Organization is the Key to Insanity
As an adult I try to stay organized. I wasn't always this way. Growing up my room looked like bomb went off in a laundromat/diner. Clothes littered the floors and glasses full of things that would make Marie Curie cringe were everywhere. I have convinced myself this is the reason for my solid constitution and lack of allergies and illnesses. I built such a tolerance and resistance to bacteria that I can eat gray ham salad from any gas station with no ill affects. Today, thankfully, I am a neat freak and clean to the point of being compulsive. I have not reached my mother's level of neurosis in this field - I believe that to be unobtainable.
My greatest organizational feat each week is meal planning. Either Saturday or Sunday morning, I sit down with a notepad and write the days of the week. I stare for a while and then start deciding on dinner items. I leave a leftover night and a pizza night, so really it's just five meals. Seems simple enough and sometimes thanks to the Food Network or some other inspiration it falls into place, other times not so much. Trying not to bore the ever picky audience I turn towards favorites and make an attempt not to repeat too often a delicate ballet of food prep.
Once I have the week spread out in front of me and I'm pleased with the lineup I write it on the refrigerator. This little step removes all questions of "What's for dinner?" and sometimes, just sometimes gets the other housemates to pitch in and help.
Side story: When we built the house we bought a mammoth refrigerator from Viking to satisfy my cheffiness. It's wonderful when it's not passing a kidney stone through it's circuit board or the gargantuan door isn't shearing a pin. It's stainless and when it was installed it had an energy rating sticker on the front. Don removed it and found it left a small gluey substance on the otherwise pristine surface. He announced, "The nice thing about stainless is you can buff anything out with an S.O.S pad." Which he proceeded to do as I stood in shock holding whatever kitchen item I was unpacking from storage at the time. I watched him create a swirly pattern smack dab in the middle of the door. Excellent! After weeks of trying to fix this, I finally bought chalkboard paint and created a nice sized board on the door covering the swirly and giving me a surface to write menus - BRILLIANT!
The final step is creating the grocery list from the menu and I'll tell you, it does save money under one condition - I go shopping by myself or with one other person, but not Don. Not that he isn't delightful to shop with, but I tend to mutter, "What the hell??" as I peer into the cart and see Funonions and gallons of ice cream. If am by myself I will use my cellphone to add up the total cost as items go into the cart. This little trick opens your eyes to food costs and really makes you think twice about spontaneous purchases like said Funonions and ice cream.
So it's Sunday morning, I've got the week planned and I'm feeling good about my choices. If I play my cards right I might be able to sneak out before anyone else offers to join me. My odds are slim with a newly permitted driver in the house and it is nice to have a chauffeur though. Happy Shopping!
My greatest organizational feat each week is meal planning. Either Saturday or Sunday morning, I sit down with a notepad and write the days of the week. I stare for a while and then start deciding on dinner items. I leave a leftover night and a pizza night, so really it's just five meals. Seems simple enough and sometimes thanks to the Food Network or some other inspiration it falls into place, other times not so much. Trying not to bore the ever picky audience I turn towards favorites and make an attempt not to repeat too often a delicate ballet of food prep.
Once I have the week spread out in front of me and I'm pleased with the lineup I write it on the refrigerator. This little step removes all questions of "What's for dinner?" and sometimes, just sometimes gets the other housemates to pitch in and help.
Side story: When we built the house we bought a mammoth refrigerator from Viking to satisfy my cheffiness. It's wonderful when it's not passing a kidney stone through it's circuit board or the gargantuan door isn't shearing a pin. It's stainless and when it was installed it had an energy rating sticker on the front. Don removed it and found it left a small gluey substance on the otherwise pristine surface. He announced, "The nice thing about stainless is you can buff anything out with an S.O.S pad." Which he proceeded to do as I stood in shock holding whatever kitchen item I was unpacking from storage at the time. I watched him create a swirly pattern smack dab in the middle of the door. Excellent! After weeks of trying to fix this, I finally bought chalkboard paint and created a nice sized board on the door covering the swirly and giving me a surface to write menus - BRILLIANT!
The final step is creating the grocery list from the menu and I'll tell you, it does save money under one condition - I go shopping by myself or with one other person, but not Don. Not that he isn't delightful to shop with, but I tend to mutter, "What the hell??" as I peer into the cart and see Funonions and gallons of ice cream. If am by myself I will use my cellphone to add up the total cost as items go into the cart. This little trick opens your eyes to food costs and really makes you think twice about spontaneous purchases like said Funonions and ice cream.
So it's Sunday morning, I've got the week planned and I'm feeling good about my choices. If I play my cards right I might be able to sneak out before anyone else offers to join me. My odds are slim with a newly permitted driver in the house and it is nice to have a chauffeur though. Happy Shopping!
Comments
Post a Comment