see what's become of me...
Okay, so I enjoy both the Bangles and Simon and Garfunkel. Although it is not "a hazy shade of winter" yet, it is officially fall. Living in Texas, fall had become my favorite season over the years. The summers are so hot and cooler weather is such a relief. Fall means spending free time after dark on the patio with a fire in the pit, watching for falling stars. It means football games, pumpkins, capri pants, light jackets, s'mores, and days getting shorter. We enjoy camping and fishing, and fall means it is time to sort the gear and check for any free weekends. Cooler weather also welcomes warmer food choices, so it's time to plan making my favorite soups, stews, and of course, chili.
I know school starts before fall officially gets here, but school starting means the schedule gets busier and busier, and time gets shorter and shorter. Recently, it occurred to me that I was simply getting by, planning a few days at a time. I want to be free-er on the weekends to enjoy more play time with the family. I have always been a list maker, but I never feel like I ever get to the projects I'd like to finish. When it actually does start getting cooler here, and the air conditioner isn't having to work so hard to cool the house, I'd like to be in a position to get some of those projects done.
I remember recently that I used to have a menu system for planning several weeks of menus at a time.
I decided to revive the system, and updated it with recipes and grocery lists, with budget and diet in mind. I also created a few new forms to help me keep up with my cleaning chores, my children's chores, and our food inventory. I am pretty sure my beautiful daughters are not going to do their chores without some reminding, but at least they know what is expected every day when I explode over it not being done. I, on the other hand, needed a plan to get the entire house clean at least once a week, and plan, cook, and prepare at least two meals a day.
Sunday night, I print a copy of the week's menu and grocery list. The menu goes to the side of the refrigerator, and I change items as needed to use up foods on hand. I order a basket of fruits and vegetables from a co-op regularly, and I never know what produce we will get until I pick it up on Saturdays. After I alter the menu, I cross off items I don't need to buy at the grocery store, and I add items that we need or ran out of during the last week. Monday is Errand Day and Food Prep Day. I buy the groceries, put them away, precook anything that can be made ahead of time and reheated, and prep foods to assemble for dinners over the week. It really makes fixing school lunches and dinner so much quicker the rest of the week.
Because Monday is Errand and Food Prep Day, I don't have as much house cleaning to do that day. Everyday of the week, there is a load of laundry to do, dusting some area, sweeping or vacuuming, and cleaning one of the bathrooms. The rest of the cleaning chores are divided up over Monday through Friday. The only chore on the weekend is giving the dog a bath. I can handle 3 or 4 things to clean a day. That gives me time to work in exercise and time to work on some projects.
So, today was the first day of my new plan. I bought the groceries, and precooked and prepared food for the rest of the week. I cleaned the kitchen, unloaded and loaded the dishwasher, did a load of laundry, and straightened up from the weekend destruction. I really hope it works like I want it to work. I hope it frees up some time for me. It freed me up to write this.
