So This Is What We're Eating This Week...

I'm trying to get back on track with meal planning and freezer cooking after the holidays. As always, cooking dinner and cleaning up is the bane of my evening, even though I really do like preparing meals (not so much the cleaning). Our evenings are just so crammed after work, and getting into some routine again will be really helpful as we are going to attempt getting more sleep. So, here is our meal plan for the upcoming week- hopefully it will keep me on track!

 

Monday~ Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole, rolls, and salad

Tuesday~ Small Group (we're bringing cheese & crackers) or grilled cheese and tomato soup

Wednesday~ Chicken Enchiladas, rice and beans, tortilla chips and guacamole

Thursday~ Leftovers

Friday~ Homemade pizza w/ peppers, onions, and chicken

Saturday~ Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and fresh green beans

Sunday~ Sausage, Potato, and Kale Skillet

 

I'm planning to make as much ahead of time as I can and freeze a couple of the meals so that I can cut down on how much I have to do in the evenings!

DIY Hand Soap {Love me some Mrs. Meyer's!}

I've been wanting to try this soap tutorial from The Farmer's Nest for a while now. I bought my bar of Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day Soap several months ago when I spotted it at the natural market. I had tried to do this with some plain Dove soap before and I didn't have a lot of luck, so I was nervous about wasting my $5 soap this time. But I was pleasantly surprised! I love the smell of Mrs. Meyers, so I'm pretty stoked about having it in such a large quantity. It was nice and easy to make, too.

Ingredients:

1 8 oz. bar of Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day soap
1 gallon of distilled water
2 tbs. glycerin

All you do is grate up the soap, and melt in a pot with the distilled water, along with the glycerin. Stir until all of the soap is dissolved. Then, just set aside the pot for about 12 hours to let it set. Mine actually only took about 5 hours to be ready, lucky me! It has a nice thick gel consistency when it is ready. If it is too hard after it sets (mine was around the edges), you can add a little water and use beaters to "fluff" it to the consistency that you like for your soap pumps. I just scooped mine into my Ninja, since I don't have a hand mixer. Then I poured into mason jars and I was done! I have a feeling I might need to do the "add water and blend" step again when I am ready to put it in soap pumps. We'll see. The smell is really wonderful! I was wondering if doing this would "water down" the scent, but it is still nice and strong!

My next goal is to duplicate Mrs. Meyer's powder scrub. I love it, but it is sold in a pretty small container and is about $5. I really wanted it so that I didn't have to use the cheap but way full of chemicals Ajax. Plus, I really didn't want to mess with the bleach. It took about half a container of the Mrs. Meyer's to get my shower floor sparkling (it was pretty grimy, I'm ashamed to say), so I definitely need a cheap, yet safe alternative!


I'm linking up at:
Skip to My Lou, The Girl Creative , Mad in Crafts, That DIY Party, I Should Be Mopping the Floor, Redhead Can Decorate, Scattered Thoughts of a Crafty Mom, twelveOeight, Under the Table and Dreaming, Creating My Way to Success, Craft-O-Maniac, Sew Can Do,  Lines Across, C.R.A.F.T., Uncommon Designs, That's What Che Said, Creatively Living, Blue Roof Cabin

Happy Goal Setting Day! {Part 2!}

So, I did my traditional browsing of old resolutions before writing this. I had been thinking about posting them, but it was honestly too embarrassing! I should have, because 2013 was my 10 year anniversary of setting goals and resolutions faithfully every year. But no, I couldn't bring myself to share the thoughts of my 18 year old brain. (Yikes.) By the way, this is the same fear that I have about writing a book. And even a blog. I am terrified that I will publish something for all the world to see and then I will look back in 10 years and think, "What an idiot!"

So, anyway, I didn't accomplish as much in 2013 as I had hoped. I did work on some things that I think were the most important, so I count that as success. But I am definitely hoping to reach some more goals in 2014.

A few things I did in 2013 that I'm pretty proud of...

1. My plan was to read 24 books- two per month- and I started out strong, then got pretty busy. And watched too much TV. :) I did read 16, though, and I am still in the middle of 3. I include audiobooks in that, because sometimes that's the only way to get it in.

2. I do feel like I  more time and effort into my friendships, which was a big desire of mine. I feel like with the busyness of adult life, I forget that this is important.

3. I kept in touch with several of my girls who I worked with and really tried to invest more in their lives. Being in the system is no joke, and kids need a lot of support. Consider being a mentor!

4. I started blogging consistently again in October. I feel like I lost a lot of ground and momentum when I stopped for a while, but I'm excited about the new direction I am taking.

5. I completed several project goals and financial goals in 2013, and I'm looking forward to some more in 2014!

And here are some things I'd like to do in 2014...

1. Read 24 books this year- 2 per month!

2. De-clutter: Take a 156 Things Challenge. That's getting rid of 3 things per week that we don't need! I would imagine that some weeks it will be more and some weeks it will be less.

3. Join the gym with hubby and actually go to it. Seriously, it has to happen. I am so out of shape.

4. Focus on my relationships with God, the hubs, my friendships, and my girls.

5. Blog weekly, commit to my writing, focus on building readership, continue learning about design.

6. Commit to a cash budget for our spending categories other than gas, bills, and savings.

7. Seriously consider going back for my Master's degree. I'm not ready to make actually starting it a goal, but I want to weigh all my pros and cons and see what it will cost and require. Also, I would need to decide on a major for it.

So, I think that's it for me this year...I don't want to make a huge list and bite off more than I can chew. I want to commit to things that I can actually accomplish and work on in my life. What are some goals that you're setting this year?