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Project Simplify Week 3: Closets (mostly) done

Sometimes life gets in the way of blogging.  This was one of those weeks.  This is a quick recap of the before and after of my closet projects for week 3 of Project Simplify.

I’m glad I started this project at the beginning of the week.  Our game closet was a little scary.  It kept growing without weeding out the games we didn’t regularly play.  I divided it up into three piles: Keep, Keep somewhere else and Donate.  The donate pile ended being fairly large which made me happy.  I hope other families will enjoy them as we have in the past.

Donation pile

Afterwards we have a coat closet with a tidy shelf of the strategy games we regularly play.  Plus we cleaned out the bottom half of the closet too, including four blankets.  How does that happen??

I made a dent in the laundry closet, yet it’s still not quite done. There was dead space in this closet that we put to good use. (See a trend here with my past post, Creating a Pantry)

It’s for shoes.  Specifically, my husband’s size 14 shoes.  They just never fit into our cubby by the back door and always needed their own home.  I think he is most excited about having all of his biking gear all pulled together so he can quickly buzz out for a ride. We also got a new Dust Buster and mounted it to the wall to free up additional shelf space.

 I’m still trying to figure out how to improve the bottom row, I may but more of these $2 Target ice buckets in green.  I like the pop of color it provides when I open the closet.

So life gets in the way sometimes.  I dropped everything this week and took my kids to spend time with my Nana during her final days.  Being around kids always made her happy.  Sometimes that is all that matters.

For more organizing ideas, follow my Pinterest boards. If you have a Project Simplify post, please feel free to share it in the comments.

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Project Simplify week 3: Closets & Drawers Progress

It’s already week 3 of Project Simplify and it’s time to tackle Closets, Drawers and Countertops.  Free time is tight this week so I’m targeting a couple of hot spots, along with my helpers…

The “emptier”
The “distractor”

Our board game collection has taken over our coat closet.  While we are huge fans of strategy games, there are a few too many in here that we rarely play.  This is hot spot #1 for the week.  I discovered we have not one, not two, but three versions of Scrabble in our closet.  Plus Bananagrams.  Time to donate a few versions and move on.  I think I’ll use the letters from Bananagrams to help Madison with learning her letters.

Hot spot #2 is our laundry closet.  It’s right next to the back door and it ends up being a “catch-all” for things besides the laundry.  Again we have a closet with some dead space…time to fix that.  After six years of living here, adding two children to the family, we realize that we need to maximize all the space we have.

There are a couple of random spots in the kitchen on my hit list too…kids’ dishes, the “junk” drawers and the plastic storage stuff that we rarely use now.  Thanks goodness for Pinterest to find some inspiration to organize these areas too!

Kids’ stuff with grown-up stuff, yes or no?

Which is your hot spot? Closets or drawers or countertops?

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Wallaby Greek Yogurt Kids & Giveaway

If you know me, you know I make a mean granola.  We make it weekly and go through a lot of yogurt in our house.  We have started to make our own yogurt, but sometimes it is nice to toss in some flavored options.  The kids are used to plain or vanilla, so they were rather delighted with taste testing the new Wallaby Greek Yogurt, both the fruit flavors and the honey option.  It appealed to me as there is no high fructose corn syrup and the fruit is real, no imitation here.

Madison went with the dip approach.  The fun flavor is separated out from the thick yogurt.  You can tip the fruit over into the yogurt to mix it in easily, or go with the dip approach.

This guy went with the face first approach.  Clearly he has not had much flavored yogurt in his life and was rather happy with the experience.  Doesn’t it show?

I don’t think he has gotten enough yet.  “There must be just a little bit left I can out of this fun package.”

10 minutes after breakfast ended, he still didn’t want to give up his Wallaby Greek Yogurt container.  I think we have found ourselves a very happy customer.  The yogurt I make is thinner than this yogurt so it’s the perfect consistency to add not only to cereal, but to slather on a rice cake for a mid-afternoon snack.

Now it’s your turn!  You can try all five new varieties of the Wallaby Greek Yogurt, which are also available at Whole Foods.  To enter to win, please just leave a comment below.  For additional entries, you can become a follower on Facebook, Pinterest or Twitter.  Contest will be open until midnight, April 1st.  Winner will be notified via email.  Must be a US resident.  
Good luck!
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Disclosure: I was provided samples of the new Wallaby Greek Yogurt to test.  This is no way influenced my kids’ happy reactions noted here. 🙂

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Menu Plan Monday March 19

I really could get used to 70 degree weather in March.  This was such a beautiful day and we got a little head start on organizing our spring plantings.  It was a perfect night to grill!

Sunday~ Homemade teriyaki marinated steak tips and steamed broccoli

Monday~ Turkey Soup. Using up leftover cooked turkey from the freezer and the extra carrots and celery from the fridge.  Also found 4 cups of homemade chicken broth to use for the soup.

Tuesday~ Chicken Nuggets and Roasted Green Beans

Wednesday~ Hamburgers and Sweet Potato Fries.  In my burger mix I add 3 shots of Worcestershire sauce, 1 tablespoon chopped garlic and about one teaspoon of grainy mustard.

Thursday~ Taking a day off and making eggs for dinner.  My favorite is a salsa and cheese omelet.

Friday~ Maple Glazed Salmon

Saturday~ I’m off to my first blogging conference all day so I’m going to put in a bag of frozen leftover Sweet & Sour Turkey Meatballs into the crock pot and hope that it’s nicely warmed by dinner time for Daddy and the kids.

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For more meal planning ideas, check out Plan It, Don’t Panic ebook with tips, tricks and menu plans ready to go.  Or Menu Plan Monday with OrgJunkie for hundreds of meal plan ideas. 

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Sausage, Cannellini Bean and Farfalle Soup

This is one of our favorite weeknight soups.  It cooks up fast, works for both parents and kids, and is all real food.  It’s an oldie from Cooking Light and it still delivers.  We make it with spinach instead of kale as in the original recipe.  I find kale is a little too tough/salty/gritty to make quickly.  Another time saver is to buy prechopped onion and garlic.  I always buy the chopped garlic in the largest size available, usually in the produce area.  On Sundays I will prep my onions if I am making a lot of recipes during the week.  I put all the chopped onions in a glass storage container and just measure out what I need for each recipe.

Sausage, Cannellini Beans and Spinach soup
Ingredients
8 ounces farfalle pasta (cheese tortellini is another option)
1/4 cup oil packed sun-dried tomatoes
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
2 links turkey Italian sausage (originally we made it with hot, not with kids we do sweet)
3 garlic cloves minced (I buy the prechopped garlic, such a time saver and cheap)
1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 (14 ounce) can fat-free, low sodium chicken broth. (we use our own)
1 (16 ounce) package of baby spinach
1 (15 ounce) can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained. (look for low-sodium)
1 ounce shaved fresh Parmesan cheese (about 1/4 cup)

Instructions
1. Cook pasta according to package directions.  Drain, but reserve about 1 cup of the cooking liquid.
2. Scoop out 1/4 cup of the sun dried tomatoes in a small bowl.  I use kitchen shears to cut the tomatoes over the bowl.  Then use a spatula to scoop the tomatoes and oil into a large Dutch oven.  Heat over medium heat and add onion and sausage (removed from the casings) to the pan; cook 10 minutes or until sausage is browned.
3. Add garlic to pan; cook one minute.  Add seasoning, pepper and broth.  Simmer for 5 minutes or until headed through.
4. Add beans, pasta and spinach.  Stir spinach in so it gets submerged and wilts.
5. Serve with Parmesan cheese on top.

Makes 6 servings.

For the kids, I drain out the liquid and serve on plates.  The beans are always the first to go!

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this post is shared with The Green Resource, Sunday Night Soup and Frugally Sustainable

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Project Simplify~ Creating a Pantry

It’s week 2 of Project Simplify and the focus is on kitchens and pantries. After reading many of the week one posts on Simple Mom, I’m excited to tackle the next challenge.   My big project is creating a pantry.  Not a small project and it’s one that I started a couple of weeks ago.  There was a lot of dead space in my storage areas so I went to work on maximizing my space.

These are before pictures of what we call our “recycling closet.”  It’s near the kitchen and dining room so it’s easy to access, which was so important in setting up a recycling zone.  My favorite thing in there are our recycling bins, which are stacked 3 high to accommodate plastic/glass/tin, paper and $.05/cans.  All changes needed to work around keeping this area accessible.
The challenging part of the closet is the lack of shelves in the mid-section of the closet.  We added in a shallow bookshelf for the bottom half that works fine.  It’s just a tad cluttered at the moment.

Here’s a sneak peek into what you can expect from the final reveal on Friday.

What’s the biggest storage struggle for you in the kitchen?

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Related Posts: Week 1 Project Simplify~ Kids’ Stuff, Toy Storage Solutions

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Do you use Spring Cleaning Checklists?

The warmer weather certainly helps get me in the mood for a little spring cleaning.  I know many people find lists helpful when tackling the spring cleaning projects.  There are plenty of checklist options out there and I wanted to share some of my favorites.

Life Your Way~ offers free printables for all the rooms in your house, including storage areas.

Organized Home~ loads of basic blank checklists

The Nest Effect~ wonderful printables in her Etsy shop.  Lots of happy, colorful printables.

Martha Stewart’s Homekeeping Handbook~ I’ve used this book as a reference for years.  Yes, you can find most of the same things online but I like being able to look up something quick and not get sidetracked online by Facebook.  In this book there are also handy checklists for daily maintenance, weekly, monthly, seasonal, spring and fall checklists.  I find it helpful especially for getting our outdoor space cleaned up.

What else do you use to get your spring cleaning organized?

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Monday Menu Plan March 12

This week’s plan revolved around when to have a traditional Irish, or St. Patrick’s Day, dinner.  I found an amazing recipe last year and everyone loved it so it’s coming back again.

Monday~ Slow Cooker Sausage and Spaghetti, quick zucchini on the side.  This is a great dish to throw together before you head out for the day, smells delicious when you get home.  We are using sweet Italian chicken sausage in this dish.

Tuesday~ It’s my birthday so I’ve requested tacos.  I think I asked for the same thing when I was 10, but I know my husband can handle it. We will do a homemade taco mix with chili powder and cumin.

Wed~ Corn Beef, Carrots, Cabbage and Potatoes in the Crock Pot!  My husband wanted nothing to do with corn beef last year when I said I was making this.  He was so pleasantly surprised with how good it was and is happy to see it on the menu again this week.

Thursday~ Mom’s Night Out for me so everyone else can enjoy leftovers

Friday~ Baked Sea Scallops, along with Sweet Potato fries.

Saturday~ Birthday dinner out on St. Patty’s Day!

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For more meal planning ideas, check out Plan It, Don’t Panic ebook with tips, tricks and menu plans ready to go.  Or Menu Plan Monday with OrgJunkie for hundreds of meal plan ideas.

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Project Simplify: Kids’ Stuff Done!

Ok, so the photo on the left is from Project Simplify last year.  I realized that I only really cleaned-up last year instead of decluttering and organizing. (and that my photo editing skills have improved.)  We had the same issues this year when I took a hard look at what was happening with the toy zones.
  • Kitchen food is always everywhere
  • Books are always getting pulled out and not easily put away
  • Puzzle storage continues to be a challenge

So I think we figured out #1 and #2 and #3, puzzle storage, is something I hope I will find in other’s links in Project Simplify.

Playroom Storage Pails

I am really excited about the paint bucket storage.  I found them for about $10 at our local Lowe’s.  I used chalkboard contact paper and a wet erase chalk market found on Amazon.

I traced the original label from the paint bucket onto the contact paper, it was clearly the perfect size oval for the bucket.  Then I used the chalk marker instead of regular chalk so it would be more vibrant.  It’s also washable so I can relabel the bins as the kids’ taste changes.

With all of the kitchen food inside, the bin is fairly heavy so it’s staying on the low shelf.  I really like the look of the bins and if it’s working after a month, I’ll be getting more to fill the shelves.

Playroom Organization

The baby toys got packed up and moved to the attic.  We sorted toys into like items and tossed a few broken containers.  Toys got new batteries and a head got glued on.  I have to say it feels refreshing to see everything be so usable now.

The book issue was resolved by using empty space under our TV in the basement.  My collection of childhood favorites was getting destroyed, including the loss of covers of Make Way for Ducklings and Are You My Mother?  They are now tucked away in the back, and flanked by Golden Books and Dr. Suess learn to read books.  Plus a very loud train…

The other project that seemed fitting this week was dealing with the artwork from school.  I had a file of favorites from the past year that needed a home.

I photographed each piece on a white fabric background and have them saved on the computer.  My plan is to make a photo book to save the memory of the favorite masterpieces.  Hopefully then I can let them go, except for anything with a hand-print.  Those I will keep.  Forever.

Got a decluttering suggestion?  Share it in the comments or get inspiration from the Simple Mom collection of posts. Next up is the kitchen and/or pantry!

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this post was shared at Blue Cricket Design.

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Project Simplify: Kids’ Stuff Progress

Here we go! Time to clear through some of the kids’ stuff for Project Simplify.  In my case, I’m tackling the toy area(s) in our house, plus the pile of artwork that I haven’t the heart to recycle yet.  The kids’ clothes are in good shape as we have declutter system already working in that zone.  
My little helper is very good at taking everything out to help me start sorting.  We spent some time putting like items together and weeding through everything, including a pile of baby toys. 

Our other project is the artwork…piles of it.  I sorted and took pictures of each one.  Now time to put it all together into a new project.  Check back in for all the “After” pictures tomorrow!

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