Today’s Record Book is one I hope you will use — and then never need!

We’ll get to that in a moment.  First I have a few “housekeeping chores” to attend to. 

REQUESTS 

I have recently started getting a few requests.  Thank you to each of you who have made requests.  All of them have been welcome and each one is something I think the other readers will enjoy so you will be seeing them very soon. 

If you have a list, form or record book you would like to see, please write to me.  If it is something with universal appeal I will include it on Everyday Lists.  I haven’t run out of ideas (yet) but I would love to know what you want to see.

DERBY WEEK

This is Kentucky Derby Week here in Louisville.  We have events all week culminating in the Kentucky Oats on Friday and the ”Greatest Two Minutes in Sports” on Saturday.  I plan to be in the infield both days and probably sleep all day Sunday. ;) 

With that in mind there will be no new list next Monday.  I will be back on  May 9th.

Speaking of the Derby — Over at my Best Copycat Restaurant Recipes Blog I am celebrating Derby Week by having all Home Grown Favorites this week.  On Monday the recipes are Kentucky Fried Chicken’s Honey BBQ Wings and Papa John’s (Hometown boy made good — REAL good) Garlic Dipping Sauce.  Wednesday we have the Hot Brown, invented at the Brown Hotel right here in Louisville.  And Sweet Friday’s recipe is for the heavenly Derby Pie. 

All week I have included videos of some of the greatest Kentucky Derbies in modern history.  (I plan to do this for the Preakness and Belmont, too)

If you haven’t visited Best Copycat Restaurant Recipes Blog before, now is a good time to start. 

Property Record Book for Insurance

A few years ago, a friend of mine had his house burn down.  He is a doctor and had a VERY nice house.  It opened the 6 oclock TV news and it made the front page of the Couier Journal the next day.   It’s not often you see one of those huge mansions completely burning like his was.

Fortunately it started during the day and no one was home or hurt.

However, he and his family lost everything.

Now, as I said, he is a doctor and he does very well.  He has plenty of insurance, so there was no need to shed any tears over materal things (he wasn’t.)  He did lose many priceless memories but, unfortunately, there is nothing we can do about that.  (I do recommend saving all your priceless photos and papers as copies or scans in a separate location.  But that is another article)

What concerns us today is what he told me when we saw each other a couple of months after the fire.  He asked me if I would help him make some copies for his insurance company.

What a Mess! 

When he showed up he had a box filled with 3 of the “fullest” binders I have ever seen.  Jammed into 3 three-inch binders were printout, receipts, reports, photos and 1000’s of other pages.

He, his wife and two daughters had spent the past 2 months trying to remember what they had owned, searching for it on the internet and in stores and then recording their findings.  THEN they were going to (probably) have to fight with the insurance company to get the money to replace their belongings (the reason he needed copies and my help.)

His Advice

His advice to me resulted in today’s Record Book.   He said to go home and record what I own.  Save receipts if I have them.  Take pictures of everything as proof.

I went home and took his advise.  I made a book (similar to today’s) and it is now stored at my parent’s house.  I don’t own anywhere near the house or belonging he did, but I would like to get them back. 

God forbid a tragedy ever happens to you or your family.  But if it does – be it fire, flood, tornado, theft or whatever – save yourself the second “tragedy” of not getting what you deserve from the insurance company.

Using the Book 

I believe the book is pretty self-explanatory.  I have a detailed page (and a separate one for electronics) and a simpler page.  I have a tragedy page that I hope you will never need to use.  And I have a page to tape or staple your receipts and photos to.  Make as many of each page as you need and three-hole punch them.  After you fill them out, be sure to store them in a safe place AWAY from your house (it doesn’t do you any good if the Record Book burns up, too.)  

If you are unclear on any part of this Book (or any other list) please do not hesitate to write to me.

Mark 

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If you have already downloaded from Everyday Lists before you can get your Gas Mileage Form in one of two ways:

1. You can go directly to the Member’s Area if you bookmarked it or wrote down the address.
2. You can put in your EXACT SAME email and name you used when you signed up and you will be taken straight to the Member’s Area. You DO NOT need to confirm again but you will need to enter you email each time you use this method. Your name and email address are your passwords.

If you have NOT downloaded from Everyday Lists before:

Then you will need to confirm that you signed up for a download by replying to an email we send you. You will only need to do this one time.

This serves three important purposes –

1. We know that you want to download something from us and someone is not spamming you.
2. We know that you are a person and someone is not spamming us.
3. Most importantly, it allows us to get to know you and keep up with you. The internet is a big place. You might forget us. We don’t want that to happen.

For a more detailed answer see the FAQ’s

After you enter your email follow the directions to your download.

Do not worry. We will NEVER spam you or sell your address. We hate spam as much (or more!) than you do.

Today we have the first of our Everyday Summer Series.  Before it’s time for vacations and those horrible gas prices, find out which car gets the best mileage and work on your driving skills to save money at the pump.

Everyday List Gas Mileage Form is clear, concise and easy to use.  Just write down the odometer reading at each fill-up (always fill-up when checking gas mileage) and divide the miles traveled by the gallons dispensed.  It’s that simple.

Each form has 10 lines to chart the mileage over an extended period of driving and get an accurate reading.

I have put 3 forms on each letter sized page.  You can print them out (I would suggest on a card stock) and cut them apart to use in three cars.  Or use them as who pages for longer readings.
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If you have already downloaded from Everyday Lists before you can get your Gas Mileage Form in one of two ways:

1. You can go directly to the Member’s Area if you bookmarked it or wrote down the address.
2. You can put in your EXACT SAME email and name you used when you signed up and you will be taken straight to the Member’s Area. You DO NOT need to confirm again but you will need to enter you email each time you use this method. Your name and email address are your passwords.

If you have NOT downloaded from Everyday Lists before:

Then you will need to confirm that you signed up for a download by replying to an email we send you. You will only need to do this one time.

This serves three important purposes –

1. We know that you want to download something from us and someone is not spamming you.
2. We know that you are a person and someone is not spamming us.
3. Most importantly, it allows us to get to know you and keep up with you. The internet is a big place. You might forget us. We don’t want that to happen.

For a more detailed answer see the FAQ’s

After you enter your email follow the directions to your download.

Do not worry. We will NEVER spam you or sell your address. We hate spam as much (or more!) than you do.

It seems like every website you visit today requires you to have a password.

Including this one.

It’s easy to remember the ones I use everyday — Email, my admin panel for this site, The Barbecue Forums — But what about all the sites I enjoy but only visit occasionally.

Unfortunately, my memory will not keep up with my curiosity.  I cannot remember all of the passwords I create.  The alternative would be to use the same password for everything — and that’s not a good idea either.

So a few months ago I created my Everyday Password Record Book and it’s been getting quite a workout every since.

It’s another one of those “oh-so-simple” ideas you’re probably already doing something like it but, after a few days will wonder how you ever got along without this book.

The first line of each entry is for the Name of the website.  This is for quick reference.  The “name” of this site, for instance, is Everyday Lists.

 The second line is for the Address of the site.  This is the actual address you type in and is often different (in some cases, quite different) from the name.  For instance the “address” of this site is http://www.myeverydaylife.net/lists 

Then you have a split third line with a place for you sign-on and your password.

And that’s all there is to it.

In my last job they were always talking about “best practices”.  I hate most “Corporate Speak” with a passion — but I like this term.  Here are a couple of Best Practices for you that I have discovered:

1. Create a “common password” for all those sites you visit that need a password but you don’t really care if someone hacks.  DO NOT use it for your email, bank account or other sensitive information.  Make it memorable and hard to crack (see my article below on how to create (almost) Perfect Passwords) then use it everytime.  I would still write it down in the book though.  Just in case…

2.  NEVER write you VERY sensitive passwords in this or any other book.  This is just not good.  Instead, where it says password write a reminder.  Something like “Best Password” or “Work Password” .  This should be enough to help you remember that you used your “good” password.

3. Read my Article (below the download info), 3 Steps to Creating (almost) PERFECT Passwords.

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If you have already downloaded from Everyday Lists before you can get your Spring Cleaning Checklist in one of two ways:

1. You can go directly to the Member’s Area if you bookmarked it or wrote down the address.
2. You can put in your EXACT SAME email and name you used when you signed up and you will be taken straight to the Member’s Area. You DO NOT need to confirm again but you will need to enter you email each time you use this method. Your name and email address are your passwords.

If you have NOT downloaded from Everyday Lists before:

Then you will need to confirm that you signed up for a download by replying to an email we send you. You will only need to do this one time.

This serves three important purposes –

1. We know that you want to download something from us and someone is not spamming you.
2. We know that you are a person and someone is not spamming us.
3. Most importantly, it allows us to get to know you and keep up with you. The internet is a big place. You might forget us. We don’t want that to happen.

For a more detailed answer see the FAQ’s

After you enter your email follow the directions to your download.

Do not worry. We will NEVER spam you or sell your address. We hate spam as much (or more!) than you do.

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 3 Easy Steps to Creating (almost) PERFECT Passwords

This article will show you how to easily create an almost unbreakable password like Gy$4n&yc4f and, more importantly, easily remember it every time.  And why you only need a handful of passwords and can be almost perfectly safe with as few as two.

Hard to believe.  I will prove it.

Too Many Passwords

It seems like every website you visit today requires you to have a password.

It’s easy to remember the ones you use everyday — Email, Website Admin Panels, Forums — but what about all the sites you enjoy but only visit occasionally.  Unfortunately, my memory will not keep up with my curiosity.  I cannot remember all of the passwords I create.  I suspect you’re in much the same boat.  And experts tell us that using common words or numbers (your pet’s name, your birth date) is a bad idea.  They recommend using a combination of random (or seemingly random) numbers and letters in both upper and lower case as well as symbols (&,#,$). 

That’s all well and good, but how can you be expected to remember a different group of random characters for each website you have an account with?  One alternative would be to use the same password for everything — and that’s not a good idea.  If anyone ever found out one they would have access to all of your sites.

The answer is to use a combination of all of the above techniques. 

Step One - Create the (almost) Perfect Password That’s Easy to Remember

A perfect password would be one that is easy to remember but completely unbreakable.  Unfortunately that doesn’t exist.  Never will.  But, by using a very simple formula we can create the almost perfect password. 

First, as we know, a strong password should consist of random letters, numbers and symbols.  They do not actually need to be random — they just need to SEEM to be random.  Luckily there is a very easy way to do this and still remember them.  Think of one of your favorite songs — one you will never forget.  Take the first letter of each word and create a line of seemingly random letters from it.  For instance, The Day the Music Died (not my favorite, by the way), first line — A long, long time ago I can still remember — would yield Alltaicsr.  See?  Seemingly random but instantly memorable to a Don McLean fan.

But it’s still need more “randomness” to be really strong.  Find a line that includes uppercase letters.  Eleanor Rigsby’s first line could produce ERpuritc.  Better — but still not strong.  To be really strong you need to find a line that also includes numbers and/or symbols (&,#,$).  Think just for a moment and several will occur to you.  For instance, Creedence Clearwater Revival’s hit, “Traveling Band” gives us 737coots from the first line, “Seven-thirty-seven comin’ out of the sky.”

But look around a bit more and you will find one like this gem from the Jimmy Buffet/Alan Jackson hit, “It’s Five O’clock Somewhere.” The next to last line in the chorus, “It’s only half past twelve, but I don’t care” produces the beautiful Io1/2p12bId.  Assuming you can use the “/” in your password (you could just leave it out), that is an almost perfect password. Very short, very random and instantly remembered by any Parrothead.  And the Dire Straits hit “Money For Nothing” yields the absolutely incredible, Gy$fn&ycff, or the even better, Gy$4n&yc4f (Told ya!  Didn’t believe me, did you?  That’s “Get your money for nothing and your chicks for free.”)  A computer could not produce a stronger password than that!

Step Two - How to Always Remember Your Passwords

The second step to creating almost perfect passwords is to remember them.  Even making them memorable will not help you if you can’t remember all of them.  The solution to this is simple — only make 2 passwords (or at the most a handful.)

I know — this is a bad idea, right?  Wrong.  Hear me out.  Password-protected-sites fall into 3 categories.

While the average person may have dozens of sites that need passwords, he or she only has a few that are critical — your bank account, business email, stock broker.  For these sites use step one to make a complicated password you will instantly remember then don’t tell anyone.  Use this ultra-secret password for all of these.  Or to be safer make a new one for each.  It’s still only a handful.

On the other end of the spectrum are the dozens of fun sites where the password is more for identification than true secrecy — forums, games sites, You-Tube.  For these, create a good password and use the same one for all of them.  What’s the worst that can happen?  Someone solves a Sudoku for you? 

Between these two extremes are all of the sites you don’t want to share but aren’t life-and-death either — affiliate sites, Amazon, eBay.  For these use the password you use for the non-critical sites but change it slightly for each site.  Here’s how — pick a way to include the site at the end of the password and change it for each site.  For instance, you might use the first three letters of the website so that the password “737coots” becomes “737cootsAma” for Amazon and “737cootseBa” for eBay.  The trick is to always change it the same way and you’ll never forget.  Password +3 — easy.  Pick any way you like and will remember.
 
Step Three - Write Them Down

Again, I hear you yelling, “Bad Idea!”  Again, hear me out.

Creating the perfect password is not worth a nickel if you can’t remember which password goes with which site.  Get a book and write down reminders for yourself.  Not of the passwords, but of the sites they go to.

DO NOT write down your critical password.  NEVER! NEVER! NEVER!  It’s always a bad idea.  But if you have followed step one above then it will be easy to write a reminder for yourself.  The note, “Dire Straits”, would give you, and only you, the hint to remember Gy$4n&yc4f.  Or, if even that is too risky for you, how about the name of your date you took to the concert?  Or the city you first saw them?  Anything that will remind you, will work.

For the common passwords, just write them down.  We’ve already established that nothing bad would come of someone stealing them and you’ll save time if you ever forget.

For the middle-sites, write the password but not the final key (the first 3 letters or what-not.)  Or if that’s too risky for  you use the “reminder” trick you used for the critical password.  It is just as easy.

Important

There you have it.  You didn’t believe that you could make a password like Gy$4n&yc4f that was almost unbreakable but easy to remember when you started this article or that you could get by with as few as 2 passwords.  But now you know it’s true — and easy.

But remember, NO password is 100% foolproof.  Keep a close eye on your accounts and watch out for yourself — ALWAYS.

Today’s form comes straight from my new Everyday Life Website — Everyday Moving.  After helping a couple of friends move last weekend (and using these list and lables) I realized how valuable a website about moving would be to people.  One that follows the entire process from planning the move months in advance, through the big day and into the first days at the new place.  I will keep you informed of the progress and when it comes time for you to move you can trust My Everyday Life to be there to help you.———————————————

So the last time I moved I got smart.  Not only did I label the boxes (something that most people do) but I also numbered them and kept a list of what was in each numbered box.  When I got to my new place I wrote down where I put the box and then in the weeks before I was finally out of the boxes, if I needed something, I just looked at my list, went to the box and found what I needed.

Everyday Moving Box Kit

The “kit” includes 2 pages.  The first page is the Notes page for listing the contents of the boxes and the second page is four lables to use on the boxes if you like.  They are self-explanatory and easy to use so I won’t insult you with directions.

I will give you a couple of hints though:

1. The lables are not really necessary.  You can use a big Sharpie and write directly onto the boxes like most people.  I will tell you though that the lables are very easy to read and make identification easy if you put them in the same spot on every box.

2. I would recommend putting the lables on the sides or end of the boxes.  From experience this is the easiest because you can still read them when the boxes are stacked.

3. If you decide to use the lables, you can print them and cut them into 1/4 and tape them on very easily.  Or you can ask Kinko’s to print them onto Lable Stock and you can just stick them on.  They can cut them too. 

4. The two pages are made to be used 1 to 1.  There are 4 lables per page and 4 spaces for recording.

5. I punched holes in the List and made a notebook for ease.

Although I haven’t yet had need for it, I think these would also be very good for storage.  Both long term (when you move and have to use a storage area) and short (for things in the attic, for instance.)  

Not all of us move every few months but most of us will eventually change houses or apartments.  These will be up and available for the foreseeable future.  If you don’t need them today — just remember where you can get them — Everyday Lists. 

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If you have already downloaded from Everyday Lists before you can get your Moving Box Kit in one of two ways:

1. You can go directly to the Member’s Area if you bookmarked it or wrote down the address.
2. You can put in your EXACT SAME email and name you used when you signed up and you will be taken straight to the Member’s Area. You DO NOT need to confirm again but you will need to enter you email each time you use this method. Your name and email address are your passwords.

If you have NOT downloaded from Everyday Lists before:

Then you will need to confirm that you signed up for a download by replying to an email we send you. You will only need to do this one time.

This serves three important purposes –

1. We know that you want to download something from us and someone is not spamming you.
2. We know that you are a person and someone is not spamming us.
3. Most importantly, it allows us to get to know you and keep up with you. The internet is a big place. You might forget us. We don’t want that to happen.

For a more detailed answer see the FAQ’s

After you enter your email follow the directions to your download.

Do not worry. We will NEVER spam you or sell your address. We hate spam as much (or more!) than you do.  

I left off one small detail from yesterday’s Spring Cleaning Checklist from the download page on the Members Site. 

The “Download Link”

For any on you who tried in vain to download the List — I appologize.

The link is there now.  And it works — I just checked.

Thank you for your patience and support.

Mark 

It’s that time of year.  The time after Basketball but before camping. 

Spring Cleaning time.

So we have a Spring Cleaning Checklist.

Today’s list is special.  Well, I like to think that all the list are special, but this one is special for a reason. 

It is special because it is a true work-in-progress.

I owe Rachel of www.creativehomemaking.com again for the ideas behind this list.  I added a few things myself but I know there are still many more that Rachel and I have forgotten.   That’s why I have left many lines under each catagory for you to fill-in.

But don’t stop there.  Send us your best ideas and I will update the list as they come in.  Heck, I’ll put up an updated version each week as long as we keep getting good ideas. 

Please send them in.  We don’t get near enough comments here at Everyday Lists.  This website will be so much better with your input.

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If you have already downloaded from Everyday Lists before you can get your Spring Cleaning Checklist in one of two ways:

1. You can go directly to the Member’s Area if you bookmarked it or wrote down the address.
2. You can put in your EXACT SAME email and name you used when you signed up and you will be taken straight to the Member’s Area. You DO NOT need to confirm again but you will need to enter you email each time you use this method. Your name and email address are your passwords.

If you have NOT downloaded from Everyday Lists before:

Then you will need to confirm that you signed up for a download by replying to an email we send you. You will only need to do this one time.

This serves three important purposes –

1. We know that you want to download something from us and someone is not spamming you.
2. We know that you are a person and someone is not spamming us.
3. Most importantly, it allows us to get to know you and keep up with you. The internet is a big place. You might forget us. We don’t want that to happen.

For a more detailed answer see the FAQ’s

After you enter your email follow the directions to your download.

Do not worry. We will NEVER spam you or sell your address. We hate spam as much (or more!) than you do.

Today we have a frivolous little record book that, admittedly, isn’t for everyone. 

We also have a new Weekday Meal Planner (you’re gonna love this one!) and the first of our updates based on reader interaction and suggestions.

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You may already be realizing that I like to record stuff. Books I read, things I do, places I see. I can easily tell I’m not alone in this need to record my life by surfing the blogs that are available. Many of us like to keep a record of the things we do.

There are various reasons I’m sure and everyone has their own. Some of my reasons are to tell others about something good I have found, jog my own memory and see how far I have come.

Today’s Record Book is falls along those lines and will be welcomed by many of you.

RESTAURANTS RECORD BOOK

If you eat out a bit, travel or just enjoy food, you will probably have fond memories of many of the restaurants you have visited. A small out of the way tapas place in Chicago, a BBQ joint in Austin, In-N’-Out Burger in San Diego.

Restaurants are so much more than food. They are birthday celebrations, friends meeting over a coffee, a welcome pitstop in a 14 hour drive. Just the thought of them brings back not only memories of good food but memories of good times.

Everyday Lists Restaurant Record Keepers are there to record the memories and keep them for years to come. Glance back through the pages and find a good place to eat. Give advice to someone visiting a far off city. Or just remember good times, good food and good friends.

I started my book in 1992 and have all the restaurants I have visited since then. Most of them are in my hometown but there are also entries for San Diego, Chicago, Memphis, Cancun and many more far off cities. I even have a front section where I listed from memory all the restaurants I could remember from before ‘92. I have great fun looking through the pages and remembering nights and trips, friends and food.

Like the Book Record Keeping Books, these are especially fun for kids. Start early and record all the restaurants they visit. Blake has one that has all of his restaurants.

We have a simple version to get you started (in the future we have some ”special versions” for BBQ Restaurants, Fancy Restaurant and Roadfood Restaurant we may post if the demand is there.) This first is the Complete Restaurant Record Keeper.  Record all your restaurant here.

As I said, this may not be for everyone but do yourself a favor and try it.  It’s still free (and always will be.)  If you don’t like it, toss it out.  I think you will like it.

Download it and start recording your memories today.

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We have the first of our updates.

Thank you to everyone who has given me feedback.  I greatly appreciate it.  Please keep telling me what you like, don’t like and what you would like to see on Everyday Lists.

One concern that was raised was the amount of black that I put on some of the lists.  This wastes ink on home printers and ink is expensive.  To tell you the truth this never occurred to me because I don’t even own a printer.  I take every thing to FedExKinko’s and let the professional print it for me.  The price is the same no matter how much black is on the page. 

I do understand the concern though and I have posted Home Printer Friendly version of the Everyday Grocery List and Daily Meal Planner.  They are EXACTLY the same as the other versions except for the lack of a solid black header.  So if you are happy with the originals, there is no need to change.

Both new versions are posted on the same pages in the Members Area as the original versions and are called (conveniently) Home Printer Friendly Versions.

Another concern I have gotten is that the monthly meal planner wasn’t big enough to be useful.  I tried to fix this problem but was beaten by a lack of space.  So I compromised and made a third meal planner — A Weekday Meal Planner that has space for a weeks worth of meals — Monday through Friday.

Find this on the same page in the Member’s Area as the other meal planners and let me know what you think.

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If you have already downloaded from Everyday Lists before you can get your Restaurant Record Book in one of two ways:

1. You can go directly to the Member’s Area if you bookmarked it or wrote down the address.
2. You can put in your EXACT SAME email and name you used when you signed up and you will be taken straight to the Member’s Area. You DO NOT need to confirm again but you will need to enter you email each time you use this method. Your name and email address are your passwords.

If you have NOT downloaded from Everyday Lists before:

Then you will need to confirm that you signed up for a download by replying to an email we send you. You will only need to do this one time.

This serves three important purposes –

1. We know that you want to download something from us and someone is not spamming you.
2. We know that you are a person and someone is not spamming us.
3. Most importantly, it allows us to get to know you and keep up with you. The internet is a big place. You might forget us. We don’t want that to happen.

For a more detailed answer see the FAQ’s

After you enter your email follow the directions to your download.

Do not worry. We will NEVER spam you or sell your address. We hate spam as much (or more!) than you do.

Before we get into this weeks Lists, I would like to ask a couple of favors of you.

Don’t worry they are very easy and I think that you will enjoy them.

Here’s the deal — I have had a very good start to Everyday Lists.  I have offered what I consider some quality products, I have gotten some good feedback and we have seen our traffic grow steadily. 

However, I feel like this site could be and do so much more.  This is one of those sites that truly could have something for just about everyone. 

To do that I need your help.

First off, I need more feedback from you.  I have gotten some really good comments and ideas so far (some of which I have shared on the site) but I would love to hear more.  I have ideas for many Lists, Forms and Record Books but they are my ideas of the things that I like.  Maybe some will appeal to you, maybe not.  But if you will tell me what you want to see I can better gear the offerings to everyone. 

So please leave comments — what do you like, what do you hate, what works, what doesn’t and, most important, what would you like to see.

The other problem I have is that, like all sites, we can always use more readers.  But the thing about Everyday Lists is that it is a devil to promote.  The major problem is that ”you don’t know you need one, until you see one.”  Another problem is that all of our keywords (”forms”, “lists”, ”records”) have other, stronger meanings when searched for (example search for records and you see “Guiness World Records” and “Vinyl Record”.)  Now I know that we are new and I don’t expect to dominate the first pages of Google (yet!) but the problem is that I don’t see a way to EVER do it with these words.

Anyway, you can help us be getting the word out.  If you are a web master or have a blog please tell your readers about us.  If you do not run your own site you can still help us.  Perhaps you contribute to a forum.  Or you are part of a group of cooks, reader, travelers, Etc.  You can even just email your friends about us.  If you like us, chances are so will they and will be grateful that you told them.

Everyday Lists IS a cool site.  Let’s let people know about it.

Thank you for any help you give us.  Lets take Everyday List grassroots and make it a big success. 

Home Menu and Meal Planners

The truth is I do not plan my meals in advance.  I have a friend who has spent time in Europe and she says I shop like a European.  I visit the grocery and the fruit market ALMOST everyday.  I go in the afternoon and I get what I want for dinner.  Appearently this is the way they do it in the Old Country.  Hey, it works for me.

But, I know it’s not for everyone.  I know this because I have had more requests already for a Meal or Menu Planner than all others combined. 

Since I have no basis of knowledge for this I asked my good friend Rachel to help me out.  Rachel runs the Creative Homemaking site at http://www.creativehomemaking.com/ , a fact that many of you are familiar with since she sent many of you here originally.  If you haven’t visited Creative Homemaking, I encourage you to do so.  Rachel has sections on cleaning, budget planning, decorating, cooking, gardening and so much more.  If it involves the home, kids or family Creative Homemaking has it.

Here are the two forms we have come up with.  The first is a monthly planner to help you with you overall view and the second is a daily planner to give you a quick reference when you are ready to start work.

Monthly Meal Planner

The Monthly Meal Planner has spaces for breakfast, lunch and dinner for 4 weeks.  Good for getting an overall feel for your dinners and keeping a good variety going. 

This will also help you to budget and, using our Everyday Grocery list, should help to make you trips to the food store easier and cheaper.

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Daily Meal Planner

The Daily Meal Planner is designed with the busy cook in mind. A stripped down, very light layout allows you to jot down and see at a glance what you need to buy, prepare and serve.

There is a place on the right for a quick grocery list (take it with you to the store or transfer the items to your Everyday Grocery list) and a place at the bottom to write notes.

Again I would like to thank Rachel of Creative Homemaking for the Monthly Planner and for help with the Daily Planner and ask you to please send your comments.  Every list, form or record book I put up is and should be a “work in progress”.  Send your comments and suggestions on how we can make the form better and more usable.  If we get some good ones we’ll re-issue the form with the improvements.

If you are like me you read a lot of books. 

Sometimes it can get difficult to keep up with what you have read and what you haven’t.

That’s why years ago (1985 to be exact) I started recording all the books I read.  I have a list of every novel I’ve read for the past 22 years.  Page after page of murderers and police, spys and secret agents, stars and space ships, hobbits and wizards, lovers and fighters.

BOOKS RECORD BOOK

When I finish a book I write the date, title, author and number of pages down in a notebook.

This “Book Record Book” comes in handy occasionally when I can’t remember if I’ve read a certain title, but it is so much more than that.  I find myself frequently just thumbing through the pages, remembering.  Not only the books, but as you read the titles you can picture what you were doing at that time in your life.  It’s almost like a diary.  “Read a lot this month.  That’s when we got snowed in.”  “Here’s the books I read in the hospital waiting room as my nephew was being delivered.”  “Hey, here’s the trip to Cancun!”  “Not much these months…Oh yeah, divorce.” 

If you have children, this is a fun little exercise for them.  I got Blake started on it as soon as he started reading.  And I let him fill it out.  His first book, “Pikachu, I Choose You” and his latest, “The Diary of Anne Frank”, show him how far he has come.  I think this is something he will treasure as he gets older.

This record book is easy.  It’s more of an “idea” than an actual list.  In fact, I created it this morning for you.  Blake’s and mine are in nice books we bought at a stationary store (10 years apart.)  The one I made for you is nice and you will enjoy using it to record your books.  Instructions (such as they are) are below.

But the “meat” of the system is the…

AUTHORS’ RECORD BOOK

This is the one you haven’t thought of and you’ll thank me for.

If you are like me you read a lot of books. 

Sometimes it can get difficult to keep up with what you have read and what you haven’t.

That’s where the Author’s Record Book comes in handy.  Unlike the Books Record Book this one is made to record only those authors that you truly love.  The ones that you have read so many books by that you can no longer remember what you have read and what you need to read.

Instead of recording the books by date, you record them by the author’s name and the series they belong to (in any).  There is even a way to record the books you have and those you still need.  Then take the record book with you when you go to the Library, a book store or a book sale (it’s especially good for book sales where you never know what you’ll run across.)

This book is particularly useful for those authors who insist on naming all their books with a ”theme” (John Sandford’s “Prey” books or Sue Grafton’s “Alphabet” series, for instance) or the authors who have multiple “series” going at the same time (VC Andrews and Donald E Westlake spring to mind.) 

Instructions for use:

Book Book

It’s pretty straight forward.  Just fill in the blanks.  The only question might be the date.  I record the date I finish.  That’s also usually also the date I start the new book. 

Author’s Book (these are included with the download)

Put Together Instructions:

1. Print out the first two pages once — to place in the front your binder.  Then print out a few of the records page (20 is probably a good start.)  You can print more as you need them.

3. Three hole punch them and place them into a binder.

4. (Optional) You can purchase ‘a-z’ tabs at an office supply store or follow the organization method in Usage Instructions #2 below.

Usage Instructions:

1. Fill out an Author’s name on a page. Write it on the line at the far right facing out. This will make it quick and easy to find as you flip thru the pages.

2. If you only have a handful of authors that you read so often that they need to be recorded in this book, tabs are probably unnecessary. Instead use the large circle to enter the first letter of the Author’s last name. This will make organizing and lookup easier. You be the judge of this.

3. Enter the books on the lines. We have provided 40 spots for books plus 2 areas for series. The series areas are to help you stay in order with the lives of your favorite characters.

4. The two boxes on each line are to record the status of your reading:

• Box #1 has an “o” in it. Mark this box if you own the book.

• Box #2 has an “r” in it. Mark this box when you’ve read the book (if you like.)

The purpose of the status boxes is so that you can record the titles of all of your author’s books before you own them (in order for the series) and see at a glance which ones you are lacking. I find this works much better than just recording the ones I have or have read. You can get the information from the fronts of their books or the internet.

5. Take this with you when you go to the library, a book store or a book sale.  Or just keep it in the car.  You never know when you might see a yard sale.

Hints:

Many authors you read will probably NOT require a page. You either don’t read them very often or they have not written many books. I only use mine for the ones I can’t keep up with in my head. John Sandford with all the “Prey” novels is a perfect example (and the reason I created this for myself in the first place.)

Some authors will require more than one page because of the number of books they have written (Robert Heinlein, Lawrence Sanders) or the number or series they have going (Donald Westlake, VC Andrews.)

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If you have already downloaded from Everyday Lists before you can get your Complete Record Keeping System for Books in one of two ways:

1. You can go directly to the Member’s Area if you bookmarked it or wrote down the address.
2. You can put in your EXACT SAME email and name you used when you signed up and you will be taken straight to the Member’s Area.  You DO NOT need to confirm again but you will need to enter you email each time you use this method.  Your name and email address are your passwords.

If you have NOT downloaded from Everyday Lists before:

Then you will need to confirm that you signed up for a download by replying to an email we send you. You will only need to do this one time.

This serves three important purposes –

1. We know that you want to download something from us and someone is not spamming you.
2. We know that you are a person and someone is not spamming us.
3. Most importantly, it allows us to get to know you and keep up with you. The internet is a big place. You might forget us. We don’t want that to happen.

For a more detailed answer see the FAQ’s

After you enter your email follow the directions to your download.

Do not worry. We will NEVER spam you or sell your address. We hate spam as much (or more!) than you do.

Before we get started with today’s offering (our first Record Book) I would like to with my son, Blake, a happy 14th Birthday!  (Blake and KC.  Blake’s the one on the right )

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As for today’s Record Book….This really is The BEST TIMESAVER for your Kitchen Since the Microwave!

That’s a very big claim we know, but read on and see if you don’t agree. 

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Anything that saves me time is welcome in my kitchen. 

That’s why I was so excited a couple of years ago when I created the best kitchen timesaver since the microwave.  It’s not an appliance or even a tool.  It is simply a notebook.  But it has saved me countless hours and stress.

HAS THIS EVER HAPPENED TO YOU?

“I made this recipe about a year ago. Do you remember?” I yelled to Blake as I pulled yet another cookbook down off the shelf. “It had new potatoes and two or three different kinds of mustard in it. It would be perfect for Todd’s barbeque tomorrow. But I can’t find it!”

Unfortunately neither Blake nor the latest cookbook I tore through were any help and it took another seven books and about a half an hour to locate the recipe, Triple Coated Mustard Potatoes, in the cookbook “Jane Butel’s Hotter Than Hell.”

Unfortunately this had happened all too often to me. I would remember an excellent dish that I had made in the past but could not remember which cookbook (out of the 75 or so I own) that it was written in or, sometimes, even the name of the recipe. Another 45 minutes wasted looking and sometimes I could not even locate the recipe at all. I knew something had to change.

So, as I usually do, I sat down at my computer to solve my problem. What I created really is the best timesaver for my kitchen since the microwave!

It saves me countless hours in the preparation of meals and acts as a quick guide to future delights. Yet it is so simple that you have probably thought of it yourself or even use some form of it.

WHAT IS IT?

I called it the Easy Recipe Finder.  A simple name for a simple solution. 

It is just a binder that I have divided alphabetically with some store-bought “a-z” tabs.  You can make your own very easily with notebook paper and tabs…or…

You can download our Everyday Easy Recipe Finder below.  It’s got all the pages (107 total) already setup and ready.  There are at least two pages for each letter and more for the ones used most (I have learned which letters need more pages as I have used mine.)  It is conveniently set up to print either single or double sided and has room to drill holes for a three ring binder.

HOW WILL IT HELP YOU?

The instructions for using the Everyday Easy Recipe Finder couldn’t be easier (and are conveniently included in the download so they’re always handy) —  

After preparing a recipe from one of your favorite cookbooks, simply write down the recipe name and location (but not the whole recipe) on the appropriate page. 

I like to then record the recipe a second time.  This time I write it under the main incredient (if different from the name) or the secondary ingredient.  (Example:  For Triple Coated Mustard Potatoes, I would record it under M for Mustard and then under P for Potatoes.)  This makes my life much easier when I go to look up the recipe later.

Next I give each recipe a rating.  This comes in handy when I try use my recipe finder for ideas. 

Then when it comes time to cook I can use the recipe finder in two ways:

1) If I have a recipe in mind that you know would be just perfect, simply look it up in the Recipe Finder and start cooking.

2) If I am stuck for a recipe idea, I pull out the Recipe Finder and scim through it.  This is where my ratings really come in handy.

THINK ABOUT IT

Before you roll your eyes and go away, consider how much easier life would be if you could find the recipe you are looking for or a great idea for what to cook in ONE book instead of searching through dozens everytime.  After all you are probably just like me:  You have more cookbooks than you can reasonably keep up with and too many important things to remember to clog your head with where recipes are.

And remember that often the best solution is the simplest.

Give it a try and see if you don’t agree that this is the greatest timesaver for the kitchen since the microwave.

Mark

PS Printing and usage instructions are included in the Member’s Area and in the Easy Recipe Finder.

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To get your Recipe Finder enter your name and email below. Then you will need to confirm your intentions by replying to an email we send you. You will only need to do this one time.

This serves three important purposes –

1. We know that you want to download something from us and someone is not spamming you.
2. We know that you are a person and someone is not spamming us.
3. Most importantly, it allows us to get to know you and keep up with you. The internet is a big place. You might forget us. We don’t want that to happen.

For a more detailed answer see the FAQ’s

After you enter your email follow the directions to your download.

Do not worry. We will NEVER spam you or sell your address. We hate spam as much (or more!) than you do.