10 Ways to Lift Your Mood

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Every now and then life going to come at you with bad days, bad moods, and bad memories that threaten to tie weights around ankles and sink you faster than the Titanic.

For this reason I like to keep my trusty notebook, that is filled of things to do in any given situation. So with that, I give you.....

10 Ways to Lift Your Mood

1. Have a dance party

2. Grab a favorite beverage from your local cafe or coffee shop

3. Buy yourself some flowers

4. Grab your favorite take out or pint of ice cream

5. Take a nap

6. Do some yoga

7. Meditate

8. Cook or bake something

9. Watch a funny movie

10. Cry it out sometimes you just need to

Hopefully, one or a combination of a few these will lift your spirits and put you in a better mood.  If not, then hang in there, things will get better. I swear. 

 

Happy Homemaker Monday {5/15/2023}

Good evening everyone and welcome back to my blog. 

I hope every everyone had a wonderful weekend and are ready for the week ahead. 

It's almost 12:00am and I am just now sitting down to write this post. It's been a busy day with the usual house work and homeschooling (it's out last week, YAAAAY). I had a relaxing and fun Mother's Day yesterday. Mu girls gave me drawings that they had been working on for a few weeks plus a beautiful mug that they had picked out themselves. It was a day full of card games, chess, checkers, and a couple of movies.

Happy Monday and have a wonderful and productive week!

 

 

The weather outside is:

Today's weather was damp and muggy. It was 76 degrees with lots of clouds and some sunshine here and there. We have had a lot of rain the last few weeks and more to come this week

What we had for dinner tonight (instead of the breakfast plate):

Dinner salads and fruit

As I look out my window:

It's dark with some clouds

As I look around the house:

The living room needs to be picked up and then kitchen needs to be straightened and the last load of laundry needs to be folded and put away.

Currently reading:

No Way out by Fern Michaels

On the TV this week:

Right now I am watching Cobra Kai (season 5) Stranger Things (season 3) and rewatching 1883 and restarting Manifest on Netflix.

On the Menu this week: (I'm still figuring out the meal plan for this week)

Monday- Dinner salads with fruit

Tuesday- Roast with potatoes and carrots

Wednesday- ???

Thursday-Hamburgers and fries

Friday- Pizza and breadsticks

Saturday- Leftovers

Sunday- Beans and fried potatoes with cornbread

Inspirational quotes: 

 

Mother's Day 2023

 Happy Mother's day to all of moms! You are beautiful. Your are strong.

 

 

Currently {5/13/2023}

 

 

Time and place:10:20pm and I am in the dining room, typing up this post.

  
Eating: Nothing at the moment

Drinking: A big glass of water (always)

Watching:  Stranger Things on Netflix

 

 

Reading: I'm still reading Flowers in the Attic and plan on reading the entire Dollanganger series over the next few months.

Loving: Being able to sit down after a long day of housework and taking care of my family and read my book for a little while.

Working: I'm still working on my meal planner. I cannot wait to see how it turns out! I'm so excited for this new project. I am also working on a weekly planner insert that I am excited about and a note pad that I have been wanting to design for a while now. I am also working on a monthly/weekly planner (that's almost done and should be ready in the next few days. I can't wait to see how these turn out. We will be launching our 2024 Weekly Planner on Amazon the first week of July. So, stay tuned for that announcement. My Etsy shop is open and I am adding new listings every week.

 

Here is the link to my Etsy shop:

 

Pen To Paper Designs Inc 

 

Listening to: the TV.

Buying: Groceries for this month and stocking up on certain items that are needed. I'm also looking at clothes and other household items that are needed.

Planning: I have most of my posts planned for MayI just have to write and schedule them. I am working on setting up some deadlines for my meal planner and other planners that I am working on. I am also working on some planner inserts. This should keep me busy for a while!

 

I'm trying to plan out a work schedule for this month. Hopefully I will figure one out soon.

Wondering: can I pull it off? How will I pull it off?

Feeling: tired, but happy, always.

 

6 Basic Steps Towards Easy Meal Prep at Home

One of the best pieces of advice that I have for people in terms of saving money is to get into the habit of preparing your own homecooked meals at home – Restaurants are expensive. Takeout is expensive. Delivered food? Expensive. Prepackaged meals? Expensive. All of that stuff drains your wallet far faster than you might realize.

So, what’s the argument against cooking at home? Many meals require some degree of skill to make and although that skill level is often pretty low, it’s still present. There’s also the time issue and the energy issue and the equipment issue – each solvable, of course, but they again provide resistance against preparing food at home.

So, here are six basic things you can do to work towards effortless meal preparation at home.

1. Experiment when you have more time in the kitchen. 

The time to learn how to cook is not when you come home from a long day at work and feel absolutely exhausted, or when you just don't have the time and can’t afford anything going wrong. Often, people find themselves in these positions without any sort of cooking skills which makes cooking feel overwhelming or impossible.

2. Plan a little.

While it’s fun to imagine a home chef just throwing things together based on whatever’s in the cupboard, the truth is that it only really works if you have a lot of staples on hand, and if you’re reading this article, you probably don’t have a lot of staples on hand and also probably don’t have any ideas of how to use them.

That’s why, at first, it’s a really good idea to follow recipes carefully. A good recipe tells you what you need to have on hand right at the start, so plan ahead a little and make sure you have all of those things on hand. This will probably involve a trip to the grocery store, but it’s far better to do that before doing anything else.

3. Make a dump meal. 

This is about the easiest thing you can make at home. It basically just requires a slow cooker – it’s really the only kitchen implement you need for this. All you have to do is just put a small set of ingredients in there in the morning, turn it on low, and come home to a finished meal. Some of the ingredients might require a cutting board and a knife to chop up a vegetable or slice up a piece of meat, and you might need a can opener. It can’t get any easier than this – in fact, I find such meals to be less hassle than actually ordering food or going to a restaurant, and they’re cheaper, too.

4. Make macaroni and cheese.

 Almost everyone likes macaroni and cheese. It’s such a simple, pleasant food that can be made incredibly straightforward to please children or fancied up to please almost any palate. It’s also one of the easiest things on Earth to make, so I usually encourage people to make this as one of the first things they prepare in the kitchen. Each of my children – all of them pre-teen – have pulled this off with success.

5. Make scrambled eggs.

If you like to eat scrambled eggs at all, I strongly encourage you to learn how to make scrambled eggs. It’s an incredibly simple and flexible thing you can make for yourself or your family, it works with every meal, you can mix in almost anything savory, and it reheats well if you have extras.
Just crack a number of scrambled eggs in a bowl – however many you like – and beat them with a fork until they’re consistently yellow, a minute or two. Add a bit of salt and beat that in for a few seconds, then let the bowl sit.
Take a teaspoon of butter and put it in the middle of a skillet. Put it over medium heat and let the butter melt, then use a plastic spoon or a spatula to move the butter all over the skillet until the skillet is coated. Add the scrambled eggs and let them cook for a minute, then slowly pull that plastic spoon or spatula along the bottom of the skillet to pull up egg curds off of the skillet’s bottom. Do this over the entire bottom of the skillet, then repeat every thirty seconds until the eggs look like slightly wet version of the scrambled eggs you’d normally eat, then remove from the heat, wait a minute or so, and serve.
You can obviously mix lots of things into this recipe. Almost any savory vegetable works, as do most cooked meats and most cheeses. It all turns out delicious and with such little effort.

6. Handle Dirty Dishes the Smart Way

One of the big obstacles for many people in terms of cooking at home is dealing with the cleanup. If you eat at a restaurant, it’s done for you; if you get takeout or delivery, you can just toss the wrappers and other items. On the other hand, if you cook at home, you have to deal with all of that stuff.
A dishwasher makes it much easier, but even then, there’s some extra work involved. Also, many apartments and some homes (like my parents’ home) don’t have a dishwasher and don’t have space for one.
 Here are a few strategies I know from having lived most of my life in places with a kitchen too small for a dishwasher.

Have good tools. Have a strong scrubbing brush and a dish rag at your sink, along with good soap at hand. If you don’t have those things, it’s going to take far longer to wash dishes.

If you have a two bin sink, keep one sink full of water with a bit of soap in it. Just block the drain, fill it perhaps a quarter full with hot water, and add a bit of soap. Then, put your dishes right in that soapy water throughout the day, perhaps adding a bit more hot water once in a while. Just let the dishes soak. It’ll make it much easier to wash them when the time comes, and the other sink bin will be free.

If you have a one bin sink, get a large plastic bin, put it beside the sink, and keep your dirty dishes in there. This keeps the sink free of dishes so that you can easily start in with cleaning whenever you’re ready. Just toss dirty dishes in the bin for the moment, then wash everything in the bin at once when you’re ready. Since the sink is empty, you can dive right in. If the bin is watertight, you can put a bit of hot soapy water in there to soak some of the dishes, as noted above.

If something has caked-on grease or food pieces, pour a bit of vinegar, a bit of baking soda, and a bit of soap in it and fill it with hot water and let it sit for a long time, like a day. After that, it becomes really easy to wash. This takes care of basically every nasty caked-on grease problem I’ve ever faced.

Wash things in “streak order.” What do I mean by “streak order”? Start with stuff that will show streaks easily – glass items – then move onto silverware, then plates and plastic items, then pots and pans.

Have a drying rack beside your sink to put dishes in to dry, plus a ton of drying towels. Most things can air dry relatively quickly once rinsed, but a drying towel is great if you need something dry immediately.

Buy dish soap in bulk, then have a pump to dispense it. You don’t really want a bulk bottle of dish soap at your sink because it’s heavy and it takes up lots of space and when you pour it, it dispenses large amounts of soap. However, bulk soap is cheap.
These tactics turn hand washing dishes into a pretty easy task, even if you don’t have a dishwasher.

Final Thoughts 

If you can handle the things above, you’re already well on your way to cooking a wide variety of things at home. Move on to trying other simple dishes – pasta, for example, is incredibly simple – and try variations on the things you already know, like adding tarragon to the scrambled eggs.

 

 

May 2023 Goals

I cannot believe that it's already May and that we only have a few weeks of school left! We have some fun holidays that we are going to celebrate this month, Star Wars Day, Space Day, Derby Day, Mothers Day, and of course the last day of school.

We are just getting  into our spring routine and we are in the process of fine tuning it, so in today's post I would like to share my May 2023 goals with you!

 

 

1. Read one book this month (try to read two if I can).

2. Drink 100oz of water daily.

3. Start using my habit tracker in my bullet journal every day.

4. Eat more fruits and veggies (I have been lagging on this and I really need to fix it).

5. Walk 6 days a week and strength train 3x per week.

6. Have at least two at home date nights with the Husband. 

7. Organize the girls' bedrooms (purge old toys and outgrown clothes).

8. Have an at home spa night with my girls.

What are some of your May 2023 goals?

 

 

Happy Homemaker Monday {5/1/2023}

Good evening everyone and welcome back to my blog. 

It's May! I cannot believe it's May already/ Where has the year gone?! I hope every everyone had a wonderful weekend and are ready for the week ahead. This is going to be fun with all the fun holiday that we like to celebrate:

Star Wars Day- May 4th

Revenge of the Fifth- May 5th

Kentucky Derby - May 6th

 Mother's Day- May 14th

Chocolate Chip Cooking Day- May 15th

It's early evening and I am just now sitting down to write this post. It's been a busy day with homeschooling and working on some projects. Today, I have finished 3 loads of laundry  (the last load is in the dryer), cleaned the kitchen for the last time tonight (who loves a clean kitchen at night?), and I have finally picked up the living from a hard afternoon of playing and relaxing. I just hope my week will be as productive as this day has been.

Happy Monday and have a wonderful and productive week!

 

 

The weather outside is:

Today's weather was gorgeous! It was 76 degrees with lots of sunshine.

What we had for dinner tonight (instead of the breakfast plate):

Spaghetti and garlic knots

As I look out my window:

Dusk is approaching and it looks peaceful outside

As I look around the house:

The living room needs to be picked up and then kitchen needs to be straightened and the last load of laundry needs to be folded and put away.

Currently reading:

The Girl Who Survived by Lisa Jackson

On the TV this week:

Right now I am watching Fatal Attraction (Paramount +) Stranger Things (season 4) and restarting Manifest on Netflix (to get ready for the 2nd part of the last season).

On the Menu this week: (I'm still figuring out the meal plan for this week)

Monday- Spaghetti and garlic knots with green beans

Tuesday- Chicken potatoes and green beans (crockpot dinner)

Wednesday- Leftovers

Thursday- Han Solo Burgers, Vadar Tators, Wookie Cookies, Blue milk

Friday- Pizza and breadsticks

Saturday- Leftovers

Sunday- Beans and fried potatoes with cornbread

Inspirational quotes: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5 Tips For Meal Planning

How do you get dinner on the table week in and week out, without getting bored? How do you stay energized and engaged with the art of cooking at home? These are some questions that you have to ask yourself when it comes to meal planning. Here are 5 tips for learning how to plan your meals.

What is meal planning?

What is meal planning? It's whatever way your organize yourself to cook a meal, whether it breakfast, lunch, or dinner. It is the plan that you make before you shop. Some people plan a month in advance, while other's wing it shopping for that evening's meal picking up whatever looks good to them. Meal planning is personal thing. What works for one person might not work for another person. The goal, I think, to find a process that is both, enjoyable and effective.

 

5 Tips for Meal Planning

1. Spend time each week looking for simple recipes

This may feel like an indulgence, but just let yourself do it. Browse blogs and websites for recipes that look delicious. Check out the blog, Skinnytaste. Pile up some cookbooks and reach for the sticky notes. Get inspired!

2. Create a place to save recipes, and keep it SIMPLE

Do whatever works for you. Don't get caught up in a system, just use whatever works best and most easily. Personally, I like Pinterest because it's easy to visually browse what I've saved.

3. Ask your family what they like to eat

This might sound obvious, but it's easy to get caught up in our weeks and forget to ask our households what they would like to eat. I get extra inspired, too, when I feel like I'm cooking a meal as a gift — trying to please and delight the palate of someone I love. Be aware that this can sometimes backfire. If you ask your family to many times what they like to eat they might get upset with you. Believe me, this has happened to me several times.

4. Check the weather

Again, you may say, duh, but seriously. Right now, the weather is changeable in many parts of the country. Look at the weather forecast, and try to predict if you're going to be in the mood for soup (or grilled shrimp salad!) on Friday.

5. Keep a meal journal

One of my best inspirations is my own record of things I've cooked in the past. Take a look at what you were cooking a year ago, two years ago. It's a good way to remember things you used to cook, and still love. I do this my using a calendar that I write all of our meals on. This really helps to see what meals my family likes the best and what meals they didn't like so much.

What are some tips that you might have for meal planning?

 

 

April 2023 Goals

Happy April everyone! March was a good month for us, with my oldest having a birthday and then spring break.We had another zoom birthday party for my oldest.

 

I have to say that I didn't not achieve any of the goals that I set for myself in March I hope to do better with my goals this month.

 

April 2023 Goals

 

 

 

Here are the goals that I have set for myself this month:

 

1. Read two books (this is all I have time for with homeschooling both kids).

2. Drink 120oz of water daily.

3. Start using my habit tracker in my bullet journal every day.

4. Eat more fruits and veggies (I have been lagging on this and I really need to fix it).

5. Walk 6 days a week and strength train 3x per week.

6. Have at least two at home date nights with the Husband. 

7. Organize the girls' bedrooms (purge old toys and outgrown clothes).

What are some of your April 2023 goals? 

 

 

I am not someone who deals with stress well. Yesterday I had a really stressful day. I lost my temper with my oldest (I still feel bad about that), I argued with my husband over something stupid and just in general, one annoyance after another. That’s what gave me the idea for this post. I want to share 10 things to do when you’re stressed that you can stop and easily do!

10 Things To Do When You’re Stressed

 

 

Vent: I usually vent to my husband. When I am stressed I need to just get it out. Thank god I have the most understanding person in my life. My Husband’s first response is always “how can I help?” Ladies never settle, find a man who asks how he can help.

Meditate/Yoga: I love doing a 10 minute Yoga workout to calm myself down. My favorite on YouTube are from Yoga with Adriene. Her channel is fantastic.

Go workout: If you are able to just say screw it and go to the gym. Running, or lifting will definitely get you de-stressed.

Eat something comforting: I’m sure not everyone will agree with this but you know what made me feel better last Friday? French fries. Sometimes you just have to have the fries, or the pizza, or whatever it is.

Listen to a song you love: Having a great playlist of songs that get you in a great mood is so helpful! For me right now that’s ANYTHING from the 80s or this song right here. I just love it and it's on repeat all the time.

Listen to a podcast that will uplift you: You can find a bunch of podcast posts here. I love to listen to an uplifting podcast when I am stressed. Or even just a really funny one!

Read: I love to escape in a great book. Nothing is better than finding a new book to love. This is the one that I am reading right now.

Go for a walk: Fresh air, birds, sun. A long walk or even a short walk can help! Even if you can’t go outside sometimes walking around your office building, or even around your kitchen island (yep been there done that) can help!

Cry: Cry it out! Feel your feelings. Emotions are important and they must be recognized. Sometimes our stress can be so great that crying is the only thing that will help and thats ok!

Let it go: In the words of Elsa, just LET IT GO! You have to find a way to let it go and move on from the stress or find a way to work through it. If all of these things did their job that should help!

How do you alleviate stress?

 

March Meal Plan

All of the meals that are on the meal plan are husband and kid approved,What's even better is that the majority of the meals are quick quick so they are perfect for busy week nights. I always build in one or two nights a week for leftover and at least one or two for crockpot meals. 

If there is a recipe that  I used for the meal I have included the link so that you can check it out.

March Meal Plan

 

3/1- Chicken with potatoes and carrots

3/2- Leftovers

3/3- Pizza and breadsticks with salad

3/4- Tacos and chips

3/5- Leftovers

3/6- Spaghetti and garlic bread

3/7- Seasoned chicken and potato bites with broccoli and fruit

3/8- Leftovers

3/9- Pinto beans with cornbread

3/10- Pizza and breadticks with salad and fruit

3/11- Sheetpan chicken and veggies

 3/12- Roast (slow cooker) with potatoes and carrots

3/13-Cheesy chicken and tortellini with broccoli and fruit

3/14- Taco Tuesday and Doritos salad

3/15- Leftovers

3/16- Meatloaf mashed potatoes and veggies

3/17- Pizza and breadsticks with salad and fruit

3/18- Chicken burrito protein bowl

3/19- Bean and ham soup (slow cooker)

3/20- Leftovers

3/21- Taco Tuesday

3/22- Slow cooker Italian chicken with potatoes and green beans

3/23- Lasagna roll ups with garlic bread and salad

3/24- Pizza and breadsticks with salad and fruit

3/25- Creamy chicken and penne pasta with veggies and fruit

3/26- Hamburger stew with homemade bread

3/27- Leftovers

3/28- Taco Tuesday

3/29- Slow cooker shredded beef sandwiches with chips and fruit

3/30- Bacon cheese burgers with fries and fruit

3/31- Pizza and breadsticks with salad and fruit

What's on your meal plan this week or this month? Please share in the comments below!

5 Things I Do Every Night

I don't know about you, but I HATE waking up to a messy house. I just starts the day off the wrong way. When you wake up to clean mess free home it just starts your morning off the right way. No tripping over toys and books, no dishes overflowing in the sink, and no rushing to pack Angelina's lunch in the morning. I am not a morning person and I don't pretend to be, however, I do stay up pretty late because it's the only time that I can do my evening routine, which is done once the kids are in bed. This is when i find that I can get things done and I am also more productive at this time as well.

Since I am not a morning person, I like to try and make things just a bit easier on myself the following day by doing 5 simple things the night before.

FIVE THINGS I DO EVERY NIGHT

DO THE DISHES

There is nothing worse than waking up to sink full of dirty dishes and cluttered counter tops. No one wants to maneuver around a sink full of dishes while trying to fix breakfast. So every night before I go to bed I make sure to wash any dishes that need it and put any dishes away that are in the dish drainer. Not only does this kitchen put together but it is nice to have one less thing to worry about in the morning.

PREP LUNCH FOR THE NEXT DAY

We homeschool our kids, but I still make their lunched every night for the next day. Either after dinner or while I am making dinner I pack her lunch. Usually she requests a lunchable or a peanut butter sandwich and when she wants something different I make her a homemade lunchable. By packing her lunch the night before it frees up more time that I could be doing something else.

PREP TOMORROWS DINNER 

If there is anything I hate it is dinner time rolling and I realize that I never took the meat from the freezer that I need for the next day's meal. How many times have I forgotten to defrost the chicken or even put on a pot of beans the night before? Too many to count!!! One thing that I do so that this doesn't happen is prep tomorrows dinner the night before. By doing this the night before bed,  I never have to worry that the items I need for tomorrow's dinner won't be ready.

WIPE DOWN THE COUNTERS

This goes back to the first point about waking up to a messy kitchen.  Plus, depending on what I made that night, I don't want all the germs just sitting on my counter tops. Every night before I go to bed, I wipe down all the counters in the kitchen. By doing this, it ensures that I have a clean surface to cook on the following morning.

PUT THINGS BACK IN THEIR PLACE

Having a 7 year old and a one year old this is a big one for me!!! You know how I mentioned that I hate waking up to messy kitchen, well, I also hat waking up to a messy living room. Now, I don't go crazy the night before but I do like to pick up things and put them in their place. Now, I try to do this multiple times a day because my house can get pretty messy. Usually I have to wait until the kids go to bed, and when they do, I quickly clean the kitchen and living room. It only takes about 45 minutes to complete this task, but it makes a difference knowing that I will be able to sleep in a clean house.

Is there anything that I you do before bed? Do you have a night time routine? I would love to here from you in the comments below!

10 Daily Sanity Savings Habits for Moms

Hi Friends and welcome back to the blog. Today's post is all about daily sanity saving habits for moms. Now, some of these I took directly from my mom and some I figured out on my own. Either way all these habits are helpful in saving a mom's sanity.

So, let me share....

10 Daily Sanity Saving Habits for Moms

1. Have quiet time. For me, this is about an hour before my kids wake up. I sit and work on my bible study, answer emails, or just sit and enjoy the quiet.

2. Prepare the night before. What part of the morning is the most stressful for you? Take that one thing you dread and do a little prep for it the night before. Lay out the kids clothes, shower, prepare breakfast, do baths, or just preset the coffee pot. 

3. Do one load of laundry every day. This really helps in keeping "Mount Washmore" at bay. Just remember to fold and put away. Let's be honest, sometimes I forget that step. Don't we all?

4. Clean as you go. Giving yourself plenty of grace, clean up as you go. If you make dinner, wash those dishes right then. If you see a million crumbs under the high chair, grab a broom and do a two-second sweep.

5. Play with your kids. Slow down and enjoy your little people. Offer to play a game or build blocks. Do something that you know will bring a smile to their face.

6. Do one large chore. Knock out one of the bigger chores everyday. Clean a bathroom, vacuum the floors, organize a drawer,..etc.

7. Have kid clean up time. Instead of the house being a tornado throughout the entire day, choose a couple times a day for them to clean up their messes. A good schedule might be everyday before lunch and then again before bedtime.

8. Meal plan. Save yourself the stress of picking meals every few hours and plan them out. Not only will this be a time saver but a money saver as well.

9. Be thankful. There is always something to be thankful for. Let gratitude drive your attitude and actions throughout your day.

10. Have a regular bedtime for your kids. Kids love routine, even if they fight it sometimes. Make your routine as lengthy and as fun as you want, but get the munchkins to bed so you can recoup and have some quality time to yourself or with your spouse in the evenings.

What is an essential daily habit for you?