Monday, January 27, 2014

Share Your Stuff Tuesdays

Welcome to another week of Share Your Stuff Tuesdays!!  As always, thank you to everyone who linked up, or visited and commented on the posts!  Remember that you are linking up at 5 blogs every time you post!!

Erin at Table For Seven
FaceBook    Twitter    Pinterest    Google+    Instagram



Jenn at Five-Fifty Westmount (formerly iHeart Hands-On)
FaceBook     Twitter     Google+     Pinterest

Stop by the other hosts' sites to say "Hi" and check out their favorites from this past week!

The post with the most views was 
bistro chicken salad #lunch

Some of my favorites were:

Cinnamon Coffee Cake 8


Be sure to grab a Featured Button from my buttons page at the top of the blog!  

Looking forward to seeing all of your posts this week!




Monday, January 20, 2014

Share Your Stuff Tuesdays

 Hi everybody!  I hope you had a great weekend!  We had some awesome posts at last week's party!  Thanks so much for linking up and visiting some other sites!

The post with the most views last week was:


Some of my favorites were:

SONY DSC


Valentines Day Sun Catchers Craft



Be sure to grab a featured button from my buttons page at the top of the blog!  And check out each of the other hosts' favorites as well!
FaceBook    Twitter    Pinterest    Google+    Instagram



Jenn at Five-Fifty Westmount (formerly iHeart Hands-On)
FaceBook     Twitter     Google+     Pinterest

On to this week's party!  Thanks so much for stopping by today!


Thursday, January 16, 2014

Cleaning Schedule and Tips



Hi everybody!  I received an email this week from someone asking about my cleaning schedule.  I have had other people ask me about it in the past as well so I thought I would lay it all out here for you!

While I absolutely drool over the many adorable printable cleaning schedules you can find online, none of them ever work for me.  I feel like I need to have my own, personalized to my family, schedule.


So this is what I came up with.  No where near as pretty as others you can find, but it does the trick.  I wanted it to fit on one page so that I could easily hang it on my magnetic board in my Butler's Pantry in my Command Center (see that post here).  I have it in a page protector so I can check everything off with a dry erase marker and then resuse it every week.

I have 4 things that I do every day-beds, counters, tables (kitchen & dining), and bathroom vanities.


 Saturday and Sunday I try to not do anything except these 4 things.  But these are also good days to catch up on other things that did not get done that week.  In a family of 6, there are some very busy days where not much cleaning gets done around the house!

Mondays I do a quick wipe down of the bathrooms in addition to the vanities...I have young boys...need I say more?!  The toilets and surrounding floor need attention more than just once a week unfortunately...and speaking of my boys, they share a room and a hamper, so their laundry gets done together.  

I try to do a quick spot clean of kitchen cabinets as things come up, but this day I try to wipe down all the fronts no matter what.  

Deep cleaning the bathrooms!  Yay!  I also do a wipe down of my stove when I am cleaning the counters after dinner each night, but this is the day to clean the grates, knobs, etc.  

There's usually not much to be done in our laundry room as far as cleaning goes because our laundry room is in the basement and also serves as our storage room.  But rugs do need to be vacuumed, machines wiped down, etc.

We have a built in dog crate area that we call their 'house'.  This gets a good scrubbing on Fridays.




I also have a section for other jobs that need to be done through out the week but not on any specific day-windows, cleaning couches, sweeping porches/deck, etc.

The main thing that I do it try to keep our house picked up at all times.  And yes, I do mean at all times.  I'm crazy like that.  I have this fear of someone knocking on my door at any given moment and toys might be out on the living room floor, a paper sitting on the desk, a dish in the sink, or something on the counter.  It's ridiculous I know.

And I know what you are thinking, yes, I do allow my children to play and have fun with toys!  My 2 year old is currently in 'Tornado Mode' as we call it.  You can pick one thing up and turn around and 5 other things are already on the floor.  Drives me crazy!  But she is not old enough to go downstairs in the playroom by herself yet, so I am finding myself having to be a bit more flexible with the toys in the living room these days.  She has a basket hidden behind the couch with toys.  When things start getting a little too nutty for me I throw some back in the basket.  But, I never leave the house with the toys still out.  I never go to bed with them out.  And what makes it work is that it is so simple to do.  She knows where her toys go, and it takes less than a minute to gather everything up and throw it back in there before we leave.  (Did  I mention that I also have a fear of my house catching on fire while I am gone and firefighters coming into a messy house?!  My husband laughs at me, but it is an actually worry of mine!)

So here are my tips for you:
1.  Come up with what works for you.  Don't take my schedule and make it yours.  Write down what needs to be done on a weekly basis in your house and fit it to your schedule.  I am home with my kids at this stage of my life, but if I were working my schedule would look very different-I would utilize my weekend more for cleaning.
2.  Keep things picked up.  Nothing feels better than walking in the door when you come home to a picked up house.  Your floors may not be sparkling, but having things picked up will immediately make your home appear cleaner.
3.  Make your bed.  In addition to walking into a clean house, nothing feels better at night than walking in to your room to a nicely made bed.  It will instantly make your bedroom feel cleaner as well.  And it seriously only takes a minute to do-and I have lots of pillows to put on mine!  It won't cause you to be late or take away from your morning routine.
4.  Declutter.  Go through your house room by room.  Toss or donate anything you aren't using.  You will clear space to put away the things you are using, and make it easier to find things when you are looking for them.
5.  Do something about your paper.  Paper can pile up in a house so quickly and before you know it you can have piles of stuff all over the place.  You can see my attempt to corral our paper here, but again, find a system that works for you.
6.  Get everyone on board.  You can't do it alone.  While I like to do cleaning myself (because again, I'm crazy like that and want it done a specific way),  my kids and husband can do their share of putting their things away.  The kids are in charge of making sure the playroom is picked up every night before they go to bed, and after dinner I give them a dust pan and tell them to sweep under the table.  They also know that they need to keep their rooms picked up.

I hope that helps get you started on figuring out what will work for you and your family!  I would love to hear what things you do to keep your house in order as well!  Happy Cleaning!  -Emily


Linking up at:
http://www.lambertslately.com/
http://www.frommyfrontporchtoyours.com/
http://www.allthingsheartandhome.com/
http://ivyandelephants.blogspot.com/
http://www.thesassyslowcooker.com/
http://www.astrollthrulife.net/
http://www.savvysouthernstyle.net/
http://www.cleanandscentsible.com/
http://boogieboardcottage.blogspot.com/
http://saving4six.com/
http://craftdictator.com/
http://thecharmofhome.blogspot.com/
http://www.nancherrow.com/
http://frenchcountrycottage.blogspot.com/
http://bacontimewiththehungryhypo.blogspot.com/

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Kid Friendly Lasagna


I found this recipe in a Better Homes and Gardens Junior Cookbook several years ago.  It is super simple to put togeher, and kid friendly in taste!

12oz Ground Beef
2 1/2 Cups Spaghetti Sauce
Dried Lasagna Noodles
1 1/2 Cups Cottage Cheese
1 1/2 Cups Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
Parmesan Cheese to taste (optional)


Coat the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish with some of the spaghetti sauce.  

Brown the ground beef in a skillet.  

 Drain any fat and stir in the remaining spaghetti sauce. 

Layer dried noodles in the baking dish.

Add half of the meat and sauce mixture.  

Layer half of the cottage cheese on top of the noodles. 

Add a layer of half of the mozzarella cheese.  

Add a second layer of noodles, meat, and cheeses. Add Parmesan if desired.  
Cover with foil and bake for 1 hour at 350°F.  

ENJOY! 


Linking up at:
http://ivyandelephants.blogspot.com/
http://craftdictator.com/
http://www.allthingsheartandhome.com
http://www.thesassyslowcooker.com
http://www.astrollthrulife.net
http://www.savvysouthernstyle.net/
http://www.cleanandscentsible.com
http://boogieboardcottage.blogspot.com/
http://www.lambertslately.com/
http://www.frommyfrontporchtoyours.com/
http://saving4six.com/
http://thecharmofhome.blogspot.com/
http://www.nancherrow.com/
http://frenchcountrycottage.blogspot.com/

Monday, January 13, 2014

Share Your Stuff Tuesdays


Welcome to another week of Share Your Stuff Tuesdays!  I am so excited to see what you have for us this week!  Don't forget that by posting today you are sharing on FIVE different blogs!!
FaceBook    Twitter    Pinterest    Google+    Instagram



Jenn at Five-Fifty Westmount (formerly iHeart Hands-On)
FaceBook     Twitter     Google+     Pinterest

Pop on over to the other hosts' sites to say 'hi' and see what their favorites are this week!  The post with the most views from last week was:
My book list for 2014. Jon Acuff, Elisabeth Elliot, Jesse & Susan Wise and more! Lots of good ideas.

Some of my favorites were:
linen closet organization


Bake Live a Sweet Life Baking Cinnamon Roll Muffins
Be sure to grab a "Featured" button from the page at the top of my blog!  

Onto this week's party!  


Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Spicy Chicken Enchiladas




There are only 2 times that I allow the kids to eat something different than what I am cooking-when we have steaks (for obvious reasons), and these enchiladas, because they are quite spicy.  But they are so good!  You can alter the spice level a little if you don't want as much of a kick.  To tone it down a little use just the chipotle sauce.  You can either strain it out of the can or we have actually found smalls cans of just the sauce-often labeled Chipotle Salsa.  

3T Vegetable Oil
1 1/2 lbs. Chicken Breasts
Sale & Pepper
2t Cumin Powder
2t Garlic Powder
2t Taco Seasoning
1C Corn
5 Canned Green Chilies, Chopped (or small can all ready chopped)
4 Canned Chipotle Chilies, Chopped (or 2 cans of Chipotle sauce)
1 Can (28oz) Stewed Tomatoes
16 Tortillas
4 Cans Enchilada Sauce, Mild or Medium
4C Cheddar Jack Cheese


 Coat a large skillet with oil.  Season chicken with salt and pepper.  Combine cumin, garlic powder, and taco seasoning and sprinkle on both sides of the chicken.  Cover and cook until chicken is cooked through.

Shred the chicken finely.  I like to pull out my big Momma mixer (6qt, I also have Baby 4.5qt) and use the flat beater for this.  It is SO much faster than shredding by hand!!  Just make sure the chicken is warm when you put it in to shred.

When the chicken is shredded, add some of the chipotle sauce and mix in.  (You can skip this step if you want to tone down the spice level.  Just add it in the next step).

 In the same skillet that you cooked the chicken in, add corn, green chilies, chipotle chilies,  and tomatoes.  Allow that to simmer for about 5 minutes.

Then add in the chicken and simmer for another 5 minutes.

Coat the bottom of a 9x13 baking pan with some enchilada sauce, then begin to assemble your enchiladas.  Dip the tortilla into enchilada sauce then spoon the chicken mixture in and sprinkle in a little cheese.  Roll it up and place in the pan.  Do this until the pan is full (we usually fit 6 in each pan).  

Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top.  Bake at 350°F for about 15 minutes or until cheese is completely melted.  

ENJOY!


Linking up at:
http://thecharmofhome.blogspot.com/
http://frenchcountrycottage.blogspot.com/

Monday, January 6, 2014

Share Your Stuff Tuesdays!


Hey everybody!  Hope you are all staying warm!  We have been hit hard by Old Man Winter this week, so I'm excited to sit in my nice warm house and check out everything you have been up to lately!

When you link up today, you are posting to these four blogs:
FaceBook    Twitter    Pinterest    Google+    Instagram



Jenn at Five-Fifty Westmount (formerly iHeart Hands-On)
FaceBook    Twitter    Pinterest    Instagram     Google+

And this week we also have CJ from Morsels of Life.  She will be with us for the next few weeks.  
FaceBook     Twitter     Google+     Pinterest


The post with the most views last week was


Some of my favorites this week were:



P1010207



 

Don't forget to grab a Featured button from my buttons page at the top!  And be sure to stop by the other hosts' sites to see if you have been featured over there!

Let's get to it this week!