Get Organized Now! Weblog

Organizing a Breakfast Plan

My husband can eat the same exact breakfast every single morning and be perfectly happy. For me, however, I need more variety.

I try to avoid high-carb breakfast foods that pack on the calories, such as pancakes and french toast--on most days.

Instead, I have a healthy 7-day breakfast plan, that I change up a bit for variety.

Here's how a typical week's worth of breakfasts looks for me:

Monday: Oatmeal or cereal, and fruit

Tuesday: Peanut butter or sliced avocado with whole wheat Wheat Thins

Wednesday: Eggs (scrambled, poached or hard boiled), usually with ham or Canadian bacon and/or a fruit cup

Thursday: Plain Greek yogurt with fruit

Friday: Fruit, cheese and nuts

Saturday: Homemade waffles, pancakes, french toast or egg casserole and fruit

Sunday: We usually go out to Perkins after Mass and have a late breakfast/lunch combination there

In having a weekly plan drawn up, I don't have to think too hard about what to make for breakfast, and I can plan ahead to ensure I always have the ingredients I need readily available.

I'm a proponent of 'breakfast is the most important meal of the day.' It's that meal that helps me get going, and gives me enough energy to last me until lunchtime.

Keeping Track of Cookbook Recipes

I have dozens of beautiful cookbooks and I use them all the time. Some of them have provided recipes that are now 'regulars' that we eat fairly often. I've found others that make great potluck dishes or holiday treats.

Since many of these books are so lovely, I can't make written notes in them. I just can't bear the thought of 'writing' in my cookbooks.

BUT, it is important to a) remember those dishes that I've already attempted to make, b) remember anything I did to deviate from the ingredients or steps and c) whether or not we enjoyed that recipe enough to make again.

Using my computer, I make a 'Cheat Sheet' for each of my cookbooks AND an additional running index.

The cheat sheet is one piece of paper (printed from an Excel spreadsheet I created) that lists each recipe I've made in that book, the page it's on, notes, and a rating...10 equals LOVED it and 1 equals hated it. That page is folded to fit and is inserted in between the front cover and the first page of each cookbook.

In addition, I created a 5 column spreadsheet called 'Recipes to Make Again' that lists recipes, recipe categories, quick descriptions, cookbook titles and page numbers. This is a running list that I store on my computer and can open any time. If I'm searching for chicken, I just use my 'Find' feature and I can easily find what I'm looking for. I also like the fact that I can sort by category, cookbook, etc. as needed.

My 'cookbook system' has made it so easy for me to find exactly what I'm looking for and to ensure I don't make a recipe we didn't like...twice.

Serving Ice Cream at an Upcoming Party?

Serving ice cream at an upcoming party? Begin scooping before the party begins!

Grab a cupcake tin and line it with paper baking cups. Scoop an appropriate amount of ice cream into each. Each cup is one serving.

When they're all filled, pop the tin back into the freezer for several hours. When it's time for ice cream, just hand out the pre-portioned cups and you're done!

Added benefits: Nobody having to wait (and whine) for ice cream AND the ability to have individual servings of any flavor at your supermarket!

Make a Restaurant Notebook

My family enjoys eating out once each week, and sometimes we like to venture out to new places.

We keep a restaurant notebook in the car. As we're out and about, if someplace looks interesting, we jot down the name and location--one page per restaurant. We might even look it up on the Web when we get home to check out menus, prices, specials and so on.

When Friday or Saturday night rolls around, we just open up our notebook and pick one of the places we're written down. When we're done eating, we jot down notes about our eating experience, what we liked and/or didn't like about the establishment, if we'd return, and any other pertinent notes. This has proven to be an excellent resource to have in the car.

A small, 3-ring binder, that allows you to add/remove pages easily and sort the pages, would work even better. Another possibility is to keep a set of index cards and a small recipe-size box in the car--again, you can easily move the cards around when necessary, sorting them alphabetically, by cuisine, or by geographical area.

November is National Clean Out Your Refrigerator Month

Ok, I'll admit that we humans have come up with some silly- sounding monthly events, but this one is sure to be an enormous help--especially since Thanksgiving is approaching and you're likely going to need space for turkey and pumpkin pie.

What's lurking in your refrigerator? If you don't know, now is the perfect time to find out. Gulp!

I recommend you empty out your fridge--and freezer. Clean the inside, and then begin returning the identifiable foods that are still safe to eat, and that you're still planning to eat.

Don't take up space in the fridge with food and beverages that are just going to sit there for another 6 months unused. Even if it's a full bottle of salad dressing that you only used once and discovered you didn't care for, get rid of it. Why keep it if you and your family members are not going to eat it?

If you find something and you're not sure what it is, just toss it. In the future, label your food packages and containers with the contents and the date you stored them.

A Fun, Creative Way to Serve up Dinner

I was catching up with some of my favorite blog feeds this morning, and came across a super-fun, kids-will- love-it tip on the Katie the Scrapbook Lady Blog

Muffin tin meals!

Basically, you serve up dinner in muffin tins to each family member--separating each type of food into one of the 6 available cups.

You can have different themes, such as:

Italian Night:
Pasta Shells
Mini Ravioli
Dipping Sauce
Meatballs
Bread
Salad

Lunch Box Special:
Sandwich
Carrot Sticks
Fruit, like grapes or cut apples
Goldfish Crackers
Chips
Mini Cookies

Breakfast Mix:
Cereal
French Toast Strips
Syrup
Eggs
Fruit
Yogurt

The possibilities are endless! This can even be fun for adults with hor d-oeuvres for a unique dinner party starter.

Have fun with it and let us know what some of your 6-cup muffin tin combinations were.

Happy Fat Tuesday!

Mardi Gras, which in French translates to Fat Tuesday, is officially the day before Ash Wednesday. The day is also commonly referred to as Shrove Tuesday or Pancake Day and can occur anytime between February 3rd and March 9th, depending on when Easter is held that particular year.

Tonight, our family is attending a pancake dinner. Whether you celebrate Fat Tuesday or not, why not have breakfast for dinner tonight? Whether you have children at home or not, this is a nice change of pace to the typical dinner meals.

You may even opt to eat out at a local diner-type restaurant--they usually serve breakfast all day and all night.

Changing things up once in awhile, keeps dinnertime fresh and fun!

California family finds $10,000 in box of crackers

Source: Associated Press

IRVINE, Calif. The box of Annie's Sour Cream and Onion Cheddar Bunny crackers that Debra Rogoff bought at the grocery store included something extra--an envelope stuffed with $10,000.

Yet the Irvine woman was more curious than ecstatic. After all, who would leave money in such a place?

'We just thought, `This is someone's money,' she said. 'We would never feel good about spending it.'

The family called police and was initially told the money could be part of a drug drop.

But police later heard from store managers at Whole Foods in Tustin that an elderly woman had come in a few days earlier, hysterical because she had mistakenly returned a box of crackers with her life savings inside. In a mix- up, the store restocked the box. The woman, whose identity wasn't released, had lost faith in her bank and decided the box would be a safer place for the money.

Luckily for her, the box of crackers were bought by the Rogoffs, who found the crisp $100 bills in an unmarked white envelope.

The Rogoffs never heard from the woman and didn't receive a reward, but Rogoff did return to Whole Foods a couple weeks later.

'I asked them if I could have another box of crackers,' she said with a laugh. The store obliged.

Moral of this story...

It's never a good or organized idea to stick your life savings in a box of crackers!

Mom, Can I Have a Snack?

I used to hear this question all day long from my 3 year old daughter, Amanda--until I came up with a new system.

I always allow a certain number of healthy snacks throughout the day, as long as meals are eaten. Instead of trying to think something up every time Amanda asks me for a snack, I get all of her snacks ready for the next day--the night before.

* In the pantry, I have a kid-size Hello Kitty bucket. Using small zip-lock snack bags, I portion out appropriate snacks such as raisins, Quaker Oat Squares, nuts, pretzels and graham crackers.

* In the kitchen, I've dedicated the bottom shelf on the refrigerator door for Amanda only. I include pre-portioned snacks such as fruit, apple sauce, yogurt and cheese.

* There is also a small fruit basket within her reach on the counter, with apples, bananas and so on.

Now, whenever Amanda wants a snack, she just looks in her bucket, basket or on her fridge shelf and takes what she wants. She knows she cannot take from anywhere except those snacks designated specifically for her.

If, for some reason, she doesn't eat most of her regular meals, the snacks are then off limits--the bucket gets moved to a high shelf for example, until she eats her next meal and at which time it gets moved back into her reach.

We've been using this system for a week now, and it's working like a charm. We never hear, 'Can I have a snack?' and we know exactly what she has been eating during the day. In the evening, there's often snacks left over that she hasn't chosen--which stay in the bucket, basket or fridge for the next day. We replenish her snack 'areas' each night and we're all set for the next day.

Easter Wishes and Easter Pie

I just wanted to take a few moments to wish you and your family a very lovely Easter, Passover, spring, or whatever wonderful time of year you choose to celebrate.

While I often hold Easter lunch at my house, this year we've decided to go out to brunch. We'll be going to the Pfister Hotel in the heart of downtown Milwaukee, WI. How nice it will be to enjoy each other's company, without the thought of cooking or cleaning anything!

We were originally thinking of taking a walk down by Lake Michigan afterwards, but it's pretty chilly this week. Yesterday, the high hit just 40 degrees. So, unless we have a warm front come in, we'll likely be spending the second half of our day at the Milwaukee Public Museum.

Whatever your plans may be, I wish you a peaceful, joyous and stress-free, organized day.

By the way, here is one of my all-time favorite Easter Recipes -- I'll be making these the day before Easter.

Italian Easter Pie
Makes 2 Pies

Ingredients:

4 (9 inch) unbaked pie crusts
2 pounds ricotta cheese
6 eggs
8 ounces mozzarella cheese, grated
1 pound cooked ham, chopped
1/2 pound Genoa salami, chopped
1/4 pound prosciutto, chopped
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).

Place ricotta in a large mixing bowl and add eggs one at a time while mixing on low speed. Stir in mozzarella, ham, salami, and prosciutto until all ingredients are well combined. Line two 9 inch pans with pastry. Spoon half of mixture into each pan. Sprinkle half of the Parmesan cheese over each pie, then cover with top pastry. Crimp edges and cut steam vents in tops.

Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour, until crust is golden brown. Cool on racks.

Enjoy!