On with the cleaning!

In a way I hate the holidays...

Don't get me wrong. Christmas is my favorite time of the year. I try to keep the Christmas spirit going all year round in my home.

BUT!

I get so wrapped up in what's going on that things start to slip. My house is a wreck. Right before the Thanksgiving holiday we shampooed the carpets downstairs. This meant moving everything out and then putting it back. Unfortunately nothing got put back where it was supposed to.

SO.

I am starting over 100% with the getting organized thing. Thanks to my DH and my boys I don't really have a choice..lol.

So here goes nothin!

Chicken Fried Rice

Okay, I'm late in posting this..lol. Sorry! Monday was a rather bad day for us. I would ask that you all keep us in your prayers please. We're going thru something right now that only God can help us fix.


Now! Onto the regular posting!

Today's decluttering went quite well. In the bathroom I cleaned out the medicine cabinent getting rid of all expired meds and compressing double bottles into one etc. Also cleaned out my drawer of junk..lol. Got a half of a 13 gallon trash bag out of the bathroom.

Onto the Master bedroom...it was scary. I literally mean it scared me. :D Anyhow, I got all laundry that was sitting around put away nice and neat, got the bed moved and the dresser moved and the entire thing spic and span. Took out 2 bags of old clothes or ones that no longer fit DH or myself.

Onto Mmmm-Monday!

Today's Mmmm moment is homemade Chicken Fried Rice! YUMMY!

• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 3 cups cold cooked white rice
• 2 cups chopped cooked chicken
• 1/2 cup sliced celery
• 1/2 cup shredded carrot
• 1 cup frozen green pea, thawed
• 2 green onions, sliced
• 1-3 tablespoon soy sauce

  Directions:

1. To cook chicken-wrap tightly in foil (making sure to seal the ends -- you want it completely wrapped) and bake on a baking sheet @ 350 for 35-40 min or until no longer pink. No seasonings needed. The foil keeps the juices in with the meat resulting in a VERY moist piece of chicken.

2. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a wok or large skillet over medium-high heat

3. Pour in the eggs; cook and stir until scrambled and firm. Remove from wok, and set aside.

4. Put remaining 2 tablespoons of oil in the wok and turn heat up to high.

5. Stir in rice until each grain is coated with oil.Stir in chicken, celery, carrot, peas and green onions.

6. Reduce heat to medium, cover and allow to steam for 5 minutes.Stir in scrambled eggs and soy sauce, and cook until eggs are heated through.

7. **NOTE: The rice used in this HAS to be cold. I fix mine in the morning and then leave it in the fridge until dinner time.

Enjoy! Tomorrow is Timeless Tuesday! I love all things vintage so on Tuesday's we're gonna explore that love! Hope to see ya'll!

Mission: Declutter: Day 2

LOL I thought that I would just keep up with the Mission theme...

Anyhow, so I got all the things I wanted to get done today and more done today! Yay Me!

Here are the pics. I forgot to take a pic of the dishes cupboard before I started but it was so bad that the doors would barely shut. The entire top shelf was falling down on us b/c of all the useless lids that I had stored up there.

The Pots and Pans Before: See my toes sticking out there? Lol I had to sit on the floor to be able to reach back there...and yes, that is a drawer without a front...lol. It literally fell off in my hands today. Gotta get some good glue tomorrow.
















The Pots and Pans After:

















The junk drawer before:


















The junk drawer after:

















The dishes after: Lol yes I know they don't all match. There's like 3 different sets there..lol.


















The food cupboard before:

















The food cupboard after:

















All in all here is what left my home today:

a part to a food processor I don't have any longer
a skillet that was no longer useable
6 lids to storage containers I no longer have
3 cans of food past they're expiration date
sugar and coffee that had lived past it's life in a canister
a cutting board I never used that was just taking up space
6 ac adapters that went to nothing in this house
2 extra phone line cords
2 grocery bags of useless papers

Whoot! I am rockin it! I forgot how much of a "high" you can get just from getting something organized! Lovin it!

On tomorrow's list is:

Clean out the fridge (no before pics b/c frankly I'm embarrassed by it)
Pull out the stove and wash the wall behind and beside, sweep and mop back there.
Clean and organize the bathroom drawers
Clean and organize the linen closet
Clean and organize the Master bedroom
Go thru all of mine and DH's clothing.
Clean the floor of the Master Bedroom closet.

Pics to come tomorrow! Wish me luck!

Also tomorrow is MMMM-Good Monday. Every Monday starting tomorrow I will post a new and yummy recipe. I've had enough time off that I've tried more than a few. :)

Mission: Declutter: Day 1

LOL like the title? Sometimes it can seem like de-cluttering and getting things all spiffy clean is a mission.

Anyhow...my list for yesterday is done! Yay!

The desk:

Before:

















The desk after:

































The spice cabinent before:








































After: I got a microwave stand last week. Look at how I made use of the drawer that is on it. :)








































The food cupboard before:


















After:




















I feel so much better now that I've actually gotten a few things done.


My list for today?

Clean out the fridge (I'm really scared of what might be living in there)
Clean and organize the pots and pans cupboard
Clean and organize the dishes cupboard
Clean the Master bedroom

Wish me luck!

Back to the grind....

I SO need to get my home organized again. With my FMS attacking me as hard as it has lately it's fallen into a terribly unorganized state once again.

So...

Here are today's projects:

Desk-clean and organize
Spice cabinent-clean and organize
Food cabinents-clean and organize.

Will post before and after pics once they are done. :)

Today's Projects

Today's Projects are:

Clean dining room
Clean living room
Clean bathroom
Organize bathroom sink and linen closet


Hopefully I can get it all done.

Back to Life

So I will say that I kind of did enjoy my 2 weeks without the pc. I got to spend a lot more time with my family. That was good and bad. Since we had July 4 thrown in there, we went and watched the fireworks.

Well, needless to say that my youngest stepson and I had fireworks going of our own. He is forever picking on his little sister and I have to admit that I am more protective of her than I am any of the stepkids. Most likely because she is my own. Anyhow, I had finally had enough and told him so (I tried to keep it polite), which proceeded to do nothing more than to tick him off. Lol, by the time the fireworks started tho, everything was okay.

I will say this. I have 222 (not really, but a lot) cookbooks in this house and I don't use a single one. All of my recipes are stored online. SO...when I went to plan the menu for this week, I couldn't cook anything..lol. I didn't have my recipes! I have never wanted to throw a temper tantrum more than I did that day. But I made it thru without the recipes! Yay for me!

I need to get life back in order...and I need to get back to organizing. We are headed to Ohio on the 22nd and I would like for most of it to be done by then. I know this won't happen so I am not even going to pretend that it will. I am just going to take it one step at a time.

So...

Today's projects are:

Clean out the pots and pans cupboard and replace the items back in neatly
Scrub the kitchen floor
Re-organize the spice cabinent again (just needs straightened up)
And...
Clean out the bathroom and linen closet.

Lol, I was doing my hair the other day and looked down at MY drawer. Damon has his, Emma has hers and I have mine. Oh boy! Does that drawer need some organizing help! Lol


Wish me luck and if I can find my camera I will post some before and after pics.

Also, I am still decluttering clothes, but am no longer donating them. I have a friend I will see in Ohio whose daughter is the perfect size for them so I will be taking them to her when we go.

Recipe-Homemade Calzones

Oh these were so yummy! I didn't get a chance to get a pic of them b/c they got snatched up so quickly!

Please make sure that you read the recipe notes at the end.

1 pkg dry yeast

1c warm water

1t sugar

2T oil

2 1/2 c flour

mozerella cheese

pizza sauce

pepperoni

mushrooms

whatever other pizza toppings you would like to add

For Crust:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Stir in the other ingredients until well mixed. Let stand 5 min.

Roll dough out into rectangles and move to lightly greased cookie sheet or pizza pan.

For assembly.

Spread pizza sauce ON HALF of rectangle. Layer your choice of pizza toppings and finish with adding a good sized handful of mozzerella cheese onto toppings. Fold remaining half of dough over to cover toppings and pinch dough seams together all the way around calzone to create a seal.

Bake at 425 degrees for 25 min or until dough is done.

NOTES: I doubled the dough recipe to make 3 good sized calzones. I also used my bread machine to mix the dough. Please note that this is a VERY sticky dough. Unless you flour or grease your hands, it will stick to you and everything it touches.

In other news, here is what has (or will be today) left my house in continuing with the 365 Day Challenge.

2 bags of donated clothing

4 bags of recycled pop bottles

1 very full recycling tote to center

I hope you are all doing well.

It occured to me today that if I stopped for a few, let's say 5 minutes and cleaned a little bit of my bathroom everytime I was in it, that I would most likely have a very, very clean bathroom. Don't get me wrong...it's not filthy, but it could use a little touch up right now.

It also occurred to me that even if your bathroom is spotless, if the toilet or tub are dirty or dingy, the entire thing looks filthy.

So, I am making it my goal to clean one small thing in there every time I go in there.

Will you join me?

One de-cluttered Spice Cabinent

My husband had this antique secretary that he hadn't taken very good care of just sitting in my dining room. I needed a place to store my spices. So, six months ago I took the remaining door off, dusted it and moved it into my kitchen. There it sat, organized at first, but by yesterday it was...well..overrun. Things were just being thrown into it, not being put back where they belong. That was my project for the day.

Here are a few before pics.

AND....drum

roll please...here are the afters!

Whoo Hoo!

Here is what has left my house over the last couple of days.

A bunch of old newspapers went to the recycling center, a computer desk, and some old clothes. I am loving this 365 day challenge!

365 Days of Decluttering Challenge

I stumbled across this the other day via THIS blog and it looks like a great idea to me. So, I am going to jump right in and get busy. Anyone want to join me?

Here is the lowdown:

Everyday for 365 days, you must remove (at least) one piece of clutter from your home. That's it! Just think about it. If you removed 365 pieces of clutter from your house how clean and crisp would it be?

I LOVE this idea!

So here we go!

I will be starting today!

There are other places too...

So I am not only de-cluttering my house, I am also de-cluttering my computer.

So...tonight I cleaned up my email.

Now yes, this can take a long time to do depending on how much crud you have in there. Mine literally took about an hour. But my email is now cleaned and clear and easy to navigate. I also cleaned out my documents, placing them in the appropriate folder. LOL, you should see my recipe folder now..FANTASTIC! So easy to find them now.

Here's how I did the email.

Step one: Log into your email (this really is a duh moment..lol)

Step two: Pop open your inbox and go thru each message. If you need (notice I said need, not want) to save the message, place it in the appropriate folder. If you don't have a folder for that category, create one. Delete each message that you no longer need.

Step three: Open your spam folder. If you use yahoo like me, then there are probably some good emails mixed in there. Go thru it. You don't have to open each one (unless your email client makes you) but go thru by title checking off (if possible) each one that you don't need. If you find one that you DO need then move it to the right folder or to your inbox to be filed later (see step 5), otherwise, delete.

Step four: Your Folders. Now if you are like me and have a habit of just throwing things in folders and forgetting about them, this is where its going to get boring and tedious. Go thru each folder message by message. Save only the ones you NEED (again, not want). Delete all others. You may be surprised. I was able to delete 4 folders all together.

---Side note: I had a folder in my email for recipes that people had emailed me. What I did when I was cleaning them out was copy/paste the recipes I wanted to save to a word document. Each category has it's own word document, so casseroles, sides, deserts, etc. I was then able to delete the folder all together and still have the recipes, now placed in category's where I can find them easily.

Step five: Once you have done the folders and deleted everything that you didn't need, go back to your inbox. All of those messages that you moved into here from your spam folder now need to be put in there right place. Place them in the appropriate folder.

Step Six: Take a deep breath and relax. Take a look at your nice, clean and easy to navigate inbox! You did it!

Right now (literally taking a break to post this) I am cleaning out my picture folders. I have so many pictures that are doubled and in some cases tripled that I really need to go thru them. It is a very daunting task (I love to take pics), but I will get it done.

I am making a lot of headway on getting everyone's clothes gone thru. I have finally made it to the bottom of that ever growing pile in the basement. YAY! Now I just have to go thru the closets and dressers.

I have decided that I am enjoying myelf. I LIKE living with less clutter. It's very freeing and there's a sort of "high" from looking at something that is nice and clean and clear. I think I am becoming obsessed with everything being in order. I suppose there are worse things that I could be addicted to.

Hope you are all having a good weekend and happy de-cluttering!

Getting Rid of the Old...

So lately I have been on a mission...

A de-cluttering my house mission.

I started last week...lol, if I didn't KNOW better I would say that I am nesting (DH has a vasectomy) because that's what it seems like.

Anyhow, so far I have freecycled a bunch of file folders that I wasn't going to use, a tote full of books that I will never read, and I have a huge box of clothing that doesn't fit anyone. I am going to pull out the really nice clothes (as in look new) and take them to the consignment shop down from my house and the rest I will freecycle. They are all in good condition, just some are better than others. I wouldn't donate something I wouldn't put on myself, my husband or my child.

Anyhow, I am on a mission. I am sick and tired of my house being messy and clutter being everywhere. This may have something to do with the new meds that I am on for my bipolar disorder, but hey, if it is, it isn't a bad side effect.

I want a home that is pleasing not only to God, but that is also pleasing to my husband. I think I am well on my way to obtaining that.

Wish me luck! :)

Ha! I rule!

Lol...

Every so often I get sick of the clutter around my house and I de-clutter. Guess where I am right now? LOL

So I decided to start where I was. My desk.

It has taken me an hour, and there's still one shelf and 2 drawers that are bothering me, but I can get them here in a bit after I take a break.

I wanted to share my progress so far tho.

Got rid of a bunch of junk papers, cleaned out my daughters bookshelf and straightened it up...still gotta hunt down the books she is missing, got the top shelf (dh's), cleaned out my bookshelf getting rid of a lot of books I will never use (craft and cook) posting them on freecycle, dusted the entire desk (minus the shelf I haven't done yet and the 2 drawers), and wrangled the gazillion ink pens floating in hyperspace..lol.

Here are some pics to help get you all motivated. Yes, my pc monitor is huge and old, but I love it, lol.




































Hope you are all having a great week. I still haven't made out my menu for next week, but I am getting to that later today. Will post it when I get it ready.


Happy Weekend!


OH! If you are wondering about the website that I have on the pc in the pics it is orgjunkie.com. Its a great site for organizing tips!