31 Days-Day 3

It's Monday today!!  In case you didn't know that already.

How many of you did your morning and Monday routines today?

I finished my morning routine by 8:30 am.  I have to confess that I don't do everything on the list though.  Two of the tasks near the bottom of the list ("Do sit-ups/10 min. exercise" and "Quick clean of kids' room") go unchecked every day.  About 2 weeks ago, I pinched a disc in my back, and lifting kids and doing housework has slowed the healing process considerably.  I figured that vigorous exercise probably wouldn't help things move in the right direction so I've been holding off on that until next week.  That, and I have a tendency to be lazy.  So please don't tell me how exercise will make my back feel so much better because I'm obliviously happy in my ignorance.

I'm also skipping the quick clean of the kids' room until next week.  With the condition their room is in right now, a quick clean is a preposterous idea.  After this week though, I'll have deep cleaned it, and it'll be ready to go.

I forgot to tell you yesterday...I don't do any zone cleaning on Mondays because I spend an hour "blessing" my home.  I'd hate to overdo it on the cleaning because of all the dangers involved (dishpan hands, housewife's knees, etc).  If you already did some zone cleaning in Zone 1, give yourself a pat on the back because you're ahead of the game.

By 9:30 this morning, all my cleaning was done for the day except for my bedtime routine.  Pretty cool, huh?

I added another page to my control journal today.  I write out a list of miscellaneous things I need to do every day because if I don't, then I forget to do them.  Except that I usually lose the piece of paper the list is written on.  So I put a blank piece of paper in a page protector and added it to my journal between the morning and bedtime routines.  Then I can just write my to-do list in dry erase marker on the page and erase each thing as I do it.  If I don't get to something today, it'll be on the list for tomorrow. 

Look at that!  I can cross "Blog" off my list in a few minutes!  Just to clarify a few things...I buy packages of bacon when it's on sale and then cook a bunch at one time and freeze it so I have ready-to-go bacon bits anytime I want to add them to something.  And "Tuna" is the name of my cat.  I did not take a can of tuna fish to the vet's office. 

 Today was also the day to plan out my menu for the rest of the week.  I take our schedule into consideration when I plan this.  For instance, on Wednesday evenings, we go to a Bible study and prayer meeting at church so I pick something easy to make that day.  On Fridays, we eat supper with Hubby's parents, and his brother and his family.  Sundays, we eat dinner after church at Hubby's parents' place again and have leftovers for supper.  Yes, I know.  My mother-in-law cooks meals for us twice a week...minimum.  I have it "made in the shade".

Here's my meal plan for the week:
Monday-grilled cabbage, potatoes, and lemon chicken with lemon cheesecake for dessert
Tuesday-stuffing coated chicken with honey mustard potatoes
Wednesday-Homemade stuffed crust pizza with cheesy breadsticks
Thursday-O' Brien kielbasa skillet
Friday-Eating at in-laws
Saturday-Bacon chicken alfredo
Sunday-Eating at in-laws

I might switch a few meals around to different days, but it helps tremendously to have a plan.  I can hit the grocery store up once on Monday, and we don't have to eat frozen pizza four times a week because I didn't start thinking of what to make for supper until everyone's tummies were rumbling.

This is the cookbook I'm picking recipes out of this month.  I went through the cookbook and marked all the recipes I want to try.  I choose a few each week to try, and then I decide whether to keep the recipe or nix it.  When I've gotten through the whole cookbook, I'll save the recipes I like in a three-ring binder and get rid of the cookbook.  I have a cupboard full of cookbooks so by doing this, I'm also decluttering.

What are you planning for meals this week?  Let me know in the comments and if you have a blog post about it, post a link to it as well.  I'd love to see what you've got planned!