Organized Chaos

  • Life Simplified: No Grocery Shopping (Meals)

    A couple questions we have been asked several times over the last month regarding my No Grocery Shopping challenge are – What have we been eating?  Do we have any recipes?  I am thrilled that we were able extend this challenge into February!   The quick answer is the meals have been “simple”.   Thankfully my family does not have any food allergies so we can be a little more flexible on what we eat.

    Here are a few ways we made our pantry stretch:

    • Always Eat Leftovers
    • Keep it Simple
    • Make Meals with Few Ingredients
    • Cook 1 Main Meal a Day
    • Cut back on Snacks
    • Make Meatless Meals

    On typical day we eat toast, cereal, eggs,  oatmeal or something we have on hand for breakfast.  The girls have lunch at school so they are covered for that meal.  Jake and I eat left overs for lunch (the left overs are usually from dinner the night before).  For dinner I fix a simple, few ingredients main dish to feed our family of four then add fruits, veggies and other sides to compliment the main dish.

    The first place I noticed a dip in the pantry was with the snacks.  When the kids get home form school they are HUNGRY (they eat their school lunch at 10:30 AM) and are always ready for a snack.  If it has been a busy day for me a lot of times they will grab an item from our “snack basket” on the kitchen counter which contains items such as granola bars, pretzels, crackers, etc…. We have noticed a dip in our dairy products too.  The girls will often have a cheese stick or yogurt for a snack after school so those have been being utilized.  Another snack they enjoy after school is a half of peanut butter & jelly sandwich or peanut butter with honey and veggies which gives them an extra boost of protein.

    One of the neat parts about doing this challenge is I have started noticing trends in our family.  I have seen what we eat more of as well as the items that get left behind more frequently.  It is important to me that we all continue to get healthy meals and snacks, however, I want to eliminate wastefulness.

    Along with the main meals we have a fruit and vegetable.  We still have chicken and beef weekly as well as fish every couple of weeks.  I will be adding the recipes for these items in the next day or two.  It is our plan to continue this challenge yet another week!

    I will continue to share with you the challenges, successes and what I have purchased so you can keep me accountable or even go through the journey with me by participating  and sharing your story.  I am thrilled that we can extend this goal and continue to use up the items we already have in our home!

    Life Simplified is a series on getting rid of the extras in our life while learning how to enjoy what God has given us so we can continue to be a blessing to others.  Our homes can quickly start are bursting with “stuff”  and if you are like us we just have too much.  I am doing a series on ways we are learning to simplifying our food, homes, and lives.  When our hearts, lives, and homes get too cluttered we may start missing out on opportunities to serve and bless the people around us.

  • Life Simplified: No Grocery Shopping (Continued)

    Now that we are through January 2011 you may be wondering how I  did with my No Grocery Shopping Month Challenge.  I did a lot better than I anticipated, but still had a hiccup or two.  Thankfully no one starved or went hungry in our house during my challenge.  We even hosted guests for a few meals!  It took a little extra planning on my part to cook meals from items already in the pantry and fridge, if we didn’t have something we did without it or found a creative way to make it out of what we had at home.  The amazing part is the entire family was supportive of my goal even if that meant a slightly altered menu.  The only comment I received from one of the girls that indicated they noticed was “Mom, did we eat up all the leftovers in the fridge because it looks a little empty?”

    Here is the complete list of groceries I purchased in the month of January:

    • 6 gallons of Milk
    • 1 loaf of Bread
    • 1 package Ground Hamburger
    • 1 package Cube Steaks
    • 2 Yogurts
    • 1 container French Onion Dip
    • 1 container Cottage Cheese
    • 1 package Flour Tortillas
    • 1 box Kellogg’s Toy Story 3 cereal

    The total spent on groceries for this month was $27.95 including the tax.   Milk was by far the most expensive part of our expenditures for the month of January adding up to $18.93.  We had an extra expense of $1.50 from the Kellogg’s Toy Story 3 cereal that did not meet my criteria.  Leaving only $7.52 for all of our other grocery purchases for the month of January which I bought last week.

    The food I bought had to meet the following criteria:

    • FREE – I don’t want to waste free grocery coupons that my family will use while doing this goal
    • Necessity – Milk, Eggs, Bread, etc…
    • For Someone Else outside of my household.  For example I make meals for new Moms in our church and if I need to pick up an item for them on the way to deliver a meal that will be an exception.

    I have decided to continue with this challenge.  It has been wonderful not having to go to the grocery store every week for anything other than milk.  Our pantry still has plenty for us to eat and our freezer is fairly full.  So I am going to continue with this challenge into February and see how much longer I can make it stretch.

    One of the questions I have been asked is – What are we eating?  Do we have recipes for these meals?  To answer those questions I will be sharing a little more about what we are eating and recipes in a later post.

    I will continue to share with you the challenges, successes and what I had to purchase so you can keep me accountable or even go through the journey with me by participating  and sharing your story.  I am excited to be extending this goal into the first part of February!  It has been great learning to say “no” when at the grocery store to extras and being creative with we have at home.

    Life Simplified is a series on getting rid of the extras in our life while learning how to enjoy what God has given us so we can continue to be a blessing to others.  Our homes can quickly start are bursting with “stuff”  and if you are like us we just have too much.  I am doing a series on ways we are learning to simplifying our food, homes, and lives.  When our hearts, lives, and homes get too cluttered we may start missing out on opportunities to serve and bless the people around us.

  • Life Simplified: No Grocery Shopping (Update)

    We are now well  into week four of my no grocery shopping challenge for the month of January 2011.  It is time for me to give you an update so you can continue to keep me accountable.  Last week was an easy one for us because we were not at home, my husband and I had the privilege of going on a cruise with extended family and the girls were staying with friends. We did take food over with the girls but we didn’t have to buy any essentials or perishable items while we were away.

    Before leaving for vacation we ate the leftovers and most of the perishables in our refrigerator.  This week was the first time this month I had to pick up several perishable items.  Other than a gallon or two of milk a week we have been doing really well.  So far we have purchased 5 gallons of milk for the month of January.  Thankfully all the groceries I purchased this week were marked down except for the gallon of milk I paid $2.99 for at Save A Lot.  Here are the groceries I bought this week at Save A Lot | Rite Aid to restock the perishables in our fridge:

    • Ground Hamburger – $6.39 markdown to $3.18
    • Cube Steaks – $3.14 markdown to $1.59
    • 2 Yogurts – $0.50 markdown to $0.25 each
    • French Onion Dip – $1.29 markdown to $0.64
    • Cottage Cheese (24 oz) – $2.25 markdown to $1.12
    • Flour Tortillas – $0.99 markdown to $0.49

    I spent a total of $7.52 including tax.  By only purchasing the markdown items I was able to save over $8 on the perishable items we needed for our family.  With the exception of the french onion dip everything would meet my criteria of a necessity for our household.  Every home has different perishable items they need to keep in stock; meat and diary fit into that category for us (within reason), although, I have been trying to cut down on the amount I purchase to make sure we really do use the items already in stock.  Fruits and veggies are ones I would consider necessary too (in moderation), however, we are still using up the ones we had from several weeks ago as well as those we froze from the garden this summer.   The french onion dip is one I felt the most “guilty” about buying but since it was $0.64 for a large container and we are going to a Super Bowl party outside our home it technically falls under my criteria of  “for Someone Else outside of my household” (I may be stretching that criteria a little). Even though it was a good bargain and it is for people outside of my home I probably could have made something from scratch with the items already in my pantry.

    I am hoping these will be the last items we have to purchase for the month of January (with an exception to milk) and maybe even into February if I am really lucky.  These groceries should last at least a couple weeks when we put them together with the food we already have in our freezer and pantry!  So far I haven’t done too bad with the challenge.  I have had to pass up on a couple really great deals, but the point is to use the items in stock before buying more.

    I will continue to share with you the challenges, successes and what I had to purchase so you can keep me accountable or even go through the journey with me by participating  and sharing your story.  I would love to extend this goal into February if I can make our pantry stretch!

    Life Simplified is a series on getting rid of the extras in our life while learning how to enjoy what God has given us so we can continue to be a blessing to others.  Our homes can quickly start are bursting with “stuff”  and if you are like us we just have too much.  I am doing a series on ways we are learning to simplifying our food, homes, and lives.  When our hearts, lives, and homes get too cluttered we may start missing out on opportunities to serve and bless the people around us.

  • Investing in Quality Moments

    Quality MomentsWhen life gets busy it can become even more difficult to find quality time with those who are important in our lives. It may feel like there’s not an extra moment to spare in your day between the busyness of your personal and professional schedule.  Running a business and keeping up with the family takes a tremendous amount of energy.   Even if an allotted time is placed on the schedule we may be too distracted by phone calls, projects and everything else that needs your attention to really focus on that person.  It doesn’t have to be a large chunk of time but it does need to be valuable for all parties involved.

    Do you spend quality time with your spouse, kids, friends, clients, partners, and family members on a regular basis?  How do you make sure the time you spend with the different people in your life is valuable?

    • Clients – when is the last time you took a customer out to lunch and listened.  Their feedback is valuable to your business and they know better than anyone else what your business is doing that makes them excited about working with you as well as areas where you can improve.  Follow up with a thank you note and implement the changes immediately.  Creating a community of loyal customers takes time to gain their trust and maintain the relationship.
    • Spouse – go on a date night with your spouse.  Talk about your relationship, dreams, and memories you have together.  Hold hands, laugh, and enjoy each other like you did when you first met.  Listen to what your spouse is saying.  Take an interest in their hobbies and share the excitement.
    • Friends – go out to coffee with a friend and catch up.  Find out what is going on in their lives.  Sometimes all they need is a hug and someone to listen.  It is nice to have some time set aside to share the good memories, however, we all go through tough times as well.  Having  friends that are loyal in the good times and bad is a tremendous blessing.  Consider it a joy to come alongside a friend throughout their journey to listen, laugh, cry, share, and have fun.
    • Children – go on a date with one child at a time.  Have a blast together.  Let them speak freely, be creative, and create memories.  Pick a place that is meaningful to them or let them choose between a couple options.  It doesn’t have to be expensive to be fun.  Go to a picnic in the park, swimming, or out to eat at their favorite restaurant.  Take time everyday to read a book, play a game, color, or just share about your day with your kids.  Treasure the moments and memories your create together.

    We all have the same amount of time as the next person.  The difference is how we choose to use that time.  Take advantage of those quality moments and invest in the lives around you.    Make it a priority to have quality time for those in your personal and professional life.  One of the great advantages to having quality time outside of the house or office is you are more likely to focus on the other person.  At home or work you have a lot of distractions that are important, however,  they are not the priority at that time.

    Give us an example of the types of activities you do while enjoying quality time with  your clients, spouse, kids, and friends?  Who do you spend quality time with on a regular basis and why?