The Simple Woman's Daybook

Here is my first one. It is supposed to be on Monday's, but I just came across it, lol! It comes from Peggy's blog, The Simple Woman. For other's daybooks and more, go take a look!

FOR TODAY Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Outside My Window...
The sun is shining, it’s a beautiful 77 degree day. Which is nice, since tomorrow it is supposed to rain. I want to enjoy these days as much as possible, considering cold weather is coming!

I am thinking...
When will the mail get here? (I am waiting for our wedding pictures.)

I am thankful for...
My family and my life. I’m loved.

From the kitchen...
Right now I have ground beef defrosting. Burgers on the grill tonight, to take advantage of the mild weather.

I am wearing...
Black yoga pants with a gray top.

I am creating...
A masterpiece! No, besides this post, no creating right now. I’m a little burnt out from all the wedding stuff.

I am going...
Already went! I went to the bank to deposit our checks today.

I am reading...
Work stuff. Also, Strangers in Death by Nora Roberts.

I am hoping...
We can save some money this month.

I am hearing...
My doggie snoring ever so softly. Birds chirping. The TV.

Around the house...
Laundry that needs to be put away. Dishwasher that needs to be emptied.

One of my favorite things...
Lying in bed on a cool afternoon, under the covers, reading a book.

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week:
Call and set up a Vet appt for Obie.
Buy a new cooler for DH.

Here is picture thought I am sharing...

This is from our honeymoon...a lovely sunrise off of our balcony.

Pumpkin Muffin Recipe

Per Ashley's request! Thanks for stopping by Ashley! It's actually a WW recipe, I was on WW one year and tried this recipe. My DH loves them!

Pumpkin Muffins
Makes 12 muffins

Ingredients:
1 box spice cake mix (if you can't find spice cake, use carrot instead)

1 can pumpkin (I use Libby's, not pumpkin pie mix, just plain ole pumpkin)

a handful of cinnamon chips (This might be hard to find in your area, they are located with the chocolate chips. I live about 15 min from Hershey, PA, so I just buy them when I go to Hershey. You could sub chocolate chips I am thinking!)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350.

Mix together the cake mix, pumpkin and cinnamon chips. Do not add eggs, oil, etc. Just the cake mix, pumpkin and cinnamon chips. Mix together until well combined. It's tough to do, just do your best!

Spoon into greased/pammed muffin pan. Bake as directed on back of cake mix box, I think it's 20 minutes or so. (Test to see if they are done.)

Daily List

I love making lists and things…my problem is following them! So I came up with a List that is basically what I am going to strive to do every single day. Yep, even weekends.

Daily Routine—Morning

1. Wake up, get out of bed!
2. Make DH’s lunch, make sure he has it.
3. Shower/dry hair.
4. Get dressed.
5. Walk Ober (our dog).
6. Take out dinner to thaw if nec., start it in the crockpot if nec.
7. Make breakfast—stick to diet!!
8. Do dishes/clean out sink (shine)/Run dishwasher if full.
9. Wipe down counters.
10. Pick up/Febreeze living room.
11. Shine guest bath sink.
12. Brush teeth/Shine sink.
13. Make bed.
14. Pick up clothes.


Daily Routine—Evening

1. Make dinner.
2. Do dishes/run dishwasher if nec./shine sink.
3. Wipe down counters.
4. Open/dispose of mail.
5. Pick up living room.
6. Clean face/brush teeth.


Honestly, the house just feels cleaner when I follow this. I can have someone come to the door and I can stand there and leave the door open if I want. Rather than scooting out the door and closing it behind me as I say hi.

Do I follow this all the time. Honestly, no. Part of my rehabilitation is that I want to follow it! Especially with the craziness of the wedding, things have fallen by the wayside. I started back on it though! I'm planning on a good clean this weekend too.

Getting it together

I have tried before and failed at getting organized. Some of my favorite sites include http://www.flylady.net/ and the Sidetracked Home Executives http://www.shesorganized.com/ - they have some books and a neat card file system. While I do not subscribe to all of their teachings, I have gleaned many interesting tidbits of info. I have incorporated some of their ideas to fit my life.

Flylady does a whole routine/binder thing, daily, weekly, monthly, etc. While I would love to be THAT organized, I know I’m not. No way, no how! I mean, really, am I going to do monthly things every week? Nope. At least I’m honest. I’m better at weekend cleaning…just busting out a whole room top to bottom once a month on a Saturday.

SHEs do a card file system…which is really neat…just not something I can use right now. I might revisit this as I have kiddos…several of the Moms just hand the cards to the kids to do…I love that idea!

So far, I've come up with a Daily List. Next, the harder thing, is the Weekly List. Problem is, our weeks vary. So I think my best bet is just to come up with a base list. Things that should get done during the week.

Some of the recipes for this week:

I made these this morning, I figure DH might grab some for snacks. I THOUGHT I had pecans, instead, I had walnuts. So I used them. I ground them in my food processor for a minute, so they were not big chunks (DH doesn’t like chunks of nuts). I really liked these! They have a crispy edge on the tops, made the mini muffins. I only got 21. I don’t know why! Maybe because I ground the nuts? Either way, I just filled up the other 3 with water. I think these would be good with a combo of nuts…like walnuts, pecans, almonds…mmmm.

Recipe from Recipezaar (with my modifications):

Mini Pecan Pie Muffins

24 mini muffins (I got 21)

1 cup chopped pecans (I used walnuts)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup packed brown sugar (I used a tad less)
2/3 cup butter, melted (I used 2 TB butter with the rest margarine)
2 eggs
I also added: 1 TB of light corn syrup and 1 tsp vanilla (give or take, I just dump it in)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all ingredients and mix well. Spray a miniature muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray. Fill each 3/4 full. Bake in preheated oven for approx 18 minutes.

Original Recipe Here.


In the Crockpot right now I have BBQ Pork going. Way easy to make.

BBQ Pork:

3 lb pork butt, boneless
1 can diet or regular cola (or use a glass full)
1 can of beef broth
1 onion, quartered
garlic powder

1. Dump the cola in, then place the pork on top. Pour the beef broth on the butt, then sprinkle with garlic powder. Place some onion on top of the roast and on the sides. Let cook on Low all day (I put it in at 7:00 am and we eat around 6:00 pm.) I would think at least 8 hours would be ok.

2. About ½ hour before dinner: Take roast out, shred. Drain all the liquid out of the crockpot. You can leave the onions in with the meat if you like! Get a bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce (I’ll share one of my faves in a minute) and dump it in with the shredded pork back into the crockpot. Cook til heated through, about ½ hour.

Sooo good served on potato rolls, with baked beans and coleslaw...mmmm!

I'm back!

Hi ya’all!

Well, the wedding is over…it was so beautiful. Everything I hoped for. Well, a few issues (like my MIL drinking too much and throwing up in the bushes)…yep, classy. But other than that, it was wonderful!

Now, to write the thank you notes and try to settle in. I feel like I am a crazed monkey, running around trying to unpack, go to the bank, name change stuff, etc. See, I just got home last week really. We got home from the honeymoon and a few days later, I flew down to my parents’ house to pick up my dog (they grandpuppy sat), then Mom and I drove back up. She left last Tuesday, I miss her!

DH has fall break from school this week, which is nice! He has school 3 nights a week, so I don’t see much of him! He started his new job too, which is in the field he is going to school for. What an awesome opportunity! He was pretty beat last week, with being gone 3 days a week from 6:30 am until 9:30 pm.

Yesterday was our one month anniversary! Whoot! He surprised me with flowers and a cute card. I got him a pumpkin and a card. He love Halloween and has been trying to carve my decoration pumpkins for a week now. So I got him a big ole guy he can have fun with!



I love menu planning, I usually do it every week! Go to orgjunkie.com to check out lots of menu plans!



Menu Plan:

For October 13, 2008 thru October 19, 2008

Monday, October 13
Anniversary!

Tuesday, October 14
BBQ Pork in the Crockpot
Baked Beans

Wednesday, October 15
Burgers (It's in the upper 70s, going to keep using the grill while I can!)
Mac N Cheese
Leftover Baked Beans

Thursday, October 16
Cube Steak & Gravy
Mashed Potatoes

Friday, October 17
Pasta Fagioli
Homemade Bread

Saturday, October 18
Leftover Pasta Fagioli
Homemade Bread

Sunday, October 19
Chicken Pot Pie (homemade, mmmm)

Breakfast/Snacks/Etc.:
Pumpkin Muffins
Pecan Pie Muffins (ended up as Walnut)
Reeses Squares


BTW, if you get Sunday’s paper, lately there have been a lot of Ronzoni Smart Taste coupons, $1 off. I bought a box of the spaghetti yesterday at Giant. They normally sell for $1.49, with $1 off, just $0.49 each! I don’t know how it tastes yet, so I’ll report back!

Not quite ready yet!

Hi all! I haven't had a chance to update lately, as I have been busy with wedding prep! Almost two weeks to go!