Monday, April 25, 2016

Our Delicious Weekly Menu | Paleo | April 24th

Our Weekly Meal Plan (Whole30, Paleo)

Sunday - Lunch:  Leftovers

Dinner:  More leftovers

Monday - Lunch:  Salad and Smoothies

Dinner:  Daddy's in Charge (Mommy teaching night class)

Tuesday -  Lunch:  Salmon Salad on Spinach Greens with Smoothies (I use the protein salad recipe from the Whole30 Cookbook)

Dinner:  Super Veggie Minestone Soup with Salad and Spinach Biscuits*

Wednesday -  Lunch:  Salad and Smoothies

Dinner:  Out for My Birthday!

Thursday -  Lunch:  Leftovers

Dinner:  Sticky Chicken Drumsticks with Asparagus Salad and Fruit

Friday - Lunch:  Salad and Smoothies

Dinner:  Creamy Pork Chops (or roast) with Mashed Cauliflower and Green Goddess Quinoa Salad*

Saturday - Lunch:  Brunch (Pancakes, Bacon, and Smoothies)

Dinner:  Leftovers

Sunday - Lunch:  Tuna Salad Cucumber Cups with Fruit

Dinner:  Taco Salad with Hidden Veggies

*Not Paleo friendly


I'm getting excited to start incorporating our garden produce into the menu!  Especially dinosaur kale; it's my favorite!

This week I'm also starting Money Saving Mom, Crystal Paine's Make Over Your Evenings course.  I keep thinking about how often my evenings are completely unproductive, and I have high hopes that this course will inspire me.  I would love it if you would  join me on this adventure!  My plan is to blog about my progress.  (I think this itself would be progress, actually!)


Have a great week!




Find previous meal plans here.
**Linking up at I'm an Organizing Junkie for Meal Plan Monday**

This post may contain affiliate links.

Thursday, April 21, 2016

3 Reasons You are Ruining Your Evenings (and so am I)


It's 8:15pm.  I just tucked my toddlers into bed, and I can finally finish cleaning up the kitchen from dinner, put the groceries away, and fold a load of laundry, but somehow I crawl into bed a couple hours later with the dirty dishes still in the sink and the laundry still in the dryer.  


Does this sound familiar?

If you're like me, you probably have the best of intentions in making the most of the evening by tidying up and getting prepped for tomorrow.

BUT if you're like me, you might get your kids tucked into bed and think, "It's been a long day, and I can finally sit down and relax for a few minutes."

The next thing you know, it's time to get to bed, so that you can be rested when your alarm goes off at 6 AM the next morning.

Where did the evening go?

I've identified three reasons that I consistently ruin my evenings.

1. Spending Too Much Time on Social Media

Do you sit down to check your email, just to find yourself still scrolling through Facebook half an hour later?

I certainly do.  And we are not alone.  86% of moms are members of at least one social network.  And mothers with children under five spend 37 hours each month on their smartphones using apps or browsing the web.

Nevertheless, social media can suck time away from all of the important things we need to get done.

Social media can wait.  This is just one reason why you might be ruining your evenings.


#2.  Putting "it" off until tomorrow.

Do you ever think, "I'll just do that in the morning"?

I do.  Somehow I think that if I put off the things I need to do in lieu of the things I want to do (i.e. social media), that I'll be able to easily catch up later.

And then life laughs in my face when I hit the snooze button three, maybe four, times the next morning.

The dishes in the sink just grow and grow.  The laundry pile seems to triple in size each day that I don't wash a load.  These chores-that-never-end (they just go on and on my friend), should not be delayed until tomorrow.

And this is reason #2 that you might be ruining your evenings.  (I do.)


#3.  Forgetting to delegate.

Once the kids are in bed, and I can finally get back to those things around the house I need to finish before bed, I tend to 1) get overwhelmed and sleepy and 2) forget to delegate.

Why should I need to finish clearing the table or washing the dishes at all when I have a wonderfully capable and willing husband and a wonderfully capable (though admittedly less willing) tween who can help with the dishes and such?

The answer is that I shouldn't.

Not that I won't have things to do after tucking the toddlers in bed, but I need to learn to delegate better.

I'm working on a cleaning schedule that clearly delegates tasks to each member of the family, including my oldest toddler, but the first few days of it haven't gone smoothly.  It's a work in progress, right?

Do you delegate efficiently?

This is yet another reason that you might be ruining your evening (like me).


#4.  Bonus! Justifying Watching Just One (okay, maybe two) Episodes of That Show You Don't Even Care About

"I worked all day for everyone else in my family, so I deserve 45 minutes to myself to watch the latest fad on Hulu (or Amazon Prime or Netflix)"

Do you ever find yourself saying that to yourself?

I can't tell you how many different shows I've watched in the last year alone.  I'm in no way attached to them, they are just mindless entertainment.

Don't get me wrong, I think it's complete fine to watch mindless entertainment, but not to the extent that it ends up ruining your evening.


. . .

But what can we do to make our evenings run smoothly and prepare us for the next morning?

I have what I hope will be the answer for me.

One of my very favorite bloggers, Crystal Paine from MoneySavingMom.com, is hosting a course called, Make Over Your Evenings.

I'm SO excited to take part in the course, and if you are anything like me, you should be excited to take this course, too!

The Make Over Your Evenings class requires just 15 minutes once a day for two weeks.  I bet you can handle that!

Registration starts April 21, 2016 at midnight!  And if you sign up in the first seven hours, by 7 AM EST, the cost is ONLY $5!

If you have a hard time waking up in the morning like I do, don't worry!  The class will be discounted all day long!  From 7 AM to noon, the Make Over Your Evenings class is only $7!  And from noon to 5 PM, it will be $10.  And if you can't sign up until after work, don't fret, the course will be discounted to $13 until the end of the day.  That's still a 30% discount.

So hurry to MakeOverYourEvenings.com to get more details and SIGN UP!

Let's Make Over Our Evenings together, so that we can stop Ruining Our Evenings.








**This post contains affiliate links.  Please see my full disclosure policy.**




Tuesday, April 12, 2016

Our Weekly Menu | April 19th


Our Weekly Meal Plan (Whole30, Paleo)

Sunday - Lunch:  Leftovers

Dinner:  More leftovers

Monday - Lunch:  Lunch Date

Dinner:  Daddy's in Charge (Mommy teaching night class)

Tuesday -  Lunch:  Salmon Salad on Spinach Greens with Smoothies

Dinner:  Protein Spaghetti and Marinara with Green Beans and Fruit

Wednesday -  Lunch:  Salad and Smoothies

Dinner:  Creamy Pork Chops with Mashed Cauliflower and Salad

Thursday -  Lunch:  Leftovers

Dinner:  Tomato Basil Spaghetti Squash Bake with Salad and Fruit (Mommy @ work dinner)

Friday - Lunch:  Salad and Smoothies

Dinner:  Tandoori Chicken with Rice and Kale Salad

Saturday - Lunch:  Brunch (Pancakes, Bacon, and Smoothies)

Dinner:  Raw Bell Peppers with Mexi-Quinoa Stuffing with Salad and Fruit

Sunday - Lunch:  Tuna Salad Cucumber Cups with Fruit

Dinner:  Sticky Chicken Drumsticks with Asparagus Salad and Fruit





Find previous meal plans here.
**Linking up at I'm an Organizing Junkie for Meal Plan Monday**

This post may contain affiliate links.

Monday, April 4, 2016

Our Weekly Menu | April 4th


Our Weekly Meal Plan (Whole30, Paleo)

Sunday - Lunch:  Leftovers

Dinner:  Chicken Pad Sew Ew with Oranges

Monday - Lunch:  Salads & Smoothies

Dinner:  Taco Soup with Salad

Tuesday -  Lunch:  Tuna Salad in Cucumber Cups with Fruit

Dinner:  Raw Lasagna from Rawesome with Salad and Fruit

Wednesday -  Lunch:  BLT Salad

Dinner:  Mini Egg Frittatas with Veggies and Fruit

Thursday -  Lunch:  Leftovers

Dinner:  Chicken Curry with Rice and Asparagus

Friday - Lunch:  Salmon Salad on Spinach Greens with Smoothies

Dinner:  Spaghetti Squash Chow Mein with Chicken and Fruit

Saturday - Lunch:  Pancakes

Dinner:  Chicken Salad with Tomatoes, Spinach Salad, and Cottage Cheese

Sunday - Lunch:  Leftovers

Dinner:  Paleo Sweet Potato Sloppy Joes with Salad






Find previous meal plans here.
**Linking up at I'm an Organizing Junkie for Meal Plan Monday**

This post may contain affiliate links.