Living Joyfully--Enjoy Your Season

Life is made up of seasons. Some are happy, some are bittersweet, and some are more productive than others. By taking advantage of the current season in our life, we resist the urge to compare ourselves to others, and enjoy every blessing we've been given.

• Don't Compare
• If you're in a season where survival is the name of the game (such as going through a difficult pregnancy or handling a newborn with a toddler, dealing with job loss or another major lifestyle change, etc) don't compare your situation to others. Your friend with older children may have a cleaner home, or you may not have the time, energy or finances to participate in many extracurricular activities and that's okay. Look for the little joys in every day and don't compare your situation to anyone else's.
• Choose Contentment Now 
• If you're constantly saying "I'll be happy as soon as ______" then you'll never be happy. There will always be some new milestone to achieve, more money that's needed, a bigger home, etc. In reality, once we get to that new place in our lives we were desiring, we often look back and think "I miss how things used to be." So, enjoy everyday. Embrace the challenges and triumphs of your current season of life and be grateful for what you have now. Life is too short to always be thinking of the next big thing, and not enjoying the blessings you currently have.

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Taming the Clutter--Magazines

I love getting magazines. Thanks to free subscriptions and subscriptions I've received for birthday and Christmas presents to my favorite reads, I always seem to be getting a new magazine issue in the mail. Most of the free magazines I flip through and recycle within a day or two, but my favorite magazines (mostly cooking related), I keep as reference in case I ever need to refer to a recipe or cooking tip.

Up until this month, three years worth of magazines (4 or 5 different titles) were "neatly" stored in a bookshelf at the back of the closet. I had over 200 magazines taking up precious storage room. So, I had to find a way to keep the recipes and articles I wanted while decluttering.

Enter the glorious binder.

If I could have a binder for every part of my life, I would. I love having everything in one place and so beautifully organized...ahhhhh. It's the same feeling I get when I open a brand new box of unsullied-tipped crayons.

I went through every single magazine (I was on bed rest at this point in my pregnancy, so I had plenty of time), and tore out the articles and recipes I wanted to keep. I only kept recipes I knew I would make. Homemade mozzarella cheese, as fun as that sounds, is probably not going to make it's way into my kitchen anytime soon.

While sorting through the magazines I put all the pages into categories. Breakfast Recipes, Lunch Recipes, Dinner Recipes, etc...Kitchen Tips, Kid Activities and Crafts, Beauty and Fashion...the list goes on. Since I had such a backlog of magazines, one whole binder was dedicated to recipes.

I used page protectors (very inexpensive at Target), and placed the recipes back to back so I could flip through them easily. I categorized them with Breakfast Recipes being in the front, and Dessert in the back, and everything in between. I left some empty page protectors in between each section to add more recipes as I get more magazines.

Now, my magazine reading routine has changed as well. I read them promptly and save any applicable articles or recipes while recycling the rest. This eliminates the paper clutter and allows me to use more binders!

How do you tame paper clutter? Let us know in the comments!

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Weekly Menu, February 19-25, 2011

I've really enjoyed the last few weeks of simple menu plans, so I'm continuing the trend this week. I hope to keep my budget at around $50 for the week.

Breakfasts
-Coconut Milk Blueberry Pancakes, Fresh Fruit x 3
-Waffles, Fresh Fruit
-Oatmeal and Fruit with Toast
-Bagels and Fresh Fruit

Lunches
-Out to Eat x 3 (We're going out one extra day this week because of spending the holiday with family)
-Tuna Sandwiches, Chips, Fresh Fruit
-Dairy Free Fruit Smoothies, Breadsticks
-Peanut Butter Sandwiches, Chips, Fresh Fruit 

Dinners
-Black Bean Tacos with Green Salad, Chips and Salsa
-Breakfast Burritos with Fresh Fruit
-Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches with Fries and Carrot Sticks
-Tex-Mex Burgers with Fries and Green Salad
-Buffalo Chicken Salad with Garlic Bread
-Leftovers

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The Great Valentines Day Pancake Experiment

I'm not a particularly handy, crafty, artistic, or do-it-yourself person. Not for lack of desire, but because that gene seemed to have skipped me. I've tried and failed miserably at knitting, sewing, and [insert any do-it-yourself activity found on Pinterest]. I do, however, love pancakes and can find my way around the kitchen pretty well. So, when I saw some ideas for heart shaped pancakes last week, I knew I was going to attempt them as a Valentine's Day breakfast for my family.

I whipped the pancake batter up the night before, and Valentine's Day morning I hopped out of bed (a rarity for this night owl) excited to make delicious, perfectly shaped heart pancakes. Entertaining visions of appearing in the next Martha Stewart Living issue, I transferred the batter into plastic condiment bottles, added red food coloring to half the batter, and heated up the pan.

The first pancake turned out a little awkward, but it was the first pancake after all, and the first pancake is never very good. Then the fun started. The batter kept getting clogged in the bottles. First I tried to clear it with a toothpick, then a bamboo skewer, then I started sawing off the top of the bottles with a serrated knife. This last step, in turn, took away any precision I may have had, thusly creating red and white pancake explosions.

Several pancakes ended up somewhat heart shaped...albeit the kind of "hearts" you would find in a Modern Museum of Art. And, my daughter really enjoyed her breakfast. (I'm completely ignoring the fact that she would have enjoyed any shape/color/variety of pancakes just as much.) It only cost me two condiment bottles (which couldn't be salvaged after I sawed the tops off), 20 extra blood pressure points, and 45 minutes of my life. Next year, I think we'll go out.

And, if my husband is reading this, yes, you told me so.

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Weekly Menu February 13-18, 2012

Like last week, I'm trying to take advantage of quick prep and easy main dishes by using my slow cooker for several meals, and making other prep-ahead meals. 

Breakfasts

-Muffins and Fresh Fruit

-Heart Shaped Pancakes and Fresh Fruit

-Waffles and Fresh Fruit

-Oatmeal with Fruit, Toast

-Bagels and Fresh Fruit

Lunches

-Out to Eat x2

-Grilled Cheese Sandwiches, Chips, Fresh Fruit

-Tuna Sandwiches, Chips, Fresh Fruit

-Dairy Free Fruit Smoothies, Toast

Dinners

-Italian Beef in the Slow Cooker, Baked Fries, Green Salad

-Grilled Marinated Shrimp, Rice Pilaf, Steamed Veggies

-Tex-Mex Burgers, Baked Fries, Green Salad

-Chicken and Black Bean Rice Bowls, Steamed Veggies

-Leftovers

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