Welcome!
Spring is here and our de-cluttering project is still in full swing. We have a garage piled with things slated for our upcoming garage sale. If anyone were to drive by when our garage door is open they would think we were hoarders! We still have a few areas to comb through; our camping equipment, my gardening shelves and D's workbench. Hopefully, during our upcoming long Easter weekend, we can complete these tasks and then prepare for our garage sale the next weekend.
We are coming into our busiest season of the year, continuing with the children's year long activities but in the spring we add non-stop soccer, a voice festival, and a piano exam. In addition, our 16 year will be refereeing soccer once again which adds more trips to the playing fields. Also, in a few weeks we will go and collect our University son and bring him home for the summer. Both of our older boys will be working hard throughout the summer at their respective jobs, so we will be doing lots of transportation juggling as well.
And as if that weren't enough, I have agreed to work at the garden center, where I started working last year, which will start at the end of April and go for a few months. I loved it, but juggling our large family commitments is not an easy task. So I thought I would make some energy bars the other day to start gearing up. I've started lifting weights again and the added protein will help me recover faster.
These energy bars went as quickly as it took to make them, so I thought this was something I wanted to share with my blog friends. My older sons aren't crazy about dried fruit in their bars and although my last recipe (I blogged about it last year) called for dried cranberry, (which I personally love) these do not have any fruit, hence they went fast
The next time you have a busy week and need some quick, nutritious snacks, make a batch and put them in a tin for your special people. Celebrate Spring~
Quick Ready for Spring Energy Bars
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups oats
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup chopped almonds
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
4 tbsp of protein powder (I used unflavoured whey powder I bought at our local bulk store)
2 tbsp of cocoa
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup peanut butter (just peanuts)
Directions
Add the oats, sunflower seeds, almonds, walnuts, protein powder and cocoa into a large mixing bowl and combine well.
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| Kate and Victoria enjoyed mixing all the dry ingredients |
Stir in the honey and the peanut butter and mix really well, until it is well combined.
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| Now for the peanut butter and honey, yummy! |
Press into an 8x8 glass baking pan...Layer it first with parchment paper for easy removal
Put it in the fridge to set up...a few hours
Cut into bars, the size of your choice. Eat and get energized
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| Once cut and put on a plate they flew into my kid's mouths. I was lucky to take a final shot of the end product |
And now with that extra energy, you can join me in continuing the de-cluttering process.
Recently, when a friend of mine heard about our move towards minimalism and our big de-cluttering project, she sighed and said, she didn't know where to start. Like me, she is busy with her family and she has years of stuff accumulated from her children. While they are older, she is dealing with lots of childhood memorabilia. I was thinking of what I have learned and thought I would share FOUR quick de-cluttering steps that got me going, even BEFORE I started going drawer by drawer and closet by closet, which may help you if you are feeling overwhelmed and don't know where to start. These are not just steps to build the momentum you need to then move to drawers and closets but a good practice to maintain all the time so things don't get out of hand.
Four Quick steps to assist you towards de-cluttering your home
1. Keep the kitchen sink clean
Further to number 1: Go through your house as you would normally and do a regular clean. Start in the kitchen first and make sure all the dishes are washed, cleaned and put away. Years ago, I found the flylady website, which teaches systematic cleaning and organizing. Although, I'm highly organized already, I didn't need help in that area but as we added more children to our family, it took more time for me to get through my daily cleaning routine and I needed some help.
What flylady recommends is to make sure your kitchen sink is always clean because that is a pivotal place of power in any home. If things are not clean at that station, then the energy just doesn't flow well anywhere. When my kids were babies, sometimes just having a clean sink was my goal. (and getting dressed everyday)
2. Pick Up All Loose Garbage
Further to number 2: As you move through your house, clear out all garbage cans and pick up any loose garbage lying around. I don't know about you but in our house there always seems to be empty bags from stores even though we are consciously moving in the direction of zero waste by not bringing any extra packaging or bags into our house. For instance, before Spring break, Will came home from kindergarten with a plastic bag abundant with art projects from his kindergarten teacher.. These things just migrate into our home and multiply like the dust bunnies under our beds.
Another area that is quick work in filling your recycling bin, is at the kitchen desk (or wherever your family drops things when coming in from outside the home; keys, mail, etc. Even though, as a society we are moving towards using less paper, it arrives silently and lands on my desk. Flyers advertising various camps and activities for the kids, notices from school that aren't emailed, little things I clip from our local newspaper. Lately, job ads for my University son. (am I ever becoming my mother!!! She always collected little pieces of information she had found in the newspaper or magazine for us girls) Anyway, you get the picture. Get it out to the recycling bin and clear up the paper trail in your home. Then try to be mindful about not bringing it home. Keep this landing spot cleared of clutter.
3. Get Rid of Duplicate Household Items
Further to number 3: As you are putting things in order, look for any items that are duplicates. Recently, I noticed that I have many duplicates of things, not just in my kitchen but in my bathroom. I found a second punch bowl for instance and it was a no brainer to let the second one go into our garage sale pile. (Set up a donation box somewhere in your house and when it's full decide where the contents are going to go)
For a second, my thought process was that one punch bowl could be filled with punch and the other one would look great filled with popcorn, a big snack fav in our house but then I said, "oh Hope, when was the last time you did that?...you need help!" and I let the second one go into the garage sale pile.
As I was blow drying my hair, I realized I had a second curling iron that I must have been keeping in case the first one breaks. I don't even curl my hair and the few times I curl Grace's hair, I certainly don't need two irons. (and really do I need even one?) Don't even ask me about how many cookie sheets and muffin tins I have. These are easy things to clear out as you are putting away your regularly used pieces. This added space in your drawers and cupboards will allow you to put the things you really need away or retrieve easily. Get rid of your duplicates.
4. Remove Any empty Bottles/toiletries in Your Home
Further to number 4: We are notorious for purchasing new shampoo, soap and lotion before we have completed our current bottle. I'd like to share a shampoo recipe with you so you don't have to buy any bottles but that will have to be a future blog. That is ideally the direction to take but if you are like me, we do occasionally buy toiletries at the store and at any given time an array of nearly empty bottles are in our bathroom. Do a clean sweep.(ha) Pull the almost empty bottles out and use the product and then recycle the bottle. (Better yet, fill it with homemade shampoo or lotion and don't buy another....I'll do a blog about making our own toiletries soon)
I've been really good at clearing out our bathroom but when I did a sweep recently, I was surprised to find an abundance of almost finished products or expired items. (do you have old mascara bottles for instance?) I had been keeping several empty bottles for the kids to play with in the bathtub but really, how many do they need!Actually, none and instead I trade that for old funnels and beach buckets that we use in the summer and can use in the bath. (Also, although they don't play with their little Fisher Price people on a day to day basis, when I let them have them in the tub, all of a sudden they are fun again.)
The kids also went to the dentist recently and received new toothbrushes but instead of throwing out the brushes they have been using since Christmas, I noticed everyone now had two brushes. Their old, well worn one and their new one. Before both look like the former, I went through and threw out all of the old brushes. Yuck hey! When you have 6 kids, currently in the house, that is a lot of brushes! Get rid of them! Remove your empty bottles and toiletries. 
Well, those are some quick tips for moving things out quickly. It's funny how papers/newspapers, bottles, plastic bags and extra items that are just duplicates of what we already own, come into our home. Well that is life. It's a continuous process of acquiring and letting go but to make our life simpler, start asking yourself, before your purchase, "do I need this item?"
Recently my husband D's coffee grinder went kaput. In the past, we wouldn't have given it a second thought. We would have added buying a new one to our list the next time we were out but instead, he started thinking about how he might grind his beans .We tried our blender and if it were a Vitamix, it might have fit the bill nicely but it's just a regular blender. Great for smoothies but not much else. He was going to try my new food processor and see if it would work but in the meantime. when we were at Costco a week ago, he found a bag of already ground, Seattle's Best coffee, and happily he bought that. He was really happy! 
For now, we have deferred the purchase and the next time my processor is on the counter, we will have to try the last of the beans to see if it will work and hopefully we won't need to purchase a coffee grinder. Except, it does an awesome job at grinding my flax seed, so time will tell but at least we are really conscious about our consumption. The energy it takes to earn the money to buy another coffee grinder and the energy it takes from our earth to make another one for our home, plus having to recycle the one we had...well it's all energy isn't it?
Well that's my blog for today. I'm heading out to enjoy some of the sunshine and assess my garden before the kids come home from school. My sister was saying she has things planted already and she lives just 20 minutes away from us, where winter lasts a bit longer, so I'd better get going if we want any kale, lettuce, arugula, spinach, carrots, turnips, potatoes, beets, onions, sweet peas, etc.
When we plant our seeds they produce abundantly, as do the visions we have for our lives.
What are you planting in your life?
Until we meet again, may you be well, happy and peaceful.
Blessings from Hope
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