Organizing Kitchen Cabinets

Organizing Kitchen Cabinets, Why?

Do you ever have an avalanche of bags or boxes fall on your head when you open your cabinets? Is your brown sugar as hard as a brick? Do you have 2 or 3 bags of one item because you couldn’t find it and bought a duplicate? When making your grocery list do you have to waste time digging through your cabinet to see what you need to purchase? Are you too ashamed to open your pantry in front of guests?  If you answered “Yes” to any of these questions, then it is a good indicator that your need to get busy organizing kitchen cabinets! When you are dealing with a disorganized kitchen, it is easy to get frustrated and overwhelmed when preparing meals for your family. Organizing kitchen cabinets will help your kitchen run much more smoothly. Good kitchen organization creates a flow in your kitchen that helps you save time, and money in the long run. Organizing kitchen cabinets can help you in SO many ways.

Saves You Time:

Organizing kitchen cabinets means you spend less time digging through them to find out what you need to purchase at the store.  It makes shopping easier and more cost effective because you are not purchasing items you do not need.  You know what you need to buy because food doesn’t get lost or duplicated.

Saves Your Money:

Organizing kitchen cabinets with Modular Mates makes the job simple!

When you buy in bulk, especially on staple items, you can really save a lot of money.  Having an organized kitchen means that you can use those bulk purchases efficiently because they are properly stored.  When food is properly stored, it stays fresh longer. When your kitchen is organized and food is properly stored, you no longer have to worry about accidental spills from opened containers and bags.  Not to mention saving money because you are not having to throw away food that’s gone stale or has gotten bugs!  Properly stored foods will not attract bugs like open packages and bags will.  Bugs are attracted to the glue on those packages, they eat the glue and then lay eggs there.  Orkin recommends putting your food in air-tight containers to alleviate bugs.

I wouldn’t recommend storing any dry (staple) foods in the container they came in from the store because of the bug issue.  I prefer taking them out of the bag/package and storing them in reusable plastic containers that are air-tight.  I prefer the Modular Mates System by Tupperware, but from years of experience with Tupperware.  They really are a great product which have a lifetime warranty against chipping, cracking, breaking or peeling.  My Mom has Tupperware storage containers that are over 45 years old that she’s still using to this day.   It’s a lifetime investment that’s worth every cent.. it’s good stuff!

Saves Your Space:

Organizing kitchen cabinets means you won’t have accidental duplicates, you save space that way as well.  You can easily save about 25% of your storage space just my organizing your kitchen better!

How Do You Start?

So you can see why organizing kitchen cabinets will save you time, money, and space.  You CAN have one of those beautifully organized kitchen pantry and cabinets.  But just how do you start?

When you start organizing kitchen cabinets,  you need to think about a couple of things.  First of all make a list of all the food staples that you use on a regular basis.  Think about what you need for baking, beverages, breakfast, spices, and other staples.  Do you have all of these items on hand or do you need to purchase some of the items?

One of the best ways to organize your kitchen is by using “centers”.  Common centers are beverages, baking, spice/seasoning, dry staples, and snacks.  Think about how your family uses the kitchen.  If you do a lot of baking, doesn’t it make sense to have a cabinet dedicated just to that?  Want your kids to make their own quick breakfasts or snacks, then a breakfast/snack cabinet might be the way to go. You will also want to consider where to place these centers in your kitchen.  Does the baking center make more sense by the oven or over the bread maker?  You will not only want to store the food items you need for the center in that area, but also the tools you will need.  Measuring cups and spoons, bread pans, cupcake liners, and the like in the baking center cabinet.  Make a list of the centers you would like to create in your kitchen.  Under each one, brain storm about the food items and tools you will need for using that center.  Having everything you need all ready to go in each “center” will save you so much time.

Draw up a kitchen map, just a simple sketch of your kitchen layout.  Label where you are going to create your “centers” and where you are going to store your food prep and serving items.  Store bake ware with your baking center, pots and pans near the stove, storage containers for left-overs next to the refrigerator.  Once you consider what you normally use and HOW you use them, then it’s time to start organizing.

Getting Down and Dirty:

Organizing kitchen cabinets can make you pantry go from stuffed and over crowded to streamlined and organized!

The first thing you will need to do is completely empty your cabinets and panty.  While they are empty give them a good cleaning.  One thing I like to do is place shelf liner down to help keep the pantry clean.  A really inexpensive option is to use Glad Press’n Seal as self liners (I also use them to line my refrigerator shelves).  It does a good job at keeping the shelves clean from things like honey, oil, or food coloring (I’ve had more than one incident with food coloring lids that weren’t put on well and leaked all over the pantry when knocked over).

Have a trash bag and box handy.  Before you put ANYTHING back in your cabinets or pantry, you need to toss out everything that is no longer in code date, is stale, or has bugs.  Toss all those items and if they are items that you normally use, add them to your grocery list.  The next thing you will want to do is put items that are still good, but you know you will never use in a “food bank” box.  These items should be taken to your local food band and donated.

Now I would suggest putting all dry/staple items such as sugar(s), flour, beans, rice, pasta into air-tight containers.  Toss the bags and boxes.  Storing them in air-tight containers will preserve their freshness and will be a more efficient use of your storage space.

Sort your food, tools, and cookware into piles and then start putting them up into the area you’ve mapped out for them.  Put lesser used items up high or remove them to an area outside of the kitchen.  You only use that roaster at Thanksgiving?  Consider storing it somewhere else to free up cabinet or pantry space.  Store only cookware and appliances in the kitchen that you use on a regular basis (at least once per week).  All others can be stored in other areas of the house.  This is especially true for those of us with small kitchens or limited cabinet and pantry space.  If and item does not need to be stored in the kitchen, then find it a new home.

Once your cabinets and pantry are clean, use your kitchen map to organize where all you are going to put things.  In not time at all, you cabinets and pantry will go from ugly and disorganized to beautiful and organized!

Grain Mill Wagon #3 – Rustic Cornbread

This is a nice old-fashioned cornbread. It’s dense and has no sweetening, which is what my family prefers. It’s a simple recipe that uses few ingredients, which makes it cost effective and most of the ingredients may already be in your cupboard or refrigerator. It puts me in mind of the cornbread my grandmother use to make.

I use popcorn that I grind in our Wondermill grain grinder. I just love fresh ground flours! Using the fresh ground corn meal in this recipe REALLY makes it pop. It’s so fresh tasting that my family just gobbles it up as fast as I can make it.

The popcorn ground up great and the Wondermill made just a find flour that I absolutely adore!

Here is the recipe, it’s such a quick and easy cornbread and really doesn’t require much in the way of ingredients.  I nearly always have what I need on hand!

Rustic Cornbread

Ingredients

• 3 cups buttermilk (cultured)
• 3 cups cornmeal (fresh ground)
• 3 teaspoons real salt
• 1-1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 3 large eggs
• 3 tablespoons coconut oil (in liquid state)

Directions

Preheat oven to 450°. Melt the lard in a rectangle casserole dish in the heating oven. In a large bowl, stir the cornmeal, salt and baking soda together . Stir in the eggs and buttermilk. Remove the casserole dish from the oven and pour the batter into it, stirring the melted lard into the batter. Bake for 30-40 minutes. Cut into squares and serve with butter.

If you don’t have buttermilk available, you can substitute milk, kefir or even watered down yogurt.

More Thanksgiving

Another week is almost gone…Thanksgiving is another day closer! We as a family are traveling, even while I’m writing this. We have several stops planned in NC and TN traveling to share about the needs and work in the Philippines, along with some pics of Floyd’s late trip there.  I am thinking, “thanksgiving” all around us we are being blessed, always. Sometimes our outlook in life is dimmed by trials, frustrations, and lethargy of our own making. Namely, the neglecting of spiritual food for our souls, and taking responsibility for ourselves. When we begin focusing on God, taking that time every day to have that get-in-the-closet time, our senses become heightened, our mind clearer. We also are alerted to being more grateful for the blessings in everyday life. Just last night, I realized the *beauty* of having a good bed. In fact sleeping so well that I didn’t wake up once!  We teach our little ones early in life to say please and thank you. This has far reaching effects for the rest of the child’s life. Getting to the place in life where are minds are geared to be “Thankful” may be easy for some,but a real undertaking for others We are commanded “To give Thanks in everything”  Not necessarily FOR everything. When we open our heart to being supple in Gods’ hand, we begin to see the *terrible* in our trials are actually a blessing in disguise. In other words, as through our prayer time we are submitting to what our Heavenly father wants, we also  begin to think more like Him.”His ways are higher than our ways, His thoughts better then our thoughts”

Umm, how does this connect with saving bread crumbs, and being frugal?     It all starts with thanksliving…On the morning of Thanksgiving, I toast the bread cubes. Set aside to cool. Peel a medium carrot, and shred. Place in a 4 quart bowl. Add 2 tablespoons of finely chopped celery,1 tablespoon of chopped onion. Melt 2 tabespoon butter in a saucepan, and saute vegetables. In the 4 quart. bowl beat 4 eggs, add 2 teaspoons poultry seas.,1/2 teaspoon sage, 1 teaspoon chicken boullion, 1/4 teaspoon black ground pepper. Add 1 quart hot  broth from your poultry broth.    Next add, 6 cups toasted bread cubes. Mix all together. Pour half of the melted butter into your baking dish, than add the stuffing mixture. Top with remaining melted butter. Bake covered at 350  for approximate 25 min. then uncover for the next 10 minutes. This is the most important part of Thanksgiving dinner besides the turkey! That’s our family’s’ opinion 🙂

No matter, where you find yourself, or what you will be eating on Thanksgiving day…the most important thing is the people you are with, whether friends or family, count it as a wonderful time to be together, and be ye Thankful! God bless your day.

–Luella

The ABC’s of Freezer Cooking Review & GIVEAWAY

I recently received a copy of the ebook The ABC’s of Freezer Cooking by  K.M. Logan to read and review.  K.M. Logan is the author of the blog, Lessons From Ivy, as well as the author of several other books: Devotions for the First Few Days, The Matthew 6:33 Piano Teacher, and Honoring a Child Born to Heaven.

Description of The ABC’s of Freezer Cooking

From the website:

If you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to have an extra hour in the evening to yourself and not have to worry about the dreaded question, “Hey Mom, what’s for dinner?” then freezer cooking just might be for you.

The “The ABC’s of Freezer Cooking” covers all the basics to teach you how and how not to prepare freezer meals for your family. From cooking all your meals for a month in just one day, or preparing just a few extra meals for when you’re family is particularly busy, this book is full of helpful tips and tricks to help you make it happen.

Included are meal plan ideas, money saving strategies, basic recipes, and there is even a section on how to utilize freezer cooking as a weight loss tool. If you’re looking for a quick read, and an introduction into the world of make-ahead meals then this book is the perfect place to get started.

My Thoughts About The ABC’s of Freezer Cooking

The ABC’s of Freezer Cooking is a 66 page ebook from K.M. Logan.  I found it to be a very well thought out book that gives you a great starting point for beginning freezer cooking.  I have considered doing freezer cooking for a long time, have never actually bitten the bullet and gave it a try.  I was always a bit intimidated by the process.  Ms. Logan’s book actually made me feel that freezer cooking could actually be a possibility for my family.  She doesn’t white wash the work behind preparing a freezer full of meals, but but she did make me feel it was an attainable goal.

The ABC’s of Freezer Cooking is a great little book for people just starting out.  Ms. Logan’s writing is humorous and conversational.  It was kind of like having a friend over in your kitchen helping you along with the process.  She has a section for each letter of the alphabet, with lots of great information under each section.  Even though it’s not a big book, it is packed with lots of real world and useful ideas that anyone considering freezer cooking could use.  It also contains many recipes to get you started.

Overall, I would highly recommend The ABC’s of Freezer Cooking to anyone just starting out in Freezer Cooking.  It’s a really nice introduction to freezer cooking and a helpful little book at a great price–only $2.99!

The ABC’s of Freezer Cooking Giveaway–Enter to WIN!!

K.M. Logan has been generous enough to offer y’all a chance to win a copy of The ABC’s of Freezer Cooking! Five (5) of my readers will win a copy!!  To enter, simply use the Rafflecopter form below! This giveaway ends on Sunday, November 11th and the winner will be announced on Monday,  November 12th! Enter today and win a copy this great little book, The ABC’s of Freezer Cooking,  from K.M. Logan!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Saving Money on Canning Jars

I love canning!  There’s nothing better than seeing rows and rows of home canned goodies.  I use canning jars for nearly everything, not just canning.  I use them for lacto-fermenting, storing leftovers, storing dehydrated foods, as drinking glasses and more.  I also collect antique blue glass canning jars.  I just love them!  Because we use them all the time, I’m always looking for a deal on them.  I can’t stand having to go buy new ones at the store.  They are expensive and nice canning jars can be found much cheaper if you just keep your eyes open for them!

Where I Find Them

1. Garage Sales – I live in a rural area, so I often run into jars at garage sales. These can usually be had very cheaply. Just last weekend I bought over 4 boxes of jars for $20. These boxes contained well over 60 jars (mostly jelly jars which is what we really needed), rings & lids (brand new still in boxes). Plus the boxes also contained 4 antique canning jars with zinc lids, which I collect, so I was really excited to see!

2. Family & Friends – Check with family and friends who use to can to see if they still have jars they’re no longer using. I got quite a few this way from my Mom (plus a lot of other canning stuff), when I first started canning. I’d also post a notice at church or ask around church to see if anyone had any to offer. Most of the time you can get these jars for free or very little cost.

3. Freecycle – Post a notice on your local Freecycle group. I got a lot of jars this way for free…all I had to do was go pick them up. Because of gas prices, I took in consideration how many jars a person was offering and how far I had to drive to get them. If they were pretty close, I’d go get whatever they had to offer, but if they were farther away, I’d just go get larger quantities.

4. Recycle Jars – I often reuse mayonnaise jars and other commercial jars that my rings & lids fit on. I only use them in water bath canning, as I’m afraid they will shatter in the pressure canner. My Mom has done this for years and it works really well. This is how I get a lot of my jelly-sized jars and also my hot sauce jars.  You can also usually get a bunch of this type jars by asking friends and family to collect them for you.  I use these all the time for lact0-fermenting, refrigerator pickling, making gift mixes and food storage.

5. Thrift Stores & Flea Markets – I occasionally can find canning jars at our local thrift stores & flea market. They cost a little more generally than all the above ways, but are still cheaper than buying new.

6. Clearance – Watch out for canning jars on clearance at Wal-Mart toward the end of the canning season. Last year, I picked up quite a few boxes, rings & lids for pretty cheap. I found all the canning stuff on clearance there around the end of the summer and September & October. I grabbed what I thought I could use and what I could afford. I got jars, pectin, rings, lids, a big water bath canner, jelly bags, and a couple of other things then while on clearance.  Walmart has also started making their own brand of canning jars which are about $1 cheaper than the name brand.  I will be really watching at clearance time for those, as I suspect they will be marked down considerably.

Some Safety Concerns:

Any time you re-use jars or rings; you should do the following…

1. Check the jar opening for chips. Do not use any canning jars that have chips on the openings, as they may not for a good seal and the food can spoil. Save these jars for storage or for gifty items like mixes and such.

2. Check the jars for hairline crack and such. If they have any cracks, don’t use them for canning as they may explode while canning or again, let the food spoil.

3. Check your rings for rust. If they have a lot of rust, don’t reuse them. A little rust is fine, but if they’re heavily rusted, toss them.

4. NEVER reuse lids! They may not reseal properly causing food to spoil. Lids are cheap…use a new one every time.  You can reuse the lids for applications like leftover storage, lacto-fermenting, gift mixes, etc.

5. Whenever you open a jar, smell the food and check for any strange textures or colors. If you have any questions about food in a jar, it’s safer for you family to toss the contents than get food poisoning from it.

Well I hope this helps some of y’all find some cheap and useable jars for your canning needs!

An Easy, Fast Dessert

I have discovered a fantastic and easy dessert recipe and I will share it with you! I found it on Rachael Ray’s website. My kids and I have made it several times using the flour instead of the crackers.

Ingredients

• 6 McIntosh apples, peeled and diced into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1/2 lemon, juiced
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground or freshly grated nutmeg
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup flour or fine graham cracker crumbs
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 stick butter

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In a 9 by 12 baking dish, combine apples, lemon juice, cinnamon, nutmeg and sugar. In a small bowl, mix flour or graham cracker crumbs, brown sugar and butter together using the tines of a fork and your fingers, working until even, small crumbles form. Sprinkle topping evenly over apples and bake 15 to 20 minutes until apples are just tender and topping is golden brown.

Rachael recommends topping it with ice cream.

Egg Free Scones, Not Sugar Free

We don’t have allergies in our house (well, not food allergies anyway) so we don’t have to be overly cautious about what we cook with and eat. Sometimes though we run out of what is called for in a recipe. Such as eggs. There are a lot of recipes that call for eggs that really can be made without!  I’ve titled this “Egg Free, but Not Sugar Free” because, although I’ve made my scones without both egg and sugar, this has brown sugar and honey. I would like to also point out that these are nice and moist; no dry scones here!

What you need:

not everything is pictured here

• Large bowl
• 1 cup dry measure
• 1/3 cup dry measure
• 1 tablespoon measure
• 1/4 teaspoon measure
• 1 cup liquid measure
• pastry blender or two butter knives, for cutting in butter, if desired
• spoon, if desired
• rolling pin, if desired

The ingredients:

• all purpose flour
• baking powder
• brown sugar
• honey
• salt
• butter
• milk

What to do:

Preheat oven to 400*F. Choose a cookie sheet to bake your scones on. I used parchment paper this time to line the sheet but often use aluminum foil.

Measure out 2 1/2 cups flour, 1 TBS baking powder, and 1/4 tsp salt. Combine all in the large mixing bowl.

Measure 1/3 cup butter. This is 5 1/3 TBS if you are using stick butter, which is conveniently marked for measuring. Add this to the flour mixture. Using either a pastry blender, two butter knives or your hands, ‘cut in’ the butter until mixture resembles crumbs. I use my hands rather than an extra utensil.

  

Measure 1 cup milk into the liquid measure, and 2 TBS brown sugar; stir. You could add the brown sugar to the flour mixture but I’ve found it doesn’t always mix well.

Make a well in the crumble mix and pour in milk and brown sugar mix. Again, I use my hands to mix. I can feel when it is mixed to the right consistency better this way.

Divide the dough into two lumps. Each of the lumps, pat out or roll out with a rolling pin, into a circle. The thinner you make the dough, the less ‘fluffy’ your scones will be. I usually try for 1/2″ to 3/4″.

Cut them into wedges. I cut one into 12 wedges but the other into thirds.

I didn’t cut well! Use a sharp knife or butter knife dipped in flour to prevent sticking.

Arrange on cookie sheet and drizzle with honey.

Bake for up to 14 minutes, until golden brown.

Clean up is super easy with this recipe- there’s very little used! And no eggs 😉

Cooking: A Little Bit of What You Fancy

“A maiden that is negligent in acquiring skills in the art of cooking should resolve to change and gain lessons that will assist her. A diligent young girl will read carefully and seek to learn all she can of rules, courtesies, and the keeping of a proper kitchen. She will delight to please her family and friends with pleasant tasting foods that she has prepared.” -Mrs. Martha Greene

I have a confession to make: I am not a good cook. Cooking is something I do because we need to eat but I don’t particularly enjoy it. But having said that, I must say that I do make every effort to cook meals that Chris enjoys and that are nutritious
Something as basic as cooking should come naturally to us, but I am living proof that it doesn’t. Does that mean that I have given up and only serve canned goods or pre-packaged meals? Absolutely not!

Because I see that cooking is a vital part of keeping a home and most importantly, keeping a husband and children healthy, I often seek out recipes and tips to help me. I try to choose plain meals and I am most fortunate in that my husband loves meat, 2 veg and mashed potato! He would be happy with that for every meal.

Even knowing that he would be happy with a plain meal all the time, I try to vary it by alternating between vegetables and salads and methods of cooking. One night, I may serve a stew with the vegetables in that with a hefty serve of mashed potatoes. The next night it may be a grill with chips and salad. But basically, his favourite fare is meat based, with vegetables and mashed or chipped potato.

I feel that in preparing our menus that we should be diligent to take into account what our husband prefers and try to accommodate him. I have found that it is just as easy to prepare something he likes and enjoys than to try something new and find he doesn’t like it.

Being a good cook is important in your overall efforts to be a good homemaker. Memories are often centered around meals that were tasty and served with pleasant company. I feel there is nothing that deflates one’s spirit more than sitting down to a poorly cooked meal served with indifference.

Trying to feed your family well not only pays off dividends in better health through good nutrition, but it also livens ones’ spirit. Taking the time to plan and prepare meals will enhance family life and create a more pleasant meal time.

Let’s seek to improve our cooking as we remember the proverb that says “a little bit of what you fancy does you good!” It truly does everyone good!

“Go now to the flock, and fetch me from thence two good kids of the goats; and I will make them savoury meat for thy father, such as he loveth:” Genesis 27:9

Before Mealtime: Grocery Shopping Plan

I’m not the best house keeper. I’m working on it and have much improved in over 10 years of marriage, but I’m still learning and disciplining myself on making sure that everything HAS a place, let alone keeping everything IN its place. The kitchen is where I spend most of my time, or at least a good portion of it, and may be the furthest along in my quest for order in my home, but next to the other ladies who contribute here I am just beginning! I love that being here with them means I can not only contribute, but learn and grow in this area as well.

That said, one thing I’ve become pretty good at doing is keeping our grocery bill down. I’ve become good enough at this that not only both of my sisters, but also my own mother have all called for my help in better planning their grocery trips when the month’s budget is going to be more crunched than usual for whatever reason. I’ll tell you what, that speaks to me! I feel it’s the ultimate compliment, for my mother to call and ask my advice or opinion on something. She taught me so much and continues to be my spiritual mother, that her calling or seeking my thoughts on anything just really makes me feel like I must know my stuff in that area.

So what is it about my grocery shopping that helps the budget?

Mostly it’s about meal planning. I discovered several years ago that I spend less money when I go to the store with a list. I also make less trips to the grocery store if I already have everything I need for a given meal, rather than deciding that I have “most” of the things to make something but still lack this ingredient or that. Inevitably, if I go back to the store, I get more than just those one or two ingredients and end up blowing my grocery budget for the week or month.

Having mentioned both weekly and monthly budgets, I want to say that I’ve done this plan both ways. When we lived in the big middle of a large city, I planned and shopped weekly. Now that we’re back out in the middle of nowhere, it makes more sense for us to plan and shop monthly. There is a little store in our town where I can get replenishables like bread and milk, but for the most of my shopping I go once monthly to the big chains in the city. You can do it either way; they both work wonderfully and I may even suggest – if stores are close to you – that for a beginner doing it weekly is a good way to learn. Just be sure to stick to the plan of only going to the store that once in a week! Get all the bread and milk you’ll need for a single week; you shouldn’t have to worry about it going bad that quickly.

The first thing I do is go through my cabinets, pantry, refrigerator, and freezer(s) and see what I already have. For the first several times, it’s good to write down what’s there just so it congeals better in my mind. Don’t forget to put down how much of each item there is, as well. I might still have on hand a can of ranch style beans, but if I need TWO cans to finish my meal then I need to know that I still need one more can. On any given pantry sweep, I might have plenty of flour, a little rice, a couple of cans of green beans, a can of tomato sauce, several cans of cream soup, and whatever. I might also still have a roast in the freezer, a bag of frozen broccoli, or a container of yogurt that needs to be eaten up soon. Write it down!

I then take that list and think of the meals which can be made from those ingredients. For instance, with the creamed soup, rice, and broccoli I have almost a complete meal; I just need to add some meat, so begins my third list – what I lack of any meals I can make from what I already have.

As I make my grocery list, more meal ideas transpire. If I’m going to get chicken to go with my rice meal, it’s often cheaper to buy a larger package that will do for two or three meals. The same goes if I need to purchase potatoes as an ingredient for a meal that I have most things for; a bag of potatoes will do another couple of meals as well. Thinking about my purchases and making the economical choice of the larger packages (when it is the more frugal option, of course!) helps keep me from wasting extras as well as using up what is older first. If I’m going to buy a big box of Bisquick for pancakes, I might not buy refrigerated biscuits this month so I can use what I have. I also might google some recipes (I personally have a Bisquick cookbook, and it has been handy in a crunch more than once) and find an easy pie recipe to use it with as well.

I often have people ask me about coupons. I don’t do much couponing at all. I do some; we are blessed in that one of the major stores nearby has in-store coupons as well as weekly meal deal specials. Often, the coupons are for purchasing the major brand of something and receiving the store brand item for free. Sometimes it is money off, or money off when purchasing multiples. The meal deals are often great values; I can purchase the main meat and get almost everything I need for the meal to go with it.

Besides the in-store coupons, I don’t use a lot of newspaper or manufacturer coupons. I just haven’t found them to save me money in most cases. The coupons are usually for national brand items, and even with cents-off they are usually still more expensive than purchasing the store brand. This isn’t always true, but because of how rare I’ve found the exceptions to be, I haven’t found couponing worth my time. I know that there are others that have and really enjoy it, but even having retried with coupons recently I just can’t make it add up with savings over store brand items. For me, for most items, coupons are only a time-sucking black hole that I usually try to avoid.

As my meal plan comes together, I count out how many meals I’ll need to fix before my next shopping trip. If I’m planning for a week’s eating, that would be 14 meals – 2 meals each day for a week. Usually in the course of a week we’ll eat at church on Wednesday evenings, sometimes at my mom’s or mother-in-law’s for Sunday lunch, and often do leftovers on Sunday evening. That’s immediately 3 meals I don’ t have to plan, so I’m looking at 11 meals including 6 lunches and 5 dinners. I take into consideration depending on if my husband is going to be home for lunch and for which meals can be quick and easy. I also consider our schedule, if we’re going to have a full day of activity and will need a hearty meal on a specific night, or if we’ll have a busy day and need to do something like frozen pizza once. I also like to include a variety of the types of meats we eat each week; if we eat nothing but chicken for 4 days, we’re going to be very tired of chicken!

Some of these things are going to be family specific, but I hope that I have given you some ideas on how to go about organizing your meal plans so you can grocery shop most effectively! I’m all about saving money wherever I can, and food doesn’t have to be expensive! Have fun, and let me know how you do with your next grocery trip!

Organizing your Kitchen

I will be the first to raise my hand and say that my kitchen is NOT fully organized. I have my areas of weakness and areas where I am strong. I hope to share today some things that might be of help to you and ask you for YOUR HELP as well! So, my addition to our theme week is definitely something I’m opening up my kitchen to you and sharing the good, the bad and the clueless! Smiles! I hope you enjoy being here today!

My pots, pans and containers are each set up in a cabinet where we can easily find them and the girls can easily put away the dishes knowing where they go. I use one cabinet to hold my bake wear and my pots and pans. On the top shelf you can find all of my bake wear. This includes things like my casserole dishes, cookie sheet, etc.. On the bottom shelf of that cabinet you can find my pots and pans. We stack them from biggest to smallest so they can easily fit in there and we can find them at a moment’s notice! In a second cabinet I use the top shelf for my large bowls all the way down to my small bowls. Again, I nestle them inside each other and have two sets of nestled bowls where those are easy to grab. Under that shelf, on the bottom, I have all of my “containers”…. All the way from Tupperware to saving containers from butter containers, cool whip containers, you name it!

My pantry is organized to where I have canned goods together, noddles and rice items together, and “boxed” items together. This makes it really easy to look at a glance and see what I need. I put like items together. So, for example, I can check when getting groceries if I need something like green beans. I can just look and count the cans. Same thing with the other items of food in my kitchen.

I also have a LARGE cabinet that holds all of my “helpers” like the blender, stock pot, etc… We have a cabinet up top that we keep all of our spices in and I really don’t have a good way to order these. Alphabetically would drive me crazy and hubby wouldn’t keep them that way anyhow. So, on the bottom shelf are our “most often used” spices. The shelf above holds all the rest. We also have a medicine cabinet above the kitchen sink where it’s safe from children. It’s not very organized and I find myself digging to find what I need. Do you have a solution to offer? I used to use baskets and I would put kids meds in one basket, vitamins and minerals in another basket and finally meds like Tylenol, Advil, etc…. for adults in the last basket. This worked well. I might try that again as I’m thinking of it!

What are some special ways you organize your kitchen? I would love to hear ideas from you to help me out as well! Blessings!!