Archive for In the Kitchen
Vegetables, Vegetables!
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“If you like to talk to tomatoes, if a squash can make you smile…”
The two fridge baskets, full to the brim.
Yes, today my kitchen looked like a Veggie Tales reunion. All kinds and colors and shapes of vegetables, tons and tons of vegetables! Why? This week I joined an organic produce coop. I wasn’t sure I’d gotten my order in in time to get the first order today so when I went grocery shopping for my menu this past Saturday, I went ahead and bought some produce. Of course, Saturday night I got confirmation on my order… so now I have vegetables everywhere!
It’s a really good thing that we’re eating healthier and trying to eat more vegetables anyway. ;0) Well, not just vegetables but there was fruit involved too, of course.
I was already planning on pre-washing and pre-cutting my produce and storing it in greenbags, so today I HAD to tackle that to get everything to fit in my fridge. I spent about two hours, washing, drying, cutting, slicing, and storing vegetables into 18 gallon size greenbags, most of them full. Both produce drawers AND both fridge baskets are full as well as two bowls of fruit on the counter. WOW.
Produce drawers, full to the brim!
We have a LOT of produce! The greenbags should help it last long enough to get eaten though. The pre-cut carrots, celery, broccoli and cauliflower should make it easy to snack on veggies. The pre-washed lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, mushrooms and green onions should make salad making a breeze!
This was the first time I’ve ever prepped and bagged this much produce at once, but it felt good to have it done. I’ll be doing this every two weeks from now on — only next time, I won’t have just bought a bunch of stuff at the grocery store too!
Oh yeah.. and a bag of potatoes too!
Also in the last few days I’ve tackled scrubbing out my fridge, and dividing the 3 packages of chicken into smaller freezer bags. Between all those things, I’m feeling very on top of things in the kitchen.. Now the dishes and the laundry.. that’s another matter!!
What have YOU been tackling? Visit Tackle it Tuesday and share your own tackling achievements.
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Menu Plan Monday, January 18th
Sunday:
Sn- Veggie Tray & Lite Ranch
Su- Breakfast for Dinner: Eggs, Bacon, Toast & Fruit
Monday:
B- Ham & Egg Wraps, Orange Wedges
L- “Chef” Salads (spinach, green lettuce, mushroom, turkey, boiled egg, cheese, lite ranch.)
Sn- Fruit Kaboba & Yogurt Dip
Su- Beefy Lentil Vegetable Soup (Modified) & Cornbread
Tuesday:
L- 5 Minute Southwest Layered Salad
Sn- Fruit Smoothies
Su- Smoked Sausage, Ranch Beans, Veggies
Wednesday:
B- Scrambled Eggs, Toast, Turkey Bacon & Fruit
L- Tuna & Wheat Crackers, Baby Carrots
Sn- Lemon-Lime Berry Crush Smoothie (subbed w/real lemon and lime juice)
Su- Crockpot Turkey & White Bean Chili
Thursday:
B- Berry Banana Splits (With graham crackers instead of Teddy Grahams)
L- Bean & Cheese Quesadillas, Salsa & Sour Cream
Sn- Homemade “Lunchables”
Su- Creamy Chicken, Bacon & Tomato Pasta; Salad
Friday:
B- Oatmeal & Fruit
L- Turkey Sandwiches with spinach and tomato
Sn- Fresh Veggies & Lite Ranch Dressing
Su- Pork Lo Mein
Saturday:
B- Biscuits, turkey bacon, gravy, fruit (for Hubs. I’ll have yogurt & fruit)
L- Tacos & Fresh Pico de Gallo
Sn- Yogurt & Fruit
Note: After having bought all the groceries for this menu — this is a lot of food! I bet I end up moving a bunch of this stuff to next week - we’ll see!
Menu Plan Monday is hosted by the Organizing Junkie!
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Because Winning A VitaMix Blender Would Be Really Cool
I shouldn’t be telling you about this… but I will, because winning a VitaMix Blender would be REALLY cool! The more people I tell, the more people who will enter and spoil my chances. 
But I’ll not be that greedy and I’ll give you a chance to win, too, because as I said - winning a VitaMix Blender would be REALLY cool. Right?!
So here’s the scoop:
Jessie Hawkins, founder of Vintage Remedies, is giving away a free Vitamix 5200 on her blog. Entry is simple and the drawing is random so you’ve got just as much chance to win as all the rest of us. Hop on over, check it out and see for yourself. =)
If you’ve never heard of the VitaMix (seriously?) you can learn more about it at their website to see why it is that you really want to enter to win one!
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Binder Clip Your Trash Bags
You heard me right. Binder clip… your trash bags… to the trash can… and they’ll stay in place!! That’s TOO easy, isn’t it?
I owe it to my grandmother who was over one day, watched me fetch the bag out of the can and replace it over the edge of the bin again. She said, “You know they sell little clips that hold your bag on there - right?”
Looking at her blankly, I said “Clips?? I HAVE binder clips.” She started to explain, “No, they’re little clips–” Me, “No, I understand. I’m just saying.. I HAVE binder clips. Right here. Right now. Why didn’t I ever think of that?”
So poof! My trash bags have been binder clipped ever since, one on each end. They don’t get in the way, the bag does stay in place, and I didn’t have to spend any money.
Love it.
Hop over to Kristen’s and throw your tip into the hat. This week’s Works for Me Wednesday is a Back to School theme, but she promised me she wouldn’t delete any non-school tips. I suppose I could have said, “You’ve got too much to worry about with all the back to school stuff you need to do - why worry about your trash bag? Binder clip it in place and you won’t have to waste valuable remaining summer time scrubbing out the bottom of the can.” Is that pushing it a bit you think?
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A Kitchen Paint-By-Number
Okay, Y’all - especially those of you with an eye for design - once again I need your input! My artsy side and my indecisive side and my practical side are conflicting with each other again (that makes me sound like I have a multiple personality disorder-doesn’t it?)
So.
I’m nearly done painting one side of the kitchen. I need to paint and hang the black doors and drawer fronts and then paint the little bit of wall space around everything in the ivory color. But I’m undecided about the other half of the kitchen. And since I live in a mobile home, yes, I literally mean, the other half. The other side. Of my long, skinny kitchen.
Here’s my kitchen.
That countertop is only nine feet long and the whole kitchen is probably about 9 or 10 feet across. Fortunately, it’s open on the far end to the laundry/pantry area with the high wall of cabinets and open on the other end into the dining room so it doesn’t feel AS small as it would if it were closed in.
Anywho. I digress.
As you can see, I’m wrapping up on the sink side of the kitchen there, and soon I’ll have to switch over to the other side.
But first, lemme give you a little 360 action around the room.
Starting in the dining room, at the end of the wall shared with the kitchen… No, that’s not REALLY a window scarf. Pretend it’s a window scarf, okay? It’s just a black piece of fabric ACTING like a window scarf because it doesn’t know any better. But one day it will either become one or be replaced by one - maybe a black one with a black fringe?
Moving into the kitchen, you can see the matching valances (though the yellow bottom curtain isn’t staying - I don’t have anything to replace it with yet) and how well the black cabinets play with the black in the valances, the window scarf and the black picture frame. (I love it when my decorations play nicely together.)
At some point in the near future, I’ll line the back of the upper cabinets (against the wall) with some kind of black and white contact paper or wall paper to cover up the orange and yellow flowers. Don’t argue.
And the other end of the sink wall. All the cabinets were white with almond doors, that’s what we’re moving away from. But the pantry (seen there) and the utility cabinets over the washer and dryer (to the left) are going to stay that way for now - to help define spaces. They may later be repainted in a solid neutral color to be determined at a later date.
Oh! Like my bowl of lemons?? I WAS going to make lemonade. I seem to have gotten distracted and now I fear it’s too late for those lemons. At least they’re pretty. Moving on….
Starting on the other side at the end near the laundry area… you can see the top part of the little wall next to the fridge (and part of the baker’s rack that normally sits there but is squeezed in front of the washer right now so I can paint. See those leap frog letters? You won’t be seeing them in the “after” pictures. We loved that toy, but it died and as I’m sitting here looking at the picture I’m wondering - why is that even still on the fridge??
Here are the overhead cabinets on the other side, one of the main areas in question. Keep that in mind…
And here we are looking back down the kitchen into the dining room where we started. I know it’s little. And perhaps one day we’ll have a larger kitchen, but in the meantime, at least this kitchen will be stylish. =P Oh, and please do ignore the work tools and such on the dining room table - it’s being used as my work space through this whole thing!
One more thing…
To the right and on the other side of the stove wall is the living room, which is going to be painted in a cappuccino color (except maybe one wall will be red. The ivory on the sink/window wall is carried across the top of the red wall, around the hallway (also cappuccino) and around the living room. (I’m excited about the white trim on the cappuccino color - I think it’s really going to look nice!) So, now… knowing that…
I HAD intended to paint all the walls in the kitchen ivory and all the cabinets and doors black. But now I’m thinking I might bring the cappuccino around that stove wall and carry it on behind the stove (think “doesn’t show splatters as much, doesn’t stain as much.”) And that led to a whole slew of ideas and that’s where you come in.
Kitchen Paint-By-Number
I could bring the cappuccino around the wall, up the left of the cabinets/behind the stove (1), and continue it on the other side of the cabinets (5) and even take it around on the other side of the fridge where the baker’s rack sits (6.) The cabinets could stay black (3), and I could paint the little wall (2) and above the cabinets (4) ivory–to keep it open and continue the white on top theme.
Or I could bring it around (1) and on the other side of the cabinets (5), and paint everything else ivory (2,3,4,6) or maybe still paint the cabinets black (3.)
Or I could only paint the above part (4) and bakers rack wall (6) ivory, the cabinets black (3) and everything else (1,2,5) cappuccino.
There’s at least a dozen combinations.
I’m making this too complicated aren’t I?
I told you, I’m indecisive.
I just want it to look good and not goofy.
So YOU tell ME.
Please, please, please click this link to my survey (it should open in a new window so you can refer back to this photo). Grant me access to your great design wisdom and then come back here and leave me a comment, too. You know, because I like comments.
Thanks y’all!!
Sponsored link: Home Decorating Made Easy
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Kitchen Update: Lower Cabinets (A.K.A. Thank you, Dad!)
Our house is old. Well, it’s not really OUR house. It’s a rent house. And old is THE UNDERSTATEMENT OF THE YEAR. But it’s our place to live, it does give us a place to sleep and we have permission to decorate and make it home. Because of our landlord’s work schedule we also take care of repairs and take it off the rent. We don’t mind at all because they’re practically famil, the rent is good and they’ve been very kind to us!
Projects like the kitchen cabinets combine a little bit of both, the decorating and the repairing. I wanted to paint them, but before I could, the lower cabinets really needed a little love. Okay, they needed a lot of love. Hard love. Basically my dad ripped the whole “face” off the front and rebuilt it, taking out a shelf (to make room for a trashcan) and adding a floor (to make it nicer.)
My dad loves me. A lot. (Because honestly, I was ready to just tack it together and glue it and paint it.)
But this is better.
So after much hammering, banging, sawing, nailing, gluing (and several German beers as payment) I have a very sturdy, functional and nice to look at cabinet under my sink.
And it’s pretty permanent - he made sure it’s not going anywhere anytime soon so I shouldn’t have to worry about anymore drawers falling apart of cabinet doors falling out.
Today, all by my little ole’ self, I conquered the palm sander (astounding I know,) sanded, primed and painted the first coat of black on my the new cabinet. It still needs a 2nd coat but you can’t really tell in the picture. Check. It. Out.
Isn’t that awesome?
It’s going to look soooo good when it’s finished!
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13 Things I’d Like to Have in My Kitchen
With the kitchen makeover going on, it seemed appropriate to do this week’s Thursday 13 with the kitchen in mind. So if money were no object (isn’t it always) here’s a list for fun of all the things I’d like to fill my redone kitchen with. {I take donations in larger bills, mainly 100’s and 50’s.}
- KitchenAid Stand Mixer
- I’ve always wanted one of these! It “BEATS” the heck out of a hand mixer. (Ar, ar.) The fact
that you add attachments just makes it even neater. I really think I’d use it and I don’t think I’d mind the kids helping so much if all they had to do was dump it in. I think. - Kitchen Aid Attachments for Stand Mixer
- Just one of the many attachment packages. Just think, if you get this it’s like having a mixer and food processor all in one! I’m sitting here thinking about how much faster it would make taco prep! We eat tacos quite frequently and all the shredding of the lettuce and cheese and slicing of the tomatoes and onions - oh my! This would make things so much faster.
- Espresso/Cappuccino Machine
- Okay, okay, definitely a one (or in this case two) use item. Typically I like multi-functional items, but as much as I like coffee.. yeah, I think I’d like to have one of these. At least I hope I’d use it. Hmm… perhaps I should borrow one first. Anybody?Anybody?…
- Frozen Yogurt, Sorbet, and Ice Cream Maker
- Okay I KNOW I’d use one of these. I’d definitely like to have one of these
as opposed to just an ice cream maker because you can make sorbets and frogen yogurts healthier and lower fat than ice cream. (Notice I said CAN. I’m sure you can also fatten up frozen yogurt with delicious add-ins, but let’s pretend for a moment that we’re being really good and healthy.) My kids and I go through a ton of popsicles during the summer and though their cheap, I think I’d much rather make something with real fruit in it to cool off with instead of frozen sugar water. Still, in the meantime, I’ll keep stocking up on those frozen sugar-cicles. - Juice Machine
- Now these are neat. A friend of mine has one (not sure what brand) and she was telling me about using all kinds of vegetables from their garden along with other fruits to make different juice and their kids were loving it. Imagine sneaking in some extra green and yellow veggie by throwing in some carrots or zucchini? Love. It.
- Pantry Cabinet
- This one is a bit more practical since I’m low on pantry space, and it would really be nice to have more room. It would also be nice to have two pantry spaces, one for everyday items and this week’s dry goods, another for extra and overstock goods. It sounds nice in theory right? Still, the place where I’d put it is currently occupied by a baker’s rack that belongs to my landlord. So until the day it goes back to her, I guess I really won’t have a place to put one of these.
- Pressure Cooker and Canner
- Okay, another one I hope I’d use. Ideally, I’d have a garden. Of course, garden’s work better if you actually water them, and I think it would be easier to have a garden in the ground (rather than a container
garden) because they dry out quicker. But IDEALLY I’d have a garden and I’d use this for all sorts of canning goodness. Salsa, tomato sauce, spaghetti sauce, etc. Or at the very least I’d travel to a U-pick farm and stock up on lots of fruits and veggies that way. But seeing as how my garden is not thriving (again, the whole water thing) and I have yet to attempt to can anything (some things you can can on the stove top in a hot water bath)… this one is still a bit hypothetical. - Touchless Infrared Automatic Trash Can
- How cool is this? Oh, come on… think about it! You don’t have to touch that trash can? The kids would love it. Do you think it would encourage them to actually throw their trash away? One could only hope. And hopefully I wouldn’t be finding all sorts of things that didn’t belong in there, tossed in by a 3 yr old just looking for an excuse to use it. The product description says it uses little enough battery that the 4 D cells can operate 10,000 consecutive lid openings - how long do you think it would take my kids to hit 10,000??
- Hanging Pot Holder
- I’ve always wanted a pot rack. I think it makes a kitchen look professional and “gourmet.” Perhaps I only want one so I can create the illusion of gourmet. You know, the cooking is pretty standard, but hey! look at that fancy pot rack hanging there - doesn’t it look special? Hm, perhaps this is a topic for another post: “My gourmet cooking skillz or lack thereof.” I’ll get right on that.
- Food Saver Vacuum Sealer
- Another one I’d really use. Great for buying bigger packages of meat and sealing them into smaller packages. Or what about when I prepare extra pancakes and throw them in the fridge for toaster pancakes later? And I could do the same with cookies and brownies and muffins - Oh my! I like the sound of this. For some reason, I’m feeling a little hungry now.
- Precut Brownie Pan Set
- My mom is laughing at this one. My mom would laugh at anything that has been “as seen on tv.” Mom. Really. I would use this. Think about it in a less one dimensional sort of way. It’s not just for brownies. Like cornbread? Like the crust? Imagine each one invidually, completely crusted. Yum-O. And those brownies, banana oat muffins, and cookies I’ll bake up, seal with my vacuum sealer and toss into the freezer for later in the week? How about individual and easy to cool and freeze baked treats? See this one and the last one can go hand in hand. Okay mom, you can stop laughing now.
- Cast Iron Tortilla Press, 8 Inch
- I already make tortillas. WITH MY ROLLING PIN. Don’t get me wrong. It works. But
Y’ALL. I think a press would really make this a whole lot easier, don’t ya think? I’ve seen some really nice electric ones but at the very least, a handpress would at least speed things along. (I’m a little slow with the rolling.) But the results are so worth it. Homemade tortillas are much better than storebought. Really, you should try it. - Pancake and Tortilla Keeper
- Why hadn’t I thought of this before? I mean, I’ve thought about getting a tortilla keeper for the tortillas but I’ve never thought about using them for pancakes. And waffles, too! That’s a great idea. Everybody would get to enjoy hot tortillas or flapjacks. Suhweet!
Which ones do you have? What’s on your wishlist for your kitchen?
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New Dishes? VOTE!!
Which of these do you like best to go with my coffee-themed kitchen?
Black cabinets, ivory walls, patterned valances, gold curtains, red wall in dining room, black dining set with wood grain table top, and WHICH set of dishes?
Set #1
Set #2
Set #3
Set #4
Set #5
Set #6
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Tackle-It Tuesday, Mini Kitchen Makeover Part 1
Are you ready for a mini Kitchen Makeover?? I am!
For the last week and a half I’ve been planning for a kitchen makeover this weekend. Yesterday I actually began putting that plan in action by going to the hardware store and buying paint!! Picking paint colors is always a lot of fun, but this time it was real quick and easy since I took a picture and a kitchen valance with me for comparison, and since I found three of the colors I needed all on one color card. Suh-weet! So that was the first step and now there’s more to do.
The "bright white" on the end is actually a soft ivory, the same color as the mat on the picture. The beige is what will eventually be going in the living room.
Today’s tackle is to get all our chores done and then clear the baskets of supplies and things off the back of the washer and dryer so we can switch out the washer tonight when Big Daddy gets home. We found the washer we have now for free on Freecycle about a year ago, but it has stopped spinning at the end of the cycle and the clothes come out too wet. We may have been able to fix it, but a friend was moving and selling his washer cheap so Hubs bought that one instead.
So my goal today is to get everything ready and make that happen tonight so that I can catch up on laundry before the weekend when we have family here and we’re busy working on the makeover.
Next week, Part 2 of the Mini Kitchen Makeover, I’ll get to show you the finished product!!!
(P.S. - In the meantime you can cast your vote about which set of dishes you like the best with my coffee themed kitchen!)
Tackle it Tuesday is hosted by 5 Minutes for Mom!
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Workin’ the Basket - In the ‘Fridge’
I like baskets. Not laundry baskets. Or waste baskets. But little cute ones, for organizing? They’re da bomb. (Do people still say that?)
So sometime last summer I combined my fascination with baskets with my new habit of buying more fruits and veggies and my smallish refrigerator. I can’t really leave fruit and veggies out (you know, the ones that don’t have to be refrigerated) because I don’t really have room for that either.
SO.
I put the baskets… IN THE FRIDGE.
Oh yes, I did.
I have a basket for extra fruit, a basket for “little jars” (to keep them from getting lost in the back) and a basket for meats (the red one) to make room for the cheeses in the drawer.
Pay no attention to that top basket, it’s now where the oranges are, you know, holding oranges. And apples. And such. It’s also not that clean and sparkly right now. Just so ya know.
The kids always know where to go to find things. I know because they’re often coming out of the kitchen with an apple or a string cheese.
Putting groceries away is a breeze. Yeah - I make them do it. So what?
And things don’t get “mysteriously lost” and go to waste. Or at least.. notsomuch.
So baskets aren’t just for shelves and cabinets anymore! Oh no they’re not. I say a basket can go just about anywhere you want it to! Even in the fridge.
Works for Me Wednesday is hosted by Kristen @ We Are THAT Family!!
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