1 Thing A Week - Organizing

Confession. 

I love to organize. 

It's a bit of a disease, really. An incredibly satisfying, alphabetizing, color coding disease. 

I first noticed I was obsessed many years ago at a friend's sleepover party. I was waiting for my turn to play Bomber-man on the Gamecube (I told you, forever ago)--and I alphabetized my friend's video game collection. 

I never stopped after that (Feel free to laugh, my friends did).  :)

I'm not so into alphabetizing anymore (what a pain in the butt--unless it is necessary), but I am into getting the most out of every space, and making it look nice. Although I am in an apartment right now and can't change much (as in adding shelving, paint, etc), I am constantly trying to make things flow better and keep things organized. 

I'll share two little recent projects I am proud of, so maybe you can get obsessed too!

A few weeks ago I decided to tackle the pantry and the snack cabinet. Also, we had a lot of books stacked under the desk in the "living room." I wanted to fix all of these problems with one solution.

Snack Cabinet:

Pantry:

I didn't get a picture of the desk, just imagine stacks of books underneath. :) 

The pantry and cabinet weren't exactly messy, I just wasn't using my space as smart as I could have. 

First step to tackle this (or any job like it) is to take everything out! 

Pull it out, wipe the shelves off, start fresh so you can see the space in front of you. Think about it in a new way. I try to always have a plan before I start, but sometimes you just have to see the space empty before you can imagine a different system.

I moved the few cans out from the bottom shelf of the pantry and moved them to the snack cabinet. I also used a few spare jars I had to organize our drink mixes, spice packets, etc. 

Cleaning this up and moving the cans meant I had more space in the pantry-- I moved a bunch of the boxes to the top of the pantry, cleaned out the bottom and reorganized everything, and moved all the books from the desk to the bottom shelf. 

I also added a label for the pasta box (formerly a ramen noodle box)-- mostly because the ramen box was ugly, but also because I like to label things. 

Huzzah!  Three problems solved with one solution. I love it when that happens! Our storage works so much better this way, and I love utilizing my space better. 

2nd Project:

A few days ago, I decided my closet needed an overhaul... Mostly because on my trip home (pics to come) my Mom took me shopping and, needless to say, I came back with a much fuller suitcase. So I wanted a more organized space for all my new clothes. 

I know, I know. Hubby says I have a lot of clothes. And yet... I never have anything to wear! ;)

So I grabbed two bags-- clothes I wanted to donate, and those I want my oh-so-talented sister to make into a t-shirt blanket for me (since all of my outdated/ill-fitting/hardly worn clothes are t-shirts). 

Hubby and I also made a detailed schedule for our day to better manage our time. 

We hung it in the closet--it seemed to be the best place for it because it meant

 we had to look at it every morning and prep for the day.

I also reorganized all my undershirts and

 folded the skirts I don't wear as much to free up some hanger space.

It's hard to tell from the pictures, but it actually is a huge improvement. 

See why I love organizing? 

If you want more motivation, check out some of my favorite sites:

I Heart Organizing 

Better Homes and Gardens

Real Simple

And of course, for any inspiration, I also visit Pinterest (Who doesn't?). 

xoxo

1 Thing A Week: The Rest of the Meals & Photo Diary

Although I didn't post Friday through Sunday, we definitely followed our meal plan.

Thursday: Steak Burritos
Friday: Chicken Stir Fry
Saturday: Don't remember, but I'm sure it was good. :)
Sunday: Spaghetti

Quick Photo Diary: 

I have a ton of homework to do, dinner to make, a book I want to read, a new project for the blog I want to work on, laundry to do and fold... Who doesn't love a Monday, right? 

Bleh. 

1 Thing A Week: Wednesday's Meal

Tonight Marcus played basketball, so we needed something light (instead of the baked potatoes I had planned). 

So, eggs it was. :)

Gotta love breakfast for dinner- we do!

1 Thing A Week: Tuesday's Meal

Sorry for the awful picture, we were so busy eating I didn't get a picture until 

I was putting all the food away. 

Tonight's meal was really good- it was enchilada soup. It was supposed to be a slow cooker meal (oops) but I just boiled and shredded the chicken quickly so all it had to do was simmer for a bit. 

Then we topped it with shredded mozzarella cheese and sour cream and tortilla chips. Fiesta time. :)

Great recipe-- find it HERE. 

1 Thing A Week: Monday's Meal

I'm currently working on planning and making meals every day of the week. 

Sounds easy, sometimes not. This post started it all. 

Here's Monday's meal: 

 It's a new recipe for us--found it on Pinterest (of course). Find it HERE. 

Yummy Navajo Fry Bread Tacos. 

Super easy and fast (And heck yes, that's cilantro on top! Yum). 

Perfect for our Monday! 

New Series: 1 Thing A Week

I'm starting a new series on my blog-- it should be updated roughly every Thursday (although I haven't quite figured out the best day to do it). 

It's pretty simple--every week I will be trying or learning something and then sharing it with you. It could be tutorials, posts to get me motivated, or something interesting I wanted to learn. 

If you have suggestions about things you want me to research or try, please comment below! I'd love to get input about what you want to see on the blog. 

This week:

MEAL PLANNING

A lot of the time, meal planning gets ignored as a waste of time. But it can really help streamline your week and prevent "emergency" grocery store visits. It also helps you save money--you won't end up buying any food that you know you won't eat or use that week. 

Step One: Asses your meal planning needs. 

         Sometimes eating out is planned, or sometimes your schedule prevents you from cooking extravagant meals. Make your menu reflect your schedule. For instance, I know I have more time to cook on the nights Marcus is gone to school. Therefore, I cook the more labor intensive meals then. On days like Saturday or Friday night, I keep it simple. Who knows what we will be doing then? And- if I don't plan a big meal on Friday nights, Marcus might take me out, wink wink. Well...It's worth a shot. 

Step two: Get some recipes! 

         I stole a lot of great recipes from my mom's cookbooks and brought them along when I got married. But Pinterest has also become my menu planning friend. Thousands of recipes from cooking-savvy bloggers are always at your fingertips (You can follow my recipe board HERE). Better Homes and Gardens, Real Simple, Kraft Foods, etc. are also great resources. And of course, use those cookbooks that you have that are gathering dust. Don't get those shifty eyes. We all have them. 

Step three: Plan, Plan, Plan. 

        Organization is key at this step. Make a list of all the meals you want to eat that week. Keep in mind your own personal schedule--and by all means, don't try to make something fantastic every night to begin with. Start off manageable and work up--it ensures you will stick with it. If you need to schedule in a few "eat-out" or "Do-it-yourself" (haha) meals to begin with, that's totally fine. 

You will need to see what ingredients for each recipe that you are missing. A big money saver is trying recipes based off of what you already have. Use that stuff up! Don't let anything go to waste- that's a huge benefit of planning ahead too. Add what you are missing to your grocery list. Make sure to keep track of what you are using for each recipe--I once planned a few meals using one can of beans--I totally forgot I would be using them for the other meals. Live and learn, I guess. 

Step four: Buy the food. (Duh.) 

        Here's the faze where you can add in coupons and deals--feel free to get crazy about deal hunting. I honestly haven't gotten in to this part yet, so here are a few links if you are curious. I know I will be delving into this part to try and save some of the grocery budget. 

http://www.couponmom.com/

http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/family/budget/cut-grocery-bill-jan05

http://www.coupons.com/

****

I made my plan this afternoon and bought all my groceries. I picked out a few new recipes to try, and a few tried and tested ones as well. I also made you guys a printable that you can use to speed up the meal planning! There is a spot for each day of the week (Note that there is only one line--this is for dinners only, as that's the only thing I cook. Marcus and I usually just take yogurt and granola for breakfast and a sandwich/soup/leftovers for lunch). There's also a box next to each day to jot down what ingredients are missing. 

If you can't just click and save this image, you can email me at everydayloves@gmail.com and I will email you a pdf. 

Hope you all will join me this week to plan out a menu and stick to it. 

I'll be sharing my recipes along the way!

Happy meal planning!

xoxo