Back To School Free Menu Planner

Menu planning has been neglected this summer in favor of spontaneous grilling out and going with the lazy summer flow. School begins for us this week though and I need to get back in my menu-planning groove. Since I was working on our own planner, I wanted to share it with you so you could see what we have planned for this month. I hope it will inspire you for your own family meals this month.

1. Old-Fashioned Spaghetti & Meatballs (Make double batch of meatballs for later in the month)
2. Sloppy Joes & Seasoned Baked Potato Wedges
3. Caesar Chicken Pasta Salad With Homemade Pitas
4. Pita Pizzas (made from leftover pitas) & Salad
5. Parmesan Chicken Drumsticks, Steamed Broccoli, & Rice
6. Oatmeal Waffles with homemade syrup & orange juice
7. Leftovers Night
8. Chicken Broccoli Lo Mein with Rice
9. Herb Baked Tilapia, Chicken-Flavored Rice, & Microwave Corn in Butter Sauce
10. Meatball Subs on Homemade Rolls (meatballs from freezer)
11. Jerk Chicken, Mashed Potatoes, & Baby Peas
12. Homemade Pizza Night
13. Slow Cooker Lemon Chicken, Rice, & Steamed Broccoli
14. Leftovers Night
15. French Toast with homemade syrup & orange juice
16. Italian Pork Chops over Spaghetti
17. Chicken BBQ with Pretzels & Carrot Sticks
18. Salmon Pockets, Rice, & Baby Peas
19. Chicken Pasta Milano with Salad & Bread
20. Homemade Pizza Night
21. Leftovers Night
22. Yeast Waffles with homemade syrup & orange juice
23. Chicken Tacos with Tortilla Chips
24. Sarah's Tilapia, Rice, & Corn
25. "Roasted" Chicken, Mashed Potatoes, & Baby Peas (save & shred leftover chicken)
26. Chicken Salad Sandwiches (from leftover chicken), Pretzels & Carrot Sticks
27. Bread Machine Calzones With Dipping Sauce
28. Leftovers

Snacks: Banana Bread, Chewy Granola Bars, Cinnamon Muffins, Air Popped Popcorn, Rice Krispie Treats, Oatmeal & Chocolate Chip Muffins

I also made a printable version of my planner and am making it available for you here:

Back To School Menu Planner

I hit the grocery store and accomplished all of our grocery shopping (including food for breakfast & lunches) for one month for $175. That leaves us an extra $25 in the budget for our milk and anything else that comes up. Our budget has gone up a lot with the grocery prices, but it also gone up because I have not been planning as well. I am hopeful that we can stay on track this month.

Looking for more tips on menu planning? Be sure to check out my article on how I do my menu plans! It offers an overview on some ways you can start menu planning and find the right style of planners for your family!

With grocery prices rising, what is your grocery budget for your family? What style of menu planning works for you (planning weekly, planning monthly, no plan at all)?

Spring Cleaning: Organizing The Bookshelves

Yesterday we spent time organizing our entertainment units and our media. Today we are going to focus on another area common to many family rooms- the bookshelves.

We have two bookshelves in our home and then another bookshelf built-in that resides in our office. I am really good about using our local library though so unless I find a book that I just have to have, I usually limit our book purchases and take advantage of the free service instead.

I worship our library, I would build a shrine to it if I could! I am a big library dork and even subscribe to our libraries blog so I can get the latest information on any books that are coming out or library events. I feel self-confident enough to admit that I am obsessed with my library.

If your home is overrun with books though, there are lots of great sites where you can share and swap books with others. This might be a great way to not add to your collection, but share the collection you already have without buying more.

PaperBack Swap

BookMooch (this site also allows for charitable donations of books to prisoners)

bookins

SwapTree

2Swap

BookCrossing

Frugal Reader

You could also donate these to Goodwill, schools, hospitals, and churches. Call around and see if anyone is interested! If all else fails, check out Freecycle or Craigslist for passing those books on.

Today's Printable:

Spring Cleaning Your Family Room Day Two

In Case You Missed It (Previous Printables):

Spring Cleaning Introductory Page

Spring Cleaning Recipes

Spring Cleaning Your Kitchen Day One

Spring Cleaning Your Kitchen Day Two

Spring Cleaning Your Kitchen Day Three

Spring Cleaning Your Kitchen Day Four

Spring Cleaning Your Kitchen Day Five

Spring Cleaning Your Kitchen Day Six (newly updated with cabinet instructions)

Spring Cleaning Your Bathroom Day One

Spring Cleaning Your Bathroom Day Two

Spring Cleaning Your Bathroom Day Three

Spring Cleaning Your Bathroom Day Four

Spring Cleaning Your Bathroom Day Five

Spring Cleaning Your Bathroom Day Six

Spring Cleaning Your Family Room Day One

Sound Off: Are you a book collector? Do you use any websites for sharing your books or keep a virtual bookshelf anywhere?

Spring Cleaning: Week Three, Day One

I had hoped to get more printables done, but Easter festivities prevented me from spending a lot of time working (which is a good thing!)

I feel like I have an Easter hangover today- anyone else feel this way? I think my kids are feeling that way too because we had a difficult morning getting around today.

This week we are spending time tidying our family room. These agendas can be applied to whichever room you would like to concentrate on- the playroom, the family room, the living room, or the den. Whatever you call it, you can use these printables for those rooms and whip them back into shape.

Each task is intended to be one hour long only. That is the beauty of doing these agendas- they are meant to help you work more efficiently with your time instead of a marathon day of cleaning or spending your cleaning time researching how to clean your items.

This is what I have planned for us this week:

1. Organize your entertainment and media center
2. Organize your bookcases
3. Clean and organize children's toys
4. Wash curtains, blinds, swipe baseboards, dust
5. Final tidy- deep clean carpets and vacuum couches & chairs

To save myself some time this week (and resume focus on some other activities on the blog) I will just share pictures at the end of our week and show you what was accomplished, instead of doing daily pictures.

Today's Printable:

Spring Cleaning Your Family Room Day One

In Case You Missed It (Previous Printables):

Spring Cleaning Introductory Page

Spring Cleaning Recipes

Spring Cleaning Your Kitchen Day One

Spring Cleaning Your Kitchen Day Two

Spring Cleaning Your Kitchen Day Three

Spring Cleaning Your Kitchen Day Four

Spring Cleaning Your Kitchen Day Five

Spring Cleaning Your Kitchen Day Six (newly updated with cabinet instructions)

Spring Cleaning Your Bathroom Day One

Spring Cleaning Your Bathroom Day Two

Spring Cleaning Your Bathroom Day Three

Spring Cleaning Your Bathroom Day Four

Spring Cleaning Your Bathroom Day Five

Spring Cleaning Your Bathroom Day Six

Spring Cleaning: Week Two, Days 4-6

Here are the next three days of activities for spring cleaning our bathrooms. I have made a lot of progress towards organizing the bathroom and these last three days focus more on the cleaning aspect for this space (which my bathroom desperately needs). This will wrap up our time in the bathroom so we can work on other projects.

I was thinking we could focus on our living room/playroom space after this! Let me know what you think!


Today's Printables:

Spring Cleaning Your Bathroom Day Four

Spring Cleaning Your Bathroom Day Five

Spring Cleaning Your Bathroom Day Six

In Case You Missed It (Previous Printables):

Spring Cleaning Introductory Page

Spring Cleaning Recipes

Spring Cleaning Your Kitchen Day One

Spring Cleaning Your Kitchen Day Two

Spring Cleaning Your Kitchen Day Three

Spring Cleaning Your Kitchen Day Four

Spring Cleaning Your Kitchen Day Five

Spring Cleaning Your Kitchen Day Six (newly updated with cabinet instructions)

Spring Cleaning Your Bathroom Day One

Spring Cleaning Your Bathroom Day Two

Spring Cleaning Your Bathroom Day Three

Spring Cleaning: Week Two, Days 1-3

This week is a busy one for my family so I have been working all weekend on putting these printables together for our time cleaning in the bathroom. I thought I would post them three at a time (I am still working on the second half) and give you a chance to work ahead, or just give you a chance look ahead at our week.

Our next round of deep cleaning will occur in the bathroom. If you have more than one bathroom, you may need to spread these tasks out over two weeks time. Remember, you can do everything at your own pace- these are just suggestions to help make your life a little easier and to make manageable cleaning goals for your week.

We will be doing progress reports daily and I look forward to hearing how everyone is doing with their tasks. It has been so fun sharing with you my progress and has provided the motivation I need to make my home the organized space that I have always wanted.

Without further adieu, here are the first three printables for our bathroom cleaning agenda:

Today's Printables

Spring Cleaning Your Bathroom Day One

Spring Cleaning Your Bathroom Day Two

Spring Cleaning Your Bathroom Day Three

In Case You Missed It (Previous Printables):

Spring Cleaning Introductory Page

Spring Cleaning Recipes

Spring Cleaning Your Kitchen Day One

Spring Cleaning Your Kitchen Day Two

Spring Cleaning Your Kitchen Day Three

Spring Cleaning Your Kitchen Day Four

Spring Cleaning Your Kitchen Day Five

Spring Cleaning Your Kitchen Day Six (newly updated with cabinet instructions)

Spring Cleaning: Week One, Day Six

It is the last day in our kitchen and I am so thrilled to see and hear about everyone's results. This final day will truly showcase all of your efforts and I guarantee that you are going to want to spend oodles of time in your freshly cleaned kitchen.

Next week we will be tackling another hot spot for when you have guests...the bathroom! This is another source of embarrassment for me and I am looking forward to creating a guest-worthy space. I hope you will join me on our next mission.

If you want to work ahead, here is what I had in mind for our agenda for the bathroom:

1. Organize and inventory bath/beauty products (this is a big one for the CVS addicts, like myself).
2. Organize and clean out the medicine cabinet.
3. Weeding out the unnecessary items.
4. Caulk tub (if needed), clean hard water from fixtures (if needed), and wash shower curtain.
5. Repeat steps necessary in other bathroom(s) of your home (I realize this might take more than one hour, depending on the amount of bathrooms you have)
6. Final tidy- clean the sink, toilet, tub, mirror, and do a deep clean on your floors.

Please know that I am here for any questions, should they arise, and feel free to share your progress through your own blog or email your pictures to me and I will post them to share everyone's hard work and progress.

If you haven't joined in the challenge yet, it is never too late to start. Everyone can go at their own pace, you can print out the materials and tackle a one hour task any day of the week. The important thing is to just start! You won't believe what a difference one hour can make in your home.

Today's Printable

Spring Cleaning Your Kitchen Day Six (newly updated with cabinet instructions)

In Case You Missed It (Previous Printables):

Spring Cleaning Introductory Page

Spring Cleaning Recipes

Spring Cleaning Your Kitchen Day One

Spring Cleaning Your Kitchen Day Two

Spring Cleaning Your Kitchen Day Three

Spring Cleaning Your Kitchen Day Four

Spring Cleaning Your Kitchen Day Five

Spring Cleaning: Week One, Day Five

I hope that you are feeling the same sense of accomplishment that I am and that the printables are providing the motivation you need to reclaim your home.

The last two tasks will be easy tasks, in comparison to our earlier projects. This is where all of your hard work begins paying off and you start to really see how wonderful your kitchen can look.

For day five, we are just decluttering our kitchen for an hour. Tackle the areas that are difficult for you. Can you not sit at your kitchen table and enjoy a meal because it is too cluttered? Do you have a desk or nook that is a hot spot for paperwork and junk mail? Do you have so much stuff that it is hard to see the beauty or the function in the items you have?

It feels good to declutter our kitchen and there are tons of great places where you can donate your stuff. There is Freecycle, Freepeats, Goodwill, Salvation Army, community churches, homeless shelters, and homes that care for unwed mothers.

If you are feeling particularly ambitious, start tagging the items for a future garage sale this summer. After all, why shouldn't you make a little money for all of your hard work? Tuck the money into a vacation fund or purpose the money towards an item in your home that you TRULY will use.

Throw stuff out with wild abandon! If it isn't adding to your life, if you don't have the energy to maintain it, if your kitchen is too cluttered to cook- then CHUCK IT!!

Today's Printable:

Spring Cleaning Your Kitchen Day Five

In Case You Missed It (Previous Printables):

Spring Cleaning Introductory Page

Spring Cleaning Recipes

Spring Cleaning Your Kitchen Day One

Spring Cleaning Your Kitchen Day Two

Spring Cleaning Your Kitchen Day Three

Spring Cleaning Your Kitchen Day Four

Spring Cleaning: Week One, Day Four

We are closing in on the end of our time in the kitchen and will only have two more one hour tasks to go. Today we are going to tackle the exterior of our fridge and organizing underneath our sinks.

Just print out the directions for the day and tackle the task at your convenience. If you haven't joined us yet, it is NEVER too late to start. All of the tasks can easily be completed in one hour and will leave you feeling like a superstar! Good luck, everyone!


Today's Printable

Spring Cleaning Your Kitchen Day Four

In Case You Missed It (Previous Printables):

Spring Cleaning Introductory Page

Spring Cleaning Recipes

Spring Cleaning Your Kitchen Day One

Spring Cleaning Your Kitchen Day Two

Spring Cleaning Your Kitchen Day Three

Spring Cleaning: Week One, Day Three

Day three!! We are halfway through our week of cleaning our first room. Only three more days to go and we can experience a neat-as-a-pin kitchen. I can't wait to have my friends over in my newly organized space!

Today we are tackling the pantry and/or cupboards. Remember that the tasks are intended to be an hour so do what you have time for, but don't be surprised if you get carried away and can't stop. I think it is the getting going part that is so hard for me.

I am off to tackle my pantry right now!

Today's Printable:


Spring Cleaning Your Kitchen Day Three


In Case You Missed It (Previous Printables):

Spring Cleaning Introductory Page

Spring Cleaning Recipes

Spring Cleaning Your Kitchen Day One

Spring Cleaning Your Kitchen Day Two

Sound Off: Do you have a system for organizing your pantry or a way that has made finding what you need a little easier?

Spring Cleaning: Week One, Day Two

I was so thankful for your comments and encouragement on these printables. It had been pretty quiet yesterday and I started questioning if anyone really wanted to do this or would use these at all. Thanks for letting me know that they truly are helpful and that you do appreciate some of these tasks being presented in a smaller format.

I know that an entire day of cleaning just sounded daunting to me. In a way, I feel defeated before I begin. I am trying to chug along with you and my home needs just as much attention (sometimes a whole lot more) than everyone else!

I also recall that when I was a new homemaker, I had no idea how to do ANYTHING in my house. Even something that sounds simple to most (like cleaning out the fridge) was something I was researching how to do. My suggestions are only based on being a new mommy and a new homemaker and not having a clue what the heck I was doing with my very own house. I still sometimes feel like I am just "playing house." I think that is why this was important for me to share- so someone else isn't struggling with being a new homemaker!

Today is day two and we are going to work on deep cleaning the floors. I have put together a printable of some ideas for cleaning your floors, although this was tough since each person has a different type of flooring in their kitchen. You will also find a little bit of encouragement and a recipe for a meal- enjoy!!

Today's Printable:

Spring Cleaning Your Kitchen Day Two


In Case You Missed It (Previous Printables):

Spring Cleaning Introductory Page

Spring Cleaning Recipes

Spring Cleaning Your Kitchen Day One

Sound Off: Do you have a method to your mopping? Any product/mopping solution you rave about? Tell us the type of your floors and how you get them clean!

Spring Cleaning: Week One, Day One

As promised, I am putting together printables for tackling your spring cleaning this year. I just want to stress that we would like for you to share these with others, but ask that you direct them to our site to print them. They have been formatted into PDF files to try and retain as much ownership on them as I can.

I have been working my tail off on these all weekend and I am hoping that you will find them useful. Today we have an introductory letter explaining how the plan will work, what tools you will need to accomplish your tasks, and then your assignment for you to complete. For fun, I have included a recipe/meal idea that you can use. The point is to have a meal in mind so your cleaning doesn't have you running out to McDonald's every night, not necessarily that you have to make whatever is on my agenda.

I am working through these tasks with you and will do my best to post my pictures of my progress. I anticipate my blogging to be a little sluggish as I am trying to put these printables together, spring clean along with you, and keep up with all of the other stuff on my plate. I will do my best though!

Please send some feedback my way- I am anxious to hear it!

Today's Printables:

Spring Cleaning Introductory Page

Spring Cleaning Recipes

Spring Cleaning Your Kitchen Day One

PS- I am trying to upload my photos for today, but am getting errors and timeouts from Google. Is anyone else having trouble with Blogger?