Storage Closet Makeover Results!

After a few months of deliberating about when a good time would be to clean out and organize the storage closet in the entryway, I finally decided that there was not going to be a better time than the present.  So, last Wednesday afternoon and evening I spent a little time getting to work on it.  It took way less time than I thought it was going to.  I was all prepared to have a "mess with a purpose" in my living area for a couple days... that might have been a slight miscalculation.  I was able to clean everything out, dispose of unnecessary clutter, categorize items, and put them away neatly in about 2 1/2 hours!  

I was planning on doing a video to give you a glimpse of the finished product, but I ended up going out of town this past weekend to visit some friends and didn't ever get around to making one.  A picture tour is just as fun though. :) You can see a video of what it looked like before here.  

I stuck all the empty boxes that I don't need right now, but also don't want to throw away because of our upcoming move, on the top shelf.  Items that I use on a regular basis I put on the lower shelves for better accessibility.  

Chef Boyardee... ick.  We must have that hanging around for a really rainy day.  (Although, it used to be a fave of mine when I was a kid... yea).  

The cardboard boxes and suitcases that were covering the floor before were stacked away neatly and there is now room to walk in without stepping on anything. What project can I tackle next?  :)  Have a great weekend!

The Storage Closet Makeover: Part 1

Do you have a space in your home where clutter gets tossed or where things that don't quite have a place yet tend to end up?  And somehow, unbeknownst to you, the mess inside seems to have multiplied to where it is now taking over the floor, leaving no room to walk in and find anything?  We do, and at our home that place is the front closet in our entryway.  I've been thinking about getting in there and tackling it for a little while now.  Yes, thinking.  For a while I found it easier just to slip into the closet whenever I need something, rummage for what I need, get out as quick as possible and close the door, forgetting about it.  Closing the door makes it all go away right?

Well, I've decided it is finally time to put away the attitude of procrastination I've had on this project and get started.  Here's a little video peak into the small task lying before me that I will be spending some of my time on this week.

Meal Planning Monday: Focusing Your Meals Around Ingredients You Already Have

It's time again for Meal Planning Monday, where I post the meals I have planned to prepare for the upcoming week.  As I mentioned here I will be sharing some meal planning tips as well.  With all the meal planning tips out there in the blogosphere and other websites these days, what I have to share is not new news by any means.  However, I find that writing it down is a good way for me to process and refine what I am learning about in relation to organization in creating a menu (among other things).  And, hey, if anybody else is able to glean a little tidbit of advice from my experiences, I would love that!  So, even if you're a pro at it already, I invite you to sit back, grab a cup of coffee, and take a 10 minute break to follow along in my journey through it all.

Today, I thought I'd talk a little about how I go about putting together a menu for the week.  Right now, I only really plan for dinners, as our breakfast is almost always cereal or oatmeal and lunch is sandwiches, leftovers or something pretty light.  This makes it easier on me, as I only have to plan for 3-4 meals each week.

1. I start off by looking through my pantry, refrigerator and freezer and see what I already have that I need to use up.  Like this week I had some frozen salmon, a pack of whole wheat tortillas, 1 1/2 sweet potatoes and 1/2 can of pumpkin puree left over.  Figure out what you already have and want to use up.

2. Once I figure out what I have already that I need to use, I try to plan my meals around those ingredients.  Since I already have the salmon and the tortillas, one meal I plan to make this week is grilled fish tacos.  To use up the rest of the pumpkin puree, I found a recipe for pumpkin-sage cream sauce that calls for exactly 1/2 can of pumpkin puree and it sounds like it would be delicious tossed with pasta.  I also happen to know that I already have sage on hand.  Planning your meals around what you already have saves you time and money!


3.  After jotting down some meal ideas for the week I choose which ones I will make and then write a list of the remaining ingredients to pick up at the grocery store in order to complete the meal.  For example, with grilled fish tacos, all I will need to buy are the fresh toppings.  The only ingredients I am lacking for the pumpkin-sage sauce is heavy cream and parmesan cheese.  Pretty simple!


Using the above steps, here is what my meal plan for this week looks like:

Monday:  Grilled Salmon Tacos w/Black Beans and Homemade Tortilla Chips
Tuesday:  Dinner at the BCM
Wednesday:  Dinner at Church
Thursday: Pasta w/Italian Sausage and Pumpkin-Sage Cream Sauce and Ceasar Salad
Friday: Sweet Potato and Lentil Stew
Saturday: Leftovers (I'll be out of town this weekend, so poor Zach will be left to fend for himself.)
Sunday: Leftovers or Eat Out

Saturday Bliss

How do you like to spend a Saturday?  For me, I like to sleep in and then enjoy a nice brunch of muffins and coffee or pancakes and eggs.  In the afternoon I usually take some time to plan my meals for the week, take a trip to the grocery store, and maybe do a little straightening up.  Later on I’ll chat with a friend, read a good book or curl up on the couch to watch a movie with my hubby.  Here’s to a relaxing, enjoyable weekend! 

Getting Ready to Read!

I spent a little time yesterday organizing my bookshelf and, in doing this, planning my reading for the upcoming year.  Since I don’t own an overwhelming amount of books, organizing the shelves didn’t take me too long.  Instead of having all my books jumbled up together with no rhyme or reason, I brought some sanity into the place.  Starting off by separating the non-fiction from the fiction, I then made piles according to genre and grouped books by the same author together as well.  During the process of doing this, my 2011 reading plan came together as well.  And the best part is… I already own all the books that I will be reading this year!  Yes, I have a lot of books that are just waiting to be read. Some are recently purchased, but there are also those books that have fallen through the cracks.  Books that were purchased with honest, good, to-be-read intentions, but, for one reason or another, are still awaiting their turn to be absorbed. 

So, this year, my reading plan is to read through all the books that I already own and have yet to get to.  Ideally, I would love to set a goal to read 2 books each month.  However, I am also realistic and know that life happens, things come up and there will be times I will want to read more than others.  We'll see how it goes!  I have created a sidebar link to view my reading list if you care to see what I'll be sticking my nose in this year! 

Meal Planning Monday

Since being married I have been learning a lot about meal planning.  As I've mentioned before, as a single girl I did not cook very much.  Dinner most nights consisted of a bowl of cereal, a frozen meal, or (dare I say it) fast food (yea yea, I know).  Well, Chipotle is not considered fast food by me.  I {heart} the wonderful place and nothing will ever change that. Ok, back to the point of this post.  

Now that I'm a wife, I want to make tasty, nutritious meals for my husband.  I also want to respect our budget.  So, through inspiration by others and practice I've been making it a discipline to make a menu plan each week.  And I've enjoyed it!  I know there are some who make a monthly menu plan, but since I'm new to this, planning for a week's worth of meals is a lot more manageable for me right now.  

The title of this post is Meal Planning Monday.  My purpose in this is to introduce a new series on here where I will share (and keep track of) the meals that I have planned for that week.  I will also share a little bit each week about what I have learned (am learning) as a meal planning newbie.  When I come across a great recipe, I'll share that from time to time too!  

Here is my meal plan for us this week:

Monday: Italian baked chicken w/Homemade Sweet Potato Fries and Asparagus

Tuesday: Dinner at the BCM

Wednesday: Dinner at church

Thursday: Lentil and Brown Rice Casserole, Salad

Friday: Black Bean Lasagna Rolls w/Garlic bread

Saturday: Leftovers

Sunday: Homemade Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese

December at Our Home

December was a wonderful month for us.  The college ministry Zach works with wrapped up the first semester, as did the school that I tutor at.  Since our jobs both follow the school schedule, we had three weeks of time off.  

Our vacation started off with several days in the Raleigh area.  Zach graduated from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary with his Master's of Divinity after three years of hard work!  Here we are with my parents and Zach's mom.  

So, what's next for us?  Ideally, for now we feel that God is leading us to full-time ministry in a local church somewhere in the U.S.  The collegiate ministry internship that we're currently doing will be ending in May of this year, so we have already begun to diligently pursue where we might go next.  At this point, we have no idea where that will be, but we know that God is sovereign and faithful and He will reveal that to us at the right time.  

After our time in Raleigh we drove up to Ohio and spent a week with my family there.  We had a great Christmas with my parents, sister and brother-in-law.  The days were filled with conversation over morning coffee, trips to the mall, icing sugar cookies, attending a Christmas Eve service, seeing a couple good movies, opening presents, seeing many old friends, enjoying one another's company and rejoicing in our Savior's birth.

We drove back to Greensboro, NC to spend New Year's Eve with some of Zach's family.  Unfortunately, I had a really bad headache and ended up ringing in the New Year in bed but, thankfully, the rest did me good. 

Now we're looking forward to this next year and seeing what changes God brings for us.  I'm also working on my planning and organizing for a peaceful, fruitful home and schedule for 2011!  I will look forward to sharing my ideas with you all soon!  Happy New Year!