Half the Hamburger, Twice the Health

I learned this tip from my mother-in-law who raised nine children. Mealtime at her house was a hectic time, I'm sure, trying to manage all those little ones. So she started cooking large quantities of hamburger at a time and freezing it in smaller portions for later. That way, when she was ready to prepare a meal, half the work was already done.

I don't cook with hamburger too much because I'm just not a big fan of red meat, but when I do, I most often cook a whole pound and take half of it and freeze it for another recipe. I then double whatever vegetables the recipe calls for so as to not make the liquid be off-balance.

It's easy to do. Simply scoop out the amount you wish to freeze and place it in a quart-sized freezer bag. Press the hamburger flat. This makes the meat much easier to break apart and reheat when you're making another meal. I'm all about saving time when cooking and this is a great way to do just that!

Here's a yummy recipe to get you started!

Szechwan Beef
1 lb ground beef
1 tbsp minced onion
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups sliced carrots
1 cup frozen peas
1/3 cup water
3 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
2 tbsp cornstarch
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 can cut baby corn
2 cups instant brown rice

1. In large skillet, brown ground beef and onion. Remove from skillet and set aside. Place half in a Ziploc bag and freeze for later.
2. Add oil to skillet and return to medium heat. Add carrots and peas and stir-fry about 3 minutes.
3. In small cup, combine water and soy sauce with cornstarch and ginger. Add to vegetables in skillet.
4. Return ground beef to skillet along with baby corn. Cook over medium heat until heated through.
5. Prepare rice according to package directions. Serve beef and vegetables over rice.

Better Book Organizing for Kids

We love books here at our house! And because we love them so much we have accumulated quite the library. I'm glad that I have passed down my love of reading to my children and I'm glad they love their books so much. However, I wasn't glad with the way the little kid books were always a mess on the shelves. I wasn't glad that my children couldn't find the book they were looking for, and I sure wasn't glad that I was the only one who could put them away.

So, I did something about it!

Instead of lining up all the books vertically, I stacked them horizontally by category, placing the largest books on the bottom and the smallest on top. This way makes my kids be able to see what they're looking for and be able to put them away. I wrote the categories on Post-It notes and laminated them to keep them looking nice. I then attached the labels to the bookshelf with painters tape so the finish would be protected. I put the really large books on top of the shelf in neat piles.

Here's the way I categorized them:

• Animals
• Potty books (for little kids)
• Babies
• Dogs
• Feelings and Opposites
• Getting Dressed and The Body
• Colors and Shapes
• ABC's and 123's
• Touch and Feel
• Bedtime
• Nature and Food
• Church and Jesus

These categories are, of course, just suggestions. Categorize them in the best way for you. And don't worry if your child can't read the labels. With your help, they'll soon be able to memorize where their books go. Before you know it, they'll be reading the labels too.

That is, after all, the whole idea of books. :)

Unwrap your Smile

I have found that it greatly irritates me when I run out of something, especially when I have just been to the store and could've picked up the offending item while I was out.

However, if I unwrap things then I can easily see how much I have left and can make sure I never run out.

Another plus to unwrapping your everyday paper products and diapers is you can fit a lot more of them into a space. This is very handy if you have a small space to work with. If you look at the picture, you can see that I fit an entire box of diapers on one small shelf. I made one giant-sized package of toilet paper fit on another, and worked a whole lot of paper towels onto the bottom. That's an abundance of stuff in one small space!

The last benefit of unwrapping is the way it looks. I think it is more aesthetically pleasing when you store your paper products and other items in their purest form. And since mine are stored on open shelving in my laundry room, it is even more important that everything look nice and clean as guests pass by on their way to the bathroom.

What can you unwrap today?

Creamy Chicken and Rice Soup

 Since the weather seems to be stubbornly staying cold, I thought I'd share my creamy chicken and rice soup recipe that I shared a while back on my other blog. I am a self-proclaimed "convenience chef" and although I am perfectly capable of cooking from scratch, I find it so much easier with my small kids to cook using precooked foods. Someday I'll go back to cooking from scratch but for now, here's a recipe I made up that's healthy, tasty, and super easy.

Creamy Chicken and Rice Soup

Ingredients:

2 cans of 98% fat free cream of chicken soup

2 cans skim milk (use empty chicken soup cans)

1-2 cups of frozen vegetables (the one I use has corn, green beans, peas, & carrots)

1 can of Costco all white canned chicken, broken up into bite-sized pieces.

1 tbsp minced onion

1 tsp parsley

1 tsp basil

1 pkg Uncle Ben's Ready Rice (Long Grain and Wild)
1/4 cup slivered almonds

Directions:
1. Whisk together soup and milk over medium heat.
2. Add vegetables, chicken, onion, and herbs and bring to a boil, stirring frequently.
3. Cook rice in microwave and add along with the almonds to the soup.
4. Stir until heated through and serve! (Serves about 6 but can easily be doubled)


Told you it was easy!

Get a Handle on Hair ties

I have three little girls and if you are a mother to girls you know how much they love to look pretty! Since my oldest is eight years old, I've had a long time to accumulate many, many hair accessories. Lately, I've found they have taken over the bathroom!

This is not the first time hair ties have taken over. A few years ago I attempted to organize them into little baskets that fit perfectly into the drawers. It worked too except my girls/husband didn't understand my methods of categorizing them and so after awhile they all ended up mixed together until I couldn't find anything anymore. Nothing bugs me more than to not be able to find what I'm looking for!

I knew it was time to tackle the hair ties again so I got to work. First, I dumped out each basket and began sorting them, really sorting them. All the Velcro baby bows in one pile, all the rubber bands in another and so on. The goal was to make the piles as specific as possible so everyone would know where to return them, not just me. I also took this opportunity to toss any worn out ones/broken ones. You know, the ones you say, "Oh, I can glue this flower back onto the barrette sometime." Yet years later there it still is, broken, and taking up space. Yeah, those all went in the trash.

After all the hair ties were sorted, I knew there had to be a better way of containing them. These piles sat in the hallway for a day while I pondered that very topic. Finally, when I had time, I went to my trusty Wal-Mart... okay, okay so it's very trust-worthy. Most of the time they don't have what I'm looking for, but I was hopeful this time they would. :)

And lucky me, they did! In the sporting goods department I picked up three tackle boxes for two bucks each. Score! They are absolutely perfect for storing all the little barrettes and clips I've accumulated throughout the years. They also fit very nicely in the top drawer in the bathroom with room to spare. I recycled some of the little baskets I used before to hold the more abundant categories also.

I used two of the washtubs I mentioned last week for flowers and fluffy hair ties and they're working great also. Now, everyone knows where to put the hair ties and I'm spending a lot less time wandering around the bedrooms and bathroom feverishly trying to keep a handle on them. They're handling themselves these days. :)

Oh, the Possibilites!

I am always on the lookout for unique storage containers, especially for things that need to be stored in plain sight. While a plastic bin is great when it's hidden behind a door, I think containers with personality add visual interest.

Take these mini washtubs, for example. I found them in the dollar section at Target for a whopping $2.50 each! When I bought them the cashier said, "What would you use these for, Easter baskets?" She's just not looking at them from an organizational perspective. When I saw them I knew I had to have them. First off, they're cute (and inexpensive), second they're wide, and third they're deep. The possibilities are endless! I used two in my laundry room (how fitting!) and two in my kids' bathroom to store hair accessories.

There are so many different ways to store things that can bring a smile to your face. Wicker baskets are a favorite of mine because they are pretty and functional. You will find them all over my house. These washtubs are pretty high up there too. Storage doesn't have to be expensive or boring. See what you can find to de-clutter your life today!

Color Coordination

I organize my clothing by color in my closet. Why? Because it makes it so much easier to find what I am looking for. When I can find what I am looking for in a timely fashion I can then start my day faster/get out the door faster. See where I'm going with this?

Having your clothes organized this way also makes putting them away much faster too. No more searching for hangers as I'm hanging up my clean shirts. If I'm putting away a pink shirt, I simply look in the pink section of my closet and there's a hanger!

I organize my girls' (ages 5 and 8) drawers this way too. That way if they ask me, "Mom? Where's my purple shirt with the sequins?" All I have to do is tell them it's with the other purple shirts in their drawer. And it will be there too because that's where they put it when they were putting aways their laundry.

People may wonder why I go to such great lengths to keep my house organized. Here is why: The more efficiently my household runs, the easier it is to keep it picked up, get my chores done, and keep my sanity in the process!

Keeping your clothing organized will save you minutes at a time and those extra minutes add up! If I can save, say 5 minutes, in the morning getting dressed because I can easily find my favorite shirt and another 5 minutes when I have to put away my clothes then I just earned ten minutes in my day to sit on the floor and play with my kids or read a book.

See how many minutes you can save. :)