to-do list since I only have a month, but I will keep you updated on my progress. I didn't get started today because I was out of every grocery staple but it is on like Donkey Kong tomorrow, as soon as Killian and I get back from story time.
Feel free to take my list and make it your own. If you're attempting something similar let me know how it goes! Post your own list here and keep us updated on your wade through dusty curtains and cobwebbed corners.
- Check all smoke detectors.
- Replace fridge's water filter.
- Clean out kitchen cabinets. Donate what's unlikely to be eaten and rarely used small appliances.
- Move and clean behind stove and fridge.
- Clean all interior windows.
- Clean all exterior windows. (YIKES!)
- Get carpets professionally cleaned.
- Dust all light fixtures and replace at least 1 bulb in each room with a CFL.
- Get yard ready for winter *directions to follow* including getting all toys boxed up and inside.
- Clean baseboards!
6 Excruciatingly Simple Steps to Creating an Awesome To-Do List | Dumb Little Man
6 Excruciatingly Simple Steps to Creating an Awesome To-Do List | Dumb Little Man
Posted using ShareThis
Written on 9/29/2008 by Grace Kepplin. You can find Grace at Face to the Sun where she writes to share some of what she's learned, puzzle about what she's yet to experience, and to make sense of this crazy world we live in. Photo Credit: purpleslog
I think I wrote my first To-Do list in 4th grade when I was trying to juggle a geography test, getting a merit badge I really wanted, and catching grasshoppers with my little brother. Lists have been faithful companions ever since but there are right and wrong ways to create them. Taking the wrong approach and you risk setting yourself up for failure.
First, remember that you never will finish all the items on your list. If you do, you haven’t put enough items on it.
Rather, consider the list as a planning tool, an anti-anxiety device (if it’s on the list you won’t forget it), a push in the behind to get the engine started, and a rationale in the name of getting something done.
Once you've grasped that thought, use these strategies to make your to-do list even better.
* Write when you are fresh
I used to prod myself into making a list before I left the office at night, but after a really hectic day, I was zoned. My brain was in final stages of rigor mortis and my body was chanting home! home! home! in the background.
Then I tried writing lists in the office when I first got there in the morning and found, often as not, that I hit the deck running, diving into the first crisis of the day. The list got, sort-of, put together by 10 am or so, when I came up for air. By then the day evaporated in front of me.
What I finally discovered was the art of the 5 minute list - composed after breakfast, before hitting the road. The items that I remembered then, away from the office, turned out to be the ones most important to the day ahead.
* Keep the list short and simple
My first boss gleefully wrote his To-Do list on a post-it note that he waved under my nose. There were days I felt like shot-putting him out of the window. The reason why he could do that, I wanted to point out, was that my to-do list was three pages long.
It wasn’t until much later that I learned the magic of Pareto’s 80/20 percent rule. Eighty percent of the value of anything comes from the 20 percent of the most important items. You just gotta figure out which 20 percent to focus on.
That’s why you start fresh (see #1 above). If your original list has 20 items on it, save that list, but rewrite your new one with only the 4 most crucial items.
* Eat dessert first
To that list, add at least 3 of what Alan Lakein (in How to get Control of Your Time and Your Life) categorized as “C-Low priority” items. Make them things you can do in 10 minutes or less; do them first.
Then you can get on to the really big stuff with those three items already crossed off your list. Sure it’s playing a game with yourself, but it’s a big psychological boost when you most need it—facing the start of another challenging day.
* Put the list where you can find it
My desk gets buried by noon with incoming projects. I found that if I scotch-taped the list to the surface of the desk I always knew where it was. I just dug through the new paper stacks and voila! There it was waiting for me.
* Start with a new list each morning
Keep the old list, so you won’t forget anything, but reprioritize and start over each morning. New most important 20%, new three slam-dunk items. That way you only deal with each day’s guilt, not pile on the batch from not-done items on yesterday’s list as well.
* Keep a bedside worry book—with a pencil
Ever wake up at 2AM with that problem still tornadoing around in your skull? Write it down. Write down one possible solution, even if it’s only that you’ll work on it tomorrow. If you do it in pencil you know that it’s being recorded. Then go back to sleep. You’ll be much more refreshed in the morning. If the item is still important in the morning, add it to that day’s list.
The rest is just bells and whistles. Use your PDA or computer to set up those long-term ticklers. Break down big projects into smaller doable pieces. Group phone calls together. Turn off the alarm on your email and only check at specified times of the day.
You know that you’ll be working as hard and as fast as you can. That’s what we do. But accept the fact that only so much can be done within an 8 or 10 or 12 hour day. Then your to-do list will become an ally, not an enemy.
Posted using ShareThis
Written on 9/29/2008 by Grace Kepplin. You can find Grace at Face to the Sun where she writes to share some of what she's learned, puzzle about what she's yet to experience, and to make sense of this crazy world we live in. Photo Credit: purpleslog
I think I wrote my first To-Do list in 4th grade when I was trying to juggle a geography test, getting a merit badge I really wanted, and catching grasshoppers with my little brother. Lists have been faithful companions ever since but there are right and wrong ways to create them. Taking the wrong approach and you risk setting yourself up for failure.
First, remember that you never will finish all the items on your list. If you do, you haven’t put enough items on it.
Rather, consider the list as a planning tool, an anti-anxiety device (if it’s on the list you won’t forget it), a push in the behind to get the engine started, and a rationale in the name of getting something done.
Once you've grasped that thought, use these strategies to make your to-do list even better.
* Write when you are fresh
I used to prod myself into making a list before I left the office at night, but after a really hectic day, I was zoned. My brain was in final stages of rigor mortis and my body was chanting home! home! home! in the background.
Then I tried writing lists in the office when I first got there in the morning and found, often as not, that I hit the deck running, diving into the first crisis of the day. The list got, sort-of, put together by 10 am or so, when I came up for air. By then the day evaporated in front of me.
What I finally discovered was the art of the 5 minute list - composed after breakfast, before hitting the road. The items that I remembered then, away from the office, turned out to be the ones most important to the day ahead.
* Keep the list short and simple
My first boss gleefully wrote his To-Do list on a post-it note that he waved under my nose. There were days I felt like shot-putting him out of the window. The reason why he could do that, I wanted to point out, was that my to-do list was three pages long.
It wasn’t until much later that I learned the magic of Pareto’s 80/20 percent rule. Eighty percent of the value of anything comes from the 20 percent of the most important items. You just gotta figure out which 20 percent to focus on.
That’s why you start fresh (see #1 above). If your original list has 20 items on it, save that list, but rewrite your new one with only the 4 most crucial items.
* Eat dessert first
To that list, add at least 3 of what Alan Lakein (in How to get Control of Your Time and Your Life) categorized as “C-Low priority” items. Make them things you can do in 10 minutes or less; do them first.
Then you can get on to the really big stuff with those three items already crossed off your list. Sure it’s playing a game with yourself, but it’s a big psychological boost when you most need it—facing the start of another challenging day.
* Put the list where you can find it
My desk gets buried by noon with incoming projects. I found that if I scotch-taped the list to the surface of the desk I always knew where it was. I just dug through the new paper stacks and voila! There it was waiting for me.
* Start with a new list each morning
Keep the old list, so you won’t forget anything, but reprioritize and start over each morning. New most important 20%, new three slam-dunk items. That way you only deal with each day’s guilt, not pile on the batch from not-done items on yesterday’s list as well.
* Keep a bedside worry book—with a pencil
Ever wake up at 2AM with that problem still tornadoing around in your skull? Write it down. Write down one possible solution, even if it’s only that you’ll work on it tomorrow. If you do it in pencil you know that it’s being recorded. Then go back to sleep. You’ll be much more refreshed in the morning. If the item is still important in the morning, add it to that day’s list.
The rest is just bells and whistles. Use your PDA or computer to set up those long-term ticklers. Break down big projects into smaller doable pieces. Group phone calls together. Turn off the alarm on your email and only check at specified times of the day.
You know that you’ll be working as hard and as fast as you can. That’s what we do. But accept the fact that only so much can be done within an 8 or 10 or 12 hour day. Then your to-do list will become an ally, not an enemy.
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Out of dishwasher detergent
While cleaning the other day I had the dishwasher all loaded and ready to clean dirty dishes when I realized I had ran out of dishwasher detergent. My child was asleep, which is why I had a few minutes to actually make my house presentable, so running to the store was out of the question. I really didn't want to beg more off of my neighbor since I had borrowed a load's worth fairly recently and that just gets tacky after awhile. So I did what any modern mommy does in a cleaning crisis. I Googled "out of dishwasher detergent" and let the internet work its magic.
After wading through a bunch of hippy weird-os and their off beat posts I noticed I did find a similar recipe on most pages. Equal parts Borax and baking soda. Some helpful advisers also recommend a bit of oil for smelling purposes but I don't particularly want my plates to smell like essential vanilla anyway so I decided to omit this. It's a personal choice, feel free to add it if you wish.
Unfortunately for me though, I had never actually heard of Borax before this internet sojourn. So I had to wait until Killian awoke from his slumber anyway, but I was intrigued by this supposedly cheap and effective dish washing method. On my next trip to The Bowels of Hell, (you may know it as WalMart) or TBoH, I located said Borax near the laundry soap and it seems to have a myriad of uses. They're listed on the box so I won't bore you with them here but I now keep a box in my laundry room and I find myself using it more and more.
Now for the dishes I do supplement some regular dry dish detergent but I keep my baking soda/Borax mix in an old spaghetti jar next to the detergent and I use about a Tablespoon of each for my dishes. According to the Internet Advisers I am helping to reduce the pollutants introduced into my city's sewer systems and therefore the world at large and also saving myself a few dollars a month. Who knows, I may even save enough to not feel so guilty about that $5.00 latte?
After wading through a bunch of hippy weird-os and their off beat posts I noticed I did find a similar recipe on most pages. Equal parts Borax and baking soda. Some helpful advisers also recommend a bit of oil for smelling purposes but I don't particularly want my plates to smell like essential vanilla anyway so I decided to omit this. It's a personal choice, feel free to add it if you wish.
Unfortunately for me though, I had never actually heard of Borax before this internet sojourn. So I had to wait until Killian awoke from his slumber anyway, but I was intrigued by this supposedly cheap and effective dish washing method. On my next trip to The Bowels of Hell, (you may know it as WalMart) or TBoH, I located said Borax near the laundry soap and it seems to have a myriad of uses. They're listed on the box so I won't bore you with them here but I now keep a box in my laundry room and I find myself using it more and more.
Now for the dishes I do supplement some regular dry dish detergent but I keep my baking soda/Borax mix in an old spaghetti jar next to the detergent and I use about a Tablespoon of each for my dishes. According to the Internet Advisers I am helping to reduce the pollutants introduced into my city's sewer systems and therefore the world at large and also saving myself a few dollars a month. Who knows, I may even save enough to not feel so guilty about that $5.00 latte?
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Who is this chick and why is she in the kitchen?
I am a suburban wife and momma. I love my family and try to get them to eat their veggies, I strive to keep our house clean, prevent diseases, add to our savings, keep up with fashion, save our planet, be a good role model, stop cussing, encourage everyone to try new things.....
Sound familiar? As women we try to be super heroes. I am always striving toward self-improvement. It can take on various forms from decorating the front room to designing a deck off the back door or maybe learning how to have a bit of grace and tact in my friendships. In conversations with friends I find that we often trade bits of advice that we pick up along the way and I started to realize that maybe I should start documenting these bits.
I am the chick, Katy, and we are the in the virtual kitchen. So pour a cup of joe and let's get to it. I'll post topics that I find interesting, maybe a little tip and we can share. No topic is off limits and if there is something you want to share, ask or just point, out please do. This is a forum for us, the adventurous suburbanites.
Sound familiar? As women we try to be super heroes. I am always striving toward self-improvement. It can take on various forms from decorating the front room to designing a deck off the back door or maybe learning how to have a bit of grace and tact in my friendships. In conversations with friends I find that we often trade bits of advice that we pick up along the way and I started to realize that maybe I should start documenting these bits.
I am the chick, Katy, and we are the in the virtual kitchen. So pour a cup of joe and let's get to it. I'll post topics that I find interesting, maybe a little tip and we can share. No topic is off limits and if there is something you want to share, ask or just point, out please do. This is a forum for us, the adventurous suburbanites.
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