Making the Cupboard a Joy - Organze it!

Sometimes life gets ahead of me (okay -- often it does), and that sometimes translates to dysfunction. Believe it or not, I love organization, I love sorting, I love things in their place, I love the beauty that comes with a well ordered space -- it's just that tending and chasing little ones, while making another little one, takes priority over anything else.  I get "behind".

My baking ingredients cabinet/cupboard was messy and getting too out of control. It was impossible to take out anything without bumping something else, and things got easily shoved to the back out of reach.  Not to mention how displeasing and non-melodic the sound of packages and bag and wrappers are. To fix it, I got clear sealing jars with hinged lids, and printed out simple labels affixed with tape. 

Doesn't it look so much better?! Now not only are thing easier to locate and I don't accidentally knock anything over, but it's a calm feeling of "...ahhh..." every time I open the cabinet.  It's also easier for my kids to assist in the cooking and food-prep since they can open the jar and scoop out what's needed without fussing with a bag or package.  This was absolutely worth the time and effort -- it pays off almost every single day. 

Easy Embroidery for the Kiddos

The girls have been wanting to do all kinds of needle work lately, but since we're packing to move, we don't have many options to choose from with all our stuff in boxes and basically living out of suitcases at the moment. So, I had an idea that would make a compact, easy, ongoing project: free-style embroidery.  We used monk's cloth because the loose weave is so easy to work with, and perle embroidery thread since it does not try to come apart as it is manipulated. I chose chenille needles because they are larger and easier to manipulate for little fingers but are still very real and pointed. Everything we need fits in a bag or basket, and we can take it wherever we need to.

I only showed them how to push through and pull the thread; I gave them no further instruction. Each kiddo got assigned their own color of thread/floss for sake of ease and identification. 

I had no idea this whole embroidery thing would take off so quickly with the kiddos! Even the two and a half year old is thrilled to be doing it. The olders made designs, the youngers had a blast with the motor skills -- all had feeling of accomplishment.  I expect this will be a craft/skill that we can easily build on in coming years.  It's an excellent Waldorf-y handwork kind of thing. 

It's very inexpensive in materials (having a teacher id makes it even cheaper), and they are liking their handwork. The squares they are doing are getting more prolific, and I might sew them all together into a kind of wall hanging art thing after I put some iron-on fusible interfacing on the back of each square to make it more stable.  

 

They Put Their Own Laundry Away! Clothing Labels for Drawers

I have simplified laundry so much at our house just by putting some pictures on the kids' drawers.  I put the pile of clean clothes on or next to their drawers, and they put them in the right one.  Easy, and they also feel more responsible and aware of their clothing and where it is.  A lot less of, "mom... where is  _________", and a lot more of "I got dressed-ed all by myself!".  There was even one day when my momma self was not feeling very good, and my eldest (6yrs) went into my drawers, guided by the labels, and got my whole outfit ready for the day.  You can bet I wore it! and was sure grateful. 
 
These labels have simple line drawings of a clothing category and the word beneath it to introduce the word association to their little minds.  I laminated mine for the ones on the outside of the drawers, and just taped the paper ones inside the clear plastic drawers & they show through just fine.  They are below for your use, free to print out and share. There are a few of this sort of thing around the web, and I made these below with pictures that much better reflect our family's particular clothing choices. 



If you click on these images, you will see they are really quite a bit larger than what they are being displayed at.  Simply right click and save.  When you print them, make sure the printer setting are such that the image fills the page and does not print it at the original or cropped size.

Making the Food Planning Easier

I spend most of my time in the kitchen,or thinking about what I need to be doing next in the kitchen.  We also have some pretty intense dietary restrictions and allergies (no gluten, soy, potato, starchy tubers, no fish or shellfish, no cactus family, no eating grains and fruit together, etc. and more), so I basically have to make everything from scratch, even our condiments and basic ingredients.  For a family of six the needs meals and snacks and for them to be well rotated and nutritionally wealthy this is no small task. In fact, it's an amazingly large task. We eat a Weston Price, primal/paleo style diet that is altered and tailored to our needs.


When I heard about the idea of someone else doing the meal planning, including the grocery list, I was sceptically excited. Could this possibly work for us? Could I alter it to meet our tastes and needs? Oh, yes! (conclusion at bottom)

I had to find out, so I tried three different ones:

 

Cooking Traditional Foods Menu Mailer 


















Grain Free Meal Plans 












Paleo Plan










I can honestly say I recommend them all, but for different reasons.
--The one from Cooking Traditional Foods is just awesome! and has a smart gal who runs it and is happy to help you out and help you figure out substitutions if you need them.  I learned a lot about cooking methods and techniques from that one that I use everyday like soaking grains, making bone broth, and good substitutions to use. 
--The Grain Free one had lots of yummy foods in it, but it didn't quite work with my family's preferences and eating style. Ah well, had to try another.
--The Paleo Plan is really working for us! Our food allergies are easy to avoid in this one, the shopping list is laid out with indications for which meal each item is for so it's easy to go through and know exactly what I am and am not getting, and it's laid out super easy to follow.  Of course, I still incorporate many things not in it like raw dairy, organ meats, and bone broths to keep up on our dietary needs.  The portions are generous, and buy buying 1.5 times the recommended amount in the shopping lists, I end up with plenty for everyone.  


Here's the awesome part:  I save a ridiculous amount of time and money doing this. I expect I have at least six more hours in my week, a lot less brain power and worrying about what is today's meal/s and what I need to do to prep for it, and now we spend almost $50 less on groceries, and what we do get is efficiently used up. That means it isn't taking up shelf or refrigerator space, and I'm not throwing out unused rotten stuff later.  Getting a menu mailer planner has really made my job as a homemaker easier.  A lot easier.  Sanity seems a less distant now.

"Organizing Spices" or "Do it Your Own Way"

This blog post over at The Homesteader Kitchen made me smile.  Not only does she show you honest before and after images, but she takes you through the She handles things just like I do: see an idea (usually on Pinterest), then takes it and makes it in her own way with what materials she has on hand.  Really, I think this is not only smart and resourceful, but it also make it that much more personalized. 

Here is her before & after done with peanut butter jars:

   She made her own labels, and made them generously available at the blog post to download (editable, too) if you'd like to do something similar.

"A Bit of Perspective", or "Reminder of What's Important"

Lately I have been concerned about a lot of different things, most outside of my immediate influence.  A friend posted a thought that helped me snap-out-of-it and is worth sharing:  When all is said and done,there remains the love of God.

"Keeping it Simple" or "Small is an Oppotunity"

As we've been  getting ready to move to a new place, I set aside just the basic stuff to "get by" in the interim: one cupboard full of cooking & eating tools, a week's worth of clothing for each person, a few toys, and toiletries.  Kinda' like living out of a suitcase, but still in your house.  It's been great! My mind is freed of those million little thoughts that automatically come up just from walking through a room and my brain taking note of what's there, what needs to be done, what's out of place, etc.  I am more free to put more energy and focus into what I am really doing at the time; being more fully present to the moment.

This blog post from Passionate Homemaking from the other day is very topical for me. She focuses on how living in a smaller space with fewer things is 1. Less to Clean, 2. Less Chasing, 3. Less to Decorate, 4. Less to Maintain, 5. Less Space for Clutter.  Although I have no problem with a bigger space to live in, it's the stuff in it that can get to a person.  People often have a tendency to expand to fill their space, whatever it may be. 

When we get a more permanent home, I think I really want to take this to heart in a very real way; turn it into practice in my home.  Although I am not a pack-rat, I seem to get mentally and emotionally overwhelmed by the stuff we do have.   In the past, I have simply moved all of our stuff in and found a place for it.  I think I will make a list of what is essential for each room to function and move only those things into it, & go from there.  It's a good start, I think.