When I was a kid I worked at a place with a salad bar. We had two ladies who’d come in and gather to-go salad bar supplies, pay for them, and leave.
One lady talked and talked about how she used the items for cooking – now she didn’t have to cut veggies for soup or casseroles, and she’d use the nuts on muffins. The other lady; I don’t know, she wasn’t a talker. Maybe she was just having a salad.
In any case, using a salad bar once in a while is a good time saver. It does save you having …read more

Managing mealtime madness becomes crazy once the school year starts up. You can save time by thinking ahead. Instead of looking for what to cook, know what you’re going to cook. Designate mealtime menus – loose menus, nothing fancy. I’m not saying plan each dish, just plan a type of food.

For example: 

Monday: Chicken, rice, and veggie night
Tuesday: Soup, bread, and salad night
Wednesday: Fish and veggie night
Thursday: Left-over night
Friday: Pasta and salad night

This is flexible enough to be open to interpretation; for example, you could buy cheese or Spanish rice for Monday, and have fruit salad instead of veggie salad on …read more

When I lived in Humboldt, the local farmers’ market was where I got almost all our produce. It was close, mostly organic, fresh, and a good value. On some days I felt like lingering, but others my main goal was to get my produce and get out. You can’t always spend every Saturday at the market.

To organize your farmers’ market trips, and save time, try the following: 
Choose one farmers’ market and stick to it. If you’re making tons of trips to various markets, you’re not saving time, or money considering gas. If your city has plenty to choose from, find …read more

With school coming up, we’re looking at various back to school tips, organizing tricks, and time management tactics this month. Later in the month I’ll round all the back to school posts up, so you can read through them all at your leisure.
Today let’s look at family meals. It’s hard enough (or so it seems with the families I know) to sit down to dinner together during the summer. Add in busy school schedules and family meals can get even harder. Following are some tips.

Make family meals a number one priority. If you have time for TV, extra shopping, golf, …read more

Today the Lifestyles Channel is holding a potluck / picnic of sorts. Each of the channel blogs will be somehow discussing potlucks and picnics today – a favorite recipe, maybe some ideas for decorating, and so on. At Declutter It, we’ll look at organizing that darn grilling area.
Now, I don’t BBQ, or even own a grill, mainly because I don’t eat meat. That said, I’m a fan of grilled veggies, and also have known my fair share of grillers. However, if I say something crazy, now you know why.
Quick clean up: Place a tub of soapy water next to the …read more

I used to write for magazines and some other businesses that wanted magazine-like stories, which means I had a lot of magazines hanging around – you know, to learn the style of the magazine and all that, but I didn’t love that sort of writing, so I quit to blog full-time.
Then however, I had all these magazines left over. What to do? I don’t like reading them, so that’s out. I actually came up with lots of ideas about what to do with my old magazines, but my most used idea is my cookbook idea.
A lot of those magazines were …read more

I was always pretty slender… then I gave birth. I swear, I love that child of mine, but is it really fair to also get chubbier thighs as a baby bonus? No, I thought not. I think having Cedar changed my entire metabolism because pre-baby I never did any sort of organized exercise, and now it’s sort of a given.
Here’s the rub (yes, there’s another). I hate organized exercise. I like to inline skate, hike, and play frisbee, but really there comes a certain age where you’re going to have to pick up those arm weights, and sort of make …read more

There are so many reasons why organizing your recipes is a good idea. It can cut down on the time you spend meal planning. It can cut down on the time you spend searching for recipes and it can help keep your kitchen clutter free.
Here are 3 solutions for organizing your recipes:
1. Write down your recipes on a rolodex.
Divide the rolodex into sections such as poultry, beef, vegetables or main dishes, side dishes, breads, etc. A rolodex sits nicely on your kitchen counter and it is very easy to flip through to find the recipe you are looking …read more

I told you awhile ago about a meal planning system called “Meal Planner 101“. Well, I’ve been using the system for a good two weeks now and meal time around my house has been great. I really needed something to give me a kick in the pants so that I would start planning meals for my family again, instead of flying by the seat of my pants.
The Meal Planner 101 System
Let me start off by telling you how much I love the Meal Planner 101 system. For $29.95 you get a notebook with a few pre-printed pages on it …read more

Alright, I plan on participating in OrgJunkie’s Menu Plan Monday every week and I am really excited about it! I just received my MealPlanner 101 in the mail, so be looking for a review of it very soon. I can’t wait to tell you about it.
Now, my schedule is crazy so planning a menu was kind of hard. That’s been my problem – no time to cook in between everything, but I am doing whatever it takes to make this happen. This will take a lot of commitment, planning and organization.
Here’s a break down of my weekly schedule so …read more