Saturday, March 6, 2010
A New Whey to Make Lemonade
For some reason, the last time I went grocery shopping, a bag of organic lemons caught my eye. I don't have a clue why. I don't like lemons. I only use them for making salsa, fruit salad and hot lemonade when I'm sick. But I bought them anyways. I think I was just on a fruit kick. I made salsa with the 2 lemons I had at home then opened the bag. The first thing I saw was a moldy lemon. YUCK. So I figured I better use the rest fast. I made fruit salad and used half of the lemon to make sure the apples didn't turn brown. That left 6.5 lemons. So I found a recipe that not only used lemons, but also used whey and I was ready to try it and kill 2 birds with one stone. I chose this recipe off Kelly the Kitchen Kop's blog because it used a 2 quart jar, which I had just emptied of whey, and called for 4 lemons. All the other recipes called for 12 or more and I only had 6.5. I actually used 4.5 so as not to waste the other 1/2 of a lemon. I made it on baking day (Thursday) and its supposed to ferment for 2-3 days, so we'll try it tomorrow (on the 3rd day) and if its good (and if the other 2 lemons are still good LOL), I'll cut the recipe in half and start some more fermenting tomorrow.
Friday, March 5, 2010
Whey Too Much Messing With A Good Thing Produces More of a Less Good Thing
I'm in the process of learning a lesson -- Don't mess with a good thing. I don't know how long it will take me to learn it, but I'm definately in the process.
I love my yogurt. I'm addicted to it. But it makes too much whey. So, in an effort to make less whey and since I had to buy some instant dry milk to make my dad's birthday cake, I decided to do what several recipes call for and add some instand dry milk. Since I was making yogurt with 3/4 gallon of milk, I added 3/4 cup instant dry milk based on a recipe that called for 1/4 cup of dry milk per quart of regular milk. I thought that the instant dry milk would make it thicker so I wouldn't have to strain it to make it Greek consistency like I like it.
I DON'T like the results. It is thicker than the yogurt usually is when its finished, but its not as thick as Greek yogurt. Its about the consistency of regular store-bought yogurt. And when you add the honey, the yogurt gets thinner. So I don't like the consistency. Not only that, but adding the instant dry milk somehow makes it so its harder to strain the whey out. So I CAN'T get it the right thickness. Which doesn't make me happy. Needless to say, I will not be adding instant dry milk to make yogurt again. Just wanted to pass this tip on.
So lesson learned -- if you want yogurt with storebought consistency, add instant dry milk. If you want yogurt with greek consistency, don't add instant dry milk, just strain the yogurt.
Lesson still working on -- Don't mess with a good thing. LOL.
I love my yogurt. I'm addicted to it. But it makes too much whey. So, in an effort to make less whey and since I had to buy some instant dry milk to make my dad's birthday cake, I decided to do what several recipes call for and add some instand dry milk. Since I was making yogurt with 3/4 gallon of milk, I added 3/4 cup instant dry milk based on a recipe that called for 1/4 cup of dry milk per quart of regular milk. I thought that the instant dry milk would make it thicker so I wouldn't have to strain it to make it Greek consistency like I like it.
I DON'T like the results. It is thicker than the yogurt usually is when its finished, but its not as thick as Greek yogurt. Its about the consistency of regular store-bought yogurt. And when you add the honey, the yogurt gets thinner. So I don't like the consistency. Not only that, but adding the instant dry milk somehow makes it so its harder to strain the whey out. So I CAN'T get it the right thickness. Which doesn't make me happy. Needless to say, I will not be adding instant dry milk to make yogurt again. Just wanted to pass this tip on.
So lesson learned -- if you want yogurt with storebought consistency, add instant dry milk. If you want yogurt with greek consistency, don't add instant dry milk, just strain the yogurt.
Lesson still working on -- Don't mess with a good thing. LOL.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Betty Needed A Green Tan
Today, I was going to continue to clean house, but Joey had to leave at 1:30 to go get his physical evaluation done, which would involve him spending the night away from us. Since my father's birthday party is tomorrow and Joey won't get back in time for me to bake his cake tomorrow, today became baking day instead.
First, I made biscuits using one of the recipes I posted last night. The one that called for butter instead of shortening. That was a disaster. They were like bricks. I temporarily considered making a house out of them. They were like rocks on the outside, but were barely cooked - almost gooey - on the inside. I did find a tip later that for 2 cups of flour, 1/2 cup of butter should be used and the recipe called for 2 3/4 cups flour and 1/2 cup of butter. The ratio wasn't right to make biscuits light and fluffy. So next time I get brave enough to try and make biscuits, I will try it with 2 cups of flour instead of 2 3/4 cups.
After that disaster, I decided to assuage my pride by making muffins. I'm good at muffins.
I've been making muffins with whey using a recipe that specifically called for whey, but it was dairy whey, which is dried sweet whey that can be used instead of sugar. Silly me, the first time I made it, I used yogurt whey because "yogurt is dairy." Now I know why that batch of muffins turned out bitterer than muffins usually are. The second time I used that recipe, I used whey in place of the milk, used 1 cup of sugar instead of 1/2 a cup of sugar, and added 1 tbsp of flaxseed meal. Joey still didn't like them and neither did I. He said they were too grainy, probably due to the flaxseed meal and I thought they had too much sugar but didn't taste any sweeter than the other batch. So instead of looking foreward to new and exciting recipes, I looked back at old favorites and remembered Betty Crocker. Joey liked the muffins I used to make using that recipe. And they only called for 1/2 cup of sugar for the same amount of muffins that called for a whole cup of sugar in the other whole wheat recipe. That was a nice start. But the good stuff stopped there. See, Betty Crocker's recipe called for all purpose white flour and milk and that's all just too white for my tastes. So I doctored it a bit. I made it greener by using whey instead of milk. Then I made it tanner and healthier by using 1 cup wheat flour and 1 cup white flour instead of 2 cups white flour and I aded 1 tbsp flaxseed meal. He liked this batch.
Then I took him to meet up with his ride to MEPS and came home to bake my dad's cake. I used this recipe for chocolate cake as my dad loved German Chocolate Cake before he became a diabetic and this is sweetened with stevia which is not shown to adversely affect diabetics and is shown to positively affect them. I also found a recipe for coconut pecan icing that calls for no sugar. Unfortunately, either between the store and the car or the car and the houes, I misplaced the evaporated milk I bought on the way to take Joey to meet up with his ride. So I'm going to have to make the icing tomorrow. I really hope he likes it and that it isn't gross. I've never cooked with stevia before, so I have no idea what to expect. . . So that's my day in baking.
Now I'm off to make more yogurt ;)
First, I made biscuits using one of the recipes I posted last night. The one that called for butter instead of shortening. That was a disaster. They were like bricks. I temporarily considered making a house out of them. They were like rocks on the outside, but were barely cooked - almost gooey - on the inside. I did find a tip later that for 2 cups of flour, 1/2 cup of butter should be used and the recipe called for 2 3/4 cups flour and 1/2 cup of butter. The ratio wasn't right to make biscuits light and fluffy. So next time I get brave enough to try and make biscuits, I will try it with 2 cups of flour instead of 2 3/4 cups.
After that disaster, I decided to assuage my pride by making muffins. I'm good at muffins.
I've been making muffins with whey using a recipe that specifically called for whey, but it was dairy whey, which is dried sweet whey that can be used instead of sugar. Silly me, the first time I made it, I used yogurt whey because "yogurt is dairy." Now I know why that batch of muffins turned out bitterer than muffins usually are. The second time I used that recipe, I used whey in place of the milk, used 1 cup of sugar instead of 1/2 a cup of sugar, and added 1 tbsp of flaxseed meal. Joey still didn't like them and neither did I. He said they were too grainy, probably due to the flaxseed meal and I thought they had too much sugar but didn't taste any sweeter than the other batch. So instead of looking foreward to new and exciting recipes, I looked back at old favorites and remembered Betty Crocker. Joey liked the muffins I used to make using that recipe. And they only called for 1/2 cup of sugar for the same amount of muffins that called for a whole cup of sugar in the other whole wheat recipe. That was a nice start. But the good stuff stopped there. See, Betty Crocker's recipe called for all purpose white flour and milk and that's all just too white for my tastes. So I doctored it a bit. I made it greener by using whey instead of milk. Then I made it tanner and healthier by using 1 cup wheat flour and 1 cup white flour instead of 2 cups white flour and I aded 1 tbsp flaxseed meal. He liked this batch.
Then I took him to meet up with his ride to MEPS and came home to bake my dad's cake. I used this recipe for chocolate cake as my dad loved German Chocolate Cake before he became a diabetic and this is sweetened with stevia which is not shown to adversely affect diabetics and is shown to positively affect them. I also found a recipe for coconut pecan icing that calls for no sugar. Unfortunately, either between the store and the car or the car and the houes, I misplaced the evaporated milk I bought on the way to take Joey to meet up with his ride. So I'm going to have to make the icing tomorrow. I really hope he likes it and that it isn't gross. I've never cooked with stevia before, so I have no idea what to expect. . . So that's my day in baking.
Now I'm off to make more yogurt ;)
Adventures in Cleaning -- Bathrooms
I'm happy to report that despite the stomach bug that is bugging my girls and myself, I did manage to clean both bathrooms today. Unfortunately, Joey decided to wash the dog right after I cleaned the bathroom. Instead of thinking "yay, clean dog" all I could think was "not in my clean bathroom" LOL. Fortunately, the bathroom is still clean. All that's left in my deep cleaning adventure is the laundry, living room, kitchen, playroom and garage. Oh, well. There's always tomorrow. Wish me luck :)
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Adventures in Cooking -- Whey into Yogurt
I know I just started making yogurt recently, but I am whey into it!!! I think I'm addicted. See, I have a sweet tooth. So I keep reaching for it. I love it with honey in it and blueberries if I have any. I also love it as a parfait. . . Throw some strawberry slices and some granola in there and yum! Sadly enough, I find myself reaching for the honey buns to keep myself out of the yogurt. I'm making 2 batches of yogurt a week, which for me makes 4 cups of eatable yogurt and 2 cups of the starter. I'm going to experiment with using 1 cup of yogurt as the starter though and see if it comes out as thick as I like it. . . That would rock because that would give me 2 more cups of yogurt a week to eat. The only problem I'm having with the yogurt is the whey. I like my yogurt thick (think greek yogurt/ sour cream consistency) so I strain it with a strainer lined with a thin dish cloth and the liquid that comes out is whey. I have used it to make lacto-fermented salsa and pickles, in place of milk in muffins (which were great IMO) and to soak beans with, but that didn't use much whey and I have probably got 4 quarts of whey in my fridge now. I'm tempted to just throw it away as its taking up a lot of space, but I know its super nutritios -- full of water soluble proteins, lactose, vitamins and minerals from the milk and yogurt its strained out of. So I haven't been able to bring myself to throw it away yet. I'm constantly ISO ways to use it up. I've read that it can be used in the place of any liquid dairy called for in a recipe, but I'm leery. I tried it in a smoothie in place of yogurt and milk and that was kinda bleh. Even the kids left it alone. I threw in extra banana and they still wouldn't touch it. So tonight I'm researching stuff I can make to use the whey. Here's what I've come up with:
Making biscuits -- there's a great recipe on the Green Prophet blog for biscuits using whey that I plan on trying out very soon.
I saw a tip somewhere to use it in soup with half water, half whey and some veggies, but make sure the beans are cooked before adding whey as it prevents them from cooking fully for some reason.
Make lemonade with whey instead of water. (I have a bunch of lemons in the fridge begging me to try this.)
There are a lot of ideas here that I'd like to try including sour cream cupcakes and biscuits.
Pizza dough and bread recipes here.
Use in place of water to cook rice and pasta.
I can see I'll be doing a lot more cooking to use up this whey. I can also see that I'll be buying Nurturing Traditions as soon as I have enough Amazon cards racked up from Swagbucks and Winster. I think next on my list to buy will be either a yogurt starter that can be made on the counter top or a yogurt maker. Either way, its official -- I'm whey into yogurt ;)
Making biscuits -- there's a great recipe on the Green Prophet blog for biscuits using whey that I plan on trying out very soon.
I saw a tip somewhere to use it in soup with half water, half whey and some veggies, but make sure the beans are cooked before adding whey as it prevents them from cooking fully for some reason.
Make lemonade with whey instead of water. (I have a bunch of lemons in the fridge begging me to try this.)
There are a lot of ideas here that I'd like to try including sour cream cupcakes and biscuits.
Pizza dough and bread recipes here.
Use in place of water to cook rice and pasta.
I can see I'll be doing a lot more cooking to use up this whey. I can also see that I'll be buying Nurturing Traditions as soon as I have enough Amazon cards racked up from Swagbucks and Winster. I think next on my list to buy will be either a yogurt starter that can be made on the counter top or a yogurt maker. Either way, its official -- I'm whey into yogurt ;)
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Adventures in Cleaning
I finally ran out of my BNC Miraclean. Again. Its my favorite cleaner (especially the rose EO scented one) so I use it all the time. But I ran out. Again. The coop is supposed to open any day now, so I guess I'll have to fend for myself in the meantime. I really wish I could remember how much I ordered last time. . . but this time, when I order, I'll post my order here so I can remember in 6 months what I ordered and figure out from there how much more I need to order.
Remembering my last experience making my own cleaning solution, I decided to experiment first this time, to make sure all the ingredients would play nicely together before I combined them in a spray bottle. Just so everyone knows, washing soda foams up when combined with vinegar and foams again each time its jostled just like baking soda does, so IMO its a bad idea to mix the 2 in a bottle of cleaning solution. Borax did fine, though -- no foaming at all -- so for this bottle of cleaning solution, I mixed some TTO, a bit of original Dawn dish soap (so that the TTO would play nicely with the water instead of just hanging out on top), 2 tbsp of borax, filled to 12 ounces with hot water, shook to combine then added 20 ounces of white vinegar. It seems to work fine. . . Everything I clean with it seems to get cleaner while my rag or sponge gets dirtier, which is the general idea of cleaning. . . Only problem I can see is it doesn't quite smell like roses. LOL. Not even close.
Today, I started my massive house cleaning project. I started upstairs and soon realised 2 things:
First, I will have to wait to wipe down the walls as I am out of magic erasers. I know, I know, not the greenest cleaning product and really I hate it as it shreds while I'm cleaning and I just think that's gross. I have to wipe the wall down with a wet rag when I'm done wiping it down with the magic eraser. But I have 3 kids -- 5.5, 2.5 and 1 -- and I just haven't found anything "green" that removes coloring from the wall like the magic eraser, so until I do. . .
And second, I will have to wait until I have cleaned out the garage and bought the new shelving units before I declutter and organize. Oh, I can place them back in their current places for now, but I was really planning on figuring out a more efficient way to organize our home and I can't do that until I have a staging area for the stuff that is being decluttered. It just takes up too much room to allow me to shuffle stuff and try out different organizational systems now.
I imagine being an Army wife will require me to stop being such a pack rat as we won't be able to take all of our stuff with us everywhere we go. And really, its not practical to keep everything that has sentimental value but isn't being used. Do I really need every picture Addy has ever drawn? How is that going to enrich our lives now? She doesn't even know I have them all, so its not like it makes her feel valued or special. I don't even know why I can't seem to throw them away. . . Just me being a silly sentimental mom, I guess. And that's just one example.
I am planning on having several garage sales while Joey is at basic to reduce the amount of stuff we have. It will make things much easier for us since he only has 2 days at home between basic and AIT. Not a lot of time to pack up a household. But I'm digressing.
Today, I cleaned the upstairs bedrooms. I wiped down the furniture with my new cleaning solution, I vaccuumed the floors and washed the linens. Joey did clothes and we put a bunch of them up. I even vaccuumed their stuffed animals. The girls are cleaning up their playroom now (that's their responsibility, although as part of this deep cleaning I will clean it, too) and their sheet protectors are in the wash, so we are going to have dinner and then enjoy some family time. Daddy is going to teach us farkle and then we are going to watch a movie while their sheet protectors are drying and sheets are washing and drying. See y'all later :)
Remembering my last experience making my own cleaning solution, I decided to experiment first this time, to make sure all the ingredients would play nicely together before I combined them in a spray bottle. Just so everyone knows, washing soda foams up when combined with vinegar and foams again each time its jostled just like baking soda does, so IMO its a bad idea to mix the 2 in a bottle of cleaning solution. Borax did fine, though -- no foaming at all -- so for this bottle of cleaning solution, I mixed some TTO, a bit of original Dawn dish soap (so that the TTO would play nicely with the water instead of just hanging out on top), 2 tbsp of borax, filled to 12 ounces with hot water, shook to combine then added 20 ounces of white vinegar. It seems to work fine. . . Everything I clean with it seems to get cleaner while my rag or sponge gets dirtier, which is the general idea of cleaning. . . Only problem I can see is it doesn't quite smell like roses. LOL. Not even close.
Today, I started my massive house cleaning project. I started upstairs and soon realised 2 things:
First, I will have to wait to wipe down the walls as I am out of magic erasers. I know, I know, not the greenest cleaning product and really I hate it as it shreds while I'm cleaning and I just think that's gross. I have to wipe the wall down with a wet rag when I'm done wiping it down with the magic eraser. But I have 3 kids -- 5.5, 2.5 and 1 -- and I just haven't found anything "green" that removes coloring from the wall like the magic eraser, so until I do. . .
And second, I will have to wait until I have cleaned out the garage and bought the new shelving units before I declutter and organize. Oh, I can place them back in their current places for now, but I was really planning on figuring out a more efficient way to organize our home and I can't do that until I have a staging area for the stuff that is being decluttered. It just takes up too much room to allow me to shuffle stuff and try out different organizational systems now.
I imagine being an Army wife will require me to stop being such a pack rat as we won't be able to take all of our stuff with us everywhere we go. And really, its not practical to keep everything that has sentimental value but isn't being used. Do I really need every picture Addy has ever drawn? How is that going to enrich our lives now? She doesn't even know I have them all, so its not like it makes her feel valued or special. I don't even know why I can't seem to throw them away. . . Just me being a silly sentimental mom, I guess. And that's just one example.
I am planning on having several garage sales while Joey is at basic to reduce the amount of stuff we have. It will make things much easier for us since he only has 2 days at home between basic and AIT. Not a lot of time to pack up a household. But I'm digressing.
Today, I cleaned the upstairs bedrooms. I wiped down the furniture with my new cleaning solution, I vaccuumed the floors and washed the linens. Joey did clothes and we put a bunch of them up. I even vaccuumed their stuffed animals. The girls are cleaning up their playroom now (that's their responsibility, although as part of this deep cleaning I will clean it, too) and their sheet protectors are in the wash, so we are going to have dinner and then enjoy some family time. Daddy is going to teach us farkle and then we are going to watch a movie while their sheet protectors are drying and sheets are washing and drying. See y'all later :)
Monday, March 1, 2010
Adventures in Organization
Organization. . . EWE!
Even the word makes me cringe. Well, not quite, but close enough. Seriously, though. . . Its not just about where you stick the clutter anymore. People organize their meals and their clean up schedule. They have weekly calendars on their fridge that they can write on with the dry erase markers. They have every minute planned because if they don't they can't get everything done. And me? I mostly clean when I'm upset. There are piles of stuff stuck here and there for when I have the time to sort through them. Dinner is whatever we have on hand to make that sounds good to myself or my husband. And we don't have enough stuff to do to require me to have a dry erase calendar. YET.
But that's all about to change. See, it irritates me that by permitting myself to be so disorganized, I am being inefficient in the process. I have recently seen people post a lot about home management binders and I think its a pretty neat idea. Primarily, I'm interested in the cleaning schedule aspect of it, as I think it will motivate me to maintain a clean house and I think if I can divide all the work that needs to be done weekly into daily tasks, I think that will make it easier. After all, it seems much easeier to clean 45 minutes a day than 5 hours and 15 minutes straight once a week.
Also, my husband has decided to join the Army. If everything goes as planned, he should be leaving for basic May 24th. So not only do I need to get the house super clean before he leaves, but I also need to develop a plan of action to maintain a super clean house. Which seems like a daunting task to me, considering that all 3 of my girls seem to pick different times of the day to be clingy and I'm sure that will only get worse without daddy around.
Last but not least, I want to set a good example for my girls. I'd much rather teach them to have a good work ethic and to do their work efficiently than teach them that cleaning is something we only do when we're upset or something to be put off as long as possible.
So I started off making a list of all the chores that I can think of that need to be done. Then I divided them into daily, weekly, and monthly tasks. With 3 girls 5 and under and a dog, there really aren't any tasks that can wait longer than a month. Then I divided the weekly tasks in to 7 days.
This is what I have so far.
Daily Chores: vaccuuming floors, wiping tables and counters, doing dishes and doing laundry
Weekly Chores: Cleaning room by room (a different room a day); washing bed linens, bathroom mats, kitchen mats, etc
Twice Weekly Chores: washing diapers, making yogurt (with other cooking to be done on the same days as yogurt making days to simplify life), take trash to the dump (I don't like it to sit around though so if we have more than 2 bags a week, I may end up doing this more than twice a week)
Monthly Chores: wiping down walls, running dishwasher cleaning cycle, running washing machine cleaning cycle, washing all windows, decluttering, cleaning refridgerator, cleaning microwave (not a frequently neccessary chore here since we cover all our food when warming it)
Of course, the hardest part will be the initial cleaning. I'm thinking if I get the initial cleaning done this week, then I can start the maintenance process while Joey is still here and it will be a habit by the time he leaves for basic training.
Here's my plan for the initial clean (which I'll probably use once a month or as needed for spring/fall cleaning as well).
I'm going to start at the top and work my way down that way I'm not carrying dirt and dust downstairs after cleaning the downstairs. Upstairs are the bedrooms and 1 bathroom. I'm going to do the bedrooms first so that after I do the upstairs bathroom, I can use the same stuff to clean the downstairs bathroom instead of putting the cleaners up in between cleanings. I'm going to dust, vaccuum, wash linens, wash the walls, organize and declutter as I go. The master bedroom will need the closet and book shelves decluttered and organized, which won't need to be done in the girls' bedroom.
The bathrooms are going to get the walls, tubs, toilets, sinks, counters and floors washed and they will also be organized and decluttered.
I will be vaccuuming the stairs and washing the walls on my way downstairs.
Downstairs, we have the living room, another bathroom, playroom and kitchen. I will do the bathroom first, then the living room, play room and kitchen. And then there is the garage. . .
The downstairs bathroom will get the same treatment as the upstairs: walls, tubs, toilets, sinks, counters and floors washed with organizing and decluttering along the way. The upstairs bathroom is where we do bathtime and where I take showers, so the towels will stay there and the downstairs bathroom will have first aid and wool washing items as well as any surplus towels.
The living room will have the couch and floors vaccuumed, the entryway swept, walls washed and be decluttered and organized.
The play room will need walls washed, floor and futon vaccuumed, toys organized and decluttered.
The kitchen will also receive the royal treatment -- walls washed; counters, sink, cupboards, appliances, tables and chairs wiped down; floor cleaned; decluttering and organizing.
The garage will be the biggest PITA as far as I'm concerned. It has the boxes we haven't touched in the almost 2 years we've lived here that we'll have to go through and organize and declutter as well as the food storage area that I need to organize myself as Joey initially did the organization and I'll be the one using it while he's gone, so I want to organize it in a way that makes it easiest for me to find stuff while he's gone. Factor in that the garage has recently been used as the "bad dog" area while simultaneously being the staging area for trash before its taken to the dump (not a very well though out plan, I know), its a disaster area. We are going to get a couple more shelving units from Home Depot to store stuff that needs to go (the end product of decluttering) and seasonal stuff that needs to stay (Christmas and halloween decorations, different seasons of clothes, appliances that don't get used very often and therefore won't be given the prime storage slots in the kitchen.
I'm sure there will be several other items we'll need to buy before Joey leaves for basic, such as a kennel which will be used as the new "bad dog" area, a first aid kit, and some other odds and ends.
When I make my notebook, its going to be a 3 ring binder with several sections, the first of which will be the cleaning schedule, but that's just the tip of the iceburb. I'm also going to make a contacts section with names, numbers, addresses, birthdays, anniversaries, etc and I'm thinking about putting a calendar in the book with pages for the rest of the year as well as a menu section for our fave take out places, etc. I'm not sure how long it will take to put this plan into effect, but first thing's first. . . and the first thing is the initial clean. Its going to be a long process and a big change, but a change for the better. I think I'll start on the initial cleaning tomorrow ;).
Even the word makes me cringe. Well, not quite, but close enough. Seriously, though. . . Its not just about where you stick the clutter anymore. People organize their meals and their clean up schedule. They have weekly calendars on their fridge that they can write on with the dry erase markers. They have every minute planned because if they don't they can't get everything done. And me? I mostly clean when I'm upset. There are piles of stuff stuck here and there for when I have the time to sort through them. Dinner is whatever we have on hand to make that sounds good to myself or my husband. And we don't have enough stuff to do to require me to have a dry erase calendar. YET.
But that's all about to change. See, it irritates me that by permitting myself to be so disorganized, I am being inefficient in the process. I have recently seen people post a lot about home management binders and I think its a pretty neat idea. Primarily, I'm interested in the cleaning schedule aspect of it, as I think it will motivate me to maintain a clean house and I think if I can divide all the work that needs to be done weekly into daily tasks, I think that will make it easier. After all, it seems much easeier to clean 45 minutes a day than 5 hours and 15 minutes straight once a week.
Also, my husband has decided to join the Army. If everything goes as planned, he should be leaving for basic May 24th. So not only do I need to get the house super clean before he leaves, but I also need to develop a plan of action to maintain a super clean house. Which seems like a daunting task to me, considering that all 3 of my girls seem to pick different times of the day to be clingy and I'm sure that will only get worse without daddy around.
Last but not least, I want to set a good example for my girls. I'd much rather teach them to have a good work ethic and to do their work efficiently than teach them that cleaning is something we only do when we're upset or something to be put off as long as possible.
So I started off making a list of all the chores that I can think of that need to be done. Then I divided them into daily, weekly, and monthly tasks. With 3 girls 5 and under and a dog, there really aren't any tasks that can wait longer than a month. Then I divided the weekly tasks in to 7 days.
This is what I have so far.
Daily Chores: vaccuuming floors, wiping tables and counters, doing dishes and doing laundry
Weekly Chores: Cleaning room by room (a different room a day); washing bed linens, bathroom mats, kitchen mats, etc
Twice Weekly Chores: washing diapers, making yogurt (with other cooking to be done on the same days as yogurt making days to simplify life), take trash to the dump (I don't like it to sit around though so if we have more than 2 bags a week, I may end up doing this more than twice a week)
Monthly Chores: wiping down walls, running dishwasher cleaning cycle, running washing machine cleaning cycle, washing all windows, decluttering, cleaning refridgerator, cleaning microwave (not a frequently neccessary chore here since we cover all our food when warming it)
Of course, the hardest part will be the initial cleaning. I'm thinking if I get the initial cleaning done this week, then I can start the maintenance process while Joey is still here and it will be a habit by the time he leaves for basic training.
Here's my plan for the initial clean (which I'll probably use once a month or as needed for spring/fall cleaning as well).
I'm going to start at the top and work my way down that way I'm not carrying dirt and dust downstairs after cleaning the downstairs. Upstairs are the bedrooms and 1 bathroom. I'm going to do the bedrooms first so that after I do the upstairs bathroom, I can use the same stuff to clean the downstairs bathroom instead of putting the cleaners up in between cleanings. I'm going to dust, vaccuum, wash linens, wash the walls, organize and declutter as I go. The master bedroom will need the closet and book shelves decluttered and organized, which won't need to be done in the girls' bedroom.
The bathrooms are going to get the walls, tubs, toilets, sinks, counters and floors washed and they will also be organized and decluttered.
I will be vaccuuming the stairs and washing the walls on my way downstairs.
Downstairs, we have the living room, another bathroom, playroom and kitchen. I will do the bathroom first, then the living room, play room and kitchen. And then there is the garage. . .
The downstairs bathroom will get the same treatment as the upstairs: walls, tubs, toilets, sinks, counters and floors washed with organizing and decluttering along the way. The upstairs bathroom is where we do bathtime and where I take showers, so the towels will stay there and the downstairs bathroom will have first aid and wool washing items as well as any surplus towels.
The living room will have the couch and floors vaccuumed, the entryway swept, walls washed and be decluttered and organized.
The play room will need walls washed, floor and futon vaccuumed, toys organized and decluttered.
The kitchen will also receive the royal treatment -- walls washed; counters, sink, cupboards, appliances, tables and chairs wiped down; floor cleaned; decluttering and organizing.
The garage will be the biggest PITA as far as I'm concerned. It has the boxes we haven't touched in the almost 2 years we've lived here that we'll have to go through and organize and declutter as well as the food storage area that I need to organize myself as Joey initially did the organization and I'll be the one using it while he's gone, so I want to organize it in a way that makes it easiest for me to find stuff while he's gone. Factor in that the garage has recently been used as the "bad dog" area while simultaneously being the staging area for trash before its taken to the dump (not a very well though out plan, I know), its a disaster area. We are going to get a couple more shelving units from Home Depot to store stuff that needs to go (the end product of decluttering) and seasonal stuff that needs to stay (Christmas and halloween decorations, different seasons of clothes, appliances that don't get used very often and therefore won't be given the prime storage slots in the kitchen.
I'm sure there will be several other items we'll need to buy before Joey leaves for basic, such as a kennel which will be used as the new "bad dog" area, a first aid kit, and some other odds and ends.
When I make my notebook, its going to be a 3 ring binder with several sections, the first of which will be the cleaning schedule, but that's just the tip of the iceburb. I'm also going to make a contacts section with names, numbers, addresses, birthdays, anniversaries, etc and I'm thinking about putting a calendar in the book with pages for the rest of the year as well as a menu section for our fave take out places, etc. I'm not sure how long it will take to put this plan into effect, but first thing's first. . . and the first thing is the initial clean. Its going to be a long process and a big change, but a change for the better. I think I'll start on the initial cleaning tomorrow ;).
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