Sunday, January 1, 2017

Monthly Goals: January 2017 (and Happy New Year!)

Well, first off, "Happy New Year" everyone!  May 2017 be an awesome year for us all or at the very least may 2017 not suck :).

Tonight we enjoyed a tradition in my family, pork and sauerkraut for luck in the new year.  Instead of just sauerkraut, though, I decided to pop open my first can of the pickled red cabbage slaw from the Ball Book of Home Preserving.  I figured the universe wouldn't care if the kraut was traditionally fermented or if it was just pickled.  Impression of this stuff?  Man, it is STRONG!  It actually brought tears to my eyes eating it a few times because the vinegar taste was so strong.  I'm going to take the left overs and dump them in with a pork roast or some brats and then add something to cut the acidity (probably water) and just let the stuff cook for a while to see if I can cut the strong flavor some in it, but at this point I don't see myself making this again.  I'm probably going to just stick with the kraut next time when I can.  But hey, the rat tailed radish relish?  That stuff is tasty!  A bit thin, but tasty all the same (tried that a bit ago, but wasn't sure if I shared that or not :).

Last month's goals got kinda, sorta, accomplished.  I did get Christmas gifts done, although I have a few that I'm going to finish up and then put into storage for next year (a couple of pillow cases for the kids from some Christmas fabric I had).  I also got the new table runner made, got the videos donated to "Toys for Tots" (with how frantic December was I ended up donating them a few days before Christmas), my birthday ended up being a cheap date where we had good steak from the freezer that I got cheap and a free cake mix courtesy of Fred Meyer and their 25 Merry Days and it was decent as birthdays go.  And I got the video shelves moved upstairs, although I'm still working on organizing them and things, so that'll have to transfer over onto the goals for this month.

The kid's dentist appointment I ended up rescheduling because I was sick and not up to going, so we have that and my son's next allergy injection this week (one day apart, actually so I'm hoping my son takes it all okay).  I'm hoping my daughter does alright with all of this as she gets upset when others are uncomfortable so I'm worried she might get a bit queasy watching her brother get a shot.  Here's hoping everything goes okay.

When it comes to goals this month it kind of ties in with some of my new yearly goals (coming in another post) and are kind of all over the board, but they are goals all the same :).

Sewing Goals:
  • Fix batting in comforters as much as I can (our comforters get washed about five times a week with my son and they show wear and tear a lot quicker because of it, so I have some that are losing their quilting and need some TLC to get them to last longer hopefully).
  • Work on making some towels
  • Work on making some pot holders

Organizing Goals:
  • Start going through and figuring out what can be donated and drop off at used store
  • Rearrange china cabinet and books, switch places on bottom shelf and organize things better for everyday use (more on that later as I know that's about as clear as mud).
  • Start work on getting master bedroom organized, including closet
  • Move sheets dresser out of son's room and find a place to put it (it's an antique and he's working on trying to wreck it)
  • Organize video shelves a bit better and try to find missing movies.

General Goals:
  • Get back to menu planning (more on that later as I'm going to do it a bit different...I hope)
  • Get paperwork gathered together as much as possible to file for taxes next month
  • Get insurance worked out for daughter for year (waiting on the state at this point more than anything)
  • Get prescription refills for kids for year (on a few of them anyway)  from various doctors
  • Work on getting cleaning done and schedule reset so I can keep the house clean (getting there, thank goodness)

 And there you are folks.  My goals for this month.  How about you?  Got anything planned?

10 comments:

  1. I was just reading along and thinking how that red cabbage slaw sounded nice when you said your eyes watered. I may just skip that one in my Ball book lol

    How is your shoulder?

    I have a goal to prep for a massive yard sale in april so I want to dejunk as much as I can, so while I have probably around 20 big boxes in the garage of stuff, I want to get 12 more, minimum by March. So that ties in with cleaning out stuff.

    I also want to get Christmas down, ajd away, and find at least a boxful of that to get rid of. Everyyear we haul in about 8 boxes, and every year only use about 2 or 3.


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    1. The shoulder has good days and bad days. I've been cleaning like a demon the last little bit and boy has it been telling me about it. I'd love to go and get some physical therapy for it, but it isn't covered by my insurance (old one or new one) and what the rates for physical therapy are even for a few visits...I just can't do it. So, I am doing the best I can with the stretches and exercises they have up on the internet. Hopefully it starts to feel closer to normal decently soon. In the meantime I just make sure to keep using the arm as much as I can so I don't lose any further mobility or strength in it.

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  2. I want to meal plan better. I picked up a few calendars from the dollar store today - 1 to keep in the kitchen, one in my purse, 1 for meal planning and 1 for finances. I'm also going to try and do some decluttering this month. We'll see...LOL. Hope you are feeling better!

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    1. Different calendars is a good idea. Hope it works out for you. I find a dry erase menu plan is the best thing for a menu plan for me. I hang it up on the wall and then it is staring me in the face every day ;).

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  3. This month I have to major goals. The first is to get everything organized for our vacation to California at the end of January. Need to pack and make sure we have everything we need.

    My second major goal is to find new recipes to try. My family is getting bored with the same old meals. So, I'm on the lookout for something new. I even have my daughter watching for recipes she would like me to try, since she recently made her own Pinterest account. That's about it for me!

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    1. I'm super enthusiastic to get my pressure cooker for the sake of new recipes. I know, it's weird, since it's just a different way of cooking, really, but still...it motivates me ;).

      Have a great time on your vacation by the way! I hope everything goes well with it and your daughter can take all the schedule changes and everything in stride.

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  4. With regards to the overly vinegary red cabbage ... you might try cooking an apple with it, or see if you can find a recipe for sauerkraut soup (Eastern European) or something else in this tradition. Also, try rinsing the cabbage and see if that will help. Chris

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    1. I tried rinsing it. That didn't help *laugh*, but thanks for the advice on the apple and the soup. I might try cooking some pork chops in with it and mixing in some apple juice combined with some chicken stock for the braising liquid. That would probably work. Thanks again!

      I'm off to figure out what "sauerkraut soup" is and figure out what I've been missing all these years (my husband and I love the stuff :).

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  5. Just reading your goals makes me feel like a slacker - lol. I hope to get my office in a little better shape this year and finally get though the last 6 boxes of paperwork (I would love to just pitch it but unfortunately that would drive me crazy wondering if I threw away something important. We moved in almost 3 years ago and here they sit. :) Want to go through my recipes that I have saved and either use them this year or get rid of them. Found out I have severe peanut and corn allergies so that will help me on the sorting. Hope you have an amazing week. Take care.

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    1. I won't mention that redoing my bedroom is going to partially revolve around going through the "Leaning Tower of Paper" that is on my desk right now. And the paper piles (which is paperwork for my son...see I'm organized) that I have unceremoniously stuffed underneath the desk for lack of room to put them. One of these years I'll get motivated and get one of those paperwork scanners that you can get and put everything on a flash drive. One of these years *laugh*.

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