Managing the Mundane

Managing the Mundane

Everyday helps and hints for everyday life

A collection of ideas for meal planning, recipes, and cooking and cleaning tips and tricks

Let’s face it. Except for holidays and a few special occasions throughout the year, most of life is routine – dare I say – mundane. We get up, we go to work or go about our day, we take care of kids and our spouse, we cook, we clean, we attend after-school activities, church activities, and sporting events, and we fall into bed exhausted, just to start it all over the next day. That’s where this site comes into play. My goal is to help you manage your daily routine a little more efficiently and hopefully make things a little easier and more organized for you. Check out the About tab for more details about me and how this all started. You can get some suggested meal planning with recipes under the Menus tab and some planning, cooking, and cleaning pointers on the Helps and Hints tab.

Check it out!

  • There are over a year’s worth of menus available on the site now, so I’m not publishing any new menus. However, come back here often as I will continue to post any new recipes that I have found and tried so that you have some new ideas as well. If I come up with any other new helps and hints, I will also post those.

    And here are some of those new recipes that I have tried!! The ones that were previously posted are under the button New Recipes to Try! And go back and check out some of the other menus as you plan for your last few weeks of the summer season. I go back and look for dinner ideas all the time!

    Five crumb-topped apple muffins arranged on a wooden board

    Apple Cinnamon Greek Yogurt Muffins – I have been trying to do some higher protein breakfast items that I can freeze and just pull out each morning. These muffins from payhip.com are a great fall breakfast with the sweet flavor of the apples. They are fairly easy to put together and cook quickly and freeze easily.

    Six golden blueberry muffins with crumb topping on a cooling rack

    Blueberry Cottage Cheese Muffins – These muffins from thirstpals.com are another great protein option for a quick breakfast. I used some frozen blueberries that we picked fresh this summer and then froze. The muffins are just slightly sweet and are bursting with blueberries.

    Bowl of spiced apple oatmeal topped with cinnamon sticks

    Three Ingredient Homemade Applesauce – Apples and cinnamon are the flavors of fall for me. My husband loves cinnamon applesauce, and it doesn’t get any better or easier than this recipe from gingerhomemaking.com. You put this in the crockpot for about four hours and then blend it to your desired consistency. Delicious!

    Bowl of chicken stew over white rice with bread and spoon

    Homemade Chicken Etouffee – Usually etouffee is made with shrimp, crawfish, or even sausage. This recipe from laurenfromscratch.com uses boneless, skinless chicken thighs. The prep is a little labor-intensive with chopping all the vegetables, but it makes a large portion that you can have for at least a couple of meals or a meal for a large family. You just serve it over rice and add some french bread and maybe a small salad and you have a delicious and comforting meal.

    Bowl of chopped apples in glossy spiced sauce with wooden spoon

    Basic Apple Pie Filling – I had lots of apples, so I decided to make some pie filling that I can use later. Here is what you need:

    3/4 cup of sugar

    1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

    1 T flour

    1 T lemon juice

    6 cups apples (peeled, cored, and sliced)

    Combine sugar, cinnamon, and flour together. Stir all ingredients together until well combined. Filling may be used immediately or frozen for up to 6 months. I froze mine in a resealable freezer bag in the shape of the pie plate so that all I have to do is place the contents into a crust and bake it!