I have recently started making my own English muffins.

I blame the internet.

After reading over and over again about The Happy Housewife makes her own English muffins, and seeing the pictures of their enticing goodness, I had to try it for myself.   Actually, it was getting tired of spending so much money on them every week that led me to experiment with making my own.

I have learned a few things amidst the clouds of flour and dust of cornmeal and would love to share them with you.  So here for you now:

What NOT to do when making your own English muffins:

Subtitle: How to get a new toaster (in 5 easy steps).

1. The recipe calls for milk.  Not having milk, deciding to use coffee-mate creamer instead.  (It wasn’t flavored, at least!)

2. Fail to read how long to cook the muffins on each side.

3. Put not completely cooked English muffins in the toaster.

4. Freeze partially cooked English muffins.  (And then put them in the toaster.)

5. Not having the right size circle cutter. (Too small and they will be impossible to get out, too big and they will yield less in the recipe.)

What does have to do with the 3in30 Challenge?

So you can see what led to the demise of my poor toaster.  But there are many lessons that I learned in this process.

• Follow a recipe.
• When in doubt, consult Google.
• Just because you can make English muffins does NOT mean that you can cook bagels.  (I have pictures.)No matter how long the process takes, or how many times you have to clean the counter, it is so worth it!  Especially when your kids fall in love with them!
• Knowing exactly what went into them is an amazing feeling!
• There is a learning curve to substituting wheat flour for some of the white.  (I am still learning.)
• Trying something new is EXCITING!

So the next time you see the same recipe (for the 100th time), tell yourself that you can do it, and you might just feel proud of yourself!  And if you are really lucky as clueless in the kitchen as I am, you might get a new toaster out of it!

Have fun!

Related posts:

We want to encourage you to encourage others this week through our link up – make sure to stop by at least one other blog that is listed below in the link up and share the love!

{For those new to the 3in30 Challenge, we have a weekly linkup that goes live on Fridays at 8am ET and continues through Monday at 7am ET. If you don’t have a blog, or don’t want to post on your blog, feel free to just comment on the linkup post with your progress for the week!}

How are you doing with your May goals?

Remember that PROGRESS, not PERFECTION, is the definition of SUCCESS!!

How Do You Link Up?

1. Write a blog post sharing your goal progress, and add the direct link to your post (not your blog’s home page) below. OR, use the comment section on this post to share your goal progress!
2. Comment on at least the person above you in the link up, and encourage them!

Looking to stay connected?

1. Subscribe to the blog.
2. Add the 3in30 button to your blog.
3. “Like” the 3in30 Challenge Facebook Page
4. Follow @3n30 on Twitter

Got questions? We’d love to hear them! Email us: 3in30 (at) ashleypichea (dot) com

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I don’t do dinner.

Seriously – I don’t like being in the kitchen any longer than I absolutely have to, and thinking about what’s for dinner makes my head hurt {and usually results in me calling my husband to bring something home}.

So when Mystie sent me an email to tell me about her new ebook, Simplified Dinners, I almost said “no” without even looking at the link to the Simplified Dinners website.

Seriously.

But then I stopped, and I thought for a minute.

“What if I could find a way to make menu planning and meal prep less time-consuming and stressful? Maybe I need to at least take a look at the website.”

So, I hopped over to SimplifiedPantry.com thinking, “When I do cook, it’s usually just a grab-and-go-from-the-pantry meal, so this sounds like something that might work for me.”

Can I just stop and say how glad I am that I didn’t just delete that email?!?

Simplified Dinners…

…enables you to transition toward home-prepared, real, whole foods cooking—even for those less confident in the kitchen. There are no packets, boxes, or pre-prepared foods on the master pantry list, but from it you can make a wide variety of dinners, breakfasts, lunches, and snacks. It truly is a sufficient list. And it’s basic. You don’t need to shop at fancy grocery boutiques to eat good, natural, normal food. You can make it with the stuff any standard discount grocery store sells. This is real-food cooking for normal people on a budget. {taken from SimplifiedPantry.com}

Let’s see…

Home-prepared? Well, as long as it’s easy, I guess I can try it.

Real, whole food? Yes, please! {Can I just tell you how gross eating take-out all the time makes me feel?}

Cooking on budget? My bank account will love me! {Especially after the hit it’s taken with my fast food habits.}

What do I have to lose??

The eBook

Simplified Dinners has a Master Pantry List {and I can get everything on it at Aldi – my favorite pantry re-stocking store!!} with all the ingredients you’ll need to make the dishes in the ebook.

Each chapter starts with a super easy and basic step-by-step “how-to” for each generic recipe, followed by variations that will change up the flavors, creating a brand new dish.

For example, on the “Marinades for Grilling or Broiling or Pan-frying” page, there is a five step “how-to” guide for marinading, followed by 12 varieties of marinades you can try, resulting in 12 different dinners {or more if you vary your meat of choice}. And that’s just ONE chapter of this amazing ebook!

Check it out for yourself…

Head over to SimplifiedPantry.com and scroll down to “Get Real, Get Healthy, Get Basic, Get Frugal”. You’ll see a blue link to “master pantry list” – click on it and download a sample chapter {including the master pantry list and table of contents} for FREE!

Enter the Giveaway

Mystie has offered to giveaway one copy of Simplified Dinners to one of you!!

Simply enter, using the form below {if you don’t see the form, please visit the blog to enter} and help spread the word about this amazing giveaway using the sharing buttons on the left-hand side of the blog.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Disclosure: I received a free copy of Simplified Dinners in exchange for this review. All opinions are my own.

*A

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I don’t know about you, but if I don’t have a plan in place, I have a really difficult time figuring out what to feed my family every night for dinner!

I’ve tried a number of different methods for meal planning–everything from the cooking for 30 days plan to detailed computer programs to just writing out my own list of ideas at the beginning of each week. Some of these I’ve had better luck with than others.

This past fall, however, I found a plan that I have since used consistently. I’m pretty sure you’ve heard or seen something about it, but I’m going to tell you again!

eMeals.com is a website that gives you complete meal plans each week, including a complete shopping list for $5 a month. One of the great things about eMeals is that there are many different types of meal plans to choose from. You can pick by specific store, family size, low-fat, low-carb, natural and organic, portion control, vegetarian, and more.

Here are the goals of the creators of eMeals for their subscribers (from the website):

Intentional living first involves setting goals. The goals become a plan when the plan is written and consistent. In comes eMeals! Here are the goals we have set~

Goal #1: Spending time with your family

Goal #2: Save time and money

Goal #3: Serve delicious food

Goal #4: Save yourself from multiple and last minute trips to the grocery store

Goal #5: Stare at your children across from the dinner table rather than into the pantry looking for a dinner idea

Goal #6: Lose weight without preparing separate meals for the family. (Every meal plan is designed to be family friendly, even the weight management plans!

Right now I am using the Any-Store Family Plan, but I’ve also tried the Wal-Mart plan, the low-fat plan, and the Aldi’s plan. There have been weeks when I knew a meal wouldn’t work well for my family, but since I keep past weeks’ plans stored in a notebook, I have been able to pick a replacement meal.

I’ve only come across maybe 1 or 2 recipes that my family hasn’t particularly liked, but overall the recipes have tasted very good. And my family has appreciated the variety in our dinner meals. I have appreciated the pre-made shopping lists, and the knowledge that dinner is already planned.

Now, if I could only remember to pull the necessary meats out of the freezer, everything would be perfect!

eMeals has just released a brand new Clean Eating meal plan, and you can save 10% off through 5/17/12 when you use the code “CLEAN” at checkout.

Related posts:

We want to encourage you to encourage others this week through our link up – make sure to stop by at least one other blog that is listed below in the link up and share the love!

{For those new to the 3in30 Challenge, we have a weekly linkup that goes live on Fridays at 8am ET and continues through Monday at 7am ET. If you don’t have a blog, or don’t want to post on your blog, feel free to just comment on the linkup post with your progress for the week!}

Share your May Goals with us!!

How Do You Link Up?

1. Write a blog post sharing your goal progress, and add the direct link to your post (not your blog’s home page) below. OR, use the comment section on this post to share your goal progress!
2. Comment on at least the person above you in the link up, and encourage them!

Looking to stay connected?

1. Subscribe to the blog.
2. Add the 3in30 button to your blog.
3. “Like” the 3in30 Challenge Facebook Page
4. Follow @3n30 on Twitter

Got questions? We’d love to hear them! Email us: 3in30 (at) ashleypichea (dot) com

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I used to get totally stressed out when asked the question, “What’s for Dinner?”

Seriously. I would stand in the kitchen, looking into my freezer and cabinets and have no idea what to cook.

I’m not an inventive cook, and if I don’t have all the ingredients I’m not good with substituting anything. I should also mention that if the recipe is longer than a paragraph and contains ingredients I can’t pronounce I won’t cook it. {sad, but true}

We were running to the store all the time, even with full cupboards. Our grocery bill was out of control, and I realized that I needed to get a handle on how to schedule meals.

I finally decided to set up a menu plan. I purchased a dry erase board weekly calendar on clearance at Kohls for $14.00 and hung it in our kitchen.

Every Sunday evening I fill in our weekly appointments and plan out our meals for the week. We allow ourselves 1 eating “out” meal a week, and the other 6 days are filled in.

There have been a few benefits from this method:

• Our grocery bill has been cut in 1/3.
• I know what is in our cupboards at all times – no more quick store runs.
• My hubby will jump in and get dinner started if he knows what’s on the menu.
• We are eating more balanced meals.
• I’m able to plan leftover nights, which gives me an additional night off from cooking!

By planning our meals on a weekly basis I am no longer stressed about throwing something together for dinner – the plan is there and it works for us!

Do you menu plan?

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Sometimes we need a little reminder or boost to help us get motivated and stay motivated when it comes to accomplishing our goals.

Sometimes a book, like Eat That Frog, can be the kick in the pants that we need to get up and get going!

10 Inspiring Quotes from Eat That Frog:

#1: The number one reason why some people get more work done faster is because they are absolutely clear about their goals and objectives, and they don’t deviate from them.

#2: When you write down a goal, you crystallize it and give it tangible form.

#3: A goal or decision without a deadline has no urgency.

#4: You’ll be amazed at how much easier it is to achieve your goal when you break it down into individual tasks.

#5: An average plan vigorously executed is far better than a brilliant plan on which nothing is done.

#6: Resolve to do something every single day that moves you toward your major goal.

#7: Keep pushing forward. Once you start moving, keep moving. Don’t stop. This decision, this discipline alone, can dramatically increase your speed of goal accomplishment and boost your personal productivity.

#8: Always work from a list. When something new comes up, add it to the list before you do it.

#9: The hardest part of any important task is getting started on it in the first place. Once you actually begin work on a valuable task, you will be naturally motivated to continue.

#10: Don’t expect perfection the first time or even the first few times. Be prepared to fail over and over before you get it right.

Which of these quotes speaks the loudest to you?

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*A

Related posts:

We want to encourage you to encourage others this week through our link up – make sure to stop by at least one other blog that is listed below in the link up and share the love!

{For those new to the 3in30 Challenge, we have a weekly linkup that goes live on Fridays at 8am ET and continues through Monday at 7am ET. If you don’t have a blog, or don’t want to post on your blog, feel free to just comment on the linkup post with your progress for the week!}

How did you do with your April goals?

Remember that PROGRESS, not PERFECTION, is the definition of SUCCESS!!

Are you participating in our April 3in30 Featured Challenge?

Tweet It || Share on Facebook || Pin It

Share the key concepts and your applications from chapters 13-16 in the comments below!

How Do You Link Up?

1. Write a blog post sharing your goal progress, and add the direct link to your post (not your blog’s home page) below. OR, use the comment section on this post to share your goal progress!
2. Comment on at least the person above you in the link up, and encourage them!

Looking to stay connected?

1. Subscribe to the blog.
2. Add the 3in30 button to your blog.
3. “Like” the 3in30 Challenge Facebook Page
4. Follow @3n30 on Twitter

Got questions? We’d love to hear them! Email us: 3in30 (at) ashleypichea (dot) com

*A

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Each month during 2012, we’ve chosen a featured challenge for the month.

January: 31 Days to Pray for Your Spouse

February: 28 Days to Hope for Your Home

March: 31 Days to Build a Better Blog

April: Simple Blogging

This month, we’re focusing on Menu Planning.

May is Menu Planning Month on the 3in30 Challenge Blog

Throughout the month of May:

• We’ll be highlighting great Menu Planning and Meal Preparation resources.
• Some of our contributing writers will be sharing menu planning and meal preparation tips from their own homes.
• And hopefully, we’ll all come away from the month of May with a great plan in place to feed our families this summer!!

Would you help spread the word??

Invite your friends to join the 3in30 Challenge in May!!

Tweet about it: “May is Menu Planning Month on the #3in30 Challenge Blog. Join me!! http://bit.ly/HVAPo9 @3n30”

Share about it on Facebook: “May is Menu Planning Month on the 3in30 Challenge blog – where encouragement, accountability, and community help me make my goals reality, three at a time! http://bit.ly/HVAPo9”

Pin this post: 

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“Exercise? I can’t exercise and do everything that I have to do in a day!”

That was my response several years ago. I am a Homeschooling mom that wears so many hats I sometimes forget which one I have on.

Many women say the same thing.

It is not that you really don’t want to exercise, it is that you THINK you don’t have the time.

Over the course of the past several years, my mindset has changed.

I exercise regularly now.

I am finding success in it and discovering that I need to exercise, it makes me a better wife and mom, it helps me do my jobs better.

So I am going to share with you my secrets of how to find time to fit exercise into your busy life.

Everyone has the same number of hours in the day.

24. That is all we get.

I learned early on, that if I did not DECIDE I was going to workout, it wouldn’t happen. If I loosely planned it, something else would come up to take that time away from me. Mainly, because I had not made a firm commitment.

So the NUMBER 1 thing you must do to find the time to work out is…

Decide that it is going to be a priority in your life.

Now, you have made that decision. What’s next?

SCHEDULE it into your day.

Pick a time that works for you and your family. Do it and don’t feel guilty about spending this time in exercising.

I am going to strongly suggest doing it first thing in the morning, before your day gets going, because often times if you don’t do it then life happens and you can’t seem to find the time later. However, I have a very good friend that works-out later in the evenings while her daughter is at ballet. This works for her and her family.

So NUMBER 2…

Pick a time that works for you and your family, SCHEDULE it, and DO NOT compromise!

Your next question, as mine was, what do I do?

I found that an exercise program I could do at home, while my children were in bed, was the best solution. The drive to the gym and the time spent socializing wasted my precious time. I found an at home exercise program that fit my schedule and started pressing play.

Here is NUMBER 3…

Pick an exercise program that fits the time you have to spend to see the greatest success.

One of my biggest problems is setting unreasonable expectations for my exercise and nutrition goals. In order to make exercise a long term life change you have to be able to set goals that are reachable. If you continually feel like you are failing, you will not continue in a healthy life style so that it becomes a habit.

NUMBER 4 is…

Pick reasonable goals with your weight loss and exercise plan.

And lastly, you absolutely HAVE to have accountability!

When you set goals, when you decide to do something, you NEED to tell someone, so that on the hard days {and we all have them!} you have someone to keep pushing you! And when you reach that goal {and you will!} you have some to CELEBRATE with!

So, NUMBER 5 is…

Find an accountability partner or group.

You can find people everywhere, make a facebook group or use a twitter handle.  Ask someone whose blog you have connected with in this 3-in-30 group.  But find the accountability because that is the key to being successful!

Happy Exercising!

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