Tackle It Tuesday

Kitchen...


Last week I had to switch out our spare laundry room refrigerator because "hands of steel child" broke the one in the kitchen and food kept falling out of it.

Somehow, changing out refrigerators led to this...




Which drove me crazy.

So now it looks like this...

and this

Which reminds me I bought these light strips for under the cabinets and I love them. I'm going to buy more for the laundry room.


For more Tuesday tackles visit here.

Works For Me Wednesday

When I was cleaning behind and under the refrigerator a few weeks ago, I discovered that we had water access behind the refrigerator.

I actually have two refrigerators: one in the kitchen and one in my laundry room. They both desperately need to be replaced. But the one in the laundry room has an ice maker. So I decided when I had the time, I would switch them out.

Well, I didn't exactly have the time but I switched them out anyway. In the process of switching we discovered many items that we couldn't identify in the freezer. Even worse, between the two refrigerators there were items that we had no idea when they were opened or even that there was one opened to begin with.

So I asked Hubs to create a simple calendar type label for me and this is what he came up with:

He used word to create the calendars and simply printed them on Avery mailing labels. The labels pictured above say "opened on" because as I mentioned above how many times have you opened something that there are multiples of (i.e. milk, OJ) and then found that your kid or someone else opened another and you have no idea when or which is which or how long it's been sitting there. Or really anything in general. I also liked the "opened on" idea for salad dressings and BBQ sauce. Just stuff that I'd like to see dates rather than chunks or something when I pour it. I know there are expiration dates on things but I've also noted that some things don't last as long as they should after they have been opened or if you can't remember how long it's been in there and it only has so many days to begin with. (* I hope I'm not rambling too much and that I am making sense...I'm beat! lol *)

Can you identify what's in the bag above? Probably not...and even though I cooked it and bagged it, chances are I wouldn't be able to identify it either.

Plus Hubs eats buffalo steaks and ground buffalo. I do not eat buffalo and I wouldn't want to mix that up with my beef.

The labels really make the whole freezer process less of a hassle.

Works for Me!

To see other tips and ideas go visit Shannon!

Works For Me Wednesday

Kitchen Organization

Ok so, My tip is about labels.

See my hubby and my oldest tend to cook dinner together because they both like to cook. Don't get me wrong, I love and appreciate when they cook dinner but it drives me crazy because they don't put anything back. So I decided since I got the new P-touch I could label things to help make it easier for them.

I bought one of those tiered organizers for the spices and I labeled each shelf. Putting most used spices in the front. I put extras in my spice rack that is above the stove. I don't use it much because I can't reach it very well. It took about a half hour because I also wrote down all the spices I had and how many so that I can begin to make a master grocery list.

The other thing my kids like to do is "help" unload and put away groceries. I'm now sure it's more about spying on the goods than actual helping. I'm embarrassed to post this pic but I hadn't really looked at my pantry because the kids not only put them away but they usually want to help when I am in the kitchen and so I ask them to get me things that way no one gets burnt or cut. This time, I happened to need a case of soda and I almost died when I opened the door. ARGH!

So I decided to label in there too. It was pretty easy but time consuming because once again I inventoried everything for the master grocery list. But this is what it looks like now. (above and below)

It's great because the kids love it and they know where everything goes or where to find things right away.

I love it because when they help me it will be a snap for them and I can see at a glance what I have for meal planning (another new task I am taking on.) But most of all because I hate clutter and love when everything has it's place. Since the kids came, my house has been all about clutter. Yuck!

Such a simple thing makes such a big difference and it works for me!

For more tips and tricks go visit Shannon over at Rocks In My Dryer.

Tidy Desk Competition

Marcia over at Organising Queen has challenged us to a Tidy Desk Competition. I've checked my competition and I fear that I just might've been the messiest of the bunch. *blush*

Here are the befores:
Close up of the mess. I 'm not even going to pretend like I knew where everything was.

After:

But in the end, I bought that wonderful bill organizer at Target and I just love it. I can see at a glance if something is due and the calendar is new. I have to figure out a way to hang it up. But having it right next to the bill sorter and right in front of my face is perfect.

Thanks Marcia for the tips to get this done. I love it!