This month I tackled one big project and managed to turn out a few tasty things. Read on to see what’s been going on in my kitchen…When we bought this house, I knew that the kitchen was NOT my dream kitchen. Slowly I’ve been making it my own. Once the cabinets and walls (and even the counter) were painted, I was able to move on to some smaller projects. One of the worst parts of my kitchen is the side-by-side fridge. You know how you can have a love/hate relationship with some things (or people!), well I just have a hate/hate relationship with this fridge. Biggest problem?….it’s SO narrow. It’s ridiculous narrow with shelves just 12″ wide. Try fitting a Costco pizza box in there! ha! not happening! In case you’ve forgotten I have to feed six people in this house and somehow I’m supposed to be able to store enough food in my fridge and freezer for those six people. It just doesn’t work for us. BUT I don’t see a new fridge in my future anytime soon so I’m trying to make it work. First I took on the fridge side. I am pleased to report that I’ve been able to maintain the organization and aesthetic. My family has been pretty good about keeping it tidy so that’s a plus.
Next it was time to slay the freezer. Here are the before and afters…
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So much better right??!! After taking a few measurements, I hit Target to see what I could find that would help me organize the freezer shelves. I came home with three of those gray baskets, two wire containers (meant for hanging file folders, found in the office section) and a clear shoe box size container. After a serious cleanout (#freezerburn) and playing around with the layout, this is the result. Of course I had to break out the label maker and make it pretty. 🙂 I have the baskets organized by type…
- chicken on the top shelf
- veggies and waffles on the second shelf
- fruit (for smoothies) and ice cream/sundries on the third
- meat and easy dinners in the first pull out
- kid friendly junk in the second pull out
On the door rests Nicks sausages (must be able to have easy access 😉 ) and the much used and loved ice-pack
Time will tell if this layout will work for us as well as how well the plastic containers and labels hold up in the cold air. But for today, I call this a win. Take that you stupid side-by-side!! LOL!
In other kitchen happenings…
Yummy stir-fry. No recipe for this one. I just chop up whatever veggies I have laying around, add in some onion and garlic, steam/saute it till things get softened up a bit, mix up a stir-fry seasoning packet with some soy sauce and a pinch of sugar, stir until everything is coated and serve it up with some rice.
Made this Stew from The Recipe Critic. It is amazing. Now for a slow-cooker recipe it’s not just dump everything in and go. It needs a fair amount of prep. BUT it’s totally worth it!! The flavor is amazing. Don’t skip the red wine, it really brings it together. (not my pic)
Our neighbor has a garden full of strawberries and she has encouraged the little kids to help themselves whenever they want. I will say they aren’t the most flavorful but when added in to a few berries from the grocery store, they taste great! For the shortcake I offered both angel food cake and pound cake for the base, smashed up a bunch of berries, tossed with a touch of sugar to help bring out the juices then topped with whip cream. Simple and tasty.
These lemon crumb bars from Dinner Then Dessert were delish! (not my pic)
Shrimp and Feta? Yes please! (not my pic) Feta Shrimp Skillet from Taste of Home
and finally we all enjoyed this simple Cajun Sausage, Chicken and Pasta dish from number-2-pencil.com. The sauce was super creamy! Yum! (not my pic)
Thanks for checking out what’s been going on in my kitchen this month.
