5X5 to the Rescue

 For the new year I decided I wanted to get my weekends back and not spend them cleaning and doing laundry the whole two days.  

I would spend most of Sunday doing laundry meanwhile doing a whole week's housework and meal prep.  Don't get me wrong, I still do a couple of loads of laundry and a little housework but it's not nearly as bad as it was before Christmas.  

A couple of months ago I learned about Stephanie's 5X5 from the Secrect Slob and it is a game changer! 25 minutes, 5 minutes per room or task and that's it!  Clink the link below to watch this amazing strategy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2T-wIfEpYrw

I figured I can clean for 25 minutes at a time even during the week.  So I decided to do a 5X5 Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.  Every time I do a 5X5 I always include the kitchen, vacuuming, and dusting because it is much easier when those items are being maintained rather than only once a week.  The other 10 minutes are designated for deep cleaning and the bathrooms (on Saturday).  I plan ahead which deep cleaning activities I plan to do for 5 minutes each.  Deep cleaning has always been a problem for me, I never feel as though I have time to get it done.  Believe it or not, 5 minutes really does help even if I have to come back to finish it another day.  

Yesterday I did a 5X5 (Kitchen clean-up, vacuum, dust, 2 bathrooms), 5 minutes each.  

Ready or Not, Back to Work Tomorrow

Tomorrow I am back to work.  This is where obstacles tend to start throwing themselves in front of me and my routines.  I feel ready (for the most part) to go back to school tomorrow.  Today I worked on finishing my meal prep, relaxing, a load of laundry, working on my calendar, reading a book, and ending the day making dinner for the family.

To prepare for tomorrow the first thing I did was look at my calendar.  Tomorrow is a staff development day which means planning, data meetings, and prep for class.  I also need to take Claire to the orthodontist and then run to the meat market.

Looking at my calendar is vital because it not only tells me what needs to be done and where I need to be but helps me prepare for food that needs to be brought so I stay true to my KETO program.  Since tomorrow is our first day back to work and a staff development day, we will be meeting to eat breakfast tomorrow morning.  I can tell you pretty much all of the food that will be served is be a NO NO for me so I'm going to need to bring food along with me to eat so I don't stray.  Tomorrow for breakfast I will bring KETO zucchini bread, and Greek yogurt with almond butter, a few blue berries and almonds sprinkled on top.  This should make me satisfied and keep me out of donuts!  

As you can see I have my zucchini bread and yogurt portioned out along with my turkey, avocado and cheese wrap for lunch.  Plus I have some dips and pre-portioned carrots ready to go so in the morning, it's grab and go when I make my lunch.  Also, I'm super excited about the tortillas I have my wraps in.  They are a net 4 carbs!  I've seen other with lower carb count I'd like to try as well.

I'm prepared and it's only 7:30pm.  Though when I go into to bed tonight I will not be able to sleep because my brain will not shut off because tomorrow is the first day back to work after two weeks off.  

On a side note:

I made a delicious taco bar tonight for dinner.  This is always a crowd pleaser.  Everyone gets what they want when I make this.  My oldest has a quesadilla, my other two girls enjoy bean and cheese burritos, my husband makes a burrito full of taco meat and I have a KETO friendly taco salad.  The leftovers will probably be used tomorrow night for omelets.

My yummy taco salad full of all the goodies!

FLY

Today is New Year's Day 2022...Happy New Year!  Have you ever read the book "One Word that will Change Your Life?"  It is easily found on Amazon both in paper and digital.  It is really a thought provoking book.

I've been thinking the past couple of weeks what my word this year will be.  I struggled because it seemed as though the word would need to encompass so much.  I thought of building better relationships in my family, time management, finding joy in the small things, and taking care of myself.  Then it came to me, FLY!  I know to some of you this word may not have anything to do with the list above, but actually it is all encompassing.  I've been following the Flylady system (flylady.net) since 2002 and the premise of the system is to FLY (Finally Loving Yourself).  It came to me one day that if I FLY all the important things will naturally fall into line.  

Areas I have been struggling in is: keeping my house clean and organized, taking care of my body, putting my relationship with God first, and building up my relationships.  I have a solid plan for the first 3 but still need to plan and implement the last.

I've always managed to keep a fairly neat house but I have struggled with deep cleaning and being able to do anything on the weekends because I'm always working on housework, laundry, and meal prep.  Which of course brings out the martyr in me and no one likes that me, not even me.  Did I mention I have 4 kids, 6 dogs, 1 cat, and live in the middle of dusty, windy fields and work 50 plus hours a week?  I think I have come up with a solution to lessen my weekend exhaustion and give me back some time which should help me work toward spending more quality time with family and friends.  

As I've said I have spent the past 20ish years loosely following Flylady's system, which is most excellent.  I learned to make meal plans from her and what it means to be okay with imperfect.  But I have had trouble with house upkeep not to mention deep cleaning.  Enter Stephanie from the Secret Slob (youtuber and blogger).  She introduced me to the 5X5 method.  This is when you pick 5 rooms/to do's you need to work on and set your timer for 5 minutes for each.  You work on it for ONLY the 5 minutes and move to the the next.  If you finish a room or to do in less than 5 minutes you can return to a room you need to continue to work on till that time is up.  See the link below to watch Stephanie explain it!  I just love her.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smXBzOq8c5c

I figure I can work on my house 25 minutes at a time a few times a week and even hit some deep cleaning while I do this.  Also, I use an app called Tody to hep me manage when things around my house should be completed.  I did pay a small amount for this app but it was totally worth it to me.

As I mentioned I also intend to work on taking care of me.  This means my health.  I have been following the keto lifestyle for a bit but since COVID began, I have found it hard to be consistent.  I am ready to not only work on being committed to my healthy eating but also work on strengthening my body 15 minutes at a time.  

I have scheduled time with God each morning for twenty minutes each morning.

I am using a daily planner to help track my progress and to keep me on track.  I will go into much more depth on each subject, and show you the planner, what I'm using to exercise, share how I meal plan, how I'm using the 5X5's, my plans for family quality time, and the resources I use to help me in my journey.  

Continue to follow me on my journey!  Post below to share if you have a word for this year or areas of your life you'd like to concentrate on.

Top Ramen on Steriods

Top Ramen is one of those things I never crave but when I do eat it, its really good stuff.  Of course one of the most awesome things about it is the price and my kids love love love it.  It is definitely a great go to meal when you have had a busy night and don't want to or have the money to run to a fast food joint.  I have created a way to serve top ramen that is just delicious.

Cook your noodles using the instructions.
Then pull your noodles out and place in a shallow bowl using a slotted spoon.  You don't want a soup here, just the noodles.

Then top with shaved or grated Parmesan cheese.  This is yummy by its self! 
Then fry a couple of eggs in butter with a little salt and pepper.  You want the eggs cooked but leave the egg yolk runny, I believe this is called over medium.

Top your noodle and cheese deliciousness off with the eggs.  OMG!!!!  The runny yolk makes the most wonderful sauce when you cut into the egg.  And another awesome thing...this is still a very cheap meal, its just top ramen on steroids. 

Days 5 & 6 Tupperware and Entertainment Center

On day 5 I cleaned out the tupperware.  I tossed any lid or container that had no partner.  I made a lot more space in my plastic lid bag and I can find lids much quicker.  Much easier stacking for the containers too.
Then I tackled the entertainment center.  I organized all of the dvds, video game equipment.  And I took all the vhs tapes out because we do not have a vhs player hooked up to the livingroom.  Believe it our not we do still own one but it is in storage and will probably hook it up to a tv in one of the kids rooms when we move.  The vhs tapes will be located near it then.

Day 4 - Under the Kitchen Sink

So I tackled underneath the kitchen sink today.  Although it seems as though I did not discard a lot of items I still was able to organize under the sink and re-familiarize myself with the contents in there.  I even added a large bag of cat food to the cabinet that had been sitting out in my kitchen. 

Here is the before of my crazy messy under the sink cabinet.

As you can see it isn't any less full, but is more organized and I know whats down there now.

De-cluttering Day 3

So I decided to tackle the bathroom today.  I de-cluttered both the medicine cabinet and the 1 drawers we have in the bathroom.  I really didn't toss a lot but reorganized both the spaces and now I know what I can expect to find in them now.

I did throw out some of the things in here or find the things in here a new home.

This was one messy drawer.

Looks better.  It is minus a curling iron and some trash.

This is very de-cluttered if I do say so myself.