Thursday, July 23, 2009

More Organizing Plans

OK - so our kitchen is a wreck.

1) We started a big painting project, cupboards and walls, and the walls are done, the cupboard frames are done, some of the doors still need to be hung, most need at least one more coat of paint, but I can do that when they are hung. So the hanging and painting must be finished. New flooring will have to wait until there is money, or someone donates to this fabulous cause.

2) My hubby started working (YAY!) again about 5 weeks ago and this is great... and stressful since many of the around the house stuff he had pretty much taken over are not only his responsibility alone anymore. I kind of feel like I should have caught some of these duties but just stood there with my hands at my side. So... we are spending way too much time trying to think about what to make, way too many trips to the store, buying stuff without a real list and getting home to find we just bought a third bottle of apple cider vinegar - and one bottle goes pretty far! And if we had looked, would we have found it anyway? Our cupboards are so full they desperately need some organization and help! So our planning sucks and our cupboards are pigsties.

3) Since I painted, mostly anyway, and really it's just time, the cupboard insides need to be cleaned, degreased, and new contact paper laid. I found a fun polka dot pattern that matches the paint and makes me happy every time I see it... in the one cupboard I did... over two months ago. That cupboard is also our storage container/Tupperware cupboard which only takes 2 days to mess up so it needs help again too.

4) I also need to go through the cupboards and note what foods we have, also the freezer and do some meal planning from the plethora of ingredients on hand.

Whew! When is this getting done? I don't know, but I'll be so happy about it I'll be sure to post pictures. But we need a plan to go forward with and since I'd much rather plan than do, I made a chart to help us with meal planning and shopping. I plan to just cut off the shopping list end on my way out the door. Here it is (and if you want to use it, feel free, or if you would rather have it as a spreadsheet, just tell me, then you can change it as needed):

I also think I'm going to make a list (I know this is going to sound super anal retentive!) of all the 'normal' meals we make so we will have a quick idea reference when we just can't come up with anything. Hubby doesn't think this will be too helpful, but we lose nothing by trying. Last week we made Taco Pie, which was so good, but it just hadn't occurred to us to make it for a while (like a year?). So I hope that will be helpful, too, and help us be better planners. I'm just going to post it on the inside of a cupboard door.

So... let me know how you organize this stuff. What works for you? What's easy to maintain?

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