Green and White

This morning as I was washing lettuce for dinner tonight I got to thinking about a trip I took a few weeks ago.  It was a cold, rainy day, much like today.  My friends and I met at Starbucks, got our coffee and headed off to our meetings for the weekend.  Everything was gray, wet and dreary.  It rained and rained.  We had a nice time at our meetings. 

On our way home the next day the sun was out.  A change was very evident.  It seemed overnight the earth had transformed into a sea of green and white.  White blossoms filled the trees.  Green was covering the ground.  Life was visible. 

It is amazing how a rain can cause change.  The washing can be good.  The colorful, vibrance after the rain a joy.

Cleaning a microwave

Cleaning your microwave tutorial:

1. Fill a coffee mug half way with water.
2. Put in in the microwave for 5 minutes.  It will create steam and the microwave will wipe clean very easily.
3. Take the glass bottom tray out and wash it.  Wipe the inside out.
4. Shine the front.
5. This only takes about 8 minutes from start to finish.  Now don't forget to cover your food when you heat it to prevent splatters in the first place.  Or you can buy a round, plastic cover to place on top of dishes.  Ours stays in the microwave at all times.  Under $5 at Wal-Mart.

Today it would be a great idea to give your kitchen floor a good mopping.  These pictures are from last week when I only had about 15 minutes from start to finish.  I chose two things I could quickly do and it made my Kitchen shine.  A clean floor and clean microwave.


                                              

You know what else I've been up to?  Throwing clothes away (aka getting ready to Consign and put the rest in a yard sale).  100 things to be exact.  100 empty hangers.  Do you think you could top that?  My clothes and the little boys.  Do you ever reach the point where you are just disgusted at the amount of clothing on the rack when you go to get dressed?  Things are not easily found.  Hangers and clothes are packed tightly in the space.

I love my clothing organization in my closets. It is not a color coded system.  I organize by type.  Here are examples in my closet of my groupings.

1. Camisoles and tank tops
2. Nice T-Shirts
3. Nice long sleeve shirts
4. Casual T-Shirts
5. Casual long sleeve t-shirts and sweat shirts
6. Dress Shirts (for work and church)
7. Pants/Capris/Leggings
8. Dresses

This is nice because take today for example,  it is fuh-reezing.  I need long pants and a long shirt.  Tomorrow however it may be exotically hot and I may need a cute short sleeve shirt.  Very easy and quick to put an outfit together.

I hope you are taking care of your home and getting things cleaned, thrown away and put away.  Spring is just around the corner.  Daylight savings is SUNDAY thankyoudearLORD!  Work hard and enjoy the fruit of your labor-a home that can breathe!

Kitchen Day

Hello Lovely Ladies, Welcome to Kitchen Day.  This is Day 2 of me sharing with you the new routine and systems that I am trying out for the next couple of weeks.  So far the hard work has paid off and we are enjoying the blessing of spending more time together as a family.  We've had time for conversation.  More time for rest which comes at a good time since I am under the weather right now.

So, what is Kitchen Day you ask?  Kitchen Day is a day when you spend extra time in your Kitchen.  The heart of your home.  The place where you find yourself 21 times a week plus snacks.  Or 1, 095 times a year plus snacks.  Kitchen Day is a planned day where you can spend extra time baking, preparing meats for dishes later in the week/month, cleaning out a cupboard, cleaning out a drawer, getting things organized.

I spent my very first kitchen day roasting chicken.  Line your pan with foil (you will thank me and feel like giving me a big old hug if this is new to you).  No scrubbing.  Personally I put my cookie sheet in the dishwasher versus hand washing when I am done because I firmly feel this is what the Proverbs 31 Woman would have done.

(a sidenote about a package of fresh chicken: I used to divide it up when I got home from the grocery store in packages, think foil or Ziploc bags, of 2...HOWEVER, since my roasting chicken day was so successful now I will just toss the entire package into the freezer and roast it all on Kitchen Day)

Preheat your oven to 375.  Line your pan with foil.  Lay chicken in a single layer, top with Extra Virgin Olive Oil.  Salt and Pepper generously.  Bake (or say Roast because it makes you sound like the Gourmet Cook that you are) for 40 minutes.  Take out of oven and let sit for about 10 minutes.  This allows the chicken to cool and it lets the juices redistribute. Very Food Networky of us isn't it?

OK so we already talked about preheating the oven to 375.  Always preheat your oven.  I don't know why.  Good cooks tell me to do it so now I'm telling you, it'll help you get in touch with The Gourmet Cook within.

Chop up the chicken and place in bags with the amount written on the bag.  I added 1 1/2 cups to this bag and popped in the freezer.  When we made a Chicken Pot Pie last week my chicken was cooked and ready.  Look at my sweet little helper.  He loved the Roast Chicken.  Would you take a look at those chubby little hands, love that.  You could have chicken prepared for Chicken Chili, Mexican Chicken, Quesadillas, Chicken Pot Pie, Chicken Spaghetti...just to throw a few ideas out there.

You can also use Kitchen Day to do a little extra deep cleaning in the kitchen area while you wait for things to bake.  Plan your most labor intensive, time consuming recipe for the week on this day.

(another side note: do you have disposable kitchen gloves?  you can buy 1,000 at Sam's Club for under  $5.00.  they are so nice to have on hand in the kitchen when you are preparing food)