Quick and Easy Dinners

This week we're talking about quick and easy dinners, which means something a little different in my house. I've been collecting favorite family recipes in a binder (more on that below) which I thought would be a quick weekend activity for our home binder. I am collecting all the recipes for family favorites that we return to often. Originally, I thought it would be a quick weekend activity, however, I have found that it is a more daunting task that I have had to put a lot of work into.

To be honest, I do not use a recipe very often, and when I do, I find myself veering from the directions; I am a free spirit in the kitchen. I have a good palate, comprehend food pairings well, and have enough knowledge of various cooking methods that I can easily create my own recipes from what I have on hand. I am open to learning new skills and techniques, and have great interest in how to make an ethnic dish that I have tried at a restaurant, but I particularly enjoy cooking creations from my head. It is hard to believe, but before I married Travis, I had been feeding myself delicious meals with very little use of recipes for almost 15 years! I had started an extensive collection of recipes, but still found that experimenting was more enjoyable.

Unfortunately, since I don’t get the opportunity to cook dinner as much as I would like these days, I sometimes have to show Travis how to cook something that I am craving. But if I only know how to make it off the top of my head, it can be a real challenge when I am not physically there to show him how to do it. Travis, by comparison, is my exact opposite when it comes to cooking - he needs a recipe for guidance and he sticks to it. He is still learning and honing his skills as the family cook. If I just rattle off instructions to him, he will make something completely different than I was expecting.

As part of my Cultivate What Matters goal in 2022 of creating a Home Binder, I am transcribing the recipes and how-to’s into our home binder so that Travis will have access to them easily. I am also still collecting my mother’s recipes that I loved growing up. I want to share some of the ones that she does not cook as often with Travis and Reyna. They have not experienced her Tuna Casserole, Western Corn and Beef Pie, or Hoppin’ John, all three of which were probably my all time favorites when I was growing up.

There are also new favorites that I want to incorporate. I went to a gathering with craft friends about a year ago, and one of my friends brought in this fresh vegetable and tortellini salad. It was a cold salad that she served with Italian salad dressing on the side. It was so delicious that I decided to go home and replicate it. I have been tinkering with the ingredients ever since, and I love it because it is such a flexible salad where any of the ingredients can be swapped, doubled, reduced, etc. You can get a free download of the recipe card here. 

I wanted to share my update on the Home Binder and thought that also sharing a recipe that I just added to it seemed fitting. Please be sure to check out the Podcast on Wednesday when we talk all about our favorite quick meals. Let me know if you try out my recipe in the comments.

A Simple Cleaning Checklist for Anyone

Hi there, it’s Christen - Happy Monday! It is springtime, which always makes me feel perky and motivated. This year, I set a goal to manage my household more efficiently. Effective communication with my husband, Travis, has been a challenge due to our schedules. I wanted to find a way to make it easier for both of us to access important household information without having to call each other during work hours. I also wanted Travis to have the knowledge at his fingertips to effectively manage the household without me guiding or micro-managing him. I decided that a “Home Binder” was necessary, and set a goal to create one as part of my Cultivate What Matters tending lists and 2022 goals. I may have mentioned my home binder and some of its contents on the podcast a few times and hope to provide an update on my progress here on the blog soon. Be on the look out for that!

Among the sections that provide helpful information in the binder is one for household maintenance. By maintenance, I mean cleaning, seasonal care, repairs and services. This time of year, I have many of these processes in mind, especially the routine and seasonal cleaning. As a newly married couple, we have learned what each other’s strengths are and where we can give each other support. Although my husband knows how to clean up after himself, he does not know all the ins and outs of sanitizing and deep cleaning. I wanted to give him an idea of when each of these tasks should be completed, and with what chemicals and tools. 

Getting married and some drastic changes in my work schedule has changed most of my routines. I simply can’t count on using one of my days off to do all the laundry, cleaning and meal prepping and still make it to bed at a decent hour. I went back and forth trying to set up a new routine and struggled with sticking with it. Thankfully, my husband and daughter are willing to help around the house, and the chores do not all fall on me. 

In order to ensure that all the necessary tasks are completed in a timely manner, I decided to compile a master cleaning list. Since my brain has been conditioned to think in monthly, weekly, and daily tasks thanks to my Cultivate What Matters tending list, I decided to drop my previous weekly cleaning schedule and opt for a more flexible checklist. 

In the free download, you will find a cleaning checklist broken down into the three groups outlined below:

• Daily - Action items that should be completed every single day, like washing your dishes, taking the garbage out, making your bed, and tidying up.

• Weekly - Action items that need to be performed once per week and can either be done on a specific day or any time during the week. For example, the garbage can needs to be rolled out to the curb every week on the same day, and you will be sorry if you missed it. Vacuuming however can probably happen only once per week and you can often live with going one day longer if needed.

• Monthly - Action items that only have to be completed once per month, usually around the same time each month. For example, it's a good idea to dust the ceiling fans, but no one is going to suffer if you don’t do it exactly on the “first Friday of the month.”

My cleaning schedule might not be frequent enough for you, or might even be more than you want to commit to, but it should at least give you some ideas on how to create your own schedule. As I mentioned above, I’ve linked a free one to download for your own use - I encourage you to make it your own! I saved it as a WORD .doc so that you can edit it to your liking. Is there something that I left off? I would love to know what you think! Please don’t forget to come over to our Facebook chat group, and be sure to listen to the podcast on Wednesday when we’ll continue the conversation.