My best friend since forever got married recently and this got me thinking about my life (which is very nice as it is!)
But it doesnt hurt to try and make it a bit better right?

So any tips about keeping a flat tidy even if the cats and dog have different opinions (the fish and hamsters dont have any opinion ), tips about easy to cook meals that take an hour max or any tips are welcome.

Keep in mind that OH works from the afternoon until late at night and my work schedule always varies.

Also if you can be bothered, any tips about maximizing storage space are especially needed! We seem to never have enough.

With this new year im in the mood to have a new air (? - thats how its the expression in greek anyway) and hopefully it will last for more than a week this time!

And since its my own thread and i can ask whatever i want, how do i stay warm (when outside) in this weather? Whats the warmest fabric there is? Note that i dont swim in the Mediterranean in August as i find it too cold - yeap that bad
Thanks

- I use on of these every day (except on the non-hoovering day) to clean up the animal fur. Its amazing how much they shed even if you've hoovered the day before.



- de clutter whenever you can. My other half has a bad habit of hogging his mails even after reading and never files the important ones away. The pile gets higher...and higher and higher. Irritates the daylights out of me. Invest in a shredder and shred those junk mails right after reading. He has soon learnt that he needs to action on those mails asap if he doesnt want them ending up in the shredder.

- storage space wise, dont hoarde. Throw/give away things that you dont need. If you arent going to use them in the next 6 months (unless they are necessities like summer essentials like shoes, clothes, etc), out they go. Burn CDs, DVDS onto a server. Those take up the most space in my home.

- Wear socks or slippers at home. It doesnt give me the impression that I am that cold.

__________________
Remember when someone annoys you, it takes 42 muscles to frown, BUT it only takes 4 muscles to extend your arm and b****-slap the mother-f***er upside the head.

Messy cats and dogs: My naughty cats don't necessarily make my place untidy, just full of their fur! I vacuum VERY often and I use those sticky rollers all the time. The 3m one from COOP is the best. The one from Migros is rubbish.

Easy to cook meals that take an hour max: I have the following apps on my iPhone:
Jamie Oliver 20 minute meals
Martha's everyday food
Allrecipes.com
Rushhour meals
Nigella quick collection

Maximizing storage space: I have none so I can't help there.. Sorry.

Staying warm in this weather: fleece sweaters and down filled coats work the best for me.

Also, I have Martha Stewarts Homekeeping Handbook and I highly recommend it... It's THE best for home keeping advice

Oh and I'm also not very cold resistant... I despise the cold so much and in Winter I stay indoors most of the time. I can't handle the cold... So seriously, I have tried and tested most fabrics the and fleece and down work best for us with the cold hands and warm hearts

I think that it helps to keep a schedule..for instance, I vacum everyday after I get home from work and I mop the floor and clean the bathroom every second day right after I get home from work. This helps keeping the place constantly tidy. To generate more storage space, I have special storage boxes which fit perfectly under my bed. They also sell those with wheels which makes it easier to pull them out.

The expression is a fresh breath of air in English I believe.
As you and your hubby or on the same schedule as me and mine it is always a mess here also. I get up to late to do any work and she is to tired to do any (read were both a bit lazy haha).

Im seriously considering having a cleaning lady come for like an hour a week just to vacuum and mob.....

Btw The Memphis has been a success story so far

Heh heh i have the same problem with the OH. He wakes up at 2 if im lucky and has to be at work at 5. So im stuck with most housework. I thought about the cleaner as well but i dont want to pay for something i can do on my own.

Great news about the Memphis. It only took one manager who doesnt take s*** from anyone!

No cleaning lady is going to want to come to your house for one hour a week. Anyway, you can't get anything done in an hour.

Best to hire someone 3/4 hours every 15 days. Then have them do the kitchens and bathrooms. Those are dirties places. And having the cleaning lady come makes you tidy up before she gets there. Keeps the house from going to hell in a hand basket.

My tip for living with animals:

1. Walk through door.

2. Take off spectacles.

3. Presto! Muddy paw prints and fur tumbleweeds disapear.

Chicken!

Easy way to prepare:

Buy many chicken breast and put them all in a wide pirex plate that goes into the oven.

In a bowl, mix some chicken base with hot water and add some spice as desire. Pour it on your chicken breast to cover the bottom of the pirex plate.

Put an aluminium paper on top of it but don't forget to make some tiny little holes on it.

Put in the oven at around 200 degrees celsius and cook until the chicken can fall in piece with a fork.

Your chicken will be very tender and you can put some in the freazer to use later (in soup, as a meal, in a mix....)

Keep some in the pirex plate and pour a can of mushroom cream on top of it and take the aluminium paper off and put your oven on broil.

It will give a nice brown color of your chicken breast that you can eat with a salad, rice, etc.

Very very easy to do and always ready chicken in your home!

My only tip (as I'm not a perfect housewife by any means) is always to start the day with an empty dishwasher - especially if you have kids or they will fill every inch of kitchen counter with plates and spoons when your back is turned!

Thanks guys and girls I just got an iPod and im going to download a couple of apps to hopefully help me on cooking.

my tip: before going to bed at night take 5min to briefly check each room. whatever is not where it belongs (dirty plates in the living room, trash on the counter, etc) tidy up. Normally this helps keeping the place tidyish and you wake up without falling over all kinds of rubbish you 'forgot' to put away the night before

In a household with less than, say, six persons, no matter what you cook, there always is time in between to clean and stow away utensils you don't need any more. I practically never put greasy pans, spatulas and the like in the sink to clean them later. When my meal is ready to be served, my sink and counter are empty and clean.

Cooking AND cleaning, you still available Mr Captain?

We have baskets and around the house - in the hall mainly for keys and coins, under the couch table for pens, batteries, receipts and just generally for all the little things that tend to lie around but never really have a "home".

Every other week or so I clear them out, and it really helps to make it look tidier.

I just did that today (up to the mushroom bit - need to go shopping). You are so right. Its really easy and better than just grilled chicken. Thanks!

To keep warm, my tip would be to wear lots of layers. Wear thermal foundation garments (as worn by skiiers), then layers of natural fibre, such as cotton, with cashmere on top. Finish that with a down filled jacket or coat, sheepskin boots and gel filled handwarmers that you slip inside your mits and work like a dream!

We'll soon become the Martha Stewart without the crime record!

amen about the baskets, everything has it's place and makes it really easy to put everything away bc it has a place.

also, i've come to appreciate the washing up while i cook so it's done by the time we eat, then hubby does the dinner dishes.

and when i cook, i have a big bowl to put all the garbage, peelings, etc in as i cook. this way counter is clean and i just dump the bowl into the garbage.

another easy recipe, lentil soup. big pot of water, brown lentils garlic a bit of tomato sauce and a drop of olive oil. put it all together and let it boil for about forty minutes while you do something else. i add small pieces of linguini after and salt and pepper. good, healthy and easy. just don't mix the pasta and lentils in the pot, only in the bowls to be eaten. one of my favorite mid week things to make.

__________________
'there isn't enough of anything as long as we live.
but at intervals a sweetness appears and, given a chance prevails'