Meal Calendar

Each Saturday, I try to use my Google Calendars to make up next week’s menu (I’m not always perfect at it!)  This gives me the opportunity to look at my schedule and see which days I have more time to cook and which days I might need something quick.  I also add to my Grocery List anything I need to purchase for that weeks meals.  I think it helps me not do the “What am I going to make for dinner tonight?” quandary, and helps me not repeat meals as frequently as I would if I didn’t have plans.

I have made my menu Google Calendars  public so that you can see it and maybe get ideas for your menus.  I don’t enjoy cooking, so most of my meals are pretty quick and easy.

Amanda’s Menu Calendar

If you would like one of my recipe’s, just let me know!

Overscheduled?

If you are like most busy moms I know, you live and die by your calendar.  Your life is crazy and your kids are involved in so many different things that you are constantly trying to make sure they are in the right place and you don’t have to be in two places at once.  I know I fit this description!  What makes my life easier? Google Calendars. 

This is what my calendar looked like a couple of weeks ago.  Can you say CRAZY???!!!!!

If you don’t use Google Calendars I highly recommend you check them out.  Here is what I have done.

I have my own google account.  Each member of my family also has their own google account.  They all give me permission to link their calendars with mine.  So I can view and control each of their calendars all within my own.  Each calendar (each kid, etc.) has their own color.  I also have calendars for Birthdays/Holidays, Family Events, Meals, etc.  I can see them all every time I open my calendar and I can turn them on/off at will.  I print the week’s calendar off at the beginning of the week and hang it on my fridge, just so I can have it there to glance at, remind me of meals, etc. if I’m not sitting at my computer. My husband can also login to his and see everything that is going on and if we have plans, etc.

I also have a Blackberry and I use Google Sync to sync my calendars, contact, email, etc. with my Blackberry, so I always have my calendar with me on the go.  I know there are similar applications for most SmartPhones.

What kind of calendaring system to you use to keep your family organized? 

Back To School: Get Organized!

I watched this great segment on the Today Show this morning.  It gave that push that I needed to get everything in order for my kids to go back to school on Monday.  I am bound and determined to get my kids organized so mornings run more smoothly than they have in the past.  This year will be even more difficult because school is starting 45 minutes earlier this year AND I have a daughter starting piano, so she will need to practice in the morning in addition to my son.
So, in my quest for organization I have made a few changes to our routine that will hopefully help mornings go more smoothly.
First off, I created our “In School”  Chore Chart.  (You can see a sample one here.  Use it to create your own if you want!)
1. Each child has a chore chart for downstairs as well as upstairs.  In the mornings, they will need to follow their Morning Routines before coming downstairs. And in evenings they will need to finish their Evening Routines downstairs before heading up to bed.  Why didn’t I just put it on one chart? Because my kids will go up and down the stairs so many times to look and see what they need to do and mark it off that they waste so much time!  By splitting it, no more running around!
2. Another thing that I am hoping will makes things easier is preparing not only for the next day, but prepare for the entire week on Sunday evenings by

• Preparing their lunch menus for the week
  
• Organize snacks
  
• Pick out clothes they are going to wear for the week.

 

Lunches

I don’t know about your kids, but mine are really picky about what they eat for lunch and they don’t want sandwiches very often. So I’ve had to come up with some other lunch ideas besides the good old PB&J.

• Pasta with butter and parmesan cheese
• Pasta Salad
• Cheese and Crackers
• Salad with dressing on the side (so it doesn’t get soggy)
• Pita chips and hummus
• Salsa with chips
• Carrots with ranch dressing
• Mini Bagels with flavored cream cheese or jelly

Some of these lunch ideas are going to take some prep work on my part (pasta) so that is why setting out the menu for the week on Sunday is a good idea. I purchased some small insulated containers at Walmart for items that need to be hot/cold.

Snacks

My kids take a snack to school every day.  These need to be healthy and filling.  Sometimes my kids take packaged snacks (applesauce, fruit, granola bars) but other time they want things that need to be packaged (crackers, goldfish, etc.) so that is where the Sunday night planning comes in.

Clothes

Clothes are always an issue for us in the mornings.  “What am I going to wear?” “I don’t have anything that matches.”  “I can’t find this shirt.” So this year I purchased some hanging shelves from Walmart for $10 and that way the kids can plan out their outfits for the entire week (underwear, shirt, shorts, socks) and there is no excuses for getting dressed quickly each morning.

Paperwork

Paperwork, paperwork, paperwork!  It gets overwhelming during the school year!  There is always homework sheets for the week, permission slips to be signed, special items that need to be saved, etc.  So find a good system to organize your paperwork that works for you.  For me, I have this.  I bought it at Target for about $12 I think.  I like to have things in the cubby’s that I use all the time and want easily accessible, like pens, markers, etc.  The filing section is great.  The kids can just put their weekly assignments in their folders and put anything for me in my folder when they empty their backpacks as soon as they get home.
  
Hopefully this will give you a little inspiration to get you organized for back to school.  Please comment and let me know what solutions have worked for you.  The key to organization is to find a system that works for you and your family.  Not everything works for everybody!

Our first new contributor

I'd like to welcome my sister Alisha as our first new contributor to this blog. She has a lot of great ideas and can't wait to share them with everyone. Welcome Alisha!

Pre-chopping vegetables

When planning my weekly menu if I have a dinner that requires a lot of chopping, I usually try to make another dinner later in the week involving some of those same veggies so I can knock out the work in one night.
Tonight’s menu:
Grilled Chicken and Veggies on the BBQ
Thursday’s menu:
Kabobs
So here is my work station.  I have my chopping board and knife, all veggies laying out, a bowl for seasoning, a bowl for trash, a baggie with my extra veggies, and my chicken marinating in the far corner.

So here is tonight’s meal all seasoned and ready to go out on the BBQ.
  
Here are my extra chopped veggies for kabobs on Thursday.

And here is my yummy healthy dinner cooking out on the BBQ.  Yum!

What are you eating tonight?  What are some things you do in your kitchen to make cooking for your family easier?

Summer Chore Charts

During the school year I feel like my kids primary responsibility is of course SCHOOL!  They also have after school activities that keep them busy.  So, besides our “Saturday Chores” (basic dusting, vacuuming of their rooms and the gameroom, and cleaning their bathrooms) I don’t make them do a whole lot as far as chores go.  But during the summer that changes. 
I feel it is very important to teach children how to work and to not only get the job done, but to do it right.  I want them to take pride in what they are doing.  So a few summers ago, I created our chore chart that we use each summer.  Each year, it changes a little bit.  As they grow older, things are added to the list.  With age, comes more responsibility.
In our chore chart, I not only include basic household chores, but life habits, the daily schedule, as well as some activities to help keep their minds working so they don’t lose all that they’ve been taught in school over the summer.  This system works really well for my kids, and it has also worked really well for a few of my friends who have asked me to share it with them. 
So…here is our chore chart for the summer.  I hang it on the pantry door in the kitchen.  If you would like a copy for yourself you can download mine here (it is an excel file).  Feel free to alter it however you wish to suit your needs.

As part of their chores, like I said earlier, I like them to do a little bit of school work to keep their skills up.  In past summers, I have asked them to write in a journal each day to keep up their writing skills.  This hasn’t worked as well as I would have liked.  Usually their journal entries looked like this…
“Yesterday I played with a friend.  It was fun.”
and that was it!  So this year, I was inspired to do something a little bit different.  I did a google search for “kid writing prompts” and found a few websites with ideas.  I copied them into a Word File, cut them up, folded them, and put them in these jars.  Each child has their won jar with the exact prompts inside, but they get to choose what they write about each day.  Taylor said “this sounds a lot more interesting!”  Good!  If you would like a copy of my Word file with the prompts you can download it here. If you would like a copy of the labels I made for the jars and notebooks, you can download them here.  The cute fonts probably won’t translate, so you’ll have to choose your own fonts.  These are just Avery 5263 2”x4” white labels.

I also want my kids to stay up with their math skills, so I have them work through these books through the summer.  I buy them at Walmart.
 
I can’t wait (and neither can my kids!) to start our new summer routine tomorrow.  I hope you have a great summer routine too.  If you have any tips for me that I can incorporate that have worked well for you, I’d love to hear them!

Grocery Organizer

If I could hand you an aisle-by-aisle grocery list ...
► Would you zip through the store in half the time?
► Would you get a handle on impulse spending?
► Would you be motivated to track sales and coupons?
► Would you find it easier to shop for your family?
I found this cool software online that helps me save tons of time and money as I shop.
Features:
✔ Aisle-by-aisle grocery list saves steps at the store.
✔ Use it online from any computer anywhere. Nothing to download. You can even get your lists on your blackberry or iphone.
✔ Track sales to save money.
✔ Organize coupons to save even more money.


Click here to purchase Aisle-by-Aisle.
Full-featured full-year trial.
► Only $7
One-time purchase.
► Only $24
Live here in McKinney? I’ve already mapped out the aisles for a few stores for you. (Don’t worry if you don’t, there are others who have mapped out aisles, or you can map out your own as well!)
Walmart in McKinney on Custer Road
Albertsons on Virginia Parkway
Kroger on Lake Forest
Market Street on Ridge Rd
Sam’s Club on 380

Yummy (and healthy) smoothies!

My kids have always enjoyed smoothies.  Most of the time it’s the only way I can get them their fruits.  But my sister gave me a fantastic tip to help them get their veggies too!  She adds spinach to her smoothies.  So here’s what I do….
I add a bunch of frozen fruit into my smoothie maker (blenders work well too).  If I am making a small batch, sometimes I do it in my Magic Bullet.

Then I add a good handful or two of spinach.

I add in some yogurt and some juice or lemonade to help it blend more smoothly.
And then I blend it up!  If you add enough berries it hides the green spinach really well.  Sometimes our smoothies are purple!

My kids all love them…and I do too!
 

Helpful Mom Tips

Welcome! Thank you for joining me.  My name is Amanda and I am a mom of three kids living in the suburbs of Dallas, TX.
My goal with this blog is to pass along helpful tips that I find from websites, magazines, friends, etc. that make my life easier, in the hopes that it will help make your life easier too!
If you know of a good tip that you would like me to pass on, or if you are interested in becoming a contributor to this blog please email me.  I would love to hear from you!

Amanda