About the house:
Where is the best place to start on house cleaning when the place is about to implode on itself? Dishes in the sink, laundry to wash and laundry to fold, miscellaneous clutter E-V-E-R-Y-W-H-E-R-E, crunchy floors, dirty windows, slimy showers and sinks, enough paper scraps to cover the walls of the living room and dining room... Need I continue? (Friends know I am not exaggerating.) It is so overwhelming that I think I need practical help with the most efficient approach. I don't have a long attention span for this kind of thing. I'm an ENFP people!
Meals:
I need some quick and simple recipes. My repertoire includes the following:
whole wheat pasta with meat sauce
hot dogs
hamburgers
chicken breasts
steak
very occasional chicken enchiladas
too much take out
Please consider that we are trying to reduce the cost of eating around here AND Paul and I are cutting out refined flour and white rice. Also, easy is better than complicated. And my kids are picky eaters. Is that a big enough challenge?
Organization:
How much stuff is too much for a six-year old? Marley's room gets completely out of control. Given that Paul and I are pretty lax in the straightening up department, we need a better system for her clutter. We do have an Ikea storage cabinet with pull out drawers of different sizes in there. Also, we have a set of cloth drawers in a little chest and a set of three large plastic drawers. I can't possibly restrict the number of books she has, but what is a good limit on dolls, stuffed animals, etc?
Any ideas are appreciated. Now is not the time for lurking!
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HousekeepingIn the Pacific Northwest during the 1950's, two young sisters whose mother has abandoned them wind up living with their Aunt Sylvie, whose views of the world and its conventions don't quite live up the most people's expectations.
Directed by: Bill Forsyth
Starring: Christine Lahti
Release Date: 1987
With our new, specially-designed-for-us, cinema-themed blog design, I've decided to tie-in this post with a movie. Clever, ain't I?
5 comments:
Here's a few things I make at our house. If anything sounds good, I'll give you the recipe.
BBQ chicken pizza on boboli
pork roast
Chicken/pepper/onion skewers (bbq)
turkey (easy/not dry)
White chicken Chili (a bit spicy)
Homemade Pizza
Carnitas
Carne Asada
My kids like a bunch of sides that I make (cherry jello salad, mashed potatoes/gravy, etc.) Everything is easy and quick to make.
I'll try the pork roast, turkey, carnitas and carne asada... maybe the chili, too. I don't think I could get them to eat the BBQ pizza or chicken skewers. Pizza in general is problematic for me and Paul 'cuz of the no refined flour thing. Thanks!
ok, I'll hook you up next week.
Sure wish I was able to make suggestions, but my idea of cooking anymore is to heat water for tea. Hmmm. And I'm organized at the micro level and fail to ever get around to the bigger picture. David gave me a card with all sorts of different cats on the front: cuddly cat, crazy cat, funny cat, etc. The one I most relate to anymore is messy cat. So ... if you want to talk about books, let me know ;o)
The big hit at our house is Piaz chicken, over rice (brown is fine) or whole wheat pasta. Basically, you fry chicken breasts and onions with cinnamon and a little cardamon. Sounds simple, yes?
We also do quiche fairly often. What's simpler than eggs and milk with cheese and veggies in a pie crust?
Will your kids do soup? Homemade soup is pretty easy - the only real effort is chopping the ingredients.
Let's see. Other simple things we do often around here are baked pasta: a layer of pasta, a layer of ricotta cheese, a layer of tomato sauce, a layer of mozzarella. Bake at 350 till the cheese melts and looks like a pizza.
Will they eat fish? When I have no creativity left for cooking, I oil a shallow casserole, throw in some frozen fish and chopped onions and peppers or leeks, and bake at 400 for 30 minutes. My husband loves fish, so that always works for us.
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