KITCHEN & COOKING TIPS – Page 6 – Chasing MY Life WHEREVER it Leads Me

HAPPY HOMEMAKER & MENU PLAN MONDAY week 11 of 2017

I hope you all had a GREAT weekend and remembered to adjust your clocks so you weren’t late this morning. We seem to have quite a few clocks so I adjusted them all late Saturday and changed all the batteries too. Ironically our atomic clock is no longer changing itself so I think it’s on its last legs. I’m just getting used to this new time and someone from a research firm called to do a survey going on 11PM last night and woke me up. So, last night’s sleep was much less than stellar.

Life has been chaotic at best with my health concerns and appointments. I had to reschedule two specialty appointments and find a new primary care manager when mine up and closed up his office with no forward or warning and without following through with ANYTHING! Fortunately my insurance was able to get me a new PCM with no wait due to the circumstances. BUT, now I have to see the new PCM before she will do referrals which is postponing appoinments already scheduled – ALL the technical loopholes are a PAIN in the butt, especially all the time spent on the phone dealing with it. Unfortunately, this has left me a bit lacking on my blogging. I am really going to try and get my groove back and post more often.

OUTSIDE MY WINDOW & THE WEATHER OUTSIDE

We had a rainy weekend so everything is a bit wet still, but the temperatures dropped quite a bit too making it more enjoyable around here. Looks like it will be a really nice week.

ON THE BREAKFAST PLATE

A little blueberry yogurt and coffee.

AS I LOOK AROUND THE HOUSE

I’m fairly happy with the house. There is still some sorting to do in the studio, but all and all it looks great, at least until I do the laundry.

WEEKLY TO DO LIST & HOUSE PROJECTS

LAUNDRY
SHOWER the dog
EBAY – we have quite a few totes full after all our sorting so really want to get moving on listing these items and moving everything out! What doesn’t sell will get donated to lighten the load.
STUDIO – sorting and paperwork
BACKYARD – we are waiting on a couple contractor projects (Garage siding and fencing) to be finished before we can complete the backyard so this will stay on the list until the rain lets up and we can actually finish it!

CURRENTLY READING & TELEVISION / DVR

Trying to get into a few new shows, but just don’t seem to have any interest in TV right now. I did start a new book though, The Lost Girls of Johnson’s Bayou by Jana DeLeon.

CRAFTS & PROJECTS

Nothing new this week. Hubby is still working on some of my parts for assembly, but his old grinder broke and we’re waiting on the replacement.

MENU PLANS FOR THE WEEK

	MONDAY	TUESDAY	WEDNESDAY	THURSDAY	FRIDAY	SATURDAY	SUNDAY
BREAKFAST	YOGURT & FRUIT	SCRAMBLED EGGS & CHEESE	FRUIT SMOOTHIE	YOGURT & FRUIT	MAPLE OATMEAL & RAISINS	CORNED BEEF HASH and EGGS	BACON & EGGS
LUNCH	FRUIT & CHEESE	SOUP & CRACKERS	SANDWICH	OUT	MEAT & CHEESE	LEFTOVERS	SANDWICHES
DINNER	CROCKPOT EXPERIMENT NIGHT	GRILL NIGHT and POTATO SALAD	PARMESAN CHICKEN MEATBALLS and PASTA	DANISH CUBE STEAKS	CORNED BEEF and CABBAGE of course with CARROTS and POTATOES	BEEF & NOODLES	ORANGE CHICKEN & CHOW MEIN
DESSERT

HEALTH & BEAUTY TIPS

HOMEMAKING/COOKING TIP

INSPIRATION

Be sure to link up with Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom for Happy homemaker Monday and with Laura at I’m an Organizing Junkie for Menu Plan Monday.

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HAPPY HOMEMAKER & MENU PLAN MONDAY week 10 of 2017

I hope everyone had a great weekend. Saturday was productive even as the rain began, but we had a double header NASCAR race to occupy our afternoon and then on Sunday I made a nice brunch and ran a couple errands before the deluge of rain began and everything is now wet and soggy.

OUTSIDE MY WINDOW & THE WEATHER OUTSIDE

It poured ALL day yesterday and there are DEEP puddles and standing water EVERYWHERE! It’s supposed to be in the mid 70’s today, continue to rain off and on, but with all the water unless a breeze comes up it will be HUMID!! Looks like the last storm to hit the west coast is going to make our week wet and yucky here as it travels east!

ON THE BREAKFAST PLATE

This morning is blueberry yogurt and coffee.

AS I LOOK AROUND THE HOUSE

The house is clean, but slightly cluttered as I began packing the bookcase and sorting for donation also.

WEEKLY TO DO LIST & HOUSE PROJECTS

Hoping the contractor shows for the garage siding and side fencing, but doubt he will since things are so wet.
Keep sorting books and paperwork.
Laundry
Doctor appointment

CURRENTLY READING & TELEVISION / DVR

It’s that time of year again when some of my favorite shows are going on hiatus and replacements are premiering. The only one I’ve seen so far is DOUBT and I like it so far, but I think it is being canceled as is TRAINING DAY with Bill Paxton’s death. TIME AFTER TIME looks promising, but I never judge a show by the pilot. I also love the kids cooking shows and MASTERCHEF JUNIOR begins this week. I liked the pilot of TAKEN also, but we’ll see where that goes. I LOVE the new CHICAGO JUSTICE as it fits right in with CHICAGO FIRE, CHICAGO P.D. and CHICAGO MED.

SHAY ARCHER series #4 WICKED by Jana DeLeon

CRAFTS & PROJECTS

We got started on a few Christmas presents and hubby is doing some “garage work” on some of the parts for me, but it looks like they may sit for awhile. We have started packing and are hoping to be able to sell and be out of here within a few months so will begin the assembly process of the pieces on the other end.

MENU PLANS FOR THE WEEK

	MONDAY	TUESDAY	WEDNESDAY	THURSDAY	FRIDAY	SATURDAY	SUNDAY
BREAKFAST	YOGURT & FRUIT	SCRAMBLED EGGS & CHEESE	FRUIT SMOOTHIE	YOGURT & FRUIT	MAPLE OATMEAL & RAISINS	EGGS in the CLOUDS	BACON & EGGS
LUNCH	FRUIT & CHEESE	SOUP & CRACKERS	SANDWICH	OUT	MEAT & CHEESE	LEFTOVERS	SANDWICHES
DINNER	APRICOT PORK TENDERLOIN and BAKED CARROTS	SESAME PORK with PINEAPPLE and BROCCOLI	C.O.R.N.	RED, WHITE & BLUE MEATBALLS with PARSLEY NOODLES	PAN SEARED CHICKEN with HERB WINE SAUCE	CHICKEN & NOODLES	HAMBURGER STROGANOFF
DESSERT

SUCCESSFUL RECIPES and their links FROM LAST WEEK

TENDERLOIN GRILLADES
INSIDE OUT CHICKEN POT PIES
SPAGHETTI BOLOGNESE with MOZZA STUFFED MEATBALLS
INSIDE OUT BEEF POT PIES (recipe later this week)

RECIPE FINDS TO TRY LATER

STOVE TOP MAC & CHEESE
DECADENT CHOCOLATE CAKE with MOCHA FROSTING
GOLDEN CUPCAKES with MOCHA FROSTING
LEMON CUPCAKES
ORANGE MAPLE FRENCH TOAST BRUNCH CASSEROLE

RECIPES THAT TASTED GREAT BUT WON’T BE MAKING AGAIN

It was good, but just not up “our” alley for taste.

HEALTH & BEAUTY TIPS

HOMEMAKING/COOKING TIP

ON MY MIND/THINGS THAT ARE MAKING ME HAPPY

I am still feeling betrayed by an elder I should be able to rely on and trust, but trying not to dwell on it. I do realize he’s not in his right mind as there appears to be serious dementia and/or Alzheimers going on that has yet to be diagnosed because his normal toxic/caustic/racist nature prevents people from realizing there is a problem unless they see him daily and hear the same stories and see him forget what he just wrote down… Unfortunately there is also an outside influence by a gold digging woman who has NO idea what is really going on within his family as she has NEVER been here or met any of his family. Just working to move forward and live a better life, especially during this Lenten season. I also believe that Karma is a bitch and will take care of this for me. So, on to happy thoughts and moving life forward!

Trying to figure out my cell phone problems. My OLD cell phone was “acting” up, or so I thought. My new phone is doing much the same things. I’ve come to the conclusion that because this house sits on the boundary of 3 separate cities and 2 counties that there are some “dead” zones where cell towers overlap and that there may be no real solution until we move.

INSPIRATION

Be sure to link up with Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom for Happy homemaker Monday and with Laura at I’m an Organizing Junkie for Menu Plan Monday.

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HAPPY HOMEMAKER & MENU PLAN MONDAY week 4 of 2017

As many of you know I have been working to get my new website, Chasing MY Life, up and running. Well, it’s up and it’s running. It still needs some tweaking, but all in good time. I will mirror post for awhile and eventually just use Savory Kitchen Table as my personal recipe box. Tell me what you think about the new site.

OUTSIDE MY WINDOW & THE WEATHER OUTSIDE

We have had a torrential week of rain with major flooding in the area. Fortunately we have not been flooded here in the house, only the garage, but we did end up with 2 fairly severe leaks that make me think of the old house in It’s A Wonderful Life when they first moved in. All I can say is thank god for beach towels and buckets! Hubby is waiting for things to dry out a bit so we can assess the damage and do the repairs. Once the rain moved through we ended up with severe winds that required emptying the backyard of anything not nailed down, but on the up side it’s helping to dry things off up on the roof.

Today though is GORGEOUS! We are supposed to be sunny all week. Unfortunately this close to the coast I NEVER bank on anything. The torrential rain we had last week occurred while we were only under a 20% chance of rain and those days started out gorgeous too.

ON THE BREAKFAST PLATE

Ensure clear and coffee.

AS I LOOK AROUND THE HOUSE

It looks pretty good. I had a very productive week stuck inside last week’s rain. I was able to go through the baking cabinet and the linen closet and took another 5 bags to the women’s shelter.

WEEKLY TO DO LIST & HOUSE PROJECTS

I’ve been down with laryngitis and a cold or something last week also so will take it fairly easy this week. With NO immunity because of the SLE hubby thinks I picked up a bug from all the digging in the filthy dirt (the local cats as well as my cousin’s cats had been using that area as a BIG cat box) it last week. I wore gloves, but evidently that wasn’t enough.

Paperwork
EBAY
Phone Calls
Make appointments
Sort China Cabinets
ERRANDS

CURRENTLY READING & TELEVISION / DVR

BIG BANG THEORY
WHEN CALLS THE HEART
PURE GENIUS
NCIS
BLUE BLOODS
THIS IS US
GRIMM
THE MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE
GOLIATH
BULL
SCORPION
SUPERGIRL
CHICAGO MED, PD, FIRE
HEARTLAND
HEART OF DIXIE
STRANGER THINGS
Z-NATION
DESIGNATED SURVIVOR
MADAM SECRETARY
ONCE UPON A TIME
CHESAPEAKE SHORES
ICE PILOTS
ETC……. I’m sure I forgot a few…

READING

Secrets and Lies ~ THE OKLAHOMA BRANDS #3 by Maggie Shayne

CRAFTS & PROJECTS

Probably nothing this week, but hopefully soon.

MENU PLANS FOR THE WEEK

	MONDAY	TUESDAY	WEDNESDAY	THURSDAY	FRIDAY	SATURDAY	SUNDAY
BREAKFAST	YOGURT & FRUIT	SCRAMBLED EGGS & CHEESE	FRUIT SMOOTHIE	YOGURT & FRUIT	MAPLE OATMEAL & RAISINS	PANCAKES	BACON & EGGS
LUNCH	FRUIT & CHEESE	SOUP & CRACKERS	SANDWICH	OUT	MEAT & CHEESE	LEFTOVERS	SANDWICHES
DINNER	GARLIC WINE CHICKEN	PEPPERONI MAC & CHEESE	C.O.R.N.	CHICKEN with MAGGI CREAM SAUCE	SLOPPY JOES	CHICKEN FRIED CHICKEN	WHITE CHICKEN LASAGNA
DESSERT

SUCCESSFUL RECIPES and their links FROM LAST WEEK

5 CHEESE GOURMET MAC & CHEESE
PARMESAN ROASTED CARROTS (recipe to come this week)
GARLIC CREAM CHICKEN (recipe to come this week)
SHEET PAN SWEDISH MEATBALLS (recipe to come this week)

HEALTH & BEAUTY TIPSHOMEMAKING/COOKING TIP

FAVORITE PHOTO FROM THE CAMERA

Between storms hubby kept plugging away on the fencing. He was able to get the new downspout area done which I for some reason did not yet get a picture of as well as this section near the utilities. Eventually there will be a short privacy fence keeping all these utility pieces out of sight.

INSPIRATION

Be sure to link up with Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom for Happy homemaker Monday and with Laura at I’m an Organizing Junkie for Menu Plan Monday.

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JELL-O TRICKS

I think most everyone knows this trick by now, but it always amazes me how much better it makes a bowl of Jell-O so I thought it was worth mentioning again.

Around our house we always put canned fruit (peaches or pears usually) in the Jell-O for a little bit of extra UMPH! When you drain those canned fruits, use a sieve and drain them into the measuring cup for the cold water first. Then just add enough water to bring the level to where you need it. I usually get about 1 1/4 cup of fruit juice. Doing this will make for a better, more substantial flavor to any Jell-O.

Just after I pour in the Jell-o I use a small salad fork to stir up the fruit in each bowl. The fruit is usually well distributed in the Jell-O. We also don’t like the film that forms on the top.

And I hated trying to stack all the bowls in the refrigerator, so I started using my Pampered Chef prep bowls for making Jell-O. Once you’ve made it, put the lids on and you can easily stack them in the frig. If I keep this made, we both tend to eat this at night when the munchies strike and stay away from the chips and ice cream.

HOMEMADE CHICKEN BROTH & STOCK UP TIPS

At this time of year, I’m usually stocking up for winter in the wild and snowy north. I start with LARGE bulk packs of meat. I then break them down by size and meat right down to cutting certain recipes into bite sized pieces. Then I wrap them in freezer paper because I really hate freezer burn! And I package them into pre-labeled ziploc bags for the freezer.

I didn’t get a secondary picture, but I then wrap the center of each one with a strip of duct tape. Yep, you read that right, duct tape. Just a small strip. Enough so when they’re stacked in the back of the freezer you can identify the meat. I buy it in colors – red for beef, green for chicken and blue for pork. It makes it soooooooo much easier when you’re searching in the freezer for the right meat.

Many times this prep includes rotisserie chickens. My market at home has buy one, get one free on Tuesdays. Can you figure out when I did my shopping? By the time I get home and put away the groceries, the rotisserie chickens are cool enough to pick off the bone. The bowl below is the skin, congealed juices and bones I collected as I stripped 2 birds.

I think Martha (MM) and I met over some post about buying in bulk and we found a common ground – saving money! Talk to your butcher. Many times you can save even more than the advertised sale prices. For example, recently my local market was running a sale on chuck roast. None of the roasts were as large as I really needed for company so I asked the butcher if they had one the size I wanted and instead she offered up a manager’s daily sale (in the bulk section just a few feet away from the ones I was looking at) where I could buy twice as much for half as much saving me $8 over what I intended to spend and gave me enough for 3 meals. I made ALL the chuck roast as Pot Roast & Veggies for company and then used the leftovers to make Ortega Chile Bake and Beef Chili.

I then use a large stock pot and cover the “debris” with water. I set it to simmer on a low temp and let it go for an hour or so. I don’t add any seasonings since I’ve normally bought mesquite broiled or lemon herb, but adjust according to your tastes.

Then I drain it into my large 8 cup measuring cup and allow it to cool.

I have several of these containers that I bought just for chicken stock in the freezer. I haven’t bought chicken stock in over 10 years now. It’s just so easy to make your own. Even if I start with raw chicken and poach it for a recipe I add seasonings and by the time the chicken is done, there is several cups of broth ready for the freezer.

Today’s flavor was Mesquite broiled so it left us with a spicy red color also.

So what do you do to get ready for winter? Have I motivated you to stock up?

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I’m actually getting organized.

TIPS FROM AN EX-CATERER

While out blog surfing today, I happened on a fun new cooking blog, The Church Cook, who had a wonderful post about food preparation. The post had 10 tips and but they are really good tips. I’ll list the tips for you, then you can go check out the whys behind them.

Use your hands
Use a thermometer
Keep ingredients close to you
Store food in ziploc bags
Use the timer
Weigh Your baking ingredients
Clean as you go
Freeze
Prep ahead
Have Fun Sharing

Health Department Ratings and what it means to you…

I spent most of my adult life working in the food industry on the west coast. This meant strict adherence to city, county and state codes and constant health inspections. We were in LA County where the restaurants are actually letter rated and that letter is posted for public viewing. There was also no smoking in any facility nor any pets allowed.

SO, imagine my surprise when we came here to work on this investment house and found that not only are there no letter grades, facilities are full of smoking, people walk in with their personal pets and let them run around as well as enough other numerous offenses that would have their doors permanently closed in most other cities and states.

The county I’m currently in (thank goodness only temporarily) is said to ‘do their own thing’ and while that seems to be accepted as the norm, it is still wrong, only no one wants to deal with it so it continues. We eat at home 99% of the time because of this.

This post came to be because hubby wants to take me out for my birthday next week and I don’t want to go. LOL you read that right I’m turning down a dinner out. Hubby wouldn’t hear of it, so we compromised on a restaurant in the next state, an hour away.

Many other states are following suit with the California program and it is actually being found that air borne illness and hospitalization are on the decrease since the grading system was instituted and that the number of ‘A’ graded restaurants is on the increase. In Los Angeles you can visit this site to see the rating for any particular restaurant. An ‘A’ or ‘B’ is an acceptable grade in LA County. A ‘C’ gives you a bit of time to get your grade up before the next inspection. A ‘D’ or ‘F’ will close your business. I, for one have no problems with the health inspectors checking for proper temperatures, lack of infestation, proper storage methods, etc… Environmental health affects us all at a social level.

The following is a direct quote from the Retail Food Inspection Guide.

The goal of food inspections is to reduce those risk factors which contribute to foodborne illness. Environmental Health is required to use a grading system to indicate how well food service operators are fulfilling their responsibility in the prevention of foodborne illnesses. All facilities receive grades which are posted on the website. However, only those facilities located in cities that have adopted Ordinance #97-0071 or located within the unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County are required to post the Grade / Score Card at the facility. The grade or score that a food facility receives reflects the conditions observed at the time of the inspection. Each food facility inspection begins with 100 points. As the EHS conducts an inspection, the appropriate categories in Section I – VI on the FOIR will be marked. The categories in Sections I and II and the subcategories in Section III have been assigned a specific point value based on the associated publichealth risk of the violation. This point value is deducted from the 100 points. To determine a facility’s grade; the EHS must first add all of the point deductions from the marked violation categories in Section I – II and subcategories in Section III. That total is then subtracted from the 100 points.

A grade card (A, B, and C) or a score card will be issued at the end of the inspection based on the remaining points:

90 to 100 points A Generally superior in food handling practices and overall food facility maintenance.
80 to 89 points B Generally good in food handling practices and overall food facility maintenance.
70 to 79 points C Generally acceptable in food handling practices and overall general food facility maintenance.
0 to 69 points Score Card Poor food handling practices and overall general food facility maintenance.

There are situations as determined by the EHS, where violations pose imminent health hazards that warrant immediate closure of the food facility, (e.g., sewage, no hot water, vermin, etc.). In those situations, the Public Health Permit will be suspended and a Notice of Closure * will be posted. This closure sign must remain posted until the facility permit is reinstated. This action does not affect the grade or score of the facility but is related to the conditions that warranted the closure.

Food Safety is not a matter of choice when you are serving the public or at least it shouldn’t be. Having a compromised immunity from Systemic Lupus and having spent so many years working in the industry attending classes and seminars I am very much aware and in tune to violations and just plain lack of responsibility. Both of which are running rampant here in this county in the north woods.

♥ ♥

Let’s talk food!

I posted an entry at my personal blog Menagerie today about menu planning and shortcuts in the kitchen. Tamy and I posted things like this here at the Krazy Kitchen in the very early days. Since we have different memes each day of the week here now I’ve decided to pick up where we left off and post it at my main blog.

I got the OK from Tamy to post this in between memes this evening for a little shameless self promo. I hope you will all endure my extra long post over at Menagerie and play along to give me your own hints, tips and shortcuts in your kitchen! I need all the help I can get!

Have a great week!
Martha 🙂

COOKING WITH KIDS

My most recent experience of cooking with kids was with my girl scouts on some simple tasks or the time with Amber this summer. What readily comes to my mind is my grandma teaching me way back when. She’d let me wear her apron which she so cleverly converted into a size that fit me pretty well. Then she would bring a kitchen chair over to the counter and let me climb up on it. She would let me help her do simple measurements or read her the recipe (that she already knew by heart, but wanted me to learn to understand) or stir pancake batter. When she taught me to measure it was EXACT. You used a table knife to level off the top of the measuring cup. She also taught me how to make the best cakes with double sifting. These days they say you don’t need to sift, but I feel I get a better texture and moister cake by still sifting.

No matter how old they are, kids want to help in the kitchen and we should be glad and welcome their eagerness. Much of our life revolves around food and cooking in one way or another and boys as well as girls should learn at the very least, the basics. As Barbara pointed out, even finicky eaters become better eaters when they are a part of the process of making their own food.

You can include children of all ages in any food preparation. Just be aware of their capabilities and base their tasks on that. For example, every kid wants to wield the meat cleaver, but probably shouldn’t.

Start their tasks with simple ones like learning to measure correctly, snapping beans, washing vegetables, measuring rice, when to add the different ingredients and even simple things like cracking an egg which can certainly be messy, but every kid wants to do it! Grandma taught me to crack eggs into a separate bowl instead of directly into a recipe which turned out to be a very valuable lesson. You can always pick out egg shells if the only thing in the bowl is a single egg, but you don’t want to be doing it from a bowl with all your cookie makings in it. There was a point when I was using farm fresh eggs and let’s just say I was certainly glad I still used that separate bowl for eggs or my whole cookie batch would have needed to be tossed out. Kids can roll dough or meat into cookies or meatballs. They can use a fork to criss cross the tops of peanut butter cookies. Teaching them to clean up as they go will also be a benefit in so much of their life! If all goes well, this will also bleed over into cleaning up their toys and/or rooms.

As for that meat cleaver task at hand, you can take turns so that their tasks don’t involve the sharp implements, but yours do. Most importantly make it fun for you and them. The more fun they have, the more likely they are to want to learn more and more.

This post originally ran as a guest post series for Barbara over at Candy Hearts and Paper Flowers who is hosting the Homemaking September Shape-up. It was an all around comprehensive house to home style of posts to help us get our homes and lives whipped into shape.

FAMILY DINNERS, HOLIDAYS & ORGANIZING FOR A CROWD

I had a houseful for the Christmas holidays so I will use that as my example.

Besides menu planning and doing everything you can to organize, my best advice is to use cutting boards to aid in stacking items in the refrigerator and use cookie sheets as lids in the oven so you can stack multiple dishes on each shelf and have room for the Turkey or Ham and all your side dishes so they’ll all be ready at the same time.

For a crowd that will be around for an extended amount of time, I also try to prepare dishes in advance and freeze them when possible so that I don’t spend all my ‘visiting time’ in the kitchen. I spent the better part of a day cooking, but it was well worth it as it saved me tons of time while my company ass here.

So to recap:
1) Menu Plan
2) Organize
3) Pre-make as much as possible
4) Stay organized or at least reorganize as necessary

for example:
12/17 ~ Spaghetti Bolegnese & Garlic Bread (sauce was made today and frozen)*
12/18 ~ Winter Soup & Beer Bread (soup was made today and frozen)
12/19 ~ Crock Pot Lasagne & Garlic Bread (sauce was made today and frozen)*
12/20 ~ Everything but the Kitchen Sink Soup & Buttermilk Biscuits & honey (soup made today and frozen)
12/21 ~ Garlic Shrimp Pasta
12/22 ~ Chicken Cacciatore (sauce made today and frozen)*
12/23 ~ Meatloaf Muffins & Cheesy Au Gratin Potatoes
12/24 ~ Pot Roast & Veggies & Mashed Potatoes & Corn Flake Wreaths & Peanut Butter Bourbon Balls
12/25 ~ Rum Raisin Glazed Ham, Holiday Carrot Casserole, Garlic Smashers, Black Bottom Banana Cream Pie
12/26 ~ Chicken Enchiladas and Chile Cornbread (enchiladas made today and frozen)
12/27 ~ CORN (Clean Out Refrigerator Night)
12/28 ~ Lemon Lime Pepper Chicken & Cranberry Rice Pilaf (Rice made today and frozen)
12/29 ~ Taco Ring Salad
12/30 ~ Out for mom’s 69th birthday
12/31 ~ Chicken Fried Chicken with Peppered Gravy & Mashed Potatoes
1/1 ~ Creamy Tomato Soup & Cheddar Cheese Biscuits
1/2 ~ Stuffed Shells & Garlic Bread (Shells made today and frozen)
1/3 ~ CORN
1/4 ~ Meatloaf with a kick & Maple glazed carrots
1/5 ~ out on the way to the airport

All the meals that aren’t already prepared have been proportioned out and seasoned before freezing so they’re immediately ready after thawing.

Now I’ve given you a rather large example, so think how easy it will be to do just a Sunday family dinner after church? All the same principles apply just in a smaller proportion.

*I used the same sauce on all of these so I made a HUGE batch which saved me soooooooooooooooooooooooooo much time!!

This post originally ran as a guest post series for Barbara over at Candy Hearts and Paper Flowers who is hosting the Homemaking September Shape-up. It was an all around comprehensive house to home style of posts to help us get our homes and lives whipped into shape.

OVERALL KITCHEN ORGANIZATION

What do you get when you cross 2 Virgos with organization, OCD and a love of cooking? A new blog of course! Martha and I are both pleased at how well tHe KrAzY KiTcHeN has taken off. This is still a new blog and we are ‘under construction’ and growing wildly. Thank you everyone for your support, encouragement, participation and as always we welcome all suggestions!

So now to continue with my kitchen organization posts. The last couple of days we have already touched on parts of this with the pantry and what needs to go in it. Kitchens are the heart of our homes, but no one wants to spend ALL their time in them, so the object is to make our jobs fun and easy. This is actually one of the easiest tasks to accomplish. Do you like having your counters completely clear or do you prefer everything to be within hands reach. Your choice! This is a purely subjective organization. WHAT DO YOU WANT?? Have fun and be creative. There is no right or wrong, it’s all up to you.

Arranging your appliances, tools, spices and cookware in the most efficient manner helps you enjoy your kitchen time more. For example, I store my Pyrex and Tupperware in the cabinet next to my dishwasher and sink so that when I clear the table, my storage containers are where the plates and bowls are making it easier to clean up. I keep that section of counter virtually clear of everything since that is where I make the biggest mess. I also keep my coffee maker near the sink since that’s where the water is. Spices near the stove make seasoning easier. My pots and pans are next to the stove as are baking pans, cookie sheets and all baking paraphernalia (sifters, measuring cups, choppers, etc…) with mixing bowls next to all of that.

If at all possible you want your stove, refrigerator and sink in a triangle with a work island or butcher block in the center. The fewer steps you take, the less mess you make is the theory. Have fun organizing. I can’t wait to see your kitchens. Here’s mine if you’re curious.

This post originally ran as a guest post series for Barbara over at Candy Hearts and Paper Flowers who is hosting the Homemaking September Shape-up. It was an all around comprehensive house to home style of posts to help us get our homes and lives whipped into shape.

Category: KITCHEN & COOKING TIPS