Decluttering/Organizing the Dishes Cabinet

I'm now participating in both a decluttering blog hop with The Snyder 5 and a 28 Day Organizing challenge with The Organizing Junkie.

That's a lot of organizing!

So last night, I thought I'd better get started by decluttering and organizing my dishes cabinet.

Our dishes cabinet sits to the right of our kitchen window (and sink) and directly above our dishwasher. Convenient? Yes. But our kitchen is so small that all of our cabinets are "conveniently" located. In fact, our dishes cabinet is one of only two large upper cabinets in our whole kitchen! As you might guess, the other one sits to the left of our kitchen window (and sink).

But let's focus on one cabinet at a time...

Above is the "before" picture. I will admit that it's not horrible. We've all seen cabinets that appear to have suffered a Tupperware explosion. Still, there was significant room for improvement.

The biggest problems:

• Too much stacking/blocking: I can't tell you how many times I've knocked stuff onto the floor while searching for a buried lid or reaching for a precariously placed travel mug. To keep my sanity (and avoid head and toe injuries), the stacking and blocking had to be minimized!

• Mismatched food storage pieces: Why can I never find the covers for my tiny food storage bowls? Seriously, where are they? I give up. If it doesn't have a match, it doesn't belong here!

• Infiltration of entertaining pieces: A wine glass here, a cream pitcher there. For some reason, our entertaining pieces seem to infiltrate this cabinet and block our more frequently used items. If an item doesn't get weekly use, into a higher cabinet or basement tote it must go!

The solution ended up being quite simple. I emptied everything from the cabinet and asked myself some basic questions:

• Does this item belong in a cabinet filled with things related to serving or storing foods and beverages?

• Does this item get used on a weekly basis?

• Does this item have all of the parts necessary to be functional?

Items that generated a "yes" to all three questions went back into the cabinet. I also bought some inexpensive kitchen cabinet organizers to cut down on the stacking. Now, my food storage lids sit directly above their corresponding containers! Ah, it's the little things that bring us peace, isn't it?

I kept a couple of drink and wine glasses (and accessories) in the lower cabinet, but the rest went back into the smaller glassware/crystal cabinet above.

Now maybe I'll be more eager to empty the dishwasher!

Maybe...

28 Day Organizing Challenge

I'm entering an organizing contest! (Mom, you can stop laughing now. Really.)

I found The Organizing Junkie while searching for menu planning resources this past weekend. I just discovered that the site is hosting a 28 Organizing Challenge during the month of February.

I've decided to enter my kitchen into the contest. Why? So that I finish what I started!

I've already blogged a bit about what we did with this area:

But we never got around to following up on this area:

And what about the cabinets? And the drawers!

Over the next 28 days, I will complete my kitchen transformation. My hope is that it will serve as an example for other people with teeny tiny kichens, minimal counterspace and very few cabinets.

Now please excuse me while I get to work!

Chipotle Is Not the Plan

Um...yeah. When I said that I had a plan to tackle my kid's picky eating and reduce dinnertime stres, I had forgotten that Chipotle was on tonight's menu.

The good news? Dinner went just fine. No complaints. Clean plates.

The bad news? I can't feed my kid bean and cheese quesadillas every night for the rest of his life. (Can I?)

More on our real picky eater plan coming soon...

I Gave Up, But I Have a Plan

Kiddo: "Mama, how many bites of dinner do I have to eat to have popcorn for a snack tonight?"

Me: "What? That's not why you eat dinner. You eat dinner so that you fill your belly with good food that helps you grow up big and strong."

Kiddo: "How about five bites?"

Me: "Whatever."

Kiddo: "How about no bites?"

Me: "Whatever."

Yep, I gave up. There's just something wrong about a kid negotiating the number of bites he must eat to get a snack or dessert. So I gave him popcorn and milk for dinner.

But tonight, I'm trying some new strategies to end our food battles and restore peace to the dinner table.

Stay tuned...

Menu Plan Monday - Feb. 1

Gosh, I'm just an organizing fool lately! First, I totally decluttered my spare bedroom. And now, I'm writing menu plans! Well...I've written just this one menu plan, but it's a start, right?

I've been struggling to get better about meal planning and grocery lists for some time now. I'm a girl who likes options, so nailing down exactly what I plan to eat on Thursday runs counter to my nature. But I've found that "options" really means multiple grocery store trips and too much eating out. So I'm giving Menu Plan Monday a try.

Each Monday, I'll report on how the previous week went and post a new plan for the week.* I can't promise that every list will be this detailed, but we'll see...

Wish me luck!

Sunday

• Breakfast: Toddy latte; nitrate-free bacon; slice of homemade apple tart
• Lunch: Lunch out with the fam while running errands/grocery shopping
• Dinner: Chicken in milk; mashed potatoes; vegetable

Monday

• Breakfast: Toddy latte; egg(s), Ezekiel 4:9 toast; fruit
• Lunch: Leftovers from Sunday dinner; fruit
• Dinner: Chicken curry with potatoes and vegetables (adapted from recipe on Thai Kitchen red curry paste jar); brown rice

Tuesday

• Breakfast: Toddy latte; egg(s); Ezekiel 4:9 toast; fruit
• Lunch: Leftovers from Monday dinner; fruit
• Dinner: Pasta with homemade chicken meatballs and simple tomato sauce; vegetable

Wednesday

• Breakfast: Toddy latte; egg(s); Ezekiel 4:9 toast; fruit
• Lunch: Leftovers from Tuesday dinner; fruit
• Dinner: Chipotle day!

Thursday

• Breakfast: Toddy latte; egg(s); Ezekiel 4:9 toast; fruit
• Lunch: Yogurt with apples and dried mango; whole grain crackers with smoked salmon and cheese
• Dinner: Chicken piccata (from Joy of Cooking: All About Chicken); pasta; vegetable

Friday

• Breakfast: Toddy latte; yogurt with apples and dried mango; Ezekiel 4:9 toast
• Lunch: Leftovers from Thursday dinner
• Dinner: Natural frozen pizza and family movie night

Saturday

• TBD: Possible date day with the hubby!

*Notice that my menu plan doesn't actually begin on Monday? That's because I work all day on Mondays! A Sunday grocery shopping/planning session works much better for my schedule.

Declutter Challenge ~ Spare Room

My friend Molly over at The Snyder 5 has been hard at work decluttering her house. And today, she invited others to join in the fun!

The problem? I already decluttered our spare bedrom yesterday, but I didn't take any "before" pictures. I simply hadn't planned on blogging about it!

I thought about recluttering the room to get photos, but decided that doing so would be a little crazy. Then I thought of another way to illustrate the utter mess that was our spare bedroom. So without further ado, I give you...

...an ILLUSTRATION of the utter mess that was our spare bedroom! (Hmmm. This might have been crazier.)

The Backstory: Our spare bedroom is our home's "what the heck should we do with this stuff that doesn't belong in the basement" dumping ground. (Every house has one, right?) The mess got totally out of hand when workers installed a hood vent in our kitchen. You see, the exhaust pipe had to run through our upstairs linen closet, forcing us to remove its contents until we recut the shelves to accommodate the pipe.

Where did all of the linen closet stuff go? Into our spare bedroom, of course!

For the past several weeks, the room has been full of extra shampoos, cleaning products, towels, toiletpaper and lots of other random stuff.

The Complicating Factor: Making matters worse, we still haven't refinished and reinstalled the door to this room. So the clutter is in full view (and full reach) of anyone who comes upstairs. When we had my nephew overnight last week, we actually blocked off the room with the loveseat. Lovely, eh?

The Resolution: On Saturday, Kyle cut all of the shelves to fit around the exhaust pipe. Then I got to work sorting through the mess, throwing away junk and restocking the shelves. It didn't take long before we could see the floor again!

All of our linen closet stuff is now back where it belongs — in our linen closet! I plan to find a more attractive way of organizing this stuff, but "put away" is good enough for now. (Hmmm. That towel shelf is looking pretty empty. Time to wash/fold laundry, perhaps?)

Yay, the disenfecting products are up high and out of reach! (Please note that Kyle made expertly rounded cuts to accommodate the pipe.)

I still have a bit more work to do in this room. I need to sort through a couple of laundry baskets, and Kyle needs to sort through a box of random junk. (Don't you just love boxes of random junk?)

Overall, this was a huge decluttering success. I feel so much better when I reach the top of the stairs now!

Final Notes: I won't be weighing my tossed/donated clutter like Molly does. We don't have a scale! But we'll definitely be ridding our home of clutter, not just reorganizing the clutter. Hope you join us!

A Compliment?

Because I'm fighting a cold today, I spent the better part of the morning looking rather disheveled. After I finally showered and made myself look presentable, Rowan said:

"Mama, I really appreciate how you got dressed and put on your makeup today, even though you're sick. Now you look like my regular mommy instead of a sleepy lady."

He then asked if he could take a picture of me with his play camera.

The attention was sweet, of course, but I can't help but think that I must have looked truly horrible this morning!

Still, I'll take his appreciation as a compliment...I think.

My Kid's Response to Watching American Idol Last Night

"That singer sounds really good!" [Dancing his funky dance.] "I like this show!"


"That guy's voice is way too explosiony. It hurts my ears."

"I don't think that sounds very good, mama. Do you think it sounds very good?"

"He's kind of weird. Why is he being like that?"

"Mama, are you sure this show isn't too scary for me?"

Sometimes you'll do whatever it takes...

...to get your kid to eat healthy foods.

If that means spreading dark chocolate over clementine wedges, then that's exactly what you'll do.

Just don't forget to make extra for yourself. These juicy little treats are impossible to resist!

A Simple Tart for Breakfast

We were craving something sweet for breakfast today. So in a departure from our usual morning fare, I made an adaptation of Marcella Hazan's recipe for A Farm Wife's Fresh Pear Tart.

Not too sweet and full of fruit, this recipe works for breakfast, snacks or dessert. The only drawback is that you must wait 50 minutes before pulling it out of the oven. ("Is the pear tart done, mom?" "Is it done now?" "I'm hungry! When will it be done?")

I usually buy Bosc pears for this recipe, but today I used some Pink Lady apples that we had on hand. As long as you use a firm-fleshed apple or pear, I think you'll be fine. Hazan apparently said of this recipe: “Only an active campaign of sabotage could ruin it.”

A nice confidence booster, don't you think?

Notice Anything Odd in This Video?

Anything? Anything at all?

Here's a hint: Not everyone in this video is sledding. Notice the cross-country skier going by after the guys make it down the hill?

Does it strike you as odd that a park would allow people to sled down a hill that crosses the beginner skiing trail?

In case you're wondering, we did see a kid crash directly into a novice skier. The woman saw the boy coming at the last minute, but was too inexperienced to propel herself forward quickly enough to avoid impact. No one was hurt, thank goodness, but I couldn't help but question a design that puts sledding children and novice skiers on a perpendicular collision course.

Still, we had a great time!

HDTVs Are Expensive. Are They Worth It?

I'm still in shock after TV shopping this past weekend. Who knew that HDTVs were so expensive? (I realize that the correct answer here is everyone. Cut me some slack, OK?)

I expected a new TV to be moderately expensive. Kyle found some nice Samsungs on Amazon priced in the $600 – $900 range. Although I can't say I love those prices, they certainly don't surprise me.

But that was just the beginning.

On Sunday, we visited an electronics store to see the TVs in person. That's where we learned about a vast array of upcharges that are required to properly install and enjoy your new TV.

You need to buy special cords and a surge protector, of course. If you're hanging your TV on the wall, a mounting bracket is required. Oh, and you should really consider hiring a professional installer to hide the special cords behind your wall. If you're not hanging your new TV on the wall, you need to buy an HDTV stand — most of which look like bizarre, futuristic technology shrines.

Then there's the calibration fee.

Call me crazy (or maybe just out of touch), but I figured that an $800 HDTV would arrive ready to watch. Oh no! Apparently, the manufacturers don't calibrate the colors because — according to our sales guy — "they want to save on production time to bring down costs for the consumer."

Um...yeah. I'm sure that's it. Because a manufacturer doesn't pay a third-world factory worker to properly configure the TV, an electronics store can pass on the saving to me...in the form of a $200 calibration charge.

Gee, thanks.

And don't even get me started on planned obsolescence. I asked the guy how long we should expect to own our new HDTV. He said they're built to last for "decades." (I couldn't help but imagine our grandchildren gathered around our ugly TV shrine in 2040.) Then I asked how long his many HDTVs had lasted him. The answer: an average of 3 years (with some duds burning out almost immediately). Naturally, he used this opportunity to tell us about the extended warranty program. Nice.

So now we're at a crossroads. Do we really want to spend more than $1,000 on a TV? Seriously, a TV? Even if we can afford it, is that where we want to "invest" right now? (I'm asking you!)

After all, a lot of people are giving away decent old TVs on craigslist right now. We have a converter box.

Hmmm...

Pretty Breakfast, Messy Breakfast

People always seem surprised when I say that I cook a hot breakfast for my family most mornings each week. Honestly, it's not that much trouble. I'd choose eggs and toast (and sometimes bacon!) over cold cereal any day. And if I'm already cooking for myself, how hard is it to crack another egg or butter another piece of bread?

Although we eat basically the same breakfast every morning, my hubby and I have vastly different approaches when it comes to presentation and eating technique.

I prefer to appreciate the beauty and flavor of each food. I might dip my toast into the runny yolk or mix some diced apple or dried fruit into my yogurt. But for the most part, I like to maintain a clear visual distinction between the various items on my placemat.

He, on the other hand, prefers to smash all of his food into one messy pile. He then scoops globs of the yellowish-green concoction* onto slices of buttered toast. Oh, and in his view, a placemat is just another thing to clean up after a meal.

Although we clearly enjoy our food in different ways, what we appreciate most about breakfast is the same: COFFEE!

Just kidding! (Kind of.) The thing we appreciate most is the time we spend together, of course.

Sharing a nice morning meal offers a chance to connect before we dash off in separate directions. In fact, provided that I don't look directly at the food spew sitting on the plate across from me, breakfast is my favorite meal of the day.

*Perhaps it's worth noting that my hubby doesn't like yogurt because of its "weird texture." HA! ;)

Can Your Kitchen Make You Fat?

I just read an interesting little article about the connection between your kitchen and your weight. The conclusion: modern-day kitchens are making us fat.

I say "modern-day" kitchens, because most of the problematic features listed are relative newbies in American homes. They include:

• Platter-sized plates and wide glasses
• Super-bright lighting (recessed lighting, under-cabinet lighting, etc.)
• Expansive, clutter-collecting surfaces
• Spacious pantries
• Food as decor (clear jars, etc., to store and display food)
• Centralized, open designs (i.e., your kitchen is the hub of your home)

As a city-dweller, I live in a older home whose kitchen has none of these features (much to our dismay, at times). We have no room for a kitchen table. Our pantry is tiny. Our counter space is minimal. Basically, our 1936 kitchen is designed to do one thing: serve as a space for storing and preparing food. For it serve this purpose well, our kitchen must contain only the most essential foods, tools and equipment.

Hmmm. Could our tiny, featureless kitchen help us stay thin?

Probably not.

Still, it's an interesting connection to consider. As families have shrunk significantly in recent generations (numbers-wise, if not weight-wise), our kitchens have grown magnificently. Why?

What is it that we're stuffing into our huge, French-door refrigerators and walk-in pantries?

After all, fruits, vegetables and meats spoil within just a few days...

A Winter Day to Appreciate

Do you think that writing something 100 times makes it come true?

Yeah, neither do I.

But today, I did appreciate winter. And I appreciated my family, and my life and all of the blessings that I don't deserve, but still receive.

I've decided that I need to become a whole lot better about expressing gratitude. My wake-up call came last week, when I learned that some friends of ours lost a loved one in Haiti. He was only 25 years old. When the world loses someone so young — and so committed to serving others — it's hard to justify petty complaints.

So although I'll never be winter's biggest fan, I've decided to make the most of it. Life is too short to spend one-third of it sulking. If you look hard enough, any of winter's failings offers a chance to give thanks.

When I'm cold, I can appreciate that I have someone sweet to snuggle me.

When I'm bored, I can appreciate living with two great guys who teach me how to play.

When I'm tired, I can appreciate that hard work creates a calorie deficit that practically begs for hot cocoa.

And when I'm impatient, I can realize that winter, like life, is short. Although it can be cold, dark and even depressing sometimes, it's also beautiful — especially if you choose to see it that way.

I do.