Organizing My Kitchen

The hub of the house. The center of activity. The kitchen is where everyone congregates, regardless of whether it's separate from the rest of the house or in the middle of an open concept living area. If you're like me, you spend plenty of time in the kitchen. We don't eat out much; once a month is a lot, and often times we spend months eating only home cooked meals. I like it that way; I know what's in the foods I'm eating because I'm preparing them myself. I can try new recipes or stick to the tried and true favorites. But to do this I need my kitchen to work with me, not against me. I need it to be organized.

Kitchens are broken up into three basic sections: food storage, food prep, and the cleaning station. Food storage includes the refrigerator and pantry, food prep includes the stove and microwave, and the cleaning station consists of the sink and dishwasher. To make the kitchen flow seamlessly, everything should be close to its corresponding station. For instance, dishes should be close to the sink and dishwasher; cooking apparatus, such as cookware, bakeware and cooking utensils, should be nearest to the stove; and the fridge and pantry should be close to each other and near the entryway so it's easy to put groceries away. However, kitchen layouts don't always accommodate the rules. The kitchen triangle, where the sink, fridge, and stove locations form a triangle, doesn't happen in a galley or a one-wall kitchen. Allowances have to be made sometimes, but it's still possible to have a kitchen that's well laid out and easy to maneuver.

If I were to label the layout of my kitchen, I'd call it a "modified L-shape". In a normal L-shaped kitchen, there are two stations on one side of the L and one station on the other side. The kitchen in my first house was a U-shaped kitchen even though it had the fridge and stove on one side and the sink in the middle of the U. The other side was a complete peninsula that was open to the family room. In my current kitchen the stove is on the long side of the L and the sink is on the short side, then on a separate wall there's the fridge and pantry. It's not a true U-shaped kitchen but it isn't a true L-shape either. But it does have the perfect triangle - that's a definite plus.

As I mentioned before, the kitchen works best whenever everything is close to its respective station. While I have a great layout triangle-wise, it falls short of station designation (like that rhyme? I did). Food storage works well; the pantry is right next to the fridge. The microwave is above the stove and there are cabinets on both sides along with a long drawer, so I can have everything I need for cooking and baking right at my fingertips. The sink and dishwasher are a different story. These are open to the living room, so there's only one small cabinet above that area - not enough for all the dishes. There's only a small drawer next to the sink, and it's not big enough for all the silverware. So, a little changing up had to happen. Since my dining area is right off the kitchen, it made sense to put the dishes and serving ware closest to that area, which is where it was going to be used. Once I had it all planned out, it was simple enough to put everything in its place.

In the upper cabinet closest to the dining area I have my dishes. These are our everyday dishes, and yes, they get used everyday. On the top two shelves are serving ware and a pitcher. The empty spot is where I put my fruit bowl whenever it's not in use. It's the farthest cabinet from the sink/dishwasher which normally is not ideal, but it still works for serving meals at the table.

To the right of the dishes is the food storage containers. This is conveniently between the eating area and the food prep area. I can bring leftovers from the table or the stove right below this cabinet and just reach up to grab a container to store them in. The two top shelves are wine glasses and another fruit bowl that don't get used often. I have 42" cabinets and I cannot reach the top two shelves easily, so I only use them for items I don't use frequently.

Above the microwave I keep my cookbooks and mason jars. I use mason jars for my homemade spaghetti sauce. I need a stepladder to reach these. 

To the right of the stove is my cooking/baking section. Here I keep my spices on a bamboo spice rack I bought years ago off of Amazon. I have a few lazy Susans that make it easier to find things like oils and vinegars or spices in larger containers. I also have some acrylic containers that I use for canned goods such as beans, tomato sauce and diced tomatoes which I use whenever I'm cooking. 

That one small cabinet above the sink area houses my mugs and glassware, which isn't a whole lot. I've also got my vitamins there, and a flour sifter at the top.

There are two large drawers in this kitchen, a nice change from my previous kitchen that only had two small drawers in the entire space. This one is below the dishes and near the dining table, so my silverware is in half the drawer. The other half is my "junk" drawer, which holds chip clips and a few odds and ends that everyone keeps in their kitchen.

Below the drawer is my small appliance cabinet. My waffle maker, cake holder, blender, rice cooker, and electric grill (behind the rice cooker) make their home here, along with my chopper and grater. I got the last two for Christmas and my birthday and I love them both.

In the next drawer I keep most of my cooking utensils, though I do have the most frequently used ones in a cookie jar on top of the counter, next to the stove. These also get used often, though not daily. I have one spot for all my knives, one has all my rubber spatulas, and the others are kind of scattered by what fits in what container.

Just below that and to the left of the stove are most of my pots and pans. The pans are stacked in a holder so they take up less space. 

The smallest drawer is between the stove and the sink, and it's where I keep my cleaning cloths. I like to buy microfiber cloths in bulk from Amazon. Blue is for the bathrooms, yellow for dusting, green and pink (not shown) for kitchen cleaning.

Below that is bakeware, and my cast iron skillets that can go from stove to oven (and are my favorites for cooking).

There's a skinny cabinet to the left of the sink that's perfect for my roasting pan, baking sheets, and cutting boards. Oh, and my pizza pan is in there too.

Under the sink is probably everyone's nemesis. It can get cluttered and messy with all sorts of cleaners and junk. To keep the area neat and tidy I use containers. The dark gray container is from Target, and the clear ones are from Dollar Tree. It helps corral all my cleaners so they don't go all over the place or drip onto the cabinet. I also make sure I keep my cleaners to a minimum; if it doesn't fit, it doesn't belong.

We mustn't forget the kitchen island! Because of the center brace in the cabinets, it's hard to get larger items into them (if you look at the picture of the under the sink cabinet you'll see what I mean). These larger items are stored in the kitchen island - Instant Pot, slow cooker, and my large bowls. I keep a few other items in here as well.

The island also has three nice deep drawers. In the first one I've got my measuring cups and dish towels.

The middle drawer just has plastic storage bags and tin foil that get used fairly often.

And lastly, the third drawer has a few items that aren't used as frequently, such as oven bags, wax paper, plastic wrap and plastic cutlery.

That's how I've organized my kitchen. There are areas that are sparsely filled, and the cabinets above the fridge are totally empty. I find it helps to keep things organized if I only keep the things I really use. The next organization post will be on the pantry. Come back soon! Have a blessed day.

What's Been Going On

It's amazing what can happen in just a couple of weeks.  Life can take some crazy turns.  Thankfully ours have been pretty positive!

One of the teachers at the tutoring center recently got a job at a Christian school teaching high school math.  I was sad to hear she was leaving but happy for her new job, especially since she's getting married in October.  Little did I know how her new job would impact my family!

My daughter A has been under her father's health insurance ever since I stopped working.  She turns 26 the end of this year, which means she will no longer be covered under his insurance.  Her father has been hounding her ever since her birthday back in December, telling her she needs to get health insurance before her birthday.  She has looking, but health insurance is expensive, especially for a young single woman.  For those who think that government insurance is the answer, think again.  Even Obamacare is costly.  Since she was working two part-time jobs and neither one offered health benefits, she knew she would have to come up with a way to get affordable healthcare, and her options weren't very promising.

Her dad called her about a month ago asking once again if she had found insurance yet.  When she told him she hadn't, he told her not to worry about it, he had found a way to keep her on his insurance and she'd only have to pay him $100 a month.  Now, if I know anything about this man, it's that he can't resist a scam.  I didn't know what he was up to, but I did know one thing for sure: whatever it was, it was illegal.  He doesn't care; as far as he's concerned, it's not illegal unless you get caught.  Well, that was NOT what I wanted for my daughter.  Of course, with J, it's his way and that's that.  But he doesn't know the power of my God!  My daughter and I began to pray that God would provide her with insurance that would be more affordable than what J was insisting on offering.  Seems impossible?  Ha, nothing is impossible for our God!

A week after we started praying, I got home from grocery shopping to find my daughter extremely excited.  It turned out that the girl who was leaving had contacted her.  The school where she was going to start working needed an English teacher, someone with a degree in English, and they needed someone right away.  She immediately thought of A and asked if she was interested.  The school would take care of getting her certification.  The part that had her most excited?  The job would pay her double what both her part-time jobs paid, and she would receive 100% paid health benefits!!  She could hardly contain her excitement!  She was happy and nervous at the same time, and asked me what she should do.  I said hey, go for it!  God is sending you this opportunity, you'd best take it!  She interviewed that same day, and they offered her the job on the spot.  Turns out they'd been needing someone since the school year had finished, and no one - absolutely no one - had applied for the position.  She was the first person to apply, and school was going to start in one week.  The thought of it made her even more nervous, and she said she needed to pray about it.  She spoke to her pastor, her friends, and of course mom.  We looked into the school and the church.  This church has been instrumental in planting many of the churches in South Florida, and their ministry is extensive.  All her friends (many of them teachers themselves) told her they'd be there with help and advise.  We all agreed, this wasn't a coincidence, it was a God-incident.  So she accepted, got her training and certification, and this week started teaching 9th and 11th grade English (including an AP class) along with middle school journalism.  She is the happiest she's been in ages!  Everything has fallen into place so perfectly, that we know it has to be the hand of our ever faithful God!  We are so thankful for this new step in her life!

Of course my bosses weren't as happy as she was.  They were left without two teachers for the fall session which starts next Monday.  But once again, God has provided.  We have three new teachers coming in that got trained this week.  It was rough for my daughter, because she doesn't like to disappoint, but the opportunity was too great to pass up.  It's been hectic with her church job too, but she's such a trouper.  She's getting the work done, and getting all her school assignments done as well (she's working towards getting certified as a pastoral counselor).  God is blessing her hard work, and I can't wait to see what else He has in store for my little girl!

As for me, I've been on an organization kick - or more like a frenzy ;-).  It started in the master bedroom, moved into the kitchen where I've been organizing the pantry and cupboards, and now it has continued into the bathrooms.  I've been throwing out anything that is expired (you'd be surprised what you find hiding in a medicine cabinet) or that doesn't get used, and putting things away properly.  I've shopped at Walmart, Target, Dollar Tree and Amazon for organization tools and containers.  I've also done some deep cleaning before school starts up again, which is on the 24th.  I'm off from work this week (yay!) so I've been able to get loads of stuff done.  I'm very much a type A personality, and having everything streamlined and organized makes me feel relaxed.  I'm loving it!

I took my youngest son E for allergy testing.  Not only were his allergies getting out of control, his eczema was spreading.  Both his arms were covered, his eyes were dry and irritated, and below his chin it was starting up.  It seemed the medicines the dermatologist had ordered weren't enough, so I had to take the next step.  He had to get off his maintenance medicines for 5 days so the tests could be accurate.  It was the most miserable 5 days of his life!  He literally needed a trash can next to him to drop all the tissues he was using because he was sneezing so much.  When we finally got to the doctor's office for the tests, they got delayed because E was having a mild asthma attack.  See, the day before we'd gone to see Hillsong United in concert, and it was held outdoors in a park.  The outdoors are my son's enemies, unfortunately.  He was coughing but he wasn't wheezing, at least not heavily, so I hadn't detected it, but the doctor noticed right away.  Once he was breathing normally, the doctor proceeded with the tests.  Thankfully my son has no food allergies.  He does, however, have a ton of other allergies, all environmental.  Trees, grass, mold, plants...let's just say, he's allergic to Florida.  The doctor put him on prednisone and gave him an inhaler, along with eye drops, nose drops, and instructions for taking care of the eczema.  He also suggested I get an air purifier, which I ordered the very next day.  I'm happy to report that his eczema is almost completely gone thanks to the creams he's using (Vanicream is the best, I highly recommend it), and I haven't heard him sneeze in days.  Oh, thank You Jesus!

We found out he's also allergic to pet dander, particularly dogs and cats.  This has created a dilemma for us, because we can't get rid of Molly.  Not only because we love her, but because she has cancer, and she's dying.  The second tumor on her belly has started to grow, and we don't think she has very much longer to live.  We know no one will take her in her condition, and if we take her to the humane society they'll put her down.  We've decided to keep her until the inevitable, which J is against (he's wanted us to get rid of Molly since day one), but honestly I don't believe we will have her for much longer.  It breaks our hearts to even think about it.

Sorry to end on a sad note (I didn't realize it till I looked back) but life is like that; it has its ups and downs.  We thank God for the good, and we thank Him for the not-so-good.  In all things we praise our God and Father and trust in His decisions.  Hope you do too.

What I've Been Up To

It's been a couple of weeks since I last posted, busy and productive weeks.  Let's see if I can remember what all I've been up to.

I'm on an organizing kick.  Spring cleaning so to speak, except in the summer.  I've been getting rid of clutter and putting things in order.  I hate clutter; I avoid having things I don't need or having things in the wrong places.  But with work and home and church and everything in between, things have fallen to the wayside and been pushed back on the priority list, until one day I looked and said, "Enough is enough!!"  It started in my bedroom closet.  I'd bought some clothes and was having trouble fitting it all into my closet.  It was starting to look messy and out of control.  One day I decided to go through my clothes and pull out anything that could be donated so that my closet wouldn't feel so cramped.  That was all that was needed to get me motivated.  I not only got a donation pile going, I organized all my clothes, shoes and purses.  I decided to take any "winter" clothes out (winter clothes in South Florida means a few long sleeve shirts) which meant I had to organize some of my dresser drawers to fit them in.  When I was done I felt like a load had been lifted off my shoulders (when in fact it had been lifted out of my closet).  There's actually room to move in my closet now, and I can see the floor again!  It got my adrenaline pumping for more.

This week it's been the kitchen.  I reorganized the pantry: there are bins to put bagged items in, canisters for snacks, pastas, flours and cereals.  The slow cookers were moved to the storage cabinet in the garage to make room for food containers.

The shelves outside the pantry were organized as well.  To make it easier for us to find things, I labeled everything with chalk labels so that the information can be changed at any time.  Now we can easily see where everything is without having to move everything or having five items fall on the floor trying to reach for one item.

Today I emptied out several kitchen cabinets, then put things away so as to make the kitchen flow better.  I moved all my spices to the cabinet on the left of the stove.  This was where I used to keep my spices originally, until we remodeled the kitchen and J insisted that cabinet should have a glass door.  I didn't want to keep my spices there anymore, because I was concerned it would look messy, so I put glassware there and put my spices in the cabinet on the right of the stove.  Problem is, I was using the left side cabinet as more of a display cabinet, which ultimately meant my cabinet space was reduced.  I'd already lost cabinet space when J decided that one of my cabinets should be converted into a trash bin (why do people who never cook or spend more than 2 minutes in a kitchen think they know better than the folks who actually use the kitchen?).  My kitchen was so cramped.  I had to move so many things around just to get my spices out because of the way the cabinets were made; the right side cabinets are corner cabinets, but they were not built as corner cabinets.

The cabinet on the left goes all the way back to the wall, but the one on the right has no access to that space, so if I need something from the back of the cabinet I have to empty the entire shelf to reach it.  Many of my spices ended up back there; cooking became a hassle of moving things in and out of the cabinet, creating more of a mess.  As you can see, I took the spices out of the cabinet and put canned goods there instead.  I had some of my canned goods in my kitchen and some in the storage cabinet in the garage; again, every time I needed something I had to go out of my way to find it instead of having it nearby.  I decided to put my glasses, mugs, and all our drinking cups in the cabinet above the sink.  I've ordered a 3-tier spice shelf/rack for my spices from Amazon.  It's bamboo so it'll match the color of my cabinets, and it'll keep my spices neat so I won't worry about what my cabinet looks like.  I'll have to remember to take a picture once I've got it all done.

I also cleaned out my refrigerator and freezer.  It's amazing how many things are hidden in the back of the fridge - items that have expired but we've forgotten they're there.  I found some file folder holders at Target for $3 that work perfectly for holding onions and potatoes.  I have to keep these in the fridge because, with our heat and humidity, they would go bad in no time.  This works much better and keeps them longer.

Speaking of heat and humidity, I don't know about the rest of the country but it is H-O-T in Florida!  Granted, it isn't as hot as it was last year, but it's still sweltering, especially in the afternoons right before the thunderstorms start.  We are in the rainy season now, getting hammered with rain every afternoon for about a half hour.  I cut the grass and it grows back in no time.  Allergies are on the rampage thanks to this weather.  My boys are especially susceptible; they are sneezing all the time, and while R has the itchy, watery eyes, E has eczema.  E has an appointment to see the allergist for testing on August 3rd.  He has to be off all allergy medicines for five days before he can be tested.  I'm not looking forward to that - he's gonna be miserable.

My daughter has been busy with work and school.  She is taking online courses to get certified in pastoral counseling.  Nothing like having a child who can tell you everything that's wrong with you :P.  Actually, she's learning a lot and has a strong desire to help teenagers and young people.  Her dream is to work with the A21 Campaign, an organization that helps victims of human trafficking.  I pray God would use her to help many suffering people to know they can have hope in Christ.

Of course, I did some shopping for beauty products during Bare Escentuals' Beauty Rush sale.  I actually wasn't going to get anything, and I didn't even place my order until late that night because I kept debating whether to place an order, but ultimately I got a Complexion Superstars set containing two mineral veils (one loose and one compact), a bronzer called The High Dive which is in a compact, a gorgeous highlighter called Bare Radiance, and a blush that I've been wanting for a long time called Vintage Peach.  I like peach colors more than pinks on me, and this one is a soft peachy tone that is very feminine.  It also has a blush brush.  All for $21 - just the blush retails for $18.  I also got a brush set that contains 5 brushes (2 face and 3 eye) and a gold-toned case for $18 (original price was $49). I decided to get these because we are going to Disney World in September and I wanted makeup that would be easy to bring along.  A lot of the Bare Minerals products are loose powders which makes them a little tricky to travel with, though I still plan on taking a few items.

Those have been the highlights of the past couple of weeks.  I'm going to continue focusing on organizing and purging.  I know, I've got to blog about it!  I'll keep it in mind ;).  Have a blessed rest of your weekend.

Monday, Monday

I'm sitting here enjoying a piping hot bowl of chicken and dumplings in hopes that it will counteract the cold that wants to take over my chest.  How it invaded my body I don't know, but I will do whatever it takes to defeat it.

A quick recap of my goings-on:  Saturday's wedding was absolutely gorgeous (as weddings typically are).  The theme of the wedding was taken from the Disney Pixar movie Up.  The bridesmaids were dressed in '40's style dresses and hairdo's, and the groomsmen wore tan pants and suspenders.  They used the music from the movie to walk down the aisle which was precious.  The table centerpieces were hot air balloons with flowers in the baskets.  I really should have taken pictures, but as usual I didn't think of it.  My daughter took some, though.  She was enthralled with the decor and the theme.  The only drawback was the weather.  It was supposed to be an outdoor wedding, but we had the worst rainstorm I've seen all winter.  It wasn't raining, it was monsooning.  The Lord protected us, because the rain didn't start till about 15 minutes after we arrived.  You couldn't see outside it was coming down so hard.  The poor bride was in tears; it was her dream to have an outdoor wedding, and it was just impossible to do.  What's surprising is that we hadn't gotten much rain the entire month of February, yet it rained on and off all day long with such a vengeance.  Still, the wedding went off beautifully despite the little setback, and now the bride and groom are in Tokyo for their honeymoon.  I don't think I've ever seen the groom so happy, and I've known him for years.  What a joy to be able to share such an important day with the family.

I was already starting to feel the effects of a cold coming on, but it wasn't until yesterday afternoon that I was uncomfortable enough to take some Mucinex.  I've started the next big project here at the house: organizing the garage.  I threw out a bunch of stuff already, and my son R took 2/3 of the rotted wall unit to the dump.  I spent several hours cleaning, moving, trashing and taking the wall unit apart.  I left only the section with the food.  Although I have a little pantry in the kitchen, it's just that: a little pantry.  Some of the food has been moved out to the garage, and the storage is not right for what we need.  My plan, Lord willing, is to rent a pick-up truck from Lowe's and get the storage units from there as well.  That will have to be done Friday, since we have school and work all week.  The garage looks neater already, and it's still a mess!  I'm really looking forward to having everything in its proper place.  The other thing I'm planning on getting is a small freezer, so that I can buy meats on sale and have a place to put them.  Back in 2000 when we moved to this house, it seemed so enormous.  Now we're busting at the seams.  Even with all the junk I threw out there's still a ton of stuff in the garage.  Time to purge, purge, purge!

That's it for this edition of My Life.  I'll try to get a more detailed post in later.  For now, God bless and have a lovely day :-).

Time to Organize

Ever have one of those days when you just can't get motivated?  Yeah, I'm having one of those today.  It's cloudy, humid, and dreary looking outside, and on these kinds of days I feel like I have to drag myself to get things done.  Plus my sciatica continues to be an issue; it was bothering me last night and I really don't want to get to where I can't walk, so I need to take it easy.

So, what to do?  I've decided to get my bills better organized.  I have everything in an accordion folder, and while it's okay, it's not organized enough.  I want to put my paid bills in date order, separated by hanging folders inside a file holder E used to use to keep his video games in order.  I'll have to run to Walmart to get the supplies, but I think it'll work better for me and be neater.  I also started my home budget again, so I can keep track of spending.  It's amazing how that can get out of hand so easily.

Then I made an appointment to get my eyes examined.  I'll be at the eye doctor tomorrow morning, checking out new glasses.  I know for sure I need a new pair; while I think my myopia is the same, when it comes to reading or seeing the computer, I can't.  I end up taking my glasses off to read, which only gives me a headache, so I haven't been reading as much as I like.  I can't wait to get my new glasses so I can get back to one of my favorite hobbies!

Lastly, I'm trying to get an appointment to get Molly "fixed".  She's been with us for 9 months and she's already going through her 2nd menstrual cycle.  We know she already had puppies.  We took her to the vet a few days after she showed up at our door, and the vet informed us of this.  So even though she's only a couple of years old I believe it's time.  I'm waiting on the humane society to get back to me.  They're the cheapest I could find at $110.  It's expensive because of the fact that she weighs about 65 - 70 lbs.  She's a big girl, all right.

That's my organization strategy for today.  How do you get organized?