Food Storage Revamp

Today I had the chance to go grocery shopping by myself. You know you are a mom of small children when going to the grocery store alone feels like a vacation! I went to Trader Joes which makes the experience even better because these days shopping at TJs with my kids is a nightmare. The aisles are so small and it's always crowded and my little ones' arms seem to reach sooo far. 

Anyway... I went shopping and when I got home and put everything away, I realized that it's high time for a little fridge/freezer/pantry reorganization. I grabbed a few pictures for inspiration off Pinterest. There were a lot of great ideas for french door style refrigerators but we have a traditional side by side so I tried to stick with pictures showing the same layout.

*Please pin these from the original source. It takes a few seconds extra but directs people to the real source that deserves the credit.

 Rubbermaid Blog

Real Simple

Ask Anna

Squawkfox

I included the last example even though it's french door style because it has some good tips about actual food storage and not just how to keep things from falling all over the place. 

Now in the name of keeping it real, here are the before pix of my fridge and freezer. I love them being full, but hate that all the organizing I've done in the past has kind of fallen to the wayside. 

Umm.... whoa. The freezer looks like it could all come tumbling out at any minute. 

After some strategic rearranging and cleaning the shelves, drawers and walls of the fridge and freezer, here are the after photos. 

I used some white plastic bins from Ikea and Target to corral the lunch meats, yogurt and snacks since those things seem to quickly spread out and take over. I had the plastic bin meant for juice boxes which I used for a few randoms since we don't typically have a lot of juice boxes on hand. 

I removed the fruits and veggies from their plastic bags so we could not only see what we have in the bins but also how much is left.

Amazingly I didn't have that much expired food to toss. I go through everything quickly almost every week the night before the trash gets picked up so pretty much what we had was useable. I did get rid of a bunch of packaging just to clear out space. It's also easier to see what you have if it's not in a box.

I'm very happy with the results and it's a great way to start the week feeling so organized! 

Linking up to Design, Dining & Diapers

A Gift For A Lifetime

I love opening presents. I think it makes me feel a little bit like a kid again, remembering all the anticipation that would build before a birthday or Christmas morning. My own children are at the point where the process of opening almost overshadows the gift itself. This past Christmas, we could barely contain my daughter as she sped from one package to the next. I get it. Really I do. But I'm also old enough experienced enough to know that peeling off the paper is a momentary thrill while the gift itself holds the real value (well, usually).

Even the best gifts rarely have true lasting power. I don't mean to sound pessimistic or ungrateful, but the truth is clothes will go through wear and tear, gift cards get spent, make up gets used up. Even my fabulous macbook from last Christmas will at some point need to be replaced (hopefully not for a long, long time). But this year, my sister gave me a gift meant to last a lifetime.

My Prudent Advice by Jaime Morrison Curtis is a sort of fill-in-the-blanks journal meant to be passed from a mother to her daughter. It's broken into sections like "On Friendship" or "On Being a Woman" and each section has a series of writing prompts that allow a mom to pass on her thoughts and/or advice to her daughter. There are also "free" sections where you can write about the section's theme without any specific prompt.

You could probably sit down and fill this book in a matter of months, but since my daughter is still so young, I plan to take my time over the next several years to finish. I think it would make a great gift for her 18th or 21st birthday or when she graduates from high school or even college. There's nothing inappropriate but some of the topics are a little more mature, which makes me think it would be a better gift for when she's older. Not that I didn't have a sincere interest in politics or education when I was 13... right, so you get my point.

I have already started writing in it and it makes my heart lurch just a little to think of my baby girl as a young woman reading what I've written to her. Although I hope to have a long time to share all these things, one bonus of the written word is that it has some serious staying power. That's also why I'm being careful and intentional about what I write. I want her to have a collection of my thoughts and advice that she can return to even after I'm gone someday. I'm very grateful to my sister for this gift and while I'm in no hurry, I look forward to the day when I can pass this to my sweet baby girl.

The Best of 2012

I thought that it would be fun to kick off 2013 by looking back at some of my best posts from 2012. A lot of blogs I read have been doing this and I personally really like seeing the highlight reel from the past year. So here are some of the favorites, both mine and yours (based on comments and pageviews). As always, I'm thankful to those who take the time to visit!

1. Banana Oatmeal Muffins 2. Fabric-covered drawers 3. Linen Closet Makeover 4. 31 Days Series 5. Fall Front Porch 

6. Kids Craft Packs 7. Medicine Cabinet Reorganization 8. Master Bedroom Closet Overhaul 9. Kitchen Reveal

Starting 2013 With A Bang

Happy New Year! I am so excited for all that this next year will bring, both for my family and this blog. I have a lot of home projects in mind and I hope to share them with all of you. You probably noticed I took a little bit of a break from posting these last few weeks and I can only blame the busyness of the holidays. I did some good pre-Christmas shopping and planning but once the ball got rolling, it was moving a little faster than I expected. I guess it was just a good reminder to plan ahead even better next year.

I needed to step back from the blog in order to really enjoy the holiday season with my little family. We did so many fun things together during the month of December and it all culminated in a lovely Christmas and New Year celebration. The kids had a blast on Christmas morning and my Christmas dinner turned out extremely well (with a lot of help from my amazing sister)! I will share the menu one of these days and maybe even some pictures if I can scrounge any up. Even though I was pretty excited with how my holiday decorating turned out, I managed to not take any pictures before I took it all down. Well done, blogger, well done. Oh well. Not much to do about it now :)

After all of the crazy, fun chaos of the holidays, I was ready to settle back into our normal routine. Instead, as a belated Christmas present for me and the hubs (not really) my little guy climbed out of his crib for the first time on Sunday. Instead of crossing off some other tasks on the to-do list, the hubs and I spent Sunday afternoon taking down his crib and putting together a new big-boy bed. Our little guy will be two at the end of this month and I reallllly wasn't ready for him to be out of the crib, but I also wasn't prepared to risk him climbing out again and getting seriously hurt. So far he's done pretty good in his new bed, although naptime mostly involves him turning on his lights and looking at books or pulling the clothes out of his dresser. Nothing like starting the new year off with some major transition.

Hope everyone's year is off to a wonderful start and I look forward to sharing some good stuff soon!

So Little To Say

Since Friday, so much has been said. News articles have been written. Blog posts have been published. Facebook statuses are abundant. Some are factual, some are encouraging, most are grief-stricken.

You don't have to be a parent to feel the sting of Friday's tragedy. Our entire nation and maybe even a good portion of the world stands back, utterly horrified by what happened. It was difficult to read the news updates and see images of a community in shock and at some point, I stopped reading because it was just too overwhelming. As a mother, the thought that something like this could happen to our children at our school is more than I can bear.

There's not much I can do now but hug my children a little tighter, let them know how deeply I love them and pray. I pray for the protection and safety of our family, say thank you for the time we have together this day, and ask for comfort for the families changed forever by this tragedy.

The Ultimate Holiday Comfort Food - Super Easy Turkey Pie

If there's one food that I love to make this time of year, it's a Turkey Pie. A lot of people call it turkey pot pie, but I don't know why and the name bothers me for some reason. So we just call it turkey pie (or chicken pie if that's the case.)

A little background... my husband and I started dating in October so it wasn't long before the holiday season was approaching. Our relationship was new so to avoid an awkward conversation about whether we should spend Thanksgiving together, I simply made plans to spend turkey day with a girlfriend in San Francisco. The weekend before Thanksgiving, my then-boyfriend invited me to come to dinner at his house with a couple friends. When I arrived, I discovered that he had cooked an entire turkey dinner ON HIS OWN so that we could still celebrate Thanksgiving together. What a catch!

Since then we've often hosted a pre-Thanksgiving Thanksgiving dinner with a small group of friends. There's always a lot of turkey leftover so I use this very simple recipe that I got from my aunt to turn some of the leftovers into a simple and delicious dinner. This year we weren't able to host our traditional dinner so I used a roasted turkey breast from the store instead. The beauty of this recipe is that you can sort of throw in whatever you have left from a turkey dinner.

You will need:
2 - 2 1/2 cups shredded turkey or chicken (cooked)
2 pre-made frozen pie crusts, thawed
1 cup corn (frozen is fine and doesn't need to be pre-cooked)
1 cup peas (frozen works too)
1 1/2 cups pre-cooked potatoes, cut in 1 inch chunks
1 1/2 - 2 cups gravy (you can use the jarred kind if you don't have any leftover)
anything else you want to throw in such as onions, carrots, celery (all pre-cooked or frozen work best)

1. Preheat your oven to 350 and take your pie crusts out of the freezer. Let them sit while you round up and prepare the other ingredients - shred the turkey/chicken, chop veggies, cut potatoes.

2. Use one of the pie crusts as the base for your pie. They usually come in a foil pie plate which will work just fine.

3. Dump in your leftovers or ingredients and pour the gravy over, mixing gently with a spoon or fork. Be careful not to tear the crust.

4. Gently remove the other pie crust from its tin plate and lay it on top of your pie, pinching the edges to seal them. Try not to tear it, but don't stress out if you do. Just sort of pinch it back together. Channel The Nester here and remember that it doesn't have to be perfect to be delicious.

5. Put the pie plate on a cookie sheet to catch spills and put it on the center rack. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or so. The crust should be a nice golden brown. I sometimes turn on the broiler for just a few minutes at the end to make it crispier.

Hello yummy deliciousness!

Linking up to...

I'm Still Here!

I promise I'm still here. I didn't intend to take a blogging break but things have been a little crazy around here with sickies, work trips for the hubs and general busyness of life. I do have some projects in the works. You can see a sneak peek on Facebook!

Be back soon!!