Place Mat Tote

Attempting to make this tote in the near future:) Wish me luck.

Cooking Day

Last Saturday was my cooking day:) I actually was able to get all the shopping done the day before and almost all the cooking done the next day. A few new things I tried was making frozen pizza's using this recipe but using whole wheat flour and a little white flour. A ham and cheese braid using my friend's roll recipe that I love making with whole wheat flour. We will see how that works out. I did about 35 meals plus another crock pot one I am going to be doing today. I do have a small family of three so most of the meals are smaller portions so that is why I can do some much and fit it all in my freezer but it is still a lot of work. Here is a new website a friend introduced to me that I used a lot this month.

The freezer:

Ham and cheese braid

Not the best twist job in the world

My pizza dough. I just put foil on my pizza stone and rolled it right on the tin foil that way I can just unwrap it and put it right in the oven. I put toppings on the pizza too after the dough had chilled in the freezer about 20 minutes. I hope this works:)

Another Yummy Snack

Here's great way to get some whole grains and veggies in. I love wraps but haven't been too good in making them until now. This yummy treat is simply a whole wheat tortilla with laughing cow cheese spread all over it and a cup of fresh spinach lettuce a wonderful 2-3 point snack and you could even bulk it up with some protein and more veggies for a complete lunch.

Feels Good to be Done

I did it! I gave my presentation on Home Organization and it went very well. Everyone was very nice and I actually was able to say what I wanted to with out the nerves getting too much in the way. I almost wish I had a picture of the event but here is the hand out I made for it. Just so you know these are things I do and I don't claim to be the sole creator of coming up with the ideas but they are things I have learned on my journey:)

Home Organizing

1 De-clutter

* Do I use this daily, weekly, or monthly? If not is it worth keeping?
* Do I know some one who could use this? If so ask them and act accordingly
* Can I sell this and get a little cash? If so sell it and save the cash to purchase some home storage.
* Limit trips to the store and pay with cash or use a set budget so you are not tempted to over spend
* Always have a donation pile you can add to as you realize you aren’t using something

2 Limit and Replace

* How many of this item do I have? How many do I need? Get rid of duplicates.
* Categorize your things and limit how much space those items can take up.
* Once you have set a limit stick to it by replacing items instead of adding items.
* Before you buy anything think to yourself if you need it, how often would you use it, and where will you store it.

3 Store

* Think of the storage spaces you have in your home. Measure them and use your space in every way….height, width, and depth.
* Decide what you want to store in each space. Store it in the place that makes the most sense to you
* After you have de-cluttered and limited then get anything extra (shelves, totes, baskets) that you will use to keep it all together. Be creative and thrifty in this process.
* Always use what you have before buying anything new to use for storage and organizing.
* Don’t overwhelm yourself just do one thing at a time. Think about scheduling a time to organize and do as much as you can in that allotted time. Work on easier projects first to give yourself some early success.

4 Is it worth it?

* Storage unit: Cost vs. Keep: Is the yearly cost of your storage unit worth keeping the items that are stored there
* Large amounts of anything: Moderation in all things…too much of anything isn’t a good thing
* Stuff vs. Quality Time: Buying stuff for your family can never replace the quality time they would rather have with you making memories together.

Scriptures to Remember

Mosiah 4:27 Don’t run faster than you have strength.

Ether 12:27 Weakness made strong

D&C 88: 118-119 Organize yourselves

Websites I Like:

http://moneysavingmom.com/category/living-simply

www.apartmenttherapy.com/la/organizing/top-10-organizing-tips-from-chez-larsson-050026

http://www.aetv.com/hoarders/index.jsp

http://uniquethriftstoremd.com

http://www.dollartree.com/home.jsp

A Few of my Favorite Things

I love finding new low calorie ideas and treats so I thought I would share some of my favorite things as of late:)

Laughing Cow Cheese:) It is only 1 point per wedge and it makes a great spread for sandwiches, bagels, or even melted in your eggs. Love the Garlic and Herb the best!

Bagel Thins:) I hear there is a whole wheat one too, which would be so much better. These 1 point bagels are the best and make great breakfast sandwiches or a deli meat sandwich. Be careful though because if you have two of these in one day you are looking at a 4 point total since they are barely 1 point for one.

Land O Lakes Light Butter Spread with Canola Oil! I've never been that big of a fan of butter or margarine but when I found this 1 point per Tablespoon spread I thought I would give it a try. I LOVE IT! I love the light texture and the flavor is great too! Great on a toasted bagel thin and doesn't add too many calories to your morning toast or your dinner roll.

Homemade Laundry Detergent

I got an email from Money Saving Mom about making your own laundry soap and I was very interested in doing so since I hate having to buy laundry soap because of the expense. This recipe comes out to be just a penny or two a load and I am hopeful it works just as well as the other stuff. Here is the recipe I used. It makes about 64 loads worth.

It smells nice and it was super easy to make. Levi helped me by grating the soap. BTW I bought all my pots and measuring cups at a thrift store so I don't have to use the ones we use for cooking. Here are some pictures and I will be sure to follow up with how it works on washing our clothing.

Grating the soap:

Melting it down with the other ingredients

Stirring in the rest of the water

Me looking not so cute

The finished product with our 1/2 cup measure cup on top, one for each load.


There are other recipes on how to make powder detergents but I was worried they wouldn't dissolve very well in cold water. I also heard using liquid detergent isn't good if you have hard water.

Bread Making Thursday

As some of you may know that Thursday is my bread making day and my bread turned out so great I had to take a picture.