Organizing and Simplifying

Well, we've been talking about spring a lot here at MAHM. It's my favorite season, I love the finally getting outside after a long winter, and the preparing the garden for the summer growing season. Something about spring I've always loved a lot less is the spring cleaning- organizing and cleaning to spruce up for the new season.

You might know that organizing was not my strong point- and learning to embrace this part of homemaking was a real challenge for me. But the fact is, having a organized house with functioning systems in place is a relief. It means that I know where things are, and all tasks are done on a regular basis. This year for spring cleaning my focus is on simplifying our household. With two young children, this is especially important as well-meaning birthday and Christmas gifts have taken over our home. In addition, I have not pared down my own things in a long time.

Another thing getting the cut (in a way) is my menu planning. I am moving from a weekly plan to a hybrid monthly plan. I have never loved monthly plans, they seem much too complicated. Also, they don't usually allow for weekly sales, and as I am still purchasing a lot (until this fall meat season!) from the grocery store, the system didn't really work for me. Then, when reviewing a book (from Keeper of the Home- coming soon!) I found out about a post from Passionate Homemaking on seasonally based meal planning. I love seasonal cooking- so this really interested me. Check back in on Friday to see how I have adjusted this plan to suit me, and still buying according to weekly deals- plus an introduction to once a month cooking tips for real food at Authentic Homemade.

Over the next month I'll being posting on how to simplify and organize. Please join me, and get ready to have a house that's cleared out and ready to enjoy for the summer- just right for you to have more room
in the kitchen for preserving season and in the rest of the house for entertaining.

I am happy to share this at Works For Me Wednesday- Backwards edition today! So be sure to leave me any tips you have on organizing today in the comments- or share a link up to one of your own posts on organizing or simplifying. I'll be including some of my favorite links each Friday this month as my 'best things' on organizing. Thanks!