Hi ladies,
It’s so good to be back with you. Last week I was in Charlotte all week for the She Speaks Conference, and oh my, was it a great time. As the director of the writer’s track, I work the 10 months before the conference getting ready. And so it’s amazing when it all comes together. It’s truly a high point of my year.
It’s my sweet spot where I get to combine a lot of what I love to do in one place. Like meet with others who get my calling, praise God with sisters who love Him like crazy and be in charge (of the writer’s track). I’ve got a natural choleric personality that gets to come out in the best possible way, thanks to the Holy Spirit’s work.
I also got to meet the online Bible study ladies who lead you throughout the year. Of course, I know and love Melissa, but I got to meet her BEAUTIFUL team. They had organized a gathering Thursday night and I stopped in after a dinner for our publishing guests and volunteers. I could hear the laughter as I approached the room!
What a lovely group of sisters in Christ. It was a delight to see their precious faces after only knowing them by their names. And I can tell you their sincerity, love for Jesus, and YOU, came through loud and clear.
I could go on and on, but I believe many of you are looking for your Friday “home” work assignment. (smile).
This week in Melissa’s online study of my book “I Used to Be So Organized,” she had everyone read chapters 15 and 16, which have a focus on our kitchens and meal planning. I totally agree with Melissa on the importance of making a menu for the week. Menu planning saves me time, money and stress! Plus, I get to enjoy a variety of foods. And I’m definitely a foodie!
My “home” work assignment this week, of course, has to do with the kitchen and cooking. And the assignment is something I’ll be tackling as well. My challenge is to consider one thing you want to do regarding your kitchen or menu. And then figure out how to pull it off.
Let me give you an example. Recently, I’ve been thinking about foods I’d like to make for my family … such as a Dutch crunch bread I had in San Francisco a few years ago, homemade granola and healthy muffins for breakfast. But I don’t ever get around to making them.
Why not?
There are a variety of reasons. But one reason is I don’t have a good place to put items I buy in bulk, or those items that I will only use occasionally (like unique spices). So, my challenge to myself is to really evaluate my cupboard space, invest in some stackable storage containers, plus buy some cute labels (see Staples, Martha Stewart line for examples).
What is your vision for your kitchen? Is there something special you would like to cook? Would you like to host dinner parties? Would you like to prepare meals for others?
Then, what do you need to do differently to make this happen?
Remember to pick something small, so you don’t feel defeated. And I’d love to hear what you are going to do. So please post a comment on my blog so we can cheer you on! If you are reading this in an email, please click here to be taken to my blog.
Thank you so much for joining me today.
Grace & Peace,
Glynnis
i want to know where i can get your recipes for what you mentioned today….they all sound so yummy!!!
Hi Sally, I actually haven’t made any of them yet, so I’m not exactly sure which recipes I’ll use. I do know I want to try some of Ina Garten’s granola recipes (www.foodnetwork.com). And I love the idea of muffins using Raisin Bran or applesauce.
I’ve loved your suggestions for the kitchen and meal planning. My goal for this next week is to compose and implement a meal plan for my family. I’ve never been successful in this venture before, but I’m (with God’s help of course) going to do it this time!
Hi. Have you ever heard of using E-Meals? Dave Ramsey recommends this website and it has definitely helped my husband and I. They use what is on sale that week at the grocery store (Publix, Wal-Mart, etc) to plan menus from, and it really does help save on groceries. We really enjoy them. We do sometime substitute meals if it is something we don’t like.
My dream for my kitchen is to figure out a way for the food to regenerate itself (I dislike shopping) and for the dishes to wash themselves (not big on doing dishes either) and for the floors to be eternally sparkly……is this an unrealistic goal?
Ha ha…me too!!
I am already challenged with trying to do this chicken. So it would be under the menu plan for the week. I looked in the freezer and found that I have a cut up chicken and a whole chicken so I will not have to speed off to the store which in my case is a good thing. I have some ideas on how to prepare this bird. Would you believe I have never cooked a whole turkey before? This was always and has been my mom’s job at Thanksgiving. So this is a huge challenge for me. Will try and let you know how it turns out.
Jeanie, I send my prayers your way. I cooked a Turkey from beginning to end for the first time ever this past year. And With God’s hand and help I did it. And so can you. I can’t wait to hear how it comes out for you. AS for me, this is the first weekly homework assignment, but mine will most likely be in the way of cupboard organizing.
Don’t forget to take the giblets out!! I did with my first one…
Please do! I’d love to hear about your success!
I want less clutter on my countertops. I need to figure out what I really use daily, what needs to move to another area of our home or into a cabinet, and what needs to be gotten rid of. Clutter on the counter always aggravates my husband, so I’m looking forward to his surprise and delight. My next project will be paring down all my kitchen tools. My tool turnaround and tool drawers are overflowing and very disorganized. I know I really only use a fraction of those things on a regular basis. It’s time to do some clean out!
I used a whiteboard and listed all the food in my freezers, including the garden produce that I’m freezing as it comes in! It makes meal planning much easier. I alphabetize spices on double-tier turntables in my cupboards because it makes it easier to find them. I know it sounds a little OCD, but I also do that with canned goods in the pantry. I can quickly make a grocery list just by looking at the shelves. A master grocery list is a great tool too. Make it once with a few lines at the bottom for specialty items and check it off during the week-you’re ready to go. The last thing I do is keep a frozen dessert, like cookies or a pie, and the ingredients for a “hospitality meal” in the pantry.
These few tips have helped me tremendously even though they seem small. Each Sunday I clean out the refrigerator of things I know are borderline bad or have been served as leftovers enough. Out they go and it allows me to plan the week’s menu when I see what is left. I’ve also taken the pantry and pared it down (who needs 15 cans of tuna?) and use it to store countertop items that are used a few times a week (electric can opener, blender, etc.). This space is great for bulk purchase, too, like paper towels bought by the case of 30 (put it up high since they are light and used 1 at a time). Unwieldy dishes or woks go here as well or in the containers you speak about in your post. It is my wish that they would help someone else become more peaceful and calm when in their kitchen.
This is the first time I’ve commented, but I have L.O.V.E.D. both the book and the study every step of the way
Thank you for being so involved! I would say that I need to invest some time in the way I group and store items in my kitchen. I tend to over-fill some cabinets (and can’t get in them like I should) while others are fairly empty. One interesting thing about my kitchen is that I don’t like to bake, but I have a baking-supply cabinet. Why? Don’t know. I think I thought I was going to start loving to bake, you know, like a normal woman. I don’t use the baking things for baking, in fact I use my pie tin for reheating chicken most of the time because it’s a good size….
Ugh…where do I begin? Something small would be to evaluate my utensil drawers. I constantly move stuff around to find the one tool I am looking for. I need to be hard-hearted and really look objectively. Having tools where I can find them would make life simpler, especially if it is my husband who is looking in the drawer.
My daughter was at the conference last week and had a wonderful time. She bought me your book and I am on chapter 3. Can’t wait to get back to it. I love hearing about her experience and cannot wait to hear more about all the wonderful speakers she met, including you.
Thank you for your inspiration!
I have a really small “summer kitchen” in my older home that isn’t very well organized. I think I would like to tackle a couple of my cabinets and give them a good cleaning. I am just so tired of all the clutter. Sigh….If I have learned anything from you Glynnis it is to take baby steps. Things, like life, take time to sort out. Thanks for helping me believe it IS possible for my to overcome my cluttered life.
Oh boy, my kitchen really needs attention. It is very old and outdated. One thing I have struggled with is the cupboard space, they are made deep and high and that makes them difficult to reach, and I don’t have hardly any counter space which is very frustrating for me when I am cooking. Any suggestions about how to help in this area. Anyway, I think I will try to organize one cupboard this weekend. At least that will be a start. I enjoyed reading everybody else’s comments. Thanks for sharing! Have a great weekend.
Pray for me regarding my kitchen and my household.
I get so pumped about working on it. Recently I had a whole diagram of how I was going to reorganize the kitchen to be more user friendly and organized. My mother lives with us and when I run this or anything else by her she gives me all negative things about it. I try to stay positive but then I just give in and don’t do anything. I keep praying for change in me and that I won’t become so resentful. I thought my plan was great, but maybe just to me it was. Prayer changes things, so I know everyone will pray for me in this area. Thank You!
Candace,
Mothers only want the very best for their daughters, it’s true. I’m a mother of three almost grown girls. But take heart, I’m sure your idea was great! Even though your mother didn’t agree, maybe you should do it anyway, it is your kitchen, but I also know that if it would really upset your mom, maybe leave it alone. I think sometimes we have to have some confidence in our decisions but balance this with the meekness the Lord wants us to have as well. Jesus loves a woman who cares for her household, and anyone who can be understanding of her family and be a peacemaker. I pray that God will bless you with a contentment about both your kitchen and your mother.
My mom is negative also…you never outgrow wanting them to affirm you and your ideas but basically they just can’t. I had to stop giving my mom that much power over my emotions. Now, I just do it and then tell her later…but she doesn’t live with me so your situation is harder. Tell US your plans!! We will keep you pumped
Amen!!
It just feels good to be able to say something about his battle I’m in. I always feels so alone in it. I know the Lord is with me, always. But I’m thankful for the positive encouragement I’ve received through this blog and again to know I’m not alone. Thank You Thank You!
Candace, I’m praying for you as you walk a very difficult line, one that honors your mother and yet allows you to make your own decisions. May your confidence come from who you are in Christ, and not who approves of your choices, because there will always be someone who thinks they can do things better. I’m so glad you posted a comment today so you could hear some words of encouragement from others who have been there.
Thank You Glynnis for the encouragement. My heart does just long to please Jesus, but I wrestle with pleasing others. Seems to be a lifelong battle. I keep pressing on though. Started kitchen clean up and finished 6 out of 15 cupboards and a tiny pantry. I’m learning one of my big struggles is seeking that approval from my mother, but that just isn’t going to happen. I ask her if I am stressing her out and she says no. So I’ll just keep going. The next big step is moving the food out of the tiny pantry to the cupboards. The pantry is a small one under some stairs and it is always difficult to bend and get things out of there. It’s funny, there has to be a bigger life lesson here, right? I think I am challenged with having that TRUE Confidence in Christ that I should already have. UGH! Oh well, pressing on! Thank you again!
I have just loved your book and this study! The timing has been so helpful as we just moved and this time I wanted to set things up better than our last move!! My baby step for this weekend is to get drawer dividers in order to organize my utensil drawer. Things slide around in the long space and I think dividers might help me be able to find what I am looking for easily! Thanks for all your excellent ideas!!
Plain and simple, I need a bigger kitchen. It is well organized and I have downsized to only what I need and use regularly but…I need more than 4 square feet of counter space, 2 drawers and 3 cabinets.
As for my kitchen, it is the main entrance to an extremely busy home. My husband and I are raising five teenagers together, so my kitchen is a WRECK most of the time. We all take turns cleaning it, it is large and well organized when it is clean, but the constant whirlwind of people coming in and out makes it a huge challenge to keep it straight. Help!
I have something I use daily on a too high shelf and have to get a step stool out to reach it or risk dropping the glass container EVERYDAY! Since the shelves are adjustable I need to remedy this problem and rearrange that cupbaord.
Great idea!
A successful menu plan we found when raising the children was to sit down as a family and make a list of 30 dinner meals we all either liked to eat or would eat because it was someone else’s favorite. It helped to know that if they didn’t like something, it would only show up once a month and they would get their favorites too. Then I wrote each meal on an index card w/suggestions for side dishes. On the back of the card I listed all the ingredients. I put the cards in a recipe box and rotated them. Each week I pulled the first 7 cards and took them to the grocery since all ingredients needed was on the back. This Worked for quite a few years.
I LOVE this idea. And wouldn’t it be a great gift to give your children when they leave the nest??? Thank you for sharing this great idea.
I need to rearrange my cabinets this weekend to find a home for all of thejars of beautiful red tomatoes, green pickles, and yellow squash pickles that I canned a few weeks ago. I put everything in the freezer from my avid-gardner-husband’s produce. This year I decided to can some tomatoes in glass jars….but now I’ve got to find space for it all rather than displayed out on the bar! Maybe I need to purge some of the cabinets of “space-stealers” !
I’ve got room in my cabinets for some homemade goodies!
So if you need some help clearing your counters, just let me know. haha!
I want to get enough muscle use back that I can stand in my kitchen and fix a meal for my family. Right now my husbad and step-dad do most of the cooking since my mom & I are both ill. All my type 2 muscle strands have atrophied from medications and my cancer treatments so I would love to be able to get back enough so I don’t have to sit in a chair at the stove to fix a meal.
Danaye – I’m praying for you right now. May the Lord bring you healing and strengthen what has been weakened. Thank you for posting a comment.
I have a large, deep cabinet drawer which would be so great for pots and pans, but I have my plastic storage containers in it. The covers are in the cabinet next door, in a place not too accessible. I recently straightened that cabinet, but after reading Chapt. 15, I decided it needs major surgery! I looked in the container drawer and couldn’t figure out why I had all those covers! So-o-o, my project will be to switch cabinets, while getting rid of those extra covers (do they multiply overnight?). We have a large garden and I freeze vegetables and dry or freeze herbs. This is the time when I need to be able to get to those containers! My vision for my kitchen is to make it a place where I can make use of all the garden bounty and at the same time make delicious dishes not only for us at home, but for church hospitality Sundays and pot-luck meals.
My vision for my kitchen is to use the bounty provided by God in our large garden and create delicious,economical meals not only for us but for church hospitality Sundays, pot luck meals and company. After reading Chapt. 15, i see that this will require major surgery on a large cabinet used for my storage containers. This cabinet would be better used for pots and pans, thus solving another problem. Never even thought about switching until I read your book! By the way, does anyone know whether storage container covers really multiply overnight?
What a good question about storage lids. My sisters and I were just asking that question today. I tend to have mismatched items when I throw away a lid but I keep the container, hoping to find a another mismatched set. That’s okay if it only happens a few times, but it becomes problematic when there are lots of orphan lids and containers. I know it’s hard to throw things away, but that’s the price of order sometimes.
My kitchen holds a lot of stuff that I never use. So this weekend, I will go through one cupboard and throw everything out that hasn’t been used in a year.
Oh, and I always wanted to learn how to make banana cake. I will try that this week too. I’ve looked up the recipe and it doesn’t look hard at all.
I’d love to know why Dutch Crunch Bread is called that way. In Dutch it is called “Tiger Bread’.
Ellen from the Netherlands
Ellen – can you get that bread where you live? I think I’d eat it every day!
Absolutely! It is in every bakery store and even in the supermarkets.
I love it too!
The cake came out well by the way.
Here are my 2 challenges in my kitchen!
To master this amazing Vitamix I just bought and haven’t used yet! I think I’m a bit overwhelmed at everything it can do! Lol
I’m a health coach professionally so my “talk” is all about nourishing ourselves and healthy eating so I’ve decided that daily juicing will be a part of my putting the walk in my talk! The 2nd thing is using my crock pot for more meals. Slow cooking is THEE healthiest way for us to consume our proteins and a great way to prepare veggies so the vitamins and enzymes are still intact!
Great ideas! What will you need to do to make these two goals happen?
I need to get all my sewing and scrap booking off the dining room table so I can have people over again! I seriously need a craft room! (so should I just add a room to my house this week? I think yes! Lol)
Yes! Add a room addition this weekend! What a great idea. (smile!) Or maybe buy some rolling plastic drawers and tuck it in a closet or garage when not in use.
are you a choleric? I wouldn’t have thought that..me too by the way. It’s like in my nature to lose temper so easily and mess things up. So for me is quite hard to do the right thing since I can’t hold on too long to that calm state of mind I must have. I wonder how was it for you and how the Holy Spirit will work things out for me too…
Hi Glynnis–I never have posted before but I LOVE your blog. It has helped me so much. Two ideas that have helped me lately with organizing meal planning and may help you/your readers:
1) I am a foodie too and I hate routine (every Monday, spaghetti, Wednesday, tacos–BLECH!) but as a mom of a toddler it is hard to have time to come up with fresh meal ideas each week. I made a list of 4 possible meals for each day of the week, based on my average amount of busyness for that day and posted it on my fridge. That way I only make the same meal 1x per month and I can quickly grab the “menu” and make my grocery list on the fridge where I keep a notepad to record needed items as we run out. If I get really ambitious, I think I may make one of these menu charts for each season, since I generally like to cook different things in the fall, winter, spring, summer as new ingredients become seasonally available.
2) I, too, have lofty goals for baking things or freezing things which almost never take place. Lately, I’ve decided to put one item each week (1 is doable!) on my “to-do” list as a project. It tricks you into thinking it is a great accomplishment (vs. the same thing you do everyday in the kitchen) and made me feel so motivated this week when I made my coconut-banana muffins. YUM!
I am going to keep a list and write down each meal we eat so then I have something to pull from to make a menu plan. Menu planning is something I have never liked to do ; for some reason I feel so confined and restricted when I make a list I have to follow for an entire month. I have 2 small children who don’t eat much plus a husband who isn’t home much. So I’m hoping to gather the first step (list of meals) so that if my supply of raw materials changes, veggies become available or whatever, I can still have a home-cooked meal without feeling like I’m stuck in a ridgid plan.
Glynnis! I am so psyched, I just had to write a comment! I got a phone call a little while ago asking me if I would take care of hospitality hour at church tomorrow. Not usually so last minute, but vacations and all that—anyway, we have been blessed with loads of cucumbers in our garden and I thought I would try to find a recipe I could make using them. I went to food.com, one of the websites you recommended in Chapt. 16 and I got a really easy recipe using ingredients of which I have most in my kitchen. I have to stop at the store now anyway and I will get the two remaining ingredients. One of them was on my list! This website will be worth its’ weight in gold this summer as we get lots of cukes, summer squash, tomatoes, etc. Thanks so much!
Please share your cucumber recipe. My husband has planted cu numbers in his garden this year and they have been bountiful to say the least! We place them sliced on sandwiches and ser e them plain to the kids with ranch dressing. Would love a new idea!
My first organizing goal are my spices. I am not even sure how to tackle them yet, but I will prevail. My meal planning goal is to stretch my family a bit by mixing favorites in new ways. With 3 young boys, it gets difficult, but I have gone past the point of being frustrated, because I know the most important thing is that they are being nourished the best I am able!
Hi Glynnis,
I am ever so anxious to buy your book and begin reading. As I sit here very early on Sunday morning, sipping my coffee, and finally getting a moment to check my emails, I am loving my God even more right now. I realized that in the midst of an extremely busy home, ( my hubby and I have a blended family) with the 10 kids that we call our own, a dog and 2 cats, I am blessed. Even though I have 6 kids full time, and the two oldest ate in their 20′s with busy lives of their own. The 2 18 year olds pop in and out, and from patent to parent, the rest call this home. I sit here in my kitchen that I was blessed with almost 3 years ago. It has served me well, albeit it stays in a state of disarray, with constant clutter from the busy bodies of my home. This kitchen is the main entrance to this action packed home of energetic teens, tweens, and those in between.. You see, I am about to move and this may be my last Sunday here. I am so excited for the change, as that kitchen is far on the end, not an entry way, and by far, bigger. So, I am reading all the posts to come up with organizational ideas to keep the clutter a fleeting memory. And,as I read, I stop and pray for those needing prayer. May God be with each of you ladies this morning. For we all are sisters in christ, and that makes our lives so much more the richer, even though we’ve never met.
Please excuse the miss spelled, ill placed words as my phone changes them on its own.. Technology.. its a love/hate thing sometimes…
I’ve already implemented a basket to put incoming mail and then another basket for the circulars in my kitchen. The immediate goal for me is to start planning meals because that is something we don’t do. I love, love, love the steps in the book to get started. Making a shopping list from the supermarket circular is a completely new idea for me. But I’ve also started couponing so for me this is all coming together and it’s exciting!
I plan to reorganize my pantry today. I have a large pantry that is overflowing not only with food items but iced tea maker (2), old coffee pot I am not using, plus others! I have no idea what I really have in there. So today will be organize and reduce and recycle day! Then after reading the posts, I realize that I really don’t know what is in my freezer. I keep taking from the top and buying more at the market. So, hopefully I can work that in. If not, that is my next step. I feel so blessed by this study and have a renewed energy to organize my life! Thank you!
I enjoyed reading Suzi’s idea about writing family meal ideas on index cards. Because I too have a large family with four children, I have am challenged with little time to sit down and plan. I have been successfully using a meal planning website endorsed by Dave Ramsey. It can be found at http://www.emealz.com. it costs very little every month. Each week you receive a a plan for seven meals with a grocery list provided. The meal planners look at the sales for nearby grocery stores and plan their meals accordingly. They have many different meal plans based on your family’s size and needs. I love it especially during the school year when I find I have time to shop but no plan! Take care and Glynnis, keep up your awesome words of encouragement.!! You are an inspiration!
Here is an idea for bulk storage…use clean 2 ltr bottles. Fill with items (beans, pasta, sugar, etc.) put on cap and lay on side. Keeps pests out and stack nicely. Nice way to come up with free storage containers and recycle.