Getting Organized for School - Planning Dinner

Although I love summertime and the more relaxed schedule, I'm usually ready for school to start in the fall. By then, I'm looking forward to a little more structure in my life. An aspect of that is putting a quick, tasty, balanced meal on the table every night. I feel strongly that providing a good meal for my family is part of creating an atmosphere for their success.

These days, It is even more motivating to plan dinner with food becoming more expensive. I recently read an article on ways to fight rising food costs, which suggested:

- eat at home
- plan your menus before shopping
- shop infrequently
- don't buy prepared food.

With a little planning, you can prepare delicious and nutritious meals at home for a fraction of the cost of eating out. When you consider four combo meals at a fast food restaurant comes out to about $20, you could buy steak or fish, real vegetables and fruit for less than that for a family of four. It takes a few more minutes, but you don't feel guilty afterwards!

If you are at a loss as to what to plan for dinner or if you're bored with what you've been cooking, I have an answer for you: Hassle Free Dinners. I spent a couple of years creating this CD with a year's worth of seven dinner menus per week. Each weekly menu contains color-coded instructions for each day of the week and a weekly shopping list.

Recipes show amounts for two, four, and six servings so you don't have to do the math. Nutritional information and cost per serving is listed for most recipes. And no entree is repeated during the entire year.

Each week includes 1-2 chicken, 1-2 beef, 1-2 pork, and 1-2 fish recipes, with one meatless meal. Each meal includes protein, starch, and something red and something green - fruit and/or veggies. Menus are listed according to months, and use seasonal produce for that time of year. Don't worry - no liver or brussel sprouts!

This system allows you to shop once a week, saving bunches of time and money. I read the other day about a woman who plans her meals on the way home from work, keeps recipes in her car, and stops at the store each night on the way home. Even if she spends only 20 minutes each time she shops, that's 100 minutes for five days. I can usually do my weekly shopping in an hour or less when I have a plan.

Hassle Free Dinners is for people who don't mind cooking, but don't like to plan or are out of ideas. It's a marriage of dinnertime and professional organization, streamlining the time you need to spend in the kitchen in order to put a decent meal on the table.

For more information about Hassle Free Dinners, click the title above.

How do you streamline the time you spend in the kitchen?

Related Posts: More Reviews by Multitasking Mama, Fun Food Tips, Saving Money by Being Organized, Planning Dinner

Organizing Your iTunes Music

There are a couple of programs out there that can help you organize your iTunes music, especially those designated "Track 01" where you don't know what song it is until you play it.

John Sanders from WBAL in Baltimore recommends TuneUpMedia.com which will read the digital fingerprinting on each song to identify the name of the song, the artist, and will even put the album artwork on your computer while it's playing. It's free up to the first 500 songs and then it's $12 a year after that for unlimited use. Sanders says that MusicBrainz is free but leaves a bit to be desired as it doesn't organize every song.

Sanders also recommends Last.fm, which is kind of like social networking for music lovers. It updates your profile with the songs you're listening to, as well as making it available for your friends to see.

To learn more from John Sanders' Web Trends, click the title above to see his article and video about organizing iTunes music.

It's Launch Day at Ellie's Bags

Ellie's Bags has some very creative ideas when it comes to diaper bags! These are not your mom's diaper bags. It's evident they have put a lot of thought into their diaper bag systems, and even have a tutorial on how to use them. Click the title above to see how cute and efficient they are!

My Guest Blog on Creating a Mudroom

Drop in on Laura at I'm An Organizing Junkie and see my guest blog on creating a mudroom. Check out her Round-Up for this month which is on entryways/mudrooms. Organize yours, submit it, and you may win her prize! Don't forget to look around while you're there to see all the resources she offers to make your life more organized.

Getting Organized for School - Document Organizing System

David Schwartz over at DOC-OA Document Organizing Assistant tells me that they have updated their organizing system for students. It's a very streamlined document oganizing system for elementary through college, helping students keep track of assignments, study sheets, finished homework, and more. Check it out! Click the title above to learn more about it.

Related Posts: Hope for Disorganized Students!, Homework battles, Getting Organized for School - Backpack Checklist, Getting Organized for School - Learning Style

Organizing Your Herb Garden, Part 2 - Drying Herbs

After listening to me rant and rave about squirrels destroying my herb garden, I want to assure you that I eventually did have herbs in my garden. In fact, I have a plethora of some of them! I decided to try some new herbs, one of which is pineapple sage. It smells delightful, and we've tried it on chicken, which wasn't a great hit. After searching for recipes using pineapple sage, I hit upon pineapple sage tea - delicious! Just pour boiling water over several leaves and let it steep.

Little did I know when I planted pineapple sage that it would grow into a monstrous bush! My husband has already trimmed it once to keep it from overtaking the other herbs around it - a good time to dry them.

Last year, Al, the guy who put in our new windows, advised me on how he dries herbs, so I used his method: wrap rubber bands around the stems of a bunch of the same herb and hang upside down in a dry, airy spot. I must say I felt like I was walking right out of the pages of Little House on the Prairie, having those herbs hang from pegs in my kitchen.

This year, however, I'm trying a different method. A woman in my arthritis aquatics class belongs to an herb club. Rose told me that you can dry herbs in your microwave. I tried it on some basil and it works wonderfully. I placed one layer of basil (make sure it's not wet) between paper towels. I started with one minute on high and repeated until the basil was dry, being careful not to burn it. I put my dried basil in a zip lock for now until I have time to take it off the stems.

Last year I put my dried herbs (sans stems) in my plastic colander and rubbed them through the holes into another bowl. My husband suggests whizzing them around in my mini-chopper this year, which I haven't tried yet. But it sounds like a good idea.

So if you were inspired to grow herbs this year like my friend Margaret, yours may be ready to dry. To keep your herbs tasting good, pinch off the flowers when they start to grow. If they go to seed, it makes the herbs bitter. I found out by accident last year that my parsley would grow through the winter. More than once, I brushed snow off my parsley and cut some for dinner. Even after cutting them for drying, some herbs came back and grew until frost.

Do you have any herb tips - cooking or growing?

Related posts: Organizing Your Herb Garden, Organizing your garden, Score: Squirrels 1, Bev 0, Feed the Squirrels? - Hah!, Managing Invasive Herbs

Getting Organized for School - Learning Style

One of the greatest gifts you can give your child is understanding her learning style. This greatly increased my ability to help my children learn - knowing whether she was an auditory, visual, or kinesthetic learner. I didn't force my learning style on her.

Cynthia Tobias has written several books on learning styles and learning in general. I'll recommend two that I found very enlightening: The Way They Learn and Every Child Can Succeed. She gives numerous ideas of implementing each type of learning style.

As you talk these concepts over with your child, knowing his leaning style gives your child confidence, the ability to adapt his learning accordingly, and the freedom from comparison. You may find it helpful to discuss this information with your child's teacher, especially if he is a kinesthetic learner aand must be moving in order to learn.

Click the book images on the sidebar to get a more detailed description of each book.


What have you done to help your child learn? What books do you recommend?


Related Posts: Getting Organized for School - Creating a Hub, Getting Organized for School (and life!) - Getting Enough Sleep, Get Organized for School (or life!) - A Family Calendar, Getting Organized for School - Backpack Checklist, Organizing for School - Papers, Get Organized for School - Clothing Inventory, Hope for Disorganized Students!

Organizing for College - or Just Having Fun

If you're taking your child to college or just trying to squeeze in some fun - Expedia is offering a fabulous deal - 50% off hotels through the end of September. Even they say this is one of the best deals they've ever had. Just had to pass this along to you. Click this link to save some bucks (http://www.dpbolvw.net/click-2537020-10489996?GOTO=DAILY&page=/promos/deals/50_percent_off/default.asp&afflid=aff.wd.promo.50%_off.20080804)!

Ellie's Bags - A New Idea in Diaper Bags - For You or as a Gift

Ellie's Bags is getting ready to launch their new line of diaper bags on August 13. In the meantime, they are sponsoring a giveaway - a $25 gift certificate. Use it for yourself or give it to a friend. Click the title above to sign up!

Organizing for College - Time Management Tip for Campus Calm Blog

Campus Calm is a wonderful resource for college students. Maria Pascucci founded Campus Calm to help students reduce the stress in their lives while still succeeding in college. She has loads of resources and numerous experts who provide insight in many areas.

I am privileged to be the Time Management Expert for Campus Calm. Click the title above to check out my time management tip for college students for this month. While there, wander around the site. Give your friends who are college students a gift by pointing them in the direction of Campus Calm . Or buy them a membership to Campus Calm University!

Related Posts: Organizing for College - Guest Blogger Sarah Scrafford, Great info for college students, their parents, and college professors, Packing for College, Review of Three Steps to Time Management for the College Student, College Survival Kits, Organizing For College - Dorm Room, Organizing for School - Papers, Getting Organized for School - Backpack Checklist

Announcing Our New Updated Website - 25% Discount

I am so pleased to announce the launch of our new updated website! Kudos to Comfort at Concept Design Studios for spending many hours redesigning the site to make it fun, colorful, easy to navigate and simple to use.

The site is organized to make it quick and effortless for you to find what you need to organize your home, your office, or your time. This is a great time of year to get organized, and we have just what you need to help you get started!

To celebrate our launch, we'd like to offer you a 25% discount on any order through August 20. Use the code 123 to receive your discount.

I'd love it if you'd pass the word to your friends!

Hoarders vs. Pack Rats and Living with Them

My mom recently sent me an article by Heidi Baker and Eden Jarrin, co-founders of www.BeJane.com, an online community and resource for women's home improvement. The article spells out the difference between hoarders and pack rats, and what to do if you live with either one.

Read the entire article published by Oklahoma City's The Oklahoman by clicking the title above. And if you're the handy type, discover home improvement projects to do yourself by clicking on their website above.

Thanks Mom!

Related Posts: Clutter in Your House or Office Means Clutter in Your Mind, Schedule Daily Clean Up Times, Reduce Your Stress by Organizing, Chopping Big Chores down into Bite-Sized Chunks, Decluttering Tips

New blog post: Getting Organized for School - Creating a Hub. www.1-2-3GetOrganized.blogspot.com

Getting Organized for School - Creating a Hub

If you don't have one already, create a hub - a location where you keep papers to be signed for school, library books, invitations, and other important information. The point is to have one location into which you deposit vital information so you know where to look when you need it.

It can be a drawer, a decorative box, a shelf - whatever works for you. And it needs to be in a central location. When my kids were home, I used a basket in my kitchen.

If you want to include backpacks, briefcases, and keys in your hub, you could put up pegs or hooks near the door you normally enter. Or use a coat rack or a coat closet to store these vital necessities.

How do you handle the incoming information from school?

Related Posts: Getting Organized for School (and life!) - Getting Enough Sleep, Get Organized for School (or life!) - A Family Calendar, Getting Organized for School - Backpack Checklist, Organizing for School - Papers, Get Organized for School - Clothing Inventory, Hope for Disorganized Students!

Organizing for College - Guest Blogger Sarah Scrafford

I'm so pleased to invite Sarah Scrafford to share a blog with us. If you are a college student or know one, Sarah offers some great advice!

Sort out your Organization Problems

My dad is a profound thinker who excels in converting his ideas into intelligent and profitable ventures. But there’s one thing I don’t get – his perpetually disorganized and cluttered desk. Woe betide his secretary or anyone else who attempts to restore some form of order to the chaotic mess of papers and other office paraphernalia; he argues that if the desk is cleaned, he’s bound to forget where he left stuff, little bothering to even listen to my take on the value of a clean and orderly desk with a place for everything and everything in its place.

I guess tidiness and order are characteristics that we acquire as we grow up, because I certainly didn’t inherit them from my dad. Besides saving an enormous amount of time when you’re searching for something, being organized is one way of letting others know that you are disciplined, in how you take care of your belongings and in how you deal with any aspect of life.

College is a time for higher learning, not just from the pages of a book, but in the art of self-discipline too. It’s time students took the effort to change the stereotype that college dorms are messy places that stink to high glory. By turning around one minor aspect like the cleanliness and order of your room, you’ll find that the same attitude spills over into the more important things in your life. Here’s how students can maintain order in their rooms, the easy way:

· When you move in to your residence (either on or off campus), don’t just dump your belongings anywhere; make an effort to identify the right place for each of your things, and put them away neatly.
· If you have stuff that’s left over after you unpack, take what you don’t absolutely need back home to your parents.
· Your books and study materials need to be kept separately from your other belongings.
· Make sure your papers are filed neatly and pinned so they don’t end up flying out the window or being swept away in the trash can.
· If you eat in your room, throw out the leftovers and empty containers immediately instead of waiting for a week to clear up the mess. The sooner you tidy up, the less stains and spills you’ll have to deal with.
· Put your dirty laundry in a designated basket so that the smell of sweat isn’t overpowering when you enter the room.
· Set aside time every week to do your laundry and take care of other personal errands.
· Tack up a list to a cupboard where you can add items that you’ve run out of and need to replenish. This not only simplifies your shopping process, but also makes sure that you’re not left high and dry when you need stationery or other personal provisions.
· As much as possible, do not borrow stuff from others or lend them yours. It’s hard to keep track of what belongs to whom when there’s too much exchanging going on.
· Make notes of things you’re supposed to do for the day. Better still, set up an online calendar of all the events you’re supposed to attend all semester. Check your to-do list each morning before you leave your room.
· If you’re not a morning person and have trouble waking up all fresh and cheery, wake up 10 or 20 minutes before you normally do so you have time to compose yourself, take a shower and be as fresh as a daisy for class.

While there are no hard and fast rules to be followed in your attempt at order, a regular routine helps when you’re a student. An orderly existence is the hallmark of an orderly mind, which in turn makes sure you are successful in anything you do.

Sarah Scrafford is an industry critic, as well as a regular contributor on the subject of top online university. She invites your questions, comments and freelancing job inquiries at her email address: sarah.scrafford25@gmail.com

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