An Epiphany About Reorganizing

If you've been paying attention to my weekly to-do lists lately, you've noticed that I've been on something of an organization kick. So far, I've been working my way through our bookshelves, our built-in cabinets, the freezer, my closet, and my nightstand.

It's my natural tendency to love organization and for everything to have its place. There's something soothing about knowing where things are when you need them. So when my husband and I first moved into this little apartment of ours, I took my time trying to think through the process of where each piece belonged, grouping like items together, finding apt-sized containers to corral smaller items, trying to think ahead about where I might look for a certain object.

And for the past year, the organization has worked. When my husband asks where something is, I can usually tell him within one or two guesses—it's either here or there.

But lately, I've started looking at this humble abode of ours with new eyes. I've started to think, "Now what if I rearranged that?" "Is there a way I could make this arrangement even better, even more practical?" "Where is space being wasted?"

And as I've asked myself these questions, I've started getting new ideas, seeing new solutions and fine-tuning the layout and structure to make something that worked well to work even better. The lights click on and keep clicking as I make my way through our cupboard and shelves and drawers.

It's been an epiphany to realize that I don't have to wait until something needs to be fixed, but I can be preemptive and bring improvement now. Normally, if something is working well, I leave it as is and don't mess with it until need be. But over the course of a year, things that I thought would work inevitably show less practicality or stumble slowly into disarray. 

And so I'm discovering and relishing the opportunity to, slowly but surely, look at this little realm of ours and find little ways to make it work better for us. Which goes to show that it's never too late or too early for a little change.

For the month of December, I’m taking a break from writing new posts to better enjoy the holidays with family and friends. Instead, I’ll be sharing some of my favorite posts from my first two years of blogging here. I hope you enjoy getting to do a little time-traveling with me, and I’ll be back to ring in the new year with all new posts! (Click here to see today’s original post.) 

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Learning to Live Proverbs 31: Cultivating the Art of Resourcefulness

One of the things I’ve noticed since getting married is how suddenly it put my homemaking urge into overdrive. Given, much of it boils down to necessity: Living for two essentially on a one-income salary, there’s a greater need for me to learn how to make things stretch.
I’ve always had an eye for sales and mark-downs and flitting from Target to thrift shop to TJ Maxx. But now, there seems a purpose to it. And I am enjoying the “challenge” of learning to make-do, to see the benefit it makes to our family now, and knowing the foundation it is laying for the future.

We’re all familiar with the wifely image presented in Proverbs 31, she who is “of noble character” and “worth far more than rubies.” When I went back and read that section a few days ago, I took note of how much of that section focuses on the work of her hands.

There are about 20 verses that describe what it is about her that makes her so commendable. Of those verses, 11 revolve around the work she does for her household to provide and prepare it for the future.

In one of the books on the role of a Christian wife that I read, the author emphasized that women learn to be content and resourceful with what they do have. Oftentimes (especially if you are a stay-at-home mother), there’s little you can do about your income.

But as a wife who deals with much of the day-to-day decisions of the household, you have the ability to put your creativity to use and bridge this gap through your savings, your spending and your handy DIY projects.

These are the things God has placed in our hands; we are called to appreciate those gifts, make the most of them and avoid lamenting other things we wish we had.

So for now, while I’m still a newlywed and still awhile away from motherhood, I’m starting small on this journey of homemaking. I don’t expect to figure out all the corners to cut or save every single penny. What I do want to do is learn and keep learning how to do this.

Right now, that means things like learning how to make store-bought items from scratch, scouring sale ads from local groceries and even clipping coupons, which I never understood until now. For now, those baby steps are good enough for me.

She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.
- Proverbs 31:27

For the month of December, I’m taking a break from writing new posts to better enjoy the holidays with family and friends. Instead, I’ll be sharing some of my favorite posts from my first two years of blogging here. I hope you enjoy getting to do a little time-traveling with me, and I’ll be back to ring in the new year with all new posts! (Click here to see today’s original post.)

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Confessions in Homemaking

Truth: I used to plan out my meals every week, print them out in a spreadsheet and hang them on my fridge.

Confession: That lasted all of a month before I realized that, while I truly do love my spreadsheets and being super organized, they just don’t work for me when it comes to mealtime.

Whenever I read online, I see so many bloggers who sing the praises of weekly meal planning. And I get it, it can be helpful and can really streamline dinnertime. But for me? It was stressful.

When it came time to eat, I didn’t really want what I’d put on the menu. I found that planning our meals caused me to want to get more extravagant with our meals than we really are. We are sloppy-joe kinda folks, not “Tilapia Fillets en Papillote” (whatever that means).

So, I decided to scrap the practice.

Relief! Fresh air!

This is what works for me, for now in this season. No spreadsheet, I just think a few days ahead. Pin a few days in mind to try something new or work around a wonky schedule. Leave a few days where nothing is planned, and I pick it depending on what my taste buds announce sounds good that day. (However, I always make sure to have a well-stocked pantry, so this doesn’t send me running to the grocery store!)

It is flexible, forgiving. It is what works for me.

Homemaking can be so much of comparing ourselves to one another, thinking that because all the other women in blogland are doing it, we ought to, too. But that’s not what homemaking is about. Homemaking is about embracing this art of making our homes comforting and uplifting places for ourselves and our families.

For me, it means that I make my own bread but plan my meals by the seat of my pants. All of my measuring cups have a place, but I don't always put them away, right away. For you, it may mean that you chart your meals out on paper a month in advance. For another, it may mean ordering pizza and keeping the floors spic-n-span. And for another, it may mean those gourmet meals that are completely in a foreign language. And not a single one of those is any better than the other. Not a single one.

Because what works for me, may not work for you. What brings me joy may be torture for you. And that’s okay! Let’s be kinder, gentler on ourselves with this whole homemaking thing. Stop comparing ourselves to everyone else and just enjoy this for what it is: Learning—oftentimes through trial and error—what it is that makes our house a home.

And we all say together: Relief! Fresh air! 

What does homemaking look like to you? How do you make it work for your home and personality? 

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Dishes and papers pile up, and I'm okay with that...

With it being a holiday weekend and all, I've committed myself to spending this weekend relaxing. You can see the vestiges of this all around me, in papers not put away, dishes waiting to be washed, pillows tossed aside, which I caught here in photos to share. Because life is not meant to be perfect and mine certainly is not.



(Consider these the lived-in versions of the photos featured in the Apartment Tour that I showcased a few months ago!)

Really, this is nothing all that different from any other day. There are always piles of paper and always dishes and clothes to be washed. Really, the only difference is that I guess right now, I have the excuse to say that it's intentional.



This morning as I looked all around at these little souvenirs of my laidback homemaking, I smiled.

I smiled because I'm okay with these little, tiny messes. Instead of flitting around, picking up and putting away like my life depends on it, I'm able to see these piles and mounds and spills and not really take notice of them. A clean house can be really stressful when you live that way, and there was a time when that was how it was for me.



But somewhere along the way, I've learned the beautiful art of letting go and tending to the other things in life that matter much more.

Like relishing this weekend of rest. I hope you are doing the same!



(Doesn't that verse just sum it all up? I think so!)

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Finding New Uses for Glass Jars

Do you hold on to used glass jars, from things like canned pasta sauce or condiments? Awhile ago, I started feeling guilty about pitching so many into the recycling bin and decided there must be something I can start using them for. At first, I picked the really pretty jars--specifically the checkered-top Bonne Maman strawberry jelly jars.

Then, we were going through so many jars of salsa, I decided to stash some of those. Then came the oversized spaghetti sauce jars. And then a few more tiny jars with cute features that I figured I might as well hold on to.

To the point of where we must have at least a dozen glass jars (all with the lids!) stacked inside our pantry, de-labeled, washed and ready to be put to use.

For instance, I've got an old apple-sauce jar for our dried black beans; a pasta-sauce jar contains pasta; a maple-syrup bottle houses olive oil; the original over-sized olive oil bottle now contains a water-and-vinegar mixture for cleaning purposes; jelly jars house coffee grinds and leftover coffee from the morning (which I use for making an occasional cold coffee); a super-cute apple-juice bottle contains simple syrup for mixing into my coffee (whether hot or cold); and those salsa jars now hold staples like salt and sugar (labeled so I make sure to tell them apart!).

Slowly but surely, I'm finding uses for them, trying to get away from using plastic containers for storage (especially with hot liquids/foods). And the fact that they don't leak is definitely a plus, and a hard-to-come feature with plastic!

I'm enjoying the satisfaction of being able to find a new use for something I would have otherwise never seen again. It makes me feel resourceful and more homemaker-y to see old jars find new purposes around our home!


Do you re-use glass jars? Any fun uses you've found for them around the house?

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A List of the New Recipes I've Tried

For the past couple of months, I've made an effort to try one new recipe a week. It's not something I'm stringent on; some weeks I'll try three or four and other weeks might skid by without a newbie at all. Essentially though, it's a challenge I've set for myself to get more comfortable in the kitchen and try new things.

(Another consequence has been that I've gotten much more acquainted with my grocery store aisles, trying to track down things like wheat germ and balsamic vinegar. Without fail, I always end up in the baking aisle and walk up and down looking for some item. With the balsamic vinegar, I stood in front of the huge Kroger olive- and vegetable-oil section, reading each and every label with no luck. A couple of shopping trips later, I discovered the vinegar tucked away in the condiments aisle!)

So, I've started clipping more and more recipes (from blogs, magazines and copying down recipes from cookbooks found at the library), which then compelled me to overhaul my little recipe basket (pictures in all it's homemade glory above!). Every couple of weeks, I'll finger through my collection and sort out the ones I'd like to try or that I have most of the ingredients for, and pin those to the fridge by my shopping list. This process has been helpful for me to stay acquainted with my recipes and try to plan out menus in advance (although I haven't made a week-long menu spreadsheet in quite awhile!).

I thought I'd go through and share some of the recipes I've checked off my list (linked to recipes, where possible):
Black bean burgers
Blue cheese and dried cherry meatloaf (in the crockpot)
Chicken pot pie
Chicken burgers
Chicken ole foil supper
Cornbread from scratch
Guacamole
Granola (tasty) and granola bars (not so much)
Homemade hamburger buns
Homemade breads, bagels, english muffins
Homemade pizza dough
Honey-glazed carrots
Maple-walnut chicken
Penne with asparagus, spinach and bacon
Polenta (yuck!)
Pumpkin pudding
Southwestern pot pie
Sweet potato and black bean chili
Veggie lasagna
Wheat berry salad (I haven't been able to track down wheat berries at the grocery store, but just using barley has been delish! Anyone care to enlighten me about where I can find them?)
Yogurt in a crockpot

What about you--any new recipes to share? I’m always up for new inspiration, so please leave any suggestions in the comments, or let me know if you have tried any of the recipes I’ve shared on here!

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A Love-Hate Relationship with my Bread Maker

one successful loaf of homemade bread!

There's a great sense of satisfaction I get out of being able to point at something and say, "I made that," whether it's art on our walls, a skirt in my closet or yogurt in the fridge. As I've endeavored to expand my prowess in the kitchen, one of my goals has been to make more and more things from scratch. On that list is learning to make my own bread.

As I considered this, I remembered that my mom had an old bread maker sitting in the basement that she rarely uses. So I asked if I could borrow it as I set out on my bread-making experimentations. Of course she said yes (she's my mom!), so Michael and I hauled the large white contraption home, and set it on the countertop, saddled just beside our coffee maker. I checked out a bread-machine cookbook from the library and set to work, seeing what kinds of homemade goodies me and my newfound friend could whip up.

Let me just say, it has not been quite as easy as I thought it would, and sometimes the bread maker seems more foe than friend. To date, I've had about as many bread-making successes as I have had failures:

Delicious: two loaves of wheat bread; one batch of hamburger buns; two batches of pizza dough
Disappointments: beer bread; dinner rolls; hamburger buns (this was after the first successful batch!); English muffins

Part of me wants to throw in the (dish) towel and give up--stick to the grocery-store shelves like everyone else. But another part of me--the part that is committed to conquering the kitchen once and for all--desperately wants to press on and through these culinary hiccups.

So in the spirit of second (and third and fourth) tries, I fired up the bread machine and poured in some water, eggs, flour, yeast for a new wheat bread recipe. And do you know what garnished our breakfast table this morning? Toasted homemade bread--with storebought strawberry jam. (I know when to stop while I'm ahead!)

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A mini-tour of our apartment: Getting creative with storage

 
Continuing the mini-tour of our apartment I wanted to share a vignette from our hallway and some more makeshift answers to our lack of storage. As I mentioned before, our apartment has a great amount of living space, but not much storage. This has caused us to have to get creative.

Our bathroom in particular offers little storage room, except for under the sink and a basket we've placed over the toilet. But with boxes of toiletries and stacks of towels and washcloths, we needed more than that provided.

We ended up placing an extra bookshelf in the hall outside the bathroom and turning into a storage station. After buying a few packages of white, cardboard boxes from IKEA (originally intended for coralling CDs), I was able to label each box and organize our toiletries: One box holds all our medicines and first-aid type needs; another hides toothbrushes, toothpaste and floss; another is for shower gels and soaps; another for haircare; and a last one for miscellaneous goods.

Over the bookshelf and our stack of clean towels, I put up a hodge podge of thriftstore-find paintings and framed photographs in a gallery-type arrangement. For a long time, I'd wanted to try something like this, and I like how it gives place and purpose to the bookcase, sitting randomly in our hallway.

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Kitchen Tip for Easily Chopping Potatoes

I've mentioned before the love we have for sweet potatoes in our house--which equates to quite a bit of chopping up those vegetables.

One day, as I was struggling to push the knife through yet another sweet potato, my husband wandered in and remembered a tip from his days working in a restaurant that prepared all its food fresh: Soak the potatoes in a bowl of water for a couple of minutes before slicing and dicing, and the culinary task will become ever so much easier.

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The Fruits of the Freezer: Getting More Out of Your Produce

image from x-ray_delta_one

One thing I've started trying to do more of is making use of my freezer. Especially when only cooking for two, there's a lot of room for food--and produce especially--to go to waste. But after doing some research, I discovered that, with the right amount of preparation, you can freeze just about anything.

So, in our freezer you'll find whole lemons, potato wedges, cubes of frozen chicken and vegetable broth, an extra loaf of bread, carrot sticks, even onion and garlic cloves. Not only does this cut down on food waste but also on many last-minute grocery store runs, if all you have to do is thaw and defrost.

I've also found that buying the produce fresh and then freezing it myself is more cost-efficient. (Plus, I like the satisfying hands-on, DIY aspect of it!)

I'd like to get more adept at making more meals in bulk and freezing extra portions for later, but that will come in time. (A good cookbook for that is "Don't Worry: More Dinner's in the Freezer," but I haven't made anything from it yet.) For now, I'm living--and learning--by baby steps!

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Helpful Homemaking Tip: Meal planning with spreadsheets

photo by njum

So I'd heard about people doing weekly meal planning and thought it sounded like a good idea, but how necessary is it when you're only cooking for two people?

Well, given that I'm not really a foodie and quite satisfied with a good club sandwich, it didn't take long for me to see the light: We were getting to the point where it seemed like every night there were 4 dinner options to choose from--pasta, veggie burgers, tacos/quesidillas or salad. Frankly, I was getting burnt out and overwhelmed at the idea of "what's for dinner?" or trying to hunt for a recipe last-minute.

So, while I was catching up on my blog reading, I read a post on Passionate Homemaking. The post was talking about how she takes one hour each week to prep for the coming week--including planning her meals.

Though I'd heard it before, this is when it clicked: I. Need. That. Something to guide me through my culinary quandries and take the stress out of it.

A bit more Googling brought me to a downloadable Excel spreadsheet for weekly menu planning. You can customize it and add in your own typical eating fare. (We don't do much meat, so this was great for our needs.) Brilliant.

Then, when menu-planning (and grocery-shopping) time comes, all it takes is a few clicks of a button and you're set. I even added a section of "Recipes to Try" with notes about any required ingredients that we don't normally keep in our pantry.

What's on the menu tonight? Among other things, a new glazed-carrots recipe I found online. Bon appetit!

Linked up at Kitchen Tip Tuesdays!

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What a step of faith looks like: Living in anticipation of our future goals

photo by denis defreyne 

Yesterday, I touched on the idea of making do with what you have as a characteristic of the Proverbs 31 wife. Toward the end, I mentioned that I'm doing much of this in preparation for the day when I have a family, even though we're a couple years away from that (at least accordding to our plan!).

When I was still single, I read a book that talked about the idea of living in anticipation of our future goals. The aptly named book, Get Married by Candice Watters, revolved around the idea of a woman's desire to be married. The author encouraged readers to live like they're going to be married--that is, act in a manner befitting of a wife. That translates to things like not being a flirt or being wise with your finances (since a husband will inherit your debt, too).

She notes that this kind of preparatory train of thought is an outward act of faith: Even though, in the case of the book, the reader is single and marriage seems far off, once you put this desire before God in prayer, you then begin preparing in these sorts of ways because you expect him to answer. That is stepping out in faith.

Since then, I have clung to this idea and tried to live it out, from my prayers for marriage to my prayers for new jobs. I have also begun applying it to my prayers for the day when I become a mother and start raising our family.

Even though it may not be for a couple years that this prayer comes to fruition (and for now we're glad for that, while Michael finishes up school!), I want to begin learning the art of homemaking now so that by the time this is in full-swing and I have a little one depending on me, I will be prepared. I won't look at my cupboards and freak out because I don't know what to make for dinner. I won't look at our finances and freak out because we haven't prepared for this transition. I know that when that time comes, I'll have enough to worry about as it is. I want to live today to make tomorrow as promising and fulfilling as possible.

For me, I am learning to live like I'm going to be a parent. But for you, it may be some other prayer that God has laid on your heart--a job, a spouse, a healing, a specific provision. Consider what steps of faith you can do today to pave the way for tomorrow's answered prayer. Hebrews 11:1 encourages us, "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see."

... She looks forward to the future with joy.
Proverbs 31:25

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Learning to Live Proverbs 31: Cultivating the Art of Resourcefulness

photo by tillwe

One of the things I’ve noticed since getting married is how suddenly it put my homemaking urge into overdrive. Given, much of it boils down to necessity: Living for two essentially on a one-income salary, there’s a greater need for me to learn how to make things stretch.

I’ve always had an eye for sales and mark-downs and flitting from Target to thrift shop to TJ Maxx. But now, there seems a purpose to it. And I am enjoying the “challenge” of learning to make-do, to see the benefit it makes to our family now, and knowing the foundation it is laying for the future.

We’re all familiar with the wifely image presented in Proverbs 31, she who is “of noble character” and “worth far more than rubies.” When I went back and read that section a few days ago, I took note of how much of that section focuses on the work of her hands. There are about 20 verses that describe what it is about her that makes her so commendable. Of those verses, 11 revolve around the work she does for her household to provide and prepare it for the future.

In one of the books on the role of a Christian wife that I read, the author emphasized that women learn to be content and resourceful with what they do have. Oftentimes (especially if you are a stay-at-home mother), there’s little you can do about your income. But as a wife who deals with much of the day-to-day decisions of the household, you have the ability to put your creativity to use and bridge this gap through your savings, your spending and your handy DIY projects. These are the things God has placed in our hands--we are called to appreciate those gifts, make the most of them and avoid lamenting other things we wish we had.

So for now, while I’m still a newlywed and still a couple years away from motherhood, I’m starting small on this journey of homemaking. I don’t expect to figure out all the corners to cut or save every single penny. What I do want to do is learn and keep learning how to do this. Right now, that means things like researching how to make store-bought items from scratch (I especially want to try homemade granola bars), scouring sale ads from local groceries and even clipping coupons, which I never understood until now. For now, those baby steps are good enough for us.

She watches over the affairs of her household
and does not eat the bread of idleness.
- Proverbs 31:27

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Learning the art of hospitality, one step at a time

photo by trainman74

 Last night, we had a couple friends over for dinner and to play board games (Scattergories to be exact, one of my faves).

Hosting a game night like that is something we picked up during our short-lived time in Grand Rapids, and one of my favorite things about the culture up there: They were such gracious hosts and hostesses, inviting people over for dinner and a movie, to play silly games or “just because.”

In Ohio, I had been used to hanging out with people in either of two settings: either at a party (ideally, themed) with lots of people (and lots of  food and lots of clean-up) or at Starbucks or a restaurant. The only game nights I went to were at my Aunt and Uncle’s houses, so this kind of in-between hosting was one of the most inspiring things I noticed about my new friends in Grand Rapids.

Perhaps it’s a consequence if living in a place with lots of snow that forces you indoors for a good chunk of the year, but I think a lot of it comes down to hospitality--something I truly want to work on. I tend to shy away from inviting people over because what if our place isn’t picture-perfect or I don’t really know what to cook? I often feel intimidated by it all, so I push it off.

But last night we decided to just dive into it. We went to Trader Joe’s and bought the little bags of readymade pizza dough and everyone made their own personal pan pizzas with a variety of on-hand toppings we had. They turned out delicious and then we went and played a couple rounds of Scattergories before calling it a night at 9pm.

It was a small step for me, but an encouraging one because we did it. We were able to ease our way into learning how to open our house and embrace simple hospitality, without any need for fanfare or over-the-top culinary creations. It was fun and it was simple. And there’s just something about it that makes me feel more grown-up, more like “this is my home.” I’d like  to get in the habit of doing this more often, to make hospitality more of a rhythm in this little newlywed life of ours…

P.S. To stay updated, you can have all my future blog posts sent directly to you via email or RSS feed by clicking on those links. (Let me know if they don't work.) Thanks for reading!

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Helpful Homemaking Tip: Keep your kitchen fresh by stashing your scraps

image from stock.xchng

When I was living in Grand Rapids, one of my co-workers invited our group of young ladies over for some appetizers. Not only did I admire the delicious dips and her gorgeous custom-made bookshelves (I think a family member had a carpentry hobby), but this one little passing comment she made when someone opened her fridge:

She keeps a bowl or coffee can in her fridge to collect any produce scraps. Once it's full, she'll bag it up and throw it away, rather than letting it sit in her kitchen trash and stink up the entire room (or luring bugs).

I thought this was a great idea, especially for those of us without a sink disposal. Michael and I have kept a large bowl tucked on our bottom shelf that has been great for collecting our scraps that we'll take out once a week or so.

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