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!
I have a confession to make. We have an ugly fridge. It's ancient, hideous and an odd shade of almond with plenty of wear and tear. But....but it works just fine so we have never been able to justify replacing it. We've just lived with the ugly. Until I found Pinterest that is.
Now, until I had gotten sick and stopped working, I avoided Pinterest like the plague because everyone told me how addictive it was and I just didn't have the time to be surfing it all day. Once time became something I had in abundance, I became an addict. And it was there that I found the cure for my ugly fridge.
Chalkboard paint.
Genius I tell you!
Here is our homely fridge
For a $10 container of black chalkboard paint I was able to make it look like something new and unusual!
I also found a really cute idea on Pinterest to paint frames from the dollar store and add magnets to the back to make your fridge look a bit neater. I still have a few more frames to paint but this is the finished product. Now I just need to tackle repainting the ugly walls in the kitchen and this area will look sooooooooooo much better! That is a project for another month though....holidays are coming and it's time to focus on the homemade goodie bags I plan on making for friends and family.
