Successful Meals!

So far I have 13 easy meals that have made the repeat list. I can't wait to share a few them with you, with pictures and links.

What do all of these meals have in common?

1. They have simple ingredients that are easy to find in a grocery store and are things that I already have in my cupboard.
2. They don't require a lot of prep time.
3. They are easy to put together.
4. They are easy to clean up.
5. They are foods that I actually like. I've discovered it's no fun making food that I don't actually like or am bored of.

A lot of the recipes are coming from SOS! The Six 'Clock Scramble to the Rescue. I love this book because the recipes so far have met all of the above criteria, it organizes the recipes my seasons, and they are very tasty and unique. Plus, it gives explanations and gives great substitution ideas.

I think this is a great book for beginners. It seems to reduce recipes to their most basic elements so it's not too intimidating but the food still comes out great. And it really is teaching me how to cook, cut corners, and modify.

Another great place is www.Food52.com

Also, we got NEW POTS. I think this has made a huge difference too. These stainless steel pots heat up faster and cook more evenly.

We don't have a lot of room in our kitchen, so Ben too this idea from Small Notebook and modified it a little bit to make a pot rack.

http://smallnotebook.org/2009/05/26/diy-simple-modern-pot-rack/

A Solution for a Corner Cabinet

Sometimes it’s hard to make the most of kitchen cabinets that are built into a corner.  We found that this lazy Susan has really helped us make the most of the space on the second shelf of one of our cabinets.  Instead of having to move some of our bowls to get to things in the back, we just have to spin the tray and, voila, it’s at our fingertips.  This could work for a cabinet that is built straight in too.

Feeling Anxiety Over Something You Don’t Have a Lot of Control Over? Writing it Out Can Help.

There was a miscommunication.  It all started at the beginning of this week.  I needed to order contact lenses and I was calling around to find the best deal. 

One of the places I called was my optometrist's office.  No one answered, so I left a message asking how much a box would cost.  They called back and left a message wanting to know what insurance I have.  I called back and left a message, and told them what it was.  They called back and left a message and said that a box would cost X amount.   X amount was more than I wanted to pay, so I called back to say that I was going to order from somewhere else.  This time, I was able to talk to somebody, and they were glad I called back to let them know.  Then the next day, I got a message saying they had already ordered the contact lenses, and the woman I spoke with said that I had told her to!  Ack!  So it was after hours, but I decided to call back and leave a message saying that there had been a miscommunication.  And now I have to wait till Monday to have this silly thing resolved.

Silly as it may be, anxiety over this little unresolved issue could ruin my weekend if I let it.  I could mull over this thing over and over again, thinking about where I went wrong and how I could have been more clear.  I’ll review in my mind the messages over the past week and dwell on the one thing that I said that could have been interpreted to mean to go ahead and order the contacts.  I’ll worry about whether I sounded rude in my recent message when I didn’t mean to.  And I’ll worry that my conversation with the office won’t turn out well.

I read or heard somewhere that students who wrote out their anxieties about a test they were about to take actually did better on the test than those who did not.  So I decided to try to apply the same idea to this little issue.  And you know what?  So far, it’s helped!  By the end of that exercise I felt much better and positive about the whole thing.  The whole situation became more clear and I was able to put it in perspective.  If I feel tempted to revisit the issue this weekend, I’ll pull out my piece of paper.  I’ll probably pull it out before I talk to the optometrist’s office so I can remember to be polite, and to remind myself that no matter what, it’s going to be OK.  Worst case scenario, I’ll learn a valuable lesson about being much more clear.

So here’s to putting things on paper.  It really does help!