Time-Saving & Sanity-Sparing Tips for the Kitchen!

Hello, my snowy friends!  It is a find blizzardy goodness here in Kansas today!  And I'll tell you what, when school gets canceled, it seems to be embedded into my brain that I get the day off too.  So, I've done nary a thing all day long.  Nary a thing!  And the entire world around me is closing up early, so...I'm thinking I'll put a closed sign on my kitchen, and call it good.  Then find a place to hide so these rascally kids can't find me, telling me of their woes, what with their hunger problems and all.




Anyway, this is sort of a repost.  But not exactly.  Well, it's a repeat that has been enhanced slightly!

When I posted a while back about some of my Sam's Club finds, things that are making my life a little easier, I got a lot of questions...so I thought I'd talk about it again (with a couple additions!).  Because honestly, it's just fun.  If there's two things I absolutely love to shop for it's:  1. Office Supplies   2. Restaurant supplies. Even though I don't have an office, nor a restaurant.  But I like to pretend that I do.

So, here ya go.


I bought a slew of extra forks and spoons (and am kicking myself that I didn't pick up some more knives). They're just cheapo-CHEAPOS...but they bring the food from plate to mouth just as handily as fine silver flatware.  Score!

We seem to always be running out of clean utensils, so I'm really happy to have a gob of backups!


And the other thing I really like to do with all the extras is this:

Along with what's in the traditional flatware drawer, I have two jars with forks, spoons, and knives, strategically placed around my kitchen, so that Lori doesn't have to travel far.  It's my highest goal to not move more than absolutely necessary.

The forks were $7.12 and the spoons were $$5.88 for three dozen each.  Sweet!

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Next up, portion cups & lids.

My people, these are THE best things!

When the kids/husband need to take dipping sauce, salad dressing, granola, w.h.a.t.e.v.e.r., in their lunches...it's perfect for all of it.  And the best part?  You don't have to wash them!

I don't remember the exact cost on these little suckers, but I do remember doing the math and they came to about .01 per cup.  There are 2,500 in each box...so, plan to not run out for a gooood long time.  That makes me really super happy!


*****

Foil sheets.

I use foil sheets constantly when doing highlights in my hair shop.  But it just recently occurred to me that they'd be mighty handy in the kitchen too.  I'm so stoked to have them.   Welcome to the kitchen, my new aluminum friends!

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Baskets.

Okay, this was by far the biggest hit in my last post.  They are soooo nice to have!  And the kids just love them so much.

(I can't remember how much I paid for them...but they were super cheap!)

Add with them some waxed paper sheets...

And you've got yourself a dynamic diner duo!

And just so you don't think I'm all-deep-fried-all-the-time...we put healthy things in our baskets too! ;)

(I bought these particular waxed paper sheets at Costco...but Sam's has them too.)



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The infamous paper plates, of course!

And aluminum pans, for your roasting/baking/cooking convenience.

Now.  Let me just say that I do realize that ALL of these things combined are an investment.  I didn't buy them all at once, just here and there over the last couple months.  And since most of them have CRAZY quantities, I won't be buying them again for a really good long time.

Also, I don't use all this stuff super frequently.  Only on days when I know that I need some time-saving {SANITY SPARING} help.

And with water/detergent I'm saving in not washing, I think the cost is a wash.  Haha, a wash...get it?

Well, anyway.  Like I said in my last post, I'd really rather put my energy into what's going into my family's mouths (homemade food!)....so if saving time by buying such things helps me do that, I'm all for it!



If you have any time-saving, sanity-sparing, handy-handy ideas for making your kitchen experience better, please let me know!  I'd love to hear!


So there you go.  Now get out there and shop the restaurant aisle!  You'll have a blast.


Have a blessed and warm Tuesday evening!!

Dreaming of a Warm Vacation! {and a cleaning lady}

Happy Tuesday to you, friends!

Are you enjoying tropical temperatures like we are here in Kansas?  It's positively balmy, at a whopping 5 degrees.  And I'll tell you something, I'm so over it.  I have a fresh new appreciation for, say, 30 degrees...or even 20.  I'd love me some 20 right now!  But sunny and 73 would be way better.

Anyway,  

For the next two weeks I'm on stand-by for jury duty.  I have to call in every couple nights to see if they need me the next day.  I feel so important!  And boy, are they in for a treat if I should actually have to go in. Finally, my chance to throw my power and opinions around at the county level.  I've been waiting my entire life for this!

With any luck, I'll keep my mouth shut just enough to get chosen for a sequestered trial and I'll get to kick back in a hotel room in the evenings!

On the home front:

Yesterday morning I was seriously plotting to secretly hire a cleaning lady.  I had it all figured out.  (Or should I say, I HAVE it all figured out.  This idea is still brewing.)  Two days a week I am the only one home for a big chunk of time.  All I have to do is have a cleaning lady come over, I'll pay her cash (or give her a perm in exchange, whatever), she'll clean my house like it's never been cleaned before, I'll throw a little Windex behind my ears just in time for K-Man to get home, and KA-POW, suddenly my man, my kids, and the world just assumes that I've finally got my act together.  It's the perfect crime!

I think it's very clear that Lori needs a vacation...a very warm vacation!  Because the cold is eating away at my last remaining brain cells.  

Okay, I gotta snap back to reality! I need get busy with my day while I try to stay warm with a tropical umbrella drink hot cup of tea.



Have the best Tuesday ever, everyone!

Handy Hints to Make Your Cooking Life Easier

My all-homemade-all-the-time efforts have been a bit strained these days.  It's just so hard, and takes so much darn time, ya know?   I'm thinking we are going to just settle in as a 70/30 family.  70% homemade, 30% whimsical store-bought foods with mystery ingredients.  Some days may even be 60/40, or whatever.

But I have a few rather inexpensive ways to make cooking and clean up easier, without sacrificing food quality.  I'm so excited!

Baskets with wax paper liners.  Can you stand it?!  

My kids were like, "Mom! Wow, they have these at restaurants!"  And so does this rock star mom.

(Don't mind the Taquitos.  This was a 0/100 meal, clearly.) 

Paper Plates.

Alright, so these gems are nothing new, but I have rediscovered them and bought a pallet of them at Sam's.
(My dishwasher is singing my praises!)

Aluminum Foil Pans.

These honeys are a huge blessing when it comes time to throwing a lasagna in the oven.  And when you're cleaning up, you're like, "Oh my gosh, I don't have to wash this dang pan! Yay for me!"

That's all the handy hints I have for you today.  But don't you worry, I plan to hit the Food Service section at Sam's Club pretty hard next time I'm there.

Here's to making our jobs just a little bit easier, moms!


You're welcome.

Ambitious Goals, Aspirations, and Accomplishments

This morning as I was going over in my mind this past year's goals, aspirations, 

and accomplishments, challenging myself to be a better me in the

coming year...

**Wait**....we all know me well enough to know that I

simply don't have deep thoughts like that.

But what I do have, quite frequently, is grand ideas.

Grand ideas that rarely come to fruition.

(If only I could hire a staff of talented people to follow through for me.) 

Anyway, I stumbled on an old blog post and I was excited to see that 

exactly 33% of my ideas worked!

Take a look:

 

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MY IDEAS

(From August 5, 2011) 

I thought I'd update you on my recent

homemaking and farming tangents.

Because I know you are as excited as I am.

I have given up the dream of a dairy cow...
after hearing from many of you,
dairy goats are where it's at these days.

Cows are so two days ago, people.

Keep up.

So, now I'm researching dairy goats...and doing a deep inner
evaluation of myself to see whether or not
this is something I am really willing to stick to.

I tend to be ambitious in my imagination only.




And here is a list of my other latest ideas:
1. Mozzarella cheese
I ordered a kit to make my own moz.
Yep, that's what I did.

I'm a little nervous though.
If I follow through with this project,
it will yield about 30 pounds of cheese.
(Not all at once, you sillies)
And it will be more fresh and cost effective
than any I could buy commercially.

But there's that key phrase, follow through.
I must.

I will.

Oh, I really hope I will.



2. Earth Oven

This idea was born in my heart about 12 hours ago.
So, it's still whirling around in my brain
with unconstrained excitement.

To be able to bake bread...and pizza...in a stone oven...outside.
People, can you imagine?
Especially the pizza.
Oh, the pizza!
I love making homemade pizza and just the mere thought of
this puts me on another planet.

A pizza planet.


3. Grain mill

Not much to say about this little brilliant and practical idea except,
it falls nicely in place with the idea above, does it not?

That, and I have high hopes of selling freshly milled flour
at one of our little country markets.


This mill...

Or possibly this one...
(with the option of a motor)

I think that's quite enough for now.

But do mark your calendars for say...spring time...to come
over for fresh stone-oven pizza made with
freshly milled flour,
and topped with fresh mozzarella cheese,
made with fresh goat milk,
with veggies from my garden,
and an egg on top (humor me).

Served on a paper plate straight from WalMarts.


Enjoy your weekend!!




Oh and I forgot to tell you,
I made hot-cross buns last night after dinner.
Just thought you should know.
They were good...but not wonderful.
I'll keep trying.

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TODAY's update:

The cheese-making was a bust.

I tried it once, then quickly decided that store-bought was a handy idea.

And after this day, I'll never speak of cheese-making again.

That is, until I get goats!

But that seems like a pipe-dream to me at the moment.

But a girl can surely dream!  

Truth is, it's actually the reoccurring nightmares I have about them...

and their probable shenanigans.  Oh, the goat shenanigans!

And the daily milkings.  Daily!  Twice, even.  

No earth oven either.

That idea never even left my blog post.

But alas!  My grain mill!

I have had my grain mill now for about two years and it's fabulous.

I use it all the time.

Breads, pizzas, goodies.

The works!

So there you have it.

Exactly one-third of my ideas worked.

That is clear success by my standards.

Now excuse me as I work on a whole new list of ambitious ideas,

AND write up some help-wanted ads to build my staff.

Good Day to you!

 

 

my thoughts on organization {a list}

As we start off the new year, let's all hunker down and get organized. Let's get a little OCD with our cluttery selves. Ok, whatever. I found a nice list of how to iron out the confusion of life.

I got the following list HERE.

My own thoughts are interjected in red (because I simply cannot not tell you my own thoughts).

1. Utilize a list notebook.

Often chaos ensues because we are trying to juggle too many things in our brains. We can’t focus on any one thing because we are trying to remember everything. It’s exhausting to say the least.

Grab yourself a notebook and just start brain dumping all that needs to be done. Be very detailed with this list because the more steps you list out, the less you have to try and remember. It makes a huge difference to your mental clutter even if you aren’t able to get everything crossed off that list in one day.

I love, love, love my little notebook. It's a mess, loaded with lists, ideas, and nonsense! But it keeps me on-track, when I use it. And I do use it frequently, but not always. Everyone around me knows when it is or is not being used. Although the resulting attitude, it is often confused with PMS. And should the two ever coincide....well, God help us all.

And yes, this is an actual picture of me.

What were we talking about? Oh, yes...an organization notebook.

image credit: organizing junkie

2. Update your family calendar.

Now take your list to your calendar (and if you don’t have a central family calendar, get one quick!) Make sure your calendar is updated with appointments, school events, things to bring, etc.

For instance, if you need to bring cupcakes to school on Friday, add a note to Thursday’s square to pick them up or make them that day.

A big ol' family calendar is a MUST. Write down every single detail that you need "to do" that is time-sensitive. Then make sure you LOOK at the calendar periodically, like, every day would be good. Don't be like me.

3. Menu plan for today.

You may not be menu planning for the whole week yet, but you can menu plan for TODAY. Instead of waiting until the witching hour (isn’t that the worst!), plan what you’ll eat that night in the morning.

Check your freezer, pull some meat out, look up a recipe and you’re all set. 10 minutes of pre-planning will again allow you to stop worrying about it for the rest of the day and free up all sorts of head space. See the pattern here?

Mental clutter = overwhelmed

Yes, yes, yes. This is so good and makes the day go so much smoother if dinner is decided upon and underway early on. I do do this on most days. I do. And when I don't, it's obvious. But everyone knows not to complain. I've set it up that way.

4. Never leave a room empty-handed.

One of my best tips for staying on top of clutter is to make sure you take something with you every time you leave a room. Do it as you go…dirty dishes, laundry, toys, mail, you name it. If it belongs in a room you’ll be going to or passing, bring it with you!

This is perhaps the best one of all. The beauty of it is, when you are going, say, to your bedroom to get something, you pick up something, say, in the kitchen, on the way, that needs to be taken to your bedroom. Then when you get in your bedroom and forget what you went in there for in the first place, grab something in your room that needs to go back into the kitchen on your way back there to remember what you went into your bedroom for. Are you following me? Then when you remember, grab something else to take with you. Everything in your entire house will be it its rightful place by nightfall.

If you didn't understand that, don't worry. I tend to analyze things a bit more than anyone else. Just don't leave a room empty-handed, OK?

5. Assign a task to your children.

Too many moms are trying to do it alone. Get your kids involved. Start today. Assign them each one task off your list to complete. I know it’s often faster for us just to do it ourselves but the training has to start somewhere.

I do this occasionally...but the controller in me just won't have it. And the result is, a bunch of kids who are waited on. It's all gonna backfire one of these days.

image credit: threeifbybike

6. Create a donation station.

Every home needs somewhere to collect the things we no longer need. Grab yourself a big box, mark it with the words donation station and let everyone know what it’s for.

My donation station is a corner of my bedroom that creates quite the eye-sore. I need to figure out a better place. But every single inch of my home is taken.

7. Add 5 things to that donation station everyday.

Have every person in your household collect 5 things today to add to that donation station. Set a timer and make a game out of it. See who can be the first to collect their 5 things. Before you know it, that donation station will be full!

Umm, five things? I need at least four of those things, thank you very much.

8. Create an “I’m Outta Here” shelf.

Similarly you need an errand bin by your front door. I call it my “I’m Outta Here” shelf and it’s somewhere I can collect things that need to be returned to a friend, mailed, returned, etc. That way when I’m heading out I can easily remember what needs to be done and tasks don’t get backlogged.

This is a good idea. But I don't do it. Nor do I know how/when/where I will ever do it.

9. Do a 10-minute tidy before bed.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Do a 10 minute tidy each night before bed to set up your next day for success. Plug in cell phones, check and update your calendar, tidy surfaces, make lunches or whatever it is that needs to be done in order to start the following day on the right foot. It makes a world of difference!

Ten minutes? Oh that's adorable. But it's a good "idea". Really, it is.

10. Check your attitude.

Finally, stop beating yourself up! Coming down hard on yourself does nothing except make you miserable. Tomorrow is another day. Celebrate every accomplishment no matter how small.

Attitude: See first picture above.

Happy Organizing!!