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Batch Cooking Rocks! On Tuesday taco nights, I often cook up extra meat to freeze. These leftovers can then be used in soups, on nachos, or in quesadillas throughout the week. Whether it’s for lunch, a snack, or on the weekend when I take a break from cooking, it never hurts to have extra food ready to eat. Whenever I find little pockets of time in my day, I try to cook or prepare extra food to have on hand. For example, when I buy fruit, I try to wash it and put it in containers for ready-to-go snacks. If I’m making steak, I cook extra to put on salads another day. Just make sure to let it cool before storing it! Think of preparing extra food as a self-care method that eases your stress and workload. Get Inspiration From Real Military Spouses! While I love looking at Real Simple recipes, I often find that […]

I keep a recipe binder with some blank pages at the beginning where I can jot down new ideas or suggestions from my kids. I realized that I never used our recipe cards, but once I put them in sheet protectors and organized them in a single binder, it was easy to flip through them for inspiration. My recipe binder is divided into sections based on the meal themes that I chose for my week—I’ll explain themes next—each filled with some of my favorite, go-to recipes. I’m always adding to my master recipe lists with new ideas I’ve seen on Pinterest, learned about from the meal planning service Plated, or heard about from friends. I would love to know your favorite recipe websites, please comment below. I LOVE Theme Nights I love dedicating Mondays to meatless soups made in a crockpot and Tuesdays to tacos. Just having a meal theme to inspire me each day […]

As a military spouse, I need truly simple meal ideas—quick, healthy foods that will fit between a 4 pm baseball drop off and 7 pm ballet pickup. I usually check out Real Simple magazine while waiting in the checkout line at the grocery store, but even these “simple” ideas often seem too complicated for my busy life. My podcast, The Military Spouse Show, is for motivated military spouses who care about their health, wealth, and relationships. Take my word for it: meal planning directly—and positively—affects each of these areas of your life. Planning your meals in advance will help you eat healthier, save money, and make mealtime less stressful, all of which will give you more time to connect with your busy family. Don’t let meal planning intimidate you—customized meal planning should make our lives easier! Stick to a meal planning method that works for your individual style and your family’s unique schedule. While there’s […]

1. Reward Yourself The first thing to do to keep you motivated is to come up with your own rewards for completing a task or project. For example, getting a bowl of your favorite snack while working can serve as a reward. Every time you finish working on a problem area, you can eat a part of the snack. This way, you will be motivated to continue working forward just to have a taste of that small reward. 2. Find an Accountability Buddy The second thing you can do to make sure you stay motivated is to ask someone to check up on you. The support of this person making sure that you are alright and that you are on track will help to pressure you to continue working. It will motivate you to ensure that when they return to see what you have been doing, you can show that you have actually been working successfully. On the other […]

Over the past few weeks, we’ve been working together to tackle physical and mental clutter, create environments filled with things and activities that we love, and continue working toward personal fulfillment. With so many plans on the horizon and so much work already done, take a few seconds to reflect. Ask yourself, “Doesn’t living this way feel great?” Now, we’re going to continue our growth by thinking about the people we allow into our busy lives. Is there anyone who is draining your energy or who tends to overstep his or her boundaries? In this last article in my summer series, I discuss the importance of taking the driver’s seat to decide how and with whom you spend your time. Maintaining Valuable Relationships I often remind my teenage daughter that it’s only worth hanging out with people she feels like she can be herself around, but I often forget that this is an important lesson […]

Summer is a great time of year to educate yourself on the subjects close to your heart. Education is all about self-improvement, and that doesn’t have to stop when we finish our formal education! I have many clients who are finished with college or have completed their professional certifications but continue to crave learning. There are many ways to continue learning despite our busy lives, even if it happens during chores or while the kids are asleep. The point is to keep growing and trying new experiences, to lean in to learning. I continue my summer series this week by offering suggestions for understanding what concepts interest you and finding a way to make those learning experiences happen. Let Yourself Dream I often ask clients who are looking for a new career to meditate on the question, “If you could only choose one subject, what would you study for the rest of your life?” Or, […]

As military spouses, we often have a lot of balls in the air. It feels like we’re constantly filling out paperwork, driving our kids to appointments, signing up for sports, paying the bills, and even having a little fun along the way. With so much going on, it can be hard to even think about, much less make a quarterly plan toward, developing healthy habits. In this summer series, I show how prioritizing your health can be important not just for your physical wellness but also for your stress levels and overall happiness. By adding some healthy habits to your life, you’ll find that you bring all of your goals into alignment and start attracting success toward you.

You can’t really manage your time, but you can better manage yourself. This is a new mindset. The more I learn to love myself, the more I get done, the closer I get to people, and the more money I earn. It’s so interconnected so when you are feeling frazzled, step back and brainstorm some ways to manage yourself versus managing time. If you don’t establish a clear idea of some of the things you want to do during these summer months, the time just seems to fly by and you don’t translate any of your intentions into action. By deciding to go see the state park, finally checking out that museum in your home town, or getting tickets for the family to see a professional baseball game, you take one step closer to making that goal a reality. Don’t forget to download my free printables To start on this week’s action steps, take out […]

There’s something powerful about only allowing things that we love, whether physical or mental, into our lives. By bringing such positivity into our day-to-day experiences, we effectively lift our moods and attract new opportunities toward us. As summer approaches, it’s important to stay committed to cleaning out the old and inviting in the new. And an easy way to give yourself a little burst of energy is to check off those loose ends on your to-do list: that leaky faucet, those old clothes in the back of your closet, that grill part that you need to order, etc. Don’t forget to download my free printables!

You already brush your teeth, so saying your affirmation during teeth brushing is brilliant! Summer is a great time for considering which habits support the lifestyle you desire and reflecting on changes you’ve already made that have proven successful. A great way to make a new habit stick is to tie it to an old one, connecting what still seems like a chore to something that’s already become routine or even enjoyable. Maybe you’re trying to drink more water. You’ve already committed to carrying a water bottle with you wherever you go, so you just need to add in a decision to drink a full bottle over the course of your commute to work. Or, maybe you want to eat more vegetables. You’ve already taken some important action steps by allowing yourself to only eat the vegetables that you already enjoy. But now, moving forward, you may decide to chop veggies up and put them […]