Menu Plan Monday - New Year, New Menu

It's hard to believe that it's 2010 - 2009 really flew right by! And, like everyone else it seems, I am back on the diet and exercise bandwagon. I try to watch my calories (rather than follow a specific plan), and combined with the attempt to exercise 5-6 times a week, it seems to work for me. All of our dinners this week are on the healthy side for that reason. I also find that I am far more successful when I eat smaller portions of foods I like rather than try to make "diet" dinners or substitute with diet foods (and my husband boycotts all "fake" foods...I would be more annoyed if he weren't so darn skinny, so maybe he's on to something). We also try to not eat out too often - aside from the health reasons, it's just a lot cheaper to eat at home. Of course, now that I've said that, you'll notice that we're going out for dinner twice this week. But it's because a good friend of ours will be in town, and since she is now living in another country, we will be taking every opportunity we can to see her (and take her out to all of her favorite restaurants!).


Oh yes, a report from last week. We did not like the potato casserole we made. My husband ate about three mouthfuls; I was less picky about it, but I won't be making it again. And because Friday night's dinner made more chicken that we thought, we ate it again for dinner Saturday night, so that's why you see a repeat from last week in this week's menu - we never ate it! :)

This Week's Menu Plan, in conjunction with Menu Planning Monday at orgjunkie.com...
Monday - prosciutto wrapped chicken (from Let's Dish), egg noodles, green veggie
Tuesday - minestrone ragu (Let's Dish), french rolls, salad
Wednesday - shrimp crepes (Let's Dish), salad
Thursday - Not-Sagna Pasta Toss, salad (this Rachael Ray recipes is one of our all time favorites...it makes a LOT of pasta and is very filling. We make a half recipe for the two of us and find that at least one of us gets leftovers for lunch - usually both of us!)
Friday & Saturday - out with friends
Sunday - mushroom strudel (Let's Dish), green veggies

Yes, lots of dinners this week from Let's Dish. (and, as always, if you are interested in giving Let's Dish a try, drop me a line and I'll send you a referral email with a coupon code!) I wish they were paying me for the publicity, but they're not at all. I just really love them. :) We have a busy week ahead, which is why I love having a freezer full of dinners ready to go!

Menu Planning - A Weekly Organization Mission

Growing up, my parents would go to the grocery store nearly every day. They would do a big shopping trip once a week or so for all the basics and the things that were on sale, but the day to day stuff would be picked up on the way home before my mom made dinner. My mom sort of planned out what we would be eating for the week, but not really. Most of it was done on the fly, which is even more impressive when you consider that she had two very picky eaters and that she did all of the cooking. My mom is also a good cook - she knows how to look in the refrigerator and throw things together to make a quick and healthy dinner. In fact, one of our favorite dinners growing up was called "Hope For The Best Minestrone" - vegetable soup that really just consisted of whatever vegetables were in the house. As Rachael Ray would say, YUM-O.

I, however, am not that talented. I can't cook without a recipe, and even with a recipe it's hard for me to know if I will like a dish or not. My husband does a lot of the cooking too - he is an amazing chef, and back when I was working full-time, he did all of the cooking. So, I am a planner. It's easier to know in advance what we'll be having for dinners, and it makes grocery shopping easier as well. Not only do I save money (because I just buy what I need for the week), we tend to not overbuy - no one likes having to throw out food because you just didn't get to it. I also find menu planning really difficult. I like to look around online for ideas, and I love Menu Planning Monday (sponsored by orgjunkie.com) because it gives me some ideas (and lets me know that I'm not alone in trying to organize this one tiny area of my life!)

So, here is my first attempt at Menu Planning Monday. This week's meals are a little different, in that we are going out for New Year's Eve (yay!), my husband will be home for 4 days for the holidays, and I am very limited in what I can cook because I injured my finger last week. Oh yeah - we have about 5 pounds of leftover shredded potatoes in our refrigerator as well...we made potato latkes with our friends last night to celebrate a belated Chanukah, and we shredded up a few too many. :) With that, my menu plan for the week...

Monday: leftover lasagna (I make the best lasagna ever...don't tell anyone, but my secret recipe for lasagna is on the back of the box of Barilla no-cook noodles...it's amazing!)
Tuesday: meatloaf muffins (I leave out the peppers and onions), Au Gratin potato casserole (a new recipe for us...trying to use up the potatoes!), green beans
Wednesday: beef roulade (this is one of my dinners from Let's Dish...you can read more about Let's Dish in this post), leftover potato casserole, some sort of green vegetable (because my mom taught me that you always need to have a green vegetable at every meal!!)
Thursday: out for New Year's Eve!
Friday: Peruvian Roast Chicken, oven fries, salad
Saturday: prosciutto-wrapped chicken (from Let's Dish), egg noodles, green veggie
Sunday: raviolis. salad, french bread

Scheduling Time for Me

On last night's episode of The Biggest Loser, the contestants had to pause from all the crying (Seriously, is there any show where they cry more? Someone should get these people a sandwich.) to speak about their weight loss journey. (Side Note: whenever a contestant on a reality show talks about "their journey", my husband breaks out into "Don't Stop Believing." I must really love him.) One woman talked about how she never took time for herself, and that her message was that you can be a better wife/mom/grandmother/etc. if you do.

With my current mission of organizing time, I thought that this was the perfect theme for today and Works For Me Wednesday. I might be still working out how to organize my time, but with my current Crayola marker-filled to-do list, there is a constant. I always schedule time to exercise. If it weren't on my to-do list, I doubt I would do it. Yesterday I didn't make a list because I was braving the crowds at the mall, and, go figure, I didn't exercise. Today, exercising is the third thing on my list, and I know it will happen. It's why I did so great working with a personal trainer. My workouts were on the calendar, and I had scheduled the time for me. Now, I know I need to schedule time for me in other areas too - time to read, scrapbook, and write. But scheduling time to exercise is an important first step.

A Tip For Everyone

A break from my normal organization tips today to share with you an overall tip. If your computer does not have anti-virus software on it, stop reading this blog and go out and buy some. Seriously. I'll wait for you right here.

In the midst of attempting to write a novel in a month, nearly all of my electronics have decided to die. Over the weekend I got a new laptop, printer, DirecTV box/DVR (yes, my DVR died...I shouldn't have been so upset about losing 80 hours of tv, but...I lost 80 hours of tv...), and external hard drive. My camera and dryer are next. I don't know for sure, but the electronics might be conspiring against me.

Anyways, my techie husband went to work on Sunday transferring my files from my old laptop to my new one. And that's when we realized the importance of anti-virus software. I used to have Norton on my computer - the high end one at that. But, due to a glitch in the system, it was blocking mlb.tv. As a Red Sox fan living in Virginia, that's the only way I can watch the games. Totally unacceptable. So I uninstalled Norton. A few weeks later I installed a free program that seemed to be working fine. Or so I thought. On my laptop were many many many files that weren't mine. Adult files. Of all types. We're not sure what did it, but it looks like my laptop was a go between for some sort of adult file-sharing site. It's been 5 days and I'm still creeped out by it.

Thankfully, it doesn't look like any of my personal information was stolen. And, I suppose, in the grand scheme of things, it could have been a lot worse. But I have learned my lesson. The first thing I did with my new laptop is install good, up-to-date anti-virus software - the kind that scans everything and updates daily. I bought the one that was on sale; just make sure you have one.

Mission #8: Organizing Time

Have you ever had one of those days (or weeks) when you have so much on your to-do list that you can't even get started? That's how I'm feeling lately. I'm lucky that I only work out of the house once or twice a week, so I have time during the day to get a lot done. But I also have to balance that time with freelance work (and looking for/querying for freelance work). Some days are easier than others. I get up, set aside a few hours to write, run some errands and clean my kitchen. Other days...well...I spend an hour on facebook to avoid the list of things around here that need to be done.

So, we're taking a slight departure with Mission #8. Rather than organizing something around the house, we'll be organizing our time. Right now, I try to organize my day around a paper to-do list. But, clearly, that's not cutting it. Not that my paper & markers (yes, the list in the picture is my actual list from this week written with a Crayola marker - my favorite) are bad. I just need to upgrade.

One other note - while I will definitely be working on this mission over the next couple of weeks, the posting will likely be sparser than usual (as you have probably already noticed). I'm participating in NaNoWriMo - National Novel Writing Month. You can read all about it at http://www.nanowrimo.org, but the basic idea is to write an entire novel - at least 50,000 words - during November. It's a huge undertaking, and way harder than I thought it would be (though, when I said that to my husband, he looked at me funny and said something about of course it being hard). So I'll be spending more time than usual this month writing (hence the need to organize my time better!), and am unsure how much time I'll have to write other things. But rest assured that I'll be here, and I hope that you'll work on organizing your time with me (and share your tips in the comments section!).

Mission #7: COMPLETE!

I'm more than a little proud of finishing this mission. It's not just a matter of my nightstand now being clean; it's that it barely looks like its former self.

The top of my nightstand now just has the essentials - my alarm clock, remote controls, tissues, water cup, lotion, and a lamp. That's it. And the only reason that the lotion gets to be on top is that not only am I disorganized, I am cheap. I buy lotion in ridiculously large containers at Costco, and the over-sized pump doesn't fit in the drawer. (and yes, if you are fan of Cetaphil, you too can own a vat of the stuff from Costco for the same price as a small tube at the grocery store. You're welcome.)

Inside the drawer are just the essentials - the medications and vitamins that I take every day, Tylenol PM, nail clippers, fancy hand cream, and the like. I got rid of all of the nail polish that was living in there, along with a slew of expired medicine and questionably old lotion. A surprising find in the drawer were buttons. Lots and lots of buttons. All of the extra buttons that come attached to a new shirt had somehow found their way into my drawer. I don't know why. Since I apparently throw them in my drawer anyways, I felt like they should probably live there permanently. I took a small candle holder, put it in the corner of the drawer, and filled it up. I know the picture isn't the best (by the way, if anyone knows how to reset the settings on a camera, please let me know - I apparently have set my camera to make all indoor pictures fuzzy, and I can't get it back), but you get the idea. It's a pretty simple fix, especially considering that the candle holder probably cost less then a dollar (buy a 4 pack at Ikea & put candles in the other 3!). And if I ever really do need a button, I'll know where they are. (you can see lots of other great tips over at We Are THAT Family's Works for Me Wednesday post)

Mini Mission: Nail Polish

For many women, a luxury that has been cut out in these tough economic times is manicures and pedicures. And while nothing really beats an afternoon of being pampered, it does make better financial sense to buy a nail file and some pretty polish and do it at home. But, did you know that nail polish expires? Ever wonder why your at-home manicure sometimes peels and bubbles moments after it's dry? It turns out that it's the age of your polish. So, as part of my mission to clean out my nightstand (there are a ton of bottles in there) and Works for Me Wednesday, today's mini mission is to clean out your nail polish.

A couple of nail polish guidelines for you. First, depending on which expert you listen to, nail polish has a shelf life of ONE to TWO years. Most actually say you should toss it after ONE year. This is hard for me, since I know I have not purchased any new nail polish in 2009, so I should probably toss all of mine. Aside from the whole germ thing (you're touching your hands with the brush, then it lives in the polish), the nail polish itself changes consistency as it ages. Once it gets thick and goopy, toss it. Notice how when you use an older bottle you get more air bubbles or it peels or chips more easily? It's not you - it's the age of the polish. And you know how after it sits for awhile, it starts to separate? That's a sure sign it's past it's prime. As for me, I'm getting rid of nearly all of mine. I found some super old bottles in my nightstand, and I know that a few of my more "current" bottles are actually nearly 4 years old. Ew.

Next, when you buy a new bottle of nail polish, write the date you got in on the bottle. The easiest way to do this is with a sharpie on the bottom. So the new polish you buy today (because, now that you've thrown away all your old polish, you need to buy new stuff, right?) gets labeled 10/09. That way you can easily see when it's time to toss.

Finally, storage. I know that some people store their nail polish in the fridge - don't. Nail polish is especially sensitive to temperatures and humidity, so keep your nail polish someplace dry and with a fairly even temperature. I like to also keep mine somewhere where I can see it - I'm more likely to use things when I know I have them.