Stroke of Genius

I'm always looking for more ways to get organized, especially when it comes to my kitchen.  Anything that can make my life simpler gets my vote.  Plus, I'm teaching Ms. AniBelle how to cook and organization not only makes it easier for her, but it gives her a good starting point for when she has her own kitchen.  Hopefully it won't take her the 15 years it took for me to learn these lessons.  

I try to buy most of my baking supplies in bulk at Sam's Club.  In order to not have to drag out the ginormous bags each time I wanted to bake, I bought several Rubbermaid containers to hold more manageable amounts.  I also made chalkboard labels by spray painting printer labels with chalkboard paint.

 Another habit I try to keep up with is doubling one or two meals a week and freezing the second portion.  First, it is very convenient to have meals prepared that I can just thaw and pop in the oven on busy nights.  Second, it's helpful for my hubby on occasions that I'm in the hospital or feeling too ill to cook.  My man is wonderful at grilling things but cooking anything beyond simple basics is not up his alley.  The problem I have with the meals is keeping track of what I have.  A dry eraser board solved that for me.

 Last week, my daughter was foraging through our pantry cupboards to find some nonperishable items to bring in to school for a food drive and I had a stroke of pure genius.  As she was pulling out items, I realized that there were plenty of staples hidden in the pantry that I didn't realize I had which meant I was buying them with regularity.  To solve this issue, I painted the insides of the cupboard doors with chalkboard paint (it may or may not be an addiction folks!).  Now I have each item listed on the doors.  When I use one, I erase it or change the quantity, and when I buy more, I update the list as well.  Voila!