21 Days to a More Disciplined Life E-Book Review

October 23, 2012 By Leave a Comment

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Are you looking for a simple way to add more discipline to your life?  Crystal Paine, AKA “Money Saving Mom”, has just released her newest e-book, “21 Days to a More Disciplined Life”.  We were recently given a free copy of the e-book to review.

Most of us, no matter how disciplined we are, can find one or two areas of our life that we are struggling with.  I know I can find even more than that!   One thing I absolutely love about this e-book is that Crystal doesn’t encourage you to change your whole life in 21 days.  She encourages you to change a little at a time.

“I need to commit to change myself from the inside out, one step at a time, one day at a time, for 21 days straight. If I can methodically go through the next 21 days and focus on creating one or two new habits in discipline, I can start changing my life.”

Crystal walks you through 21 days of small steps and changes to create new habits.  If after 21 days, you want to change an additional habit or two, she recommends you start again.  Each day only takes a couple of minutes to read and includes a practical application that should not take you more than a few minutes to implement.  By making small changes each day, she helps you work closer and closer to your goal.

If you want to do more than change one or two small things while going through your 21 days, she also includes a Mega Project Assignment each day.  Do you have a big project you’ve been wanting to work on but haven’t gotten to it because it seems too overwhelming?  With the help of this e-book and the printables located at the end of it, you can tackle that Mega Project and complete it over the next 21 days.

Through October 26 Crystal is offering this book for only $0.99!  After that the price will increase to $4.99, so if you are interested, definitely don’t delay!

Click on over to get your copy today!

Menu Plan Monday, October 22

October 22, 2012 By 3 Comments

Here’s what we are eating this week.  What’s on your menu for the week?

Breakfast
M through F: Granola or Oatmeal (child’s choice); eggs, bacon, and toast; OR breakfast cups
Saturday: Extreme Banana Nut Bread
Sunday: Waffles

Lunch (Vera and I are the only 2 who eat lunch at home during the week, so she helped me write a repeating plan for those days.)
Monday:  Chinese Dumplings
Tuesday:  Ham and Cheese Sandwiches, veggie sticks, fruit
Wednesday:  Pizza Quesadillas, fruit
Thursday:  Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich, veggie sticks, fruit
Friday:  Macaroni and Cheese with hot dogs
Saturday: Sandwiches, Leftovers, or Freezer Burritos
Sunday: Eat Out

Dinner
Monday: Chinese prepared by our house helper
Tuesday: Spaghetti and Meatballs with Homemade Sauce, bread, salad
Wednesday: Enchiladas
Thursday: Crockpot Brown Sugar Chicken over rice, green beans, apple sauce
Friday: Papa John’s half price pizza night!
Saturday: Chinese Take-Out
Sunday: Hamburgers, Homemade French Fries, and Sauteed Mushrooms

What are you eating this week?  Check out orgjunkie.com for more meal plans!

Simplifying Mornings–Breakfast Cup Recipes

October 17, 2012 By 4 Comments

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As I posted last week, breakfast cups have become an easy addition to simplifying our school morning breakfasts.  They freeze great, so all we have to do is take out whatever we need the night before, put them in the refridgerator, and reheat them in the morning.  They can be reheated in the oven or microwave.  We prefer to use the oven.

Now for the recipes!

Sausage, Egg, and Mushroom Breakfast Cups

15 eggs
2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup of diced mushrooms
1 cup of cooked breakfast sausage, crumbled
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of black pepper

Combine all ingredients into a bowl and mix well.  Fill muffin cups almost to the top.  Cook at 350 degrees for approximately 30 minutes until the tops are browned.  Makes approximately 18 breakfast cups.

These can be made with any vegetables of your choice, as well as more or less cheese, sausage, or veggies depending on your preference.

Pancake Breakfast Cups

You can use your favorite pancake recipe for these, Bisquick, or follow my recipe below.

2 cups of flour
2 tablespoons of sugar
4 teaspoons of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt
2 eggs
1 3/4 cups of milk
1/4 cup of melted butter

Combine the above ingredients together mixing the dry ingredients first. After all of the ingredients have been combined well, add:

1 cup of sausage crumbles
OR
3/4 cups of chocolate chips

Pour into greased muffin cups almost filling the cup and cook at 350 degrees for approximately 15 minutes until slightly browned on top. Serve warm with or without syrup, depending on how sweet you like things! Makes approximately 14 muffin cups.

My husband and I both preferred the texture of these better than regular pancakes, and they were so much easier to make as I didn’t have to turn them one by one.

I use individual muffin cups for these recipes as I can fit more in my small oven at once, but muffin tins work just as well.  As long as they are greased well, there is no need to use liners unless you just prefer to use them.

I hope you enjoy these recipes as much as we have and that they help simplify your mornings.  Let me know if you have any questions about the recipes or variations that you think we should try!

Simplifying Our Mornings, Breakfast Cups

October 12, 2012 By 3 Comments

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Besides getting everyone dressed in the mornings, our other biggest time commitment is breakfast.  We need to get something on the table quickly every morning, and I have enough other things to take care of that I don’t have the time to make a hot breakfast on school mornings.

I recently made and froze a variety of breakfast cups that taste awesome and make breakfast on school mornings just as quick as pouring a bowl of granola!

I’ve made sausage, egg, mushroom, and cheese breakfast cups…

…pancake and sausage breakfast cups…

…and since I have a sweet tooth, pancake and chocolate chip cups.

My husband and I both thought the pancake cups tasted better than making regular pancakes, and they were also much more efficient as I didn’t have to stand over a hot griddle turning a whole batch.  I’ll be sharing my recipes soon for these.

**UPDATE:  The recipes can be found HERE.

Do you have any other quick breakfast ideas to simplify our mornings?

Simplifying Our Mornings Pt. 1

October 10, 2012 By 3 Comments

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When Vera started 1st Grade in September our mornings had to get started 30 minutes earlier than in the past.  I didn’t want to have to wake the kids up any earlier than necessary, so I evaluated how we were doing things and tried to make things more efficient.

Like Stacey mentioned yesterday, the kids and I prepare their clothes a week at a time and put them in organizers in their closet.

I thought that this was already pretty efficient, but this school year we have even taken that a step further.  In the morning instead of having the kids open their closet to take out their clothes, we pull everything out the night before.  Our 3 little ones in preschool and kindergarten also have to take an extra change of clothes (which makes for even more laundry each day…AAHHH!!!), so this includes preparing their backpacks with a clean set of clothes.

By knowing that we have prepared their clothes and backpacks the night before, we are able to eliminate more stress from our mornings so that things flow smoothly and quickly enabling our kids to get as much sleep as possible before the school day starts.

How do you simplify your mornings to help you get out the door in time with as little stress as possible?

Menu Plan Monday, 10/8

October 8, 2012 By 2 Comments

Today’s meal plan is brought to you in the spirit of simplifying!  I’m always looking for ways to make our meals more simple and less stressful, but that is more true this week than most.  A couple of days ago our house helper called to let us know she was leaving today for her hometown for two weeks due to a death in her family.  Considering our impossible afternoon/evening schedule, my goal is to make sure that we all eat dinner.  How’s that for simple?

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Breakfast
M/W/F: Granola or Oatmeal (child’s choice), fruit
T/Th: Eggs, bacon, and toast
Saturday: Banana Chocolate Chip PancakesSunday: Ooey Gooey Cinnamon Buns (We eat these every chance we get.  They are amazing!)

Lunch (Vera and I are the only 2 who eat lunch at home during the week, so she helped me write a repeating plan for those days.)
Monday:  Chinese Dumplings
Tuesday:  Ham and Cheese Sandwiches, veggie sticks, fruit
Wednesday:  Pizza Quesadillas, fruit
Thursday:  Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich, veggie sticks, fruit
Friday:  Macaroni and Cheese with hot dogs
Saturday: Sandwiches, Leftovers, or Freezer Burritos
Sunday: Eat Out

Dinner
Monday: My husband and I are joining out of town guests for dinner, so the sitters and kids get Chinese take out.
Tuesday: Spaghetti and Meatballs with Homemade Sauce, bread, salad
Wednesday: Tobey’s birthday!  Dinner of his choosing.  Maybe it’s time to ask what he wants.
Thursday: Crockpot Brown Sugar Chicken over rice, green beans, apple sauce
Friday: Papa John’s half price pizza night!  Yes, we have Papa John’s in China!
Saturday: Burgers w/ sauteed mushrooms and homemade fries
Sunday: Homemade Pizza

What are you eating this week?  Check out orgjunkie.com for more meal plans!

Simplifying by Purging

October 6, 2012 By Leave a Comment

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One of the inspirations for Simplifying this month was the need to purge.  Does anyone else find that you have stuff taking up space that you know you will never use?  Those things just get in the way and not only clutter your space, but clutter your mind.  I’m planning to spend at least a day each week this month to simplify my space by getting rid of things we can no longer use.  Today I hit up two hot spots–the medicine cabinet and our food.

Our oldest medicine…

And our oldest edible item…

YUCK!  At least that’s the production date and it expired 18 months later, but that’s still 2007!

Over the last couple of days, an extra microwave has found a home, a 3 year old has been blessed with large bag of unneeded toys, and a bag of food that’s been gifted to us but not enjoyed by us was given to our house helper.

Do you have things in your house that are taking up space, but you know you won’t use them?  Do they need to be thrown away, passed on to a friend, or given to charity?  Take a step to simplifying today and reclaiming a cluttered space by getting rid of something you know you won’t use.  We’d love to hear if you do!

Simplifying Meals When Daddy Is Gone

October 3, 2012 By 1 Comment

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This first week of October is a tough one for me.  We have teams of almost all women in from the U.S.  I want so badly to spend lots of time with them, but the truth is I’m stuck at home.  My husband is responsible for the teams, which means he’s with them a lot of the times that he’s usually home.  It’s a holiday here, so my kids have an 8 day break.  Because it’s a holiday, our house helper has the 8 days off as well.

  • 8 days,
  • a not-so-present husband,
  • an absent house helper,
  • people I wish I could see but can’t since I don’t drive in China and can’t get anywhere with 5 kids in tow,
  • 4 kids home all day instead of in school plus a baby.

I’ve already shed a few tears this week, and we’re only 2 days into the break!

One of the hardest things for me to manage with Matt gone is meals.  I can’t make elaborate meals because I have to watch the kids.  Even if I can cook the meals, once I finally get everyone down around 8, I don’t want to spend an hour cleaning the kitchen (no dishwasher here).

My main goal with meals…  Make sure they don’t go to bed hungry.  Try to put something healthy on the plate so that I can pretend that they were well nourished.

Daddy’s first night gone, we ate like this:

In front of the TV during an undeclared movie night.  The menu:

  • pepperoni,
  • popcorn or pretzels,
  • raisins,
  • apples with peanut butter.

Remember, I aim really high by making sure they are eating one thing that’s healthy.  That was apples.  No veggies.  Our veggie drawer in the fridge was empty.  Popcorn doesn’t count, does it?

Tough days call for simplicity, and sometimes that means the quickest things I can get on their plates with the easiest clean up.

How do you manage meals on days when you have to keep things simple?

Simplifying Life By Asking for Help

October 2, 2012 By 5 Comments

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The last couple of months have brought such change for both Stacey and I, that our little blog here has been quite neglected.  It is not because of lack of desire or ideas, but simply because life brought so much change for both of us that something had to be put on hold.  We’ve both found that with the changes that have taken place, that we can’t do everything.  We have both had to ask for help.

Last September life was simple.  I had 4 young kids.  They were all in the same preschool 4 hours a morning, Monday through Friday.

This September looked just a bit different…

  • Vera started Chinese 1st grade which means a new school, different schedule, and homework.
  • Eden is in Chinese kindergarten, but instead of half-day as we have always done, we decided that this year full-day kindergarten was a better fit for her.
  • Tobey and Kai are still in Chinese preschool four hours a morning.
  • And of course there is our sweet foster daughter, 1 1/2 years old with special needs that requires therapy at home and outside of the home.

Eden, Kai, and Tobey ready for their first day of the new year.

Vera on her first day in front of her new elementary school.

So yes, now I have 5 kids and 4 different schedules.  (Sorry, I’m unable to post pics of the littlest munchkin.)

It took all of…hmm…A DAY for me to realize that I couldn’t do everything as I have in the past.  How have I simplified my life to make time for a special needs child and 5 kids on 4 different schedules?

I asked for help!

In the mornings I was trying to feed the baby, get 4 kids dressed, the girls’ hair done, breakfast and devotions for everyone, and make myself presentable enough to walk out the door by 7:30am, 30 minutes earlier than we had been used to.  I couldn’t do it without feeling huge amounts of stress.  I asked my wonderful husband to step in and take care of breakfast and the 3 going to preschool/kindergarten.  It wasn’t that he didn’t help with these things at all in the past, but he would always default to me, “What’s for breakfast?”  Now, he just does it so that I don’t have to!

The afternoons were CRAZY!  Take out the 3 youngest at 4:20 to pick up Vera from school, then take those 4 to the kindergarten, climb 3 flights of stairs carrying a baby with 3 others in tow at the same time as 200 other parents to pick up Eden from her class.  It was my highest anxiety time of the day!  We were home by 5:00 at the earliest and the kids needed time to run around outside.  I wasn’t getting home until at least 5:30 and still had to get dinner on the table.  I tried quick one dish meals, but it was still too much.

Again, I had to ask for help.  I couldn’t do it all and I somehow needed to simplify my afternoon routine.  But I couldn’t just NOT do something!  All of my responsibilities were things that had to be done.

While I had some house help during the afternoon, we didn’t have any help into the evening.  We asked out house helper to quit her evening job and work longer hours for us, or to quit working for us and we’d have her train someone new.  We were so thankful that she choose the longer hours in our home, so starting this month, I will be able to leave the littles at home during school pick-up, still take everyone outside to play, and come home to dinner on the table!

Some of these challenges I have faced are  unique to living overseas.  Having help from our house helper is definitely not something that is available to most of our readers.  However, we all have other people involved in our lives.  Sometimes, all we have to do is ask for help, like I did with my husband to help us get through the mornings with less stress.  The help we need is going to look different for everyone, but as much as we as moms wish we could do everything, sometimes we just can’t.

Have you had to simplify what you are doing by asking others for help?

31 Days to Simplifying Life

September 30, 2012 By 3 Comments

Is there anyone else out there who’s lives and schedules have changed so much, that you are having to simplify what happens day to day?  Stacey and I have both gone through major transitions this year with our oldest girls in school and are trying to figure out what our new normal is.  For both of us, we are trying to simplify our day to day so that we can keep up with the essentials and still feel like we have a little time left for ourselves to do the things we enjoy.

We have decided that we are going to join The Nester and hundreds of other bloggers this month for 31 Days.  We are planning to bring you 31 days of posts on simplifying life.

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Simplifying through…

  • simpler meals
  • simpler schedules
  • simpler cleaning
  • a simpler space
  • and more.

We’d love to hear if you are joining in at The Nester, or just planning to follow along and simplify your life as we make some changes to simplify ours!

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