The Crunchy Mommy

I never understood the appeal of a slow-cooker... I mean what's the point when you actually like to cook anyway? But as the weather turns colder and the big old bear in me comes out, (You know, the one who wants to hibernate under the covers for the entire cold season?) I find myself desiring to heed the advice to just keep a pot of beans or something else healthy and filling in the crock all day so people can feed themselves when they're hungry. Then Mommy can huddle under her super-soft blankies on the couch while we school, read, and sleep away the cold weather.

The only problem being, of course, that I didn't own a crock pot.

In comes my wonderful husband, who -brace yourselves because i know you're going to be jealous!- has the sweetest tendency to suddenly show up with very useful items I've casually mentioned I would like to have.

(I'm not asking for them, I promise! It will just come up in conversation and I, not thinking, will say 'Oh I could use one of those!' or 'If I had one of these, this would be so much simpler!' and it always seems to appear in my darlings hands a few days later!)

Thus, a couple of weeks ago, an awesome, HUGE, automated crock-pot magically appeared on my kitchen counter!

Now, you may be wondering why I am starting with menu planning when there's so much more organizing that can and should be done in the kitchen. The reason is simple:


Ok, maybe you can. But I bet if you do, you end up eating processed foods a lot more than you'd like to admit! We did too, before menu planning became part of my week.

How do you get started menu planning? It can seem like an overwhelming task- you have to come up all that food you're going to eat, make a grocery list for a week (or more) in advance, and how do you know what your family is going to want to eat on a particular day?

Don't get overwhelmed! The simplest way to start menu planning is to keep a notebook on your kitchen counter and write down a meal every time you eat it, and what all you used in cooking that meal. Then, after a couple of weeks, you have a nice little list of foods your family enjoys along with a shopping list, so you just repeat!

If you're more into instant gratification, you still need to start simple. Gather up your favorite recipes for breakfast, lunch, and supper and put them all together in a binder. You can decorate it if you want, but it's not necessary- just give it a home somewhere that's easily accessible for both cooking and planning (You may need to move that part of your home management into the kitchen unless you want a workout dashing back and forth to check how much vanilla extract is left when you're making out your grocery list!)



Now, get a piece of paper and divide it into 3 rows: Breakfast, Lunch, and Supper. Or you can print out my personal favorite (the one pictured below) from here. Flip through your recipe book and as a meal stands out, write it down and pick a day. (Be sure to check your calendar to see what you're doing that day so you'll know if you will have time to cook that particular meal!)

As you decide on meals, open the cabinets and see if you are running low on the ingredients, and add it to your shopping list.



Now, for the clincher: Take those recipes out of the binder as you find them. Move them all to the front. That way, when you are standing over the stove at 6am with sleep in your eyes, you're not hunting for that crepe recipe that doesn't need to sit over night that you planned on cooking that morning!




See? It's not complicated at all! Before long, you'll be able to plan as you go instead of devoting an entire block of time to it once or twice a week! And being ready to USE your kitchen is the first step to having it organized, regardless of size, for your family!

Got your attention?

I am not starting this today, but I've been thinking a lot about it and I do believe that I am finally going to post to you a series on organizing a small kitchen for a large family!

Now, you might ask, "What makes this woman think she can tell me how to organize MY kitchen? It can't be done!! My kitchen is just too small, my family is just too large... I need a renovation or, better yet, a bigger house!" I am here to tell you that I can tell you how to organize your kitchen- it's just up to you to know whether or not you're going to listen to me!

My kitchen is 12x10. Not only do I keep a kosher kitchen, but I also buy groceries for the month for 8 people (that's including FOUR BOYS and one hungry husband)as well as extras for holidays and treats and special occasions. We don't buy convenience foods: we bake, we slice, dice, and puree. We stir-fry and broil, and saute. We make sauces. Tonight the girls and I are making cinnamon rolls from scratch.

But that's not all. I use my kitchen as "Command Central" for my house: My desk is in the kitchen and office supplies, my gardening supplies, book, and small tools, the kids' school supplies and umpteen- million books are in here, we have a 2x3 dance floor, ballet barre, my tools and building supplies, and scrapbook and other craft project supplies and projects in various stages of completion... all stored in this small area. Sounds like a lot of things in a small space doesn't it?

Let me tell you something.

My kitchen isn't cluttered. Things are not lost, never to be found. The only things sitting on my kitchen counters are a bowl of fruit, 2 vases of flowers, a microwave, and a coffee maker. I could walk to the cabinets and find exactly what I'm looking for, and I have SPARE room in all my cabinets that could be filled up! I'm not superwoman, and my house does get messy (who's doesn't with a houseful of children?!) but in this one area, in this one thing- I know I know what I'm talking about. And I want to share that information with you because your kitchen should be the heartbeat of your home and too often it's the most hated room in the house. So- It's my hope that someone, even just one person is blessed by what I'm planning on sharing.

I think I will post one day a week until we work our way all the way through, and we'll get started next Wednesday.

Whatcha think?