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Psssst…… Wanna know a secret??!  My house isn’t ALL that clean.  You can’t eat off my floors, and my fridge is crowded and a lot of the baseboards are dirty.  My desk has kids workbooks and coloring pages on it and there are clothes to be mended on top of my sewing table.  We won’t talk about the garage.

We live here.  I have a daycare here.  There is a lot going on in this house at all times.  If you are looking for how to keep your house looking like Martha Stewart’s house, this is the wrong place.

If you want a seemingly effortless tidy home without stress, I am so glad you are here!! It took me a long time to start this blog because I was afraid of being judged and afraid people would expect me to have a perfect home if I talked about ways to clean your home and keep it clean.   I finally went for it, but I want you to know… my house isn’t perfect!  In fact, there may be a lot of people reading this that have a cleaner home than I do!

The point of this blog is to help you not have house cleaning rule your life.  To do house KEEPING, not house CLEANING.

I will welcome you to my home at any time of the day.  My house may have toys in the living room and kids everywhere but the dishes will be done and the bathrooms will be clean.  It IS possible to have a clean and tidy home with kids!! The kitchen is clean after breakfast! All the toys are picked up before we head outside to play!

The blinds are probably dusty….. I will get there.  That’s ok.  My routines keep my house clean.  When I have a moment, if all six kids are asleep at the same time, I may or may not clean the blinds.  The important things are taken care of.

My house will always be moments away from company ready and I welcome you all but don’t expect it to pass a white glove test!  It will be tidy and mostly clutter free and I won’t mind at all if you want to use my bathroom.  The oven may need to be cleaned and crumbs in the silverware drawer.   I have routines for that too and will get to it.  I am not going to knock myself out to have everything done all the time and all at once and I don’t want you to either!

So, if you are looking for ways to have your blinds clean and the slider track look brand new, there are lots of blogs for that.  I am just here to help you have a tidy home you don’t have to stress about and to teach you habits that make that happen so that you can enjoy the truly important things in life!  I promise you, it IS possible!

Check out my routine page and set your Self Cleaning House in motion! Once those basic routines are in cement then we will move on to things like slider tracks and oven cleaning!

Right now, go do your daily routines and then go play with your kids and make some memories. Warning: This post has zero to do with house cleaning…. and I am not going to apologize for that!  (I almost did!) It is very personal and deep.  It’s been on my mind and I just felt it needed to come out.  I hope that someone can benefit from it.  I am no therapist and I may be all kinds of off base, but these are just my thoughts. “Stop saying you’re sorry.” “Stop apologizing.”  I’ve been hearing a lot of that and reading it on social media and the like.  Apparently, women are notoriously bad about saying “I’m sorry” for every little thing, whether they have any responsibility for it or not. I don’t know if it’s necessarily a gender thing or if women are just more vocal about things in general.

I one hundred percent believe you should apologize for things that you did wrong.  Absolutely!

Saying “I’m sorry” for things you had no control over implies guilt.  It’s false guilt but guilt just the same.  Your mind can’t tell the difference.

Those of us who over apologize are very aware that what we are “sorry” for is not really our fault.  We are seeking to “fix things”. The more you accept guilt the more your mind believes it.  Your self-worth suffers.  Your confidence diminishes.  You might be the nicest kindest person in the world, and you probably are!  But you start to believe you aren’t.  There is a lot of conflict that goes on inside.  You want to be a good person but good people don’t do all these things that we are constantly apologizing for.

Just as good affirmations work, so do bad ones.  You can’t be “sorry” for everything without your consciousness believing that you are at fault.

It is a double-edged sword.  You say “I’m sorry” because you really are a good person but it makes you feel as if you are not. So how do we change? For many, probably most of us, it’s not just a habit.  Changing this “habit” is about as easy as changing your eye color! I believe you need to know the why behind the behavior to change it.

I did some serious soul searching.  I am sure there are many reasons that people over-apologize.  We are all different.  We’ve all had different upbringings.  The basic reason behind it is about the same though.

When you say you are sorry, you are taking responsibility for the action, situation, etc. meaning you now own it.  Only when you own it can you take any control over it.

The fear of others being angry, unhappy or upset is what drives over apologetic people to say “I’m sorry”  all over the place.

If something goes wrong, and I say “I’m so sorry” (even though I had nothing to do with it) I am accepting blame so that you don’t have to.  That way you don’t need to be angry at yourself or someone else.  Now I own it and can try to fix or smooth out the situation so that all will be well.   None of this is really truly valid but it is the subconscious, if not the conscious thought process.

It boils down to fear of other people’s anger or perceived anger and the desire for control of a situation to avoid anxiety.

Ultimately, it is a very self-destructive, which is ironic considering that it is a defense mechanism.

I am going to work on positive affirmations to repair what I’ve done with the destructive behavior.  I am going to let others be responsible for their own feelings and situations.

Thank you for allowing me to share and I hope that it helps you to stop next time you start to say “I am sorry” and think, “am I responsible for this?”.

Here is a great article from thelawofattraction.com on overcoming being an over-apologizer! The kids are back in school!  My granddaughter is in 2nd grade this year.  Time sure flies!  The first week of school is always really exciting and she is anxious to get up and be ready for school and out the door on time.  After that, it starts to get…. a little less exciting.  Establishing good routines that first week is super important, and then making sure that they keep it up is important too!

Teaching life skills is one of the most important jobs we have as parents.

Teaching routines, goal setting, and self-discipline sets your kids up for success!

Even though I know my routines inside out and backward, I, as an adult, still like checking each item off and feeling successful first thing in the morning.

It is just as important for our kids to feel that way!  Having a list, chart, whiteboard or some other way for them to mark off completed items, helps them feel successful, helps them to know exactly what is expected of them, keeps you from having to tell them over and over to do each item and it teaches self-discipline.  Giving them some things that are super simple, especially at a young age, helps them feel good because it is not overwhelming and they have that sense of satisfaction right away.  “Look Mom! I already have two things checked off my list!”  Even though those two things were get dressed and brush their teeth, we need to let them feel that sense of accomplishment.  It will encourage them to achieve more for that good feeling and a good work ethic is born!  That sets them up for success later in life! It’s up to you if you want to reward them for doing chores or routines.  My own personal opinion is that it is important to teach them to feel the satisfaction of a job well done and get praise and or appreciation from you,  not money.  No one pays me to clean my house, unfortunately!  It would be much harder for me to have a good attitude about doing it for simply the satisfaction of having a clean home if I had learned that everything I do demands compensation to be worthwhile.  It’s extremely important to remember to praise and thank your children for the jobs they do.  Don’t forget that we are trying to teach them to feel good about a job well done.

That being said, I think it is a very good life lesson when kids are compensated for doing things above and beyond what is laid out and expected of them. Their routines and normal chores should be expected, but raking the yard or weeding the garden may be a great way for them to earn money for something they really want.   Money, or whatever has been chosen as payment for tasks, is a great way to teach them about finances and is extremely motivating.

Here is an excellent short read from Dave Ramsey on this topic!


Take a moment to thank your child and praise him for making his bed or even brushing his teeth today and don’t forget to pat yourself on the back and really feel good about what you got done too! Good job!! You are teaching your kids habits that will benefit them for life! I have been trying a new thing!!  I had heard how great fermented veggies were for your gut health and digestion.  I wanted to try it!  I am always up for a new experiment.  The first batch I did was Brussels sprouts.  That was the only fresh veggie I had on hand.  I wouldn’t recommend them!  They were…ok.  If you are a fan of raw Brussels sprouts then maybe you would like them.   This batch I am very excited about! Cauliflower!

This is a picture on day 3.  It is starting to get cloudy!  That is just what it is supposed to do! Stir the salt and water together until dissolved.

Pour the salt water over the vegetables leaving 1/2″ of headspace. Tap jar on counter and wiggle around to get rid of air bubbles and pockets.

Fold a small cabbage leaf and press it down on top of the vegetables so that it keeps the vegetables submerged in the salt water. or put a bit of rice in a snack ziplock bag removing all the air and place on top of vegetables to keep the vegetables submerged.

Close the lid on the jar tightly and place it out of direct sunlight in a relatively moderate temperature (68-75 degrees).

You will start to see some bubbling around day 2 or so. After day 2, over a sink (it will kinda fizz and leak as you begin to open it), gently loosen the lid to let some of the gas escape once or twice a day.

The vegetables are ready anywhere from day 4-10. The longer they sit, the tangier they’ll be. Taste them starting on day 4 to figure out your preference. I like them best around day 5 or so.

Once you decide they’re the level of sourness you’re looking for, place the jar in the refrigerator where it will keep for a couple of months.

Cook’n is a next generation recipe app that makes it fun and easy to share favorite recipes.



 We have had some really HOT dry weather here in North Idaho.  The rain we had last week was a sweet relief!  The forest fires have been raging and the smoke has been thick in the air.  The last days of summer have been spent indoors in AC trying to stay cool and out of the smoke somewhat. Today was a beautiful sunny day with cooler temperatures and blue sky that we could see!!   That rain just washed the sky!  It feels like fall is coming early. With the beginning of fall comes school.  The return of early mornings and routines, homework, sports practices and earlier bedtimes.  Even if you aren’t in school or don’t have kids in school, it seems to be the perfect time to reorganize, plan, set goals, and make new routines.  Maybe its the copious amount of school supplies that you can’t avoid at Target and Walmart?

Is anyone else obsessed with school supplies?  I am literally giddy walking through those isles this time of year!  All that fresh paper and index cards and folders and notepads!!   It feels like so much yet to be written.  So much hope and plans for things that haven’t happened yet.  A brand new start.  Fresh beginnings.  Ok, maybe that is just me?! 
It is truly the perfect time to create new habits, and routines though.  You have the tools on sale all around you and the mindset is just there!  So take advantage of those magnetic whiteboards for your kids’ chore list.  Buy a new planner for next year.   Start a new habit using post-it notes to remind yourself.   Organize your housekeeping with index cards.

Make your “New Year’s Resolutions” this year in September!

Check out these articles on making this September your new January! I have made these Chicken Burritos a few times.  I got the inspiration for them from “OMG Chocolate Desserts”.  Check them out!  They have some incredible other recipes as well!


Here is my take on this recipe! Super easy, few ingredients and oooohhh soooo good!!

Chicken Avocado Burritos 12Prep Time: 15 mins





In a large mixing bowl mix shredded chicken with mustard and hot sauce. Stir to evenly distribute. Salt and pepper to taste. Mix in cheese, cilantro, and diced avocado.
Warm the tortillas in damp paper towels in the microwave to make them pliable.
Spread 1 tablespoon sour cream on each tortilla, add 1/4 of the chicken mixture, form a roll with ends tucked in. Secure with toothpick.
Heat oil in deep fryer to 375* (You can pan fry, I just prefer to deep fry. Less messy.) Fry one at a time until golden brown, about 4 minutes. Drain on a rack over a paper towel.
Serve on a bed of lettuce with sour cream, salsa, hot sauce and cilantro for garnish.
You can freeze uncooked burritos. Wrap individually in parchment and put in a freezer bag. Thaw before frying.




Mexican / Mexican I have not been as consistent writing lately as I’d like.  There are a lot of thoughts in my head to write about but life seems to get in the way.  There are so many things that require my time and I start to feel like I don’t know which of the many things should be taking priority.  Do you ever feel like that?  When you truly do want to do the right thing, and none of the “things” are wrong or unimportant, in fact, they are all extremely important and you WANT to do them all,  but you can’t possibly do them all, and you can’t NOT do them all. I should write to my Dad, or even better send him an hour-long cassette tape of me rambling. He would like that. I know he won’t be here with us long.

I should organize a family event so everyone can see each other.

I should go to a friend’s birthday party.

I should help my mother clean her house and yard and do her laundry and have coffee with her.

I should read some books and take a few online courses to better myself and my passion.

I should sell things we no longer need to clean things out and produce a bit of money

I should spend time preparing crafts and activities for the kids.

We should go to a wedding shower and a wedding that is coming up.

We really should make time to go for dinner with friends.

I should exercise.

I should post quality content on my Facebook group.

I should work on the book I am writing

I should work on the household system I am putting together

I should dehydrate the box of apples sitting downstairs.

I should make salsa with those tomatillos.

I should post quality content on my blog!

I should organize my craft supplies so I know what I have to work with this fall.

I should spend time camping with my family, practicing what I preach!

Those are just some of the things that are flying around my brain, screaming for attention. Not to mention the day-to-day duties and chores that have to be done and mouths to feed.

Those are some of mine.  Yours are different, but we all have our “shoulds”.

For me, all those things taking up constant thought seem to create mental constipation!  It’s hard to decide which “should” I should be working on when I do have a minute. When I finally decide what to work on, I start on it and all the other things come flooding into my brain and yell at me that I should have chosen them instead!  All those thoughts and “shoulds” get all tangled up and I feel like I am not getting anything done very well. My thoughts feel all stuck in my head and nothing flows out.  It makes it hard to accomplish anything at all, much less all that needs to be done! Photo Credit: dorsetdivorcee

I can’t be the only one who feels this way at times, right?  Normally I am pretty good at prioritizing and list making.  I am not a “procrastinator” by nature.  Lately, everything feels critical but I feel stuck and frozen. I am grateful for the routines I have in place.  During this time in my life of feeling a little “pulled six ways from Sunday”, it is so valuable to me to have a home where I can feel peace and order.  That has helped me to stay grounded and gives me security.  My routines are such habits that I don’t have to think about them.  I do those on autopilot.  My home has stayed clean and orderly which will help me to think clearly. Photo Credit: quotesgram

I can’t say I have figured out how to do all those things I talked about or even in which order.   I did feel compelled to write about it today though.

I am not complaining.  I am grateful to have family and friends, a business and a passion that require my time and attention!  It’s a good challenge to have!

If you are feeling overwhelmed, you are not alone. Life gets pretty crazy sometimes!  The best way to keep yourself on track, keep at least one foot on the ground, is by continuing to do your morning and evening routines.   If your house stays semi-clean and tidy it will go a long way to keeping you calm and help you through those times! It lets you focus on what needs to be taken care of.

Morning Routine:

*Make your bed when your feet hit the floor.

*Clean the bathroom before you leave it. Nothing major, just wipe the counter, sink and mirror and toilet seat.

*Empty the dishwasher and put any dishes in it.

*Take the trash out if necessary

*Get something out for dinner

Before Bedtime Routine:

*Start the dishwasher

*Tidy up the living room, put shoes away etc.

*Check the calendar and weather

* Pick out clothes for the morning

*Wash, moisturize and go to bed on time!

Those routines will keep your house in order when you feel your life isn’t! I have been craving these meatballs lately and when chicken breast was on sale at my local grocery store I knew I had to make them!

I love using my Kitchen Aid Mixer and when I get to use attachments it’s even better!  The meat grinder is so much fun and easy to use! Of course, you can buy chicken already ground at the store, but I enjoy doing it and it is much cheaper. I use an ice cream scoop to make my meatballs.  Makes it so much easier!

I found this recipe on Day Dream Kitchen.  It is absolutely fantastic! The bright flavor of lemon zest and the interest of the fennel seed (which just MAKES it and you don’t want to leave it out!) and the ooey gooey fresh mozzarella on top is just incredible.   I may have eaten one or two all by themselves!   I served mine over spaghetti noodles and a good marinara and garnished with fresh basil.  To die for!

Here is my version of Chicken Parmesan Meatballs.  Be sure to check out Day Dream Kitchen for this and all the other amazing recipes they have!
 
If grinding your own chicken, cut the chicken into strips that will fit into your grinder. Roughly chop the onion to fit as well. Put chicken, onion, garlic cloves, fennel seeds, and lemon zest through the grinder.

Using your hands gently mix in the bread crumbs, parmesan, salt and pepper, eggs and olive oil.

If using chicken already ground, mix gently with your hands first 11 ingredients.

Form approximately 2-ounce meatballs, using either your hands or a 2″ scoop. Place on a foil or parchment covered baking sheet that has been sprayed with oil.

Bake for 20 – 25 minutes.

Remove meatballs from oven and cover each with a slice of cheese. Return meatballs to oven just long enough to melt the cheese.

Heat sauce in a small saucepan. Cook spaghetti noodles according to package directions.

Serve meatballs on top of noodles and sauce garnished with fresh basil and more parmesan if desired.




Serves:� 6-8


Click here to learn about this amazing product and how it can benefit you! One of the most consistent things you will see in a clean home is that everything has a home and everything is in it’s home.

You can have a disheveled room and pick up and have it clean in just minutes if everything has a place to live.

If an item has no place to live, it is wandering aimlessly around the house from one flat surface to another feeling out of place and awkward. Imagine how that whatchamacallit you ordered from Amazon must feel.  It got ripped from a shelf, shut into a box and thrown into a truck. After a few rough rides, air turbulence, conveyor belts and another truck ride,  it landed at your front door hoping for a warm welcome and a good home.  Alas, it’s been moved from coffee table to kitchen counter to dining table, never really fitting in.  All it wants is a real home.  A place where it belongs.  Have a heart!  Find your whatchamacallit a home! In all seriousness, establishing where something will live eliminates frustration when cleaning, it also helps prevent procrastination.  As a bonus, you will always know where something is when you need it!  Which also means you can delegate when necessary because you know where things are!

Next time you bring something into the house, think about where it’s forever home will be and put it there.   NOT a temporary home on the dresser for now.

You can have a clean home for a hot minute without a home for everything but it won’t be that way for long.  An organized home has a home for everything.

Making sure nothing is left homeless will save time cleaning, make your home more stress-free and allows you to do more of what YOU want to do! We are in the middle of summer here in North Idaho, but I am already looking forward to fall!  I love fall!  The cool crisp air, the beautiful leaves, the boots, scarves and pumpkin spice lattes!  Yup, I am that girl.

Apples are another of my fall favorites.  We go apple picking at a local farm every year. Our whole family goes together. Hot fresh apple cider warms your hands while you stand in line for the pumpkin doughnuts, the aroma alone is worth standing in the long line.  Local vendors are selling their homemade goods.  Kids scream with delight at the bounce houses and beg to get their faces painted.  Wonderful memories are made there! So when I stopped in a roadside fruit stand and found Honey Crisp Apple for $12.95 for a giant box I had to get them!  I can’t wait to go pick them myself but just couldn’t pass them up at that price.  So let the apple cooking, baking, eating begin! One of the first things I did was make a fresh apple cake.  Seriously one of my favorite “apple” things!


I peeled four apples.  I needed four cups of apples but these things are the size of my head so I ended up with eight cups!  I put the other four cups in a ziplock bag and some water and put them in the fridge for something else. Yummy!!!! Warm with Vanilla Bean Ice Cream is the way to go! Cream butter and brown sugar together. Blend in eggs. In a small bowl combine salt, soda, cinnamon, and flour. Stir into shortening/sugar mixture. Fold in apples. It will be very thick. Put in a greased 9×13 baking pan. Combine melted butter and sugar and sprinkle over top. Sprinkle with chopped nuts. Bake in a 350 F oven for 50 minutes. Check for doneness with a toothpick.
Serve warm or room temperature with vanilla ice cream.



 Click on this picture to order Fruit Fresh from Amazon!  This stuff is great! I cut up apples for my husband’s lunch, put a little Fruit Fresh in a ziplock bag and some water, add the apples and shake!  No brown apples! This apple peeler/corer is a huge time saver!  You can even peel potatoes with it!!  WOW!  Click on the picture to order! When the alarm goes off at 5am, what gets you out of bed to go exercise?  Motivation or discipline? I can tell you for me it’s not motivation!  I don’t “feel” like doing it! I am still working on establishing the discipline.  I’m getting there!

Motivation is based on emotion, feeling and impulse.  It’s helpful to have those things but not necessary to accomplish a task or achieve a goal. We seem to want to put our feelings in the wrong place, backward in fact when we want to “motivate” to do something.   For example, “I can’t seem to motivate to vacuum the house.”  What we are saying is I am not having a good FEELING about the act of vacuuming.  Instead, we need to CHOOSE to vacuum and then FEEL good about the vacuuming being done.

We could wait forever to get excited and worked up about vacuuming! It might never happen!  Waiting for motivation causes procrastination.

Self-discipline is the key to achieving anything you have set out to do.  More specifically, self-discipline is what will help you establish habits that will then not require motivation or self-discipline to do.  The habit of brushing your teeth in the morning has been so ingrained in your brain that it doesn’t take motivation or self-discipline to do each day.  In fact, I would bet most of us do it before we are fully awake!  Its practically like breathing! Self-discipline will be there when motivation fails you. Motivation is a fair weather friend.  Discipline will conquer fear.  It will overcome frustration. It will help you get up and keep going when you fall down.

How can you build self-discipline? discipline is like a muscle.  It needs to be used to get stronger!  The first few times making yourself get up at 5am is hard.  After a while, it gets easier. (I’m still at the “its hard” part!)

Make it as easy as possible to make the best choices.  If you are dieting, don’t buy a dozen doughnuts for the office.

Have a plan.  If you are trying to resolve to have a clean house, put a system in place.  Don’t just flounder.

Make small changes.  Don’t decide you are going to go to the gym 6 days a week, never ever eat sugar again, lose 10 pounds by the weekend and start taking an online course at the same time!  One thing at a time!

Take time to reward yourself or just enjoy the benefit of what you have done!  This is extremely important!  Our brains are wired to want to achieve a reward.  Besides, you deserve it!

People who have good self-discipline are happier people!  Be the boss of yourself!  Don’t let your feelings tell you what to do!

Wisdomination has a crazy good article on this subject!  “Motivation is trying to feel like doing stuff.” Discipline is doing it even if you don’t feel like it.”

Entrepreneur has a good article on how to develop self-discipline

“There are things you can do to learn self-discipline and gain the willpower to live a happier life.” We love chorizo and I am always trying to find new ways to use it.   Fried eggs on just about anything makes it better so this was a win-win!

Click here to check out the awesome program I use for my recipes and menu planning!

Chorizo and Egg Tostado

Recipe: Chorizo and Egg Tostado
 Remove chorizo from casings. In a large skillet, cook chorizo and ground beef until browned. Drain off fat. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to the skillet and add diced poblano, red bell pepper, and green onion to meat. Cook until tender, about 5-7 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add salsa and water and stir to combine. Cook until reduced slightly.
In another skillet, heat oil and fry tortillas until crisp turning once.
Fry 6 eggs as desired. Divide chorizo mixture between the six tortillas, top with cheese, egg, hot sauce and avocado. Garnish with sour cream and more green onion.



 This Ove glove is a must-have in the kitchen or outside on the grill!! This is the curling iron I will be ordering come payday!  Mine finally died after many years of service.  I really like the “Hot Tools” brand so I will be getting another!

Click on these pics to order from Amazon and support The Self Cleaning House at no extra cost to you!  Thank you! Years ago as I was going through my house tidying up, this phrase popped into my head and it has been my motto ever since.  “Improve every room you are in, each time you are in it, even if it’s just a smile.” I say that over and over in my head all the time as I move throughout my house.  It just stuck.  It might be silly, but yes, sometimes I just smile in a room all by myself.

I fluff the couch pillows and set them straight.  I straighten the shower curtain when I am in the bathroom or wipe the toast crumbs off the counter when I get a drink.

Sometimes I look around and don’t see anything right off that needs attention so I just smile and mentally bless my home! My favorite way to clean the shower is with a cloth and some body wash or shampoo while I am IN the shower.  It is a million times easier, you are already in there and already wet! I do that at least once a week and my shower never looks dirty.  I do, however, like to use a good shower cleaner to really get a good clean and get the water spots off every few weeks.   This is the best one I have found.  I have used several and I have been happiest with the Scrubbing Bubbles Shower Foam! Click the link or the picture to purchase on Amazon.  When you do you are helping to support me at no extra cost to you! Thanks! I made banana bread this week.  Yummy!  It hasn’t exactly been baking weather but I had 4 brown polka dot bananas left from the week before and I just couldn’t in good conscience leave them there!  I didn’t have any walnuts or pecans but I did have some chocolate chips that I threw in there instead.  I must say it may become a thing now!!

Have a happy weekend and don’t forget to improve every room you are in, if only just to smile! “>Click here to check out the awesome program I use for all my recipes and menu planning!


Cook Time: 1 hour 15 min

Total Time: 1 hour 35 minutes

by Elizabeth Preheat oven to 300 degrees F
Grease 3 small loaf pans or 2 small loaf pans and a muffin pan. Sprinkle the bottom of the pans with brown sugar, sugar, and cinnamon.
In a blender, puree bananas, eggs and vanilla. Set aside.
In a large bowl, beat shortening and gradually add sugars. Stir in banana mixture. Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt blend into batter. Add walnuts if desired. Divide between the prepared pans. Sprinkle the tops with more brown sugar, cinnamon, and sugar.
Bake for 1 hour 15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. Muffins, depending on size will bake 40-50 minutes. Check with toothpick for doneness.



 I can feel it staring at me. In the kitchen, the office, the bedroom closet.  Every room I enter it is there.  Glaring at me, threatening to overtake my home, to suffocate me and make me it’s slave.  I make my way down to the laundry room searching for an escape from it but it has grown and I  feel even more helpless to escape its clutches.  I am too afraid to open the pantry door.  The walls seem to be caving in, the rooms shrinking!  The clutter has taken on a life of its own!!!! Panic attack! It started in a seemingly innocent way.  I was just going to put that box of old photos away somewhere but I needed to find a place first.  This is a really neat bag, I might need this for something.  I might need all those old towels someday…I will file that paperwork later…I might want to pick up cross stitch again someday in my spare time.  I will just put the cans in the pantry and shut the door really fast.

I have been feeling a bit overwhelmed lately by all the “stuff”  we have collected.  It sneaks up on you, doesn’t it?? I swear I didn’t see it coming.  It seems to multiply and we don’t even notice.  I start to walk by the piles of things and shut them out.  I become blind to the stacks of things on the counter, the overdue library books by the door, the neighbor’s cookie plate on top of the fridge.  They become like furniture, it’s just there.  It gets easier to set things down on the piles or just in the general area of an item’s home rather than actually put it in its home.

Then one day, you notice.  You go from room to room with eyes wide open. Your palms sweat,  the clutter seems to mock you. You feel helpless and confused.  How did this happen??

It’s called “Entropy”.  Entropy is the Second Law of Thermodynamics.  It states that everything goes from a state of order to disorder.  It is the natural tendency of things to lose order.

Without countermeasures, life will always become less structured. Without care the lawn dies and weeds crop up, cars rust, barns collapse, pantries become unorganized, garages become a mess, marriages crumble, families fall apart.

Entropy increases over time. The state of something will continue to decline without effort on our part to restore order.

So, why doesn’t the junk drawer stay organized? It’s science!

The good news is we CAN combat entropy. In fact, God put us here to do that!

God expects us to put out the effort to keep our home, our land our cars, our space in general, in good order.

Here is an “Anti-Entropy, Anti-Panic attack”  list:

Now, since I have been slacking on my own advice and the clutter is leering at me, I am going to go on an anti-entropy quest!

Click here to get the awesome program I use for all my recipes and menu planning!

Homemade Mexican Pizza
 Put water and oil in the bottom of the bread machine. Put dry ingredients on top. Start on “dough setting”. When it’s done turn onto a floured surface and knead to deflate it. Divide into two equal pieces. Let it rest for 10 minutes. The second ball of dough can be frozen at this point for future use. Roll and stretch the dough and form it on a pizza peel that is heavily dusted in cornmeal.
Place pizza stone in oven and heat to 500* for 30 minutes.
Saute ground beef until no longer pink and drain. Add taco seasoning and 1/2 cup water. Simmer until water has evaporated.
Mix refried bean with salsa and stir until smooth and spreadable. Gently spread over prepared pizza dough.
Top with seasoned meat, olives, red onion, crushed chips and then cheese.
Turn oven down to 425*
Carefully slide the pizza off pizza peel onto the hot pizza stone.
Bake for 10-15 minutes watching closely.
Remove the pizza using the pizza peel.
Serve with lettuce, tomato, sour cream, jalapeno, and hot sauce.


[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aE2gFR8qAfo?rel=0

 This cool ottoman/toy chest/storage chest is just the thing I need for scarves, hats, gloves, and umbrellas in my entryway!  Click on the pic to order! Look at this totally adorable water bottle!  My granddaughter is really into unicorns! She also likes to steal my stainless steel water bottle because the water stays so cold!  So I think this is just what she needs! I have a confession to make.  I am not your born organized, super OCD, perfectionist.  I have always said that I am a “perfectionist wannabe”.   I WANT everything to be organized and pretty, but with an in-home daycare, a big family, homeschooling my kids, always doing some side job, etc., it has always been a struggle for me.   My brain NEEDS it to be clean and tidy to think clearly and not be stressed, but it doesn’t come naturally to me.

I am a hard worker and I have always tried hard to keep a clean home no matter how much I had on my plate, but then I would see other people’s homes and realize just how NOT clean and organized mine was.

Some people are born into the world organized!  My youngest daughter, Aimee, is one of those.  She was organizing her shoes instead of napping when she was two! Do you know how hard it is to scold a child for not taking her nap when she just lined up all her shoes perfectly and her room is clean?  She was charging her older sisters to clean and organize their closets by the time she was three!  (Young entrepreneur!) This is Aimee’s hall closet.  See what I mean??  She used dollar store bins and labeled everything with her pretty handwriting!  It’s a thing of beauty!  I won’t show you mine.  It is semi-organized with cardboard boxes and some plastic ones marked with my label maker. My towels are not lined up perfectly, my boxes and baskets are overflowing and there is just way too much stuff in there.

That picture right there inspires me! It can also make me frustrated with myself.  I used to let things like that bother me, I still struggle with that.  I would compare myself to others and beat myself up for not being that good.  I still want to improve myself and my home and my organizational skills daily but I am really working to not beat myself up!  I don’t want you to either.  We are a work in progress! I use routines that I have made into ingrained habits that keep my house pretty clean.  I still have a long way to go in the organizing and “closets that look like art” department,  but I’m working on it!  I often feel like I am not qualified to write this blog,  I am so far from having a “perfect home” but I know I have something to share with you.  Ways that I have found to maintain some order in a chaotic life!

So, the take away from this:

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Have you ever made homemade croutons?  They are delicious!  Yes, dried bread that is delicious!  If you think about it, why BUY dried bread that isn’t really that good when you probably already have everything you need to make a whole bunch of super yummy croutons for your salads this summer! Preheat oven to 325F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Put bread cubed on a baking sheet. Pour melted butter over all. I hold the cup up kind of high so it is a small stream and doesn’t all go in one spot. Liberally shake Italian seasoning and garlic herb seasoning over bread. Stir with a pancake spatula, kind of turning it over. Shake on a bit more seasoning. Bake for 15 minutes at a time. After every 15 minutes, take out and “stir” again. Sometimes it takes an hour sometimes only 45 minutes. You can tell by how dark it is getting. Let them sit out on the counter for several hours before storing. Try not to eat them all before they make it to a ziplock bag!



 Check out this adorable picnic basket!  Isn’t it just the cutest?!  It’s insulated too!  I am going to use it for my daycare.  I am going to pack our water bottles, snacks, and wipes in it when we spend the mornings playing outside.  Click on the picture to order it on Amazon and when you do, at no extra cost to you I get a little kickback.  Thank you for supporting me! This cool shelf is going in my laundry room.  It will fit perfectly and will nicely hold baskets, detergents, extra towels and cleaning supplies.  Click on the picture to order from Amazon!