Breakfast made easy

As I mentioned in the oatmeal post I love to make my mornings as easy as possible for as little cost as possible. Most of the easy breakfast options that you can find in the grocery store are super expensive like frozen Waffles.  I decided there had to be a cheaper way.

We were walking through Target one day and with a big clearance sticker on it was a waffle maker so I had to buy it.  Did you know you can freeze homemade Waffles so  you have them for a quick warm breakfasts? Well you can which brings me to my favorite breakfast tip.  Make your own Waffles and freeze them. When I make mine I typically will make the entire box of mix at once.  This morning I got 18 waffles out of the box mix I had and these aren't those tiny ego ones I bet these are 1 1/2 times the size of those.  The best part is I think I paid $1.20 for the boxof mix. 

A few tips I have learned freeze them on a lined cookie sheet placing sheets of waxed paper or foil between layers . Put the entire cookie sheet in the freezer until you are sure they are frozen then transfer to freezer bags.  When heating them up, because they are so thick,  I have found it helps to heat then in the microwave first to de-thaw them then use the toaster to crisp them up.

You could also put fruit in the batter if you wanted blueberry waffles or other flavor. This process also works for pancakes I just heat them in the microwave no need to toast.  I have both in my freezer at all times!

Hopefully this makes the hustle and bustle of mornings a little easier.

Karen

Refrigerator Calendar

Sorry it has been a while since I posted, I had wisdom teeth pulled and then the holidays so it has been a crazy few weeks at my house.  With the new year upon us I thought I might post about my refrigerator calendar system, might as well start the new year being organized.

Chris gets his work schedule a month at time and we have 4 sets of people that watch the kids for my 2 serving shifts a week so I needed some way of organizing all of that information.  For a long time I would just print two blank calendars on my computer and keep changing them. Every time we hit a new month I would replace them.  I need two because although Chris gets his schedule it is more like 4 weeks at a time so it may cross two months. Anyway I wanted something that looked a little nicer and didn't involve printing it every month.

If you are on Pinterest you may have seen the paint chip calendars And this is a spin on that. I used cardstock instead.

I just cut my cardstock in 1 1/4 in. Squares and layed it out on a background sheet of cardstock cut so it would fit in an 8x10 frame.  On a side note if you are interested in doing this I recommend using a bigger frame than 8x10 there is very little room to write but since I needed 2 on my fridge I was forced to use 8x10. If you go with a larger frame your squares would increase. in size. Why a frame you ask?  The glass turns this into a dry erase board so you can just wipe it off when the next month comes!

Now if you are anything like me when using a dry erase calendar you frequently accidently erase things with your hand I have a solution,  use wet erase markers.  Do you remember those dinosaur overhead projectors that teachers used with transparencies? The markers they use to write on those are wet erase.  I didn't look to see if I could get them at my local store but if there is a teacher supply shop by you they definitely have them there. They don't wipe off until you get them wet so you just get a paper towel wet wipe it off, dry it,  and it is ready to reuse.

I also used this concept to make a running grocery list. When I wait until I go to the store to make my list I always forget stuff so this way as I realize I need it I put  it on the list.  I used a 5x7 frame and just cut a piece of notebook paper to fit and done. This would make a cute gift too, just add a ribbon and a marker and presto! Don't worry about copying it to paper just take a pic with your phone! What did we do without smartphones?

I hung all of this with command strips on my fridge, magnetic strips would work too but I didn't have any.  I also used velcrow to attach my pack of markets to a heavy magnet so they could hang too.

You could make multiple calendars for every family member or make one poster sizedand color code each person,  the possibilities are endless!  Hopefully this post helps get you a little organized.

Karen