Wonder Woman Wednesday-Oh Snap! What's for Dinner?!

If you are new to the blog, Wonder Woman Wednesday is all about building you up.  It's midweek, I've "screwed up" countless times, forgotten something important, etc.  Whatever it was has messed up my week and I am bummed.  (Insert the Wonder Woman Wednesday blog!!)  Once I start writing this particular blog, I immediately start to feel better and realize the mistakes weren't that big of a deal.  For this blog I will change up the dynamics a little.  I will start to feature real life Wonder Women, organizing tips (that I have ACTUALLY tried), quick recipes (that I have ACTUALLY tried) and motivational "stuff" to get you through the week.

So for this week, I thought I would give you my tried and true tips for organizing a meal plan.  Don't you hate it when you get home late, and you are scrambling to make dinner from apple pie filling and a can of green beans? (Completely hypothetical!)  With school starting back up, most of us are going to be running on fumes by mid-September.  Kids' activities, homework, housework, work, etc all get in the way of you making a fabulous meal for your family at least 5 nights a week.  Last January, I decided I was going to make a meal plan for the entire month!  I found that my grocery bill was cheaper (on average $50 cheaper a week!) and my stress level was decreased.  Now before you start with the excuses of why you can't prepare a month's worth of meals, let me stop you.  Yes you can!  I have a husband, 2 kids in sports and run two small businesses so if I can do it, so can you.  Take one Fri or Saturday night, sit down with all your family's favorite recipes, your calender for the month (with the extra activities on it... ie, games, practices, etc), your Pinterest board of recipes and a piece of notebook paper.  Number your paper 1-31 (or however many days are in the month) and just start writing dinner plans on each line.  If you won't be home one night for dinner because of Johnny's football game, write "EAT OUT" or something like that.  I think my first meal plan took me around 45 minutes to plan.  The months after that were around 30 minutes or less.  Now that you have a meal plan, create a notebook with ALL those recipes in there. (SIDE NOTE:  I made my sister one for her birthday that was categorized: chicken, meat. pasta, sides, desserts...)  That way you have one spot to gather all your ingredients for the grocery list. I usually grocery shop on Fridays so I make sure to sit down Thursday night and make my list.  I get out my handy dandy recipe notebook with my month's meal plan and write out my list.  I double check the pantry and fridge to make sure I don't buy too many duplicates.  I pull out coupons that go with items on the list.  I also make a note beside the item on my list that I have a coupon for it.

Here was my March meal plan.  As you can see there are scratch out marks from changes that were made through the month.  If I try out a new recipe and we DO NOT like it, I scratch it off and it never comes back!  I try to keep easy quick meals during the week and more labor intensive ones on the weekends.  So there you have it!  How to prepare your meal plan for the entire month!!  You eat out less, less impulse buy at the grocery store and your family is healthier!!  Hope this helps you out as the kids start back to school and the schedules get busier!

Hugs y'all!

LSG

Wonder Woman Wednesday-Yea, my house smells that good!

Wonder Woman Wednesdays are all about being even more amazing than you are.  I tend to get in my own little routine, and begin to struggle with balance and think, "How does Sally make it look so easy?!!  Gosh, I hate her for that!;)  This is the place Wonder Woman Wednesday stims from!  We are all have our own little struggle with balance.  It's important to know we are not all alone on our little woman island!  House chores unfortunately fall in the struggle of balance.  Do I take advantage of going to bed at an early time or clean the fridge?  You sit down after a long day of work only to look up and see cobwebs have formed on the living room ceiling...do you get the vacuum out or not?

Today's blog is about getting on a deep cleaning schedule.  When I first started this blog in April, I wrote about our family weekly cleaning schedule.  So you may have looked at that schedule and said, "When does her fridge get cleaned?  EWWW!"  It's on  my deep cleaning schedule.  I put this into place back in January but with the kids' sports, I did not get to stay on top of it as well.  But it is perfect because you can pick a weekend each month and get it all done!!  This is where I should add a picture or the actual schedule...so cue the Pinterest meltdown and the computer issues!!  I can add a picture of what January and February look like... it is the same for July and August.  

Basically each month, a room gets a top to bottom cleaning!  Ceiling fans get dusted, blinds dusted, furniture moved and vacuumed, windows get washed (in the warm months), and whatever else can be cleaned!  This does not take as long IF the weekly schedule has been kept up with.  You sit down that Sunday evening WITHOUT seeing cobwebs on your ceiling!!

Hugs ya'll,
LSG

Wonder Woman Wednesday-"So you had a bad day..."

Admit it... when you ready today's title, you sang that last part. Today's blog is about staying positive when you just don't think you can even muster a smile on your face.  We've all had those days. Sometimes, "those days" turn into "those weeks."

Before you start thinking, "oh she's ones of those annoying people on morning talk shows." let me say this-NO I AM NOT! I don't drink coffee (yuck!) and I really don't like getting up early. I don't care for loud noises before 8 am.  That would be the reason for "no duck calling before 7am" in the house for my little guy.  I really don't like phone calls before 8 am (can't you just text me?!)  I REALLY don't like mornings when my little guy rambles on about a cartoon he saw 2 years ago!

However, eventually I have to snap out of this and get my day going.  By day, I am a pediatric speech therapist.  Would you hire Depressing Dena or Negative Nancy as someone to reinforce good language with your active toddler? I think not.  So for me, being around little ones with their funny little personalities keep me positive.  Most of the day is smiling or laughing at some crazy thing they are doing.

But not everyone works with kids (or enjoys their job), so here are some other ways to keep positive (without meds and adult beverages):

1.  Music!!  Depending on your taste, music tends to put you in a better mood!  Whether it speaks to your soul or gets you moving and out of your funk, music is one way to get in a more positive frame of mind.

2. Naps!  I know I always wake up in a better mood after a good nap on Saturday.

3.  Reading!  Whether it's your favorite bible verses, inspirational quotes or just a favorite book, reading tends to clear the head of negativity.

4.  Time with Friends!!  It might be a girls night out or just a chat session over the phone.  Either way, talking to friends makes Negative Nancy leave the circle.

5.  Fake it til you feel it!!  Yep, that's right!  Plaster the biggest "you know what" eating grin on your face until it's not fake anymore!  Before you know it, your smile muslces hurt from smiling.  (Because smiling is my favorite...)

6.  Exercise!!  Exercise creates endorphins....Endorphins make you happy...Happy people don't just go around killing people (to loosely quote Elle Woods from Legally Blonde)  It's true, excerise does clear the mind and shake loose the negativity.

It's always important to remember that a bad event does not have to take over your entire day.  In the big scheme of life, it matters about as much as the ice that is melting in my DQ cup.  Yeah it will change the taste of my DP but I can always get a fresh one. The bad things will melt away to give you a fresh chance at something great.

Hugs ya'll!

LSG