1 Year Dinner Menu (easy to create, stick to and follow)

I'm really not kidding when I say I have created a year menu for family that is so easy to stick to and follow.  I love it!  I'm not sure what I did before I created this but I know I don't want to go back.  I have adapted my year menu from one made by Marie Ricks, a Professional Organizer, visit her website here House of Order.

I'm sure your thinking "Yeah right, a year menu? That would take weeks or months of planning and will be way to hard to do."  Wrong.  It was easy and here's how to make it happen. 

1. Generate a list of 7 different food categories such as Mexican, Italian, Easy to Cook, Casseroles, American, Poultry, Beef, Seafood, Asian, Family Favorites, New Recipe's, etc.
2. Assign a food category to everyday of the week.  For example Monday-Italian, Tuesday-Family Favorites, Wednesday-Easy to Cook
3. Now under each category come up with 4 to 5 different meals that you could cook.  It looks a little something like this.

          Tuesday - Family Favorites

               Pizza

               Meatloaf

               Chopped Chicken Cabbage Salad

               Chicken Curry

               Shepard's Pie

The idea here is that on Tuesday (yes every Tuesday) you choose one of the meals listed and cook it.  Which theoretically means your family is only eating that meal once a month.  Brilliant!

Now you never have to wonder what's for dinner, it is all mapped out for you on one simple page posted on your fridge. The best part is that now when my husband asks me, "What's for dinner?" or what he can cook for dinner?  I can refer him to the menu to pick a meal.

If that is enough work for you STOP here...but if you want you can  goa little further. As you can see above I decided to be more like Marie Ricks and go just a little further by adding a side(s) that stays consistent no matter what you make. Generate a list of 7 different sides or less you can repeat sides if you need to.  My list goes a little something like this rice, potato, veggies, fruit, salad, bread, dessert.

1. Assign a side to everyday of the week.  Example: Monday-bread, Tuesday-Rice

OK here is another stopping point, OR you can get a little bit more advanced again.  Because I like to grow a garden and eat seasonally I have created 2 different menus one "Spring & Summer" the other "Fall & Winter". 

I still have a year menu I have just broken it down in 6 month categories.  Big differences in my menus are:

Spring & Summer Menu Categories

• Salad/Garden Meals
• Sandwiches
• BBQ/Cookout/Camping Meals (we go camping a lot, or cook outside a lot in the summer)
• Non-oven Meals (so I don't heat my house up using the oven)

Fall & Winter Menu Categories

• Soups
• Crock Pot Meals
• Comfort Foods
• Pantry Meals

I hope that you too can easily make a year menu for your family and enjoy a much simpler lifestyle.

The Truth about The Fresh Prince and Me

Ever since I watched my first episode of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air I have been in love with Will Smith.  I can still sing the entire theme song for the show.



I think he is a really great actor, singer, and writer.  I have continued to follow his career and still enjoy seeing his movies and watching re-runs of The Fresh Prince.  I also think his kids are super cute and who doesn't love his wife Jada.  So now you know the truth about my not so secret Will Smith obsession.  I was super excited when Architectural Digest did a story on his family's private estate in California.  It is an amazing estate, I love tons of different things about it.  So let me show you.  First a picture of the family.

Next the Outside

I love this little sitting area, just off their formal dining room.

The Kitchen

Breakfast Nook

Outside

Will says his favorite place is the gazebo, I want one.

Jada's Meditation Room, how nice would that be.

I love the ceiling in their pool room!

The swinging seat is one of my favorite features in their home theater.

The Master Bedroom

Who wouldn't love Will and Jada's Closet?

The Backyard

For more pictures and to read the article visit:

http://www.architecturaldigest.com/homes/homes/2011/09/will-and-jada-pinkett-smith-home-article

Enjoy!

5 Light Fixtures that Make a Statement

#1 Made by Elte in Toronto, cost $285



#2 One of a Kind Light Fixtures Made by William Leslie, cost unknown



#3 I have no idea who made this light fixture or how much it cost, but can be found at IPS Albania Home.  I just think it looks really neat.



#4 Once again I have no cule about who made this fixture or how much it cost but can be found at
http://outdoor-lightszone.com/2011/05/07/lighting-fixtures/  It looks like it is made with plastic silverware, but it still looks pretty cool.



#5 180 foot Origami Light Fixture, not for sale but can be found at ORC Cusine



Enjoy!

LDS Plan of Salvation

I belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and in the church we have what we call The Plan of Salvation or God's Plan of Happiness.  This plan helps answers questions like: Where did we come from? Why are we here? Where do we go after this life?  Click Here for more information about the Plan of Salvation and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

My husband has been bugging me for years to creates/paint a depiction of The Plan of  Salvation.  I've been putting it off because I was not very clear what his vision for this picture would be.  Usually in our church it is drawn with simple shapes and labels like theses examples:



So finally my husband decided to take matters into his own hands and create it himself.  So he took paintings & drawings that re commonly used in the church and photo shopped them together to create this picture of The Plan of Salvation.

Well that gave me a really good idea of what he wanted me to create in the first place.  So I said I could probably do something like that for him.  Well by this time he decided that he did not need my help any more to create his vision, which started a little healthy competition between the two of us to see who could make the better picture.  So I went to work and he is still working, so I don't have his final picture but here is a look at mine.  Although my husband says I should take it to the next level and actually paint it not just do it digitally but that would take me a lot longer so I went with this route.  I think it turned out pretty good.  It is a little hard to follow if your not familiar with The Plan of Salvation because it does not have any labels on it, but other than that I like it.

My husband agreed that I won the picture competition.  He had me print the picture and hang it up in our house.

The Winner of My Memories Scrapbook Software is....

I just want to thank all of you for entering my very first giveaway, it was really fun to read all of your comments.  Unfortunately there can only be one winner.  I decided a fair way to pick the winner would be to assign each comment a number, then use Google's Random Number Generator to pick one.  I thought because I am giving away a scrap booking program I would scrapbook the winner.

Congratulations Heidi! And Thank You so much MyMemories.com for the fun giveaway!

Remeber...

As a special gift for all my readers and your friends I have attached a link for you to receive a $10 discount off the purchase of the My Memories Suite Scrapbook software and a $10 coupon for the MyMemories.com store - a $20 value!

Just follow the link below and use this prom code when you check out: STMMMS16068

MyMemories Suite link (http://www.mymemories.com/digital_scrapbooking_software)

(to ensure you type the correct prom code, please cut and paste the code in)

Feel free to share the Memories code with as many of your family and friends as you want to.

Giveaway: My Memories Suite Digital Scrapbooking Software

My Memories Suite Software is seriously so easy and fun to do.  Ever since I received the software I have been having fun scrap booking.  I used to scrapbook all the time and loved but became hard when I had my daughter, she wanted to get into all my supplies and "help".  I had to stop scraping and figured I would pick it back up again when she was older.  But with My Memories Suite I don't have to, the supplies are all in my computer and away from little helping hands.  It is so easy to start, stop, and pick up your project at any time.  I love it!  I literally made all these projects this week and only spent a couple hours. Can you believe it?  I have barely begun to touch the surface of all this software can do, it is truly amazing.  I can see why it is voted the #1 Best Scrap booking Software.

 

Made with a Quick Page.  The page is ll ready done for you all you do is put a picture in and your done.

Made with a Template.  I combined different elements of the template to create a unique scrapbook page.

Made from Scratch Birthday Card.

Made from Scratch with elements from different Free Kits you can download from MyMemories.com

 My Favorite Project so Far is a Photo Book, I'm creating.  Below are a few pages from that book, Made with a Book Layout Template.

I'm so happy that I will be able to give one of my lucky readers this amazing software, a $40 value, ABSOLUTELY FREE!

It super easy to enter!

1. All you need to do is visit www.MyMemories.com.
2. Choose your favorite digital paper pack or layout.
3. Then comment below telling me which ones was your favorite. One comment per person please.

To receive additional entries you my like/follow My Memories Suite at any of the links below:
Blog- http://blog.mymemories.com/

Facebook- http://www.facebook.com/mymemoriessuite

Twitter- http://twitter.com/#!/mymemoriessuite

One you have liked/followed My Memories Suite at any of the above links then make another comment below about the link.  Please only 1 additional comment per link.

I'll randomly select the winner Monday (Sept. 19) and post it on my blog.  So you have all weekend to enter.  Good Luck!

As a special gift for all my readers and your friends I have attached a link for you to receive a  $10 discount off the purchase of the My Memories Suite Scrapbook software and a $10 coupon for the MyMemories.com store - a $20 value! 

Just follow the link below and use this prom code when you check out: STMMMS16068

MyMemories Suite link (http://www.mymemories.com/digital_scrapbooking_software)

(to ensure you type the correct prom code, please cut and paste the code in)

Feel free to share the Memories code with as many of your family and friends as you want to.

I Heart Architecture/ Interior Design and the Glass House

It is no secret that I love architecture and interior design.  I love looking at homes, designing them, and touring them.  So it probably comes as no surprise that one of my favorite magazine's is Architectural Digest.  I have loved since high school, it is amazing.  They have some of the most beautiful homes and designs I have ever seen.

Which brings me to showing you this.

It was featured this week in Architectural Digest, they do a segment once a month called "Extraordinary Homes for Sale".  It reminds of the house in the Lake House movie, except it is not on a lake although it does have beach front property.  I love this home it is beautiful, a little strange, super clean and modern.  Here are some more photos for you to enjoy.

It is actually bigger than it looks it has a guest house that connects to the main house via underground walk way, how awesome is that.  It is a 4 Bedroom 4 Bath house.  And if you like it, it will only set you back just under 1 million dollars.

Now onto reality, I love the house but the reality of actually living in it would drive me crazy.  I would feel like I need to keep everything super spotless all time, so much for lazy days when I let the toddler rule the house.  And can you imagine trying to keep all those windows clean, no thank you.  I also hope the neighbors don't live to close.

If you would like more information on this house you can visit either of the following sites:

http://www.sothebysrealty.com/eng/sales/detail/180-l-1202-0044578/art-and-surf-montauk-ny-11954

http://www.architecturaldigest.com/homes/homes/2011/10/estates-for-sale#slide=1

Enjoy!