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I didn't plan it, but today turned into a day of cooking!
I went to the grocery store early this morning with plans of making chili this afternoon, and I found some awesome deals on vegetables also. I found so many organic vegetables marked down to under $1 because they had to be sold this week that I changed my menu plans. I also took advantage of the $5/10 item Mega Sale at Kroger to stock up on tomato sauce and diced tomatoes.
When I came home, I decided to go ahead and get several dishes going. I browned all 10 pounds of ground beef and chopped vegetables for a while. I put together a large stockpot of chili, two crockpots of Amish Veggie Beef soup and another crockpot of spaghetti sauce.
My counters are full of crockpots and my freezer will soon be full for the winter! :)
I have used this challenge as a reason to do some of my busy work that I always say I will do another day. You know what I mean! All of those things you know need to get done but somehow get pushed to the wayside while you make sure the dishes are washed and the clothes are clean. So, here is just a few of the busy projects I got out of the way this week! I really wish I had taken before pictures, but I will try to get some of the after pictures done and posted later this week.
- Soaking the children's bath toys in water and bleach to get the junk off of the toys! I did it in the bathtub so I could use the time to clean the bathtub too!
- Cleaning off my nightstand and washing my tablecloth. Unfortunately, my cat loves to lay on it, so it always has a mess of cat hair around the edges. While it was washing, I used the time to sort through all of the paper and books that have slowly piled up until there was nowhere else to even put my clock or telephone. Now it is nice and neat!
- Completely empty the battery drawer and sort them all out. I put in a silverware organizer and pulled all of the batteries out of their packages. I sorted them into the silverware slots and now I can tell how many we have of each one instead of getting down to the last batteries in the remote and having them die!
- Cleaning off the top of the refrigerator and dusting it. I have always used the top to store my crystal pitchers and vases, and they rattle when the washing machine is running. It also looks so cluttered, and drives my husband crazy. So, I found a way to put all of these items into cabinets and now it looks so neat!
- Not a big one, but found the perfect sized basket to put all of the baby's toys that seem to make their way into the living room. It is so easy to just throw them all into a pretty basket instead of trying to stack them in a corner.
This is not everything, but these are definitely the highlights. I have also signed up for the Oprah "Clean Up Your Messy House Tour" here. Peter Walsh assures us that in six months our homes will be completely organized if we will just do our homework. I will give it a shot, and in six months, we will see! I already feel better when I look at my refrigerator and my nightstand!
Also, there is a bonus! When you sign up, you get a 20 percent off coupon for The Container Store. Hurry though! The promotion ends at 11:59 p.m. CST Nov. 19.
I am following along with Biblical Womanhood's Making Your Home A Haven here. I have already started working toward decluttering our home through putting things away for a spring yard sale or donating to the local St. Vincent DePaul or Christian Food Bank. This is just an incentive to get things moving!
I was excited about the progress I made today.
- Cleaned living room of all clutter to make room for the guys to put up crown moulding tonight.
- Put away the "TV House" my daughter has been playing in all summer and fall long. It is a playhouse made out of a big box that our television came in a couple of years ago. We keep it in the sunroom because that room doesn't get much use during this time of year. Now that it is time to start using the hot tub again, that room needs to be clutter free!
- Washed and folded four loads of laundry including school uniforms for the entire week.
- Cleared drying rack of dishes, loaded and unloaded dishwasher and finished washing extra dishes that didn't fit in the dishwasher.
- Prepared filling for chicken enchiladas first thing this morning after shopping trips so it could simmer all day in the crockpot.
- Shopped Kroger and Walgreens between school drop off and morning nap. Managed to get it all put away at once instead of one piece at a time all day!
Here is a quick trip to Walmart using coupons I got here at Centsible Sawyer. I would have also had two boxes of Nestle Hot Chocolate, but you can see what happened there here.
Two boxes of Bagelfuls at $1.98 each
Two bags of Cat Chow at $4.33 each
Two cans of Progresso Soup at $1.50 each
Two Shrimp Poppers at $1.25 each
Nine Johnson's Buddies Soaps at .97 each
Total before coupons - $28.85
Coupons Used
Two $1 off Bagelfuls
Two $3 off Purina
Two $1.10 off Progresso
Two $1 off Shrimp Poppers
Three $3 off three Johnson's Products
Total after coupons - $6.69 (More than 75% savings!)
