Clean Sweep

I have the itch to organize something big time right now. I just feel this NEED to get my house running as smoothly as possible and that means going through and getting rid of the extra things that are just taking up space. This could have something to do with the fact that I put some things in our storage room and now cannot get into it because some totes fell in front of the door thus blocking entry, it could be that when my husband brought up the possibility of staying at this base an additional 4 years and I asked him if he would want to move at that point and he said no that my mind is now going OK we are pretty comfortable here with our two children but we plan to add more and well it's going to get a little crowded.

Somethings need to be kept, I really do like to get my china out and use it, someday we will have long Sunday dinners with the table set with the best dishes, to be honest I want a second set that is English, I am living in England after all I should have a set of English china as a souvenir. I don't really want to buy all new Christmas decor, or other holidays for that matter, and one day like the Sunday dinners, I will have it together enough to decorate for the changing season. But do I really need to keep the toys that cost me $3 at the thrift shop, or the $20 high chair? Well the baby IS using th high chair right now but you get the point, I probably do not. I'm even wondering if I REALLY need that extra freezer in my kitchen, though it's not really in the way and it is a good place to feed the cat.

So now I'm off to continue to purge and organize my house.

I had to move the cat food today

It's not a new thing to keep the cat food up off the floor, we have to do that to keep the dogs out of it. We have kept if various places over the years, on top of the refrigerator, in a room with a kitty door, on the dryer..... Our last house we had a little room that served as an office and pantry we kept a baby gate on the door way and put the cat food in there, here we just do not have that luxury there are three rooms down stairs kitchen, living room, and office. We don't have a full sized refrigerator and I was trying to avoid having the cat on the counters. My solution was to put the cat bowl in a window since he comes in and out of them all day anyway. Well today that plan was taken out of commission as Olivia discovered where the cat food was and started playing in it. So now the bowl is on my laundry counter, the cat may just start eating in the garage.

Oh how I love Ebay

In the last week I have bought four different fabrics that will become something. I have one now it's a plaid upholstrey weight about two yards and pretty wide in green. Part of it is going to become a bean bag chair for Olivia's room I think, it's not quite the color that I thought it was going to be. If not I'm thinking a coat, handbag, hat, I think I could get more out of it. On the way I have 7 yards of some kitchen themed fabric; I'm thinking shopping bags, table cloth/napkins, play linens for the little kitchen, aprons. For clothing I have coming 7 yards of yellow cotton/ploy and 4 yards of a brown with white polka dots, I plan to make some dresses for me and Olivia and hopefully some tops too. I was on my way to bidding on some denim, I need some for skirts and pants, when I was firmly told by Justin that I was to get no more fabric until I get my sewing room organized which will involve acquiring some organizing type furniture and a desk for our computers so the table they are on can go into the sewing room. Fair deal since you can't really walk into the room, but really he has NEVER told me I can't have something before and is usually telling me that if I want it I should go ahead and buy it. That remindes me I really should stop buying fabric and get on some auctions for notions, I could really use some fun stuff to do up projects.

Oh yeah, and after years of looking, shopping, almost buying I got 28 cloth napkins for around $20 including shipping which is not a bad price at all. I'm going to keep looking for more as most of them were dinner size and I would like more of other sizes. I'm also looking for table cloths and such too. And a cabinet to put this stuff in before I get banned from bying them too. I have a place to put the cabinet, not a place to put all the linnens with out a cabinet.

I have been enjoyin Ebay UK too. I have found what would be great deals and would solve some of my storage delimas if not for having to drive 5 or 6 hours one way to get some of it *sigh*. I have found some things a bit closer just don't want to eat our weekends up driving all over the country picing up finds and don't want to drive all over the country by myself with a child.

Under the Sink

Retro Housewife has issued a challenge to show her what is under our sinks, or what we use for cleaning for those of us who do not keep cleaning supplies under the sink so here it is. Since we have moved and I had to start from the beginning I have made an effort to go as simple as possible with my supplies I have:

Seventh Generation: dish soap, dishwasher detergent, and all purpose cleaner

baking soda

vinegar

Charlies Soap

shout

Febreez allergen reducer

borax

sea salt

liquid starch

and I need to buy rubbing alcohol

That it I use a combination of these to make various cleaning products like window washer, floor cleaner, shower spray, and scouring powder.

To take the challenge head on over to Retro Housewife and follow the instructions.

House Hunting

One of the perks of being a military family is that we get to move every few years.
One of the down sides of being a military family is that we move every few years.
I guess it depends on how you look at it. Our move is getting closer and as it does I am looking more at the options for houses that await us at the other side of the "Pond".

We have two main options Government housing which can be on or off base (as far away as 45 min) and very small (650 sq ft-1200 sq ft) or living "on the economy" meaning that we live in town in a British house and get a housing allowance. The first option, because of DH's rank and our family size, will put us in a two bedroom house where ever they have room until our family grows then we will be moved up until 4 bedroom housing (because that's as big as they get). The second option we are given a set amount of money to shop for housing and get something that will work for us size, location, amenities. Since we have lived in a 3 bedroom house or the equivalent for the last six years and do not really want to down grade and then move one or more times we are choosing door number two. I had my choice made with some out of pocket expense and a little longer commute than DH would have liked but it looked like it would fit us well and give us room to grow. Then with the new year came a higher housing allowance meaning we can afford to live closer to the bases and possible get most of my wish list for housing which include

• Recent build or remodel 4-5 bedroom (I have been living in a remodel for the last four years I would like my home to look clean with minimal effort and older homes just don't have that)
• A study for a sewing room (if it's a five bedroom it does not need this)
• A master bathroom (this is an upgrade from the one bath we have now and would hopefully allow Olivia to sleep longer in the morning since we would not be making noise right next to her door)
• Half bath downstairs (because I don't want to be stuck upstairs when I get pregnant again)
• A dryer inside and/or a utility room (Many of the houses I have looked at online do not look like there is a vent for the dryer in the house, here in the states I cannot line dry clothes because of allergies, I'm not sure about there)
• A gas cook top (I just prefer this)
• Fenced Yard so the puppies do not get out.
• Some storage space
• I think a conservatory would be cool but it's not a must.

So that's my list for some it may sound like a large house but it doesn't come up to much more than the average American split level, the bedrooms are small, were talking 8X6 or smaller in most cases for the 3rd and 4th rooms and the biggest master I have seen in our price range is about 12x11 slightly larger than the bedroom we have now.

I'm glad for two things in this process. The Internet, which allows me to get a feel for what is available before we even move over there, and the fact that we are moving to an area that we are familiar with. With any luck I'm just a couple of moves away from my dream home.

The Long Absence

Almost two months since my last post, wow I didn't realize it had been THAT long. I have done a couple of projects in the last few months but do not have pictures to show, I have been spending much of my time playing with my baby girl who is discovering new things everyday and attempting to get my house in order to sell and move. Last Saturday we got one step closer to getting our move done and got our house on the market. Now we are just waiting for a buyer, hopefully we get one before mid April, we should since we are in a good location and are not looking to make a ton of money.









Last night I made a wonderful dinner and wanted to share with everyone. We had Chicken Tikka Masala, Lentil and Rice Pilaf, Naan Bread, and Poached Pears. I took some pictures and will include those. This meal is a lot of work so make it when you have an afternoon to prepare it. Also many times I will make a very large batch of the chicken so that we can have this several times with out having to block out a day to cook. I will give directions for each dish one at a time but all of these dishes are cooking at the same time at one point or another in order to get them out on the table at the same temperature.


First the chicken. My recipe is based on this one from allrecipies.com. I took out the jalapeno pepper and cut back on the cayenne because other wise it is a very hot dish, we are talking take a bite and call the fire department. But if you can handle spice go ahead and try it with the extra pepper.

Cut three chicken breast into bite size pieces.









In a bowl combine:

1 cup plain yogurt
1 tablespoon lemon juice (I juice one half of a lemon)
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
dash of cayenne pepper (for us a little goes a long way)
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
1 tablespoon salt










Stir the chicken into this mixture and allow to marinate for at least one hour in the refrigerator.


Heat a skillet (I use cast Iron as I find it gets the best heat) and lightly oil. drain off extra marinade, place chicken in skillet, cook until liquid has cooked off. Set Cooked chicken aside.






In a large skillet melt 1 tablespoon of butter over medium heat. Saute 1 clove of garlic for one minute. Season with 2 teaspoons each cumin and paprika, and 1 tablespoon salt. Stir in 8 oz of tomato sauce and 1 cup whipping cream. Simmer on low heat until sauce thickens, about 20 minutes. Add cooked chicken and simmer for 10 minutes more.

For the rice:

My recipe for this comes from the Joy of Cooking cook book. My Grandmother bought me this cookbook the first Christmas after I was married simply because it has instructions on how to boil eggs in it and I had called my Mom asking her how to do this (something I had done many times as a teenager) because it had totally escaped my mind. My Mom spent more time laughing on the other end of the phone then it took to tell me how to do it. I don't call home and ask how to do things often any more.

Anyway the recipe is for Lentil and Rice Pilaf with Toasted Cumin Seeds. I cannot find cumin seeds where I'm at so I use cumin powder instead and it still taste great.

Stir into a medium saucepan of boiling water

1/2 cup lentils, picked over and rinsed.

Boil, uncovered, for 10 minutes; drain. Heat in an large saucepan or deep skillet over low heat:

2 table spoons vegetable oil (I use olive oil)

Add and cook just until sizzling, about 1 minute:

1 clove garlic, Finlay chopped

1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds

Add the lentils along with:

1 cup white basmati rice

Stir to combine. Add:

2 cups chicken stock

1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon salt

Bring to a boil stir once, cover and cook over medium-low heat until the stock is absorbed and the rice and lentils are tender, about 15 minutes. Uncover and let stand for 5 minutes.

This is served with Naan bread. Sometimes I make it but most times I pick it up at the grocery store. When you are just about ready to serve your meal put a couple pieces in a 400 degree oven for 4-5 minutes to warm.

We had a friend over last night whose family is of Pakistani decent. She asked us how we eat this. Justin will typically put a bed of rice down then put the chicken over it and eat it with a fork tearing off bits of bread as he needs it. I attempt to use my bread as a utensil as I know that that is the traditional way of eating it. Also I find even with cutting out a lot of the pepper it's still a spicy dish for me so the bread and a little rice in every bite tones in down a bit. Our friend said she was raised to use the bread for the meat dish but that she uses a fork for her rice. Traditionally the rice would be eaten with the hand also.

For desert I made poached pears for the May 2007 Real Simple. Go to the sight for the recipe. They were good but I forgot to take pictures and it looks much better on the sight than I would have taken.

Feeling Renewed

I don't know what it was about this weekend but somehow I just feel a sense of renewal and re freshness. I *know* that everything is going to be OK and have a better clearer plan of action.

I sat down and worked on my Home Organization Journal this weekend. I have had them in the past and they have worked but never quite gotten past the basic daily chores and a weekly deep clean. For one reason or another I have not been able to find a way to get the more irregular task done. This weekend I devised a plan that I think will work for me. When I get things put together I will do a post about it.

I have not done any sewing in the last couple of weeks, mainly because I have decided that I need to get my home in order. So this month is organize the house and set good habits month. in October I hope to start making Christmas presents for our Friends and family.

I am also going to add a volunteer endeavor to my agenda and saw a need for people to help at the Airman's Attic on base so when I am doing my running tomorrow I will go by the Airman and Family Readiness Center and see what I need to do to help with that.

Now to work on my Homemakers Journal. I hope to share it soon.

Enjoying another little break

Labor day weekend and the hubby has a four day weekend. He had to do some running yesterday and we went to Lowe's to look at some materials to put together a proper pantry in a little nook in our house that will work perfectly for that purpose, only to realise that if we bought the materials at that time we would have no way to get them to the house. We are still adjusting to having a baby seat in the back of our car. Pre-baby we would just put the back seats down and load the car up, we have hauled allot-including 42" doors in the trunk of our car. Could be one of the reasons we had to replace the strut mounts on it this summer....

Anyway since I got Olivia and I back into our routine this week and was able to keep up on my task, I was able to do some deep cleaning while DH went and got the materials and painted them up. Tomorrow I will have the shelves installed and have room to store my extra food and supplies!!!!

A return to normal

What ever that is.....

After the last three weeks of DH being on leave in anticipation for a deployment that now is not happening, visiting family and spending time together here at home starting tomorrow I will be spending the better part of next week setting up a new routine and cleaning up this house. If I spend an hour in each area of the house everyday we should be golden by the weekend. I did not get anything done last week due to the work that DH was doing on the house but it was so worth it to get the projects that have been sitting done with.

I also have to sit down and finalize our budget. Since we will not be getting the extra pay and tax benefits we thought we would we are doing some major cutting back for a couple of months to see where we can get as far as financial goals. We would love to buy a piece of land and or a house near our parents to stay in when we go home to visit but we have a few other things to square away first, along with hoping to get orders overseas and needing to make sure we can afford to take our pets with us. We sat down the week and made a plan I just have to make the arrangements to finalize it, and take the time to write it out so that if DH has to take care of things he knows what to do.

I also want to start my household notebook this week. I have had one before but it got very outdated and/or complicated. It's time to get back in the groove.