Pear Sauce

This week I found 10 pounds of pears on clearance so I bought them all with the plan to make something yummy for my kids. My boys are always hungry...I mean ALWAYS. I thought pearsauce just might satisfy the kids, at least for a little while. Ripe pears are the best because they are at their peak sweetness and peel & chop easily. Many of these pears were bruised but I just cut around the bad spots.

I peeled and cut up half of the pears I bought and put them in a large stockpot to simmer. I left them simmering on low for an hour or so and added some cinnamon and a tablespoon of raw sugar. When I make apple sauce I need to add water when they are simmering but the pears did not need anymore liquid. Once they were sufficiently soft I moved them off the burner to cool. These pears were VERY juicy.  I poured the pear juice into a jar for the kids to drink later. I put the pears in my food processor and blended them until smooth.

That's it! Easy pear sauce that my boys gobbled down quick. It really lasted only 2 days. They ate it all that fast!

Project Simplify Week Two

This week was a much slower & simpler pace than I had anticipated as I recovered from an illness that laid me low for a couple of days. As a result of being sick I was playing catch up all week with just the normal household things. I did make time on Thursday and Friday to clean out and organize some cabinets but I didn't get to as much of the kitchen as I'd wanted to.

Before: the Spice Cabinet

After:I bought a small spice rack to fit in the cabinet and organize 18 of my smaller spices. I like that this rack is small enough to fit inside a cabinet and not take up my limited counter space.

Before: Above the microwave

After: I purged a couple of things and moved some other items up there to store.

Before: Above the Refrigerator

After: This was a catch-all area that confiscated toys went to hide. We also keep the kids candy bags up there. I cleared it off and gave the area a much needed wipe down. I relocated some things back to their places and threw some other things away. This area looks SO MUCH BETTER!

Before

After: I did the least in this cabinet. I purged a few things and rearranged a few others.

Week Two is over and I'm so happy to have a simpler, more organized kitchen.

Homemade Almond Milk

Almond milk is easy to make and so expensive to buy. I thought this would be fun to try to make myself. All you need is 1 cup of raw almonds and filtered water.

1.Place the almonds in a glass bowl and soak them over night in the refridgerator in water.

2.Rinse the almonds in water and place them in the blender with 4 cups of cold filtered water.

3. Blend until the mixture gets frothy- add 1 teaspoon of vanilla if desired.

4. Strain through cheesecloth into a bowl or pitcher. Press the almond bits with the back of a spoon to sqeeze out all the milk.

 5. If you want to make it sweeter you can add honey or soaked dates to the almond milk and blend.

Enjoy a glass of your own homemade almond milk!


This post is linked to Sunday School at Butter Believer, Fat Tuesday at Real Food Forager, Manic Monday at For The Mommas, This Chick Cooks and The Healthy Home Economist.

Weekly Menu Plan 3/12- 3/18

I spent most of the weekend in my sickbed feeling awful. I'm still feverish and dizzy but a lot better today, my head no longer feels like it's in a vise. Thankfully since I plan my menu a month in advance I didn't have to do much thinking to put this together. I'm keeping it simple this week with meals that Joe can make if I'm not back to normal soon.

Weekly Menu Plan 3/12- 3/18
Monday: Crockpot Chicken with carrots and potatoes
Tuesday: Baked Tilapia, rice, steamed broccoli
Wednesday: Chicken Noodle Soup
Thursday: Pasta, salad
Friday: Tacos
Saturday: Pizza
Sunday: Leftovers & Pasta

Snacks: Honey Walnut Granola, Green Smoothie

I'm linking to Menu Plan Monday at I'm An Organizing Junkie.

Weekly Goals 3/12- 3/18

I did pretty well with my goals from last week despite getting sick on Saturday. Actually being sick helped me with one goal. I had time to finish reading Chasing Mona Lisa (& two more novels) in my sickbed.

Family/Mothering Goals

1. Help kids finish homework by 5pm on week nights
2. Finish reading Manager of Their Chores & start using chore packs. Morning chores have been assigned and are going well!

Personal
3. Plan out herbal garden and order garden seeds
4. Go to gym 3 times, including 1 Yoga class & 1 Cardio class 
5. Read Chasing Mona Lisa  by Tricia Goyer and Mike Yorkey
6. Go to bed by 10:30 p.m. every night.  I did this most nights.

Home Management
7. Work on Project Simplify 2012- for week one I'm decluttering the kids toys in the basement.
8. Follow 15 minute daily cleaning schedule.   I've been undisciplined on this one. 
9. Make homemade sweet potato fries

Ministry
10. Plan for MOPS discussion group meeting. The meeting was pushed back a week so I still need to prepare.


I'm keeping my goals simple for this week as I'm still sick and trying to get better. Here are this week's goals:

Family/Mothering Goals
1. Help kids finish homework by 5pm on week nights
2. Continue using chore packs for morning chores

Personal
3. Go to gym twice
4. Go to bed by 10:30 p.m. every night.

Home Management
5. Work on Project Simplify 2012- for week two I'm organizing the kitchen cabinets
6. Follow 15 minute daily cleaning schedule
7. Make homemade English muffins

Ministry
8. Plan for MOPS discussion group meeting

How did you do on last week’s goals? What are your goals for this week? Feel free to share in the comments.