source: Marci Goodwin

The following is a guest post from Marci of Overcoming Busy:

It is my nature to find the most efficient ways to do things. When I clean out the dishwasher, I even plan out how I can finish the job with the fewest trips around the kitchen. I know, the whole thing only takes about 2 minutes (yes, I’ve timed it), but I still hate to waste time and energy. That is one of the reasons the concept of once a month cooking really appealed to me. Take an afternoon and fill your freezer with a month’s worth of meals. How efficient is that?!

So what took me so long to try once a month cooking for myself? I’m really not sure. I think the lack of knowledge of what meals can freeze and how to properly prepare them for the freezer played a big part. A few weeks back, Mandi posted a series on once-a-month cooking. That series inspired me to finally do it! She gave such great tips and links to make it look easy.

source: Marci Goodwin

Preparing

Being my first experience at once-a-month cooking, I chose to follow a menu and plan offered by Once A Month Mom. This site gave possible menus along with grocery lists and step-by-step instructions for cooking day. Very easy. I can follow directions….kind of!

After choosing a menu that I thought my family would enjoy, I headed to the store with my daughter and the Once A Month Mom grocery spreadsheet. To me, that spreadsheet was a God-send. It allowed me customize the amount of ingredients based on the number of servings I wanted to prepare. The spreadsheet also had all the items listed by categories to make shopping a relatively easy experience. My daughter put the spreadsheet onto a clipboard and recorded the prices so I could keep track of how much a month of meals actually costs. It made a great homeschool project!

source: Marci Goodwin

Getting Down to Business

The night before the big cooking day, I chopped all the veggies and prepared the meat. That only took my daughter and me about an hour, but it saved lots of time the next day.

On cooking day, I followed the instructions pretty much to the letter. I put my daughter in charge of two of the items I knew she could handle on her own (muffins). I prepared the other 20 meals. From beginning to clean up, it took us about 5 hours. Not bad for making 20 meals and several dozen muffins.

That was two weeks ago and I have to tell you that it was totally worth it! It has been awesome to go to the freezer and choose an entrée, add a side and I know that my family will have a delicious, home-cooked meal without all the stress, prep work and clean up! I do make several fresh meals each week, when I have time to prepare them. I love to cook, but for those days when there isn’t time to prepare a good meal or I just don’t feel like cooking, I love breaking one of these meals out of the freezer!

Next Time

As I mentioned at the beginning, I crave efficiency. Even though this was a really efficient process, I made notes to make my next experience even better.

1. Have someone cook with me. It really would have gone faster with another person. I need to get a friend who needs some great freezer meals to come over and join me.

2. Adapt some of my own recipes. Now that I have an idea of what can be frozen and how, I can make and freeze some family favorites.

3. Look over the entire recipe before starting. This seems so “duh!”, I realize, but there were so many recipes. I didn’t make it through every one, and I got surprised by a couple steps.

4. Start earlier in the day. I started at 3 o’clock on a Sunday afternoon. The upside was that when I finished cooking and cleaning up, I tucked the kids in bed and I went straight to bed too!

5. Have the freezer cleaned out first. The meals fit perfectly in my spare refrigerator’s freezer in the garage….after I cleaned it out. Oops!

My meals will be devoured in a couple more weeks, and I am excited about my next cooking day. I need to start preparing my menu and my grocery list soon. Can’t believe it took me this long to try it! If you have been on the fence, don’t fight it! Jump on in! You won’t regret it!

Have you tried once-a-month cooking yet? What’s holding you back?

Marci Goodwin has a passion for helping people get the busyness and clutter out of their lives so that they can slow down and enjoy what is really important. She readily admits she doesn’t have it all figured out and is a work in progress experimenting on her family – a self-employed husband, an 8-year-old daughter (the homeschooled entrepreneur) and a 4-year-old son (110% boy). Marci can be found blogging about her journey and the evil of “busy” at Overcoming Busy.

Michelle Connolly has put together some amazing resources in this package. Her insightful ebooks are easy reads that inspire not just head-nodding but action as well. Honestly, I had to stop reading to get control of my inbox after reading Inbox Zen, and I have a feeling that this quote is going to change the way I do email from this point forward:

People tend to ‘check’ emails when looking for a distraction, so they’re not generally in a high output frame of mind. It’s a way to be busy without being productive.

The suite also includes three sets of to-do lists and printables, some of which I never would have thought of on my own but can’t wait to use! From to-do lists and schedules to decision-making grids, goal setting charts, blogging schedules and meal planning worksheets, these packages are packed full of useful printables.

And finally, the suite contains a Life & Goal Organizer Deluxe, a Life MakeOver Journal and an Organizing workbook planner to help you set and achieve goals. I absolutely love how she has broken everything out into smaller goals so that the process of getting organized doesn’t become overwhelming.

One lucky Organizing Your Way reader will win the Complete Suite, including:

:: Life & Goal Organizer Deluxe ($79 value)

Organize all your personal goals – home, career, body, finances, time, relationships, personal development, and more. Leads you step-by-step through a unique system of more than 200 ready-made action-plan checklists across 12 life areas.

:: Life MakeOver Journal ($39 value)

A month-by-month tool for setting goals and organizing related tasks, diary items, milestones and rewards. Helps you make your goals SMART – specific, measureable, achievable, relevant and time-framed.

:: Organize Your Life & Goals ($19 value)

A motivating workbook planner that gives you more than 120 tips & suggestions for improving your personal organization.

:: Ultimate To-Do List Pack | Home & Family Edition ($39 value)

More than 250 to-do lists, planners, schedules & organizers to help you take charge of your home and family life.

:: Ultimate To-Do List Pack | Personal Edition ($39 value)

More than 250 to-do lists, planners, schedules & organizers to help you get everything out of your head, onto a list – and into your life.

:: Ultimate To-Do List Pack | Student Edition ($19 value)

More than 80 to-do lists, planners, schedules & organizers to give a student everything they need to succeed at exams, essays and college life.

:: Inbox Zen: 7 Simple Steps For Making Peace With Your Email eBook ($19 value)

Strategies, steps and a 25-point action checklist for gaining control of email.

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Modern-day, practical strategies for happiness inspired by some of history’s wisest philosophers.

:: How to Declutter Your Life eBook ($12 value)

5 simple steps to ditching the dross & embracing simplicity. Learn the OCI-OGO system and be free of clutter for life.

Every reader has three methods available to enter this contest (for a total of up to three entries):

1. Leave a comment. Which of the Get Organized Wizard products most appeals to you? Is your email inbox out of control? Do you need help setting and achieving goals? Do you love printables?

2. Subscribe to my feed via RSS or email. You must confirm your email subscription for it to be a valid entry! Leave a separate comment letting me know you have done so. If you’re already a subscriber, simply leave a separate comment letting me know you’re already subscribed.

3. Become a fan of Get Organized Wizard on Facebook. Be sure to come back and leave a separate comment once you’ve done so!

Prize:
(1) Complete Suite from Get Organized Wizard, as described above

This giveaway ends at 11:59 p.m. on Saturday, 11/14. I’ll use Random.org to select the winning comment. Winner will be notified by email, and this post will be updated with their name as well!

source: Sue Richards

I had intended on continuing our Thanksgiving series today, but we’ve been battling H1N1 for almost two weeks now, and I’m exhausted. Rather than share my incoherent thoughts with you, I decided to share some of my favorite posts from other people. If you’re looking for more, you can always check my Tumblr feed here or in the sidebar for links that I find bookmark-worthy.

Time Management

:: Do you do your most important work first?, Unclutterer

:: How to Get Out of the House, Steady Mom

:: Organizing with Egg Timers, I Organize You

:: Embrace Plan B, I’m an Organizing Junkie

Budgeting

:: 11 Ways to Save Money on Groceries, My Dollar Plan

:: 5 Reasons to Dump Your Strict Budget, Frugal Dad

Decluttering

:: Separate Yourself from Your Stuff, Simple. Organized. Life.

:: Declutter and Purge Your Kitchen to the Necessities: the Checklist, Lifehacker

:: Are Your Collections Pulling Their Weight?, On Simplicity

:: Tips for Staying Clutter Free, Overcoming Busy

Bonus

And a bonus post just because I loved what Ron had to say:

:: I Am Your Worst Enemy, The Wisdom Journal

There are a ton more posts that I’ve bookmarked over the past few weeks on Tumblr. Enjoy!

source: DennisSylvesterHurd

I’m really looking forward to Thanksgiving this year! Last year we started a new tradition of having a low-key (but still traditional) Thanksgiving dinner with my mom, step-dad and little sister at their house, and it was a lot of fun. Of course, last year I ruined all of the pies, so they may decide that they’ll do all the cooking and I can just clean up this time, and I’m not sure how fun that would be!

How do you do Thanksgiving?

Do you have Thanksgiving dinner with the same people every year, or do you rotate between families/friends?

Does the host/hostess do most of the cooking, or do you do it potluck style?

What Thanksgiving traditions do you have? Do you watch the Macy’s parade? Do you play a game of football in the backyard after dinner?

What are you most looking forward to this Thanksgiving?

Looking forward to reading your answers!

source: thebittenword.com

Every month Amazon.com features amazing deals on popular magazine subscriptions. This month, I wanted to share three home magazines for $5 or less (instant savings will be deducted once you add a magazine to your cart!):

• :: House Beautiful (1-year), $5

• :: Country Living (1-year), $5

• :: Good Housekeeping (1-year), $4.97

• :: And even more!

If you currently get one of these, you can still take advantage of this deal to extend your subscription. It will simply tack an extra year on to the end of your subscription as long as you use the same address. If for some reason you get duplicates, you can simply call customer service and ask them to combine them for you at that time.

Thanks to Tara at Deal Seeking Mom for the heads up on the deal and the information about extending a subscription!

source: churl

The following is a guest post by Shaina from Food for My Family.

Whether it’s your first time hosting Thanksgiving or you’re a seasoned veteran, it’s no secret that success is found through preparedness and organization.  The key is to start planning early so you have everything under control and don’t end up with a Griswold-like turkey dinner. Here is a list to get you started on what you should be considering getting done from now right up to Turkey Day.

2-3 Weeks Before:

::Plan your menu and make a grocery list. Knowing what you’re eating and what you need to purchase will ensure that nothing is forgotten or ingredients aren’t missing when you go to whip together your sweet potato casserole.  It also allows you to watch for sales and clip coupons and watch for deals as you get closer to Turkey Day.

::Test any new recipes. If you’re thinking of trying something new and different this Thanksgiving, consider giving it a test drive in your weekly menu now so you can avoid any last-minute kitchen mishaps.

::Assign tasks to your guests. Maybe you’re a household that splits the cooking duties between the arriving guests so everyone brings a dish to share, potluck style.  Even if that’s not you, consider asking guests to take care of something that requires less effort like bringing a bottle of wine, apple cider or an appetizer.  They could also be responsible for bringing a favorite holiday movie or a board game to share.

::Order your turkey. Whether you’re looking to buy fresh or frozen, don’t wait until the last minute.  Figure out what you want and where it’s coming from and get that one in the bag.

2-4 Days Before:

::Thaw your turkey. Get your frozen turkey thawing in the fridge so that it’s ready to go when you need it.  Yes, it really will need all four days to thaw in the fridge.

::Grocery shop. You can buy nonperishable items at any time, but check to see what’s left on your list and get it all so you aren’t fighting the last-minute crowds at the register.

::Bake and cook anything you can in advance. Cranberry sauces, pie crusts, cheesecakes can all be made in advance and stored in the fridge.

::Consider day-of storage options. Chances are you won’t have enough room in the fridge for all the food and beverages as they’re waiting to be placed on the table or popped in the oven.  Get your coolers ready and stock up on ice so that you have it on hand when you need it.

1 Day Before:

::Prep your casseroles. Even if you aren’t planning on baking them until the day of, you can prepare most casseroles and store in the fridge uncooked until ready to bake.  If necessary, store toppings in a separate container.  When it’s time to bake, just pull them out, top and into the oven they go.

::Bake pies and desserts. Get the major baking out of the way and off your plate long before it comes time to stuff the turkey.  It will free up much-needed space on the counter, the sink and in the dishwasher.

::Create your cooking schedule. Look at what you have that needs to occupy the oven, at what temperatures and for how long.  Create a list that let’s you know when things need to be in and out so that they’ll all be ready to go on time.

::Clean your house. Do all of the major cleaning the day before so you aren’t running around with a mop bucket and an oven mitt as you try to juggle cleaning and cooking at the same time.

::Make breakfast for Thanksgiving. Have a do-ahead breakfast ready to go so that you aren’t making dishes and cooking on the morning of.  Consider baking a coffee cake or muffins and fruit.  You could even treat yourself to a breakfast out or visit the local bakery for fresh donuts.

Thanksgiving Day:

::Roast your turkey. The centerpiece of a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, give yourself plenty of time to prep the turkey and allow extra time at the end of the cooking time so you can carve and make gravy from the drippings.

::Use your cooking schedule. The schedule you made will keep you from frantically trying to remember which casserole and dish needs to go into the oven when.  Keep it posted in a spot where it’s easy to refer to often.

::Get rid of the kids. If you can, consider sending the kids out to a parade or to the park with your significant other to get them out of the house, leaving you to cook and do any final cleaning and organizing.

::Enjoy the day. Remember that Thanksgiving is a day of gratitude and to give thanks for all that you have.

Shaina is the home cook and wannabe photographer behind Food for My Family, where she shares recipes, tips, opinions and her philosophy on food as she wades through the process of feeding her family, her friends and anyone else who will let her.

Because I not only blog but also work at home, I had no choice but to buy a new laptop. Although we had money in savings, I really did not want to pull a lot of money out for a new computer. Since the FreeAgent Go is so easy to use, I decided to buy a less expensive laptop and keep it optimized and free of clutter by keeping my files on the hard drive. (In fact, if you’re looking for an inexpensive laptop and don’t do a lot of heavy computing beyond Microsoft Office and the internet, I highly recommend this $350 Acer Aspire. It’s a single-core processor, but I couldn’t be happier with what I got for the price, and it even includes a Windows 7 upgrade! Just be sure to remove all of the preinstalled “junk programs” as soon as you get it.)

Anyway, back to the topic at hand. While my plan to keep large files off the laptop and store them on the external hard drive worked, it was not a perfect system. Having to connect the hard drive was a bit cumbersome, and when I was given the chance to review the FreeAgent DockStar, I didn’t even hesitate. It turns out to be the perfect solution for my situation, as well as for anyone who wants to share files between multiple computers or with friends and family around the world.

To put it simply, the DockStar plugs into my wireless router. Once the FreeAgent Go is set in the DockStar cradle and set up using the Pogoplug software, it can be accessed wirelessly at home or from anywhere over the internet. The data is secure and only accessible with a password, but it allows other people to upload files to the hard drive (such as all of the pictures that the grandparents take of my girls that I might not see otherwise!) and access them in real time. The DockStar also has 3 USB ports for accessing additional USB drives (such as iPods).

One concern I had initially was that the FreeAgent Go appears to stay on while plugged into the DockStar, and ejecting it involves logging in to Pogoplug and then physically removing it from the cradle. I was concerned not only about the power consumption but also how it would affect the life of the hard drive.

However, my contact as Seagate was able to put these concerns to rest. The FreeAgent Go goes into standby mode when not in use (and the light can be turned off in the Seagate Manager settings so that it’s not staying on either), and it’s total power consumption per year is between $1.50 and $2.00. She also sent me this great blog post, outlining some of Seagate’s green efforts.

If you’re looking for any easy way to share files between computers or with friends and family, definitely consider the FreeAgent DockStar. I continue to be amazed at new technology, and this is no exception!

source: Eugene

To be honest, I’m still in shock that it’s already November, never mind that Thanksgiving is just three-and-a-half weeks away.

But it is, and I got an email from a sweet reader, Jenna, a couple of weeks ago asking if I could please talk about hosting Thanksgiving dinner since I had skipped right to Christmas planning. Oops!

This week we’ll take a look at some strategies for hosting a stress-free Thanksgiving dinner. We’ll start out by thinking through our individual needs and then look at sketching a game plan and some other tips later in the week.

The Food

Oh, the food! I love traditional American Thanksgiving dinner — turkey and mashed potatoes and stuffing and sweet potato casserole and — well, you get the point! However, it’s the eating part that I enjoy, not so much the cooking part. To be honest, I find it a little stressful to try to prepare so many dishes at one time, and I much prefer potluck-style dinners where everyone contributes to the meal. But whichever style dinner you’re planning, thinking through your needs and making a plan ahead of time is guaranteed to make it less stressful.

:: Have you created a menu for Thanksgiving dinner?

:: Will others be contributing to the meal, or are you responsible for all the food?

:: Do you make the same recipes every year?

:: Is this your first year making family favorites passed down from your grandma?

:: Do you need to look for new recipes?

:: Are you comfortable with all of the recipes you’ll be making?

:: Do you plan to try any of them out ahead of time?

:: Have you thought about making and freezing any of your dishes ahead of time?

The People

As much as I love the food, Thanksgiving is really about people and celebrating the blessings in our lives. Dictionary.com defines hospitality as “the friendly reception and treatment of guests or strangers.” Whether you’re expecting just a few close family members, hosting out-of-town guests for the week or celebrating with people you don’t know very well, thinking through ways to make their time in your home more comfortable will make the day more enjoyable for everyone. (Note that none of these questions have to do with creating a perfect Martha Stewart event!)

:: Will you be hosting any overnight guests?

:: How many people will be attending dinner?

:: Do any of your guests have specific dietary needs that you need to take into consideration?

:: Do you have activities to keep any children who will be attending busy during dinner preparations?

:: What traditions will you be incorporating into your dinner to show your thankfulness this year?

:: Are there any special dishes or drinks that you know a particular guest loves?

The Stuff

And finally, taking time now to make sure you have everything you need for your guests — from the number of place settings to linens for overnight guests — means you’ll be less likely to call the neighbor in a panic minutes before your guests arrive.

:: Do you have enough seating for everyone?

:: Have you checked to make sure there’s room for the extra tables and chairs you plan to set up?

:: Is your guest room ready for any overnight guests? (We’ll be talking about this next week!)

:: Will you be using nice dishes or paperware? Do you have enough place settings for everyone?

:: Do you have enough platters, bowls and serving utensils for the food on your menu?

:: Can you borrow extra items from someone, or do you need to purchase them?

Start Your Preparations Now

Now that you have a basic idea of what you want Thanksgiving to look like and what you need to do to get ready, take some time to write down your plans. Begin checking items off ahead of time so that there’s less to worry about in the week leading up to Thanksgiving.

:: Create a menu. Confirm who’s bringing what to dinner.

:: Gather your recipes.

:: Make your grocery list now. Double and triple check it to prevent any last minute trips to the grocery store on Thanksgiving day!

:: Test out any recipes you’re unsure about.

:: Consider rewriting any recipes that you plan to double so that you don’t forget to do it while you’re cooking. Although this tip may be just for myself since I’m famous for that!

:: Sketch out a game plan for the day. (We’ll talk more about a game plan later in the week!)

:: Make a list and purchase any decor, place settings or servingware you need.

:: Make a list and purchase any linens or niceties you need for overnight guests.

Are you hosting Thanksgiving dinner this year? What are you most looking forward to? What stresses you out?

source: 427

I wanted to take a few minutes and thank all of you who subscribe to Organizing Your Way and especially those of you who take the time to comment and send me emails. I love hearing from you and appreciate your feedback, questions and ideas!

We recently passed the 2,000 subscriber mark, and I’ll admit I did a little happy dance! I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to the idea that people actually read what I write.

Coming up over the next month, we’ll be talking about hosting Thanksgiving dinner, organizing your medicine cabinet and emergency plans and preparing for overnight guests. Look for posts on setting goals and priorities, an introduction to some of my favorite productivity tools and another vlog or two as well.

I also decided it was time to set up a page on Facebook — a place where we can connect on a more personal level and I can offer special giveaways.

To kick it off, I’m giving away a Brother P-Touch (PT-1280) labeler to one lucky reader this week. I have one of these myself, and I love it for labeling everything from toy bins to freezer meals!

To enter, simply visit the Organizing Your Way fan page on Facebook, become a fan and post a comment on the wall or in the discussions sometime this week (I’ll throw out a couple of questions there to help get the ball rolling). Enter as many times as you’d like by commenting or participating.

If you’re not yet on Facebook, it takes just a few  minutes sign up, and you’ll find lots of fun freebies and giveaways from some of your favorite blogs and companies!

Hope to see you there!

I’m closing comments on this post to simplify the giveaway, but if you have a question or a topic you’d like to see covered, I’d love to hear from you! Drop me an email at organizingyourway@gmail.com.