WIAW - Kickstart

This is the first time I've taken part in WIAW - What I Ate Wedensday.

You can read about it here and also sign up if you want to be involved!

As you may already know, I am currently following the 21 day kickstart. So what better way to start up WIAW with a kickstart day!!!

My breakfast was:
Fruit salad.....

and a piece of toast with fruit spread.












Lunch was my spiced lentil burgers with salad

Dinner was leftover Israeli Couscous with Carrots, Peas, and Red Wine Vinegar with steamed silverbeet and almonds.

Dessert was "ice-cream". Made by blending a frozen banana, blueberries, spinach & milk.
I love a good dessert :D mmmmmmmmmmmmm

    Here's something to remember about WIAW - directly from this link.

----What WIAW isn't about----

Comparison - Judgement - Restriction - Guilt

----What WIAW is about----

Celebrating one of the glorious things we all have in common: We all eat!

You can join in the fun too!

Just click here to follow the links!


I found out about WIAW from a blog that I really enjoy reading! Its all about healthy living & I encourage you to jump across and check it out. Some great fitness tips, tasty recipes and other odds and ends to make a girl smile :-)
Check it out here:  You+Me=Fit You won't be disappointed you did! :-)

Have a great Wednesday everyone!

Spring Cleaning

YAY YAY YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How excited am I that this blog was linked up to the organised housewife challenge!
Check it out! That's my alphabetical pantry you see there ;-)

How are you going with the 20 day challenge?

Did you follow todays plan?

Today is the first day since last Autumn that I've been able to hang washing on the line and actually have it dry!

I guess that's lucky since washing bed linen always takes up so much space!!! lol

 After all - is there anything so lovely as a clean fresh bed at night time?

I was debating if its time to put away the winter blanket yet.... but then I remembered its the cats favourite sleeping spot, so for now it stays!

My problem with clutter in the bedroom happens around my clothing :-/

I tend to throw items on this lovely wooden box & leave them there. Don't you think I have a nice shoe collection too?!!?
Sometimes the pile is clean clothes that are waiting to be put away, and sometimes its... well lets just say not-so-clean clothes!
Either way I think I'll officially add to my housewife New Habit list "To clear clothing pile each night". 

And I did just that this afternoon:

Clearly this took a bit of time because the sun went down quite significantly between the photos!!!
The pile of boxes on the left hand-side is from when we moved in :-/

Oh dear! I have added that to my weekend list!

Since I am still working during school hours, yet I want to make the most of the housewife challenge, I am keeping myself a list of tasks-to-do on the weekend that completely tackle all of the clutter and not just 'surface clutter' as I like to call it. Its all very well and good to clear desk tops & wash linen but these boxes are the type of things that I always overlook when I 'clean and tidy'. That's why they sit well hidden in the corner - so that most of the time they don't bother me! 

This week I also started following the PCRM's 21 day kickstart.

Of course I still had to grocery shop & write my meals down, but that's an easy week of meal planning since there was no thought involved!

The meals on the kickstart are so tasty & I have enjoyed following along the kickstart program for a number of years now!

They have a forum where you can get involved with questions/comments if you have any concerns.

I plan to blog about all the DIY recipes that it encourages us to do. So stayed tuned for some tasty recipes!

Are you spring cleaning?

Do you like to spring clean your home or your body more?

When life throws you lemons......

Ever bought a lemon-of-a-car??

I've had my first experience of that happening this month. :''(
I cannot explain how incredibly frustrating it is..... and how hopeless you feel in the waiting moments to hear from mechanics/auto-electricians if it can be fixed..... or the dreaded bill..... when they haven't really solved the problem.

So when life throws you lemons.............

Make an all-purpose cleaning spray!!!!!!!!!!!

Because you need something to do while you're stuck at home with no car to drive ;-)

  Cut up some lemons into wedges and put into a cleaned glass jar. Pour cleaning vinegar over the top of the lemons. White vinegar works too.

Put the jars into a sink & cover with boiling water. Don't pour the water directly onto the jars in case they crack.

Leave to sit until the water has completely cooled down (or overnight).

Then you can empty the sink & strain the lemon/vinegar mixture into a spray bottle. (You can leave the mixture to sit in the jars for up to 2 weeks if you want!)

Your all-purpose cleaner is done! It will keep for about a month.

Now I can be a lean, mean, green cleaning machine!

What!!! Lean - phef, I'm a woman I have round bits & I don't want to be mean! 
And after all lemons are yellow.
Let's just say - now I can be a cleaning fanatic ;-p

Today is the last day for the pre-challenge tasks on the organised housewife challenge. Have you decided to join in? Have you done all the pre-challenge tasks? What are you most looking forward too?

I hope you have your list of goals handy so you can refer to them to keep you motivated!

I've got my folder all set-up and ready to go! I did it whilst enjoying a coffee and the sunshine (of course!)

I'm becoming an organised housewife!!!

I've been really motivated to clean & tidy the last few months.

Have you read my post about how I've switched to chemical free cleaning?

It's so refreshing to have things organised, clean & tidy.

We bought our very first home 10 months ago!!!!! YAYYYYYYYYY! :D 

A life long dream of mine after renting for over 10 years. However, moving is never fun, no matter when or where you end up and I must admit that there were several places in our home that didn't quite get the unpacking attention they deserved, especially as our unpacking was somewhat crowded by the Christmas time rush. I have been very motivated to get EVERYTHING all sorted out properly & when I stumbled across this the other day I was HUGELY excited!

                      GUESS WHAT......

                                  And the best news is that you can too!
The amazing website The Organised Housewife has put together a challenge called 20-days-to-organise-and-clean-your-home.  Why not sign up to the fun & join hundreds of other ladies as we seek to clean & organise our homes!

There was a time when my home was in a complete ~SHAMOZZLE~ to say the least, with little time or energy to fix it even though I so desperately wanted to!
I must admit I am so pleased with how our home is today. Yes it takes a bit of time, but it never hurt me to turn off the TV or close down that facebook page! In fact, in made me feel SOOOO good if I did!
After all - a home is supposed to be somewhere that we can relax & feel comfortable & enjoy being. 

I LOVE COMING HOME TO OUR HOME.

Here's some pictures of what I have already done prior to even knowing about the organised housewife challenge! I just wish I had of taken more "before" pictures! I just get so excited when I have achieved the "after" that I remember to take happy snaps ;-)

Every woman needs an organised dresser! Sure beats the pile of tissues and make-up and pens and pins it used to have on it!

How can it be that having an organised under-the-sink can feel so good?

I love a Tupperwared pantry ;-)

Especially when its arranged alphabetically!!!

But for now.... it's bed time!
I'm going to continue to post about my journey through the challenge with more pictures to come!
Starting with how I managed to organise my craft side-of-the-room just a few weekends ago! There's already plenty of photos on this post! ;-)