Thursday, January 27, 2011

the pantry project

I spent only couple of hours organizing my pantry so it wasn't so bad. Here are some pictures before:

I already took some things out before taking the pictures but you have a rough idea that this needed to be dealt with. First I decided to line the shelves with a plastic liner intended for kitchen cabinets. I purchased mine in IKEA.

Then I divided my food into groups and decided which shelf to place them on. I have shelves that contain: kitchen appliances

Then I have the "baking shelf" 

the snacks

the "sweet tooth" pull out shelf

container shelf with pasta and rice and similar products 

and finally the can and bottles shelf. 

I still have one shelf open right now for any future need. 


This was fun!



organizing my pantry

after a year in my new kitchen, I am finally seeing things that don't work as well (and also I see things that only a genius could have come up with ;-) and so here i am trying to get inspired by some internet articles about how to make the best out of my pantry space. it is a bit difficult if you have narrow, deep shelves. here are some images that are inspirational to me.

I particularly like the lazy susans but i am not sure if i can fit it into my pantry. And the best idea ever? The can shelving could be very useful to me.
credit to: http://abowlfulloflemons.blogspot.com/2010/12/getting-inspired-to-organize.html

It is always useful to have your containers and shelves labeled. In that case your other half cannot make an excuse that the reason they didn't put the things back was they didn't know where it goes ;-)
I also like the see through containers - you can get so many of them in the Container store. And I am off to go shopping!


Thursday, January 13, 2011

french toast for breakfast

One thing about our breakfast menu? It can never be the same. We like variety during the week. We make cereal and porridge at least once or twice a week, but the rest is usually something different, more yummy.
One of my kids' favorite! 

FRENCH TOAST


you will need:
... desired amount of slices of bread (american)
... egg (1 egg per about 3 slices)
... 1/4 cup of milk
... cinnamon
... 1 tbs of butter
... maple syrup 
... bananas

break an egg onto a deep plate and mix in milk. stir it using a fork. sprinkle cinnamon and mix it in. take a slice of bread and dip it in the egg mixture covering both sides. then place the bread on the warmed up pen (hopefully your butter is nicely melted by now) and bake it on both sides until light brown. put it on a plate and pour maple syrup over it. finally, cut slices of banana and bon appetit! if you are making a bigger amount, get a deep ceramic dish ready next to your stove and place the bread in it after you bake it. make sure to cover it and it will keep warm for a while.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

second chance at growing my first "second" avocado plant

so this is my first attempt to try to grow an avocado from a seed. It started out great - one out of two seeds sprouted almost immediately. First it cracked open and then a small root peek out of the shell. Within a month the root got pretty long and I was waiting for the small plant. But it wasn't coming and so i wanted to check on it. As I lifted the seed up, one of the toothpicks fell out and the potential avocado plant came crashing down to the ground, cracking in half...only never to live again.
And so after a few days of hope, I gave up because the only thing that happened was something white starting to grow on my tiny plant, I threw the first one away and started 2 new seeds in its place. I made fresh guacamole, washed the seeds and stabbed them through with the toothpikcs so that they can nicely hold up on the glass. After only few days I see a crack! i hope it is what I think it is because it seems to be a bit fast. But then, Maybe it feels sorry for me and therefor it's trying to hurry ;-) I will have to take pictures ;-)