I really need to get back into the habit of using the 3 in 30 challenge to focus on specific tasks and get things done around here. Habits, projects, you name it. I decided I was going to do this again and even though I haven’t gotten around to write a post about it before now, I’ve already been working on some habits for this month.

What I’m saying is.. I intended to write this post at the first of the year and get right down to business working on my goals.

And then I got sick. Actually I got sick even before the new year began. New Year’s Eve eve found me holding my head in the fetal position while dosing up on allergy meds and decongestants. Apparently cedar pollen is going crazy here and my sinuses were screaming in opposition. I didn’t need weather.com to ME there was something in the air…

But despite the assault on my senses, I managed to pick out three goals for January and actually start working on them a little.

The first one is a “gimme.” Kind of a cheater, I think. But it’s a legitimate goal.

1.) Bring back all the habits that have gone before…

There were several habits we worked on and added into our routine during the year last year that for one reason or another fell by the wayside. I like to blame the holidays. Okay sure, some of them may have disappeared before then, but can I pretend it was just the holidays? Blaming aside, they need to come back. WE need them to come back. So this month I’m gathering the good, harnessing the helpful, rallying the routine. My first goal/habit this month is getting up by 7:30, getting in some quiet morning time and bible study, and starting our bedtime routine at 7:30 to get the kids in bed by 8:30 for a story.

2.)  A new format for an old habit…

Morning family devotions is something we’ve been working on for a while. Last year we tried devotionals individually at the same time. This year we’re using The Jesus Calling Devotional for Kids and the Gospel Story Bible (along with some journals) and doing it together. Right now our morning routine is shot, ruined by too much holiday time and too much tv. My goal for this month is to cut off our morning tv time, and develop a daily morning family devotional time.

3.) A little self maintenance PLEASE?

Okay, I’ve NEVER really been very good at washing my face every night before I go to bed or using moisturizer each day (let alone anything with sunblock in it.) I’ll do great at keeping my nails trimmed for a while and then realize they’re terrible. One of my goals for 2012 is to take better care of myself and that starts with the small stuff, right? This month I’m starting small. Yes, I’m also trying to drink more water and make some diet changes but that’s outside of this goal. This goal is all about self-maintenance. One thing I decided to do to make that easier was put everything in one place. DUH, RIGHT? So this week I reorganized the medicine cabinet in the bathroom, removed some less used items to under the sink and made sure all of my regular items are together.  Hopefully keeping these things all together in one place will help a little bit — when I’m in the cabinet for my deodorant, which I DON’T forget, I’ll see the moisturizer and remember it. Sounds good in theory right? So the first part of this goal was to set up the medicine cabinet – Done. The 2nd part is to USE it and develop a better daily (or weekly for nails, etc.) habit of taking care of myself, starting with the small things. Little things matter, too.

So those are my 3 goals for this month. And even though I’m only just now getting the post up I have been trying to work on them already. Can you believe we’re already a 3rd of the way through January?! Yep! So I’ll check back in at the end of the month and let you know how it went! What about you — working on any goals this month? Or new year’s resolutions or something?

Check out the 3 in 30 Challenge here.

Yup, on Tuesday. Just roll with it, mkay? This week I needed to just keep things simple, no new recipes this week, and I wanted to make sure I used many of the items we received in our organic produce co-op share. But later this week we’ll have some honest to goodness chilly weather again so it will be perfect weather for soup!

Tuesday ~ Grilled Chicken Salads (using several items from the organic produce co-op: green leaf lettuce, broccolini, red bell pepper and parsnips. Also, green onions)

Wednesday ~ Meatloaf, sweet potatoes (from the co-op, baked or mashed I haven’t decided,) home-canned ranch beans and cornbread

Thursday ~ Baked potato soup (using co-op potatoes) with bacon, cheese and green onions.

Friday ~ Tacos (using the lettuce and tomato from the co-op, as well as the avocados.)

Saturday ~ Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup with potatoes and carrots

Sunday ~ Pancakes for supper – with sausage, scrambled eggs, and I’m thinking, a CRANBERRY COMPOTE with our co-op cranberries, yes??

Menu Plan Monday is hosted by Laura the Org Junkie (and yes, I’m going to start trying to do this again! Between the produce co-op and all the goodies my mom and I are canning, I need to make sure I use all up the good food we’re getting!)

I’ve been wanting to share this with y’all for a few weeks now.. and since I’ve been a little too busy for long-winded posts I thought I’d take the opportunity to just share this real quick. ; )

Last month I decided I wanted to type up some family rules and frame them on the wall. Yes, I wanted something nice to look at, but I wanted rules that really reflect our standards for our family, that I could really use to direct our kids to, to remind them of, to point them to when NEED that reminder. I put a lot of thought into it and this is what I came up with:

The rules, in case you can’t see the picture, say:

Love God more.

Always tell the truth.

Think of others before you think of yourself.

Do it right the first time.

Think lovely thoughts.

Be respectful.

Don’t argue with Mom and Dad.

Love each other.

Listen without interrupting.

Use your manners.

Do everything without complaining.

Say your prayers.

If you think about it just a little bit you can recognize all of the bible verses behind those. We have some of them memorized already and I intend to add the rest to our memory verse box soon.

As far as USING them goes? How is that doing? It’s going… Sometimes I forget they’re there but I am starting to remember more often and direct the kids to them more often and I think that as I keep practicing that we’ll get to the point where this standard for our home is referred to quite frequently, as well as the verses that support them. In the meantime, it felt good just to lay it out and black and white and tell the kids “this is where we’re setting the bar.” It’s a good place to start. =)

As I said the other day, last week I made a commitment to start making more things from scratch again. I’d kinda let that fall by the wayside a little bit. I’m not talking about things like making enchiladas instead of buying a frozen enchilada meal.. I do THAT all the time. I talking about the individual ingredients. For example, it’s been a while since I’ve made my own tortillas. MAN, those things are good, I should do that again soon!

MMm.. tortillas… I digress.

Maybe I haven’t been making tortillas this week but there are plenty of things I *have* been making.  Or if I haven’t made them in the past week, then they’re on the list for things to make this week.

1. Kale Chips (counting this, because even though it might be considered a “side” I was thinking “Storebought chip replacements!”)
2. Buttermilk biscuits -  no biscuit mix here! I used the copycat KFC recipe at the bottom of that page. And real buttermilk. And real butter. And unbleached flour. MMmmmmm.
3. Yeast Rolls. Easy! The leftovers made GREAT sausage “biscuit” sandwiches for lunch the next day.
4. Granola. Easy peasy. I didn’t even look at a recipe. I tossed some oats with honey and cinnamon to coat and baked them til done. Little Prince ate it like cereal with milk on it.
5. Granola Bars – the yummiest ones I’ve ever made. I think I should have baked them a smidge longer get them a little firmer…
6. Coffee Creamer and more Coffee Creamer! (Oh my goodness, you have to try this.)
7. Yogurt (in the crockpot.)
8. Fruit Leather made with apples and pears.
9. Slow Oven-Roasted Dried Tomatoes for snacking or instead of chips. Say, “Goodbye chips!”
10. Dried Apples- more good snackins!

Hm. Looking at my list again I think I could have called this, “10 Recipes to Eat Simply.” I feel like I’m adding all these gourmet foods to our diet but the truth is that they’re all very SIMPLE. And basic and back to the way God made them.. AND OH SO YUMMY.

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by Amanda @ Oh Amanda. I thought I’d join in for a while — I have a lot of things to catch up on and share and Top Ten lists sure are an easy way to do that!! =)

One of the things that I wanted for my blog when I started it way back when, way back when it was “Bringing Good Home” on WordPress, was to blog about “good things.” The blog title came from the verse that’s on my header right now: “She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life.” I wanted to blog about bringing “Good” into our home. Lately, I’ve blogged mostly about homeschool. And that’s a good thing. But there are other good things — recipes, etc– that have fallen by the wayside. That’s partially because there’s been a little bit less of that thing around the house lately, and partially because there’s been an increase in homeschooling with three kids in school now (which is why there’s been a little bit less of the other good stuff.) And when I find time to blog it’s mostly for homeschooling blog posts.

But this past week I set a goal to cook more stuff from scratch again. I knew it was going to take some time and planning (and it DID) but it has been worth it! On Saturday I went to my mom’s house and while we canned some pinto beans I also made some granola bars (which turned out Y.U.M.M.Y!) and some homemade coffee creamer. The results of which, were also Y.U.M.M.Y.

The best part is that it doesn’t have loads of artificial junk in it. I typically avoid foods with any kind of partially hydrogenated anything in it but I’ve always made an exception for my coffee creamer. I turned my head and looked away because I didn’t want to look at this:

INGREDIENTS: WATER, SUGAR, PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED SOYBEAN AND/OR COTTONSEED OIL, AND LESS THAN 2% OF NATURAL & ARTIFICIAL FLAVORS, SODIUM CASEINATE (A MILK DERIVATIVE)**, DIPOTASSIUM PHOSPHATE, DISODIUM PHOSPHATE, MONO- AND DIGLYCERIDES, CELLULOSE GEL, CELLULOSE GUM, COLOR ADDED, SALT, CARRAGEENAN, SUCRALOSE.

Pretty, isn’t it? I mean, pretty long and complicated and not-so-healthy. But it’s my COFFEE. And I’m not willing to drink it black. So, I didn’t.

I kept drinking it. Even after I started suspecting that it was making my slightly sick to my stomach (because I didn’t get the same feeling if I just used cream and sugar.) Yup. I kept drinking it. What can I say?

Which is why I was so excited when I found this recipe for homemade coffee creamer! Can you imagine how happy that made me?? I want to leap for joy. Not only is it tasty but it’s really, really easy to make.

REALLY.

And the ingredients look better, too:

Cinnamon Strudel Creamer: whole milk, heavy cream, maple syrup (NOT maple FLAVORED syrup), ground cinnamon (splurge on some good cinnamon, not the generic “ground cinnamon,”*) vanilla extract, almond extract.

Doesn’t that sound so much better?? Yes, it’s whole milk and heavy cream. It has fat in it. Our bodies need some fat. Some healthy fat. And that flavored liquid creamer I was buying? It’s non dairy. It doesn’t count as a milk. It has no calcium. This has real milk, calcium, healthy fat and is sweetened with a little bit of maple syrup, whereas “sugar” is the second ingredient on the storebought label.

It’s just all around a better deal. It’s probably a little more expensive, I didn’t do a cost analysis on it, but it didn’t make me sick to my stomach so that’s worth something, too, right?

One more thing. Check this out…

Nutritional information for one TBSP of the storebought stuff:

• Calories – 35
• Total Fat – 1.5g
• Cholesterol – 0mg
• Sodium – 30mg
• Total Carbohydrates – 5g
• Sugars – 5g
• Protein – 0g

Nutritional information for one TBSP of the homemade stuff:

• Calories – 37.9
• Total Fat – 3g
• Cholesterol – 10.8 mg
• Sodium – 7 mg
• Potassium – 11.6 mg
• Total Carbohydrates – 2.3 g
• Dietary Fiber – 0.1g
• Sugars – 1.9g
• Protein – 0.4g
• Vitamin A – 2.3% DV
• Vitamin B12 – 0.2% DV
• Vitamin B6 – 0.1% DV
• Vitamin C – 0.1% DV
• Vitamin D – 1.7% DV
• Vitamin E – 0.2% DV
• Calcium – 1.7% DV
• Copper – 0.1% DV
• Folate – 0.1 % DV
• Iron – 0.4% DV
• Magnesium – 0.2% DV
• Manganese – 5.1% DV
• Pantothenic Acid – 0.2% DV
• Phosphorus – 0.5% DV
• Riboflavin – 0.5% DV
• Selenium – 0.1% DV
• Thiamin 0.1% DV
• Zinc – 0.8% DV

With as easy as it is to make my own coffee creamer and with the healthier ingredient list, I’d be silly not to keep doing this. It was easy to double the recipe, but I split it with my mom so I’m already getting low on creamer. Looks like it’s time to get some cream and get back in the kitchen, right? = )

*Ceylon cinnamon is the best, called the “true” cinnamon. It’s not as bitter, has better flavor and is apparently healthier. It is also more expensive. Saigon cinnamon is a decent alternative, not as good as the Ceylon, not as bad as the Cassia and Burmanii and not too expensive to break the bank. More info.

** Recipe found here. Nutrition was calculated here. Storebought creamer info found here. Creamer can be stored in pint jars and kept in the refrigerator, for a length of time as of yet undetermined due to rapid consumption in short time frames. ; )

It’s been a while since I’ve written about 3 in 30. Not that I didn’t want to.. I’ve been meaning to every month since the last time I did (was that March? April?) This month marks a new beginning, the beginning of our new school year. With that new school year comes a few minor changes and a lot of resolve to stay on track and be diligent. Jumping back in with 3 in 30 not only gives me a way to focus on 3 habits to aid that resolve but it also seems kind of fitting.

At beginning of the year I made a resolution to work on having a well-functioning home. The conception of 3 in 30 gave me a way to focus on that and I jumped in with both feet. Over the first quarter of the year I worked hard at it, and we established some good habits and routines in our household. April brought changes, GOOD ONES, and a very long Spring break, also GOOD, but both of those things pulled the rug out from under our routine and during the second quarter of the year I focused on regaining my footing more than anything else. July brought with it a new challenge — planning for the new school year. In addition to housework that was always a step away from “seriously behind” rather than staying a step ahead of it, and in addition to still having lost habits that hadn’t been recovered, I added to my plate the task of buying curriculum, lesson planning, organizing and the like. The third quarter so far has brought a little restoration of order. And now as we wrap up this third quarter with September, I turn to 3 1in 30 once again to help me put the rest of the “lost habits” back in place.

Goal #1 : Morning Quiet Time

This habit has faltered and sputtered a little over the past few months, but thankfully it hasn’t fallen off the wagon completely. Our morning basket has proven to be a nice useful tool–we just need to further cement the habit of having our morning quiet time first. I *think* that being back in the school year will help because there will be more purpose to our day and less of a lazy, relaxed attitude. Things I can do to help with this habit:

• start covering the tv at night again, to prevent the tv from coming on first thing in the morning. — This really works so well! It serves as a great visual reminder, and though the 5yo may whine about it a little, it’s mostly accepted by the children and it’s such an easy way to control the tv habit.
• make sure that I get up on time and get the children up on time.
• plan ahead for breakfast.

Goal #2 : Starting School on Time

It’s even more important than ever that we begin our school day on time. With adding more into our morning routine, I don’t want to neglect the start of our school day. Having added more to our school day I don’t want to get a late start and sabotage our day before it begins. Getting school started early and well affects how the whole day goes. Using 3 in 30 to really focus on that habit should help us get the school year off to a strong start. Things I can do to help with this habit (after getting the kids up on time, that is):

• Set a time limit for breakfast
• Set a time limit for morning quiet time
• Utilize a morning routine chart or list
• Set an alarm for the beginning of the school day.

Goal #3 Back on track with bedtime.

I MISS OUR BEDTIME ROUTINE. It went out the window with Spring Break. I’ve tried a little bit here and there to get it back but I haven’t tried hard enough, I guess. I suspect that getting back into the school year will help with this one also because being in school bring a natural order and purpose to the day. Getting up on time will help, too. Things to do to help with this habit:

• Make sure supper is on time. (Between 5 and 5:30.)
• Starting bath time by 7:30.
• Setting an alarm for story time at 8:15.

These are my 3 in 30 goals for September. These 3 things alone will bring MUCH order back to our day. And I need that. My messy, right brain, NOT self-disciplined self CRAVES the order. It also helps our home function, our family stay happy, our school get done and many other things.

You can learn more about 3 in 30 here.