Happy Day After Thanksgiving

I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving weekend.

We were especially thankful for friends that fed us this weekend, which while leaving us leftoverless made us feel loved.

And speaking of leftovers....

Did you know that you can freeze turkey dinner?

It's true!

When the boys were little we used to cook an entire turkey just to split up into different containers to pop in the freezer to enjoy at a later date.

Time saving AND delicious.

And now here's a little eye candy for your Tuesday morning.

This pantry leaves me a little weak in the knees.

My pantry looks nothing like it.


It does inspire me to get at my pantry, wipe it down and get it cleaned up a little.

We challenge you to do a 15 minute clean up in the pantry and let us know after you are done!

8 meals, 1 mess.

When Cheryl and I talk about how we survived the "early years" with young kids, we fondly remember our meal swaps. The two of us and two other trusted girlfriends would do a frozen meal swap about once a month. We would each choose a different recipe and make a super large batch of it so that is could be divided into eight 9x9 cake pans. We'd share them around so that each mom took home 2 of each of the 4 different dishes. One big mess, 8 delicious meals.

If you're looking for a way to save time, money & mess in the kitchen, and have a few like-minded cooks in your circle of friends, we dare you to give it a try.

Sunday Planning Ritual

It's one of the little moments I look forward to on a weekend. (Maybe be I should get out more.)

A comfy spot on the couch,

A leisurely stroll through the grocery store flyers,

A fresh page in my note book

A big cuppa English Breakfast Tea, sweet and creamy.

I go through each store's flyer, jot down any super deals on stuff we need/use, and try to plan my meals accordingly. (I recently went on a mission to "eat through" our freezer so that I could defrost it and start over in the shopping/meals department. It's kinda nice to have a clean slate!)

I'm finding it's a good way to save money (who's with me on the small victories??), add a little variety to our menu, and plan ahead so I can cut down on the trips to the grocery store.

For example, this week, this is what I found on sale...

I only write down what I know we need or go through a lot of. (Personally, I only REALLY stockpile if it's an AMAZING deal.) And then see how I can work those deals into the menu...so I know this week we'll have:

-Pork Roast w/ cauliflower side (cheese sauce, of course--the cauliflower is just a means to an end.)

-Pasta Carbonara (Love it when bacon is on sale... I cook a whole package on a pampered chef bar pan and freeze it to use when we need it. One mess, lots of baconny possibilities

-Soup and BLTs (Does anyone else have childhood flashbacks to Habitant Pea Soup?)

Might be worth a try if you're trying to cut down on the grocery bill and get a bit of a nerdy high from list making :-)

Chores in 10 minute chunks.

Got a job to do that you can not get motivated to start?

Try setting your timer for 10 minutes, attack the undesirable chore and see how far you get. When the buzzer goes, set it for another 10 minutes and do something fun... like blog-stalking or painting your toenails. or a little on-line Sudoku (that's for you, Cheryl!) When the buzzer goes again, set it for 10 more and get back to that chore... lather, rinse, repeat. You get the idea.

Give it a shot next time you need to clean your stove or go through the paperwork in the office--whatever your least favorite cleaning/organizing activities are. Anything is tolerable for 10 minutes at a time.

So what's your least favorite chore around the house?
Are you willing to give it a shot?
We dare you!
Let us know how it goes!