Friday, March 4, 2011

Tackling the battle......

After about a month or so of scraping by on folding and putting away the laundry, I decided today is the day to buckle up and just get it done. However, I keep finding excuse after excuse to leave it in the big huge pile stacked up in my living room. So, here I am blogging about it. I'm running out of excuses. I have had a couple days of unsuccessful attempts at tackling it. A month or so ago Mady had a play date with a girl at her Pre-school. Her Mom, little sister and brother were coming along. My house was a mess. I spent the morning of the play date cleaning, cleaning, and more cleaning. I got it pretty good (the kitchen was a different story). No one would see that room, right? Well, I was wrong. However, the laundry was a different story. It remained stacked up in the living room. I decided to drag it into the bedroom to hide out for the time being. I have been using a couple wicker hampers, a white hamper, fabric laundry bags, and a 50 gallon tote to load my clothes in. All of those didn't even come close to holding all the clean laundry, so I resorted to using my suitcase as well. The 2 wicker hampers were filled with clean clothes the day before I left for my Honeymoon back in December. Most of the clothes I put in the hampers back in December still remain there. Now if that isn't laziness busy than I don't know what is. The master bedroom is tiny enough as it is, but with laundry piled throughout, it seemed tinier than ever. I made a little walking path to the bed. Ben actually tripped over the clothes a couple weeks ago. Oops, sorry! I was going to tackle the laundry the day after Mady's play date. Welllllll..... that isn't exactly how it went down. They sat, and sat, and sat, and sat some more. A month later, I finally got motivation to drag it all out of my bedroom into the living room. It was a couple hours before my visiting teachers were set to arrive. My huge living room was filled with clothes. You had to walk through the living room like you were playing hopscotch again. I got caught up on the phone, and the laundry got shifted here and there, but it remained scattered. About 30 minutes before the visiting teachers were set to arrive, I shifted all of the laundry back in to the numberless laundry baskets, suitcase, and the 50 gallon tote that I have been using as a "hamper" because I'm just too "busy" (well that's the excuse I'm using, okay) to get around to folding the laundry. However, this time I kept the laundry in the living room this time. No hiding in anymore. Out of site (for the most part) out of mind. Well now it has been staring me in the face for the majority of my day. I often wonder what it would be like to be rich and have a maid.... or better yet, just buy new outfits for all of us every single day.

On the agenda for tonight's dinner: Cream Cheese Chicken
I checked out the "Worldwide Ward Cookbook" from the library yesterday. The recipe is as follows:

1/2 C. butter
1 envelope Italian salad dressing mix
2 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 10.75-oz. can cream of chicken soup
1 8-oz. pkg. cream cheese

Turn Crock-Pot on high. Place butter in bottom of Crock-Pot. When the butter has melted, add the Italian dressing mix; stir into butter until well mixed. Cut chicken breasts into 1-inch strips. Place in Crock-Pot and stir to coat chicken with butter and dressing mix. Cover and cook on high for 2  hours, until chicken is cooked. Remove chicken to plate to cool. Add soup and cream cheese. Stir to melt, and mix well until smooth and creamy. Stir in chicken and serve over mashed potatoes, rice, or hot buttered noodles. Note: This recipe freezes well--just place cooled chicken and sauce in a freezer bag and freeze. To serve, thaw and heat until piping hot and bubbly. Makes 6 servings.

Quotations about the recipe:
"I got this recipe from my good friend Deanna. It has become a family favorite, the most requested main dish at our home."

Susan Madison
Battlecreek 5th Ward
Pleasant Grove Utah East Stake
Pleasant Grove, Utah

Easy peasy dinner. That's what I like!

6 comments:

Rachel said...

I dislike laundry too! Always piles of it:( dinner looks good. I'll try to modify it to a lower fat content though:)

Jamie said...

It was very tasty. I bet it would be just as good, and pretty simple to do a lighter version of this. If you make a lighter version, definitely let me know. I'd love to get the lighter version from you, so I can make it more frequently. Thanks! :)

Ashley said...

:) oh the good ole LAUNDRY! I know exactly what you mean.. I was on that adventure today in my room! I got sick of it all over my floor!!

Nat said...

Oooh...Laundry...

I hate it too, but thankfully I had an idea that was life altering:

I got each of my kids their own laundry basket and put their names on them. Instead of dumping it all into a laundry basket, I just chuck their stuff into their own baskets and have them fold it and put it away. I know it isn't folded perfectly, but it is still better than letting it sit and wrinkle for days! It cut my laundry time in half--or more than that! I'll never go back to my old ways!! :)

P.S. My 3 year old even does it! He loves folding his clothes!

Jamie said...

Nat,
You are awesome! I LOVE LOVE LOVE your thinking! I am def going to do this. Courtney is always wanting to help fold laundry anyway, so this will be fun for her.
An important lesson I learned recently in Relief Society: Don't redo things that kids have already done because it makes them feel like their efforts were not good enough for us. Example: If a kid wipes off the counter or vacuums and doesn't do it to our liking, just praise them for it, and leave it be. If they missed some spots that need to be done, try and do it after they have already been praised for their efforts and when they are out of the room or off playing. I have been trying to do this more. I think it is so important.
Thanks for the tip! I can't wait to try this out! :)

Jamie said...

Nat,
I just wanted to add that I think it is awesome you are a great example of doing this with your children; you let the kids fold their own laundry, and even though it isn't perfect, you still let them do it. I absolutely love it! :)

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