Grab & Go Snacks

I don't know many people with too much time on their hands, which means most of us are busy women. I regularly find myself frantically putting together a snack for the kids before running out the door. I'd open my pantry door and wonder what to grab - many times I'd grab something way too messy for a car ride, or something not as nutritious as I'd like, but it's quick and easy. Or I'd just grab the whole bag of Pirates Booty because I didn't have time to find the lid for the snack trap and I was already running late (a condition of having children I've learned). I don't know about you, but giving a big bag of booty to my three year old son won't have a happy ending (ooh, that didn't sound too good). Seriously, he'd stuff his face with as many as he could before I reached the next light to grab it away and when I did, he's fuss that he wasn't done. On top of it, he'd probably accidentally tip the bag (or I would as I snatched it away) and litter the car floor with delectable cheese puffs.

I've figured out a solution for my madness. By creating a bunch of pre-packaged snacks, they're ready to go when we are. And, my son can go grab his own snack (with permission) because they're accessible.
They're also portion-controlled and are a snack of choice rather than some cookies that were the closest to the pantry door.

Here's what I did...
I bought a pack of the snack sized zip lock bags and made a list of healthy (or mostly healthy) snacks for my kids. Pretzels, Pirates Booty, graham cracker sticks, trail mix, dried fruit, veggie chips, etc. Then I grabbed a 1/4 cup measuring cup and began measuring one portion of each for each bag. I sealed them up and put them in a wire bin just inside my pantry so my kids could access them (a drawer would have been ideal, but they are limited in my kitchen). You could also pre-package bags of grapes, little carrots or cut up veggies and keep them in your crisper ready to go. It's nice because it give the kids choice, and you know how they love to feel in charge!

Now when I'm running out of the house I grab a couple of pre-made snacks and I'm out the door. The snack sized bags are great because they appear full (vs. filling a sandwich baggie 1/4 full) and if they do get dumped, it's not the whole bag on my car floor. I also keep a few extras in my car console for when I'm running later than expected and the kids are complaining of being hungry (or my tummy tells me that I am). I try to keep a couple small water bottles or juice boxes in there too. When push comes to shove, they don't care if they're chilled or not. And now that the cold weather is coming...that won't be an issue.

Just one more baby step to becoming a well planned woman...

So there are people out there reading...

As a novice blogger, you sometimes wonder if there's anyone out there in the abyss reading your posts. It's so much easier and motivating to keep writing if you know there are people out there that enjoy reading your posts and that your thoughts somehow have a positive impact in their life (or at least put a smile on their face). I received the message below from a reader that I knew from my college days. Not only did I not realize she was reading my blog - it was just boost I needed to keep posting.

Hello Janelle! I am so happy to have you as a friend on Facebook, not only because I am nosy about what everyone is doing in life.. but because I LOVE reading your well planned women posts. But the journalist in me wants to know, do you do this just for kicks or for a job? You're so good at it I'm sure you can find a website/magazine that will pay for your editorials.. Anyways, it may sound crazy but I look forward to seeing your new notes. I may be an "older" woman with just one kid that's older your than your 2, but I always feel like I learn something new and at least it helps preserve my sanity! It's good to know that I'm not the only one who has a coupon for the Children's Place but left it at home and stand at the register wondering if I should buy those pj's or wait when I go back to the mall, then my thoughts shift to.. can i really drag my whining 6 year old back to the mall again in the next week? Anyways, I thought you'd like the feedback. Thanks for the advice.  - Kelly from Florida

Kelly, thanks for brightening my day. And no, I don't get paid for what I do (for now) - although someday it would be nice to add to my shoe fund by writing about things that interest me. For now, I'm on to concept my next post.

Making Time for Things that Matter Most

I've been struggling lately with the overwhelming guilt that comes along with being a good stay-at-home mom and the pressure (self-induced, of course) of keeping a perfect home. While one might assume the guilt is usually with working moms, let me assure you we have it too. I'm constantly finding myself telling my son that I'll play transformers or monster trucks with him after I get the dishes done, or after mommy gets dinner prepped. But the reality is, I've ALWAYS got something to do around the house.

Embarrassingly enough, I remember asking my best friend what she did all day when she was a new stay-at-home mom and I was still childless and in the workforce.(gasp! Sorry Kim!) First, I can't believe I was actually ignorant enough at one point to say that, and second, now I know how stay-at-home moms are pulled in so many directions. But occassionally I need to remind myself that my "job" is my children. To love them and challenge them and teach them the oh so many things that they need to know in order to be respectful, well-rounded and loving adults. It's quite easy to get caught up in the day to day "chores" of life that need tending to and push off just a few moments longer that request to play with them, while the pile of clean, yet unfolded laundry stares you in the face.

So, in my attempt to battle this guilt and take one more step in becoming a well planned woman, I've made mommy play dates on my calendar. Not with other kids, not with other mommies. Just me and my kids. I'm setting aside time every day to do things I know my kids love to do with me. I asked my three (almost four) year old son (my daughter can't yet talk now, but she'll have her turn too) what his favorite things to do with mommy were. We came up with a list of something to do every day that will put a smile on both of our faces. His because he's got my 100% attention and we're doing something he loves and mine because I feel good about focusing on him and making him happy while doing it. This picture is my son having a blast painting about a month ago. Now I'll get to see this big painty-face grin every week.  The iPhone (and addicting instant access to email) is away. The computer is away. The To Do list is away. Magazines or anything else that distracts me is away. Game on.

Here's what we came up with...

• Monday: Playdough Playdate
  
• Tuesday: Pretend Play Playdate (usually Transformers)
• Wednesday: Painting Playdate
  
• Thursday: Glue crafts & Cutting Playdate
  
• Friday: Puzzles Playdate
  

Each day our schedule forces us to do these at different times, but typically it's in the afternoon while my daughter naps. Soon enough, she'll be joining us; but for now she'd just eat the playdough, paints, paper, puzzle pieces, etc. While she can't do what her big brother does, I have also been trying to consciously spend more one-on-one time with her to teach her all those things I had unlimited time to teach my son at her age as an only child.

I'm sure many of you working women can relate to this too - you have your own struggles, some of which are very similar to many of us SAHM's. I'd love to hear from some of you working moms to let us know what you struggle with and any tips you've discovered that help you along. We can all learn from each other. If you can relate to any of this, give these mommy play dates a try or post a message so we know we're not alone on this journey.

Is that still tasty?

For all of you who share my fear of what happens to food that's been eaten past its prime, I came across a very cool website I had to share. Ever wonder how long that package of shredded cheddar cheese stays safely edible in the fridge once its been opened? Did you know that the bottle of opened capers you have in the depths of your refrigerator is still good for up to a year? These are just a couple of helpful tips you can find at www.stilltasty.com; your ultimate shelf life guide.

I'm so paranoid about eating food beyond it's shelf life that I use a sharpie to mark it with the date I open it. Seriously. I keep one in the drawer next to my fridge. How many times do we wonder how long that pasta sauce has been sitting in the back of the fridge and we open it to see if there's any mold growing on it? Well, dear, if you checked www.stilltasty.com you'll realize that if you opened it more than 10 days ago, you can toss it, or chance tossing your cookies.

StillTasty.com also has some cool topics of discussion they appropriately call "shelf talk". You'll learn things like how to decipher the difference between sell by, use by and best before dates and if you must eat the chicken the same day you defrosted it or if you can save it for another night if your dinner plans change. The answer in case you're wondering - it depends on how you defrosted it. :-)

And for me, well, I'm off to toss all those dried spices I've had since my wedding; since they're only fresh for up to three years and I'm about to celebrate my seventh anniversary. Ciao!

One step closer to making meal planning easier.

A few years back I read an article in Real Simple magazine about taking all your favorite recipes and creating a recipe binder so everything would be in one place. It was the ultimate 'aha' moment for me. I loved it and immediately started my recipe binder project. Over the years, I've added many recipes so the binder was quite large and unwieldy. I also got lazy and didn't put them in the clear sleeves and just stuck them in the front, which made it difficult to find what I was looking for. It just wasn't serving the purpose any longer. I needed an intervention.

I recently finished transferring all the recipes into smaller, more manageable binders that sorts the recipes based on main ingredient (chicken, beef, seafood, pasta, etc.) and I feel so much more organized. Here's how I did it...

What I bought...

• Four cheapie 1 1/2" binders from Staples ($.79/ea)
• A box of 100 clear sleeves (3-hole punched) ($12)
• A four-pack of dividers (5-tab), one set for each binder ($5)
  

What I had...

• Shipping labels
  

I started by brainstorming the types of food my families eat the most and left more room for more recipes in those binders. We eat a lot of chicken, so I knew I'd need a good amount of space for those recipes. I logically made groupings of what I thought I'd use together, where it made sense to do so. I made the following tabs into four binders...

1. Breakfast, Appetizers, Desserts, Breads
2. Salads, Soups, Lunches, Kid-Friendly, Snacks
3. Chicken, Seafood, Pasta
4. Beef, Pork, Quick Favorites, Vegetables, Side Dishes

There was a method to my madness in putting certain recipes in the same binder, but you need to do what works for you and your family. For example, I put vegetables and side dishes in the same binders as quick favorites so I wouldn't need to pull out two binders as frequently (although they are slim).

I used existing printing labels to print labels for each binder (as you can tell from the pictures - a bit of cut & pasting). It was important I could see what categories where in which binder from the spine. You could also use binders with customizable spines, but I didn't want the spend $5 a piece on them when I could make pretty versions of them at home.

Then I began transferring all my recipes from my overflowing, unorganized recipe binder into the corresponding section. It took me about an hour. If you don't have existing recipes printed out already, then just start from scratch. If you come across recipes in a magazine, tear it out (or print out from my personal fave - the online collection at www.allrecipes.com) and plop it in the clear sleeve in the proper section in your binder. After a short while, you'll have an organized collection of go-to recipes for under $25 when you're wondering...What's for dinner?

Be sure to pull a recipe from your collection if you try it out and it doesn't make your repeat list. This will keep your collection manageable moving forward.

Attn: Mommies! A Fabulous New Behavior Chart for Kids

As the mom of a three year old, I'm constantly challenged with how to make sure I raise a child that has good behavior on a regular basis and understands that rewards are earned, not expected. I've done sticker charts in the past with decent success, however, I always provided stickers every time he said please or thank you or went potty on his own (they learn very early how to manipulate the system). I found that we'd be traveling to Target for the newest Transformer far too often.


I'd like to think that at some point I'll be able to transition from rewarding my child for good behavior to just expecting it without reward (well, maybe just a hug or a pat on the back), but for now I was trilled to find this new online kids chart that encourages good behavior with a fabulous graphic interface, customizable chores or behaviors and a "moolah piggy bank" account where they can take a debit from points earned and put them toward a reward that you customize (thus teaching the concept of money). It allows you to provide a "moolah point" for each item each day (not 12 in one day for saying please 12 times!) and keeps track of it throughout the week. This encourages that behavior throughout the day in order to get the point. I think this concept is pretty cool and while teaching a child responsibility is a long process, this is a good start.

One might say it's tough to use an online chart with a young child, and we'll see, but I have a feeling it will be a treat to my son at the end of the day for the two of us to jump on Mommy's laptop, pull up his chart and give him kudos for all his hard work throughout the day. If not, the chart is always printable.

Check out the beta site at http://www.goalforit.com/landing/chore-charts.html. They also have a section for setting, tracking and motivating for regular adult goals, which I plan on checking out and writing about if post-worthy. But for now I had to get the word out about this great kids chart. Oh, and the best part...it's FREE!

Let me know what you think and if you have any success with it (or any other similar chart/program) by posting a comment!

Stay Focused with a Daily Plan

Most people that would be reading my blog would likely be those that also write lists and strive to be more organized in their daily life, so I'm hopeful this post will have some major impact on the sanity-level you currently possess. I'm a list-maker by nature (as I've mentioned in previous posts) but nothing is worse than having a million sticky notes of things you need to do, trying to remember who you need to call, which errands you need to run and what time that doctor's appointment is. I use a family calendar, but it lacks the space for everything I need on a daily basis.

I used to live by my day-planner (back in 1996) but have made several evolutions since then. It too never seemed to have space for everything I needed to remember. Last night, I created a Daily Plan Document to keep be from being too scatter-brained.

Here's what I came up with:

On one side...

• I've got the hours of the day from 6am until 10pm and a space to jot appointments or reminders. I'll put in things such as babysitters arrival time, time to leave the house for swim lessons or the typical doctors appointments or Gymboree Classes. I've also listed reminders of when to do things. If I don't make those meatballs before my one year old wakes up from her nap, well, I can forget the meal plan for that night! If you're a woman working outside the home, by all means you can list important meetings, workouts, grocery shopping, etc.

On the other...

• I listed meals for the day. What's worse than wondering at 5pm what's for dinner and everything is frozen?!. You may snicker at this now, but knowing in advance what you're feeding yourself or your family will save you time, money and your sanity. (More on this passionate topic soon!)
  
• To Do List. These are things you can do without having to leave your home (or office). Create birthday party guest list, return pending emails, balance checkbook, upload pictures, etc. You may choose to incorporate housework that needs to get done for the day. In my case, if it's written down, I'm much more likely to do it.
• People (or Businesses) to Call. There is always someone to call in a given day, usually a half-dozen or so, whether it be returning mom's phone call, calling a medical center to get clarity on a bill or the salon to schedule that much-needed appointment. Having all the phone numbers listed right there is helpful too - to prevent the "oh, I don't have the number handy, I'll just call later" excuse.
  
• Errands to run. These are To Do items outside the home. Shopping for a birthday gift, grocery shopping, dropping off clothing donations to Good Will, etc.
  
• Websites to visit. I added this section last minute after thinking that nearly everyday I say to myself, "I'll need to look that up online tonight." Weather it be checking the yoga schedule online or finding new Halloween costume ideas for the little guys - there's usually somewhere on the world wide web you need to go (i.e. "Check out Well Planned Woman Blog today ;-)

Here's my 1st attempt at getting closer to becoming a Well Planned Woman. It's nothing fancy, but does the trick.

By keeping it stored in my computer, I'm able to change the date on the file and easily transfer any items that didn't get done (there are always some, right?) to the next day's Daily Plan. I can also use it as reference if I ever wonder when I made that call to Verizon or how long those meatballs have been sitting in the fridge. (We've all wondered that, haven't we?). Of course, you could also print out a week or two's worth of blank pages at once and fill them in the old fashioned way.

By doing a brain-dump every evening before bed, I can remind myself of daily commitments and appointments, things that need to get done and what's on the menu for dinner the following night. I simply print it out and I reference it throughout the day. Today, I folded it up and brought it with me to Whole Foods to make sure I got everything on my list. By the end of the day today, it was pretty tattered (I like to cross things off my list - it makes me feel good), but I can always reference the electronic copy if I feel so compelled. Thanks to my handy Daily Plan... today, I felt totally spot-on and am looking forward to tomorrow already.

If you'd like a copy of my Daily Plan template (created in Excel), click here. If you'd like to share this with your readers on your blog, please link to this posting. Thanks!