Freebie: December 2011 Calendar Printable

For all of y'all who haven't gotten a start on your December Calendar- here's a little printable to get you in the Holiday spirit!

201112 Calendar

Freebies: Recipe Journal Printable

I am not a natural cook i did not grow up in the kitchen, and when I asked my mom to teach me how to cook, her response was, "If you can read the directions on the back of the box you can cook anything!"

So, this is what I came up with. I print this on the back of my recipe pages that make the cut for my Recipe Binder.

Whenever I make a dish I like to keep track of when I made it, who I made it for, any changes I made to the recipe, and any notes for next time.

For example, early in my cooking days I decided I could substitute chicken breasts for a whole chicken, and tomato paste for fresh tomatoes. I was to purée the tomatoes after cooking, so I thought I was skipping a step. The chicken swap turned out good, but the tomato swap was a huge mistake. I noted this on the back so I would never make the same mistake.

I like to keep track of who ate the meal so that I don't serve the same meal to my friends/family every time they come over!

This printable is formatted for a letter size paper. If you need 4 x 6 or 5 x 7 please comment below and then follow my blog. I will make the most requested size first.

There is a second log I use once the recipe is absolutely perfect.  I print the final recipe on the front side, and then on the back just log the date and who it was made for, and THEIR rating based on comments they make at dinner. This way I can track the foods they like best, and figure out a new menu each time they come!  I will share this printable next week.


I hope you enjoy!

Recipe Log

Life As a Mom: Finding Time to "Do It All"

Okay, so I still haven't found THAT much time, but this is the way I have found to help keep me focused, and feel like I have actually accomplished things during the day.  I don't get burned out cleaning all day, and I don't waste time when I sit down to work on the computer.

My day starts much earlier, but my "schedule" starts at 8 after I have dropped Big Sister off at school.  It looks like this:
8:00 - Household Chores
9:00 - Blog/Computer work for Sunla Designs
10:00 - Crafting work for Lila's Bowtique
11:00 - Household Chores
12:00 -  Lunch and Blog/Computer work for Sunla Designs
1:00 - Crafting work for Lila's Bowtique
2:00 - Catchup before I pick up Big Sister from school


The rest of my day is filled with homework, piano practice, Girl Scouts, and dinner.  The hour-long shifts keep me focused and working as quickly as I can to get a lot done in that little window of time.  If I tell myself "I have all day to get that done" it usually takes all day!

You may be asking why I haven't scheduled time for Baby Brother or errands and such.  It's because I take care of those things as they come up, and resume my schedule based on what time it is.  For instance, on Monday I go grocery shopping as soon as I drop off Big Sister.  It is usually after 9 by they time I get the groceries put away, so I skip the Household chores at 8:00 and start right onto my Blog/Computer work.  I adjust for this by scheduling less cleaning on Monday, and the grocery shopping is actually part of my Monday chores.

At 2:00 it is time to catchup on whatever I didn't get done that must be finished before Big Sister comes home.  usually that means packing orders to drop off at the post office, checking my email one last time, or prepping dinner.

Freebies: Kids' Fluids Chart

After a recent check-up at the doctor's office we decided we needed a way to make sure Big Sister is getting enough fluids.  She drinks milk in/with breakfast, but drinks water the rest of the day.   I've never figured out a way to get her to drink more milk until I had the doctor tell her she needs to be drinking 3 glasses a day.  We worked out a chart to be sure she's getting enough of all the right fluids- 3 glasses of milk, 2 glasses of water, and one glass of juice.

Here's what we do:
Milk- one in/with breakfast, one with her afternoon snack, and one with dinner.
Water- at school- she takes a small bottle with her to school and refills it once she has finished it.
Juice- I make her popsicles from juice using the Tupperware popsicle mold.  Now, I know this is only 2 oz, but she usually gets a little juice at some point in her day, so I am not so worried about it.  She enjoys the popsicle treat, and I am happy it's not completely loaded with sugar.

Here's a chart I made to help Big Sister remember what she has had already.  I gave her an off on Sunday since we are usually pretty busy that day.

Fluids Chart


Enjoy!