I was recently reminded of my Victorio Food Strainer & Sauce Maker and thought it would be grand to share this nifty kitchen appliance with you.

I own the one in this photo. My thoughtful mother in law gave it to me many, many years ago and it has served us well!

Let me share a bit why this is one of the nicest appliances a home maker can have:

• No more dipping tomatoes in scalding water to get the skins off
• No more cutting out the tomato end (the green part)
• No more peeling apples to make sauce
• No more coring, either!
• No more apple hulls or little black mysterious dots in your sauce
• This makes beautiful, fine sauce from fruits and vegetables such as squash.

The best tomatoes for sauce are Romas. With this strainer, you do not have to cut them up. Just wash, then send them on through. They fit perfectly through the hole in the top. If you are using a larger item, cut it in pieces. A plunger also comes with the appliance.

And that’s another thing… it doesn’t take electricity to run it. It is very simple to use. Even my kids like to take turns turning the handle.

Remember when we had this little chat about the Motivated Moms Scheduler? Did you drag your feet and, well, forget about it?

No worries! I bring great news to you today! Since the year is half gone, the price for these schedulers is now half off. What a deal!

If you want to give it a try, now’s a great time to do just that.  Just click here to check it out!

Lord bless your day as you serve Him through serving your family.

Tags: Organiztion

Many years ago, I put together a file box in accordance with one of Emilie Barnes’ books, Survival for Busy Women. I love my file box! I thought I’d share with you a little about it because it is so simple and compact!

For starters, I have a whole slug of 3 in. x 5 in. index cards . I started out with bright, colorful cards, but have resorted to a mixture now. My card box is a bright yellow so I can easily locate it if I set it down somewhere. Everything is written in pencil so I can erase as needed. The exception would be for some storage cards, which I will explain later. Tabs could also be in pen, as those don’t change.

Next, I have dividers. They are labeled:

• Daily
• Weekly
• Monthly
• January
• February
• March
• April
• May
• June
• July
• August
• September
• October
• November
• December
• Storage

Emilie Barnes recommends the following:

• Daily
• Weekly
• Monthly
• Quarterly
• Twice a year
• Annually

I prefer my way, because then I can nail down an exact month in which to assign items. If the items are quarterly, I make 4 cards. If the item is twice a year, I make 2 cards. I hope you are following me now

Now to explain what comes behind those headers on the cards….

Behind my daily tab, I have several cards that need to be done each day. Yours may vary. Mine are as follows:

• Consider dinner preparations: Pull out meat for thawing
• Make Bed, tidy bedroom
• Balance checkbook
• Have quiet time
• Take garbage out of each bathroom and put in new bags
• Wipe down sinks
• Sweep floors
• Laundry: Wash 4 loads, dry, fold, and put away
• Do school
• Dishes: Maintain
• Wipe down front of cupboards and appliances

I do not do all those tasks. Some are shared and some are assigned. They are in no particular order. Each day, I go through my cards and make sure each task has been accomplished. I have been doing it so long, though, that I know them by heart and are routine here. I do revisit the box no and again, though, to see if I should add or remove something.

Behind my weekly tab, I have a card labeled for each day of the week. The days of the week could be in pen since that doesn’t change. Mine are as follows, yous could be different.

• Sunday: Plan for next week, take a break
• Monday: Iron, mend, vacuum, water the live tree in the living room
• Tuesday: Mop floors, do bills
• Wednesday: Vacuum, bathe littles, yard work
• Thursday: Town day, get garbage cans out for garbage service
• Friday: Clean bathrooms, plan menu
• Saturday: Check over undone chores, bathe littles, vacuum

Behind my monthly tab, I have 4 cards, which are labeled

• Week 1
• Week 2
• Week 3
• Week 4

On each of those cards, I have written tasks. Mine are as follows:

• Week 1: Clean all 3 upstairs hall closets (blankets & linens, towels, coats & shoes), yard patrol, clean garage
• Week 2: Clean out van, clean refrigerator
• Week 3: Change linens, clean pantry, watch kitchen walls
• Week 4: Follow up on things to be mailed, sorted, and filed, clean washroom, wash appliances thoroughly.

Here are the things I have behind each of my month tabs. I have a card for each task:

• January

1. Clean under refrigerator and stove

• February

1. Straighten drawers
2. Clear upstairs bookshelves, clean thoroughly and put back together

• March

1. Sort through clothing boxes and rotate clothes.
2. Clean the shed

• April

1. Wash windows, inside and out.
2. Defrost & clean garage refrigerator & freezers
3. Change smoke alarm batteries

• May

1. Put bacteria in toilet/septic

• June

1. Clear downstairs bookshelves, clean thoroughly and put back together. Rotate books.
2. Change furnace filter
3. Clean the shed

• July

1. Clean the dryer vent in back of dryer

• August

1. Rearrange some furniture or consider what might make my home warm and welcoming. Make changes as desired.
2. Clear upstairs bookshelves, clean thoroughly and put back together.

• September

1. Clean screens from windows for storage over winter.
2. Clean the shed

• November

1. Sort through clothing boxes and rotate clothing.
2. Change the smoke alarm batteries
3. Harvest/can/freeze
4. Put bacteria in toilet/septic

• December

1. Clean shed

I know… I have some duplicates often, but the idea is maintenance before it gets bad.

I am going to share about my storage tab another time, because it is a little involved and will probably take another post.

Tags: Organization, schedule

Last week, I published this list of ideas for some fun activities to do with your kids. I have another set of them for you. I hope you enjoy!

• Cut pictures out of catalogs and glue onto paper
• Make finger puppets from toilet paper rolls. Draw faces and glue yarn on for hair. Use a sheet over a table for a puppet show.
• Use a long wrapping paper tube to make a slide for small cars, balls or other toys.
• Make a collage by gluing different kinds of beans, cereal, colored toothpicks, rice, foil, macaroni, etc. onto cardboard.

I would love to hear about some of the activities you used to do when you were young and the summer seemed long. Leave me a comment and share with us. Let’s share ideas!

Tags: just fun

1. Choose a location
2. Choose a date
3. Make sure the date works with the location
4. Select a theme or colors
5. Prepare guest list and gather mailing addresses
6. Plan refreshments and how much will be needed
7. Determine activities
8. Mail invitations with appropriate RSVP date
9. Shop for needed items
10. Bake or prepare refreshments
11. Clean house if the party is in your home
12. Decorate and set out refreshments
13. Prepare activities
14. Change clothes
15. Greet company
16. Have fun!

Don’t forget to delegate!

Tags: Birthday, hospitality, just fun