My Daily Household Routine

I am really curious about the daily "cleaning" that you do every day to keep your house nice. What things do you do every day to keep things clean? I love reading others' housekeeping routines to help gauge where I might improve my routine.

My routine is a combination of Flylady and what I've worked out over the years as necessary.  I used to be an abysmal housekeeper.  I was an all or nothing sort of gal.  I would spend a week or more cleaning every single room in the house, from top to bottom, inside to out and then collapse in exhaustion convinced that housekeeping was hard work (and it is at times) and too much trouble to bother with.

Weekly Menu Plan

I'm working under a handicap at present...Nothing sounds really good to me, but meal plans are necessary whether the mood is right or not.  I'm looking for all kinds of inspiration in all kinds of places and feel sure I will manage a week of menus.  Recipes abound around this house, in magazines, online, in cookbooks, etc.

Our Frugal Week

Not a new lamp though it looks brand new.  John spray painted this lamp this week.  Formerly a navy blue with a '90's gold and white design on the front, this lamp is now a lovely oil rubbed bronze and looks like a 'modern' lamp instead of a leftover from another era.

Weekly Menu Plan

A little late with my planning.  I'm having a bout of allergies and don't feel good.  My appetite is decreased (not necessarily a bad thing) which means that the idea of food in general is uninspiring.  However, this evening I went through all those magazines I've let stack up over the past month and found about as much inspiration as I need for this week at least.  Sometimes, I just need a shot of someone else' creative thinking, and a husband who decides he simply must go out for a cheeseburger...

Cheeseburger and Fries, Soda, Ice Cream Cone
Now and then, it's nice to go out for an old fashioned drive-in meal.  John and I enjoy the brown bag special at Sonic.  Our burgers had onions, lettuce, tomatoes and pickles and they really piled on the vegetables, lol.  I counted the fries as veggie too and offered to buy John an ice cream cone on our way home after running the last errands.

My Frugal Week

A diy project we tackled this month in our home.  I think we've spent about $120 total for Kilz, paint and supplies needed.  

In Our Home:  

Thankfully the whole house program of cleaning means I don't have to do a heavy pre-Fall cleaning and I am grateful for that.  Today I changed out the quilt on our bed.  The summer quilt (in pastels) went into the washer and onto the line to blow dry.

I have a small cold/allergy thing going on.  Lots of Vitamin C, zinc, and water (items we always have on hand) and Vapor rub for my chest has helped a good bit.  I was happy to find I'd stocked a few boxes of Kleenex over the summer when there were good sales.  I'll definitely be getting more to restock for the Fall and Winter seasons.

Button, Button, I love the comments Button Best!

Angela asked to see the quilt I'd started.  I had it out on the bed in the craft/guest room trying to determine how I wanted the next blocks to be pieced.  This is what I've done so far.  It is my intent to continue stepping the striped blocks down from the center square.  I played with it a teeny bit the other day and think I found what I would like but forgot to take a photo...Guess I'll be going back to the bed and spreading it out all over again!

Budget Stretcher: Leftover Makeovers

Not very good photos today... I did another budget stretcher meal and wanted to share with you all.  What I had: leftover roast beef in wine reduction sauce; 1/3 of a jar of fruit cocktail, 1/2 apple, and 1 Asian pear; cooked broccoli.  I had just about enough of everything for one or two folks...and three to feed.  So I put my imagination to work.

First I made up a beef pot pie.  I chopped the leftover roast and dumped it and the wine reduction sauce into a casserole.  I took advantage of the canned foods in my pantry and added a portion of each of these to the casserole: green peas, whole kernel corn, carrots, potatoes, green beans.  I only used about 1/3 of a can of each and put the rest into a zippered freezer bag for soup making later on.  I grated some onion (more flavor less product), a dash of Worcestershire sauce and salt and pepper to season.