How did I do?

 Last week I had a big list of things I needed to do.  Let's see how I did!

1.Last week I talked about how I needed to do some major organizing in our basement.  That didn't happen.  👎

2.  I wanted to get more shelving for our basement organization and for our pantry.  I thought about it and the husband and I talked about it while we were at Costco.  We even looked at the shelving, but decided not to get it right now.  👎

3.  I wanted to put the "general store" back together and organize it.  That didn't happen. 👎

4. I needed to stock up on a few things we were getting low on.  I got everything on my list except sugar and flour. 👍👎

5.  I made my bed every single day. 👍

6.  We ate at home each night (which is a big deal for us), because I had menu planned.  One meal we didn't like at all and opted for leftovers instead. 👍

I pretty much failed last week, but I have to say, that was a pretty big list.  However, it got me thinking about what needs to happen and how it needs to happen.  And that is a big start.  

This week the weather looks yucky.  So I am thinking that I will be able to get some of the organizing done in the basement while it is rainy outside. That is the plan.  We will see how much I get done. 👍

Plans for week of 6/12

 We got some news yesterday and we will be having our son and his fiance moving back in with us temporarily while they save for a house and wedding.  Soooo......that means a whole household of stuff will be moving in with them too.  This means I need to get on my basement organization.  I have a lot of things that are just laying around down there that I don't need or want and I just need to get that stuff gone.  I also have a bunch of my daughter's stuff that has been just sitting in piles from when she moved home from college a few months ago.  That needs to get put away finally and organized as she will be moving overseas in a couple months and won't be needing any of that stuff for a while.

We also just was gifted a TON of emergency gear from a "prepper" who prepped for his family of 12 for 3 years.  He is active military but moving and can't take this with him.  So he gifted it to us.  We have 4 to 5 pick up truck loads of stuff that I need to go though and organize as well. 

I am thinking I need more shelving at this point. Shelves on wheels so I can move them around too.  I a thinking 4 will help. I plan to double my pantry storage in the basement, reorganize our "general store" with some smaller totes and organizational boxes. 

This is going to be a big undertaking but I think I can at least start on it this week.  

Also this week I need to stock up on a few items. We are running low on sugar and flour, salt, pepper, and spaghetti sauce.

I will be, as always, making my bed.  I meal prepped and grocery shopped yesterday for this week until Thursday or Friday.  I am hoping we will have enough leftovers to carry over to the next night once or twice too.  

Am I a Prepper?

 Honestly, I don't know.  I don't consider myself a "prepper" in the sense that the media has defined a prepper.  I gather from the media (social media, tv shows, internet, blogs, etc.) that most people describe a prepper to be someone who prepares for invasion of their property and end of the world times.  This is SO NOT why I prep!

I like to be prepared.  We have a well stocked pantry and freezer.  We have emergency supplies for when the lights go out and are out for a while (like days), and we carry emergency kits in our cars.  Am I a prepper? Probably not.  Do we have similar supplies? Yes. Can I feed my family for several months without going to the grocery store? Yes.  Do I think the world is coming to an end? I certainly hope not!

As I have said in past posts, we have "planned emergencies".  These really aren't emergencies but they are times where we rely on our food storage to get us through a lean time in our year.   We also hate to have an appliance break or some household item break and us no be able to replace it.  We keep an emergency fund for those times.  We USE that emergency fund several times a year.  When it gets used, we immediately start saving it again.  I stock up on band-aids, cough and cold meds, and other minor medical needs.  I keep well stocked on toiletries, such as tooth brushes, soaps, shampoos, deodorant, and the like.  

I have long term storage too.  Wheat berries, ground flour, some long term freeze dried foods, dried milk, etc.  When I buy ground flour, sugar or coffee, I buy in bulk 25 to 50 lbs at a time.

So, am I a prepper? I don't think so.  I think I am just "prepared".  I am prepared for weather emergencies.  I am prepared for black out emergencies.  I am prepared for times when we need to rely on our food storage to get us through a tough spell.  

Meal Planning 101

Grilled pork chops are a
quick and easy meal.

Being prepared takes time and the more time you put up front the better the week will be. This means that you have to put in some planning time before the week begins to plan out your week.  Grab your calendar, let's do this!

Looking at my calendar I add anything I don't already have on it.  Then I look over each day and see where I will be and what I will be doing.  This helps with the next step.  I look to see if there are days I am going to be out for dinner or lunch.  Then I look to see if my last appointment buts up to a meal where I won't have time to cook or make it. I don't have a job where I am in an office.  If I did, then lunches would be easy.  When I did have a job in an office, I packed my lunch every day.  I usually packed leftovers from last night's dinner.  I planned dinners where I would have leftovers for my lunches. If I didn't have leftovers then I packed a frozen meal or a sandwich. 

Now, let's talk dinners.  On my calendar where an appointment buts up to dinner time, I try to plan a meal that cooks all day in the crock pot with minimal additional prep.  I plan those first. Next I look at what I have in our freezers or what needs to be eaten soon.  I make sure those items are on the menu somewhere. We are a "meat and potatoes" family so I plan the meat first then add in the sides.  This whole process so far takes me about 5 minutes.  If I know we are tight on money then I make sure I shop my pantry (this is where a well-stocked pantry comes in handy). 

One of our favorite dinners is
crockpot spaghetti sauce. 
See below for the recipe.

Once I have a menu planned.  I start my grocery list. 

Truly it is that easy.  That little bit of time will save you from my life right now.  It is 5:43 and I didn't plan dinner.  I have no meat thawed and have nothing that can be quickly cooked.  We tend to be an "ingredients" house.  We don't do prepared foods because 1. it isn't good for you and 2. it isn't that good. So whatever we eat we have to make, like actually make. Tonight might become "Pizza Friday" and that is okay.  Tomorrow I will meal plan for next week and grocery shop.  

A big part of being prepared is forgiving yourself when you have dropped the ball.  I see my mistakes and I see the results when I don't menu plan. When I fail I forgive myself and jump back on that wagon. So tomorrow I menu plan.

Quick Crock Pot Spaghetti Sauce

Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef or (our favorite) ground Sweet Italian pork sausage

2 16 oz. jars your favorite spaghetti sauce.

Brown the meat in a saute pan. Drain any fat. 

Mix the two jars of spaghetti sauce and the browned meat in a crock pot.  Turn on low and let cook 4 to 6 hours stirring occasionally.  

Serve over pasta noodles with warm, crusty bread and a salad. 

Why put this in a crock pot and cook all day when you can quickly mix, heat and serve immediately?  Because the flavors meld together and take a mediocre jarred spaghetti sauce to the next level.  It tastes homemade and amazing!!  Give it a try!!

Being Prepared Takes Time: Make Your Bed

A beacon of light in the chaos of life. 

 This is a marathon, not a sprint!  It is also a two steps forward, one step back sort of thing. 

And I feel like I am starting all over again.  Because I am starting all over again, I thought I would blog about my journey.

First, let's talk about what it means to be "prepared".  "A Prepared Mom" started as my blog documenting my thoughts on emergency preparedness, mom tips for traveling with kids, quick meals, and such.  As I continued to blog, I felt like I was just reiterating the same topics over and over again, so I stopped blogging because I felt I had nothing additional to offer. 

Recently, I have been thinking a lot about our change in situation and where we are now. I thought I would start this blog again to perhaps help someone else going through this transition too.

So, here we are.  When I first started blogging, I had little kids.  Now my little kids are not so little anymore.  They are all adults.  One no longer lives with us.  One is on her way to grad school overseas, and one is still living with us but living her own life very, very independently.  We are experiencing this in between phase where sometimes we are almost empty-nesters and then other times we are back to a pretty full house.  I never know when people will be home for dinner.  I struggle with others making a mess and not cleaning it up or helping to clean up general family house mess.  So here I am.  Messy house. 2 growing puppies. 2 adult kids who can't seem to clean up after themselves.  A husband who works way too much.  Chaos.

I keep reminding myself that one day I will miss not having the kids around and without this constant craziness.

So today I will make my bed.  Since it is Sunday, I will actually strip my bed and change the sheets too. Why do I choose this one thing?  Some bloggers have chosen the "Fly Lady" method and pick clean your sink.  But I choose Make Your Bed as my one thing that I do every day.  I have a long laundry list of things I want to get done but today, I will make my bed. 

When I was a first year in college my roommate was awesome.  She was patient and so forgiving of my mess, my clutter, and me.  About 2 months into our year, I noticed that every so often she would make my bed.  One day she asked me if I would do her a favor and help her out.  She said that the mess around the room didn't bother her as long as my bed was made.  She said all I had to do was pull up the sheet and comforter and plop my pillow on top.  It didn't even have to be wrinkle free or sheets have hospital corners, just pulled up and pillow on top. I figured I was getting the better end of the deal.  I could not worry about my mess, clothes on the floor, books everywhere, piles on the desk as long as I made my bed.  She encouraged me to do it as soon as I got up. And I did.  For her.

To this day, I make my bed every morning. I have come to love this little thing I do for myself and my husband (though he pulls his side up when he gets out of bed too).  I find that no matter how horrible my day turns out, or how unaccomplished I feel at the end of the day, I can always climb into a bed that was made.  So I DID accomplish something.  Even if it was that one thing.

How does this relate to being prepared?  Moms have 50 thousand things going on and are pulled in 85 different directions all the time.  Moms also are tending to everyone all the time.  Making your bed is one little thing that takes all of about 15 seconds, 30 at the most.  This little thing prepares you mentally for the day.  It allows you to check one box right away.  This check will perpetuate into feeling more productive throughout the day.  But if you weren't all that productive, when you climb into bed you will look at your made bed and know you accomplished at least one thing that day and you will feel better for it. So why not spend the 15 or 30 seconds and straighten up your bed as soon as you get out of it?  Your future self will love you for it.