Wednesday, February 09, 2011

Oh how I love a clean kitchen...

The past couple of days I have been trying to keep my kitchen and dining area spotless (inspired by the Flylady). It requires some effort, but I find that if I clean up while I cook and clear the table right after a meal, it gets less overwhelming. Even 5 minutes speed-cleaning in the kitchen can go really far. My kitchen is so clean right now! Which is good because this afternoon I am heading to Gleaner's since I didn't get to go on Monday. I would also like to put all the chicken thighs in my big stock pot and make some chicken stock. I love doing that because then I can take the chicken and separate it into meal-sized portions for the freezer. Then it's ready for when I need to fix something with chicken and don't want it to take extra cooking time.

Today I also tackled my sewing and crocheting bins. I threw away the stuff that was trashed or that nobody would want and then organized everything. Now there are only a few more things to do in our closet before it's completely organized. One of my next projects will be staining the bookshelf in our room. It's still unfinished and I would like it to be the dark color of the rest of our bedroom set. I think it will really finish off the look. I would also like to figure out something to do with my school textbooks/notebooks. It seems a shame to get rid of some of the stuff after I put so much work into it, but I know that most of it will never be used again. That shelf should be for the books that we decide to keep around. So, what have you done with school stuff?

Wolf it Down Wednesday
B:
"Spotted Pup" as my mom affectionately called it when we were growing up. I made rice to go with the tacos last night and had a bunch left over. So, I threw some in a pot with milk, butter, vanilla, sugar, cinnamon, and raisins, simmering until the rice and raisins were nice and soft.

L: David took a couple of tacos I put together after dinner last night. The girls had the rest of the top ramen stir fry and some sliced oranges. I fixed up a taco salad from the rest of the taco fillings and some crumbled tortilla chips. I make a habit of taking the tail end of each bag of chips and putting it into a container for taco salad or taco soup, that way they're already crumbled and we don't waste any chips.
D: Tonight we cooked up the burgers that were in the freezer from gleaner's a couple weeks ago. They were goooood. Topped with cheese, mayo, spicy mustard, avocado dip, tomato, spinach, pickles, and sauteed mushrooms (the other 1/2 of the can from Saturday) and onions on a toasted bun. Dorothy liked them so much she had seconds and told me I made the best dinner in the whole world. She also scarfed down the veggies. I had picked up a bunch of red chard at Gleaner's this afternoon and sauteed the chopped stems with some onions in olive oil. When those were tender, I added salt, garlic powder and some water, then steamed them until tender. My taste buds are still happy.


I'll update on my shopping trip tomorrow.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

The ones that I was able to sell I did. The rest I kept just in case I needed to use it as a reference. I started to homeschool, so maybe they will be useful. I have 3 kids myself (21 mon-4.9 yrs) and I was a nursing major too. I got all my prerequisites almost 6 years ago. Applied to three schools, got on a waiting list to two of them. Meanwhile went to get my CNA and got pregnant two weeks into it. although I finished the CNA program I never used it. I've been with my babies home since. My sister in law just graduated from a nursing school. She got into the PCC nursing school, but Willamette Falls Hospital financed it, and paid her $400 a month extra for expenses ( she worked there as a CNA). Wish you the best girl!
I see you like to cook. Have you tried making chili in crock pot? OH my it is good. Let me know if you need a good recipe.

Becci said...

Thanks! I was told by a bio teacher to keep all the science ones if I am thinking of doing a nursing program, so I may hold on to them. But to be honest, I am enjoying having so much less stress, and my hubby is happier, too, I think. I may or may not sell my math textbooks, but I think I could get a decent amount of money for them if I did. I did sell a lot of random texts I knew I wouldn't need. And I do LOVE to cook. I usually do my chili in a stock pot on the stove and simmer it all day, but would love a crock pot recipe if you want to share it :).

Johnlyn said...

Don't you just love Flylady! I don't know how I survived without her. Well, I survived, but didn't thrive anyway.

I once told my husband how wonderful rice cereal was, then I made it and BLECH!!!

I need to try it again and add the stuff that you added. I think I just dumped milk in and called it good. Hopefully I warmed it up!

Reminds me of when I told him how good bologna rings are - argued with him until I was blue in the face that they were awesome. Good gravy, not exactly a gourmet meal!

Becci said...

Oh, that's funny! I don't think I've heard of those ;).