Challenge # 1- Homemaking Binder

If you would have told me years ago that I would someday be the mom that followed strict schedules and lists, I would have laughed. In fact, I remember years ago commenting to my husband about his mother's list and strict cleaning schedule. I thought it was a little lame to have to make lists and follow such a rigid schedule, but what did I know? Apparently not a whole lot about managing a household! It was only a few months after I had my daughter that I quickly realized that as soon as I was  responsible for more than just myself and my own stuff, it was incredibly hard to keep it all together. I was sleep deprived and had little to no focus on when the last time I did laundry was, or what I was going to cook for dinner next Tuesday. I guess the lists and schedules are really just one of the ways a busy mom can keep it all together! I have since adopted lists and schedules (though I rarely follow them), and meal plans, but they are all spread out in different areas of the house. Keeping them all in a binder is a genius idea! So, here goes nothing! Off I go to collect the necessities I need to someday be (gulp), just like my Mother- in- law???? Hey, whatever works!!!

Miss Dis-organized!

I am so Disorganized! I always have been really. This past June we moved into a new house and I was determined that THIS time I was going to be organized. I was going to be that meal planning, coupon clipping, laundry sorting, pantry stockpiling, mom who has her stuff together. Really what happened though, was that as soon as we moved in I got completely overwhelmed with deciding where to put things and how to use my space. Needless to say, I didn't get very far but I am still determined to change my ways and put "Miss Dis-organized" to rest for good!

I am super excited to join this challenge over at "A bowl full of lemons"! If you are like me and could really use some direction and inspiration when it comes to organizing, join us! There is one challenge per week and it seems like they could be something simple like "purge your winter clothes" or it could be something like starting a meal plan.

I will be on vacation for the first week of the challenge, but I plan to do double duty when I get back the second week in February!

Happy blogging!

Melt- In- Your- Mouth crock pot recipe! Who knew?

Did you know that you can make meatloaf in a crock pot????? This is a great recipe. It is so easy and so good. I have the hubby who loves his meat and potatoes, but sometimes I just don't have the energy at the end of the day to prepare a meatloaf. This is perfect because I can prep dinner while the kids are eating breakfast, and then go on about my day!!! Definitely give this one a try! It is tasty and moist and sure to be a family favorite.

YUM!!!!!!!!! It was juicy and moist.

The Itzbeen Baby Care Timer- Review

I LOVE this gadget so much! It saved my life during the newborn days. It was great to be able to put in all of the info of when he was last fed, changed, and when he last slept. I was  overwhelmed caring for two and there was no way I could remember all those details. This was great.  I would recommend this to anyone having a baby!!! It is easy to carry around with you, and super easy to use. I had not one single complaint and have since bought this for two friends who have both given it a two thumbs up!

Summer Infant Day and Night Video Monitor- Review

I love this monitor and have had it now for almost 3 years. It is so great to have because it gives me the piece of mind that I need to make sure my kids are safe in their beds, and not causing any kind of mischief or putting themselves in any kind of danger. We used it successfully both times we  did the "cry it out" method with our toddlers. It was nice to be able to see if the kids really needed us or if they were just fussing because they didn't want to be in bed. It has also worked well to be able to tell if they are really waking up or just stirring. I would definitely buy this all over again. I think it is a great value for the money and it has lasted without problem for quite a few years. We have two cameras and one monitor and we live in a 2 story house.

My only complaint is that the sound monitor is never silent, it has this soft "shhhh" sound that kind of drives me bonkers at night so I turn the sound part off. WE mainly only use this monitor downstairs so that we can see what is going on, so it doesn't really effect our use of this product at all.

Disclosure: All of the opinions in this review are of my own and were written on my own free will. There was no compensation to write this review.

White Chicken Chili - YUMMY Recipe!

My friend Lauren is an amazing domestic diva, she can do it all from crafts to cooking. She has a recipe blog and  if I were you I would go and check it out. Every recipe on that blog is perfection. I especially enjoy the cornbread and the vanilla bean cupcakes. YUMMY.

 

The latest recipe I tried this last week was the white chicken chili. It was AMAZING. My entire family enjoyed this recipe and it was so easy. I ended up cooking the chicken breasts first (frozen) in the crockpot and then about 2 hours before I wanted to eat, I threw in the rest of the ingredients and kept the settings on low! so easy.

 

 

White Chicken Chili
Lauren Perry

Ingredients:
1 can of chicken broth
1 jar of verde sauce (its over by the Pace
Picante- I like mild)
3 breasts of chicken cooked and shredded
3 cans of White beans drained
1 small container (not sure size) of sour cream
1 small can of chopped green chili's (the blue
ortega can ones work great- and I only use 1/2
small can)
few shakes of garlic salt and pepper
1 can of corn drained
1/3 cup of shredded cheese (like mild cheddar
or mexican)
maybe 1 TBS of sugar to give it a little
sweetness

Directions:
throw it in a pot and cook it, too easy and
yummy!

Building a blog is hard work!

It is so hard making all of the big decisions! The name, the colors, to use a cute template or to keep it simple, and then the dreaded HTML. I thought I was quite computer savvy, but not so much when it comes to learning HTML for things such as making the tabs menu and other things that you would never think about. Thank Goodness for other blogs that have tutorials to teach people like me, how to do those things. I can not wait to share with you some of the great tutorials I found to help create my blog. So stay tuned!