Operation Clean & Organize – Vol 3: Shopping Lists & The Outdated Pantry

By bobbi
September 8, 2011
1 Comment

**Taming the procrastinating, ADD, mess cat within me.**

Over the last week I was hoping to work on organizing my pantry and making master shopping lists. However, all four kids have been sick with colds and sore throats, which has made the baby extra cranky, so I didn’t get very far. I did, however, realize how much I not only needed to organize and replenish the pantry but I needed to throw out old expired items. Yesterday I wanted to make quick BBQ chicken in the slow cooker. I saw this recipe on Pinterest. It looked super easy and I had all the ingredients.

Well, I had the ingredients but they weren’t exactly fresh. My vinegar was expired not just by a couple months but by a few years – as in, I bought it about three pregnancies ago! (Yeah, you can see how often I used to cook homemade.) But that was fine. I had another kind of vinegar that I could use instead. Wait, that was expired too but not by so many years. However, it had a lot of gross gunk in it and I wasn’t going to use it.
Okay, forget that recipe. There was this easy recipe that I found that didn’t require vinegar. It sounded a bit weird to mix Italian dressing with BBQ sauce but all the reviewers raved about it. I ran to the garage pantry to grab a bottle of dressing. Brian likes it so I keep an extra bottle for him. What?? I ran out? Oh. Em. Gee. What kind of pathetic kitchen is this?!?
By this time my 20 minute window of opportunity was up and the baby was crying and JP spilled his milk. Ugh! Finally I just threw in the frozen chicken in the crock pot and poured a bottle of BBQ sauce on top (it was a miracle I had that) and flipped it on for 3 ½ hours. Soooo, my pantry needs more work that I thought. It’ll be at least another week before I post about them.
I did, however, finish my shopping lists. I used to keep four post it notes on the fridge. One for each store I shopped at – Target, Costco, Trader Joe and the local market, although I usually only go to the market for quick last minute things. This made a quick run to the store easy because you grabbed the post it you needed and left the ones you didn’t.

However, once I put up my menu board, it took up too much space, so now I use a narrow magnetic notepad sectioned off into four. Since I no longer make sporadic shopping runs, I don’t need separate post its. I organize my shopping lists, check over the week’s menu and do my shopping once a week.

Since I usually always buy the same items at Costco and Trader Joe, I use my iphone Shopper app. (The ads can be annoying so I paid the $1.99 to be ad free.) I made a template shopping list for each store. When it is time to shop I take down my fridge list and mark off what needs to be purchased to create an e-list for that week. I’ve used the e-list on my phone while I shop but I usually have one of the kids with me and they like to play with my iphone so instead I email the list to myself and print it out. It makes things so much easier!

(Apple photo)

For my Target shopping, a master list didn’t work because it varied so much from week to week – from new shoes for the baby to a school notebook for Bella. A blank list worked best. However, my Target was recently redesigned and it is taking me some time to get used the new location of favorite items. I decided to make a shopping list with categories according to the layout of the store. That way I can start at one end and work my way around to the other side. I’ve used it a few time and it is so much easier to get things done.

For a larger view: View image
Well, that pretty much wraps it up. This is the system that works best for me. What works for you?
Over the next week I’ll continue working on the pantry – oh, and don’t even get me started on the bug infested wheat flour I had to throw away! Oh, well. On the plus side, the chicken with only BBQ sauce was a hit! Brian took leftovers for lunch and he said his coworker wanted to know where he got that delicious smelling BBQ chicken. If he only knew. 😉 Happy organizing.
UPDATE: For shopping list tips check out the blog Family Menu Planning Book.com by Catholic convert Elizabeth Hawbaker and her e-book Family Menu Planning: A Practical Guide to Mealtime Management. I just downloaded it and there is a lot of great info that will help me with my meal planning and shopping.

7 Quick Takes – (8/12/11)

By bobbi
August 12, 2011
2 Comments

Hosted by Jen at Conversion Diary.

– 1 –

I was going to skip the quick takes today because I had a lot to get done but Matthew is being a super crank and wants to be held. So here I am again rocking him with one arm and typing with the other. It’s not really his fault since it’s hard for him to sleep with all the banging going on outside with the guy fixing the deck.

– 2 –

I need to get the house straightened because I’m having company coming over this weekend. My brother Rob (the one who was really sick last month), my sister-in-law and my new nephew Max are making a weekend trip to Carmel. I’m so excited to see them. And it’ll be the first times the cousins get to meet! 🙂

– 3 –

Which reminds me, I should snap some photos of how messy the entryway/front room looks right now as Leila has suggested. (See her post How Do Others See Your Home?) Yikes. That will be an act of humility since (for various reasons) I haven’t been able to get anything done these last few days and stuff is piled everywhere. Sigh.

– 4 –

I’m trying to figure out what to eat this weekend – something healthy but tasty. I joined weight watchers a few weeks ago and it is going well but it is hard changing your eating habits and the way you look at food. Someone once asked me if I was an emotional eater. I wasn’t sure what they meant. They asked, well do you eat when you are happy. Yes. Do you eat when you are sad? Yes. Do you eat when you are lonely? Yes. Do you…okay, let’s cut to the chase. I eat! Everyday is a fiesta! (That is why I am built kinda like a piñata. Short and round.) About the only time I don’t eat is when I am mad. I mean really mad. At those moments I am too upset to do something that would bring me pleasure. But by the looks of me, I don’t hit that level of anger very often. Kidding aside, it is hard to readjust the way I look at food but I need to do my best to stick around for a long time to take care of my babies. (Not to mention that I could actually buy one of those cute dresses I like instead of just pinning them to pinterest!)

– 5 –

Speaking of food, have you been watching the Next Food Network Star? I’ve watched every season and love the show. I barely saw my recorded episode of the final four yesterday. Although I figured Mary Beth was going home, I didn’t want her departure to give Penny any satisfaction. That girl just seems nasty. I hope it was more editing that made her seem so mean and that she’s not really that bad. Brian and I are rooting for Jeff to win. (Not to mention that Brian is a huge sandwich fan. He could eat them every night!) But I like Suzy (such a sweetheart, although they already have Marcela) and Vic (he was a fave since the beginning, although I never thought he’d make it this far) so even if one of them won, I wouldn’t mind.

– 6 –

Today when I was browsing pinterest I came across the artist Flor Larios (thanks to mamabear) and I love her work. It has a Spanish folk art feel. I ordered a couple things to hang in my kitchen.

– 7 –

Okay, and as my last post, my little guy has finally fallen asleep. I’ll put him down in Bella’s room since you can hear the hammering the least in there. Poor little guy. It’s hard to believe that he is 4 months old today! He is usually such a happy baby – as long as he gets his sleep! (Kinda like his mama. 😉
Have a great weekend!

7 Quick Takes – (8/5/11)

By bobbi
August 5, 2011
2 Comments

Hosted by Jen at Conversion Diary.

– 1 –

I’m writing this Quick Posts while listening to Mat Kearny’s new album Young Love. “Hey, mama. Hey, hey, mama…” (Funny, that’s the same thing Bella said to me when she saw me dancing around the kitchen. Only she said it with that “omg, what is mom doing?” tone. LOL!)

– 2 –

Speaking of the kitchen, the freezer section of my fridge has always been jam packed with stuff so I have been thinking about getting a stand alone freezer for the garage. I asked Brian if I could get one for my birthday and he laughed. (It was like Ethel asking for a toaster for her birthday, for you Lucy fans.) But since I had the money saved, he agreed. I debated over a chest unit or an upright and went with the upright since it seemed easier to organize and more importantly, it was the perfect size for the space we had in the garage. The freezer finally arrived this week and I’ve been doing a happy dance ever since! It is so nice to buy bulk items and make double dinners and be able to freeze them. Yay!

– 3 –

Speaking of organizing, since I had to rearrange the garage to make room for the freezer, I’ve be organizing the pantry out there as well. We have wire shelves that we bought at Costco and since the shelves have rollers they are easy to move around. I was going to make a master pantry list when I saw these freezer and pantry inventory lists through a link at iheartorganizing.blogspot.com. Although I could create them myself, I wanted to support a mom by purchasing these from Jennifer’s etsy shop. (Plus it saves me the time!) They were just what I needed.

– 4 –

Speaking of the pantry, I have been trying to use up some of the items that have been sitting there for awhile. I had two cans of this canned chicken meat that my father-in-law bought when he went to Costco. It seems a little weird to have chicken in a can (even though I eat tuna from a can) and frankly, I had been saving it for emergency food in case the “Big One” comes during my lifetime. (For you non Cali-residents, the Big One is the major earthquake that will supposedly cause part of CA to fall into the Pacific Ocean. But now that I think about it, I live near the ocean so I may not survive in the first place. But never mind that, I digress.) Anyway, the chicken needed to be eaten so I made chicken salad with it and it actually wasn’t bad. I added a little light mayo, some chopped red onion, some chopped sweet red pepper (I love red peppers!) and a few dashes of Spice Hunter’s Fajita Seasoning. Brian actually loved it so thanks, Dad.

– 5 –

Speaking of spices….last week my mother-in-law and I were talking about how we couldn’t find the Spice Hunter salt-free seasonings as easily as we used to be able to. I could sometimes find them at Trader Joe’s or World Market but they stopped carrying my favorite Fajita Seasoning and her favorite Fish Seasoning. I went online and luckily found them available through the company. I stocked up on what I needed plus I got free shipping and a free Grill Shakers as a sample. Cool!

– 6 –

Speaking of my mother-in-law, I have to get off of the computer and get the house cleaned since my in-laws are coming over for dinner this weekend. And the house has to be not just guest-passable but mother-in-law passable. 😉 So off I go.

– 7 –

Oh, wait. I need one more post….um….okay…speaking of cleaning, I also purchased the cleaning list from iheartorganizing to help me stay on top of keeping everything orderly. I tell ya, I am getting so on the ball I hardly recognize myself! LOL!
Have a great weekend!

Join Me at Pinterest!

By bobbi
August 4, 2011
No Comments

When I was younger I loved cork boards and bulletin boards. I would fill them with various photos, pictures, quotes, comics…whatever took my fancy. Even after Brian and I were married I had boards up in many of our rooms. (Heck, even my blog has too many photos on it!) However, after we did the remodel, I took all the boards down but one. Sure, the walls looked neater and more “grown up” but I missed them. But not anymore since I now have my online boards at Pinterest!
I had seen the word “Pinterest” at various blogs I follow but I had no idea what they were talking about. A couple weeks ago I finally checked it out and I am hooked! Instead of bookmarking things I want to remember, I pin it to my online boards. I not only have a quick reference but a pretty visual. And with their iphone app, I have it at my fingertips for those moments when I have to kill a few minutes while I’m waiting for something.
I must also admit that Pinterest has helped awaken my creative side. Instead of immediately dismissing a project or recipe as too hard or requiring too much time, I suddenly have the desire to give it a try! And even if the project is a dismal fail, at least I’ll have something funny to post about later. 😉 So here are a few samples of pins on some of my boards – Styles I Like, Things that Make Me Smile, Recipes to Try, Organizing the Home, Decorating Ideas, Favorite Icons and Beautiful Places near My Backyard.

Disclaimer – Pinterest is fun but highly addictive. You must use self-control. (Don’t say I didn’t warn you.)

7 Quick Takes – 7/1/11

By bobbi
July 1, 2011
5 Comments

Hosted by Jen at Conversion Diary.

– 1 –

Blessed Junipero Serra & the Carmel Mission: I can’t believe that it is July 1st already! Time just goes too fast! On the plus side, today we celebrate two great feast days, the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Blessed Junipero Serra. Living in California, on summer vacations we would often visit the various missions when we were younger. It’s funny that years later my parish church is the Mission San Carlos (Carmel Mission.) Brian and I were married here and our children were baptized here. It really is a beautiful Mission and it has the distinction of being where Blessed Serra is buried. If you are ever in the area, you should make a visit. In fact…

– 2 –

Founder’s Day: …if you’ll be in the Monterey Bay area tomorrow (Saturday, July 2) stop by the Mission for the Founders Day celebration. There is music and live demonstrations of how things were made during the early days of the mission (ie. food and crafts) and a special Mass at 5:30 PM. (There is a dinner afterwords but you need tickets for that.) It’s always interesting and a lot of fun.

– 3 –

Cars 2 is too scary for little kids!: We are big Pixar fans in our house with the favorite movies of the kids being Cars, Toy Story and Walle. Bella used to be obsessed with Cars and had all the toys for it. Now Andrew loves Cars (and inherited the toys) and was so excited to see the new movie for his birthday. Since I am the one who usually takes them to the movies, Andrew was excited to have a daddy date with Brian as his movie buddy. Bella had a treat and was movie buddies with my visiting sister. From what Brian told me, the movie started out okay but it was really violent and should have been rated PG not G. By the last third of the movie Andrew (who just turned 4) got too scared with all the shooting, cars dying and the bad guys trying to kill Lightning. He started crying so Brian had to take him out to the lobby. Bella finished the movie with my sister and she enjoyed it but she is 9 years old. So if you are taking your younger kids to see it, beware.

– 4 –

Is there such a thing as low cal food that’s yummy?: I’ve been trying to eat healthier so I can get off the rest of the baby weight (and then some) so I tried a Weight Watchers recipe for macaroni salad. I’m a little leery of “light” recipes but this was really good. I used bow tie pasta, substituted half the celery with red bell pepper and added a bit more fresh Italian parsley, which gave it a nice touch. It was really tasty. Check it out at Weight Watchers.com Recipies: Macaroni Salad

– 5 –

Summer Reading: Brian purchased the book Poor Banished Children and I hope to start reading it next week. There is an interesting interview with the author Fiorella De Maria over at Ignatius Insight. If I like this book, I’ll check out her other novels.

– 6 –

He can’t possibly be teething??: How soon can a baby start teething? Matthew is not yet three months but he is drooling and gnawing as if he’s teething. It just seems too early for that.

– 7 –

“JFT”: My “just for today” goals: First, when things get hectic I’ll recall today’s gospel reading “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” and I will turn my heart to Christ for strength. Second, I’ll get that overflowing basket of clean laundry folded!

That’s it for today. Have a wonderful 4th of July holiday! God bless America and watch over our troops.

Revolution of Love

Do small things with great love.

Category Archives: food

Operation Clean & Organize – Vol 3: Shopping Lists & The Outdated Pantry

7 Quick Takes – (8/12/11)

7 Quick Takes – (8/5/11)

Join Me at Pinterest!

7 Quick Takes – 7/1/11