Mimi Goodies – Cooking healthy

Staying organized is the best ways to make you day less stressful. However, for millions of people, organization is a challenge. You do not have to be uptight and scheduled in every aspect of your life to be organized. With a little planning, even the most disorganized family can implement simple tips to make their days go more smoothly. Here are some great tips you can use to get organized:

Tip #1: Create a chore chart.

It does not matter if you have a large or small family; if everyone is not pulling his or her own weight, you can become disorganized rather quickly. So, create a chore chart that lists all of your daily and weekly activities. Adults and children alike should have certain responsibilities.

Tip #2: Use colored bins in your laundry room.

Keep a laundry basket in every bedroom as well as in the bathroom. Every few days, have someone’s chore (see tip #1) be to collect the laundry and put it in the correct bin in the laundry room. You should have four bins – white, dark colors, bright colors, and delicates. Make sure that the laundry for each bin is done as soon as you have enough for a load. Depending on the size of your family, that might be once a day or it might be once a week.

Tip #3: Keep a notepad with you at all times.

You never know when you might think of something you need to do or buy. Have a notepad with you. That way, you will always be prepared to jot down numbers, write your grocery needs, or make a note of something else you need to remember. You should keep a notepad in your car, in your bag, on the refrigerator, and by the phone.

Tip #4: Organize you groceries as you bring them home.

Before you put your food away, wash and cut produce. That way, it will be ready to go when you want a snack or are going to start dinner. You should also have a place for every type of food, rather than just throwing everything in cupboards. Cycle the food, moving the older things to the front, as you put away your purchases.

Tip #5: Keep things in alphabetical order.

Movies, books, video games, and anything else you store on shelves should be put into alphabetical order. It does not take long to do, even if you have large collections, and that way, you will always be able to quickly find whatever you need.

Tip #6: Hang your clothes according to color.

You might want to keep all of your short-sleeved shirts separate from your long-sleeved shirts, but dividing by color is also a good idea. That way, when you are wearing your gray dress pants, you will be able to quickly find something that matches.

Tip #7: Cook large meals on weekends and freeze the leftovers.

Instead of cooking just a single meal on your days off from work, take time to prepare two or three dishes while you are already in the kitchen. Allow the food to cool and then store it in the refrigerator or freezer until you are ready to serve it later in the week. That way, you do not have to spend hours in the kitchen every day after work.

Tip #8: Label your boxes.

When you store things, make sure that you clearly label each box on the top and all sides. That way, no matter where it gets stacked or moved, you can quickly see what is in the box. Try to keep like items together in your attic. You will thank yourself when you are trying to find an old baseball cap you want and know that it is store in the box marked “hats.”

Tip #9: Don’t be afraid to throw things away.

The most organized houses are the ones that are not cluttered. Although it is perfectly normal to have mementos and items that make you happy, you should get rid of the items that you do not use anymore. This will help you stay organized. Have a yard sale, give away items to the Salvation Army or another charity, you can also ask your friends and family if they would like the things you no longer need.

Tip #10: Stick to your schedule.

Being impromptu and spontaneous can be a ton of fun, but it is not always necessary. In fact, most of the time when we deviate from our schedules, it is just a matter of being lazy! Try not to get a late start on what you need to do – if you planned to go to the post office on Monday; do not put it off until Wednesday! Staying organized is not difficult, and the more organized you are with your schedule; the easier it is to take impromptu opportunities as they arise.

Cooking with your child or children is a fun, no cost activity that will also teach your son or daughter very valuable life skills. Most, if not all kids love helping in the kitchen so you’ll want to encourage and take advantage of it. You’ll also be able to teach them about healthy eating habits.

Depending on the age of your child start with something simple, if they a very young let them make cinnamon toast. They can butter the toast and sprinkle on cinnamon and sugar. Another good first choice is making Saturday morning pancakes. Young children can help measure and mix and older children can bake them too.

There is a multitude of ways your children can help out in the kitchen. For example, even at a young age they can get ingredients out of the fridge or easy to reach cupboards, wash fruits and vegetables, tear salad greens, peel carrots with a safe vegetable peeler. As they get older they can try their hand at more difficult tasks.

Teach your budding gourmet some good basics recipes, cooking techniques and terms as well as kitchen safety. Additional life skills children can learn when cooking are fine motor skills like pouring, measuring and stirring, math skills like counting, adding and subtracting, reading, being organized, cleaning up, shopping, managing money, plus health and nutrition.

Once your child is old enough to read a recipe, manage a sharp knife and hot pots and pans he or she can make an entire meal all by themselves. This is a real bonus for working parents as meal times won’t be a such chore for you. Eventually your children can pitch in or even completely take over the daily task of making dinner!

We all learn best by example, by seeing how it’s done and by practicing doing things. Encourage your child to prepare their favorite meals and encourage them to make healthy choices. Just knowing how to cook means your child will be able to feed him or her self when they move out on their own. They won’t need to rely on fast food, take out, or unhealthy ready prepared food and they save money as well.

You might think it’s quicker or easier to do all the cooking and clean up yourself but you’ll be missing out on spending this special time with your child and the camaraderie that may develop between you. Not to mention the opportunity to teach them so many valuable life skills.

Small kitchens can prove to be a nightmare for even the most intrepid of home organizers. The lack of space, amount of possessions, and frequency of use can make the room quite a challenge. However, do not give up hope yet; there are ways to turn your kitchen into a well-oiled machine devoted to cooking, party hosting, and any other culinary adventures. It is not about buying the right product, or having the best kind of cabinet space. Instead, it is about good evaluation of what you have, what you need, and how you can put it altogether in an efficient way.

The first step is to set aside a day or two in which you can begin the organization process. Once you reach the time you have allotted for the work, get going. You may need to completely clear out all of your cabinets, drawers, pantries, and cupboards. This is when things begin to get interesting. The first thing to do is to sort the items based on type. When that process has run its course, sort each smaller group based on how often the items are used. Now it is time to begin thinking about how each item is going to fit within the various spaces you have around your kitchen. Thankfully, there are many products available to make your small kitchen seem massive.

The products that you should consider purchasing mostly depend on the types of items that you have. For example, if you have lots of pots and pans that you use frequently, you may want to consider buying a hanging rack. While these racks can be troublesome because they leave your items exposed to the potential hazards of dust, they also save tremendous amounts of space in cabinets, save you from the hassle of constantly stacking and taking apart stacks of pots and pans. Hanging these items can also contribute positively to the decoration of your kitchen.

Other storage products to consider for your kitchen range from the elaborate to the extremely mundane. The elaborate items can be anything from color-coded recycling bins to kitchen islands on wheels. These items tend to be expensive, but wildly useful. If you have the money, the options are limitless. Organizers that are more mundane are available in many shapes and sizes, and these items can often be found to fit just about any budget. Popular choices often center on small, hard to find places that are perfect for storing items such as spice containers, plastic wrap, and other items. These items are often used on a daily basis.

One of the more ingenious contraptions out there is a special drawer that holds all of your spices. Rather than simply leaving the design as a basic drawer that makes it difficult to reach all of the items packed into the space, this product actually has a hinge so the door can swing completely open, and give you easy access to all of your spices. Products such as these can do wonders to make your kitchen a more efficient area.

Once you have assessed the needs of your kitchen, it is time to put things back together again. A few important details should be kept in mind while settling into a kitchen organization scheme. The first is having the perfect fridge to sink to oven triangle. Since most of your work in the kitchen revolves around going from your fridge to get ingredients, to your sink/counter area to prepare them, and then to the stove for cooking them, you should make sure that you have a solid route to move easily from one to the other without deviating from the path. You should also take into account the kind of cooking that you are going to be doing. More specifically, the numbers of people that you are likely to cook for should be taken into account. If you host parties often, then be sure to have items designed for large numbers of people easily accessible. It is natural to fill large serving bowls with smaller items to save space.

Alternatively, maybe you end up tucking away all of your “for company only” items in all of the hard to reach places. If you host quests often, you should avoid this at all costs. The mess of getting to these items can break your system and your kitchen may become a mess again. Be sure to nip them in the bud before they become a problem.

From this point, things should be much more manageable. A small kitchen can be a blessing in many ways, but if you let things get disorganized and cluttered, it will quickly turn into a curse. Finding the right organizational style for your needs is paramount to having success when organizing your cooking space.