Mmm Muffins!

I’ve been looking for recipes to use up some of the “older” things in my pantry.  I found a very simple recipe on Pinterest last week and thought I’d give it a try since I have all the ingredients on hand.

1 chocolate cake mix
1 29 oz. can of pumpkin
1 cup chocolate chips

Mix well, put in muffin cups and bake according to the cupcake directions on the cake mix you used.  It’s that simple, and it’s THAT yummy!!

Even my girls love these muffins.  They don’t need to know they were eating a vegetable.

If the thought of chocolate and pumpkin together doesn’t sound appealing, you can use a spice cake mix and pumpkin and just omit the chocolate chips.  But really, you can’t taste the pumpkin once it baked.

What Works Wednesday–Color Coded Laundry Baskets

To me organization isn’t a hobby, it’s more like and addiction.  I like schedules, routines and things that make life simpler to maneuver through.

I hear lots of moms grumbling about doing laundry.  I really don’t mind it at all.  I’m just thankful that I don’t have to carry my laundry to the river and bang it on the rocks.

I currently do laundry on Monday and Friday.  Monday gets caught up on all the clothing from weekend activities.  Friday gets us ready for those activities again.

The girls and I work on laundry during our school time.  We lug it all to the classroom, sort it out and then throw a load in before starting lessons.  Then each load slowly moves from the pile on the floor, to the washer, to the dryer and then to be folded and sorted. 

This is where the color coded laundry baskets come in.   Olivia’s room has a lot of green in it, so she has the green basket.  Lindsey’s room is yellow, but we couldn’t find a yellow basket so she has pink.  (I never claimed it was color coordinated).   My husbands basket is the white one with the missing handles.  How does he destroy a laundry basket by simply taking clothing out of it??  I use the blue basket. 

We fold and sort laundry as it comes out of the dryer.  You’d be surprised how much better it goes if you do it right away.  I’ve never understood the logic behind leaving it for a couple of days to fold.

With everyone having their own basket it’s easy to get everything to the right person, the first time.  This system cuts down on the number of times each item is handled.   Then when all the laundry is finished the baskets are deposited onto the owners bed to be put away properly. 

The empty basket then goes into the bottom of the owner’s closet to swallow up dirty clothes again.   It’s not rocket science, but its just a little something that works for me.

Linking up to What Works Wednesday.

Long Live the Crockpot

My husband works 2nd shift, so we eat our big family meal at lunchtime.  Unfortunately that means we have to stop in the middle of school work for me to cook a meal, eat, and clean up.  The easiest way to get a wholesome meal ready, with the least amount of disruption to our school day, is to use the crockpot for soups, chili or baked macaroni.

If I know we’ll be leaving the house early, and gone all day, I’ll put out the crockpot at bedtime and pop a breakfast meal in.  A long day out of the house goes so much better with a real meal in the tummy.

Sundays, are another day that can be a challenge for meal time.  By the time we get home from church everyone’s starving.  I typically put dinner (or a large portion of it) in the the crockpot when I first get up on Sunday morning.  This makes my Sunday a lot more restful, and a lot less stressful.

Here is a listing a few of my favorite crockpot recipes.

Roast Beef

Whole Chicken

French Toast

Breakfast Casserole

Linking up to What Works Wednesday.