Coat Closet to School Station

School is starting soon and that means it's time to get organized! I have 4 kids in school and if I don't get an area organized for them, then I won't be able to function and neither will they.

So I got this wild idea to turn my coat closet (which really was just a junk closet that I had to really push the door in order for it to stay closed) into a school station. I wish I would have taken a before picture!

I put 3 shoe shelves inside the closet. It holds containers of pens, pencils, crayons, glue, markers, etc. Everything my kids need to do homework and will need later in the year to replenish their school stash. I have a brown filing container on the top shelf that I use to file their papers away that I want to keep. I also have an "In Box" that they will place anything I need to review in that basket. My kitchen counters will finally be clean.

I plan on having 2 "Out Boxes". One by the front door for the kids who leave out that door for carpool and one by the garage door for the kids who leave through that door in the morning. The boxes will hold papers that I filled out the night before, special notes or money for lunch. Sometimes I don't get to see all the kids leave in the morning, so this will work out great.

Check back soon for pictures of my newly organized laundry room where they kids will store their backpacks. I love back to school organizing.

I used an over the door shoe holder to put gloves, hots and scarves in. This shoe hanger was great because it had nice attachments at the top and at the bottom of the door. So it does not swing and bang around everytime you open the door.

~Organized Funky Monkey~

"Crap Room to Craft Room" Challenge - Update!

So it took me a little longer then I had wanted, but it's done. (Well good enough to be used and I'm not embarrassed to let anyone else in it!)

I just cleared out a few boxes and baskets laying around and under the desk.

BEFORE AFTER

I removed the sewing cabinet (it's going upstairs) and I'll hang a picture up on that wall.

BEFORE AFTER

I tackled the craft room closet. I decided to put items I don't use much in there and the kids extra school supplies.
BEFORE AFTER

BEFORE AFTER

My blogging Station.

Now I can start to create in this room!

~Organized Funky Monkey~

Meal Planning: Save Time, Reduce Stress, Eat Healthy & Enjoy Your Family!

Sharing from another source....I'm always looking for something to make life easier around here!
DINE WITHOUT WHINE:

The children are running around the kitchen. The dog is barking it at the door and dinner should have been on the table thirty minutes ago. It’s a common scenario in many households come dinner time.

The reason that most meal times don’t always go smoothly may because dinner the last thing on your mind and when it’s time to get food on the table, everything else goes haywire in your house.

We have all been there, but with a little bit of meal-planning, you can be serving up delicious meals the family will be glad to gather around the table for.

Meal planning can make it easy to get dinner on the table in no time on a busy night. Not only do you save time, but it’s economical too. You buy only what you need, avoid the drive-through line up and you can concentrate on using fresh ingredients – instead of prepackages items from the grocery store. Every mother should have a set way to plan all of their meals in advance for the week…it’s a true life-saver.

The first step to successful meal planning is to sit down before you head out to the grocery store for the week (or sign up for the affordable Dine Without Whine Menu Planning Service & they’ll make that plan for you) .
It is best to plan what food you will need to have on had before you head to the grocery store when planning the week’s meals. Meal planning will make good use of a well stocked pantry and will only need a regular amount of grocery shopping. By having your meals for the week planned out, you will be able to write a grocery list that you can stick to Dine Without Whine actually puts your grocery list together for you too. This will help you to save money by keeping you from not buying extra food that you will not use.

As you plan your week’s meals, make sure that you think about ways you can cook once and make two meals out of it. It’s easy to do a lot of cooking on the weekends so that you can do minimum cooking on busy week days. You can grill up chicken breasts on Sunday and use them in pasta on one night and then in fajitas another night. There are many ways that you can reuse the cooking from one night to make the next meal that much easier.

Meal planning can also help to cut down on your prep time in the kitchen when you are cooking. By knowing the meals that you are going to cook in advance, you can wash and cut vegetables when you bring them home from the grocery store. The simple act of pre-measuring the vegetables that you would need for a meal will cut out a lot of additional cooking time.

To be successful with your meal planning, you will want to take into account a lot of factors when you plan your meals for the week. One of the most important things to keep in mind is your weekly schedule of evening activities. The nights when your family has many activities planned are not the evenings to make meals that take along time to prepare. It will be those nights that you will want to use the meals that use the food that you already prepared on the weekends.
Meal planning is a skill that will take some getting used to. The first couple of times that you attempt to plan out your meals for the week, you will have some missteps along the way. After awhile it will become second nature to plan all of your meals in advance and you will wonder why you did not start to do it sooner.

To make your meal planning a whole lot easier, sign up for you 1 ¢ no-risk trial at Dine Without Whine. You and your hungry family will be glad you did.

Do you need this? I do!

I might actually get more done around here : )

Mulitask Computer Desk:

Turn that "Crap" Room back into a CRAFT room!

Today's challenge is just that! My craft room seems to collect everyone's CRAP! It's all over the place. Check back later for before and after pictures.
~Organized Funky Monkey~

What's for dinner??

I'm trying to start the dreaded "Menu Planning." I have heard so many people say they save a ton of money if they plan a menu and shop just for that weeks meals.
So I'm going to give it a try!

I've been keeping track of items I purchased and creating a master list of items and prices. Along with where I purchased it. I'm hoping this will come in handy when I make my trip to Costco. (You know sometimes I swear it costs more there then it would at Target or Walmart!) Now....I'll have a reference sheet to see if I really am saving money at Costco.

This week's menu:

Monday:
Grilled Shrimp
Baked Salmon (one for my husband)
Twice Baked Mashed Potatoes
Steamed Broccoli

Tuesday:
Chicken and Rice Casserole
French cut beans

Wednesday:
Taco Salad

Thursday:
Sandwiches - Soccer game night!

Friday:
Chicken Ceasar Salad
Garlic Bread

Saturday:
Eggs
Hashbrowns
Ham

Sunday:
Grilled Chicken Wings
Baked Garlic-Parmesan Fries
Baked Beans

~Organized Funky Monkey~

Weekend Challenge Update

Well, I've decided that if my husband is home, then I just can't get my list done!
He heads back to work tomorrow, so I'll post a new Challenge then.

Here is how I did on my challenge:

• Put away Christmas items (DONE)
• Dust (not done...but will do tomorrow.)
• Sweep the stairs (not done...but will do tomorrow.)
• Put boys laundry away (DONE)
• Start laundry (it's never ending!) (STARTED)
• Work on Dinner menu for next week (DONE...will post tomorrow.)
• Work on Grocery list (DONE)
• Grocery shopping (DONE)

Using the traffic light system:
RED - means I need to finish tomorrow...no if, ands or buts!
YELLOW - means I will work on it again tomorrow.
GREEN - means I'm done, it's a go....I can move on....start dancing.

~Organized Funky Monkey~