Cleaning diaries Entry #1Beginning

I have had a growing sense of wanting to finally take control of my schedule in order to get things cleaned up.  You see, I am really a very clean person stuck in a messy person's life.  You would have to be one of us to even understand the statement, but for those of you who don't struggle, l will try to explain.

Overwhelm.  That sums it up perfectly.  Dealing with overwhelm is as all consuming as trying to tackle any new project.  It is at the centre of everything you can see and it clouds your judgement.

I am a busy woman.  I work about 55 - 60 hours on an average week, and it is spread out over 7 days.  The nature of the jobs I have means that I am squeezing in my work where I can, often starting a second round of work at 8:30 at night when most people are sweeping their kitchen floor and organizing for the next day.  Suffice it to say, when you have a day job, a part time business that you operate with your computer on your lunch breaks in the evenings and weekends, and you are on staff part time at the church... it is easy to become overwhelmed and housework starts to fade into a distant priority.  Even though it is a top priority, work and family and social demands seem to push the housekeeping you want to do further and further down the list.

This produces a mild depression because everywhere you turn you see areas you and your husband are desperately trying to keep up with, but haven't quite maintained fully.  You know you are both trying your best, but yet... the house suffers.

I should qualify that I am grateful to have work.  There was a time I would have given ANYTHING to have work when I was unemployed.  So, while my work demands are high, I need to be grateful in these times that I have work.

Now that you have a background as to why I am so overwhelmed and behind, and I suspect that my story is not unique, and that there are many with my story.

Let's start the Cleaning Diaries and journey together to a cleaner, happier home and life.  I know that you are like me and you have an inner Clean Freak that is waiting to break free.  I am not talking about an OCD kind of clean freak.  That is delibitating to life, and no-body wants that sort of issue.  Rather, I am referring to the inner Clean Freak that will naturally keep your life on track and make things easier to manage, therby producing some inner peace and freedom in life.

Your assignment today:  Start a new inner dialogue.  "I am the type of person who...." (Who has to clean the kitchen before bed, who has to dust the car, wipe the winter mud off the floor, etc, etc)   Start talking to yourself as the kind of person you expect to be, and the kind of person you know you are deep down inside.  DON'T let yourself say "how did that get so dirty?  Of COURSE my family would leave that to get ruined.  It figures my family is the one that is disorganized or not ready or messy, etc"  You get the idea.  

Later today I will try to post a new housekeeping assignment and/or reflection.

Thanks for Reading

Cassie

Giada De Laurentiis New Cook Book

Today I just bought Giada De Laurentiis' new cook book.

It's called Giada's Feel Good food

This is a good one.  If you are Canadian, you can find it at Costco for just $20 + HST.

The book is full of fresh new recipes that use all the fresh and healthy ingredients that are so popular right now.  

The book boasts many recipes that are either Vegetarian, Vegan, Dairy Free or Gluten Free.  

It features a modern approach to food and recipes, even how things are served - a burger with no bun...very low carb, if you require that.

Her smoothie recipes use regular ingredients you tend to have on hand in the house, and look fantastic.

Giada's cookbooks are always full of recipes that are very user friendly to the home cook, and also delicious.

Check it out on line at Amazon, or swing by your local Costco and pick up a copy.  You'll be glad you did!

Thanks for reading,

Cassie

Giada De Laurentis Basica Marinara Sauce - Preserving Tomatos

It is the fall season.
For a couple of very busy weeks, we have been juggling the back to school rush and also preserving of tomatoes.  We have made a lot of jars of marinara sauce.

This is just a few of them.  There are many more than in this picture.

I know I haven't been writing for a while, as my life has been very busy, but I hope to post more in future dates.
Our family is on a very focused health initiative, and it is a whole foods, plant based diet.
We aren't quite vegan, but 90% vegan.
We feel better, weigh less, and are saving a bit of money too.

I can't wait to tell you more.  It will have to wait for future entries.

Our marinara sauce recipe is from Giada De Laurentis cookbook (Everyday Pasta) so all credit goes to her - the chef superstar!  Her cook books really have good and user friendly recipes.  I strongly recommend picking up one of her cookbooks to add to your collection.

Here is the recipe, but some of it we made skipping the olive oil to make it even more low fat and healthier, and we did add a bit of onion powder to boost the onion flavor:
We did this recipe, times X3.

BASIC MARINARA SAUCE:
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 small onions, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 celery stalks, finely chopped
2 carrots, peeled and finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon sea salt, plus more to taste
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste
2 (28 ounce) cans crushed tomatoes (or 1/2 bushel of fresh roma tomatoes to triple the recipe)
2 dried bay leaves

In a large pot, heat the oil over medium-high heat.  Add the onions and garlic and saute until the onions are translucent, about 10 minutes.  Add the celery, carrots and 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and pepper.  Saute until all the vegetables are soft, about 10 minutes.
Add the tomatoes and bay leaves, and simmmer uncovered over low heat until the sauce thickens, about 1 hour.  Remove and discard the bay leaves.  Season the sauce with more salt and pepper to taste.
(The sauce can be made 1 day ahead.  Cool, then cover and refrigerate.  Rewarm over medium heat before using)

Honestly folks - this marinara sauce is so delicious!  Try it today!

Thanks for reading,

Cassie

Waiting for Spring

If you live in Canada, and more specifically southern Ontario, you will know what I mean when I say that spring is just around the corner and you're dying to see it.

We have snow, and then plants pushing up out of the ground, and then is snows on top of them again.

We are so eager to get outside again and clean up all the sticks that have blown into the yard over the winter, but it's still so muddy because the ground is so soft, that the post winter clean up isn't that practical yet.

And now, in late April it's the rain.  One day it's cold and raining, then next day a bit warmer, but still raining.

Half the time the sky still looks grey like this, and we have these little ponds of water in the grass from the melted snow.

The funny thing about the area we live in, is we tend to get these mild winter-like temperatures well into the spring season and then WHAM! It's summer!  In the GTA (Greater Toronto Area) we live in, we don't get very many days of classic spring temperatures between 15 - 20 degrees.  

So what do you do with rainy days and weather that's still a bit too cool?  

- walk the dog like the lady in the picture above is (a Brampton Picture)

- catch up on house projects inside

- Plan your garden and outdoor projects on paper.

So there you have it, hang in there, before you know it the nice weather will be here.

Thanks for reading

Cassie