Wishing For Pine Needles

Flour Sack Tuesday - Eating from the Pantry

With a multi-state move on the horizon, my grocery shopping habits taken a slight turn.  I am no longer stockpiling.  (Packing and moving boxes of can and dry goods across several states does not sound fun to me!)

Instead, I have set a goal for myself to cook from our pantry and freezer in order to use up every food item here that we possibly can.  The trick to this, I am convinced, is being organized in the kitchen and intentional about meal planning.  This, admittedly, has never been a strength of mine.  In the past, I have relied on my mind alone to scrape together meals and remember what we have on hand.  But, oh my!  Four kids and many commitments later my poor mind can't quite hold it all together anymore.

So, after an evening with a cookbook and a spreadsheet, my first written meal plan was born.  It's not fancy by any means, but it's organized in a way that is useful to me.

This week, the meals I've chosen all come from Healthy Meals for Less by Jonni McCoy.  I've had this cookbook for a couple of years and have had success with the recipes.  They are easy and economical, and there is a "crock-pot" section which is especially helpful during this season of busy evenings.

After choosing the meals based on what I already had in my pantry or freezer, I was amazed at how little I needed at the grocery store for the week!  In fact, after shopping at two different stores, our weekly grocery total came to just $58.19!

The Costco trip came to $29.00 even, and even included more than a week's worth of Special K with Strawberries. (It's our favorite, so when Costco has a coupon for it we can't resist buying it up!)

The Kroger trip came to $31.19.  This trip really contains exactly what we need for meals this week, however, I did buy Pampers baby wipes that I got for about $1.00 per pack (it's a three-pack package) because it was clearanced and I had a good coupon.  I also picked up a few things to put in my girls' lunches, all with coupons.

Next week my goal is to bring it down even lower...anything under $58.19 and more gone from our freezer and pantry will be an accomplishment!

the Move - Where did all this stuff come from?!

In order to piece together a little journal on our upcoming move, I simply have to become a morning blogger.  Usually I write my posts at night, which are then scheduled to be published in the morning.  My reasoning for this is that the kiddos are tucked in and sound asleep, presumably for the whole night.  But in the morning my time has more restraints because, well, they wake up.

But oh the nights!  These nights after these busy, busy days just don't seem to lend themselves to any hobbying because a warm bed so effectively calls me by name.  And I willingly go.

So here I sit, pondering the day ahead.  One sick little Hans most likely means another spring break day spent at home, managing chaos and keeping peace, trying to keep a house in "showing condition" and packing boxes all the while.

Which finally brings me to my point for today!  How did we get so much stuff?  I don't understand it!  I am not a 'pack rat' and do no hold onto things intentionally.  We make monthly trips to Goodwill and other charities, and participate in the neighborhood garage sale each year.  I am not a natural shopper and therefore do not bring much new into the home. 

So why do we still have all this stuff??

Here's why I think ...nine years, one home, six people.

The very first part of this move has been a very therapeutic sorting, purging, donating, and reorganizing bonanza!  The motto is "if we don't use it or love it, or if it adds nothing of value or beauty to our home then it doesn't come to New Hampshire." 

One gigantic project tackled and checked off the list are the storage of kid's clothes.  My new rule?  One size, one bin.  If we have more clothes for any one size than will fit in a bin, than out the door it goes.  We've recently cleaned out and donated seventeen bags to our church clothing swap....and still have plenty.  (Again, nine years, one home, six people!)

What are some of your favorite packing/moving tips?

 

On "Stuff" and Simplifying Our Home

Winter brings out the homebody in me, so we spend huge amounts of time inside these walls.  And I love it.  I could be home for days on end and be completely happy.  This hibernating also gives me the itch to organize, sort, de-clutter, and simplify our home.  In a crazy way.

I recently read a blog post about "managing stuff" and it struck a positive chord with me.  I was thrilled to see that another mom likes to see things move through and out of her house as quickly as I do.  Although our house has a little more square footage and two less people than hers does, it still got me to re-think how important it is to be pro-active about managing all of the material possessions that seem to multiply right before my eyes.

Party favor bags, drawings and crafts, garage sale finds, clothes, shoes, paper, mail, TOYS, books, pens, trinkets...wow, I could keep going, but you get the picture!

It is not that having is inherently wrong, and I walk the line between being grateful for our things and being overwhelmed by them.  Material blessings certainly have come easily to most of us, haven't they?  But I have come to realize that there is a difference between enjoying material blessings and collecting stuff just for the sake of it.  If something is no longer serving a useful purpose in our homes, then why keep it around?

I know....easier said than done.  While it's easy for me to spot the toys my children no longer play with and the clothes they no longer wear, it's much harder to look around my fabric and craft stash and spot the items that I just don't need anymore and that take up space in our precious home.

So, in an effort to "practice what I preach" I recently went through my fabric and craft shelves in the basement and donated bag fulls of fabrics, crafts, and books of my own.  And this china cabinet that held my pretties?  Gone!  (Well, to the basement anyway.  And serving perfectly as a storage area in Dan's office.)  It was just taking up too much space in the kid's craft/homework area. 

The contents of this china cabinet have been dispersed throughout the house, consolidated with kitchen items, or donated.  I tried hard to only keep the things that are functional or beautiful to us, and pass along the rest that we have collected throughout the years without second thought.

Now this space is home to items that we find both interesting and educational.

De-cluttering "stuff", both my family's and my own, brings about order and peace.  It creates more room to live and move, gives us less to clean, and is just plain good for the soul.

Simple Mom is hosting Project: Simplify beginning in March.  It looks to me like a fun and fabulous way to simplify our homes and offer some accountability at the same time.  There is even a schedule given for what to tackle each week.  A true method to the madness!

I plan to join her.  Is anyone with me?