Clarity Wellness

I know you already know that you can save money on food if you cook at home more often and plan your meals so you don't throw so much out. Right? Then why don't we do that? Time? Energy? What to make? The key is in the prep work. Here’s how to do it so you can hold onto that hard-earned cash and reduce your food waste: 1. Look at what you already have. Shop your fridge and pantry before planning your meals for the week. That way you won’t end up throwing things out that go bad before you can use them, and you won’t buy things that you didn’t realize you already had. Make sure you have a few basic staples on hand to use in an emergency—frozen produce, cans of tuna or salmon, eggs, etc. 2. Check out the grocery ads and download your coupons before you go shopping. If something is on sale, now may be a good time to stock up on things you use often, like meat or in-season produce that you can freeze. 3. Decide on a meal plan. Look at your schedule for the week, taking into acco...

  I've been cleaning out my closets again.  My oldest is leaving the nest and going off to college on Saturday, (I'm sure that will inspire several other posts down the road, but for now we're not going to talk about it) so her clutter clearing is inspiring my clutter clearing and leading to the eruptions of small piles of random things around the house. Some of it's easy--things we know we don't need and will never use again, but with two kids moving out in the next few years, there are a lot of "just in case" things we've been holding onto.  We have extra dishes and silverware, "just in case" the girls want them for their first apartment.  We have multiples of several  tools, bedding, school supplies, etc. "just in case" we need them someday.  Charging cords to unidentified objects, "just in case" we ever figure out what they belong to.  Travel books "just in case" we visit those places again.  Wall décor we mi...

There have been many times in the last week that I have had to say to myself, "Keep it simple." My kids are finishing up the first semester at school and everyone's just the tiniest bit grumpy. Complicated is not an option right now. It's officially the holiday season, which means you're planning for big dinners, parties, gift-giving, housecleaning, decorating, and essentially creating a whole lotta magic in your house, especially for the little ones. Some of you even have elves creating mayhem in your house on a nightly basis!  I love to see your pictures of them on Facebook, but I'm a tiny bit glad I never had one show up in my house. ;) With all this background noise in your head, it's hard to concentrate on the here and now, and sometimes you just need to take a break and remember that you don't have to do it all.  Nor should you.  I love to cook and try new recipes.  However, I've found lately that it's very frustrating when I spend an hou...

Ummm...what?  Seriously, what messages are your things sending you on a daily basis?  Is it "Clean me, you lazy bum!" or "You have such good taste--I'm here to make you happy!" or "I know you don't like me much, but I belonged to your great aunt Alice so you're stuck with me for life!" And when you walk into your closet, do you hear "Put me on, daahling, and you'll look faaabulous!" or "Don't even think about--I can't believe how much weight you've put on, you pathetic pandemic porker!"  (I know, pretty harsh, but admit it, sometimes we're not very nice to ourselves.) Our homes should be places of refuge and serenity for us --a calm, peaceful place where we can relax, especially when we are working from home and staying at home more than ever now.  If the things in your house are adding to your stress because you have to take care of them, or making you feel bad about yourself because they point out your ...