Laundry Shelby Style

I do not love laundry. Not my favorite chore at all. Especially matching socks. Yuck. I am baffled by how we can have so many 'onesies' without the twosie.


We have a large family so if I do not do at least one, preferably two, loads a day it becomes a huge task. I do not make/let my kids do their own laundry but they do have to help with it. The oldest help in keeping the loads moving and everyone is responsible to get the dirties into the laundry room. The older kids are great about moving the laundry along when they have something they want to wear that needs cleaning.

We have a large laundry room which is great for hiding/handling all the loads. A year or so ago we added some cabinets and a long counter to pile the clean laundry when it comes out so no more piling it on the couch for me. I also bought a rolling rack to hang things on right away out of the dryer to save on ironing. Love both those items! It also is a good thing when I do the ironing in front of the TV with a movie going. It is an instant place to hang up the clothes. I usually watch 'You've got mail' because I have seen it so many times I just listen to it while I iron and I don't miss anything.



I have tried all kinds of laundry detergent from homemade to store brand to name brand. I don't care for the homemade long term because I don't think it gets my clothes bright enough. But on those tight budget months it works great. My preference is Tide soap, Clorox 2 and Downy. But with our tighter budget it is Costco brand soap, Clorox 2 in the white load only, and Costco brand dryer sheets.

That's how we do it here at the Shelby House. Join Genny at My Cup 2 Yours for Talk'n About Thursdays with a new topic to Talk About every week!

Works for me Wednesday

Monthly Meal Planning works for me. Not to say that I stick by this completely and never veer off the course but his has saved me lots of time and stress with meal planning. At the beginning of the month I sit and plan out the next month's dinner plan. Then I go to the grocery store for all the things that I know I will need for the dinners. Obviously not the fresh items; just the frozen or canned goods. I go the store once a week for things like milk, fruit and veggies and anything that I may have forgotten but I try to keep it to a minimum. My family (the boys especially) like knowing what is for dinner early on in the day. Planning meals has taken the stress out of making dinner. Although sometimes we veer off course and choose something from somewhere else in the monthly plan, go out, or change all together. This basic plan has also helped our family (me) stay on budget too.

I use THIS monthly calendar to plan out the meals. I wish I could show you this months plan, but I have no idea how to do than. I tried. I failed. Sorry. Hopefully you can imagine.



Head over to We are THAT family for more WFMW

Soup Swap

We love soup! So I am so excited to participate in this fun swap hosted by Turkeycookies!



This is one of our family's favorite soups for the colder months. I found it in a Taste of Home magazine several years ago.
Mexican Chicken Corn Chowder. I am giving you the link so you can print off the recipe in a nice format. I make this chowder after I have been to Costco and bought one of their rotisserie chickens. I make fajitas one night and then the next night I make this chowder with whatever is leftover. Sometimes it may have a lot of chicken, sometimes not so much. Yummy creamy goodness!

Mexican Corn Chowder
1 1/2lbs boneless chicken, shredded
1/2 c onion - chopped
1-2 garlic cloves
3T butter
2 chicken bullion cubes
1c water
1/2t cumin
2c Half & Half
2c Monterrey Jack Cheese - Shredded
1 can cream corn
1 can green chilies
1 med tomatoes - chopped
parsley
Makes 6-8 servings

This recipe is very forgiving. Last night I used frozen corn instead of cream corn and added a can of cream of chicken. Still awesome.

And just because I am feeling generous I will also give y'all a favorite corn muffin recipe too. This corn bread uses a yellow cake mix in it so the corn bread is sweet. YUM!

Green Chili Corn Muffins

1 (8 1/2oz) pkg of corn bread/muffin mix (Jiffy)
1 (9oz) pkg of yellow cake mix (Jiffy)
2 eggs
1/2c milk
1/3c water
2T Vegetable Oil
1 can chopped green chili (4oz)
1c shredded cheddar cheese
Combine mixes. In a separate bowl mix eggs, milk, water and oil. Stir in dry ingredients just until moistened. Add the chilies and 3/4c of cheese. Fill greased muffin cups two-thirds full. Bake at 350 for 20-22 minutes or until done. Immediately sprinkle with the remaining cheese. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pans. Serve warm. Makes 16.

Pumpkin Bars

I am making these today beacuse it feels like October outside and I need a dessert to take to a high school fellowship this afternoon. I hope they are as yummy as they smell.