30 day cleaning schedule

My weekends are booked for the next four weeks because of work and family get-togethers, so my blog and my house will probably suffer a little until I get more free time again.

I haven't had much time (or success) in the kitchen the past few weeks, but I've been meaning to tell you about my attempts to keep my house clean when I'm super busy.

A couple weeks ago, I met my sister for lunch, and she complained to me that she usually spends her Saturdays cleaning, a chore that both her and I aren't too fond of.

I used to spend my Saturdays cleaning, too.  But I hated it.  I like to spend my weekends checking out events around central Iowa.  (It seems like there's always something fun to do around Des Moines/Ames on the weekends.)  Plus, I like to use the weekends as "catch-up" days for squeezing in a couple longer workouts, bike rides or runs.

Back in October, I started seeing cleaning schedules on Pinterest.  After a little online searching, I decided to give this 30-day cleaning schedule a try. Cleaning the house in 20 minutes a day? That sounded doable to me. 

At first, it seemed like I was cleaning way more than I'm used to.  I usually only cleaned the bathrooms once a week, not twice every 10 days, for example.  And I wasn't used to doing anything but sitting in front of the TV after I finished washing dishes in the evening.  But after a couple months, I got into the habit of cleaning every night after work.  Some of the tasks on the list take longer than 20 minutes, but most take less. I do watch less TV at night now, but that's probably a good thing!

I have to say, my house has never looked cleaner!  It's certainly not perfect (my husband is very messy!), but  the bathrooms and living rooms look way cleaner.  I replaced a few of the daily tasks to accommodate my needs.  For example, we don't have a linen closet (our old house only has two closets!), so I just replaced that day with "cleaning the laundry area/basement," which is something I typically neglected.

Now I don't always do everything on the list each month.  Sometimes, I'm so busy on the weekends that I get out of my evening cleaning routine and don't complete my task for the day.  So I'll either skip that day on the schedule, or do two tasks the next day.

So there's my secret to keeping my house somewhat cleaner.  I still don't love cleaning; my dream is to someday hire a maid to do the work!  Do you have any tips for keeping your house clean?  Are you a weekend or weekday cleaner?

Garden seed 2013

 

Yep, I bought garden seed already.  I get so excited when those seed catalogs arrive in the mail!  I'm happy to see that seed companies are offering more seeds for container growing.  Last year, I had great luck with the plants I grew in pots.  I'm planning to grow more container plants this summer, although I'm a little worried that the drought might lead to water-use restrictions in my town.  Container plants need to be watered at least once a day in the summer heat.  But I'm hoping for the best and that the drought will end this spring.

I would like to grow more flowers this year.  I saw dwarf sunflowers at the Iowa State Fair's Master Gardeners' plot, and I want to try to grow them at home.

Burpee Seed Co. is offering sweet corn for container gardening this year!  I've always wanted to grow sweet corn, but don't have the space.  I can't wait to see if these seeds will actually grow!

Something else I've always wanted to try, a dwarf melon variety that you can grow in a pot.  I might actually plant these in my little garden rather than a pot.  I would love to grow melons in my backyard!

And one more from Burpee, a new winter squash variety for container gardening.

And then after visiting the White House kitchen garden last fall, I've been wanting to grow scarlett runner beans.  I don't think these are edible, but the purple-flowered vines gave the White House kitchen garden a beautiful "cottage garden" look.  So I'm going to try these at home, maybe with a teepee-shaped trellis.

The rest of the garden seed that I like to grow -- like marigolds and zinnias -- I'll wait to buy until spring, when they're a little cheaper.  I'm willing to pay full price, and shipping, when it's a seed variety that's difficult to find locally.

Have you bought your 2013 garden seed yet?  What are you looking forward to growing this year?

Iced lemon bread (baked with Truvia)

I always look forward to getting the new issue of Hy-Vee Seasons magazine.  I enjoy learning a little bit more about how the foods I shop for at Hy-Vee end up at the stores.  The latest issue features a terrific article on different types of citrus fruits.  I loved the look of the iced lemon bread recipe in the magazine, so I decided to give it a try.

At the last minute, I decided to replace the sugar in the bread with Truvia baking blend.  I usually don't use sugar substitutes, but I bought the Truvia baking blend on the suggestion of a Hy-Vee dietician, who gave a presentation on healthy holiday recipes at our workplace last month.  She likes the Truvia sweetener because it comes from a natural source (the stevia plant). I found the Truvia in the Health Market aisle of Hy-Vee.

This was my first attempt at baking with the Truvia, and the bread turned out great.  I actually forgot that I used the Truvia until my husband complimented me on this recipe.  The top of the bread was nice and brown when I pulled it out of the oven. However, I only used the Truvia in the bread batter; I stuck with regular sugar to make the glaze and icing.  I assume the Truvia works best in cookies, bars, quick breads and muffins.  I wouldn't use it for making frostings, pie crusts, candies, etc.

Sorry that these photos aren't the best.  I was more interested in eating this bread, then taking pictures of it!

Have you ever baked with sugar substitutes?  I'm going to be experimenting more with the Truvia baking blend now that I've had such good results with it.