When properly utlizing my systems, I have every day broken down into things that need to get done. Helps my stress levels and it's amazing what you can get done in 15 minutes or less!
Home Blessing:
FlyLady has what she calls a Home-Blessing day where she spends one hour getting her whole house in general cleanliness. Not deep-cleaning just a general dust, vacuum, changing sheets, sweeping, etc. Each item takes 10 minutes (no more than) and the idea is that with one hour of work the house should be guest ready. Ready to be checked with a white glove? No. But presentable.
Now, I've found that doing one hour on one day just wasn't working for me; inevitably the day I picked to do my Home Blessing I would be tired, extra busy, whatever. So, I've broken my Blessing down to a daily thing. One job takes me 10 minutes (max), and it's done for the week.
Success this week - well, considering we got back on Tuesday and had left the house clean, I didn't do a whole lot. I hit a few areas that needed it, and otherwise didn't do a whole lot of Blessing this week. Next week Monday will be when I try to start getting into my regular daily Blessing. So more on that later!
Zones
The Zoning idea is one of the more brilliant ideas of FlyLady (so I felt). Basically, each week focuses on a different "zone" of the house. This is a time to declutter, deep clean, and generally really focus on that area of the house. Now, her zones didn't match my house very well, so if any of you readers happen to be a FlyBaby, I'm not going to be in the same Zone as her at any time. Just an FYI!
Basically what I do with a Zone is spend 15 minutes (no more than unless I'm really feeling inspired) decluttering (for those unfamiliar with this term - getting rid of extra things that you really don't need in your house) and deep cleaning.
This week's Zone was my hallways, the porches, and the guest bathroom.
The porches, sadly, didn't get touched. They need it, but I didn't have time. And while the perfectionistic side of me sometimes goes a little crazy wanting to clean EVERYTHING, RIGHT NOW, I've come to realize that it's not that helpful and if anything ends up stressing me out. So, having accepted the fact that I just wasn't going to get to them this week, I focused on what I could do.
The hallways got decluttered (not deep cleaned though), especially our back hallway as it tends to wind up with random things on the coat rack hanging on our wall. I think the next few months might find me doing a lot of rearranging as I have some ideas for utlizing our space better and making it feel less strangulated. I do have a pile of things sitting in the hallway right now that need to be put into the garage. That'll happen tomorrow (I think!).
And the guest bathroom got cleaned. Not as thoroughly as I would have liked but enough so that I don't feel embarassed with anyone using it! I tend to be pretty strict on that 15 minute rule with myself.
On top of my regular stuff, I did a quick tidy of the whole house this afternoon. We just had randomness piled up in weird places. It's amazing how much cleaner a house feels with just the stuff being put away. Is it necessarily actually, cleaner? No. But it looks it!
So, September, week 1, I'll give myself an A-! (Yes, yes, go ahead and laugh at me. Get it out of your system. It's allowed. I laugh at myself!)
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Order and Chaos
Life is beginning to slow down again, and as far as the changes in my life go, normalize a bit. My baby sister (who lived with us all summer) has moved back out to the dorms, our number of visitors has decreased somewhat (I counted it up, since April - not counting my sister - we have had 2 full 7 day periods of time without guests; it's no wonder I'm a little tired!), and life is beginning to fall into patterns and routines again (upon which I thrive!).
In an attempt to keep myself accountable (if I know I have to 'fess up somewhere, I'm more likely to do it!), I'm going to be talking more about reestablishing my routines around the house - cleaning, decluttering, menu-making, devotions, exercise, etc, etc. Everything has kind of fallen down around me the last few months, and now that I finally feel I'm beginning to get a bit more control over my health, I want to start refocusing my energies on other parts of my life!
Now, as far as cleaning/decluttering, etc a lot of what I talk about in those areas are ideas that come from FlyLady. If you are unfamiliar with FlyLady, she is the charming woman who has a website all about the establishing of routines and systems to get your house (and your life) out of chaos and into order.
When I first started reading her website, I found I was intrigued. I'm a pretty tidy person. I view my home as my sanctuary and so want it to be as clutter and stress-free as possible. However, I really struggled for a long time with how to consistently keep it clean, etc, especially when I was teaching full-time and working 60 or more hours as week. FlyLady gave me some really good ideas in those areas. Did I follow her exact methodology for doing things. Um, well, maybe for a couple of weeks! What I did do though (and this is what she's constantly encouraging people to do) is to take her concepts, rework them to fit my life, and run with it. And with the personalization, her ideas really did change a lot of how I do things. For the better, of course.
Unfortunately, I really haven't been utilizing them lately. So, onward I am going to reutilize good things and revitalize my life!
In an attempt to keep myself accountable (if I know I have to 'fess up somewhere, I'm more likely to do it!), I'm going to be talking more about reestablishing my routines around the house - cleaning, decluttering, menu-making, devotions, exercise, etc, etc. Everything has kind of fallen down around me the last few months, and now that I finally feel I'm beginning to get a bit more control over my health, I want to start refocusing my energies on other parts of my life!
Now, as far as cleaning/decluttering, etc a lot of what I talk about in those areas are ideas that come from FlyLady. If you are unfamiliar with FlyLady, she is the charming woman who has a website all about the establishing of routines and systems to get your house (and your life) out of chaos and into order.
When I first started reading her website, I found I was intrigued. I'm a pretty tidy person. I view my home as my sanctuary and so want it to be as clutter and stress-free as possible. However, I really struggled for a long time with how to consistently keep it clean, etc, especially when I was teaching full-time and working 60 or more hours as week. FlyLady gave me some really good ideas in those areas. Did I follow her exact methodology for doing things. Um, well, maybe for a couple of weeks! What I did do though (and this is what she's constantly encouraging people to do) is to take her concepts, rework them to fit my life, and run with it. And with the personalization, her ideas really did change a lot of how I do things. For the better, of course.
Unfortunately, I really haven't been utilizing them lately. So, onward I am going to reutilize good things and revitalize my life!
Friday, September 5, 2008
Bette's Four Flour Bread (Gluten Free)
This is a gluten free springy bread that is quite nice. I have only made it the plain, simple way shown here; however, I'll list some other ideas that are supposed to work with this bread (and which I plan on experimenting with).
I don't really find this that good of a sandwich bread - I have a better recipe for that. However, it makes a tasty snack or a light breakfast bread.
The amounts I have listed below are for 1 loaf of bread. Obviously double (or triple or whatever other multiplier you desire) to make more.
Dry Ingredients
Bette's Four Flour Bread Mix - 2 1/4 cups
Dry Yeast granules - 2 1/4 teaspoons
Wet Ingredients
Eggs - 2
Margarine or butter - 3 tbsp
Dough enhancer or vinegar - 1/2 teaspoon
Warm water, milk, or nondairy substitute - 1 cup (more or less)
Instructions
Grease your chosen pan(s) and dust with rice flour.
The liquid temperature will be different for hand mixing and bread machines. For hand mixing, have the liquid at about 110 to 115F; for your bread machine, read the directions in the manual.
For both hand mixing and machine mixing, combine the dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Set aside.
In another bowl, whisk the eggs, margarine, and dough enhancer. Add most of the water (liquid of your choice). The remaining liquid should be added as needed after the bread machine has started mixing, either in the bowl of your mixer or in the pan of the bread machine.
Hand Mixing: with the mixer on low, add the dry ingredients a little at a time. Check to be sure the dough is the right consistency (like cake batter). Add more of the reserved liquid as necessary. Turn the mixer to high and beat the batter for 31/2 minutes.
Spoon the dough into the prepared pan(s), cover, and let rise in a warm place about 35 - 45 minutes for rapid rising yeast, 60 or more minutes for regular yeast or until the dough reaches the top of the pan. Bake in a preheated oven at 400F for 50 - 60 minutes. After 10 minutes, cover with aluminium foil.
Bread Machines: place the ingredients in the bread machine in the order suggested by your machine manual. Use the setting for white bread with medium crust.
Variations
I don't really find this that good of a sandwich bread - I have a better recipe for that. However, it makes a tasty snack or a light breakfast bread.
The amounts I have listed below are for 1 loaf of bread. Obviously double (or triple or whatever other multiplier you desire) to make more.
Dry Ingredients
Bette's Four Flour Bread Mix - 2 1/4 cups
Dry Yeast granules - 2 1/4 teaspoons
Wet Ingredients
Eggs - 2
Margarine or butter - 3 tbsp
Dough enhancer or vinegar - 1/2 teaspoon
Warm water, milk, or nondairy substitute - 1 cup (more or less)
Instructions
Grease your chosen pan(s) and dust with rice flour.
The liquid temperature will be different for hand mixing and bread machines. For hand mixing, have the liquid at about 110 to 115F; for your bread machine, read the directions in the manual.
For both hand mixing and machine mixing, combine the dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Set aside.
In another bowl, whisk the eggs, margarine, and dough enhancer. Add most of the water (liquid of your choice). The remaining liquid should be added as needed after the bread machine has started mixing, either in the bowl of your mixer or in the pan of the bread machine.
Hand Mixing: with the mixer on low, add the dry ingredients a little at a time. Check to be sure the dough is the right consistency (like cake batter). Add more of the reserved liquid as necessary. Turn the mixer to high and beat the batter for 31/2 minutes.
Spoon the dough into the prepared pan(s), cover, and let rise in a warm place about 35 - 45 minutes for rapid rising yeast, 60 or more minutes for regular yeast or until the dough reaches the top of the pan. Bake in a preheated oven at 400F for 50 - 60 minutes. After 10 minutes, cover with aluminium foil.
Bread Machines: place the ingredients in the bread machine in the order suggested by your machine manual. Use the setting for white bread with medium crust.
Variations
- Lemon-Poppy Seed - for each cup of mix used, add 1 tsp dried lemon peel and 1 tsp poppy seeds to the dry ingredients
- Quinoa Bread - for each cup of mix used, add 1 tbsp quinoa four to the dry ingredients and 1 tsp honey to the wet ingredients
- Almond Bread - for each cup of mix used, add 1 1/2 tsp almond meal to the dry ingredients and 1/2 tsp almond flavor to the wet ingredients
- Cinnamon-Nut - for each cup of mix used, add 1/2 tsp cinnamon to the dry ingredients and stir in 2 tbsp chopped nuts after the dough is mixed
- Sesame Bean Bread - for each cup of mix used, add 1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds to the dry ingredients and 1 tsp molasses to the wet ingredients.
- Other Suggestions: cocoa powder, grains, nuts, fruits
Nutrients per slice: Calories - 90; Fat - 3 g; Carbohydrates - 14g; Cholesterol - 0mg; Sodium - 90mg; Fiber - 1g; Protein -3g
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