Tickler File Tames The Paper Tiger

A few weeks ago I wrote about winning a phone consultation from Simple Organized Sanity (SOS) and I promised I would share some tips as I put them into practice. The first tip I want to share she actually mentioned the day before at our MOPS group but we talked about it in a little more detail on our phone call.  


Christie talked about using a tickler file to organize everyday paper that tends to clutter our house.  The basic concept is to fill a file box with 31 files - one for each day of the month.  Feel free to add more for special items as needed.  For instance, I have one for items that need to be filed as my office is in my basement and my life happens on the main floor.  I also keep a file for coupons.  Whenever a bill, permission slip, or any other item that needs action comes into your house, file it on the day that action needs to be taken.  An example is a bill that is due on the 24th - if I am paying this online I would file it probably on the 22nd so I would know it would be paid on time.


Each day, open the file for that day and take action on everything in the file.  As that paper is taken care of, if it needs to be filed in your office, move it to the To Be Filed folder.  Then, designate a time each week to file that folder.


This simple filing system has saved me time and is helping tame the paper tiger that exists in my house.  My house is still a disaster because I have not had time to completely clear all of the piles sitting on my counters but all new paper that enters my house is promptly filed.  I have high hopes that one day the remaining piles will be gone and you will be able to find my kitchen counter again.  I also like that I can tackle a task or two at a time instead of waiting until I have an overwhelming amount to do and trying to accomplish it all at once.  It has taken a lot of stress out of my daily life.

Menu Planning With A Recipe Notebook

I constantly hear from others that menu planning takes too much work.  While trying to live on less, I've learned that menu planning makes a huge difference in the budget though as I'm much less tempted to eat out.  I also am able to take advantage of items on sale and use them in a reasonable amount of time instead of items getting lost in my pantry.

I will admit that many times I simply write down a few tried and true meals without giving it much thought.  The times I do work a bit on our menu, I'm much more excited about cooking though. 

For my menu planning I keep a three ring binder full of recipes.  I bought some simple dividers with tabs and labeled with common categories such as breakfast, main dish, dessert, etc.  

When I see a recipe I would like to make, I stick it in the pockets of my binder.  Every so often I take the time to file all of them in the correct category.

When I feel I'm in a cooking rut, I will sit down with my notebook and create a menu.  Usually, by the time I'm done, I have several weeks worth of menus.  


As I cook each recipe, I make notes on it about what we like/dislike.  This helps a ton when I make it again as I tend to forget how I tweak a few recipes.

How do you menu plan? 

Food Friday: Carrot Cake

This is my mom's carrot cake recipe and what I compare all carrot cake's too.  It does not have nuts or fruit in it, just the way I think carrot cake should be.  We have tried making the frosting a bit healthier by using reduced fat cream cheese but it came out a bit runny.  My advice is to stick with the full fat and enjoy this as an occasional treat.  It makes a great dessert for Easter too.

Carrot Cake

2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
3 cups grated carrots
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups corn oil
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda


Mix dry ingredients together.  Add carrots, then add oil, eggs, and vanilla - blend well.  Bake in three 9" cake pans for 30 minutes or one 9x13" pan for 40 minutes.


Frosting


1 box powdered sugar
1 8 oz block cream cheese
1 stick butter or margarine
1 tsp vanilla


Cream the cream cheese and butter.  Add sugar and vanilla.  Blend well.  Add milk if necessary to spread. 

 

Busy Mom's Bible Review

Zondervan sent me the Busy Mom's Bible to review. I've been looking for something quick and easy for my daily Bible time and this fits perfectly with what I need at this stage of my life.  There are 52 thought starters spread throughout the Bible.  Each one has a quick one minute verse and topic to read.  It then has options for if you have an extra five or ten minutes.  At the end of each thought starter is a "word to take with you today".  I like this because one word is pretty easy to remember and I can think on this topic as I go throughout my day.


There are other great features besides just the thought starters.  First of all, the cover is made in a fun pink leather.  Since it is pink, I don't think I'll have to worry about my husband or boys taking it.  Second, it has great references such as weights and measurements conversions, a concordance, and colorful maps.


I'm looking forward to using this Bible daily and think it would make a great gift for any new mom.

Disclaimer: Zondervan sent me the Bible to review, no other compensation occurred.

Time to Start the Garden

If you will recall, last year I decided to start my garden from seeds. It was probably my most successful garden to date so I was estatic to start it again this year. A little over a week ago I planted tomato and pepper plants inside.  I checked them after five days and was a bit disappointed to see nothing had even started to grow.  I then checked back two days later and had a few inches of sprout on the tomatoes but nothing on the peppers.  I was shocked to see how much the tomatoes had grown in just two days.  I'm thinking I might need to retry the peppers but I'm giving them a few more days.

I've read articles in the past that gardening can actually cost you more money than buying fresh produce.  I can see where they are coming from if you create a fancy garden, buy high quality seeds, go for the best of everything, etc. but I've found it to be very economical.

My garden is a small plot of land in the back corner of my yard.  We have built a makeshift fence around it to keep the groundhogs, rabbits and squirrels out.  The majority of those materials were found in my dad's garage or at garage sales.  I usually pay less than a dollar per seed packet and after last years results realize that it works just as good as the higher quality plants.  We also tend to fill in with the cheap dirt instead of the higher quality.  In some areas you might need a better soil but this works great where I am located.

Square foot gardening is very popular right now and can have a bit of a startup cost but is still very inexpensive after the initial year.  If you want to Live on Less this year, I highly recommend starting your own garden.  It is fun to see your hard work turn into delicious food. 

Gardening is also a great way to get your children to eat healthier.  We let my son pick out some seeds this year and I plan to let him help in the garden.  All of the seeds he picked out need to be started directly in the ground so I'm looking forward to the day we can actually do that.  Seeing as we had snow and ice on Sunday, that is still a few weeks off though.

I would love to hear about your garden.  Feel free to leave a link or comment about your garden this year.

Saving Money With Tupperware at Thrifty and Chic Mom

This weekend I have a guest post up at Thrifty and Chic Mom.  Ellen is going room by room through her house and sharing tips and items that work for her. This past week she has been in the kitchen.  Check out my post on saving money with Tupperware and then visit the rest of this series to see what room she is going to next.

Food Friday: Cream Cheese Mints

When I got married and everyone was planning my showers they always asked what kind of cake or pastry I wanted.  My response was always that I would take any kind of cake as long as there were cream cheese mints.  These are one my favorite sweets although I usually only make them for wedding and baby showers.  You can purchase molds at any of the big box craft stores and shape the mints according to the occassion.  They can also be made ahead of time and stored in the refridgerator.

Cream Cheese Mints
Recipe from RecipeZaar


1 small package cream cheese (3 oz)
2-3 drops peppermint extract
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
granulated sugar


Place all ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix well.  Knead for 10 minutes.  Roll small balls into granulated sugar and then press into mold.  Makes approximately 30 mints.