'tis the season...

for organization!  It seems like as the holiday season counts down, store shelves previously filled with holiday gifts are filled with organizational products.  I guess everyone must have "be more organized" on their list of resolutions for the new year.  :)

I have been feeling less than organized lately.  I function much better when I have a schedule, but if it is too tight I feel confined, if it is too loose I procrastinate.  I have to find the perfect balance between the two.  I have recently been working on a weekly schedule, along the lines of, if it is Monday I must be _____.

However I have no problem staying organized when it comes to meal planning and shopping, I have been doing this for years.  About a million years ago when I was homeschooling my kids, it was imperative that I have a plan not just for dinner but breakfast, lunch and snacks as well.  I learned to think once and then execute, execute, execute.  That was a long time ago, and while I don't need to be so rigid in order to get everything done, I still practice meal planning to feed the men in my life.  I have a few tricks to make it faster--Meatless Monday, Guy's Choice Thursday and my personal fave, Fast-Food Friday where I make my own version of take-out food.  I'm currently loving Bobby Deen's Beer Battered Fish and Sweet Potato Chips.  Yum.  (Focus Jenn)

I have long used a spiral bound notebook for my meal planning and shopping.  I got this idea a million years ago while homeschooling from I don't remember where or whom.  Just want to give credit where credit is due.  lol  I open it up and on the left side I list the meals I plan to make for the week with any notes regarding location of the recipe(if it is new, cookbook, website, Pinterest), any additional baking or cooking I need to do, I've even used it to plan big events and small catering jobs.  On the right side I list the ingredients I need to purchase for the recipes.  This is my shopping list.  Sure, there are always things I buy, replenish staples like fruit, veggies, hummus, eggs, milk, bread, etc and I add them to the list as needed.  Once the notebook is filled it gets put away or thrown away, depending on my mood.  This works for me for a few reasons:  it is all in one spot; when I am blocked I can look back to previous plans and pull from there; when I am doing a big event or catering job I can look back at my old notes and tweak from there; and I can see how our needs have changed.  So what does this have to do with scrapbooking?  Well, the last time I replaced my spiral notebook, I jazzed up a little notebook using Memory Works Simple Stories Campout papers and embellies.

I went the extra mile and removed the spiral from this small notebook to cover the covers.  Cover the covers, lol.  Yes, that meant I had to re-punch each hole to re-twist in the spiral.  For both the front and back.  It was worth it to me to get the finish I wanted.  I die cut the ovals and used the complimentary alphas to title the book.  I did cover the words with Crystal Effects because I knew this book would get knocked around on the counter, in my bag, in the shopping cart, etc and I knew they'd be peeling off in no time so I wanted to reinforce them.

I covered the inside as well and lined the ugly, yellowish pocket with papers as well to tuck in coupons and receipts.  I don't coupon a lot, only the few things I am brand-specific on.  I tend to cook mostly from scratch with raw ingredients and I don't usually see coupons for meats, fruits and veggies.  I do buy pre-made hummus.  And lots of it.  So I hunt down those Sabra coupons.  lol  Back to business.  I like the little "This is how we roll" sticker because it is how we function best.

So go ahead and get organized and Enjoy!