LIfe Changing Magic of Tidying Up

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Have you read this book? The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing by Marie Kondo.

I'm a little bit obsessed with it since I read it last week. I've been feeling like we have SO much STUFF in my house. The rooms aren't cluttered with furniture, but the closets, cupboards and drawers and holding so much stuff that we don't need. And I get tired of walking around and picking up stuff all day.

I was talking to a friend who loves simplification and being minimalistic and she told me about this book. So I read it. Then a one day last week I started the process that she talks about in the book. I put all my clothes in one place and went through them one by one and decided if the clothing brought me joy. If it did, then I put it back in my closet or dresser. If it didn't bring me joy, then I either threw it away or put it in a donate bag. I ended up with three garbage bags of clothing that don't bring me joy. And I feel SO much better having them out of my life. No regrets at all.

I can't wait to go through my whole house using what I learned from the book. It's such a great feeling to be free of so much stuff. Aah, I love it! It's made me think about the things that I have in a different way.

And, I love her method for folding clothes in drawers. Instead of smashing them all on top of each other in a pile, stack them vertically. So smart!

Have you read it? If so, did you "tidy up" your house? I think everyone should read this book. I'm having my 11 year old daughter read some of it. :)

P.S. I didn't actually thank my clothes for bringing me joy individually. Some of the ideas are a little extreme for me, but overall it's a great method to use!

One Hour Rolls

These rolls are amazing! I've been making these rolls since 2001 when I was a newlywed and my sister-in-law shared the recipe with me. The rolls are light, fluffy, easy to make and they only take one hour! And delicious too! I've made these rolls more times than I can count, so I've perfected the art of making them. Here are some step-by-step instructions with pictures for you. Here's what you'll need. I buy pretty much all of the ingredients in this recipe at Sam's club, thus the huge containers. You need warm water, yeast, oil, sugar, salt, egg and flour. In the mixer bowl, add warm water (not hot), oil, sugar and yeast. Mix together. After ten or fifteen minutes the yeast mixture should be puffed up like this. Time to add the salt and beaten egg. Then mix in the flour. (I've used a mixture of half wheat and half white flour successfully.) Keep adding flour until the dough is manageable. It will be a little sticky, b

Week 394 Menu

Hi there! This week is flying by! So excited that we've been having blue skies and warmer weather. Our snow is almost all melted and little bulbs are sprouting in the flower beds. However, we had our 10th snow/ice day last week!!! Hopefully it was the last one. Life has been busy, busy and I need to plan out the rest of our week's menus, even though it's already Thursday. Here's what we've eaten so far and what I'm planning: Monday: chicken stirfry, rice/quinoa Tuesday: breakfast for dinner Wednesday: flatbread pizzas Thursday: roasted butternut squash, pasta, chicken sausage Friday: tacos Saturday: leftovers Sunday: pot roast, mashed potatoes, one hour rolls Alrighty, that's what we're eating this week. How about you? What's on your menu this week? Feel free to share. I love it when you do! More from Jenny:

Don't like your house to smell like food? I've got a kitchen tip for that!

I have a smallish, one story house and if I cook food that is kind of smelly, like onions, the smell tends to linger in every room. This is a pet peeve of mine and (also my husband's). Over the years I've found a few ways to cook smelly food without smelling up the kitchen. Use your garage! I use my garage quite often to cook things in. I open the window and it airs out, especially when you open the garage door. I'm sure my neighbors wonder what I'm cooking. I've used two different kitchen appliances in the garage: my crockpot and my food dehydrator. Crockpot - I did this very thing today since I'm simmering chicken, onions, carrots and celery to make chicken noodle soup tonight. I don't want my house to smell like onions all day, so I plugged it in on my husband's workbench. Food dehydrator - when I make jerky, I plug the food dehydrator in in the garage. I don't really want my house to smell like meat for hours

What is on your menu this week?

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