Time to Eat – A Weekly Time Saving Tip and Recipe

This week’s tip: If you have kids at home during the summer,
set up a schedule and structure to your day similar to how your kids’ school
day is organized.

My kids are usually home with me 2 days a week during the
summer. On those days we schedule our activities with frequent breaks, similar
to my daughter's 1^st grade school schedule. This included school work that her
teacher sent home for the summer. It’s so important to keep kids active in math
and reading during the summer since so much is forgotten during that time.

We
have limited T.V. and computer time, reading, journaling, art, outside time,
snack time and “choice time” where she gets to choose what she wants to do. We
also schedule our lunch together and have quiet time during her brother’s nap
so she can read or play quietly in her room. This allows me some time to catch
up on work, personal business or household chores. She enjoys the variety of
activities and that I am engaged with her throughout the day. We also make
weekly trips to the library and plan other “field trips”. I’ve noticed a huge
difference in her behavior because of this schedule. My daughter thrives on
structure. She needs the routine and change in activities to keep her active
both mentally and physically. This reduces boredom and the inevitable meltdown.

This week's recipe:

Feta salad

1 (15-oz.) can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 ½ c. chopped grape, cherry or Roma tomatoes

2 c. cooked white rice

1 (4-oz.) pkg. crumbled feta cheese

½ c. chopped celery

½ c. chopped green onion

½ c. Italian dressing

Mix all ingredients and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Time to Eat – A Weekly Time Saving Tip and Recipe

Today's Tip: Relish! I came across this site and thought it looked like a great resource for busy people who are tired of eating the same thing. I know I am! From their website:

“Relish! offers the plan to get out of the dinner rut for
good. No more mundane meals or last minute stops at the grocery store. Each
week you choose the dinners you would like to make and you print out the
grocery list and recipes. We even offer comprehensive freezer meals.”

They also have a site for gluten free meal planning.

Today's Recipe: Healthy Salad Dressing

I got this recipe from the Dishing Up Nutrition Guide from Nutritional Weight and Wellness. I love the dressing because it allows you to actually taste the vegetables in your salad, not just the dressing. A little of this dressing goes a long way. I usually make 1/2 of a recipe for one week.

Healthy Salad Dressing

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

1/2 cup extra virgin cold-pressed olive oil

1 clove garlic – minced

Shake in an opaque container with tight-fitting lid.

You can add any of these ingredients to taste. I usually just add pepper though.

oregano

thyme

basil

parsley

dill

cayenne

sea salt

tarragon

Refrigerate several hours to allow flavors to blend. Enjoy!

Time to Eat – A Weekly Time Saving Tip and Recipe

Today’s Tip: Hire some help. Deb Brown with Time Creators can give you more hours in your day. She offers personal assistant services and
does things like grocery shopping, picking up dry cleaning, gift guying, mailing
packages and more. Not in the Minneapolis
area? Check out ICLMA for a service near you.

I first had this salad at School of the Wise. I created my own version and call it Yummy Salad because it
is just that, yummy! Serve it as a side dish or as a meal with grilled chicken.

Yummy Salad

Salad greens

Walnuts or pecans

Cranberries

Bleu cheese – crumbled

Granny smith apple or any green apple – sliced

Grilled chicken (optional)

Mix and top with lemon-poppy seed dressing (store bought or
use the recipe below.)

Lemon-Poppy Seed Dressing

2/3 cup olive oil

½ cup sugar

1/3 cup fresh lemon juice

1 ½ tablespoons poppy seeds

2 teaspoons finely chopped onions

1 teaspoon Dijon
mustard

½ teaspoon salt

Mix all ingredients in a blender until smooth.

Enjoy!

Time to Eat – A Weekly Time Saving Tip and Recipe

Today's tip: Keep a stocked vegetable tray in your refrigerator. I usually have cut up
cucumber, orange peppers, zucchini, mushrooms, asparagus, grape tomatoes,
carrots and peapods. It makes it easy to eat your vegetables when they are
already cut up and on a tray.

Veggie Eggs: Sauté red onion, asparagus, zucchini, mushrooms, and orange peppers in butter. Scramble two eggs and mix them with the vegetables. Season with garlic pepper. What a delicious way to start the day!

Time to Eat – A Weekly Time Saving Tip and Recipe

One of the biggest time eaters (pardon the pun) is shopping
and cooking. One way to save time is to create a menu and shopping list every
week. My family plans out our meals and we buy only what we need. I
created a shopping list in a Word document that is arranged by the aisles in my
local grocery store. I put items on the list that we buy often. We highlight the items we need and write in any special items needed for that week's meals. This saves tons of time and also makes me less likely to
impulse shop.

Book Review: Getting Organized in the Google Era

I just finished reading “Getting Organized in the Google
Era”. It was written by Douglas Merrill, the former Chief Information Officer of
Google. Merrill has a Ph.D. in cognitive science. He offers a lot of
information about how our brains works and the way we think to determine why we
are disorganized. Basically, our lack of organizing skills is not our fault.
Our brains just weren’t meant to deal with all of the information we try to handle. Merrill shares many interesting and often
humorous stories. Stories, he says, are a great way to help us remember things.

He focuses on 21 principles of organizing. He covers some of
the basics like avoid multitasking, group similar task and break big projects
into smaller ones. He also challenges us to think outside of the traditional
“get organized” box by sharing that he avoids filing and keeps piles on his
desk. He relies on the search function instead of taking the time to set up
separate folders on his computer and in his cloud.

Throughout the book he tells us that his way is not the only
way and it may not be right for everyone. It does offer a new perspective on
organizing and I can say that I have implemented several of his concepts into
my own system.

This book is a whole lot of Google! It really appears to me
to be as much a Google How-To manual and Google advertisement as it is an
organizing book. What did I expect from a book called “Getting Organized in the
Google Era”, written by the former CIO of Google?

Merrill explains that he doesn’t use or recommend Google
tools because he worked there. He believes they are the best for what they do
and they continue to improve. He does offer many other options for the concepts her recommends.

Even if you’re not sold on cloud computing or Google tools,
I think it’s a good read with a lot of great resources and ideas. By far my
favorite principle in the book is that “work-life balance” is just not
possible. Merrill says “Integrate work with life instead of trying to balance
the two.” That is just plain brilliant!

30 Days of Organizing: Days 1-6 – Getting Started

What I love about these 30 Day projects is that we are able
to keep a certain topic present in our minds. We know that for the next 28, 30
or 31 days we are going to focus on being grateful, self care, “clearning”, getting
organized, etc. It makes it easier to make progress in an area of your life
that you otherwise may not have taken the time to focus on. We take things for
granted – we forget. It’s hard to remember to take care of our own needs before
the needs of others.

Getting and staying organized is about awareness, setting up
systems and creating consistency. You will be creating new habits and you need
to stay on top of things. If you don’t, you’ll be right back where you started.
This is a process. Be gentle with yourself and take small steps.

31 Days of Clearning: Day 13 – My clearning journey so far

I've had a very productive month so far on my clearning journey. Since March 1, I have clearned:

My bedroom, my vanity, my jewelry box, Max's bedroom including his closet, toys and drawers, the coat closet, the silverware drawer, my sewing box, the medicine cabinet, the bathroom cupboards, drawers and closet. 

I usually clearn every 6 months or so. I never called it clearning but I did it just the same. What amazes me is what accumulates in 6 months and what I thought was valuable 6 months ago is now not. I"m sure when I do my fall clearning I'll once again be amazed at what I held onto.

Next up, Mya's room. Now there is a project! I'm excited though, because she will be helping me and we will use this opportunity to teach her about clearning and about giving some of her things to people in need. I do love the learning in clearning.

31 Days of Clearning: Day 3 – Staying in the Present Moment

One of my favorite books is Sarah Ban Breathnach's Simple Abundance. I've been reading it, off and on, for the last 10 years.  It's a daybook so there is a beautifully written, inspirational passage for each day of the year.  I picked it up last night and read the March 1 passage about restoring serenity to your daily endeavors.  Sarah described a woman who "will begin to brush her teeth only to leave the bathroom to start making her bed while she is still foaming at the mouth".  She saw the unmade bed and before she could rinse her mouth, she had moved on to the next task.  I'm embarrassed to say that I am guilty of the same odd, compulsive behaviors.  I often have to remind myself to finish what I'm doing before moving on to the next task.

In our crazy lives, with constant distractions and commitments, it can be difficult to stay on track.  This applies to every aspect of our lives, not just work.  Staying in the present moment when your child is reading a book – really listening and interacting instead of daydreaming about what tasks have to get done before you can collapse into bed.

Awareness is key to overcoming this obstacle.  When you find yourself becoming distracted, acknowledge it and bring yourself back.  It takes practice but like any new habit, with time it becomes easier.

A Little Perspective

I'm a time
management consultant and office organizer. That's what I live and breathe
every day. I had to step back this morning when my Note from the Universe arrived.

Of all the
things that matter, Amy, that really and truly matter, working more efficiently
and getting more done is not among them.

Chill,

The Universe