The Best Way to Store Baking Goods
It’s almost holiday baking season! Let us show you one of our favorite baking tools…
It’s almost holiday baking season! Let us show you one of our favorite baking tools, the OXO pop container!
These air tight containers keep your baking goods fresh, all while looking great in your pantry. Your pantry can be functional and BEAUTIFUL!
Labeling them is easy and can be simple or super crafty! Chalk board labels look fantastic but simple labels work too. Need to know the date that you filled your container; use a chalk pen or wet erase marker!
Here’s a great guide to decide what size containers you need!
We’d love to see how you use your Pop Containers! Post a picture in comments!
If tackling your own pantry seems too daunting, give us a call 225-205-6400. We would love to help you!
If you want to learn the Chaos Method for yourself, check out our new online classes!
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The Lazy Susan: A Pantry's Best Friend
One of our favorite organizing tricks is to use Lazy Susan’s in the pantry! Here are a few tips when buying a Lazy Susan.
One of our favorite organizing tricks is to use Lazy Susan’s in the pantry!
Instead of moving all of the oil, vinegar, dressing bottles all around to reach the one in the back, simply put a Lazy Susan in your cabinet and spin to find your choice!
Here are a few tips when buying a Lazy Susan.
Measure your cabinet opening to make sure it fits. (This is really important in corner cabinets that are deep but have narrow openings.)
Make sure your Lazy Susan is just big enough to hold what you need but can also turn as well. Sometimes we opt to keep the large bottle of olive oil off to the side so that all of the small bottles will fit.
Make sure your Lazy Susan has an edge so that the bottles don’t fall off. A small edge is usually sufficient.
Label so you can easily find the oils vs the vinegars, etc.
Lazy Susans can also be used in other areas such as under the kitchen sink to store cleaning supplies.
Here are some of the spaces we have used them in!
Here are links to a few different kinds of Lazy Susans we like!
Need some help getting your pantry in order? Give us a call at 225-205-6400!
Want to learn how to organize your own home using the Chaos Method? Check out our new online classes!
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The Benefits of Organized Snacks
Organized snacks have 3 benefits. Read more to learn those benefits and see how we organize our snacks!
Organized snacks have 3 benefits!
Your children can get the parent approved snack ON THEIR OWN! No need to stop what you are doing!
You can see when the snack is running low and add it to the grocery list! No reaching into the pantry to find an empty box!
Your pantry looks prettier without all the cardboard and you look like a parent who is WINNING!
Win the day!Here is a link to our favorite snack bins!
Want to know how to organize your pantry? Click here to see our online classes.
Don’t have time to organize your pantry? Call 225-205-6400 and let us help you!
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Snack Solutions for Kids
I can see it like it was just yesterday, the backpacks being drug across the floor as my children walked into the kitchen looking like they were rolled in a dust pile from playing on the playground.
“MOOOM, I’M STARVING!”
Fortunately, I quickly learned that having healthy snacks on hand in the fridge or pantry made my life much more pleasant and it kept me from worrying about them eating so much junk food. (Small Mom win!)
Here are a few of our favorites.
I can see it like it was just yesterday, the backpacks being drug across the floor as my children walked into the kitchen looking like they were rolled in a dust pile from playing on the playground.
“MOOOM, I’M STARVING!”
Fortunately, I quickly learned that having healthy snacks on hand in the fridge or pantry made my life much more pleasant and it kept me from worrying about them eating so much junk food. (Small Mom win!)
Disclaimer: I’m not a nutritionist; just a mom and former kindergarten teacher that wanted to have some healthy choices for her kids to have on hand. My daughter, Riley, has learned even more smart tips now that she’s babysitting school aged children. These ideas are a conglomerate of things I did and things we’ve learned from other Mama’s through the years.
Here are a few of our favorites.
Sweet
There is nothing better than cold (or frozen) grapes after a long, hot day in a Louisiana classroom. Fruit is a big winner at our house. I also love dehydrated fruits.
As long as the apples were cut, my kids would devour them. If I left them whole, they would rot! Why is that???
To keep apples from turning brown, add a little lemon juice to the container. Using a peanut, sunflower or almond butter “dip” is a great way to add some protein too.
Also, if you are making a lunch with fruit as a side, mixed fruit is not too popular with kids for some reason. They much prefer tiny compartments with a variety of separated food.
And if your children have a sweet tooth, Trader Joes has chocolate covered bananas and strawberries that you can keep in the freezer. Let’s be honest, this Mama LOVES these too. It’s just enough to curb my sweet tooth.
Sour
Tart fruits such as grapefruits, oranges, green apples or tart cherries are a great alternative to sour patch kids!
***Cut grapes in ½. Sprinkle with some lime juice. I haven’t personally tried this but Riley says you will love it if you like sour candy!
Greek yogurt is delicious!
Lemon and Lime sparkling water is a refreshing treat too!
Salty
Baked carrot chips or kale chips are a great go to snack if your kiddos need a salty fix.
Here is a great recipe to try.
Trail mix and Veggie Straws are another great choice. You can always add dark chocolate chips to mix the sweet and salty flavors.
Hummus with cut up veggies such as carrots, celery, or bell peppers is also a healthy snack! You can put small baggies of different veggies in your fridge snack bin and the individual packs of hummus in your pantry snack bin! These are great for snacks or lunches!
Sweet Potato Fries have been a family favorite of ours.
Wash and dice your sweet potatoes. Put in a bowl; mix with olive oil and Lipton Onion Soup Mix, salt and pepper. Spread on a cookie sheet. Bake at 400 until brown and crisp on the bottom, about 15 minutes, then flip and cook until the other side is crisp, about 10 minutes. Serve hot.
Riley uses her air fryer instead of the oven to make these. Whatever your choice, it’s a healthy snack!
High Protein
My son needed protein ASAP to improve his mood. I would cut up ham or turkey along with cheddar cheese and he would devour it! You can also roll the meat slices. My kids called these “meat roll-ups” and ate them right up.
Celery or apple slices with peanut butter is also a winner. Peanut butter also comes in individual serving sizes. Be sure to check the sugar amount in the peanut butter if this is important to you.
Thin slices of salami make a great “chip” to dip in warm Brie.
I also search the Internet for great snack, lunch, and dinner ideas. Here is a blog I love with one of my kids favorites!!
Snack Bins
I had a large, plastic basket in the bottom of my pantry for the non-perishable snacks. Had I had more pantry space, I would’ve had the individual hummus cups in a bin, the individual, peanut butter cups in a bin, etc…you get the point. I didn’t have the space back then for it to be beautiful, so I did the next best thing and made it practical!
Here are my tips when choosing a bin:
Clear if possible. That way you can see when you are running low and add the items to your grocery list.
Needs to be large enough to hold a weeks worth of snacks. I really didn’t want to go to the store more than that! Who has that kind of time?
These are just a few quick go-to ideas that I hope can help you!
As for storage bins for the refrigerator or pantry, check these out!
Here is another choice from The Dollar Tree. These are not as large but work great if space is limited.
Don’t over think this! Start with something you have around your house and change it if it isn’t working.
We Mama’s have enough on our plate!
The last point I’ll make is make sure your children know that this is where to go for snacks after school. Labeling is a simple way to alleviate having to show them over and over!
Here are a few of our favorites:
We have more pantry organizing ideas in this blog. Take a look!
Meal plans can be simple as well. Here’s a great example of how to maximize your meals and minimize your groceries. I’d love to tell you that this is my meal plan, but I’m just not that good at the cooking thing! A dear friend of mine created this genius meal plan and thankfully shared it with me.
Being organized with food will take a little more planning on the front end but you will gain so much time during the week not having to run to the grocery store more than once or staring at the fridge waiting for a dinner idea to come to you. Trust me, I do not like to cook so planning was awful but needed!
Keep it simple!
Good luck y’all! I’m cheering for you!
Want to have a little fun with us while gaining some organizing tips? Join Martha-Carol and her daughter, Riley for Cocktails with Chaos on Thursday nights at 8:30pm on Facebook!
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Feeling Chaotic? How Can a Pantry Help You Win Your Day?
Finding simple solutions to help you win your day is just one of the things we do as professional organizers. Here are a few of our favorite Chaos Organizing pantries. Notice the labeled bins, categorized shelves and location of items. All of that is a well thought out plan for each of our clients specifically tailored to their family’s needs.
After a long day of work, all I wanted to do was sit down. Dinner was done. The kitchen was clean. It was finally my time.
“ Mom. I need brownies for school tomorrow.”
“What?”
“Mom!!! I told you I need to bring brownies to school tomorrow.”
In all the chaos of the busy day, I had forgotten the brownies. “Do we have any mix? I can’t seem to find any in all this mess. Who shoved an empty bag of potato chips in here.”
The bag fell out and the crumbs all fell to the floor.
“Great, another mess I need to clean up,” I thought to myself.
“We will have to stop to get some pre-made brownies in the morning. It’ll be fine,” I yelled to my daughter.
Morning:
“Hurry let’s go. Where are your shoes? Don’t you guys remember we need to make a stop on the way to school?!! Get your stuff! Let’s go! I’ve got an early morning meeting. I can’t be late. Where is your soccer bag? We have to go NOW!”
Then I realize that in all the rush, I have forgotten to make lunches and it’s meatloaf day. No one will eat if I don’t whip up some quick sandwiches. I am going to be late. Today is already a bad day and it’s only 7:00am.
This scenario is enough to give anyone heartburn. Yet, so many of us face this level of chaos on a regular basis. How do we navigate past the drama? We get organized! That’s how!
An organized pantry could eliminate the question about the brownie mix which we actually do own but forgot about or couldn’t find.
An organized pantry helps child our children learn independence because they can pack their own lunch with the healthy choices available, allowing us to focus on our own morning agenda.
An organized pantry could be part of the key to keeping peace in our home.
Finding simple solutions to help you win your day is just one of the things we do as professional organizers.
Here are a few of our favorite Chaos Organizing pantries. Notice the labeled bins, categorized shelves and location of items. All of that is a well thought out plan for each of our clients specifically tailored to their family’s needs.
Our goal is to help each of our clients win their day. Please call us at 225-205-6400 so we can help you win yours!
Need help zoning your pantry?
Check out our blog on pantry zoning!
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