accomplishments

The Kitchn Cure: Cure My Kitchen| Days 9 & 10

Meatballs in Tomato Sauce
~ Ginger ~ 4 Comments

The Kitchn Cure | Days Nine & Ten:

Cook yourself a meal/Plan a dinner party

Halle-flippin-luja!

This is my last post for The Kitchn Cure! Yup. It took me almost 3 months to finish a week-long project, but hey, hey — I did it! I’m actually not planning a party for the day 10 part, but I am throwing myself a little party for not bailing out after two months. Hehe.

The project itself really wasn’t hard, it’s just that it took me a long time to get things done because of the baby and a lack of motivation.

Anyway — On to day nine: cook yourself a meal!

I cook a lot in this here kitchen, but to wrap up this series of posts, I wanted to cook something extra special and share the recipe with you. This is one of my all time favorite recipes and a favorite in our home. Are you ready?

It’s meatballs!

Not just any old meatballs though, these are absolutely delicious! They are melt in your mouth-are there any more meatballs left, because I’ve been dreaming of them all night long-meatballs.

Meatballs in Tomato Sauce

They are a bit pricy to shop for, so they are good for special occasions, but be warned — you’ll be making up special occasions just to have an excuse to make these tasty things. These meatballs don’t get served with pasta. There’s no law that says you couldn’t make pasta with them, but really it isn’t necessary, so why waste your time. Throw together a simple salad, buy a fresh baguette, or make some garlic bread, but really, the meatballs are the prize.

Meatballs in Tomato Sauce – Makes Four Servings (about 32 meatballs)
adapted from Williams-Sonoma Essentials of Slow Cooking

Ingredients

For the meatballs:
2 pounds mixed ground beef, pork and veal
1 egg
1 small yellow onion (finely chopped)
1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs or panko
1/4 cup pine nuts (toasted)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan (or Romano) cheese
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

For the sauce:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 yellow onion (chopped)
3 cloves garlic (minced)
1 28 oz can diced tomatoes
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

Method

Meatballs — Add all ingredients to a large bowl and use your hands to gently, but thoroughly, blend together. Form the mixture into meatballs 2 inches in diameter and set aside.

Sauce — Add the oil to a Dutch oven set over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté until softened, 4-5 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté for 30 seconds longer. Stir in the diced tomatoes and wine then bring to a boil.

Marry them together — Carefully drop the meatballs into the sauce and gently spoon the sauce over them. Bring the sauce to a simmer, reduce the heat to medium low, cover, and cook until meatballs are firm and cooked through, 20-30 minutes. Remove the Dutch oven from the heat and let stand for 5 minutes before stirring in the basil. Transfer to a serving platter or divide meatballs among plates.

manga!

As for the party planning.. Tonight I will be having a glass of wine, admiring my now functioning kitchen, and wondering just how long it will actually take me to tackle the January Cure that Apartment Therapy announced today. That’s right folks, I’ll be attempting another cure to start the New Year 🙂

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Snowy Day Rambling

snow storm
~ Ginger ~ 4 Comments

It looks like we are going to have another snow storm here today on the east coast. Our first snowfall was this past Sunday, and it was a lot more than just the dusting to an inch the weather people predicted. Some parts of our area ended up with 11 inches. That’s a big difference. For today they are estimating up to six inches, but because it is so cold here and because they think ice will come at the end of this storm people are taking this warning a little more seriously. The schools closed even though the snow hasn’t started to fall yet. Are they overreacting this time? Probably not, but who knows. Only time will tell how bad it really gets. I’m happy for the people who have been told not to report to work or school, but I am kind of dreading being stuck in the house with bored teens and BF who needs to get a lot of work done from home.

snow storm

I suppose I can bake cookies with Natalie and encourage Isaac to go shovel sidewalks and driveways. He usually makes out very well making money in these situations. He shoveled two houses on Sunday and made $35. We can also decorate for Christmas and watch some holiday movies. I hope they don’t bicker. BF brought home a tree on Saturday and it’s nice. It’s the kind with long soft needles, I’m sorry I don’t know the name. The only types of trees I know by name are Blue Spruce and Douglas Fir, which I don’t believe either is the type we have. It’s not a huge tree, like the one I had a few years ago, but it fits in the house perfectly. It’s about seven feet tall and maybe three feet wide at the bottom. A nice size, with nice needles, though it isn’t very fragrant.

snow storm

This past weekend I had great luck making chicken noodle soup. I have struggled with making a good batch of it for years now and while my attempts have gotten better over the years, none have been impressive. This time it was. Oh my, it is good! I referenced two recipes and then winged it. It really was good, everyone else agreed and I just hope I will remember what I did the next time I want to make it. I suppose I should write it down.

snow storm

I’m a bit upset about one thing that happened this weekend. We recently ordered six place settings of Fiesta dishes because they were on sale for $23.99 at Macy’s. Usually they are $54.99 a setting and I have been longing for these colorful dishes for years and years so BF was a sweetheart and ordered them. We received one shipment of five sets and were waiting for the last setting to come in for a week. It was the setting in my favorite color, turquoise and it was supposed to arrive on Saturday via Fed-Ex. When BF asked if the plates came I said no and that I was disappointed. He went on-line to check the status and it said that they were delivered at 6:30 pm the day before!! They weren’t delivered here, so who has my plates and why would they be such jerks to keep them?! I’m so sad. I would never keep someone else’s package! Of course I called Fed-Ex straight away but they said they would call me back yesterday or today but I haven’t heard anything yet. BF said we won’t get them, Fed-Ex will just say they were delivered and we have to take a loss. How is that okay? It just isn’t fair, but I suppose life often isn’t. At least it wasn’t the shipment of five right? Sigh. Now the dishes aren’t on sale any more either and I’m not paying $55 for something I’ve already paid $24 for.

snow storm

Elliot turned six months old yesterday and as I suspected it flew by. I never knew just how fast time moved until I had kids. Now that I know this time around I am enjoying every moment as best as I can but it still goes by too fast. I suppose I have it in my mind that he will be my last baby, even though we’ve talked about trying for one more when El is two, but nothing is certain. I had an IUD inserted a few months ago so there won’t be any accidents and I have to say it sure puts my mind at ease. Not that I don’t want another, I’m not sure how I feel about that for certain yet, but I definitely don’t want another right now! Natalie and Isaac are only 15 months apart and for the life of me I don’t know how I did it. I also feel bad that Natalie didn’t get much time to be an only child. Isaac has always hogged most of the attention and it would have been nice for her to have me all to herself for a longer amount of time. It was nice that they were so close in age and were best friends for so many years, but then they constantly bickered for many years after that. At this point they are somewhere in the middle. They don’t fight too often anymore and treat each other pretty decently, but I think that has a lot to do with the changes to our lives, more than them growing up or what have you.

snow storm

Fibromyalgia
I haven’t written about Fibromyalgia since I started blogging again and I suppose that was because I just want it to go away. If I don’t pay it much mind it doesn’t bother me as much as if it does when I focus on the pain. Ah, but the pain is sill here, every day, some days worse than others. My pregnancy was horrible. My OBGYN told me that it shouldn’t be effected either way, good or bad, and I had read about a few people who actually went into remission during pregnancy. I was so hopeful, but alas, that wasn’t the case for me. I was in a 9 month flair and because I was pregnant I stopped taking all medications, except for Tylenol when I absolutely couldn’t stand it anymore. After I had Elliot though I had about three weeks of remission. I can’t even begin to tell you what it felt like to feel normal again. I foolishly thought I was cured and cried so hard when I flared again for the first time, not so much because of pain, but more because it was back. Suck it up buttercup. It is what it is. I am grateful for the three weeks I had of absolutely no pain and it gives me hope that my future holds more times like that. I’m still not on any medications but I take a plethora of vitamins when I remember. BF did a lot of research and ordered me Omega 3,6,9, Magnesium, Vitamin D, Seaweed extract. I also take prenatals and have been given iron because I have anemia. I think if I actually took everything everyday it would be beneficial, but there is something about swallowing a whole meals worth of pills that irks me, so I avoid it unless I am really feeling horrible.

snow storm

Insomnia
My insomnia has come back and I wake up multiple times a night. This used to really bother me but now I just roll with it. When I wake up at three now I give myself an hour and if I am not able to fall back asleep I just get up. When I was pregnant I really suffered the worst. I had to stop taking my Kolonzipan immediately and it took a few months to find something that worked and was okay per my OBGYN. Believe it or not Unisom helped the best, but I can’t take it now because I’m afraid I’ll sleep through the baby waking up to nurse.

snow storm

Depression
My depression never went away and because I stopped my antidepressants when I found out I was pregnant, it was pretty rough for a while. I knew it would be a challenging time though, and I reminded myself on a daily basis that I would get through it. There was great concern about postpartum depression becoming an issue, so I worked closely with doctors and nurses regarding after care. I am still not on medication, and some days are worse than others, but overall I’m doing well. Once I am finished breastfeeding I will decide if I need to go back on medication. I think I will because it was helping a lot, but I also have been doing alright without it. I guess I’ll have to see what my therapist says. Speaking of which, I need to go back to therapy, I haven’t gone in quite some time and feel I’ll benefit from regular meetings again. The trouble is finding one that I like. The woman I used to meet with isn’t where she used to be and I didn’t feel the same way about the lady that took over for her. She was nice enough, I think I just wanted my other therapist back and couldn’t open up to someone new all over again. I suppose I’ll have to do that at some point, and hopefully it won’t be so hard this time around.

Well, it’s snowing hard and our house is hustling and bustling with activity so, I will wrap this up. There was no real point to this post, just a lot of things on my mind that I wanted to write about. I hope everyone will enjoy your day, whether it’s a snow day for you or not.

What I’ve Learned from NaBloPoMo

~ Ginger ~ 5 Comments

This is my last post for the day, I promise. I’ve had to do four posts today to meet the 30 posts for November as a part of the NaBloPoMo. Technically I should have been posting once per day but I’ve had a few days of catching up here and there. Although I wasn’t able to keep up with it daily, I still have posted 30 different things this month and for that I am proud!

It’s hard to write every day. It takes a lot of thought deciding what to write about and it takes time to actually write it out. I can’t believe there are people who accomplish writing a novel in one month, but it’s true! I say good to those people! May you sleep well tonight!

I noticed on Blogher that they run post a day groups every month and I think I will try to participate in that for December. I like the challenge and I have noticed that it has become easier to write with each time that I do it. I’ve also noticed that I have fewer spelling errors to fix in editing and have an easier time picking topics. It has been fun, that’s for sure!

Well, this is it for today. I am patting myself on the back for this month and will try harder next month to get them done once a day. Then I won’t need to cram so much into one day.

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The Kitchn Cure: Cure My Kitchen| Day Eight

calla lillies
~ Ginger ~ 7 Comments

Hurray! The day is finally here. This is the day I’ve been waiting for folks, the day where the task was to buy flowers! I haven’t bought fresh flowers for my home in a ridiculously long time. Too long, but with the cure I HAD to do it. Oh darn.

The Kitchn Cure | Day Eight:

Bring fresh flowers or a plant into the kitchen

I decided on calla lillies because they were inexpensive and looked more exotic than the other choices at my local market. I would have liked to get a money tree at Ikea, but that will need to wait until I’m in the area. For now, I’m perfectly happy with these pretty flowers 🙂

Only two tasks left to go and I will be done with the cure. It’s seriously taken me just under two months. Sheesh, I’m glad that I’ve stuck with it though! I have a big dinner planned for tomorrow, hopefully it will finish up this project for good!

Do you buy fresh flowers for your home frequently? When you do, what kinds do you like to buy?

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What Would You Spend $1,500 On?

~ Ginger ~ 11 Comments

I used to cringe every month when my cable bill would arrive in the mail. Without fail, every month the bill for my bundled package of cable, internet and phone would be just over $200. I was on a tight budget and had to make some tough decisions about what was worth the money. I called my cable provider to try negotiating a lower price, but even for the most basic package they offered the bill would hover in the $150 a month range.

I knew I needed internet service, and didn’t really want to get rid of the cable, but at $2,400 a year, I simply could not afford the luxury. I was scared to get rid of my cable, how would I watch my shows? But, I had to be reasonable and realistic about money, so I came up with a plan and put it into action. This is how I did it and how it ended up saving us $1,500 a year.

Checked other providers:

This was the most important step and the one that saved me the most money. After asking Comcast to give me their best price, I went on-line to Verizon and tinkered around with their packages.

In my case, not only did I get a better deal, but also a lower price, by signing up for a phone and high-speed internet package. The two combined were cheaper than purchasing the high-speed internet a la cart. My total price for high speed internet and phone was $60 per month including taxes and fees.

Dropping cable and switching my internet provider saved me $150 a month. That’s $1,800 a year in savings!

Bought a streaming player:

There are a lot of different devices out there that allow you to stream internet to your televisions. In fact, you may already have one of these devices in your home. Video game consoles such as the Wii, XBox and Playstations, as well as many BluRay players offer wi-fi features. Other devices like the Roku, Apple TV, and Google Chromecast can be purchased just for video streaming. .

These devices provide you with a variety of different “channels” that you can add to your home screen, many of which are free. The better channels that are offered come with a low monthly subscription cost, but don’t turn your nose up just yet, I’ll talk more about those soon.

Prices for these devices vary from $35 all the way up to hundreds of dollars for video game consoles. I have provided links to all mentioned video streaming devices at the bottom of this post.

In my case, we bought a Roku box for $80 and also put to use two items we already had: a Wii and a XBox 360.

$1,800 (cutting cable and switching internet provider savings)- $80 Roku purchase = $1720 annual savings

Additional Required Equipment:

Aside from a tv and a streaming player you will need two other things to make your equipment work:

  • A wireless router (internet providers usually provide this for free, be sure to ask)
  • HDMI cord (you may already have one, if not they can be purchased for as low as $8 but can cost a lot more. I bought an $8 one before I ditched cable and it works just fine.)

Ordered Hulu and Netflix and activated Amazon:

Netflix and Hulu are the most popular companies that provide tv and movie streaming. If you subscribe to these providers your fee will be $8 each per month. These are optional, but in my opinion worth the money.

Though they are similar, there are quite a few differences between Netflix and Hulu and the content they provide.

  • Hulu plays current shows a day after they air on national tv and usually only provide part of a season (and sometimes up to two seasons) of most current shows.
  • Netflix offers older shows and usually the full season catalog; they also offer some premium cable shows.
  • Neither have HBO shows.

You can read about each and browse the selections they offer by clicking the links above.

We also have an Amazon Prime membership because BF orders a lot of things from Amazon and he wanted to get free 2nd day shipping by paying an annual fee. Included in the $80 per year fee is another tv/movie service called Amazon Instant Video. The selection there is often the same as Hulu and Netflix, but not every show is free. What I like about the service is that you can order new release movies for $3.00 — this is more than half the price of what Comcast On-Demand charges.

$1720 cable cutting/provider switching savings – $16 Hulu/Netflix monthly fees & $80 yearly Amazon fee = $1,448 total annual savings

Great things about cutting cable:

Obviously, I am thrilled about the $1,500 I saved last year. Over the course of 5 years that will save me about $7,000 that I would have paid to Comcast! That is a lot of money!! Aside from the money, I really enjoy using streaming players in our house for a few other reasons.

  1. I can watch tv shows in their entirety and I mean every episode ever. There are a lot of great shows I missed out on over the years!
  2. I can watch what I want, when I want. If I have the urge to watch Desperate Housewives at 3am, I can. If I want to watch it at 3pm, I can do that, too.
  3. I can pause, rewind, fast-forward and replay anything I may want to. Believe it or not, this comes in handy!
  4. There is always something for everyone to watch, from cooking shows, to foreign films, and everything in between.
  5. It’s not as hard to do as you may think it is. Believe me, I was worried I would be unhappy, but in the end, I think it is all a matter of what you are used to.

What I do miss about cable but don’t mind living without:

  1. Live tv. Sure, coming to the party a day late isn’t always the best feeling in the world, but honestly, my life doesn’t change drastically (if at all) for watching Elementary on Friday night instead of Thursday.
  2. HBO. Yes, I missed out on Girls. Yes, it made me sad, but I really did save a lot of money, and if I want to now I can afford to buy or rent it on DVD.
  3. The News – okay, this really still bugs me. No local news. That might be a deal breaker for some, but I found my way around it.. You watch it on the computer, as it’s on air. That’s right, most news channels broadcast their news live over the internet. For a news junkie like myself, it’s nice to have the option.

How I feel about the switch:

I only wish I would have switched to cable-free sooner and saved myself more of that money!

Seriously, that’s a lot of money, especially over the course of a few years! How about you, have you made the switch or are you thinking of it? Just imagine what could be done with all of that money you’d be saving!

If you have any questions about cutting your cable and switching to on-line streaming, I’d be happy to help!

Helpful links:

Devices
Services
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The Kitchn Cure: Cure My Kitchen| Day Seven

~ Ginger ~ 7 Comments

The Kitchn Cure | Day Seven:

Special Project

I really want to finish up the Kitchn Cure, so to speed things along, today’s post is a plan for the special project. We haven’t worked on it at all and don’t plan to for a few weeks. Or months. But, hammering down a plan is always a good start!

Click Image for Hardware Resource
Click Image for Hardware Resource

We plan on lightning up the room by putting a beautiful light grey color on the walls and a medium grey color on the cabinets. Once they are done we will be updating the cabinet and drawer pulls, as well as getting new invisible hinges.

We still are debating on the table and chairs I posted in the last wish list post, because now we are considering an island and then converting the attached room into a dining room. Big ideas. We will see if we have the guts to do any of it.

We will paint though hopefully someday soon! I can’t wait to get this Cure behind me! I can finally see the finish line ahead. As always, if you are working on the cure, link up! And don’t forget to click over and check out NaughteeBits progress below!

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Half Empty or Half Full? NaBloPoMo

~ Ginger ~ 6 Comments

When I signed up for NaBloPoMo I knew it would be a challenge. I knew that I’d probably have a hard time posting every day. I also knew there was a chance that I’d quit before I even got half way through. It is important to me to not give up (follow through is a new thing I have been working on) so, I am keeping it going.

Even though I’ve missed a couple of days writing last week I made up for them on Sunday by posting 3 times instead of once. I will do the same this weekend. I’ll consider myself to have accomplished NaBloPoMo if I can get a full 30 posts up in the month of November. Is anyone else using this approach?  Maybe. Will this be frowned upon by the NaBloPoMo Gods? I doubt it.

I will say that I haven’t been using this “group” to its full advantage. I mean, if I had my Blogher account fully set up and synced to my posts (I think) I would be getting a lot more traffic. I’d probably even be making some new blogging buddies. I haven’t been reading or doing much interacting with other NaBloPoMo’ers posts via tags or the recommended blogs WP has listed either.

I’d like to say that I’m not putting myself out there and connecting with others because I’m too busy. I am busy but I do have some reading time every night. I’m not being anti-social; I think I’m just being insecure.

Aside from the lack of networking on my part I haven’t been writing about too many real things. These random posts have served as a lot of filler this month and most likely aren’t interesting or make people want to come back to read more.

Negatives aside, there have been some positives that have come from participating:

  • I’ve learned how to set up auto-posts and see that the feature works. For some reason I believed it wouldn’t. This is a great tool for the days I am able to get in more than one post (when I’m not playing catch up.)
  • I’ve created an editorial calendar — even though I am straying from it already. That just means it isn’t a realistic schedule for me and I need to try something more suitable.
  • I’ve stopped putting so much pressure on myself to write the “perfect” post. My therapist pointed out to me the reason I probably procrastinate on everything is because I am a perfectionist. I’m still working on that and now can see (for the most part) when it is effecting what I need to do.
  • I’ve remembered that the reason I started blogging in the first place. I’ve blogged on and off for approximately 6 years. It’s always been about my love of writing and the enjoyment I get from creating a reflection of my personality.
  • I’ve realized the importance of titles. I worked really hard and had impressed myself with a recent post of mine. Because it was a part of the Kitchn Cure series I was working on it didn’t get more than a handful of views. I knew this would be the case, but I didn’t want to break up the series (remember I am working on follow thru.) It was a tough call — change the title and break the series or follow through. I followed through and feel good about that but the results were predictably disappointing.
  • I have far less spelling errors than I used to. Practice, practice, practice. I still have trouble with “passive speech” and hope to someday understand and fix that on my own, but I have far less spelling errors because I make an effort to spell correctly.

Now that I am at the half-way point in NaBloPoMo it feels good to reflect. It’s nice to realize the positives and stop myself from focusing on the negatives. I hope as the month goes on I remember to work on networking more and revising my editorial calendar so that it is realistic and manageable. Practice, practice, practice!

Are you participating in NaBloPoMo? If so, I’d love to hear how it’s been going for you so far!

 

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The Kitchn Cure: Cure My Kitchen| Day Six

~ Ginger ~ 7 Comments

The Kitchn Cure | Day Six:

Consider appliances, gadgets and tools Day Six of the kitchen cure has been a lot of fun to get together. It was the easiest task I’ve done so far and only took as long as putting this post together. This is the day where you can either choose to buy items that will help you out in the kitchen (spend option) or make a wish-list of items you’d eventually like to purchase (no spend option). I chose the “no-spend” option and created a wish-list. I had such a great time coming up with this list, I hope you’ll enjoy looking through it!

Food Canisters

Food Canisters
The Container Store – $99.99

When we realized we needed new containers for dry food storage we decided on these Good Grips POP canisters. I didn’t want a whole set because I didn’t know what the small ones would be used for. Instead, we bought some large ones for flour, sugar, and cereals. These containers are really nice! What I like the most about them is the way they feel — solid but not heavy. The lid is fun, easy to use, and simple to clean. They are nice to look at and hardly take up any space in the cabinet. Now that I’ve had some time to think about it, I’d like to get the set. The little ones will be great for baking goodies like chocolate chips and toffee pieces! The other ones will be used for pasta, rice, nuts, our other flours and sugars.

Butter Crock

Butter Crock
Williams Sonoma – $35.00

Not exactly sure of what a butter crock is? Well, I’ll tell you! A butter crock is a ceramic container that allows you to store butter outside of the fridge. The butter stays soft and spreadable for 30 days! All you have to do is add a little cold water to the bottom of the canister and then press a softened stick of butter into the top. Cool right? We’ve been looking for one for quite a while but they aren’t usually stocked in the stores. I really love the color of this Le Creuset crock. I normally don’t like the ombre effect they use on their products now, but I do like it on this. It’s so cheerful that I wouldn’t mind seeing it out on the counter.

Basting Brush

Basting Brush
Sur La Table – $11.00

This is one of those tools that I never remember I need.. Until I need it! A basting brush isn’t used all that often here but when a recipe requires one I sure do have a hard time coming up with an alternative! I usually resort to dipping a paper towel in my liquid and attempt it brush it on. Or, I’ll use a small measuring cup to drizzle the liquid on. Neither method works well so this is definitely a tool we could use! What I really like about this Le Creuset brush is the color! The basting tip also feels very nice and I know it will be easier and more effective to use than my makeshift techniques.

Meat Tenderizer

Meat Tenderizer
Crate and Barrel – $16.95

I like to flatten my chicken breasts before pan frying them; I really love thin and crispy chicken! Normally when I need to pound the chicken I use a small sauce pan because I don’t have a tenderizer. This method works out okay but it is a little awkward and can be tiring. I also always wonder if I am damaging the handle on on my pot. This OXO Meat Tenderizer has a nice weight to it and fits comfortably in my hands. It offers two non-stick sides – one for tenderizing and the other for flattening.

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Regularly Scheduled Structure

~ Ginger ~ 8 Comments

Today was a fairly productive day. I was able to get a good deal of house work done and create an editorial calendar like B from Naughtee Bits had suggested. I was feeling a bit overwhelmed when I was trying to write it out (and interrupted a lot by the baby) but once I finally finished it, I felt great! I already started working with my new schedule and if I stick to it I’ll be in great shape in about two weeks! Please bare with me while I start transitioning a bit; there won’t be much of a change other than frequency in posts and some structure. I’m hoping the structure will bleed into the other parts of my life 😉

This morning I was researching weekly planners and I wonder if one would be a good tool. I imagine I’d be able to track everything in there from food shopping lists, weekly menus, appointments, etc. to my blogging schedule and household chores. The thought of having one makes me excited!

Do any of you use a planner? If so, do you have suggestions on ones you like or how to keep up with it?

Do any of you use a schedule for posting? Do you have any tips that you would care to share?

 

The Kitchn Cure: Cure My Kitchen| Day Five

kitchncure
~ Ginger ~ 6 Comments

Day five of the Kitchn Cure was easy breezy as I didn’t really have anything to do. I had taken so long to get days 1-4 done that I had no choice but to go to the market during those days so we would have food to eat!

The Kitchn Cure | Day Five:

Restock Ingredients

I ended up throwing away a ton of spices on day 2 of the cure. Unfortunately spices are effing expensive. I couldn’t justify blowing my food budget for the month so I’ll be buying what I need, as I need it. I’ve already picked a few up, but I still need plenty more.

No worries! Tossing my collection of expired spices wasn’t something to cry over.

There were plenty of foods left in my pantry that didn’t need restocking. Aside from the random spices I’ve needed, I ended up only having to buy flours, sugars, and some canned items. I also picked up things that I normally stock up on like meats, snacks and produce.

I didn’t take pictures of my groceries because I wasn’t thinking ahead to day 5. Instead here are some pictures I took while using the groceries I bought to make butternut squash soup and a Quiche.

butternut squash, carrot, onion, garlic, parsley, rosmary, evoo
panchetta
peppers and onions

Well, this wraps up day 5. I’m really looking forward to the next post. It will be highlighting some things that we’ve either already purchased or items I’ve added to my wish list. I’ve never done a post like that before so I’m excited!

If you decide to do the Kitchn Cure let me know; I will happily link up to your progress!

naughteebits.com is linked up! Check out B’s Kitchn Cure Day Four post here

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