A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that September puts me into clean slate mode. There’s something about back-to-school that makes a routine seem so appealing. Maybe it’s because there are suddenly so many activities and schedules are much more rigid. A good routine just seems to make everything flow better.

Only a week has gone by since my big kid went back, but I’ve already started to slowly attempt to find a new day-to-day routine. It’s going to take more than a week, but I’m making progress.

Since I work from home it can be hard to stick to a set schedule (ok, it’s impossible), but I’ve been trying to check emails and update social media (or at least schedule them to update) in the mornings while my ladies are eating breakfast. Once Sam is on the bus, I try to claim chunks of time to work throughout the day while Ellie is playing or napping (if she’s napping). Slowly but surely we’re settling into a new routine.

I’ve also promised myself (and my husband) that I’m going to cook more, which is more than a little amusing since just about everything I’ve cooked to date has been with my husband giving me instructions.

When Pillsbury reached out and wanted me to make something yummy with one of their recipes (you can download their recipe booklet with super easy weeknight dinner ideas here), I was all for it—especially when I saw their chicken pot pie puffs recipe. My husband happens to be a huge fan of chicken pot pie so I knew he’d not only be happy that I cooked something, but his stomach would be thrilled too.

Here in New York, the nights have been getting a little crisper. I even busted out my favorite furry slippers this week. The kids are all officially back in school. Some of the trees are already even getting small spots of color. Basically, it really feels like fall. And when I think fall, I think apples!

We’re going apple picking with friends next weekend, which means I’m in full on apple recipe collecting mode. I want all the apples and all the delicious recipes that go along with them.

I also want to try and make sure that at least a few of the recipes I use attempt to be a bit healthier. I don’t want to do all butter all the time. I mean I do, but I’d rather not have to invest in a whole new wardrobe when my butt explodes from all the indulging.

Last week I mentioned that one of our favorite foods lately is brown rice salad. It’s a great healthy (and gluten free!) alternative to pasta salad. We like to make big batches of it so that my husband can bring it in to work for lunch or we can have it for dinner on days when cooking is not our favorite idea (ok, it’s rarely my favorite idea. But this works perfectly for days when my hubs is getting home late and doesn’t feel like cooking).

One of the reasons I’m so in love with the CSA we joined this year is that we (and by “we” I mean my husband) are kind of forced into using things that we normally don’t have on hand all of the time. My favorite lately has been the basil. So. much. basil.

It means that my husband makes lots of pesto and I love his pesto. I decided to add it to my (limited) repertoire because he promised it’s easy and the end result is kind of impressive.

So we finally moved. It seems like it’s been hanging over our heads forever, but we’re finally in. And instead of struggling with the whole act of moving, we’ve moved onto struggling with how to make a much smaller living space work for us.

Right now my biggest foe is the bathroom. We’re currently trying to squeeze the contents of two bathrooms and a linen closet into one (decent sized) bathroom. This, my friends, is no easy task. You don’t realize how much crap you really own until you’re forced to squeeze it into an area that’s much smaller than what you’re used to.

So, of course, I used this as another excuse to hit up my beloved Pinterest. I won’t lie. A lot of what I found there were big, beautiful, expensive bathrooms that are not even close to our (nonexistent) budget. But there were some little gems that are actually attainable mixed in. (Click the photos for the sources)