Ready to Organize, but Not Sure Where to Start? (Giveaway)

Before

Are you enthusiastic about tackling an organizing project, but aren't sure where to start? Or do you know you'll only get the job done with some cheerleading and encouragement?

I'd be delighted to help!

That's exactly what I did for my friend, whose kitchen is featured in these photos. We organized for function and efficiency, and relocated objects so that she could install a dishwasher.

After

If you have an upcoming reason to organize, or are just frustrated with your stuff, here are a few ways that I could help:

• Assess a problem area in your home/office and offer verbal or written suggestions on how to better organize it. 
• Physically assist you in organizing one or more spaces, providing motivation, ideas and labor. I promise this can be fun; many hands make light work.
• Guide you through setting up online bill pay or other paperless solutions.
• Help you find charitable or eco-friendly disposal options for things that you no longer want or need.
• Organize items and list them for sale on eBay, Craigslist, Freecycle, etc. or prepare for a yard sale or Mother's Mart.

Of course, I'd be happy to problem solve and brainstorm along with you if you have a more specific need. Reach me at christina (dot) alderfer (at) gmail (dot) com.

Ready to get started? I'm giving away a two-hour organizing session to one lucky reader this week. Please enter by commenting on why you need the help. I'll choose a random winner to be announced on Saturday. Good luck!

Make the Most of Your Meals (Part 7)

Well, I've decided to spare you the rundown this week on my grocery purchases and menu, largely because of some family matters that made for helter-skelter meals. I'm not sure I have the mental clarity to recall what all we ate.

I've been waiting to talk about couponing. I've been so tempted to reference it in previous posts, but have restrained myself. There is so much talk about extreme couponing and the drugstore game (just Google those if you need more info; you'll be overwhelmed), and then there are just a bunch of plain Janes like me who clip coupons to save a few bucks here and there.

As an aside, I saw the aftermath of a little extreme couponing gone wrong this spring. I was out at yard sales and saw at least 30 cans of air freshener on one table. Really? I can get on my soapbox and rant about non-chemical ways to conceal unpleasant smells, but perhaps we should just move along.

So, here's how couponing works for me.
(Disclaimer: It may not work for you. It may infuriate you. I am not you. It's okay.)


Using only "free" coupons. This means coupons that arrive in my mailbox, or those which can be printed online. I've chosen to cancel my newspaper subscription because as much as I love the idea of sprawling on the bed or couch and reading the paper, it's not my stage of life. And while I love the funny pages, magazine and coupons, I'm not saving as much as I am paying for the Sunday edition.

Clipping/printing coupons just for things I already use AND know I'll be purchasing again soon. This is really important when it comes to keeping costs down. There is a reason companies issue coupons: they want you to buy their product. They want you to be brand loyal. Okay, that's all well and good, but just because I use an item doesn't mean I must clip every coupon for it. So, even if I save $1.00 on each jar, I simply don't need to buy a jar of mayonnaise each month.

Resist the temptation to use every coupon clipped. Why is this so hard for me to do? I look at that pile of coupons like a "to-do" list. Must. Redeem. Every. Coupon. Not a good choice. That food item must fit into a menu or realistically be usable within a few months.

Stack the savings. If, like me, you buy a lot of groceries at Target, you need to stack coupons by matching Target coupons and manufacturer's coupons. I'm sure other stores do this as well. (Do tell, if you know about it.)

Abandoning the coupon when the house brand is cheaper. It always pays to do the math. So often, the generic brand is cheaper than the name brand even with a double coupon.

Consider what you are buying. There just aren't many coupons for produce, fresh meat or nutritious cereals. There are, however, a LOT of coupons for junk food, personal care products and other "non-necessities." Just consider that a deal isn't really a deal unless you will use and benefit from the product, in addition to saving money.

So, there you have it. My musings on how to cut the grocery bill in seven installments.

On a personal note, let me say that this experiment has made me more accountable and conscious of my food purchasing and disposing. At the same time, it's not worth stressing yourself out as you strive to pinch every penny. Life must go on and it's okay to have takeout or buy a frozen pizza at full price every now and again. Time is money, too.

Have a great week!

Make the Most of Your Meals (Part 6)

Hi again! Hopefully you are still hanging in with me and finding some ways to reduce your grocery spending and/or food waste.

One of the things I've really been "chewing on" (in the mental sense) is eating less. One almost-too-obvious way to cut down your grocery spending is to eat less food. And let's be honest: there are very few Americans who struggle to achieve a minimum weight.

Perhaps it's the back-to-school season that brings this subject to the forefront, but in the past weeks, I've read half a dozen articles that reference the importance of eating a nutritious breakfast. I remember skipping breakfasts back in my junior high days, but I could never do that now. I love breakfast!

Have you ever heard this proverb?

Eat breakfast like a king,
Eat lunch like a queen, and
Eat dinner like a pauper.

(As an aside, I also read a reference to a study which found that people who had cake with breakfast lost more weight than those who had cake after dinner. With as much as I love a good coffee cake, shoo fly pie or funny cake*, that did my heart good!)

Anyway, weren't we talking about eating less?

I realize that my son has a better day when he has some protein with breakfast. He also needs crunchy food sometime during the day, and I can't say what that does, but I find myself feeling fuller (more full?) when I have to chew more. There is something satisfying about dense foods, be it granola, baby carrots, steak, oatmeal, etc. Those certainly fill you up more than a bag of chips, wouldn't you say?













My menu this week was as follows:

Monday: Skillet Chicken Fried Rice and green beans
Tuesday: Broiled Salmon with cranberry-almond salad
Wednesday: Ham and Broccoli Ring and side salad
Thursday: Dinner out with family using a Groupon deal
Friday: Leftovers
Saturday: Dinner with friends

I imagine you find the idea of leftovers on Friday to be a very tantalizing idea! Especially when a lot of families have pizza on Fridays.

Well, it may seem be exciting, but leftovers are a must if you are trying to save money and reduce food waste. Repurposing your food for a second round is possible, especially since some cookbooks are dedicated to a "cook once, serve twice" technique.

At our house, most recipes make a little more than we need for two adults, a preschooler and an infant just getting into solid foods. It's a natural choice to heat leftovers for lunches. We also usually have another noon or evening meal sometime during the week for a "leftover smorgasbord" where I pull out all the containers and we assemble our plates from the "buffet"!

Finally, if your freezer isn't as stuffed as mine, consider making a double batch of your next casserole, soup, or pasta dish and freezing it for a future meal. This really saves time.

Next week we conclude with my thoughts on couponing.


*I love that even wikipedia doesn't have funny cake. Maybe I'll write that in my spare time! This is a local treat that consists of a pie crust topped with chocolate syrup and a white cake-like batter. Some recipes call for the chocolate syrup on top, but it sinks as it bakes. Really no one outside the area thinks it's any good! Learn more crazy stuff here.

Make the Most of Your Meals (Part 5)

We're more than halfway through this series on meal planning. Is anyone doing this along with me, or are you enjoying watching me suffer?!?


One very positive aspect of this project is that I'm not running to the store for just one or two ingredients. Plus, I can start working on dinner any time during the day that I have a few minutes to thaw, chop, or mix.

On the other hand, it's becoming tough to find the line between stocking up because of good deals, keeping the spending down, and having a manageable level of food in the house, so none is wasted. I am feeling very humbled looking at the bottom line each week.

On that note, I spent $89.71 on groceries at Target this week. I think this is where I've been having some trouble, because while I get a lot of food at Target, it's also mixed in with other household items like diapers, health and beauty items and other legitimate stuff. I had to open up a spreadsheet to figure out what exactly I spent on food items.My purchases included multiple packages of the following: peanut butter, snacks for the kids, cereal, and coffee, plus OJ, eggs, and frozen salmon filets. My hubby also stocked up on frozen lunches and crackers for the office, for when he's not taking in leftovers for lunch or being treated by vendors.

At the grocery store, I spent $50.22. What you see pictured here is from the first trip; we returned the same day for the absolutely necessary bread, butter, sugar, and $1.88 bottle of Hershey's syrup that didn't make it the first time. I was distracted...big time, but I did stick to the list for the second trip.

The refrigerated biscuits were on sale for $1 apiece and the krimpets were on sale, too, and just had to come home with me :)

The menu this week


Monday: A "hash" of sausage, pepper, onion, tomato and pasta with side salad.
Tuesday: BLT sandwiches and zucchini-corn fritters (you really must try these) to use up more produce and most of a carton of buttermilk
Wednesday: Texas Roadhouse!
Thursday: Salad with chicken
Friday: Homemade pizza and salad
Saturday: Dinner with friends
Sunday: Panini and hand-cut fries

So, let's talk a little bit about freezing. I am still learning this, because it seems that as soon as I have room in there, it gets filled back up. Sometimes we can't find things without a little "discussion" between me and the freezer, or between me and my wonderful hubby.

[Again, not my real house, but fun to dream!]

Here are some items I typically keep on hand:

• A variety of meats: ground beef, chicken breasts/tenders, venison, hamburgers, bacon, pulled pork, salmon filets, often salmon burgers, fish filets or fish sticks
• Boxed lunches (e.g. Lean Cuisine) for my husband
• Bags of shredded cheese purchased on sale
• Breads: I stock up during buy-one-get-one sales and freeze bread inside a zip-top bag in its original package. I also freeze hamburger buns and hot dog rolls, sometimes bagels and English muffins purchased on sale.
• Baked goods like banana bread or zucchini bread. It's much easier to make several loaves at once and pull them out of the freezer as needed.
• Frozen vegetables, including green beans from the garden (ours or my in-laws)
• Herbs like basil and parsley
• Yeast purchased in bulk
• Applesauce that we make each October
• Ice cream, sometimes popsicles, and dessert ingredients like cool whip, pie crust or puff pastry.

As I'm typing this list, I see a lot of non-essential things, but I also see a lot of common ingredients that are nice to have around. Except for prepped food like the baked goods, I can buy anything at the store anytime, though not necessarily at the best price.

I think this is where I need to focus: buying only at the best price and preferably with coupons. Also, it seems that I need to start treating my freezer a bit more like my counter top and organize it regularly. Part of the problem comes from quickly throwing in groceries after a shopping trip without finding a place for the items. (This usually has something to do with hungry or tired kids, but that's a whole other post.)

I think I'll revise my cleaning schedule to include a regular freezer "straightening" session.

Am I the only one with things falling out of my freezer?

Next week: Leftovers

Make the Most of Your Meals (Part 4)

Let's start with some accountability, shall we?

This week, I lost a number of produce items: half an apricot, half a red pepper that was generating its own slime pool, and a red onion. I must keep working to have regular turnover in the fridge, and make it a point to look in the fruit and vegetable drawers on a daily basis.

On a high note, going shopping this week gave me an opportunity to use my new produce bags. I am so thrilled to be done with those wispy plastic bags that are questionably recyclable. One small step on my way to less plastic in the house.

I didn't get a photo of my groceries this week because of hungry kids and jumping into evening meal prep right away. It was mostly produce and dairy, but I did some stocking up because of ridiculously good deals. Counting a dozen ears of bicolor corn from a local farm stand, and a beautiful basket of peaches ($18), I paid $60.59 for food this week.

Photo credit Jonathan Alderfer

Using a store coupon, I bought 5 packs of shredded cheese for $1.48 apiece. I don't think I've ever gotten such a good deal. Now that finally realized I can freeze that cheese, look out! I won't pay $3 a bag again.

Also, by combining an ice cream sale with a coupon, I paid $1.38 each for two 1.5qt containers of summery refreshment!

This week's menu:
Monday: Zucchini Deep Dish Pie to use up a huge zucchini from the garden. I'll add more onion next time.
Tuesday: Stuffed Shells to use up my semi-homemade pasta sauce. I set some aside to give away.
Wednesday: Popcorn chicken from the freezer, corn on the cob, and broccoli.
Thursday: Chicken Parmesan using some prepared breaded chicken breasts and salad.
Friday: Pulled pork sandwiches (meat and buns from freezer) with chips and cut up veggies
Saturday: Dijon-Lime chicken, rice, and leftover veggies. Also chocolate zucchini cake!
Sunday: Waffles and peaches, breakfast casserole

This week I want to give you some suggestions for maintaining a well-supplied--yet not overflowing--pantry. And by pantry, I mean wherever you keep unopened packages of non-perishable foods.

(Wow, look at this picture from an earlier post...I really have gotten a bit overzealous because there hasn't been any empty shelf space in my pantry for a long time. Plus the kids food has it's own cabinet now.)

I'm very pleased to present you with this Pantry Inventory list.  I developed this list after looking through my recipes and what's currently in my pantry. It's a great jumping-off point; please feel free to download it and customize to your heart's content.

A few other thoughts:

• Consult your pantry every time you are planning your menu for the week. If you are getting sick of seeing something in the pantry, or there are more than three containers of the same thing, you need to find a way to use that ingredient. 
• One exception to the above rule pertains to seasonal items. I stock up on a lot of things around Thanksgiving, like flour, canned green beans, french fried onions, pumpkin, and baking chips (chocolate, cinnamon, etc.), because the price will not be that low again until next Thanksgiving. I am also noticing a lot of good deals on PB&J and other lunch ingredients since we are in back-to-school season.
• Some items don't have a very long shelf life. Be sure to check the "best by" dates and rotate your inventory by using up the oldest item first.
• As you review what you have on hand, don't be afraid to admit you overbought. Find a food bank or worthy organization that can use your donations. They will be grateful.
• A note about condiments: I have become aware of a condiment force field at my house. For two adults, we have about15 bottles of salad dressing, several BBQ and steak sauces, a ridiculous amount of jellies, and enough peanut butter to keep us fed during a month-long power outage. With this type of food, you can anticipate the need to replace the container with several weeks of wiggle room. There really is no reason to fill your pantry with condiments and sauces unless you hit a great sale.

Next week, we'll talk about stocking the freezer.

Make the Most of Your Meals (Part 3)

Mission: Reduce My Grocery Budget

I looked back through my expenses thus far during 2012, and we've been spending an average of $100-150 a week. Less than $100 per week at the grocery store, the rest is mostly from Target. That means some is non-food, like cleaning supplies and toiletries. I definitely can reduce those numbers. 

I'm pretty pleased with week number one of trying to pare down my grocery expenses and reduce food waste. My grocery expenditures this week came in under $30.


The orange pepper and green grapes were not on my list, but when my three-year-old asks for produce, it's really hard to turn him down!

My menu revolved around using up food that was already on hand. We were fortunate to have two very special nights with no cooking :)

Mon: Leftover pork from last week, leftover rice and veggies from a birthday dinner on Saturday
Tue: Mini meatloaves with tater tots (beef, tots and sauce were hanging out in freezer) and green beans
Wed: Salmon from the freezer, more leftover rice, and broccoli that badly needed to be used
Thur: Enchiladas from the freezer, salad
Fri: My Dad brought Dominos!
Sat: Date night at Red Lobster, using a coupon
Sun: Burgers and rolls from the freezer, leftover vegetables

You might wonder why I am working so hard to use up my freezer food.

Well, this is what my freezer looked like about two months ago. Aside from some wiping and an attempt to straighten up the stuff in there, it hasn't looked much different since. We had some frosting issues because there was so much stuff that the drawer couldn't close properly. Not to mention the full chest freezer in the basement...

Incorporating things on hand will help bring costs down for the meantime. And, more freezer space will give me the option of stocking up when food goes on sale. I bought the two blocks of cheese today (2/$4) to experiment and see if I can make my own snack size pieces of cheese for cheap and with less packaging.

I've posted before about some of the pitfalls of grocery shopping and why it's not necessarily bad to be loyal to a specific store.

A few things that I'd like to reinforce:

Plan your trip
Look at the weekly circular and see if there are any bargains. Consider planning your meals around meats or produce that is on sale in a given week. Review any paper coupons that you have before you get to the store, and/or look for online coupons that correspond to needed items and sales.

Make a list and stick to it
If possible, take the time to make the list in the order that you travel through the store. Buy only what you knew you needed at home. It's healthier if you stick to the perimeter of the store.

Don't shop at five different stores
Not only do I view this as a huge hassle and time-waster, I think it becomes a financial mistake. If you frequent one or two stores, you know exactly where to find things. You'll browse less, and you'll remember prices for sake of comparison. How much money do you really save by making a special trip for that really good deal on blueberries?

Don't be ashamed to buy the "house brand"
I find myself doing this all the time recently. Over and over, the price of the store brand comes in lower than the sale price for the name brand. There are so many things that you can buy without the name brand price--crisp rice cereal for those marshmallow treats, frozen spinach, macaroni, baking soda, vegetable oil, salt, etc. Plus, those are things you rarely see coupons for. Take the extra 5-10 seconds to find the house brand instead of grabbing the trademarked packaging that you instantly recognize (because that seems to be the only reason for the higher price).

Try to know your prices, at least on the bigger stuff
I know not everyone is a stay at home mom like me, and time is often more important than money. If you have the luxury of doing some price-comparison shopping, do it. I love shopping at Target and have found that I can get a lot of my dry goods there for a lot less (sugar, coffee, cereal, granola bars). It's very, very rare that I can get a better deal on cereal at the supermarket.

Next week, we'll talk about building a good pantry stash without going overboard.

Make the Most of Your Meals (Part 2)

Meal Planning 101

I love to cook, but I know that's not the case for everyone.

It's easy to find yourself in a rut, uninspired and out of time when dinner rolls around. Even though I love to cook, there's often not enough time, energy, or food available. I stay at home, and still find it challenging to put a nice, reasonably healthy meal on the table each night.

The only thing that works for me is to create a (flexible) meal plan for the week. There are myriad reasons to consider making your own plan:

• avoid multiple trips to the store for just a handful of items
• save money you might be tempted to spend on going out to eat or ordering takeout
• using all the food you buy, versus letting it spoil or throwing it out because you are sick of it
• attempting to eat a balanced diet

Of course, if you like wasting food, you'll enjoy the tongue-in-cheek suggestions here.
 

So, how exactly does someone go about making a meal plan or weekly menu? I'm sure there are other ways, but this is what I do.

Step 1: Pick a day
Choose a day (or night) each week that you have time to look around for ingredients and recipes. It's very important to do this when the fridge is getting on the empty side and before you go grocery shopping. For some reason, Sunday afternoons work best for me.

Step 2: Grab a piece of paper and a pen
Or a whiteboard and dry erase marker. Whatever works for you. If it's reused or recycled, even better! You're going to be making a list of what you already have that needs to be used.

Step 3: Open your fridge
List what you have in your fridge that is an ingredient. This includes meats, leftovers not already re-purposed into soup or casserole form, vegetables, starches, cheeses or other dairy items, etc. At the same time, make note (maybe in another column) of the stuff that you are running low on. We always try to have baby carrots, onion, celery and apples around. If something is missing, I am sure to add it to the shopping list.

Step 4: Look on your counter, in your freezer, and in your pantry
See what kind of produce, breads, or desserts might be hanging around and need to be eaten. Even though these things are in plain view (like the three large zucchini I had on the counter the other day), I might end up losing them if they don't make it to the menu. Likewise, see if you over-bought on pasta or have way too many pieces of frozen chicken in the freezer.

Step 5: Generate 5-6 dinner ideas
This is the hardest step, since it's kind of like playing chess. Look at the ingredients you have and consider how they might be arranged into main dishes. It really helps if you can look at all your recipes to generate ideas. It's okay if you don't have every ingredient for every entree; you can add things to your grocery list. Just make sure you are using up everything already on hand when you make your list. If you are motivated, you can plan out lunches and breakfast, too. Make a new list with the meal ideas (and side dishes if you want) and hang that on your fridge or even put it on your calendar somewhere.

Step 6: Stuck? Don't limit yourself.
Remember that cooking is not a "chemically dependent" process like baking. Proportions do not have to be exact and you can swap out ingredients. Stir-frys, soups and casseroles can be made from any combination of things. I recently tweaked a chicken lasagna recipe to use up bowtie pasta, chicken sausage and some turkey lunch meat. It was still delicious!

Step 7: Go shopping
I'll talk more about this next week, but this is where you purchase the additional ingredients that you need for the meals in the coming week, plus your regular staples of milk, eggs, etc.

Step 8: Review the list and Cook
When I first began menu planning, I tried to designate a specific entree for each day, rotating chicken, beef, pork, meatless, etc. I found that only worked if I had a set schedule for the day and could plan the more involved recipes for days with more time. Now I just look at the list and cook what I feel like I have time for.

Yes, there will be days that you still can't stick to the list. I call my husband from time to time and ask him to pick something up on the way home (using coupons, of course!). Also, with it being so hot, I don't always want to bake something for an hour and heat up my kitchen, so I pick the recipe that fits the day, switch to leftovers, or make something from the freezer. (We'll talk more about having quick meals on hand in a future post.)


Next week, we'll talk more about shopping strategically.

A Light Bulb Went On!

Sometimes you have an idea so good that you can't stop grinning.

I solved two problems at once attaching my son's bibs to his high chair. I don't have to designate a drawer or counter space for the bibs, and they are right where I need them. Yay for brainstorms!

(Sorry the picture is not as good as the idea...)

Make the Most of Your Meals (Part 1)

Welcome to part one of a new series of posts on meal planning, grocery shopping, and generally saving your sanity in the kitchen and at the food store.

Unless you've been hiding under a rock, you might wonder what else is new in blog land. Lots of frugal women are posting about the need to plan your meals and trim your grocery budget to $50, even $30 a week.

Huh? In what non-Montgomery County, PA, area do they reside?

Maybe it's doable. I'm going to ask you to come along with me on a several week experiment and see if I can improve my spending, reduce the amount of food that I waste* and increase the quality of my diet.

Posts over the next few weeks will cover a number of topics:

• Creating a meal plan
• Shopping smart
• Stocking your pantry
• Using your freezer
• Making the most of leftovers
• Couponing
• Reducing prepackaged and processed foods

So, let's get started. I invite you to leave me a comment; let me know if there is a specific topic or question you want to see me address, or go ahead and challenge me to get down to the dollar amount of your weekly grocery budget.

*Look for another post about a FASCINATING book that I just finished reading. Did you know that the average American throws away about 15% of their groceries?

Recipe Roundup, Reprised (Part 3)

I just can't help but say it...

TA - DAAA!

The recipe project is finished! The dessert binder (containing 120+ recipes) is compiled and in the kitchen cabinet!*

(If you missed what the fuss is about, click here and here.)

So, now it's onto the maintenance phase, where I make new recipes that appealed to me and see if they are good enough to type up and add to the binder.

In case you are interested, here are some that I just added:

Chicken and Pineapple Skewers
Sangria
Chocolate Fudge Cookies (they really satisfy that girl's-gotta-have-chocolate craving)

*A very special thank you to my Mother-in-Law, who made it possible for me to spend several hours alone at the library so I could make a final push and get the remaining recipes typed up. You're a blessing to me, Mom.

Visual Clutter = Emotional Zap

When I was little, I wanted to be an architect.

Like many of you, I played Legos for hours and hours, probably several months' worth of my childhood. My patient mother vacuumed around the pieces spread across the living room floor. Every time I built a house, it was comprised of rows in the same repeating color pattern--red, yellow, white, blue, black.

What can I say? Order is in my DNA.

Now that I am (supposedly) a grown-up with my own home, I still like to look around and see order: clear counters, clear floorspace, and clean lines. Somehow it gives me a little boost to look around and see that order.

[Not my actual house, but it's nice to dream.]

When my home doesn't have much visible counter or floor space, I notice my pulse quickening as I pigeon step over toys, shoes, dishes, or, like today, swim accessories.

I'm learning that I just have to take the five or ten minutes to clean up before we do the next thing. And, unfortunately, this means forcing the issue with younger ones. I want to have the kind of house where we pick up before we leave for an errand, or go outside, or go up for naps. If we do this, Mommy will be more emotionally prepared to play and less emotionally distracted.

Maybe you can get on my case and ask about my progress...thanks!

As a side note, we had our carpets professionally cleaned a few months ago. I am still wishing I could have kept the special carpet comb that the gentleman used to make all the fibers stand up and look so tidy. But, on second, thought, it might become a very unhealthy obsession.

Ewww...

Well, once again I am posting with a confession. I had no idea just how gross my kitchen sink had become.

Here's the back story: My very gracious mother-in-law had my boys the other morning so that I could run errands. I didn't intend to stop at Lowe's, but it's a lovely store, AND it opens before 9:00. I had 15 minutes to kill, and I saw they had hanging baskets. I needed grandmother gifts for Mother's Day.

Can I just say that it's amazing what I can accomplish when I don't have to get little people in and out of the car all the time? Especially at stores without carts where I shop for a maximum of 5-10 minutes. On the other hand, it's also amazing how much money I can spend so quickly, even when I have a list that I'm supposed to stick to? (Honey, if you're reading this, it really wasn't THAT much...)

Anyhow, back to my story. I still had some time after looking through the flower display, so I went to the cleaning aisle. I have been struggling for months to find a solution for my poor stainless steel tea kettle. You see, a certain woman in my house boiled water and forgot about it right up until the water was evaporated and the house began to acquire an odd smell. The kettle survived, but it acquired a yellowy hue and the previously-not-that-noticeable grease splatters turned black.

So, I was in the market for a stainless steel cleaner. I came across Hope's Perfect Sink. $4? Okay!

Here is how my kettle turned out. I'm not exactly sure what the yellowing is in the picture, but I assure you that's what the camera sees and not what I see.

I am blessed with some lovely sunlight in my kitchen during the early afternoon, which inspires me to clean for some reason, so I decided to see what this stuff could do for the sink.

Here's a shot midway through the process. You can see that I started at the upper left.

Now here's the embarrassing photo. This is only one of the nasty paper towels that cleaned up the mess. (Yes, I probably should have used rags, but I had no idea it would require so many paper towels.)

 













Ah, look at the way the water beads now!

And, the finished product. Drum roll, please!

Oh, wait, there's more! I couldn't help myself, so I cleaned the final piece of stainless steel in my kitchen--the center part of my toaster. It was quite dull and yellowed. Now check it out!

No, I didn't clean the tray inside with the polish, but I did make an effort to empty out the crumbs. That probably is a year overdue. (You did know your toaster had a tray in the bottom to catch crumbs, right? If not, you better go empty yours right away!)

Thus ends a long post about chain-reaction shopping and cleaning. From 15 minutes to kill clear through to a clean toaster.

No More Cooking Spray Buildup!

I want to give a shout-out to the friendly, frugal and helpful community over at TheFrugalGirl.com.

The other week, Kristen posted my question about how to clean cooking spray buildup off my Pyrex bakeware. I received several helpful answers from her and her readers. You can check out the original post here, but here are the suggestions:

1. Use good old-fashioned elbow grease and an SOS pad.
2. Make a paste of baking soda, salt and water as a mild abrasive to clean off the residue.
3. Soak the dish in boiling hot water with a squirt of Dawn dish soap.

Though I didn't use an SOS pad, I did use the hand-sewn nylon "scrubbie" from the talented ladies at the Mennonite retirement home. If that didn't work, I'm not sure another scrubbing pad will.

The hot water and Dawn worked quite well, though I was awfully nervous about burning myself or breaking the glass. There are so many warnings about extreme temperature changes with Pyrex that I don't want to risk it.

So, I choose option #2. Now, if only I knew about that paper cut on my finger and had put on a pair of gloves BEFORE the searing pain. What they say about rubbing salt in a wound is no joke!

Hopefully this post is helpful if you're an over-zealous cooking spray user like myself. If not, I'd love to hear what you grease your pans with, and why.

Recipe Roundup, Reprised (Part 2)

Hooray! About half of my recipe project is complete, and I'm excited to share it with you.

I decided to go with a three-ring binder approach--one for desserts and one for everything else. I started with "everything else." Here's my super-cute binder from Target. Oh, if I had all the money in the world, I would spend most of it there...

One of the things I'll never forget my Mom teaching me was that you could easily identify the "good" recipes in family cookbooks by finding the pages with food splatters and stains on them. The sheet protectors will prevent this (hopefully) but then again, no bad recipes will make it into the book, either.

The binder dividers that I got on Amazon just arrived and I'm so pleased. It took some searching to find attractive ones that also were wide enough to stick out past the sheet protectors, but I found them. Bonus: the dividers also hold loose pages! Now I have a place other than the fridge-clip to put the recipes I want to try. Love this!














Since the photo isn't so hot (I really need to learn some tips from my amateur-turning-pretty-darn-professional photographer hubby), here are the categories I decided on:

• Appetizers, Drinks and Snacks
• Beef and Pork
• Breads and Breakfast
• Chicken and Seafood
• Meatless Meals
• Side Dishes
• Soups and Salads
• Desserts...for binder #2

I typed the recipes using separate Word files for each category, and alphabetized the recipes within the document. Based on the number of sheet protectors that I used, I have about 200 recipes. I can't wait to expand that amount!

I had a lot of fun making the template and rewriting the instructions to be as close as possible to my work style in the kitchen. I also wanted to make them a little more explicit so they make sense when my boys start helping prepare meals in a few years, and add recipes for more obvious stuff like roast beef, sandwiches, etc. I'm excited that someday I can just re-print this information and hand them a cookbook from Mom!

What do you think? I'll let you know how many dessert recipes find their way to the binder. :)

Here is a sample recipe for your enjoyment, from my dear Mom. I will never again pay $7 and up for Creme Brulee at a restaurant now that I know how stinking easy it is (and without the blow torch)!

Enjoy!

Ingredients

2 c       heavy cream (one pint)
5          egg yolks
½ c      sugar
1 T       vanilla
            brown sugar

Directions

1.      Preheat oven to 275.

2.      Set four ramekins inside a 9x13 baking pan.

3.      Whisk together cream, egg yolks, sugar and vanilla.

4.      Divide the egg mixture among the ramekins.

5.      Using a liquid measuring cup, carefully fill the pan with hot water so that ramekins are about two-thirds submerged in water.

6.      Bake at 275 for 45-60 minutes or until set.

7.      Refrigerate overnight, or to serve warm, go to next step.

8.      Just prior to serving, preheat the broiler. Spread a thin layer of brown sugar across the top of each ramekin. Smooth with the back of a spoon.

9.      Place under the broiler for 3-5 minutes or until sugar has caramelized. Keep a close watch on the progress!

 

Recipe Roundup, Reprised (Part 1)

Some of you might remember that I gave my friend some pointers with her recipe project about a year and a half ago. I learned a lot from that experience and decided I need to figure out a recipe system, too.

A future installment will provide you with more detail on what I decided and how the finished product (will) look(s), but I figure I should document the current situation before I am thoroughly tired of the whole thing and don't post about it at all! I've already been working on this in the "spaces" of my days and it's been several weeks. It's not quick or easy, but I am very excited about the finished project.

So, here's the background:

• This all started when I used up the last preprinted card for my (second) recipe box. As you might imagine, it drives me crazy to have plain index cards in with the pretty ones. 
• I went online to order more. The recipe card/box print (Honey Bears) is a retired Lang edition and virtually impossible to find. I don't feel that I want to pay $25 for another box and 72 cards (price as of this posting).
• These recipe boxes were purchased back before I was married (about 7 years ago). My Mom and Mother-in-Law so graciously offered to copy down some of their favorites on the cards. Now that my mother is no longer living, I definitely want to save the cards with their handwriting on them, no matter what the system ends up looking like.
• I don't want to have multiple boxes of recipes, especially since each would have the same categories in it. This would be a problem, especially for desserts, which seem to comprise at least a third to half of my recipes :)  Yes, I did consider distributing the categories among the boxes, but one uses 4x6 cards and one uses 3x5 cards.
• The boxes are showing wear on the outside, and the tabs are also "fraying" (or whatever you'd call paper that is delaminating and separating from its backing).
• My husband wonders aloud, once or twice a year, whether I have a list of the things I regularly make. This is a logical response when (just like my mother) I ask, "Is there anything you are hungry for?"
• I frequently gather recipes from online sources or tear pages out of magazines with things I'd like to try. I don't copy these onto cards until I'm sure I like them and they are worth the effort. Therefore...
• I have a large magnetic clip full of recipes hanging on the side of my fridge with recipes to try.
• There are also cookbooks on my shelf which contain only a handful of useful recipes.

I established several goals for the finished product:

1. It needs to take up less shelf or cabinet space than the current "system."
2. I don't want to spend a lot of money. My budget is $25.
3. Since I am always trying to increase the variety of foods we eat, it must be easily expandable.
4. A bonus would be that I can easily share the recipes with others, including the ability to pass it on to my sons someday.

Before I wrap this up, do you have any ideas or suggestions for me? I always like thinking outside the box!

LOVE this!

Imagine overnight company is coming in two hours...here's how to do a burst of cleaning. Hopefully it means the rest of the family is either helping or is out of the house somewhere!

Nightly Routine

Call me boring, but I crave routine. Since November 4, my life has been a lot less predictable than I like. Fortunately, my babe is starting to establish a schedule and I am feeling healthy again. Recovering from a c-section, then the holidays, then strep throat. Enough!

I am thankful for a husband who really helps out around the house, but since he also works outside the home, I feel like the lion's share of household duties are indeed my responsibility. It's easiest for me to keep up with clutter and projects in small segments, so rather than having one big weekly cleaning session, I try to tackle a few things every day. So, before going upstairs for bed each night, I try to:

• Clear off and wipe kitchen counters and dining table
• Empty and reload dishwasher
• Decide on/do any prep for breakfast for the next day (so starving toddler can be quickly fed)
• Pick up toys
• Gather things to go upstairs

I find that I operate much better if the kitchen is clean and everything is (close to) in its place before I go to bed. Tripping over something in the middle of the floor before I've had my morning coffee isn't good!

A word about the dishwasher: I try very hard to make sure it gets started right after dinner if possible, even if it's just 90% full. Unloading is not my favorite thing, but it really only takes five minutes. It's important to me, because boy do I hate doing it after a quantity of dishes have accumulated on the counter and there's no room to put the clean ones as I work. Minor things in the scheme of life, I know, but as I read and shared recently "outer order contributes to inner calm."

Shiny Coffee Carafe

Confession: I don't clean my coffeemaker every month (the way the manufacturer recommends). Honestly, I think I've done the thorough cleaning of the tank less times than I can count on one hand. It doesn't seem all that valuable to me since it's the same thing every day.

The un-lovely 'before' photo. I am guilty of not washing my coffeepot regularly.

But the carafe (the clear, glass pitcher) is something that people, including me, see. I recently read a great tip on how to clean the carafe, submitted by a waitress (see below). My mother-in-law was gracious enough to test this out while she was helping me after the baby was born. She said it was pretty simple and it appeared to just take a minimal amount of elbow grease. Plus, the materials were on hand and are ridiculously cheap. I tried it again last week.

Fill half to 2/3 full with ice, add 1-2 Tbsp salt and a little bit of water and swirl vigorously.

 Instructions:

1. Fill your carafe partway full with ice
2. Add a generous amount of salt--one to two tablespoons
3. Add a little bit of water
   
4. Swirl vigorously and gently shake in a clockwise motion (or counterclockwise)
   
5. Rinse and admire!

Here's a pic of the like-new shiny carafe after swirling and a very quick wash in the sink.

Less than five minutes and I have this beautiful result!

Doing this every other month should keep it looking great, though clearly I wouldn't have to do it that often to achieve the same end result. I really thought there was mineral buildup that wouldn't ever go away. I'm happy to be proved wrong!

I bet this would work on pitchers, flower vases and similar containers with buildup.

Tidbits

Today I have another installment of  odds 'n' ends thoughts for you.

• In my six commandments of organizing, I mentioned having a place where you can dump things and sort them (commandment #3). In our house, this is the foyer. We have a rather large foyer compared to the rest of our townhouse, so this area is often where things are dropped for further review. Beyond that, it's the island/peninsula in the kitchen. I'm hoping to get back to some room-by-room posts on kids' rooms and other spaces soon.
• My husband and I love watching Mythbusters and are catching up on some old episodes via Netflix (we save lots of $ by not having cable). One of the episodes tackled the myth that there are dirtier things in the house than the toilet seat, including money, computer keyboards and the number one culprit--the kitchen sponge. Interestingly enough, we get another magazine that talked about the same type of thing, saying the kitchen is often the dirtiest room in the house. If you use a sponge, you should run it through the dishwasher or microwave every day. Otherwise, you should use dishcloths and pull out a new one at least daily.
• I'm curious to know if you've started your holiday shopping yet. I did a lot before baby was born, but will probably finish up with online purchases. There was a lot to choose from in stores even before Halloween this year.

Applesauce Party!

The other day, two of my good friends came over to help make applesauce. This is the third year that we've turned it into a party, and the proverbial saying is true--Many hands do make light work!

Regretfully, I didn't think to take many pictures along the way, but here are two shots of the finished product.

We started out with four baskets of Cortland apples from Ray's Greenhouse in Telford. They are a family business and wonderful to deal with. Out of the four baskets, we had one apple that was past it's prime. They also sell baskets of "seconds" for less, but according my frugal mother-in-law, it's not really worth it. I'll take her word for it! We love the Cortlands, because they are very flavorful, require little added sugar, and give this beautiful pink color.

Some math for you:
4 adults +
3 hours +
4 pots +
2 strainers =
35 quarts of yield

Pretty exciting! I like that kind of math.

In case you are wondering, I did a lot of rearranging and found just enough freezer space for all the containers. We ate quite a few thawed items for dinner this week, though!

Oh, and all the apple scrap left from this project went right onto the garden to feed next years' beans, zucchini and tomatoes. Maybe we'll even get an apple tree!? !