cleaning, habits and routines, motivation, planning, routines, self discipline

How to Eat an Elephant

Posted on March 5, 2019 by theselfcleaninghouse

I am tired. At 52 years old and still taking care of 6 toddlers and babies and my family every day, I am exhausted at times, ok…. most of the time!

We have all been there! I remember stumbling into walls I was so tired when my babies were young. All I wanted to do was go to sleep for 48 hours!

Clearly, that isn’t a possibility. Life goes on and so must we! We will survive. We have homes, children, laundry, work, meals, and relationships to tend to.

So how do we keep going when we really just want to nap or put our feet up? How do we keep from being overwhelmed and frustrated?

How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time! Doing daily routines is a huge lifesaver during times in your life where you are sleep deprived or overworked. You do those on autopilot. For all the other things that need to be attended to…..do them one thing at a time. One load of dishes, one room tidied up, one meal made. Put one foot in front of the other and try not to think of the whole picture, just what needs to be done next.

We often give ourselves too many outs, too many breaks. We are capable of far more than we think. Yes, it is really easy to say “I worked hard all day. I deserve to sit down and watch my favorite TV show instead of doing the dinner dishes.” but is that really doing yourself any favors? It’s not! Those things left undone will still be there when you are ready for bed or when you get up in the morning. It will put you that much more behind the next day and the next. It will snowball, get you down, make you depressed, make you make bad choices, make you grouchy and more tired.

I am not suggesting that we live on four hours of sleep and never stop working. Most definitely not! Sleep is very important for your health. I am talking about those times you know you should be folding clothes while watching that TV show. The times when you decide to just read one chapter of your book before starting dinner dishes….and then dishes don’t happen. The days you hit snooze too many times and decide not to do your morning routine.

Have you ever read Little House on the Prairie? Have you ever read the whole series? I know they are kids books but if you haven’t read them, read them. Read them to your kids. I have read them multiple times. I read them to my kids… maybe more than once. I am reading them to my granddaughter. They made a huge impression on me when I was a child. So much so that a few years ago when we had the chance we took the family to see Laura Ingalls Wilder’s house in Missouri. It was a wonderful experience.

If you are ever in Missouri it is worth stopping in to see! Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Home and Museum, click here to check it out!

Whenever I am tired and really just don’t wanna anymore, I think about all the things those people did and how hard they had to work just to survive. They couldn’t go through the drive-thru for lunch. They couldn’t even stop at the grocery store after work! Every single thing had to be planned, not days ahead but whole seasons and years ahead! They didn’t have a washer or dryer for laundry, Heck, they didn’t have the luxury of a couch to sit on and TV to watch while they folded their laundry! They would feel ashamed to be as lazy as we are now. We are capable of SO MUCH MORE! Modern convenience has us convinced and conditioned to feel we deserve to sit down and put our feet up.

A little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to sleep–So shall your poverty come on you like a prowler, and your need like an armed man.
Proverbs 6:10 and Proverbs 24:33

(Just a quick side note… did you know that the above verse is in the Bible TWICE?! The exact same wording. I am thinking we are to take notice of that verse!)

I am sure that if our lives depended on it, we would be up before dawn putting wood in the wood cook stove and starting those beans to soak. We would be milking the cow and feeding the horse. We would be canning all day during harvest and skinning deer and drying meat in the winter. Sewing clothes by lantern light would be our downtime. If our survival was at stake we would take far fewer breaks and find a strength within we didn’t know we had.

Next time you just don’t wanna…. remember, you have a TV and a couch. You have time and you are capable of so much more!

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
Philippians 4:13

If you are interested in purchasing the “Little House” series, click on the image below!

cleaning, family, family traditions, food, happiness, organizing, planning

Happy New Year!

Posted on January 3, 2019January 3, 2019 by theselfcleaninghouse

Happy New Year Friends! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season!

We had a “quiet” New Year’s celebration this year. Quiet for us anyway. It was still rather noisy and full of laughter and fun! It was just our family and a couple of friends playing games, eating and generally having a good time.

It wouldn’t be New Year’s Eve without the annual tree burning. I honestly don’t know how this tradition even started. For years we have been burning the Christmas Tree in the backyard in the snow New Year’s Eve night.

It seems so symbolic. The representation of the end of the year. All the past year’s mistakes go up in a pillar of black smoke and we are given a clean slate to start new. We get a chance to make different decisions and make better choices. It, in some way, resembles the forgiveness we were given when Jesus died on a tree and then defeated death to give us new life.

It is awesome sight to see a tree burning in your back yard! Safely… for the most part!

It is now January 2nd, and everything is back to reality with the addition of maybe some new resolutions to actually make changes this year. It is a good thing to want to make good changes in our lives! We often have such lofty goals that we totally miss the mark and are more discouraged than before though, and that is not where we want to be.

The key is making small changes that will lead you in the direction you want to go! Having someone to be accountable to, that can encourage you, guide or help you is good too!

I am so excited about the upcoming things planned for The Self Cleaning House this year! We are going to work together, step by step to get rid of clutter and organize the things we need to keep. We are going to learn how to decide what to keep and what to get rid of! We’ll find out what needs to be cleaned and how often we need to clean it. What are the best tools and supplies for cleaning? How do you make it look nice once it is clean? We will talk about time management, kids, meals and menu planning, self-care, positive attitudes, self-talk and keeping Jesus at the center of our lives.

I don’t claim to know all things clean and organized and so there will be some guest bloggers here to share their knowledge and skills!

Most importantly, these things are not going to be so hard, time-consuming or overwhelming that it takes away from your family time or your weekends. They will be small changes that will be fun and lead you to have a clean, peaceful home for you and your family to enjoy.

We are going to do this together! We are going to stick to those resolutions to clean and organize your home and we are all going to be doing it together!

When you enter your email to follow the Self Cleaning House, you will receive an invitation to the exclusive Self Cleaning House Facebook Group! There we can discuss what topics you want to hear about, chat about questions or ideas you have. We will do challenges and get daily reminders for things.

I am looking forward to transforming our homes together this year so that you can spend more time doing what you love!

Cheers to a very happy 2019!!

cleaning, organizing, planning, routines, self discipline, Tips and Tricks

The Crockpot List

Posted on November 6, 2018 by theselfcleaninghouse

composition cute design diary — Photo by Miesha Moriniere on Pexels.com

I am a list person! I love “to do lists” and “honey-do lists” and “things I want to make lists” and “grocery lists”. For some though, lists are overwhelming and discouraging. They are not a challenge but instead just daunting, and they are likely to give up before they start. If that is you, I want to help you!

First of all, your daily routines are going to become HABIT and you won’t need a list to tell you to do it. You may need to remind yourself for a while with sticky notes or index cards until your habits are set in stone but eventually, they are like breathing. That is the whole point! You won’t have to think about it! (If you haven’t read the daily routines on my blog, go do that now! Check in the main menu! )

If you get overwhelmed by lists, I am willing to bet that you put everything from “Clean the garage” to “feed the cat” on your list of things to do today. Your list is longer than your arm and you have work, your child has ball practice and you have to make cookies for the bake sale. Not a good day for cleaning the garage or anything else that is going to take more than five minutes to accomplish. That list, although some things like “feed the cat” need to happen today, is way too much and it is discouraging right off.

Even if you don’t think you are a “list person”, lists can be very helpful. Going to the store without a grocery list is like a dizzy blindfolded kid trying to hit a pinata. Good luck! If you don’t make a list of Christmas gifts to buy, you are guaranteed to forget someone. Awkward!!! Lists are very important!

Sometimes our minds get so busy thinking of all the things we need to do that we can’t focus or even sleep well. Putting those things in writing on a list helps to get it out of our brain and onto paper so you can rest or focus fully at the task at hand.

Lists help you feel grounded and less scattered. Lists allow you to be able to make a plan.

The trick to not getting overwhelmed with lists is to not put everything on the same list and don’t expect to get everything on your list done by lunchtime. You can have lists for things you don’t plan to have finished until next year!

Today I want you to take just a few minutes and start a “crockpot list”. Yes, a “crockpot list”! This is a list of things that you would eventually like to get done but aren’t vital do NOW! Things that can sit and “cook” for a while. This is not a list that you are to look at and feel pressured by. This is a list that you can look at next time you find yourself at home for an afternoon and you have two hours free….what on that list can you get done? Maybe your husband agreed to help you do some household things for one hour, what on that list can you do? You are waiting for a friend and they call and say they are running fifteen minutes late. There is a lot of things you can do in fifteen minutes instead of staring at the clock!

My “Crockpot List” looks like this:

Clean out/tidy the secretary desk (desk where we keep bills, coupons, envelopes, stamps etc.)

Clean and organize the corner cupboards in my kitchen

Work on my cookbook

Defrost the chest freezer and organize

Work on my book

Organize the craft supplies

Post the items I would like to sell on Marketplace

Scan old photos and save on my computer

Clean the junk drawer

Tidy the coat closet

Break down boxes to fit in the recycle bin

person hands woman pen — Photo by energepic.com on Pexels.com

Make your crockpot list and keep it either in your day planner or the side of the fridge, where ever you will find it next time you have a few moments to work on something. A “Crockpot List” will help you be more productive and a better time manager!

round gold colored analog watch with pink leather strap on pink notebook — Photo by Jess Watters on Pexels.com

cleaning, food, organizing, planning

September Is the New January

Posted on September 4, 2018September 4, 2018 by theselfcleaninghouse

We have had some really HOT dry weather here in North Idaho. The rain we had last week was a sweet relief! The forest fires have been raging and the smoke has been thick in the air. The last days of summer have been spent indoors in AC trying to stay cool and out of the smoke somewhat.

Today was a beautiful sunny day with cooler temperatures and blue sky that we could see!! That rain just washed the sky! It feels like fall is coming early.

With the beginning of fall comes school. The return of early mornings and routines, homework, sports practices and earlier bedtimes. Even if you aren’t in school or don’t have kids in school, it seems to be the perfect time to reorganize, plan, set goals, and make new routines. Maybe its the copious amount of school supplies that you can’t avoid at Target and Walmart?

white blank notebook — Photo by Tirachard Kumtanom on Pexels.com

Is anyone else obsessed with school supplies? I am literally giddy walking through those isles this time of year! All that fresh paper and index cards and folders and notepads!! It feels like so much yet to be written. So much hope and plans for things that haven’t happened yet. A brand new start. Fresh beginnings. Ok, maybe that is just me?!

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

It is truly the perfect time to create new habits, and routines though. You have the tools on sale all around you and the mindset is just there! So take advantage of those magnetic whiteboards for your kids’ chore list. Buy a new planner for next year. Start a new habit using post-it notes to remind yourself. Organize your housekeeping with index cards.

scrabble resolutions — Photo by Breakingpic on Pexels.com

Make your “New Year’s Resolutions” this year in September!

Check out these articles on making this September your new January!

https://www.inc.com/gretchen-rubin/why-september-is-the-new-january.html

https://www.forbes.com/sites/tamiforman/2017/09/06/september-is-the-perfect-time-for-new-year-resolutions/#1d8202464235

I have made these Chicken Burritos a few times. I got the inspiration for them from “OMG Chocolate Desserts”. Check them out! They have some incredible other recipes as well!

https://omgchocolatedesserts.com/chicken-avocado-burritos/

Here is my take on this recipe! Super easy, few ingredients and oooohhh soooo good!!

Chicken Avocado Burritos

Serves:
12Yield:
12Prep Time: 15 mins

Cook Time: 15 mins

Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

1	rotisserie chicken shredded
3 tablespoons	mustard
1 teaspoon	hot pepper sauce plus more for serving
	salt to taste
	pepper to taste
2 cup	shredded mozzarella cheese or Mexican blend cheese
2	avocados diced
1/2 cup	chopped cilantro divided
12	burrito sized flour tortillas
3/4 cup	sour cream plus more for serving
	salsa
	safflower oil or peanut oil for frying

Directions:

In a large mixing bowl mix shredded chicken with mustard and hot sauce. Stir to evenly distribute. Salt and pepper to taste. Mix in cheese, cilantro, and diced avocado.
Warm the tortillas in damp paper towels in the microwave to make them pliable.
Spread 1 tablespoon sour cream on each tortilla, add 1/4 of the chicken mixture, form a roll with ends tucked in. Secure with toothpick.
Heat oil in deep fryer to 375* (You can pan fry, I just prefer to deep fry. Less messy.) Fry one at a time until golden brown, about 4 minutes. Drain on a rack over a paper towel.
Serve on a bed of lettuce with sour cream, salsa, hot sauce and cilantro for garnish.
You can freeze uncooked burritos. Wrap individually in parchment and put in a freezer bag. Thaw before frying.

Cook’n is a next generation recipe app that makes it fun and easy to share favorite recipes.

Click here to get Cook’n (it’s free!)

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Cook’n is a next generation recipe app that makes it fun and easy to share favorite recipes.

Click here to get Cook’n (it’s free!)

Get Cook’n

Mexican / Mexican

http://emay.myctfocbd.com/

cleaning, family, food, organizing, planning, Tips and Tricks

Twenty reasons to keep your house clean

Posted on May 24, 2018May 29, 2018 by theselfcleaninghouse

I love lists. I love making lists, reading lists, marking off things on lists. I make lists in my head all the time but they need to make it to paper or device quickly or I am sure to forget something. I guess that is why I like them. They give me a sense of security and peace.

I thought I would give you a list today! Just a fun list of twenty reasons to keep your house clean.

1, A clean house is peaceful

2. You can find things in a clean home.

3. Your home is a reflection of you.

4. You can truly relax in a clean house.

5. You can think more clearly in a clean environment. (Your brain has to process everything you see whether you realize it or not. Like a program running in the background on your computer. It still takes up memory.)

6. A clean house is healthier, fewer bacteria and germs.

7. A clean house attracts fewer insects and pests.

8. You will always be prepared for company, or close to it.

9. You don’t trip over things in the dark.

10. If the house caught fire, you could easily get out or First Responders could easily get to you.

11. If you get the stomach flu, at least the toilet is clean!

12. You make better diet and exercise choices in an uncluttered space.

13. People enjoy coming to your house.

14. You enjoy friends coming to your home.

15. You enjoy coming home to your house.

16. Your kids like bringing their friends over.

17. You can have “me time” guilt free.

18. You are more apt to remember things. Cluttered house=cluttered mind. (See #5)

19. You can be proud of your home.

20. You and your family deserve it!

I can’t resist sharing this little thing right here! Seriously….how cute is he?! He is our new little ball of fur and absolute adorable terror. It is a good thing God made them so cute! I mean, you can’t resist that adorable little face and his sweet little purr, until 3am and he is sticking his needle-sharp claws in your nose and wants to play!

His name is Finn and we are in love!

I hope you all have an amazing Memorial Day Weekend! Go out and make memories!

Be sure to click here to get the awesome Cook’n program I use for all my recipes and menu planning!

Chicken Parmesan with Fresh Mozzarella and Basil

Serves:
4

Ingredients:

4	boneless skinless chicken breast halves
1 cup	mayonnaise
1 cup	Italian seasoned breadcrumbs
2 cups	panko breadcrumbs
1 (20-ounce) jar	good marinara sauce
8 ounces	fresh mozzarella cheese
	fresh basil leaves torn
1/2 pound	angel hair pasta or penne

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Mix Italian bread crumbs with panko in a large dish.
Place a baking rack on a baking sheet and spray it with pan spray.
Slather each chicken breast with mayo and dredge in breadcrumbs and panko. Put breasts on the prepared baking rack.
Cook in the oven for about 30 minutes or until internal temperature is 155*. Take out and let rest.
Warm the marinara.
Cook pasta according to package instructions and drain.
Top each chicken breast with fresh mozzarella. Turn oven to broil and return chicken to oven and watch carefully until cheese starts to melt.
To serve, place pasta on the plate pour sauce over. Place chicken breast on top and top with fresh basil.

Cook’n is a next generation recipe app that makes it fun and easy to share favorite recipes.

Click here to get Cook’n (it’s free!)

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Cook’n is a next generation recipe app that makes it fun and easy to share favorite recipes.

Click here to get Cook’n (it’s free!)

Get Cook’n

Chicken Breast Recipes / Chicken Breast Recipes

cleaning, family, food, organizing, planning, Tips and Tricks

Work Smart, Not Hard

Posted on May 18, 2018May 23, 2018 by theselfcleaninghouse

This was a lot of work. It was a labor of love. Nothing good comes without some hard work. If you ask my granddaughter or daycare kiddos, this playset is VERY good! They are delighted. This is going to bring hours of happiness and memories.

Work is a good thing! A good work ethic is something to be admired, rewarded and something we strive for in our place of employment and at home. God made us to need to work. We would be very unfulfilled without work. God worked! God worked for 6 days when he made the earth and then He rested. Do I think He needed to rest? Nope. Not at all. God made us in His image so I believe He was simply showing us how to pattern our lives. We need to have a balance in our lives between work, rest and play.

Work doesn’t stop when you clock out. It just changes form. There is no getting around the fact that there is work involved in a clean house. Good habits and routines will drastically reduce the amount of housekeeping that has to be done, but let’s face it, the vacuuming, mopping, and scrubbing toilets still have to happen.

I am going to share some tips with you to help you work smart, not hard, to get that work done and still have time for rest and play.

Enlist help. Like my husband did with the swing set, get the family to help you. Kids, even little ones can help. The bigger ones definitely should help! Your children need to learn to work. It’s a life skill they will appreciate learning! (Eventually!) They need to learn how rewarding a “job well done” is. How nice it feels to have a clean room and how proud you feel of your home when it is clean. I, personally, don’t feel that rewards or allowance for doing household chores is beneficial. I don’t get paid to clean my house. The reward comes from feeling good about the job you did. Teach them to take the time to enjoy the feeling of accomplishment.

2. Make it fun. Whether it is just you or the whole family involved in cleaning, make it fun! Make it a good time rather than drudgery. If you hate it, your family will pick up on that. Why would they want to help do something that is clearly a terrible thing? Fake it till you make it if you have to! Put on some music dance with the broom, sing loud and silly! Do whatever it takes to make it fun.

When my kids were elementary school age, we made it a game. I wrote every chore that needed to be done on an index card. I broke the chores down into very specific things. “Clean upstairs bathroom tub”, “Clean downstairs bathroom toilet”, “Mop kitchen”, etc. The index cards were placed upside down on the kitchen table and mixed up. A bell was in the middle of the table. We all gathered around the table. I would ring the bell and start a stopwatch. We all grabbed a card and ran to do the chore on our card as fast as possible. When the chore was done it was placed in a discard pile, you got to ring the bell and then grab another card. It was wild and hilarious! I am sure we looked ridiculous running like crazy people through the house, breathless, tripping over the vacuum, running into each other, the bell ringing loudly and often. The person with the last card got to make crazy noise with the bell and stop the stopwatch. Housekeeping got done in generally less than twenty minutes! Crazy, right? And it was FUN! It may not have been done perfectly but it was done, everyone was happy and we could go spend our day doing something really fun and come back to a clean house.

3. Break it up. Everyone’s life looks a little different. For some doing a housekeeping game on Saturday morning with the family will work. Now that my kids are adults, I have the housekeeping responsibilities myself. I do not want to spend my Saturday cleaning all alone. I choose to break up my chores and do one or two each day before or after work. The things that may take longer I do on days that I usually have more time or more energy. Most things really don’t take all that long. It always remains the same so I always know what day I am doing what. Monday is laundry and vacuuming, Tuesday is bathroom day. I clean the toilet, the tub and take out the trash and wash the bath towels. Wednesday is sweeping and mopping the house and menu planning. Thursday is the kitchen and some miscellaneous things. I take Fridays to do anything I may not have been able to get done during the week or just take the day off! That is just an example. You know your life and how that might look for you.

4. Do It Weekly. Don’t procrastinate and wait until you stick to the kitchen floor and the tub has a nasty ring around it. Do it while it still looks clean! It is so easy to clean a fairly clean tub in comparison to the full aerobic work out to clean a yucky one. It is house “keeping” rather than the house “cleaning”. The goal is to maintain, not struggle to clean what is already dirty. This saves a major amount of time!

We had some AMAZING Chicken Gyros the other night! I love Gyros and love the traditional lamb, but these were a great switch and super light. Perfect for a summer evening on the patio with a wine spritzer and family to share it with.

Speaking of wine spritzers, if you haven’t had these, you should! YUM!

Barefoot Refresh. Delish!

Here is the link to the Chicken Gyros. We grilled them outside instead of baking in the oven. Was fantastic!

Go check out a Bitchin’ Kitchen!

Chicken Gyros

Please check out the program I use for all my recipes and menu planning! I couldn’t do life without it!

Cook’n is an amazing tool!

Memories being made right here…..

cleaning, family, food, planning

Not the What, but the Why

Posted on April 13, 2018August 17, 2018 by theselfcleaninghouse

bible

I sat quietly preparing for my day this morning, as I do each morning before anyone is up. I was planning my work for the day, reading, praying and just getting mentally prepared for housework, cooking, and many toddlers. I looked at my chores list that doesn’t change much from day-to-day and sighed. Running a well-organized home is very monotonous. Cooking, dishes, laundry, repeat.

notes

(The books I am reading right now are “Secrets of the Proverbs 31 Woman” by Rae Simons and “Becoming the Woman God Wants Me to Be” by Dona Partow. I highly recommend them!)

books

“Housework” is often very devalued and looked upon as menial, less important and those that do it full-time have little to no status. In actuality, those chores that feel monotonous, unimportant and often unappreciated are some of the most important things you can do.

Having clean clothes is pretty important. Just stop doing laundry for a couple of weeks and see how everyone starts noticing! Making meals for your family is important. Important to your budget, and your family’s health. Sitting at the table eating dinner together is vital to family relationships. Having a clean home is important for many reasons!

laundry

So why do we give it such little value? When you clean your home, cook meals, wash clothes, put away toys and shoes, and make appointments for your kids and file paperwork and go grocery shopping, you aren’t just taking care of your home. You are caring for your family! It’s not about the laundry and the dusting, it’s about why you’re doing it. You are creating a safe and stable place for you and your family. A place of peace and not chaos away from the crazy world. A place that your kids can feel taken care of like God cares for us. It is being organized so that there is less stress before everyone leaves for the day and has to deal with stress at school and work. It’s planning ahead for dinner for the family when you all come home so everyone can unwind.

table

“Housework” is the most valuable thing you can do. It shouldn’t be looked down on, or resented! God has given us the very important job of caring for our families. We are blessing them and blessing God by doing those seemingly menial tasks. It is not only valuable, it’s priceless.

While I was thinking about this I decided to change my sigh into thanking God for honoring me with the responsibility of caring for my family by “housework”. He trusted me to do this!

Eph. 6:7 Work with enthusiasm, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. (NLT)

Ecclesiastes 9:10a Whatever you do, do well. (NLT)

Each tedious task is an opportunity to bless our families and bless God. Cleaning the toilet is still not glamorous. Let’s be real. It is still hard to be excited about vacuuming. But I am going to really try to remember that it is not about the chore, it’s about the why.

This is my “why”!

family

cleaning, family, food, organizing, planning, Tips and Tricks

Tips for Trips

Posted on March 31, 2018August 23, 2018 by theselfcleaninghouse

We had a super busy weekend. Granddaughter Brooklyn had an Ice Skating Competition in Montana. It was a great excuse to have a weekend away! Sometimes you really need a three-day weekend to recharge. We got to stay in a pretty nice hotel, go swimming in the pool, sit in the hot tub and enjoy some good food as well as watch some amazing skaters!

Brooklyn did great! We are so very proud of her. Her dedication really shows. She is going to need a whole closet for her medals soon! She was pretty wiped out on the trip home. She worked hard!

Since we were in Missoula, we had to stop at Wheat Montana Farms & Bakery. I use their flour and oat cereal exclusively for my bread, baking, and granola. It’s great stuff!! I can’t purchase it in fifty-pound bags locally so whenever we are anywhere near Missoula we stop in and buy it there.

It had been quite a while since I had been away for a weekend but my inner checklist for what to do before leaving kicked in. Doing these few simple things before leaving not only gives you peace of mind while you are away but makes coming back so much easier!

*The day before you leave be sure you are caught up on laundry. You are going to have plenty when you get back.

*Plan what you are going to have for dinner the day you get back. You will have just spent money all weekend going out and the last thing you want to do is spend more money on pizza your first night home.

*The day you leave run the dishwasher and empty it. Don’t leave any dishes in the sink.

*Make sure there is nothing in the washer or the dyer. If there are clothes in the washer they will get sour and if there are clothes in the dryer they will be wrinkled.

*Tidy up and make the beds.

*Make sure the animals are taken care of.

*Close the blinds and turn down the thermostat.

*Turn off the lights, leaving one on.

*Lock the doors. Make sure someone else has a key in case of emergency.

I went through all these things before leaving for the long weekend. Our cats are used to us being away for a couple days a week in the summers and they are usually fine. This time, however, they must have been playing around the bathroom door while we were gone. One of the cats got shut in the bathroom. I don’t know how long he was in there but he sure let us hear about it when we got home! I still think his sister had something to do with it. Pretty sure I saw her grinning. I wouldn’t put it past her!

See what I mean? Evil looking, isn’t she?! Don’t let her fool you, she is straight up crazy!

I am going to leave you with my whole wheat bread recipe. I hope you enjoy it!

Be sure to take a long weekend and recharge your batteries soon too!

Click here to get the awesome program I use for recipes and meal planning!
Wheat Bread

Serves:
14Yield:
1 loaf

Ingredients:

1 cup	Wheat Montana All-purpose white flour
1 cup	Wheat Montana Prairie Gold whole wheat flour
1/4 cup	multi-grain cereal or super grain blend of choice
1/4 cup	hemp hearts
1/4 cup	raw organic flax seed
1/4 cup	vital wheat gluten
1/3 cup	organic sugar or 1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup	instant potato flakes (NOT potato pearls)
1 tablespoon	instant yeast
2 tablespoons	instant dry milk powder
1 teaspoon	salt
1 1/4 cup	warm water
1 tablespoon	butter or olive oil
1 tablespoon	white vinegar
	butter for brushing on top

Directions:

Mix all dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Put warm water, butter, and vinegar in bread machine pan. Dump in dry ingredient on top. Start bread machine on “Dough” cycle. When done kneading and rising, work the dough a bit to get out air bubbles, shape into a loaf and put into greased/sprayed loaf pan. Heat oven to 375* and let the loaf rise to about double. Bake for 27 minutes, turn pan around and bake for 3 more minutes. Remove from oven and brush with butter. Let cool for 5 minutes and then turn out of loaf pan onto a cooling rack. Let cool for at least 2 hours before cutting. Store in a ziplock bag.

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Bread / Breads

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cleaning, family, planning

House cleaning vs. Housekeeping

Posted on March 16, 2018August 17, 2018 by theselfcleaninghouse

This happened last weekend!!

Saturday was my husband’s birthday and what better way to spend it than with friends and family riding in the snow in beautiful North Idaho. It was a blast! We are beyond blessed that we can do this practically in our backyard.

The sun was bright, the air was clear and chilly but when we stopped for breaks it was comfortable in just a sweatshirt. There was still plenty of snow to make it fun! It was thrilling and our need for nature therapy has been met for now!

When we came home our house was clean and welcoming because we did our morning habits. We changed into comfortable clothes, started a fire in the fireplace and grilled steak for dinner. Hubby said it was one of the best birthdays he has ever had. WIN!

Those little habits can make your weekend seem like a vacation! Isn’t that what a weekend is supposed to be? It is a break from work. A time to enjoy life, enjoy and spend time with family and friends. A time for memory making and forming bonds. I don’t want you to be a slave to your house and your laundry. I guarantee that you can have a clean and relaxing house to come home to and be able to spend time on the weekends doing the things you love if you begin to establish small habits.

It is easy to make “house cleaning” a HUGE deal in our minds. A massive undertaking. We have to have six hours, twenty different cleaners, the right frame of mind, no make-up, sweats and rubber gloves and do it all at once. This drudgery is overwhelming and discouraging even before you start. I prefer “housekeeping”. Keeping your house clean rather than ruining every other Saturday scrubbing and having your house look crummy two days after all that effort and will until the next scouring session.

Housekeeping is a string of continuous small habits that are short, easy and almost unconscious. Housekeeping frees you to have weekends that are vacations rather than days of backbreaking, unappreciated work. It allows you to come home to your own bed and breakfast and feel peace and rest.

It is my passion to free mom’s and dad’s to spend more time with their kids making memories and husbands and wives to be able to do the fun things and even single people to be able enjoy life! I want to free all of you from “housecleaning”. I want everyone to able to enjoy a peaceful clean, organized and welcoming home and enjoying doing the things you love!

So, who is up for a challenge?! For the next week do these simple habits every day and see what happens! I would love to hear from you! Are you ready for a self-cleaning house?

Make your bed every day
Clean your bathroom every morning
Empty the dishwasher and put out a clean dish towel and dish cloth
Take out the trash
Start a load of laundry and put away the clothes in the dryer
Be proud of your home!

Do your habits, make memories and enjoy your weekend!

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food, planning

Menu planning

Posted on February 21, 2018August 17, 2018 by theselfcleaninghouse

Sunday is usually my “prep for the weekday”. My husband works Sundays so I have time to myself to get things prepared for dinners, our lunches for the week, start on laundry, make sure uniforms are clean and ready and gear up for daycare for the coming week. The whole family comes to dinner on Sundays too, so it’s a busy day!

This last Sunday was especially busy! Granddaughter Brooklyn had an ice skating show Sunday afternoon.

Isn’t she just the cutest Tinkerbell you’ve ever seen?! They are not very clear pictures. The plexiglass at the rink is pretty beat up from hockey! You can see that she is quite good though! Especially for six years old! We are all so proud of her! She has a competition coming up in March in Montana. She will be practicing hard for that.

The Ice Show went longer than I had anticipated Sunday evening so I was really glad I had put a roast in the crockpot for pulled pork “Frito Burritos” as Brooklyn calls them.

My pork roast was a bit small so I put a small beef roast in another little crock pot. (I have three! I don’t feel you can have too many crock pots!) I put some beef broth over both roasts and a bit of salt, pepper, chili powder and cumin and turned them on low for the day. I put some rice in my rice cooker (An invaluable appliance!) and turned that on before leaving the house.

If you don’t already have a rice cooker, click on this one to check it out on Amazon!

When we all met back at the house for dinner the roasts were ready and so was the rice. My girls helped cut up some olives and tomato while I warmed up some black beans and refried beans and shredded the roasts. We got out the hot sauce, sour cream, jalapenos and the FRITOS! We wrapped all that up in giant burrito size tortillas. YUM! I wanted to get pictures but it was gone too fast!

Menu planning is vital for a well-run house. It is important for your budget, your health and for your sanity! When you plan ahead you can avoid having to eat out. I didn’t know that the ice show would go so long but I knew I wouldn’t be home to prepare something so I used my crockpot. Had I not planned ahead we probably would have had to order pizza. That would definitely not be good for the pocket-book.

After a long day at work, no one wants to try to figure out what to make for dinner or run to the store at 5:30. The drive-thru seems like a good option at the time but your health and weight will pay for that.

To save money, be healthy and have peaceful evenings, take a few minutes out of every week to plan a menu.

Take stock of what is in your freezer and pantry. Try to use things you have first. Check out your grocery store’s ads. Buy meat when it is on sale. My grocery store’s ads come out every Wednesday so that is the day I make my menu for the next week, Sunday-Saturday.

Look at your calendar, what do you have going on? Do you need to plan a crock pot dinner? Is everyone going to be eating together? Is there a night it’s just you and you can have leftovers?

Check the weather for the week. I am very much a “what do I feel like eating today” sort of person so weather is something that I look at when I make a menu. If it is raining and cold I am not going to want a salad for dinner. I am going to want soup and I know this about me, so I plan for it.

I use an awesome tool for menu planning. I have been using a computer program, Cook’n for all my recipes for a very long time and I absolutely love it! You can import recipes with a click of the mouse and drag and drop them into your week or month’s menus. I highly recommend the program. They also have an app for Android and IOS that is super convenient! The company has been around since the early nineties and has only gotten better over time. Their support is great too! I seriously couldn’t live without this!

It makes menu planning fun! Please check them out here:

http://www.dvo.com/index.php?CID=blondie

Whatever you use, whether it be a computer program, App or a pad and pencil, just use it! Plan! It will save time and money and it will give you and your family peaceful dinners together. Take a few minutes so that you can spend more time doing what you love with who you love.

Here is a link to the Neato Frito Over-Stuffed Burritos that we had for dinner on Sunday! Check it out! They were amazing!

foodiewithfamily.com/neato-frito-overstuffed-burritos