The Way to a Man’s Heart (Imperfect Homemaking Challenge) (Plus a Giveaway from Mighty Nest!)

“The way to a man's heart is through his stomach.”

We've all heard that phrase, and I have found it to be true.

Now, I'm not saying that the only reason my husband fell in love with me is because I could cook.  (Just for the record, I doubt I would be married today if that was what it took!)

But I have found that men love to eat, and my husband is no exception.

He has been so patient and supportive on this healthy living journey.  But when he gets away from home and all my crazy health food, he will often grab a soda or candy bar from the snack machine at work.

He knows it bad for him, but in his words, “I'm all for health food, but when you're hungry, you're hungry!”

Bless his heart.  I'd rather go without than eat junk food, but men aren't that way.  They'd rather eat junk food than no food at all.

And that's why we wives need to make sure there is always something available for them to eat.  Something homemade and healthy.

Today's challenge: Make something yummy for your husband to eat anytime he's hungry.

Okay, okay.  That's probably a tall order.  If you kept enough on hand for anytime he's hungry, you'd be cooking and baking round the clock.  But you can make his favorite snack or treat and multiply it times four.  Give him one batch and freeze the rest.  You can use your back-up reserves anytime he's rummaging through the house and you haven't had time to make something fresh.  (Just don't let him know you have anything in the freezer or it will be gone when you go to pull it out.  Men do crazy stuff like get up in the middle of the night to eat while you're sleeping — at least my man does.)

{Photo Credit: Live Simply}

Instagram Challenge: Post a picture of something you made for your husband!  Use the hashtag #imperfecthomemaker to encourage other members of this community!  (Follow me here.)

If you’re just joining the 31 Days of Imperfect Homemaking series, you can see all the posts here.

 Giveaway!

To help your baking go a little more smoothly, I, along with some of my fellow bloggers, have partnered with Mighty Nest to bring you a giveaway of  $250 worth of baking supplies!

The winner will receive the following:

• 2 cup Bake & Store
• 4 Cup Bake & Store
• Endurance Silicone Spatula
• Airtight Spice Jar
• Brownie Spatula
• Measuring Spoons
• Measuring cups
• Cast Iron Loaf Pan
• 10″ Bundt Pan
• Baking/ Grilling Stone
• Mini Muffin Pan
• Silicone Mixing Spoon
• 12 x 17 Bamboo Cutting board
• Stainless Steel Whisk

Mighty Nest provides organic and non-toxic products for your home, and everything they sell meets strict standards for safety and quality.  They carry glass and stainless baking gear and food storage, green cleaning supplies, natural bath products, and other home essentials. Everything is selected to be free from known toxic ingredients such as BPA, PVC, phthalates, lead, formaldehyde, flame retardants, parabens, etc. Anytime you order from MightyNest, they’ll give 15% back to the school of your choice. It’s a great way to be healthier and support your local school.

To enter, just complete the form below:

Quick and Easy Decluttering (Imperfect Homemaking Challenge)

Just like with deep cleaning, I have a tendency to hang onto the mindset that unless all my “regular” cleaning is done, I can't do any organizing and decluttering.

My daily schedule is so full that I can't even set aside 15 minutes to work on it.

So instead I do crazy stuff like look at the same thing 20 times, thinking “Why do I have that?” instead of just getting rid of it right then and there!  It's mental clutter, ya'll, and this brain of mine is so full that I can't afford to be cluttering it up with stupid stuff like that!

“Well, I need to sell it on eBay or at least put it in the yard sale pile,” I tell myself.

Look, if I don't have time to think about it, I certainly don't have time to sell it on eBay!  And do you know how much work it is to do a yard sale?  Who am I kidding?

Instead, I need to do some quick and easy decluttering by sending it to one of three places  — immediately:

1. The trash can.

2. To church, to see if someone there would like to have it.

3. To the thrift store.

Gasp!  You would throw away a perfectly good item?!

Why yes! As a matter of fact I would!

Let me tell you about the super-organized people I know.  (If they're super-organized, they obviously know what they're doing, and I could stand to learn a thing or two from them.) One thing I've noticed is that they're constantly throwing stuff in the garbage.  They understand the concept that time is money.  They could make a quarter off their junk at a yard sale later, or they could just pitch it now, and quit using up valuable time and energy, space in their house, and space in their brain on an item they no longer use or love.  It seems to me that all that trouble is not worth a quarter.

(Don't get me wrong — I think there is a time and a place for yard sales, and we've held some very successful ones in the past.  However, there are seasons of life where you just need to get rid of your things immediately and move on.)

Today's Challenge: See how many things you can find today to get rid of.  You don't need to go on a full-out decluttering spree. Just take notice of things as you go about your day.  If it would only earn you a quarter at a yard sale, pitch it.  If it's something nice that someone else may want, put it in your car immediately and drop it at the thrift store next time you're out or give it to a friend at church.

Instagram challenge: Post a picture of what you did to spend time with your kids today.  Use the hashtag #imperfecthomemaker to encourage other members of this community!  (Follow me here.)

If you’re just joining the 31 Days of Imperfect Homemaking series, you can see all the posts here.

10 Things You Can Do Right Now to Save Your Family Money (Imperfect Homemaking Challenge)

There are a million and one ways you can pinch your pennies and help your family live more frugally.

But I know it can be overwhelming.  You're doing well to put food in your family's belly without worrying about whether you could have purchased that ground beef for 50 cents less per pound.  Sometimes you know you're wasting money and you just don't care at the moment.

But don't let the fact that you can't implement every single money saving trick in the book stop you from doing what you can!

Today's Challenge: Choose one simple thing you can do to save your family money.  It doesn't have to be complicated; just do something!

Instagram Challenge: Post a picture of today's frugal venture!  Use the hashtag #imperfecthomemaker to encourage other members of this community!  (Follow me here.)

Showing Love to the One You Love (31 Days of Imperfect Homemaking)

For the married ladies — we know in our heads we need to make our husband a priority.  But in practice it all too often doesn't happen.

I know for myself that by the time I take care of whining toddlers, put on my homeschool teacher hat for the largest portion of the day, change a few dirty diapers, clean up countless messes, discipline and correct children, clean up some more messes, and cook a few meals, I'm pretty worn out.  I very often haven't even had time for a shower before my husband comes home from work, and I'm definitely not feeling very romantic.  In fact, most of the time I'm feeling a little bit grouchy.

I have to work really hard at not unloading all the gory details of my day on my husband the minute he walks in the door.  I have to purposely remind myself to smile and be pleasant, knowing that he's had a long day too and the last thing he needs is a wife who's complaining about how long and hard her day was.

I'm most often up to my elbows in supper preparation while simultaneously trying to extract my legs from the grip of my one-year-old.  I've got to keep working if I'm going to get finished up and get everybody (cough…myself) into bed anytime soon.

So, while I may suppress the grouchy feelings and make a conscious choice to smile and be pleasant when my husband comes home, I'll confess…he often doesn't get a welcome home kiss.  I'm busy you know!

What happened to the good old days?  The days when I would watch out the window and run out to the car like an excited little girl when he came home?

Just because I'm busy and tired doesn't mean I love my husband any less, and I need to let him know by my actions!

Sure, I'm busy, but how long does it take to give him a kiss and tell him I'm glad he's home?

Today's Challenge: Find one simple way to show your husband you love him!  Just because you don't have time to do anything elaborate, doesn't mean you should let meaningful actions fall by the wayside!  Don't let your busy life crowd out the one earthly being who means the most to you!

 

Instagram challenge : Ahem.  I'll not be posting mine today.  I've never been one for kissing selfies. 🙂

If you’re just joining the 31 Days of Imperfect Homemaking series, you can see all the posts here.

Deep Cleaning Doesn’t Have to Be Hard (31 Days of Imperfect Homemaking)

It's day 4 of 31 Days of Imperfect Homemaking!  If you missed any of the other days, you can go back and catch up right here.

Deep Cleaning.  I'll be honest.  It's something I skip far more often than I should!

I have this notion in my head that the house has to be perfectly straightened up before I can do anything “extra”.  The problem is, with 4 small children running around, my house is never perfectly straightened up!

I look with disgust at the grime accumulating on the windows or light fixtures, but I tell myself I'm not allowed to clean them right now because there's so much other “regular” cleaning that needs to be done.  So the grime accumulates more and more, making my house look like an absolute dungeon, even when I have somehow managed to get it all straightened up (i.e. after the kids are in bed.)

Today's Challenge: Choose one thing to deep clean and just do it! 

I don't care if there are toys spread all over the floor or if the laundry's not all folded; those things will always be there for you to do over and over. If you wait until they're done, you'll never get any of your other deep cleaning done.  Don't choose 3 or 4 because you do need to get to the regular work at some point, though!  Just choose one and get it done!  You'll like the quick and noticeable results so much you'll probably want to do it again tomorrow!

Here is a list of ideas to get you started:

Today's Instagram challenge: Post a picture of something you deep cleaned!  Use the hashtag #imperfecthomemaker to encourage other members of this community!  (Follow me here.)

Menu Planning to Save Money (31 Days of Imperfect Homemaking)

It's day 3 of 31 Days of Imperfect Homemaking!  If you missed either of the first days, you can go back and catch up right here.

Fridays during this challenge will be all about frugal living.  It's easy to get careless and skip over things that could be saving your family money, so I've added a few things to this challenge that you can do quickly and easily to help shave down your family's budget.

Ready?

Today's Challenge:   Make a menu plan.

Menu planning is one of those things I always tell myself I can skip, but I always regret it when I do!  We go back and forth to the store to pick up missing ingredients, or we snack on junk because I do the 5 o'clock scramble and everybody's hungry while I try to come up with some type of meal.  It really only takes a few minutes to make a menu plan.  It doesn't have to be complicated.  I like to use Build A Menu‘s service (it's great for special diets too like gluten free and THM!), but you can use a piece of notebook paper and a pen.  Look in the fridge and see what you already have.  Write down any meals that use those ingredients.  Then write down a few more meals that your family likes.  Now, get another scrap of paper, and write down all the ingredients for the other meals you just wrote down.  And you're done.  How hard was that?  Why do we skip it and act like it has to be done some fancy way?  (Granted, you can save even more money by taking a little more time, but you're not saving any money if you don't do it at all!  If you want something a little more involved but still quick and easy to do, I highly recommend checking out Build a Menu.)

 

Now go get that list made!  And while you're at it, save it.  Do it again for the next 3 weeks, and you've got a month's worth of meal plans!  Make one big menu, and one big shopping list, and you can re-use it month after month!

Today's Instagram challenge: Post a picture of this week's menu plan!  Use the hashtag #imperfecthomemaker to encourage other members of this community!  (Follow me here.)