I just spent an hour cleaning out and cataloging my fridge, freezer and pantry. Can you believe the exciting life I lead? ;)
I found this website called Cindy's Porch. It's mostly dedicated to saving money and getting rid of debt, but in a mom-next-door kind of way. But what I want to talk about is the kitchen. I don't know about you, but it seems like every time I open my refrigerator something falls out. I can never find tupperware to put my leftovers in because they are in the refrigerator full of moldy food. I have a hard time figuring out what to fix for breakfast or lunch. I look into my (super cute retro) cabinet thing which serves as my pantry (awesome Christmas gift from J!), and all I see is a pile of stuff. I buy lots of meat when it is on sale and then promptly forget about it for months as it languishes in my freezer. I try to make meal (dinner) plans to help save money, and end up spending forever trying to figure out what to fix and then spend a bunch of money at the grocery store anyway to get all of the random ingredients I need. And lets not forget all of the vegetables molding away in the back of the refrigerator.
Please tell me that this is sounding familiar to someone?
And why am I going on about this, anyway?? Back to the website I mentioned. She has a page called Treasures in the Kitchen which has not only a cheesy title but LOTS of useful PDFs! The idea is, "shop at home first." Seriously, if the state of your kitchen is anything like mine, check it out. Print out the PDFs (they're cheesy too! yay!). She has pages where you can record all of those goodies hiding in your fridge, freezer and pantry. (I discovered I have capers! I've always wanted to make something with capers! I guess I bought some once upon a time, to fulfill my dream, then forgot about them.) Then a monthly calendar where you can write all of your meal plans, using the rediscovered treasures from the previous pages! But wait, there's more - even a shopping list for you to fill out, organized by food groups (I like this, it helps me get through the store faster - except when I have a grumpy 2-year-old with me, of course! Then it takes forever no matter what.) ;) There are breakfast and lunch ideas (though I now have lots of good ideas just from my inventory lists), and even instructions on how to properly/completely clean your refrigerator (not ready to tackle that one yet...).
So, that's what I've been up to this evening. Of course, I did all of that after making a delicious dinner of Garlic Glazed Chicken and Marinated Bean Salad, then giving my beloved daughter a bath and singing the exhausted little angel to sleep and placing her lovingly into her bed. ;) Tonight I am SUPER MOM!!!!
(Just don't ask me about this afternoon, or yesterday...)
3 weeks ago
7 comments:
You are NOT alone. My nausea has returned, and I can't even open the fridge without holding my nose. Something must be lurking in there, something green and hairy and formerly edible.
I've started doing the 'shopping in your kitchen' thing lately to save money, and boy, what is my deal with buying pasta noodles and never eating them? I had about 6 bags of pasta in my cupboard. I've now (after weeks of pasta) brought the total down to one. It works!
The freezer is a different story. How many soups have I frozen and never really want to eat again?
awesome post! I can so relate. Last year, I put together a menu meal plan and shopping list, but it was lost forever after we wiped the hard drive! oh well. so i will definitely check this out!
on another note, can you all get together with us for dinner @ the kellys' on fri july 25th?? we'd love to see you!!
oh, and congrats on being supermom!
Thanks for the cool website. I'm pretty organized and do menu plan every week already (a habit I learned from Weight Watchers), but I think the PDFs will still be handy to keep a better inventory on my freezer and pantry :).
Oh yeah, you're my daughter! I find I have to go through my pantry and freezer regularly to find all those hidden "treasures". It's always fun when I do - it's like grocery shopping without having to pay for it! Keep at it sweetheart!
That would have been a great website when I was a young mom at home.
I'm picturing you with a cape...
Lori, last pregnancy my fridge always smelled to me like something was going bad even when it was fine. So annoying! Especially if there isn't another adult around to retrieve things from the fridge for you. :)
Sarah, glad to hear you're coming!! I'll check with J about the 25th, we definitely want to see you!
Tammy, somehow I had a feeling you did that already. ;) The PDFs mainly helped me to get motivated to just do it! I'm thinking of transferring it all to a spreadsheet on my computer, it will probably be easier to keep it updated that way.
Mom, I knew you'd understand. :D
Sarah, I just love this post... especially the end, where you are so generous to yourself. We women need more of that attitude towards ourselves in life. Especially since there are so many days when being a super mom is just not a possibility! How wonderful to celebrate when for whatever reason, all the stars line up just right, and it is possible!
It does just feel so darn good!
I'm going to see if i can live off of my freezer and pantry for the next two weeks. We'll see how it goes! =)
Post a Comment