kitchen organization tips

create a menu planning command central binder.

This is the brilliant project my friend Julie was working on one day. She called me up because she needed a second command central binder ... and she needed it now! Here's how she put her command central binder to work in a new and fun way!

Fill the pockets with un-tested recipes you collect from friends, family or magazines. Fill the other pockets with coupons for grocery items and menu planning / shopping list templates. Feel free to use my grocery list.

Use the binder for tried and true week-night recipes, using the following categories (or ones that fit your cooking habits.) Because the “tried and true” binder is just for dinner some of the typical cookbook categories aren't included. But here are the ones I use in my own recipe command central binder ...

Beef Chicken Meatless Pasta Pork Seafood Soup Sides

Use the magazine inserts for cooking magazines or small cookbooks. Slip your favorite clipped recipes inside the included clear plastic sheet protectors. This will keep your recipes protected from splashes and spills, plus keep them right at your finger tips for easy menu planning and grocery list making!

I use a "tried and true" recipe command central binder and it saves oodles of time preparing my shopping list and planning meals. Give it a try and let me know what you think!

incubate and date!

I recently reorganized my utensil drawer in my kitchen. I love kitchen gadgets and it seems mine had multiplied while I wasn’t looking. Three pair of tongs. Twelve extra knives. An extra ice cream scoop. A nut cracker? (I have no clue the last time I needed a nut cracker.)
 
Instead of trying to justify why I needed to keep all these nifty gadgets, I loaded them into an extra bin to incubate for a month. I kept the bin in my basement. If I was in my kitchen and suddenly needed a nut cracker, a quick trip down the stairs and I was back in business. I’d take the nut cracker out of the bin and back into the utensil drawer. Essentially, I had a month to figure out if I really needed any of these gadgets or not. Guess what? I didn’t make a single trip to the incubator. (Not even for the nutcracker as shocking as that may seen.) So, everything in the incubator is going straight to charity.
 
Give the incubator a try next time you’re on the fence about items you encounter in an organizing project. Just be sure to set a date and then, when the date comes, anything left in the incubator, goes!

make Monday night chicken!

I have long resisted the idea of having a weekly menu where Monday is chicken night, Tuesday is Tacos, and so on. While this strategy is undeniably organized, I'm not yet ready to completely let go of culinary variety. But I have to admit something. I recently stumbled across a super easy recipe for chicken in the crock-pot. It's oh-so easy and guess what? My family loves it. So ... every Monday since the great recipe discovery we've had the same crock-pot chicken ... and we're all loving it.

Now, I'm not necessarily advocating that you must eat chicken every Monday night. But, if like me you've resisted the idea of standard meals, give it a try (at least one day a week). For me, Monday's are tough enough and knowing dinner is taken care of without an ounce of thought (and just a little bit of effort) makes Monday's just a little bit easier.

host a recipe swap

Tired of the same old thing for dinner? Here's a "recipe" to cure the "what's-for-dinner-blues." Invite your friends over for a night of recipe sharing. Have each friend bring copies of their tried-and-true weeknight recipes, those favorite mainstays that get them through the busy week night dinner rush. Your friends can type-up their recipes ahead of time or have each friend bring recipe cards and spend the evening writing out new recipes to add to their collection! In just one evening, you'll go from “what’s for dinner” to having a host of delicious, time tested favorites to choose from!

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